my little lantern

新年快樂!

2012-01-24T11:27:00.002-05:00

Just a few pics from our area's Chinese Association's New Year party. So glad that our friends, another Taiwan adoptive family, could join us! Hannah had a cold and was a grump because of a sore runny nose, so we left early and didn't stay for all of the entertainment and red envelopes at the end.

After leaving the party, Hannah perked up and had lots of things to tell us. We were having a conversation in the car about going to The Fresh Market. Hannah pipes in, "Daddy, we can buy more of your favorite cookies because Mommy ate them all gone." Who taught that kid to tattle already?

Happy Lunar New Year! Wishing you all a happy, healthy, and prosperous year of the dragon!

our princess turns four

2012-01-22T22:08:00.008-05:00

Phrases that we've heard a lot of this past week:
"I'm so excited for my birthday!"
"Can I help make the cupcakes?"
"What shoes should I wear with my party dress?"
"I wanna help!"
"Right now I'm three, but on my birthday I'll be four."
"How many sleeps until my birthday?"

This mama is very tired of cleaning, worrying how all of these people are going to fit in my little house, making 5 batches of cupcakes between 11-3am and waking up at 8:15am to a little voice asking "Can I put on my party dress yet?" I decided it was all worth it when I watched Hannah running around the house laughing and holding hands with BOTH Allie and Gabriella. Daddy agrees, that was his favorite moment of the day.

I don't have many photos of the day as I was busy with FORTY PEOPLE in my little house. We invited everyone that Hannah asked to invite, and all came! Hopefully our family and friends that took photos will email some to me. Hint hint. Nudge nudge.

Hannah's favorite present: a hula hoop.

Mama and Daddy gave Hannah a gold Belle dress and crown, with a promise let her wear the dress when we take her to see Beauty and the Beast 3D in the movie theater. She's planning the popcorn and candy purchases already!

The hair clip that she's wearing today was a gift that Hannah received on the first day we met her. I can't remember who the clip is from, but knowing that it is from a birth family member or a nanny at the baby house makes the clip an extra special accessory on a very special day.

not your ordinary white woman from Farmville, IN

2012-01-15T23:42:00.005-05:00

I had a really enjoyable work experience this week with a Vietnamese American in her early 20s that I'd never met before. After work we talked for about twenty minutes having fun comparing and contrasting what Vietnamese and Chinese to do celebrate the lunar new year. I like spring rolls way better than egg rolls. We both agree that moon cakes with egg in the middle are really gross, but she suggested I try ones with mung bean. She told me that she'd like to open a restaurant some day. I voiced that our area really needed someplace that sold boba tea. Her eyes widened and she got so excited, and shared that's exactly the kind of shop she'd like to open! We have the same favorite place for boba tea, the Joy Yee shop in Chinatown Chicago. I was told that I'm the only white person that she's ever met that knew about and was into this kind of stuff. I replied that I hope she'd get to know some local adoptive families, especially Vietnam adoptive families. I'm an adoptive parent that's totally into my kid, and I'm looking for inclusion for us into your word, too.

National De-lurking Day

2012-01-14T21:49:00.001-05:00

I've read that today is de-lurking day. Readers, I'd appreciate it if you could take a moment to tell me who you are, how long you've followed this blog, and why you follow it. Let me know what your favorite kids of posts you are so I can get a feel for what'd you'd like to write more about. Thank you!- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Reserve your room for Taiwan R.O.C.ks 2012

2012-01-12T23:54:00.001-05:00

Taiwan R.O.C.ks Reunion for Taiwan Adoptive Familes will be at the Embassy Suites in Downtown Chicago, less than two blocks from Millennium Park and short walk to Navy Pier and the Lake Michigan beachfront. Check out the reunion blog for a link to make hotel reservations with the group's reduced rate. We made our hotel reservations tonight for a party of (prayerfully) four!

will smile for candy necklaces

2012-01-12T23:15:00.001-05:00

Wanted to share a few funnies from today.

Offer Hannah a candy necklace and she's ready to pose!

Nana emailed me this morning about having Hannah over last night: "Funny at dinner. Nana said if you eat all your broccoli tops, do you want ice cream with sprinkles? Hannah chomped into the broccoli. Papa said, guess you need the right carrot? Hannah said, these aren't carrots!"

A phrase we hear a lot in the evening is "I'm not tired. I'm not tired!"
Tonight, I think she was tired!
I can't believe that she slept sitting up through an entire 45 minute Target trip.
She usually RUNS down the isles laughing and can't wait to see the toys.

Hudson's room has been painted and wood laminate flooring was installed yesterday. We moved all of Hannah's baby furnishings into Hudson's room today, cleaned them up, and changed the toddler bed back into a crib. We still have some some work with to do with accessorizing the walls and such, but it's really starting to look like a little dude sleeps there! I'll share photos when we're all done. Obviously, I have loved putting together special rooms for our children. Hannah's room was inspired by the mural of a plum blossom tree with everything pink and brown. Hudson's is a space theme with rockets, stars, planets in blue, green, and brown encouraging him to "dream, explore, and grow."

monkey bars mishap

2012-01-10T09:28:00.001-05:00

Kevin and Hannah brought me lunch at work yesterday after preschool. Hannah excitedly said, "I want to talk to Mama. Mama!!! Someone went pee pee on the monkey bars today!"

Great.

Film: "The Sage Hunter" (2005)

2012-01-10T08:40:00.000-05:00

Last night we watched "The Sage Hunter." I purchased it from Amazon because I wanted to see any film with subtitles that depicted indigenous Taiwanese people. It was pretty good, and I appreciated the importance that the characters placed on nature, spirituality, and family. I'd certainly recommend this film to other adoptive families with children from indigenous Taiwanese backgrounds. It had just a little violence in a war scene, and one scene where a father struck his son after he did something bad and dishonored the family. Those images were ones that I could explain to Hannah while we were watching the film so they weren't so scary and she could understand what was happening.

getting Hudson's room together

2012-01-05T10:16:00.011-05:00

Hudson's wood laminate flooring has been ordered and will be installed in two weeks. Bring on the paint! The paint color selection story is fun. :) I searched online one night at different paint manufacturer web sites for a light/medium blue color that would go with Hudson's space themed bedding. It didn't have to color match, but I wanted it to be something that was clean and bright and could serve for something other than a child's bed room. I found a free color capture iPhone app at the Benjamin Moore web site that is really cool. It allows me to take a picture of something, like Hudson's bedding, with my phone and then suggests paint colors for me. I found a blue that looked just right, tapped on the color to see a larger image of it, and gasped at the color's name. YIN YANG!

Okay, gotta get off my rear and finish emptying Hudson's room of things that were once our home office. The painting starts today!

Dumpling Days

2012-01-03T09:55:00.001-05:00

So excited about Grace Lin's new book! You can order it from Amazon here.

visa politics

2012-01-02T20:27:00.004-05:00

This past week I learned that Taiwan born Americans must state their birthplace as "Taiwan, China" when applying for a visa to enter The People's Republic of China. If you don't, your visa will be denied.

Visa questions:
1) Chinese name _______
2) Current Nationality: United States of America
3) Former Nationality: Chinese
4) Place of Birth: Taiwan, China
5) Have you ever visited China Before: Yes

I've had some great discussions with a few Taiwanese Americans this week about how they feel about this. One opinion: "I think if you insist on claiming being a Taiwanese, then they won't grant you. My mom was told several years ago that on her passport, her birth place has to say China and not Taiwan or they won't grant her visa to China. It's unfortunate and that is why I refuse to go there!"

Little Mama

2011-12-25T23:05:00.003-05:00

Hannah pretty much never wants to go to bed, and always pouts, "But I'm not sleepy!"
When she said this Christmas night, I reminded her
that it doesn't matter if she's sleepy or not. It is bed time,
so she can lay in bed not sleeping, or fall asleep. Her choice.

But tonight after my usual speech while brushing Hannah's teeth... I had an idea!
"Hannah, now that you have a baby to take care of,
you need to dress your baby in her jammies,
give her a bottle, and and tuck her in bed."
Hannah's eyes lit up and she scampered off to her bedroom.

I offered her baby doll Hello Kitty jammies so she'd match Hannah.
Together we dressed the baby doll, Hannah found the bottle,
and laid baby down in bed with her.
"Look, Hannah. The good bottle made your baby sleepy. She's closed her eyes."

Hannah loved watching her baby's eyes open and shut!

We tucked baby doll lovingly in bed next to Hannah's bed.
I told Hannah that the first night that she was with us in Taiwan,
she didn't sleep very well. I described how I would pat
baby Hannah's back when she cried, tell her softly that I loved her
and that she was okay, and baby Hannah would go back to sleep.

I watched Hannah patted her baby doll lovingly.
I got teary-eyed as I turned off the lights and said,
"Night night. I love you. Wo ai ni."

In other news... Hannah's not wearing pull-ups at bedtime anymore!
She's been consistently dry every morning
as long as we make her go peepee right before bedtime.

Christmas Day 2011

2011-12-25T18:22:00.004-05:00

I was warm and wrapped up like a burrito in my bed this morning at 9:30am.
My eyes were closed.
I heard little feet scamper to my bedroom door and opened it up wide.
"Mama? Mama? Can we go check if Santa brought us presents?"

Santa came, and he brought the requested "baby doll with no hair."

Hannah ripped through her presents quickly, but went right back
to take care of her baby doll with no hair. She needed several
wardrobe and diaper changes until little mama was satisfied.

Santa didn't put anything in Sedona's stocking, and Hannah noticed right off.
Whoops! I think Santa was sleepy and forgot to take care of Sedona's stocking.

And she was certainly pleased.

Santa brought Hudson a train table with a note for Hannah.
Hannah is supposed to have Daddy help put it together and play with it.
When Hudson comes home, Hannah can show Hudson how it works.

The best gift we ever received.
Feeling exceedingly blessed.
Merry Christmas, friends!
聖誕快樂!

Redirect: Christmas Miracle

2011-12-25T06:53:00.002-05:00

On Christmas Eve, Marijane learns that her siblings have been found. A sister writes that she is excited to reunite when Marijane travels to Taiwan in just a few weeks.

Silly the Elf meets Ballerina Barbie

2011-12-23T21:21:00.002-05:00

Silly the Elf meets Ballerina Barbie... and they spent
the rest of the night together with a bottle of wine.

Santa came early this year

2011-12-21T23:57:00.001-05:00

Santa came early this year and delivered two new photos of Hudson. Thank you. That's all I wanted for Christmas. He's so cute... and getting so big. I'm going to have to step up the weight training to be able to lug around this guy and Hannah!

gingerbread house construction gone wrong

2011-12-20T10:05:00.004-05:00

We brought a gingerbread house kit to Nana and Papa's Sunday night.
I did one last year with Hannah and she loved it. I briefly read the instructions.

I laughed when Papa suggested putting it together with a glue gun.
"You see, Papa... that's what this thick icing is for."

We started having a little trouble. The roof began to slide off.
Hannah patched the hole with more candies.

Then... the roof fell off. Oh no!

Papa says our house looks like a bank repo.
Uh... apparently I missed the part in the directions where you're supposed to
let the house sit for 30 minutes after putting it together before you decorate it.
That thick icing didn't have time to harden before the candy went on the roof.

I think we'll use hot glue next year.

Photo credits on this post go to Nana and Papa.

four years of visiting Santa

2011-12-16T21:17:00.002-05:00

Christmas 2008 - Tainan, Taiwan

Christmas 2009 - Indiana

Christmas 2010 - Indiana

Christmas 2011 - Indiana

little sweeties making Christmas cookies

2011-12-16T20:48:00.002-05:00

Hannah and I spent the day yesterday with Allie and Hannah.
The little girls made Christmas ornaments, decorated Christmas cards
with foam stickers, and someone cut their hair or a doll's hair.
I thought it was a doll's black hair, but after closely examining Hannah's head tonight,
I have a feeling that Hannah may have given herself another trim while at Allie's house.

Of course, they were most excited about decorating Christmas cookies.

I think Miss Lora really gets a kick out of...

watching my daughter shove sprinkles into her mouth.
I'm surprised that Lora hasn't offered her a shovel yet.
If Hannah asked for a sprinkle shovel, I'm sure Lora would find one for her.

That's okay. Allie had a little trouble getting the frosting to come out fast enough.

This photo made my day!

Hudson's first birthday

2011-12-13T23:40:00.002-05:00

Tonight we celebrated

a little guy in Taiwan.

We know our photos and developmental milestone info about you is so out of date now.
You may have taken your first steps. We wish we knew your fist words.
Favorite foods. What toys make you laugh out loud.

We can't be with you today, but we celebrated with
homemade cupcakes baked made my Grandma and Hannah,
decorated with entirely too many sprinkles by Hannah... of course.

I hope you had a tummy Taiwanese bakery cake topped with beautiful fresh fruits.
I hope your foster family sang to you and made this a special day for you.
I hope you feel loved, because you are.

We have a name for you. Hudson Ray {Chinese Name} {our family name}.

letting go of things beyond my control

2011-12-09T17:59:00.002-05:00

When we arrived at the Secretary of State's office yesterday, I pulled out our documents one by one from our adoption agency, checking off my list to make sure everything we needed was being authenticated. I had kept everything together inside a huge envelope to make sure I wouldn't loose anything. I freaked out when I discovered that we were missing three kinds of documents to authenticate from our adoption agency. We went ahead and authenticated everything we had for them to do. The staff was so nice to me and reassured that it would be fine. I should just FedEx/UPS them back to them, including a prepaid mailer, and they would authenticate them same day, so I'd have them back in 1-2 days. I even showed the staff a photo of Hannah and retold the story about Hannah exclaiming "I want to do the gold stickers!!!!" The staffer thought that was so funny that she slipped me a gold seal to give to Hannah. So sweet! She showed me several photos and Christmas cards that international adoptive families send to the Secretary of State's office, and she said that authenticating our documents was one of their favorite things to do, because they felt a part of bringing families together. I got all choked up, and decided that would be sending a Christmas card to the Indiana Secretary of State's office this year.

I had forgotten that our state doesn't charge for authentications. I was remembering how much a friend in Nevada had paid for hers... in the thousands of dollars perhaps! The staffer told me that our state is the only state that doesn't have a fee for the service. Thank you, Indiana!

Hannah and Grandma with a gold sticker

After leaving the government center I called the adoption agency. No answer. This is not good. IDEA! I know someone who mentioned that they had their private cell phone number! Phoned a friend, got the hook up for the cell number, called agency rep, and agency took care of overnighting the missing documents to us. Kevin FedExed them today to the Secretary of State's office, and we should have them back on Tuesday to overnight to TECO, arriving in Chicago on Wednesday. I was a little frustrated by this delay and hate the idea of lil' dude waiting on us, but over all I'm feeling good about letting go of things beyond my control. I can only do so much. Most of this adoption process is out of my hands, and all I can do is wait. And pray. ~~And eat chocolate.~~ And go power walk three miles on the treadmill to work off remaining frustrations.

gold stickers

2011-12-07T23:29:00.000-05:00

Tonight while getting Hannah ready for bed I explained that we're going on a trip tomorrow. We're going to a Taiwanese restaurant for boba tea and yummy beef and noodle soup. After lunch we'll go to an office to get some gold stickers on our adoption papers that we'll send to Taiwan to help bring home your baby brother.

Hannah's reply, "I want to do the gold stickers!!!!!!"

Cracks me up! I have a feeling we'll be looking for a sticker store to buy gold stickers tomorrow. Love that girl!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Approved! Finally!!!

2011-12-05T23:16:00.001-05:00

We learned last Friday evening December 2nd that our adoption facilitator in Taiwan has approved our referral match, and now we can proceed with the adoption. It took exactly three months for this approval, obviously way longer than we ever expected. We were asked some questions in our adoption application, and poured out our hearts in the answers. Thankfully, we can proceed now. I learned tonight that our contracts have arrived from Taiwan. We hope to have them in our hands next week so we can travel to the Secretary of State's office and then send them off to TECO for authentication.

We've had a stomach bug making the rounds in our house this past week. Not fun. Grandma and Grandpa are visiting with us from Florida. Hannah loves it that she gets to share a room with Kevin's mom. They snuggle together under the covers and read books with a flashlight. Hannah NEVER asks to go to bed, but the first night Grandma was here she told us she was "just a little sleepy" and needed to go to bed with Grandma to start the slumber party fun. Love that girl!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Fundraiser: Taiwan Christmas Ornaments

2011-11-25T00:33:00.003-05:00

Our friends Jeff and Abbey are working on adopting their fourth little boy from Taiwan. This Christmas season they are having a fundraiser selling handmade pottery ornaments in the shape of the island of Taiwan. A friend of theirs blessed them with one hundred of these beautiful ornaments. You can order one for $10 by e-mailing them at jeffandab AT yahoo DOT com or commenting on their blog post HERE. The price includes shipping and the ornament will arrived wrapped and ready to be given as a gift.

Our family put up our tree this evening. I've ordered some from the Lands already for our tree. I think they're gorgeous! Hannah's been asking all day, "How many sleeps until Christmas?"

reading Chinese, pretty mommies, and babies

2011-11-22T23:58:00.000-05:00

Daddy told me some interesting stories about this day with Hannah tonight. He's been scanning documents of Hannah's and scrapbooks handwritten in Chinese so that we have copies of them for safekeeping. Here's the story as it was told to me.
Hannah, "Daddy, what are you doing?"
Kevin, "I'm making copies of your papers that are in Chinese."
Hannah, "Why you do that?"
Kevin, "Because these are special, and Mommy and I can't read Chinese."
Hannah, "But I can read Chinese!"
Kevin, "Oh, really!"
Hannah, "Yi, er, san!" [One, two, three in Mandarin.]

Hannah has seen photos of us together with her birth family before, but not this particular photo of her birth mother.
Hannah, "Who's that?"
Kevin, "That's your Taiwan mommy."
Hannah, "But not my Sarah mommy."
Kevin, "No. She's your Taiwan mommy [insert name]."
Hannah, "She's pretty."
Kevin, "Yes, she's very pretty. And we think she looks a lot like you."

My sister had a baby yesterday and we visited her family at the hospital last night. We've been talking a lot about babies in the house lately, who's tummy they come out of, and who's tummy each of our family members came out of. I was taking a shower before leaving for work this afternoon. Hannah came into the bathroom with a blanket all wrapped up. "Look, Mommy! I had a baby, too!"

Adoption Bloggers Interview Project 2011

2011-11-17T18:04:00.006-05:00

When I signed up for Adoption Bloggers Interview Project 2011 [November is Adoption Awareness Month] I was relatively new to the Production, Not Reproduction blog. I scanned through the list of bloggers that had already signed up, and realized that I've only read a few of their blogs before. Sounds like a good way to meet some new adoption bloggers, right?

Little did I know I'd be actually meeting another adoption blogger IN PERSON!

It took me completely by surprise when I read an email that matched me with Abby at Our Little Hope. I came across her blog earlier this year and realized that we must live in the same metropolitan area. We have several things in common, including beautiful daughters named Hannah who are just about a year apart in age. I had messaged her to say hi, we exchanged a few e-mails, and commented that we should meet up sometime, but never made the commitment. Abby and I could have been matched with anyone in the WORLD... and we were matched to interview each other. This must mean that we are destined to MEET IN PERSON, right? We decided to plan a lunch date with our girls in tow at Click-fil-A, but answer some interview questions before our meet up knowing that there's no way that we could do real interviews while keeping three children ages three, two, and one happy, well fed, and safe in the play area.

Here goes! My questions are in black and Abby's answers are in blue. My comments back are in red. If you are new to our blogs and choose to leave a comment, please be kind. I think Abby and I both felt like our answers were very candid, and perhaps much more open with our lives than we usually are with our blogs. You can read Abby's post here at Our Little Hope where I answer her interview questions.

Sarah: When starting a family with changes, lots of things change. Sometimes when children are young, we struggle to find what traditions we would like to have as a family. Some things we borrow from our childhoods, some from friends’ families that we admire, and others from things we’ve read. What traditions are you establishing for your family? Why are they important to you? What was the inspiration for these traditions?

Abby: Great question. I am somewhat obsessed with having traditions in this house, simply because I want our family to be very tightly knit together. A completely bio family is all connected by the same eyes, ears, nose, basketball skills, etc. Since we don't have that, I want our family to have traditions and family time that bond us together. That kind of oversimplifies it, but I hope you get my point.

Having said that, we haven't established too many because my kids are so young, I still sometimes feel overwhelmed with parenting so things like the Advent calendar I would like to do might just get pushed aside this year. We have our regular "boring" traditions such as family devotions during breakfast, church every Sunday, Friday night movie night (when I do the girls' hair).

I do envision lots of holiday traditions (baking, decorating, seeing lights) and ministry traditions (going to nursing homes, baking cookies for neighbors, helping at a food bank) but those just seem to be in our future at this point, not right now. So while I feel like the time isn't right for some traditions, I do feel like we should have more. But then sometimes I feel like I'm putting too much pressure on myself when the girls are so young.

Sarah: For me, age three feels like a good age for establishing the traditions that you want as they understand and remember the special activities that you do with them. With the holidays rapidly approaching, this is something that I'm thinking about a lot. What will our children think these holidays MEAN by what actions that we DO?

Sarah: Do you participate in a formal or informal adoption support group? If not, who do you lean on for adoption related support? Do you participate in an adoption playgroup? What adoption support resources do you wish you had that you currently do not?

Abby: We used to belong to an adoption playgroup. Unfortunately they meet on Tuesdays and I now work on Tuesdays. I hope someday to be able to reconnect with them. I am also attempting to start an adoption playgroup at our church. We will see how that goes.

We have a couple friends who have adopted, which is nice, but I do wish I had more. I wish I knew more people who were my age who were adopted. I would love to have that resource.

And let me be candid and tell you one of my prayer requests (this might sound odd), I have been praying for a black friend. Let me explain. I typically don't let race be a factor when choosing friends. But right now, I would love a friend (who would like me too, I really want a friend here, not just a person) who my daughters could know and love. Being completely honest right now, the only women my girls have as Godly role models are me, my mom, Matt's mom, my friends and the women in BSF. All white. My girls need to see someone who looks like them, who is also Godly. Who does their hair like my girls, and who loves Jesus. No offense Oprah, but you're just not it.

Sarah: I totally understand the search for adult friends of the same ethnicity as your children, and I think this is a wonderful thing. I look for the same, but it's especially hard to find Asian Americans our area. I capitalize what I can on a friendship with a Chinese American family as well as getting together with China adoptive families in our area. I once wished that if Hannah ever had a chronic health problem, I hoped it would be something with asthma and allergies because I could take her to an Asian American specialist that could be a good adult role model! Sad... I know. Now that we're going to weekly Chinese School classes, Hannah has a wonderful Chinese American teacher to look up to.

Sarah: Now that you’ve been a mother of two adoptees for some time, how are you currently handling the question, “Are they sisters?” Has your answer changed over the last year? If so, why?

Abby: My answer has not changed. I still say "they are now." I might be changing my answer soon to simply "yes". Because while the question is completely understandable, and I am completely NOT offended by it, I still don't want to qualify their relationship.

Sarah: If we're blessed with a second child, my answer will usually be simply "yes." In some situations I see myself answering "they are now." I usually find myself revealing a lot more to other adoptive families and Asian Americans because it is more likely that we could have a relationship that continues.

Sarah: Did you have any surprising responses to your family, friends, and coworkers when telling them that you were adopting transracially, positive or negative? Questions and comments from strangers are always interesting when you have a conspicuous family. Tell me about some of your experiences around and about town, positive and negative.

Abby: We got all positive responses (to our faces, who knows what people say behind our backs). You are so right about being conspicuous. I've joked before that as the middle child I'm an attention seeker and there is no better personality fit for a transracial adoption than that. If you don't love attention, then don't adopt transracially! I'm mostly joking but we get tons and tons of comments. Mostly asking where the girls are from. We also get so many smiles. Which is awesome. Of course, I've never had white babies so maybe white babies get just as many smiles. But I'd like to think my girls are especially endearing:)

We have actually never had negative comments, but I'm sure there have been negative thoughts. I'm glad negative thoughts or questions have not been shared with us because while I've prayed that I would respond in a holy manner, what I'd want to do is claw their eyes out!

Some funny comments (while looking at me and then at Hannah) "What's she mixed with?" And again, while looking at me and then Hannah "Her daddy must have been dark." Once a man asked me if I ran a babysitting service while watching me corral my kids at the library. One guy (a black guy in case that's important) completely gave me the once over (and the creeps) when he saw me with the kids. Luckily I was wearing my wedding ring.

Matt says he gets a ton of attention when he is by himself with the girls. I believe it. He's good looking, the girls are cute. I don't think he'd have any trouble finding a wife if the Lord decided to take me home:)

Sarah: Hannah gets a lot of attention. I think more of it is because she's so stinkin' cute and less because we're a multiracial family. I worry a lot about her hearing over and over "Oh she's so cute!" because I want her to think about making herself beautiful on the inside rather than thinking about what she looks like on the outside.

I have had some comments from strangers where they just blurt out, "She must be adopted!" or "Is the adopted?" That really bothers me. First, it's none of your business, Mrs. Stranger Lady. I don't ask strangers about what they were doing when they conceived their biological children. Secondly, adoption is something that happened in the past and is not something that one IS. Thirdly, did you even think about how this sounds to the ears of my three year old... calling her out because she looks differently than her parents do? Grrrr. Interestingly, when first generation Asian Americans ask me, I'm way less likely to get upset. I'm much more accustomed and accepting when first generation Asian Americans ask these questions, as there's a cultural difference that excuses some of that bluntness.

Today when we met for lunch, I brought Hannah's beloved "lady stickers" [aka Melissa and Doug Make-A-Face Sticker Pad which I LOVE because it's lots of fun and the faces represent a wide range of ethnicities!] because I know it would keep my Hannah occupied, and hopefully Abby's oldest daughter Hannah would like them as well. Olivia was so sweet and offered to share a strawberry with me when her mom was gone for a minute to pick up some more food. I graciously declined, but it was so sweet! The girls got to run and play a bit. Unfortunately, we had to interrupt their play to take a picture right before it was time to go. There was a little whining that they needed to come down from the play area now to be wrangled for a photo. Parenting lesson learned: Take photo BEFORE the kids play and tell them that they have to smile nice for the camera if they want to go down the slide!

Redirect: Taiwan Lawmakers Overhaul Adoption Rules

2011-11-16T13:42:00.002-05:00

I've been watching for info in English online for the past year regarding the Protection of Children and Youths Welfare and Rights Act in Taiwan that passed last week. I'm still trying to figure out how this will affect international adoptions currently facilitated by government licensed organizations that are already promoting and facilitating domestic adoptions. I'm specifically looking for details about how the act places priority on domestic adoptions first. If you have links or info, please share. Thanks!

Redirect: NY Times op-ed calls on US to throw Taiwan under the bus in exchange for China debt forgiveness

2011-11-13T08:56:00.003-05:00

Interesting opinion in the NY Times: Save Our Economy, Ditch Taiwan! I know. I know! I had visions of throwing people under buses as I read it. Let's throw out everything that the US stands for... freedom... democracy... and let's make a deal with China by stabbing Taiwan [a great example of a Asian democracy in action] in the back to settle our debts as we can't control our spending.

I especially like this response by the Taiwanese media, and think that the imagery of Uncle Sam handing the panda [China] a green leaf like the island of Taiwan to eat... and the American going back to sitting on the couch and gorging on hamburgers is especially fitting.

scissor skills

2011-11-09T11:16:00.002-05:00

When we've had supervised use with scissors for craft projects, Hannah's scissor skills need improvement as she tries to use both hands to make them work. As use of scissors is a skill that is on kindergarten checklist, I decided to get her a nice pair of school scissors to work with. She's loved cutting up little bits of coloring book pages and construction paper this week, and Hannah's scissor skills have really improved with two days of practice.

Kevin called me at work last night to let me know that Hannah hit another milestone last night. She managed to cut off a chunk of hair with scissors. Sigh. The chunk was cut from the crown of her head about four inches from the scalp. Thankfully, it still fits into pony tails and you can't really tell unless you are brushing her hair.

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T23:35:00.000-04:00

Happy Halloween from Mulan and a blue fairy!

Save the Date - July 27-29, 2012 - Taiwan R.O.C.ks Chicago

2011-10-28T23:51:00.005-04:00

grab the button!

grab the button! (mini size)

{like father, like daughter}

2011-10-27T23:49:00.000-04:00

flash cards

2011-10-27T10:15:00.002-04:00

Have to blog this just so I'll remember today. Just went through flash cards of upper and lower case letters with Hannah. Only ones missed were q, g, b and d mixed up, and V. She could tell me lower case short a sound for "a" but not the name of the letter. She's very motivated to do flash cards with M&Ms as a reward. One M&M for every five flash cards that are correct. I love how she's so excited to work on her letters!

Last week at Walmart we were looking at little painted Halloween pumpkins. She pointed out, "That one says BOO! That's so silly!" She was right! The word BOO was printed next to one of the faces.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

making treats with our little pumpkins

2011-10-24T23:30:00.006-04:00

When Lora messaged me on Wednesday and asked if I could pick up a bag of Hershey's kisses to bring with me for our Thursday playdate, I knew that Hannah would be all about making a treat with CHOCOLATE. This girl loves everything chocolate.

Our little sweeties were on their step stools and ready to make treats right away!

While Lora mixed up the orange rice krispies, I helped the girls unwrap their chocolate kisses. I don't cook... but I have experience in unwrapping chocolate kisses. It was hard work to stop Hannah from wanting to lick her green gummy worms that were to become pumpkin stems.

Allie is taste testing the ingredients. Yum!

Hannah agrees!

Lora butters up the girls' hands to they don't stick to the rice krispie treats. Hannah immediately requests a wipe to clean her hands and doesn't want to be buttery.

But once Lora shows her how to make balls and hide the chocolate inside, she decides that she'll humor us and keep her hands buttery for awhile.

Allie makes quick work of forming her pumpkins.

Miss Lora assists with putting icing leaves on the little pumpkins. There are no shots of one daughter licking off icing off of multiple pumpkins. Hummmmm... wonder who's daughter would do that?

The girls act so much like sisters. They fought over sitting on a chair, toys, scissors, and who was holding a bucket. Sigh! Allie often gets frustrated with sharing first, but is always first to forgive and want to make up. Stubborn Hannah takes awhile to get over not sharing very well and isn't ready to forgive as quickly. It's a good thing they are so stinkin' cute. They try their mamas' patience when they argue.

When Hannah saw these photos she remarked, "Allie loves me. She's my friend." Makes my heart melt!

Double Ten Day Parade in Chicago

2011-10-24T21:26:00.002-04:00

Last weekend we traveled to Chicago to meet up with other Taiwan adoptive families and to get out of town to celebrate our tenth wedding anniversary. The families met up for lunch on Saturday at The Phoenix in Chinatown and then on to the parade.

After the parade we did a little shopping, found some lip smackin' buns at a Chinese bakery, and went to our hotel so Hannah could nap. She doesn't usually nap at home, but big days with lots of excitement seem to still require naps.

Around dinner time I started to get a little worried. What were we going to do in a big city at night with a toddler in tow? IDEA! How about checking out the American Girl store on Michigan Avenue? I wonder how late they are open? I checked out their web site and they're open until 9pm, so we headed downtown.

Walking on Michigan Avenue with Hannah was so funny. She pointed out everything. The tall buildings, the lights, all of the cars, the bushes that looked like a maze. It was a delight just watching her get so excited about downtown. She rode on Daddy's shoulders so she could see everything and wouldn't get trampled by all of the people squished around us that weren't looking where they were going.

When we arrived at American girl, she was so excited. Her little legs just didn't stop moving and hoping. She was most impressed with the large displays with video and wasn't really interested in looking at boxes of dolls. In the bitty baby area we did play with some of the little baby dolls. We gave one a bath in a little tub, changed a diaper, gave a baby a bottle, and pretended to spoon feed baby food to a doll in a high chair. Hannah has never been one to want to play with dolls, so this was a fun new thing for us to do together. After Daddy couldn't take any more (wink wink), we visited the Lego store and rode the glass elevator all the way to the top and then back down all the way to the bottom.

On Sunday we joined friends at church and went out to lunch at the 527 Cafe in Evanston. I was really excited about having some Taiwanese Beef and Noodle soup. Unfortunately, about a third to half of the items on the menu were unavailable. What a downer! Kevin had Taiwanese pork and rice noodles and I had Taiwanese work with rice. Both were good and served with a tea egg.

It's pretty fun getting together with families with little ones from Taiwan, and really special when your kiddos were roomies and knew each other before you knew them. :)

questions from the preschool teachers

2011-10-21T18:54:00.004-04:00

Kevin told me that Hannah's preschool teachers wanted to talk to him after class today and had some questions for him. Oh boy! They said that occasionally they didn't understand what Hannah was saying. First they asked what our dog's name was. Uh... it's Sedona... or sometimes we call her Dona. Hannah was telling them her name was "Dona" and they couldn't figure out if she was saying donut or if she as just making something up about having a dog. Then the teachers said that Hannah said some other things that they didn't understand... but they don't remember what she said. Kevin asked if it could be Chinese, because Hannah's going to Chinese school and we use Chinese language educational DVDs and games at home. Then Hannah remarked "yi, er, san!" (one, two, three!) to show her teachers that she can count in Chinese. Kevin laughed, and then said a few Chinese words suggesting things that Hannah might have said. Kevin suggested píng guǒ and they said that sounded close... and then he said hóng píng guǒ... and then said that's it! Kevin asked if they were eating a snack of apples when Hannah said these words, and the teacher asked, "How'd you know?" Kevin said, "That's because she said red apple!" I think this is so funny... I just keep giggling thinking about Hannah trying out her handful of Chinese words about counting, colors, and fruits in preschool and her teachers aren't quite sure how to respond to that.

sandwich

2011-10-19T23:53:00.002-04:00

While watching me eat a Subway sandwich, Hannah remarked, "You have to eat your sandwich all gone and then you can have a cookie." Then she handed me a play food cookie! Waaahahahaha! I think she's heard that phrase a few times before!

Friday will mark seven weeks waiting for approval by our placing agency to our match with lil' dude. It took a day shy of seven weeks for approval for Hannah. We're missing out on so much. He could be taking his first steps soon.

Kevin has relocated his computer desk, computer, and our server out of the third bedroom and into the living room. We found him a mission style desk at Target that matches pretty well with our mission style furniture. We have keep working on paring down the office before we can paint and install new flooring in lil' dude's room.

apple - 蘋果

2011-10-13T23:09:00.000-04:00

So proud of my girl. Today I asked Hannah what letters were in the word apple. She first responded "píng guǒ." No, silly. That's how you say apple in Chinese. What letters are in the word apple? Hannah responded, "A... P... L!" Great job, Hannah!

Then I asked her what letter the word ball started with and she had no idea. She wanted to play with leaves instead. Go figure.

fall family photos

2011-10-13T22:46:00.001-04:00

I'm really bad about taking photos of our whole family.

It's just so much fun to snap away with this little blessing
in front of my lens and not worry about what I look like.

I finally decided to have a family session with my photographer friend Pam.

And I'm so glad we did.

Because this is how I want to remember our little family.

Having fun. All together.

A little nutty, too.

♥ Happy 10th wedding anniversary to my best friend, my husband, my love. ♥

Redirect: the most aewsome dragon cake evah!

2011-10-12T11:20:00.002-04:00

I'm a long time fan of M3's blog Do They Have Salsa in China? and I'm giddy after looking at photos of the twin's birthday cake - a dragon cake made with four bundt cakes and covered with M&Ms for scales. This is so completely awesome. Would be so fun to do for a Chinese New Year party!

Redirect: 100 Years of History Behind "Double Ten" Day of the R.O.C.

2011-10-10T00:04:00.001-04:00

100 Years of History Behind "Double Ten" Day of the R.O.C. at TaiwaneseAmerican.org is a good read. We'll be going to Chicago's Chinatown this weekend for a Double Ten Day parade with a few other Taiwan adoptive families and out for dim sum. Yum yum!

me minus 42.6 pounds

2011-10-05T00:11:00.006-04:00

My Facebook friends know that I've been busy on a new project since March, and it doesn't involve lil' man's adoption. It's for me. I've been calorie counting, joined the YMCA, and have made several lifestyle changes. Hannah goes to the YMCA with me and is participating a tumbling class and in a Zumba class for preschoolers. She loves it, and asks all of the time, "Are we going to the Y tomorrow???" When she's not in a class at the Y, she's in child watch playing with the other kids. She loves it, and going to the Y has been great to help her break out of her shy little shell.

I've learned that it's easier to do this when I talk about it, but haven't talked about it on the blog... so there it is.

Because people ask me all of the time, I'll share what I'm doing.

I got the best success from calorie counting with the help of the Livestrong app for my iPhone. It has a huge database and made it really easy to count calories and make good decisions, especially when eating out. Now, I pretty much know that to stick to the calorie counting guidelines. I only want to eat out at Subway and get the 150 calorie Chicken Soft Tacos Fresco style at Taco Bell. Everything else, even grilled chicken sandwiches other places... still have so many calories. And I don't do salads well. It doesn't stick with me and I'm so hungry just a few hours later. My favorite low calorie foods and snacks are sugar free fudgesickles, anything ice cream by Skinny Cow, prepackaged sugar free gelatin cubes from Kroger (can eat the whole bag for something like 35 calories!), yogurt, Baby Bell cheese and grapes, Southwestern Egg Beaters with 35 calorie diet bread toast with Laughing Cow cheese.

I weigh myself every morning when I first get up, and record my weight on my Livestrong app. As weight fluctuates during the day, this allows me to see real changes and celebrate very 0.2 pound lost. When I screw up and fall off the wagon for a week, I see it right away with my daily weigh in... and having a scale gets me to jump back in the game plan before too much weight has been regained. It's such hard work to get it off, and so easy to put back on.

The Livestrong app also allows you to record exercise, but I'm not very good about that. I can also go the Livestrong web site and print off graphs of my weight loss. I bring this into my doctor appointments with me so they can see the changes as we're charting my success.

I must admit now that my wake up call with a fasting blood test and A1C that was borderline diabetic when I was at my heaviest weight. This came as quite a shock... and now I look at it as one of the best things that could have ever happened to me. After making these lifestyle changes and loosing 20 pounds in about 3 months, my A1C dropped into normal healthy levels with diet and exercise ALONE.

I needed to join a gym, but I was so scared too. I didn't want to be the lone fat girl surrounded by athletic women in sports bras and spandex. I made Kevin go in to sign up our family for a yearly membership, and felt physically sickened the first time I went because I had so much anxiety about it. No big deal now. I go about three days a week, no makeup, haven't showered yet, but I have my hair brushed and my power walking shoes on! It hurt a lot when I started going, and I even worsened my plantar fasciitis, and I hobbled around on my feet in lots of pain. I went back to my podiatrist who sent me to physical therapy. Six weeks of SASTM physical therapy (man did those sessions hurt!) and a bunch of medical bills later, my feet are nearly cured.

My workout routine lasts about an hour. I power walk for at least 30 minutes, getting my heart rate into the aerobic zone. I started out at 2.8 MPH and I'm at 3.3 MPH now, working into 3.4 MPH stretches. It's neat that I'm having to walk faster and faster to keep my heart rate up. I experienced my first runner's high in my life after about two months of power walking. I've found that I can't get to the runner's high until I've gone at least 35-40 minutes. For anyone who's never felt that... it's amazing, and I didn't want to stop power walking at the 60 minute mark... but felt that I'd better because I was really thirsty and starting to get dizzy. I still dislike power walking and would much rather eat Cheetos and sit on the couch, but... tough. I've got to do this. Anyway, after power walking at least 30 minutes I lift weights for about 20. Then I finish up on an Arc Trainer. When I first started, I could only go 3 minutes. I'm up to about 10 minutes now before my feet start hurting and I've got to stop. I learned that I go faster on the Arc Trainer when I close my eyes. When my eyes are open I want to look at the timer and keep thinking, "Can I get off this thing yet?!?!?!" the whole time. Now I'm bringing a post it note pad to cover up the timer on the machine.

Three months after I made these lifestyle changes, I asked my primary care provider if I could try Victoza for weight loss. She agreed we could try, but thought I was doing great on my own and really didn't need it. It is an injectable diabetes drug not approved for weight loss, but is helping me because it decreases gastric emptying, slowing down the rate that food moves through me. This makes it so I can't eat much more than a fist at one time, and I feel fuller longer. I have had problems with nausea, but just had to work through it. This is no magic shot and wouldn't help on it's own. I still have to do all of the exercising, sweat like a pig on the tread mill next to the blonde in her spandex running much more than twice as fast as I'm walking, make good choices, drive past McDonalds and their McGriddles and Lattes and choose flat bread egg and ham sandwiches at Subway, and yell at Kevin when he brings home Little Debbies (that makes me soooooo mad!) because I have very little will power when something chocolate and glorious is right in front of me. Victoza just makes it so I'm not so hungry all of the time, reminds me that I need to stop eating when I've reached the size of my fist, and makes it so I'm not witchy because I'm hungry all of the time.

For people that say that they can't afford a gym membership because it's too expensive... you need to prioritize. Cancel your cable or satellite TV and join the gym. You don't need 300 channels, but you need to be healthy. We canceled our satellite, joined the YMCA, got Netflix and Hulu subscriptions, and we're still saving money. We're getting fit, watching WAY less commercials, and loving it!

Please, no flames. It was hard for me to lay all of this out there, but somewhere... there's someone else out there reading this that needs to do this too. Needs to make a change. And something's stopping you. You can do it, too. If there is a road block that can't be lifted, you can find a way around it.

P.S. Old Navy makes great yoga pants for exercisin' plus size chicks for less than $20. :)

Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale

2011-09-25T10:00:00.002-04:00

Released just this month, a film depicting revolt of indigenous Taiwanese against the Japanese in the 1930s is the most expensive Taiwanese in history with a price tag of $25 million. Critics say that "Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale" (official website) is a violent although accurate portrayal of the Wushe incident, the biggest rebellion against colonial Japanese forces in Taiwan which resulted in the massacre of both Japanese and indigenous Taiwanese.

I'm googling and reading what I can about Seediq Bale. I don't have anything personally to say about the film... as it's released in Taiwan and I haven't seen it, but I'm very interested in everything I can read about it in English speaking media.

Be aware that the film is filled with violence, as it depicts a massacre with beheadings.

Links:
Wiki link on the Wushe incident
Wiki link on the film
film trailer on YouTube (violent scenes)
article in The American Interest
article in The Economist
the film's official website (violent scenes)
review in the Wall Street Journal

"Mama, you marry Daddy?"

2011-09-25T09:07:00.001-04:00

Hannah was eyeing Halloween costumes and really liked a fancy white dress. I explained that was a wedding dress, and that women sometimes wear them when they get married.
Hannah: "Mama, you marry Daddy?"
Mama: "Yes, I married your Daddy. It was a long time ago, long before you."
Hannah: "You marry Daddy when I was at the baby House in Taiwan and I was so little."
She can't imagine a time before her. That's okay, sometimes that's hard for me, too! :)

Hannah really likes watching the video I made of the day we met her. Lately she asks to watch it every night. Now she tells me the story of the video. "You hold me and you laugh and cry. I put my hands in Daddy's mouth. You give me a bottle and then I get so sleepy. You hold my hand and look at it because I was so little. You give me Dolly and I play with keys. You say, "Hello, Baby!" We go in a train, and back to hotel. I crawl on the floor. You feed me baby food and I say I want more, I want more!" I remember being so tired when I made that video... and I would work on it when she was sleeping when we first came home from Taiwan. I'm so glad I put it together while those memories were fresh.

to Texas and back

2011-09-14T14:32:00.000-04:00

This is TEXAS sized blog post that took me a month
to put together! A lot happens in two weeks.

Especially when you spend the night...

in three different family's homes and three different hotel rooms.

The day we got home Hannah asked me,
"Mama, where are we gonna sleep tonight? We go back to hotel?"

I wish we were still on vacation, too!

This all started many many many months ago when we learned that the Taiwan R.O.C.ks adoptive family reunion was going to be held in Grapevine, Texas, this year, it was a no brainer. We had to go! Kevin's sister lives in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, and we hadn't been to their house to visit in nearly four years.

On the way down we stopped in the Ozarks of Missouri to visit Kevin's aunt and her family. Hannah was in heaven. The little girls showed Hannah their cow, ducks, over a hundred chickens, and three mama cats raising kittens inside the house. Hannah was in kitten heaven watching and playing with the 10-12 kittens running around the living room. She had so much fun she requested to sleep with the little girls and not with Mama and Daddy. We were gifted with a whole box of home canned goods. I especially love the home canned peaches on my oatmeal in the morning, and Kevin likes the tomatoes and pickled ocra. With multiple roosters crowing, it was time to get back on the road towards the Lone Star state.

During my two visits to Texas, a few things stick out to me about this state. These people are sure proud to be Texans, they love their flag and display it proudly, and I've never seen so many signs for Dr. Pepper!

at the Alamo at night

We spent a few days just hanging out with Kevin's sister, husband, and our niece. We decided to travel to San Antonio for two days to visit Sea World, the Alamo, and the River Walk. Walking along the River Walk was relaxing, and I enjoyed looking at the architecture along the river. We took a little tour, and it was a definite must to understand the history of San Antonio and why the River Walk is so special to this city. We watched the Alamo IMAX movie and then toured the grounds. At Sea World Hannah's favorite activities were hand feeding little fish to dolphins, watching live shows with dolphins, whales, and birds, and splashing around at the water park. Kevin's sister is eight months pregnant, and it blows me away that she was able to walk the whole day and do all of this with us. Friday morning we left San Antonio, drove nearly five hours back to Dallas-Fort Worth, packed up our things for the weekend, and left for the Great Wolf Lodge.

Sea World

Having an event like this at Great Wolf Lodge was nice because it was a huge place with lots to do, but small enough that we would see people from our group where ever we went. We could always find someone in the water park to play with and someone in the dining hall to eat with. I knew the faces of a lot of people in our group that I hadn't met yet, and it was kinda surreal to see people wandering around in the lobby, notice each other, and hug a friend for the first time!

We enjoyed pizza at a pizza parlor just down the road from the resort. The ~~parents~~ mamas were doing a whole bunch of talking and not so much eating! The after their dinners the kiddos around us just started jumping on the booth seats and were just so cute. Hard to tell them not to jump when ~~we were too busy gabbing~~ they were making friends and really being so good otherwise! Amazing to think that we had over 25 Taiwan adoptive families including TWO families all the way west from Hawaii and a family of TEN all the way east from Germany, all in one little room, enjoying one another's company.

That night back at the hotel, Lora and Allie hosted a party in their room. Lora thought ahead and brought little tiny containers of play doh for the kids. Great idea, as that's something that kids of all ages can play with. I brought along a package of "lady stickers," some Gatorade, and a bottle of ~~wine~~ "mommy juice" for the mommies. Unscheduled play time was definitely one of my favorite activities with the kids. So fun to let kids unwind, be kids, make friends, have a glass of ~~wine~~ mommy juice, and just BE. Oh yes, and take photos of all of the silliness!

It was getting pretty late, way past these kiddos' bedtimes. When I told Hannah that we need to go back to our room and get jammies on I heard a little voice say, "I want to sleep with Allie!" Aw.... This was so sleep. Allie and Miss Lora looked like they wanted a slumber party, too. I wanted Hannah to get a good night's sleep so she could be rested for a big day tomorrow, but Lora assured me that if she slept in their room and didn't settle down soon, Hannah would be returned to her parents next door. Hannah got to have her first slumber party, I went back to our room by myself to unwind, while Daddy hung out meeting up with most of the other daddies in the lounge.

Saturday morning we enjoyed an amazing buffet breakfast at the lodge. Pancakes, waffles, eggs, toast, sausage, cereal, fruits, yogurt, granola, crepes, and lots more. Everything yummy for breakfast was all there. With full bellies we got on our swimsuits and headed for the water park with our buddies. After a couple of wave and splash filled hours, we cleaned up back in our room and gathered with a few people for a clothing swap in a banquet hall. We brought old clothes to hand-me-down to friends, and hoped to find some hand-me-downs for us, too. Our great finds include a cowgirl outfit, Hello Kitty crocks, and a few little boy outfits for Hannah's little brother. {No referral yet! Hopefully soon!}

During the clothing swap the kids were so funny. They played chase around the tables and laughed and laughed while hiding under the table cloths. Hannah told me she was hungry, so I asked Kevin to take three of the girls for a look around the hotel and get them a snack. After making sure it was okay with their mommies, Kevin took Gracyn, Allie, and Hannah for a walk. When they returned, they were each carrying HUGE ice cream cones and Kevin had a really pleased look on his face. Apparently, Gracyn likes mint chip ice cream. No, she REALLY likes mint chip ice cream! :)

That night we enjoyed a Mexican dinner buffet in the banquet hall, released red balloons attached with wishes by or for our children, and watched a slide slow filled with photos of referral photos, precious moments families were created, and families together back at home. It was very exciting to learn that next year's Taiwan R.O.C.ks event will be in Chicago, just a few hours away from us. I'm very excited about this, knowing that lots of our Midwestern Taiwan adoptive family friends are likely to go!

On Sunday Kevin's sister's family joined us for an entire day at the lodge's water park. We were exhausted after a full day of play. Hannah LOVED splashing her silly uncle over and over and over again. They both couldn't get enough splashing.

We visited the Boba Tea House and Fort Worth Botanical Japanese Garden again this trip. The noodles and boba are delish, and the Japanese garden is a lovely spot for photos. I think Hannah could feed the huge koi and turtles in the pond all day. While we were there, we watched a man propose to his girlfriend on a bridge in the garden. Her relatives were there to take photos of the moment he proposed. It was very beautiful, and she said yes!

One the way home from Texas we stopped to visit our friends Andrea and Libby. The girls swam and splashed in their pool and played with the little kitchen and stickers. We took photos of the girls at a local park, and some of the ones I took of Libby are some of my most favorite ever.

Ahhh. Great to be away and visit with so many people, but nice to be back home in our own beds, too. There's no place like home!

little bits from this week that I don't want to forget

2011-09-14T13:01:00.002-04:00

Monday night we stopped by Walmart to pick up a couple of things. We always go to the toy section to play a little bit. Hannah is always so good in the toy section. She loves to play and never asks/begs/pleads/cries to bring a toy home. Daddy decided to set her on a bicycle with training wheels, and she started peddling down the isle. Our little girl can ride a big girl bike! She was so happy and proud of herself. We'll wait until next spring to get her one. Sounds like a perfect big sister present.

After preschool Monday Daddy asked Hannah what she wanted for lunch. Hannah replied, "I want to go to the mall." On my... she's three going on thirteen!

Hannah and Daddy were looking at the moon together. Kevin asked Hannah, "Can you touch the moon?" She replied, "No, it's too far away!" Kevin explained that to go to the moon you have to jump in a spaceship and fly for three days. You'd have to wear a space suit because you can't breathe in outer space. Hannah didn't understand what breathing was, and he demonstrated breathing in and out. Hannah eyed him and stated, "Daddy, you talk too much."

milk face

2011-09-08T22:44:00.003-04:00

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

It's a boy!

2011-09-03T23:53:00.001-04:00

It's a boy! Referral call came last night night. Kevin's was at his computer desk and answered the phone. I'd been in Hannah's room picking up, taking summer clothes out of her closet, inserting more for fall, and trying on some hand-me-down shoes to see if they'll fit yet.

The little boy is an older baby, has huge gorgeous eyes, cheeks made for kissing, and some fuzzy/spiky hair. During the lengthy phone call we were provided with lots of information about him, and I kept thinking... "Yes, yes, yes... what's not to love? Hurry up and show me some pics of my son, lady!" :) As soon as we saw his photo, I turned to Kevin, sported a few tears, and we hugged. "I think that's our son!" We think he's perfect for our family, and hope that the judge assigned to our case in Taiwan will think so, too. We aren't allowed to share photos online publicly this time around. But believe me, he's soooooo cute!

What does Hannah think? She looks at the photos and says, "That's my baby brother," and then runs off to play. Oh well. When asked if she'll share her toys, Hannah looks at me for a long time with at look that says, "I'm supposed to say yes but I really don't want to." Nana suggested, "How about we go to a store and buy your baby brother some toys? Do you think he'd like cars?" Then Hannah got a huge grin on her face. She thinks Nana has a fabulous idea!

We've not settled on a name for sure yet. I'd like to see his characters and think about his name's meaning before deciding on an English first name and keeping his Chinese name as a middle name.

"I want to see Nana!"

2011-08-31T00:27:00.001-04:00

Had to share this pic. This is the look Hannah gives me when she wants to see her Nana and isn't getting her way. Can't help but laugh at those lips!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

first day of Chinese school

2011-08-28T18:21:00.003-04:00

Today was our first day of Chinese school. We'll go every Sunday for two hours. Students can start at age three and a half and are matched up into classes by their age and skill level. We're in a class ages three and a half to seven, with all of the students having limited prior exposure to Mandarin. Interestingly, the class are all girls, and I'm pretty sure that five out of six our class are adoptees. I already knew three of the students in the class as they're local to us, and I work with the non-adoptee's dad.

Hannah's in pink third from the right. Most of the other girls are five, six, and seven, so Hannah's by far the youngest. The paid attention really well for the first hour, but after snack time her eyes wandered all around the room and she started playing with her necklace and waving at me. At age three and a half her participation skills are no match for the older girls and she won't speak by herself, repeating back to the teacher, but we can tell she is moving her lips when the group is practicing together.

As she's so young, my goals for Chinese school are to expose Hannah to the classroom environment, spark her interest in learning new words, make friends, and have her participate in cultural activities. Hopefully hearing the sounds and tones at a young age will make it easier for her when she's an older student.

Today we learned:

Hello. Nǐ hǎo.
The teacher used a longer way to say "My name is _____." but I didn't quite get it. I was already familiar with Wǒ jiào _____.
counting to 19
Learning the months of the year was easy. Just say the number of the months (March = 3) and then add on yuè.
water shuǐ
Thank you. Xiè xiè.
Good bye. Zài jiàn.

The teacher talked a little about tones and tried to have the students recognize which tone a word used after she said it, but I don't think any of them got it.

Students were given a coloring page of the Great Wall of China and a dragon and she talked about the significance of these.

Our little family is sleepy after going out for noodles for lunch, Chinese school, and a Target run. I snoozed on the drive home, and Daddy and Hannah are napping in our bed. Big day for a little girl!

Redirect: ROCks Reflections by Sarah

2011-08-22T18:10:00.004-04:00

We've been GONE. For two whole weeks. It's a long car ride from Indiana to Texas! We drove to the Dalls-Fort Worth area to visit Kevin's sister and family and to attend the first annual Taiwan R.O.C.ks reunion to Taiwan adoptive families. More pictures will be coming from our trip, but first I'd like to share with you a post I wrote last night about what Taiwan R.O.C.ks meant to me, and why we made the commitment to attend the event. Next summer's event will be in Chicago, date and location to be announced. Woohoo!

Redirect: 100 blogs in 30 days fundraiser

2011-08-16T00:23:00.002-04:00

My friend Jen is a fabulous blog designer with The Art of Living Custom Designs, and her goal right now is to design 100 blogs in 30 days to raise funds to bring her son home from China. She has some really nice looking templates that you can choose from, she'll customize them just for you, and install them on your blog for only $20. This is truly a bargain price, with all of the installation to be completed by Jen. Take a peek at what she has to offer!

Redirect: A Shower of Reality ... Sort Of

2011-08-02T01:06:00.002-04:00

Tonguu Momma hits the nail on the head, once again, with a post about a toddler shower thrown by her new church family now that she's home with her second daughter from China.

She writes, "I also spoke about adoption. I talked about how adoption isn't just an opportunity to see God at work, it's also an opportunity to see how humanity fails. Repeatedly. I talked about how society and yes, even the church, most often portrays adoption as a win-win-win situation, all hearts and rainbows and "we saved a child" mantras. I talked about the hypocrisy of many churches working solely to "save the orphan" through adoption without any thought to eliminating the need for adoption by working to solve the societal problems that lead to adoption. And how wrong all of that is."

Good Night, Giraffe

2011-08-01T01:11:00.002-04:00

Hannah has a new favorite stuffed animal.
Daddy let her pick an animal out at the gift shop at the zoo this week.
She loves her giraffe! Previously, only "Dolly" was allowed in her bed.

One of Hannah's favorite books is "Good Night, Gorilla." The story is told with mostly illustrations and not with text, so Hannah *reads* the story to me. Very sweet. Here's an animated version if you're not familiar with it.

Another zoo related story that I don't want to forget: After going to the zoo it was time for dinner. Kevin asked Hannah what she wanted for dinner, and she asked for "noodles and chicken," Kevin took her to the food court at the mall where Hannah spilled food on her dress and cried because she was dirty. Daddy took Hannah to Children's Place and let her pick out a dress. She picked purple, her favorite color. After Hannah picked out a dress she tried to talk Kevin into a pair of SHOES, as the teal ones she was wearing didn't match. Is she 3, or 13??? Oh my!

sweet things

2011-07-27T22:56:00.003-04:00

Have to brag a bit on my girl. She's doing so great with her manners lately, and wanting to do nice unexpected things for others. Hannah asks, "May I be excused please?" before leaving the table. But just don't serve her shredded cheese, or you might end up with it all over your floor and table, like Lora did. She told me "bless you" when I sneezed tonight. Yesterday she opened her craft drawer, took out a blank note card and envelope, decorated it with stickers, put the note card in the envelope, and handed it to Kevin. "Here you go, Daddy. I made this card for you." Tonight she called me one the phone at work and asked, "You want some lunch? I bring it to you." These sweet things help me overlook the mess she makes scattering all of her toys out all over her bedroom every day.

The Dragon Boat Races that Weren't, Yet Again.

2011-07-25T17:44:00.004-04:00

We had thought that we'd miss going to Chicago for the dragon boat races this year as I had to work and there wasn't anyone to cover for me. Luckily for me, my coworker's plans were canceled due to extreme heat, and he volunteered to work for me. I called Kevin right away to see if he still wanted to go. YES! I rushed home from work, packed, made some phone calls to tell the other adoptive families that we're coming, and find out where to meet up. I think we broke a family record to be able to pack and get out the door in only an hour.

Hannah slept nearly all the way to Chicago. It was a blessing not to hear, "Where are we going? How we know where to go? Which way? How we get there?" on this multiple hour trip. I Pricelined and got a great rate at a downtown hotel, and we went out for some Greek salad and Giordano's pizza. Mmmm! Hannah tasted the anchovies on the salad and remarked, "I can't like that." Uhhh... I did not taste the anchovies on the salad, and I can't like that either!

Friday night there were some pretty bad thunderstorms that quickly put down several inches of rain. This caused flooding on the Chicago river, and the dragon boat races were canceled due to flooding for the second year in a row, but we still had plans to meet up for lunch with several Taiwan adoptive families. Our little family went to Chinatown for breakfast and ordered a box of buns from one of the many Chinese bakeries along Wentworth Avenue. Kevin likes egg and ham best. Hannah does well with a hot dog bun. I want to taste them all!

We did a little shopping, and can always find interesting things. My buys were two pairs of Chinese brocade shoes for Hannah for only $9 each, several pairs of hair sticks for $1-2 each, a book about the dragon boat races at the Pui Tak Center Chinese Christian bookstore, and a package of sour green beans made in Taiwan. The best find was found in a cardboard box inside one of the Chinese groceries. I spied the spikes of pink and green and knew that's dragon fruit! We've only had dragon fruit in Taiwan and wish we could find it near home. They are so beautiful, and taste a lot like kiwi... just don't make you pucker so much.

Lunch at Lao Beijing was wonderful, as always. We dined on pot stickers, Dan Dan noodles, orange chicken, vegetables, and some kind of delicious spicy lamb that the other family at our table ordered.

Before kids, I was really good at taking photos of our food BEFORE dinner. Now, I'm grabbing chop sticks out of little ones' hands when she starts using them like a sword, keeping her occupied when she's really hungry and wants to know where the food is, and preventing red punch from being spilled all over me, the table cloth, and others at our table. All I've got are photos of our leftovers and my empty plate!

The fun really started when the kids were winding down with their dinners. Several parents gave their kids their cell phones to play with. There were little hands holding iPhones everywhere playing Angry Birds and snapping photos of other kids. My favorite photos are of Hannah and Miss E taking turns photographing each other with my phone. They were so sweet!

After dinner we attempted to take a group photo. This is the best I could do. The kids had just been cooped up in the restaurant for two hours, it was really hot, and they were ready to jump up and down and run off some steam.

My favorite thing about the whole day happened during the group photos. S, the boy all the way to the right in the green and navy striped shirt, jumped up, pretended to have a microphone in hand, and started jamming to music that no one else could hear. He hopped all over his stage while we parents put our hands in the air shouting his name and egging him on. It was hilarious! Love that kid. Love that three of these kiddos all lived together in the same baby house at the same time, and now live only a few hours away from each other. Lots of blessings crammed all together for a photo on a hot summer day!

Had to have some boba tea and shaved ice drinks before our departure, of course.

And a dash and splash in Millennium Park's Crown Fountain.

I'm so thankful that we were able to make this trip work at the last minute. It's less than three weeks until our big gathering of Taiwan adoptive families in Texas. So excited to meet lots of mamas and kiddos that I've come to know through pictures and phone calls!

kids say the darndest things

2011-07-24T21:43:00.002-04:00

While shopping in Chicago's Chinatown yesterday Hannah whispered to me, "There's a lot of stuff from Mulan in here."

married

2011-07-21T23:32:00.003-04:00

Before bed tonight Hannah started talking about going to parties, because I told her that I had just bought a new party dress. She started chattering on about birthday parties, and how much she likes them, and all of the things one has at a birthday party. Cake, ice cream, presents, balloons, birthday cards, etc. I reminded her that she had also been to wedding parties where someone got married. "You got married, Mom?" I replied, "Yes, I married Daddy." Then Hannah asked, "I get married someday, too?"

MY HEART MELTED.

"Yes, baby. You can get married someday, too. Someday when you find a boy that is just as special as you are, and who loves you lots and lots and lots."

Redirect: In search of families for waiting children

2011-07-21T16:25:00.003-04:00

Here's a post on my friend Cindy's blog about children waiting in Taiwan to be matched with families. Their adoptions can be facilitated by our agency For Every Child, and more information on the children is available at Rainbowkids.com.

my little artist

2011-07-16T22:11:00.004-04:00

My little artist drew roads and lots of H's with chalk in the driveway tonight.
She's also making the letters O and T, so we can write HOT.
It's going to be in the 90s all week, so we can make good use of the word HOT.

at age 3 and 1/2

2011-07-14T19:23:00.005-04:00

dear hannah,

someday you'll be an adult and won't remember what you were like at 3 and 1/2. this is for you to read 30 years from now. :)

you want the same thing for breakfast EVERY morning. "chocolate bread." what's chocolate bread? of course, it's nutella on a piece of white bread, folded in half, with the crust torn or cut off. we add in orange juice, milk, grapes, ham slices, cheese, and other stuff too of course, but there's always "chocolate bread." you like to pick out your own clothes from the closet, and usually want to wear "a dress and no pants." when i pick out your clothes i hear complaints "that doesn't match" and have to convince you that "khaki shorts are a neutral and go with everything." what do i know? you are completely daytime potty trained, but wear pull-ups at night. sometimes the pull-ups are dry in the morning, but usually not. you usually dress yourself with a little assistance. you rarely get your clothes messy while eating and we don't use bibs at home anymore, only when eating out. you don't like having messy hands, and use multiple napkins during dinner time.

you ride your tricycle like a speed demon in circles around the living room. it amazes me how much better you've gotten with steering around obstacles this summer. we bought you a power wheels car and your cautious personality shines through. you are worried about hitting people and obstacles with your car, and tend to drive it in a constant circle to avoid problem situations. you swim like a little fish with your floaty jacket on and have a lot water confidence in comparison with how confident you are with other activities.

socially, you're pretty shy. you will not talk to strangers and avoid looking at them in the eye. going to child watch at the ymca has been a good experience for you so you have to interact with different kids on a regular basis. there's another older little girl that the ymca that really loves on you. gigi is a little older and likes to "little mommy" you all of the time, and you like it. she wants help you take your shoes on and off for tumbling time. gigi likes to hold hands with you and share the same chair. it's pretty cute. i think gigi helps you feel safe to leave your comfort zone and try new things, and that's great. last week gigi was not at tumbling, and you refused to participate. your teacher had to come get me because you were sad. that made me frustrated, but i get it. i'm so looking forward to sending you to preschool this fall. so excited to see what you learn every day, and what friends you'll make. i feel like my baby bird is getting ready to fly!

we snuggle to read books and watch movies together. you still ask to be rocked, especially when you are tired. i'll be so sad when you're old enough that you don't want to be rocked anymore. i love you so much, baby girl. i'm excited to see you grow up, but i still savor the little bits of baby that are left in you at 3 and a half.

TAF camp

2011-07-13T00:15:00.002-04:00

I'd like to raise awareness of the Taiwanese American Foundation's summer camp. Campers as young as 1st grade may attend. :)

Redirect: More fun with Allie and Hannah Claire!

2011-07-11T17:40:00.002-04:00

Lora's posted her pics from last week's "Taiwanese sisters" playdate. I have a feeling that Lora may not be serving my daughter anything with shredded cheese next time we visit. Well, unless she puts down a tarp under Hannah's chair first. :) I haven't peeked at the pics on my camera yet. Hope to have a chance to soon!

mini driving lessons

2011-07-04T20:25:00.003-04:00

We picked up Hannah's first set of wheels this weekend, a itty bitty Mini Cooper. Hannah and Daddy put it together last night. Kevin would ask for a wheel, and Hannah would bring it shouting, "Here, Daddy! I get it for you!!!" When Kevin would ask for the windsheld. "Windshield?!?! What's a windshield???" So funny! While I was at work today, Daddy said that she sat in her car most of the day waiting for the battery to charge up. After dinner Daddy gave Hannah her first driving lesson. We learned that she's a little too short to press the pedal down all of the way. Kevin has put a towel behind Hannah's back to scoot her forward a bit so she can reach the pedal. It's so cute to see that huge smile on her face when she's sitting in her car. Love that girl!

Of course, Kevin is already researching all of the mods that one can do to kid's ride on toys. Apparently three year olds need a place to hook up their iPods and extra accessory lighting for their Power Wheels cars.

ode to Matilda Jane

2011-07-01T23:21:00.004-04:00

Opening up a box of Matilda Jane is sweeter than candy. "Oh, Mama! Let's open up my package!" and out comes flowers, butterflies, stripes, polka dots, ribbons, ruffles, and bows. Her eyes flicker with glee, a dimpled smile is revealed once again, and she dances in circles with delight as the fabric swirls around her. In a world where kids grow up too fast, Matilda Jane helps us savor the sweetness of our precious little girls for as long as we can.

then and now at the neighborhood 4th of July block party

2011-07-01T23:03:00.004-04:00

July 2, 2009
I loved this dress. Hannah was barely walking, and I think I just
might have had my camera out about every day, savoring every step.

July 1, 2011
Today she picks out her own clothes out of her closet and dresses herself.
Hannah wanted to wear purple, her favorite color.
I couldn't talk her into wearing a patriotic red, white, and blue Hello Kitty t-shirt.

sneaking into summer

2011-06-09T21:40:00.004-04:00

Beautiful day... and a beautiful smile.
Waiting for Nana and Papa to take her with them to a wedding reception.
Hannah likes to eat all of the icing and leave the cake on the plate.

Tomorrow marks ten months since we were told to expect a referral for our adoption #2 in three to six more months. The wondering when our lives are going to change is beginning to get to me all over again. It's been hard to keep telling myself "any day now" over and over again for months and months. I've started holding on to Hannah's clothes she's growing out of, just in case it's a girl... and thinking of all of these little girl names that I love. At the same time, I'm itching to start putting together a space themed nursery that I've been thinking about for months and months.

Hannah's getting much better about her fear of bugs. We were on a nature walk this past month and she loved taking pictures of bugs with Daddy's phone. "There's a pill bug! Oooooh! That's an ant!" Funny kid.

It has finally warmed up! We're spending our evenings outside in the back yard grilling out dinner, hanging out watching Hannah go town her slide, and building sand castles and roads in the sand box.

A few firsts happened this week. We registered Hannah for two day a week preschool for three year olds at an area church. Preschool begins the end of August. Hannah also started tumbling class at the YMCA and is excited about doing somersaults with several little girls ages three and four. As Hannah is slow to warm up to new people, I hope that the experience of tumbling class without Mom or Dad there is a good primer to preschool.

Alert the media. I have a reader!

2011-05-25T12:02:00.002-04:00

I opened yesterday's mail while Hannah at her breakfast this morning. She pointed at a mailing from the zoo and asked to open that envelope, a plain white envelope with text on the outside. Because it contained our annual zoo passes, I told her that she could open some other mail but not that piece. All of a sudden, she told me that the envelope that she wanted to open was from the zoo. I was floored. Am I hearing this right? I asked how she knew it was from the zoo and Hannah pointed at the big bold letters that spelled out "ZOO!" I have a reader! I nearly cried. I grabbed my phone and made this little video. Luckily, she read the word to me again so I could catch it on video.

reflecting on referral day

2011-05-25T01:52:00.008-04:00

Saturday was the three year anniversary of Hannah's adoption referral. THREE YEARS. Wow. Seems like yesterday. I was sitting right where I am now... up way too late (like I am right now), checking my email over, and over, and over looking for any news from our adoption agency (like I am right now). I told Kevin that I was giving up and going to bed, but checking my email one more time... and there it was. THE Hallelujah!!!! email. Life changed when we found this message in my in-box. Hopefully it will change again with another Hallelujah email!

We took Hannah on our first zoo trip of the year Saturday. It started out with lunch at Daddy's favorite pizza place, Pizza King. You can take the boy out of Muncie, but you can't take the love for Pizza King out of the boy! Then, off to the zoo! Hannnah's been chattering away about going to the zoo all week when I tipped her off that we could go this weekend if it ever stopped raining and got sunny outside.

I have loved watching her peek outside and yell, "Mommy! I think it's getting sunny outside!" She loves the zoo so much and can just chatter on and on and on about all of the fun things to see and do at the zoo. Horsey rides, carousel, lions, goats, peacocks, fishies... she loves it all.

First stop was the horsey ride, of course.

I love this smile!

Of all the things to see and zoo at the zoo, her favorites are often the horses and the goats. There's plenty of rural people where we live that I'm sure would let Hannah pet their horse and for for free, but she loves this so why argue?

Getting that goat nice and clean.

If the electrical engineering thing doesn't pan out, goat farmer might.

Checking email one last time before bed at 2:17 AM looking for news of #2. Got nuttin'. Good night.

Redirect: Taiwanese sisters playdate

2011-05-17T00:12:00.002-04:00

We had a grand time last Thursday, as always, at a playdate with Allie and Lora. I forgot my camera at home, but Lora took lots of photos. I love the ones of the girls riding around on a tricycle together as well as the hugs in front of the koi pond.

Lora politely left out that Hannah flipped a lot of sand into Allie's hair accidentally. Lora helped Allie shake out most of the sand in her hair, but Allie waited until Hannah and I were out of earshot to tell her mother that Hannah flipped sand in her and hair she needed a bath to wash it out. What a polite little miss!

lipstick

2011-05-15T22:29:00.001-04:00

"I wanna rock."

2011-05-11T23:47:00.000-04:00

Sweet baby girl, I don't think I'll ever tire of hearing your words "I wanna rock." We get out one of your flannel baby receiving blankets, turn off the lights, I pick you up, and I rock you in the rocking recliner chair. I hold you like a baby and we whisper. One of our favorite things to talk about while rocking is to name all of the people that love you. You usually start with Mama and Daddy, your grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. Sometimes you also include the names of Mama and Daddy's friends. I love it that you include Allie and Allie's mommy Lora. I've always included the names Taiwan Mommy, Taiwan Grandma, Taiwan Grandpa, and Taiwan Auntie... and you're starting to include them, too. I don't know how much longer you'll want to be rocked like this, so I'll savor these moments in the recliner tonight.

more thoughts on potty training

2011-05-09T23:41:00.002-04:00

Hannah's gone from wearing pull-ups and telling us "No, I can't want it." when we ask if she needs to go potty... to a week free of accidents with multiple poops in the potty as well. She now thinks that going potty in a public restroom is fun. She'll tell us twice in large stores like Walmart and Target that she needs to go... and off we go to the bathrooms. The big fun is to tell Mommy that I can't come in... and she wants to climb her little hiney up the potty all by herself. "Don't come in! I do it myself!" She doesn't have any modesty issues... she's still a streaker at home. It's all about control and independence with Little Miss.

I think our turning point was at Lora's house. I had Hannah in pull-ups because it was a travel day, but was telling her once an hour that she needed to come try to make peepee with me. Somehow we got Allie to come into the bathroom with us, with Allie on the big potty and Hannah on the little potty at the same time. Apparently that was lots of fun with plenty of giggles and smiles. Never would have imagined that another three year old would potty train my three year old.

Mother's Day

2011-05-08T08:51:00.004-04:00

I'm grateful every day, and especially on Mother's Day, for a mother on the other side of the world who chose life for our daughter. Thank you.

These photos were taken by my dad yesterday. :)

panties post

2011-05-02T23:45:00.005-04:00

I'm so proud of my big girl. We've turned the corner on potty training. She's wearing panties all the time during the day now. We're even making trips to the grocery and hardware store in panties, and she's being really good about telling us when she needs to go. Last night Hannah even took her pull-up off in the middle of the night, put it on the floor, opened her drawer to retrieve a pair of panties, and put them on. She really likes her new Gymboree panties. I don't blame her. The Walmart Disney panties feel scratchy in comparison. She doesn't want to use the little potty anymore and always wants to go in the big potty. Daddy had a great idea, and put the little potty in her bed room. She can use it as a step stool to turn on and off her lights, and she can use the little potty in the middle of the night if she wants to wake up to go.

the royal wedding

2011-04-29T21:45:00.002-04:00

I had not been into the media frenzy leading up to the royal wedding, but decided several weeks ago that I'd wake up before dawn to watch. I'm too young to remember Charles and Diana's wedding, and it was such an event that was and continues to be referred to again and again that I knew that I'd like to watch this royal wedding live.

I had planned on getting up at 4am to get myself ready for work first and be ready to watch at 5am until I had to leave for work. Kevin thought I was nuts, of course. When I reasoned with him that we didn't have a DVR anymore and I couldn't record it he looked at me like I'd grown two heads. "Don't ya think SOMEONE will tape it and you'll be able to watch it over and over online and on TV for the next twenty years?" Oh, yeah. But still, I want to watch it LIVE.

There was a kink in my plans. I woke up at 3:47am to the sound of a boogery coughing little girl being placed in bed with me as she was instructed to lay down next to Mommy. "What's going on?"

"She says she doesn't feel good and wants to sleep with Mommy and Daddy." Sigh. Sick kid in bed means no sleep for Mommy. After 10 minutes of listening to Hannah's stopped up nose, I decided to get up.

I heard the sound of little feet following me into the bathroom. A wide awake three year old asked, "Mommy, what are you doing? It's dark outside." How do I answer that? Hmmmm.

"Hannah, something special is happening today. It's a wedding. A real princess wedding. With pretty dresses, and hats, and flowers, and princes, and people, and lots of horses, and a castle. Do you want to watch?"

"I watch princess movies."

"This time what Mommy is going to watch on TV is real. A REAL PRINCESS wedding. Do you want to watch, too?"

"YES!"

I handed Hannah her pink Nintento DS and she played a game in the bathroom waiting for me to get out of the shower. In true preschooler form, she commented on everything I was doing. "You put pants on? You gonna take your pills? You hang your towel up?"

Finally, I was ready for the day. If I would have known that Hannah was going to be up before the crack of dawn with me, I would have bought pastries and had a little tea set out. My clingy girl with a boogery nose was offered blueberry pop-tarts and strawberry milk. I had an extra big cup of coffee. I was going to need it to get through the day with less than four hours of sleep!

We snuggled in the recliner together with her little pink blanket, pop tarts, and our 5 am drinks of choice. We talked about who the people were, where they lived, that the men in red and black in the fancy car with a crown on top were real princes. This was all real, not a movie. We sat snuggled together talking about what we saw for an hour and a half. Hannah lost interest during some of the singing during the wedding. "I wanna watch *sumping* else. I wanna watch *sumping* else!"

"Uh, no. This is Mama's pick today."

"Okay, I play with play-doh."

Hannah played with play-doh and she did watch a little more when the carriages came out and we watched the horses bring the party back to the castle. When it was time for me to leave for work, Hannah crawled in bed with Daddy to wake him up."

"Daddy, I watch a princess wedding. A real princess wedding. With horses, and crowns, and it had a real prince. He's a good man."

I have no idea where the "he's a good man" part came from. Funny kid.

Redirect: more cupcake photos

2011-04-28T00:56:00.002-04:00

I swear, my daughter didn't learn to lick the icing bowl clean from me. Her daddy must do that.

Easter Wishes

2011-04-23T23:53:00.002-04:00

Easter is a time for hope and rejoicing!
May the glory of the Lord’s miracle strengthen your faith and renew your hope.
Wishing you many blessings this Easter.

We spent the day with my family. The sun came out after several days of rain, and we were able to spend time outside with an Easter egg hunt and playing with the kids.

Back at home tonight Kevin was in the living room with Hannah while I was editing photos from the day. I heard Hannah talking a lot about eggs. All of a sudden Kevin yelled, "Mommy, you'll want to come see this!" While Kevin had dozed off in a recliner for a few minutes, Hannah opened up an Easter egg coloring kit, put water in the decorating cups, inserted the colored tablets in the cups, and was telling her daddy to get up and get her some eggs!!!! ACK!!! Luckily, she can't open the refrigerator to get eggs, and didn't make much of a mess. She just dripped a little of the colored water onto her jammies. Thank goodness we have wood laminate flooring and got rid of all of the beige carpet!

lady stickers, dress up, and cupcakes

2011-04-21T23:01:00.002-04:00

Hannah and I enjoyed a play date at Allie and Lora's house today!

Hannah and I brought a long one of Hannah's favorite activities that she refers to as "lady stickers."

I get a kick out of hanging Picasso-like art on my refrigerator, and I appreciate that the collection of ladies are of a wide range of ethnic backgrounds.

It wasn't long before Hannah said, "I want to wear a crown," and Allie readily shared her dress up clothes with Hannah.

Stinkin' cute, I know!

They're gamers already at age three.

Lora had baked spring time cupcakes and the girls got to ~~eat all of the frosting and sprinkles they wanted~~ decorate them.

Lora's daughter Allie is a master at cupcake art.

My daughter is more interested in shoveling large quantities of frosting and sprinkles into her mouth.

She didn't learn this from watching me, I swear.

Looking forward to seeing you ladies again when it's warmer and we can play outside!

Redirect: Taiwan gives most in world to Japan

2011-04-20T23:33:00.002-04:00

The Taipei Times published an article Sunday reporting that Taiwan has donated more money than any other nation to Japan in the aftermath of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

I-600A approval

2011-04-20T13:41:00.003-04:00

Our I-600A approval came today in our mail box. We're one step closer to a second child. :)

Last night we has some unexpected sass from Miss Hannah. Kevin asked Hannah to bring him something. She was taking her sweet time. Daddy told her to quit messing around and get to it. Hannah replied in an exasperated tone, "I'm working on it, Daddy!"

That phrase is SO something that Kevin uses with me when I'm telling him to do something! Haha!

Redirect: Peepshi

2011-04-20T00:16:00.003-04:00

I so want to do this! Making Peepshi looks way more fun than dipping Easter eggs. :)

expected and unexpected

2011-04-07T14:25:00.002-04:00

Expected: "You take pitch-ure and then we get chalk-it candies. Alright?"

Unexpected: Lots of lifting up of our pretty shirt and examining the belly button.

my little bulldog

2011-04-04T23:55:00.000-04:00

We've been talking a lot about "bulldogs" at home with my team doing so well in the tournament. Tonight after dinner I called a friend that owns a real bulldog and asked if we could stop by before the game to see her dog. Hannah was very interested in this big snorting wrinkled dog, but didn't want to pet him.

Our team didn't win the national championship tonight, but it was a fun ride. Thanks for the fun, guys. Proud of the Butler Way. Proud to be a Butler Bulldog.

Hannah started preschool aged swim classes today. I didn't realize it until last night that parents wouldn't be in the water with the preschoolers ages 3-5. I was so worried about how Hannah would be on her own with a high school aged instructor aka a STRANGER. She warmed up to Molly way quicker than I could have ever imagined and I beamed while watching Hannah hold on to a noodle and kick her way around the pool. That's my girl! :)

sing-along

2011-04-01T07:20:00.002-04:00

Thanks to lots of time spent with Grandma at our house while Daddy recovered from surgery this winter, Hannah knows her Disney princesses. She likes them all pretty equally. Sometimes when Hannah wants to watch Mulan, she asks for "my Chinese movie."

Last night while picking up the house we had turned on Mulan for Hannah on the TV in her bedroom. I walked past the door to her room and heard her quietly singing along with the song "Reflection." I quietly hid in Hannah's doorway and, with tears in my eyes, listened to her sing Reflection and get half of the words right. I sang along with her at the end, revealing my presence. She stopped singing, a little embarrassed. At the end she said, "Mommy, I like that song." Me, too.

immigration

2011-03-29T23:43:00.001-04:00

A little before 8am this morning we were wanded by security and entered the waiting room for immigration. Hannah has a cold and isn't feeling well. She held tightly to one of her favorite flannel blankies. The immigration office has rows of plastic chairs that fold up like movie theater chairs. There are glass covered windows and one can talk with an immigration officer through the glass windows. We sat down in the front row of chairs to wait our turn and Hannah loudly asked, "Are we going to see a movie???"

We had a pretty awful trip because Hannah isn't feeling well, but I'll spare you the gross details. The bright spot of the trip was spending an hour in the pool with our little fish! Mommy really enjoyed well deserved time in the jacuzzi tub, too!

on the way to the airport

2011-03-28T00:23:00.003-04:00

Just a little cuteness from today.
We picked Nana and Papa up at the airport as they returned from spring break.
We met them today at the same spot that they met Hannah for the first time.
{Pulls on my heart!}
Tomorrow we have our biometric fingerprint scan appointments in Indianapolis, and should receive immigration approval shortly thereafter. It's been seven and a half months since our agency gave us a heads up that we were third in line for a referral of a little boy, and to anticipate a referral in about three to six months. I'm starting to think about #2 a lot right now. I think about his/her first mother, her struggles, for guidance with the decisions she is making for herself and her young or unborn child, and I pray for peace for her.

buttons

2011-03-25T00:39:00.004-04:00

Hannah looks pretty proud of herself, doesn't she?

Hannah mastered buttoning her own clothes this week. When I came home from work Wednesday night she showed me at least four times. "I do it, I do it, I do it myself!"

puzzles

2011-03-17T16:10:00.003-04:00

One of Hannah's favorite activities since her third birthday is puzzles. Several family members and Mama and Daddy have purchased her wooden puzzzle sets from Melissa and Doug and Target's Circo brand. The 12 piece puzzles are too simple for her now, the 24 piece puzzles are just right for her to complete on her own, and she needs some assistance with the 48 piece puzzles so that she doesn't become frustrated. It's been amazing to watch her little brain develop strategy over the last two months.

I took a little video today as I watched her complete some puzzles. So proud of my smart cookie!

a smile that could melt your "chalk-it"

2011-03-14T07:14:00.002-04:00

birthday present from USCIS

2011-03-04T23:55:00.001-05:00

USCIS sent us fingerprint appointment notices today. Our presence is requested at 8am in Indianapolis on MY BIRTHDAY! Yippie! Another step closer to kiddo #2.

Redirect: Death Rituals in Taiwan

2011-02-27T23:31:00.002-05:00

Here is an interesting post on burial practices in Taiwan at American Family.

I wanted to know a little more, and found this great National Geographic video on second burials.

"Take my pitch-ure!"

2011-02-27T14:05:00.002-05:00

Where are you, spring?

chocolate egg rolls

2011-02-25T16:14:00.001-05:00

Hannah and Daddy went to the store to get their food stockpile before last night's snowstorm. Hannah requested this purchase, a box of "chocolate egg rolls." How I love this kid!

three year old check-up

2011-02-24T12:27:00.005-05:00

Yesterday Hannah had her three year old check-up. She has always been very tearful when she has a doctor's appointment. I talked to her a lot this week about going to the doctor. We practiced saying her doctor's name and picked out some artwork on the refrigerator to bring to give to her. I talked about how Hannah was going to be measured to see how big she is, and that the doctor would look in her ears and in her eyes and listen to her back and tummy. Great plan, right? I thought so, and was looking forward to seeing how this would go over.

Well, she froze up and got clingy as soon as we got to the office. Hannah cried and refused to stand next to a growth chart and step on the scale. Watching Mommy do it and being offered the reward of a sticker didn't work. Our pediatrician did a great job in showing the "flashlight" on her otoscope and let Hannah press her finger to it. She even looked into the ears on Hannah's Woody tattoo to show that it wouldn't hurt. Sigh. Lots of screaming and tears, as usual.

At 37 months Hannah is 34.5 inches tall and weighs 22 pounds 12 ounces. Hannah was deemed on target developmentally and had no speech or motor delays. This is just what a family that has graduated from First Steps early intervention wants to hear! Yay!

We talked a lot about how Hannah is very reserved in new social situations, and often takes a half an hour to warm up to a new environment. She's not fearful of the environment, but takes some time to feel comfortable enough to talk and participate. In the opinion our pediatrician, there's nothing wrong with that. It's just Hannah's little personality. She talks about enjoying her social situations like story time at the library and toddler classes by requesting, "I go back," even if she didn't talk every much during the experience.

Bringing the pediatrician one of her works of art was a great way to get Hannah to open up and start talking during the appointment. She gave the doctor a Chinese New Year sticker scene with lanterns, dragons, golden coins, and lion dancers and told the doctor about what was on the paper.

The pediatrician plotted this year's growth on an American chart and decided to keep using her adjusted age. Hannah's still hanging out below the 10th percentile for height and we're still way off the chart for weight, but Hannah's following her own little curve down there that's just right for her.

When I went home I got out my scans of a Taiwanese growth chart to see how plots of Hannah's two and three year old measurements compare between the charts. On the Taiwanese chart she's just barely off the chart for weight. Very interesting to see how much these plots differentiate between the two charts.

Figure 1: US growth chart for girls. Black plots are age adjusted. Blue plots from two and three year old appointments are not age adjusted for prematurity.

Figure 2: Taiwanese height chart for girls. Black plots are age adjusted for prematurity and blue plots are at the actual age.

Figure 3: Taiwanese weight chart for girls. Black plots are age adjusted for prematurity and blue plots are at the actual age.

When we were walking out of the building after Hannah's appointment, Hannah was walking on her own holding my hand. All on her own she said, "I scared." I stopped and got down on her level. "You were scared at the doctor's office?" "Yes." "Are you scared now?" "No. All done."

I had a check-up for myself that afternoon. "Hannah, do you want to go to Mommy's doctor appointment today with Mommy? Mommy is going to be measured, too. It's not for Hannah, it's for Mommy." "Yes, I go too!" Hannah went with me with me to my checkup and was well behaved for a three year old entertaining herself with an iphone. When I was on the exam table and the physician's assistant was listening to my lungs and looking in my ears, Hannah asked over and over "What are you doing?" I think it was a good experience for her to see that Mommy has to do this too, it doesn't hurt, and I wasn't scared.

Chinese New Year 2011 (2 of 3)

2011-02-21T00:28:00.002-05:00

A little back blogging, mostly for myself as I don't want to forget these special events. Our second CNY party was with a group of very local adoptive families. All of the other families have little ones, all girls, from China. I love getting together with other adoptive families, but the very local ties are especially important... as these are the people we see at the grocery store and at school. I think it's really healthy for our families to get to know each other.

Kevin's mother once again had the honor of distributing the red envelopes to the children, as she was the eldest of the group. She just beams getting to talk to all of the little kids.

The girls were all so cute. I censored their faces as I don't want to offend any local friends. Hannah really enjoyed playing with the oldest kids. They played with a balloon hitting it into the air over and over while Hannah shrieked with laughter.

a new twist to the book of Genesis

2011-02-19T23:25:00.004-05:00

During story time tonight, Hannah informed me that Adam and Eve were mermaids. Hmmmm... I don't remember mermaids mentioned anywhere in Genesis. Learned something new tonight!

A Valentine from Hannah Claire

2011-02-14T00:02:00.002-05:00

Happy Valentine's Day from my girl that knows exactly what she wants!

Highlight of Valentine's Day 2011

2011-02-13T13:43:00.002-05:00

Our adoption home study for child #2 is in my hands. Kevin will be shipping one original off to USCIS and two originals to our placement agency along with our corrected dossier documents. {Mama and Dada forgot to sign our passport copies first time around!} Feels freeing to have this mountain of work out of our hands!

"I need chocolate."

2011-02-12T23:12:00.003-05:00

Thursday night Hannah and I were looking at photos from our playdate with Lora and Allie. Hannah had crawled up into my lap wearing a new swimuit and hand me down pretty gold shoes from Allie. I commented, "Hannah, doesn't Allie look so sweet when she smiles for pictures?" Hannah said, "I wanna take pitchures." Let's go! I grabbed my camera and got set up. Hannah put her hands over her mouth. I took this photo then frowned. "I thought you wanted to smile for pictures." Hannah grinned and replied, "I need chocolate." Ha ha ha ha ha! After a promise of chocolate, I got all kinds of great smiles out of her. What a stinker!