A picture to cute not to post....

This is a picture of Jetta in Arland's cowboy hat. When my mom and Arland came, Arland had his hat sitting on the floor and Jetta was curious, so we put it on her and got this picture. I think she looks adorable.....

A visit to Grant's Farm

Yesterday we headed out to Grant's Fram. When we first got there it wasn't real hot, but as the day progressed it got very warm. However, we still had a great day.

When we first arrived we visited the Budweiser Clydesdale barn. They are such beautiful animals. We got to see many foals and they are so darn cute. Jetta got to pet one of the horses and seemed to really enjoy that. Her face lit up. After that we headed over the main park.

We boarded the tram and made our way through the Deer Park and she seemed to enjoy seeing all the different animals.

Once we got off the tram, she just seemed to really light up. We headed in and went to the carousel. She is still unsure if she likes it or not, but as our ride came to an end, she seemed to want to stay on.

Then we made our way to elephant show and she just loved that. She was clapping each time "Bud" did something. It was very cute.

After the show we headed over to the courtyard, where we all sat down and cooled off a bit with a complimentary Budweiser sample (of course not Jetta). Very nice on such a hot day.

Grandma and Grandpa shared a snow cone and also shared it with Jetta. She seemed to really like that. We all agreed that it was about time to call it a day, as we were all sweating and getting pretty wore out.

We had one more stop to make. We had to feed the goats. We got our baby bottles full of milk and headed over to the fence to feed them. I was a bit worried that Jetta would see the "ba, ba" and would want to stick it in her mouth since we're only about a month out since she stopped taking a bottle. However, she didn't even seem to care. We tried to have her feed the goats, but they were a bit agressive and sucked on the bottles a bit hard. Both Grandma and I helped her feed them and she seemed to enjoy it.

All in all it was a great day and nice family outting. We enjoyed the day and I think Grandma and Grandpa enjoyed seeing Jetta so excited about all the different stuff. I'll include a few pics from the day.

Great Grandpa Jack turns 80!

On Saturday we traveled to Peoria for Grandpa Jack's (Shannon's Grandpa)80th surprise birthday party. We left Saturday morning and drove up for the day. We all loaded up in the car and made the trek. My mom and Arland were troopers since they had driven in on Friday. However, we all agreed that an 80th birthday only happens once and that we shouldn't miss it.

We got there a little early and patiently waited for Grandpa Jack to arrive. They had created a story in order to get him to the party location. Shannon's dad had the pleasure of bringing him there without him figuring it out. When they pulled up, he looked very surprised and very happy to see everyone. Most all of the family was there and many of his long-time friends as well.

We were very happy to be able to celebrate with him and hope he had a great day. I'm gonna include a picture of him with his great grandchildren.

Grandma and Grandpa Peters visit....

This past weekend Grandma and Grandpa Peters came for a visit. They drove down on Friday and left this morning. We had a very nice visit.

It was Grandpa's first time meeting Jetta and they seemed to take to each other very well. It had been five months since Grandma last saw Jetta, so she got to see alot of new things. I think she was pleasantly surpised at how big Jetta has gotten and how much she has changed in just the short time since she came home.

Not sure when our next visit will be, but fortunately we are able to Skype each other and they can see her any time. I'm sure the next time we see them Jetta will have changed a ton again. Attached is a picture from our visit to Grant's Farm that has all of us together. Thanks for coming to visit and we already miss you.

The Guangdong Sisters - Then & Now!

With the permission of all the other families, I decided to post a "then & now" post. The picture of all the girls is from our last day in China before we headed home. It was the last time all the girls were together. However, we hope to get together in September and to reacquaint the girls. It will be nice to see all of them and how they have changed since we left China.

The picture of the girls on the couch from left to right are: Claire, Lydia, Jetta, Miriam (WeiWei), Eliana, Melania (Bing), Desneiges & Lyndsey.

Then the "Now" pictures are Jetta, Melania (Bing), Desneiges & Claire, Lydia, Eliana, Miriam (WeiWei) and Lyndsey & Lynnelle.

They all look so good and have changed so much. I've been in recent contact with most of the parents and it seems that most all of the babies are now walking or are very close, feeding themselves to some extent and saying several words. It is great to hear they are all doing so well and can't wait to see them all again. I love seeing all the smiles!

Thanks to everyone for agreeing to let me post pics of your girls and to have this comparison to see just how much they've changed.

A date with Bing....

Yesterday we traveled to Peoria, as we had a dual bridal shower to attend. Two of Shannon's cousins are getting married in the next few months and they threw a shower for them. Jetta and I went to the shower for a bit and daddy and grandpa hung out. Daddy came back and picked her up around 2:30 and they went to visit granpa Jack. The shower was very nice and both the girls got alot of great gifts.

Once the shower was over, I called my friend Abby and arranged to meet her and Bing for dinner. We agreed to meet and to let the girls see each other. So, we all headed over to Chevy's in Peroria and had dinner. Abby, Bob (Abby's husband), grandpa, grandma and the two girls. Bing is doing so good and is so darn cute. They both seemed to enjoy seeing each other and we're still not sure if they remember each other, but plan to continue to meet when possible, so they can remain friends. Both girls sat and played with each other, while the rest of us chatted.

It was great to see everyone and will post a few pics from our visit with them. Both of the girls are growing so fast and have changed so much since we got them in China.

Awesome news....no tether

I've mentioned briefly before that Jetta possibly might have a tethered spinal cord. What that means is...basically, during the early stages of pregnancy, the spinal cord normally develops and will float (for the lack of a better word) within the spinal column and as you grow, it continues to float and grow with you, without any problems. However, a tethered spinal cord attaches to a bony structure, typically the lower lumbar vertebrae and as you grow it will stretch and will no longer get the proper blood flow and may cause bladder and bowel problems, as well as possible paralysis in your legs.

When we first came home and during Jetta's first doctors visit, the pediatrician noticed a fairly prominent dimple at the base of her spine and top of her butt. She told us that she wanted to have Jetta tested to make sure that she didn't have a tethered spinal cord. Since Jetta was so small, she wanted to wait a bit, as the chance of anything severe happening was very low, until Jetta was a little bigger and also more adjusted and attached. So, at our last visit, I asked her if we could arrange for the test. They usually do an MRI in order to detect if the cord is tethered. She agreed that she felt Jetta was ready and so the appointment was scheduled. It was last Thursday, July 30th. While I was very anxious to have the test done and to determine if she in fact had a tethered cord and if surgery would be necessary, I also wanted to get it done, so that if she did need surgery, we would be able to begin to mentally prepare.

So, last Thursday we headed over to Cardinal Glennon Childrens' hospital in St. Louis, for her appointment. As always, she was a trooper. They had to start an IV and she cried a bit, but Shannon and I both assisted in holding her down and I was near her head promising her pumpkin bread from Starbucks when this was all over and is usually an effective tool to keep her happy. And as many of you know, she absolutely loves pumpkin bread, so she was a very big girl and as promised, we stopped on the way home and she got some later that night. Once they got the IV started, which they got on the first try, as she has great veins in her hands and the nurse was amazing. They gave her some medicine to help her relax. It was funny to watch her, you could tell that everything around her was moving in slow motion (in her head) and that she was probably seeing multiples. We talked to her a bit and we asked if she felt good and she just giggled. She giggled a couple of times and that made us laugh. They then let us give her a hug and a kiss and then took her away for the procedure. They told us the test would take about 40 mins and that we could go and grab a bite to eat. We knew she was in good hands, because amazingly, her doctor that was in the room for her sedation and monitoring has two adopted daughters from China and one of them from the exact province where Jetta is from. We were very happy to know that she would do whatever was necessary to make sure Jetta was okay during the test, since she had two of her very own precious gems at home.

We decided to grab a bite to eat, to try to help pass the time, and had an amazing piece of pizza, yes I said amazing, from the hospital cafeteria. The cafeteria was amazing and had a ton of choices. After eating we headed back up and after about 10 minutes they came and got us. When we went into the recovery suite, she was already a little bit awake and was not happy (which is a very typical side effect of the sedation drug they used to put her out). I held her and after about 40 mins she started to wake up more and ate a few popsicles and was less agitated. So, they took her vitals one last time and let us leave. She was still very groggy, but did very well.

Once I got home, I just kept her still, as their coordination is affected by the drugs and she would be a bit unsteady on her feet. By 5:00 that night she was back to her usual self. I had taken the day off to make sure she was okay. So, now the test was over and knew that we just had to wait to get the results.

I called the pediatricians office first thing Friday morning and asked that if they heard anything that they contact, full well believing that it would be next week before they had anything. However, to my surprise, my phone rang around 4:30 Friday afternoon. I saw it was the doctors office and my stomach did flips. While I wanted the results, I also was scared. The nurse told me that she had Jetta's results and that the test came back "NORMAL". I was so happy, that tears welled up in my eyes. I was so glad to know that my baby girl wasn't gonna need to have surgery on her spinal cord and that her little dimple is just how she is constructed. So, after a long 24 hours, we got the news we hoped to get and now we know we have a healthy little girl and have that out of the way.

Thanks to those of you that knew she was going in and for following up and asking how she was. As always, your friendship means a ton to me and am happy to have you in my life.