The newest Rich addition (isn't she cute)

(copied and pasted from my brother Greg's blog)

We wanted to get a picture out of our new baby. This is Sadie (no middle name yet) Rich, born 3-6-9(love the birthdate). Everything went well and mom and baby are doing great. We will probably be able to go home today from the hospital. Sadie has been plagued with PAC's (prematurue beats) and is continuing to have them. So far no one is really too excited about it, including me, and she has continued to look like a normal baby that likes to shoot out a few extra beats. Enjoy, Greg

Happy Birthday Leslie!

Happy Birthday to my sweet baby sister! I prayed many years for you before you were born - I wanted a sister so bad! Thanks for always being so kind. You are an amazing person and always see the best in everyone. I hope you have a great day! Love you!

Kidney Stone update

6 months ago we had an ultrasound done on Lili's kidneys after the melamine poisoning scandal broke in China. The radiologist found one stone in her right and two in her left. On Wednesday I went to Boise with the little girls and Lora and Mady to have Lili's kidneys rechecked. She had an actual pediatric Radiologist do the ultrasound and not a tech. He told me "no stones". We were thrilled and in unbelief. I considered doing a no-show to her next appointment at the ped. nephrologist who flies in a couple times per month from Portland... Lora convinced me it would be "rude" :)
Anyway, he came in and said I have good news and bad news... (heart dropped)... good news - "her stones are gone" bad news is her kidney on the right side is shrinking and is smaller than than it was 6 months ago and the left has not grown. This means they are not functioning correctly. The one on her right is off the chart small (I did not know they have growth charts for kidneys like they do for height and weight and head) and her left kidney is on the bottom of the chart... but they were normal last visit so they have not grown like they should. After he stated all of this I felt like I needed to put my glasses on and shed a few tears but I was grown up and did not :) would love it if somewhere there was a mismeaurement... The doc was very kind and very concerned. He said that he assumes that the melamine is the cause of this and that the stones have passed. Last visit he was not too concerned and stated that the medical community just does not know what to do or expect... these were his same words this time... He said that he wants to see her in 6 months to redo blood work (her first set of blood work was off a bit and he said this would indicate the damage being done to the kidneys), urine, ultrasound and visit and HOPEFULLY they will have begun to grow again.... I had to ask the dreaded "if not" question and he said, "then she will be in serious trouble in about 5 years (ie... kidney transplant)"...gulp. So, we'd appreciate your prayers for her. The doc is going to go back to Portland and compare files with all of the other kids from China and research and try to learn all he can for us... problem is, I think Lili may have been one of, if not the first in the country to be tested for this... those who follow are not far behind but we are all still the guinea pigs of the melamine scandal. I asked the doctor his opinion again on whether or not he thought these cases were similar to another child from China (she is 6 or so years older than Lili and a daughter of a friend of mine growing up)... last visit he said no and this visit he told me that he is going to compare files... she began having kidney problems before the melamine scandal broke and docs had no answers to the cause until possibly now. Anyway, in my mind this could be a disgusting problem for all of these sweet, innocent children still in China and adopted. A real visual in greed.
Our pediatrician was sweet and called yesterday... she said, "hi Melanie this is Jane" in her cute South African accent... she is such a great lady and I appreciate her help without appt and her friendship. She told me if I want I can run urine samples and bd work whenever I feel I need to - this way I can check for myself if she has an infection (which would indicate more damage) and bd work would show more thorough functioning (she said urine is very inexpensive). I had both tests done yesterday. Urine came back good and we will hear this morning on bd work. I will probably check urine frequently and not bd work (bd work is more $ but I just want to stay on top of the urinalysis in case of infections- it is hard to know with both younger girls when their bodies aren't right... they learned during first year or two of life that crying does not work ... for example Meili burnt her hand pretty bad on the curling iron but did not let me know and definitely did not say anything about the blisters on her finger tips) I so appreciate Dr. Scott and her willingness to help Lili on a phone calls notice. She really cares for her. Portland doc said we'd wait 6 months to run them but dr. Scott knows me well enough that I need to be doing something during the 6 months...

I apologize if you are family and this is the first you are hearing of this mess. I think Scott and I are both in denial and don't want to think of it...easier to type and forget. Hopefully, she will be okay and hopefully this was just a fluke... in 6 months we will know more.... that is the hard part - wait and see.... but you know me - I will keep on top of it!
Good news again. While in Boise we stopped at USCIS (Homeland Security) to make sure all of Lili's paperwork was moving along. I was told she will become a citizen of the US on March 18th. I think we will go stay the night and hangout with the kids (this is during spring break-Scott's idea... i was shocked and happy that he will get away for the night-such a great dad!)
We also made stops at Kid to Kid and found some cute clothes, ate some YUMMY food at the Cheesecake Factory prior to appointment, and picked up the yummiest peanut butter, chocolate, caramel apple on the way home from Rocky Mountain Chocolate...mmm... the girls slept and we had fun visiting.

Again, please keep her in your prayers... I felt them in China and they were amazing!

Fun at Mady's house

Lora was so kind to watch my two little girls. (I went and had a free facial at the Marod Medical Spa ...http://www.marodspa.com/ ... you receive a free facial when you have a mammogram. Anyway, it was too die for and I will have to spoil myself again - definitely worth paying for. This is the facility that is doing Lili's laser treatments - they are wonderful!!!)

So, Lora let the girls play with Mady while I went - they had a fabulous time! They want tatoos for their fingernails now. Lili came unglued when I accidentally washed off her butterfly tatto on her hand. Looks like Lili enjoyed dress up and Meili babies. Aren't they all darling!!! They bring us such happiness!!! Thanks Lora!

Everyone in town... go see Trish at the Marod - so, so relaxing - and she is fantastic!!!

democrats say the rich don't pay taxes

Too funny.

Happy 4th birthday, Meili!!!

Oh, the excitment of a four year old. I can't believe she is already four. I remember Mckenzie's fourth birthday and it does not seem like long ago... and now look at her... oh.

Anyway, we had a great day! We woke up Meili much earlier than she is use to as you can see from the photos. She always takes an hour or so to wake up - she loves to lick her pillow and veg usually watching Dora, drinking hot pink milk in her Dora sippy cup... but this morning was different :) I love the pictures. They tell all. It did not take her long to go from sleepy eyes to happy smiles. She went through all of my gift bags the week before and instructed me that I needed to wrap the gifts in the green paper and then put the gifts in the bags. After presents we had breakfast - Lucky Charms- and got ready for her birthday party. We invited her sweet friend Mady, and the 10 girls (yes 10) from her primary class. I could not believe that there are so many girls her age... guess I've not paid to close attention to the nursery... They all played and got along so well. A very nice group of girls. Meili was in heaven the whole time. Mckenzie, Lexi, Ashlyn, Reese and Davis planned a perfect Dora party for the girls. They were a bit surprised how quickly the games went but it all ended perfectly. We tried making little pizzas and they ate cupcakes and Superman ice cream. After the party, I let the boys play with their friends and they had fun playing with Meili's new Wedgits. For anyone looking for a wonderful gift we all love these - they are the best. Meili got her purple set that she has wanted from Grandma/pa Hunsaker and we gave her a huge set for her birthday (she got a 30 piece set for Christmas, too) The girls love to stack the wedgits and you can also build challenging things. We had a great time spending time during the afternoon building them. Meili played with all of her new gifts from her friends and put many, many layers of fingernail polish on and eye shadow on. After Scott got home that evening we took Meili to her favorite restaurant - Idaho Pizza. She loves the chocolate pizza...mmmmmmmm..... and pop, croutons, sunflower seeds and eggs from the salad bar.

It was a perfect day. She did not get whiny (probably because she crashed for a while) but just kept her smile all day and enjoyed it. We are SO blessed to have her in our family.

Lunar New Year 2009

The college had a spectacular Chinese New Year party this year. We went with our friends who had adopted Chinese children in the area. It was a great time! They served lots of yummy Chinese food (pop to keep the girls still), had a traditional Chinese Dragon dance, drummers from Japan, Judo (Reese was able to go up and throw a guy over his back), Vietnamese singers and more. All five kids sat mesmerized the entire evening (ok... until about the last 1/2 hour). It was from 6:30 to 9:30 so that is pretty impressive for our kids to sit still for so long. I did not take many pictures because of the lighting so I will borrow some from Lora as soon as she posts hers... hint, hint Lora :) so grandmas, check back later for more picts. Anyway, it was a great night. So glad the Asian students put this together each year.

One year home from China with Lili

9 flights, 4 hotels, a new 20 month old doll and all very sleep deprived later ...Mckenzie, Lili and I arrived home a year ago today. What a trip!!! I'm still very grateful for the lady standing at the bottom of the stairs as we got off of our last plane... Lili in arms and tons of heavy porcelain on my back and not seeing straight - and my kids, Scott and friends watching from inside the airport... she caught me as we nearly fell down the slippery stairs. I still remember the feeling of being really unbalanced and going but not wanting too :) It has been fun remembering the experience and the amazing blessing miss Lili has brought to our home. Hope everyone had a Happy Chinese New Year. We are celebrating tonight at our local Junior College.

never a dull moment -

I woke up this morning excited for a slow, quiet day. Mady was on the calendar, scouts and orchestra (and Reese stayed home pretending to be sick ;) ). While Mady's mom and I were visiting (after we had watched her) the girls were playing. Lili was on the table (her favorite place - she is a climber) playing the drum and jumped off.... with a pen in her hand (did not see the pen until we noticed the pen went into her forehead. I am so glad Lora was here to keep me calm. I called Heidi, whose husband is a Dr. and works with a plastic surgeon... she could not get a hold of her husband but suggested I call our friend who is an opthamologist. Jamie told me to bring her into his office and he'd look at her (Our ped told us to take her to the ER... but I hate the ER... you wait forever with really sick people, pay a fortune - our insurance does not cover the ER unless it is a huge emergency). Anyway, Jamie was so kind and thought she needed two stitches. He did not have pain medication except for some numbing stuff - he put a ton of it on her and then we held her down and he kindly put in two stitches. We were in and out in a half an hour. Here is a picture of her (I should have washed her face but did not -don't her hemangiomas look fantastic)- the stitches are over her eye... oh, I was a nervous wreck feeling incredibly guilty and Scott's comment when I called him was, "so it could have poked out her eye"... hmmm a little more guilt. Thank goodness we were blessed.

I found the picture of Meili and Lili together on my camera.... not sure who took it... Looks like another dangerous activity. Lili loves this shell necklace. Most often the necklace can be found around Lili's arms and on her back as she pretends it is a backpack.

Hope all is well :)

Re-adoption of Lili

Yesterday, we took Lili to court with our attorney and completed her re-adoption process. I'm not sure why this is required... more money for our government and attorneys??? But we did it because it is necessary. It is essentially our government recognizing the adoption, even though they already did? The judge asked us if we thought it was in her best interest to have her adopted into our family (she already was... and duh, yes) and other questions like that.
During the closed door hearing Lili looked up at the court reporter and pointed at her and yelled, "you funny," the lady looked at her but did not respond so Lili said again as she pointed, "you funny". The judge turned to her and asked what Lili just said to her and she said, "Your funny". Lili thinks everything is a party. She is such a fun little girl and we are so blessed to have her.
Our next and last step with her adoption is to send the certified papers from the re-adoption to USCIS to get her citizenship (she is not a US citizen yet because Scott did not travel).

Meili is so excited for her birthday on Saturday. They sang to her in Primary last week. She was happy to tell everyone that she is having lots of friends over and she tried to convince them that she will be 5 (she is going to be 4). She has been busy putting her mind to work all week thinking of what we will do. A couple of nights ago she asked a thousand times what her cake will look like. She is gathering items for her party that she thinks her friends will want to see. She is having a Dora party and luckily Kenz, Reese and Davis are excited to plan and help. They each want to be Dora, Boots and Swiper for the party.

We are excited for my brother, Nathan, and his wife, Heidi. They arrived in Boston Monday night. He is starting his first post college job next Monday. They are busy trying to find a place to live and getting use to the new area. Before they left my sister, Leslie, and her husband, Tavis, did a pregnancy shoot. They turned out really, really well (I don't think... and hope... I don't have one photo of me pregnant but wow these are great - pregnancy styles have come a long way-). If you want to take a look go here: http://www.tavisjohnson.blogspot.com/

Here are some photos from New Year's at my parents. (thanks Greg and Kristi)

Hope all is well.
Melanie

Our first year with Lili

I am having a hard time believing that one year ago Lili's orphanage director placed Lili in Mckenzie and my arms. She is such an incredible blessing to us and has brought such happiness to our home. I am so grateful to Heavenly Father for giving her to us.

As I reflect on the first few hours with her I remember a quiet, curious little girl. She would not let me take off her black high top shoes - for some reason they were her comfort. I remember her sitting on the bed for about a half an hour trying to put her bottle together... we thought she was playing with it but instead was wanting a bottle to drink. I remember Mckenzie being excited to see her first steps - we did not know she could walk- I remember taking off layers and layers of clothes before we could give her a bath. After her bath we put a cute little clip in her hair and some pj's on and then I gave her a bottle and sang "I am a Child of God" and we enjoyed watching every move she made. We enjoyed a quiet evening in the hotel room trying to figure each other out. I love our memories and treasure the time Mckenzie and I had with Lili in her birthplace of Nanchang, Jiangxi.

A few other things this week:

Last week Mckenzie was asked to help the 8th and 9th grade drama class with her violin. They did and amazing two hour play on the Holocaust yesterday. This was a great experience for her. She worked so hard (4 hours a night) to get the song perfected. So glad the girl who had originally commited bailed so Mckenzie could do this - it seemed to be great for her self confidence.

Davis' class learned part of Martin Luther King's speech. His class went around to the other classrooms and presented their memorization. Here is a link to his class blog - I have not been able to view it yet (trouble with my computer) but it is supposed to be great (says Davis :) ): http://www.firstgradexavier.blogspot.com/

That being said - I know I've mentioned this before but I need to go private so... if you want to follow, please send your e-mail to me so I can add you.

Hope all is well. Peace xoxox

Lots of pictures and posts below.

Davis is sporting his new viola. He is excited to start lessons next week. We are looking forward to rereading last year's posts of Mckenzie and my trip to get Lili... we can't believe it has already been a year. She is such an amazing little girl!!! She gets a new laser treatment tomorrow here. Our doctor's office just purchased a new machine that is the same as Arkansas so we are hoping this works to avoid travel expenses.

The kids chose all of the music. Enjoy.

Hope all is well,

Peacexoxo

Melanie

'

I did not have my camera from right after Christmas to a few days ago. I will try to remember and recap our new year:
New Year's Eve was spent at my parent's house. All of us siblings, spouses and cousins (except for Rylee) were together. We had a great time eating, visiting and playing Rock Band. We all spent the night and woke up to go to breakfast at the Wayside. The kids loved breakfast and thought this was fun. We had a great time just being together and visiting.
I am amazed it has been a year since Ryan's death. Time has gone by very quickly and as we reflect on the year we were blessed in many ways. On the 'year' after Saturday our ward had a temple day at 9:30 am. This was perfect because we had received the call at 9:15-9:30ish a year before. I can't think of a place that would have been more comforting to be than the temple. It was a great experience and such peaceful, content feelings. After the temple session we attended Megan Miller's wedding which was so nice to be able to witness. Then we went home and hung out for a while, we got hair cuts (I cut off my hair - it feels so great), and helped with Megan's wedding reception. It was a wonderful day and I'm so happy that we were able to stay busy. He actually died on the 4th which would have been the following day but last year the call came in on a Saturday morning - so I convinced myself this was the day to keep busy.
We have been cleaning up our basement from a flood. We had so much snow and then it melted within a couple of hours. Apparently lots of basements flooded. We had Stilman's company come and clean it up and they did a great job - it just was inconvenient not to have the basement for a week (my camera was packed up in a box) anyway, we have recovered from this and have nice, clean carpets.
On Thursday, we had scouts planned at the church. The carpet layers showed up early (they were supposed to be there on Friday) to stretch the carpet so I called all of the boys to change scouts to our house. After the boys all arrived and we were getting ready to start Scott's brother Breck and Dixie came to visit. Luckily, the great other leaders took over so I could visit. Scott came home and we all went to dinner. It was fun to visit and a fun surprise to have them stop by. It was a crazy afternoon with so many different things going on in the house but it was fun.
Friday, the girls and I went to my mom's house to can applesauce. We enjoyed our time visiting and made lots of good applesauce... and, it only took about 4 hours longer than I anticipated :) Towards the end we convinced Nathan and Heidi to make apple juice to speed things along. I had 6 boxes of apples. Feel so domestic.

Here is Mckenzie, Reese and Davis ready for their school Christmas show. Mckenzie did awesome - she had a violin solo during the orchestra presentation and Reese did an amazing time for his first cello performance.

Each of the three kids classes did some singing and dancing - Mckenzie's did the waltz, Reese ballet (which they all love-i have to defend the boy and ballet - steve young did ballet) and Davis' class performed a tap dance. They had a great time and we loved watching them. Grandma Criss, Grandpa Randy, Nathan and Heidi came and enjoyed this with us and came over for smoked ribs.

Davis helping at the Miller's house. We are so, so sad that our great friends wil be moving. We love them like family.

This was a fun FHE. We had to leave Kenzie home because she was sick. This was the first time we cut down our own tree. We had a great time together. This will be a fun memory for us...we raced up the hill, stopped and bought our permit, raced to the top, came to a screeching halt to beat the darkness, ran out and found the tree, cut it down and headed home - we will plan better next year- plan more time, hot chocolate... but, for a first time it was very great!!!

Thanksgiving... posting photos of the fun after the dinner at Breck and Dixie's house... the kids loved the petting zoo.

okay... so, this is a bit stressful... I just noticed a ton of photos that I did not post about...isn't this supposed to be relaxing...???

back to before Thanksgiving.

Scott went to his annual tax classes in SLC. The kids were out of school so we decided to tag along. We decided to stay at our favorite Residence Inn for two nights and then went to Greg's for two nights. We had a great time. Scott took the trax to class and left us to veg for the first two days. We did many things - classic skate, swim, shop, ate with the Peery's (you know I must love them if I am posting this very disgusting photo of myself), and made yummy Thanksgiving pies and rolls. The kids always LOVE to get together with the Rich clan - thanks guys. (and ate at Cafe Rio ...mmm) Oh, Greg and Kristi took us adults (Nathan too) to Market Street Grill for dinner. It was so yummy and fun to get out without kids (we even tried oysters). One highlight was watching Allie, Austin and Ian run in their school turkey trot. Little Allie creamed her whole class winning by almost a 1/4 mile. Austin and Ian both finished in the top 2 of their grade - guess this family got the speed.

One blessing was Scott was able to visit his brother, Steve, while he was recovering from surgery in the hospital. Scott was very happy to be in town so he could check in on him to make sure all was well. It was a very scary time and we are so grateful he is doing so much better now!!!

Long overdue post

Scott and I read the Christmas Sweater over Christmas. It is a great book by our favorite, Glenn Beck. Glenn was at our local bookstore doing a book signing. I went with Shelly. Here is a picture of Glenn telling me how sad he is that Scott and I can't meet he and Tonya for dinner.