Wear love this Christmas
Ni Hao Yall
by Stefanie
3y ago
She says it perfectly. A letter from Meredith about So Loved… ……………………. So Loved. I’m reminded every day. One ayi or another will walk past in the home and I’ll catch a glimpse. A flash of bright flower… the scrawl of words printed across the front. So Loved. So. Loved. So very loved. Beyond the shirts, I see it in her eyes – “So Loved” streaming out when she grabs her little one and smothers her cheeks with kisses. I see it in her hands, as she pig-tails little heads and slips in bows just right. I hear it in her voice, as she rocks, rocks, rocks to sleep… and sings that song once more. So lo ..read more
Visit website
What one year can do.
Ni Hao Yall
by Stefanie
3y ago
One year ago today, we met this girl. Since then, well… words just don’t seem adequate. She’s amazing. She has learned to crawl (sort of), pull to stand, climb, walk and dance. She had tubes placed and adenoids removed. She had a CT and 6 sedated bronchoscopies. She had tracheal-slide surgery and open-heart surgery, which required a two week hospital stay. She has gained over 6 pounds and grown 4 inches. She’s gone from 0 teeth to 16. And her hair has gone from buzz cut to bob. She can drink from a cup and feed herself finger foods. She can draw circles and lines with a crayon. She can pretend ..read more
Visit website
A beautiful reminder
Ni Hao Yall
by Stefanie
3y ago
We recently had a opportunity to have our family photos taken professionally. And, of course, I jumped at the chance. I shared a few of these on a post at No Hands But Ours, but there are a few more. And since this is where I *attempt* do the memory-keeping for this family o’ mine, I wanted to share them here most of all. I didn’t have super high expectations. After all, no one got new clothes or had their hairs did. Only a few of our outfits even really coordinated. And one of us was missing her nap. But I just figured we’d go out there and have fun. And, other than missing my biggest boy, I ..read more
Visit website
How we do Halloween
Ni Hao Yall
by Stefanie
3y ago
I’ve shared before about our *ahem* spin on Halloween. This year we changed it up even more. The verdict is still out on whether or not we’ll do it this way again but, all things considering, it was a really good time. We used to do Halloween pretty traditionally. Here we are in 2008. Jude in that rainbow wig, oh my. Here we are in 2009, the last year we technically trick or treated. Jude and Shepherd were just itty-bitty peanuts. In 2010 though, we had to make some changes. We wanted to still have fun with the kids, but Chris was away and single-handedly navigating busy streets with a bunc ..read more
Visit website
What I didn’t know
Ni Hao Yall
by Stefanie
3y ago
If y’all didn’t know it yet, October is Down Syndrome Awareness Month (you can find an awesome post about it on No Hands But Ours). And as a mama to a precious bug with and extra chromosome, I not only feel it my duty to share all the sweetness that is Clementine (although I kinda do that on the regular here) but I want to share about our girl and our experience with Down syndrome. And hopefully open some eyes that still view children with Down syndrome as less than: less wonderful, less wanted, less worthy. In late July, when we traveled to Cincinnati for Clementine’s tracheal-slide surgery ..read more
Visit website
Celebrating Poppy
Ni Hao Yall
by Stefanie
3y ago
She turned six at the end of last month. Strangely enough, it seems like she’s even older than that. Poppy is simply an old soul. She’s a thinker. A watcher. And always keenly aware of everything going on around her. In fact, she’s more frequently put “in charge” around here than most of her older siblings. The girl likes to be large and in charge, and she consistently succeeds at any task she sets her mind to accomplish. But she’s also ridiculously silly. She makes the goofiest faces. And loves to try to make up new words, just to make everyone laugh. She’s also incredibly loving, with a v ..read more
Visit website
End of last school year and beginning of this one catch-up post.
Ni Hao Yall
by Stefanie
3y ago
So I’ve been in a fog of denial lately. But when October arrived, it hit me. Time to face it, chalk up how very much I’ve missed, and move on. I missed the last day of school pictures for last year. I missed the first day of school pictures for this year. But that’s just the way I suppose it’s going to go for now. Because homeschooling nine kids is no joke. Yep, that’s right. Now all my school-aged kiddos are officially schooling at home. We had planned to maybe wait a year or so to bring Jude and Shepherd home to school with the other kids, but by mid-summer we knew, it was time to bring the ..read more
Visit website
You did it.
Ni Hao Yall
by Stefanie
3y ago
A few months ago I shared about a very special little one who needed our help. Her name was Joy and she was in the loving care of Meredith and Morning Star Foster Home. But her heart was broken, and only a major corrective surgery could repair it. I asked y’all to join with me and Meredith, for Joy, to try to raise funds to pay for the life-saving surgery. Six days later, Joy was taken to the hospital for testing and evaluation. Then it was time for surgery. … From Meredith: day of her surgery: Watching the sun rise in China, and preparing for our little Joy to be taken into surgery — her very ..read more
Visit website
To China for Clementine – my favorites: Shamian Island
Ni Hao Yall
by Stefanie
3y ago
Yesterday marked nine months since we met Clementine. We didn’t celebrate with a cake or a photo session. Our girl is still deep in the recovery stages of open heart and slide tracheoplasy surgery. I’ve shared a lot of the last few weeks on Instagram and I’m not sure yet if I’ll sit down and blog about it because it was so very hard, y’all. I walked through an open heart surgery with Isabelle shortly after she came home, and thought I had an inkling of what it might be like. I was wrong. I just thank the Lord He went before, beside and behind us, in a mighty way. I am thankful for each of you ..read more
Visit website
Here and now.
Ni Hao Yall
by Stefanie
3y ago
It’s been a while since I’ve pulled out my big girl camera for anything other than the slew of birthdays we celebrate over the summer. But this is a special occasion. I wanted to capture our girl, where she is right here and right now, before heading into this great unknown. Also known as the tracheal slide surgery, but the great unknown sounds better. She’s walking now. Like, no more scooting or bear walking or crumbling like she used to do. Girl is officially a toddler. Sometimes, instead of wanting me to pick her up, she’d rather me just hold her hand. *gulp* She’s climbing, too. She conq ..read more
Visit website

Follow Ni Hao Yall on FeedSpot

Continue with Google
Continue with Apple
OR