Testing at the National Eye Institute and the National Institute on Deafness and other Communicative Disorders at the NIH in Bethesda, Maryland

I bet you don't have contacts like mine!

Don't worry....his eyes were numb!

Dr. Zalewski putting on the goggles

Getting ready to spin really fast!

We are finally through with all of the eye and ear testing! It took two long days. Brighton was a trooper, but was really exhausted afterwards. I learned so much while I was there. Dr. Zalewski made it a point to detail everything he was doing and explained vestibular function so well that I feel like an expert now. This was the first time I've ever been to a doctor who was nice enough to explain what he was doing and why he was doing it.

Brighton has no vestibular function. He will never be able to balance with his eyes closed. He doesn't know when he's falling. He has learned to compensate by using his vision to be able to tell when things are moving around him. The doctor said to NEVER let him swim in the ocean! he must have a life vest on ay all times in a lake. When he's in a pool he can wear goggles to help him know which way is up by opening his eyes under water. When he loses his sight, he will no longer be able to balance himself.

The interpreters we had were very kind. The couple that interpreted for Brighton during the audiology testing were amazing! I am so thankful that they were there.

Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
Isaiah 41:10

JOAD Outdoor 2008 - Lakeside

(a visitor)

Look what Brighton made! He asked if he could make Chinese dumplings. He mixed the ingredients, rolled out the dough, filled them with chicken and pinched the dough together. They were fantastic!

First time at swim lessons!

Brighton and Tanner passed their class!

Brighton took swim lessons at Adamson Lagoon this summer for the first time. His friend Tanner, who is also deaf and is in his class at school, was also in the swim class! Tanner's mom made sure the parks department set up an interpretor for the kids. They always give her such a hard time about it. It's frustrasting to always have to fight for your rights or your child's rights. I've been told that you never really get used to it and that we'll be fighting for him until he's 18, and then he'll be fighting for his equal rights as a disabled adult for the rest of his life.

I called the public library and requested an interpretor for "Snakes Alive!" for the boys on Wednesday after swim lessons. They had no problem getting an interpretor and were very kind! The boys had a really good time and loved touching the snakes. EEEEEEEEKKKKK!!!!

Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Psalm 150:6

Playing the recorder with the rest of the 4th grade class!

Getting his music award

Getting award from principal for being on the A Honor Roll all year!

School is out, and Brighton Sheng did fantastic! He received straight A's all year at school and only missed one day of school, and that was the day we went to Austin to finalize our adoption. He's also growing like a weed. When we arrived here in the US from China, he weighed 80lbs. and was only as tall as my shoulders. Now he weighs 120 and is as tall as me!

We're having a busy, busy, busy summer! Right now Brighton Sheng is taking swimming lessons and attending Vacation Bible School on the same week. Yesterday, we managed to squeeze in a trip to the library for Snakes Alive! He LOVED the snakes and even petted them...EEEKKKK!!

We leave for Maryland and Washington DC in two weeks for Brighton Sheng's appointments at the National Eye Institute. He is now a participant in their study on Usher Syndrome. I'm hoping to get a little bit of a better picture about his condition and what to expect for the future. We are going to go to see the White House while we are there. Maybe Sheng can run for president!!! : )

Our Re-Adoption of Brighton Sheng Anderson is Now Complete!!!!

Well, it looks like blogger isn't going to let me make paragraphs again. (not sure why it does this from time to time)

We traveled to San Antonio yesterday, March 26, 2008, to re-adopt Brighton Sheng. He will now get his U.S. birth certificate and social security number. He was so excited! When we first walked into the hallway to get to the courtroom, there were hundreds of photographs of babies and children who were adopted through that very court

Attorney Jana Olson Baker was just a blessing. She is one of the sweetest people I've met in this entire process! She came bearing gifts for the kids, a U.S. flag for Brighton Sheng, and she even offered to take photos for us. She told us her son is attending A&M! WHOOP!

Judge Martha Tanner was also really wonderful and down-to-earth. Her courtroom was very comfortable and she really made us feel at ease. She allowed Brighton Sheng to sit in her chair and hold her gavel. After the process was completed, she invited us all to stand behind her for a group photo. Brighton Sheng got to hold her large gavel, and she handed more out to the rest of our children. Josh got to hold the tiniest gavel! It was really a pencil with two erasers positioned horizontally at the top of the pencil.

After we left the court, we walked down the Riverwalk and ate there as well. Brighton Sheng kept commenting on how beautiful it was there. We found out the Riverboat Cruise was booked, so we will have to travel back to San Antonio so he can ride it.

We walked to the Alamo and toured the old mission. Brighton Sheng loved the cannons! He also liked throwing money into the old well and making a wish. It was a long and happy day!

Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Colossians 3:12

Order in Judge Sheng's court!

Signing The Pledge of Allegiance for Judge Tanner (momma forgot to put her hand over her heart....she was interpreting the pledge for the judge)

We can ask him whatever we want. He HAS to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth! hehehe!

Our family with Judge Martha Tanner

A cannon at the Alamo

Visiting the Alamo

Bridge over the Riverwalk in San Antonio

Brighton Sheng with momma

Spring Break camping Trip

Fishing for the big one!

Roasting marshmallows over the campfire

My happy boy!

Sheng shooting a freethrow

Wow! It has been so long since I've posted. There has been so much going on over the past several months. Let's see if I can get everything updated.

In December, Brighton Sheng couldn't wait for Christmas. He was SO excited about getting AND giving gifts. He wanted to know all about baby Jesus and why we celebrate his birth. Then, when school was out for Christmas break, he became very sick. This was his first really bad illness since coming to live in the US. He had a high fever on Christmas day and spent most of the day laying on the couch and in bed. The next day we took him to Urgent Care and they diagnosed him with Bronchitis and also put him on an inhaler to help with his illness-induced asthma. The poor guy would try so hard to play ping pong on his new table and would start coughing so hard he could barely breathe. Once he was better, he finally got to enjoy his gifts.

He also started Upwards Basketball and has played several games already. He LOVES to play basketball and says he is going to be like Yao Ming when he grows up. Basketball will be over this month and he is going to be so sad!

The skaters at the ice rink are always happy to see him arrive! He has shocked them all at how good he's gotten at skating. The little guy just zooms all over the rink, laughing, racing and signing to everyone. He's even spinning, if you can believe that! He just seems to be able to do anything he sets his mind to. Now he's asking to play ice hockey. We'll see once basketball is over.

He's doing fantastic in school and is really moving at a fast rate. He started 4th grade in the kindergarden readers, which includes 10 workbooks for each reader. He has already learned enough English to get through all of the K and 1st grade readers and is now in the 2nd grade readers and workbooks. He started at K levels and has passed up the other kids in his class!!!! They all seem to be doing better because there's a bit of a competition between them now to see who can do more.

I'm hoping to be able to post some new photos soon, but I have to figure out how to use Dani's new camera first!

Thanksgiving Meal at School!

Here is my happy, shining boy sharing his very first Thanksgiving meal with his class and the first graders who came to share also. He was really excited about the meal, and about everyone eating together. I'm so happy that his teacher chose to do this for her class. He turned his nose up when he saw the sweet potato casserole (something he does at home quite a bit) and kept saying no when I told him to try it. I put a dab on his plate and made him try it. His eyes grew very large, and he asked for a big helping! He LOVES sweet potatoes!


Our Thanksgiving at home wasn't what it usually is, which made me very sad for Sheng. He was able to share a meal in Hearne with his grandparents, but no one could come this year (no cousins) due to illnesses or being with other family members far away. He was really sad that no one came to play on Thanksgiving. This was especially difficult for me (Mom) after I told him for two months that he would be getting together with all of his cousins to eat and play.

Sheng helped prepare the meal and explained to me all of the foods he used to help cook in China. He said he wants to cook for people when he's older. After watching him in the kitchen, I have no doubt that he was very active in the kitchen at the school or at the orphanage. He tried everything we cooked, but decided that the sweet potatoes and the pecan pie were his favorites.

Sheng's vocabulary has REALLY grown, and it's amazing how much better we communicate. It especially helps when I'm trying to read to him. His face shows an understanding that wasn't there before when I read a paragraph from a book. He loves to ask me lots of questions about what is happening in the story, so he's more engaged in what is going on. It's so much more fun to read together now!

Sheng started basketball practice this week and was so excited that he couldn't sleep the night before. The poor guy wiggled and rolled and kicked and fidgeted till around 1:00 am. The evening after practice he told me that he was going to dream about practicing his basketball skills with Yao Ming. When I woke him up the next morning, I asked him if he dreamed about basketball and practicing with Yao Ming and he said he couldn't remember, but that he was going to try to dream about it that night again! LOL!

We've entered the "no" phase that all children go through. It's very strange as a parent to be going through this with a 10-12 year-old instead of a 2-4 year-old. Our bio children never told us no after their toddler years. This is one of those instances where Sheng has to go back and start over because he never experienced trying this on Mom and Dad as a little guy. The holding and rocking was easier (who doesn't want to hug and love on their child), but the no's and the deliberate disobeying at 10-12 are a bit harder to navigate.

It makes it quite a bit easier knowing why the behavior is happening and that it is a normal childhood milestone that Sheng must experience and get past in order to be healthy emotionally and to mature. If a little one can't or doesn't experience and get past these milestones as a baby or toddler, they are still going to have to get through them as an older child or adult. The tantrums are always worse the older the child gets. It's scary and sad to think about what happens to the children in abusive orphanages who are turned out on the street at 14, 15, or 16.

All in all, Brighton Sheng is doing wonderfully and has attached and bonded with Mom and Dad!!!! We are still working on bonding issues with his siblings. Dani and Sheng are the closest and do the most together. They play games together, make things together and communicate really well. They also fight the most too, but Sheng tells me that he loves Dani. He tells me about all of the things he wants to buy her for Christmas. When I ask him about Charly and Josh, he just shrugs his shoulders and says he likes them a little. We are working on helping them interact more and to pay more attention to their little brothers' feelings.

Josh decided on his own that he wants to take an ASL class at Blinn in the spring. Charly has learned more ASL than anyone in the family, but she hardly talks to him. (Charly is usually quiet around everyone anyway) The age difference plays a role as well. It really does take laying down some rules, making everyone sit down together to play games and to make time to talk in order to accomplish effective communication. Sometimes that means making them get off the internet, put the iPod away, etc...

Sheng has told me everything that he wants for Christmas. There isn't enough room on this blog to write it all down, LOL! I had to explain to him that he is only getting a few things and that he needs to focus on what the meaning of Christmas is and what he wants to do for others. We talked about how he never received anything for Christmas from the orphanage and how many, many children in orphanages and in some families everywhere will not be getting anything this Christmas. I told him that he is going to have the most wonderful Christmas of his life, but that I want him to think about what he might like to do to help other children less fortunate to have a happy Christmas too.

get ready, get set....

... leg wrestle!!!!!!!

Brighton Sheng and his sister were having a leg wrestling match. We still do not know who won because they were laughing too hard to remember or care. It was so funny to watch them flipping back and forth with their legs in the air while giggling uncontrollably.

Sheng's tree before crystals grow

Sheng's tree after crystals grow

Practicing archery...my favorite thing to do!!!!

From the KSBJ Morning Show

with Mike and Susan

The Sky Angel Cowboy…

October 29th, 2007

(from Mike & Susan) "Logan is 12 years old and listens to KSBJ on Sky Angel because he lives on a ranch in a very small town in Nebraska. He called us distraught because he had to take down a calf. His words have wisdom beyond his years. After many emails and phone calls we decided to put the audio online for you."

Listen to what he had to say… <---click on link and it takes a minute to load up. Sometimes you must click twice.

Fab Fall Fun!

I LOVE to bowl! You should have seen my fab bowling skills. Everyone in the alley heard the ball kerplunk from 10 feet up in the air! Mom and Dad thought I broke the floor.

My brother showed off his fab skills too and pulled a muscle in his thumb showing off. We had such a great time!

My aunt Theresa came to visit with my new cousin Zachary. I really love babies, and I took this picture all by myself.

My little cat at his first fall festival.

My little cat and his football fan sister at the fall festival. She didn't know that she had MTA instead of ATM on her cheek. (she did it in the mirror!) We all had a good laugh when we got home.

Fall is in the air, and Brighton Sheng absolutely LOVES it! He really hates the heat and is so happy that it has cooled off. The temperatures we've been experiencing the past week or so are generally what his summers were like in China. He is very sad that we will not be getting snow though. They have very cold winters with lots of snow in Liaoning Province.

The witches and goblins around town seem to have him a bit spooked, but he doesn't seem to be having any bad dreams or real concerns. His friend from China experienced nightmares and terror from all of the scary images last year.

Tomorrow night will be his first Fall Festival at church. Charly will be working in one of the booths with her Sunday School class. I may have to stay home with Dani and let David take him since Dani has been sick with pneumonia. Brighton Sheng has been so worried about her. He asked me if she is going to die. We are wondering how many children he's seen die in the past from illnesses at the orphanage. When we take her temperature he runs over to ask if it's good or bad. He told me he loves her so much and doesn't want her to be sick.

We carved pumpkins yesterday and had a blast! Brighton Sheng couldn't wait to get the candle into his. He was literally jumping up and down. When we were done he hugged me and smiled so big. Everything he does that is new to him brings such joy that it brings tears to my eyes and puts a lump in my throat. Every one of his firsts produces the same feelings in me as when our bio kids walked for the first time or learned to say "mama!"

Christmas is going to be so special for him this year! I vividly recall how sad I was last Christmas when I woke up in the morning with sadness in my heart. I thought about our little boy so far away who wasn't getting to open gifts or sit around the fireplace in his jammies, eating a candy cane and wrapped in mamas arms. When we had our Christmas meal I sat wondering what he was eating and if he was sad. The entire day was overshadowed with a sense of loss.

Brighton Sheng loves to be held and hugged and kissed and loved on. He may be 10 already, but emotionally he has never gone through the attachment/bonding phase that happy, well cared for infants get to experience. He also displayed some real anger for the first time a few weeks ago and he wasn't sure how to handle it. It was a very scary, emotional experience for both of us. There was quite a bit of pent up anger and frustration released that he had been holding in for years I believe. I think he's really starting to feel comfortable enough that we aren't going to hurt him or abandon him to express things he would have been beaten for in the past. This is a postive sign of attachment.



"Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honorable, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things." Philippians 4:8

Pumpkin carving time!

Drawing the face on...

Scooping out the pulp and seeds...

Carving the face...

My very first Fall pumpkin!