internet

As you may have guessed I have very limited access to the Internet at the moment. I have been writing posts and saving them until I am up at my parents house to post them. Sorry if this makes the blog choppy. Because it is such great reading any other time. LOL

When can we go back?

When can we go back to China? My baby brother is waiting. This is what I hear every day from Baby Bug. She thinks if two is fun three is better, plus she really thinks it is unfair that we are an all female household. LOL
Baby Bug keeps talking about how much she loved China. She says it was the best trip ever, and so much fun! Was she on the same trip as me? LOL I think half of what she loved was the fact that everyone looked like her. If you had asked me before Baby Bug came home I would have said that a child wouldn’t notice racial differences until she was older, at least school age. But I think Baby Bug noticed from day one. I think one of the reasons she wants a brother so much is that she was disappointed that Mei-Mei didn’t have brown hair and eyes like her. I also would love a son. With China's new rules, my son is probably not in China. And with my finances, my son will probably not be coming home for five years or more, adoption fees take awhile to save. Unless I have a chance to adopt through a disruption. How can I wish that on any child or family? And yet, it does happen, and it is about the only way I would be able to bring home a son in the next few years. The only other option would be marriage, and I haven’t had a date in six months. At this point it is in Gods hands.

Update

An update on Mei Mei’s progress. She had yet another developmental assessment Wednesday. I told the lady Mei-Mei over stimulates easily, and doesn’t like to be touched. She kept hugging Mei-Mei and this made Mei-Mei freak out and withdraw grrrr. Mei-Mei was to freaked out to show what she could do. The gal meant well, but was young, and didn’t get attachment issues, sigh. I think she put Mei-Mei as more delayed than I think she is.
Mei-Mei has picked up so much! She is walking at least half the time and can now take 5-6 steps in a row. She has learned to play “patty cake” at least the patty part. She can say Je Je (Cantonese for big sister) Papa, and more. The bad news is she doesn’t say them in context, just repeat them. The sound she does make spontaneously and in context, when she wants to play, is a lion’s roar. :-) Baby Bug loves to play lion and Mei Mei has picked up on that. It is the cutest thing ever to see them growl at each other. They both really adore each other, this thrills me no end.

Kisses

I got my first spontaneous kiss! :-) I am so excited. I had made a milk bottle for Mei Mei, then set it down while I got Baby Bug out of the bath. When I went back to Mei Mei she had chugged half of it. She gets her bottle only for rocking and bonding before bed, so she feels it is a treat. I wanted to have the full rocking time (she doesn’t hold still without the bottle) so I took her into the kitchen to top up her Nini (bottle.) When she realized what I was doing she got the biggest grin and gave me a big smacking kiss. :-) I am one happy mama. OK it is just cupboard love, but I can build on that. Mei Mei is becoming so much more affectionate. She is getting closer to attachment each day. At this point she is not so much attached as learning to like attention and love from others, any others. This is good first step for a child who couldn’t stand to be touched anyone just a month ago. Soon she will figure out that mamas love is best.

Giggle fest

Right now my two little lady bugs are curled up together in Mei-Mei’s crib giggling. :-) That’s right Baby Bug has decided that Mei-Mei’s crib is the place to sleep and Mei-Mei thinks that is just fine and dandy. I really should go in and quiet them down, but it is so cute, plus sister bonding is a good thing. :-)

Doing great!!!

We are doing great!!! Mei Mei has settled in well and is showing progress in all areas. Baby Bug is enjoying being a big sister (most of the time) and really wants to know if we can go back to China tomorrow get a baby brother too. I am loving being home with the girls. :-) Mei Mei does still needs her time in the crib each day, but less and less. We still have work to do, but she is moving in the right direction. The Dr. puts her eye sight at about 20/800. We are hoping it will improve with vision therapy, and she will need glasses at some point. We are waiting to see where we are at the next visit (in three months) before we talk glasses. I just wish I could be a stay at home mom forever. :-)

Getting dressed

This morning I put Mei Mei in her play yard still in her Jammie's while I got my shower. When I got out of the shower I could hear Baby Bug saying "Its all right, your doing so good." in the sweetest voice. I went to check on the girls and found Baby Bug had dressed Mei Mei for the day and was now in the play yard gently playing with her. It was the most precious thing ever! I guess all her doll dressing has paid off. :-) I LOVE MY GIRLS

Steps forward

We had a good day yesterdat Mei Mei made some progress! She took three steps!!! Yes!!! She also was able to handle being out of the crib or play pen for a longer amount of time. :-) Usualy she can only handle about an hour out of her safe place before she begins to panic. Yesterday she was out for almost three hours strait at one point, also she needed only an hour in her crib to regroup. I guess when you have spent 17 months in a crib being out of it seems pretty overwhelming. She also played some with her cousin Dragon and really seemed to enjoy that.

Still alive, kind of

Just letting people know we are still alive. Mei Mei is on US time and Baby Bug is on China time, so mama gets no sleep. :-) I kind of expected that. Baby Bug thinks being a big sister is great about 90% of the time, the other 10% she really feels that life is hard. Mei Mei is struggling a great deal with adjustments. She has a lot of attachment issues. She also has developmental delays. We went to her first doctors appointment. She is very healthy other than the cold that has lingered from when we were in China. She is 25lbs. :-) She is 70Th percentile on the American white child charts. She was also assessed developmentally. She is set to receive OT, PT, ST, and vision therapy. She is not speaking, (in Chinese or English) and worse seems to have no receptive language. She doesn't walk, and has very little small motor skills. This doesn't surprise me, as her vision is minimal. Some days I feel beyond overwhelmed. I think the attachment issues are the hardest for me. Yesterday we went to the playground in the mall. Mei Mei noticed that another mother had Cheese-its. She crawled over to her and decided to stay with her. She screamed and fought me when I took her away. She was more than willing to go home with this stranger. The funny thing is this goes back and forth, some days she seems to be progressing and even likes me a little. The good news is it can only get better. :-) We are doing fine and growing together.

Sunday in Gaungzhou

It is Sunday so I have a lot to catch up. On Friday we got up early
and packed up for our last day in Kunming. We ate and then took a
short nap and checked out. Our local guide Lisa picked us up and
took us to the Minority Village. The Minority Village has many
little villages that show the housing, customs, clothing, music and
dance of each minority in Yunnan. You could not begin to see it all
in a day. We asked the guide to concentrate on the minorities in
the north near Kunming. I was able to buy the girls an outfit from
the minority that Mei Mei is most likely from. It is a beautiful
place and we really enjoyed it. Then we went to the airport. We
ate KFC for dinner then went down to board the flight. The family
we had shared a guide with in Kunming was on the same flight. This
turned out to be a life saver as the uncle, John, helped us with our
carry on baggage some. We had packed our carry ons heavy in order
to not pay over weight fees on our check through bags, as the in
country flights have a much smaller weight allowance. We did find
out Mei Mei is a terrible traveler! This does not bode well for the
long trip home. She did not seem to be in pain she just wanted down
to get in to everything, and screamed when she couldn't get her
way. Boy can this kid scream LOUD! On arriving at Guangzhou we
were met the local guide here, Connie, the same guide we had last
time YEAH! It is nice to be back with a commited guide. We got
checked in and went straight to bed. This hotel room is the
smallest yet! It has two twin beds. Baby Bug asked why the bed was so
small. I told her it was because it was made for one person. She
said "I know, how about me!¨ I asked her where I would sleep and
she pointed to the other bed. I told her that was Papas bed and she
said OK how about there, and pointed to the chair in the corner. :-)

On Saturday we ate breakfast and then met with the other
families from my agency to get the children's visa photos and
medicals done. Mei Mei did not like this! She screamed the whole
time. I did get a chuckle out of the nurse calling the other nurses
over to see how HUGE our baby was LOL. After that we returned to
our room and took a nap then dad stayed with the girls while I went
and filled out the forms for the US visa. This took about two
hours, YUCK! We then walked down to the little tourist area by
these hotels; we ate dinner at Lucy's, American hamburgers and
pizza, and then did a little shopping. Then back to the hotel to
bed.

We had a really rough night. Baby Bug had night terrors; she does
this about once a month, and her screaming set Mei Mei to screaming,
witch made Baby Bug scream louder, then Mei mei.... You get the idea.
After two round of this we were all a little shot this morning. Dad
finally managed to get a hold of the local branch president about
9am this morning. Church was at 10am and was a half hour taxi ride
away. There was no way I could get the girls dressed and fed in
that time so I encouraged dad to go without us. I think he could
really use the break. He went and should be back any time now. The
girls and I went down for breakfast then over to play on the local
playground about a block away. Baby Bug was so excited to see this
playground, but is shy about playing with the other children. We
came back to the room and took a nap and are now waiting for dad.
Dad forgot his key so we need to be here when he gets back. He just
got back, so I will go visit with him.

Love you,

Thursday
Baby Bug is still not feeling great so we have stayed in a lot of the day. Baby Bug does really well when the medicine is in her but for about an hour before she can take more she is one sick little girl. We are trying to keep the rest of us from getting sick, but it is a small room. Lisa, our guide made it clear that this happened because I took Baby Bug for a walk in the morning time Tuesday LOL. It is very Chinese to feel that the cooler air caused this. I got a real lecture about taking either of the girls out in the morning or evening. We took the girls for a walk right after breakfast this morning. I did bundle Mei Mei up quite well, she is used to the warmer weather and I don’t want her to get chilled. Baby Bug I just put a light sweater on, so the older people at the park didn’t stop me and chew me out. Baby Bug draws lots of stares and positive comments; everyone seems pleased she is going to a home LOL. No one realizes it is Mei Mri we are picking up. Mei Mei does look like a white person with her blond hair and blue eyes. She has the rosiest cheeks and a dimple in her left cheek. I think she is the happiest baby I have ever seen. She has especially taken to papa. Today she said two new things. This afternoon while we were getting ready for a second walk Mei Mei was afraid she would be left behind and started calling at dad “papa papa papa.” It was precious. Then a little while ago I was playing with her with Bo bo (said Boe Boe) her soft doll and Mei Mei grabbed Bo bo from me and crowed “got it!” She is picking things up quickly and is a real flirt too. :-) She is smart but delayed. It is obvious she has had little human interaction in her life. She is accepting playing, touching, and cuddling much more each day. She has reached for me to hold her twice now! Something funny we have found out, if you put her in a stroller she falls right to sleep and stays asleep until you take her out of the stroller.
Lisa should bring her birth certificate this afternoon, and then tomorrow we will get her passport. Tomorrow we will be going to the minority village (like epcot for Chinese minorities) then getting on a plane at 8pm, we will not get to Gaungzhou until almost midnight. I am a little worried about Baby Bug with her not feeling well. We do not have the choice of staying in and taking it easy as we will be checked out of the hotel in the morning. Please keep her (and us) in your prayers. Dad is coming down with a travel stomach, and feels rough.
We miss you and love you all.

Wednesday in Kunming

Wednesday in Kunming
Baby Bug is sick. We were supposed to go see the stone forest, but Baby Bug wasn’t up to it. She has lain in bed and slept most of the day. Dad has slept as well. Mei Mei is a happy baby and we have had a chance to play. The hard part has been that when Baby Bug is sick she only wants mama for everything. Baby Bug and Mei mei are both demanding, and it can be very frustrating. We went to Pizza Hut for dinner at Baby Bug’s request. The service was slow and Mei Mei was not well behaved. I think I will be losing weight in the near future LOL.

Tuesday in Kunming

Tuesday in Kunming
Well it has been a long day. At breakfast I couldn’t believe what this kid could eat! She had a hard boiled egg, two bowls of fried rice, and a bowl of rice congee, a serving of fried zucchini, two slices of watermelon, a roll, and a half a slice of French toast. Where does she put it all?! The only problem is between Baby Bug and Mei Mei; I don’t get much time to eat. Mei Mei gets upset if you don’t keep her mouth full. When we went back up to the room Mei Mei fell asleep. Dad stayed to nap with her and I took Baby Bug to Green Lake Park. If you ever come to Kunming a word of warning: NEVER TAKE A CHILD TO THE PARK DESSED IN SHORTS, especially if said child is Chinese. I got chewed out royally by every old lady, and elderly man in the park LOL. I cam back to the room and changed her into long pants. :-) I then went to the gaisi (open market) and searched for hair bands as ours appeared to have been left in Beijing. I was able to find pretty hair bows as well. When I got back I woke Mei Mei up, as she had been asleep for 3 hours. Dad and I put the girls in strollers and took them for a walk in the park. This time we got lots of thumbs up and lucky baby comments.
After that our guide picked us up to go see the orphanage. The orphanage was spotless, but they didn’t allow us to see many children. Mei Mei was in the ergo carrier, and anytime a nanny approached us she kept a death grip on mama. :-) I don’t think she has really atached to us yet, but she thinks we are the best nannies she has had LOL. We went to dinner at a local place the guide had pointed out. The food wasn’t that good. Mei Mei was a rat and I ended up walking her outside the restaurant a good part of the meal. She has a very loud yell when she wants too. She did say her first English word, MAMA. For her it is just a name to call me, she has no concept of what a mama is.

Love you all,

Waiting for Mei mei

It is about 4:30 am here, for some reason I can't seem to sleep. :-)
We will receive Mei Mei 7:30 am. We have been unable to get the
Internet to work here, and will not have time to get the hotel staff
to help until this afternoon, so I don't know when I will be able to
post this. WE MISS R!!! LOL Yesterday we traveled from Beijing to
Kunming. Our guide Rose met us in the hotel lobby to drive us to
and has a teenage daughter. She got us checked in to the hotel. We
have been upgraded to the five star Green Lake Hotel, it is a nicer
location and very nice, we do have a small room, but about what we
expected. Then she took us to Wal-Mart, it is the largest Wal-Mart
I have ever seen LOL! We got food and new shoes for Baby Bug. Baby Bug's
shoes kept falling off her feet as we walked, so they were a
priority. When we got back to a hotel I took Baby Bug swimming. She
was thrilled! I have to add here that I am sure they put ice in
that pool! LOL that is the coldest pool I have ever been in! Baby Bug
didn't seem to mind though, and we weren't swimming for long
anyways. We meet the guide early this morning, so I better go. By
the time I write again Ill be the mother of two! Love you all!

WE HAVE MEI MEI

Well we have another charmer! We headed out for the adoption office
at 7:30 am. We were glad we did as we got processed first. Our
guide told us Kunming does adoption processing once a month and
there were twenty families today. It was chaos!!! But the office
people knew what they were doing. We knew when Mei Mei came in as she
was the only blue eyed blond in the group. :-) They made us fill out
forms before we could get the babies. When I went over to her she
was fine with me, she let me pick her up with no problems and was
thrilled with the rattle mirror I brought her. She went to dad OK
at first then decided she wasn't happy after all; papa brought out
the cheerios and made her day. She likes her food! She is NOT
malnourished LOL she weighs 25.2 lbs. Her cheeks are chubby. She
was fine in papas lap until they had me take her and get her foot
print. After that she cried for two hours straight. She has a good
set of lungs! She was by far the loudest baby there. She wanted to
be walked and my arms and ears my never recover LOL. Once she
settled down and decided we were cool, and then we started getting
giggles and grins. She is far more interested in Baby Bug than dad or
I but flirts like mad with us. She would rather be in her crib than
be held, so we have some work to do that way, also at the moment she
just sees us as another set of caregivers and nothing special. She
will get the hang of this family thing soon I'm sure. She will
throw her toys then say YI YI YI (naughty naughty) and laugh. She
is happy and healthy acting, but her eyes have more issues than I
thought. She does have a definite nystigmas, this means that her
eyes twitch back and forth. Her vision appears to be worse than I
was expecting. We have an appointment with a top eye specialist the
first part of October, so we will know more then. At the moment she
has fallen asleep and Baby Bug carefully put her doll next to her and
put a blanket over her. Baby Bug is lying in the spot next to Mei Mei, I
told her I would sleep there in-between them, Baby Bug said no, she was
sleeping next to Mei Mei in case Mei Mei needed her she could help her.
Baby Bug had a hard time in the chaos of the office, but has done great
otherwise.

Saturday in Beijing

Saturday in Beijing. We went to the Great Wall today. We ended up
at Baoding; witch is not as nice as where we went last time. It was
easier to access but the crowds were unbelievable. It was much more
commercial and not as nice. We were not able to get nearly as good
of pictures, but to be fair it was hazy enough that our pictures
would not have been great anywhere. We tried to go swimming, but
were told no swimming without renting a swim cap for 50 Yuan each
that is $13 um I am so not paying $13 to use the hotel pool. I
only pay $3.50 to swim t home, and it should be free in a hotel.
Baby bug was so disappointed! Swimming was one of the things she had
most looked forward to. Hopefully Kunming will have a swimming
pool. We met up with my friend G for dinner again. We went to
pizza hut, and she treated us. Baby Bug LOVES hanging with her girls.
Dad is working on our bags trying to get them each under the 44lb
weight limit. Baby Bug is watching Berenstein Bears, and I am hoping
to get to bed before midnight. LOL. We will be glad to get to a new
hotel as we have not been overly impressed with this one. We have
wished we were at the same hotel we stayed at last time. We fly out
tomorrow at 11:35 so we will leave here at 9:30 am. Next time you
hear from us it will be from Kunming. We love you all,

It was a rainy day in Beijing yesterday; unfortunately it looks like
it will be today too. We are headed to the great wall today.
Yesterday dad and I woke up about 3 am and Baby Bug slept in until
around 5am. We called home and Baby Bug bounced off the walls until
breakfast. :-) When we went down to breakfast the buffet looked so
good!!!! There were lots of different kinds of food and it all
looked yummy. Unfortunately, none of it tasted very good, although
Baby Bug loved the watermelon LOL. Dad and I had a hard time finding
any thing to eat. Dad left the buffet hungry, and I filled up on
lychee with yogurt over it. It wasn't that anything was bad, the
cook had just never heard of seasonings of any kind. Baby Bug and I
couldn't even eat the fried noodles. :-( By this time it was
pouring outside. Dad called home to do business, and Baby Bug and I
probably annoyed the neighbors. Baby Bug needed a little nap before we
went out, so dad and I joined her LOL.
We went out to Tian ann min square. It was fascinating to see the
people. We were far more of a tourist attraction than the sights we
were viewing LOL. It wasn't because we were white, there were lots
of other white tourists there, and it was Baby Bug. I kept hearing
people try to figure out the white parent/Chinese child thing LOL.
The funniest thing was how many people were trying to either peg her
as white or me as Chinese. Also I her lots of comments on her
stroller mostly along the lines of "hey I want one of those." I
didn't get as many pictures as I would have liked as it was raining,
and my batteries ran out. We also went into the first court yards
of the Forbidden City. R this was where we went last time. It
was much less crowded this time as last time was during national
holiday. We bought beaded head dresses (like the ones we got last
time) for mom and I. I was also able to get a dress for E
(L's daughter) we were approached by an art student (just like
when R and I were there) and she took us to where they had some
art for sale. Dad bought one for mom, and I bought one for my
house. After that we had to hurry back to the hotel. We walked it,
it was MUCH closer then the hotel last time, and we couldn't get a
taxi in the rain. :-( We met up with a friend of mine from the
single LDS adopters group. G is a sweet heart and so much fun!
Dinner with them may be Baby Bug's favorite point of the trip LOL.
G has two daughters L and A. L is 6 and Baby Bug was
instantly in heaven. L is a little mother and was so cute with
Baby Bug. A is a cute little munchkin and reminds me of Baby Bug at
that age (2 ½) They took us to their favorite restaurant and treated
us to dinner. The food was so good!!! Dad especially loved the
fried asparagus; although he was a little concerned he might starve
with only chopsticks available. Baby Bug didn't want the evening to
end, and kept asking if we could go to a playground after dinner. I
told her it was too late for that, so she said lets go to the mall
to play on the playground. :-) I told her there was no playground
in a mall here. So Baby Bug said OK, let's go to the one by our
house. She still has no concept of how far we are from home. We
are doing great and having fun. We love you all and miss you.

No access in China

We did not have access to the blog in China, so I will be posting the updates I wrote in China, now.

Here safely

Hello from Beijing.  We are here and we are (mostly) alive. With dad it is a near thing. He is incredibly stiff and sore. I feel bad at how rough the trip has been on him. Catching the family up on what all has happened.
Monday while preparing to leave I realized Baby Bug had all the symptoms of a UTI, so off to the doctor we went. Yup she has one. As well as putting her on antibiotics, I got the lecture about keeping her hydrated on the trip, not an easy thing. I also scraped my finger while putting up Mei Meis crib. It was so small I barely noticed I had done it, and certainly didn’t stop to do anything about it. Tuesday morning when I woke up my finger was sore I glanced at it to find a blister that was shooting off red fingers. Sigh, I lanced it ant put polysporin on it and a band aid. Then Baby Bug woke up with a cold. On travel day, with over 20 hours in the air, she has a cold. So know I am wondering about ear pain.  S my brother, had come up to help us get ready (THANK YOU S!!!) and called to see if we could bring 4oz bottles of cold medicine on the plane with us, the answer was not without a doctors note. So off to the doctors again to get the note. I have a wonderful doctor’s office, so they just had it waiting for me to pick up. Then it was home to load the car. S and dad had to fit the luggage like a jigsaw puzzle. We had been told to be to the airport 3 hours early because security was heightened for September 11th. We planned on 2 ½ as we couldn’t picture it being too bad at SLC. We could have planed for 30 min. and been fine. We sat and waited in a nearly empty terminal. Baby Bug was good but busy. The gal at the gate was having fun watching her. She told us her son and daughter in law were waiting for a referral from China. She the proceeded to pre board us ahead of every one else.  After we boarded the flight, Baby Bug wanted to know if we were there yet, because she was tiered and wanted to go to bed. She then proceeded to inform us that flying was boring, boring, boring, and she only wanted to fly in helicopters from now on. LOL. For all that she was well enough behaved. In LAX the 3 hour 20 min layover was just enough time to get checked through and use the rest room. We were able to get seats reassigned together. It turns out that the flight was about half empty. All the flight attendants were great and spoiled Baby Bug. One in particular fell in love with her and gave her chocolates and let us use the business class bathroom. You would not believe how good Baby Bug was! She entertained herself most the flight. The only down side was that she only slept about three hours. But she was so good that dad and I had the option of sleeping. I slept less than Baby Bug though. Dad did better, but still didn’t get much rest, and he needs it more than Baby Bug and I. I did fine until the last little while, and then I went in to a doozy of a migraine. I was not fully functioning. We deboarded at HK to find that the stroller clips (to hold two umbrella strollers together) had not all made it through to HK. We had to wait for the check in counter to open, and while watching for the China Air counter to open, didn’t realize it was being checked in at another counter. I finally asked when it would open, and was told to go to the other counter. The line was huge, and VERY slow moving. The lady who checked us in told me what gate then wrote on the ticket the # 70. Dad heard 26, I don’t remember hearing anything. I still am not sure what the seventy was, but if I had looked at the tickets I would have known the gate was 26. Keep in mind I was still fighting a migraine. We went out to gate 70, the furthest gate in the terminal. And then had to RUN the whole way back to 26. And we still just barely made the last boarding call. The China air flight to Beijing was NICE. Larger seats than we had on Cathay with more leg room and they served a nice breakfast. Baby Bug fell asleep on this flight and really didn’t want to wake up. We finally got her awake only then she wanted to be carried. What with the luggage that was difficult to do. She was doing OK until we hit the (long) lines before showing our passport. Then she fell apart and could not get it back together. She screamed and cried. The security guard finally put us through at the front of the line. We got the care packages off to China Care. We were met at the airport by a guide who brought us to the Jiangou Garden Hotel. The Hotel we stayed in last time was the Jiangou Hotel. I had thought they were the same hotel. Mom, the hotel you and dad stopped at to get a cab on the way back from the Forbidden City is the one we are staying in. The room is much larger and there are two double beds rather than two twins. It is worn at the edges, but clean. Mom I am sending you pictures of the room. Baby Bug was trying to fall asleep in the car on the way here but perked up once we got here. We took a cab to pizza hut (Baby Bug’s request) and it took a lot of work to keep her awake then she perked up in pizza hut only to fall asleep on the way back to the hotel. After I broke my back carrying her up to the room, she woke up and is now laying watching Berenstain Bears. Dad is in bed asleep and I will be following soon. We love and miss you.

Feeling the panic!

We leave on Tuesday. I am working today. Um that leaves 3 days to get completely ready, pack, clean house, ect. And that is nothing compared to what my dad has left to do. He owns his own business, so there is a LOT involved in him leaving town. He is so stressed out! My mind has turned to mush, and I find myself spinning my wheels. :-( that is not helping the whole process. Baby Bug on the other hand can hardly wait. :-) Is it bad that she is far more excited about the great wall, and the hotels swimming pool, than her baby sister? LOL. She knows the airlines serve cup-o-noodle as a snack and is in seventh heaven. :-) She cant wait for the breakfast buffets. Fruit, noodles, and rice are her favorite food groups LOL. Some people worry about what their older children will eat while in China. They are afraid the older kids will loose weight. Me I think Baby bug will gain weight. :-) I cook a lot of Chinese at home, and she LOVES Chinese food. I am more worried about dad going hungry than Baby Bug. :-) 4 more days!

Not a morning person

Have you ever found yourself doing the exact same things that drove you nuts when your parents did them? I'm not talking about making your kid eat her vegetables, I talking about teasing them, repeating certain sentences, or singing certain songs. I dislike mornings, so it used to drive me nuts when my dad (very much a morning person) would wake me up singing "rise and shine and sing out your glory glory." I have memories of cringing. :-) So what do I do to wake Baby Bug up in the mornings? Sing the same song LOL! The other morning as I sang this while waking my Baby up, she cracked eye to look at me disgustedly, and said "I not a morning person, could you KNOCK THAT OFF?!" LOL yup shes my Baby!

Packed?!

Wait you mean I have to pack too?!! :-) I am so not ready to leave in 6 days! I am not an organized person. (OK those who know me can stop laughing now) The only way I can pack with out missing at least one vital thing (usualy more than one) is by starting the packing proccess about two weeks in advance. I havent been doing this, and now feel overwelmed. :-) Hmm marathon packing sesion coming up. LOL With any luck whatever I forget will be some thing I can live with out. As long as I have the adoption paperwork, passports, and tickets we will be fine, right? ;-) Maybe I should add Botti (Baby bugs security item) and clean underwear to that. :-)

Leaving on a jet plane!

We (my father daughter and I) will be leaving September 11th for china! My dad has made the sacrifice to come with us. This is a true sacrifice on his part as a)he is paying his own way, this takes from his finances. b)he will be apart from my mom longer than he ever has in their 40 year marriage. and c) at 6'1" he DREDS the flight in cattle class, and if it doesnt mess up his bad back, the rock soft hotel beds in China will. Thank you dad!

We will arive in Beijing September 13th, and move on to Kunming September 16th. September 17th is gotcha day!!! We will head to Guangzhou September 23rd, and head home September 26th.

Hang on Mei Mei, mamas coming!

THANK YOU!!!

THANK YOU!!! to all the wonderful people who have helped so much!!!!! I am incredibly touched by how many people have reached out to me. Your help makes a world of difference.

Devastating day

I feel funny asking this, and realize this is a sensitive topic. This adoption has cost more then I ever planned. Just little increases here and there, but they have added up. Today two blows have left me crying. The first was minor, my in country travel fees are higher than I had budgeted for. I have “trimmed the fat” from my travel, but I am still over budget. The second blow has devastated me. I had someone who had offered me $1000 to help with adoption expenses. They called today, they have had devastating news with there job and can not contribute the $1000 at this time. I am sick for them, and keeping them in my prayers. I am panicked for myself. I have pulled money from every resource to make this adoption happen. I have taken cash from every credit card, taken out a loan and exhausted my bank accounts. With all of this, after I pay the in country fees (adoption related only,) the travel costs, and the visa fees. I have $200 left. With this I must eat in China, tip guides, and some how pay my mortgage and minimums on my adoption loans. I was very much counting on the $1000 to do this. This adoption WILL happen even if it means going with the $200. That said, I know families have used the Chip in program with success. This is a link on my blog that allows those who would like to donate money by Pay Pal or credit card to do so by clicking a link. This money would go to pay adoption expenses, in particular the in China adoption fees. I have added a Chip in to my blog http://twolittleladybugs.blogspot.com. For anyone so inclined, I would be very grateful for any donation to help. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Mama Bug
Baby Bug
Mei-mei waiting in China

TA!!! TA!!! TA!!!

MY TA (Travel Approval) HAS ARRIVED! This is the paper my agency needs to make my CA (Consulate Appointment) It was due about two weeks ago, but so far I have not managed to hit any step of the process on time. :-( We are now waiting to find out My CA date, then I will post my travel dates. My agency said I could receive my CA any where from 1-5 days. As my dad said "in your case, just plan on 5 days." I am hoping and praying to know tomorrow, but not counting on it.

Say your sorry.

While getting ready for work this morning I heard a wail of anguish. I rushed back to the bedroom to find Baby Bug cradling her "baby" (dolls around here are NOT just toys) and comforting it. Well used to being a grandma to her brood, I asked if Winny was OK. Baby Bug pointed at Waggs the dog and in a very accusing tone of voice said "She did it!" "did what?" "She knocked my babies of the bed" I told her I was sure Waggs didn't mean to knock the babies off. Baby Bugs response? "She not say she sorry! I told her say sorry and she didn't!" The funny thing? Baby bug was serious. :-)

Pioneer day

Baby bug got to go to the pioneer day parade with mama and her friend E and E's mama. BB had a blast! She was so excited about all the candy she got! We got a great spot in the shade right on the edge of a park and the girls got to play on the playthings while they waited for the parade. :-) Baby bug got to wear an old fashioned dress and a pioneer bonnet. :-) she looked so cute!

Red blooded

Last night I told Baby bug that we need to get her blood drawn this morning before work. She wanted to know why. I told her we needed to know what type of blood she had so if she was ever in an accident we could tell the Doctor what type it was. She very seriously responded "I think its red"

Bedtime prayers

I love listening to Baby Bugs prayers. She is truly the most grateful person I know, I need to be more like her. Sometimes I forget she is only 4 years old. Then she reminds me. :-) Last night while praying she said " On Saturday I'm going to the parade, PLEASE PLEASE bless me to get LOTS ans LOTS of candy." LOL. At least her priorities are strait.

SC!!! SC!!! SC!!!

SC/LOA!!!!!
ITS HERE!!!!! YES, NO MORE MOPING. I AM GRINNING EAR TO EAR! IT HAS ARRIVED! I AM GUESSING TRAVEL FOR THE FIRST OF SEPTEMBER. MAMAS COMING BABY!!!!!
THANK YOU CHI!!!

This is my Seeking Conformation letter! From here I am waiting for my TA in 3-4 weeks that lets me make appointment days. It usually is 2-3 weeks after that to travel. So roughly the first of September!

Rainbows

Saturday evening it began to rain. We have been in a drought and have not had any rain during the warm months in a VERY long time. The result being that Baby Bug has never played in the rain. So even though it was bed time I took her outside to play. SHE LOVED IT!!! to the west there was a rainbow when she saw that she got so excited! She oooohed and awed at how pretty it was, then asked if we could climb it. :-)

Sunday morning Baby Bug cuddled up next to me in bed and started one of her favorite games. The "I love you more than......" game. She started with "mam, I love you more than there are raindrops in a rain storm." It is moments like this that make any wait, any amount of work so very worth it!

"Some would gather money along the path of life,
Some would rather gather roses, and rest from worldly strife;
But I would rather gather children, from among the thorns of sin,
I would seek a little child with a big toothless grin.
For money cannot enter in the land of endless day.
And roses that are gathered soon will wilt away.
But oh, the laughing children, as I cross the sunset sea,
And the gates swing wide to heaven. I can take them in with me!"

Author Unknown

PS

Wow, China adoption involves a lot of acronyms :-)

Two weeked to death

I feel like I am being two weeked to death. Every time I talk to my agency my timeline moves back two weeks. This is just normal slow down; I just seem to hit it at every step. USCIS lost all my paperwork, CCAA (China Center of Adoption Affairs) lost my LOI (Letter Of Intent to adopt) as a single my PA (pre-approval) took 2 weeks longer than the married couples did, and now they are saying my SC/LOA letter will probably take 90 days (or more) from LID (Log In Date) my LID was 4/24 81 days ago. I know two weeks more shouldn’t mean that much to me, BUT IT DOES!!!!!! This puts me traveling in mid September at best. Sigh, I am having a pity party today, want to come? It is BYOC (Bring Your Own Chocolate) Boy do I need some chocolate today. OK I will now stop whining and go back to being my happy self. But I think I will buy some Chocolate on the way home from work. ;-)

Thats what grandmas are for

Baby Bug wanted me to hang a toy from my rear view mirror.

Mama: no thank you

BB: But grandma does (this is news to me, and may be news to grandma ;-))

Mama: But I don't

BB: Mama you aren't listening to me

Mama: yes I am, but I don't always do everything you want

BB: Why not? Grandma does

Mama: LOL!

Hoping

I have been evil about posting, but it is just too depressing to say I STILL don't have any idea.

I Have had a rough morning feeling that it just isn't fair that this wait has dragged on and on. (as I would tell Baby Bug, Who says life is fair?) But then my agency posted they are expecting a package from China! Yeah!!!!!! I am praying so hard that it has my paperwork. Everybody cross your fingers, toes, and eyes!

For a fellow CHI family who lost their sweet angel last Sunday.

My heartfelt sympathy and love to Mikey's parents and loved ones. May you remember the joy of his two years with you, and may you be born up in this time of grief. We love you and continue to pray for you.


A Child Loaned


"I'll lend you for a little time
A child of Mine." He said.
"For you to love the while he lives
And mourn for when he's dead.
It may be six or seven years
Or twenty-two or three
But will you, till I call him back
Take care of him for Me?
He'll bring his charms to gladden you
And should his stay be brief,
You'll have his lovely memories
As solace for your grief.

I cannot promise he will stay
Since all from Earth return,
But there are lessons taught down there
I want the child to learn.
I've looked this wide world over
In my search for teacher's true,
And from the throngs that crowd life's lanes,
I have selected you;
Now will you give him all your love,
Nor think the labour vain
Nor hate Me when I come to call
And take him back again?

I fancied that I heard them say,
"Dear Lord, They will be done,
For all the joy Thy child shall bring,
For the risk of grief we'll run.
We'll shelter him with tenderness,
We'll love him while we may,
And for the happiness we've known,
Forever grateful stay.
But should the angels call for him
Much sooner than we planned,
We'll brave the bitter grief that comes
And try to understand."

Anonymous

POEM

This poem is not completely accurate as Mei Mei has light hair and blue eyes LOL.

Dear Sweet Daughter
Author: Gayle Leubecker
Dear Sweet Daughter,As a girl I had a common dream, to be a mom someday.
My baby would have eyes of blue and hair the hue of hay.
But now my dreams have been transformed. New visions fill my head.
Now the tresses that I long to stroke are raven black instead.
And in my dreams those eyes are not so big or blue or round.
Now in my dreams they're almond shaped and colored cocoa brown.
And in my dreams my arms can stretch across enormous seas.
They reach half-way around the world and hold you close to me.
As you grow in your mother's womb, carefully knit together,
you're also growing in my heart, where you will stay forever.
And in my dreams the moment that your mother says good-bye,
I'll be right there to comfort you and hold you as you cry.
Our features may not look alike; we're different as can be.
But still I know the Father has created you for me.
And though I've not yet seen your face, or held your tiny hands,
and though we're half a world apart in very different lands.
I'll be right there to get you just as soon as God allows.
But til He says the time is right I give to you this vow.
I'll pray for your protection every night on bended knee.
For God will hold you in His arms, until you're here with me.

Some one saw Mei Mei

A wonderful woman was visiting the orphanage where Mei Mei is in May. She saw and held Mei Mei! Oh I am so happy to get any word. :-) I am jumping up and down with excitement! She said Mei Mei is beautiful. She thought she would be in about size 9-12 month clothing right now.
Having this info means the world to me. I did not realize while waiting for Baby Bug what a blessing it was to have an orphanage that would let other adoptive parents take pictures to email to me, they even got her height and weight to send to me. This time around the orphanage has chosen not to allow any info or pictures. This is their right, and does protect the privacy of our children. But oh how I long for any bit of info about my little one.

THANK YOU to the wonderful mother that shared this info!!!

Opening presents!!!

Baby Bug hauled these to the door and set them in front of it. I asked her what they were. She said they were her bags all packed for China. From her lips to God's ear.

Happy Happy Birthday Baby Bug!

Happy Happy Birthday Baby Bug! The day Baby Bug has been waiting for is here. She is so excited. I woke her by singing Happy Birthday; she woke up with a grin. She wanted so much to wear a dress, so she could look like a princess. I let her wear a new dress and she was so excited! She couldn’t wait to show it off to her Grandma and Papa. When we got to my parents there was a sign on the door that said Happy Birthday Baby Bug! She was jumping up and down with happiness. Wouldn’t it be great if we could all enjoy such simple things so much? I have to work today, but I will be off by early afternoon. We will be having presents and cake tonight. 4 years old seems so grown up.

To my baby

My precious baby, you are one day old today, what a special day for you. I hope and pray someone makes a fuss over you today, how I wish it could be me! I wish I could have woken you with the birthday song, and loved and cuddled you. I wish I could give you your first taste of chocolate today. I wish you were here to go swing on the swings, to open your presents, to play with you sister. We are having a wiggles cake in your honor, how I wish you could see it! I wish I could teach you to blow out your candle, that I could capture on film you demolishing your piece of cake. I wish you were surrounded by your grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. They are so looking forward to meeting you. Your sister is having a hard time today; she doesn’t understand why China won’t let you come home for your party. She wants you here to blow out your candles, she worries over whether you will have candles in “the big house” J She wants to know what presents you will get, it upset her so much to here you might not have any that I didn’t tell her that a second time.
Today I find myself crying each time I think of you. I had so thought you would be in my arms by now. I find my arms aching for the feel of you, my throat aches to sing you lullabies. Please know I will be there as soon as I can. Until then I pray, that someone is holding you and singing to you. I love you so.

Mama

Food Poisoning?

I went to a conference with my work early in the week. It was held out of state in a hotel. The food of course was all catered by the hotel. YUK! it was gross. I am not a picky eater, so if I say its gross, its bad. I thought it just tasted bad, but on the way home I got sick. Dad who was traveling with me got sick the next morning, and the company that hosted the conference told us that quite a few of the other attendees came down sick as well. :-(

Mister/Lady

Yesterday a driver in front of me was driving strait down the line of the two lanes.

Mama: (talking out loud to myself) Mister what are you doing?

Baby Bug: laughing out loud

Mama: Whats funny?

Baby Bug: You always say mister, Papa always say Lady.

Yup, that about sums it up. :-)

PS Papa is my dad

Update

My grandma was moved from the hospital to a nursing home and continues to improve. She still has a bad cough, but the worst of the pneumonia is past.
My mom has been getting worse not better, so she went to the doctor. Her crud has gone into bronchitis.
So far Baby Bug and I have avoided this crud, knock on wood. :-)
Please pray for grandma and mom to get feeling better.

Picking the bugs out

Baby Bug picked up my tweezers and looked at herself in the mirror.
Baby Bug: Look mama I'm plucking my eyebrows
mama: you are how nice.
Baby Bug: Yup I'm picking the bugs out!

IT'S HERE IT'S HERE IT'S HERE!!!!!!!!

My 171 (US immigration services permission to adopt a foreign orphan) has arrived!!! Yes Jumping up and down with joy!!!! Dad ran over and checked my mail for me, he just called to tell me it was there. :-) Thank you dad! I applied for this form back in September. At the longest it should have taken 2 months to receive, instead after much intervention by the Senators office, an many prayers it arrived today. Now I can send mt dossier to China. The frustrating thing is, many of the other families with children from the same waiting list as Mei-Mei will leave to pick up their children on the 1st of March. I should have been traveling in a week with them.

Ill be there soon my baby!

A fun game

I was trying to get Baby bug ready for church yesterday and could not find matching hair clips in the right color. I have a Tupperware container full of clips, but it seems like a kind never find a matched pair when we need them. In frustration I dumped the container out on the floor and started going through them clipping pairs together. Baby bug sat next to me and got excited. :-)

Baby bug: You matching them?

Mama Bug :yes, do you see any matches?

Baby Bug: Yeah this be a fun matching game! Thank you buy this game.

A Half an Inch!!!!

When Baby Bug got dressed this morning, an outfit that fit last week was too small. I mesured her against the wall. The last time she was mesured was 1/07/07 since then she has grown a half an inch! The thing about this growth spurt? On 1/07 she had grown half an inch since thanksgiving. Yup that is one inch since the third week in November. This for a child who had been in size 24 month clothes for a year. She bypassed 2T and is now in 3T sizes. :-) YEAH!

Is it time to go to China?

This is what Baby Bug asks me every morning. It breaks my heart to say no. My sweey Mei-Mei sits in an orphanage, while I fight red tape. :-( I cant wait for the day I can answer YES.

Happy Valentines Day

Baby Bug has been very excited for this day. :-) She asked me a few days ago if she would get candy for valentines. I told her yes, her request? "I want some lots of carmels in a baggie that I not have to share." As her idea of lots is 5-10, she got her wish. :-)

Grandma

My grandma is in the hospital with pnumonia. :-( Please pray for her recovery and also for my mom who is trying to cover all the bases with my grandma and caring for Baby Bug.

Naked but

I was cooking dinner when I heard "mama, mama, maaamaaa." I went to check on Baby Bug and found her stipped and sitting in the (empty) bath tub. Upon seeing me she anouced "I got a naked but and no water" LOL Yup I ran a bath for her. :-)

Grumpy

On the way to grandma's house this morning Baby Bug was acting ornery. I told her "your grumpy today." Her response? "No I'm not, I'm Snow White!" :-)

Feeling Better

Baby Bug is feeling much better today. Just a little bit of a runny nose now. It is so nice to see her all perked up. She is really excited that tonight she gets to go to a real wedding. I was afraid she would be too sick to go, but we will be able to attend. :-)

My speak not talking very well.

I woke up yesterday morning to a horse Little voice saying "my speak not talking very well." It was true poor Baby Bugs speak is not talking well, and on top of her sore throat she has a nasty head cold. Her nose is running like a facet. :-( Poor Baby! She had a hard time yesterday. I sat with her and we played lots of quiet time games, read books, played with her leap pad, and drew on her auquadoodle. She needed me in touching distance at all times. I couldn't get her to eat any food, but did get water, Gatorade, pop, and Popsicles down her, her throat was just too sore for solid foods. :-( I had to be back at work today, my mom watches Baby Bug, so I know she is well cared for, but I HATE leaving her. Mom did get her to eat some canned spaghetti. :-) Actually mom said Baby Bug saw the can and got the can opener and a chair to climb on to try to open it herself. LOL After breakfast she settled into her favorite child size Disney Princess couch (Thank You Aunt H. it is her comfort place) and fell asleep. I am so glad she is finally sleeping, she only slept about an hour and a half last night. I am so glad my mom is able to watch her for me, I could never leave my sick Baby otherwise. I think my parents wondered if we were moving in this morning. LOL I brought her couch, a lap table, a couple of reusable sticker sets, pop, Gatorade (two flavors), two sippy cups (she only uses sippy cups when she doesn't feel well) and her stuffed Grover. This is on top of the normal Botty (her lovie doll) Nini (the bottle she is too old for that I let her have anyways) and Wags (the dog.) It took two trips to bring it all in. I wish I could be home with her, but I need to save my sick days for when she is truly sick, not just gunked up. Strep is going around right now I am so glad she didn't get that!! :-)

Waterless again

Well last night I cam home to no water. :-( My water meter had frozen for the THIRD time in ten days. This time it not only froze during the day, but I had left my water running a small stream all day long, and it still froze! Dad called the water department for me and they came out and thawed it out again. They removed my water meter and I will only be charged for the minimum usage until the spring thaw (yeah) but will have to leave my water running around the clock to keep it from freezing up again. (boo) It has been a cold winter, with very little snow on the ground. This has caused the frost to go deeper into the ground than normal. The water department told Dad that this is the worst year they have had for frozen meters since 1987.

Introduction

This blog is for others to follow along on the adventures of my two little lady bugs.

Baby Bug my oldest is three almost four years old. Baby Bug has been home from China for over two years.

Mei Mei is almost one and is waiting for us in China. I cant wait to bring her home.


I am waiting on my 171. That is a form from the USCIS (formerly the INS) allowing me to bring Mei Mei into the USA. Once I have that I will wait for my TA. That is the form from China allowing me to travel to bring Mei Mei home. :-)

Meet the Bugs!

This is where you will type in your posts!