Oh tooth fairy!!!

I think as parents we all are excited to see our kiddos lose that first tooth!! They're usually 5 or 6 or 7 and they wiggle that little tooth for weeks and then finally get the courage to yank it out! They get that first big toothless smile and we take the requisite photo to show friends and family then watch them anxiously put their tooth under the pillow as they question whether they could stay awake long enough to see her, the tooth fairy that they've heard all about!.. These are the firsts of childhood.  Rights of passage.  We cherish each one because they just grow up way too fast!!

Well, unfortunately for our sweet boy, this is not his story... He had a sick tooth, a molar, that has had two infections in six weeks.  I had really hoped that a miracle would occur when they X-rayed it and it would be saved.

 

Unfortunately, that was NOT the case... Two infections in a month meant that there wasn't enough time to do stronger antibiotics, it was time to lose the tooth...

So he lost his first tooth- a baby molar!! It's kind of a freaky looking tooth to put under the pillow for the tooth fairy huh???

NOT the picture I had in my head of losing a first tooth, but that's adoption for ya!!!  Luckily for Chengbin, the tooth fairy was happy to give him some money for that tooth anyway. She left it behind & Kate thinks it'd be a great thing for a dentist to use to teach kids about sugar bugs! :)

Yep, another first!!  Finally blogged about a few months late. ;)

Thanks for stopping by,

Fannie, Matt, Kate, & Chengbin 

Success!

Surgery went well. Surgeon was really surprised he hadn't been hurting because he has definitely had it for a while... He showed me pictures of tissue that had grown around a portion of his intestine that had to be removed... Our little guy is gonna be sore!! 

We're super greatful that we listened to God's call and brought home Chengbin!! I can't imagine him going through this on his own in China.  He was soooo angry and in pain when he came out that I didn't even get a pic like last surgery. This time I have one pic. After we got him dressed, he had kicked his legs & fussed so much that he tuckered out!!

Heading home for a week of quality time w mommy & daddy.  I'm so glad the Coast Guard was understanding of our situation & let me come home from school early! We are blessed!!

Thanks for stopping by!

Fannie, Matt, Kate, & Chengbin 

Surgery day!

Well, time for our second surgery in 6 mos of Chengbin coming home. He is having an inguinal hernia repair.  This one was a surprise, but I do think he had it, (just a smaller version) when we got him.

So our sweet boy is headed back for his surgery... 

Please say a prayer for him. :)

Thanks for stopping by,

Fannie, Matt, Kate, & Chengbin 

Giving Thanks & Celebrating Jesus

Oh boy am I behind!!  Thanksgiving, Christmas, & New Years have gone by without a single blog post!!  That's because we've been BUSY!!  So I'll back up to Christmas with some pictures.

 Can you already tell we had fun???  Yep, Kate & Chengbin were beyond excited to decorate the Christmas tree and help with the front yard Christmas lights!

(Yes, he's holding his shirt weird, but its the only pic with all of us in it!! haha)

We decided not to go anywhere for Christmas.  We kept it low key. 
No Elf on a Shelf. 
No family visit to Santa. 
Just the Wilks family watching Christmas movies and enjoying the holiday at Casa De Wilks.  :)  It was great!!  We even tried to keep the presents to a smaller amount than we have with Katelynn, knowing that this is one of the things that Chengbin will get overwhelmed on.
We spoke to the kids a lot about Jesus birthday and Kate did a great job helping Chengbin understand that the presents are because of Jesus' birthday. :)  (My girl is a great big sissy!)

Christmas morning arrived, and just as Matt & I had suspected.  Chengbin was ready to stop and play with the first thing he pulled from his stocking!!

 

Chengbin honestly went back and forth throughout the presents between being really happy & not understanding why he couldn't just play.  Sissy kept happily cheering him on, "Chengbin, why don't we open another present??... It's ok buddy, we will play with them all once they are open!... Chengbin, do you want to open one or do you want Sissy to?" LOL

After a few presents were opened, and right after Matt & I were beginning to think that we might need to take a break and do more presents later, Chengbin had a break through!! LOL

The kids spent all day playing with their toys, singing "Frozen" songs on Kate's new karaoke machine, and sailing Chengbin's Jake & the Neverland Pirates Ship through the house!

Kate's favorite toy?  Her Karaoke Machine with Frozen Songs
Chengbin's favorite toy?  Kate's Karaoke Machine with Frozen Songs (but his race car track took first place once we had batteries for it! haha)

We are so grateful for the many, many blessings God has chosen to give our family.  It was such a joy to see Christmas through our son's eyes.  No longer an orphan, but a beloved son and brother.  Oh we are SO blessed!!

Thanks for stopping by,
Fannie, Matt, Katelynn, & Chengbin