Lydia Mei and Daddy!

Benjamin.....11 years old

Aaron.....9 years old

Lydia Mei is 15 months old today! May 27, 2008

Some pictures from a beautiful weekend.....

The Newest Addition(s) to the Lenning Household!

Remember all those loads of laundry I counted? Well this washer will be a lot better for our well and septic system. Plus, I like the feeling of take off and landing with the washer's "jet engine"!

There Are No Orphans of God

There are no orphans of God

This is a very moving video. One of the moms we traveled with to China, a dear friend, shared this on her blog. I share it with you as it speaks to my heart and the need of millions of innocents.

Yep, sitting on the table......

....what do I do with this?

Jacob showed Lydia Mei how to use a crayon to make marks on the paper. I think she is more interested in the attention she is getting!

Whose belly is bigger??

Aaron and Lydia Mei comparing bellies.

Bittersweet Day

Yesterday was the day 6 years ago, that my dad passed away from a ruptured brain aneurysm at the age of 62. I had breakfast with my mom, brother, Curt, and Lydia Mei yesterday morning. We reminisced some, chatted about daily events, enjoyed Lydia Mei, and shared a few tears. We missed Todd, my brother who is a missionary in Togo, West Africa.

Lydia Mei would have been blessed to know Grandpa DeKryger. He would have loved on her like he did all his grandchildren. She would have known him to be godly, compassionate, and caring. She would have heard him read stories to her like "Curious Hank"--you know, Curious George! and would have heard him read Psalm 121 at signficant family events. We miss you, Dad! God has given us the strength and courage to go on!

This picture is my dad with Jacob, Elizabeth, Benjamin, and Aaron in 1999.

On the light side.....Lydia Mei

Elizabeth put together this humorous view of Life with Lydia Mei! Enjoy!

A New Milestone!

For the first time last night, Lydia Mei really didn't want her baby food for supper. I cooked some frozen mixed vegetables, sorted out the peas and carrots, and gave those to Lydia Mei to try. After all, she loves to pick up Cheerios and feed herself! I also cut up some small pieces of cheese for her. She decided she could feed herself these things! A little taste of chicken and some potato from my (homemade!) chicken pot pie and she thought she had arrived! She clapped for herself after each bite.

How fun for all of us to see her learn and master new things!

Saturday, May 3, 2008

On Saturday, Lydia Mei, Elizabeth, and I hosted an "Aunts and Cousins" luncheon with my dad's side of the family. I was feeling a great need to see my extended family and to share our precious Lydia Mei with them. What a wonderful afternoon of fellowship! My mom, sister-in-law, niece, 4 aunts, 6 cousins and a couple of their girls, came for the afternoon. I was SO BLESSED to have them visit. (And I missed the ones who were not able to come!) It is always a warm and comfortable feeling of home, being with my dad's family. Thank you to each one of them for coming and sharing food, laughter, and memories.

p.s. Jacob did make himself scarce for the party! I took his picture with Lydia Mei before the festivities began! Doug, Benjamin, and Aaron also made themselves scarce. Benjamin and Aaron each took an airplane ride in the morning with the Young Eagles program at the Kalamazoo Air Zoo. (What a great experience for them!) In the afternoon, Doug took them to Warren Dunes
State Park to climb the Lake Michigan Dunes.

Not Laundry.....but Lydia Mei!

Not sure which older child of mine put Lydia Mei in the basket OR took her picture. I thought the picture was rather cute, so here it is.

It hardly seems possible that 11 weeks ago yesterday was "Gotcha Day", and 11 weeks ago today was "Adoption Day". Boy, has time flown! Lydia Mei is such a joy. She is so happy and playful and easygoing during the day. She is still struggling with night terrors at night. And, she is making progress developmentally! Last Friday, she finally figured out how to feed herself Cheerios! This morning she ate the pile I gave her in record time! She is slowly gaining more strength in her legs. Next Monday is her Early On Assessment. We will find out if she needs any therapies to help her with developmental delays.