Teddy Bear Sleepover

Last week at school Blake's class learned about bears.  They ended their unit on bears by having a Teddy Bear Sleepover.  They were invited to come back up to the school at 6:30 p.m., wearing their pj's, bringing a teddy bear.  Daddy and Blake went to this special night together.

 Blake chose Little Friend to take to the sleepover.  Aunt Mantha brought this little bear to Blake at the hospital when he was born!

 

 They measured their bears to see how many cubes long they are... Blake's was the shortest.

 They drew a picture of their bear.

 They had cookies and milk followed by a bedtime story read by his teacher. 

 Blake said goodnight to Little Friend and left him in his chair to spend the night at school.  The kids had to write their predictions for what they thought the bears were going to do at the sleepover.  Blake predicted that they would make a mess.

 Friday Morning...

 Turns out that Blake was right... the bears partied all night and made a huge mess.  This is where he found Little Friend.

 Here are what some of the other bears were doing.

 

The room was a mess, the bears had a blast, and Blake and his classmates had got to clean it up.  Blake talked about this day from the time school was over until bedtime that night.  He loved it and I know he will never forget this special Teddy Bear Sleepover!

Happy 2 Months

On this day two months ago we were handed the most wonderful blessing.

We can't believe it has already been two months.

It still feels like yesterday... yet it seems as though she has always been with our family.

She has come so far in the last month.  She is more confident and less unsure in new settings.  She is sleeping a little better.  She is loving her daddy a lot more.  She continues to bless our family with each passing day.

We can't wait to see where the next month takes her.

Happy 2 months as a McIntire sweet girl!

Now that we have been home for 2 months, we along with our fellow travel group members have been sorting through our pictures and emailing them to each other.  These are some that were taken by someone in our group.  Thanks for the pics Tara and Aunt Manuela!

Would You Go Again?

I was talking with someone the other day about our trip to China.  She asked me if I would go again.

 She did not mean would I do our trip over again, but rather would I go to China again?

 Would I board the "big daddy" plane (as Robert, Blake, and I called it), fly the 6,570 miles,

 around the top of the world, to a country so different from our own?

The answer: Yes.

Out of my own selfishness I would say no.  China is a hard trip.  The flight is long (especially when you are afraid), the country is hard and so different from our own.  But the Lord is who I live for, not myself.  I feel as though my time in China is not over.  I would love to take Brynn back one day to see her birth country.  I am very prayerful about opportunities to volunteer with the orphans in China.  And, if the Lord calls us, we will not say no to adopting another one of His children.

Early Childhood Intervention

 Upon the recommendation of the International Adoption Doctor, we had Brynn evaluated with our state's Early Childhood Intervention program.  It is a standard recommendation for internationally adopted children.

 They came out to the house this week and did a full evaluation on her.

 She did wonderful!  She is on target or above in all areas except speech.  She is only 5 months delayed in speech, which is phenomenal considering she has only heard English as her primary language for six weeks.  We are not going to need to receive services for her at this time.  They will do a follow-up in six months to see how she is doing.  They gave us some strengthening exercises to do at home with her to help build her upper body strength.  We know she would not have developed so well if it weren't for the wonderful foster care facility she lived in.  We are so thankful to them for the love and care they gave while she was waiting on a family.

 She got this toy for Christmas and couldn't make herself go around at first.  She can now do a complete spin on it... slowly, but she makes it.  After she does a spin, she says "all done" and gets right off.  It is so cute.

And it wouldn't be a picture of Brynn AiXin without the peace sign being flashed!

I Wonder

Today my mind has been filled with thoughts about Brynn's birth mother.   I can't help but wonder about her and what she is feeling on this day.

I wonder if she thought about the daughter she gave birth to 2 years ago.

 I wonder if she ever wishes things could have been different.

 I wonder if she could ever imagine what a beautiful girl inside and out that Brynn has grown to be.

 I wonder if Brynn has her birth mother's dainty features and beautiful smile.

I wonder if she knows that a family is giving the daughter she had to say goodbye to the best care possible and loving her more than words can describe.

Have You Heard the Buzz?

Our little Lady turned 2 today!

 

 And we celebrated her in a big way!

We celebrated this special girl this past weekend with a party fit for a lady.

Her Papa, Gram, Nana, Aunts, Uncles, and cousins all came to celebrate with us.

Her cake turned out both beautiful and delicious!

Our little lady celebrating her 2nd birthday.

She wasn't sure what to think when we all started singing "Happy Birthday".

She needed a little help blowing out her 2 candles... thanks to big brother Barrett they got blown out!  It was then time to dig in!

She had some play time in the boys' room with her cousins and brothers.

Brynn and Mama

As you can see by the pictures, she got the hang of opening presents very quickly.  She was proud to show off what she got!  We were so proud of her.  She didn't even get nervous with everyone watching her... which is why we kept the party as small as possible.

  

Her proud big brother watching.

 

 

The new pink vacuum cleaner was a hit... even with her big brothers...

 

 

We are so proud of our little girl and everything she has overcome in the first 2 years of her life.

 We feel so blessed and proud to call her our daughter and sister.  We can't imagine our family without her!