Unbelievable that my little one who screamed and screamed over anything resembling a bath for 3 weeks is this same little "fishy"!



She LOVED the pool in Branson!



Born to shop!



We did slide, swings, and sat on this giant turtle!




All girl! Mimi's giving the Mani/pedi!









And enjoying Mommy's mani too!


My baby girl is doing remarkably well. She had her first pediatrician appt. here and he said she had been well cared for and was very healthy...even her teeth. Such a blessing! She had a few tears but nothing close to the trauma at the medical office in China. Thanks for your prayers! She has appts. with a pediatric vision specialist and ear specialist in June. I'll be eager to get more details on her Corneal Leukoma and the Microtia condition of her ear.

She is amazingly attached to me. This of course is a blessing, however it is manifesting in her wanting to be in physical contact with me 90% of the time and within 2 feet of me 100% of the time. This is also being manifested in the form of some major sleep issues still too. Because I do need to return to work, prayers in this area are much appreciated. I believe when she truly feels safe in the fact that I am her forever Mommy...permanent caregiver, this will improve. It's only been 6 weeks since "Gotcha Day" though.

I have been blessed with an extremely smart, sweet, strong willed, affectionate, tender-hearted, stubborn, hilariously entertaining, brave, strong little Sweetie!


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Location:Fun with Kaylee Mei!

Wow, it's been a long time since I've been able to write! 2 weeks of jet lag and life with a toddler hasn't left much time!

First off, my little Kaylee Mei as we're calling her now, is extremely smart. For this I'm most grateful! However, that means its virtually impossible to pull one over on her. And it also means she doesn't miss a THING!

She has such a sweet spirit and loves to cuddle. She'll place my hands on her little face and just smile. And she's almost always up for a hug from Mommy. But she's also a fighter (a characteristic that served her well during her first 2 years of life.) However, because of this, she'll fight hard for what she wants and vehemently object to what she doesn't want!

Accomplishments Kaylee Mei has made in just 17 days home:

1. LOVES baths now (have to drain the tub to get her to realize it has come to an end!)

2. Does high chair with no problems now!

3. Does car seat happily 90% of the time

4. Rides in shopping carts happily

5. LOVES the stroller

6. Tolerates her "doggie sister" Taffy

7. Gets Taffy's food and water each day with no prompting! (at least she doesn't want to starve her although she told her off in Chinese big time the other day through the day gate! LOL!)

8. Throws things in the trash and the laundry for mommy

9. Let's Mimi and Pop Pop hold her

10. No longer afraid of her pink riding pony and loves riding it now!

11. Will go down slides

English words Kaylee says:

1. More - "moooooaaaah"

2. Mimi and Pop Pop (she yelled out "Pop Pop" in the middle of church last Sunday)!

3. Shoes "soooooz"

4. Taffy "Tassie"

5. Diaper "diter"

6. Water "watah"

7. "WOW"

8. Bow

9. Lotion "lossun"

10. Powder "powdah"

11. Bye bye

12. Hi

13. Thank you - "Tay ju"

14. Glasses "gasses"

15. Eyes, ears, mouth

16. Phone (and has some kind of iPhone radar to find anyone's iPhone and snatch it in seconds!)

Her receptive language skills are amazing. So many things I ask her to do and she understands and does them!

Things Kaylee Mei doesn't like:

Teddy bears
Dolls
Books
Veggies
Cheese
Going to sleep (but hey, she's 2!)
Taffy

Things Kaylee Mei loves:

Chick Fil A
Cuddling
Walks
Her stroller
Oatmeal
Congee
V8 Fusion
Toys she has to figure out, especially nesting
Clothes and shoes (Go Kaylee!)
Mimi and Pop Pop
Baths
Bubbles
"folding" things like towels
Being generally helpful
Looking at pictures of herself (doubt she'd seen a lot before)
Oreos
"Playing" piano (wonder how that happened???)

our primary issue right now is that of going to sleep. Because of attachment issues, leaving the room and letting her cry it out isn't an option. It has to be handled very carefully. Please pray for wisdom on my part and a secure attachment on her part that will help her to trust that her current circumstances are permanent.

She also still feels the need to be holding my hand 90% of the time. I'd love if she could see me with her and feel secure a little more of the time rather than needing to be held or in physical contact. However, she was wanting to be held 90% of the time, so we're progressing!

Please keep us in mind Wednesday morning as she has her first doctor's appt. here. The physical exams in China were very rough and traumatic for her. That could cause this visit to bring back those memories.

Have to post a few Mother's Day pics here too! Couldn't have imagined a better Mother's day with my grandma, my mom, me, and my sweet daughter of only a couple weeks all together!





Kaylee lovin' her Mimi!




Kaylee loves her great grandma!





I taught Kaylee this face! Yes, charming and ladylike, I know! :)


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Location:Life back home

Mei Mei's precious great Grandma (called "Boom Boom") has been in the hospital but is due to be released today! She has been consistently saying, "Girl Power" to the doctors and nurses, and sure enough that Girl Power prevailed as she gets to go back home today! So "Mei Mei" just had to wear this today in honor of "Boom Boom"!





See ya soon Boom Boom!

We leave for Guangzhou this evening. Praying for no sandstorms there. Now that we've seen the sandstorms, we wonder maybe if that's what delayed our landing here last week. We thought it was snowflakes streaming by as we approached Hohhot, but when we landed it was 65 degrees! They say that when they wash clothes here, the water is filled with sand when they finish. Does wonders for the allergies and sinuses! :/.

Hope to post videos from Guangzhou if we have better Wifi!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Dedicated to "Boom Boom"

See Travel Page

Beginning now I'll be posting on the Travel Journal Page in the link above!
Almost time to say "Ni Hao!"

Fun Birthday Pics!

I received a WONDERFUL surprise late last night from my new Chinese friend,Ann, who lives in Guangzhou! Ann has a great business of helping adoptive parents get care packages and birthday gifts to their waiting kiddos. We ordered a birthday cake, Dum Dum lolly pops for Kaylee and all her friends, and a little jacket (yes I would've chosen pink but The jacket that Ann sent looks very authentically Chinese which I think is great!). Ann also requested pictures to be electronically sent of Kaylee's party. And oh how blessed I am that the sweet Ayis (Nannies) sent so many.

I just had to share these latest pics with all my friends here! I happen to think my girl is an absolute doll!


- 3 candles because Chinese culture says that the day you are born is your first birthday. (This is contrary to my custom of subtracting a year for every year after 30!).








Bet all her friends are glad she had a birthday! Party at the Hohhot CWI!




(I think that little one next to her is ready to dive in!)








My favorite pic




I found out today we will get to visit this orphanage while we're they're! This is a rare privilege! God opened that door for us!

8 days til "Gotcha Day", my sweet Kaylee!

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I have Consulate Appointment!!!!

I officially got my TA (Travel Approval) in the mail on Tuesday, April 10th!  And today got CA (Consulate Appointment) for May 2nd!!!!!  I truly can hardly believe all this constant waiting has come to an end!!!  All of the following of Facebook Groups, Yahoo groups, and forums designed around waiting China adoptive parents   (Couldn't have made it without all of you all as we commiserated, celebrated, and watched the charts together!).  I've hit the "refresh" button on those websites so many times it's ridiculous!  One dear waiting mom started an elaborate chart that tracked people all the way from their Dossiers being logged in through "Safe Travels".  I remember being at number 127 and thinking, "Are you kidding!  My name will never be up at the top saying "Safe Travels".  But slowly but surely, I watched my name creep up the list and I can't tell you the excitement when I saw that!  I've always loved pink, but being PINK on this chart is the best pink EVER!!!  (Identities are blurred on purpose)

                                           

Thought you might want to see how pretty China's Travel Approvals are.  Of course mine's extra pretty with that picture of little Kaylee at the bottom!

We will fly out April 19th and arrive in Hohhot on the evening of the 20th.  It will be a grueling journey with 3 layovers...one of which will be a 4 hour layover in Beijing due to the customs, etc.  But it'll all be worth it for the end result!  Gotcha Day will either be Sunday the 22nd or Monday the 23rd.  We should have a day to explore Hohhot which I hear is a great place.  The temperatures have been ranging in the 50s and 60s in the day and 30s and 40s at night.  YEAH!  I love that cool weather!  Pop Pop isn't too pleased with that part though.  ;)  We'll spend several days in Hohhot getting paperwork done and waiting on Kaylee's passport.  24 hours after "Gotcha" I'll sign official paperwork making her mine!  Then we'll fly across the country to Gaungzhou where the US consulate is.  There Kaylee will have her medical exam and I'll sign more paperwork followed by a swearing in ceremony.  The temps in Guangzhou have been in the mid to high 80s.  Now Pop Pop will be happy while Missy and Mimi will be griping about the heat and HIGH humidity.  Ugh!  But I'll have my little doll, so who cares, right!  From there we'll go to Hong Kong for a day and then back home.

It will be a high stress trip with lots of uncertainties.  No one knows ahead of time how Gotcha Day will go, how the bonding process will proceed, how much grieving the child will go through.  A lot depends on their personalities.  So, I have a ridiculous amount of toys and goodies packed.  Although with my food pickiness, I may be breaking into the Gerber Graduates myself!

When I leave, I'll begin blogging on the Travel page of the blog.  I've learned a way that this should work from China.  Really hope so!  I'll post pictures, news, and videos ASAP.

I can hardly believe it's really happening.  What's worse is it feels like someone has turned off my brain!  So much to do and yet I can't even seem to focus or think straight.  Hope I snap out of that soon!

Thank you again for all your prayers and support.  We're almost there!  Stay tuned!

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

I got an email from Dillon today saying that China would not be able to email a copy of my TA ahead of time because IT'S ALREADY IN THE MAIL! Woo hoo! That means early next week I should have it in hand! Dillon will request 5 consulate appointments and hopefully we will get our first choice. This would have us leaving the 18th or 19th!!! I can hardly believe it! LOTS to do! I have, however, gotten my 6 vaccinations, gotten prescriptions as a "just in case" to take with me, packed Kaylee for the most part. Pop Pop has been talking back and forth with our travel agent who has helped with many adoption related trips. So, we're making progress! I'm finding it next to impossible to concentrate on ANYTHING else though!

My next prayer requests are that we do get our first choice appointment and then that we are able to use our flyer miles on United to upgrade our seats. There have been stories of orphanages who decided at the last minute to just go ahead and meet families at the hotel UPON ARRIVAL instead of waiting until the appointment time and giving families a couple of days to get acclimated.  For this reason, the better rested I can be, the better off I'll be upon receiving Kaylee. Therefore, we'd love to be able o upgrade to at least Economy Plus, but preferably Business Class.  It can be harder to do with this short notice, but we're praying it works out.  If anyone has any tips for helping in this matter, please comment or email me!

I found out 2 days ago that there is a precious young couple in TX who have been praying for my little Kaylee since they saw her picture on a website a year and a half ago! God has His hand on this little one for sure! And soon I'll have her in my arms.

I have so much to be thankful for. I can's say enough great things about Dillon International! If you're ever planning to consider adoption and live anywhere they provide services, please consider them. You'll be thrilled that you did! I know I am! I've learned from some very sad stories that which agency you choose to help through the process is the most critical part. I'm thankful God guided me to Dillon!

Thank you God for watching over my precious one since the very beginning with nannies who care and by raising up prayer warriors to pray specifically for her before I ever knew her. Thank you Dillon for your vigilance, organization, and great communication skills. Thank you friends and family who have supported me through this by praying, giving showers, offering words of encouragement, and being excited right along with me! And thank you to Mimi and Pop Pop for already being so crazy about Kaylee, your support in every way, and for all your help!  I love you all!