Our Journey to Jaili

Updates on my beauties

2011-05-05T13:59:00.000-07:00

So it's been forever since I've updated. Everything has been going great here the past couple of months. Evie has been diagnosed with ONH (optic nerve hypoplasia) along with the albinism. Yes, lots of people with albinism have ONH, about 20%, and Eves is one of the" lucky" ones that it effects. We got the diagnoses last fall but weren't given any info or help until the last few months. We were told at first that it's not the same with albinsim kids, that it doesn't effect them. Uh, I would beg to differ in Eves case. It most definitely effects Evie. It's been awesome to finally get some help and have confirmation on the things that Shane and I already knew. She is on the very mild end of the spectrum. What we notice is that it effects her alot on the behavior end of things. She has trouble regulating her emotional response to things at times, she also has mild autism like symptoms, echolalia (repeating words and sounds, ie an ambulance sound over and over and over). We are having her monitored by an endocrinologist to verify that she is producing growth hormone. There are a few other things also. It's been nice to have a partial reason to put with some of her behaviors. Although Eves is crazy stubborn, determined and energetic there are times when it doesn't matter what Shane or I say or do she is just not going to process it at the time. Our early intervention teacher has been an absolute God send. She has given us some tools to help when Eves is having trouble processing, joint compressions, letting her hang on our arm or by a bar, rubbing a comb down her arm, tight hugs, backing off on things when we notice that she is getting to a point where she is going to have a break down because she is stressing about it too much. These tools have made a night and day difference in Eves. We aren't getting 3 hour non stop screaming and crying outbursts that we can't stop, she is listening better, connecting with us, asking for loves and hugs, talking and communicating more. She is like a different kid in so many ways. It explains so much about her reaction to us when we first got her. I only wish we would have known about this so much sooner. I think it would've saved alot of heartache on all of us.
Jaili and Evie are doing amazing together. There is nothing like watching your kids play, get along and love each other without a care in the world. Jaili has been taking the big sister duties very seriously. Sometimes too much, as I have told her she cannot send her sister to the no no wall.
It's been almost 1 year since Eves was brought to our family and what a difference a year makes. We continue to work on things everyday. There are good and bad days but Evie finally accepts us and loves us as her family and she is the most wonderful addition to ours. There is never a boring day in our house, Eves makes sure of that : ). There have been many times where I wondered if this was really the path that God chose for us or did I rush things. It's hard having day after day after day of tantrums and constant reminding of not to touch this or stop doing that. You feel like nothing is getting through and at times when she's having some of her processing problems it's not. But it truly a miracle to me to see how my doubts have faded. It's a miracle to look into my youngest daughters eyes and know that she was meant to be with us. That she is as much a part of me as my own flesh. That she is home, with her family and that I love her so entirely and completely. My relationship has been like a crockpot with Evie, slow to cook but man you get something pretty fantastic in the end. Jaili's more like a BBQ, you don't have to see it cook to know it's good, it just is and always will be. Good thing crockpot and bbq dinners are my favorite. (I'm hungry, can you tell)

The girls are 2 of the most beautiful, complex, wonderful people I've ever known and they are mine and my husbands daughters! I'm not sure why we were so blessed with them but we were and I am thankful every second of every day that God picked US to guide them through there lives. It's a miracle to look into Jaili and Evie's eyes and see the love of God shine back at you. Looking at the love and happiness in their faces is like looking into heaven. It is so bright and beautiful that you can't look away and makes your heart want to explode with the amount of adoration and love that you feel. It fills me with purpose in my life to keep heaven in their eyes..

Sorry I got all gushy there for a minute. As I was writing I realized just how far we have honestly come and I was overwhelmed with emotion for a bit. On that note I will end for today. I'll update when I feel the urge again.

2011-05-05T13:18:00.001-07:00

Our lovely Evie June

2011-05-05T13:16:00.001-07:00

Sisters :-)

2011-05-05T13:15:00.001-07:00

Little diva

2011-05-05T13:11:00.001-07:00

Sleeping beauty

2011-05-05T13:07:00.001-07:00

Eves new cane :-)

Just a few new photos

2011-01-02T20:13:00.000-08:00

So I will post more about our little ladies' birthdays and Eves eye surgery (which went amazingly well) later but thought I'd put up a few new pictures. Enjoy!!! Sorry the layout of these sucks, I cannot figure out how to get them where I want them for the life of me!

Eves talking

2010-11-24T17:07:00.000-08:00

So this is my 2nd attempt at a video with Eves. Anywho..here she is. Oh and the scab under her nose is from taking a header off the sandbox into a landscaping brick. Another unfortunate side effect of not much depth perception. She's a trooper though, a few tears and then back to playing again : ) I'll try and post a video of Eves and Jaili bird next.

Eves

2010-11-24T16:06:00.000-08:00

I apologize for not updating much. Honestly I hate being on the computer for longer than 10 min (unless it's shopping : ) ) So , Eves has been doing absolutely amazing She is such a happy kiddo. She actually walks around the house singing "Hap Py" (she turns it into 2 different words) Her motor skills are incredibly good, which is amazing because her sight isn't. She is ahead of development and is extremely coordinated. Her language is also going really well. Some things are still in Chinglish (I love you is, I ni ni) and lots of other random things we get about 25% of but on the whole we understand most of what she is talking about. So sort of like the average 2 year old : ) She has the biggest personality ever. Constantly making people laugh, which in turn makes her laugh. Eves and Jaili are also starting to play which I LOVE watching the 2 of them running through the house giggling. It's awesome.
We had to reschedule her eye surgery because she got a double ear infection,so now it is for Dec 9th to align her eyes and slow down her nystagmus. At the last eye appt she did fantastic and they now estimate her vision to be in the 20/200 range with glasses instead of the 20/700 range. I will be interested to see as she gets older what it truly is. The only time we notice she has an issue is definitely with depth perception ( still wacks her head on lots of stuff and falls off the steps, deck, curb, etc) As for her day to day stuff she just cruises right along. It doesn't stop her in the least. She is certainly our dare devil.
When I think of everything that she has gone through and to see how much she has changed just astounds me. Jaili changed alot also but her transition was much easier. She was younger and in an orphanage. Jaili also attached differently to us. Jaili was more internal with her feelings Evie is MUCH more external. When we first got Eves I was in shock, I thought maybe we had made a mistake. It was so very difficult. She was grieving very hard for her foster mother and was not about to make friends with us in any way what so ever. I never felt this way with Jaili. I think I assumed that I would feel the same for both kiddos. It has taken me awhile to realize I don't have to feel the same. I feel differently about the 2 of the them. No less or No more just different. I Love them for their differences now. I have 2 kids that are polar opposites and are both the most wonderful, beautiful and exceptional children in the world ; ) 6 months later Evie has added so much love to our family. She is a little spit fire. I know that God picked her just like he picked Jaili to be our child. I can't imagine our lives without her in them.

Anywho, I'll try to post a video of Eves dancing (which is her favorite) and more pictures of our little lovelies!!!

Evasaurus

2010-08-05T08:21:00.000-07:00

So...I haven't posted in awhile because as you would guess, having 2 kids is WAY BUSIER and harder than one. At the end of the day (on my days off) I look around the house and think "Where did the day go?" I know I actually did stuff because I'm tired but if you look at the house no one would know. Having 2 tornadoes of mess does not equate to a clean house. Everytime I turn around there is yet another mess and it's generally in the place that I just cleaned. Even as I type this I look down and Evie has just thrown a crumbled up muffin on the floor that I just swept. Seriously???
Anywho, kiddo's have been doing fantastic!!! Evie is adjusting wonderfully and we are adjusting to her and the fact of having another baby in the house : ) It is such a stark contrast to the days when we first got Eves. I can't believe it's only been 3 months and how our feelings have changed. When she was placed in our arms and the consequent screaming, hitting, hair pulling, pinching directly at me for the next month I thought we had made the biggest mistake. I didn't understand, if she is supposed to be our daughter than why was this sooooo difficult? I couldn't understand Evie, I didn't get how she worked. I didn't have that immediate bond, the feeling that I just knew she was our child like I did with Jaili. It was the opposite of Jaili in everyway possible. It amazes me to think that only 2 1/2 short months ago I felt we had this little stranger who I didn't really care for living with us. I did the obligatory things to care for her and love her but the feelings were not there. It was a fake it till you make it thing. I apologize if I offend anyone reading this but I'm not one to sugar coat things. I believe in getting things out in the open and not hiding behind pleasantries. I hope that other people can read this who are in this situation and realize they are not alone. Not all adoptions are bunnies and sunshine when you meet your child. Sometimes it's hell and fire. We had both. But I can say WOW what a difference time, patience, love, understanding, PRAYER, good support system and a commited family make.
I cannot imagine our lives without Evie in them now! She fits us so perfectly. It has been lots of hard work and continues to be but I can see the change and growth in Evie. She is becoming our child and not the little stranger in the house. The thing is that when you adopt a child who is not a little baby anymore and was raised by their foster parents they are little strangers. They don't have your habits, your personality quirks, your way of doing things. They have the foster parents or the people they have been raised with and around. It takes time for everyone to adjust. Evie is very sprited and had no discipline and didn't make eye contact on top of everything also. Shane and I needed to learn to adjust our parenting to suit Evie. We work with her everyday on looking at people (even if she can't see them) to make more eye contact (which she is doing GREAT at), we have to be not as lax's with Evie on redirecting her behaviors (Jaili is a point and shoot kid, especially now...Evie is a pusher of all things). I can honestly say that I LOVE Evie's spririt. It can be challenging, but I wouldn't want her any other way. Eves is exuberant about everything. She is a very passionate little individual. She is loud, boistrous, happy, loving ,determined and stubborn. She is like the sun. Hot and intense but there is no comparison to warmth and life that it provides. I feel like I have the best of both worlds with my 2 girls. Jaili is thoughtful, analytical, extremely compassionate and has an understanding of things so far beyond her years it's almost creepy. She is me in a 4 yr old's body, I understand her with every cell in my body. Evie is so much more like my husband...constant energy : ) It takes more energy and patience on my part to understand her but she is so worth it. I have a strong connection to Eves now, I'm getting what makes her tick. Oh and she gives the best hugs in the entire world. Full body conforming,arms around the neck, all encompassing hugs. They are Evie. All things done by her are at the fullest capacity.
Evie and Jaili are getting along like true sisters, fighting one minute loving each other the next. We've had lots of talks about respecting eachother and how we treat and talk to our family. Eves language is also developing so amazingly fast. She understands EVERYTHING we say to her now. She also says mommy, daddy, jei,jei, i did, sorry, thank you, drink,food, puppy, pillow, bunny, berry, that, and some more things that I'm not remembering now. As for her eyesight, we have another appointment at Casey Eye Institute in Sept to talk about surgery for her crossed eyes and nystagamus. They are estimating her vision to be about 20/700 with glasses so pretty bad vision. The only time you notice it though is when she is looking at books, she can't see the t.v., and when she is running and playing. If we get to far out of her eyesight she just sort of gazes into nowhere and listens for us. Not saying she can't run and play (she does everyday) you just have to be aware that you can't get more than about 50-60 feet away or she won't know where you are. I'm curious to see as she gets older for her to tell us what her she can see instead of just making educated guesses. Anywho, that's the ladies in a nutshell for now. We have 2 fantastically great kiddo's stubborness and all (for both of them). I added a few pictures that I've taken on my phone.

2010-08-05T07:25:00.001-07:00

This is what happens when I'm in the shower :-)

2010-08-05T07:24:00.001-07:00

Teeth cleaning time

2010-08-05T07:21:00.001-07:00

Our little explorer

2010-08-05T07:20:00.001-07:00

Pirate Pete

2010-08-05T07:19:00.001-07:00

Dual action no no wall :-)

Few pictures of our Sweet Evie June

2010-06-15T17:25:00.000-07:00

Just thought I'd post a few more pictures of Evie. She is growing by leaps and bounds in everyway possible. Full of love for all of us. Not to say that we don't have a few tantrums, but she's 18 months old, too be expected. She has had a pretty big turn around. Actually prefering to go to me most of the time. She is one feisty and EXTREMELY lovey kiddo. She's also talking and singing like crazy. She is saying mama, dada, up, please, down and drink with signs most of the time. Anywho, I'll write more when I have more time. Going to a mom's only dinner tonight...YEA!!! Oh and a huge thank you to my cyber friend Tonya. Seriously girl you are a LIFE SAVER!!!!! Your advice has helped me so much with Evie. You can check out Tonya's cutie pie Matti on her blog. I have a link posted on the side.

The picture with her and the monkey cracks me up because it looks like she is about to throw down. The monkey would not win!! Then the one with her looking down and the wings also makes me laugh because she is about ready for take off. Pretty much the only reason why I put those two on.

2 steps forward....2 steps back or 8

2010-06-09T20:59:00.000-07:00

Yes, I hope Paula Abdul is going through everyone else's head now also.....I take 2 steps forward, you take 2 steps back. We come together because opposites attract. Yea you know. It ain't easy it's a natural fact...blah blah blah. Oh yea and I'm totally dating myself...whatever.
So yes you guessed it" the Goat" (you may know her as Evie) took several steps back tonight. Oh I'll explain why we call her " the goat" or Goatie LaRue in a later post. Anywho, back to tonight.
I'm not even sure what or why it happened. She had a great day today! She did awesome, played with Me and Shane today quite a bit, woke up happy. Through a fit mid morning a hucked cherrios across the car but that's kind of normal for her (at this time), then at about 5:30 out of nowhere she just started first screaming at both Shane and I then it escalated beyond control. Do you know how hard it is to sit and hold an angry, fighting, upset, sad, screaming animal of an 18 month old for 2 hours?? (question is rhetorical) Oh yea 2 HOURS of this! She first refused to even look at me, then refused to touch me, then arched and howler monkey screamed to try and get away from me. We are doing holding time therapy so that was not going to happen. Then she would start to calm down then as soon as I asked her to look at momma's eyes and held her hand to touch my face the whole thing would start again. To top it off just for good measure she pinched my face, pinched my chest, pulled my hair and hit me. It was awesome!! I honestly don't know if I should laugh or cry? She is one heck of a fighter, which is cool, but for cripes sake I might lose my freakin mind!!! Thankfully tomorrow is another day, which unfortunately is the test run for me and work. Shane's mom is coming to watch Jaili and Evie tomorrow for a few hours while I go and have lunch with Shane and basically stay away from the house for about 2 hours. So wish us luck. My heart breaks for her for about the first hour of screaming (ok maybe first 45 min.) I know that she is in pain. then after it goes on for so long I just kind of go numb. I fight to stay connected to her during these times. We are getting there. It's a long road, it's what we expected. There are times when it's definitely worse than we were prepared for but I see the smalls strides that she has been making day by day and it's so worth it.
I was able to get a couple of pictures today with no sunglasses.

Goodnight
Don't let the pictures fool you that girl is one heck of an angry fighter : )

Finally pictures!!!

2010-06-08T20:43:00.000-07:00

I have no idea how to lay these out so they look good on the page!! Seriously annoying but anyhow here's photo's finally. Technologically I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer, brightest candle in the box, whatever the saying is. So hence why it took so long for me to manage to get these pictures of the camera and on the blog. I'll try and get pictures of Eves with no glasses on tomorrow so you can see her beautiful peepers. She has been doing out standing the past few days. Even comes to me to "check in" during play time. I've also been getting lots of hugs and kisses through out the day. She had to have blood drawn today and in the middle of her crying she looks up to me to give me a kiss and then goes on crying. Poor little sweet pea. She did awesome though. Since we have come home she has really blossomed. We've had a few setbacks, as to be expected, but overall I've been pleasantly surprised and amazed at how well she has been doing. She is such a great kid and such a blessing to our family. She adores her big sister, which is something big sister is still getting used to. I honestly can't believe the transformation we've had with her. She is a different kid than 3 weeks ago, her personality comes out more and more everyday. I do go back to work part time next week (2 days a week) so I'm really scared that we are going to have setbacks. We are praying for God's hand on everything. It will all work, I'm just stressing about it. If we do have setbacks at least I can modify my schedule to work around her (the joys of being self-employed) Anywho, enjoy the pictures.

Is ignorance inherent in some people or do you think it's taught??

2010-06-04T09:48:00.000-07:00

OK Seriously, I realize my daughter has white hair and light blue eyes that move around alot. Does everyone have to point that out though. Shane and I are getting EXTREMELY irritated because everytime we go out in public we will have at least a few people completely go crazy over Evie's hair and eyes. I don't mean to turn bitchy but come on people. We had one lady in a restaurant yesterday want to take Evie through the kitchen so the rest of the staff could see her. Then at my husband's work (he works at a hospital) in the cafe we had 2 ladies make such a huge production over Evie's hair that it actually attracted more people to come over and look. Evie is completely adorable so I get that but it almost seems like we are the walking freak show.It is absolutely ridiculous. It would be the same thing as someone coming up to a person who is very black and going "WOW, you are so black, hey everyone come over and look at this really black lady" You just don't do that crap. But for some reason people feel they can make all sorts of comments about how pale Evie is , how light her hair is. How blue violet her eyes are. Some people actually laugh and bring people over so they can see her. I'm about to go insane and go off on someone. It's also affecting Jaili. She told Shane and I that she felt invisible, that people don't see her anymore, that she doesn't feel beautiful and that people only see baby sister. Of course we had a HUGE conversation first about beauty and people's opinions. Then we talked alot about baby sister and how she will have to deal with this for the rest of her life.
So for all of you parents out there with children with albinism, how do you deal with it? What do you say to people? How do you not want to tell people off and then wack them?
Yes, my daughter's are unique and beautiful, both of them. I don't need everyone and their dog announcing it to the world though. I worry about the girls as they get older too. I need a come back to shut people down.
I was used to being stared at alittle with Jaili because she has purple bangs (as do I) but that staring was different. Positive. Our choice with her hair. All people would say was " HOW CUTE, purple streaks, just like mommy" With Evie it's not a choice and the comments and staring are out of curiosity, like a freak show. Evie is not a side show to be paraded around. She is a sweet, loving, spirited, bright, beautiful baby girl.
Yes, I'm new to this stuff, yes it's irritating the crap out of me and yes, I know I will get used to it eventually. But any advice to help us deal would be glorious. Anywho, had to vent.
Oh and I don't want to ignore the fact that she has albinism and is gorgeous. I just don't want to be the object of fascination for people...constantly! People need to remember to THINK before you act or say something.
The crazy thing is is that I don't really see what all the fascination is about. I don't see that she looks much different than anyone else. Maybe except her beauty just like her big sister. (Yep, I'm a mother who adores my girls).
Oh and we are going to the beach this weekend so I WILL get pictures!!!!!

Evie is doing great!!!

2010-06-02T10:27:00.000-07:00

Evie has been doing so well these past few days. We've had virtually no screaming temper tantrums and she has been such a kick in the pants to be around. We are definitely having some good times right now. I know it's most likely not permanent...yet. She still has sadness and crying that comes out right before bed time and anytime any other female comes over to the house (grandmas, friends, etc) she pushes me away very hard. You can tell that she wants to be close to me but she is just not completely ready yet. Shane went back to work yesterday and Evie did really well. We ordered a few books from Amazon to help us with attachment and bonding, and one in particular has made a HUGE difference. It's called Holding Time. The author developed this technique for holding and bonding for children with autism and found that it works on all kids. It has been so beneficial for Evie and I. It encourages eye contact and letting your child cry and yell to get out the sadness and anger that they are feeling. So everyday Evie and I (also Jaili and I)have holding time. The first time with Evie was more like a small wrestling match. She didn't want me to hold her much less have to make eye contact with me. It took about 1 hour and 15 min of having her scream and yell at me and then all of a sudden she stopped screaming looked me in the eyes patted the side of my face and said "momma". She continued just stroking the side of my cheek saying momma and then fell asleep. Since then each holding time session the crying has been less and less, today she in fact did not cry at all. She actually smiled stroked my cheek 3 times and said momma as soon as I held her like a baby.
She is stinkin adorable. I love that she is feeling comfortable enough to let her personality shine through. She is very sweet and loving and babbles like crazy. Now that she is beginning to feel comfortable she is actually quite an easy toddler, generally happy most of the time. Don't get me wrong it's not all bunnies and sunshine, she is still the loudest screamer I've ever heard but now I don't mind it so much. I'm really beginning to attach to her also. Which is so Awesome. Most days I just want to kiss her squishy little cheeks until I could eat her all up.
Jaili (mommy #2) amazes me everyday with her capacity to love and help. She has taken everything in stride. She is so well spoken that even if she is having a hard time she comes right out and tells us. She told me the other day that she was feeling very lonely because Daddy didn't carry her like he used to before baby sister. It's so nice to have a 4 year old able to verbalize her feelings so well. We had a good talk about everything after that and I just let her know that everyday we would have a time for her to talk about how she is feeling to get it all out.
We had Evie's eye appointment at Casey Eye Institute last Friday and the Dr.Reznick pretty much said everything we assumed.In a nutshell Evie's eyes are pretty crappy. She has nystagmus, strabismus of both eyes, small optic nerve, astigmatism, head tilt because of her null point and something else that I can't think of the correct name for. Everything is pretty common with OCA1 albinism. The Dr. is going to have Evie wear glasses for the next 4-6 weeks then reevaluate after that to see if glasses helps her crossed eyes, head tilt and slows her nystagmus. If the glasses don't help we are looking at doing surgery for her crossed eyes (strabismus) and dampening her nystagmus this year. Again none of this caught us by surprise. It's pretty much everything Shane and I were anticipating with her eyes. Although I didn't realize how dorky the glasses were for infants until we started looking for them. Seriously, I realize she is just a toddler but these glasses they have are REALLY bad. We are looking for the least dorky of the bunch. Yes, I realize Evie won't care nor will she even know that the glasses are bad. If I have the option of finding something a little cuter and less goofy I'm going to go with that option.
Anywho, I will absolutely try and get pictures up today of the little ladies. I know I keep saying it...it's just a pain in the bum for me to try to get them on her, but I will at least attempt it today.

Small Miracle!

2010-05-26T22:57:00.000-07:00

Yesterday a small miracle occurred. Evie actually wanted me to hold her most of the evening. She went to me right before we were going to the store and stayed in my arms the entire time. She was sooo sweet. It was so nice to actually comfort my child for the first time and not have her scream like a banshee when I'm within 5 feet of her. This morning it was back to the usual though, screamed like she saw the devil himself as soon as she opened her eyes and looked at me beside her. It's really cool that I elicit such emotion from my child, I should feel privileged, not every parent can say that there child literally runs screaming from them for no apparent reason. (I'm hoping everyone gets the sarcasm and humor in the above statement). We went into the salon today to cut Jaili's hair (oh yea, btw she looks ADORABLE, little aline haircut) Anywho, Evie did really well then too. She again wanted me to hold her. One of the clients of a friend that I work with was asking questions about Evie and goes "Wow, so you've had her for almost 3 weeks and she is already so attached and adjusted" I laughed hysterically and told her she had no idea, she was seeing a rare moment with Evie and I at the time. This evening was lots of fun with Evie too. For about another 2 hours I was screamed at because I had the audacity to change her diaper and then try to soothe her while Shane was mowing the lawn. I did have a little victory with it though. She called me momma and gave me a kiss right before I handed her to Shane (she refuses to call me momma 99.9% of the time, everything except me is momma to her). I can not explain the sense of happiness I felt when she looked at me and said momma. I have to admit my competitive side was there too and I secretly (or not so secret)wanted to do a dance and sing... I won, I won, Ha HA HA I WON!!!.....this round. ( you also have to envision a 4th graders voice proudly singing this at the top of her lungs)...yep that's me. I'm not too proud to admit it. That little girl truly amazes me by her stubbornness and I have to say I admire her for it. You go girl! She's a fighter and I Love that about her. Not at all fun for me right now but she will need that fire as she gets older. She will have things to overcome and with the tenacity that she shows she will have no problem accomplishing anything. She is one funny, spicy, stubborn kid and I'm happy to say that she is all ours. God has blessed is with 2 very different yet perfectly wonderful children. Jaili has a sweetness and gentleness that would melt even the hardest heart and Evie has such passion and fire (so far) that you know nothing will stop her when she sets her mind to it.

On a side note, here are some of the few things that I 've learned so far about having a sight impaired child:

1. You get hit A LOT. Depth perception is not great so when she's excited and the arms flail about. You need to be on guard so you don't lose an eye.
2. Don't freak out about the minor bumps. She hits her head on EVERYTHING. She bends down to look at something, comes up and crack right on the head.
3. Not to gasp at every bump or fall. She runs into walls quite a bit right now, bounces and then goes about her way. She is one tough cookie.
4. There is no containing things in containers. Every item (food, toys, etc) that we try to put in little bowls or containers all get dumped out. She can't see things clearly unless they are about 3 in from her face so EVERYTHING gets dumped out and examined. Needless to say our dog is really happy.

There's also more but I'm tired and going to bed. Ok not going to bed but stopping to write so I can focus all my attention on Bear Gryls right now, the drool is beginning to pool. : )

On a serious note my heart breaks for Evie everyday. I can only imagine the kind of pain that she has been experiencing through out this entire process. It has been extremely difficult on all of us, especially Evie. I know God will heal her heart. I pray that she is comforted and she knows how much all of us truly love her. Continued prayers would be very appreciated it.

We are home

2010-05-25T12:46:00.000-07:00

So I apologize for not posting sooner. I was having issues in China. Everytime I tried to send a post to blogger it kept saying file to large (not matter how big it was). Anywho, Evie is doing better. We measure time now in small moments instead of days. We had several good moments in China. Mostly screaming at me but a few great things that kept me going. She let me hold her while only screaming for a a while and then settling down. She also kind of gave up while I carried her in the ergo (screamed for about 30-45 min) and then fell asleep. She also let out some anger and bit and pinched me...seemed to make her feel better and me in pain (only alittle bit though). She also screams incessantly upon waking when she looks at me. It's AWESOME!!!
She has been significantly better since we have gotten home though. Although she still prefers Shane A LOT, I'm able to hold her more without constant screaming and she has given me about 5 spontaneous kisses. Last night, though she still screams when looking at me, put her bum against me while she was trying to go to sleep. She also babbles constantly now and seems to be much happier since we have gotten home. She is a little clown, loves to get reactions from people. She also adores singing, which is adorable. Jaili has taken the big sister role very seriously, helping with everything. She is a little mommy.
We went to Hong Kong disneyland on the way home, which was so much fun. I'm really glad to be home without people taking pictures of Evie and us. It was ridiculous the entire time we were in China. We could not stop for more than 10 seconds without having a swarm of people around us, picking Evie up and taking constant pictures. It got very annoying. People were very nice, but come on. I felt like we were the sideshow. People would literally pass Evie along to have their picture taken with her. At disneyland I had to hide in the shadows on the side of a building with Evie in the stroller while Shane, Jaili and Shannon were in the bathroom, just so I wouldn't be bothered by people.
Needless to say we are extremely glad to be home. I'll post more later. We have family here and I need to go be social. Post more pictures later.

Angel

We have our baby girl #2

2010-05-13T19:47:00.001-07:00

I'm so sorry i haven't posted earlier, but it has been an extremely rough transition. We received Evie (yes we changed her name, she just wasn't a June. Now it's Evie June)on Sunday at 5:00 she was smelly and very poopy. We found out that she had been picked up directly from her foster families house and drove 2 hours to us. Needless to say we had quite and upset little girl. She was quite attached to her foster mother so she has no desire for me to be around her. It's been very hard the past few days. So difficult in fact that I called our agency to talk to them about if we had made a horrible mistake in doing this adoption. Evie cried almost non-stop (unless Shane was able to hold her) for 3 days. Not just a little sweet cry but a full on howler monkey scream. It was enough to make anyone want to jump out a window. She doesn't like me to touch her, let alone hold her. We are making ant size progress each day, which is good. Today we've had alittle more progress. She actually touched me on her own and when I pointed to her and said Evie, then pointed to myself and said Mommy then I pointed to my lips and said kiss and she kissed me on her own. Which is a big step.

Shane and I were also quite surprised to see how small she is. She is behind developmentally. She is more like an 11 month old in almost every way. She weighs 16 lbs and is sooo tiny ( We put 6-12 month pants on her today and they fell right off). She is walking but does not know how to crawl or move around when you lay her on her back. She doesn't have much language either. She can say 3 words (mama, baba and ayi..auntie in Chinese) She is already getting more language and skills down. She points to Jaili and says Jei Jei (big sister in Chinese) and is babbling more and more.

We still have a very cranky baby when daddy gets more than 5 ft away, which honestly can weigh on your nerves alot.

Evie is very sweet and adorable though. My feelings of attachement for her are growing everyday. I'm just waiting for her to come to me. Trying to win her over one ant step at a time. I fed her part of a ding dong yesterday so she would associate mommy with sweet things. I've been the only one to feed her, while Shane holds her so she can see that I provide the essentials for her. Everyday we see a little more comfort with us and not as much of a scared little kitten. (thanks Tonya for the analogy). I will post more later. Keep Evie and the rest of our family in your prayers.

oh and Jaili girl has been absolutely amazing in all of this. So helpful and considerate. It's hard on her also but she keeps trying to make more and more steps with baby sister also. Evie actually really likes Jaili. It bothers Jaili though that Evie has problems with me as of yet. I let her know that Evie is scared right now but she will come around.

In the seattle airport!

2010-05-03T13:00:00.001-07:00

So I'm testing the emailing to blog to sedefi e how well this is going to work while we are in China! We are just 45 min away from hoping on our plane from seattle to Tokyo to Beijing!!!! Jaili did awesome on our way from Portland to Seattle. She LOVES the plane. Not afraid of anything, even asked if we could parachute out of the plane sometime....I'm envisioning her giving me a heart attack by the time she is 18 with her dare devil ways. I love it though. She definatly has her own thing going on. I'm so proud of that little one. She is beyond excited about getting baby sister. Only a few more days and we will be a family of 4! Very awesome this day is finally here. I'll post more with pictures when we are in China.

Angel
www.journeytojaili.blogspot.com

Happy Day we have travel dates!

2010-04-10T22:32:00.000-07:00

So we got our confirmation yesterday for our travel dates. We will be leaving on May 3rd and returning on the 23rd. Happy Day!!!! We are going to Beijing early to do the touristy stuff again (Great wall, temple of heaven, tiannamen square,etc) and then we extended our trip by 2 days to stay in Hong Kong and go to Ocean Park. I may regret this one...but oh well. We were thinking since we have to fly out of Hong Kong anyway why not do a special treat for Jaili bird and take her there?
We have our tickets purchased and are getting ready to go!!! We will fly in to Nanchang on the 9th at 2:00pm, check into our hotel and then get June by 4:00! Happy Mother's Day to me!
I've been praying alot for June and her grieving process. I anticipate a very sad baby and my heart breaks for her already. Her little world is going to be turned upside down. Even though she can't comprehend it at this age I'm praying that God gives her peace and knowledge that we love her so much and are her parents. I'm definately stressed about how it's all going to go. I'm so excited to be getting her and having our family together FINALLY! But I also feel so conflicted because she doesn't know that we are her forever parents. All she knows is that she is being taken away from her foster parents, the only people that she knows and loves. I pray that this does not stay with her, a fear of abandonment ,of being removed, for the rest of her life. I feel so grateful for this older couple that have been like grandparents to her. They have loved her and taken care of her but I also feel a loss. Loss and jealousy, that we haven't been the ones to love her since day one, that some one else has had that opportunity. I felt similarly with Jaili, of course we want to be with our children from the moment they were created, the foster family just adds a different dimension to it. Again, I'm so thankful for them, it's just...different.
On a different note, I did have a dream about June last night. We were in the hotel and she was wearing the cutest little skirt and playing in the hotel room. She was laughing and so very happy and beautiful! I woke up feeling very warm and fuzzy after that dream.
I know in time we will all adjust and everything will be how it's supposed to be. I just pray that Shane and I are able to give June (and Jaili) everything that we can. To help them to feel confident and complete. I just always want both of them to know how much they mean to us. Nothing compares to the love that you have for your children. As I told Shane when we first got Jaili. Shane has my heart, but Jaili ( and now June) are my heart. It does help me to understand the love that Christ has for us. I still cannot fathom it but at least I have a glimpse now.

I also have a funny Jailiism. We were at church on easter and when Jaili came out of Jesus school, as she call it, she asks us "Why did God's skin fall off?" Shane and I look at her completely confused and ask "What?" Jaili then says " Yea, today in Jesus school we learned that God died on a cross and then his skin fell off." Neither one of us had any idea what she was talking about at first. Then I started thinking of the wording in the crucifiction and resurrection and remembered it being described that Jesus left the flesh. So I asked her if that is what she meant. " She said "yea, his skin fell off." Both Shane and I started laughing and then tried explaining to her what it meant. That is a very hard concept to explain to a 4 year old. I'm shortning this story quite a bit, the entire conversation lasted probably about 15 min. Most of it consisting of Jaili insisting that God's skin fell off and Shane and I just looking really confused. Anywho, it cracked me up. I have never thought of the wording that way...Oh to have the mind of a very curious and very literal and smart 4 year old.

WE HAVE TA!!!!

2010-04-06T09:01:00.000-07:00

We were on the early end of something! I was happily surprised to get an email from Holt yesterday that said we have our travel approval! I was working all day yesterday and I kept checking my phone about every 30 min to see if we had an email. I knew travel approvals were coming in because between clients I was also stalking the rumor queen forum and I was REALLY hoping that ours would be in the bunch of travel approvals. At about 3:30 I gave up and decided that ours was probably not going to come this time around. I put my phone down and ignored it. At about 5:00 I noticed that my phone was blinking that I had a message and THERE IT WAS!!! We are beyond excited and now am realizing how many things I still need to do. We are hoping to get our travel dates by the end of this week and then we can buy the plane tickets. I'm still in amazement that we are actually getting our mama Junebug Jones. WOW!!!! The whole family cannot wait to meet our little one. By the time we get her it will be 8 months of staring at her picture and now she will be ours! I'll keep everyone posted as soon as we get travel dates.

Late in posting but we got our Article 5

2010-04-04T21:02:00.000-07:00

So I'm late in posting this( I have a love/hate relationship with my computer)but we got our article 5 on 3/18/10!! So that means, per Holt, that we should be getting travel approval in 3-4 weeks from the 18th. So hopefully either this week or next!! Although I'm going to try and not get to excited about that, considering we've been on the long end of almost every step of the process. I'm praying that we are able to travel the first week of May to get our girl. I haven't scheduled any clients after that until June 21st (I figured that is when I'd go back to work, 2 days a week)SO if we don't go then EEKKK, no clients, no money and BORED!!!

I'm FINALLY feeling the connection with our June. I have been concerned because June's adoption journey has been so different than Jaili's. I KNEW Jaili before we even got her referral. I knew after she was born (told my husband 3 days after Jaili was born, we were laying in bed and I looked over at him and said "Our daughter's been born, I can feel her"), I knew what her SN was going to be before we got her referral, I had dreams about her, I knew what she looked like...I was deeply connected to her. The only way I can explain it is that God allowed me to know her before she was actually ours. June's hasn't been the same way and that has worried me. Maybe I wasn't a good enough mother for her because I haven't "felt" her the same way. There have been little things along the way with her. I was certain that our next daughter was going to have albinism. I had a very strong urge in August, 2 weeks after we sent in our SN list, to research albinism and add it immediatly to our list. I asked my husband how he felt and he said "I already thought it was on our list". I get feelings about her personality and the closer we get the more and more connected I feel to her. My heart crys for our missing daughter now, I'm ready for her and I just want her home.

When I told my husband how I was feeling about not being "connected" he was wonderful. He just looked at my and said " I never had any of those things with Jaili before we got her that you did and am I any less connected to her now than you?" Which , of course, he isn't! Jaili adores her daddy, as he does her. Jaili is truly the light of Shane (and my ) life. Then Shane told me, "The same things that you felt with Jaili, I feel with June, I've dreamed about her, I know which name is going to fit her (Shane did pick June's name, I picked Jaili's), I feel like God has let me know June". I'm truly in awe of how God works. It wasn't up to me nor was it about me to know our daughter. God has picked Shane and I to be the parent's of this beautiful child, just like he did with Jaili. I'm truly humbled by the fact that God has allowed Shane and I to share in these 2 lives, to watch them grow, to guide them along the way and to love them with all of our heart, body and soul. I can't wait to get our daughter home, where she belongs, to finally be able to hold and love her and give her the father, mother and sister that has been waiting for her.

HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE!!!
Seriously, I would like to throw the computer out the window at the moment. Stinkin text background keeps going to white, not matter what I do with it. GRRRRRR. It's been about 2 hours to update this thing. Frustration does not even begin to explain it!!! Going to bed, I give up. I had no problems with the old blogger. I updated it and am ready to pull my hair out everytime I use it (hence the slow updating by me) Anywho, had to vent about my lack of computer/blogger skill.

NVC Letter is Here

2010-02-24T09:32:00.000-08:00

We got our National Visa Center letter on the mail on Saturday. I know it doesn't seem like much but NOW we can email the letter and our I-800 approval to Holt and they can send it to China to get started on our article 5 and then our Travel Approval. So YIPPEE, it came. I think I can officially be done stalking the mail man for awhile. We have our visa's, our letters, our I-800. Nothing else needs to be mailed now, at least I don't think so.Holt will get our info off to China on the 26th and then 2 weeks, abou,t after that for article 5 and then about another 3-4 weeks for travel approval. The count down is ON!

Oh on a side note, I swear Jaili gets funnier every day. She told me I was "rockin the hizouse" the other day, so I looked at her and said "fo shizzel". Yea, we're totally street now....again hear my sarcasm on that one. She also informed me that "giganotosaurus's are quite the bird watchers even though they are carnivorous" I just started laughing and said "good to know, you should probably go tell daddy that also" She is LOVIN' the dinosaurs right now. Dinosaur train on PBS kids is a HUGE hit in our house. I'm not sure when our 4 year old turned 14 but most days it's pretty funny...other days a little bit of drama complete with the huge sighs and the eye rolls (love that) Thankfully that is not often. She's not a fan of standing on the no no wall.

That kid kicks butt, I'm excited to see the relationship that her and June will have. Although I'm sure there will be a bit of an adjustment period for awhile at first. Anywho, post more when I have more info.

Take Care,

Angel : )

Another step closer

2010-02-12T14:25:00.000-08:00

So not much news to report but our I-800 was approved on 2/5/10! Now we are just waiting for the National Visa Center to cable it to Guangzhou( they received the our paperwork yesterday) then we need our letter from NVC. At that point Holt can send it overnight to China to wait for our Article 5 which will take around 2-3 weeks and after that we can get travel approval which should be another 2-4 weeks after Article 5 and FINALLY off to China. We are still estimating going the first part of May.
Jaili and I have had fun lately buying some clothes for baby sister. I've been getting lots of 12-18 months. I'm hoping that these will fit her (if not I have alot of things to take back..eeekkk!) She should be about 20 lbs when we get her. She is 18.74 lbs and 28" at this point so I plotted it on the growth chart and around 20 lbs is what it said. I'm going alittle on the smaller side just because when we got Jaili bird she was MUCH smaller than we thought. We had to buy 3-6 months clothes for her @ 11 months old. She didn't get into 12 month clothes until she was about 19 months old. Watch June will suprise us though and be a chunky monkey and will surpass her sister in no time. : ) Anywho, that's the news of the day for us. I'll post more when I have new updates.

WE HAVE LOA!!!

2010-01-29T09:02:00.000-08:00

So I spoke to soon with my last post. We are happy to annouce that we received our letter of approval for our beautiful June Skye on January 25th, 2010. It looks like China signed it on the 21st of Jan and we got the call on Monday @ about 2pm. We are so ridiculously excited!!! That means in about 3 months we will have our second daughter! Next steps are filling out the I-800 paperwork for immigration (which I already did and overnighted to Texas on 1/26) then we wait for our approval, then it's cabled to Guangzhou National Visa Center, then we get a letter from NVC, Next we wait for out article 5 to be picked up and then we wait for our travel approval and consulate appointments and FINALLY it's off to China. This usually takes an average of 60-70 days but can vary widely (just like LOA wait).
The reality hit Shane and I Monday night that we are actually going to have 2 daughters. EEEKKK!! It's all REAL now and although very exciting I have to admit a bit scary also. There are just the unknowns that I sit and dwell on while we wait...like attachment, lack of sleep for us for awhile, will she like us, will she allow us to comfort her during her grieving process, how will Jaili react, will Jaili feel left out, how do we fit 2 kids in our queen size bed : ) , how's June's eyesight and her strabismus (lazy eye), when do we schedule her eye doctor appointment (which reminds me I need to call our insurance about referral to Casey Eye Institute in Portland), how are we going to get together $3000 more for travel in 3 months, anywho the list goes on and on.I was awake several times last night thinking about it all. I know it's all going to work out great but like I said I have 3 months to obsess about it right now. I just need to remember that this is God's plan and through him all things are possible.
On a side note we are so grateful to Jaili and June's Auntie Shannon. She will be traveling to Oregon from Texas and then off to China with us to help with everything. That is a big relief and will help us out so much. Huge blessing for us and she is REALLY excited to go also.
We are also trying to decide if we should go to Beijing again or just to Nanchang and then Guangzhou. It is going to be less expensive to go to just Nanchang and Guangzhou but on the other hand Jaili and Shannon (ok and Shane and I) are excited to see the great wall and all the sites of Beijing. Jaili girl talks about it alot and it would be nice to have a few days to relax and cruise around before we got Miss June. Anywho, we cannot wait to meet our newest addition.
We also received 6 new pictures of June on the 25th. I will try and post all of them, I keep having issues getting the pictures on blogger right now. I don't know what I'm doing wrong. They keep wanting to end up all over the page or not post at all. So in the pictures she is wearing about 7 layers of clothes and has some sweet boogers in her nose (I did try to retouch them out). Our Holt director Beth (who is absolutely awesome BTW) said it was very cold where June is (Jiangxi) right now and the houses are concrete with no heat, so hence the 5 bazillion layer, the red cheeks and green boogers.

Hope you enjoy the new photos of June. I think they are all on there, even though it's not set up very well

Updates of June

2010-01-24T17:11:00.000-08:00

So here we are at 125 days waiting for our LOA (letter of approval) and still nothing yet. We hope to get in any day now. Holt let us know that we have been in the review department since Dec 24th and it usually takes anywhere from 1-2 months from then for LOA. We are praying we will get it soon to bring our little one home. Holt has been fantastic with everything and were able to get updates for us. We got one new picture of June and a little more information on her. It looks like she has strabismus (lazy eye) with one of her eyes so we will see what we need to do to help her with it when she comes home. Besides that it looks like she is doing well. She is currently 18.3 lbs and 28 inches tall. Similar in size to Jaili girl at the same age. It also says that she is able to walk while holding on to furniture now and can say ma ma and baba. I'm so happy to know that she is doing well but it also breaks my heart to know that she is having all these firsts and we are not there to share it with her. With the current time frame it looks like we will not be getting her until June or July. It makes me very sad that the whole thing is taking so much longer than we were wanting/thinking.
Jaili is so precious, she really can't wait until we bring home baby sister. She has her picture under her pillow and gives it a kiss at bedtime and tells it "I already love you so much baby sister".
The holidays were wonderful this year, although it felt like we had a hole in our family because we were missing June. Jaili was so much fun. She was so excited for everything that it brought a whole new sense of awe to the holidays that I haven't had in many years. I can't wait to see both of the girls this next year.

Well, I'm hoping the next update will be one that I'm announcing that we've received our LOA!

Day 85 and we continue to wait!!!

2009-12-15T15:38:00.000-08:00

So we are at day 85 for LOA (letter of approval) wait and it sucks!!! We still arn't sure when we should be seeing the LOA and then the TA but hopefully soon. We want to bring our June home! Her birthday was Friday December 11th so HAPPY BIRTHDAY JUNE!!! We got pie (not huge cake fans) and sang happy birthday for her. We also got the girls' room and the play rrom finished. White bunkbeds with a beach theme, as Jaili said " It's TOTALLY AWESOME!!"
Anywho, not much to update. Here are few cute pictures though of Jaili girl and her baby sister. Oh and I was able to fix the red eye on June's photo. Check out her beautiful blue eyes.
Merry Christmas everyone!!!!

New photo's and updates

2009-10-26T22:10:00.000-07:00

Today we received new updates and photo's of our daughter. She is not in the orphanage like her paperwork said but is actually in foster care with an elderly couple. Her foster mother is 65 years old (in the photo) and has been caring for her from the beginning. The update says that she is tall and thin. She is crawling and standing up with help. She has to hold things very close to her to be able to see them well, as for toys and such. She enjoys playing in the water, and it sounds like she eats quite well but has an upset stomach often. They also let us know that she won't drink water unless her foster mother puts sugar in it, YIKES, and that she sleeps with her foster mother every night. SOOO, I'm guessing she is going to not be very happy with us when we first get her. I'm not sure what to expect but am so happy that she is being taken care of so well. I'm assuming from the paperwork and her pictures that her vision is going to be pretty poor. As you can tell from the photo's she is very light. Her eyes ,I'm assuming, are going to be very light sensitive. They are actually blue (you can't tell in the photo's though) but the whites of her eyes are somewhat pink (at least that is what her update paperwork said) due to the lack of pigment. I'm beginning the process of trying to figure out what steps we should take to have her eyesight checked among other things. I'm nervous and excited about bringing her home. It's completely different than Jaili's adoption process. I know majority of it is me overanalyzing things like normal. I just figure there are going to be alot of things I can't prepare for so I'll get a head start on the things I can.

I also worry about people teasing and staring at her, comparing her and Jaili and just in general raising her to be a strong, independent, intelligent woman. When you have to wait several months and just stare at your child's picture before you get to hold her you tend to obsess alot about things. I tend to think worst case scenario with everything. I know once we are home and in our routine it won't be a big deal. The important thing that I don't lose sight of is that God has meant for her to be our daughter. We love her already and it doesn't matter what worries or fears I have. It's not about me or any of us. It's about her and I know Shane, Jaili and I cannot wait to bring her home.
Just as a side note: I wrote all of this late last night and was crazy tired and apparently in MAY DAY mode. I know you parents of children with albinism are reading this and laughing ( I totally appreciate that : ) ) So now that I'm awake and thinking right...I need to add that We are so excited for our beautiful baby girl. I'm not wigged out about the sight thing anymore. Just can't wait to get to hold and play with and love on our new daughter
And off the topic, the name may be changing yet again...We arn't sure if she's an Eliana.

Prayers

2009-10-19T08:50:00.000-07:00

This is totally off of the subject of our blog but we are needing prayers. My mom has Crohn's disease and has been in the hospital now for 4 days and still no improvement. They are continuing to run tests, I believe it's a small bowel follow through today to figure out exactly where all the pain is coming from. She has a narrowing of her small bowel, which with Crohn's is not uncommon, but she is not able to tolerate any food except drinks of water and a little tea. She is on high doses of steroids and pain med's plus a litany of other things. We know that she is having a pretty bad flare, but they are also trying to figure out if it's ulcers also and if the amount of scar tissue in her small bowel is causing the pain. Her doctor is confused at the moment as to why the pain is not better yet. Anywho, if you could be sending prayers her way that would be awesome. For more info on Crohn's disease you can visit http://www.ccfa.org/info/about/crohns .
UPDATE:
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL YOUR PRAYERS!! My mom is out of the hospital. She has a long road ahead of her but she is doing so much better.

Thank you!

2009-10-14T10:16:00.000-07:00

Shane and I would like to thank everyone for attending our fundraiser on Saturday. It was fantastic and thanks to all of your support. We are one step closer to bringing baby home. We made about $3000.00 profit from the fundraiser, so yea! It still leaves about $11,000 left to pay for her adoption and travel expenses but Shane and I know that this is God's path and He will provide. Everytime I start to worry about the money, I just look at her face and know that She is the daughter God has planned for us. Today I read an amazing blog about how God provides when you are walking his path. I realized that there are very few people that truly can afford adoption. Not many have all the money in the bank, yet so many orphans are adopted and that's because God hears the orphans cry. This weekend as I was thinking about how we are getting it all together, God just laid a peace on my heart that it's not about me or Shane or Jaili, it's about Eliana (yes, we changed her name). It's not about us getting a daughter or a sister, it's about Eliana getting a loving family, finally having a mother, father and sister that will love her with all that they have. In faith Shane and I are following His path and I know that in that faith He will provide. Through Him all things are possible, I can't say that there isn't a small amount of worry still there but it doesn't drive me everyday. Anywho, just wanted to say again THANK YOU so much to everyone that continues to support our adoption prayerfully and financially. It amazes me to see how people will step out to help eachother. I can't find the words adequate enough to say how thankful we truly are to all of you. We are eternally grateful.
Oh and on another note we changed her name. I just wasn't bonding with the name June. We wanted a name that reflects sunshine and happiness becuase that's what I feel when I think of her so we have picked Eliana Tian (Eliana means daughter of the sun, or God has answered in hebrew) and it's a portuguese name for Shane's side of the family and Tian means sky or heaven in Chinese.
I don't have any fundraiser pictures on the computer yet, but will post when I get them. Thought I'd put up a photo of our jailibird for now. : )

Benefit for June!!

2009-10-06T09:13:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to remind everyone about our fundraiser we are having to bring June home.
It is SATURDAY OCT 10th @ 7pm. (This saturday : ) )
Dancing, wine, silent auction and raffle
Held at the Salem Center 50+ on Portland Rd.
$10pp (Open invitation)
I'm super excited and nervous about it. It is a big thing that we've put together, now we just need to people to show up!
Thank you to all who have helped us with this. To everyone who has donated time, services and things for the auction. Huge thank you to Deb Seeck (Mz.Jitterbug) and Bodhichitta Winery! You all are awesome!!

Jaili girl and baby sister

2009-09-29T16:28:00.000-07:00

Everything has been coming along great, although I found out that Shane and I have to do a supplement to our I-800 form (the form that the you have to fill out for the US government to give approval for the adoption and bringing her home) anywho, since on our original approval it doesn't specifically state albinism as a special need we are approved for, we have to send in an addendum and pay $340.00 so they can add the word albinism on it. GRRRR, I was so irritated about this. We wrote on our approval...special needs including, but not limited to, and then we named a bunch of special needs, but crazy enough leaving off albinism. I just thought that since we were open to so many different types of needs we didn't need to list every single one of them, the phrase including, but not limited to, would cover that. I was wrong. So , that's my rant for the day. But whatcha gonna do?? If it's another $340 to bring June home than so be it. On another note, Jaili girl is pretty excited about baby sister, I get asked almost everyday "when we are going to go get her?" but I can also see that it is going to be a bit of an adjustment when she comes home. Jaili bird already has told Shane and I that she is feeling frustrated because we talk about baby sister too much. Then today at Shane's work, she saw that he had June's referral picture up and said "Daddy, why do you have her picture up here?" which Shane said because she's part of our family and I have yours and mommy's picture up to. So needless to say we are going to have to remember to make a HUGE effort to help Jaili girl feel included on everything for baby sister. I am excited to watch their bond grow though after we are all home as a family. I feel enormously blessed to have such a wonderful family and I have to wonder sometime what Shane and I did do deserve 2 beautiful daughters. Jaili girl is just the light of our lives and I can't wait to bring our next little light home to love her and give her HER family. I do honestly worry sometimes about her eyesight when we get home, if she is legally blind, the changes we will make, raising her to be an independent woman, all that stuff that goes with it. I worry about sibling rivalry with bird and June bug as they get older ( Jaili being able to get tan, June not so much, etc...) but then I realize it's not about me or Shane, it's about our daughters and that God has blessed Shane and I with the opportunity to love and guide such wonderful pieces of heaven. I have to rest in knowing through him there is peace.

Thought I'd post one more picture

2009-09-23T18:27:00.000-07:00

We had one more picture that I thought I'd post of June. Yes, she completely looks like a boy in this one and WOW gotta love the 5 layers of clothes... Even with that thought she is still BEAUTIFUL! Just like her sister : )

Announcing our newest daughter!!!

2009-09-21T22:07:00.000-07:00

I spoke too soon with my last post. We are proud to announce the referral of our next daughter Fu Yan Yang soon to be June Skye. She is currently in Fuzhou city in the Fuzhou SWI. Her birthday is December 11th which happens to be the anniversary of the day we got our Jaili girl. She is 9 months old and is beautiful. She has blonde hair and blue (we think, not positive though) eyes, no I'm not kidding she has albinism. Shane, Jaili and I are so excited. We were not expecting her referral so it was a bit of a shock. I actually saw a post about her on another forum that someone from another agency posted. I was on a forum that I don't usually check and on a Saturday am which I never check on sites on the weekends. The post said that on the shared list that just came out there was a 9 month old baby girl with albinism that had not been matched to a family and that her agency had all of her info and her picture (along with 10 other kids off of the shared list)I immediatly emailed Holt on Sat am to ask about her file. They were fantastic and looked on the shared list right away for us.They let me know that another agency had locked her file but they would keep checking to see if her file became available on Sunday night when the lock would go off from the other agency. I thought there was no way her file was going to become unlocked so we put it out of our brains and went about our weekend. Fast forward to Monday morning and I had an email from Holt from Sunday night that said her file was unlocked and they locked it for us. We were emailed her info today and 10:30am and sent Holt our LOI (letter of intent) this evening. Crazy round about way to find out about our daughter but when God has her meant for us, she will get to us. Shane and I knew immediatly that this is the second daughter God has intended for us. We are so excited and all of us can't wait to bring her home.I'll post more news as we get it and also information about albinism so everyone can understand it better. I know we will be getting alot of questions. There is actually a wonderful site www.albinism.org to learn more about it. Take Care everyone.

No match this month

2009-09-18T08:38:00.000-07:00

Just thought I'd update and let everyone know that we weren't matched this time around. The CCAA (Chinese center for adoption affairs) sent out a smaller list with mostly older children and children with severe special needs on it and they didn't release one with alot of minor special needs or younger children on it. Hopefully next month will be our month to finally see our next baby girl. Who knows, it's all in God's timing. It's unnerving to know that she is born and out there yet we have no idea who or where in China she is. I get anxious about her referral. I just want to see her little face : ) I know all you other adoptive mom's reading this know EXACTLY what I mean. It can be a difficult process because there are not alot of definites, you just go with the flow...but isn't that the way with many things in life? Anywho, God's timing is perfect and we are excited for the time when our next one will join our family. Our faith keeps growing and we have more time to save money so there are some positives about waiting. Have a great day everyone and keep praying for all the kiddos to find their forever families.

Everything is going awesome

2009-09-16T16:57:00.001-07:00

No significant news to update as of yet. We are getting everything ready for our fundraiser and it's been going fantastic. I sent out invitations today to everyone I have addresses for. It is open invitation though so you don't need one to attend. Just as an update it will be a Dancing, silent auction and wine tasting event held at the 50+ Center on Portland Rd. $10 min donation per person.
So as for a referral we are still anxiously awaiting it. The shared list is rumored to come out this week sometime so maybe we will see the face of our little June Bug soon. Yea!!! I'm slightly obsessed about it right now. I check all the different forums and sites that I know to see if any one else has received a referral from the shared list so that way I know it has at least come out and we weren't matched as of yet. With Jaili girl is was completely different. They didn't do the shared list at that time so when Shane and I got her referral it was a total surprise. I have to say in my opinion this way is more nerve wracking. I have the phone with me at all times just waiting for "the call".Consequently every time the phone rings my immediate response is RUN to go get it, it might be for our next baby. Shane is awesome about keeping me calm and grounded though, I might be a complete basket case if it wasn't for him. He is just chill about the whole thing.
Anywho, just thought I'd keep everyone updated.
Oh yea if this post doesn't make an enormous amount of sense today...sorry..I'm sick and my brain is not exactly functioning on all cylinders today.

Few pictures of birdy

2009-08-30T10:32:00.001-07:00

Bird and her daddy. I was wanting to get one of all three of us for the DTC post but I haven't taken one in the last 30 days...so I just put up three seperate ones.

Our Sweet Pea

2009-08-30T10:31:00.001-07:00

Check out the pink hair...sweet! You can't see it very well, but her bangs are pink and she has 2 blue streaks on the underneath on the sides...the benefits of mom being a hairstylist. Bird and I have the same color. She picked it out for us : )

We are DTC!!!

2009-08-30T09:39:00.000-07:00

As of 8.28.09 we are DTC (Dossier to China)!!! This means not only are we done with the 6 months worth of paperwork that we have been working on but we are also "officially" awaiting the referral of our next baby girl. Huge sigh of relief on one hand and also a EEKK on the other. Shane, Jaili bird and I are so excited to finally get a referral and see the face of our next daughter/sister, reality has set in a little more of "Oh awesome, now we are going to need to come up with lots of $$$". (The sky is falling, the sky is falling : ) )I'm freaked and calm at the same time...I don't know how it's all going to happen but I do know that this is God's plan and He already has our daughter for us so He will make it all come together. It is a good feeling to have that peace, that He will see us through. Sometimes it would be nice if we could have a little more detail on how.
As for when we will get a referral, it all just depends. We could get a referral as soon as 2 weeks or it could be 6 months from now. We've had a few questions on how our daughter will come to us. We don't pick her out. Since we are doing the COP (child of Promise) route China releases a list of children once a month with various special needs and different ages. Our agency Holt then compares the parameters of the different parents to the age, special need, etc of the children that need families. When they have a child that meets what the parents have put on the application and special need form they "lock" the child's file. They then send all of this information to the potential parents. At this time the parents review the information and decide if this is their child. You can have a doctor review all of the medical information also. If you decide to accept the referral you then send a letter of Intent (LOI) to China saying that yes this is the child that you are wanting to adopt (basically..there is other stuff that goes along with it to). If you decide to not accept the referral the child' file is "unlocked" and the file then is available for another agency to "lock". Nothing changes with the potential parents, you just stay waiting for the next referral. There are various reasons that files are not accepted (special need to severe, child is older). It is heartbreaking to deny a referral but you know the child that God has planned for you and what you can handle special needs wise. I believe that there can be a family for every child and God will guide you to your child and your child to you.
After you accept you send your LOI (letter of Intent) you then wait several months to get your LOA (letter of Approval) this is the letter that China sends to let you know that yes, you are approved to be the parents of this child. You then wait for TA (travel approval) time frames vary to receive this but I believe that it is usually around 10 weeks after you receive LOA. After you receive your TA you are set to go get your child. You will usually leave 3-4 weeks after you receive TA. The whole process from referral until actually getting to hold your child for the first time is about 6-7 months. With Jaili girl it took about 5 months, time frames have lengthened since then though (due to different paperwork and approvals...Hague convention). Shane and I have put several special needs that we are open to so we should get a referral relatively soon. Some of the special needs we have included are deaf, partial hearing loss, ear atresia, congenital heart defect, Hep B, missing or partial arm, leg, fingers, toes, webbed fingers, toes, albinism and few others. Both Shane and I are very open to various questions about different special needs because it is nothing to be ashamed of. So if anyone is curious about special needs adoption please feel free to email me any questions. The special needs can be very minor and correctable to more severe. It is also possible that like Jaili girl, we received her referral under the COP program, and after we got home found that she had seroconverted from Hep B and is healthy in every way (she has an amazing immune system, that kid is never sick...it's awesome)Anywho, this is about the time frame we are looking at. We are hoping for a referral before December and then travel by June or so. It's all God's timing though, so who knows.
On the subject of June, Jaili bird is pretty convinced that we are naming her June. Everytime I tell her " I don't know yet honey, we are going to wait and see" she tells me adamantly that "No Mommy, baby sister's name is June. I know that her name is June, I'm naming her that" (It's sad the way she is so shy about sharing her opinions :) ) So we may be getting a picture of our little June bug in a few months. We will see.

Almost DTC

2009-08-18T09:08:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday of last week we turned in our last piece of paperwork to Holt before it can be sent to China. Huge sigh of relief. We are just waiting for all of our paperwork to be authenticated at the Chinese Embassy in San Francisco and then it's off to China with it. We should be DTC (dossier to China)the last week in August or the first week in September. Shane's birthday is on Sept 4th so that would be a great present for him.
On another note, the venue for our fundraiser has been changed. We are now having it at the 50+ Senior Center on Portland Rd. It was our first choice, so we are pretty excited. It will be a much better venue for the event. The Elks lodge was going to end up costing about $900 for us to rent because we had to use their food and they wouldn't provide any discounts for us, so we wouldn't end up making much if any money. Shane talked with the 50+ center yesterday and not only was the date available but they are also giving us a 20% discount to rent the space and 50% discount during the time we are there for set up. It was fantastic news for us, the building is lovely and floor for dancing is perfect there. We can also bring in our own food (fruit, crackers and cheese plates). Everything is coming along extremely well. We have had a few more donations for the silent auction. Felicity boutique and Eric John Photography are donating gift certificates for the silent auction and I've had a few clients volunteer to make baskets for a raffle too (organic breakfast basket, hair product etc basket).
We are so blessed and appreciative of everyone helping us with this. It's amazing to see how God works to make this all possible. I'll post more updates as we get them.

Adoption Cost info

2009-08-07T09:14:00.001-07:00

We have received alot of questions lately about adopting a special needs child from China and about the adoption process in general. I thought I would go ahead a post what our experience has been with the adoption process in general and next week will post information on special needs adoption.
One of the first questions people ask is "Why is it so expensive". Here is the basic layout for cost of adoption with Holt International through China.
1. First you have the application fee which is $300.00 (Since Shane and I have already adopted once with Holt through China this fee was waived for us). At this point Holt reviews everything. lets you know that it is approved and sends you the China book and a whole lot of info to fill out.
2. The next fee is for the homestudy. It is between $2500.00-$2900.00 After your homestudy is approved you then pay the for your immigration paperwork with the US government and your dossier fee.
3. The immigration paperwork is $670 plus $160 to be fingerprinted federally. The dossier is the collection of paperwork that you have been gathering to send to China. This is what China will review before you can adopt. The dossier fee is $3000.00.
4. Along with the agency fees you also need to take into account the fees for ordering you birth and marriage certificates, having all of your documents certified at the state level and then authenticated. These fees are approx. $550.00 You also
need to add for any classes you need to take to meet the requirements Oregon has before adopting (which is 10 hours currently) This will be approx.$180.00
5. Once you have been matched with your child you will pay the adoption or country fee which for China is $11,360 (included in this amount is the mandatory donation to the orphanage of $5000)
6. The comes the travel expenses which can range depending on how many people are going, how long you stay, etc. We are estimating approx $8000-$10,000. You will be in China for approx. 17 days. The travel cost covers everything while you are there including in country flights between different provinces depending on where your child is.
7. After you are home you will pay a post placement fee between $1200-$1400.
8. You will then have to apply for readoption within the state of Oregon. This is not mandatory but will make it easier for your child. This is when your child will get an Oregon birth certificate. If you do it yourself the fee is approx $300.00. If you have a lawyer do it for you the fee is approx. $950.00
There are variations to the costs. For example you can get a fee reduction depending on the special needs of your child and since Shane and I are a returning family we got a fee reduction on our homestudy and dossier fee also.
So all total we are looking at approximately $24,680.00 from start to finish. There are various ways to help with this amount. For Jaili girl's adoption we saved, had generous donations from friends and family, received a grant from Show Hope for $3000.00 and took out a home equity loan for the rest. For baby #2 we don't have the option of the home equity loan this time so we are applying for all the grants we can, doing different fundraiser options, saving like crazy and have already had a few wonderful donations from friends and one of my clients. Shane and I would not be able to do this if we did not have the support of our family and friends helping us. Whether it's by having a tupperware party, donating things for the auction, donating money for the adoption fund or donating their time. It's the kindness of so many that allow Shane and I to bring our children home. Children that desperately need to have love, a home, siblings, family, parents. All the basic things that every child deserves but so many are denied in this world. If we can provide this love to even just a few it will make a huge difference not only in their lives but in ours and everyone these beautiful children touch. Shane and I have been enormously blessed to have had God choose us to build our family this way. Alot of times people say "oh how wonderful. Your kids are so lucky, so blessed" but it is Shane and I who are blessed and lucky to be able to share our lives with such truly amazing children, our children.
If you are considering opening your heart to one of the millions of children around the world that are in need of a loving home please contact Holt International. I have a link on the blog that will take you directly to their website.
Oh yea, that is our little bird on the cover of the Holt magazing in the picture : )

TUPPERWARE TIME!!

2009-07-28T09:19:00.001-07:00

Oh yea, you heard it right. I am officially a tupperware lady now. So for all of you that need fullfillment through tupperware :) email me and we will set up a party. It can be catalog or house. You can also look at this website
http://my2.tupperware.com/tup-html/G/grammygibs-welcome.html. You can't place orders on it but you can look and then email me your order. All of the proceeds from the orders will go directly to bringing our little one home. So schedule a party, support an awesome cause and get some free stuff for having a party. HUGE thank you to everyone who is helping us with our fundraising efforts.

Fundraiser for Adoption

2009-07-15T15:44:00.001-07:00

Shane and I are planning a fundraiser on Oct 10th to bring our next one home. Everything is coming together fantastically for it. We are a swing, social dance and silent auction. We will have a $10.00 minimum donation per person. We have been completely blessed with several things to get this up and going. A great dance instructor here in Salem, Debra Seeck, www.mzjitterbug.com, is going to provide complimentary swing lessons 1/2 hour before for everyone who doesn't have much dance experience. She is a wonderful teacher and will get everyone up and dancing in no time. Shane and I have been taking lessons with her since January and are dancing fools now. If she can teach Shane how to dance she can teach anyone. : ) She is also providing for the silent auction private dance lessons. We are excited about all the help she is providing for us. We have also been blessed with wine tasting at the fundraiser provided by Bodhichitta Winery, www.bodhichittawinery.com. This winery not only makes the best wines we have ever tasted but the have an amazing philosophy too. They donate 100% of their procedes to charitable causes. Mark Proden, bodhichitta's founder, is also donating $1.00 for every glass of wine sold at the Fundraiser. Shane and I are so thankful for everyone willing to give to help out with this. I am hoping to make this a yearly event, as I am planning on starting a non-profit organization to help defray some of the cost of adoption for families. It is just in the beginning stages right now but I hope to have it up and running within the next year.
For the silent auction people have also been awesome with helping us out. So far we have a weekend in Sunriver with golfing in Bend, acupuncture treatments, massage treatments, complete car detail, various baskets with all kinds of goodies, pottery barn interior decorating item, gift certificates for hair services, and are continuing to gather more. We are hoping some of the various business around town will be willing to donate gift certificates also.
I have also started a facebook account so you can keep updated there also. It is under Angel Moffitt. Anywho, I plan on updating the blog at least once a week now so stay posted for more details. If anyone has any suggestions, help, things to donate or advice please email me.

bird at the beach

2009-07-01T16:50:00.001-07:00

O.k., I know I am not technologically advanced so I am so excited, I just sent this picture from my phone! AWESOME!!!

Jaili Girl is Getting a Baby Sister

2009-07-01T10:57:00.000-07:00

Yep, we have started the process for Jaili's baby sister. We are waiting for our 1-800a approval (paper from govt' that we are approved to bring in a foreign child for adoption...basically) and we are set to send all of our paperwork to China. Needless to say we are pretty excited! We are using Holt International again, as they are absolutly fantastic, and are in the COP (Child of Promise) program. The COP program is for children with special needs. Shane and I have put down several special needs so Holt told us we should be able to expect a referral for our next little one before December and then it is generally about 6 months after that we will travel to go get her.
Jaili is excited also but I do think she wants a baby brother a little more. We asked her the other day if she would like to get bunkbeds and share a room with baby sister and have slumber parties everynight? She told us that baby sister would be sleeping in our room most of the time when we bring her home so mommy and daddy should probably just share a room with her. Then she informed us that if we got her a baby brother though she would share a room with him. I said " No, we are getting a baby sister not a baby brother". She looks at me and goes " Oh in that case, she just better have her own room then." I laughed and said "Huh, yea we will see about that when we bring her home."
Jaili girl is such a tomboy(except for the constant dresses and skirts she wears) I think that she thinks a baby sister is going to be a little boring. She does read and sing songs to imaginary baby sister now so I'm hoping that's a good sign.
Shane and I are in the process of applying for several grants and we are going to be doing a swing dance/silent auction to help with the adoption expenses. I have also just started selling tupperware (oh yea, you heard it I am a tupperware lady)YIKES! I am so NOT a sales person but if this gets extra money to bring home our next daughter than I am all for it.
It seems like this one is a little harder than Jaili girls. It's a little more spendy (we are estimating about $24,000) and a little more paperwork. I get nervous sometimes wondering how it's all going to come together but Shane is my rock. He just reminds me that we both know that this is God's plan for us so He will provide a way. So it's a fantastic test in faith right now. I am very excited to see our next little one that God has blessed us with. OK and nervous too...2 kids yikes!
Anywho, I will start updating more often when we learn more info.
Here are a few new pictures of our little beauty.

Yes, I know I am terrible about updating.

2009-02-25T08:22:00.000-08:00

I promise for those who follow our blog I will get better about updating...who wants to spend time on the computer when you have such an awesome little one cruising about.
Jaili is growing into quite the beautiful young lady. She is doing awesome. Shane and I have also added an imaginary baby sister to our family. She is the one that gets into most the trouble at home. Imaginary baby sister attends dance class and we take her every where with us (even so much as too take her potty at times). Sooo..we are figuring it is about that time to add a sibling for Jaili to our family. We have actually been talking about it for about a year now so I'm sure little bird heard that and decided to have her own baby sister. Hopefully in the near future you will be hearing about another little one in the family. We are waiting to see where God leads us in all of this.
Jaili has already begun to ask some questions about the nanny's and the orphanage, which I didn't expect this young, but she is very smart and perceptive. We are open about everything and show her pictures and she seems to understand it pretty well. The only thing residual that we have noticed is that at times she gets afraid that we will leave her... this is mostly at night and mostly just that mommy will leave. We constantly reassure her that she is with us forever and that we will never leave her.
Jaili girl is the light of our lives. She is growing so much and I look at her and think.."what happened to my baby?" Time goes by so fast.
She has a fantastic sense of humor and some great sarcasm, but then again would anyone expect less with Shane and I. She told me the other day that she couldn't finish her peanut butter and Jelly becuase she "had no mouth". I told her that was pretty interesting considering if must have just fallen off but she would have to find it and eat 3 more bites anyway.
Anywho, needless to say she is one AWESOME kid and I will try to update stuff more frequently.
Take care everyone,
Angel, Shane and Jaili

New Post FINALLY

2008-07-24T19:04:00.000-07:00

O.k., so for all of you who have been asking here are some updated pictures of our Jaili girl. She is growing like a weed and getting more beautiful everyday. Shane and I are starting to think about a sibling for her so who knows maybe in another year and 1/2 she might have one. She is doing fantastic in her little gymnastics class. She absolutely loves it. Her vocabulary is incredible. Talking a mile a minute. She is also quite the comedian. Anywho, here's what you all are really looking for the photos.

More Christmas and birthday pics

2008-01-13T14:56:00.001-08:00

Our baby is 2

2008-01-13T14:32:00.001-08:00

December was a busy month for all of us. We had our first family day on Dec 11th. I can't believe it's already been 1 year. It has gone by so fast. Jaili has grown so much this past year (still tiny, in the 3rd percentile). She is such an amazing littl one and the light of our lives. She represents everything good to us.
Christmas was fantastic! She loved the gifts... actually opening them more than the actual gift. Our house is filled with so many toys. We ended up putting some of them away for later... it was toy overload.
Then on the 30th was her birthday. She was adorable and loved the fact that the entire day was dedicated just to her. She kept saying "happy me" all day long. As if by magic she has turned into a true 2 year old on the day of her birthday. We've gotten a few temper tantrums, some pretty good looks and lots of "MINE" as of recently. Yea, that' fun.
Anywho, that's what's been up with us through the past couple months. Things have been going wonderfully. God has blessed us so much. God bless and take care everyone.
I forgot to load the birthday pictures on the computer so I'll post those later.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

2007-11-02T14:05:00.000-07:00

I'll post more later becuase at the moment Jaili is feeding her lunch to Mila and not eating it. Of course as soon as I start doing this. Anywho, here are a few pictures of our trip to the pumpkin patch and the little ballerina kitty.

Beach photo's

2007-10-02T17:54:00.000-07:00

Our latest beach trip. We were being pelted with sand because it was so windy. We had lots of fun despite that fact though. Anywho, here's the beach beauty

Just a few pics of our pesky pants!

2007-10-02T17:46:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pics of our cutie pie. She is growing like a weed (although still super tiny by average standards) She is 29" tall and weighs almost 20 lbs. She is just a tiny little fire ball though. Jaili has started talking up a storm. Lots of I love you's which is super awesome. Shane and I absolutely love being parents to our beautiful girl. I'm going to keep it short for now (becuase someone wants to join me in typing) Hope everyone is doing well. Enjoy the photo's.

O.k last few photos I promise

2007-07-06T14:24:00.000-07:00

I realize I did this backwards. The post was supposed to be first. Then Photo's #1, then this post. Anywho, you get the idea. Hope you like the pictures of our goofball.

Few more pictures of our cutie

2007-07-06T14:15:00.000-07:00

Our baby is turning into a little girl!

2007-07-06T12:48:00.000-07:00

So yeah, yeah I know it took me FOREVER to update the blog. Unfortunately it hasn't been a priority.... but I am FINALLY doing it. Baby girl is sleeping so it's the perfect time.

What can I say about our little miracle only that she is got to be the most awesome baby in the world!! ( O.k. so I am a bit biased) It is hard to come up with the words that adequatley display the level of love, joy, excitement and amazement that we feel for our tiny beauty. We forget that we adopted her and she didn't come from us. I almost get offended when people ask if she's adopted or ask where we adopted her from. My first thought at times is " why would you think she's adopted?" Then I remember, Oh yeah she doesn't look like us. Shane and I have lost that fact though. When we see her I think she looks just like us. She has so many of our personality traits. She is ours through and through. She is becoming more and more beautiful everyday. Her personality and love of life shines through her eyes... they are so bright and happy. She is a constant source of entertainment. She is talking up a storm. We can understand some of what she says.. mostly just lots of babble, looks of irritation when we don't understand and lots of attitude ( mostly good). She will walk around the house sort of singing the word happy over and over. She has the tiniest little voice. She is growing great also, still on the small side but what do you expect she 's cantonese. Her attachment has been fanastic! Very attached to both Shane and I. She is a constant source of motion (like her Dad). Never sitting still for very long. She says clearly about 20 words now ( when I say clearly I mean that Shane and I can understand her) As for words other people can understand that's about 10. She has about 10 signs down also. She learns so fast. We show her about 3-4 times and she has it. She is crazy quick and smart when figuring things out. She loves to take things apart and figure out how they work (also like her Dad). She's also quite girly..loves make-up, shoes and purses. Everytime I put lip gloss on now she looks at me and goes "OOOOO" in this little high voice to let me know that she would like to put on lip gloss also. It starts so early. Her favorite toys are cars, balls and stuffed dogs. She also LOVES books. We read "Hop on Pop" Dr. Suess everyday. She will go get her book, hand it to us and go "Pop Pop". I think I may have the majority of the book memorized by this point.

When I look at Jaili and realize how blessed Shane and I are it just confirms everything I know about the love that Jesus has for us. Jaili is our reminder of that everyday. God is the only explaination for such an amazing bond that we have with our sweet baby girl. She was formed by him for us to love and guide through life and for that I am so thankful. Everyday I'm amazed that he chose us to be her parents... It is just so hard to believe.I feel I am one of the wealthiest people in the world to be blessed with such a wonderful family. It also confirms that bonds are not made in the womb... they are made by God before we were even born. He is the creator of us all.

Here are some new pictures of our JJ! Isn't she the greatest!!!! I'll post more when the mood strikes. Take care everyone...Oh and could someone post a comment so I know people are still reading this. If not many are I won't worry about posting very often. Hope everyone is fantastic!

Love to you all

Angel, Shane and Jaili

She's MOBILE!!!

2007-04-14T21:40:00.000-07:00

We were trying to get a new family photo but the sun was so bright our eyes were burning, Check out our little diva, Jaili girl and baba havin some fun on the swing, picking some flowers in the yard.

Jaili girl is up and cruising around everywhere. She started walking on her own about 2 weeks ago and is just about running now. It is adorable. She is so stinkin cute. She has become this incredibly big flirt also (which scares me and her dad immensly....yipes stripes... very cute now but at 13 I REALLY don't want to deal with that.) Life has been thankfully very routine around here. Jaili and I are home together most of the time and Shane is loving his job. It 's been really fantastic being able to only work my 16 hours a week. I love spending the day with Jaili girl. She is just a kick in the pants. That kid makes Shane and me laugh all the time, she has the most amazing personality. She is just our little miracle. It is creepy how much like Shane and me she is. I believe she also gets more and more beautiful everyday. She has been having some "fun" testing us lately. We've instituted time outs now....I think she is starting to get it, at least I hope. Friday she was especially feisty, I guess throwing cat food across the dining room is great fun for a 1 year old (not great fun for mom). I'm assuming that she will probably be a feisty and active one for many years to come yet, but then again look at Shane and I. Would you expect any other kind of kid for us? I can't complain she may be active but she is a very good girl 95% of the time.

Easter went well. She discovered that treats were inside the eggs so of course every single one of them had to be opened. She also made $13 from the egg hunt. That's my girl (momma only made $2). She also got some great treats from the easter bunny and the grandma/nana easter bunnies. She slept through the entire church service so Shane and I both got to listen for a change.

One of the new things she has started doing is mimicking alot of things that Shane and I do. With me she has started combing her hair in the mirror when I do my hair and she also has to carry her purse around the house with kittie and lovey in it. Oh and to Momma's happiness, my girl loves SHOES!!! YEA! I have a shopping bud which doesn't thrill Shane. He keeps trying to tell her that shopping is evil. I tell her to close her ears baba doesn't know what he is saying.

She is still a total daddy's girl though. With Shane she makes the funniest faces trying to copy baba and he has also taught her some interesting noises. It is so cute just to see the 2 of them playing together. Shane's eyes are just filled with amazement and joy everytime he looks at her. She is going to have him completely wrapped around her finger (as if she doesn't already). Our little one does not suffer from a lack of attention or love anymore. I'm sure she just wants to tell me to stop mauling her all the time. I just can't help myself, she is so stinkin loveable I just have kiss on her cheeks, lips, face, hands etc everytime I hold her. I just want to eat her up.

She has a some stomach issues lately though that have me alittle concerned. She is one of the gassiest kids and the poor little one gets such pain at night. She only sleeps the entire night through maybe 2 times a week. We have her on acidopholus and I'm looking into some natural remedies for giardia. She has all of the symptoms for giardia so my dad is going to work up a program for her. I've asked the Dr. several times and he doesn't seem to think there is a problem and won't test her for giardia or other stomach parasites. Mom's instinct though tells me that there is something else going on. She is very sensitive to foods but I think it is more than that. Other than that she has been as healthy as a horse. No colds, flu's or anything. She had a pretty good fever about a week or so and Shane stayed home with her (of course she was sick on the on day that I work all day) but it was just because of her teething. She does have 7 teeth now and is trying to get yet another in.

Oh on another note, there is an adoptive family that received their daughter about 2 months before we got Jaili and they need lots of prayers and anything else people can provide. Their daughter has just had a heart transplant and their insurance is not going to cover her meds which are in the thousands of dollars every month. Their website is http://www.babyjellybeans.com/web/do/site/home?ID=48107 if you would check it out. They have a paypal account someone has set up for them for donations. If everyone could pray for this family that would be wonderful. I 've never met them just followed their journey online. Their daughter is alittle miracle and they will continue to be in our prayers.

Hope all is well with everyone. Take care and I'll write more later.

Angel

What a Cutie!!!

2007-03-19T20:49:00.000-07:00

Here are the newest pictures of our pumpkin.

What can I say about our beautiful daughter except that she has stolen our hearts. Everyday she continues to amaze us. She is talking and babbling like crazy. Her vocabulary is increasing every week, the latest are kitty ( which is everything furry), Hi, cup and no no no. Although she's not quite understanding the meaning of no no she does think it is pretty fun to say especially to Dad. Oh she is also signing pirate (for pirate booty) and the word more. Her voice is just adorable also, it's this little tiny high voice that is amplified about 10 times whenever Baba is near. She is such a Daddy's girl. She is also a Momma's girl and tends to come to me for the "mom" stuff (comforting, food, snuggling, etc). Jaili girl is so much fun and is growing like a little weed. She is up to 18 lbs now and is almost walking. She's has taken 4 steps so far on her own and is learning that if she slows down she can take a few more. This weekend we were in Bend with her Auntie Meg, Uncle Paul, Cousins Anya and Seth and she watched Seth pretty closely with his walking (Seth is only a month older than Jaili). Her walking has improved alot just after this weekend. We guess that she should be running by the end of next month. I am loving being at home with her now. I changed my work scheduled so I can be at home with her most of the time. Mondays are the only days that she needs to be watched and she stays with her Auntie Allison and cousins Logan and Tay and my brother Adam (Uncle Buck) then and has a great time. She is such a joy to be around. She is happy and laughing most everyday. We are having a few issues sleeping right now and wants to sleep right between Shane and I at night. We arn't sure if it is teething or something else. She has gotten in 2 more teeth. 3 on top and 3 on bottom now. Adjustment has gone very well and the attachment started getting so much better after I changed my schedule. I can't imagine our lives without her. She is our little miracle and we are beyond blessed with our sweetheart. Shane and I are talking about starting the process for a sibling for her next year but we will see what God has in store for us. Hope all is well with everyone and I will update next month.

God is Good!!!

2007-02-06T09:22:00.000-08:00

Letting Jaili out of her kennel and the family at the Alamo

O.k. first Jaili was just checking out Mila's kennel. She doesn't really stay in the kennel (only at bedtime)HA HA just kidding anywho, it has taken me a bit to update (I don't want to spend time on the computer when our pesky pants is up and about) but we have had a wonderful past few weeks! Jaili is adjusting miraculously! She is bonding fantastic with both Shane and me. She is one funny goofy kid who loves to be the center of attention. For those of you who don't know Jaili was considered a waiting child when we received her referral. Her special need was that she tested positive for Hepatitis B. She was considered acute in July at the time of her referral. After doing research and praying we knew that Jaili was our daughter and the Hep B didn't matter to us. It would be manageable. During the research we found that their was a possibility that the Hep B could get worse and as she got older their would be a small chance of her needing a liver transplant. We planned on boosting her immune system with natural medicine and organic foods. We also learned that their was a 10% chance that her body could convert the Hep B and she would build a natural immunity to it and not have the Hep B at all. We had everyone praying for her but did not put this last scenario in our thoughts at all. Well 2 weeks ago we went to the Hep B and international adoption specialist at OHSU and after reviewing Jaili's current blood work and examing her we found out that she is our true miracle. Jaili is completely free of the Hep B. She is in the small percentage that was able to convert the disease. Our specialist said that Jaili is the first baby adopted from China with Hep B that she has personally ever seen that has converted. Shane and I are so very blessed. We know that we have a very rare adoption story and that things usually don't go as smoothly as this. God is so glorious and Jaili is such an enormous blessing in every way. We are planning on doing a waiting child adoption with all of our kids and already do not expect to have the same amazing results that we have had with Jaili. God knows the plan for us and we are so thrilled that he has healed our beautiful girl.
On another note we just back from San Antonio, Texas where we visited Jaili's auntie Shannon. She did so well! We were a little worried about the travel but she just rolls along with everything and was her usual pesky silly self. We went and saw the Alamo and had a wonderful time. Thank you so much everyone for all of your prayers!If anyone would like any info on Holt, special needs adoption, Hep B or whatever please email me. Shane and I are in complete awe of the beautiful children that God has made and there are so many that need wonderful families. Shane and I are so blessed that the Lord has led our lives to "special needs" adoption and just adoption in general. It is such a special journey and we are amazed everyday that we have been chosen to have our children this way. Hope everyone is well and love to you all.

A few pictures of our beauty queen!

2007-01-10T21:26:00.000-08:00

blogger wouldn't let me post these with my previous entry so here is our little love!

Our spirited one!!

2007-01-10T19:20:00.000-08:00

Jaili has had an amazing week. She has come along way from the baby we received 1 month ago in China. Everyday she shares something new with us. This week has had a few firsts which has been lots of fun. She snuggled with me for the first time last night. She started crying at around 3 or 4 so I picked her up and put her in bed with Shane and I. Her usual routine is to fight and roll away from us as I try to keep her close and no one usually gets much sleep although she does stop crying. Well this morning I picked her up layed her on my chest and she snuggled right into me and fell asleep. Even when she rolled to her side she still wanted me close beside her. What a fantastic feeling! Then when it was time to wake up first she cried then she gently reached up and started patting my face. I rolled her over to Shane and she looked at him and said BaBa several times until he looked at her and she gave him the biggest smile. She has grown leaps and bounds over the past week even. I know that she still has a long way to go and we may have some setbacks as I go back to work, but we are making definate progress. She is attaching to me more and more everyday and has kept up the attachment to Shane. We had our first post placement visit which went great and our wonderful social worker Kathie made me feel good to let me know that often times the little one has to attach to one parent first, but that Jaili seemed to be doing very well. I'm thinking that Shane and I are just about on equal ground with her now. She had her doctor visit yesterday and the poor girl not only had to have 4 immunizations but had to have her blood work drawn as well. She was NOT a happy camper. She is just a trooper though and was back to being her feisty self by bedtime. We will most likely hear about her blood work in a few days. We keep praying for her health. It is God's hands and I wouldn't want it anywhere else. I look at her and think she is just a miracle. How did Shane and I become so blessed? Each day we see a new light in her eyes and she is responding to us on a more intimate level now. I think she knows that she is home and we are never letting her go (at least I hope she knows this). Oh another first.. she saw her first snowfall today and she thought that it was pretty cool. She sat in the front window and laughed and played. It was the cutest thing. Of course I have pictures of it, I just haven't downloaded any yet. I hope all that are reading this feel the amount of love and blessings that God has brought to our lives. I have never birthed a child, so I cannot compare it with adoption. Adoption, especially on an international/racial level and adopting a child older than a newborn, is a totally different experience that you cannot explain adequately ( you just have to experience it for yourself). To me it is a perfect example of God's love for us all. Though there are difficulty's along the way I know that when we look into our daughter's eyes that she was ours from the moment the Lord knew her. Everytime we hold our beautiful sweet girl it just confirms God's plan and our plan for our lives. That we are not have our children biologically but from another women's womb and I would never want it any other way. It doesn't matter where our children come from they are all God's children and he has just chosen us to love them and guide them through life. Adoption is a miracle in itself and Jaili is just proof of that. Love to all and take care.

We are Home!

2007-01-02T18:18:00.000-08:00

O.k. it has taken a bit to get into our routine but we are home and adjusted. Jaili had her 1st birthday party on the 30th. She wasn't sure about the cake at first but was lovin' it by the time we got her out of her high chair. The adjustment has been going pretty well. She definately bonded to Shane faster than to me but I expected that. We had a backslide once we got home. We had Shane's mom staying with us (thank goodness) to help us out. She was awesome but I think Jaili got confused about who was Momma and the one taking care of her. We went to me being the only one giving her bottles and just Shane and I holding her and she has swung back my way again. We tend to have boughts of her wanting to push me away, hitting in the face, etc. Each day is better than the previous and today I got a smile and laugh from her when I walked into the room and asked if she wanted Momma. It has been a great day today. It's amazing what a full night's rest for mom, dad and baby will do. She is getting over an ear infection and I think she is finally beginning to feel the best she has felt in a long time. The doctor here said that she has had the infection for a long time. We have another appointment next week and we will get all of her blood work checked out. She is one funny kid! Shane and I keep wondering where the days go. We know that we've done things but the time goes so quickly. She is just a joy to sit and watch play, sleep, whatever. We just love this little one so much. I don't know what we did in our lives before we had her. Anywho, I'll update more next week. Take Care everyone.

Almost Home!

2006-12-19T20:21:00.000-08:00

Today will be the last post until we get home as we only bought so much time for the internet in our room. Jaili is feeling SO much better now and has been a complete ham the past 2 days. She loves to put on a show for people so every morning at breakfast and everytime we are in the elevator. She laughs, makes fart noises with her mouth and snorts at people. She is the funniest kid! She yells mama at me when she is mad and baba or dada at Shane. She is talking (ok really babbling)so much now. She as also started this thing with just me where she scrunches up her face and makes this little snorty sound and then I have ot do it back to her. God definatly had a glorious plan when he gave our daughter to us. She is like us in so many ways it is crazy. She loves a crowd, has to be the center of attention, has really stinky feet(that's all dad), sleeps fantastic, gets really grumpy when she needs to eat and , very stubborn (we are in for it) and loves to make people laugh. Her personality is coming out so much. She isn't fond of big crowds where people are touching her alot though they can look at her from a distance just no touching (only Mom and Dad and the people she knows). We learned as of yesterday that she can crawl. She is cruising all over. We are really hoping that the walking thing doesn't start until after we come home. On a different note, Shane and I took turns watching Jaili and we each got a massage yesterday. The massages felt great, different than at home. They massage through towels so that felt different. We also got a ginger wrap on our backs that is supposed to take out toxins. It felt cold and slimy when they put it on and then they wrapped plastic and towels aroung our backs and it turned into FIRE!!! It literaly felt like there was a fire on my back and my skin was going to fall off. The nioce thing was that for about an hour afterwards it felt like you had a heating pad on your back. Shane loved it, as for me not so much. We are excited to come home and show everyone our beautiful daughter. She is awesome. Shane and I are still having a wonderful time here. It has been beautiful (between 60-70 degrees). I am sad to leave the weather and go back to cold ) : On the other hand it really doesn't feel like Christmas in any way. Which I am O.K. with considering I don't really like all of the hub bub of the gift buying etc. I do miss having the true meaning of Christmas here (Jesus's birth and all). It is commercialized here Santa and everything that goes with him but no spirit of our Lord. Anywho, that's all from us for now. Take Care everyone and have a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year. Much Love to You All!

Our little sweetie is sick

2006-12-17T21:23:00.000-08:00

We took Jaili to the chinese doctor (who was so fantastic) today because her rash is just progressively getting worse and she is sleeping a ton. He checked her out and she has a virus. He didn't say what kind but he gave us MORE antibiotic (a stronger one) and some chinese herbs and vitamins for her. I am not thrilled about the antibiotics part at all. She has been on them since we got her and I'm sure it is just tearing her little immune system and body apart. Hopefully this will help her. She has been quite cranky the past 2 days. Today is a little worse than yesterday. I just feel so bad for her. The rash is on her face and eyes, down her neck, on her back and chest and it itches her quite a bit. Everytime she cries it just breaks out hearts. It will be nice to get her back home to see the doctor and Corky (grandpa) to get her on the road to health. We have her visa medical appointment today but that is just a basic physical. We are officially ready to be home. It is hard being away when your little one is sick. Everything is beautiful here but living out of a hotel is not the greates thing in the world. Anywho, if everyone could pray for Jaili and her health that would be wonderful. Thanks everyone

Free Day!!

2006-12-17T01:42:00.000-08:00

The last several days have been free days for us and it has been so nice. Shane and I have done entirely to much shopping for everyone for Christmas but we think we have it covered so far. (We are beginning to hate going down the street and be harrassed by the shopkeepers). Guangzhou is absolutely beautiful. The weather has been great. There is a gorgeous courtyard just down from the White Swan with that Shane and I like to hang out and just relax and watch people. Jaili has been doing great. We don't think she feels very well today becuase she has done so much sleeping and hasn't been as happy. She has developed a rash on her face, chest and back that everyone assumes is excema, we will have her checked out completely when we get home. She is such a little tropper though. Today one of the shop keepers tried to hold her and she did o.k. for about 30 sec and then looked over to me and started to cry. Momma had to hold her, she wasn't up for anyone except for Shane or me holding her today. She is sleeping right now also. She's eating very well though so that is a good thing. Tomorrow we have the red couch picture and the medical appointment for her visa. We are almost home and can't wait for everyone to meet our beautiful and wonderful daughter.

Jaili Girl

2006-12-14T19:28:00.000-08:00

So I had to post and say what a truly fantastic daughter we have (no I'm not biased at all). After the orphanage visit yesterday it was like someone flipped a switch and we have a baby that is bonding with us. She was very attentive with us at the orphanage and as soon as we got in the van to come back to the White Swan we had laughy happy baby girl (which she WAS NOT at the orphanage) We had an almost 4 hour ride home and she played and laughed with us the whole time. We think that God just let her know and she feels that she is HOME! She is so funny. She likes to get us laughing also. God has blessed us with such a great baby. She eats awesome(except watermelon), sleeps fantastically ( nap a day and slept from 8-7 last night).She not fond of strangers holding her alot but loves to look at people and play with them as long as we are right there or holding her. Breakfast is her favorite. We had bananas this morning and she thought those were pretty fantastic. She is at the beginning of the bonding process where she does NOT want us to put her down. She likes to be able to see both of us and she does not like to feel like she is alone. She's going to the bathroom normally now (yeah!!). Her favorite thing's to play with so far are the lid to a water bottle and the empty water bottle so she can bang the 2 together. She definatley likes drumming type things, music and those little rings that you hook together (which we don't have, she keeps stealing them from Kate, John and Kristi's daughter) Anywho, just wanted to let everyone know that she is AMAZING! and we are blessed beyond belief. The picture is of her on the bus ride home yesterday. I posted more on flickr also. Take Care

Orphanage Day

2006-12-14T19:01:00.000-08:00

We went and visited Jaili's orphange yesterday and it broke our hearts. We started the day at 6:00 am with breakfast and left for her orphanage with Kristi, John, Charlie, Sharon, Leah and Lauren (the other wonderful family that is with us) Their daughter was adopted from the same city as Jaili but a different orphanage. It took about 3 1/2 hours to get there and the kids did fantastic. We first went to Kate's orphange (John and Kristi's new little one). The director and the staff where very excited to meet everyone. They gave us a tour and the babies a bottle (Jaili did NOT want it). The orphanage was very clean and friendly lots of kids but they had toys and looked to be well taken care of. We then went to Jaili's orphange and finding site. Our orphange was a different story. First the staff was unprepared for us even though we had an appointment. The main director was at a meeting so the women who was the 2nd in command seemed very upset with us being there. Our holt guide, Catherine (who is amazing) talked with them and they finally agreed to let us and only us see only Jaili's room that she was in. We weren't allowed to take any pictures except of her crib, but Shane was sneaky and filmed the whole thing for Jaili to have later. The babies were all wearing the same thing (so the picts we got were purely for our benefit) and were lying on straight boards. So many wer in there and they were crying. Alot of the babies were doing the self soothing of rocking bakc and forth and banging their heads with their hands. Thier were no toys present so the only thing the babies had was a cloth chinese diaper to hold and play with. It absolutely broke our hearts. On a good note the director said that most of the babies were being adopted soon. Jaili did awesome. When her caregiver and director came to talk and see her she looked at them looked back at me grabbed my sweatshirt and snuggle in to me and ignored them. Her caregiver was even commenting on the fact that Jaili already ignores her and knows who her Momma is. They also commented on how young Shane and I were and they said that Jaili's birthparents were most likely very young and couldn't take care of her. The section of city that Jaili is from is rural and very poor. Most of the people that live there are farmers. You see ALOT of boy children but almost no girls. We then went to Jaili's finding place. She was found at a gas station about 10 min from her orphanage. We got lots of pictures. Just looking at the area and at our sweet daughter I could never imagine leaving her with nothing by a gas station hoping that someone would find her. It amazes me that the Lord had such a plan to bring this little girl to us. She is truly a miracle and I can't imagine our lives without her. I thank God everyday for my beautiful family that he has brought to me! I just love her so much and pray that Jesus will just continue to guide our lives and just be with Jaili and all of us everyday. I've never seen God's love for us like I see it when I look into my daughter's eyes. Shane and I are just astonished and astounded every second by our precious sweetheart. Although we don't understand his plan all the time we know that his plan his perfect and Jaili just confirms it.

We have been blessed!!!!

2006-12-12T21:39:00.000-08:00

By the wonderful grace of God we have been blessed with the most amazing and breathtaking beautiful baby girl! She is the most special little one. Shane and I are awe struck and so in love! She is already a daddy's girl. We received our precious baby at 4:45 on Monday. She did fairly well at the hand off. She has a scrap of cloth that was her only toy in the orphanage so as long as we have that she does well (She screams when it is out of her sight). It is her since of security so we will be keeping the lovey with us at all times! She has been pretty pensive the last day and half. Trying to get a grip on everything that is happening around us. We got our first smile from her today and at breakfast she was a completly different baby. She is quite a goofball when she starts feeling secure. She loves being around people, being outside, baths and razberries on her tummy. She is definatly not a fan of having her diaper, clothes or really anything changed at all. Time goes by so fast, Shane and I will just be holding her, staring at her or feeding her and we look at the clock and and hour as already passed. Words cannot describe how wonderful she is. She is not a huge fan of being in the room right now. Which is not the best at the moment because mom is a little sick. She is slowely adjusting to us. She is so sweet and gentle. We will have a chance to visit her orphanage tomorrow but we are not going to take her in since she is just now starting to attach somewaht to Shane and I . One of us will stay outside with her while the other goes in. I apologize for taking so long in updating the blog. We have been non stop busy with paperwork etc since we received her. Right now Shane is holding her and she is a little fussy because she is tired doesn't want to sleep and does not want to be in the room. I will update more tomorrow, we are goi9ng to file for her passport in about 1/2 hour so I have to run. check out the picts of our sweet Chinese princess on flickr.

CHINA ADVENTURE DAY 3

2006-12-10T02:17:00.001-08:00

We actually got a normal night's sleep last night and it was so refreshing! We woke up today and had our delicious breakfast of crepes and various goodies and then had orientation at 9:00 were we received all of the info that we will need for the upcoming days and the best thing of all we received new info on Jaili!!! We got 2 new pictures of her and man does she have a haircut. Her hair is shaved on the sides and spiky on top. She will match her dad pretty well. She will be wearing alot of pink for awhile becuase everyone will think she is our son. She is so stinkin cute though. Her new info says that she loves baths, is kind, soft and happy. The wording is "If you stay and play with her for awhile she will like you!" Shane and I are going to have to keep it relatively calm the first bit because it also states that she doesn't like noisy areas or strangers. We are so beyond excited because at 3:30 tomorrow we get our daughter. I am actually going to be a mom!!! This has been the most amazing experience. I don't know what it is like to birth a child but I'm sure there is just as much excitement. I would not trade this for anything in the world. We are already talking about when we want to come back for #2 and get Jaili a sister! The people that we have with us and the Holt staff are so fantastic. Everyone treats you like family and have been so welcoming and wonderful. The other families that are in our group are fantastic!! I'm so happy that we have such great people around us to share this experience with. We have been recording everything so be prepared family to watch hours upon hours of our experience.
After orientation we went to the Temple of Heaven and Tiannamen Square. They were so beautiful. Our tour guide Sherri and Holt staff Les have been with us the entire time and have made this such a memorable time. The temple of heaven has acres upon acres of park that the Chinese people exercise, play music and games and just hang out in. I will try to post as many pictures that I can but we are quickly reaching our limit on flickr and I'm trying to save room for picures of Jaili. We may open another account on flickr so I will post that when we do. Anywho, good night for now!! This is our last night without children, so we are going to go out in Beijing and make the most of it. My next post will be of JAILI!!!!! I was going to put a picture in but blogger is having issues. I'll try later

China is AMAZING!!!!

2006-12-10T01:58:00.000-08:00

What can I say about China but AWE INSPIRING!!! Beijing is so fantastic. The people are so nice, the history is amazing and we love it here. It is a totally different way of life here. It is so safe. You can go out late at night and you don't have to worry at all about someone trying to hurt you or do something to you. The people are so active also, everyone is out and about riding bikes, playing music in parks it is great! We went to the Great Wall yesterday and there are no words to describe the beauty and history of it. Truly amazing. It was about 27 degrees outside but with the wind chill it was about 0 degrees. The wind would rip tight through you, but as long as you kept trucking up the steps you kept pretty warm. The view was breathtaking, it is so hard to put into words the greatness of it. It was something in my life I never thought I would experience and to be there was truly one of the greatest experiences of my life. We also went to the cloisonne factory afterward and had a scrumptious meal there. We got to see how the cloisonne vases and jewelry were made. I purchased a few goodies to bring home. Shane and I have absolutely fallen in love with China! If anyone ever gets the chance to experience this country you should most definately go. Truly life changing!!!

WE ARE HERE!!!

2006-12-08T02:13:00.000-08:00

We have finally arrived after almost 24 hours of traveling to Beijing. The trip was pretty good. Airplanes are never comfortable but that is to be expected. China is fantastic so far. Shane and I were able to sleep from about 11:00 last night until 7:00 this morning. Jet lag hasn't been to bad. We are both very tired now but are making ourselves stay awake. Today we took a tour to the Summer palace and the Forbidden City. Both were absolutely amazing. There is such beauty and culture here in China. Just looking at everything it is incredible to see the amount of artistic talent and labor went into these beautiful places. Our tour was a private one because there are no other families going on them at this time so we were chauffered around and Sherri our tour guide took us everywhere. We then ate lunch at a traditional sichuan chinese restaurant and the food was amazing!!! America has it so wrong!! The food here doesn't even taste the same as our "chinese". Thank goodness for our guide because we would be so lost without her. No one in the restaurant spoke english so we had some fun trying to find the bathroom thank goodnes for hand signals (speaking of bathroom I have now mastered the "squatty potty", no toilet paper in most though so that was slightly disturbing). We posted all of our pictures on www.flickr.com/photos/ninjasquirrels so check them out. That's all for now. Brain is not working that great. I NEED SLEEP!!!

Mila's baby sister is coming home!!!

2006-11-26T21:55:00.000-08:00

Friday night I did something fantastic! I purchased the tickets to go get our sweet pea. We leave Portland on the 6th and arrive in Beijing on the 7th. Shane and I are taking a couple of tours, one to the Great Wall and the other to the Forbidden City. We are super excited. On the 10th we have orientation and then on the 11th we fly to Guangzhou and get our Jaili Joi!!!! We are going to be parents!EEEEKKK and YIPEE!! There are so many feelings that we are experiencing right now. It's hard to describe and navigate them. It feels like the air has been taken out of the room and at the same time one of the most amazing feelings ever. I imagine it's probably what mothers go through at about a week before they give birth. It fills my eyes with tears and my heart with such wonderful joy to think about the first time I will get to hold our daughter in my arms! Shane and I have anticipated this day for so long. We got use to the waiting so the fact that it is actually time is somewhat surreal. There are so many fears that go along with everything... is she going to attach, what if she doesn't like me, am I going to be a good enough mother..etc (there are about a million more but I'll spare you and stop there) I know that Jesus has planned this from the very beginning and if he blessed us with the opportunity to be this sweet babies parents then what the heck am I worring about? It's been along road to get to where we are right now. I don't know what the future holds in store for our family but I know that as long as we have our faith in God, eachother and our daughter, our family and friends and an endless support system I'm pretty excited to see how the Lord is going to guide our lives! I will try to post several times while in China, so stay tuned for the continuation of our journey.

We are going to China!!!

2006-11-21T19:07:00.000-08:00

We received the best news yesterday! Our travel approval to get our Jaili Joi!!! It is hard to put into words the excitement that Shane and I are feeling. We also received an email today that our tentative consulate appointment is for the 21st of Dec which means we would be leaving the 7th of Dec for Beijing and returning home on the 23rd of Dec. That is only about 2 weeks!!! YIPEE! We are almost there after such a long wait to have a baby. It seems unreal that in less than a month we will be holding OUR DAUGHTER. What a truly amazing and faith building experience this has been. It just proves that our God is wonderful and he has such an amazing plan for all of us in our lives!!! I just can't wait to be able to take care of our sweet pea and officially become a mom and Shane a dad!! Wow mom and dad (how weird). It's almost scary if I think about it too much. A baby girl to totally depend on us. Holy smokes!!! What a huge responsibility. I just rest in the fact that God has prepared us for her and he has had us picked to be her parents all along. What a blessing!!! Thank you everyone for sharing in our joy! It's been a fantastic and sometimes bumpy adventure ( and it's not even over yet) but I'm praying that it will only get better from here. Your parents are coming to get you Jaili Joi!!!!I pray that the Lord keep all of us safe and happy during these holidays and thank him so much for providing Shane and I with such a blessed life. Take care everyone, I'll keep updating when we get the updates.

Travel approval is almost here!!!!

2006-11-10T17:50:00.000-08:00

O.K. the picture has nothing to do with travel approval, I just thought it was funny/cute.
TA IS COMING, TA IS COMING!!!!!
Shane and found out 2 weeks ago that our dossier had been moved into the last part of the review room and would soon be moving to the travel approval room, Holt has been just amazing with the whole process. They have been contacting their person in Beijing to find out where all of our paperwork was since we are nearing the 4 month mark on the wait for travel approval and they called yesterday to let us know that the CCAA (Chinese Center for Adoption Affairs) should be issuing our travel approval in the next 2 days and Holt should receive it either by the end of next week or the beginning of the next. After they receive it they will schedule our appointment with the US Consulate in Guangzhou and then Shane and I buy our tickets and we will be off to China!!!!! Shane and I are excited beyond words!!!!!! We are praying everyday for that TA to come in. We are so close to get our little girl, I'm starting to feel the labor pains so come on Jaili Joi!!!! Keep praying for us everyone. It's all in God's hands. We are hoping to be home for Christmas and Jaili's 1st birthday. I set up a picture viewing site where we will be posting our pictures of Jaili and China when we are there. Feel free to take a peek. Go to www.flickr.com/photos/ninjasquirrels. I know awesome name huh!! Ninja squirrels cracks me up. That was all Shane of course. Take Care everyone I'll update when we get more info.

Jaili's 2nd Baby Shower

2006-11-08T17:26:00.000-08:00

Yes, I'm FINALLY updating the blog. Sorry I've been so slow just haven't felt like being on the computer. Anywho, we had Jaili's 2nd Baby shower on Oct 8th and it went fantastic! We have just about everything we need so thank you so much for coming everyone and for the lovely goodies. Jaili already has so many people that love and care about her it is just amazing. We are so blessed! Also in other news we are in the midst of a career change for Shane. He will be spending some time at home with Jaili when we first get home with her because we arn't sure of the extent of her needs at this time. He then would like to get into project management with an emphasis in finance. Teaching has been great but it is time for a change. We are doing well and just thank God everyday that he has bestowed so many blessings on us.

Jaili's Room is done (almost)

2006-09-28T09:53:00.000-07:00

After 2 years of working on our daughter's room it is finally done (except for small things, Changing pad, a few organizers, etc). I started the painting about 2 years ago when we moved into our house. We knew that it was going to be our child's room when we finally had them and since we didn't know at that time whether we were going to have a daughter or son first, I decided to go with an underwater scene so it would work with either. Whenever I had extra time I would paint a new fish on the wall. A couple of friends also contributed which was fantastic. After our dossier went to China I started to make the room look more girly. Then when we received Jaili's referral I went into overdrive. I love to paint and decorate so I decided to make it into a beach girl theme instead of just underwater sea creatures. I found the bedding on line that I wanted but it was about $150.00. I knew I could find a better deal so I started stalking Ross Dress for less in search of the things I need and after 2 months of going every Wednesday I found it! It was an amazing deal which I got for about $100.00 less than just the original bedding set that I was looking at. I got the comforter, body pillow and curtains all or about $50 YEAH! Anywho, needless to sayI am so excited that her room is totally ready for her. Now all we need is her referral!! Come on TA. Jaili girl needs to come home.

First Baby Shower for Jaili

2006-09-20T19:17:00.000-07:00

On Sept 9th one of our closest friends (and Jaili's auntie) Meg threw us our first baby shower and it turned out awesome. Meg is the best!!! She and her husband Paul set us up completely with diaper goodies, an ergo carrier and so much more. We had a great turn out and Shane and I are so thankful for everyone that came! Jaili already has so many people that love her. Our niece's Taylor and Anya and our nephew Logan were fantastic helpers! Since Jaili wasn't there to open the presents her cousins did any amazing job of helping out. We couldn't have opened the presents with half as much of the enthusiasm that the kids could. Shane and I had been waiting for a baby shower for our baby for along time now and it was truly fantastic. Our sister-in-law Allison, Shane's mom and my mom are throwing us another shower on the 8th of Oct and we are pretty excited about that also. So thank you soooooo much everyone for your love and support. Shane and I are very grateful and appreciate you all so much. Take care everyone and we love you. Oh yea keep praying for a quick travel approval for us. Today is 61 days and we could get our travel approval anytime between now and 2 months from now!

Happy 8 month birthday to our Jaili girl

2006-08-30T15:20:00.000-07:00

Today is Jaili's 8 month birthday and we also received 2 new pictures of her today. Shane and I are so in love! I just stare at her picture and cannot wait to get her. She is just so amazing to me! What a beauty also. Hey, if she can pull of the shaved head look you know she is going to be pretty darn adorable no matter what she does. We are still waiting for TA. We are currently at 40 days for "the wait". I talked with our social worker today (Kathie, who is awesome) and she said that several families with letters of intent that went in June received travel approval this week, so who knows maybe next month for us? I'm not betting on it but it would be pretty cool if that was the case. It's all in God's timing and his timing is perfect. I just rest in that fact. Anywho, at least we know that we will have her by the end of the year!

Where Jaili was born

2006-08-04T17:37:00.000-07:00

I found a little information on the city that Jaili's orphanage is in. It sounds beautiful. I'm hoping we will be able to visit her orphanage when we will be there but it is hard to say right now. Here is the info:
Yangxi County is located in Yangjiang which is an uprising city by the South China Sea.Yangjiang City is located in the subtropical zone, about 150 miles southwest from Guangzhou, and is surrounded by mountains from three sides and facing the sea to the south.Moyang River, the mother river originating from the great cloudy and misty mountains, has an overall length of 200 kilometers, and has developed the fertile land of Yangjiang .

Introducing Jaili Joi!!

2006-07-30T22:03:00.000-07:00

We have been blessed beyond belief and are proud to announce the referral of our daughter....
Yang Xi Shuo Shuo soon to become Jaili Joi (pronounced Jaylee)!! Her birthday is Dec 30, 2005. She is currently 7 months old today! She weights 12.8 lbs and is 24 inches long. She is described as smiling constantly, loves to be around people and is a deep sleeper. Her favorite toy is a bell. She was found the day that she was born by a gas station. She is currently in the Yangxi Social Welfare Institution. We are anxiously awaiting our travel approval which should come in about 2-4 months. We are praying for the 2 month wait, but we know that it is God's timing and his timing is perfect. Soon we will be holding our sweet baby girl that we have been waiting for. Isn't she beautiful!!!!!! I'll post more about the area where she is from later. Updates will come when we get them. We will also be posting picts and updates from China.

We have a daughter!

2006-07-30T20:39:00.000-07:00

On July 17th, 2006 Shane and I had just arrived at the Oregon coast. Shane was attending a middle school conference with a few school chums and I decided to go with him to have a few relaxing days at the coast. Mila (our dog) I and went to Depoe Bay for a walk and some window shopping and on our way back to the hotel I received a phone call. I decided that I would let voicemail get it and just return the phone call when I got back to the room. As soon as we returned I listened to the message to find that it was our social worker Kathie asking me to call her as soon as I got the message. I figured it was a check up call because time frames were increasing so much, so I gave her a call. We talked for a bit and then she told me that the China team had called her and that they had a file of a baby girl for us to look at!!! I was in complete and total shock! I let her know that she should just tell me all the information because I had no words to say at the moment. She gave me all the information on our daughter and I said I would call her back (mostly because I was still in shock and my brain wasn't working) after I talked to Shane. I called Shane and when he answered the phone he said that the phone would not turn off while he was in the middle of the conference so he had to answer it to make it stop ringing! I said that it was meant for him to answer the phone because Holt just called and they have a baby for us!!! Shane told me he fell on his knees as soon as he heard that. We were both in complete and utter amazement! Shane took a break from the conference and I met him while he made the phone call to Kathie to ask here when we could get the file! We found out we could get it the next morning. I left the hotel at 7:00am the next morning and drove to Portland to get the paperwork for our daughter. As soon as I got her information I called Shane and described our beautiful daughter and read him everything that we were given about her! I then drove to Salem to have my mom and the doctor she works with, a pediatric doctor and our family doctor look at her medical information and after that back to the coast. It was almost a full day's worth of driving but completely worth it. After talking with doctors and reviewing her file Shane and I prayed and decided that she was the daughter that God had intended for us. (I think we knew she was our daughter as soon as we got the call). We called Holt the next day and accepted her referral! We are overjoyed and cannot wait to see her precious face in person. Thank you to everyone for your prayers and support. Shane and I have been blessed so much with an outstanding family and wonderful friends.

Wait Update

2006-06-07T19:27:00.000-07:00

Shane contemplating the wait

As of now the wait time continues to increase. When we started the process in August 2005 we were estimating that our referral would be in September or October of the next year. So far that is not to be the case. Every month the referral time increases, we are not exactly sure why this is occuring. The CCAA's official word is that their are not enough "paper ready" babies to be adopted out. Only God knows the real reasons why. We are currently looking at going to China in May of 2007, keeping in mind that the referral date could be even longer. Just to be safe I'm saying that we should have her by the end of 2007 (I really hope it does not take that long.) God's timing and plan is perfect it is just difficult at times remebering that.
The wait is so much different than if I were actually pregnant. When you are pregnant you get to see the changes your body is going through and you have a general idea of when you are going to see that precious little baby. The wait with adoption is more surreal (I'm assuming). We know mentally that all of our paperwork is there so we are technically in line for a baby but it doesn't seem like reality. Almost like it is a story about someone else. It's hard to not let your heart get to involved at this point because we don't have a date. The waiting and wondering is so painful at times, yet I know that the Lord is growing us for this wonderful child.
Shane and I submitted a medical conditions list to our adoption agency letting them know that we would also be open to adopting a child with a mild special need. Sometimes with special needs the process is a little faster, not the reason we submitted our list.
We are blessed to have such a strong marriage and support system of family and friends. I am fortunate enough to be married to my best friend. I look at all that Shane and I have been blessed with and it makes me realize that if it takes 6 months or 6 years that Jesus already knows the little one we are to be given.I find tremendous peace and strength in that.

Why we decided to adopt

2006-06-07T19:11:00.000-07:00

We were married in 2001 and begin trying for children about a year after that. No success in that department but plenty of fun trying: ) In December of 2004 I saw a program on Oprah, of all places, about the plight of the babies in China. As soon as Shane came home I talked to him about the program. We put it in our minds that when the time came that adopting from China may be the path for us.
Jump forward to June 2005..... Shane and I talked and we knew that it was TIME!!! After a considerable amount of prayer, the Lord made it abunduntly clear that this was the path that he has chosen for us. We were overjoyed. We started the process with Holt International in July 2005 and our official application was approved in August. Step one down.
The process for us was going to be a little slower because Chinese law requires parents to be 30 or older to adopt and I was not going to turn 30 until March. Everything proceeded fantastically. We got our entire dossier done by beginning of Feb. (For those of you who don't know your dossier is all the paperwork, and there is alot, that you've been working for the past several months. It gives the Chinese Center for Adoption Affairs a detailed insight into the adoptive parents.)
On February 10th, 2006 our dossier was sent to China and officially logged in to the Chinese Center for Adoption Affairs on March 14th! That was a fantastic day. I was "paper pregnant"!! Now all we have to do is wait and wait and wait and wait a little more until we get her referral. That is where we are now!!

We find it amazing that as soon as Shane and I new that our path for children was through adoption we have a had such a peace about everything. The need to have "biological" children is no longer there for either one of us. We knew we wanted to adopt before we got married so the Lord just showed us the way. Who knew that the baby girl that was being prepared for us was going to be born in China from another women's womb? How amazing is that!!! God is Great. We feel so blessed that we were picked to be parents to this baby girl!