Journey with Haiyang

HAPPY FOREVER FAMILY DAY!

2010-10-13T13:56:00.000-07:00

First Meeting - Oct. 12, 2009

October, 2010

Sept., 2010

Best Friends

Yes it has been an entire year(and one day) since Haiyang became part of our family. It is hard to believe that this time last year we were just beginning to get to know each other. It is amazing what she has accomplished in 12 months. There was so much for her, and us, to learn. It is unbelievable what she has absorbed in such a short time. Her use and understanding of English is very near other 4 year olds. Her speech is coming along nicely with the help of Miss Melissa and speech therapy 2x's a week, and will only improve more once she has surgery in January. She has normal eating habits even if she does have an enormous, sweet tooth, food was such an issue this time last year -it drove me crazy. And I never thought I was going to get to say this, but her over all behavior is so much better. She is still pretty stubborn and is always testing but she wants to be a good girl most of the time, she will even say, "I might be good" especially on Sunday mornings, it makes me laugh because even she knows it is hard for her to be good. She really wants to please me but her sisters, now that is another story, she will annoy them to no end and takes great pleasure in doing so. Pretty normal sibling/4year old behavior, don't you think? The girls all adore one another in different ways and the last year has helped them all find their place in our family.

Socially Haiyang is doing great, she makes friend easily and gets along well with the kids in pre-school. She has a BFF, Marina our little neighbor, they will play for hours on end and never tire of each other. They are absolutely adorable together and so incredibly funny, listening to them talk is hysterical. They are not in the same pre-school but are doing Story Time at the Library together. HY is also making friends in school and has a couple girls she is particularly fond of. This time last year she was a bit aggressive and rough when playing but time taught her that wasn't necessary to get attention. She is still less than graceful and hugs harder than most but that is just her way, we all know to brace ourselves when she charges our way and when you do get that unsolicited hug - no words to describe it, she puts all her love into it.

Nothing I read or anything anyone told us, prepared us for adding a toddler to the family. It has been terrifying, exhausting, frustrating and a bit overwhelming but it has also been exciting, rewarding, heartwarming, fun and full filling. I don't think any of us could imagine our family without Haiyang and I am pretty certain she feels the same way. Often when she is falling asleep she will say, "I love my Mom, I love my Dad, I love my Sisters, I love my dogs and I love my house... I love my family" - that makes the hard part all worth it.

Happy Forever Family Day Haiyang!!!

Summer is in full swing!

2010-07-22T07:40:00.000-07:00

Tessie napping on Grandma Gail.

Lucie decided to fly her kite just as it was beginning to storm.

Watching a 3-D movie with BF Willow.

The new addition to our back yard- not exactly classy but super fun!
Hoping for a real pool next summer.

JD & Lucie at Kennywood.

2010-06-29T06:15:00.000-07:00

Glitter!!!

Lizzy went to school

Aviary

Science Fair

Dancing at Kennywood with OCA.

Summer Fun!

2010-06-29T05:39:00.000-07:00

Summer vacation has finally started for us and we are in full force. The girls have already done a Church Camp, which they all loved, and Haiyang also did a 4 day camp at her pre-school. Oh yes, I haven't posted in so long maybe everyone didn't know HY started pre-school in March. She LOVED it!!! I was so worried that she wouldn't listen but she did fine for the most part, aside from a jelly bean stealing incident. She has a pretty, huge, sweet tooth so she really can't be blamed for being tempted by candy. She even made a few friends that happened to be at the same Church Camp so that worked out perfectly.

Haiyang's speech continues to improve all the time, she is currently going to speech therapy 2x's a week. She does seem to enjoy speech but some days give Miss Melissa a hard time, if she isn't in the mood... ughh.

Lucie and HY are both doing gymnastics this summer, HY was so excited her 1st day that she could hardly contain herself. And Lucie made the Youth Gym team this year, which was a pretty big deal, since it was her 1st time to have to "try-out" for anything. We were all very excited about it and she is looking forward to being part of the team and attending meets in the fall.

We are enjoy having the days off of school and Tessie and I are really enjoying not having homework!!!! We had a great time with Dave's sister Mary and family visiting a few weeks ago, it was so much fun since her little ones are around HY's age, they all played so nice together. Again, I was worried about HY's behavior but she couldn't have done better. And it was really nice to see L & T being the "big girls". They enjoyed helping Grandma and Aunt Mary and playing with the little ones. Our nephew JD is here now and spending a few nights with us so we are taking him to Kennywood. This is our second trip this season, the 1st was during Asian Heritage Day, Lucie's Dance group performed so of course we had to make a day of it.

We have already made a few trips to Lisa's pool, the girls LOVE to swim and HY has no fear of the water. We also purchased one of those huge, inflatable, water slides, it is proving to be much fun for the kids and their friends. Hopefully this time next year we will have our own pool.

Best wishes for a safe and fun summer to all!!!!!

Happy Chinese New Year!!!

2010-02-22T16:24:00.000-08:00

Wow I just realized that I haven't taken any time to give an update on HaiYang. Here is a brief update along with some recent photos. We completed all of the necessary "coming home" medicals, all blood tests came back fine, and both tests done on her heart looked good, no restrictions on activities and no need to go back until she is 7! We will begin speech therapy soon, there is a possibility of a palate surgery if her speech doesn't improve in that time. When it comes to cl/cp there is no standard of what to expect for surgery, every case is different and things change as children grow. For now there is the possibility of the palate surgery in 6months, she will have another around the age of 9 to correct the gaps in her upper gum - this involves taking bone from the hip to fill in the missing bone - then maybe some cosmetic surgery when she is a little older, they do not like to do anything cosmetic until they are done growing. So nothing too scary in the near future, thank goodness because she was less than cooperative with the entire cl/cp team, it was a long visit and Haiyang does not like going to any doctor.

Her language is really coming along. She may not be able to make all of the necessary sounds but she has learned an amazing number of words in such a short time. She is putting sentences together and is mostly speaking English, we can understand maybe 80% of what she is saying. As before, when we don't understand her she will usually do some signs to get her point across. It is really cute some of the things she comes up with, we were going to my niece's basketball game over the weekend, when we were getting ready to go she said, AhhKalala (Olivia) and something I couldn't understand, then she motioned dribbling, so cute! I said, "Oh yes, we are going to watch Olivia play basketball", she is so relieved when I figure it out. Sadly she says very little in Chinese these days, I do wish there was a way we could have held onto her language for her but in those 1st few months it was more about learning how to live together and communicate than anything else.

HaiYang still has a very strong opinion about almost everything. Getting dressed to go out is torture!!! She has dozens of cute outfits to pick from but will only wear a small selection of about 4 tops and 3 skirts, she basically wears the same 4 outfits over and over, sometimes the same outfit for days at a time - it drives me crazy!!!!! And she changes her clothes all day long, usually she'll stop once she settles on a pair of orange shorts and a tank top. I can't figure out if it is a case of too much to choose from or maybe she just can't get comfortable??? Who knows, I only hope she outgrows it.

Haiyang is a very active little girl, she has far more energy than her sisters had at that age. She enjoyed the snow in small doses, there were lots of issues with glove falling off, snow in the boots all the usual snow playing hazards and of course we had so much snow that there were days she couldn't even walk in it, so that took some of the fun out of playing in the snow. Oh and she also has a taste for snow, yuck. I must have told her 100 times not to eat the snow but every time I looked at her she was licking snow off of something, we have 3 dogs so not such a good idea on our property. She is really a little pistol, a few days ago after eating a blow pop, she said, "where gum go".. hmmm where did it go? I assumed she swallowed it, well after a bit of back and forth she finally admitted it was in her nose... yep she jammed her nose full of gum!!! Gross!!!! That was a first, I am not sure how I avoided anyone doing such a thing until now. She really gets into everything and anything she can, keeping me on my toes.

Merry Christmas!!!

2009-12-29T05:28:00.000-08:00

Happy 4th Birthday HaiYang

Bananna split for breakfast??? Why not?

Christmas Eve and Christmas morning were a blast!!! Everyone including Haiyang jumped in and immediately started ripping open their gifts, it really takes much longer to wrap than to unwrap. Haiyang finished and asked for more, haha. Lucky for her, her B. Day is the 26th so she had more to open the next morning. We celebrated her day Christmas evening with a Dora cake (of course) which she loved, every morning she asks for "happy birthday to you" meaning cake. Her speech is really coming along, it is amazing how much she has picked up the last few weeks, making our communication much better!!

Maybe a little late but I hope you all had a Merry Christmas and are enjoying the holidays. We are having much fun here. Haiyang enjoyed decorating cookies and playing in the 1st snow, she LOVED it!!!!

I was able to join Tessie for her Christmas party at school, it was fun to see her with her classmates and meet her new friends. Tessie has a fantastic teacher this year and a small class with a nice group of kids.

December Fun!!!!

2009-12-18T21:53:00.000-08:00

This is my girls uniform. She has so many adorable outfits to pick from and this is what she wants to wear, don't you love the shoes?

Lucie's Christmas recital, she played "Frosty the Snowman" and did an excellent job.

We really packed alot of fun into last weekend. We also had an Ice Skating Party with TRFCC, we went to the PPG Rink - so much fun!!!! If you live in PGH and you have never done this you must do so this winter, so very festive. Lucie and I were holding our own on the ice and Tessie deserves a medal for her effort, she may have spent more time down than she did up but she had a blast and was a really good sport about it. Haiyang maybe didn't have the best time but she did enjoy looking at all the ginger bread houses on display.

So we headed out to "cut down" the Christmas Tree. This is our 5th live tree and I believe the 4th year of cutting our own tree, Lucie LOVES it!!!! I thought of going artificial, to make things a little easier this year, but L.Q. was having no part of that. We go to a tree farm that takes you out on a sort of hay-ride and you get to chop your own tree. So we set out to find the perfect tree, we have had some crazy trees, the 1st year I was super excited myself and we ended up with an insanely huge tree that of course fell over and broke the tree stand, my Dad built us a tree stand that could hold the White House tree, we will never have a tree fall again. One year the tree was 1/2 dead inside, it had been covered in snow when we chose it. Another year it had an odd trunk that branched out into two at the top. But this year we have the BEST TREE EVER!!!! Perfect!!! Well the decorating may not be but the tree is super!!

Yep that is my man chopping us a tree. We forget that Haiyang doesn't always get what we are doing so it surprised us that she wasn't having fun on the tree trip. Then it occurred to us that she probably thought we were crazy! She did enjoy the hot chocolate and cookie at the end and loved helping me with the lights and hanging ornamants.

19 Day 'til Christmas

2009-12-06T07:10:00.000-08:00

Amazing how much fun uncooked pasta and water can be.

Here are a couple pictures from this past week. Things are continuing to move along, it gets a little better each day, not to say we don't still have tough moments (days) but it is getting a bit easier. And as the picture above shows, Tessie and Haiyang are becoming better friends, of course it helps when HaiYang is in the mood to do what Tessie wants to do - haha.

HaiYang is continuing to pick up more and more words and communication has improved greatly. It is fun to hear her speak English and we can tell she is quite pleased with herself as she learns more words and phrases. She is starting to calm down some but I have a feeling she is just going to be one of those really active kids. She rarely stops moving and gets into everything although she is beginning to learn that some things are not for her to get in, it doesn't really stop her it just slows her down :-). Fortunately Lucie and Tessie are very good at letting me know when she is doing something she shouldn't. Actually Tessie is VERY good at this.

Christmas is going to be super fun, she loves all of the decorations and really enjoyed decorating the tree we put up in the dining room. Next weekend we are heading out to cut down the "family tree", I am sure she'll get a huge kick out of that. We also have an ice skating party at the PPG Rink with TRFCC (Three River Families with Children from China), I know she love all the decorations and trees there will be to see there. Now if I could just get my shopping and decorating done!

More Pictures

2009-11-24T07:27:00.000-08:00

2009-11-24T06:15:00.000-08:00

We have been home a little over 4 weeks now, things are going well, still some adjusting to do on every one's part but we are getting there. The first few weeks home were a bit rough at times but we all survived. Haiyang seems to be learning how to live in a regular home and most definitely enjoys having a family. Her and Lucie simply adore one another, her and Tessie... well they are working on it. I have found that when it is only Haiyang and Tessie in the house they get along much better. I supposed Lucie comes with a little too much competition for both girls, Tessie wanting to be the "big sister" and Haiyang wanting Lucie's attention. Haiyang also knows that it is very easy to get a rise out of Tessie and takes every opportunity to do so. Now there are times when then all 3 play together just wonderfully and I thoroughly enjoy those moments.

Haiyang is a true little sister, she has started to copy everything the girls do from tumbling, to wearing the same type clothes, to using the same cups and utensils, it can really be a pain when I have to produce 3 of the same item, and she will not settle for anything less, there have been nights I would take pajamas out of the laundry so they could all have a nightgown rather than pjs. She is very strong willed, which will probably serve her well later in life, for now it is just driving me mad.

The tantrums are much less, I think now that we are communicating better she is less frustrated, and she is also realizing that as strong willed as she is, I can be more. If I say no, I mean it!!! I am really trying to be consistent with her so she can learn how we do things, a little annoying for Lucie and Tessie because some of the things they used to be allowed to do I have had to stop. Like snacks & drinks in the family room, it was too confusing for her why sometimes you are allowed to eat in the family room and other times you have to sit at the table. And not being able to stay up late on weekends isn't fun for the girls either, if I can get Haiyang sleeping then the girls can sneak back down to watch TV or whatever. I am not the most disciplined person so this has been a real lesson for me too.

Haiyang has a super cute personality when she isn't mad about something. She loves to get a laugh, that's a Steinmetz thing, she seems to be very bright too so I think she'll catch on to the language quickly. She is already putting 2 word together and says something new almost every day. She loves anything Dora, not to watch but anything with Dora on it, she won't even let anyone else us the Dora plate we have, fine with Lucie and Tessie they let go of Dora a long time ago. She isn't much for TV but loves to watch Tom and Jerry. She is eating a little more normal now and loves bologna, she can even say bologna. She like playing babies and loves to play with our little neighbor Marina, they do very well together even with the lack of language. Marina is an absolutely, adorable, little girl and she will tell me every time Haiyang says something in English, I think she wants to take credit if she says anything new, very cute.

All in all things are going well most of the time. I will be honest, this it is much harder than I expected yet it seems to get a little easier every day.

I so appreciate all the cards, gifts and phone calls, our family has been blessed with amazing people to love and care about our family. Thank you!!!!!

We wish you all a wonderful Thanksgiving!!!

More Pics

2009-11-04T07:42:00.001-08:00

2009-11-04T07:02:00.000-08:00

We have been home a little over a week and things are going well, most of the time, it is a big adjustment for everyone. HaiYang is understanding more each day which makes things a bit easier. She is sleeping in her own bed and usually only needs us to come in one or two times, can't complain about that. She has a really cute personality and loves to get a laugh, she is always making silly faces trying to get us to laugh at her. She also has some pretty great dance moves. She is very independent, not always such a good thing, she is into everything thing!!!!!! I had to hide as much food as I was able to and get the rest on high shelves in the fridge and pantry. If I am not watching she'll suck down juice boxes one after another, they had to go out in the garage. Maybe she isn't used to being able to eat any time of the day, I am trying to let her have snacks when she asks but keep them small, I am hoping the novelty of having so much available will wear off.
Yes we took her out for Halloween! No I didn't plan on it, I thought it would be too much but L & T were getting costumes on and she stripped down and grabbed the Minnie dress to put on. She really likes girly things so the dress was right up her ally. She did pretty well going door to door, and was thrilled to be receiving candy at each house. We went with the neighbors and all the girls had a great time running together. HaiYang had a little jealousy issue with Dave carrying our little neighbor, hopefully she'll get over that too, she is pretty possessive of everything.
She is saying a few more words... more, thank you, please, pumpkin, NO, milk and she remembers every ones names which is great. She still speaks to me in Chinese but I think she knows I don't know what she is saying because she is usually grinning, probably saying something she shouldn't, haha. She will also go on and on in Chinese to the play phone, it cracks me up. I feel so bad that she has so much to say and we can't understand her.
She is happy much of the time but still gets very angry when she doesn't get her way, although her tantrums don't last as long and they are not as loud. And she can really tear through the house, wow our house hasn't looked like this in years, haha, I tried to clean up but she is pulling something else out at the same time. I guess I forgot how busy toddlers are.
On that note I need to get back to the busy toddler, although Matthew is home sick so I have a little help with entertainment today, she adores both Matthew and Olivia!!!

HaiYang at home

2009-11-04T06:53:00.001-08:00

Making friends with dogs

Trick-or-Treat

Silly Face

2009-10-27T00:31:00.000-07:00

Visit to the White Swan

2009-10-27T00:24:00.000-07:00

We're Home!!

2009-10-26T23:25:00.001-07:00

We finally arrived home after 37 hours of travel. Our flight was delayed 7 grueling hours in Beijing although that did work to our advantage during flight, HaiYang slept for 9+ hours!!!! Thank goodness, when she was awake she was so busy and wiggly and we were in coach on a packed plane - no room for her to move. She managed to hide Dave's hat and Lucie's glasses several rows back, thank goodness someone saw me crawling around on the ground looking, they found both under their seat.

We arrived in Newark around midnight, of course we missed our connecting flight and could not get on another plane until 6pm - we opted to rent a car and drive, we were home by 8:30am. We sort of threw my poor sister for a loop since she wasn't expecting us until 7:30pm. Olivia was here to greet us, I was so happy to see her and be home I burst into tears the minute I saw her. So did Tessie, she was crying & hugging her and saying, " I missed you" over and over, it was so sweet.

It was really cute when the girls took HaiYang to her room, she loves it, especially the play kitchen. She checked everything out and is continuing to do so by exploring every drawer, closet, cabinet, bag, purse in the house. She has found things I forgot we had, the house looks like it has been ransacked! She took to Olivia immediately and pulled her all over the house to get a better look. So funny, every picture she sees of the girls she has to call them to see it, I guess she doesn't realize that they have already seen the pictures. Who knows she probably thinks this is another hotel and we'll be moving to another soon.

On a less than positive note, she is scared of the dogs and seems to be terrified of Sydney. Such a bummer, my poor dogs are stuck in the kitchen until she learns to like them. She does show some interest by getting really close to the gate then running away. She was throwing things at them but is learning that is not allowed. She loves to throw treats at them ( not to them) and will yell at me when they are at the door to come in. If they bark, she gets really scared, which is bad because my dogs bark all the time. Yesterday she started yelling "STOP IT" when they barked, very funny. Oh and she can say Bianca and Baby, Sydney is a little harder.

She is sleeping in her bed tonight and did also last night. I read to her until she fell asleep and both nights she has needed us to go back in to get her back to sleep. It will take time, I am just happy we are out to a good start. I know she would prefer Dave put her to bed but I want her to get used to me doing it so it isn't a problem when he is traveling. She is really a Daddy's Girl.

She is eating much less than the 1st week, thank goodness, I really thought that was going to be a problem. Candy is a problem, if she sees it she wants it and will pitch a fit to get it. I made sure to hide everything I could find. She still managed to rummage through Lucie's room until she found some, I have no idea were she even found it although Lucie is a pack-rat so she probably has a stash in there somewhere. I also had to put all the crayons and markers up high, she will write on anything and keeps finding pencils even when I think I have hidden all of them. If we tell her no about doing something, she'll give the sideways look and do it really quick anyway, I honestly think she understands more than she wants us to believe.

We are all very happy to be home, it seems to be easier on our own turf. But I will say three kids are much much harder than two!!!!!!!! I know you all warned me but I had no idea!!!! I am sure it will get easier once we don't have to watch her so close, fortunately Lucie is more than happy to help keep an eye on her to keep her from destroying everything in her path and to keep her safe. We could not have done this without the girls, they have been amazing and I am so very proud of them.

Final Post

2009-10-21T05:31:00.000-07:00

We have officially adopted HaiYang on both sides. We went to the American Consulate this afternoon to take the oath, with about 60 other families, there were so many babies and toddlers - it was insane & frightening!!!!! HaiYang will become a U.S. Citizen at the 1st point of entry, for us that is Newark, NJ.

Can not wait to be back in PA, I don't even care if it is snowing!

See you soon!

xoxoxoxo

Funny Sign

2009-10-20T22:08:00.001-07:00

The signs are hysterical, this was on the Great Wall.

Zoo

2009-10-20T18:13:00.001-07:00

This was taken at the Zhengzhou zoo, I wasn't sure if I posted it earlier.

Panda

2009-10-20T17:47:00.001-07:00

McD's

2009-10-20T17:19:00.001-07:00

At McDonalds with Andrew and Kalib.

Group Pic

2009-10-20T16:57:00.001-07:00

2 Days

2009-10-20T16:28:00.001-07:00

We are leaving in 2 days!! We depart 10am Friday morning (Thursday night US time) arrive in Pgh. 10:27 pm - Friday night from Newark. We do have a 3 hour layover in Newark and a 2.5 hour layover in Beijing both making it a very long trip.

We have the US Consulate appointment and swearing in today and should receive HaiYang's visa today as well.

We are all anxious to get home, the girls miss the house, the dogs, their family & friends, and I think they are even missing school. We did a pretty good job of keeping up with the homework so I am hoping they will not be too far behind.

HaiYang is doing well, we got through yesterday with only 2 major tantrums. Unfortunately bed time is getting worse and worse with her screaming for what seems like forever, she does not want to go to bed!!!!! I have no plan for this when we are at home either, bed time has always been little problem for us as it was.

She does really like the girls although she is so rough with them, and she needs to learn not to hit when she wants their attention or doesn't want them to do something. I can not believe Tessie hasn't hit her back yet, maybe that is just what she needs ;-).

We are happy that she seems to be eating less. The 1st week she would eat and eat and eat, until we would have to get the food completely out of sight. She is still eating alot but seems to stop on her own, we still can't linger too long or she will nibble more but at least she isn't stuffing herself quite so much. She does enjoy the restaurants and the attention she gets from the waitresses, they are all so great with the kids/babies, I think HaiYang really likes having someone understand what she is saying. When they translate for us it is usually things like, "that is pretty", "I am hungry", "look at that", I still get a kick out of her talking, it seems like she is talking so fast. I am guessing her speech isn't terribly effected by her cleft, anyone that speaks mandarin seems to know what she is saying. She is repeating a few words but other than our names, yummy, hi, bye and thank you she doesn't use them on her own. She is starting to understand some of what we say to her, if i really want her to do something I try to keep it to a one or two work command, "sit down", "come", "wash hands", "no" of course we use that alot!!!!! Dave is still using the 10 or so words/phrases he learned too, I sort of gave up on that.

She loves looking at all the pictures we have taken, I'll open them on the laptop and she'll look at them for a long time, her and Lucie spent a good amount of time doing that last night. She really likes the pictures from New Hope and called her one Nanny, "mama", she also likes the few I took at the orphanage and gets really excited at one picture of a little boy, she names everyone too. She'll yell for Tessie (teshee) or Lucie (Looshee) when we get to their pictures and sometimes will not stop until they come to see their picture. She also likes her picture being taken (if she is in the mood) she has figured out we laugh at silly faces so we are getting alot of those, very cute. Sorry I am not posting any of them but they keep bouncing back "undelieverable" not sure what the problem is, maybe once we get home I can post a few.

Ok miss you all, can't wait to get home. We'll call or e-mail if our flight changes.

Lots of Love

Kristie

Another day in Guangzhou

2009-10-19T03:46:00.000-07:00

Still a few hours to go but so far it appears we are going to survive another day. HaiYang's TB was negative as expected, thank goodness. One of the other families had a scare, but after the x-ray their son was also negative so we are all cleared to go, just waiting on visas and the final swearing in.

We tried to do a little shopping at the Pearl Market, uhhh I don't think Christmas shopping will be very easy this year. HaiYang took several fits and rolled in God knows what on the floor of the shops - yuck!! I saw a few things I would have liked to buy for gifts, sorry but just couldn't do it, we had to leave. We went back to Shamian Island for lunch at Lucy's, they serve their version on American food, it was fine. We did a little shopping for HaiYang there and after eating she was in a much better mood.

It is very warm here, if I calculated correctly it was probably in the low 90's today and a bit humid. When we returned to the hotel we decided to see what HaiYang thought of the pool - SHE LOVED IT!! She wasn't sure for about the 1st two minutes then just loved it! She was jumping in and giggling. Every time she jumped she would curl into a ball after I grabbed her, so funny. One of the other little girls had goggles so HaiYang used her sunglasses for goggles, very cute. As we expected when we had enough she had not, oh my did she have a fit!!!! She was so mad she was smacking the floor and screaming!!! In case I haven't mentioned it a few times - she really has a temper!!! WOW!!! I am trying to tune it out and give as little reaction as possible, hoping she outgrows it.

She really likes water, she just took another marathon bath, I think she washed her hair about 6 times and her legs about 10 times, she is really cute doing it too. After her bath she combs and combs her hair and then calls me to dry it, she likes the hair dryer. She is always pretty pleasant in the evening, until bed time anyway.

She is still calling me Ayi but has also started to call me Mooomeeeee although she has also called Maryann Mommy. It's fine I am sure she just thinks I am another nanny passing through. She mostly calls Dave BaBa, the chinese word for Daddy, he just eats it up. She really loves Dave, which is a good thing because he has way more patients than I do.

Sorry I haven't posted any pictures, I have tried many times but I can't get them to go through, not sure what the problem is. I'll try again this evening.

Hope all is well at home, we miss you all!!

Hugs,

Kristie, Dave, Lucie, Tessie & HaiYang

-umm did I say we survived another day.... Tessie and HaiYang are really going at it at the moment - pray for me!! haha.

Ahhh Guangzhou!!

2009-10-18T08:40:00.001-07:00

I never thought I would be so happy to be in Guangzhou!!!!! Zhengzhou was a great experience (other than the hotel) and I am glad we got to see a real city here, but we had all had enough. The air was awful and there just wasn't enough to do. I almost cried at the airport when I saw a play set for the girls to play on. The flight to Guangzhou went well, Jessie told HaiYang several times that she was going on a plane and had to wear a seatbelt.... she got in her seat and buckled up with no problem and fortunately she fell asleep 10 minutes in and stayed asleep the whole way. I did forget to give her a diaper just in case, well we left a wet seat on the plane, I am sure there was a very unhappy passenger on the next flight. I was sad to leave Jessie, for one I just really liked her and I was terrified to be without a translator for HaiYang, I cried when we parted, she probably thought I was nuts. Our new coordinator is very nice too and is help-full with the language as well. We have learned to say a few words and listen for a few things from her so that is also helpful.

We are at the Ch*na Hotel (Marriott Hotel) it is definitely one of the nicest hotels I have ever been in and we have a HUGE suite, so we are much more comfortable now. We are with 2 other families from our adoption agency - we had all contacted one another prior to the trip so it was almost like meeting friends? Anyway, both very nice families, one adopted a 10 year old boy and they have their 12 year old son with them, both nice boys. The other family adopted a 4 year old boy and have their 6 year old daughter with them. She is a cute little girl and the girls all seem to be having fun together.

Saturday was the medical appointment, needless to say HaiYang hated it, sober at first and clinging to me, which was nice since she prefers Dave most of the time. Once they started the exam she was just a crying mess started out scared then turned angry, it wasn't very pleasant. She had to get 4 shots and a TB test which we go back to have read tomorrow, no bump so I think we are in the clear with that. The clinic was on Shamian Island which is were we stayed during our past trips, it was nice to be somewhere familiar. We spent a few hours at a park after the medical, it was good for the kids to get to run around without the fear of being run over by a car or bike!! HaiYang was really cute at the park, there were a few little boys she really liked and seemed like she wanted to help them, we think maybe she was used to helping the little ones at Hope or the orphanage. Tessie has also made it her job to help with the little boy from the other family. He is blind so when we are out it is easier for him to be in a stroller, Tessie always wants to push and even shared her cookies and snacks with him. He is a really cute little guy and already making so much progress, his Mom works with the blind so he is in really good hands.

Today we went to another park, it was gorgeous and huge. The first part was just a really pretty park with trees and a boat rental area, we opted for the motor boat rather than the paddle. HaiYang really liked it, Tessie was worried we would tip and it wasn't water you would want to fall into. After, we came to the exercise area, it was packed! They are all over Chna, the equipment is for exercise rather than play and tons of people use it. Lucie had to show off her monkey bar abilities and received a small applause. There was also an amusement section, I couldn't refuse L & T again after the zoo so we agreed to do a few rides. Several in and HaiYang went crazy when she couldn't go on the bumper car with Lucie and Dave, I had to turn to Elsie for help - after the rant was over Elsie said, "oh wow she has very bad temper", no friggin kidding. We finished off with a little craft that settled her down and made everyone happy. On the way back I picked up lunch at McD's, yep that is correct, it is our 3rd McD's meal since we arrived here. I know that sounds bad but it isn't easy to get a small lunch anywhere else and honestly, even I was happy to have some chx nuggets. HaiYang loves fries with ketchup!!

This evening we went to a Cantonese Dinner with one of the other families. It was one of those restaurants that had 50 aquariums full of every imaginable creature - Lisa they even had frogs for you and Tessie had me take a picture to prove it, very gross. No we didn't eat frogs, snakes, bugs, worms, alligators, turtles or any of the other things I can't name but we did have a great meal of pork, beef, veggies, rice, buns and watermelon. HaiYang ate up a storm as usual - she loves watermelon and keeps stealing Tessie's off of her. She is pretty well behaved at the table, aside from stealing from Tessie, which surprises me since I doubt she has been in many restaurants, and likes fussing with the chopsticks, spoons and cups.

Bed time is becoming more challenging each night, I think she figured out that there are other things happening after kids go to bed, she has really started to fight it that last few nights, just like her sisters. Although since we have been here the girls can't seem to stay awake until 8:30, I wish that would last at home, ha, it won't. I don't even want to think about what our new bed time ritual will be.

Well only 4 more days here and we will be on a plane, so far our flight hasn't changed, if it does we'll let everyone know. Can't wait for you to meet HaiYang.

Love and miss you all!! xoxo

Turtles

2009-10-15T18:03:00.001-07:00

Good thing these will not pass security or I know we would have 2.

Leaving for Guangzhou

2009-10-15T14:40:00.001-07:00

We are leaving for Guangzhou this afternoon, thank goodness, there should be a little more to do with the kids there and hopefully better accomidations. Yesterday went ok. We didn't have anything official to do so Lucie asked our coordinator if we could go to the zoo. That was interesting to say the least, nothing like the Pgh Zoo, too bad they aren't as concerned with the animals as they are with the grounds, it was very pretty but the animals were in very small cages and it smelled awful. There was also a show, I guess something like the circus but somewhat distrubing, the girls thought it was great but they don't know any better. It was good to get out where HaiYang could run without fear of being run over by a car. She is really fast and like most 3 year olds thinks it is hysterical to run from us, not so funny when there is so much traffic. The language barrier is very difficult, we hardly know what she is saying, we have learned what she says for water or needing to use the bathroom, not too much else. Dave has mastered a few phrases, I just can't seem to get them rite, hopefully she'll start picking up a few english word soon. Maybe when we get home and she doesn't have a translator any more. She is saying the girls names, yummy, I think she may have said thank you, hi and bye.

She is going to sleep ok but falls out of bed several times each night, last night she stayed awake for a little while after falling out of bed, I though for sure she was going to be upset but she just chatted (again, no idea what she was saying) had some water and finally dozed off. At least she is willing to let me take over at bed time but she really prefers Dave.

She is so rough, the girls are gettinng annoyed with it, she will lunge at them will full force and uses hitting to get attention. She'll hit anyone, us included and grabs whatever she wants. I have to keep reminding Tessie that she lived with so many children that she probably had to do those thing to get a turn with a toy or to get any kind of attention.

Eating is really a problem, she wants to eat soooo much we have to rush the kids so we can leave the restaurant or get the food out of her site. If she even sees any snacks or someone else eating something she thinks she should have it. They all had an icecream at the zoo, HaiYang was done before Tessie and she all but attacked Tessie for hers, then had a meltdown because she wouldn't hand it over. Poor Tessie, I was wrestling with HaiYang and yelling at Tessie to eat faster!!! Although Tessie was not about to surrender or throw it away. I hope once we can communicate with her we can explain that there will always be plenty of food. I am afraid I'll have to put a lock on the kitchen cabinets.

She can be really cute too, she loves the shower and took another marathon shower last night although she kept running out and falling. She got really spunky last night and starting jumping from the beds, made me laugh thinking of my Nephew doing that, at a hotel, at about the same age. The papers from the orphanage said she acts like the boys. But she loves girly things, I tried to put pants on her and she took them off immedately and grabbed a denim skirt from the day before. Fine, if she is't crying, she can wear it every day. She also carries her purse everywhere we go and has a pack of tissues she likes to use when she needs a napkin or tissue. She will go get that little pack even when we are in the room or out eating, I keep refilling it for her.

Only a week to go now, we are all more than ready to come home, I think we are all a bit homesick. Lucie is starting to feel better and her fever is gone, thank goodness. I was worried about getting on a plane with the fever, I'll give her tylenol before we go just in case.

Well I have to pack this room and I am sure that will take hours. Hope all is well, thanks for the e-mails!! It is good to hear from everyone.

Make the Hairstyle

2009-10-14T16:00:00.000-07:00

"Make the hairstyle", that cracks me up - here is the hairstyle.

Survived Jiaozuo

2009-10-14T04:18:00.001-07:00

We survived the van ride to and from Jiaozuo, HaiYang actually did pretty well although she does not sit still in the car, I can't even imagine how much she will dislike the car seat. We visited the orphanage, outside tour only, it seemed pretty well taken care of. We did go in the offices, typical building for the area, sparse with hard tile floors, not much to say about it. NASTY, DIRTY toilet (squat of course) I refuse to drink if we are heading away from the hotel so I don't have to use the restrooms, Dave just laughs and give me his pity, Lucie sees it as a personal challenge and prides herself in her use of the hole in the floor. Jenny, I'll post a toilet picture just for you, haha.

Anyway, back to the orphanage, the lady we met with was very nice and dressed to the nines! She was also one of the women that delievered HaiYang to us. We walked around the grounds, there was the Senior Citizens building, the baby building and a hospital used by the orphanage and the public. The grounds we very nice and there was a big playground. Haiyang stood back a bit even when her nannies and friends came over to her. Jessie said that is normal, the kids don't want to stay and they seem to think if they talk they may have to stay. Very sad, a little girl came over to her and said, "mama" pointing to me then said, "I don't have a mama", I thought I would cry. She was about the same age as HaiYang. Several of the kids were severe, special- needs, Jessie said most of them will just spend their whole lives there, if they are capable they will be given a job.

The ride back was ok, HaiYang went through every snack we packed her then fell asleep on Dave's lap, she is really a daddy's girl. When we returned she used the potty then stripped down to shower, so cute she uses all of the hotel bath wash and just scrubs and scrubs, washes her hair over and over, very cute!!! Tessie jumped in with her and she seemed to enjoy the company although they did fight over the shower. After, she pulled me to the hair dryer and wanted her hair dried. At the moment she is tearing apart the photo album we sent her when she was at New Hope, she keeps screaming "lucie" when she gets to Lucie's picture, in the last hour she has copied a few words and says them very loudly, of course I think all the Chinese sound like the are yelling at one another.

Well we are at the 1/2 way point in the trip and I think we are all ready to come home, hopefully the next 9 days will go fast.

My Mom asked if we are calling her Daysie, I sort of doubt that name will take, we call her HaiYang or Yang Yang (pronounced young young), that was her nick name at the orphanage.

Ok, We love and miss you all. Hugs to my puppies please. xoxoxo

Zhengzhou update

2009-10-14T03:31:00.001-07:00

Hey, all is well. Our 1st few nights went rather smooth. HaiYang is doing ok, she is pleasant most of the time although she really really has a temper!!! She loves to eat, I honestly don't know where she puts it. I think she was bribed with food much of the time, probably candy, she has an absolute fit if she sees candy and can't have it and will try to take treats off of the girls, this doens't sit well with Tessie :-).

Dave is still her favorite, she wants to be held by him most of the time. fortunately when he isn't holding her she is usually willing to hold our hands. The streets are so crowded it is unbelievable, cars and motorbikes on the sidewalks, this even irritates our guide. Our guide has been great and Lucie and Tessie really like her, she is "making a hairstyle" for Lucie right now. She has taken us shopping, what an experience, and to local restaurants to have the real Chinese food. Lucie and Tessie ate so many dumplings I thought they would burst!!! They were very good, I will probably be one of the few people that come here and gain weight, we are eating alot of noodles and dumplings. there is a restaurant here that is supposed to be very famous for their noodles, of course they are homemade too - yummy!!!!!

Today we go back to the orphanage to meet with the notary, should be interesting it's an 1.5 hours both ways, I am armed with crackers, candy, cookes and toys. We will not go into the orphanage due to the fear of NIHI, fine with me she only spent a few weeks there so it doesn't matter if we see it.

One of the funny things that the girls can't get over is how the little ones here will squat and pee anywhere!! Just stop in the middle of the sidewalk and pee, they all do it so it isn't a big deal but it cracks the girls up. HaiYang had tried a few times, we grab her and run to a bathroon if we can make it. We are using diapers as back up but so far during the day she is doing well and she really like the undies we bought her. The bathroom situation is less than desirable at the local restaurants and stores, squat only (hole in the floor), Lucie has no problem with it, I can't manage and Tessie won't try. Oh and I thought Lucie would pass out at the restaurant when a server left the toilet and did't wash her hands,Lucie was horrified!!!!! I was afraid Lucie wouldn't eat, I just had to put it out of my mind -yuck!!!!!

Ok, have to go I'll try to send more later. Hope the pictures show up.

2009-10-14T03:22:00.001-07:00

Day 2

2009-10-14T03:07:00.001-07:00

Here are some pictures of our 2nd day together. She really likes this sweater and doesn't want to take it off.

She's here!!

2009-10-12T15:09:00.001-07:00

Sorry not to have posted any updates sooner, having trouble with both cameras and internet connections. Well we have our girl, we met Monday morning at the Civil Affairs office. Our meeting went much better then I could have ever expected, I am sure that is more due to Lucie, Tessie & several packs of smarties than anything else. She was a bit shy at first but playing with the girls rather quickly. She left with us willingly, not the screaming toddler I had imagined. She seems to be enjoying everything, the elevator in the hotel is a big deal, she probably hasn't been on one before.

She loves bottled water, opend every bottle we have pouring one from the other and drinking drinking drinking. She also really likes to wash her hands and will do it for 10 minutes at a time and brushing her teeth as well, she must have brushed them 10 times yesterday. She is really independent, we only had to show her the toilet once and she will go when needed, yes this was a great surprise that she is potty trained!! I'll have to learn what it is she says to tell our guide she needs to go. I am terrible with everything our guide tries to teach, I just can't get the words out correctly and any little sound change makes it a completely different word.

It is really frustrating not being able to speak the language, this city doen't have as many english speaking people and everyone is so curious about us. Not many families have more than one child much less 2 Americans walking around with 3 - drawing attention doesn't even cover it. And the Chinese don't mind staring at you, they'll walk directly beside us just staring - very akward.

Ok back to HaiYang, she was wearing a little outfit I sent last year with jeans and a sweatshirt over it. They dress the kids so warm!! I am guessing it was 60 or a little more yesterday, all of the kids were dressed for the middle of winter! We tried to remove the jeans but when we were getting our shoes on she grabbed them and put them back on, who knows what she'll want to wear today, I am going to hide the jeans.

HaiYang has an appetite, the nanny said to make sure to watch what she eats or she'll eat too much, we did have to take the food from her at lunch, I thought she would burst otherwise. She does'nt have any trouble eating, drinking or talking although we don't know what she is saying, our guide said she talks very well. It is awful to not be able to understand her so far our guide has been with us but it is going to be very difficult when we are on our own. Although as another Hope mom told me, she does understand some things we say and hand motions go a long way. She was chatting up a storm last night, it was so cute! I am not sure what she was saying but she didn't seem unhappy, even grabbed me an hugged me tightly around the neck!!!It didn't take too long for her to fall asleep, I don't think she could figure out why I wasn't leaving, she kept say bye bye. A few times she jumped out of bed, grabbed the brush and worked on her hair a little. She loves to brush her hair and teeth. I was amazed when she started putting little ponytails in herself, it was so cute her tiny little hands were working so fast wrapping the hair, she ended up taking them back out rite away.

She loves Lucie and Tessie and enjoys playing with them and of course she adores Dave, she just thinks he is sooo funny. She really liked the back pack the girls gave her and started stuffing water in and put it on her back, they also gave her a little purse and she carried all afternoon/evening applying chapstick every so often - so cute she would give herself some, then give us some. She is really sweet and funny, if she trips or spills something she'll give a cute little grin and giggle. She is pretty tough too, the nannie from the orphanage said she runs around like the boys and has alot of energy -yikes I am not used to that :-).

She also has a temper and when I say temper I mean it. She had a tantrum in the room that had Tessie's mouth hanging open and if you know Tessie she has a temper of her own so for her to be in shock.... and at the park, I have never seen anyone carry on for so long, we passed up a candy booth and she freaked. Ok, the only reason I said no to candy was that she had been eating smarties and snacks all afternoon and I didn't want her to get sick, anyway she just went hysterical. Dave had to carry her through the park screaming and of course the Chinese don't ignore a screaming kid like we do... they were coming up to our guide offering help or just walking with us in amazement. Jessie (guide) said, most Chinese kids are raised by their grandparents and very spoiled, maybe we should have just bought the stinkin candy. Ughhh, I'll be sure to have something in my bag for the next outburst. Jessie also confimed, that most of the kids that are lucky enought to get into the foster homes like Hope, are pretty spoiled - great.

To step back a few days, we did get to visit New Hope and I just can't say enough good things about it. If you can't be in a regular home, that is a wonderful place to get to be. They really believe in what they are doing and love the kids like their own. I was so impressed with the cleanliness and organization, I can only dream for that much order in our home. They even make all of the kids a scrap book! Just lovely, HaiYang was very eager to show us hers and paused for several seconds at a picture of her with one of her nannies. Oh speaking of nannies, she has called me Ayi (nanny) several times and called the waitress Ayi as well, I thought that was rather funny, for her almost every woman she has been around is any Ayi.

For those of you following from our agency, Jessie has been a great guide and very willing to help, you just have to ask. Our tour guide in Beijing was ok but left us hanging when it came to eating, we had a few unpleaseant meals but nothing too horrible. The hotel in Beijing was great, we did have 2 adjoining rooms, they have a rule something about no more than 3 to a room. It worked out ok but our hotel here is not so great. It is a nice hotel but not family oriented. We have 2 rooms on oppositee sides of the floor, no tub only a shower (HaiYang was a little scared of the shower), and the beds are small, there are 2 in each room but they are somwhere between a twin and double. Of course the girls want to be were HaiYang is so that means us 4 girls in one room and poor Dave in the other for sleeping, although i am not so sure he didn't get a good deal there ;-). I think the problem was that there is a huge trade show here this week, so space is limited. There is also a trade show in Guangzhou but should be ending when we arrive so hopefully our rooms will be better there.

There is so much to tell I can't possibley fit it all in. More later.

Hello from Be*jing

2009-10-09T23:26:00.001-07:00

Hey we made it! The flight wasn't bad at all, the girls did great. There was plenty of entertainment on the plane, each seat had a screen with tons of movies & games to pick from. And we surprised the girls with new ipods, loaded with their favorite songs and shows, so that really helped pass the time.

Our 1st night was ok aside from Lucie waking up at 1:00am and talking non stop until she had all of us up. We did the Great Wall today, it was much fun. I am attaching a few pics from our "climb", needless to say Lucie enjoyed it much more than Tessie. Tessie really suffered.. her legs hurts so bad, she was too tired, doesn't like the climb steps, out of breath... it went on and on - I wouldn't have expected anything less from her :-). All it took to make her happy was to send her and Dave back down and buy a stuffed panda. Lucie and I continued on like troopers, I am sure we'll feel it in the morning.

On the way back we drove by Olympic Park and saw both the Birds Nest and the Water Cube. I was really looking forward to that, but when I say we "drove by", I really mean we "drove by". Either way they were both cool to see.

We had a rather interesting dinner this evening. We ventured out on the streets of Beijing alone and picked a restaurant. Of course we picked one with no english speaking employees - yikes. Lucky for us they had picture menus, actually it was more like a catalogue of food, all very authentic, we chose a chicken dish, noodles, rice and potstickers. None of it was what we are used to, I don't think Lucie had 2 bites and Dave not much more. Tessie and I, being the talented eaters we are, managed to scarf down a full meal. Not to worry that Lucie will starve, we walked into a 7-11 and she picked a drum-stick, haha. She probably had that in the back of her mind when she refused to eat anything.

Tomorrow we are off to New Hope. We will take tons of pictures and hopefully find out as much as we can about our girl. Less than 4 days and she'll officially be part of our family!!

Love and miss you all,

Kristie, Dave, Lucie & Tessie

5 hours to go

2009-10-06T00:32:00.000-07:00

Only 5 hours and we will be on our way. I did finish packing and managed to get everything for me, and all 3 girls in 2 suitcases & one carry on!! That is a record for me, of course we have 2 cases for Hope and one full of gifts and donations, and Dave has one too, so we are really taking quite a bit. The girls packed their backpacks, LQ's weighs 9 lbs., yes she weighed it. Tessie's isn't nearly that heavy, she was being a bit smarter knowing that I said, "you pack it you carry it", yeah right, I am sure I'll end up with them on my back before the end of the day.
Everyone is excited, nervous and maybe a little scared - say a little prayer for us please. Thx.
I'll do my best to get pictures on here, maybe after the Great Wall on Wednesday.
Ok better get ready, Lisa is coming to drive us to the airport, I would hate to make her get up so early only to wait for us to get ready, wouldn't be a 1st, she is always waiting on me ;-).
We will miss you all.
Lots of Love!!!

4 Days!

2009-10-02T08:27:00.001-07:00

Only 4 days to go!!!! Busy packing!

FIRST PHOTO

2009-09-24T02:39:00.000-07:00

This is the 1st glimpse we had of HaiYang, actually it was a tiny black and white of just her face from this photo. I am guessing this picture was taken about 2 years ago. We were pretty secretive about our plans to adopt again, we didn't want to get everyone excited if it never happened. We started watching the SN lists in January of '08. Well, that isn't completely true, I had been watching them off and on since we returned home with Tessie, we just became more serious about it at that time. I think we were both feeling sort of "now or never", after all we aren't getting any younger.

I have to be honest we were not immediately sure, I know that sounds terrible, but we already had 2 children and we were not sure about her SN - she was listed as multiple SN. Turned out all her needs are is a corrected VSD (tiny hole in her heart) and corrected cleft lip/cleft palate.

I would go back to her little photo every day or so for about a week, Lucie knew we were thinking about adopting and she was very much for it, so I would let her view the lists with me. Lucie knew I had a soft spot for this little one and as it turned out so did she. I caught her looking at her photo on-line several times. One evening Lucie and I went out to dinner (I think Tessie was with Grandma) and out of the blue she said, "Mommy I think we should bring that little girl home", she blew me away, there was something in her that just knew we were supposed to make HaiYang part of our family. The next day I requested her complete file, a day or so later asked to be matched and shortly after we were matched..... and the process began.

That all seems like such long time ago. As the months passed we were given updates and a few newer pictures and finally, late last year we found out she was at New Hope, what a gift, once we had that information we were given many updates and photo from families that had already traveled. It was wonderful to know that she was taken to such a fantastic place and was given the love and care she needed to survive and thrive. New Hope is truly amazing and we are so looking forward to visiting while in Country. My hope is to return again when the girls are a little older so we can spend a few weeks volunteering. It is hard to say what will happen in the next 7 or 8 years but it is something to work toward.

2009-09-14T14:35:00.001-07:00

Preparing to travel

2009-09-14T07:25:00.000-07:00

We have been given dates for travel, we will be leaving for Beijing October 7th, visiting New Hope October 9th and meeting HiaYang October 10th. We are spending the 1st two days in Beijing, to give us the opportunity to visit New hope, then will be going to Zhengzhou for 5 or 6 days and finally we will go to Guangzhou for the remainder of the trip and for the all important Consulate appointment.

We are all very excited and a bit nervous. There is still much to do, typical me I wait until the last minute to finish things. I have sorted all of Lucie and Tessie's old clothes and recently found out that HaiYang is a size 4 - perfect -that is the size I started saving for her. Oh, we also found out that she is NOT potty trained - bummer!!!!! It should be interesting trying to potty train with the language barrier. I doubt I'll even try, when it happens it happens.

Well as I said, much to do so I better take advantage of the girls being in school and having the house to myself. Thank you all for your support since we started this journey, we are so fortunate to have such wonderful family and friends. We have truly been blessed.

TA!!!

2009-09-05T05:50:00.001-07:00

We have finally received Travel Approval!!! Unfortunately, due to the Chinese holiday, we will not be able to schedule our appointments until October. We are hoping to travel the first few weeks of the month with our first stop in Beijing for a visit to New Hope Foundation. We are so looking forward to seeing where HaiYang spent most of her time and to meet those who have so lovingly cared for her. Hopefully with her leaving, another child-in-need will be able to take her place. If you would like more information on New Hope Foundation there is a link to the left of this page. Their work is truly amazing!!!

Testing

2009-08-31T06:42:00.001-07:00

This is just a test to see if I can post to blogger from PRC.

Good News

2009-08-31T06:22:00.000-07:00

We received word that HaiYang has been moved to her original orphanage to prepare for adoption. This can only mean that our travel approval is out there somewhere. I am hoping it will arrive today or at least sometime this week. The 1st week of October is a Chinese Holiday so it would be best if we could travel in September.
Keep your fingers crossed for us and prayers for HaiYang, this has to be a difficult and frightening time for her.

2009-08-18T20:19:00.000-07:00

Summer Fun

2009-08-18T19:46:00.000-07:00

Tessie really loved the Hermit Crabs, maybe next year.

Once again I have no news on the adoption front other than we are still waiting..... it is starting to get a little embarassing too. For those of you who have been here, you know what I am talking about. Sixteen months ago we announced that we would be adding to our family just one more time. Then we thought the journey would be complete around Feb. or March, then we thought end of spring, then beginning of summer and so on. So here we are, after we have told everyone we know, and many people we barely know, saying "well it shouldn't be long now". It is just too embarassing to commit to a time of travel, after already using up all of the seasons, with no adoption. I have a feeling some people think we just said we were adopting but are not really doing so. Some think we should be pushed ahead since we already have 2 kids from China, if that were the case there would be a whole lot of happy families moving to the front of the line. So although I do think it will be soon, I am not going to predict a month or even a season but I assure you our adoption is still in the works and HaiYang is eventually going to officially become part of our family.
Saldy, summer is coming to an end as much as we all protest in this house. It is been a super, fun-filled, summer, busy and a little crazy at times but much fun. I am including some of our hi-lights. Wishing you all a fun last few days off and a great school year ahead.

Oops the pictures were supposed to show up at the end not the beginning.

Packing

2009-07-22T05:33:00.000-07:00

It appears we have officially started packing. Above is the backpack Lucie and Tessie picked out for HaiYang along with the items that are being stuffed into the backpack. They each picked a few things they thought she would like to play with. I am sure she will play with all of it the 1st day and we'll be out looking for new things to occupy her. We also plan to go armed with cookies and candy to try to lure her to us.

I attached a pictures of the new clothes we picked up, this is a great time to buy summer clothes as they are all marked down considerably! I still have to sort through the trunk of size 3 & 4 clothes we have from Lucie and Tessie, I am sure we will be able to dress her for a months without repeating outfits.

No this does not mean we have any travel information it just means we are getting anxious and excited. I am sure we will hear something soon and I am still hopeful that we will travel in August, although it is pretty unlikely that we will do so without the girls missing the 1st week of school. Oh sorry, I hate to talk about school this early in the summer, didn't mean to scare anyone we still have 5 weeks to enjoy.

*If you look closely in the right hand corner of the picture with the clothes, you can see Baby, isn't she adorable!! I'll have to post a better picture of her, she is the one that really rules this house.

Daysie it is!

2009-07-03T05:33:00.000-07:00

Yes we decided to name the newest member of our family Daysie. By the looks of the recent pictures, her name suits her well. She has grown so much in the last year, since we first saw her picture. We are sad we had to miss it but have so much to look forward to with her. Lucie and Tessie are armed and ready to be her big sisters, I only hope she cooperates with all of their plans :-).

We still do not have a travel date, hoping it comes soon. We are just about ready, the rooms have been successfully completed, almost all of our paperwork is finished (visa apps. going in the mail today) all that will be left is the dreadful packing. I honestly think the packing my be worse than the paperchase!!!! And packing for 3 little girls..... ugh!!! Wish me luck.

Happy 4th of July, I hope you are all having a fantastic summer!!!!

No News

2009-06-03T20:04:00.000-07:00

There really isn't anything new, signed and returned LOA, it is on it's way to China. Filled out a ton of forms, more are on their way along with the 3rd application for an Adoption agency. Here we are near the end and I am still completing new client applications. This is our 3rd agency this year, I only hope our last.
We have been busy playing musical rooms. Of course we couldn't just move HaiYang into the guest room, that would have been way too easy. The girls decided they wanted to switch rooms. Lucie took the guest room, now called Lucie's room, Tessie moved into Lucie's room, with new furniture, so that gives HaiYang Tessie old room. At least all the moving and rearranging forced me to clean the rooms, something I don't do nearly enough.
We have no clue when we will travel, I am still hoping no later than the 1st week of Aug. When there is news, I'll post.
Happy Summer! Only 5 day of school left!!!!!!

2009-05-23T19:54:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pictures we just discovered of HaiYang, she looks so sweet we can't wait to meet her.
Our agency has officially mailed the LOA to us, we should have it Tuesday.

April '09 - This is an outfit we sent in her care package

2.5 years

2 years old

LOA!!!

2009-05-21T18:59:00.000-07:00

We received exciting news from our agency today - our LOA (letter of acceptance) is being sent from CCAA!!!!! Day 89! So very exciting for our family and for little HaiYang.
It seems like our paperchase is beginning to come to an end. There are still a few thing to "wait" for. Once we have the LOA in our hands we sign and return it, file the I-800 with the National Benefits Center (pray it comes quickly), wait for a consulate appt. and travel approval (TA).
At this time we still do not know when we will travel but I am guessing 8-12 weeks. Hoping for sooner so the girls will not have to miss school.
Keep your finger crossed for a speedy TA!!

Turning 40

2009-05-19T06:19:00.000-07:00

As you may already know my prince has turned 40. Yep 40! How did that happen? Where did the last decade go? Time really does go way too fast. Well I think my guy makes 40 look pretty good. Oh and did I mention he quit smoking? He has been smoke free for 18 days! Awesome!!!!

Happy 40th!!!

2009-05-19T05:50:00.000-07:00

Day 75 - No News

2009-05-08T11:01:00.000-07:00

My awesome kids & their cousins..where was Eric?

Not sure why DQ thought Lucie wanted a Steelers Cross? I know we're in Steeler country but seriously!!

Well here we are at Day 75 and still no news. Of course with the Swine Flu scare there are rumors that CCAA is not processing anything, that those with TA will not be permited to travel... the list of rumors goes on but for now it just seems to be rumor. I was really hoping that I could give Dave the LOA as a 40th B.Day gift but unless our agency calls today or 1st thing Monday morning I doesn't look like it is going to happen. So since we have nothing to share on the adoption front I thought I would share Lucie's First Communion pictures and a few other pictures I find worthy of sharing.

Too all of you Moms, have a Happy Mother's Day!! Especially to my Mom, Happy Mother's Day Mom, I Love You!! Kristie

Day 65 & Waiting

2009-04-28T01:43:00.000-07:00

Everyone is wondering when we will be traveling to bring HiaYang home, well so are we. When we started this process we thought we would have been there and back by now. Due to new requirements and many changes in International Adoptions it is taking longer than originally thought. Today marks 65 day of waiting for our "letter of acceptance" or LOA. From what we have been told by those who are in process, or are slightly ahead of us, we could receive LOA as soon as 70 days or it may be as long as 90 days. The count began from the day our dossier was logged in at CCAA (Chinese Center for Adoption Affairs). Of course we are hoping for something a little closer to the 70-75 day range but there is no way to know. In addition we recently had to transfer to another agency and are not sure how excited they are about taking on new clients this late in the game.
So to answer the question, "When are you going to China?", we don't know for sure. Our hope is that we will receive LOA soon, once we receive that our guess is that we will travel somewhere around 6-10 weeks after, maybe July or August. All we can do is wait (I think wait a synonym for International Adoption) and hope we travel sooner rather than later. Thank you all for you care, concern and excitement as we wait and wait to bring our little girl home.

Big Sisters

2009-04-22T10:35:00.000-07:00

I thought I should add a larger picture of Lucie & Tessie since they are the Big Sisters!

HaiYang

2009-04-22T10:12:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pictures of HaiYang from this Winter and her 3rd Birthday. Notice she is looking at a photo album we sent her. Amazing cake isn't it?

Hmm trying to blog...

2009-04-21T09:55:00.000-07:00

Ok, all you smarty pants out there with these fantastic blogs featuring your adorable kids at the top. I haven't figured out how to get my kids pics on or how to do anything at all but I am trying a test post for the heck of it. I am not a true "blogger" so don't expect anything particularly funny or witty. I have just created this blog so our family & friends can follow along on our adoption journey.