So That's What Beautiful Days Are Made Of!!!

Sunday we finally had a nice day. This does not happen often in Northern Indiana in April so we have to take advantage when we get it. Here are a few photos from our day.

Emily was throwing Hannah's soccer ball all over the yard. Everytime she would throw it, she would let out a big GRUNT. Once the ball would hit the ground, she would smile and clap at her "achievement".

Hannah had never looked for a four leaf clover before. So Hannah and Rusti had a four leaf clover hunting contest. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. They looked and they looked.........and they looked some more .

Emily started out slow in Hannah's old Wiggles car as she could not figure out how to use her legs/feet to get the car to move. Once she figured it out-she was rolling all over the pavement. She even ran into her "dada's" truck. Oh no!!! She drives just like her mom!!!!

Dada was teaching Hannah how to fly a kite. It was a fairly windy day so Hannah done very well. At times the kite hit the ground but Hannah pulled the string tight while she ran against the wind and the kite went right back up into the sky. Dada is either a good kite-flying teacher, or Hannah is a good kite-flying kiddo!!!

And the winner is ...........................Hannah!!!!! Good job, Hannah!!!

April Updates

Here is a picture of Emily waving "HI" to her "China Friends". We hope to see everyone soon. And for those of you keeping track-We have officially decided it does not look like the awful "poopie" diapers are from the regular milk as they have continued on the soy milk. Yesterday Emily experienced 5 extra smelly "poopie" diapers. So, I guess we will just let the doctor decide if this is normal or something more. It has really only been about 3 1/2 weeks since we took her off the bottle and she tasted food for the first time and now she is eating everything and anything we put in front of her.

Hannah has been recommended to try out for for the "pre-team" team. She has been taking a 10 year old class and the coach/teacher says she is one of the better girls in the class. (She is 6 1/2) She says she wants to do it but this will mean 2 days a week instead of one. They are approving her to join the team's summer camp to see if she is ready and likes it well enough to "work hard". I told her as long as it does not run into her vacation with her China sister's group then she can do it this summer. So, we will have to update you on this also.

3 Times A Charm???

Emily has having a dry diaper every morning I wake her up and after watching her during the day, I have noticed her standing still from playing and looking at the floor. My guess is that she is recognizing when she needs to urinate. So-yesterday I got the potty chair out. I put the training panties on and waited for "that moment". After 2 "accidents" she did it!!! She was so excited that she flushed the toilet 3 times. Today she seems to want to play more with the potty than use it for what it is intended for. Update on the milk idea: She had no milk yesterday and had one good "poopy" diaper. Today she has had 2 so far but they happened within minutes of each other so I think it may have really been 1. I think I was just to fast to change her. This seems better than 6 a day so I will try to find a milk substitute for her. In the meantime, she is still drinking her warm tea but is taking sips of water.

Is No Milk The Answer?

Since we came home with Emily she has been experiencing many bowel movements a day. After a day of 6 "poopy" diaper changes (sorry for exposing you, Emily) I consulted a few "seasoned" moms. I decided to take their advise of holding back the milk she has been drinking. At first I was leary to not give Emily the milk as this is all she accepted to drink other than room temperature tea. And she was not experiencing any noticable belly aches. But-today without milk proved to give us only 2 "poopy" diapers, which were in the morning-and it may not be connected, but, she did not cry herself to sleep for her nap or at nighttime-she just slightly whimpered herself to sleep while snuggling with her glow bug that her big sissy, Hannah gave to her. Hmmmmm..... Could no milk really be the answer? Tomorrow is another day!!! The jury is still out. In the meantime-I guess we are back to room temperature tea. At least we have decaf tea in USA-our guide in China laughed at us when we asked for the decaff tea!!!

Just 25 days ago...

It has been 25 days since we first saw Emily and held her in our arms. It is amazing what a little individualized attention and love can do to a child. Emily's world has been turned upside down and she seems to be adjusting to the changes very well. Uprooted from all that she had known in China-her nannies, her culture and her language all changed on in that one single moment 25 days ago. She was just 2 years and 4 months old. She was drinking formula and rice cereal from a baby bottle 6-8 times a day, unable to roll over, unable to sit from a sitting position, unable to take 3 steps without falling, was "Miss Serious Face" in China, and unable to make any viable communication to us. Today she is eating solid table food at EVERY meal, has the nickname of "cookie monster" as she ALWAYS wants a cookie, can actually jump to a standing position from sitting on the floor, is walking up and down small steps, is running EVERY where we go, and is starting to pick up the English language by repeating words. Today she put 3 words together and told our good neighbor "bye-bye, Dawn". She smiles all the time and is easy to get to laugh now-in fact, at times she will laugh so hard she has trouble standing up. She is a joy and a true blessing to us and our family and friends who know her. We are so happy she was "chosen" to join our family. 25 days ago we picked up our child who was diagnosed with a "special need"- 25 days later, we no longer see the "special need". She is one of our true miracles.





The other miracle is our 6 year old daughter, Hannah, whose world was also changed instantly 2195 days ago when we first held and cuddled her and then again 25 days ago when she went from being an only child to a big sister who needs to share not only her most precious material possesions but also her parent's love and attention. What an adjustment our family has been through. We hope the future brings one of peace and love so our children can grow to be the individuals they choose to be. I said it several times before but let me say it once again-What a wonderful world we live in. In a world where there is war and punishment, there is also a world of love and hope.

A Typical Day

Hannah is back in school this week. This is how our days have typically been going-so far. Our day gets up early. Kevin leaves for work at 6am. Then Hannah gets ready for school. I (Rusti) drive Hannah and Emily to Busia's to catch the bus in the morning around 7:30am. Emily waits for the bus eating her banana or breakfast bar of fruit and oatmeal. When it is time for the bus-Emily and Hannah give a good-bye kiss before Hannah. Busia and I have a cup of coffee while Emily decides to fill her diaper with stinky "poop". Yes, this happens every morning like clockwork. This is usually just the first of 3 or 4 each day. I change Emily into her clothes for the day and she "plays" with Queenie and Sheeba (Busia/Dzia Dzia's dogs) When she saw a dog for the frst time in the US she was petrified of them and this morning she managed to feed one of them her half eaten cookie. We are getting there. We are thinking of getting Hannah a puppy this summer so we are working on getting Emily used to being near dogs. Then Emily and I go home where she proceeds to play and look for Hannah as if she is playing hide and seek ALL day!!! She misses her big sissy soooo much!!! She has started to kiss everything in the house now-even lids off water bottles!!! She is picking up some English words now and at times during play or changing her diaper she still speaks in her "jibberish" Chinese. We play until lunch time and then she takes her nap. This week she has been taking a 3 hour nap and I have to wake her up to go back to Busia's to meet Hannah coming off the bus. When Hannah comes off the bus-Emily bursts into a laugh and smile really big. Hannah runs up to her and they give each other a big sloppy kiss. Then we head home to finish our evening with more play-time and dinner and we usually get to bed around 8:30pm. This is when I have been finding the time to take my shower and get some things done around the house. WHEW-what a beautiful day with 2 beautiful girls!!! I hate the idea of having to go back to work soon.

Coloring Easter Eggs

Hannah was color-dying easter eggs today. She seemed to have more on her fingers than on the eggs. She had a little of each color on her fingers and it made her fingers look a black color. Luckily it all washed off with soap and water. It would not have looked very good with her easter outfit tomorrow. She colored 2 dozen minus 3 that cracked in the making which we ate. She colored them all in a light color and them put polka dots on them in a darker color. There were some with shrinky plastic dogs and cats that shrink to the egg when put in hot water also. I had pulled out the video camera and Hannah made a "food network video" on the proper way to color an easter egg. She was trying on some new clothes she had just got and decided to pose with one of her eggs to the camera. She is such a "ham"!!!

I can not believe this is our daughter. It may be the parent in me but I just think she is a beautiful 6 1/2 year old. At times she acts so grown up but at times she still wants to cuddle and snuggle up with her mom and dad-especially in the evening. She has had a few "tantrums" since Emily has been home as we "never carry her anymore" despite her weighing 56 pounds now, and we have even been told we "smile more" at Emily than we do at her, but other than this-she has been a pretty good big sister. They play together and at times sleep together. Hannah has not cleaned Emily up after a dirty diaper yet, but has helped to put the clean ones on. She says she will change a "wet one" but never seems to be around at that time. Hmmmmm. If at time you are reading this Hannah-me and Dad love you very much-and we think Emily does too!!!

Easter Egg Hunt

Today was the annual easter egg hunt at the town park. This is a long time event in our town and we have been doing it for many, many years. It started today at 11am and each section of the park is marled with an age group. There are real color-dyed eggs that the American Legion dyes the night before, chocolate bunnies, candies, candy filled plastic eggs and "prize eggs". Don;t ask me what the "prize eggs" look like as no one in my family has EVER found one of these. In my 42 years I have never seen one. Not in my family or my friends. I do know they exist-they are apparently just very hard to find. All the kids line up a the end of the hill at their age group section. When it is time they count down from 10 and the kids go running out into the park area to pick up what they can find. There is alot of goodies in the park for them and it seems like only minutes until they gather all of it up. The kids play a little in the park and then everyone is invited to the American Legion for free hot dogs, potato chips, and pop. It is at that time that the kids go through their basket of eggs and if they have one of the "prize eggs" they get their prize. All the kids also empty their plastic eggs and leave them in a basket or bag for the legion to use them next year. In the pictures, Emily was just starting out with her basket. She picked up a chocolate covered marshmallow bunny, 2 sugar eggs, and a plastic egg. (She was more excited to watch people) I thought that maybe since she had just one plastic egg she may have beginners' luck and have the "prize egg"-no luck!!! Hannah picked up about a dozen real colored-dyed eggs and 2 plastic eggs. She did not have a prize egg either!!! Maybe next year. The other picture of Emily was at the American Legion after eating her hot dog. Her cousin, Katie, was there and saw Emily for the first time. Emily got comfortable in Katie's lap and was practicing "answering" her cell phone. After our good-byes, we were off to home so Hannah could color-dye our easter eggs.

Dentist Appointments

Me (Rusti) and the girls had dentist appointments. I do not know what I was thinking when I scheduled these 3 appointments all at the same time-but I guess it is good to have them all over. I would rather not talk about my teeth on the internet, but I will say that Hannah done very well. She continues to have no cavities and she was told her 2 bottom front teeth are getting loose and she should lose them soon. She is very excited over this news as she is the only one in her class not to have lost any teeth yet. Emily had her first dentist appoint also-sort of. There are no pictures because the picture taker (me) was holding Emily and as she was screaming, Leanne (dental hygienist) was counting and checking her teeth with each scream. It really was not as harsh as it sounds though. Her orphanage nanny told us in China that she had 8 teeth but we counted a total of 14, hmmmmmm. Other than two in the front that are fused together and some extra white spots on her molars, all looked A-OK. After the appointment both girls picked out bouncy balls for being such "good" patients. Emily has developed a wicked throw and is having fun throwing that ball straight at our patio doors in the kitchen. OH BOY!!!

The following is a good set of pictures though. We played a game of hide and seek tonight before bed. Hannah was hiding first and Emily was trying to find her. Hannah was making noises as a hint of where she was and Emily was following the noises. When she found Hannah she was pointing at her and laughing so hard she had trouble standing up. Then I (mom) hid from the girls. Hannah found me in the shower stall with no problem. I guess to a 6 1/2 year old, I am an amateur hide and seeker. Afterwards, Dad and the girls shared a "group hug/kiss" before going off to bed.

Update-Home 4 Days.

After being in airports for approximately 25 hours we were surprised to see our daughter, Hannah, waiting for us at the end of customs. Once we saw her it was all over. Her eyes got real big and the tears were running down her cheeks faster than her legs could run to us. We hugged and cried together right there in the middle O'Hare airport, which was very busy. With her was Kevin's Mom and Dad, who helped us with our luggage to the door where we saw the biggest white stretch limo we have ever seen!!! The ride from the airport to home was filled with excitement and awe over a new child as well as seeing Hannah after a very long 2 weeks. In the limo Kevin's Mom and Dad talk about a real nice couple they met at the airport that was also waiting to see their new grand-daughter. They said she was almost 10 years old and was from Nanning Province in China. This has to be the Gross family that we met 3 years ago at an adoption reunion for our Hannah. This is also the same Gross family that by a miracle was in our travel group and brought home their almost 10 year old, Hannah. What a wonderful red thread that was woven between this family and ours. At home we were greeted shortly by some very special friends. Emily had NO problem buddying up with them. During this visit she noticed, on her own, her referral picture on the table in a frame and went straight to it, picked it up, pointed at herself in the picture and grinned at us. It was amazing to see. It was almost as if she was saying to us and herself "this is where I belong".

Emily's first night at home seemed to go well. She fell asleep after some needed fussing and cuddling. The dolls in the pictures were given to her on her trip home. The baby doll was from Busia and Dzia Dzia (Kevin's Mom and Dad) and the Glow-Bug was given to her from Hannah. Hannah had a harder time sleeping this evening than Emily did. Hannah was up several times to "check on her" and then in the mornig we found her laying in Emily's bed "cuddling" with her (or using her as a pillow-we are not real sure) Both of them slept just 5 hours that night and were ready to get up and play the next morning!!! We let Hannah stay home Friday from school.

The morning after we arrived home (Friday)we look in our refrigerator and realized we really didn't have much food in the house for Emily and Hannah to eat breakfast so we decided to venture out to TopNotch restaurant. This also meant we were exposing Emily to her first ride with a carseat as in China they do not use them. Needless to say, she did not really like being strapped down in a chair that she could not move from.

Busia (Kevin's Mom)giving Emily a little loving at the restaurant.

The rest of the weekend seemed to go pretty well. We pretty much just stayed home and

enjoyed the company of our 2 girls. What a beautiful thing to say "Our 2 girls". Hannah has
been a wonderful big sister all weekend and everything seems to be working out well. Hannah

and Emily have been inseperatable. They are playing together and getting along as if they have been sisters all their lives. There have been a couple of times where Hannah feels she is being "ignored" due to Emily getting ALL the attention because she "is new", but she just seems to take a small break to get some alone snuggle time with one of us and then goes right back to playing with Emily. Emily has done good as well. In the evenings she seems to be running a low-grade fever almost as if her body needs to "shut itself down". She doesn't like to stop playing to go to bed and this may be her body telling her to slow herself down. We have been cuddling her to bed at these times and when she wakes up-no fever or issues related from the fever.

Sunday night we ran out of food that others had made for us and the time had come for Rusti to make the first big family meal. Hannah could not wait to feed Emily her meal. She grabbed that spoon and just dug right at it as if she feeds little ones every day. And Emily did not mind.

Then it was time for Emily's first bath. She did not receive a bath in China because she had a cut on her hand and due to the bacteria count in the water there, our guide told us to just give sponge baths in China and wait until we get home for the full bath. Hannah wanted to take the bath with her to "help" her. She proceed to pour water on Emily's head to wash her hair and Emily did not like this one bit. Needless to say-this bath lasted about 30 seconds!!!

Monday 4/6/09-Hannah is on Spring Break so we decided to venture out with some of Hannah and Emily's cousins to do something fun. About 8 mile away there is the South Bend Chocolate Factory and we decided to go do the "Inside Scoop" tour on how they make their chocolate. It was very informative but the best part was when we got to make chocolate spoons. Hannah done Emily and mine as the chocolate was too hot for Emily and I could not do it because Emily had decided at that point to be a permanent fixture on my hip by refusing to get down and walk. I think Hannah was okay with this though as she got to dunk 3 spoons in the chocolate instead of just her one. When shopping for other chocolate items, Hannah shared one of her chocolate spoons with her little sissy, Emily, who took a rather large bite off hte spoon, smiled and wanted MORE. Hannah ate the rest of the spoons. They are definately their mother's daughter!!!

After the tour Hannah and her cousins decided to go to Burger King for lunch and played some in the playroom. Emily's high chair had wheels so her cousin, Taylor was pushing her around in the high chair as if it was a car which she really seemed to enjoy. She smiled and laughed most of time we were there. I think Taylor may have some babysitting in his future-hmmmm.

***After the chocolate tour we got a good discount on the other chocolate we bought so Mom and Dad ended up with a treat after the kiddos went to bed :-)