... your mom goes to what the locals refer to as "The Amish Mall"
and comes home with 2 pairs of suspenders for your 3-year-old son.
(In navy blue and black - because they were "buy one get one free")

You know you have a teenage daughter when she says ...

..."Mom, please do not let him out of the house in those things!"

You know your son is definitely NOT Amish when he wants to wear his suspenders like this:

(Luigi & Guido never looked so good!)

You know your son is crazy when he says ...

"Hey, I look like a special man!"

Special?  I'll say!

You know your son is going to kill you when ...

...he turns 16 and realizes that Mom posted this picture on the internet
for all the world to see!

But what can I say?!  This was just too cute not to share! 

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Monday evening I was still at the hospital with my best friend, Sue; so my mom took the kids to Bible School (Ashley is a helper).  I did not know if Ian would go to his class or not (he has NEVER gone to the nursery and we only just tried Sunday School for the first time this past Sunday and I had to sit in with him).  But, he wanted to, so we tried it.  My mom had to stay with him, but he LOVED it and couldn't stop talking about it.  So, last night I took him and had to stay with him.  I am hoping and praying that this week at Bible School will help ease him into the whole "classroom thing" to the point that we can maybe start leaving him in SS without us and can try to settle in to a class of our own (long story, but both Brian and I have been serving as youth leaders/ teachers for so long that we have not had a class of our own to fit into). 

Anyway, back to Ian ...
I was just amazing at this child!  When they were going over the Bible memory verses with his class (3,4, and 5 year olds - and he just turned 3 in April), he KNEW a good bit of it!  I didn't even know what the verse was, having not been there on Monday, so I certainly didn't work with him.  The verses are Habakkuk 3:17-19a.  I thought I'd share them.  The parts that Ian knows are bolded.  (I'll try to get a video to share this week sometime.)

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Today is Ian's 3rd birthday
(around here, otherwise known as a "dirpy")

I'm having a hard time believing that my baby is 3.
Oh, I shouldn't call him a "baby".
After all, babies wear diapers and Ian wears "unnerwears".
Babies sleep in cribs and Ian sleeps in "my own  bed"
(even though he'd much prefer to sleep in Mommy's own bed).
Babies can only coo and cry, and Ian has SO MUCH TO SAY!

We are blessed!

Here is a never-before-seen baby picture of Ian
(we didn't even see this 'til we picked him up in Vietnam):

And here he is yesterday - checking out his "dirpy cake":


Can you see why he's my favorite boy?!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, IAN!
WE LOVE YOU!

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Yesterday, my mom dropped by and brought lunch for all of us.  Now, you know that I must have been having a bad  day because, when she offered to stay after lunch and do the dishes for me, I allowed it.  (Why is  this so odd? you ask.  Well, I have NEVER allowed my mom or anyone else, with the exception of maybe one friend, to EVER do my dishes.  I'm a bit strange about my dishes, I guess.)  Anyway, I was having some computer stress, which led to work stress; and we've been dealing with some personal issues that have been disturbing as well.  All that to preface the fact that my mom did the dishes and Ian helped to dry:

He may just be in trouble now that I know he can do this!

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We have been enjoying some unseasonably warm weather here in PA the past few days.  It feels like spring and I love it!  What I don't love, though, is the mud!  We had so much snow and it's melted into a muddy, disgusting mess!  Anyway, this isn't going to last - only a few more days of this spring-like weather and then the winter will take over again later this week.  I'm not sure if there's any snow in the forecast, but I just got to thinking about this picture that I've been wanting to share:

That's Ian wearing a size 3 snowsuit that was, once upon a time, MINE!  My mom comes from a long line of packrats, and I think she has tried really hard to overcome that in her life (and I have been trying to do so as well).  However, this snowsuit managed to stand the test of time (and the packrat fighting obsession) and all 3 of my children have had a turn at wearing it!  I wish I had pics handy of Ashley and Gracie in it also, but I don't.  Anyway, it's definitely an antique, but it managed to keep Ian warm on a cold, snowy day! 

What do you think?
Should I keep it around for a whole new generation? 

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Some of you were my friends way back when I had my old blog - HeidiHomeschools.  You probably remember following along on our "journey to Ian".  If so, then you probably knew exactly what the title of this post meant - several of you even sent material and wishes for Ian's quilt.

To those who are newer readers, or who just met me as "Reviews by Heidi" then you may have no idea what this post is about.  It is for you that I give this explanation.......

While we were waiting to adopt Ian, I joined several Yahoo groups of families who were also waiting to adopt a baby from Vietnam.  On these groups, the members started talking about "100 Good Wishes Quilts".  At first, I had no idea what they were talking about, so I did some research and found several websites and blogs where people talked about these quilts and even shared pictures of them.  The idea behind the 100 Good Wishes Quilts was actually a Chinese tradition.  The idea is to collect 100 "wishes" (quilt squares and well wishes/prayers).  The quilt squares are assembled into a quilt and their accompanying wishes are to be placed in an album/scrapbook.

I got in on one of these swaps.  But, I took the idea one step further and extended the invitation to share quilt squares and wishes to my blog friends as well as our IRL friends and family and our church family.  We got well over 100 wishes!

Last winter, the girls and I assembled all the squares into a quilt top, but that's as far as it got.  A few weeks ago, my friend Carolyn (who makes the most awesome purses in central PA - and I'm not just saying that because I love her - she's one the Best Purse Award 3 times running at a local fabric shop!) invited me to go to the church with her - she wanted to lay out a quilt she was working on and was willing to help me with mine as well.  So, during that time, I was able to get the border sewn around the quilt top and we also laid it out and pinned it together with the batting and backing.  I got home and felt somewhat overwhelmed - wondering where to start with sewing the thing together, and afraid I might ruin it!

Carolyn offered to do the quilting for me - bless her heart!  She finished it in just a few days!  Here are a few close-ups so you can see the details of the stitches:

And here's the whole quilt!  (If you sent a quilt square, can you find it?!)

Isn't it beautiful?  I put it on Ian's bed and will leave it there for awhile.  Eventually, I'm sure I'll pack it up as a keepsake for him.  I still need to put the wishes together in a scrapbook. 

Now the girls are both asking for quilts too!  Carolyn ~ thanks so much for all your help ~ you're a great friend!  And to everyone who sent wishes for Ian's quilt ~ thanks!  You helped make the quilt very special.

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Ian loves to sing and it is oh-so-obvious that he has big sisters.  You'll be able to tell when you hear his choice of songs (think Disney!)  I think we forget that we own a video camera.  There is way-too-much video of Ashley as a baby and toddler.  Then poor Gracie and Ian really got the short end of the video stick!  We NEVER, and I repeat never get out the video camera.  You'd think it was hard work or something.  But, Ian is just too cute to pass up this stage with no video.  So, I'm thankful, at least, for the video feature on my digital camera.  The quality isn't the  best, but you get the idea. 

I must add that I jokingly told Ian that we would be sharing this video footage with his fans once he is famous.  To which he replied, "Yep!"  So maybe we need to work on ego.  Oh, and counting.......

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to everyone who said a prayer for Ian this morning!
His surgery went well.
it took about 1 1/2 hours~
he got caps on all 4 bottom molars~
and had cavities fixed on all 4 top molars
and  between his front 2 teeth (on the back).

We are blessed to have a wonderful pediatric dentist.
Today, however, we also had a nice anesthesiologist
(who is the father of 4 children),
and a nice nurse who has a son named Ian also.
All the staff at the surgery center was very accomodating.

We did come home to a sick Gracie~
so if you wouldn't mind transferring your prayers to her
this evening, it would be much appreciated!

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I was sitting at the computer working today when Ian started crying and Gracie started screaming.  Seems Ian was pulling on her and she was pulling to get away from him and he fell - banging his head on a pile of tile we had in the living room to put under our soon-to-be-installed pellet stove.  There was blood everywhere, and this mama isn't a fan of blood!  Gracie cleaned up the blood on the floor while I held a cold compress to Ian's head to get the bleeding under control. I was dreading looking at it, for fear it would be a long gash, requiring an emergency room visit and some stitches. 

Thanks to God and the cardboard around the tiles, it was only a tiny hole - that really, really bled!  No concussion, and only a small bump to show for it, and Ian is much better now.  Praising God for looking out for Ian, and for keeping the girls and I calm!

I'm sure this will be one of many accident-scares with this little guy!

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 When I brush Ian's teeth (which is a real challenge, as he totally hates it), I can see cavities on her lower molars.  This really concerns me, as Gracie had A LOT of problems with her teeth when she was younger and ended up having to have MAJOR dental surgery when she was 4 years old (she had 15 cavities, one tooth which turned out to be absessed and had to be taken out completely).  Anyway, since the surgery, she hasn't had any problems ~ "no cavities" every six months~ praise the Lord.

Anyway, the  girls had their dental appointments this morning and I asked the dentist to take a peek in Ian's mouth.  He said he can clearly see 3 cavities and suspects that there may be more.  He attributed it to hygeine and diet;  however, his partner had told me that Gracie's problems were most likely a result of no prenatal care in Vietnam and early diet there.  I would like to think that these are the contributing factors to Ian's problems also.  (On our last visit to Vietnam, both my mom and I were amazed to look around and realize how many Vietnamese people have rotten teeth~ so it could  very well be genetic also, I suppose). 

What do you do for a 2 year old with cavities?  One option is to wait it out until he's a bit older.  But, the problem is that Ian is coming to me on occasion, holding his cheek, and saying "teeth".  This, to me, indicates that he's having pain.  Second option~ dental surgery!  Ugh!  My baby!  They would put him to sleep, do the x-rays, fix all the problems, and do a thorough cleaning and flouride treatment.  The cost is horrendous, and we don't have dental coverage. 

Anyway, surgery will probably be scheduled for September sometime.  Please pray for Ian that he doesn't experience much pain until that time; and for me, not to worry about him and entrust him to God's care.

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