cat, dog, baby blog

our first month home...

2012-02-11T04:14:00.000-05:00

one fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish

2012-02-09T23:50:00.001-05:00

After staying in for over a month I finally got brave and ventured out on my own, with all THREE. I went to the park, successfully, a few weeks ago so I figured it was time for bigger things. Monday morning I woke up and got everyone ready to go. My plan was that if everyone was loaded in the car by 9:30 then we’d head to the aquarium and finally use our annual passes. If we were running late we’d just head to the store. It was our lucky day and we were ready to see the fish at exactly 10:00 (which I’m kinda bummed they don’t open earlier…..). We only had 2 hours before we needed to be back home. We did the quick visit, only hitting Will’s favorites, and we were finished after 90 minutes! Will just runs from tank to tank and the rest of us just followed.

I’ve switched back to our sit and stand stroller and everyone just piled on. Much better than our side by side stroll.

The best part about getting there when they open is that we had the whole tank to ourselves. We all watched the giant sea turtle swim by over and over.

The other benefit of early arrival is that the Otters are awake and active. I think this was the first time Will had seen them before. Ella didn’t act overly excited about them.

Everyone wanted to know how Ella reacted to all the fish, and well, she didn’t have much of a reaction. She pointed at them all but I think she was just copying Will & Wyatt. I wonder if she just thought she was watching a giant TV. We got up close with the penguins and she seemed pretty unimpressed too. At the very end we went to see the stingrays and she got very excited when one kept swimming up to her/by her and flipping his wings. She giggled and giggled.

This was Wyatt’s first real visit too. The last time we went he was just 3-4 months old. But he didn’t act overly excited either. But he was mostly stuck in the stroller, because I know my limits. Chasing after TWO toddlers who barely understand English is not something I’m up for yet.

Daddy’s home

2012-02-09T08:20:00.000-05:00

about 4:45 every day I start hearing yells saying “Daddy’s home” or “Baba’s home” and then a stampede to the kitchen waiting for the door to open. Gus usually joins them in the wait.
Wy and E start fighting for holding time. And some days they have to share.

And weekends are spent with loads of laptime!

These 3 LOVE their Daddy!

Wordless Wednesday {life with 3 toddlers}

2012-02-08T08:30:00.000-05:00

BEFORE:

AFTER:

you are taking a 3 year old? to china?

2012-02-07T07:10:00.000-05:00

For those of you who wondered why in the world we drug a 3.5 year old around the globe to meet his new sister, this is why……

Our main reason for taking Will to China was so that he would feel more connected to Ella. Will is very friendly, occasionally affectionate and definitely moody. We knew that if we left him at home for 2.5 weeks he would resent Ella for taking us away from him for so long. (He’s still mad that we left him for 4 days to have Wyatt at the hospital….) But we knew if he went with us he would welcome her with open arms. And he has. He is SO concerned about her. If she cries he (usually) wants to know why. If we are not around to comfort her, he will do it. Sunday Chris stepped outside and Ella sat in the window crying, waiting for him to come back. Will hugged her and told her it would be okay, Daddy would come right back. And he stayed with her till Chris came in.

That moment, to me, made those first few days in Beijing totally worth it. To know he accepts her, loves her and is able to comfort her totally wipes out any pain or struggle we had to deal with on our trip.

halfway around and back again (Part 3 of 3)

2012-02-05T08:23:00.000-05:00

neighbors!

2012-02-04T22:39:00.001-05:00

I’m organizing my January pics folder and realized I never blogged these pics. I wanted to share the background story and never had enough time to give it the attention it deserved, not sure I will now either but I will try.

We met the H family 6 years ago when we were working on our China dossier. Our local FCC group (families with children from China) started a Waiting Families group. We LOVED attending these meetings and being with couples in similar situations as we were. And we loved following the families as they traveled and came home with their new kids. We watched the H’s bring home Rachel and Lei while we waited. (Audrey was already home when we met.) The best part about the H family, they are our neighbors! Like they live about 10 houses down! As the wait continued the meetings slowly ended but we still saw the H’s out and about in the ‘hood. We happened to see them on Halloween night, a few hours before we received THE CALL. Michelle (the mom) and I were talking about the wait and I joked that I was specifically praying for a 2 year old since I felt done with the baby stage. She laughed and said she understood. Who knew a few hours later we would get the call about a 2 year old?!

Once things calmed down I sent Michelle an email telling her of our exciting news. Michelle quickly called me to talk about the details. And like a good adoptive mom she asked what orphanage Ella was from. I spelled it out, still not certain on the pronunciation. Michelle was a bit speechless and then quickly told me that her Audrey was from the same orphanage! From the same TINY town in rural China! I’m not sure if you can really grasp the concept….but this is needle in a haystack huge! That is like us moving from small town TN all the way to China only to be neighbors with someone from the same exact one-stoplight town as you. It’s crazy. I’m a member of some online Qianjiang groups and only 3-4 kids have been referred out of there in almost a year, and Ella is one of them! Anyway, we are blown away by this wonderful gift. And Audrey is beyond excited to have a “China cousin” as a neighbor. We hope their friendship lasts a lifetime.

In the 8 short weeks we waited to travel Michelle was a lifesaver for us. She loaned us books about China, videos in Mandarian (Ni Hao Dora), and answered any ridiculous questions we had. And she shared all she knew about Chongqing and Qianjiang. She even traveled to the orphanage when they adopted in 2004. What a blessing that is for us since the orphanage is now closed. She shared her videos with us and now we know exactly where Ella spent her first 2 years. And more importantly, we can show those to Ella for her own history.

We were excited for the H’s to come visit once we were back home. The kids had a blast playing together (and were spoiled with wonderful gifts)!

All of the kids except Lei….not sure where he disappeared to.

And as a bonus, she took some pictures of me and Ella for our first post-placement report. She understands that Mom’s are rarely in the pictures.

I have a feeling we will be spending a lot of time together this summer once we can get outside!

I am still amazed at how God blessed us with this wonderful connection.

Wordless Wednesday {my favorite pj’s}

2012-02-01T13:18:00.001-05:00

18 months check-up {Wyatt}

2012-01-31T11:25:00.000-05:00

Wyatt finally made it in for his 18 month check-up. He weighed 28lbs and measured 35 inches. But I knew that was wrong since he’s shorter than Ella and she’s 33 inches. So we re-measured at home and he was 32.5 inches. Either way, he’s still off the charts for height and head. And 90% for weight. She said he’s proportionate so that’s all that mattered. And he’s slimming down (which seems hard to believe, but we are starting to notice).

We talked about his speech, or lack of speech. She wasn’t concerned but said there’s no need to wait and see what happens so we will be doing a speech evaluation thru the state. (which means it’s free!) She said they will decide what needs to be done and if needed do therapy at home. Woohoo! I’m just ready for him to talk, and I know he’s frustrated and ready to let it all out. No telling what he’ll tell us once he lets loose.

Poor guy had to get 2 shots and he was not happy. Plus he has a cold so he was pretty miserable. Good thing we got some donuts afterwards to make me him feel better. He does have my sweet tooth!

one month home

2012-01-30T07:52:00.000-05:00

I cannot believe Ella has been in her forever home for an entire month! Just 12 weeks ago we learned about this sweet girl and now I have 3 littles sleeping under our roof.

When we landed and came home I had no idea how the first month would go. I had read good and bad reports and was prepared for anything (actually, I had prepared for it to be really bad). But we are doing great! I’m not saying having 3 under 3 is easy. It is not, it is exhausting!

But Ella is doing GREAT. I feel like she’s bonding and attaching well to both of us. We have a ways to go, and I’m sure there will be some setbacks on the way. But for being home such a short amount of time she is settling in well. I honestly think part of it is because Will was with us in China. I think he made her feel comfortable and she probably decided if he liked us then she could too. She LOVES her brothers. Wyatt drives her nuts most days but they are always playing together. And some days they are very much like twins.

Will and Ella get along great too. Will loves having a sidekick to boss around. And she is happy to have someone to follow around. I can’t even imagine her being an only child, somehow it just suits her personality to have brothers.

She is quickly warming up to me. Once Chris went back to work she had no choice but to be friends with me. She often asks me to feed her or hold her. She does great for me during nap time. She gives me lots of smiles and laughs too. And just this week she has decided Mom & Dad are pretty equal, so we are getting there.

She has also decided to come out of her shell a bit more this week showing her defiant side. I was hoping her well-behaved self would stick around a bit longer but the good news is that she feels safe enough with us to mis-behave so we’ll take that as a positive (I guess).

We have a lot of learning to do together. But we have come along way in a short amount of time. I honestly cannot imagine her not being in our family now. I cannot believe we waited so long but I cannot imagine Ella being any one other than Miss ChunWei.

When I look around the table now, I no longer see that one empty seat. That is a GREAT feeling!

Happy One Month Home Ella Wei!!!

CNY 2012

2012-01-29T13:49:00.000-05:00

We celebrated the year of the dragon with our old FCC friends. Back when we were a waiting family, and had NO kids, we attended a few CNY celebrations. We had intentions of bringing Will but never made it. We were thrilled to know we’d be back from China in time to attend CNY this year. We had a great time catching up with old friends, and meeting some new ones.

The kids ran and ran and ran (oh, how quickly the fell asleep Saturday night). And played some dragon games, and played with some new friends.

Ella did great. We were worried about the crowds and noise but she did great. It also helped that her friend Audrey and Rachel were there too. Once she warmed up she had them doing laps with her.

This was the best picture we could get of our family. Will refused to be a part of the picture.

Ella’s FAQ

2012-01-28T07:57:00.000-05:00

Does she speak English? This is the #1 question…..nope, she does not speak English yet. She’s still speaking Mandarin. (You can imagine how our conversations are going...) But she does understand 50-60% of what we say. And she can follow a lot of our instructions. She will repeat/mimic anything we say, but she’s not recalling words voluntarily yet. She calls me Mama (Mama is also Chinese for Mama, so that was easy) and calls Chris “BaBa” which is Chinese for Dad. She calls Will “Guh Guh”, Chinese for big brother and Wyatt “Di Di” which means little brother. She calls Gus “Go” which means dog. And Willie-cat is “mao” which means cat but sounds like meow.

Where is Ella sleeping? This is a common question, especially from those that have adopted/are adopting. She is sleeping with us, in our bed. In China she slept in the crib but once we got home she cried in the middle of the night and ended up in our bed. But even in China, she started out in our bed and then we moved her to her crib so I guess it’s natural that she’s sleeping with us. We had zero expectations going into this. For 2 years and 4 months she has had no one to rock her to sleep so we are letting her sleep wherever makes her most comfortable. We know this is a hard adjustment for her. I think if she was younger it’d be easier to have her sleep in her own bed, but she’s 2.5 and we’re just making it work. Hopefully once she is in a good place we can work on moving her to her own bed.

What does she eat? Still fruits, veggies, eggs and noodles. We are trying hard to introduce new things but it’s slow going. She needs some protein in her diet and we are trying hard to find it. She is not a fan of PB or chicken/white meat. So far she has refused pancakes, oatmeal, most cereal and sandwiches. Along with dozens of other things. She still has her sweet tooth though. Too bad we can’t communicate yet with her about how a bribe works.

What size is she? She currently weighs 25lbs and is 32.5 inches tall (I didn’t trust the drs measurements and re-did them. Mine are right.) This puts her into 18 month clothes. She’s very tiny. She could probably wear 12m pants but I’m keeping her in 18m because the tops fit better. But I found out today that some of the skirts/dresses I have in 18m are super long so I guess I have some hemming in my future.

I have tons more FAQ about Ella, but I will save those for another day. Here is Miss E in an outfit from her cousin, Gretchen. She added her own accessories. She is into hats big time!

halfway around and back again (Part 2 of 3)

2012-01-26T06:00:00.000-05:00

Wordless Wednesday {first solo outing}

2012-01-25T08:05:00.000-05:00

the year of the dragon

2012-01-23T16:43:00.001-05:00

Xīn Nián Kuài Lè! Happy Chinese New Year!

While we were in China we saw the beginnings of the CNY dragon decorations. It would have been wonderful to see them all finished.

We are not celebrating at home this year but plan to celebrate with our FCC friends this weekend!

source

halfway around and back again (Part 1 of 3)

2012-01-21T10:38:00.000-05:00

(point to the video and click on the 'vimeo' logo at the lower right to enlarge)

sifting through the footage…

2012-01-21T07:28:00.000-05:00

I (chris) finally had a chance to start pulling together all the videos we shot in China, and there’s a LOT. A little over 90 minutes, to be exact. When I began the task of editing it all down to a manageable, shorter length to post here on the blog, I found it nearly impossible. I didn’t want to cut anything out, as I want to remember everything about the trip – good, bad, happy, or sad.

So the plan is to pretty much leave it all as-is, and post it as three separate parts, around 30 minutes each. (For those with short attention spans, don’t worry. As you watch the videos, you should be able to fast-fwd or skip ahead by pointing to the video and dragging the little play indicator to the right!)

The first part should be ready soon!

a quiet week

2012-01-20T00:04:00.001-05:00

I have lots to say, but too tired to write it all out. We’ve had a very good, but quiet week. Still hibernating. We tested the waters earlier this week (unintentionally) and looks like Miss E is not ready for loud, crazy or crowded yet. To see her totally shut down the rest of the day was hard to watch. Thankfully she woke up the next day back to normal. Two steps forward, one step backwards.

Wordless Wednesday {synchronized napping}

2012-01-18T09:22:00.001-05:00

Sunday, post-lunch

This is only possible in the car for Mister Wilson.

4 weeks of sweet E

2012-01-16T07:40:00.000-05:00

4 weeks ago Monday we met Miss Ella for the very first time. While we had known about her for 8 short weeks, she knew nothing of us. This wide-eyed little girl, wearing Garfield shoes, was not very sure of us. But we were so excited to meet her!

I CANNOT believe it has been 4 weeks! I have added the days up over and over and it is 4 weeks Monday, and a month on the 19th. She has come a long way in 4 very short weeks! I am so proud of how far she’s come. She is still timid, still fearful but she lets her little light shine a lot. I know 6 months from now I will look at these pictures and again say that she has come so far from that first month.

She is showing us as much love as she can. And I know the first hugs, kisses and I Love You’s will be well earned and such a joy to receive. I cannot wait!

And by the way, it’s only been 11 weeks since we saw our very first picture of Miss ChunWei. I still cannot believe what all has happened in 3 short months! Never did I imagine this holiday season would include adding a daughter.

God has certainly blessed us with this sweet girl. And I cannot wait to see where this journey takes us.

Wyatt {18 months}

2012-01-14T21:45:00.001-05:00

With all of the excitement going on Wyatt’s 18month birthday slipped past me! Mister Wyatt is into everything! He loves to be doing what everyone else is doing. Eating, playing, running, screaming. SMILING is his big thing. He can give the cheesiest grins, just go up to him and say “cheese” and you’ll get this little face.

I feel bad that there is so much going on, I’m afraid that Wyatt is getting overlooked. Though he certainly does not act like he is. He just seems to go with the flow most days. He is happiest when his brother or sister is paying attention to him. Lately it seems Will is playing nicer with Wyatt, I think having a sister softened him up a bit. The other day I caught Will helping Wyatt up into his chair to watch a show. They sat side-by-side for the longest. I pray that they can develop a true friendship one day, though right now that seems like a far off dream.

Wyatt is still just saying a few words. Bye Bye being his favorite. He tells everyone that has been to our house Bye Bye a million times. And he will say bite bite and night night. He likes to repeat things. And he says Ella in the sweetest voice, kinda sounds like Lel-la.

And speaking of Lel-la, I think the two of them are going to be the best of friends once he stos crashing her photo shoots and learns to share a bit. They can play so sweetly together when they want. I can’t wait to see how their relationship grows. And if they truly start acting twin like. (Ella is teaching Wyatt Chinese I think…..not the direction I had hoped they’d head.)

On to the statistics. He’s weighing almost 28lbs, according to Poppy’s scale. (We go to the dr next week.) At his last appt he was 33 inches. But that is what Ella is and she’s taller so I’m not sure how tall either is. He is still wearing #4 diapers. And is wearing 12-18m clothes. I really thought he’d outgrow those by now but he hasn’t (so I have a lot of clothes waiting on him). His foot is growing like a weed and he quickly went thru that last pair and is now on to a 6.5W.

He is eating a little better, but it’s still a stretch to feed him. Loves his pork products though….ham, sausage, bacon, hot dogs. He will occasionally eat a turkey sandwich. He does like chicken, though not always chicken nuggets. And really doesn’t like fries, but does love tater tots. Cheese sandwiches are always a safe bet. And grapes, oh how he loves grapes. (and raisins and prunes) LOVES sweets (I passed on that gene). And he loves his milk, juice and water. Though you never know which he’s wanting and he will quickly swipe away his cup if it’s the wrong one. Haven’t figured out his pattern yet. And he loves pretzel sticks. LOVES them. Watch out if you have a bag.

And what a great sleeper I was blessed with. God knew I needed a good sleeper! He LOVES naps. All but screams at the bottom of the steps when he’s ready for naptime. He eagerly goes upstairs and reaches for the crib when we get to his room. It takes less than 5 minutes to put him down for a nap and most of that time is spent changing his diaper/clothes. I pray he stays this way. And nightime is mostly easy too. Occasionally he will pitch a fit but that’s usually if he’s sick or teething. With all the chaos going on I am very thankful for his love of sleep (I might have also passed that gene on).

Wyatt is still not a fan of TV. Or BOOKS! I’m slowly coming to terms with the books. Not really, but I am trying to justify it by saying it’s 10 less books I have to read each day. He will not even sit still for one second while I read. But bless his heart, he is a dancer. OH how he loves music. It just fills him from head to toe and he cannot stop moving. And if you take his shirt off he cannot contain himself. I pray he doesn’t embarrass himself later in life with all this dancing nonsense :)

Wyatt has mastered going up and down the stairs (not climbing, just crawling/scooting). I am so grateful he learned the coming down part. It makes getting 3 up and down the stairs so much easier. He is climbing onto the furniture now and thinks he’s big stuff. He wants so badly to be like his big brother that it is fun to watch him accomplish these new things, he is so proud of himself.

Wyatt is mister social. He LOVES telling people Hi and Bye. And loves to tell all the cars on the street Hello when they pass by. And he will let anyone hold him. I think Wyatt has let every visitor we’ve had in the last 2 weeks hold him….as in he runs up to them with his arms up and demands to be held. I kinda like that about him. (but that’s probably because I’ve had him “yelling” at me all day to hold him….)

Wyatt does have an aversion to computers and cell phones. It’s like he knows you are ignoring him if you’re using one and he pitches the biggest fit. The phone bit is because he wants to play with it….one too many people have given him their phones and now he’s obsessed with them. He has taken a strangers phone from them when we were at the library! But the laptop, oh how he wails when you get near it. And when we tried to skype home from China, he would have nothing to do with us. He was just mad to be near the computer. I’m sure it won’t be long before that all changes.

Mister 18 months is on the brink of learning and discovering so many things! I cannot wait to see what the next 6 months hold!!

Cardiology appointment

2012-01-13T09:16:00.001-05:00

We spent 4 hours at the doctor. Almost 2 of them were spent with Ella waiting, naked. Sister does not like to be naked or cold. I could write a book about why I hate going to Children's but I won't. We did an Xray and EKG. Between those 2 tests and what the doctor could hear she definitely has a murmur. And the tests mostly confirmed that the murmur was pulmonary stenosis like her records from China stated. But he also felt like she had a second abnormality and needed the ECHO to confirm that, along with exactly how bad the murmur/stenosis is. But since she would not calm down for the ECHO we will have to wait till April for an official diagnosis. Apparently an ECHO can only be done with them lying quietly and not crying. So we are praying that in 3 months she cooperates and we can know more what is going on. He said that he doesn't like to terrorize them with the ECHO so he didn't push for her to re-try again today. (all she has to do is lie there with the stickers put on her and get an ultrasound.) Next time if she's unable to calm down they will sedate her to do it. But he said regardless of the unknowns that it sounds like it is mild/minor and that she's doing great otherwise so he was not concerned and didn't think retesting was urgent. So we wait, again.

first cardiologist appointment

2012-01-11T23:23:00.001-05:00

We got lucky, the cardiologists office had an appointment for us on Thursday. We go for a chest x-ray first and then for our consult. I’m not really sure what to expect, and a bit nervous that there could be surprises. No one has given me reason for concern, just one of those things that’s crossing my mind as wait for 12:00 to arrive.

We also got some of her labs back and her thyroid levels were abnormal so we will be seeing an endocrinologist soon. I guess we’re going to be getting pretty familiar with Children’s Hospital again.

our first outing

2012-01-11T20:42:00.001-05:00

Sunday we attempted our first outing with all 3 in the car. Surprisingly we got out the door on time and without too much fanfare. We weren’t going far, just Mom & Dad’s for Chris’s birthday dinner.

Wyatt loves having a neighbor in the car. Ella, not much of a fan. Wyatt wants to hold her hand or poke her the whole time. We’re going to work on that.

And in true Will form, he fell asleep during dinner again. He wouldn’t even wake up for birthday cake and candles. Of course once we got home he asked for cake. Sadly we didn’t bring any home.

Wyatt enjoyed having all the birthday candles to himself this time. Well, he had to share with Ella and teach her how to blow them out. But I think he enjoyed being charge for once.

Ella tried ice cream for the first time. We assume it’s her first based on her reaction. She wasn’t sure what to think about it.

Wyatt, as always, enjoyed every single bite of his cookie cake….and he might have had more than one piece.

we survived!

2012-01-10T22:26:00.001-05:00

Ella’s doctor appointment went as good as can be expected. She weighed in at 24lbs and 33 inches tall. Dr. Rodgers said she looked great and seemed right on track based on her age. She was very impressed with all the things Ella was doing. It’s obvious she received good are in China. Dr. Rodgers could hear her heart murmur and said on a scale of 1-6 she was at a 2-3. She is scheduling our appointment with the cardiologist, hopefully we can see them in the next few weeks.

The bad news is that Ella needed 3 shots and had to have FOUR vials of blood drawn! She was NOT happy. So glad Chris went with us. I didn’t want her to think I was the bad guy (since we’re still not on the best terms yet).

After the doctor I took her to Chick Fil A (turns out she doesn’t like it…neither do the boys <sigh>). But then I made her really happy and took her shoe shopping. She grinned and grinned while we tried on shoes. She is slowing building her shoe collection.

After picking up the boys from MDO we hit Sonic (aka The Purple Drink Store) and introduced Ell AND Wyatt to Sonic Happy Hour. Slushes all around!

Tuesday, another first

2012-01-09T23:48:00.001-05:00

Tuesday we get to experience another first with Miss Ella. Sadly, it’s not going to be a fun one. We get to take her to her first pediatrician appointment. I know there will be lots of needles tomorrow. Most kids come home and have to be re-vaccinated since the immunizations they received in China are not quite the same. Our doctor may do labs to see which ones she needs re-done, or she will just re-do them all. I totally trust our doctor so I will go with whatever method she prefers. Either way, it will not be fun for any of us! I am also interested to see what our doctor says about her heart, more specifically, what she can hear of her murmur. We will also find out tomorrow how soon we can get into the pediatric cardiologist.

Say a few prayers for us in the morning if you think of it…..

3 weeks ago

2012-01-09T07:20:00.000-05:00

It’s hard to believe we have only known this face for 3 weeks now. It has gone very fast and very slow.

little red rocking chair (times 3)

2012-01-08T14:49:00.001-05:00

I’ve blogged about the red rocking chair twice before: once when Will was little and again when Wyatt was little, even including a picture of myself in the chair. But now I have a complete set of pictures! My camera and photo talents have slightly improved since Will’s picture. But I love all 3 just the same! (And I might be tempted to re-take the boys inside so that I can frame all 3 and have them look alike…..stay tuned.)

Hibernation

2012-01-07T09:41:00.001-05:00

We have entered a period of hibernation around here. Our goal right now is to keep Ella’s world as small as possible. While in China we were busy, busy, busy. She was seeing all kinds of new places and people. We were a constant in her daily life but I’m sure she was in a constant state of shock. She probably had never left the orphanage until she met us. And suddenly she’s on on planes, trains and taxi’s and seeing different people every few hours. I’m sure she was constantly wondering what was coming next. So the goal once we came home was to hibernate for awhile. Ideally, it would be 2-3 months, but that’s not very practical. We are going to try and stay home as much as we can in January. There are 1-2 social things we hope to do this month but that’s going to be it. We have had visitors, but we are now trying to limit those to 1 a day. And of course we have doctors appointments and social worker visits. But we are still in the midst of reassuring her that WE are her parents. We are the people that are here to stay forever. Right now I don’t think she sees as anything more than fun people to be around (I hope she thinks we’re fun). While we give hugs and kisses freely, lots of food and comfort I’m sure the word forever isn’t really on her radar yet. (And truly it is too early for her to figure all that out….though she is pretty smart.) All that to say that it might be awhile till we are back to our normal routines. We are going to test the waters some and see how she does and then go from there. I know this doesn’t make sense to most of you. Most people expect you to hibernate with a newborn, not with a toddler. But she is still new to us. And more importantly, we are still very new to her.

And in case you want more info about adoption parenting: a4everfamily.com

2012, the year of no babies!

2012-01-06T08:45:00.001-05:00

I am going to make a bold statement: 2012 will be the year we do not add a baby to our family! There, I said it. God can laugh now. But really, no babies this year. For almost a decade we have tried to add a baby to this family. (2003-2006 we tried to have babies the regular way, 2006 we completed our China paperwork, 2007 we worked on domestic adoption, 2008 we added Will, 2009 we found out we were preggo with Wyatt, 2010 Wyatt joined us, 2011 Ella joined us. That’s a lot of years of work and worry!)

I am beyond relieved that, for once, we can just sit back and enjoy our little family. Our complete family.

Our complete family, minus one. How long will it take to get a picture of the 5 of us?!

someone had a birthday today!

2012-01-05T22:18:00.001-05:00

Poor Chris had to return to work today, on his birthday!

So we made a little cake…..complete with LOTS of sprinkles.

Sang him a little song……

Enjoyed a lovely dinner that we didn’t have to cook (thank goodness for church meals when you add a new baby to your family!!!!!).

Donned our party hats!

Blew out some candles.

And let Miss E try blowing out a candle on her own (and I’d guess that this is her first candle blowing out experience).

And dig into some yummy chocolate cake! What a way to end our day.

Happy Birthday Super Hero Dad to THREE!

still sleeping

2012-01-05T08:20:00.001-05:00

I took a picture of Will but of course didn’t have the card in the camera…. but Will fell asleep last night while eating. I should start a series about where Will sleeps. Poor guy is exhausted! He never falls asleep anywhere but bed or the car until now. And it’s 8am and he’s still asleep! So he’s working on 14 hours of sleep now. Ella is also still asleep so that’s over 12 hours for her too. Now if I could train Wyatt to sleep past 7:00 we’d be in business! (Chris & I also went to bed really early, like 9:00!) But I think jetlag is slowly leaving our house.

Everyone has asked how the kids are getting along and so far it’s been great! Wyatt is a classic little brother who is happy just to have someone to follow. And Ella loves having a shadow (for now). There are a lot of times when Ella is mimicking Will and then Wyatt is mimicking her. And since neither of them talk really well it’s a good match. I’m just wondering who is going to talk first, Ella or Wyatt?!

Of course we have some sharing issues to work on. But that’s normal at this age anyway (for all of them). Ella does not like it when Wyatt steals her spot though. Wyatt has long claimed this chair as his, but we were letting Ella sit in it for pictures and of course Wyatt did not like that idea so he stole it back at first chance. (Too bad he wasn’t actually dressed, we coulda had some really cute pictures.)

Ella's first taste of ketchup in America

2012-01-04T13:14:00.002-05:00

When we got to the airport in Chicago, we were all starving. We got happy meals for the kids and brought them to Chili's, where Julie and I got something for ourselves. While Ella might have dabbled in some ketchup while were in China, this must have tasted a tad different, based on her reaction...

Wilson making the most of some downtime...

2012-01-03T14:29:00.000-05:00

Will had a little alone-time today while the others were napping. I missed the best part of his routine, but was able to at least catch the encore:

how it’s really going….

2012-01-03T14:17:00.001-05:00

First, Wyatt is thrilled to have us home!

The trio is getting along pretty well.

And the “twins” are becoming fast friends. Though we have some work to do on sharing. But their communication skills are pretty equal so that’s helpful. I’m not sure who’s going to teach who to talk first. It might be a tie.

But we are still not sleeping. Well, Chris and I could already be back on US time if Will would cooperate. Will wakes up between 2-4am. He claims he cannot go back to sleep. And since he was spoiled by sleeping with us every night for 2.5 weeks he doesn’t think he can sleep alone now. So we have a few things to work through. Last night he woke up at 2 and then tossed and turned next to me for 2 hours before falling back to sleep. Of course, Wyatt woke up at 5:00 and needed to be rocked for 2 hours. So we could use some prayers for sleep in our household!

Will is still randomly falling asleep in strange places.

And we still have a few things to work through with Miss E. We thought she was attaching well but we’re wondering if all the visitors are getting to her. So we’re watching and waiting.

Next week we go to our first pediatrician appointment. And we’ll find out how soon we can get into the cardiologist. And we have our first social worker visit next week. Should be an exciting week.

Happy 2012

2012-01-01T22:09:00.001-05:00

I hope you spent the day doing something that made you happy….we did!

the other blog

2011-12-20T07:24:00.001-05:00

In case you hadn’t noticed, we are blogging at the travel blog: www.Emakes5.blogspot.com.

The internet is so slow that uploading pics to both blogs is impossible while we’re here.

You’ve probably already figured that out but if not…..http://emakes5.blogspot.com/

its 8:30am on our last day in Beijing...

2011-12-16T19:34:00.000-05:00

Julie went on the Great Wall tour today with our group. They are also going to Olympic stadium. After that they go to an acrobat show. Will and I are going to meet up with Julie and the group for the acrobat show, which I believe is indoors. I'm sitting here in our room with Will, where we will be spending the majority of our day. As I mentioned earlier, its far too cold out to have Will outside for another full day. The hotel does have a pool, so I'm planning on taking Will swimming for a bit. There's a Mcdonald's within walking distance of our hotel, and a 7-11, so its looking like cheeseburgers and fries and Big Gulps for lunch. (just kidding about the Big Gulps, though we will venture into the 7-11 for some snacks and drinks for our room.) Gonna run now. Julie took her camera with her today, and I cannot wait to see the pics she takes. I'm sure she will post some tonight. Tomorrow we fly to Ella's province. Absolutely can not wait...

Beijing tour, Day 1

2011-12-16T13:14:00.001-05:00

Here's a few short video clips from our tour around Beijing earlier today. The weather was brutal and really took its toll on Will. His legs and feet were ice cold and we were all completely exhausted by the time we made it back to our room. We ended up having to wrap Will's legs in several layers of fleece and blankets, and put a heat pack under them as well. He fell asleep and by the time he woke up his legs had returned to normal temp. We were pretty scared there for a bit, to say the least. That, and the fact that Will's not digging the idea of eating much at all, hasn't made things easy. We're praying tomorrow will be better. Will and I are going to stay back at the room and skip the Great Wall & Olympic stadium tour tomorrow, as its supposed to be even colder out than it was today. I'm hoping Julie will still go with our travel group, so at least one of us can see everything.
Other than touring Tiananmen Square & Forbidden City, we took a rickshaw ride through the city. During that tour we stopped and toured one of the local's homes. While we were there Will insisted he had to go potty. Fortunately for us, the home owner was kind enough to let Will use their bathroom. We ate lunch at a traditional Chinese restaurant today. Yes, Eddie, one of us did have some duck at lunch today, but it wasn't Will or Julie. It wasn't that bad, but I'd have to say I still prefer chicken.

pics on the other blog

2011-12-15T11:35:00.000-05:00

It is taking forever to upload pictures to the blog so I will not be re-posting on both blogs today. Head over to Emakes5.blogspot.com to see our day.

here in beijing...

2011-12-15T08:39:00.000-05:00

just going to post some notes i made over the last 24 hours... excuse the typo's, as there will be many i am sure!

1pm 11/14:
still sitting atthe airport, around 1pm... Our flight to beijing is delayed by 4 hours due to what is being referred to as 'airline servicing.' Not exactly what you want to hear before going on a 14-hour flight! ...so if that delay holds, then we should arrive in beijing around 6am eastern tomorrow. that's slightly more than 24 hours from when we flew out of chattanooga. will keeps going back and forth between 'i want to go home,' 'i dont want to get on another plane ride,' and , 'i DO want to get on another plane ride.' at this point our day of travel isnt even at the halfway mark, so the rest of our day's journey should be interesting.

9pm 11/14:
we boarded the plane to beijing a little after 3:30pm and took off not long after. our agent got us a free upgrade when booking our flight, so we are in business class, which is just behind first class. getting seats that convert into a bed on a 14 hr flight is an absolute must. we've never had this much room on a flight before. amazing. also amazing is that the airline gave us $400 in free vouchers to compensate for the flight delay, so we are definitely going to look into upgrading to bus. class on our return flight. due to lack of sleep, and being 3, will didnt seem as taken with all the extra room. this plane needs a gym for him to run and play until he deems its time to settle in for the evening. its almost 9pm wednesday night and he finally turned in for the night. julie went to sleep about an hour ago. i couldnt sleep just yet, but will do so very soon i think. i just cant stop thinking about the next several days ahead, and i'm also really missing mr wyatt back home. meeting ella in just 5 days. we've come 5+ years, and now its down to just 5 days. i have no idea how she is going to react to meeting us for the first time. i'm praying it goes really well, and i know we've got tons of people praying for us back home, from people at our church, to family and friends, plus i think we've even got an entire classroom of students following our journey and praying for us on an almost daily basis (thanks sara and hanna!) even though you aren't here with us, your prayers are felt, and i can definitely see them working in ways both large and small. i think i'm going to do my best to fall asleep now. we have a little over 4,700 miles before we reach beijing. our flight monitor says we are over denmark right now, so that's as good a time as any...

6am 11/15:
we landed in beijing around 6am our time to 14 degree weather. brrrrrr. its nighttime here and will was asleep when we landed. i told him it was already night when we woke him up and the first thing he said was, "we still have time to pick up sister." in the room now and looking fwd to stretching our legs and getting some proper sleep. cant wait to start the rest of our journey!!!!! internet seems to working just fine so it looks like we can post updates without any problems.

that's not the great wall of china, that's new jersey

2011-12-14T10:48:00.000-05:00

3AM comes awfully early when you only have 4 hours of sleep preceding...we're in the air right now, just passed over d.c. about ten minutes ago. will is conked out right now, legs draped over my lap, his head in julie's. Very happy he fell asleep, as he threw a mini fit at the charlotte airport while we were on a soft sprint to our gate, located on the opposite end of the airport. whe wesaid we couldnt carry him, he just sat down right in the middle of the floor. keep in mind that this is the shortest connection time of our entire trip. a little stressful, indeed. we finally made it to our gate and had a few minutes for bathroom breaks.will also had a little moment back at chatt airport while we were going thru security, but we quickly overcame that one after explaining that you cant just leave the line to go check out Christmas displays nearby.despite the fits will is definitely enjoying geting up close and personal with these giant planes. our first plane was really small and blue. he said our next one would probably be white. he was right.gotta run, landing now in newark.more later... so far so good!

still packing

2011-12-12T21:13:00.001-05:00

We spent last night till 1:30 and then again all day today trying to put all of this….

And all of this…..

Into this….

We were somewhat successful. But went out and bought another suitcase today. We are 95% done. But when I went over what was left to do I felt like we were only 50% done. At least we still have Tuesday!

our early Christmas

2011-12-12T07:26:00.001-05:00

our prayer requests (and link)

2011-12-11T08:30:00.000-05:00

So I lied, there's one tiny thing different between the two blogs. I added a list of prayer requests, along with our itinerary. We've had so many people ask how they can pray for us while we are gone so I created a list (and I confess I was inspired by another blogging family who made a list)

http://emakes5.blogspot.com/p/prayer-requestsitinerary.html

sister has a bed

2011-12-10T18:22:00.000-05:00

Sister now has a place to lay her head at night. We still have to see if she is ready for a twin bed or a crib. We’ll find out once we’re back home, but either way we are ready!

Not sure the boys were keen on how we had to get the mattress home. Good thing it was a quick ride.

The new mattress is going on Will’s new bunk bed! Sister may be sharing a room with Will. We’re leaving everything up in the air at the moment and are going to wait see where she is most comfortable sleeping - bed/crib, alone, with Will, with us, etc. We just want to be prepared for any scenario. And in a year or so, when Wyatt goes to bed later, the W’s will share a room and the bunk beds. For now, Will is excited about his new bed and the possibility of sharing a room with his baby sister.

missing him already

2011-12-10T14:07:00.000-05:00

As excited as we are to be heading to China Wednesday, it's starting to sink in just how much I'm going to miss Wyatt. He's really starting to let his personality shine at every given opportunity. He's becoming quite the ham, showman, giggle box, etc. He's even starting to repeat just about anything you ask him to say, or at least give it his best try. I know he's going to be in great hands while we're gone; not worried about that in the least. I just hate that he's too little to understand that we're only going away for a short while, and that we'll be back soon.

not packed and ready?

2011-12-09T22:35:00.001-05:00

The basement is serving as the staging area. Or rather, the holding room. Anything that is bought or intended for the trip is carted downstairs and left, hoping someone will come along and pack it up. It also holds items for Christmas. Presents are not currently safe under our tree since Wyatt likes to unwrap. So the windowsills currently hold our gifts. There aren’t many because we stopped buying once we realized we were going to China.

It isn’t pretty, but it’s all there, minus the clothes. Our plan this weekend is to finish the trip shopping, celebrate Christmas 3x over and pack. Really, we have to pack! We are running out of time!

so this is Christmas….

2011-12-07T23:43:00.001-05:00

I know I’ve already mentioned that we put up a tree with no ornaments this year. Well, we have 3 ornaments up and a bow. I did decorate the mantle and we put lights up outside. The tree will come down after Saturdays Christmas. The lights will probably stay up till Jan/Feb, no lie. It’s a special Christmas this year but one I want to remember none the less.

There will be massive amounts of Christmas pictures taken this weekend. And I plan to blog them before we leave…..like I’ve said a million times, if it’s not on the blog it’s like it never happened. This is my memory keeper :)

And one last decoration….. Chris’s prized leg lamp. He got it at our Sunday School Christmas party. There were 3 circulating but he finally snagged this one and “froze” it. He was very proud of his genuine award.

flights booked!

2011-12-07T07:39:00.000-05:00

Our flights are booked. And I have been told by 3 different people that our time between flights is less than ideal. But there were just no options to be had at this time of year and where we are leaving from. So please pray that we make all our US connections, specifically the Charlotte connection both ways.

merry christmas!

2011-12-06T11:32:00.000-05:00

We are on the ball in the T house this year. Our cards are (mostly) in the mail and should be arriving soon. (that alone should be recognized as a major accomplishment….) And for those of you that noticed that there is a new blog address on the card, no worries about switching or keeping up with a new blog….It is just for travel purposes only. We will be posting the same exact goodies on both blogs. I just like to keep everything all together for the trip. And putting it on it’s own blog makes it neater (for me). That will make life easier when I get around to scrapbooking or blog publishing. (though don’t look too closely, things are a bit out of order compared to here)

it’s official

2011-12-05T23:26:00.000-05:00

We leave in 8-9 days!!! And these weather forecasts are going to make for an interesting party in my suitcase!

2011-12-05T10:57:00.001-05:00

Looks like we are indeed leaving on 14th!

(more to follow...)

spontaneous pictures

2011-12-04T23:59:00.001-05:00

Not quite the Christmas pictures I had envisioned. But I didn’t realize I was taking “Christmas pictures” till it happened. We were dressed and ready, the light was pretty decent in front of the tree. I plopped Wyatt in front to see what would happen…..

Will surprisingly agreed to have his picture made too. (I wish I had brushed his hair now….). He was all willing and happy to pose.

The only thing Christmasy about these pictures is the tree. Fitting since nothing about this holiday is traditional this year. But just wait till next year……I have a feeling it will be over the top!

sample itinerary

2011-12-03T10:59:00.000-05:00

We had hoped to hear back about our Consulate Appointment (CA) today but no such luck. Praying we hear something Monday. I’m anxious to know dates and really get to planning/packing. If we are delayed another week then there’s not much I can do other than mentally pack. But we’ve been asked about what our trip looks like so here is a quick snapshot of the trip details (from here)

Wednesday: Leave for China!
Thursday: Arrive in China
Friday-Sunday: Tour Beijing
Sunday Night: Fly to your child's province
Monday: Gotcha Day!! Meet your child!
Tuesday: Adoption Finalization
Wednesday: Touring/Rest
Thursday: Touring/Rest
Friday: Get Child's passport - fly to Guangzhou.
Saturday: Medical Exam for visa on Shamian Island/TB test
Sunday: Free Day/Touring
Monday: Get TB test read
Tuesday: Consulate Appointment and Oath
Wednesday: Get visa!
Wednesday night or Thursday morning: Fly home!

November Video Clips

2011-12-01T17:53:00.000-05:00

we have TA!

2011-11-30T22:43:00.001-05:00

We received an email today from our agency saying that we have received Travel Approval!!!! And were told option 1 to leave was Dec 14 and option 2 was Dec 21. They are hoping for option 1 and honestly we are too. Yes, it is 2 weeks from today!!!!! But it would guarantee that we finalized the adoption in 2011 which is a huge bonus for the adoption tax credit since the ‘11 credit is much better than the ‘12 one.

So that is our prayer request for today, option 1.

And now I’m going to go finish my panic attack, thank you very much.

Christmas in China?

2011-11-30T15:26:00.000-05:00

Why not!

(details to follow...)

midweek randoms

2011-11-29T23:36:00.001-05:00

Get use to some random posts, my brain is slowly shrinking….

We are starting week 2 of the wait for our Travel Approval (TA). We were told we’d hear something in 2-4 weeks. Once we receive TA things are going to happen FAST. As in we could find out that we have TA and that we are leaving in 5 days. That may be a little extreme, but it happens too often to discount. We keep telling ourselves “we could leave in 2 weeks…”.
All of this excitement does not mean we’ve made any progress with packing. I just opened up the travel list, looked at it and then closed it. The list is so extensive and overwhelming that I just shutdown mentally. I do have Ella’s bag packed, well, her clothes are in a bag. Everything else I have purchased (mostly meds) are piled up on our dining room table and all over the basement.
80% of my Christmas shopping is done. And well, the other 20% might not happen. Speaking of Christmas, we’re telling Will that we are going to China after Christmas. But Christmas may happen on the 20th this year. Good thing he can’t read a calendar yet. Hmm, hope he doesn’t learn to read the blog in the next 10 years.
We didn’t plan on putting the tree up until closer till Christmas but that was before we received “the call”. We put the tree up Friday after T’giving this year. Lights only, no ornaments. Well, there are 2 ornaments on there that I bought for the boys back in Sept/Oct and they’ve been sitting out waiting. And then I bought Ella an ornament. The point of having a tree w/o ornaments is two fold (since you’re dying to know). One, it’s obviously quicker to put away once we find out when we’re leaving. And two, Wyatt is obsessed with balls and 90% of ornaments are balls. No need to tempt him with a sparkly ball-covered tree.
Will and I got our travel shots yesterday. It wasn’t pretty. (Have I mentioned that Will is going with us? I will save that for another post)
3 out of 4 of us are sick. Praying Will stays healthy. Though he’s running a fever, I’m assuming it’s from the shots.

And what’s a post without a picture…..here’s another attempt at the sibling shot. I’m known for beating a dead horse when it comes to pictures.

where are we going….

2011-11-29T08:00:00.000-05:00

Here is where we are headed. We hope to start our trip in Beijing, but that depends on our travel group. So we may have to start in Hong Kong. (Beijing is near the top on the right; it’s light pink. HK is near the red arrow). From our starting point we will then travel to Chongqing (see the blue arrow). Ella is from this municipality. We will spend a week there and before traveling to Guangzhou (see the red arrow). That is where we finish our trip before coming home.
And here is the specific area that we are headed…. We will stay in Chongqing (light pink in the middle). Ella is actually from Qianjiang District. (So the municipality is kind of like a state and QJ is the city). QJ is about a 7 hour (mountainous) ride away.

Here is some good information on Chongqing, http://wikitravel.org/en/Chongqing. And some pictures via the world of google images….

The one where Will sees Ella's picture for the first time

2011-11-28T06:00:00.000-05:00

a new place to call home

2011-11-26T23:49:00.002-05:00

Chris, being quite the detective, found out some new info on our sweet girls current home. She recently has been moved from Qianjiang SWI (orphanage) to Chongqing. We didn't have alot of details of her new home, just the name. Chris has googled for days about this place finding bits and pieces. Tonight he found an article and a video! The new facility is taking a new approach to orphan care and sounds wonderful and exciting. I hope this means Ella is getting extra hugs and kisses until we get there! (and no, she's not in the video....)

http://www.wantchinatimes.com/news-subclass-cnt.aspx?id=20111127000033&cid=1103&MainCatID=11

LARGEST CHILDHOOD WELFARE CENTER by tvnportal

for fun, driving directions….

2011-11-25T22:22:00.001-05:00

Chris looked up the directions to Ch.ina. Here are some of the highlights…..

Will’s Thankful Thursday list

2011-11-24T20:32:00.001-05:00

In no particular order, this is Will’s list of thanksgiving:

my “shows”
the mailbox
little plants
big trees
Mommy
animals
Daddy’s i.Pad
my cousins

2011-11-24T08:00:00.000-05:00

Source: cheepideas.com via Julie on Pinterest

baking day….and random pictures

2011-11-23T13:41:00.001-05:00

I try to limit my holiday contributions to baking only. I am more of a baker than a cook so the outcome is a lot more certain if I’m in charge of desserts.

THIS is in the oven now. And while I was searching for pumpkin-chocolate cheesecake recipe I found these photos. Will’s old school was so good about sending pictures home (printed or on a disk). I found these cute ones that never made it on the blog.

This one is one my favorites of all-time. It’s been on our fridge since it was sent home. I use to think he looked sad, but later realized this was his annoyed look. I can only imagine what he was thinking when he realized he was getting his picture taken again. He couldn’t escape the camera at home or school!

this week in pictures…. (and it’s only Monday)

2011-11-21T23:44:00.000-05:00

Here’s a quick peak at the last few days….

2 hours filling out Visa applications Saturday. Only to re-do them on Monday. They are safely in the mail now. But what a pain!

Care package is going in the mail Tuesday. Being a good Mom I naturally forgot to take a picture before taping it shut. Don’t think I didn’t consider unpacking it! I sent an outfit, socks, doll, suckers for E’s friends, candies for the nannies, a disposable camera (please pray they take pictures and we get them back), and a photo book with pictures of us.

Reading Will’s new book during snack time.

I’m a pretty big fan of the word believe. It applies to a lot of things, especially now. And especially at Christmas. Hopefully our Christmas decorations will be more than this this year, but I’m not promising.

october video clips!

2011-11-21T00:16:00.004-05:00

the next few steps….

2011-11-19T18:34:00.001-05:00

I know everyone is curious about what is next for us. Here is how I understand things (though I have so many steps and to-do lists in my head I might be confused on some of this….).

We received, signed and mailed back our Letter of Acceptance (LOA) on Thursday. And once Ch.i.na receives our LOA we will wait for Travel Approval (TA). This could come in the next 2-4 weeks. (TA means they are officially inviting is over to adopt a child.) And we will leave approximately 2-3 weeks after TA is received.

Once our agency receives TA they will request a Consulate Appointment (CA). The CA is what determines our travel dates. And the CA date we receive is near the END of our trip. (The Consulate is where we apply for E’s US entry visa.)

All that summed up means that we will have 7-14 days notice on when we leave!!! Let that sink in for a moment…….

Now based on my math and looking at the timelines they gave us the earliest we could be in Ch.i.na is a few days before Christmas. And on the longer side of things we might be there at the first of January. All should work out to get us there and home before New Years in Ch.ina, which is at the end of Jan. If we can’t get there 2 weeks before CNY starts then we would be pushed back to February (pray that doesn’t happen please).

We have always joked that traveling in January was the worst possible scenario for us (Chris works 6 day weeks and late nights in January), but thankfully he works with some amazing people that are more than happy to cover for him.

Okay, I know this was a boring post and with no pictures, but I knew a few were wondering what’s going on. So that’s it in a nutshell today. I have a lot more to post that’s actually interesting. Hopefully I can do that soon!

the seal on our LOA

oh dear….

2011-11-18T08:26:00.001-05:00

Will is all about making sure everything is fair. He is the fair police! But I never expected this one…. this morning we were watching the news and there was a 10 year old on there. He asked if that was his big sister. I said no. He pouted and said but Wyatt’s getting a big sister, I want one too! I told him that he and Wyatt were both getting a sister. He was not pleased.

Not sure who told him about Big Sisters and Little Sisters but that was a mistake. He clearly prefers big sisters.

Ralphie

2011-11-17T11:23:00.000-05:00

The possibility of being in China for Christmas made me think of the restaurant scene at the end of "A Christmas Story." Though parts of the scene would probably be deemed 'politically incorrect' today, the whole scenario still cracks me up.

LOA!

2011-11-16T16:44:00.001-05:00

We just received our Letter of Acceptance (LOA). Definitely record time in my books. Our agency said we could travel in 5-8 weeks. Christmas travel????

*Edited to add: We downloaded 40 pages of forms to sign, read, notarize and we are so overwhelmed I don't think I can read it tonight. My head is not fond of all this spinning! Speechless is what we are at the moment. A good speechless, but still speechless.

1, 2, 3….doing the math…

2011-11-14T11:20:00.000-05:00

In case you are wondering about the math between kids…..

Will is 14 months older than Eleanor

Eleanor is 11 months older than Wyatt.

Currently that makes Will 3.5, Eleanor almost 2.5 and Wyatt almost 1.5.

For one month E & Wy will be the same age. Though they will probably not be in the same grade at school.

And having a 1, 2 and 3 year old means 3 carseats in the back. And to take one thing of my overwhelming long to-do list, Chris took the carseats out and put them all in, just to confirm that they do, in fact, fit back there. (and then he graciously took them back out and returned them to their normal seating positions) We can even put one rear facing for awhile if we need to. (Wyatt is still rear facing.) Thankfully that stress is lifted and we do not need to run out and buy a new carseat!

some more details of the big day and our E

2011-11-12T22:12:00.001-05:00

We received THE CALL Halloween night, around 10:00!!!

This was not the first time they had called us with a potential referral so we were kinda doubtful that this was “the one”.
There is more to that story that I may post about later. Though if you are really curious you can email and I will explain.

Our coordinator told us we had been matched on the shared list that had been released that evening (that was a first for us), then she gave us her dob and her medical condition. At this point I got pretty excited and told her to please email us her file and we would take a look.

We looked at her file and pictures then quickly went to goo.gle and did some reading. We stayed up insanely late reading. We felt very comfortable with what we had read but knew we needed to hear from doctors first. We contacted 3 different doctors Tuesday morning and waited ~~patiently~~ impatiently for them to call us back. The way we were matched meant we had to make a very quick decision. We had to have our documents back by Wednesday. By Tuesday afternoon we had heard from all 3 doctors and felt confident with our decision. We stayed up late again preparing our documents and letter of intent (LOI). Everything was sent to the agency first thing Wednesday and then we waited, again. We were told to expect our Pre-Approval (PA) within 1-2 weeks. We were lucky in that it came back on Monday the 7th!
That just means that we can officially share with you! Of course, there are more steps ahead of us but we can talk about those later.

Now that you suffered thru the boring details, here are the exciting details.

Her name is Qian Chun Wei
pronounced: Chyan Chūn Way

Soon to be Eleanor ChunWei

Birthday is Aug 5 (the day after my Nana’s)

*E* lives in Qianjiang, Chongqing

And we hope to travel in January or February!!!!
Another benefit of being logged in for so long, quick travel times!

And here is what her nannies have to say about her:

She can say Mama and Papa clearly.
Loves food.
Can point to nose, eyes, etc.
She is shy but likes to play with kids and likes toys with music.
She is delicate, fair skin, thick hair, black eyes, long eyelashes, dimples and a ready smile.
She is compliant, healthy, active and restless. And very adorable.
Is timid, gets along well with others, fond of quietness (poor girl, not around here)
Fond of toys and music
Deep sleeper, sucks fingers
Goes up and downstairs w/o help, jumps with both feet, draws lines, knows "big" and "small"
Favorite activity- watching TV (she’s perfect for our family!)
Favorite toy - cloth dolls

2011-11-11T08:50:00.001-05:00

We’ve been in a complete haze of amazement and wonder since we got the call from our agency on 10/31. For the past several days I’ve arrived at work with a headache from holding back tears, because I’ve somehow managed to relate every single song that comes on the radio to all we’ve been through to get to where we are right now. (What can I say, I’m 100% cheeseball when it comes to that.) After starting this process several years ago (5+ years qualifies as ‘several,’ right?!), it’s just so hard to believe that we’ve gotten to the point where we no longer have to use our stock answer of “two more years.” To be able to think in terms of months (or possibly weeks!) is truly a great feeling. In the past few weeks God has been revealing to us, on an almost daily basis, just how much He has been in control all along. We can’t wait to share the details, and we look forward to doing so very soon!

sweet E

2011-11-10T16:55:00.000-05:00

We received Pre-Approval (PA) on Monday, just 2 days after submitting our Letter of Intent (LOI). All of that boils down to the fact that we can share her face with you…..

More of the details coming soon!

sibling pictures {the extra special edition}

2011-11-09T11:16:00.000-05:00

Hey brother, what is that in your hand…..

What, this picture frame?

Yeah, who is in that picture frame?

It’s our SISTER!

Can you believe that? We have a SISTER!

15 month check-up (Wyatt)

2011-11-07T22:15:00.001-05:00

I forgot to post about Wyatt’s 15 month check-up. The doctor declared Wyatt right on track and perfectly “normal”. Even the things/behaviors that I don’t find very normal are apparently normal….and this too shall pass. We talked about his lack of eating and she sympathized with me saying she also had a picky eater. There are no secrets for picky eaters you just have to go with the flow and hope for the best. (She did suggest trying Carnation Good Start mix for his milk. Naturally he refused to drink it.)

Wyatt weighed in at 27lbs 2oz and 33 inches. That puts him in the 90% for weight and 97% for height. And his noggin, well, his head didn’t even register on the charts. At this point Wyatt is handing down hats to Will!

Wyatt had to have 3 shots and a flu shot. (Will had a flu shot too and let’s not talk about how fun it was to have two boys getting shots at the same time….) But as usual, Wyatt cried for about a second and all was right in the world again.

We are cleared for a few more months and will be back for an 18 month visit. Not that we won’t be back before then for a random illness or something.

*Notice the bump, bruise and scab on his forehead. Wyatt is never without an embellishment on his forehead. He is constantly falling, rolling, or running into something.

sibling shot, part two!

2011-11-06T20:50:00.001-05:00

After the failed pumpkin shots I had high hopes for a leaves shot. I did find a beautiful pile of leaves. And did get a few pictures. But the brothers picture failed me again. It’s the age, or the timing, or the fact that they are unbribeable. I had candy for Will and he said he didn’t want any candy. He makes this picture taking job very hard. Oh well, when they’re older I’m sure I can find something to bribe them with!

Wyatt isn’t bribable yet but he is pretty happy to hold a (wrapped) sucker in his hand….that is until Will takes it from him. Not because he wanted to eat it, he just wanted to hold it.

hope

2011-11-05T01:07:00.005-04:00

iPad, iPad, get your iPad!

2011-11-03T09:21:00.000-04:00

The adoption/blogging community is pretty amazing and the friendships made are pretty incredible. Someday soon I will tell you how I met Sandra, and how we became friends. But until then, trust me when I say she has been an amazing part of our adoption journey and I am blessed to call her a friend. Please stop by her blog, I Just Haven’t Met You Yet, and take a peek at her adorable daughter Kylie who is waiting in China for her family. Kylie’s family is fundraising for the remaining adoption expenses by giving away an iPad2! So head on over and buy a dozen or so raffle tickets (or just one). Be a part of uniting a child with her forever family!!!!

Wordless Wednesday {static}

2011-11-02T09:27:00.000-04:00

trick or treat!

2011-11-01T13:24:00.001-04:00

Monday was an interesting day at our house. The boys were in rare form and I wondered if we should just call of candy hunting that evening. Thankfully they calmed down and Will agreed to go trick or treating.

Oh, and earlier in the day Will asked if Santa was going to bring his presents after we went trick or treating. Not sure if he mixed up the holidays or was believing in the Great Pumpkin. Either way, he was disappointed.

Mimi came over to see the boys costumes and hand out candy while we went out. Will was not in a posing mood so this is as close as he would get to Mom.

But I managed to get a cute picture of him when he wasn’t looking. Thank goodness for planes going overhead! (though now I see he needs a haircut again!)

We finally headed down the street to start ringing doorbells. Will has been practicing that part for months. We had to remind him several times to only ring it once. But he did so good….saying Trick or Treat and then Thank You. At some point he added in “can I have some candy for my baby brother?”. We could have done without that part, but he was so excited to bring Wyatt some candy. Wyatt only went to one front door. Chris carried him to a few more and then we just stood there and let Will go on his own.

Will raced to the front doors and excitedly waited. I can’t believe he was brave enough to go alone!

We only hit about 10 houses and Will decided he was done. It was very cold out (and we might have been under dressed), and we had to hike up that big ole hill. So I’m glad it was a short night. Will spent a little while at home handing out candy to the kids….he managed to go thru an entire bag of candy on one set of kids. We weren’t supervising close enough, he was giving out fistfuls!!!

We had a great night with Peter Pan and Super Wy!

(Will got called Tinkerbelle and Kermit once…..thankfully he didn’t notice.)

our own little pumpkin patch

2011-10-30T23:06:00.001-04:00

Since we skipped the pumpkin patch this year I thought I’d at least attempt pumpkin pictures. I’m just glad we didn’t pay money for pumpkin pictures because it would have been wasted! Will sat for exactly 2 seconds, and brought Dora with him. (And if you look closely you will see that his hair is spray painted purple from a previous outing.)

Wyatt kept trying to carry all of the pumpkins off. He thought they were balls, and then he started throwing them. One is rotten, thankfully it didn’t explode.

This was as close as I got to having a brothers and pumpkins picture.

Then I thought if I could hold them we’d get a group picture. Of course, I didn’t really factor in the shade and shadows, or squirmy kids.

So 5 minutes after we started with pumpkins I gave up and we just had fun. Will used his “sled’ on the hills. His favorite front yard activity. Poor Dora went along for the ride, and got ran over a few times.

And Daddy took a few rides too. Poor Gus didn’t know what to think of it. He was trying to join in.

And like most activities, this afternoon ended in tears. Which means Wyatt also cried. He ALWAYS cries when Will cries. Sweet, but loud.

“last” summer day

2011-10-29T09:45:00.000-04:00

I thought this was the last summer/hot day of the year, but apparently I was wrong….it was hot this week too. Anyway, we had a nice “last” hot day with lots of playing outside with Mimi & Poppy.
Wyatt explored, crawled, ate leaves and had a good time watching and chasing Brother.

Will had a great time chasing Riley and jumping out of the bushes aka forest and scaring us.

And there was lots of brotherly love going on. In a rare move, Wyatt tackled Will first. Will’s face cracks me up.

it’s the great pumpkin!

2011-10-28T08:58:00.000-04:00

We didn’t make it to the pumpkin patch this year, mainly because it cost so much and the boys are still a bit small for it. So we went to the produce stand and bought a few pumpkins and took a few pictures. Not quite the same, but close enough. I still have hopes of some pumpkin/leaves pictures but we’ll see how the weather is this weekend.

We did get to see the “great pumpkin”. Will was pretty impressed with that massive thing!

But Will was more excited about the mums than the pumpkins. We had been there about 5 minutes when he said he was ready to go. It doesn’t take much for Will to get bored.

Wyatt enjoyed all of the pumpkins, but really loved the mums too. Of course, he started picking off all the petals so I had to divert his attention. Then he decided the parking lot was more fun so we took our two pumpkins and headed home.

Maybe next year we can go to a real pumpkin patch!

Super Wy (picture overload, vol.2)

2011-10-27T11:21:00.000-04:00

Wyatt didn’t have much of an opinion regarding his costume this year. The plan was that he would wear Will’s Lion costume from a few years ago. Will was excited that “Simba” would be his sidekick on Halloween. Thankfully I decided to try it on last week only to discover that Super Wy’s head is a tad too big to fit into the costume. We got it on him but he all he did was scream and try to pull the costume off. SO, plan 2 kicked in really quick. I was going to make him a Charlie brown shirt, like last year, but I decided he needed something special and new just like Will. We already have a W cape but Wyatt will only wear it for a few minutes so we had to have another plan. I decided to make a new cape and just sew it to a W shirt we already had. It was a hit!!! Wyatt didn’t really care that he had it on and happily wore it all around. I wish I could get him to ear a mask but I don’t see that happening. He’s still a pretty cute Super Wy. (he’s too busy these days to pose for pictures, so his are just action shots….just like any good super hero, always in action)

And like any good super hero, Wyatt is super friendly, waving at all the neighbors who drove by. He even blew kisses and frantically waved at the lady next door until she noticed him. He is nothing but persistent!

Picture DAY

2011-10-25T22:45:00.001-04:00

I totally lifted these from the photographers website (but am ordering pictures…..). Anyway, picture day was last week. Wyatt did great. Will looks like he’s already over it. And at least they sat next to each other for the brothers shot. I saw the other sibling shots and my two are the least friendly of the bunch, go figure. At least they are festive.

Peter Pan (picture overload, vol. 1)

2011-10-25T10:53:00.000-04:00

Will seems excited about his costume this year. I asked him several times what he wanted to dress up as and several times we picked Peter Pan. I showed him the costume online and he excitedly chose it every time. I hesitantly made the top a few weeks ago and he got really excited but after wearing it for a few minutes he said he was ready to just be Will again. Thankfully a few days later he asked for his hat and sword. I put off making those in hopes of building excitement, so far it’s worked. I finished the sword and hat during nap time Friday and he was so excited to have all of his pieces together. I think it’s safe to say this one is a keeper.

Will happily agreed to a few pictures as long as it was just Mommy & Will and in exchange for some S’s aka Skittles. (turns out he doesn’t like skittles)

He showed me all of Peter Pan’s moves and his “arrrrgh Hook” face.

BOO at the Zoo!

2011-10-24T13:09:00.001-04:00

This weekend we went to Boo at the Zoo. We debated all day about going. We spent the entire day in our PJ’s and weren’t too excited about getting dressed and out the door but around 3:30 we decided to head out and surprisingly everything went pretty smoothly.

The boys donned their costumes and we went to play games and see the animals.

It was an extra special day for Will. Not only did he get to meet both Beauty & the Beast, he got to hug Dora! Chris said the grin on his face afterwards was priceless.

And no fall festival is complete without a pony ride. Mister Wilson was excited about riding another pony!

And we got to visit with Baby Jake aka Chunky Monkey for a few minutes!

In the end we were glad we actually got out of the house, the weather was wonderful and the boys had a great time. And bonus points for Will falling asleep on the way home. Two boys in bed before 8:00 was worth the price of admission!

Sunday Snapshot {waddle, waddle}

2011-10-22T23:23:00.001-04:00

There’s something about a baby waddle. I guess that’s why they call them toddlers, they toddle every where. And this week I realized that’s the one thing I wish I could hold on to for forever. I’ve been watching Wyatt walk around with his elbows pulled straight back, hands all over the place while taking very un-rhythmic steps and I look at Will and wonder when he stopped walking that way. I guess I thought Will still had a baby walk until I compared the two of them. If I had to guess, Wyatt’s waddle will disappear before he turns 2. And like baby talk, it’s one of those things that slowly disappears and you don’t realize it’s gone until it’s too late to enjoy it one last time. A lot of people say they miss that one last night feeding/rocking but I think the disappearing waddle toddle will be the thing I miss the most. I’m trying to burn it into my mental image bank forever

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wondering what Sunday Snapshot is? Visit Stefanie at NiHaoY'all for the details

an incentive to disable the snooze button

2011-10-20T08:00:00.000-04:00

Since the boys are now home full-time, I started working 7 to 4 every day. That way I get to avoid traffic going to and from work. While I don’t get to see the boys in the morning (everyone’s still asleep when I leave), I get to spend 2 more hours with them in the evenings before they go to bed. Good stuff!

what's for dinner tonight?

2011-10-19T22:06:00.000-04:00

By the end of the evening I'm out of words even though I have lots of good stories of the boys in my head, actually putting them into words is another story. For now all I can think about is food....specifically, what am I going to feed the boys for breakfast and lunch, and will I get to eat too? And what am I going to cook for dinner?! I've talked about Wyatt's hatred of food, it stresses me out. I went thru this when we had to avoid dairy with Will, so once again food is something I am constantly thinking of. Luckily, I found this recipe that works for everyone but Will! (Will occasionally likes spaghetti, and no other variation). It’s called Healthy Three Cheese Penne Bake and the recipe is here. Anyway, Wyatt loves this and so do Chris and I. I love that there is spinach in it (and yes, even I will eat it!) and recently I added carrots and no one noticed. I even made it with beef instead of chicken. Both are great! And an extra bonus, it makes enough for leftovers. So 2 dinners and only one set of dirty pots and pans! And I make it during naptime to bake later….are you sold yet?

Hopefully I will be back soon with an exciting post about family life....or maybe Chris will post soon.

Source: the-girl-who-ate-everything.com via Julie on Pinterest

Wordless Wednesday {Wyatt’s favorite Poppy game}

2011-10-19T08:09:00.000-04:00

that face

2011-10-18T12:54:00.001-04:00

Twice last week I had to hear the speech…..”DO NOT take my picture. That is your last picture. And do not follow me with that camera!”

I’m not giving up though. I’ve been able to get a few pictures, I have to just keep my distance. And keep him distracted.

Wyatt {15 months, part 2}

2011-10-15T23:39:00.001-04:00

A few more things I want to remember about Wyatt at this age.

His personality is really starting to show. He is quite a little ham. I think he’s going to be a class clown because he just loves to goof off. He is constantly making crazy, funny, silly faces in hopes that you will laugh with him. It always works.

He has perfected his fishy lips. He makes kissing sounds ALL day long. I think it’s the fact that he’s going without his pacifier a lot during the day but he’s still acting like it’s there. Either way, it’s pretty cute.

He LOVES to clap. If he even hears a few notes of a song he’s ready to clap, clap, clap. If I walk in after he wakes up in the morning or from a nap and he claps when he sees me. He’s usually crying too so the sentiment isn’t really there but it’s still kind of refreshing.

Speaking of music, it only takes a few beats for him to drop a few inches and bounce and dance along. He has some moves and doesn’t hesitate to show off.

Wyatt LOVES to look in the carseat mirror. He makes faces at himself and then laughs. He cracks himself up the entire car ride. He’s clapping, laughing, kissing and dancing. I don’t know what he’s going to do when we turn him forward facing and he loses the mirror.

He loves to “tell” you what to do with your hand. If he wants it around him he lifts it up so he can get underneath it. If he wants to give you five, he’ll flip it over and then start slapping. Even if it’s the middle of the night……

I’m sure there are a few more personality traits that I’ve neglected to mention, but he is quite the ham these day. We love seeing this fun side shine!

eleven

2011-10-14T07:17:00.008-04:00

Happy 11 years to my Julie.

Looking forward to 111 more…

Love,
me

yet another gem from mr. wilson...

2011-10-13T08:24:00.003-04:00

(Posting this by way of Julie, by way of Will...)

We ate at a restaurant earlier this week which had a buffet. When Will saw a man there in uniform, he turned and asked Julie, "Is he here to protect the food?"

Wordless Wednesday (laundry day)

2011-10-12T09:48:00.000-04:00

Wyatt {15 months}

2011-10-11T07:57:00.000-04:00

Mister Wyatt turns 15 months in October. We head to the doctor later in the month and we’ll see how big he is. But Poppy says he ways 26lbs (Poppy weighs the boys, they all think it’s fun). We’ll have to find out how tall he is. He’s slowed down growing because he is still in 12-18 month clothes. I guess he’s average now. He still sleeps all night and is doing good with just one nap a day. Now that he’s at home he’s taking 2.5-3 hour naps. But he still wakes up at 6 or 6:30. (Way too early)

We had our last official appointment with the GI doctor. We are all cleared. Though she said he may have reflux problems in the future. The T family is notorious for reflux issues so we’ll see.

He has almost learned to run. Chasing big brother is good practice for that. And he is kicking everything! He drops a ball and kicks it across the room. He is really good, perhaps he’s going to be a soccer player some day. He will even drop his sippy cup and then for sport, kick it across the room, run over to it and kick it again. And he still has a great throwing arm. He loves playing with his football, basketball, soccer ball or Gus’s tennis ball. Until a few weeks ago, that was the only toy he would play with. He now is getting excited about Will’s huge animal collection. Will’s barn is now getting lots of use. They are fighting over the animals. Good thing Will’s Noah’s ark set has duplicate animals! He also loves the ball popper Aunt Karen got him for Christmas last year. He has played with that for 10 months now, it’s his best toy yet. And he’s finally letting us hold a book near him. One day I hope we’ll be able to read it to him.

Wyatt is still a picky eater. I guess it’s hereditary. He now eats bananas, crackers, cookies, toast, raisins, spaghetti, cheese sandwiches and oatmeal. (yup, not one veggie.) We introduce things often and over and over but he just refuses. My favorite (not really) trait is when he’s chewing up something and you put another on his plate and he spits out the partially chewed one for a fresh one. Seriously. Or if you put his cup on the tray he’ll spit out his food to take a sip. Apparently he can’t be bothered to finish eating before moving on. He also likes to start cheesy smiling and then just let the food fall out of his mouth. We have some hurdles to overcome with food. Oh, and his most favorite food0…..cherry flavored prunes. Really. They no longer have the desired effect on his body, apparently you can become tolerate of them.

Until recently Wyatt has only said “Brubha, Ball and Momma”. He still doesn’t say Momma at me really. He’ll use it on Chris a lot. I swear a few times he has said “ILL” like he’s saying Will’s name. He says “Gu” towards Gus or Riley, sometimes Willie. This week he repeated “Bear” when I gave him one to play with. And he tried to say “Banana” when I was reaching for one. He will do the sign for “more” when we’re eating. And until today I would have said he didn’t know what that means. But we were watching the a DVD, the only one he will tolerate - Praise Baby, and when it was over and he signed more. So I guess he does know what it means.

And just for fun, a red chair picture (before the hair cut).