Kate's Birthday

First, I finally got my memory card back and loaded onto my computer, so I can now post a picture from Kate NaNa Day. (That was the anniversary of the day we met Kate, aka, Family Day.) We went out to a local Chinese restaurant, and we gave her a blue Cloisonne bracelet that we bought in Guangzhou. She was so excited that she insisted on wearing it for about 24 hours, at which point we went to Chick-Fil-A. Once home, Kate informed me that she had left the bracelet at the play place. After questioning her about where exactly it was, I called and made a poor employee climb up into the play area to look for the bracelet (talk about good customer service!). No luck though. But not to worry... I found it a week later in the van. My van is such a mess that there could be anything in there and I wouldn't know the difference.

Kate has been anticipating her birthday since MY birthday a month ago. And because of extenuating family circumstances this year, it took a couple of weeks to fully celebrate Kate's birthday. Thus we had two cakes.

Actually, four cakes were involved, but only two of them had candles. Any reason to have cake is a good reason, right?

Of course, our family and friends showered Kate with presents galore (She loves that yellow hat), and she loved telling everyone "Happy Birthday!", including random store clerks and people at church.

She may not have understood the birthday thing last year, but this year she was ready!

The Pumpkin Patch

After several cancellations, Will's pre-K class finally made it to the pumpkin patch. It was cold. It was muddy. And we had so much fun! I seldom get to go on "dates" with my children individually, but when I do it is a joy. We rode the hay ride, went through the corn maze, played in the corn pit, played on the playground, and went through the haunted house. Twice. Will and his best bud.

PS - Does anyone know why my photos are fuzzy? They are not fuzzy when I view them on my computer. Only here on blogspot. What is up with that?

Blog Housekeeping

I have some sidebars on my blog that it is time to take down, but I have been putting it off because I didn't want to lose the information. This is the only place that I have our entire adoption timeline recorded in one place. So, I decided to do a blog post about it, so that I don't lose the stats, but I can take them off of the sidebar. Make sense? In other words, this post is purely for me and Kate NaNa and our family. We will return to our regularly scheduled posting whenever I can have a coherent thought.....

Adoption Stats

• June 17, 2005 - Sent in application to AHH
• January 2006 - Dossier to China (DTC)
• March 7, 2006 - Log In Date (LID)
• March 2008 - Began Special Needs paperwork
• July 11, 2008 - PAPL
• July 21, 2008 - Letter of Intent to adopt Su Xu Na (LOI)
• July 23, 2008 - Pre-Approval (PA)
• July 31, 2008 - Letter of Acceptance from China (LOA)
• August 21, 2008 - Travel Approval (TA)
• October 9, 2008 - Departure
• October 21, 2008 - Consulate Appointment (CA)
• October 23, 2008 - Return Home

Our Trip to China

• Thursday, 10/9/08 - Leave for China!!! 11:15am
• Friday, 10/10/08 - Arrive in Beijing @ 9:35pm, Trader's Hotel
• Saturday, 10/11/08 - Summer Palace & Great Wall of China
• Sunday, 10/12/08 - Tian An Men Square & Forbidden City
• Sunday, 10/12/08 - Depart Beijing @ 2:25pm, Arrive in Nanjing @ 4:20pm, Mandarin Garden Hotel
• Monday, 10/13/08 - Meet Kathryn Xuna!!!!!
• Tuesday, 10/14/08 - Adoption Day!!!
• Wednesday, 10/15/08 - Take a train to Suzhou in the am, Visit the SWI, the Humble Administrator's Garden, Jasmine Holiday Inn
• Thursday, 10/16/08 - Visit the Lingering Garden, Panmen Scenic Area, & a Silk Factory
• Friday, 10/17/08 - Visit Tongli Town, the water country. Return to Nanjing in the evening
• Saturday, 10/18/08 - Visit the Ming Dynasty Mausoleum & the Nanjing Museum
• Sunday, 10/19/08 - Visit Quinhai River & local park
• Monday, 10/20/08 - Depart Nanjing @ 7:50am, Arrive in Guangzhou @ 8:45am, White Swan Hotel
• Monday, 10/20/08 -Kate's Medical Exam and Visa Photo
• Tuesday, 10/21/08 - US Consulate Appointment
• Wednesday, 10/22/08 - Oath @ the US Consulate
• Thursday, 10/23/08 - Depart Guangzhou @ 8:20am, Arrive Home @ 4:25pm

Last Stop in China - Guangzhou

Last stops on our Remember When journey.... Guangzhou and Detroit! Woo hoo!
Day 10 - Guangzhou - October 20
Day 11 - Guangzhou - October 21
Day 12 - Guangzhou - October 22
Coming Home (aka the longest day of my life)

and of course, Tim's blog had video (yes, he's cooler than me:). Apparently he is more concise too.

24 Things About NaNa

A year ago, Tim wrote a post called 24 things I've learned about my daughter. It was all about all of the cute, quirky things we were discovering about NaNa. Recently, he wrote another post called More "24 things I've learned about my daughter". I'm here to tell you, we love her more every day!

More of Nanjing

After Suzhou, we spent two more days back in Nanjing (where we met Kate). This was were we got to see the location for Big Bird in China's famous camel scene (I know I am a dork for loving Big Bird).

Day 8 - Nanjing - October 18

Day 9 - Nanjing - October 19

and

Tim's What I Appreciate post.

More of Suzhou

Here are the last two days of our trip to Suzhou, where we got Chinese massages, visited the "Venice of Asia", celebrated Gucky's birthday, and Mommy got her first kiss from Kate. I loved Suzhou. I hope to take Kate back there in a few years to show her how beautiful China is.

Day 6 - Suzhou - October 16

Day 7 - Suzhou - October 17

Kate's Chinese Hometown

Day 5 - Suzhou This was an amazing day of bonding for Kate and me.
what you come here for (video from Tim's blog) Even then the boys couldn't stop hugging on her:)

These posts from Suzhou really make me want to go back. I loved China, but I think Suzhou was my favorite. Kate spent her first two years there, so I kind of have an emotional attachment, plus it is a beautiful city.

Always a Reason to Celebrate Around Here

Last night, we went out to a local Chinese buffet to celebrate Kate NaNa Day. Then, we came home and watched home movies from China. I had pictures to share with you, but someone ran off with my memory card, so those will have to wait.

Kate loved having a day all about her. She went around telling people, "Happy Kate NaNa Day!" all day.

October 14th marks Adoption Day at our house. The day we legally became a family.

Good Morning Everyone!

Adoption Day

and a precious story from Tim about dancing with his daughter:)

Happy NaNa Day!

Today marks the one year anniversary since Kate NaNa joined our family. She has brought such joy to our lives. I can't imagine what my life would be like without that blessing.

Tim posted some precious video of our first day with her, and of course, my blog post was "What a day!" We were all so terrified. And she was so tiny. It's hard to believe how far we have all come.

Tonight we are going to celebrate being a family by eating Chinese food and watching home movies. Sound good?

More of Beijing...

On October 12, 2008, we went to the Forbidden City and Tian An Men Square. We then flew from Beijing to Nanjing, Jiangsu, where we waited...

Totally exhausted after day 2...
A more Official version of Day 2
and of course, Tim's version

Stay tuned - Tomorrow is Family Day!

BTW, I am especially enjoying reading everyone's comments from last year. You all have been so encouraging:)

"I Knew I Would Have a Great Life"

Some of you may remember this quote. Will made this comment on his descent from the Great Wall, which incidentally was exactly one year ago.

Here is the link to what we were up to that day: Our first full day in China! - October 11 (2008)
And be sure to look at Tim's blog too. His even has video: China in review (so far)

I hope all of you are having a great life too:)

Has it been a year already???

One year ago today, I was in Beijing, China. Looking back, it was truly one of the best experiences of my life. The past few days I have enjoyed looking back on our journey, reliving the excitement, anxiety, and joy.

Because it's my blog and I want to (and because I'm feeling a bit lazy in the blog department), I am going to be posting links to the blog posts that I wrote while we were in China. So, for the next two weeks, don't be surprised if there isn't much around here that's new:) Let's face it, my life isn't that exciting anyway. The only blogworthy upcoming event on my calendar is Kate's birthday, so hopefully I can work up enough energy in the next couple weeks to write about that. In the mean time, enjoy!

We're Here!!! This post was actually written on the morning of the 11th in China, but it was still the evening of the 10th here, so it counts, right?

My Little Baby

(Kate in the cool new skirt that Bunk made for her:)

In about two weeks, Kate NaNa will be three years old. Which means that she has been a part of our family for almost a whole year. Sometimes I can't believe how fast it has gone. Other times it feels like she has always been with us.

Three years old is a big deal for her for several reasons. First, it will be the first time she understands what this birthday thing is all about. We had cake and ice cream for her last year, but I didn't want to overwhelm her with a party. This year, all she can talk about is her Mickey Mouse birthday cake. She is so excited.

Second, on her birthday she will age out of the First Steps program that offers her speech therapy to her. At that point she transitions to the local county preschool, where she will attend two mornings a week, receiving speech on one of those days. (She will only be at school 6 hours a week, but Will is at school those same 6 hours, so who know what trouble Mommy may get into:) We have met her teacher, and Kate and Will have tested out the classroom, and it has met with our approval. Kate is so excited, and she keeps asking when she will see "Miss Wo-ahh" again. (No, that's not her real name, but that's how Kate says it.)

That is the very grown up side of this little girl. On the flip side, she has recently started wanting to be a baby. She isn't whiny about it. In fact, she is very straight forward. She comes over and says, "I'm a baby. Hold me." So I (or Tim) pick her up and hold her like she is a tiny baby. She has this little babbly voice she uses, and she sometimes pretends to cry. It is very different from her normal babble and crying. It is all in her baby voice. We act like she really is a little baby, rocking her and talking to her like she is an infant. Today she even wanted a sippy cup to enhance the experience.

Again, please don't think we have lost our minds. The thing is, we have no idea how much of this kind of attention she got when she really was a baby. We don't know if her caretakers held her or sung to her or anything. She needs this time. And so do we. Tim said that he has gotten more eye contact in lately than he has in months, just because she is willing to lay in his arms and look up at him. (FYI, eye contact is very important for attachment, which is a constant process.) I am so thankful that she is asking for this "baby time" with us. I mean, who doesn't need more cuddling in their life?

Sometimes Ben Makes Me Cry

This past weekend we went to our church's revival. Before it started, there was a concert where we heard a lot of wonderful praise music. Ben really doesn't like singing (even though his mommy loves to hear him sing). So we found him a notebook, an ink pen, and some coloring pencils. This is what Ben created.

At the top, it says "From Ben to God". It is a drawing of one of the stained glass windows in our church.

And then he wrote this poem:

Let me translate:

Poem About God

I love You

I Squeeze You

But most

I praise You.

Example -(In the first frame, Ben is saying "I love you God". In the second frame, God says "I am God" and they hold hands. Last (I think) they are hugging.)

(Honestly, I'm not sure what is written at the top.)

Anyway, there are always those people who are critical of the way kids behave in church. And while I want my kids to be respectful, I'm really not that interested in the opinions of others. The whole time he was sitting there, he didn't look like he was paying attention. He looked like he was goofing off. But in truth, he was worshipping. Like I said, sometimes he makes me cry.