Maryn visited the preschool pumpkin patch, chose her perfect pumpkin, rode on a hayride with mommy and shared some special snacks with her friends!

 These two Shenzhen cuties are in school together this year and they are simply precious! 

 And they have another sweet little friend who makes them both smile!

 These two.  Both so cherished and loved beyond measure.  

 Maryn LOVES ballet.  She is practically teaching her sisters everything they know!  

 Maryn's ballet class had a special class so they were able to wear their favorite dress-up and parents were invited to attend.  

 Meanwhile, our big girls are busy getting fit at school!  Fun Run Day arrived and my two big girls were beside themselves with excitement as they raced around the track with their friends!

 MK and Chloe.  Our Chongqing besties.  Friends for life.  So thankful for both of these sweet girls!

 One advantage to having sisters in school is that the little sister has rights to meet and greet the school mascot, Wolfie!  

 She may be bitty but she is super mighty!  This girl ran and ran until I finally convinced her to stop for a moment and dance!

 And this sweet baby - we are so glad to report that she continues to improve and heal!  This picture was taken on our "turnaround" day, the day that we began to see the light at the end of the tunnel for healing!

 Maddox has enjoyed meeting lots of new friends at school!  These girls are super sweet and love being together at school and at play!

 Big chairs make for great pictures!

Surgery

We said YES to Chapman

though we didn't know exactly what her medical needs entailed

We had suspicions

And we knew it could involve surgery

BUT we knew she was ours AND we knew her medical needs were correctable 

 Wednesday, October 19, 2016 came a bit faster than we anticipated

Barely 5 weeks home and just as we were beginning to get a handle on our new family

 Chapman's spinal cord was tethered and in order to prevent any damage to her nerves or kidneys or bladder function, surgery was imminent as her cord needed to be untethered yesterday.....

 This baby is a treasure

A true blessing to all who have met her

She was all smiles and sweet sleep unless you were coming towards her with a thermometer - we all still pause and question why the thermometer was so unsettling to her as there was no pain at all involved in taking it under her arm.

 For 48 hours, this sweet girl laid on her back and never once fussed about it! Seriously.

 Bless.  48 hours later and she was able to get up for the first time.  We were all so excited yet I am pretty sure she would have preferred us to just leave her alone.  She was quite happy and in no pain just hanging out in her bed.  

 Surgery was on Wednesday, one night in the PICU, two nights in the "intermediate" PICU and we were on our way home!  

 Nothing made our hearts more full than to see Miss Chapman with her sisters and brothers.  They all could not get enough of her and she was all smiles as she began her recovery at home.

So thankful this surgery is behind us.  The surgery itself was not bad but the first week home was nothing for the weary.  Chapman hates to take medicine so wrestling her down every three hours for pain meds was no fun.  And then the bandage.  Ugh.  I had no idea what I was doing and I was so afraid she was going to break if I turned her the wrong way - not to mention she screamed every.single.time we had to change her diaper.  Finally, Friday came and the clouds began to part and the light shone through!  It was an amazing day filled with Chapman walking and playing and smiling and her little personality that we knew was in there began to appear again!