Lady Bugs

Our little Joy has always been our little lady bug.

one of our friends gave us a gift of 1750 live lady bugs to help your plants and garden be protected from aphids and other bugs.

So on to the pictures:

Joy, Izzy and the Lady Bugs

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Bad Hair day for our Joy Joy!

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Look at all those Lady Bugs

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Becca shaking the Lady Bugs onto the Rose.  if you look close you can see the lady bugs falling onto the roses.

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Invasion of the Lady Bugs!!!!!

Izzy just giggled and giggled as they climbed up her leg.

More Pictures of Adoption Day

 

We brought two cameras to the court to make sure that we got pictures.  In true Murphy's law style the batteries were dead in both cameras and we were only able to get 5 or 6 pictures that were in the previous post.

We asked another couple if they could take a picture of our family sitting on the bench waiting and that is when we discovered that our cameras were dead.

He was so nice that he took pictures with his camera and got our e-mail address and sent us these wonderful pictures.

Turpin Family waiting for Court:

Turpin Family in front of the Judge:

The Courthouse in Fort Bend County:

 

THANK YOU GARLAND for taking the pictures!!!!!!

Adoption Day

Today was a wonderful day!!!!

Today we woke up very early (4:30 for adults and 5 AM for kids - ugh).  Then we got ready and drove through an amazing rain storm down to the Fort Bend County Court House.

We walked into the wrong court.  We obviously looked out of place - so they sent us over to the Family Court, instead of the Criminal Court. (!)

The kids were able to go through their first metal detectors (exciting!).  Upstairs on the third floor, we meet other families having their adoptions finalized.  We were the third family to finalize today.  We all came up to the front (all seven of us!!) when we were called.  We were all sworn in (the Judge was being kind to the kids - it was cute!).  Then the attorney read through the Adoption Decree and asked us a bunch of questions.  Then the judge asked us if we had any questions.  Then he asked the kids if they had any questions.  He handed out a stuffed animal to all the kids.  (They were turtles - we named Joy's "Judge.")   Then he granted the request.  It was over - we have officially adopted Joy!  WAHOO!

Daddy, Joy, and Mama

 

Joy, Daddy, and Judge the Turtle

On the way home, we drove through our old neighborhood and got to visit with my friend, Myra.  That was nice to catch up!

We stopped at the newly re-opened Valley Ranch and Grill for lunch.  It was yummy! 

Five Turpin girls - legally, even!

Our baby is officially 100% ours!  WAHOO!  YEAH! 

Happy Day!!

Beautiful Flowers

Jan, from Jason's work, gave Joy these wonderful flowers for her special day tomorrow!!!
She wrote this cute poem:

Joy! Joy! We're in a whirl!
Now, Joy! Joy! You're our girl!!

(Thanks!!!)

We look forward to going to Court and finalizing the adoption.

New Blankey

Sister Otteson in our ward made Joy a blanket. It is so cute! It is a really cute lady bug print on one side and red poka dots on the other. We love it! Joy loves it!!!
Here is a not-so-good picture of the blanket and then a cute video Bec made of her. Enjoy!

Seeing Double

This morning I put Joy in front of the mirror and she found a friend! She talked and talked to her friend in the mirror. We tried to get pictures, which was hard because we didn't want to get us in the pictures, just Joy. It was fun!





We made a little video. You can see me trying to get out of the way :)
The voice belongs to Becca
At first she is sucking on her hand (translation - I am hungry) and looking at us, but then she sees her friend. Enjoy!

Joy in the Wildflowers

We went to Washington on the Brazos today. The wildflowers were beautiful! Enjoy!

In other news - we have a COURT DATE - April 18th - yeah! Joy will be legally ours! WAHOO! We are so excited!





Video of Joy below:

Happy Joy

I realized that I have left everyone hanging - Joy is better. Yeah!
She is happy again.
Developmentally what are we working on? We are working on drinking from a cup (not interested), sitting and playing with toys (likes that one), and tummy time (we have GOT to crawl before we walk, although Joy would GLADLY skip crawl and go straight to her feet!).
Joy still has no teeth. I read that her teeth might not come in till she's 12-14 months - wow! I see more jars of baby food in my future.
OH! Something else I stumbled upon. Flat heads, hmmmmmmmmm............. Flat heads are common for babies with DS. What? Why didn't I know this sooner? I will figure it all out one day! :)
Joy is babbling non-stop now. It's pretty much just variations of Dada, but it is noise. She also likes to say Baba. I have heard Sasa, but NO Mama - despite my best efforts. :)
Joy has become a Mama's girl. That is not to say that she has developed stranger anxiety, but she prefers me. No complaints here! :)
We are also trying to learn about Armenian culture. Joy's birthday is fast approaching and if there is anything special that Armenians do, I'd like to include it. So I'm researching. We'll see what I find!

A picture and a video of a healthier and happy Joy:

We are seeing spots!

Our sweet baby has hives! The poor thing is covered. :(
We feel so bad for her. They told us that sometimes there is no way to know why a baby suddenly breaks out in hives. She is getting 1/3 of a teaspoon of Benadryl every six hours. We are keeping everything off of her (clothes) and just laying her on her diaper. Poor, sweet girl. In three to four days, we should have our sweet baby back.

In good news, we got the final piece of information that we were waiting on for Joy's adoption. Now it's just up to the attorneys to figure out Texas and California law and make her ours!!! We are hoping to be final before the family reunion in July.

Happy Easter!

What a joyous day! Easter morning! I love the hope and promise of Easter morning!
One day we will be resurrected and be united as a family! Wonderful day!
And the promise of freedom from stain and sin - wonderful day!
Here are some pictures of Joy! They are fuzzy, but she is smiling! One of them she is playing with her feet. :)

New Smilebox

Becca created a new smilebox for everyone to enjoy!
We were inspired from Victoria's oh-so-cute smilebox.
Enjoy!

Make a scrapbook - it's easy!

9 Month Check-Up

l
Joy went to see Dr. Sandifer for her nine month check-up.
We were able to say that she says dada and makes a smacking sound!
Yeah!!! Two developmental milestones (but I won't tell you out of how many :) )!
She is 16 pounds 10 ounces and a grand 26 inches long!!
She only had to have two shots - Heb and polio. She is doing great!

Lollipop lollipop Oh lolli lolli lolli Lollipop

Yesterday Joy discovered lollipops. Surprisingly, she likes them!!
Look - she's reaching for things now!

Grandpa Turpin and Joy with the Lollipop

Favorite Phase

I love the stage Joy is in. She loves everyone!
We can almost hear her say, "OH! It's my Mom!" as she grins with her whole body!
She is a lover of people. The ladies at church just love her. Every week someone new tells me how cute she is. :)

My Young Women just adore her. They hold her every chance they get!

Here is a random picture of Sammi feeding Joy.

More therpay and musings

Here is Joy today enjoying Becca's flute practice. Sorry it's sideways, turn your head! :) Joy is the most joyful person I have EVER meet. We are so grateful to have her!


Friday was therapy. Here are more photos. Miss Carolyn says that "Joy's got it goin' on!" She is doing really well. She is thrilled that Joy is babbling and saying "Da Da." She also says that she thinks Joy will actually crawl earlier than most DS babies! I knew it!!!! Ya-hoo Joy!!




And last of all something I have been pondering about lately. All babies love babies. It is so cute to watch. But Joy, to me, seems to be different. She loves babies. She is so interested in other babies. We went to visit a friend of mine at the hospital after she had her baby and Joy practically leaped from my arms to be able to see this little guy. She was 5 months old at the time. Maybe it's just her very loving and sweet nature. I wonder if there's something more to it. She's never jealous if I pick up another baby. She just loves. There is a part of me that wonders if it's because she's a twin. She spent nine months with another baby, growing and developing. What is the "twin thing?" There is something about being a twin. There is a connection between twins that others don't share. I wonder if that isn't why she loves babies so much. Of course, I could be wrong. It could just be who she is, who she always has been, and who she always will be.

Joy and Jacob (who is ONLY 3 months old!!!)

Joy and her cousin, Michael (in July of 2007)

Babbling

Joy babbles!!!! All babies babble, right? Nope.
Babies with DS usually start babbling around 10 months - IF they babble.
And babbling is a very good indicator that the child will be verbal later in life!
Wahoo!
Our therapist was telling me about one of her clients who is five and now talking. She was very excited - 5 years old and now talking???
Anyway, I think (I could be wrong)that Joy will be talking way before then. We'll see.

But.....she's babbling. She's making all the sounds she's supposed to - the vowels, the d, the g, the b, occasionally the m. She also says da-da!
She may be a little delayed on the normal charts, but she's ahead on the DS charts!
She is her own little human - and she's wonderful!

Our pictures today are of Joy gnawing on a pizza crust from Lizzy's 5th birthday and outside on her swing. Enjoy!

Latest therapy pictures and a personality change

Here are our latest therapy photos.
Joy is working on sitting up. She can do so for about a minute - sometimes. Other times, she just flops over. :)

She loves to stand - no, she isn't standing all alone there. She is leaning against a chair, but it's a great picture! She likes to stand up against things. You have to be really careful, though, because she has no balance! :)

And the third picture she is working on looking up and on extending her arms. She has to learn to extend her arms and bear weight on her arms before she can crawl.

And the personality change..........................Joy has always been the sweetest, best, and easiest baby. Her cry sounded like a little kitten's mew. She was always so undemanding and pleasant. :) Well, she turned 8 months old and that has changed. She is a very spoiled, loved, catered-to little baby girl. Her sisters adore her! She can't go very long without being covered in little girl kisses and hugs. If she whimpers, they rush to her side. But Joy will have it no more! She is determined to have us hear her voice! She has become loud! If she doesn't want that bottle and she wants the green beans on your plate, you will hear about it. If you are making dinner, you will hear Joy announce, "Hello! You're not worshiping me!" :) She is something else! We love this new side of her personality. She knows what she wants that's for sure! :)

You are a gift!

Someone gave us a small plaque that sits on a shelf next to Joy's shoes. It reads, "You are a gift!"

Joy is our gift! She is a wonderful, happy baby.
She does not like the camera, though.
So today I had Becca talk to her while I used the camera to try and capture some of her happiness. Enjoy!

Oh! Her newest thing - she has discovered her feet! It is so funny to look over at her holding onto her feet.

Joyous Joy

I've been trying to record happy Joy - but she's not very fond of the camera.
Here she is happy, but hungry!


I also wanted to post a great picture of Joy. Sammi took it during her bath - it's too close, but it's great to get a really good look at her eyes!

What is Joy doing now?

Joy is not sitting up by herself quite yet. (Despite what the pictures look like!)
She is still a wiggly little thing. She needs support. But she is doing SO well!
We are truly pleased with her efforts. Really, that's what it boils down to. She wants to sit up - yeah! Isn't that half the battle with anything? Everything from sitting up to gaining your own testimony starts with desire! And Joy has desire - yeah!

She loves food! She wants a bottle (6-8 oz) three times a day. But milk just doesn't cut it anymore. She also wants a jar of baby food with each of those bottles - there is a reason for those rolls! :) She is usually satisfied with a jar of Stage 2 baby food, but occasionally she'll look at me with a where-is-the-rest-of-it quizzical look. She is a very expressive little girl. My personal favorite baby food right now is Beech Nut. The texture is a bit more thickened than the Gerber. It's easier for us. (And it's just a little cheaper than Gerber - added bonus! :))

She has started bringing toys to her mouth - huge! She bonked her head the other day with a rattle and looked at me with such surprise. :) She just cracks me up! She has no teeth yet. I'm looking forward to that so we can start working on finger foods. I really want her to be able to sit, eat, and drink (from a sippy cup) by the time she's 18 months old so she (and the nursery leaders) can enjoy nursery! The therapist recommended we get a Nuby sippy cup. They have 2 - the $1 plastic ones you get everywhere and then a $2 one that has a softer spout. Yes, it is early for a sippy cup. But if we start getting her used to it, she'll be ready when it's time to use it. We put some water in it and put it in her mouth. She promptly chopped down on the spout and got a mouth full of water. She had no idea what to do with all of that water and it fell out of her mouth and all over her. :) I guess her bottles don't give her that much liquid all at once. All the things we learn.

:) We love this little girl so much!