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Amelie’s Birthday Party

Amelie's 2nd birthday
Click on the photo to see album

This post is very late, but all the photos were on another camera.

I will start by saying that Amelie L-O-V-E-S balloons. I joked that we could have just given her the bunch of balloons for her birthday and she would have been happy. We had her birthday party on June 11, 2011 and it was a very sweet time. We invited everyone to a Banana Birthday Brunch. I made banana pancakes, banana chocolate chip mini muffins, chocolate peanut butter banana bread and Paula Deen’s banana pudding. Then my uncle Roger brought an egg dish that was delish! Papa and Grandma Brooke drove up from Houston, came to the party and the drove home. So sweet for our first birthday with Amelie.

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The cake was chocolate and vanilla and enjoyed by all.

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Amelie had fun opening the presents.

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After presents the girls started a hug fest!

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Amelie loves to put on hats, jewelry and sunglasses. She got 2 pairs for her birthday and modeled these first.

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Then she wanted me to try them on.

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We are so thankful for everyone who joined us for Amelie’s 2nd birthday celebration! You are a blessing to us.

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China Camp 2011

China Camp 2011
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Amelie, Reagan and Nadia.

China Camp 2011

The adoption agency Dillon International  hosts a China Heritage camp in Tulsa, OK each summer. We have known many families that have taken their bigger girls, but children must be 4 to attend so this was Nadia and many of her buddies first chance to attend.  We made plans with local friends and with friends from the Internet that I had never met in real life. All of the girls were in the same class – The Dragonflies. Each day we dropped them off at 9:30 and then picked them up at 3:30. Throughout the day the girls did Chinese language, cooking, Kung Fu, crafts and more. On the first day they had a ceremony for the parents and children complete with a lion dance.

China Camp 2011

Amelie was not excited about the lion dance. She kept covering her eyes like above.

The first night we invited everyone to our hotel for a pizza and pool party. Our friends the Cannons who live outside of Tulsa came out that night so we got to see them and Alyssa again. After we had pizza and before the swimming the girls played and played. It was so adorable that I actually teared up watching them because I was so overwhelmed by the fact that God brought them halfway around the world to be a part of all these families.

China Camp 2011

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The next day we dropped the Nadia off and when we got back to the car Amelie was saying, “Nadia, Nadia” and pointing at her empty car seat. We told her that we would come back to get her later. Then at the hotel she wandered around the room saying, “Nadia, Nadia”. It was cute to see her wondering where her big sister was. The second night they had a picnic and swim time at a local park, but we were fairly tired and the girls were very sleep deprived so we grabbed some to-go food and had dinner with the Landy’s at the hotel.

China Camp 2011

China Camp 2011

At the end of the last day we joined the kids for a Chinese lunch and their program. The kids were all so cute and there were a record setting number of kids attending this year – 258!

China Camp 2011

After the ceremony we got some photos of the girls (Kiy we missed you). They were SO.TIRED. from going for 3 days.

China Camp 2011

Nadia fell asleep in the car when we were less than a mile down the road. She slept about 90 minutes and then woke up and talked for almost 2 hours about everything she had done for the last 3 days. We asked her every night, but she didn’t say much; she apparently saved it all for the ride home. We plan on going again as do many of the families who have attended.

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“Look at my Eyes” Book review and Giveaway

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I read the book “Look at my Eyes” by Melanie Fowler last month. It is about Autism Spectrum Disorders: Autism and PDD-NOS. We don’t have an autistic child in our family, but their family goes to our church and I wanted to read their book. After finishing it, I asked them if I could feature the book on the blog and have a giveaway of 2 copies of the book. I think it’s a good read even if your child is not on the spectrum because you never know when you could be a support for someone in this situation.

Near the beginning of the book Melanie says, “I had no time to read any book over a thumbnail thick….. I needed something helpful and informative, but it also had to be short, concise, to the point, and hands – on.” And that is exactly what this book is. I was able to read through it in one evening and if I was a parent in this situation I would be really encouraged after reading this.

The focus of the book is on early intervention and navigating the system. Her son was diagnosed at an early age and she and her husband Seth began the long and overwhelming road to helping their son. She has chapters on dealing with insurance, therapy options, activities to do at home and lots of other helpful information in an easy to manage book. They have a lot of “real life” information in here and it doesn’t feel like a scientific journal; rather it’s one family to another.

Inserted throughout are “Seth Says” sections where he shows his heart and the dad viewpoint of having an autistic child. Some of these broke my heart, but I really appreciated the honesty. I highly recommend this book if you are curious what parents go through, if you have an autistic child or if you have a friend you would like to help by giving the book too.

To order the book you can click on this link.

To find them on Facebook and Twitter.

Giveaway rules: Leave a comment here with your email so I can contact the winner. You can enter until midnight on August 21, 2011.

For an extra entry: Like “Look at my Eyes” on Facebook.

Please leave a separate comment for each entry.

You can also see this giveaway on the Hip Homeschool Mom’s Site.