ooohhh...La La....

I love my new blog design! Thank you Becky and Verna!!! I've been waiting to do this for some time now and with their special offer for June of only $25...Well, I couldn't resist. You can get to their website by clicking this link... http://blogfairytemplates.blogspot.com/ or http://ladyinwaitingblogdesign.blogspot.com/

It's so me!!!

Thanks again!
Amy

Our big day!!!

Well, today was an exciting day! We left home around 10:45am, drove to grandma and grandpa's house to drop Rachel off. They girls had a little gift bag from G&G filled with fruit snacks, goldfish crackers and a stuffed animal. Mom and dad had a little cooler filled with bottled water, granola bars and grapes...Thanks Grandma Sharon and Grandpa Willie. =) Once we got back in the car, Linzhi became a little worried that Rachel's car seat was gone and Rachel was missing too. It was sweet to see she missed Rachel. We reassured her we would be back to pick her up. We weren't on the road more that 10 minutes and my cell phone rang. It was Rachel wanting to talk to Linzhi!! How cute is that! The story behind that is, Rachel got mad at Linzhi before we left and hit her. She was feeling bad about it so she just had to talk to Linzhi to make things right. Whenever the girls hit (I know it's normal) we always make sure after" time out" is over and an apology has been made and accepted, the "offender" has to go in the corner to pray. Well, grandma and Rachel were about to have a snack so they began to pray and Sharon said all of a sudden Rachel confesses to grandma what happened and that she need to talk to Linzhi. So once we were at the hospital I had Linzhi call Rachel on the cell phone. They had a little conversation and ended with "I love you" and " see you soon" WOW! What a blessing to see our baby girls love on each other. =)

OK...Now to evaluation... Oh, one more thing... CJ and I feel so incredibly blessed to have been given the opportunity to parent our beautiful Linzhi...I am still in awe of HIS grace. ~OK~ now I'm ready!! Today we received the information we've been waiting almost a year for...a DIAGNOSIS!! Today at Shriner's we learned Linzhi has a condition called "Arthrogryposis Multiplex Congentita" try and say that three times in a row... =)

Basically, she has severe contracture "stiffing" of the joints in her wrist, fingers and elbows. The doctor also classified her as a "mild" case because it has not affected her legs, hips, ankles, etc... The Occupational Therapist did tell us it will not worsen or move to additional joints and should improve with OT therapy 2-3 days per week, home exercises (2x's daily) and she must wear splints every night as she sleeps.

I cannot begin to tell you how awesome it was to be at Shriner's. The staff was incredible and to top it off the specialist that has taken Linzhi's case is the head of orthopaedics at Loyola Hospital in Chicago(one of the best in the nation). God knew exactly where we needed to be for our baby. She did so good today! No panic attacks, just a few tears during x-rays and her splint fitting...WHEW! I can't tell you enough how much your thoughts and prayers mean to both CJ and I. I love the adoption community and all my wonderful friends that I've met through our journey to Linzhi. I mean it, you're all the best! =)

So now, we need to find a local OT therapist that has experience with this type of condition, exercise her precious little arms twice daily, strap her splints on at night (which she loves...go figure) and most importantly PRAY. The Lord is so good to us!! Here are some pictures of our day.

***update*** Last week I mentioned my cousin was diagnosed with breast cancer. Today her MRI showed the cancer DID NOT move to her lymphoids (s/p?) so the prognosis is better than we thought...Praise GOD! I am waiting to talk to my aunt for more information but wanted to give an update. Thanks again for lifting her in your prayers!

Amy's going private...

I've been thinking about setting my blog to private for obvious reasons but never got around to it until my sweet blogger buddy Laine went private. This got my wheels turning so I am now doing the leg work of gathering email addresses to send invites... SO, if you would like an invitation to view my blog please send me your email address @ corzine03@hotmail.com I have several but I definitely need ANNA B, BARBIE and CHELLEY (from Australia). So if you gals could send it to me I would appreciate it!!! We must stay in touch!! =)

Mani's and Pedi's...

I was putting away laundry the other day and noticed my two little one's were awfully quiet. So I tip toed in my office to see what was going on. I was sweetly surprised to see Rachel giving her sister a manicure and pedicure...too cute for words so enjoy the pictures!! =)

Ps... Tomorrow is Shriner day!!! =) =)

~Amy

2 more days until Shriner's....

I am on pins and needles! Every time I think about Wednesday, I get a lump in my throat!!! I look at Linzhi and PRAISE GOD she's ours and now we get to see what the Lord has in store for this precious angel. We also discovered (tears welling up) our Linzhi is LEFT handed... We've gone 7 months thinking she was a right handed girl because we would put crayons, spoons, forks, etc... in her hands because she couldn't. Well, now Miss Linzhi can do it herself and she favors her left hand. When I saw her take the crayon out of her right hand( after mama put it there )and move it to her left hand, I was overcome with joy and emotion. I know this may seem trivial to some but ask any parent with a special needs child how it feels when they witness any miracle they thought or was told would be impossible. When we were given Linzhi's file, we were warned nicely that she would probably never be an independent person. Our understanding is her file was returned twice because of the negative reports back from the American doctors who reviewed her file for the families interested. Believe it or not, this information did not scare CJ or me at all. Actually, we felt this fire ball of protection over her immediately and when we opened her file and looked at her face for the first time BOTH CJ and I knew that was the angel God chose to be our daughter. And now, we get to witness the miracle of our Linzhi being blessed by the one who created her perfectly. See... ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE WITH GOD.

I guess I'm a sentimental Mama today...

Happy Father's Day!!

Just wanted to wish all the wonderful Father's out there a happy, God filled Father's day! May the Lord Bless you all!

CJ, you're a wonderful husband, father and step-father. We are blessed everyday with you!

Love you forever,
Amy

Prayer request...

Hello everyone,

Please keep my cousin Lindsay and her family in your prayers. Today, she was diagnosed with breast cancer, she's 31 years old and the mother of 5 beautiful children & the wife to a wonderful guy.

I'm at loss for words...

~Amy