The Adventures of Miss Tippy Tail, Kitty Boo Boo, Lily Lollipop and Jilly Bean

2012-01-20T10:19:00.000-08:00

Watch this very special child give her testimony and find out why we do what we do, why we feel the calling so strongly, why we adopt when the rest of the world thinks we are crazy!

This is a little girl that was going to age out. In China you can only be adopted until you are 13. The day you turn 14 you are unadoptable.

Xiaoyun was adopted in April! Listen to what she has to say about being an orphan.
THIS is why!!!! HERE

Finally.......

2011-11-28T21:41:00.001-08:00

I am sure you must be thinking that we have fallen off the face of the earth? We are still here and doing well, not just well but great! Things are busier than ever and just when I think that cannot happen, it does. So here are the pictures I promised and I am sure you will agree that it was worth the wait! Again, I will try to catch up a little at a time. We did celebrate our little monkey's fourth birthday and I want to get that here as fast as possible.

Emma 6, Meilynn 6......Little Red Riding Hood and Strawberry Shortcake

Lily the Rockstar, 8 going on 15

Jilliana, our little Monkey, 3 almost 4 here

First Trick-or-Treat for Jilliana

She thought it was pretty cool!

The part you don't see, picking boogers out of noses...

spraying hair red..

I am truly a blessed Mom!!!!!!!!!!!!

More Cuteness To Come

2011-11-01T09:01:00.000-07:00

So much more to come but I couldn't leave you hanging!

Jilliana on her first Halloween! She was our little Monkey! She loved, loved, loved, Halloween! We would go to one house and as soon as we left the porch she would say, "Can I go to that one?" She did this on every house. She was not afraid of any of the costumes or of going up to any of the houses. She would proudly shout out her Trick or Treat and open her bag and say Thank You! Then she would just stare as if she could not believe this could really be happening! Every day we look at this little monkey and can not believe that God blessed us with such a miracle! Thank you God!

Dressed for a wedding and trying to get a good picture!

2011-10-09T22:31:00.000-07:00

I'm Back and With Room For A Lot More Pictures

2011-09-18T22:15:00.000-07:00

Well this time I have an excuse or at least an excuse for part of the time. My computer came up with a warning that told me that soon my hard drive would be at its maximum capability. So my dear husband took it and put a new bigger and better hard drive in it. There were a few complications with getting it in and then as often happens, so much has happened that I don't know where to start. So I guess I will start with today and hopefully I can fill in with the things that I missed.

Today Kami and I decided to take the girls up to Oak Glen for breakfast. (Mike was getting in some last minute motorcycle riding in before his operation on his ankle next week. He injured his ankle years ago and after after trying some therapies that did not work for him, has decided to have surgery on it.) Oak Glen is a very small little mountain community known for it's apple orchards and apple pie of course.

There is a little petting zoo behind the restaurant we had breakfast at and a little village with just some local crafts.

The first thing that we found were the ponies. Jilliana had just read a book about horses so it was great to see them in person and ride them. I wasn't sure if she would but she was very excited and while doing it kept saying, "Look at me!" Meilynn also gave it a try. Both Lily and Emma had ridden a pony before, but Meilynn has been too scared to try.

Emma enjoying riding her pony "Emme"

Lily chose "Angel"

Meilynn got the biggest pony "Apple". (Oh, I forgot to explain the face paint on Emma and Meilynn's faces. We went to a wedding yesterday and they had a children's reception. The girls all got their faces painted, but Meilynn and Jilliana wanted to keep theirs on one more day)

Jilliana's first pony ride on "Skippy"

After the pony ride we went into the petting zoo. We found out they were going to have pig races and a lesson in milking a goat.

Jilliana liked petting them.

Lily and Jilliana petting the goats

Jilliana is scolding this one for some reason

I love this picture. Emma and Meilynn didn't choose to come in to the petting zoo part. Probably for Emma because she didn't want to step on any ........ and for Meilynn because she was scared. But what I like about this picture is the attitude of the goat and Emma and Meilynn. They are having quite the discussion!

Kami took this picture on her cell phone of Lily and Emma posing for a picture, but the goat was trying to eat Lily's skirt.

Lily volunteered and got to be the person to decide which pig won the pig race.

Here they go, Cheetah, Halfpint and Jet 5!

Halfpint was the winner!

Lily milking the goat

Emma milking the goat

Jilliana milking the goat

Every time she squeezed

She would look in the bucket in disbelief

We got to see the baby pigs

Computer Problem!

2011-09-07T22:35:00.000-07:00

I guess I filled up my hard drive with all of my photos, so Mike has been trying to replace my hard drive with a bigger one without success. He has an appointment tomorrow at the apple store, so hopefully I will be back up and running. I have about 400 e-mails to go through.

Jilliana Home Six Months!

2011-09-03T00:01:00.000-07:00

My sister-in-law, Stephany took these pictures of Jilliana at Emma's 6th birthday. I just love them! Our little treasure has been with us 6 months now!

Emma's 6th Birthday, Aloha!

2011-08-30T21:15:00.000-07:00

Thank you Aunt Stephany for such an awesome slide show!
Click Here

How is Lily Doing in School?

2011-08-24T20:31:00.000-07:00

Well since you asked the answer is better than I expected. Yes, it is still early and the spelling test was very small this week, but this is what she brought home after her first full week.

Do you see that? Brilliant!
I wish you could have seen the smile to go along with that 100%. It was worth all of the worry and aggravation I have had the last 18 months with her.

You see, there have been times and there still are times when I wonder if Lily will ever catch up. For those of you who do not know, Lily was adopted as a healthy 6 year old. Healthy yes, but so much catching up to do after living in an orphanage for six years. The best we can tell is that there were no toys, no books, no school. What did she do all day? We think she played outside and watched TV. We don't even think she was given chores. She had no critical thinking skills, no problem solving, she was living a "ground-hog day" existence. Each day ran into the other without much change. She did not have choices. She just did what they told her to do. They told her when to eat, when to go to bed, etc. She had never left the walls of the orphanage according to her.

The one thing she did have was survival skills. She knew how to get her fair share, and she knew if she did not get it. Still to this day she watches me very carefully give out the food at dinner. She may not be able to do some math skills, but she can tell if someone has two more grains of rice than she has.

She also has great organizational skills. She can put things away and packaged as if new. What little she did get she must have had to put away securely.

So getting her to think for herself and think in a logical manner is taking a lot of practice.

When I think back to those first months when it took so long to learn her colors and I wondered if there was a learning disability. I went over and over colors with her. She eventually got them but it took so much repetition. As I worked with her I found out that everything we did took so much repetition.

To think that she is now reading, yes at a very early level, but she is reading is almost a miracle to me. At times I would get very angry with her, but to see now the fruits of that work is amazing. A part of me wants to continue the homeschooling, because now I can finally see some of the results. I don't know what God has in store for Lily. Adopting older has had its challenges.

But what we are seeing is a little girl who loves life, loves people, and loves God. She has the opportunity at a future that has no limits.

Then

Now

Our Jilly Bean starts Pre-school

2011-08-23T21:29:00.000-07:00

Today was Jilliana's first day of pre-school. This has certainly been a month of decisions for me. First deciding whether to homeschool the girls or not and now whether to send Jilliana to school so early or not. She has only been here 6 months.

We signed her up back in the Spring since there is always a waiting list for the pre-school that the older girls went to. Her speech therapist thought it would be good for her. I had my doubts and fully anticipated that we would go, she would cry and not stop, and then I would bring her home and wait until next year to send her.

Jilliana has never even stayed at Church yet by herself. Either Mike or myself have stayed with her.

Pre-school is from 9-12

I took her for a pumpkin muffie after dropping the girls off at school. They go to school at 8:00.

Jilliana always amazes me. I think she is really, really, smart. We walked up to a table that had name tags for all of the kids coming today. I was looking for her tag and the next thing I know she has found her name by herself and picked it up and told me here it is!

It was 100 degrees today! The sun was very bright. Her teacher let all of the kids bring a stuffed animal on their first day. The school knew that I was expecting Jilliana to cry. They assured me that they would call me if she did not stop. They are aware that she was adopted just 6 months ago and may not be ready for this.

She was really happy to have a potty and sink that she could reach all by herself!

She went right for the play-dough

Then it was time for me to leave. The Teacher told me I could stay if I would feel better, but I was ready to find out if she would be going to school or not. At this point I told her Mommy was leaving and that I would be back. She started crying. The Teacher told me, "She will be ok". Yes in "normal" circumstances I would expect a child to be ok, but these are uncharted waters. When is really the right time? I really thought that it was going to not be now. Even when I go to the grocery store and she stays with Mike, when I come back she acts like I have been gone for a week. She runs to me yelling"Mommy" and hugs me. So I walked out the door. And you know what happened next? I started crying. Here I am surrounded by all of these young moms and I am crying. They are all telling me it will be ok. I can hear her crying and I wait. After just a few minutes one of the Moms looks in the window for me and tells me that she is sitting on the teacher's lap and is not crying. I wait a little longer and she is still ok. So I leave after telling the director to call me if she starts crying again. I did some shopping close by so that I could be back in 5 minutes.

I never got a call. When I came back to the school this is what she was doing.

She just looked up and said, "Mommy" and kept on digging.

I had a hard time getting her out of the dirt.

This was not what I had expected at all. She had a great day and was excited about her school.
She will be going two days a week. We will see how she feels on Thursday. We are very proud of our big girl!

First Day of First Grade

2011-08-10T22:54:00.000-07:00

Today was our first day of first Grade!

Aunt Debbie came by to help get ready. Daddy made waffles.

Lunch boxes for everyone, even Jilliana

The first day of school picture,

Meghan drove out to spend the night so she could also be there.

Bye Aunt Debbie

We are on our way

At school

Emma and Meilynn's first grade

Lily at her desk in first grade

Meilynn at her desk

Emma at her desk

Lily saying good-bye to Jilliana. Jilliana ran up and gave hugs to all of them.

After School, still have smiling faces.

This one is for Lyla! Lily is standing on Arkansas

Jilliana and Emma found Cape Cod

Meilynn's self portrait

Emma's self portrait

Emma and Meilynn's class

Walking home

The Decision About School Is Made

2011-08-09T20:32:00.000-07:00

Well after much thought and prayer the decision is made. We will be starting school tomorrow with all three girls in first grade.

The decision really came down to me wanting to be the Mommy for Lily and not the Teacher that she despised. I know that a lot of people that gave me advice felt that I had to do what is best for all three girls. The funny thing is that either way, homeschool or public, it was all about Lily. Emma and Meilynn would do fine either way. I think that Emma and Meilynn would have had a lot of fun with me and learned a whole lot more than they will in the amount of time that a teacher has in public school for each student.

Lily would also have learned more from me, but at what cost to our relationship? While Lily has done great in transitioning into our family, the tension between us because of me pushing her, may have hindered our bonding. She has attached and bonded well with Mike, but to be honest, after some of our school sessions I did not feel all that loving toward her.

I found Lily's Teacher's e-mail on her web-page and told her I would like to tell her about Lily. She responded right back and we set up a meeting time this morning at 7:00. She was great and I think she will be an awesome Teacher for Lily. I told her everything and I think that we will be a good team working together for Lily. She made me feel better about our decision.

While I still have doubts and concerns and I will miss doing the things that I had already planned in my mind. The best thing about our decision is that it is not written in stone and we can make any changes we may need to and next year, well that will be another time of reflection, and decision.

So......with no school shopping even started, we hit the Target for all the school supplies. The girls already had backpacks, so those were washed and hung to dry. Lily needed a lunch pail and of course Jilliana needed everything the big girls had. Meghan will drive over tonight and spend the night so she can be here for the girls first day of school and my sister Debbie will come over in the morning to help see the girls off. I think she was around for most of Kami and Meghan's first days of school.

I need to slip in some of our Cape Cod trip over the next few days so since we are talking about homeschool I will leave with these pictures. The girls and I did a colonial unit on our own this summer because I knew we were going to Cape Cod and would visit Plymouth Rock and I was getting the feel for homeschool. We talked about the Mayflower, the Native Americans, and what it must have been like to live at that time. Visiting these things was a great culminating activity and it made it real for them.

Looking at the Mayflower 2

Plymouth Rock sign

Looking at the rock

There it is! It actually has a very interesting history and has been moved, broken, stolen from etc.

A little lecture about the rock

Daddy with his captive homeschool students. Behind they are all the names of those that were buried together that died that first year.

Entrance to Plymouth Village

The girls also loved learning to follow the map. For Geography we had learned where we were going, found it on a map, learned the names of the cities we visited, and learned about the compass rose.

Dwelling the Native Indians used.

What the homes looked like of the pilgrims

Inside one of the houses

The view form the top. The girls learned so much. I was really impressed with Lily when we looked at the corn and she remembered that I had told her the Native Indians used fish to help fertilize the corn. She can really surprise me at times. So this is what was so difficult to give up. I really enjoyed our lessons before and then getting to be there. I know some of you are saying that we can do that with the lessons at school, or supplement ourselves. But, I know that we will get caught up in the school, homework, activity cycle. Remember, I have done this before. Once you start it is hard to stop. I have been reading lately on a few blogs about living simply. I am not sure what it is all about, but I want to find out.

So the girls are all tucked in and clothes and backpacks are laid out for tomorrow.
It is bittersweet.

Crazy, Busy, Summer!

2011-08-08T22:03:00.001-07:00

First of all I want to thank all of you that commented on my last post! I was actually surprised! I expected there to be more people on the side of homeschooling. Today we walked over to the school to look at the class lists. Emma and Meilynn were put in the same class and Lily was put in another. School starts on Wednesday and it looks like we are going to give it a try. I still have such mixed feelings.

The supply list posted in the window,

Lily and Emma looking at the class lists

Lily found her name

Jilliana, Hello Kitty, and Meilynn walking to the school.

Big Sis and Little Sis

We have had a wonderful, busy, summer. I plan to get some of the great things we did posted this week a little at a time.

You know what this means?

104.5 fever and still has a smile. Emma wearing a cold cloth on her head. (Thanks Grandma for making Mommy these new dish cloths that stay on your head and look so cute.)

Saturday Emma came down with a very high temperature. Mike took her to Urgent Care on Sunday and it looks like it is her tonsils. She has the biggest tonsils I have ever seen and this last year we have been having a lot of trouble with them. We have a physical later this month for Emma and Meilynn, so I am sure tonsils will come up. She is on an antibiotic and if her fever is not better tomorrow we will be going back in to see what is going on.

Daddy's little helper. Jilliana just loves her Daddy and she really likes helping him take out the trash. I really need to work on my photography skills. I cut Daddy's head off in the picture below.

Jilliana thought it was so funny that I was taking a picture of them taking out the trash!

Notice the shoes

We are really enjoying our little gift. She lights up the room with her sweet little smile. Now if we could just get her out of our bed(:

School Starts on Wednesday, and I Still Don't Know What We Are Doing

2011-08-07T11:47:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I got an e-mail from an internet buddy asking me what we have decided to do about school?

What to do about Lily's schooling ( and the other girls) has been a

difficult decision and I am still not sure about it. We have struggled

with what to do for a long time.

I wish I had a crystal ball to see what is the best for the girls because

I feel that the decision that we make now is the one that is most important.

Mike says to me

to just choose one option and then if it doesn't work we can change, but I

know that won't be so easy to do. I think once we make the decision going back

either way will be hard to do.

Here are our options:

1. All three girls in first grade in public school. We live just around

the corner from the "best" public school in our district.

2. Homeschool all three girls.

3. Homeschool just Lily.

One is by far the easiest choice. Actually giving me time with just

Jilliana and some time for me for the first time in 5 years. Our public

school is expecting us on Wednesday. They wanted to place Lily in third

or second grade, but I knew that she would not have been able to

handle that at all and would have been totally lost. So I was able to get

them to agree to first grade. I also requested that she not be in the

same class as Emma and Meilynn because I think she needs that. She was

tested for ESL but she passed the test (not sure how) so those services

will not be there for her.

She does not want me to homeschool her and wants to go to school. (She

thinks the grass is greener on the other side.) Maybe if she goes and

sees that she still has to "work" I won't seem like such the taskmaster.

I made her work very hard and there was a lot of crying during our

homeschool sessions. She is also very outgoing and loves people. She

will be easily influenced by other people. She still is learning

appropriate behaviors. But, I still fear she will be lost when the work

starts getting tougher and I can imagine many hours trying to complete the

homework after school while the other girls go off to play. If we

homeschool just Lily I think she will see it as a punishment and not fair.

I think if I do send her off, and then change our minds, again she will

see it as a punishment.

If we choose the second option, I will need to hire some help. There is

just not enough time for me to teach full time and do all the things that

need to get done around here. I love spending time with my girls and I

love seeing them learn, and I am confident that they will make great

progress with me, but to be totally honest I am craving some time for me.

I know that my patience will be tested. I know that Emma and Meilynn

will just excel, but I worry about losing my patience with Lily. I have

done that and it does not feel good. Because of years of never having to

use her brain to do anything, other than survive, (and I know that was not

easy) has made the learning slow and difficult.

Emma and Lily want to go to school and Meiynn wants me to homeschool. Of

course we are not letting them make such an important decision at this

age, but I did want to hear their thoughts.

I like the flexibility of home schooling, seeing them learn, and choosing

what I want my children to learn.

And then there is the third option. I know that she would get further

along with me teaching her but at what cost to our relationship. Will it

make our relationship stronger or weaker? I don't know that answer. I

know she would resent the fact that the other girls get to go to school and

she doesn't.

So that is a quick summary of where I am at. I know I left out some

things, some of the most important reasons for homeschooling.

That we are the best teachers for our children.

That we know our children better than anyone else.

The freedom to teach them about God.

I know that the time actually spent learning at school is minimal. That our children can move at a much faster pace at home.

At this moment we are planning on

being at school on Wednesday, but every hour I have a change of heart. I

am afraid it we do this it will be to "hard" to change our minds. If we

go with the homeschooling and then change our minds we will have lost our

place in school and I think it would be difficult for the girls to enter

in the middle of a semester.

I know I cannot adopt them all!

2011-07-21T15:44:00.000-07:00

BUT MAYBE I CAN HELP THEM FIND A FAMILY..........PRAYING ESPECIALLY FOR

HOLLY (WHO BEARS A REMARKABLE RESEMBLANCE TO MEILYNN)

Could you be her Mom?

UPDATE: A FAMILY IS SENDING IN A LOI FOR HOLLY!!!!!! PRAISE GOD!

AND JULIANNA

Looking for a family...

These children are on the BAAS agency Individual List

A couple of random conversations

2011-07-15T23:13:00.000-07:00

I don't know what it is about the car, but I have the most enlightening conversations with the girls. The wheels in their heads seem to really start moving when we are moving in the car. For example;

The other day this is the conversation I overheard going on in the backseat.

Meilynn- "Emma you eat Pig."
Emma- (giggle) "I know, I love it!"
"I love sausage!"
"Mommy what else is pig?"
Me- "Umm, ham, bacon, pork chops"
Emma- "Then I love to eat pig!
Meilynn- "Emma you love to eat cow too!
Emma- "So do you Meilynn, you eat hamburger."
Meilynn- "No, Emma I only love special cows."
Emma- "What are special cows?"
Meilynn-" I only love WENDY'S cows!
Emma-"Oh, yeah (giggle) you only like WENDY'S cows!
(Wendy's is a fast food chain and Meilynn only likes the hamburgers from Wendy's right now. Oh and Lily was in the car too, but I am not sure she got it.)

And then there was this one....
We are at the beach house in Carlsbad and we have been talking about all things Ocean. The girls are just learning to boogie board and had their first wipe outs the other day. They were in the backseat talking about how bad the water tasted. I explained to them that it was salt water and not good for drinking.
Then as our conversations usually do they took a little turn.
I thought, OK, I will add a little information here. I am always looking for ways to teach them things that are important.
Me- "You cannot drink salt water, if you get a little in your mouth it won't hurt you but you would not want to deliberately drink it. Let's say you are on a deserted island (I know why did I go there, but when I am driving and distracted these things just come out.")

Meilynn- "What is a deserted island?"
Me- "An island that nobody lives on?"
Lily- "What is an island?"
Emma- "You remember we just went to Coronado Island"
Me- (I am thinking, OK, this is not where I was going with the topic, but we will go with this) So I say, "An island is land that has water all around it. OK, what I was trying to tell you is that if you were ever out in the ocean on a boat or on an island and you did not have any water you would not drink the ocean water. Do you know what you could drink?
Lily- "Apple juice?"
Me- "You are on a boat and there is nothing to drink. You have been on the Ocean for days and you have run out of anything to drink. In a situation where you are lost in the Ocean or in a desert you can drink your own pee.
Girls- "Oooh! Gross!
Me- "If you needed to you could drink it.
Emma- "Has anyone done that before."
Me- "Yes, people have done that to survive or to live when they had nothing else to drink.
Pause...................
Meilynn- "Then if you are hungry do you eat poop?"
Me- thinking (OK, I got myself into this) No, it is not safe to eat poop.
Me- (quick change the subject)
I did but I don't remember what it was. Sometimes I get in over my head. I thought I would just share that little tidbit, but when I started talking about deserted islands and being lost, I wanted to get off of such a scary subject. Emma has been having nightmares and the last thing I need to do is add to it.

Lily and Lyla together again!

2011-07-11T21:35:00.000-07:00

When I first saw the picture of these two little girls,

Lily

Lyla

and heard the story and saw their video I knew that they needed to be together. They had grown up in their orphanage together. They were sisters. Maybe not biological, but still sisters.

I asked my agency if it was possible to adopt both of them. They told me that China would not allow the adoption of two healthy 6 year olds.

So I decided that I would try to find the family that would adopt Lyla and try to keep in touch.

As it turns out they live in Arkansas and they are the perfect family for Lyla.

Lily and Lyla were adopted in February 2010.

Last August, 2010, Lily and I flew to Arkansas to meet Lyla's family.

Then in December 2010 Lyla and her mom flew out to California to spend time with us.

Last week for the 4th of July week Lyla, her Mom and Dad and her awesome brother Liem came to California to spend time with us. I am so happy that we have been able to keep these two in touch with each other.

Welcome to California!

There they are!

Lyla and Lily

Together again!

So happy!

Jilliana just loved Liem. She decided that he was hers and Liem was so sweet with her and all of the girls.

Meghan and Nick came to the Welcome BBQ

It was so hot! Everyone was enjoying the pool.

Visiting in the pool

Mike giving Liem a little help.

Lunch on the patio

Visiting

Liem got to lick the beaters.

After a day at our house we went down to Carlsbad to the beach. This was our first walk on the beach.

Lyla and Jennifer

Emma testing the water

Happy 4th of July!

Goofy faces

We went to the Pancake House

This was Jeff's omelet.

Decorating the bikes for the little parade that they do in our little beach community.

Meilynn with her pinwheel

Emma cutting the plate to put in her bike spokes.

Lyla

Jilliana getting in to it for her first 4th of July

Silly Lyla

Getting ready for the parade

Cute baby at the parade

In line for the body painting after the parade

Snow cones after the parade

Happy 4th!

At the fireworks

Legoland

We got Jilliana on the cars but when she found out I wasn't going that was the end of that ride!

Lily and Liem

Daddy and Jilliana

Jennifer and Meilynn

Oh this was so funny. Lily and Lyla went out on these boats alone. They got their boat turned around and could not figure out how to go. After trying to tell them what to do the worker had to jump in with them to get them back.

Getting boat driving lessons.

Liem

Emma

Lily

Jilliana

Lyla

Meilynn

Not loving the log ride

Lily talked Jeff in to taking her on this ride

The group on the way to the beach

Beautiful kids

Emma learned to boogie board on this trip

So did Liem and Lily

And Lyla

I love this one even though you cannot see Lyla's face, you can see her happiness

And Meilynn too!

Friends and Sisters

We miss you!

Jilliana Has Normal Hearing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2011-07-09T21:53:00.000-07:00

Within days of meeting our precious Jiliana we knew that what we were told about Jilliana was false. The Orphanage knew it all along. The Nannies always stated in their updates that there was no hearing loss. But we were told that the disruption was due to hearing loss.

It took a long time for us to get in to the audiologist. If we had felt that there was hearing loss we would have found another audiologist to go to, but since we did not see a problem we decided to wait as she had so many other Dr.'s appointments.

We had our appointment on June 30th and there was no hearing loss detected. We will go back in 6 months for a re-check, but everything at this time with her hearing is normal!!!!!!

This is from our Red Thread Story Post:
But little did I know that God had a different plan for us.
One of the advocates sent me an e-mail telling me that she didn’t know if I was looking or not but that she had two files she would like me to look at. One was of a three year old and one a four year old. I told her briefly what had happened but I told her to send me the three-year old one. She told me that she would be three in November, that she had a repaired cleft lip, had hearing loss, and that she was from a disruption in May. She warned me that she was “super cute”, which was my reaction when I opened the file with her picture. Because of what had happened before, I told myself that I would not fall in love with this little one until we knew that it was God’s plan for our family.
I showed her file to Mike. We needed to find out more about her. I asked the advocate if she knew anymore about why the family might have disrupted. She said that the family went to China expecting to adopt a child with a repaired cleft lip, but when they found out there were other needs, they decided to disrupt.
Mike and I both prayed about this.   Cleft lip was a need that we had listed on our homestudy that we would be open to. We had never considered hearing loss before.   But God had just given us a Son-in-Law last year. And guess what? He is in his last year of audiology school.   In retrospect, could this be any clearer? We didn’t read the signs that God was sending us yet.
We decided that we would send what little we had on her hearing to our Son-in-Law, Nick. He was able to look at what we had and also send it to others to look at. Everyone felt if the tests were right that her hearing could be corrected with hearing aids.
I tried to find out who the family was that disrupted from the advocate, but she did not know. I was hoping that by some miracle I could talk to the family. The advocate did send me several pictures that were taken when care packages had been sent from the other family. I even contacted the care package company but they did not return my e-mail and I really did not think that they could tell me who the family was. But I was hoping they could contact them and see if they would talk to me. I never heard anything. I just needed to know why?
We then contacted our agency and asked to lock her file.   They were able to lock her file for us giving us 72 hours to make a decision. This was on Thursday, August 5th. Then a miracle happened. I found out who the family was and I was able to find out if they would be willing to talk to us either directly or through the person that knew them. We set up a time to talk. (Now I was feeling that God was directing us on this path and all we had to do was be open to what God was planning for us.) After getting off the phone I was told nothing that would make me not continue with the adoption. I was also able to get the Dr.’s number that had reviewed the file and talked to them while they were in China. I put a call into the Dr. but I did not get to talk to her before we were due to make a decision. Mike and I both felt that this was what God was asking us to do, so we sent our LOI (Letter of Intent ) on August 7th and on August 10th we had our PA or pre-approval!
On Thursday I was finally able to talk to the Dr. and still there was nothing said that made us change our minds or feel that this was not God’s plan for our family.
During all of this time I made myself not look at her sweet little face and not fall in love because of what had happened before, but now there was a peace that God had given us the most perfect gift. And because of this other family we have so many more pictures and information than we ever had on any of our previous adoptions. I like to picture God with a needle and the “red thread” that knit together this perfect plan.
Psalm 139:13-18 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths, of the earth, your eyes saw my uniformed body. All the days ordained for me where written in your book before one of them came to be. How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. When I awake, I am still with you.

Introducing our new daughter:
Jilliana Elise Jihong

And then this:

A new little piece to Jilliana's story

The blogging, yahoo group, forums, internet, are amazing. The other day I got an e-mail from someone telling me they had a little piece of Jilliana's story to share with us. A friend of hers told her that she had seen the picture I put on of Jilliana's with the Year of the Ox horns.

  She knew that her friend had tried to adopt Jilliana after she was placed back on the shared list after the disruption. The family had seen Jilliana on the shared list and tried to get a waiver to adopt her. They did not know of the disruption or the hearing loss but they still would have adopted her if it had been possible. They were denied the waiver and were crushed. They are now in the process of adopting another beautiful girl from China.

Here is the amazing part. If we had seen Jilliana's file back in May we would not have been able to adopt her. With our agency you need to be home 6 months and that date for us was in August. We were sent Jilliana's file August 3rd. Also, we were not even thinking at that point of adopting any more. Everything about this adoption has pointed to God and his plan and our willingness (at times) to listen. So when this family could not adopt her the file went back on the shared list. I now know of two other families that also looked at her file before we were sent her file by Amy (The Advocate) but God chose us to be her family. Now that pieces are starting to be filled in I will need to go back and rewrite the story that I posted before. I think that someday Jilliana will want to know about how many people wanted her and cared for her before she was even here.

So this is where we are today. Jilliana has normal hearing. We are attending speech one day a week. Her speech therapist thinks she is one of the smartest little things she has ever met. We have had our preliminary Craniofacial Team Visit, but will not meet with the whole team until the end of July to find out what our next course of action is.

We are loving every minute with our bubbly, funny, beautiful, precious treasure. (Except for when she sleeps with her feet in our faces:) ) The girls think she is the sweetest thing and are enjoying having a little sister. She is a little firecracker and talks non-stop. She loves to sing and I have lost count of the songs that she can sing. She has the cutest expressions and I love her with a love that cannot be described. We are so thankful for what God gave us and that we were open to his call.

Houseboat

2011-06-25T22:25:00.000-07:00

Our oldest daughter, Kami, is in Barcelona for the summer and she expects to see pictures of her sisters so I will be a little more motivated to keep up with things. :)

My family does a yearly houseboat trip. We have always spent the day on the house boat but have either stayed at a motel or in our RV with the girls. It is just easier for us that way. This year we went in the motorhome. It was Jilliana's first trip in the motorhome and first lake trip.

Here Daddy is gearing the girls up for the long ride. We are not sure what it is, but our two older girls were much better at long road trips than these four. Or maybe it is us getting older?

Lily and Emma ready for the ride.

Jilliana with Grandpa on the houseboat.

Jilliana

Emma Sophia

Meilynn loves to play in the sand and water.

Emma and Lily working together.

Jilliana has a little snuggle time with Nai Nai (Grandma)

It takes a really special Grandpa to let his grandchild paint his toe nails pink. Oops! a little on the carpet!

My Dad driving the boat when Jilliana was ez skiing.

Cousin Nick soon became Jilliana's favorite on this trip!

Lily and Emma knee-boarding

We go up to the top of Lake Mead as far as we can. The water is very cold and muddy here where the water is coming from the Colorado River.

Learning about echo's.

Jilliana and Emma. My two snuggle bunnies.

Lunch time

Grandma teaching Jilliana the fine art of s'more making.

Emma enjoying a Marshmallow since she detests chocolate.

We had a great time as usual. I hope to get some better pictures from my family. I was a little busy to get many.

Look what 4 months can do!

2011-06-24T21:18:00.000-07:00

We spent the last week on a houseboat with our family. Look at what my baby can do!

Where I have been and what to do about school.

2011-06-02T22:48:00.000-07:00

I feel bad that I let my blog get so far behind. Life has been very busy! Easter, our 31st wedding anniversary, baby dedication, Lily's readoption, Meghan and Nick moving, Meilynn's birthday, Lily's birthday, school activities, Dr. appointments, Dentist appointments, etc. etc. etc. My mind has been occupied with decisions. Mainly decisions on the girls schooling for next year. This year Emma and Meilynn have attended the pre-school that they attended last year. it has a kindergarten program that has been perfect for them. Lily has attended three days a week with me homeschooling her the other two. She is progressing, but at times it just seems so slow. We have a great public school in our neighborhood, a great private school (but very expensive), and then there is homeschooling. I have been looking in to homeschooling full time, homeschooling using a charter where the teacher meets with you every 20 days and also virtual school. At the moment I am leaning toward the virtual school for Lily. I can still be her teacher, but the curriculum and everything would be in line with the public school should we decide to switch. I also would have the capability of adding curriculum that I would like to add, things that interest her and also Christian Education. She would also have the opportunity to move faster or slower if she needs to. Lily is two grades behind (in California, some States she would be just one year behind.) We would love for her to be just the one year behind. but it might be a year or two before that happens if it does. I have a lot more to say on this subject, but it is getting late and I want to start getting caught up on photos.

So I guess I am going back as far as Easter!

I know I posted some video of this but here are the pictures. The girls were helping me fill eggs for their school Easter Egg Hunt.

Emma, my cuddly one.

Meilynn, my curious one.

Lily, my one who loves life.

And our sweet surprise! Jilliana, She is such an angel. She is our sparkle.

Eating as many as she fills.

Emma loves to swing

It didn't take Jilliana long to fit in here. I har the clip clopping of these princess shoes all the time.

She loves the water, as long as it is not in her face.

I am really hoping to have time to post tonight, here is a picture of Jilliana today.

2011-06-02T21:00:00.000-07:00

Jilliana, playing at the pool today. We cannot imagine her not being a part of our family. She is the most amazing, smart, funny, great personality, affectionate, loving, and not to mention the cutest, little thing that God created.

Mother's Day, Baby Dedication, and Lily's Re-adoption

2011-05-09T21:14:00.000-07:00

I have a lot of other things to talk about, but I want to make sure that I do not leave out these important events. Just when I think things cannot get any busier they do. Last week we had Mother's Day, Baby Dedication Day, Lily's Re-adoption, a Mother's Day Picnic at school, my YPO meeting at my house, Jilliana got strep, a meeting with the principal of the school we may or may not be attending next year, extra practices for the Mother's Day Program at Church plus our normal week of swimming, school, choir, gymnastics and laundry.

Just before going into our court appointment to re-adopt Lily. This time we were able to do it ourselves rather than pay someone to do it for us. It is not required to re-adopt in California. Lily was officially adopted in China in the eyes of the United States and China. But just to make things easier we re-adopt. That way there is never a doubt. Also, the Chinese Birth Certificate we have for all of the girls are rather large and they are written in Chinese with translations. Getting a copy if we ever needed one would be almost impossible. So now we will be able to have a birth certificate that looks like everyone else's and we can get a copy if we need it. We explained to Lily what we were doing, but I am sure she was confused since she already knows she was adopted in China.

Here we are in the courtroom. We did not take the girls out of school since this was just a formality for us. They were present at her "real" adoption. We expect to be back to do the same for Jilliana after we have our post-placement visit in August.

Here we are swearing that she will have all of the rights that a biological child would have and swearing that we will take care of her.

Lily and Daddy listening to the Judge.

Daddy signing the adoption papers.

Lily got to sign her own name.

The judge making it final.

The girls singing for the Mother's Day Picnic. It was 92 degrees that day!

I was the only Mom getting three plants! Lucky me!

Meilynn at the picnic. We just measured yesterday and she is taller than Emma for the first time. Emma and Meilynn have been almost the same height since they have been together. Emma is three months younger but has always been the same height or a little taller. When we got Meilynn at 26 months old she was only 19 pounds. She caught up with Emma a while back. So they both weigh 35 pounds at almost 6. Meilynn is 41 and 3/4 inches and Emma 41. Lily (almost 8) weighs 42 pounds and is 47 inches. Jilliana at 3.6 is 27 pounds and 36 3/4 inches.

We had baby dedication at Church on Sunday and we dedicated both Jilliana and Lily.

Our sweet girl

The children wrote these and they were displayed on the big screens for Mother's Day. I almost didn't get Lily's because my camera was shutting off when hers came by.

"She kisses me every night"

Walking in for the Mother's Day Program. Lily just got her hair cut. We had been trying to grow it long, but it was just not healthy, and it grows really slow. We think she looks cute with her hair cut.

Emma my little fashionista

Our Pastor giving the girls their Bible's for baby dedication.

I will leave tonight with two little glimpses into some of the things I get to hear every day.

Tonight on the way home from Gymnastics we were talking about having penne pasta since I had promised Emma we would have it. We had steak on the weekend and the girls were talking about whether they like it or not. I overheard Emma saying that , "Shee would like it if she had ketchup."
I said, "Why didn't you have Ketchup on it then"
Emma said, "Because Ketchup was not available."
She makes me laugh with the language she is experimenting with.

I know this is bad, but I do not mend socks. Not with the amount we use and really how inexpensive they are. So when we get a hole in our sock I usually say throw it away. So the other day Lily told me she had a hole in her sock. So I told her to throw them away.
A couple of days later Jilliana saw the socks in the trash and kept pointing at them and saying what I am sure is sock in Chinese. I told her they had a hole in them. But I thought I better show her what I meant so she wouldn't be throwing her socks in the trash. I took those dirty socks out and could not find a hole anywhere. I put them on my hands looking for a very small hole and still not hole. So I called Lily up from downstairs and said,
"Lily why did you throw these socks away?"
She said, "Because they have a hole in them."
I said, " I don't see one".
and then she said,
" Well I got sand on my feet!"
So I guess since when she got home from school and their was sand on her feet that she thought she had a hole in her sock. It is these type of things that come up just when you think she understands everything.

Vicki

Just so you know that we are alive and well!

2011-05-02T21:36:00.000-07:00

I promise some updates soon!

Jilliana's Forever In Our Arms Video

2011-04-21T23:49:00.001-07:00

Thank You Kami!

2011-04-21T23:33:00.000-07:00

Thank you Kami for helping us make our shirts!

We Love Them!

Meilynn, Jilliana, Emma and Lily

Filling Easter Eggs (and eating them too!)

2011-04-18T22:48:00.001-07:00

A Little Of This And A Little Of That

2011-04-18T21:34:00.000-07:00

This is just some glimpses of things from the last two weeks. I always come up with these wonderful posts in my mind that are really deep, but then when I find time to post I usually end up with a lot of pictures of just things that are a little of this and a little of that.

Last Saturday I woke up and made the gils Mickey Mouse waffles. Mike was at the Men' Prayer Breakfast. There are not many days when the girls get to just come down to breakfast and eat in their jammies, but this was one such day.

This is what happens when one distracted mother pours syrup into the waffle iron instead of waffle mix! I can tell you it was a mess. I did just wipe it out and went on cooking, since only one waffle can be made at at time and I still had two more to make.

Kami came over one day to tie dye with the girls. The girls know that when Kami comes over that fun happens.

Jilliana was playing at the water table in her underwear. She was just excited as the other girls to select which colors for Kami to put on her shirt. Kami was using gloves but the dye leaked through to her fingers. Her fingers were blue! Now, normally this would not be a big deal, except that she had a black tie affair that night! We looked up on the internet how to get dye off of your hands and most of the suggestions (all involving bleach with no guarantee that it would work) were brutal. I finally found where someone suggested using the Mr. Clean eraser (we use that a lot) and it took most of it off without taking off her skin.

We met Grandma at the Church and she gave Jilliana her own "Bitty Baby". She has been carrying Emma's baby Ming Jing around and so Grandma bought her one. This is the 5th Bitty Baby that Grandma has bought. (Lily has another doll and has never been very interested in dolls)

Jilliana at swimming lessons. We are taking the Mommy and Me classes to get her used to the water. She is not too crazy about getting water in her face, but we have a pool and she needs to be pool safe.

Haven't we had crazy weather. One minute we have summer like days and the next we have snow ten minutes away!

The girls are loving it!

Meilynn getting snow to take home in the ice chest.

Lily with her contribution

Jilliana comes from a province with snow, so we know it is not her first time seeing it. In fact it was snowing one of the days we were there.

The girls filled the ice chest and then the next day we had a snow ball fight in our backyard.

You may remember that Mike broke his scapula in December riding his dirt bike. He belongs to a motorcycle club that gives this "trophy" when someone gets hurt. It has the names and what happened on it. You keep it until you can pass it on to the next person that gets hurt. He was happy to get it off of his hands and pass it on. (Not happy that someone else got hurt, but happy he did not have to have it anymore)

My new laundry solution. Laundry is out of hand around here. So I decide that I would get four buckets, one for each of the girls. They stack into each other (bought them at Target) so they don't take of too much room. When I do laundry I pull them out. As I take the things out of the dryer, the girls ,if they are here sort them and then we fold the clothes together and then they put them away. It is much easier to have a bucket already sorted than to fold their clothes and separate them as I fold them. I am thinking of just making one big sock drawer for the three little ones since they wear the same size. This would cut down on me sorting the socks which takes the longest. I am open to suggestions, since we are a new big family and I am trying to figure out what works.

Jilliana at the girls school open house making a marshmallow sculpture

Fitting In

2011-04-15T21:49:00.000-07:00

As many of you know this is our fourth adoption from China. I have often heard people say that when they adopted it felt like the new child had always been there, That the adjustment was just that easy. I have never felt that way. When we adopted Emma it was such a long time since I had a baby in the house and she needed me so much. I could not leave the room without her crying. My life changed so much. I loved her instantly, but it was hard.

Then when we adopted Meilynn the change from one to two the same age was significant. Those two could get into more messes together. We had an adjustment period. I loved having two, two year olds but it was hard.

Then when God called us to adopt Lily we again went through a lot of changes. It really is like having three the same age in so many ways. It was hard and at times still is.

Then Miss Jilliana came to our attention. I worried about what I might be doing to our family. There were so many unknowns due to the information we were given about her disruption. I knew it was what God wanted us to do, but it was scary. I constantly thought about what we might expect. It has been 6 weeks since we have been home and this has been the easiest of all adjustments. Even with Jilliana waking up two or three times a night. I can say that she has just walked into our family and stolen our hearts. She is the funniest, sweetest, smartest little thing. It truly feels like she has been here forever. Yes, it is hard, but she just fits in so perfectly.

Meilynn and Jilliana, they have formed a special bond

Popcorn and a movie

A friend of mine told me about this exchange student that we could have come over and speak to the girls in Chinese. She was so sweet and the girls just loved her. We have been so busy I have not had the chance to have her come over again. She will be leaving to go back to China in June. I wish I had found out about her earlier.

The girls having ice cream with Mike. Emma dislikes chocolate so much that she cannot even stand to sit next to anyone eating chocolate. That is Emma way over to the left.

Too cute!

Meilynn, Jilliana, and Emma

Playing in the water table

Swimming with Daddy

We love this little thing!

Spring Break at the Beach

2011-04-05T21:24:00.000-07:00

We spent part of Spring Break at the beach in Carlsbad. I went down alone with the girls and then Kami met us there. Mike came down for a few days at the end of our trip.

We got up and went for a walk on the beach. At the little store at the campground we let the girls choose a candy.

Already for our walk

When we got down to the beach there was no beach! Only rocks! Tons and tons of rocks! This was Jilliana's first trip to the beach. She was not too happy about it. The beach we go to changes all of the time. Sometimes there is a lot of beach, sometimes beach and rocks, but this was the first time that we could not find any beach.

It did make for some great shell and rock hunting. Meilynn with a shell.

Looking for that special rock

Emma and Kami

While we were at the beach, Kami promised the girls a girly, girl day. She curled their hair,

And painted their nails. Kami is always thinking up fun things for the girls to do.

Kami and Jihong

After the girls got all prettied up Kami decided the girls needed another adventure. This time a bus ride to dinner. Here they are waiting at the bus stop.

Me at the bus stop with the girls

Jilliana being cute

Emma's pretty hair

Then, a crisis! Emma dropped her lip gloss

Way down here

With Kami's help she was able to get it back

Just in time for the bus!

Happy bus riders! We made it to dinner. We ate at our favorite Thai restaurant at the beach. And we successfully took the bus back with only one blip, when Lily pulled the rope when it was not our stop.

Playing at the playground

I would say that is a happy face

She is so awesome

Daddy on the scooter

And then a rainy day. Kami, Meilynn, and Lily, were the only ones willing to check out the beach in the rain.

We found a fun indoor playground for the rainy day

And then we had ducks on our driveway!

100 Years

2011-03-31T17:27:00.000-07:00

If I live to be 100 Kami will be 75, Meghan 72, Lily 54, Meilynn and Emma 52, and Jilliana 50.

Mike's Grandma just celebrated 100 years. 100 years seems so long and it seems so short. When we decided to adopt we figured out how old we would be when Emma graduated from High School. I will be 65 and Mike will be 63. When I was 25, 63 seemed like my life would be over. I had very young parents growing up so I had nothing to base that on. Now 65 doesn't seem so old.

At Mike's Grandma's birthday we heard how she was born before TV and that sliced bread was invented the year she was born. Mike and I already remember back to days gone by. We remember watching black and white TV. We remember only having one TV set with at most 10 channels to watch. We remember playing outside on our street until our parents called us in. We remember maybe one scheduled activity. We learned how to solve problems and get along without adults supervising our every move. We played Kick ball, and Donkey, and "Three Flies Your Out". (Mike remembers that it is called "Three Flies your Up") so we have a bit of disagreement there. We played Dodge Ball, and freeze tag, and hide and seek. In fact Mike and I actually met in a water balloon fight on our street. (That is a story for another day) We did not have scheduled activity every hour of the day

Mike's Grandma believes in hard work. She lived through the Depression. She worked as a Nurse most of her life while taking care of Mike's Mom and her brother and sister. She is still spunky today. I love Mike's Grandma. She has always treated me like one of the kids. Today she cannot hear or see as well and at times she forgets, but she is smart and on top of things, and she always asks about my daughters. She is a woman that I admire and respect.

Mike with his Grandma

Meilynn at Grandma's Pre-party

Grandma with one of her Grand Daughters

Jilliana

Lily

I Love This One

Emma

Mike's Dad and Kate

My Beautiful Daughters!

First Road Trip

2011-03-27T14:24:00.000-07:00

We took our very first road trip to see Great Grandma Nall in Arizona for her 100th birthday. Here Jilliana is wearing her headphones and watching the tv. I cannot say it was the best road trip. We had to hit the side of the road once for a "Chinese Style" bathroom stop as well as a couple of other stops.

We stayed in a Hotel near big sister Meghan and brother in law Nicks apartment. We were excited to see them again. Meghan went with us to China and we were anxious for Jilliana to see her again. They took us to "The Farm" which is an organic hamburger stand in Gilbert. The food was good and the company even better.

The next morning, having a banana before going for a bagel.

One of Jilliana's favorite words. After bagels, we decided to go miniature golf. We were looking for an indoor one since it was so warm. We found just the perfect one for our little group. We did not need to be at Mike's Uncles until 2:00 so we were looking for something the girls would enjoy.

We found this cute, very small, indoor place. We were, for the most part, the only ones there.

Mike showing Jilliana how to do it.

Our very photogenic, Meilynn

Meghan and Lily

Meghan, Lily, and Meilynn

Kami and Emma

Jilliana checking out the wild animals

Meghan and Mike playing around

Almost all of us

Dad and all of his girls!

Having fun

Jilliana singing and dolls

2011-03-24T22:29:00.001-07:00

Disneyland and Jilliana's Dr. Appointment

2011-03-24T17:28:00.000-07:00

Since our International Dr. is not far from Disneyland, we have begun a tradition of going to Disneyland after the appointment.

Jilliana was great at the Dr. and only cried a little when she got her immunizations. The good news is that the standard of giving all new immunizations to children adopted from China has changed. Before we repeated all immunizations not knowing if they were really given or if they had been stored properly. But, the Dr.'s have found out that if the child comes with a detailed immunization record, then the immunizations do not need repeated. Also, when we adopted Lily last year, the law stated that she had to get re-immunized while in China. So she received 7 shots before leaving China. Jilliana only had to have the tb test before leaving. We gave her two of the shots that she had not had and will follow up at our Pediatrician for the one we did not get. Also, we will need to get blood work and the urine and stool samples done.

Jilliana was weighed and measured. She is in the 10 percent range for height and the 5 percent for weight. This is much better than our other children have been. She weighs 27 pounds and she is 36 1/8 inch tall.

Waiting for the Dr.

The nurse taking her temp, perfectly normal. 98.6

Dr. Mink trying to see in her ears. Her ear canals are very small and they had some wax so the Dr. couldn't see if the structures were all intact. The Dr. decided it would be better not to push looking since she is scheduled for her cleft team appointment in April and there were no immediate concerns. We have noticed that Jilliana is very sensitive in the ear area. We don't know if that is just the way they are or if it was from the trauma she experienced with the exams given to her last May. So we will wait until April to get a better look. We still know that Jilliana can hear. We still don't know how much. I still think that if I had not been told that she had hearing loss I would not be even looking in that direction. It is still too early for us to tell. I have noticed that when she repeats a word she seems unable to say the word exactly. We don't know if that is due to just being here 4 weeks or if it is because she is three, or if she has a speech problem or a hearing problem. Again, I am looking for something to be wrong and would never have suspected if we had not been told this was the reason for her disruption. We think she is off the charts smart. She hears a tune once and can be heard singing it later. The other day she heard a tune on the ipad with Mike "This Old Man" and then she ran and found the Fisher Price little bus that plays the same tune but with different words.

We only went to lunch and on two rides as it was very busy due to Spring Break. I guess you can tell the new tune that Jilliana cannot quit singing.

It's A Small World

She loved it

Her first beignet in New Orleans Square, I should have got a picture. It was shaped like Mickey!

Some of Jilliana's new words:
Window
Toilet Paper
Baby Bottle
potty
Jilliana (She refers to herself as both Ji Hong and Jilliana) We love the way she says her name.

Busy is the word!

2011-03-23T17:18:00.000-07:00

I am so sorry about posting! We have been very busy as I am sure all of you are. We are doing great! Jilliana continues to amaze us. I have many pictures to post and so many posts that I wrote in my head, but when I lay down with Jilliana at night to put her to sleep, this Mommy falls asleep. And by the time I wake up and realize I am sleeping with a foot in my mouth and a lamb making whale sounds under my head, I am too tired to go downstairs again and post. But I am committed to keeping this going for my daughters, so that they will have an account of some part of their lives. God continues to bless our family in so many ways and I continue to learn the lessons that he wants to teach me from my daughters.

Jilliana loves playing dolls. I bought her an asian baby doll at Christmas from FAO Schwartz but she prefers Emma's American Doll Bitty Baby. Emma has been really good about sharing it with her. She loves the eyes and how they open and close. She loves to fix the hair on the snap dolls. She can put a "tippy tail" (as rubber bands are called at our house) in. She takes good care of the baby and loves to give it a baby bottle.

Which reminds me. One night I was laying Jilliana down for bed and she had Emma's baby. She had found this pretend doll bottle and started giving it to the baby. She then took her finger and pointed to her mouth. It hit me then that she was asking for a bottle. When we went to get Jilliana we were talking to the guide before we got her and she said that Jilliana would probably take a bottle. I looked at Mike and he looked at me and we both said, "At three?" She said that she probably took one at night. I did not bring any bottle stuff at all. But then we forgot about that when the Director from the orphanage did not say anything about Jilliana taking a bottle. So when she pointed at her mouth this conversation came back to me.

The next day I found an old bottle of Emma's and I thought I would see if Jilliana would take it. I just put a little water in it and at nap time I sat down with her and pulled out the bottle. She got the biggest smile on her face and just cuddled into my lap and took the bottle like she had been taking one all the time. I know that many would not even do this for a three year old, but the extra bonding that giving a bottle to her will allow will far outweigh any negatives.

So that day I went out and bought three new bottles. That night I gave her one with just a little milk and she just laid in my arms and played with the bottle. She wanted me to hold it for her and the way she acted was as if I had been giving her a bottle since birth. I only plan to give it to her at night and in fact it has not been every night due to us being away. But those moments are priceless and I know so fleeting. I will take them and enjoy them as much as she will and at the same time I hope to build a stronger bond.

Meilynn and Jilliana playing together

So cute!

Emma trying out a ballet class. We have been trying to decide what activities the girls want to take. With four we need to limit it to one class plus I need to sign them up for swimming. This was a trial class.

Lily in the pink leggings and Meilynn in the pink.

Stretching Emma and Meilynn

Meilynn getting help

We had our Church directory pictures taken. We decided to have the girls wear their Chinese Dresses. We had to wake Jilliana up from her nap so not so happy.

The sign of a busy family. We got to the pictures and discovered that Jilliana had on two right shoes. Apparently I had saved these from Emma and Meilynn, but I saved two right shoes and gave the two left ones to the Goodwill.

Doll time

I love this little face!

Jilliana likes to clean!

2011-03-08T17:44:00.001-08:00

I am sorry, I don't know why this video went sideways, I was not able to rotate it! Jilliana is so cute. She likes to be clean and she wants to help in anyway that she can.

Jilliana sweeping

playdough

Meilynn on her "Hello Mitty" scooter as Jilliana calls it.

cuteness

Jilliana swinging

2011-03-06T20:53:00.000-08:00

It all went by so fast!

2011-03-06T20:10:00.000-08:00

I cannot believe how fast our time in China went! It was such an emotional trip! What we expected Jilliana to be like was nothing like what we got. These expectations were not from what the Orphanage told us. They never thought there was a problem with Jilliana's hearing.

We were expecting a child that could not hear. A child that might be shut down and not receptive. A child that might not interact. A child that might be delayed. Most of these things are things that you could expect from any child being adopted from an orphanage.

But, what we got is an unbelievable miracle. Jilliana was obviously well cared for. She can sing about 15 songs. She talks a lot. She can already say banana, Mommy, Baba, Meilynn, Emma, (working on Lily), I love you Mommy, and she will try to say most words, but really doesn't know what they represent yet. She can point to her nose, ears, teeth, mouth and eyes. She can brush her own teeth, and she clears and sets the table. (This part I cannot believe)

She is the happiest little thing and has just walked into our lives like she has always been here. I think that she thinks she is the older sister. She tries to do everything herself.

She plays well by herself and for long stretches of time. She loves dolls and loves to play in the play kitchen. She loves to play outside.

We will go for our visit with the International Adoption Dr. this week and we will see what she thinks.

I have been slow in posting due to jet lag. It has hit me harder this time than ever before. I know some of it was that it took so long for the girls to get back to sleeping all night, so that I was up with someone most of the night. Jilliana has been sleeping great. We do have one problem and that is we started her sleeping in our bed and she expects that is where she will sleep now.

She sleeps most of the night, but she moves all over the place and wants no covers, so Mike and I have not been sleeping well. I rocked her to sleep tonight and put her in her bed when she fell asleep, but she has just started crying and Mike has gone up to hold her. I am not sure if he will put her in our bed or try her back in her bed. We were told that she slept in her own bed in China.

Here are a few pictures from our first week home. I will try to update on the other site about once a week since it is her baby book, but I will be posting here again about our family. It is good to be home!

My friend Kym decorated our front porch for us! It was a very welcome site. Kami holding Jilliana with Meilynn in the background.

Jilliana enjoying the playroom

Playing with Daddy

Only part of the laundry!

First car ride in a car seat! The Acadia fits us perfectly!

We had to see if she likes burritos!

Church on the second day home! Jilliana was awesome. We took her into the service. She loved the singing and drew on paper the whole time.

Welcoming us home

Meeting my friend Julie

After Church at my sister Julie's birthday

My sister Julie and Emma

Meilynn and Jilliana

Jilliana likes to be clean

Playing in the kitchen

Helping Mommy make cookies

"I can do it myself"

Helping Daddy make biscuits

Before Daddy's Motorcycle Race

Lily and Emma

Yummy!

It was hot at Daddy's Race

Snack Time

Daddy in his race

Emma in her grass skirt

Meilynn helping Jilliana on the Quad

Learning to swing

Jilliana not sharing with me

2011-02-22T05:09:00.000-08:00

Here is a link to JIe JIe's Video Blog about our Journey

2011-02-12T07:15:00.000-08:00

Jie JIe Video Blog,

Click above to go to Meghan's Video Blog of our trip.

Tomorrow we get Jilliana!

2011-02-11T20:44:00.000-08:00

In front of our Hotel

Love this sign. I think it is letting you know that their fashions are new

Tomorrow is the day! We are posting at www.pomafamily.com or click on Jillian'a picture and it will take you there!

WE GET OUR LITTLE VALENTINE ONE DAY EARLIER!!!!!!!

2011-02-10T23:23:00.000-08:00

We are here and I have posted on Jilliana's website. Just click on the picture above to go to her website!

On the Final Countdown! We leave today!

2011-02-09T14:11:00.000-08:00

Cutting the last link this morning at breakfast! We leave today! How are we spending the day you ask?
Well, Mike took Emma to the Dr. because she has one tonsil that looks huge and swollen. She had a strep test and a mono test. She does not have strep and we are waiting to hear on the Mono test. I took Lily and Meilynn to school on their 99th day of school. They turned in all of their 99th day things and their Valentines. Grandma Jeanie brought over lunch for us and now the girls are dancing.

Grandma babysitting Hello Kitty and baby Ming Jing.

We plan to take showers soon since we will be on a plane for 15 and 1/2 hours. I think we are packed!
I am at the excited one moment, nervous one moment, what are we doing? one moment stage. All feelings that I know are normal whether I am physically having the baby or whether it is a child of my heart.

I want to say something profound here, but it is just not coming. I do want to thank all of my family, friends, and internet friends who have always been so encouraging to us. We feel that support and we feel honored to have such great people in our lives. We do not know what the path ahead will be like but we do know that God does and it is his perfect plan. We feel blessed that he has chosen you to help us carry it out.

Two More Days Until We Leave!!

2011-02-07T21:44:00.000-08:00

Remember This?

This was our countdown paper chain so the girls could see how long until we go to China.

And This is how it looks tonight! I cannot believe how fast it has gone. This adoption has taken 6 months from start to finish. We cannot wait to see God's perfect plan for Jilliana.

And today we did a little cleaning. Everyone has been so good and cheerful even while cleaning! That is my little Emma. Oh and before I forget she said one of her cute little things the other day.

Lily and Emma were playing the wii "Just Dance Kids". Emma must have done something wrong because I overheard Lily say, "Emma, God is watching you." And then I heard Emma come back in her little scruffy voice, "Well Lily, Uncle Sam is watching you!" Doesn't she just say the cutest things?

You may wonder how does she even know about Uncle Sam? Around here there are people dressed up like the Statue of Liberty and Uncle Sam trying to get you to come in to get your taxes done. The girls saw these people and asked me about them. I explained that Uncle Sam was just a figure for the Government and sometimes people like to say "Uncle Sam" is watching you to let you know that the Government is watching you.

So I guess when Lily said that it was the strongest thing that Emma could come back with.

Meilynn and Lily cleaning, well you can see Lily is. Meilynn is usually more like the supervisor.

And I have been doing a lot of this in preparation. Today we washed all the sheets on all the beds and put them back on.

And finally, I got this today! It is the first card that I have got from someone congratulating us on Jilliana.

Tomorrow will only be one more day and I am feeling like we are getting it done. I think I only have to pack my bag for the plane and the electronics. I haven't done the final weights of the suitcases, but it looks like we are going to make the weight limits. We have 6 suitcases and each of us has a personal item for the plane. And then we have one carry-on suitcase. I know that is a lot, but we have 6 going over and 7 coming back. I don't know how people can possibly do this carry on only. There is just no way I could do that! But I admire those that can!

Yuan to USD conversion chart

2011-02-07T08:26:00.001-08:00

Here is the conversion chart (click on conversion chart) I used to make my little cheat sheet. I just run it off and then laminate it.

Three More Days! And 99 days of school!

2011-02-06T22:12:00.000-08:00

The time is getting closer, some how it still seems so far away. Today we went to Church and I realized that the next time we come to our Church it will be with Jilliana.
I made my yuan-USD cheat sheets. When we go shopping or buy anything it just makes it easier for me, especially when I know my hands will be full and my brain will not be able to figure it out. Mike has no problem in this area and thinks that it is silly for me to do, but funny thing, I do remember him asking me for the sheet a few times on our other adoption trips!

It was kind of a low key day. Mike and I watched Super Cross (which we follow more than football) and then the Super Bowl. The girls 100th day of school takes place on Thursday, the day after we leave. The 100th day of school is a big deal in Kindergarten. They have been working towards this day and have been looking forward to celebrating it. Since we are going to miss it by one day, I told them we could have a 99th day of school party. So they each had to count out 99 things to take to school for Wednesday. Here Meilynn is just beginning to count out 99 candy hearts.

Emma counting out 99 little notepads

And Lily counting out 99 boxes of raisins.

Meilynn with 99 candy hearts!

Lily with 99 boxes of raisins

And Emma with 99 notepads!

After we put the girls to bed we finished watching the Super Bowl and then we watch a few "Gotcha Day" videos on You Tube.

Wow, did that bring back memories and make it feel closer. Please pray for our health, and safety, but most of all for Jilliana's little heart to be open to receiving us and for our other little girls to feel the love that we have for them as our family grows together. God has blessed our family and so many times I wonder why we get be the ones to receive these blessings from God.

FOUR MORE DAYS! (A day to relax)

2011-02-05T21:24:00.000-08:00

First of all a couple of answers. When someone comments I want to answer, but often times there is no way to know how to contact the person who comments. If I answer in the comment section, I am not sure if the person who asked the question will see it. So I will try to answer here the questions that I remember from the comment section.

Our agency is Lifeline again and we love them. They never make me feel like I am bothering them when I ask a question. Karla is great to get back to me even after hours much of the time. I have always got a really fast LOA and TA and I think that is due to the respect that Lifeline and Lily and Rebecca have from the CCAA. The in country guides are outstanding. This time we will have Celine in Xian. I do not know anything about her, but if she is anything like Rebecca we are in great hands.

We will be staying at the Hyatt Regency. The funny thing is that I just saw the Travel Chanel, with Samantha Brown last Saturday and she stayed at the same Hotel and we got a few great ideas of places we want to see while we are in Xian. I also have got great ideas from a few of the people that have been there before.

Sammy, that is a great idea on the doll. I do need to narrow it down, as much as I want to take it all I just won't be able to.

Here is the 10 day weather Forecast. We leave for Xian on Wednesday and get there on Friday, February 11. It looks like we may see some snow. I have put off some of the packing waiting to see the weather and now it looks like I will need those warmer clothes.

Today
Feb 6

Partly Cloudy

60°
33°

60°F

Mon
Feb 7

Sunny

60°
34°

60°F

Tue
Feb 8

Partly Cloudy

57°
32°

57°F

Wed
Feb 9

Rain / Snow

37°
29°

60%

37°F

Check Flight Delays

Thu
Feb 10

Rain / Snow

39°
25°

60%

39°F

Fri
Feb 11

Mostly Cloudy

40°
25°

20%

40°F

Sat
Feb 12

Scattered Snow Showers

43°
24°

30%

43°F

Check Flight Delays

Sun
Feb 13

Sunny

44°
24°

44°F

Mon
Feb 14

Partly Cloudy

49°
28°

49°F

Tue
Feb 15

Partly Cloudy

42°
27°

10%

42°F

Last Updated Feb 06, 12:41 PM Local Time

Today I told the girls it would be their day. We decided that they would stay in their pajama's and watch cartoons as long as they wanted and then they could eat in their pajamas. They really only stayed in them about thirty minutes longer than on a normal school day.

The girls got to help plan the rest of the day. I made what they call fancy bananas, which are just bananas rolled in sprinkles.

A fancy banana that Meilynn has eaten off half of the sprinkles.

Emma with her fancy banana.
After breakfast the girls got dressed and we went shopping for summer clothes. It may be summer weather when we get back, (we are expecting 80 tomorrow) and I just cleaned out the closets and the girls had finally outgrown their shorts that were 2T.
I don't have any shopping photos but Kami went with us and the girls spent some time in Sephora trying on makeup while I ran a few errands at the shopping center. Lily and Meilynn bought a cute sundress and Emma bought a cute skirt and shirt with sweater.

After shopping we came home to bake in the Easy Bake oven again. This time it was Meilynn's turn to choose what they would make.

Putting in the cake

The cake! (notice the Christmas shirt) I have their clothes packed and we are running short on things to wear.
The girls decided to watch a movie. They chose Bambi. It was their first time watching it. I never liked watching Bambi because of the part where the Mother gets shot. There were a lot of questions but they seemed to handle it just fine. We will see tonight if there are any problems sleeping!

Emma and Lily snuggled up on the couch.

Meilynn cuddled up

The day is almost here and there is a calm at this point. The girls pray every night for Jilliana and that she is not too scared when we meet her. It is hard to believe that this time next week we will be in her province and so close to holding her.

We will be posting on Jilliana's site if we can and then here if that does not work. To get to her site just click on her picture at the top or type in Http://www.pomafamily.com

Whats Happening?

2011-02-04T21:50:00.000-08:00

First of all Mom, look what I put on the sidebar. The current time in Xian so that you will know what time it is while we are traveling. I am quite proud of myself for figuring out how to do that, since most things I accomplish on here end up being some kind of accident rather than me really knowing what I am doing! I also put a time clock on Our journey to Jilliana's website. You will find it on the China Travel page.

The packing continues. I am constantly changing my mind about what I am putting in. In the past I have only had a week to pack so there was no time for this going back and forth about what I am taking. For example,

This is Jilliana's suitcase and I cannot decide what doll I want to take the most.

I love the doll on the left, because she is a "Baby be blessed Doll", she has a very special scripture that we chose just for Jilliana on her tummy. She is soft and easy to carry around, but the doll on the right is so lifelike and she has a matching dress with Jilliana.

Then there is the soft cuddly lamb that has soothing noises to put her to sleep (even though we don't know if she will be able to hear them) and then the little Winnie the Pooh, which we chose because she is holding a pooh in a lot of the pictures we got of her and her update said the bear was one of her favorite toys. There is the sing-a-ma-jig that I could not resist. I thought she would love seeing the mouth open and shut even if she can not hear it.

So you see I can't decide. And I know it is silly because most likely she won't even care. But I just am hoping to find the thing that will give her some comfort.

I am having the same problem with the clothes. I have been checking the 10 day weather forecasts and there might be snow or rain in Xian and it might be warm in Guangzhou. I don't want to pack long underwear and things if we are not going to need it, but I don't want to be without it if we do.

Here are picture books that I am taking for other families that have adopted form Xian or are going too. I am so happy to help them out. I really hope that we will get to go to Hope Haven where we believe Jilliana has lived for three years.

Here is a book that I made for Jilliana. It has pictures that we have of her for her to keep.

And here are the gifts for the officials and Nanny's and other people that are going to help us in China.

On top of this we have been approached with the idea of filming our "Forever in our Arms Moment" for a possible documentary on Special Needs adoption. We are just in the beginning talks of this. It may or may not happen. We do feel that anything we can do to make others aware of adoption is a positive thing for our daughters.

And lastly, our baby Emma may have her first loose tooth. Here is Daddy trying to get a good look. She says it is sore and it does look a little loose, but we want to make sure that it is not something else that a Dentist may need to look at. So we will be watching her closely. The last thing we need is to travel with a little girl with a tooth that needs something done to it.

Staying healthy is probably my biggest worry. Everyone except me has had a cold, or cough, or fever, in the last week. Pray for health for our whole family. Only 5 more days!!!!

Packing, Computer Breakdown and NEW PICTURES OF JILLIANA

2011-01-31T20:58:00.000-08:00

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.

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

2011-01-24T21:14:00.000-08:00

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.

Meilynn's First Paid Job!

2011-01-21T15:51:00.000-08:00

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

2011-01-21T08:34:00.000-08:00

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.