LINK TO OUR JOURNEY TO JILLIANA

LINK TO OUR JOURNEY TO JILLIANA
CLICK ON JILLIANA'S PHOTO TO FOLLOW OUR JOURNEY TO CHINA

Monday, January 31, 2011

Packing, Computer Breakdown and NEW PICTURES OF JILLIANA

Packing!  

Yes, the packing has begun, and I do not like it!  I am a serious over packer!  Mike my wonderful and thoughtful husband took the girls to the desert for two days so that I could make a dent in the packing.  Packing for four little girls and myself (thank goodness Mike packs for himself) is hard.  This time feels even harder having to pack for two climates.  I looked up Xian on the 10 day weather forecast which puts us at the day before we arrive with a temperature of 46 high and 27 low.  On February 7th it shows rain and snow.  Then you go to Guangzhou and you get in the high 70's.  

 Here is the entrance to our room where I have dumped everything I have bought that I thought we would need.  I have been doing this over the last two months.
 The girls carry on's with some of the goodies I am packing in them.  Do you know how many things you need to keep two five year olds and a 7 year old occupied for flying over 15 hours?
 Jilliana's things, sippy cups, bib, toys, puffs, toys
 Jilliana's clothes
 I have all the toiletry items here
Clothes for Emma, Meilynn, and Lily
 Jilliana's suitcase
 We get Jilliana on Valentine's Day.  Here are the valentine gifts for the girls.
 I found these cute necklaces.  This is a special occasion because it will be the first time that Emma is a big sister.  She has always been the baby.  So I got her a big sister one and Jilliana a little sister one.  Lily's has a crown on it and of course Kitty Boo Boo (Meilynn) has a Hello Kitty on hers.  It will also be special for her because she can never find anything with her name on it, like Emma and Lily can.




Beginning to get my clothes together.  I would say that I am now 80% done and that feels good.
I have several lists going of things I don't want to forget to bring and do before we go.  It is a lot different than that first time that Mike and I went to China and it was only the two of us picking up Emma.

I had a computer breakdown this weekend!  My keyboard first started not making the period, and then all of the keys started malfunctioning.  My computer has all of our pictures on it and it is the one that we plan to bring to China, so this was big.  I made an appointment at the Mac store and we were able to take it in today and they replaced the whole keyboard free of charge, and it looks like it is ok.  The worst part of that was that I have new pictures of our little one and I was not able to post them.

I had asked my agency for one last update so that we would know her size.  I got updated sizes and I got updated pictures.  In a lot of the pictures of her that we have she is looking so happy.  In these she looks like someone pulled her in to get the picture for us and she is none to happy about it.  I like that I know what her mad and pouty look is.  I cannot wait to give those cute little cheeks kisses.

It will be interesting to see if the sizes are accurate.  If they are she almost weighs as much as Emma and Meilynn.  They said she is almost 30 pounds and Meilynn and Emma are 32 pounds.  They have her height at over four inches smaller than Meilynn and Emma.  I am taking size 3T for her and I think that should be about right.

And now here she is.......... Jilliana Elise Jihong

Doesn't she look mad here?  Her little forehead is wrinkled and her little eyebrows are so expressive.  I think that they must have just woke her up. Look at the little bunny toy on the ground and it looks like a quilt on the wall.

I love her little pout! And look at that little one in the doorway.

One thing that I have noticed is that she likes to play with her hair things.  If you zoom in on her little hand at her side she has some hair things in her hand.  I know it is cold there, but look at that beautiful light shinning in the room.

Only 14 more days until we get to hold her in our arms.  She has waited and been through so much.  I can't help but think about how traumatic this will be for her.  I remember how difficult those first hours were with Meilynn.  She cried so much and I hesitated for a moment and wondered if we were doing the right thing tearing her away from everything that she knows.  How hard this will be for Jilliana having already gone through the trauma of strangers taking her away and then bringing her back.  What a wonderful God we have who takes us as we are.
He predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will  Ephesians 1:5
Thank you in advance for those that will be praying for Jilliana's  transition into our family.

Monday, January 24, 2011

Graffiti, Easy Bake, Preparing for China, and New Ride

We had a little Graffiti on our outside wall this week as well as on the bricks.
Someone had a little cleaning to do.
We made a paper chain for our countdown to leaving for China.  Here Lily is coloring her links.
Meilynn coloring hers
Our "Pharmacy in a Suitcase" for China

Our paper chain to China
Kami gave the girls an Easy Bake oven for Christmas, so we made sugar cookies.

Emma was pleased with hers
Meilynn waiting,  It takes 15 minutes to pre-heat, 15 minutes to cook one cookie and 10 to cool.  I think that it is easier to make a big batch in the oven, but this is fun!
The finished cookies

Lily likes them!

I found these dresses at Marshalls for $12.99 including the doll dress.  Emma loves her baby Ming Jing
Lily modeling hers.

Of course our Kitty Boo Boo (Meilynn) had to dress her Hello Kitty in her dress.
Before Church on Sunday
These call me Grandma
Here is my car that took the place of my Swagger Van Rental!  I love it!
Pretty soon we will have a full load

I know the rest of the country has been hit by cold weather.  After Church the girls made a tea party in the backyard.  It was a beautiful, sunny, 75 degrees.  We are expecting in the 80's this week.

Friday, January 21, 2011

Meilynn's First Paid Job!

 I forgot to make this post!  I don't want to forget it though so here it is a little late, but here to remember.
At Christmas Meghan and Nick came to stay for the whole two week vacation.  They of course brought my Grand Dogger, Max.  We don't have a dog and Meilynn is very afraid of them.  So she won't even go outside when the dog is here.  Meghan kept talking about when they leave she would pay someone to pick up the dogs............  When we were out shopping Meghan told Meilynn that if she took the job she would pay her $5.  The girls are just beginning to learn about money, so Meghan showed Meilynn things that were worth $5 dollars.  The last day she was here she asked who would like to earn $5 picking up the..........  Meilynn was the only one who stepped up to take on the job.

Meghan tied Max up so that Meilynn could do her job.  I really thought she would back out, but she did it!
 Looking for it
 Meghan paying her
 Not sure about the outfit for the work she was doing, but it worked!  Look at that smile earning her first $5.  She put it in her piggy bank and is thinking about whether to save it or spend it.
Just a cute picture of her when she tried on Emma's Christmas gift.  Good job Meilynn!  Mommy and Daddy or proud of you and that you stuck with your first job and did it well!

Lets talk about Laundry

The other day I was walking by my Laundry Room and saw these clothes hanging, and then I had one of those sentimental moments.  I looked at those clothes and thought about the new set of clothes that I will soon be washing.  Where you see three little matching dresses there will be four.

Sometimes the thought of doing Laundry is not something I like to think about.  I don't mind sorting,  and stain treating, and washing and drying.  I don't even mind folding since it feels like a free ticket to watch TV.  And I have a system so that I know which clothes go into which piles.  Every piece of clothing, socks, and panties is marked with a flower for Lily, a heart for Meilynn and a star for Emma.  This system started when we adopted Meilynn.  Emma and Meilynn were only two and could not read so we marked everything with a heart or star.  We think Jilliana's symbol will be a happy face.  It has to be something easy and quick when you have to mark all of those little socks.

The part of the laundry that I despise is putting the clothes away!  We live in a two story house.  So that does not add to the fun of laundry.  The good news is that now all three girls are old enough to put away their own clothes!!!!!
 Things that do not go in the dryer
My laundry room.

If I wash one to two loads a day I can keep up, but I usually do three to four loads every other day.  The only thing I am not looking forward to is the laundry when we get home from China!  Ugggg!, but I am looking forward to washing those new little clothes.

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Hoe Down in the Desert.......eeeeeehaw!

Mike showing Lily where to ride.
 We like to go out to the desert in the winter to play on our riding toys.   Michael broke his scapula so he has been unable to ride his motorcycle and he is banned from riding it until we return from China! (just kidding, the Doctor told him no riding)  Every year Mike likes to plan a themed event.  We have done Italian themed, Jimmy Buffet, Disco, etc.  This years theme was "Hoe Down".  He made a Country Western music track and the Cowboy hats came out.

We round up all the RV's and Toy Haulers and get together for Dinner and Dancing under the stars.  We go out in the middle of nowhere and all set up camp.  On Friday Mike went out early to set up the Geo Cache game.  He hid containers with trivia questions.  Then on Sunday everyone gets the clues (the coordinates for the GPS) and we have a time limit.  The ones furthest away are worth more points and the ones close up less.  After the time limit the Judges (Mike with the help of my sister Debbie and her boyfriend Tom) total the scores.  First, Second and Third places are awarded.  The first place went to our good friends Marty and Debbie and the people they took in their buggy and second went to Me, Kami, Meilynn and Brooke (my niece).  The great thing about that is that I was the Driver and Kami was the navigator and we did it all by ourselves.

Every year we get a little bigger with more and more people participating.  We bring the main dish and set up the game, and decorations and then everyone else brings the sides etc.  I think that we had more than 70 people this year.  It is a great time where the RV's are circled, just like in the old days where they circle the wagons and they have the run of the camp!  The kids all play together and come up with their own ideas of what to do.

Lily loves riding the quad and is fearless, and Meilynn loves it too.  Emma rides a little but she much prefers playing.  We get really dirty and we have a great time.  Here are some moments from the weekend.



 Kami and Aunt Debbie in the back and Lily, Meilynn and Emma decorating for the party!
 Cousin Brookie getting into the spirt of things.  Then we all thought this was so funny we all had to do it.
 Lily
 Emma
 Meilynn
 Tom
 Kim being the funny guy!
 Emma, see all the motorhomes in the background?
 Meilynn being silly
 Emma already dressed, with her cousin Brookie.  Brookie is the same age as Lily
 Funny girls!  I am not quite sure what they are doing here.  Kami took the picture.
 Dressed for the party
 Kim and Kami chatting it up
 Kim and his son Brandon decorating for the party
 Emma so cute in her pink boots

 Sisters, just missing two...Meghan and Jilliana
 Our friends win best costume....Woody and Jessie
 Marty and Debbie
 Aunt Debbie and her boyfriend Tom
 Me with my girls
 Kim and Brandon making the eats
 Cowgirl Tiara
 Does it get any cuter?
 It's hard to get everyone looking great
 Daddy giving the instructions for the Geo Cache

 Our friend Marty loves our girls
 Caught in the act
 Me and Emma
 Daddy dancing with Lily

 Brookie and Meilynn
 Daddy and Emma


 Our friends, Debbie and Kim

 Meilynn in the dip
 Lily loves Debbie
 Ashley and Drew

I don't think those are cowboy boots!  Ummm....Ughs


We had a wonderful time with our friends.  Wish you all could have come!