T-1 - Moving Day!

Tomorrow is moving day! We knee deep in boxes and once we move to a permanent place our children will have to make our next move to the Old Folks home.

It may be a while before you hear from us and apartment living, but rest assured we will be up and running soon.

Summer Has Arrived!

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Dear Blog,

You have been missed. Sorry for the delay – no good is excuse is really ever a good excuse, so I won’t even bother!

Since our last visit, we have been busy – something like crazy busy! Seems like summers always go this way: The lazy days of summer don’t exist around here.

First let me just say, I would not have guessed the last several weeks would have happened to us in this lifetime. No, we didn’t win the lottery – but we are crazy.

-Rewind-

We spent the better part of the winter doing things to our house ‘as if’ we planned to sell it. But also keeping in mind we may live here for a while longer (you know, we don’t have a place to go to and the real-estate market isn’t what it once was). So, we started cleaning out things, painting everything, laying new flooring everywhere, re-arranging things, and just plain de-cluttering.

In the meantime, we fell in love with a great new neighborhood that builds Craftsman style homes to ‘your liking’. Robb and I spent a great deal of time in April and May redesigning this 1900’s look a like home that would include the modern day features that we need. Well, the drawings came back from a builder that we just adore and we absolutely loved it. This particular home isn’t any larger than our current home, just MUCH more functional for our family.

Therefore, I came up with the crazy (I say “I” and “CRAZY”, because Robb will not take any of the blame for this one)…to get the house ready, hire a realtor and get our house on the market before we left for vacation early June. We did just that. It was whirl wind couple of weeks, but the day we left for vacation, the sign went up in the yard. Now, I digress a bit….my thinking was this…its summer, not to hot – yet, and prime time for new house hunters to start looking for a new place to live. I have also been watching the homes in the neighborhood and things aren’t really selling all that quickly – say something like 120 days or so, on the market. So, I thought, let’s see what happens and in the mean time get our ducks in a row. Well – you knew it was coming – we sold our house in 15 days. YEP, 15 days! A nice young couple with a family who is purchasing their first home and they liked ours. We have all the signed paper work and will be closing no this house July 30. WOW! You can imagine our surprise – Where do we go, what do we do, we don’t have a house, one isn’t built, we really do love this new neighborhood, why look elsewhere and every other scenario any sane person could come up with. But we still signed the papers and took the deal.

To make a very long story short…..after what seemed liked endless conversations and ‘what if’s’, we are moving. We have rented an apartment for the short term, everything else will go in storage and we will either build our newest dream home or begin looking for another home. We figure – home is where your hat is – and we are taking our hats with us.

On the kiddo front, they are doing great. Jacob finished his first year of preschool and attended his first summer school session. Isabella has turned two and I MEAN TWO. Jacob is taking Karate for the first time, and both kids are enrolled in summer gymnastics. They like to play outside every minute of the day, they swim like fish, and ending the day with a Popsicle seems to be our thing.

We did head off to Branson, Missouri to see the Chinese Acrobat show with some friends here and met up with some friends we met while traveling to China last year. We drove to Colorado where the kids got to spend the week at Grandma’s and with their cousins. They loved every minute of it. Jacob went golfing with dad for the first time. We went boating for a day at a beautiful lake and both kids attempted fishing with grandpa. We visited some hot springs pools and swam for the day. We had a great day visiting the Royal Gorge and mom and dad even played a little poker at night not losing too much. Other than that, it’s been all HOUSE here.

It’s been chaotic, hectic, fun dreaming, crazy, and little nerve wracking….be careful for what you wish for. We have a couple of really hard labor intensive weeks ahead of us, but we welcome the new upcoming chapter in our lives and can’t wait to fill you in on the rest. Until then, enjoy the summer.

Happy Forever Family Day - May 20, 2007!

On May 20, 2007 it was our first Forever Family Day - meaning, it was the one year ago on that day the first time as a entire we family met. We had just spent the better part of 24 hours in planes and airports trying to make our way back home to Jacob, friends and family....meanwhile we were discovering that Isabella was coming out of her shell and decided this was the moment, she felt secure enough with us and that we weren't giving her back, so she screamed pretty much non-stop the entire 24 hours. Most parents would get up in the isles to walk or rock baby, but that wasn't working, so Robb and I would take turns getting up to walk or rock ourselves so that we wouldn't go crazy. Whew - when it was all said and done, it was a short time in our lives, but at that moment, we just new at any time, the captain was going to come on and tell us the flight attendants were handing out parachutes to the new crazy family with the screaming little girl. However, the best part of the entire flight besides thinking of home and Jacob, we were on that flight with 20 new families that had similar situations. Note to self, next time....purchase seat for little one at any cost. Once arriving home and seeing Jacob and our friends and family there to greet us, all the crankiness, tiredness, and moodiness was just wiped away. It was a nice homecoming and so special to us, there were balloons, banners, American flags, our house was decorated, food was in the oven and loaded in the fridge, and for that moment, we could take in some air and let at a huge sigh of relief because all was right with the world. Thanks friends and family, you made our special day that much more special to us and we will never forget our first meeting as a Family.

This past Sunday was our Forever Family Day....on this day each year, I would like to spend the day as a family. I don't really mind what we do, just spend it together. I would like the kiddos to know that May 20 is a special day for us and we will be together. I realize in later years this will become more difficult, so for now, I call the shots.

It wasn't a spectacular day as for events being planned, no fireworks, banners, or even balloons but it was a day we spent all together talking about meeting Isabella, China, and being a family. PERFECT! We spent the day having breakfast with extended family, catching up, and playing. Then did a little home repair shopping, an spent the evening with friends and meeting their adopted daughter from China. Again, I call that a perfect day with family.

The photos above are when Isabella became a US citizen. According to our laws, once an International adopted child touches American soil and enters the country, they are citizens of the US. Therefore, May 20, 2006 in Chicago, Illinois...Isabella hit American soil and touched her feet to the ground. Another photo is of Jacob and Isabella meeting for the first time. Jacob wanted to hold her, hug her, and talk to her. He patted her to sleep that night and gave his first kiss to her. The next photo is Isabella on May 20 this year....wow how a year has changed her. I just can't believe we brought home a baby and now she is a little girl blooming, growing, learning, and laughing. The last photo is the kids getting ready to play. These days, Isabella has to do everything her big brother does. So, the hat turned backwards was on purpose because Jacob had to turn his backwards.

Thanks to the good lord above, the wonderful support we have from family and friends our family is complete.

Enjoy!

Metcha Day Year 1!

Our Dear Sweet Isabella Ruby Xiao Yan,

Today marks the 1st anniversary of Metcha Day! On this day one year ago, you were placed in our arms by the director of Liangping County Social Welfare Institute in Chongqing, China and it was the very first day we met. We can’t really even begin to describe in words that day as it was so magical, emotional, exciting, scary, and most of all full of love and anticipation of the wonderful little girl that you have become.

This year has been a great year of challenges, fun, excitement, love, joy and just getting to know one another. We love you very much and can’t wait to spend the rest of our lives with you and watching you grow into the most amazing person you can ever become.

Below are is a photo of the first time you were placed in our arms and others of how much you have changed over the past year and the entry we made on our journal the day you were placed in our arms for the first time.

Love,
Mommy, Daddy, and Big Brother Jacob

May 9, 2006

Life is not measured by the number of breaths you take, but by the number of moments that take your breath away…

Our breath has been taken away! Today, May 9, 2006 Isabella Ruby Xiao Yan was placed in our arms forever. Jacob we have your little sister! She is perfect.

Today we said goodbye to Beijing and continued on this journey to Isabella, heading to central China… Chongqing, China. We arrived to our hotel in Chongqing China around 3:30 PM (2:30 AM CST) on Tuesday, May 9, 2006 and that is where it hit me, it’s not tomorrow anymore. We went to our rooms to gather supplies, freshen up, and make any last minute notes. At 5:00 PM we went to our Coordinator’s (Lina) room (all 6 families). This is where the babies were being brought to us.

The room was filled with nerves, excitement, and just pure energy. At 5:20 PM we heard some bustling in the hall and in walks the Director and five nannies holding beautiful baby girls all dressed a like. I noticed right off that the director had Isabella in his arms. Then one by one they called out each child’s name and the babies were placed in our arms.

It was pandemonium. Pictures flashing, everyone filming, babies and parents began to cry, and then finally they called Xiao Yan. We walked over the Director and he handed us Isabella. I can’t possibly put into words the emotions we had at that moment (one of the best feelings I have ever had).

We just looked ohhhhddd, and ahhhhed. It was an indescribable moment that only the heart knows and we are so happy to have it on video to review later. She is perfect. We passed her back and forth, taping each other, taking pictures of each other, hugging, kissing, as if we were the only ones in the room.

We signed a bit of paper work, and then I went off to our room with Isabella. Robb stayed behind and had a chance to talk with the Director and nannies and trying to arrange a visit to the orphanage. We had a list of questions beforehand and they stayed until each family had all their questions answered. It was wonderful. Meanwhile, I was back in the room just staring at her – I couldn’t think of what else to do at that moment. I sat her on the bed with some toys and we just talked. She appears to be healthy. She can sit up, grasp toys, and moves her head to noises. I gave her a picture of Jacob to hold and she has yet to let it go.

Once Robb returned we undressed her, she had four layers of clothing on and it was 85 degrees out. We changed her, looked her over (she is a girl), washed her up, and put on her PJ’s. Then we attempted to feed her a bottle. Even tough both of us have done this before; it was a pretty amazing site….followed by a pretty big mess.

It’s now 10:00 PM China time, we have Isabella down, ordered some room service, and then we are out for the night. Tomorrow we have to do some official paperwork, and then Isabella is legally ours according to China.

I will post more as we learn more and have more photos.
Jacob, help take care of grandma and we are telling Isabella all about her wonderful big brother. We love and miss you much.

Thank you so much to each and everyone of you who is following this most amazing journey, sending us e-mails, praying for us and thinking of us. We feel your love and your prayers as well as ours have been answered. Thank you.

Birthday #4 - Success!

Whew - we survied - Birthday #4 was a hit. Jacob turned 4 on Sunday and he wanted to have a party at a local gymnastics place. We obliged. It was fun, exhausting, exciting, and even a little sad. Our little boy is growing up. Where does the time go? It was a wonderful weekend, Jacob and Isabella both had a fantastic time, and we thank the good Lord above for blessing our house.

Tag - Your it!

I have been ‘tagged’ by a friend who reads our blog. I‘m supposed to come up with 7 weird things about myself and then tag 7 friends. I thought it would be more fun to ask Robb to make the list for me….here is what he came up with:

1. I can’t have my food touch the other foods – this is so true. Even though I am 30 something…the very first thing I do if I didn’t plate my own food is take my fork and separate all the different items. Now, there are some rules to these…mashed potatoes, corn, and macaroni and cheese can touch, but I still separate them and mix them up later. If syrup or dressing or something of the sorts hits the non-syruped or dressed item, I don’t eat it.
2. I like ice in ALL of my drinks. This one is funny. I do like ice, not just some ice, ungodly amounts of ice. More ice than drink….then I drink it all. If there is no ice, more than likely the cup will not be emptied.
3. I only eat one item at a time until it’s gone and then I go on to the next. OMG – can you tell there is a pattern here…I wonder if he was hungry at the time of questioning?
4. When I stay in a hotel, my bare feet can not touch the floor. I must wear flip-flops at all time. This is a true one; I have a pair that are in my closet and are packed every time I travel that I call my “hotel slippers”.
5. I have this weird sense of ‘naming or making up names for just about everything’ (hence the above comment). This one I didn’t get too much, until he rattled off a lot of them. For instance, we have newer neighbors (well they have been here for a year, but we hated seeing our old ones move away, so they are new to us). They are just WEIRD. They never, ever, come out and when they do….it’s like they are on crack or something and they try to get in 800 words from the time they open their garage door to the time they get into their cars….so I call them the ‘talkalots’. I say as though it’s their last name, so Jacob thinks they are Mr. and Mrs. Talkalot.
6. I hate to talk on the phone. This one is a funny one; because if anyone of you know me…I can talk to a stop sign and talk for hours about nothing. I love to chat pretty much about anything, everything, and absolutely nothing…so not liking the phone is weird to Robb. Here is my thing….because I am like this; I rarely can have a phone conversation with out being less than 30 minutes. I have stuff to do, I know the people have stuff to do and it’s just a complete waste of time. Therefore, I hate the phone. I send e-mails to communicate or meet you for lunch, coffee; have you over and what not. That way I know you will respond when and if you want, and if we are face to face, we can carry on like we haven’t seen each other in years.
7. Last but not least, I have this crazy urge to make sure everything is straight, organized and put away before we move onto the next task. Again, all true…I make my family crazy. Funny thing to me is, I don’t ask them to do it, I don’t complain about my obsession, nor do I hold them up from me doing it. Some would say I have an OCD when it comes to the order of things. I would like to say in my defense……..They are probably correct!

Look out - you could get tagged.

Turning your back...

Here is what happens when you are playing outside and you turn your back for 5 minutes... Can we say she is all girl, but likes to play in the mud? She was having a blast and in fact, when I snapped the photo, she was yelling 'Cheese'.

Then while bathing Isabella in the kitchen sink so that I can keep an eye on Jacob while playing the back yard...here is what happened 5 minutes later.

Let's just say, I am looking for 5 MINUTES!

Where did our Spring GO?

Hey - Where is Spring? We had our short sleeves out, crop pants, and on some days we were wearing sandals.....but today we had to pull out the winter coats and hats again. Well, looking for the best out of this....at least the sun is shining and we are wearing our sunglasses.

The photos are from a friend who took them while we were attending an Easter Egg hunt. Inside one of the eggs were bubbles and we were blowing them. I was asking where the bubbles went when they popped and the kids just looked at me like I was crazy! Then Jacob replied as if I should have known this forever...."THE BATHTUB, OF COURSE".

Enjoy, off to look for SPRING.

Spring has SPRUNG!

Happy Spring! It is my most favorite time of the year. I am just so giddy it's crazy. I love getting out of bed in the morning, love wearing sun glasses, driving with the windows down, shopping for new bright colored clothes for the kids, grilling, staying out late playing the driveway, and planting our garden. Even a Spring rain is nice. It's all just so wonderful. As you can tell, I have been wishing for Spring since January, so it couldn't come soon enough. Enjoy this Spring and get outside.

The pictures of the kids are at a Gymnastics place we go to during Open Gym time. It's great. They have trampolines, a foam block pit, swinging ropes, enough room to run, balance beams, bars, hoola-hoops, balls, slides....you name it...they have it....and we LOVE it. Jacob climbs this little maze up to about 5 feet off this wall and then he jumps in the pit (aka - the sock eater). Then there is Isabella, she has NO FEAR - she climbed up it the other day, then turned around to jump off ever so gracefully. I thought the other moms were going to jump in after her. She just giggled, and giggled. Her favorite part, waiting in the pit for her brother to come get her. She would wait there all day, instead of having to do the work trying to get out herself. It's so much fun. I have been known to jump in a time or two myself. I don't know what it is, but there is just something about a 5 foot pit of foam blocks that makes you want to jump on in. We LOVE it.

Happy SPRING!

"The Call" Anniversary!

One year ago today we received one of the most exciting phone calls of our lives. It was a sunny day on March 2, 2006 at 2:04 PM our adoption agency called to tell us, “It’s a girl” (also known as Referral Day)! We couldn’t have been more thrilled.

The phone call went something like this:

“Ring”, “Ring” OMG - This is it….look read the caller ID. Our dear friend Kathryn, even took a photo of the phone to show it was them calling with the time and date.

Us on Speaker Phone: “Hello”

Agency: It’s *** agency calling to tell you – this is it “the Call” – Your referral is here…It’s a girl!

US: Screaming, hooting, hollering, hugging, and then we all calm down enough to hear….

Agency: She is a cutie (you see we got a phone call first, and then the next day we wait for our UPS delivery person (aka – the Brown stork) to bring us a packet of information on her along with photos). His name is Roger and we have photos of him as well.

US: Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

Agency: Her name is Liang, Xiao Yan (was then named Isabella Ruby Xiao Yan). She is from Chongqing, China (central China) and was born on June 4, 2005. She is little and has hair.

US: We tried to get as much information as we could, but they too did not have much to give us at they are the local office and the main office was getting our packages ready to mail.

Phone hangs up; we laugh, we cry, we high five on another, we hug…and just sit as it seems so surreal!

Above are some photos from last year on this day we thought we would share yet again. The first one is us sitting at the table with the speaker phone on and taking notes as we got “The Call”. The second one is us waiting for the UPS man to deliver her packet of information and photos to us (friends sent flowers, balloons, decorated, and even had a banner made and hung). Then alas, this is one of the photos we got of Isabella at about 6 months old. Last but not least, a current photo of Isabella at the gym playing. It’s was a great day for us and we hope you have a great day as well.