It's beginning to look a little like Christmas

the lights are on the outside of the house, the decorations are up and we do have a tree-it just isn't decorated yet.

We took Schwen to church for the first time-she did OK...not great but ok and we did not have to leave the service. I will take them to the christmas cantata on Sunday but not even attempt christmas eve services b/c they do not begin until 7:30 and it is way too crowded, plus I will not get home from work until 6:00 or so. We will do our traditional appetizer dinner on Christmas Eve and then drive around and look at the lights.

Last weekend was a busy weekend-way too busy. Beginning in January things ARE going to slow down and we will turn down many opportunities. The girls go to school during the week and we only have two hours from the time I get home to eat, do homework and get ready for bed. We need to start spending QUALITY time at home with just the four of us. Beginning in 2010 we will only do ONE activity a weekend,if they have chinese class on Saturday then that is it..we will not do nothing else other than church on Sunday. Life just has to slow down for us..it's going by way too fast.

On a humorous note..Schwen walked into the bathroom with a necklace and bracelet and asked if she could wear them to school. I said yes to the necklace but no to the bracelet (it was one she got in China) and told her I was afraid she would lose it at school. She walked into the other room and Adam asked where her bracelet was...she told him "Mama loser"...ok that is what is SOUNDED like...he was cracking up...I then explained what had happened...her english is coming along but still not 100%...what she actually said was Mama lose ah meaning I said she would lose it...oh well.. I'm sure in 10 years she will actually be saying Mom is a loser...and Dad too!

All I want for Christmas.....

is a cookie..yes, this is what Schwen told Santa...of course she had NO idea that Santa actually brings TOYS...Christmas will be so much fun this year with both girls. Jia is such a sweetie...she only asked for Littlest Pet Shop and Ponieville toys and a Buckeye Valley (her school) sweatshirt. And, as you can see from the picture...Jia lost her first tooth...she was SO excited.

Have I mentioned that working full time stinks? Of course I have...I hate that I don't get home until 6:00 pm. Luckily Adam is home and can have dinner close to being ready when I get home and we are usually sitting down to eat by 6:20...dinner is finished at 7:00 then it is homework, showers, etc. Jia's teacher wants her to read out loud a minimum of 15 minutes a night, plus she has to practice her lines for the play...just never never enough time. It's already December 8th and the Christmas decorations are NOT up yet and of course NO tree yet. I'm hopeful that it will all be taken care of by this weekend...and if you come over to our house in the month of January and the decorations are still up you now know why.

December

Happy December! I decided I would try to update at least 1x a month...it's getting harder and harder to do so. It 's been so long since I've been on the blog I forget how to change the colors so bear with me.

November flew by. We had Thanksgiving at our house with Justin and Jill, Adams Mom and Dad and his brother Dave. The girls really enjoyed having everyone over and it was a nice day. I did end up going shopping on black Friday and was able to get most of the items for the girls for christmas. This is the first time I've had my shopping done this early. It may be the only thing I get accomplished early! We brought all the boxes of christmas decorations up from the basement and they will sit until sunday. There just is not enough time during the week to get anything done. I need a day off but have used up all of my time off for the year and we cannot afford for me to take a day off without pay.

I'm trying to get into the holiday spirit, especially for Jia and Schwen. I want to bake cookies with them, I want to make christmas ornaments with them, I want to make their teachers presents, I want to take their picture and send out christmas cards. In the end we'll be lucky to do slice and bake cookies and that will be the extent of it. We do have a few upcoming fun events. This week is the COFCC Holiday party and then the girls, Nei Nei (Adam's mom), her friend Nancy and I are going to see a production of The Nutcracker. After having been the the Balletmet's production of The Nutcracker the past 6 years I had decided I was taking a break. Then we had an opportunity to see a different production for half price, plus the role of Clara being performed by a girl from our COFCC chapter. Our only other holiday event (other than dinner for my work) is that we are going to see the holiday production at the Marion Palace. We have friends who will be performing and I think the variety of the performances will keep the girls (and us) entertained.

I have a love/hate relationship with the holidays. It is difficult b/c I no longer have my parents. It is difficult b/c there is so much to do. It is difficult b/c there are usually additional demands made on our time. But then there is the joy in giving and seeing the happiness all around. I am goign to have our family sponsor a family this year and Jia's school is having a week of giving to People in Need. This is a good opportunity for teaching.

Two months ago

It has already been two months since Adam and Schwen returned from China. In some ways it seems like much much longer. Schwen has come a long way from those first few days....the fits are fewer, the language much better and there are times I just wonder what is she thinking about all of this?

Adam's surgery was successful. He is fighting a cold which makes recovery grueling. So far the girls have been healthy; Schwen had a bit of a runny nose last week but no coughing or sneezing. Usually by this time of the year Jia has had the "ick" at least twice but so far so good.

Jia's school is having a book swap...the kids get points for each type of book they take, ie. hardcover is worth 3 points, paperback 2 pts, magazine 1 pt...they trade in their books and get points to spend. Jia took in three bags full of books and is going to share her points with children who did not have any books for the book swap.

It's a Wednesday...my favorite day of the week since I work until noon. I can't pick Schwen up until 3:00 so I have a few hours to myself. There are some days I end up working until 3:00 but today I have lunch plans with Justin. It is the last time we will meet at their apt in German Village as they move into their house next week. My little boy is a grown up now with responsibility. He's always been pretty responsible but will now be a homeowner. Wednesday is also the day I actually get to spend more than a half hour of quality time with the girls. I hate the other nights of the week when I don't get home until 6:00 and we are not finished with dinner until after 7:00. By the time we get the table cleared it's 7:15 and we catch the last of Jeopardy then it's homework time, have Jia read or do Chinese homework, read to the girls and then time to get the girls to bed. My goal is to have them in bed by 8:30. I hear stories of others who have their kids in bed by 7 or 8....Schwen could certainly use the extra sleep as could Jia but there just isn't any way to get them in bed earlier with having to work full time. Did I mention I hate working full time??

So hard to believe the holidays are coming up so fast. I hear friends talke about their plans for christmas and I haven't even thought that far ahead. Holidays are a tough time for me. My parents both died 4 years ago, my dad on September 25 and my mom on November 16, and even though I didn't always see them on the holidays they are still difficult. Thanksgiving is next week....I suppose I'll be ready by then. Hopefully Adam will be on the mend a bit more and can do the shopping next week. The weekend is busy and no time to clean or shop. Bottom line is-we will have dinner, just nothing fancy...only food, family and football. What more could we ask for?

Tired or testing

or maybe a little of both....it's been a rough couple of days. Schwen has been whiney and totally uncooperative at home and at school. We had a busy weekend and the girls got to bed pretty late on Friday and Saturday and busy days on Saturday and Sunday so I'll be generous and say that she is tired. I'm working on getting her to bed a bit earlier, which meets with resistance because Jia is not going to bed then. We've also had the issue of Schwen trying to boss Jia around and Schwen clearly does not enjoy being the mei-mei (little sister)..lots of trying times the past few days which I'm struggling with.

We did take Schwen to the pediatric eye doctor and her rx needs to be changed. We will order glasses this week and try them for a few months to see if they correct the crossing. We were there for 3 hours and she had to sit on my lap the entire time. I was happy to have the interpreter and Adam there for the appointment.

Adam is scheduled to have surgery on Friday and his mom will come the night before to spend the night and get Jia off to school. Schwen does not have kindergarten that day and will stay home.There is no sense in driving 2+ hours to take her back and forth. We have to be at the hospital at 6:00 am.

Both girls go to the doctor today. Jia's is for a new patient evaluation and Schwen has to get re-vaccinated on shots that the titers showed she needs. Hopefully we will not need to visit the doctor anymore this fall or winter!

Happy Veteran's Day to all those who have served this country.

happy that the weekend is here

we had a very busy week. Jia had soccer games on Monday and Wednesday, we went to the high school choir concert, Adam took the girls trick or treating and we had a bonfire. We are all pretty exhausted. The good thing is that we have no obligations for the weekend and can regroup and try to catch up.

The fall soccer season has ended so Jia can hang up her cleats for a few months. We will sign both girls up for the spring season. Schwen has been itching to get out on the field since she has been home. I'm considering signing the girls up for basketball as long as it does not interfere with their KCAP classes.

Two of the neighbor boys are in the school choir and show choir so we went to see their fall concert after Jia's game on Wednesday. Jia has been going to band and choir concerts for several years but we were not sure how Schwen would do...no worry...she loved the singing..however,when it came time for the dancing she wanted to go home...yikes..I just purchased tix for the Nutcracker...hope she will be able to sit through the performance.

Adam took the girls to Worthington to go trick or treating...the temp was close to 70 degrees and a perfect night. Schwen enjoyed it all. I took the opportunity to have dinner with my friend Barb and had a good time myself!

It's been like "old home week" for me. Last Sunday we met my friend Patty and her two daughters Kelly and Paige for lunch. They live in Bay Village and were in Columbus for a wedding. Patty and I have been friend since we met at the University of Toledo in 1979. Earlier in the week I had lunch with my friend Debbie who I went to Findlay College with and we had a good time laughing and convincing ourselves that we were not that much different from when we first met 32 years ago!

So far we have all been healthy, which is really good b/c we have not gotten our seasonal flu vaccines. We had planned to go to one of the clinics offered in November by the Delaware Health District. We found out this week that they ran out of the vaccine. The doctors office does not have it either. As far as the H1N1 vaccine...not sure when we can get that either. In the meantime due diligence on preventative measures. I do have two nephews who have or have had the H1N1 virus. One is over it and the other one, who is a college student, has it now.

Happy Halloween

citizenship papers!

Schwen's Certificate of Citizenship arrived today. We can now apply for her social security card and begin the process to re-adopt her in Ohio!

it's been raining most of the day and very windy in Delaware. We were supposed to have a bonfire and spooky trail but had to postpone..we probably could have ended up doing the bonfire but Adam could not get the spooky trail set up in the rain plus it was pretty darn cold and blustery...amazing..the girls and i were in columbus and they did not even need to have coats on...we got up to delaware and it was an entirely different ball game. we ended up staying home and watching Babe...yes the movie that came out in the mid-90's about a pig. The girls enjoyed it.

we are meeting an old friend and her two daughters for lunch on sunday-they were in columbus for a wedding. patty and i met at the university of toledo back around 1980 and she and her two beautful daughters live in Bay Village. it will be great to see them before they head back to the arctic zone!

we are following the blog of a family who is currently in china to adopt TWO children...the first is a boy who just two months shy of his 14th birthday. once a
child turns 14 they are no longer eligible for adoption. Adam met this young man when he was in Nanjing and we are so happy he now has a family. the family is also adopting a little girl from a different province. my hat goes off to this family who will have a total of 8 children.

Making progress

It's been a week and Schwen is back to liking school again. Her class went on a field trip to a farm and she was able to experience riding on the bus...could be part of why she likes school again! She also has a good buddy-Jessica and the teachers all seem to enjoy her also.
I took the girls up north to visit friends and family. It was a whirlwind weekend but they had a fantastic time. We stayed at the home of a childhood friend-she has twin girls who are 10 and they were fantastic with my girls. Jia has always loved going to their house and now Schwen does also. She even cried when we left. I've known Mary since we were young children and her sister Tina has been my best friend since we were 3 years old. We were also able to visit with our friends the Gargacs whose daughter Hayley is one of Jia's best friends. Schwen met my niece Tammy and her husband Matt and two of her sons Josh and Chris and also her Aunt Judy and Uncle Tom. It was a good weekend.
Jia's soccer season is winding down-just two games left which is good because it is starting to get dark a lot earlier. We'll have a week break after soccer and then she begins practicing for the winter play at the Arts Castle.

Weather permitting we are having a bonfire this weekend. Adam will set up a spook trail for the girls and their friends. The weekend will be busy. We have friends from Cleveland who will be in town for a wedding and we plan to meet them for breakfast on Sunday and then meet our friends Deb, Austin and McKala for an afternoon at Circle S farms. I don't know how it happens but we rarely have any free weekends. It seems to be this way with so many people nowdays. The girls were invited on a playdate this weekend and we could not make it. Their friends mother and I were trying to find a free weekend for the girls to play and we could not find one between now and christmas. I'm going to have to find a remedy for this. In the meantime I'll enjoy this beautiful fall weather!

reality time

Adam and Schwen have been home for almost four weeks and the newness is gone. Schwen had decided she no longer likes school...great...we think that she may believe that Adam stays home with Jia since Schwen and I leave early in the morning and Adam and Jia are still here and are also here when we get home. Or it could be that she is no longer the "celebrity" at school and realizes she actually has to work. Hopefully we'll figure it out soon.

So far no sickness here. In the past Jia has gotten bronchitis around this time. She goes to my doctor next week for a new patient exam. I switched both her and Schwen to go to the same clinic where I go to. Schwen has appointments with the audiologist and eye doctor in the next few weeks. Then we should be finished until her well child check next year! (I hope)

Jia's school had a reading program last night. The four of us were sitting in the auditorium listening to an author read her book and I reached over and tried to hold Schwen's hand..nope...she pulled it away..wow, I should have been prepared for that but wasn't. She can be loving and want hugs/kisses but it has to be on her terms. Jia loved the program and her enthusiasm is contagious. We then divided into groups and the parents went to the multi-purpose room while the younger children stayed with the author and a musician. Schwen and Jia had a great time and this could be part of her problem with her school also...she likes the big kids school.

I'm still struggling with the balance of working full time. I think I could do ok if I actually arrived home at a decent time or even worked part time every day or 4 days a week from 9-3 (so that I did not have to leave the house until 8:15 and could be home before 4:00). Now we get home, eat dinner and then a few minutes for homework and time to get the girls ready for bed. Very little free and quality time with them. We dont' even have much time on the weekends for this and once we get through commitments for the next 4 weekends things are going to change. If we have something planned for one weekend day the other weekend day will be spent at home..it's just the way it has to be. We may miss out on a fun activity or dinner but our family time is just more important (and so is my sanity).

Christmas is right around the corner and I started picking a few things up for the girls. It is going to be a very light and simple christmas here, the girls and I will make gifts for their teachers and I already advised family that I will no longer buy for nieces and nephews-we have 11 on both sides and with all of our expenses this past year and the upcoming year I had to cut back. It will be interesting to see how Schwen reacts to Christmas and also looking forward to spending the day at home with the girls and perhaps Justin and Jill can make it as well. Luckily Christmas is on a Friday so I actually get a three day weekend! Since I have no more paid days off other than the holidays I especially look forward to the holidays!

a busy week

I took Schwen to the International Adoption Clinic at Nationwide Children's Hospital on Monday and also to the family doctor for her school physical. We found out that she is in the 25% for weight and 50% for height. She really entertained the translator with her stories and was very charming to the doctor as well. School started full time on Tuesday as I returned to work. She really seems to enjoy school (much more than I enjoy working). She is pretty tired though and we thought she was getting used to the new schedule until we found out today when she told our friend Julia that we never let her sleep! She was used to 12 hours of sleep a night and an hour and a half nap! Now its 10 hours a night and no nap.

Jia is enjoying school as well and was very happy that their class now has a gerbil named Jumpy. Her reading is improving and she is still waiting for that first tooth to get a bit looser!!

So I returned to work on Tuesday. By Friday the house was a mess, non-perishable foods (and one bag of missed frozen peas) has been sitting in bags on the floor since Wednesday, plus 3 baskets of folded laundry to be put away and 3 baskets to be folded. Whoever said you can work full time, have a husband who works full time, raise a family and keep it all together lied. There is just no way to be able to do it all...if someone knows how please let me know.

Tomorrow is Adam's birthday. The plan is for the girls and I to make him breakfast, make a cake, go to Yellow Springs to enjoy the fall colors and then go to his moms for dinner. Another exhausting day for the girls and we have to find time for homework in there also.

Fall is upon us. I enjoy the changing leaves and cooler temps...could do without all the rain. Hope to post new pics soon.

the kiddo's

a pic of three of the best things about my life-being a mom to these great individuals. Justin, the oldest was such a fantastic kid I never wanted to have another b/c I was afraid I would not be as lucky the second time around. However, my family did not feel complete and in 2003 we began the process to adopt our daughter Jia. Wow, we hit the jackpot with her...another great child...so..we took a leap of faith and decided to get a sister for Justin and Jia. Schwen is a great addition to our family...she is the one who will keep us on our toes though!

Schwen did attend a full day of kindergarten and did great. I took her to Jia's school to give a presentation on the Autumn Moon Festival and she loved being in the classroom with Jia. We went to recess with the class and had lunch and she was the main attraction..a "celebrity"...of course she did NOT want to leave and I hope that no one from the school looked out the windows when I picked her screaming, kicking body off the ground and put her in the car! Jia was the protective big sister at school and really enjoyed having us there.

catching up

i just realized it has been a few days since i posted. we took the girls to Freeman Farms on Sunday...a great afternoon spent with new and old friends. Schwen did great until it was time to leave and she threw a fit. I carried her kicking and screaming to the car.

on monday schwen thought she was going to school with jia and was not happy that she was to spend the day with me. I had to clean the carpets so she played with the remote control barbie jeep until Nei Nei (Adam's mom) came over for a visit. Both girls were very happy to spend some time with their grandma.

i took schwen to school today. It was supposed to be a "trial" with me in the classroom. I had prepared my bag and was going to use the time to cut out coupons, make a menu and grocery list. Schwen was practically pushing me out the door before we even got her to the classroom. I used the time to buy the girls come clothes at Kohl's and Once Upon a Child and even found a few xmas gifts to put away. Schwen had a great morning at kindergarten and will go back on Thursday for a full day from 9-3. She was wiped out though and is napping as I write this. I also took her to Adam's dads bookshop for a visit. She was very happy to see her Pop Pop and was thrilled to be able to choose a book for herself and one for Jia.

I picked up the new People magazine today-Katherine Heigl is on the cover with her baby she adopted from Korea. I've never been a big KH fan before but have a bit more respect for her since she has adopted a child. Adoption is not for everyone-many people are convinced they have to have their own flesh and blood for a child and won't even consider adoption. When we left the bookshop today I asked Adam's dad (who will be 81) if he ever thought he'd have two grandaughters from China...he said never in a million years but it was happy he did.

a good day

For the most part a really good day. I picked up cash from the Sweet Victory resale shop where I dropped off left over garage sale items. It's a sweet deal-I made $48 on a few items that I could not sell at two garage sales. We then went to the library and both girls went to the children's area and sat and looked at books and each of them chose a book to check out. We took the girls to the Hamburger Inn for lunch. Schwen has officially arrived in Delaware since she's been to the HI! Jia had a birthday party and Schwen seemed to do ok with dropping her off but had the big melt down when we got home and it took Adam a little while to settle her down. I wanted him to do so b/c she has been attached to me like velcro.

After dinner the girls headed upstairs for more dress-up. This is the third night in a row and Schwen is like a kid in a candy store. The first pic of her in the Belle costume was taken last night. The other pics were taken tonight. She loves dressing up and looking in the full length closet door mirrors and strutting around like a model. The girls also watched a video of Ni Hau Little Friends and it was really fun to watch Schwen and Jia sing along with the songs. Schwen was clearly familiar with the songs on the video.

We have an outing with the Pengyou Pals,(a social group of girls their age adopted from China), on Sunday and have been invited to a cook out of friends/neighbors from church. They have chickens and horses and cats. Schwen and I stopped by for a visit the other day and she was totally fascinated with the chickens.

BEE YOU TI FUL!!!

This is Schwen's new word. She is really picking up quite a bit of english and does not go around as much speaking constantly in mandarin. Tonight she was saying Xie Xie (thank you) and I said it back..she gave me the thumbs up and said "good job mama!"

We've had a few rough patches today-she willingly went with Adam to drop medical records off at the pediatrician but when she realized I was not going she had a huge meltdown and threw a temper tantrum in the parking lot of the doctors office. We are really concerned on how she will do when I leave her at school. Her second incident occurred when I took her to the mall with me and as the car stopped she opened the door-so a scolding from mom.

There were many positives today also. I've been working with her on her letters and she can write F and E and can recognize those letters. She found them on her own in a book and showed them to me. She was playing with magnet letters and showed me how she matched upper and lower case letters and she can also count to 8 in english.

On Thursday night Jia took Schwen up to their room and introduced her to the world of dress up..oh the girls had great fun, hence the word "BEE YOU TI FULL".

Schwen is still needing 12 hours of sleep a night an a nap. School is going to be an adjustment. We will need to be out the door by 7:15 am. I can let her sleep until 6:45 am but can't see putting her to bed at 6:45 pm -I don't even get home until 6:00 pm. I'll try to eliminate the naps towards the end of next week.

Attached are pics of the girls dressed up.

No cavities!!!

Schwen went for dental appointment today and no cavities! I was so happy. She was very reluctant at first but warmed up to the dentist when she blew up a rubber glove and made a balloon for Schwen. She has all four of her 6 year molars and her central incisors. Oh man...Jia is itching to lose a tooth and when she finds out her YOUNGER sister has lost two teeth she will be devastated! I'm NOT volunteering this information and hope that she doesn't ask. Our dentist is chinese so it certainly helped that she could communicate with Schwen.

We made a trip to Wal-Mart, to the resale shop and CVS then home for lunch and a bit of outside play. She keeps asking where Jia and Baba are. We took Jia to school today b/c we had a late night at the fair. Schwen grabbed her backpack as we went out the door and thought she was going to school with Jia.

The girls had a great time at the fair. We made them go through all the animal barns first and then the merchant barns and then they had to eat and then we finally let them go on the RIDES.. oh what fun they had with the neighbor girls and the rode each ride many times. The big slide and dragon coaster were the big favorites of the night and of course the ice cream on the way to the car. We also stopped to see the turkeys being auctioned off and this seemed to hold their interest quite a bit also.

Adam's dad sent pictures of Adam and Schwen's homecoming and Schwen has been though them at least 20x so far. Schwen and Baba are now laying down for a little nap. Tomorrow Schwen and I will be home all day so we will start on some school work.

Silence!

What's that I hear? Nothing except the coyotes howling as the train goes by and the rooster next door...the girls are both sound asleep. It's been a rough morning. Adam went to work and Schwen seemed fine until after lunch and then "where's baba?"..I read the girls a book and had them lay in bed. Schwen decided she wanted to goof around and fell out of bed, landed on my hand and pulled my thumb back. I raised my voice and told her to lay down...many many tears and I comforted her and sat in the room while they both settled down and then left and went downstairs. The next time I checked they were both out. Schwen watched Super Why and Sesame Street this morning and played quietly by herself. She was totally enthralled with the oven mitt to the Pizza Hut pizza kit and I let her take it to bed with her. She also likes her Kai Lan doll given to her by a friend and co-worker.

Adam will be home in a bit and we'll take the girls to the fair. Jia has been itching to go since Saturday.

Schwen seems to feel very comfortable around the house and will even go upstairs by herself to get her glasses, slippers, etc. She is still a bit leary of the dogs but not as terrified as she was. She is eating whatever I give her. She was not crazy about the pnut butter roll up for lunch but when she realized that's what she was getting she ate it along with her gogurt and apple.

What day is it???

What day is it? It's pretty much how I feel right now-not a clue as to the date or day of the week as they are all blending together. It doesn't help that Jia is off of school Monday and Tuesday of this week.

Sunday was Jia's gotcha day-I met her 5 years ago ...hard to believe. We spent the day at the zoo and the girls rode all the rides including the old wooden roller coaster and they both loved it.

We were supposed to go to the fair today but it was raining most of the day and Adam ended up not working b/c of the rain. We took Schwen to meet her kindergarten teacher and see her school. With a little extra effort on our part she should catch up pretty quickly. We then went to visit the law firm where I work and Schwen and Jia were both in rare form and really livened up the place!

Schwen fell asleep again on the couch. The jet lag is catching up with her. Adam is waking up at 3:30 and 4:30 am so by 9:00 everyone else is in bed and I have a few minutes to myself!

A busy day

Both of the girls slept in their room on night 2 and both were also wide awake at 6:00 am! We let them go ahead and get up since we needed to be on the road by 8:15 a.m. anyway. Schwen started the kids china art program classes today. It was planned that she would just go to chinese first grade with Jia. She ended up in that class along with calligraphy and choir. The first grade class may actually be way too advanced for her as far as writing the chinese characters since it does not appear that she ever learned how to do this. She did seem familiar with the calligraphy brush and especially liked the choir. She sat patiently and watched Jia in her dance class and also was fascinated with the soccer game. Both girls were wiped out from the day and Schwen fell asleep sitting on the couch. She seems to understand what we are saying and is able to communicate her likes and dislikes to us. She seems to adore Jia. I know we are currently in the honeymoon stage and I'll enjoy the first few days of the homecoming knowing down the road we'll surely have many battles and obstacles that we will encounter.

They are home!

Things are going pretty well. Schwen seemed pretty shy when she first got off of the plane but she did recognize people from their pictures and is quick to repeat what is said to her. The four of us stopped at Coldstone Creamery for ice cream and she was quick to share her m*m's with Baba, Jia and Mama. She does not like the dogs but is fascinated with the cats. She is very bright and catches on fast. I showed her her bed and she pointed to Jia's bed. Adam's mom made boxes for the girls with their names on and she knows which is hers and says the other is Jia's. The same goes for just about everything we showed her if we had two of-one is Qi Xuan's and one is Jia's. She is already sticking to me like velcro and I have received many hugs and kisses. One melt down last night when I was laying in bed with Jia. Jia ended up sleeping downstairs with Adam as Schwen (and I)were up until 3:30. I did get her up at 7:30 am and she is now napping.

We drove Jia to school this morning and she seemed very interested in what was going on. She babbles a lot and she and Adam seem to have their own language. He did such a good job with her in China.

Schwen loves to point to any picture of Justin and say his name. She did a pretty good job of keeping herself entertained while Adam and I were unpacking.

After nap we are going to the grocery store and then it will be time for Jia to get off of the bus. A busy weekend planned.

Will post pics later. Time for me to get a shower!

It's Citizenship day!!

I looked on the calendar at work and today is "citizenship day"...how appropriate it is b/c today is the day Schwen arrives in the US and will become a US citizen. When we adopted Jia she came home with a green card and we had to apply for her certificate of citizenship-it was the rule back then for families with one parent traveling and the rules have since changed...YEAH!!! This significantly cuts down on the paperwork for me!!

As I write this Adam and Schwen are in the air and only 7 hours more to go until the flight arrives in Newark, NJ for a 3.5 hour layover, then 2 more hours until they arrive in Columbus...

I can tell Jia is excited but also nervous.Last night she asked "what if Schwen doesn't' like me?"....I feel the same way! She had a soccer game last night and we afterwards went out for dinner with Nei Nei and Pop Pop-it was a late night and she was exhausted and had to go to bed right when we got home. I'll let her sleep a bit more than wake her up and spend some time together this morning.

We are as ready as we can be. On hindsight I should have taken today off of work as I would have liked to have had a chance to go to the grocery store to stock up. It just did not happen. We'll figure it out. I'm sure I could probably send Adam tomorrow-he will probably enjoy the time alone!!

When I talked to Adam the last few days in China he told me it was raining. He neglected to tell me just how much and hard it was raining. There is a family on the Shamain Island whose blog I follow and they post pics of the flooded streets from the torrential rain pour from Typhoon Fred.

Thanks for following Adam's journey. I do plan to continue this blog with the random ramblings of our lives.

just a few more days

It is already Tuesday morning in the states, Tuesday evening in China. The day for Jia and I is ready to begin; the day for Adam and Schwen is winding down and tomorrow they will leave China and begin their long trip home to begin Schwen's new life in the USA. A little more than a week ago she was living in an orphanage..the past 8 days her life has been living in hotels, eating out, having Baba to herself 24/7. It will be good to get her into a routine. I've already spoken with her kindergarten teacher and Jia, Schwen and I will take a visit to the school on Tuesday. She will begin school full time on October 5th. My office is right next to the school and I can be there in "2 minutes and 2 seconds" (for all you former "Love Connection" fans!!)

I know Jia is very excited to have her daddy and sister home. As always, she has been a great trooper these past 10 days and I've enjoyed the time alone with her, espcially since I know these times will now be limited.

It was 5 years ago today that my mother in law Pat and I flew to China to get Jia. Her "gotcha" day is September 20th and she wants to go to the zoo to celebrate. We mark our lives with events-the birth of my son Justin and gotcha day for Jia are two of the best events of my life and on Thursday Schwen's arrival will be ingrained into my heart and memory as well.

Red Couch

Following the tradition to take a pic on the red couch at the White Swan.
Just 24hrs until we leave to take the oath. They want us to walk down to the
White Swan and ride along with two other familes. No big deal as long as it is
not raining as it is now. The ride is free and someone is supposed to take us
to the train station afterward.
We went to the White Swan and took a few pictures. We did pretty well today, she
only had 2 melt downs. I'm ready to come home.

TB test is clear!

This morning Schwen was pushing my buttons from the moment I got up until we
went to the clinic for the result of the TB test, which was fine, hardly even a mark.

We got out the beads and she made three necklaces, one each for us and one for
the hand-in-hand guide. We forgot take the extra necklace with us to the clinic so
after the exam she took hers off and handed it to Cordelia. Cordelia was very
impressed and said she had never received a gift from a child before.

We went to the bank to exchange travelers checks. Advice for others do not
take travelers checks to China unless you have a lot of time on you hands. The
people behind me where moaning and the teller acted like she had never done it
before, in the end it took over one hour and 4 tellers triple checking everything. What a pain.

We also walked to the exercise equipment and played a little, but as we were
walking away Schwen started making fun of one of the women exercising right in
front of her and I had to scold her in public. I didn't get a second look from
the people around, almost as if they approved.

She napping now we shall see what the rest of the day brings.

squatty potty

Sunday we went on the half-day trip with the Laflin family and had a pretty good time.

First we went to the Guangdong Folk Arts Museum. It was interesting but the
girls were bored and hot.

Next to a large porcelain store which everyone loved, lots of cool stuff, but it
was "you break it you bought it" so Schwen kept me occupied watching her.

Then there was dim sum for lunch which was great, Schwen ate like a horse.
When we got of the van Schwen decided she wanted to be friends with Barb's
seven year old daughter and started holding hands with her. During lunch she
took off the pink watch I bought her and made her new friend wear it. While there I
had to take Schwen to the bathroom and she used a squatty potty, it was impressive.

From there it was on to a large amusement park with rides. The girls had a lot of fun.But at 96F and high humidity we were done for the day.

Schwen driving cars at amusement park

Schwen at worship temple

Adam and Schwen at lake

Schwen at lake

She kicks, she scores!!!!

Jia had her first soccer game of the season and scored the only goal for her team! She also was able to keep the other team from scoring a goal and kicked the ball away from the goal. She was very excited to make the score, even though the points do not count at this level. For those of you who know Jia she has a lot of enthusiasm and is also very serious about whatever she does. I could see her talking to the coach prior to the game and he told me that she asked him to put her on "depense" he got a big kick out of it. Jia is also very outspoken and on the last play of the game the ball hit her in the chest. She came running over to me and said (loudly I might ad) that the "ball hit her in the boob!!"". We are going to have to work with her to not be so aggressive on the field though, a few times it looked like she was playing roller derby instead of 1st grade soccer.

Her KCAP (Kids China Arts Program) classes started on Saturday and she was happy to see many of her friends. She is taking Chinese first grade, dance, calligraphy and choir and loves all of the classes and her teachers.

I am on the board of our FCC (Families with Children from China) chapter and we had a board meeting while the kids were in class. The board had a surprise "shower" for me and Schwen received many new outfits, a book about Chinese New Year, a few gift cards (one to Claire's which will be great fun) and an awesome Hello Kitty fortune cookie maker. It was a total surprise to me and at first I wasn't quite sure of what was going on as I've been in such a fog the last week. I'm putting everything back in the gift bags and will let Schwen open them. Adam said she does like clothes! He is going to have to get a second job for clothing for two girls!!

Waiting to hear from Adam yet today. I did speak to him yesterday and he said that Schwen really enjoys it when he reads books to her and she turned off the television and took one of the books over and indicated that she wanted him to read to her. Her favorite of the ones I sent was "D is for Dragon" by Grace Lin. We have many Grace Lin books so it will be interesting to see if she is drawn towards them. Jia and I set up the hallway upstairs with a book case filled with children's books, a small couch and small rocking chair-her Raggedy Ann doll currently sits in the chair and is the "library lady".

Our friend Julia is coming over today to paint Schwen's chinese characters on the wall in the girls room. Julia painted a fantastic mural in Jia's room 3 years ago and put Jia's chinese characters on the wall so we thought we'd add Schwens. I'll post a pic once Adam returns with the camera.

Jia and I are headed to the horse parade today. No motorized vehicles-only horses and mules, musical groups and the "pooper scoopers" from OWU who are alway entertaining if you are at the end of the parade! The horse parade is held the week before the Delaware County Fair and draws a big crowd. Jia's friend Reagan will be riding in the parade so Jia is very excited.

In Guangzhou!

After a delayed flight Adam and Schwen arrived in Guangzhou on Friday at 11:30 pm. Upon arrival at their hotel they went right to bed as Schwen had her medical exam early Saturday morning. She had to get the TB test and 3 additional vaccinations, which she took like a real trouper (the kid was smiling). She was fine throughout the medical exam and the shots but would not cooperate for the eye examination and the doctors finally gave up. Lunch at Lucy's and back to the Victory for a nap.

I received a frantic email from Adam at 1:30 am our time that he needed the dates of our I800A application and approval. After much digging around I found what was needed and gave him a call. This is needed for the visa application for Schwen and he did not want any delay.

Schwen did not do well on the short 2 hour ride from Nanjing to Guangzhou and she also hated having her seat belt on in the car. He has saved a lot of the things I sent for the plane ride home so hopefully that will help plus the plane's entertainment system.

While at the medical exam Adam met one of the other families from our agency who are in GZ the entire time. They are going to meet up on Sunday and take a tour. They adopted a 5 year old girl so perhaps the two girls can play together and Adam can enjoy adult conversation and company.

Adam said Schwen's personality is starting to show. The information we received on her said she was introverted- HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!She is very outspoken. She also likes to mimic people. They were in an elevator and a guy was talking on his cell phone and when he stepped out of the elevator she acted like she was holding a phone to her ear and was yak yak yakking away. She has a sense of humor. She has no boundries but she does respond to directions, and does not like to eat anything except sweets and starches.

Leaving Nanjing

Adam and Schwen are leaving Nanjing today so no posts from him until Saturday. The week has really gone by fast for Jia and I.

When I talked to Adam yesterday he said Schwen wanted to know if Anna (their guide) would be going with them on the plane and Anna explained to Schwen that she would not. Anna was a great help to Adam while in Nanjing, not only with Schwen but she was an adult who spoke english!!! Adam and Schwen have figured out a way to communicate but sometimes it is even hard for Anna to figure out what Schwen means because she speaks with a strong Nanjing slang.

Adam is looking forward to going to the Shamain Island and seeing "greenspace" and letting her burn some energy at the parks and pool.

I am happy it is Friday. I really need to find some time to get things done around the house.

Nanjing City Wall

Nanjing wall guard

Weavers

Schwen found the headbands!

Where Schwen was found

We went on a small city tour this morning. Basically just the Nanjing City wall and a place where they are famous for silk weaving. I was more impressed with the silk weaving (there is a name for it but I’m at a loss now), two people work this eight hundred year old machine and only produce a piece two and a half feet wide by five centimeters long. I could not imagine doing it all day long.
The honeymoon is starting to wear off, last night Schwen and I were fighting over the TV. Her ripping through all the cable channels non-stop, all blaring in mandarin, was getting old so I took the remote set it on one channel and she was mad every time a commercial came on and wanted it changed. You can tell they used the TV a lot in the orphanage……. she will get a rude awakening at Radloff house.
Really part of the problem is that there is absolutely nothing for a active five year old to do around here, no parks, not much grass, you can only walk around the shopping areas so many times. Anna is taking us out to dinner tonight at a restaurant that is supposed to be good. She has been a great help here it would have been a lot harder to do this without her.

Wednesday's visit to SWI

Adam is sending emails and I am posting to the blog. I have not had a chance to talk with him today to find out if he was able to see the children whose parents I've emailed with for updated pics.

Today was a much better day for me, not so much for Schwen in the morning. We got to go to SWI and meet the kids. I have a lot of pictures and a few small videos. Anna told Schwen we were going but as we started to get near she shut down then started crying when stopped out front to get out of the taxi. She started to bounce back when we gave her the job of handing out the treats we bought. Then she came out of her shell and I got to observe her interact with her friends. She really liked handing out the treats and being in control.
The place seemed pretty clean and staff was very nice. Nanjing has cooled off a little and the kids were outside. Anna pointed out a small building for the kids that have severe disabilities and the nannies had a few of the children outside. Until you’re in China and you’ve been to an orphanage you just don’t know how good we Americans have it. These kids have nothing and wear old worn out clothes. Schwen eats a lot and fast like someone might take it from her at any time. When we were walking down the short street as we were heading into the orphanage she took off the necklace I had given her and handed it to me, it was if she knew if she had it on someone would want it. She hides things under her pillow, probably the only safe place she had.
She got say goodbye to her friends and as we were heading back she said she had a headache so we got something to eat. Now she is napping.
As a funny note, the taxi driver on the way back was a woman who would put men drivers in the states to shame, she would get within inches of cars at 40 mph weaving between semi size fuel trucks, buses and bicycles. All this while talking on her cell phone, telling Anna she had had a nose job (they increase the size in China to look more western) and blaring the horn at anyone in her way. I would love to have a chance to drive here, it’s like a Grand Prix race everyday.

Visit to SWI

Art and soccer

J won the prize for the best portfolio in her art class. This was something the class voted on and of course she was thrilled.

We picked up her soccer jersey today and the team is the "Force" and the color is yellow. She so wanted to be a pink "Flame" again.

As of this Saturday we will be in full swing with KCAP (kids china arts program) and soccer...and now the fun begins!

We are missing Adam but time is going by quickly for us.

Adoption finalization

The finalization went well today, we met Anna in the lobby at 8:30am and as we were waiting outside she noticed a small bus filling up with the French adopting families, so she told the taxi driver to hurry up and get there before them. It was wild a ride down back alleys and little one-way streets loaded with bikes and people.

The whole process took about 15 minutes. I had to write a paragraph on why we wanted to adopt and answer some questions. Then do the thumb print stamp on my signature. Schwen got very nervous when we were there, I think she thought she was going back to the orphanage but was very happy when we pulled up back at the hotel telling Anna she wanted to go to the room and watch TV, dragging me into the hotel.

Instead Anna took us shopping in the walking mall, which was a good thing because the shop keepers were pulling on my arm as we were leaving trying to get me to buy more, it was a little too much in my face for me, but Anna knew how to handle them. They are VERY aggressive with me thinking I’m a rich American. As best as I can tell I am the only American in the hotel and as far as I can tell the only English speaking foreigner in the area. The other families are a French group and they don’t speak English.

Then she gave us a surprise, she had translated where Schwen was found and it turned out to be a 2 minute walk from the hotel in the very walking mall we were in. She asked a few shopkeepers where it was and finally a cop. All the shops are numbered and there are about 1000 of them and it is hard to tell and they change hands all the time. The photos of the shops with us in front of them are as close as we are ever going to get.

Five minutes after Anna left house keeping knocked to clean our room so we walked to a grocery store and tried to find something like Tylenol with no luck, I’ll have to ask Anna tomorrow. Then Schwen ate her first McDonalds, she loved the French fries but drank so much bottled water afterward it came out her nose. It amazing how much of the basics I have to show her, like showing her how to use a fork, not being able to screw a cap on a bottle stuff you just take for granted at 5 years old.

We are still getting along when we are alone but she becomes very excited, loud and talkative when Anna is with us. Last night she did some crying when she would wake up and not realize where she was, it was easy to calm her down but it went on for about 2 hours. She is trying to nap now it’s around 2.

Tomorrow around 9:30 we are going to the orphanage, not inside and maybe not to see the kids. They are very busy, only Coco the woman who is in charge of the international adoptions at the SWI came to the finalization, the directors could not. Just as a side note the gift giving to the notaries was kind of a joke, they smiled took the gifts put them in a pile behind them and moved on to the next person, I could just imagine by the look on there face what they where thinking (Great more crap, where the hell am I going to put more junk in my tiny apartment) I think the nanny’s need it more than them. ]

Schwen with Daddy's sunglasses

It's official

I am now the mother of three! I have kept the family tradition of 2 girls and 1 boy-which goes back to at least my great grandmother, grandmother, mother and sister! Not sure before my great grandmother though.

Gotcha day was better than anticipated. Adam was in the room, Schwen went into the room, saw him, gave him a hug and said "Baba". She holds his hand when out and gives him a lot of smiles. The guide says she has a good vocabulary and speaks mandarin with a nanjing dialect. Communication is difficult but she is mimicking him. She is not shy and has her opinion on the clothes and toys. She told the guide she wanted to see her things and was very definite on what she liked and did not like and then folded everything up and put it away. They went to the store and she wanted apples and pears to eat. His biggest concern is keeping her busy while in Nanjing. A good first day and she went to bed with no problem.

Day 2

Adam is in Nanjing. I received a brief email from him this morning - he is having issues with his laptop so he probably will not be posting and you'll have to rely on my interpretations of phone calls with him!

He lucked out on the 16 hour flight from Newark to Hong Kong and had two empty seats next to him. He said the food on Continental was horrible. The Dragon Air flight from Hong Kong to Nanjing was nice and again he had an empty seat.

Arrived in Nanjing and met by his guide Nancy. She took him to the bank to exchange money and told him he needed a $1,000 more than he had anticipated! He said he about threw up! She spoke with the HIH person and found out these fees were already paid. It turns out that Nancy works for some agencies that don't require the payment up front. The bank was interesting-tons of people sitting around on benches waiting and Nancy goes right up to a window and banged on it and the money was exchanged. He was very impressed.

Nanjing is very industrial and tons of people everywhere. He said it is like being at the State Fair! There is a kareoke event going on outside of his hotel and busloads of people were being dropped off! Things he noticed right away were smog, smell and so many people. He decided to venture out and was bombarded by people trying to sell him things. He said he only saw two other caucasion people and that he really stands out. We've heard there are seven families adopting children this week so hopefully he can hook up with those families at some point. No other families from out agency though. I received four requests from families who have children in Nanjing and gave Adam their names in case he is able to visit the orphanage. Right now he is just a bit overwhelmed with everything.

Jia and I will be out of town until Monday night so probably won't post until then. Happy Labor Day to everyone!

Adam's Itinerary

9/4/09-9/5/09
travel to Hong Kong-overnight at HK Sky City Marriott

9/6/09
fly to Nanjing where he will be met by the guide and taken to the hotel

9/7/09
gotcha day

9/11/09
leave Nanjing and fly to Guangzhou

9/15/09
consulate appointment

9/16/09
oath and then take the train from Guangzhou to Hong Kong-overnight in HK

9/17/09
arrive at CMH at 7:30 pm

And so the adventure begins!!!

As I write this Adam is (or should be if all went as planned) about 3 hours into his 16 hour flight to Hong Kong. He will spend the night in Hong Kong and hopefully meet up with the Dini and Corkern families who will be spending their last night overseas before heading home with their new children.

I read that there will be a total of 7 families getting children from Nanjing next week so hopefully Adam will be able to connect with a few.

I have so much to do while he is gone...clean the house, clean the carpets, get the girls room ready, make a few dishes and put into the freezer. They will be home in less than two weeks. J and I made a paperchain and will tear away a chain for each day daddy is gone.

JJJ Radloff, first grader

here she is...first day of 1st grade!

This is horrific

below is the story of a mother who was arrested for the death of her daughter who was adopted from China. I remember this adoption b/c the mother was african american and the chinese government did not want to let her adopt. Her agency and many many people in the adoptive community rallied for her and she was able to take the child home. The sad thing is that she dropped off of the adoption community yahoo groups once she was home from China. These yahoo groups are a great resource and if the mother was having difficulties there could have been other families willing to help her. This story was the second time today my heart was heavy to hear the death of a child adopted from China. The 7 year old girl who was swept into the water iny heavy waves due to the huriccan off the coast of Maine last week was also adopted from China. Anytime a child dies it is horrific and sad but for those of us in the adoptive community when an adopted child dies it tugs at our hearts a bit more.

Police have arrested a former Elk Grove resident and charged her with murder in the death last year of her 3-year-old adoptive daughter.
Sabrina Banks, 42, called 911 on May 2, 2008, and reported that her daughter Lavender was "unresponsive," said Officer Christopher Trim of the Elk Grove Police Department.
Medical personnel were unable to revive the girl, and pronounced her dead at the scene. Lavender had visible injuries that "were not consistent with an accidental death," said Trim.
An autopsy report lists the probable cause of death as "asphyxiation by smothering" and "multiple blunt force injuries," according to the Sacramento County Coroner's Office.
Trim said it took detectives more than a year to gather the evidence necessary to charge Banks with murder, assault resulting in the death of a child under 8 years of age and endangering the life or health of a child.
"It was a very long process of interviewing the mother, her friends, checking her history, working with the coroner's office," he said.
The Sacramento County District Attorney's Office issued an arrest warrant for Banks, and she was located in Visalia on Wednesday and taken into custody, said Trim.
She will be transported to Sacramento County within the next few days, he said.
Banks had one other child in her Elk Grove home when Lavender died, and that youngster has been in protective custody since then, Trim said.
The family had previous involvement with Child Protective Services in Kern County, Sacramento County CPS Director Laura Coulthard previously told The Bee. She did not provide details.
Trim said he was unaware of any further CPS involvement with Banks

a great surprise

There are two Hand in Hand (our agency) families in China to get their children and they were able to visit the orphanage and see the children who have families waiting for them. They took many pictures and this is one of my favorites of S with one of her nannies.

This weekend was spent getting things ready. We finally ordered beds on Saturday and they will be delivered on Thursday. The garage is finally cleaned out and I can park a car in there once again. We still had left over garage sale items sitting in the from our sale over two months ago.

Justin turned 27 this past week, so hard to believe my baby boy is SO old! The house they are having built is moving along and hopefully will be finished in a few months and they can get the tax credit. He has been on his procrastinator mother for the past two months to get the wedding guest list to him. He is a much better planner/implementer than I am!

travel dates

leaving 9/4/09 and returning 9/17/09. hoping to possibly meet up with families in HK on their way home and Adam's way there-might be there on his first night and their last night. found out friends of friends will be in China at the same time...we met the couple before and they have a 6 year old daughter who will be traveling with them to get their son.

received tons of new pics today but no time right now to upload. j had a great first day at school.

Last day at LaPetite

Tuesday is J's last day at LaPetite ...sha has been there for over 3.5 years...this is a picture that was taken on her first day at LPA, you can see she was NOT a happy camper-she had previously been with a babysitter for a year and a half and loved her Titi (and still does)...

We went to the open house at the elementary school tonight and met her teacher...she seems fantastic-J is thrilled that she knows a girl from her soccer team and they will share a locker. The school had a picnic along with the open house and when Adam and I were in the food line we could hear little bossy J on the playground. The school is old-very similar to what I went to eons ago-three floors-cafeteria and gym in the basement, shiny hardwood floors, very high ceilings in the classrooms.

Oh by the way...as a side note...we received TRAVEL APPROVAL today!!!! We received the email late in the afternoon and with having to rush home for the open house we haven't really had a chance to let it all digest. We should know in a couple of days what Adam's travel plans will be.

by the way

I hit the half-century mark last Saturday....I don't feel any older...it's that stigma of "50"...when my parents were 50 they were old!!! We went to dinner with Justin and Jill and saw their house -it is in the process of being built-and then all of us went to see "As you like it"....the one who liked it the most was our little theater buff little J....the rest of us were ready to leave at intermission but she wanted to stay and she loved it...performing and watching Shakespeare at age 6!!

another week gone by

and no travel approval...I'm about to have a hissy fit...as are many other families who have been waiting so long. We had been on the same time line as two other families who left for China today...they are on their way to get their children and we don't even have travel approval yet. I did talk with our agency earlier in the week and there is ONE PERSON at the CCAA who signs off on the travel approvals...this person has been on a business trip!! If we don't get travel approval soon Adam may have to wait until the end of October to travel!!!

Little J has 2 more days at the daycare where she has gone for the past 3.5 years. Next Wednesday she will begin 1st grade at a new school. School supplies are purchased along with a "beautiful dress" that twirls for the first day of school. We found out that one of the girls from her spring soccer team is in her class so at least she will know one person.We had hoped she would be in the same class as our neighbor but sadly they are not. I think she is excited to begin 1st grade.

I hope my next post is to announce travel approval. In the meantime we will follow the journeys of the Dini and Corkern families and hope that they have safe travels. We are hoping that they are allowed into the orphanage and will get a chance to see Yan Qi Xuan...we sent a package to the Corkern family to deliver to her.

Keep your fingers crossed that we hear something next week!

Still waiting

Well this is the week we should receive travel approval so keep your fingers crossed. At this point we still do not have the girls room ready but the bed selection should be finalized in the next week and I have an idea on the comforters I'd like to get for the girls room.

I have the clothes, books, backpack all ready for S for Adam to take to China. I'd still like to find a small stuffed animal that would scrunch up and travel well.

It's been wonderful not having anything planned the last few weekends. J had the neighbor girls over for a play date on Sunday afternoon. Adam took her for her chickenbox vaccination booster last Saturday and that is how the previous weekends have gone-nice and relaxing. First grade starts in two weeks and she will be riding on the school bus. I will miss having her in the car with me every day.

We have two families from our agency who are leaving for China on August 21st. I am going to send a disposable camera, photo book and hairclips for S. I look forward to following their journeys. Their children are also at the Nanjing SWI. Due to the restrictions from the H1N1 virus they will be unable to go to the orphanage and actually see S.

The next time I post it will be to announce we have travel approval!!

going to head outside now to watch the meteor shower!

Finally

Our Article 5 is appoved....this means that all of our documents have been approved and sent to the CCAA...now we are just waiting for travel approval and this should happen in about 2 weeks with travel a few weeks later.

It's been a crazy two weeks with J having play practice every night. I will be so happy when August is here. We are doing NOTHING except spend time at home. Any invitations or events will be declined. We had way too many obligations in June and July and need this down time.

We also need this time to get the house ready...now its crunch time and this weekend we need to find a bookcase and get the hallway cleaned up and finished. Hopefully the girls bedroom will be complete in a few weeks.

Queen Mab

J is in summer drama camp-they will be performing Romeo and Juliet and she is to be Queen Mab...we are supposed to find info on Queen Mab and her carriage..J loves drama camp and Dramatic Impact. This will be her 4th play with Ms. Candace and J adores her. It's so much fun for her, exhausting for us as practice is every night from 6-7.

Girls weekend was fun and no one was too unruly and no one was hungover....I guess this is something that comes with age-to drink responsibly! It was great to be on the water even though the ferry ride over was wooley and wild!

We are slowly getting ready for S's arrival. I just need a few weekends home with nothing to do. J's b-day and festivities are this weekend so no luck there.

woke up yesterday feeling pretty yuck...thought maybe it was allergies...no..it's more..achey, sore throat, headache, no energy. I need to keep away from everyone so no one is sick this weekend.

Big weekend ahead

Well for me at least. I am headed up to Put-in-Bay for a weekend with 7 friends for an early birthday celebration. Four of the friends are former co-workers from the Dayton/Cincy area, one is my niece and very good friend and two current co-workers/friends. No way does it seem like it could already be 10 years since I celebrated my last big birthday with the former co-workers and niece.

Birthday plans for J are coming along. She has another b-day party to attend on her actual birthday but then we will go to the zoo and she can ride the rides. We'll continue the celebration on Sunday the 26th.

My niece Alyssa is moving into her first apt (non-college) this weekend..seems like she was just 6 herself. She has a job teaching music at a middle school in Springfield and will also be assisting the high school music director.

Justin is headed up to Toledo area to sail in Highlander Nationals with his dad Bruce. They sail the nationals race together every year and won the title two years ago. Bruce's dad was a big Highlander sailer and won the championship 5x. Jill is going along with Justin this time and will be taking care of a baby of fellow sailers plus I'm sure she will spend some time with Bruce and Debbie's girls. Sailing is such a great family sport and I'm glad that Justin has continued with his racing.

It's looking like Adam will be traveling in the next month. We still don't have travel approval but all things continue to point in that direction. We have been trying to figure out the best plan-where to stay, what flights, getting from Shanghai airport to the train station to catch the train to Nanjing-getting from the Nanjing train station to the hotel, arranging guides, etc. When we adopted in 2004 this was all taken care of so it's a bit nerve wracking. We continue to hope that he will travel with the two other families who are adopting children from the same orphanage but it may not happen. We are utlizing every resource we have to find out information and trying to decide what to do. Also just feeling totally stressed from everything-work is very busy for both of us and the weekends have been nuts. With the exception of one event on August 7th we are not doing ANYTHING in August...in other words, unless there is a death we are in seclusion!!! I imagine we'll keep a low profile the first few months after his return with S. J is registered for soccer and will do her chinese classes but otherwise we will keep activities to a minimum and may resurface by Halloween!!

4th of July come and gone

I remember when I was younger and the 4th of July meant that my best friend Tina was going to have her birthday and mine would be 6 weeks behind...boy, I sure hated that she was older than me! Well, Tina turned 50 this past weekend as did another good friend Julia...how did we get to be 50 already? And in just 6 weeks it will hit me and here I am adding to my family. Tina told me that she went to grandparents day for her 10 year old nieces and saw someone we went to high school with who was there for his grandchildren!!! While I do want grandkids in the near future I certainly would not want to have any that are in the 4th grade!!

We had a relaxing 4th of July weekend-relaxing meaning that we did not have to do TOO much...we did manage to make it to a parade and fireworks on the actual 4th. J loved the fireworks and I love her enthusiasm towards the celebration.

J's 6th b-day is coming up in a few weeks and we made the decision over the weekend that she could have a party at the local pottery studio. So we picked out the cake and invitations-High School Musical of course, and the party will be small but she'll be happy. She only wants HSM "stuff"...which leaves buying gifts wide open.

We should be receiving travel approval in a few weeks and we still are sitting on our rear ends doing nothing. I think we both thrive on the thrill of getting things done at the last minute. It's how my job functions and it has carried over into my personal life.

A busy week-getting ready for the second garage sale this weekend and will end with a pool party on Sunday.

Another week gone by

Here it is already the end of June...this past week flew by and nothing was accomplished on the homefront.

J is going to be gone for four days...she will have a great time but mom and dad will miss her. So wise for her age...she told me that she wants to spend 4 nights away and she knows it is a long time but she doesn't get to see her cousin Emma very often..Emma and family live in Bethesda, MD and are visiting my sister near Toledo.

I have two very good friends who will have their 50th birthdays next week...I am just six weeks behind. Wow...seems like we were just in college and dancing to Michael Jackson's Off the Wall at frat parties..most people over 60 or younger than 25 don't seem to understand the effect his music had on my generation in the 70's and 80's.....I was just showing J the Thriller dance on you tube a few months ago and listened to the Thriller cassette!

We're still here

I am horrible with keeping up a blog...I was never good at keeping a diary when I was young so I should not be too surprised. Life continues to be moving along...the summer is flying by and we haven't been swimming one time...just too much going on..still waiting for things to slow down.

We had our garage sale last week and made $425. We are having a second garage sale with the items that did not sell and with other items on July 11th-this time it will be at my mother in laws-she lives in a neighborhood...people just don't want to pay any money in the country...the prices were marked so low it was ridiculous.

JB and JB's wedding plans are moving along and they are also having a house built in Grove City-just south of the city of Columbus. It is an hour drive for me and is also an hour drive from her family.

Little J is enjoying her summer daycare program-they keep the kids so busy and go on field trips 2-3 times a week. Last week they took tours of Crew Stadium (where the soccer team plays) and to Nationwide Arena. This week they went to Build a Bear. We are going up to southern Michigan for my great nephew's graduation party and she will stay at my sisters for a few days to spend time with her cousin E from Bethesda, MD.

We received approval on our I800 which means we are now waiting for travel approval. We estmate that TA (travel approval) will come at the end of July and Adam could potentially travel in August. However there is a travel advisory until 9/30/09 to China due to the H1N1 virus and we have been advised that we may be given the option to travel after the advisory. Not sure what we will do at this time. I am happy to wait as I don't want to have to worry that Adam is stuck in a nasty quarantine hospital b/c someone who sat next to him on the plane has the flu. Plus the weather would be much nicer in October!

Happy summer to all.

another month has gone by

This picture was taken at the Daddy/Daughter dance held in February. They both had a great time. Here it is already the end of March...2009 seems to be flying by and before we know it summer will be here...J will be finishing her kindergarten year...which reminds me that I still need to get her registered for 1st grade at the elementary school.

We need to start on "project schwen"...which means we need to begin to tranform J's room into a room for J and S. J currently has a double bed and we are on the search for two white twin beds and night stands for the girls. I also need to start shopping for summer clothes for both of the girls.

J went to a bowling b-day party yesterday and had the highest score of 16 kids! She had a 96. This is only her 3rd time bowling and yes, it is bumper bowling but still pretty good for a 5 year old. We laugh b/c BV (the high school) has a really good bowling team....it could be J's ticket to college!!!!

It looks like referrals are coming close to 90 days from LID's which means we could potentially receive the ok from China at the end of May...I REALLY need to get my act together here and start on the forms that we will need to return to China. I also want to go ahead and get J a passport in the slim chance that the three of us could travel.

I'll try this one more time!

ok, it's been months but I'll give blogging one more try...I wrote down my log in and password so that I can actually access the blog...

We submitted our dossier to Hand In Hand the second week of February and it was sent to China (DTC) on 2/13/09. We found out the other day that our log in date is March 2, 2009...and so the countdown begins..


I so wish Adam, Jia and I could all travel but at this time our finances just will not allow it..so I am playing $2.00 a week on classic lotto and mega millions and just hoping that I hit even $10k!!!

In the mean time we enjoy this time with Jia and get the house ready for Schwen.

I'll try to make the blog a bit prettier and post pics next weekend.