MAYLIN2007

Yesterday, Maylin had just gotten out of the bath. While I was getting her clothes ready she took off with my shoe. The phone rang and she left the room while I talked. I could hear her in the hall. When I finished I found her in the hall looking down at my shoe. I picked it up and it was full of poop! The little stinker pooped in my shoe!

Emily and Maylin Austin, Sabrina and her new baby. She is the amazing woman who helped us get Maylin. Pictured below: Eliza, Eliza's mom and Maylin.

This picture sums everything up! Love. And that's what we feel for the family we traveled with and the families that adopted or are adopting with us. It is such a bonding experience. The Passey's traveled with us and both of us agree what we shared in China is a bond that will go on forever. Here Emily and Maylin share a kiss. Our families got these two girls on the same day, a day that changed us both forever. We are so glad they like each other. I hope they always stay friends. Emily's mom is pictured! What a great lady she is. All my kids love her, especially Kenzie. Hangin out! Emily, Maylin and Eliza. Eliza is 2 weeks older than Maylin and Emily is one month younger. Anna - Such a cutie. Maylin wants her sucker. Notice who has the sucker now. It changes between the two girls several times. The little one with Maylin and Anna, is Meilin (pronounced the same, but Chinese spelling) she has been home a month. All having fun! Maylin enjoys the bounce house! Bret and Jay s...

She rides a scooter, she takes Elmo for a ride, talks on the phone, carries a purse and makes dating appointments for her brother.

Maylin missed Austin so much while he was at the hospital. She is always wanting him to hold her. He can't, so she settles for laying on his lap and rubbing his leg. Here she takes his temperature. I guess she has watched me one to many times lately. Funny how she knows how it works. Austin is doing well. He is weak. He is no upper body strength. He can't hold the new Harry Potter book. Its too heavy. He takes 4 walks a day and looks really good. He is sleeping in Maylin's room so he is close to us. She thinks its great. She has to kiss him over and over at bedtime. Sweet baby!

Our life needs some humor. So I post this. Taken the day before Austin's surgery. On the way to Costco she looked darling. She had two pig tails and was clean. While driving, she took out her pig tails and Austin drew a moustache and a goatee. Now, all she needs is a cape and a bull. Our little matador! (The photo does enlarge if you want a really good look at her facial art.)

Austin came home today. He got home around 11 a.m. He is tired, and dizzy and sore and weak, but doing great!!!!!!! He is on 4 meds . Two are heart meds to control the beat. We go in 10 days to get a heart monitor put on to see if the meds are still controlling the weird beat. He is on some meds for 2 months, others it is a wait and see thing. We are so blessed and grateful!!!! Thanks for all the prayers and concern. He can get back to normal in 8 weeks. Thanks again.

It is late. Been up for days. If my spelling is bad, sorry. Austin won't be coming home until who knows when. His lung collapsed today and he has developed an irregular heart beat they are trying to control/stop/figure out. The lung is our minor worry, its the heart beat we are worried about. Not much to say. Too sad. Too tired. Too worried.

Yesterday was terrible. They moved Austin out of ICU to the Surgical Unit around 2:30 p.m. That is a good thing, but about the only good thing. He has been on morphine, so by lunch Austin started hallucinating , not recognizing people, not remembering, and he kept pulling out his oxygen and trying to pull out his IVs. At times he was funny, telling the nurses this was all a big rip off and he wanted his money back, but later he got mad. He doesn't remember me being at the hospital at all. He pulled my hair and said he wanted me to hurt as much as he did. It didn't bother me...medicine talking, I just wish he knew all the tears that I have shed is my hurt. Besides the pain med issue the doctors say he is doing great. They are weeing him off the morphine onto another drug that is not as rough. By 3:30 a.m. Thursday morning we had had our last "crazy" moment and things have settled down. Austin has always felt his heart beat and we have always been able to see it beat, b...

Here he is the man of the hour! The surgery went so well. We are grateful. Everything went to plan except for the repair on the valve. Due to its unwillingness to cooperate, they were unable to stop the leaking completely, but they were able to take it down to only a mild leak. This is still wonderful and we are glad. He is doing well in the ICU. Hopefully he will be out of the ICU by Thursday. Thanks for all your concern!

Our oldest, Austin, is having open heart surgery tomorrow. I am not sure when I will get to post again. I will be at the hospital as much as possible. However, since I have family all over that look at this blog regularly, I will try to post updates on him so they will know. He is supposed to be in the hospital for the next 5 to 10 days.

Mom and dad posted their favorite things about me awhile ago. Well, I have a few things to add too. So here goes! 1- My family mentioned I love shoes, but I love CLOTHES too!. I love to try them on. I find them in drawers, closets, laundry baskets and my brothers' bedroom floors. They just sit there and say, "Try me on!" So I do. I have to keep everyone happy you know. The picture here is of me in 2 pairs of my brothers' underwear. I put them on myself! 2- I love being wrapped up in a towel or blanket. I bring one to mom and then turn my back to her and wait for her to wrap it around me. 3-My pet bunny and kitties. They don't like me as much as I like them. I don't know why? 4- The swings! I could swing for hours. When me family stops me and takes me in, I cry. Nice and loud! 5-I love cabbage, broccoli, taco meat, dried apricots and chocolate. Today I unwrapped a kiss by myself and ate it in one bite. Cake batter is good too. 6- The computer. Wow, I get exci...

We had the Jensens over a couple of weeks ago. They adopted their little girl in November. I lost my camera and didn't find it until now. Pictures posted were either old or from my mother-in-law's camera. I am so glad I found it! Aren't the girls cute? Anna is about 3 months older than Maylin. You can tell she is older and has been home longer. She has a great vocabulary and is sure of herself. Maylin was happy to have them over. However, every time Anna would talk to her she would poke her bottom lip out and then cry the biggest cry. I couldn't figure it out except she didn't sleep that day. Anna was a good sport tho' and kept playing. The next day however, Maylin still was very sensitive and then by late afternoon she was one angry girl. Took me one more day to find she was cutting 4 teeth. When we have cut one at a time it is no big deal, but 4 put her over the edge. The day before they broke through, she screamed the whole day. I am not inflating the time. W...

Pictures of Maylin I couldn't fit in the post below!

Pictures once again of our trip to Idaho in June. These feature one of the most memorable moments. We all learned what happens when you stand up in a canoe. Yep, you tip! Poor Jay spent along time trying to get the boat empty so he could pull it back to shore. It ruined his cell phone. Why he took it with him, we will never know. Kids sure were shocked when they hit the cold water. Maylin enjoyed watching the scene from the dock. She then joined the kids in the water and waded by the shore line.

Shoes glorious shoes! Maylin loves them. She says "sh sh" for shoes. She tries on every pair she sees whether they fit or not. And she can put them on herself! At Church she scopes out the people around us, or rather their shoes, and then tries to take the pair she likes. Most people are really good about this. The 3rd picture down is Maylin stealing some lady's shoes at the Dino Museum. If she ever disappears at home for a minute, you know to find her in my closet trying on shoes. Our foyer is tile and each hallway leading off it is either tile or wood, so she brings her shoes of choice to this spot and then walks up and down the halls enjoying the sound they make. There are at least 6 to 8 pair of shoes in my entry way at one given time. This habit could get expensive.

What a happy day for our family! I am so grateful we have each other. We are so happy Maylin is a part of it all. Isn't she a beauty?

During the last week of June we went to our family's cabin in Island Park, Id. And what fun we had! The days spent there sort of reminded me of the old Bullwinkle/ squirrel / villain /Canadian Mountie cartoons of yesterday . Do any of you remember? Austin started it off by making a moss moustache that looked like the villain's and the Canadian Mountie's . Austin is cuter however! We also saw so many squirrels . Didn't see any fly, but Grandpa says they do and right into his roof. That's why he has this machine that makes high pitched "go away squirrel " noises. Of course our weekend wouldn't be complete unless we saw Bullwinkle the moose himself and we did! Okay, it was two Bullwinkles and that was better! The kids were thrilled. Maylin thought they were great and would look and point and say, "WOOF, WOOF!" Here we thought she knew what a dog said. Turns out, she thinks its the language of all living things. She also barked at a duck, sea...