I love my Mom and Dad!!!!

My Mom and Dad are the best. Not only for the values that they have taught me, but also, because they have always been there for me with either advice, love, a shoulder to cry on or just support for every decision that I make, good or bad. They are always the word of caution, but then fully support me and my family no matter what. It is very hard living so far away from them, especially once you have children of your own. We have no immediate family near us so we have always had to depend on ourselves or friends for help with the kids. We were a little concerned with Sofie's surgery coming up as to where Ainsley was going to stay. Several wonderful friends, and you know who you are, have offered to help  and we are very thankful for that. I was concerned with Ainsley staying somewhere else other than home. Worse case scenario, Jim would stay home and I would stay at the hospital with Sofie. I didn't really like this as I think that it is very important for Jim to be there with Sofie too. My Mom and Dad were unable to come down and stay with her for a variety of reasons so I hadn't even considered that as an option. My Mom, Dad and my sister have come through for us again!!! My Dad is not able to travel, but, my sister is going to drive my Mom down her for a week and then come back and pick her up. Ainsley will have her Grandma with her and Jim and I will have some help with everything once we come home from the hospital. I cannot tell you what a relief this is and how big of a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I will be forever grateful and thankful for this wonderful gift.....thanks Mom, Dad and Kim :)

11 days until Sofie has her surgery. I think the enormity of it all has finally hit me! I know we will get through this and everything will be OK, but, it is just so hard to think of how much pain our little sweet pea is going to be in....and I can't fix it with a kiss :( Then there is the other part of me, the part that is super excited to see how much her speech changes after she has healed. She is so smart and tries so hard to say English words. I think it is going to be amazing to watch how much she changes....and then I get sad again because the little songs she sings, the speeches she gives and the phrases that she says when she reads a book, her baby talk Mandarin will all soon disappear. I so badly want to know what she is saying and thinking when she sings her songs, but, I probably never will. They are so sweet and I just want to be able to remember them forever.  I had been trying to record all of her words and songs on my phone but she usually either stops when I get it out or I am driving the car when she starts singing :) And then I can hardly wait to see her blow her first bubble. She so desperately wants to blow bubbles...we got a bubble machine but she wants to do it herself. When she blows out, the air comes out her nose and not her mouth, so no bubbles get blown. Today she brought me 2 containers of bubbles in the backyard and then got the sweetest look on her face and then signed the sign for please....broke my heart because I couldn't explain to her that she can't blow bubbles yet!!! Soon though :)

Now on to more :) Sorry, this is becoming a long post!!  I haven't been able to blog much....sleep seems more of a priority now a days. I will try to catch everyone up on the goings on in the Ducharme household.

We seemed to have turned a corner so to speak. Sofie has been spending more time with just Daddy. She stills screams as soon as I leave but it only lasts for about 5-10 minutes and then she is fine. She and Ainsley are playing together and in a room separate from where I am. Sofie doesn't like it when I am in the kitchen cooking. She has to be between me and the counter all the time. Doesn't work well at the stove and I cannot figure out why this is such an issue, unless she really doesn't like my cooking :) Ainsley is back to the same old Ainsley that we know and love. She has stopped talking back to us, is calmer and seems to be more comfortable in her big sister role. It is so nice to have my sweet daughter back and I only hope that the impending surgery doesn't throw all of the fantastic changes right out the window!!

We applied for Sofie's US passport last Monday. It is an odd feeling sending off every document pertaining to the adoption that you worked so hard to get in the first place. Sofie thought so much of the process that she reached up when I wasn't looking and grabbed the original Adoption Registration from China and ripped it in two. After I calmed down, we gently taped it back together and headed off to the post office where, after I sat her on the counter to sign the application, she promptly layed down and fell asleep on the counter of the Post office. The clerk thought it was hilarious!!!

July 4th was HOT and HUMID so we only lasted outside for maybe 15 minutes. Just enough time to get some pictures, not of the girls together as a certain 2 year old would not cooperate :)

The girls are starting to play together more. Being cooped up in the house in the heat did some good. They had a blast in the sprinkler in the backyard.

                                                      Sofie is no longer afraid of water!!!

                                                                    Making "soup"!!!!

                                            Miss Fix It helping Daddy fix the neighbors bike :)

..........and last but not lease, Shiloh the wonder dog or "iloh" as she is now known, got into the action too! She stole my hammer out of my garden bag and took off with it :) New type of dog bone!!