Happenings

How quickly time flies, especially in the summer. We've been having our usual hectic summertime schedule with ball, camps and vacation.

In May, Morgan graduated from the 8th grade and was the valedictorian of his class. During his speech, I'm not sure who was more nervous, me or him. But he pulled through beautifully and wrote and spoke an amazing speech. We were two proud parents that night!

Hudson began his baseball career this year and we've had a blast watching these little ones learn the game. It is SO funny at this age, before all the competetive junk begins.

Mid June we made Ava's 2nd trip to Disney but the first with her Pa Pa and Tanna. We once again had a fabulous trip tempered only with the minor hiccup of our transmission going out in our van. Luckily it didn't break down until we were all checked into our Disney resort at Animal Kingdom so we were able to continue with our vacation. We did have to sadly cancel our family portraits on the beach in Destin but at least our trip wasn't a complete wash. We did make it home safely and stepped right back into our crazy life. Morgan left the next day for a week at jazz band camp and LOVED it. We were able to listen to his learnin's at a little concert at the end of the week.

We immediatly left there to head to St. Louis for our China travel group reunion. Another awesome weekend! The kids are all gorgeous and have absolutely blossomed in all of their families! We took in the St. Louis zoo and then headed over to the Fairbank's home for a backyard barbecue. It was just so nice to visit and play catch up with the families, but we sure missed the ones not able to make it this year. I still can't believe the strength of the bonds that were formed in just a couple of weeks, but our time together in China was precious. It is like we were all apart of each child's being born into his/her family. We were there to support each other through the rough starts and the first smiles and giggles. I still get chillls thinking about it!

Anyway, the strength that each of these kiddos have shown us in the last year flabbergasts me. Someone mentioned this weekend that our group of kids just seem unusually resilient and TOUGH!

This week marked Ava's 1 year "gotcha" anniversary and I look back at the pictures in China and can't believe that that's the same little girl running around today. It is truly night and day! She has filled our lives with such joy and continues to bring smiles to everyone she meets. God continues to teach me so many lessons through this tiny 2 year old miracle!! So proud of our not so little grad!

Giving his speech with Uncle Donnie looking on

behind him

Morgan and Presley

Valedictorian and 7th grade Marshall

Jackson figuring out this new phone is his!

Pa pa and Ava

Best buds!

Morgan's best friend Jacob playing

at Downtown Disney






Will they ever pose right?

Jackson's dream come true

Getting our first look at our home

for the week

I guess she's trying to lock him in!

Chillin' in the room

Our bathing beauty!

Can you tell how much he LOVES this?

Love this mouse!

Why does every family pic seem to

include Mickey?

Enjoying some soda from China

Terra Cotta Warriers display in Epcot

The first of many food comas this week!

Dad and Tanna enjoying 'Ohana's

Primetime Cafe at Hollywood Studios

Little did we know that this would be

the villain in the movie!

After this, Ava felt the need to

do the "Incredible" pose for every pic.

The view from our room.

Showing off their custom treats, yummo!

Little pool time

Gettin' ready for "Toy Story 3"

at Downtown Disney

Adorable Aiden

Sure, she loves to share with Gabe, but

never her brothers!

All the kids bein' silly!

What an amazing group of kiddos!!!

Rebecca and Ava

Ava giving Harbour a good-bye hug

Bubble time!

What a difference a year can make!!!!

One year ago, Chris, Morgan and I sat in a tiny hotel room in China making our best attempts to console a sobbing, grieving, tiny baby. A year later, that same baby is now a flourishing, bundle of energy toddler and we are doing our best to keep up with her! Ava has given us an absolutely amazing year and we only look forward to what the Lord has in store for us now! Then...

...and now!!

No, we didn't fall off the ends of the earth!!!

Whoa, boy I have been bad...but have I been busy!!!! After we started the new year, it seems like we have not stopped. In January, we finally got Ava established on a cathing and medication regimen which, like everything else, she has adjusted to beautifully. We will continue to monitor her bladder function with testing every 6 months. Also in January, my sister Penny and I worked endlessly with our Jr. High cheerleading squad , which we co-sponsor, and our girls advanced to state. They competed in Springfield in February and placed 12th in the state of Illinois! Not too shabby!

Next, March. Our high school basketball team lived out the "Cinderella" story when they surpassed everyones expectations and played for the state championship. The SV Devils were not expected to even win our regional, but suddenly we were named runner up State Champs!!!!

History was made in our small town. Since we were in Peoria to play, we just had to meet up with our friends and China travelmates, the Ludlums. It is amazing...... the bonds we formed with the families in our 2 weeks over there are unbelievably strong. We were witness to families being made and grown and it is something we will share and cherish forever. We had a wonderful but way too short visit with our dear friends! Ava was finally reunited with her betrothed, Gabe! What a firecracker this little guy is!! I could just eat this scrumptious fella up!!!! Watching him with his mom and dad that night just confirms to me that these babies were born to be with our families...it's not luck or coincidence at all!

Okay, April started with our Spring Break trip to the Smokies. We again rented a cabin in the mountains with my sis, Jen and our dad and his wife, Tanna. It was once again an amazing few days and exactly what we all needed. The weather was gorgeous and we spent our days eating, relaxing,shopping, ziplining, relaxing and eating. We came home to celebrate Chris' grandmas 90th birthday. An amzing day for an amazing lady! The next day was Easter, I can't believe I haven't downloaded those pics yet. Ooops! The rest of April was a blur, visiting with our missionary friends from Thailand, track meets, ball practice, etc....

Now here we are in May already. We took Ava yesterday to a Spina Bifida Clinic at Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital in St. Louis, but didn't really hear anything we didn't know already.

We are now busy planning Mother's Day activities, and graduation festivities. My baby boy will be graduating from the 8th grade in just a few weeks...unbelievable!

This summer, we are looking forward to our next Disney trip and also our China travel group reunion at the end of June!! I can't wait!! We are thankful that we will only have one playing summer baseball. Hudson begins his baseball career this year on the Redbird Rookies....should be interesting if not highly entertaining! Another undertaking we will soon be facing is transforming our tiny dollhouse home into an abode more appropriate for our brood. We've had our contractor out and are looking forward to doubling our square footage, but not looking forward to living here during this extreme makeover.

We continue to give God all praise for His blessings on our family. Ava continues to blossom and thrive in her home. She has become such a chatterbox and has even started asking us some difficult questions, like "Where are the pictures of baby, Ava?" when we were looking at the boys' baby albums. She also has asked me if she was in my belly like Hudson was. We've already had to start talking about how lucky she is to have not one, but 3 mommies who love her. NEVER imagined it would start this early!!!!!! We recently found out we will have an opportunity to possibly reconnect with her orphanage and her foster family. A wonderful woman volunteers her time visiting the orphanages and foster families in China and provides information, pictures, DVDS, items from his/her city, updates etc. for your specific child. She will be visiting Ava's orphanage again this fall and we look forward to getting any and all info that we can on her foster family. She will ask them any questions we may have for them.

Okay, guess I'd better quit rambling...it's just been sooooo long and alot has been going on!!

Thanks for reading and have a blessed Mother's Day!!

Christmas Eve at Grandma and Grandpa's

Not so patiently waiting for present time

Yummy Christmas Eve Lunch

PRESENT TIME!

Why won't they wake up this

early on school days? Poor baby

Ava wanted to snooze just a little

longer...

....But when she realized what was going on
she was up and at 'em!

And more presents!!!!

Tuckered out after her first Christmas home!

Cheering on our hometown to the state finals!!

Ava with our future son-in-law, Gabe

Smoochin' sweeties!

Jack's waited SO long to meet the famous Gabe!

Morgan and Jackson "Zorb"ing down the

mountain. (Rolled down inside this ball

with water inside)

Rub a dub dub

This is the life!!!

Movie time!

This is a lotta work!!

My brave little man!

Soakin' up the sun while the others zipline down the

mountain

6 months ago today.....

......I was handed a trembling and sobbing tiny baby. It is still hard to believe that that little wisp of a girl is the same fiesty wild child that we know and love today. She has come so far in such a little time. But has it really only been 6 months? I can hardly remember what life was like without her here and she now acts like she has been a part of us forever. She is turning into a little chatterbox and is absorbing her new language like a sponge. She is now able to count to 10, is saying complete sentences and is learning her colors. She is able to change the settings on any cell phone or camera faster than anything I've ever seen. Whenever she does something that she feels derserves praise, (such as throwing away important papers, or changing the television channel in the middle of my favorite show) she emphatically yells "you're welcome!" until I say, "Thank you". Ava is finally letting us say a few Chinese phrases to her without throwing a fit. I still don't quite understand why she was so resistant to it initially, but I would love for her to retain some of her Chinese language, even if it's a tiny bit.
I will update soon with Christmas pics and her medical report from testing that was done in St. Louis a couple of weeks ago and again this morning.

birthday video

Cakes, Castles, and Crowns!!

Whew! A lot has happened since my last post! Firstly, we finally were able to make our annual Disney trip, albeit a little late. We had some priority, ahem, business to tend to this past summer. We were thrilled that we were finally able to bring along our little princess, though! Ava was a little overwhelmed initially with all of the new sights, sounds, and usual controlled chaos of Disney, but by the end of the week, she was right into the swing of things. We had to peel her off all of the characters after her initial reluctance. It was an amazing week with our family, my sister and her family, and my mom and step dad. We look forward to our next trip in June.

On our drive home, we stopped in Nashville, TN for a visit with some families from our China travel group. It was a mini-reunion, of sorts, and had a fabulous time catching up with them all. It is amazing how strong of a bond you form with people you've known for just a few months!!! I had always heard about it, but don't think I truly believed it until I experienced it for myself.

We also had to find a Quick Care clinic in Nashville for little Ava, another UTI, and she was very uncomfortable. After getting a prescription for a $300 antibiotic, YIKES, we were finally able to return to our home sweet home.

Our Thanksgiving this year was especially sweet with our new addition. We discovered that Ava loves turkey and dressing, HA. It has also been fun introducing her to our traditions of Christmas. It took her awhile to figure out why we suddenly had a huge tree sitting inside of the house. She would just look at it inquisitively and try to pluck any and every ornament off of it.

Another milestone occurred the first week of this month. Ava turned 2 on the 5th!!!! She had a ball at her party we hosted at our church and for once LOVED being the center of attention. The presents were a new concept for her, but once she got a taste, there was no stopping her. Her birthday also brought about some bittersweet thoughts of a woman half a world away who was no doubt wondering about the precious angel she was forced to give up. I wish there was some way for me to thank her for the miracle she created in this tiny girl. I want her to know just how loved her baby is today and how truly happy she is. I just pray she will somehow know all of this.

Okay, now for an update on Ava's latest health issues. We went to Cardinal Glennon last Thursday for bladder function tests. We were SO pleased with the level of service we received at this wonderful children's hospital! We were told what we had suspected all along...Ava has a neurogenic bladder. The nurse specialist with the urology department and SB(Spina Bifida) clinic sat and talked quite awhile with us and discussed our plan of action. We return on the 28th for further testing to see at what level her bladder is functioning. We did find out that her kidneys looked perfect, praise God! Her Dr. said she is most likely a candidate for a new surgery performed for this condition but will be done when she's closer to school age. Considering the severity of neurological damage her congenital diagnosis often brings, this little bladder issue seems so minuscule. The nurse said her SB issues were so minor compared to so many others and she was a very lucky little girl. We are so thankful God has protected her and brought her so far in such a little time .

The more I've gotten to know our Ava, the more I'm convinced that she was created to be a Stubblefield. From the second that her little heart began beating, the moment she took her first breath, she was meant to be a part of our family and nothing but the hand of God could have brought us together! We love you now and forever, baby girl!

These are four amazing and beautiful

miracles from China!

Four families from our travel group

Finally made it!

Osborn Family Lights at Hollywood Studios or as we

still call it, MGM.

Um, I think we took on a stowaway!

The gorgeous Christmas lit castle!!





Family portraits at Grand Floridian

Have you figured out this crazy family, yet?

My "Incredible" kiddos

Ava and Hudson with the characters from "Up"

She just couldn't get enough of the characters

We've successfully created another Disney freak.

Ava is now officially a Stubblefield!!

She didn't wanna let go

The view from our room!

A cake fit for a princess!

She loved blowing out the candles!

These people are SO funny!! Why is everyone

looking at me?

Try this cake...it's yummy!!!

Think she likes princesses?

Birthday morning breakfast at Larry's Restaurant

Renal ultrasound-went very well!

X-ray not fun, but done!!!!