Tru's New Leg (#3) !

It has been 23 months since Tru received his first prosthesis. In that time he has outgrown two "new legs" and has moved on to Leg #3. He received his third prosthesis on February 25, 2010 but we had to go back today to have his new, larger foot added.


When you visit the prosthetist's office there is a routine:

Walk to the exam room.
Take off your leg and hand it over.
Wait.


Then have adjustments.

Here are Mrs. Angie (left) and Mrs. Lisa (right) making sure Tru is level.

Mrs. Angie is Tru's Prosthetist and Mrs. Lisa is Tru's Physical Therapist.

Tru has been very fortunate to have so many great female doctors!

Then take the leg for a spin.

Yes, this new leg definitely works well.
It is fast too!





















At the end of the delivery it was determined that Tru should have the next size foot. It would take some time for the new foot to be delivered so they decided to borrow his old foot. So we left with a new leg with an old foot and an old leg with no foot.


Today we went back for the new foot.

(Looks like Tru wore the same shirt as he did on the previous visit.)

Same routine:

Walk to the exam room.
Take off your leg and hand it over.
Wait.













Then it was time to take the new foot for a test walk.

A new foot = new shoes too!

Before we hit the road Mrs. Angie had to make one more knee adjustment.





Tru was fascinated with this adjustment because typically he has to remove his leg for all adjustments. This time he was able to watch what was happening.

He was all smiles.


And so the collection begins:
The Red Leg. (with two baby feet)
The Blue Leg.
The New Leg.













Previous "New Leg" posts:

Leg #2 - http://herpinfamily.blogspot.com/2009/03/trus-new-leg-2.html

Leg #1 - http://herpinfamily.blogspot.com/2008/04/trus-first-steps.html

Lin-Ley's Second Chinese Character Test - 110%

Lin-Ley had her second Chinese test yesterday. She had to know 40 characters and it was a challenge. Many of the characters, although they have different meanings and different strokes, sound just alike! We studied our 屁股 off!
Before the test I just told Lin-Ley to do her best as we shared a high-five. Two anxious hours later Lin-Ley proudly showed me her test. 110%!!!!!!!!!





GO LIN-LEY!
GO LIN-LEY!






















2 for 2 !
See Lin-Ley's first Chinese character test here:
http://herpinfamily.blogspot.com/2009/12/lin-leys-first-chinese-character-test.html

7 Years Of Loving Lin-Ley

On 3/3/2003 we officially became a Family of 3 !
Today marks the 7th anniversary of Lin-Ley's adoption. We have just wrapped up a two day celebration.
Yesterday was Gotcha Day (the day we actually held Lin-Ley for the first time). We always have to reenact that moment in time. Lin-Ley loves hearing about it.
Today was Adoption Day.

There have been extra hugs, kisses, sweet sentiment, cake and ice cream flowing in our home.


Here we are in China just days after becoming a Forever Family.














Other Happy Recent Events:



Happy Chinese New Year!
(Feb 14, 2010)















Lin-Ley and Mercy (another "China Girl" friend).





Happy Mardi Gras!
(Feb 16, 2010)
























Quote Of The Day:
By: Lin-Ley (on Gotcha Day 2010)
"I am so lucky to have a family that loves me."
(Ditto baby girl!)

The Snowiest Winter (Literally) - Continued

It is being reported that we have received 77.3 inches of snow since December. This has been the snowiest winter on record for Maryland.

EXACTLY HOW MUCH SNOW IS ENOUGH SNOW?


Waist high?


Fence high?




















PLAYING
































FROM THE KITCHEN WINDOW











Our neighbor getting his tractor stuck while trying to plow their driveway.


Neighbors helping neighbors.

















THE BIRDS

Dallas and Lin-Ley always make sure the birds have birdseed. But the supply was running low and the snow had covered the seeds that were there (on top of the rabbit cage). (We do not have a bunny right now but plan to have another eventually.) We were out of bird seed. What else could we feed the birds?


Do birds like Chocolate Cheerios?


They were on their way to make a special delivery.


9 out of 9 birds agree. Chocolate Cheerios are a perfect balance of whole grain goodness and a delicious touch of chocolate taste.






















DELIRIUM

The delirium set in around 3PM yesterday. I stayed busy with the mop and vacuum cleaner most of the day. Lin-Ley and Tru were cleaning messing up their rooms in between running from the vacuum. Dallas stayed busy with snow related activities. But enough was enough. We were bored and some interesting things started to happen.

DISCLAIMER: The kids dressed themselves. I make no excuses. (Remember we were in a state of delirium!)


There was much amusing singing and dancing….


We had to keep it upbeat. Wynonna sang “Hunk of Burning Love”, Shania sang “I Feel Like a Women” and of course there was Beyonce’s “Single Ladies”.

And now a short snippet of the kids and their dancing:



ALONG CAME TROUBLE

Dallas and Lin-Ley have been teaming up in their request for a dog. Tru and I are not on board with that idea. But today along came trouble. Literally.


This is Trouble. (Yes, that is her real name.) She showed up at our house today as Dallas was cleaning off the vehicles again. Dallas, never having met Trouble, instantly started giving her commands (sit, shake, etc.) to which she instantly performed. For that she received a piece of sausage and a safe waiting area in our basement until her owner came by looking for her. Nice doggy – but Tru and I have not given in yet.

WHERE ELSE WOULD WE GO?


We did not need anything but we needed to get out. Thank you Target for being open! There was one wrinkle, however. They did not have any popcorn. Oh the travesty!


But across the street…. How could we resist?















Dallas’ office is still closed tomorrow. He has had the whole week off. Lin-Ley’s school is closed until next Tuesday. Tomorrow Tru will return to school and Lin-Ley will go to a local church just to get out of the house. I will be back at work as well.

P.S. We are hearing a nasty rumor that we could be receiving more snow next week. Have mercy!

P.S.S. To those of you in Louisiana, have fun in the snow. Learn from my mistake. Stock up on junk food!

P.S.S.S. For those of you in upstate New York, there is something wrong about this snow situation….

Beautiful Snow Bunnies

Snow, Snow, Go Away!

Here we go again!

Digging Out

The first challenge was getting the snow blower out and started.

Then once it was out the question was where to start!

View from the kitchen window.

Dallas started on the driveway.

After removing some snow around the vehicles Dallas started cleaning off Rocket.

The truck.

The car.

Down the road.

Up the road.

Tru helped clean off the trash cans.

Dallas finally made it all the way to the road. Actually the road was not clear yet so in this photo Dallas was almost standing in the middle of the road.

There is still plenty more snow!

View of our house from the road.








P.S. We are expecting 6-10 inches more of snow tomorrow evening!