Family Day #8

Occasionally, it is fun to reminisce about how different my life was 8 years ago. I had a job that allowed me to travel at the drop of the hat. I was in a steady, realtionship with my boyfriend of a couple years. I was excitedly, anticipating, becoming a mom.

On this day 8 years ago, we started in Beijing. We had already spent several days touring in & around Beijing & we were now looking forward to our quick 2 hr flt to Nanchang, where we would get our babies that evening or the next morning.

SNOW! More importantly, flights in Beijing were becoming snowed in! We waited hours in the terminal before out flt for Nanchang was finally re scheduled to depart. It was an uneventful flight. Upon arrival, we gathered our luggage & piled into the vans that would take us to our hotel. Once in the van, our guide, David, told us that the babies were waiting for us at the hotel. We would have approx 15-20 min after check in to get our things together & then we should plan to meet in the conference room.

Whoa..after a long 14 month wait...we were now speeding towards the goal.

Meeting Lindsi was surreal. She never cried. She was full of laughs & giggles. She seemed absolutely delighted with everything going on around her. She was a Mama's girl from the first moment I held her. I'm glad I didn't have a crystal ball that day, or know everything we would face together in the coming year. It was a hard first year.

In the beginning, the resposibility was overwhelming. Once on my own with her, I remember thinking, OK, we've made it a whole afternoon, then a whole day, then a whole week, then a month, without any life threatening disasters.

Happy Family Day Lindsi!!!! Oh how we love you & are so very lucky to call you "ours"!

How do I Love Thee.....

Admittedly, I think I have ONE of the best Mom jobs around. I say one, because I know several other moms who are raising absolutely AMAZING kids as well. It's easy to love on these 2. They soak it in & return it effortlessly every single day. Not every single moment...but every single day...



Recently, report cards came out. For the first time EVER, Lindsi had straight A's. I was / am so proud of her. She works so very hard. I'm happy that she will finally get to participate in the special honor roll celebrations.

Jami, also did very well, getting all E's (Excellent). While I see Jami learning, she's reading books aloud to me now & at the start of kindergarten, she could only read a handful of words. So far, she grasps everything easily & moves at a quick speed through her work. She's not seen "Challenging" yet.

So, as a reward for their achievement, I took them to see the Justin Beiber movie yesterday. It was better than I anticipated. We all liked it. I never could figure out the whole "Beiber Fever" phenomenon. After the movie, I can tell you, it's 10% natural talent, 20% hard work, 70% Marketing Genius. It should be required viewing for every marketing student. This is how you do it.

Beiber Movie on Sunday......




Ice cream on Sat....Yum

MMmmmmmm...Cherry...Her Favorite!


It's Valentine's Day...now...go....... spread the LOVE!!!!

Fun Times with our Friends......

We had just an AWESOME weekend last week. I think primarily because we spent it UNHURRIEDLY with a lot of our friends. It was a very BUSY weekend. Thankfully, everyone was feeling well & in a GREAT mood.

On Fri, Lindsi & her friend took part in a Cheer leading Clinic put on by the FL Gator Cheerleaders. This is the second year we've participated. I couldn't talk Jami into doing it...maybe next year. Besides, I think Jami has figured it out that if Lindsi is off doing something, THEN she has MOM all to herself.......

Somehow, even though Jami did not participate, she managed to get into all of my pictures...lol...







On Sat AM, the girls cheered together at the morning game. Jami's coach was really sweet & let Lindsi be a "Guest" cheerleader.....I was too busy helping my Dad learn the ins & outs of his new Christmas camera & I took NO PICS of my own. I have to teach him to download them now.....=)

In the afternoon, we went to our FCC Chinese New Year celebration. So much fun, & a nice time to visit with many friends we had not seen for a little while...The highlight was Lindsi getting chosen to be the Dragon Head this year!!



Don't you love these shirts? they have 2 hugging Panda's & they say: Best Sister Ever... We've outgrown our Chinese silks, but this (I thought) was just a perfect alternative. Found them at The Child*rens Pl*ace $5 each.

And, On Sun, we went to a very special little friend's birthday party, that was held at the Natural History Museum. Lots of fun & different things to do there...


Fun Times...

Is it 2011 Already? Where have I been??!!

Those of you who follow me on FB already know that 1 month ago today, I was having emergency major surgery. Surgery that has a recovery rate of 4-6 weeks. I was able to get myself up & out of bed in record time, but there are many aspects of the recovery process that just take time. I continue to feel better every week, but I still do not think I am at 100% recovery....yet.

I was so thankful that this happened over the holidays for many reasons. Primarily, my teen niece was able to come stay with my parents & help entertain the girls. Being the holidays, my parents avoided the stress of the school schedule, homework, or extra curricular activities. However, that meant they did have to entertain 2 active girls EVERY DAY. That's a big task if you are not accustomed to it.

The girls were thrilled that I got out of the hospital on Christmas afternoon. And, thrilled again when I got my driving privileges back just in time for cheer leading & dance to resume.








I've sort of been a SLUG lately. I went back to work 10 days post op (but only because I work from home & could nap as needed). Last week I had a sick child home with me all week. I still have to unpack our stuff that we got for Christmas....it's slow going. Thankfully, I don't stress over stuff like that...it will get done when it gets done.

I leave you with a few Christmas pics & the girls with their cheer leading activities. They both are enjoying the cheer leading a lot!!

First Time...Ever I Saw Your Face.....

Five Years......Long time? Short time? It's hard to say. Some days it feels like yesterday & at others it seems like an eternity ago.

I can tell you that in the last 5 years, the face of Special Needs adoption from China has changed...ALOT!

In the fall, 5 years ago, I was just to the point where I felt that I was ready to start looking for my second child from China. I belonged to several agency Yahoo groups. I would wait, with countless others, for their " SN children lists" to come in & be made public. I would search through the children, hoping to find the child meant to be mine.

And so, one day in Sept, I was on the IAAP website. Oh..there was a DARLING little girl, coincidentally from the same SWI as Lindsi, with a need I felt very comfortable in accepting. My only hesitation was her age. She was almost 3...which put her much closer to Lindsi in age than I wanted. At that point, I knew Lindsi would be OK, in whatever shape that took, but I did not want to adopt another child who would surpass Lindsi's abilities within a matter of months. Lindsi was (& still does) work so hard, it just seemed unnecessarily unfair to create a rivalry where she would be at a disadvantage within months. But, this little girl had reached right out & grabbed my heart. Maybe it would be OK...maybe instead of a rivalry, the new child could encourage Lindsi in her skills.....maybe...maybe...maybe.
I wrestled with this age factor for several days. I finally convinced myself that this situation could work out. I would love to have her. That day, as I clicked to the site to get her file, the Words I HAVE A FAMILY greeted me next to her name. Deflation.....Oh.....had I taken too long? Was there still a chance her new family would decide not to pursue her adoption?

I called IAAP & expressed an interest in the little girl. That afternoon, or the next day, Cheryl called me back & told me that she did not think the family would falter in their adoption of her. We had a very nice, heart to heart talk about the child I thought I was looking for.

Weeks passed. A new list, at a different agency came out. I found a little girl, with a SN that I was heavily considering. She was BEAUTIFUL, & I was instantly smitten. Her file was already out, but I was next in line, in case the family passed. Within days, I learned that the family had passed & her file came to me. EXCITED! However, my review committee(my mom & SIL who are both nurses) noted large discrepancies within her file & urged me to return it. Knowing they had the medical degrees, & were only looking out for my best interest. I also passed on this beautiful child. Happily, the family behind me accepted her referral. That eased my mind considerably.

December rolled around & 5 years today, Cheryl from IAAP called. Are you still looking?, was her first question. When I said Yes...she said GREAT! We just got a new list & I think I have the perfect child for you right in front of me. It was a Thu & she was giving me until Mon to decide. If I returned her file, they would post her info on their site on Monday.

So, she sent me Rao Hong Yu's file. She was EVERYTHING I told Cheryl I wanted. A daughter, the age was right, the SN was right,...everything. My heart did not leap forward & recognize her (in all fairness it didn't with Lindsi either). It was more of a contemplative....so there you are....type of feeling. I was a little panicked...was I REALLY READY? In the end, since I had done ZERO paperwork at that point, I knew it would be 8-10 months before she was home. I knew by then that I would be MORE THAN READY. I also knew that it was only by God's grace that she was being offered to me. I was a single parent, who barely met the income requirements for a second child. It was God's hand that delivered her file to IAAP, & Cheryl's wonderful recall that put me in her mind when she saw the file. Was there really any way I could turn down this "perfect for us" child? I really did have to think about it, but when I called Cheryl on Mon AM..she said...You better be saying YES! And indeed, I was saying YES!!

Jami came home 10 months later & life has never been the same since. She is the child that is teaching me to be a parent. She is the FIRE in Firecracker. It is never dull with her around. She keeps me on my toes. She is a snuggling delight. She is not shy with her feelings...good or bad. Although, she can turn on the bashful switch in an instant. She is funny, creative, & smart.

5 years.....sometimes it feels like yesterday & at other times, it feels like forever ago........

Referral Picture



1 Yr old...waiting for Mom in China


Jami today.......

December Bullets

We are BUSY! & I haven't been posting much. Here's what is happening in our little corner of the world lately:

- Over Thanksgiving Lindsi decided to pull her 2 wheel bike out & figure out how to ride it. The bike had TERRIBLE training wheels on it, which were causing more harm than good, so we took those off. She worked & worked & worked...by Fri PM she could ride the 2 wheeler by herself, down the drive (which is a country 100 yd driveway), turn it around & come back. Really proud of her. An elderly man at church, who we call Mr Harvey, bought that bike (brand new) for her 2 Christmases ago. I'm glad to see she is finely able to ride it. I MUST get some pics printed for him to have. About a yr ago, his children moved him back to CT, to be closer to them. He's a sweetheart of a man.

- This week I threw my nomination in for Mother of the Year. On most days, my kids ride the bus to & from school. On Tue, Lindsi stays after school for chorus rehearsal, so I pick up Jami & 30 min later, circle through & pick up Lindsi. Last Tue, there was no practice & this past Tue, there was practice, but I forgot. School gets out at 2:10, the bus gets here about 2:40. So on Tue, I was sitting on my porch waiting for the bus to come drop the kids off & my phone rang. It was the school. As soon as the Secretary said Ms Baugher.....my racing mind went Ought-oh. She told me that Jami would be waiting for me in the office. OK....
Driving there, my mind is imagining all kinds of scenarios. Of the 2 kids, Jami is the one much more likely to react in a dramatic fashion to having been forgotten at school. When I got there though, Jami was curled up, sleeping in a chair, & Lindsi was just getting out of her activity. I was so grateful. Jami just said.."Hey! I was the last one left in car line...." Whew.....
That was God giving me a break. On my way to the school I was pulled over for speeding...39 in a 35 mph zone. Sheesh! Got off with a warning.....another little break.

- I hope we will get our tree up & decorated this weekend!!!!!!! Pictures to follow....

Holiday Give Away

Don't you love a Give Away? I sure do!!! If you do as well, hop on over to Stefanie's Blog & check out her 30 day Holiday Give aways!

Yea!!!!