{a little of this and a little of that}

Aren't these "sneak peeks" just the cutest? Sophie had a photo shoot here at our home on Friday with a photographer who participates in an organization called "Celebrating Adoption". Tamra, the photographer, was so sweet and patient with Sophie and spent TWO hours taking pictures! I really can't wait to see them all!

On a not-so-fun note, Sophie had some surgery on her ears yesterday. It ended up being a little more involved than originally thought, and because she had some difficulty with the anesthesia afterwards, she ended up being admitted to the hospital. After a few too-many-to-count bedding and pajama changes ;) we are happy to say that we are home. She was so brave is feeling much more like herself this afternoon.

When we traveled to China to bring Sophie home, we found that she had a cyst-like sore just in front of one of her ears. We tried to find out more about this sore/infection from the orphanage staff, but were told, through our translator, that it was probably just a bug bite that Sophie had scratched until it had become infected. We treated it the best we could in China with some antibiotic ointment that we had brought along. Funny that we basically brought the entire Walmart pharmacy with us half way across the world and only ended up using a tiny tube of Neosporin :) At the same time, we also noticed that in front of each of her ears, Sophie had a very small hole...so small, that it looked almost looked like a piercing or maybe a large pore. I don't think we would have even noticed the small holes or "pits" if we hadn't been so concerned about the infection surrounding it. When we pointed this out to our guide, she said, "In China, that means you are very smart...". She then showed us that she had one and said that her daughter had one too. But apparently, it is best and means you are the smartest, if you have them on both sides, like Sophie. When we arrived home, our pediatrician referred us to an ENT to have them looked at. We learned that they are called preauricular pits. Since coming home, the other side has become infected as well, and despite being on antibiotics for months on end, the infection just wouldn't go away. So yesterday, Sophie had surgery to remove the pits and infection surrounding them. Sadly, they had to shave her hair around her ears quite a bit, so the cute, little hairstyle we have worked so hard to even out is gone. No more pigtails, at least not for awhile. But hopefully now, stinky ears are gone for good :) Some day, I will tell the rest of the story. And for the record, I'm sticking with the "smart" theory :)

The boys always keep me smiling with the funny things they say. I guess this week was Christian's turn. Just so I don't forget, and because you might need a smile too, these are a few conversations we have had this week...

Christian: Mom, do you remember when I was three and I always had that really scary dream.

Me: No, I don't remember that.

Christian: Geez, that really froaked me out!

Me: (trying not to bust out laughing) I think you mean "freaked" not "froaked".

Maybe it's the speech therapist in me, but I just love these over generalizations, I think they are so funny :)

Later in the week, while coming home from school, the boys (as usual) were trying to convince me to stop and buy them a snack...

Christian: Mom, can we stop at McDonald's to get an Iced Mocha?

Me: (again trying not to choke while laughing) Um, no. That would be coffee :)

Must be some good advertising or something that he'd seen...