My friend Cherie

My friend Cherie (Porter) Landry just passed away. She was one of my closest friends in junior high and high school and she will be missed so much. Since graduating from high school, we have gone our separate ways across the country. She stayed in Maine to go to college and I left to go to OH. But over the years we have still stayed in touch and kept up on each other's lives. She would call every once in a while as would I. Though we hadn't seen each other in several years, we did our share of e-mailing to keep each other up on our lives. In the time after graduating, I married, moved to PA and then KY and had kids and so did she...moving from ME to TX and then most recently to MD. She married her husband Dan and had a beautiful little girl named Dana Simone, who is close to turning 2 and looks just like her. Every time I look at her most recent picture on our refrigerator, I am moved to tears. As I think over the years of our friendship, I am amazed at how blessed I am to have had her in my life and how blessed Dana is to have had her as a mom. Though there is sooo much more that I could say about my friend I will save it to write down in my own journal. Cherie, you will be greatly missed...I can't believe I have to say goodbye to you so soon. I love you...

More pics from thanksgiving

Thanksgiving

We had a great thanksgiving with my family in SC. It was nice to spend time with family and for Ellie to meet some of her new family too. She did really well. Not so excited about the 6 1/2 hour trip there and back but the in between part was good. We have found she likes hats and loves to carry purses..who knew! Thought I would post a few pics of our time there and back. Hope everyone else had a wonderful thanksgiving.

First Steps Evaluation and more

So Ellie has had lots of appts or so it seems that way. Our First Steps Coordinator met with me on Thurs morning before Bible Study to do paperwork. She got us going into the system and then the evaluator that Ellie was to have called us the same day! I couldn't believe how fast they moved! She did an evaluation of Ellie and told us that yes she does qualify for services through First Steps. She is recommending Speech Therapy as well as a developmental interventionist that will help Ellie cover a little of all aspects of therapy apparently. She will do a little OT, PT and various other things. We still have her scheduled for a PT eval and will start PT with her also since the international adoption clinic recommended that. I hope we can get her started with actual therapy soon. She phases out of First Steps when she turns 3 on Feb 14. We will have a meeting with Boone County and they will tell us about their services and what we are entitled to probably within the next few weeks so that we can also have her evaluated by them and get her into preschool once she turns 3. So lots of phones calls and paperwork and assessments. But Ellie is really doing well. Today we had a minor breakthrough. I will classify it as major if she does it 2-3 days in a row! We have been very consistent in being sticklers about her using her sign language words that we taught her to get her cup or get up to the table for meals. She has to sign please or more for us in order to get into her booster seat or to get more of something. This has been a BIG ordeal as she has thrown temper tantrums each time at meal times. Often is has taken longer than an hour to actually get her to sign to us even though we know that she can sign and that she knows what it means. So she has missed breakfast several times and had dinner late. The social worker said that we really need to be consistent with this as it is the only method of communication we have other than her just fussing for it since she has no speech. This has not been easy to do but we have done it. Today, I am happy to say that it only took about 5-10 minutes at breakfast and lunch!! Drastic progress and she signed them several times without us showing her the sign first..also great progress. We shall see if it continues but she is doing well. I took some pictures of her in jammies that her Auntie Kim gave us from China. We have had them for a couple of years because they used to be Ainsley''s PJ's when she was 2. I thought the pics were cute. And I put two clips in her hair so that you wouldn't think she was a boy! I also included a picture of her in a pink hat that used to belong to a stuffed animal. It really doesn't fit her head but she has claimed it as hers! And then one picture of her in her carseat which she likes only some of the time..the beginning some!

Ryan Hall

I got an e-mail from a friend of mine with a link to a God-Tube video about Ryan Hall. He's the 25-year-old rookie who won the US Olympic Trials and is headed to the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.
I don't normally post any of these things and rarely do I forward but I was so touched but the video that I thought I would post it here. Hope it touches you also.
Don't forget to scroll down and pause the background music before playing the video.

IAC visit

Yesterday was our visit to the International Adoption Center for Ellie's thorough exam. And thorough it seemed to be. We saw 1 nurse, 1 resident (I think), 1 occupational therapist, 1 social worker, 1 researcher, 1 doctor and 1 lab tech. All of that makes for a long visit. But Ellie did great. We don't have the official findings yet as we still have some tests that we need to run. But the general assessment seems to be that she is quite delayed. While this may be daunting news for us, I am choosing to take a more positive approach in thinking how amazed we will be in 6 months to see all the progress that Ellie has made! We are waiting on calls from a developmental pediatrician and a geneticist. They want us to see both of those as well as get Ellie into KY early intervention program, which is called First Steps. I have already called them and got her into the system. I am waiting for some paperwork and for a phone call from the person assigned her case. I also need to schedule her for a PT evaluation. So I am waiting on her report to be received by Children's to finalize that...hopefully we can get her going in some therapy soon or I may need therapy! She has been doing great all things considered however...her sleeping habits so far as amazing. I only wish mine were so good! I have some pics but the camera is in the car so I will post them later. Just wanted to update you all on Elli's progress. She is eating well, sleeping well and seems to love the kids. She has been smiling a lot lately and LOVES to be swung upside down. Or really swung in any manner which is of course Jeff and I have no problems with as Mackenzie and Ainsley like to upside down too!

We are home!!!!

Just wanted to let you know that we arrived home safely. Thanks to Roni and Beau for picking us up at the airport and getting us home and thanks Roni for dinner! Thanks go to Susie, Aleisa and kiddos and Patty and kiddos for meeting us at the airport. It was sooo good to see some friendly faces to welcome us home! And thanks goes to my friends Julie and Sophia who turned on our heat and left food for us in our house! You guys are all great! Thanks so much to everyone for all your thoughts and prayers and gestures of love. I am REALLY tired and need desperately to head to bed but jeff won't let me go till at least 7:30. I may just throw a tantrum like Ellie and see if I get my way! The kids did fantastic on the flight but mom didn't fare so well. I wasn't able to sleep and am sooo tired. Jeff didn't sleep either but seems to have a whole lot more left in him. I have already told him that if we every adopt again, we are all staying home and I am sending him over to do it all as he seems to handle everything and adjust to travel so much better than I! He's scared that I said the word again I think!:)
We are just really glad to be home in our own space and get Ellie adjusted to her new digs. Will post again when I feel more coherent. I think there were also supposed to be pics for our last post from Guangzhou but jeff will have to fix it as I think they are saved on his laptop.

Last Post from Guangzhou

So....here we are on our last night in China, and what a crazy and amazing 2 weeks it has been. We've had lots of amazing experiences, some incredible high points, and some pretty low points at times. But most of all, we have been blessed to bring Ellie into our family.

Living with 3 kids for 2 weeks in a hotel room, in a different culture with different foods, customs, and even smells has been a challenge, to say the least. But we have learned to rely even more on God for our moment by moment patience and enjoy our time here.

We have also caught maybe a glimpse of God's love for us as we see Ellie each day. While we were in a helpless situation spiritually, God swooped down and paid for our wrongs. Then He adopted us and allows us to call Him Daddy. Sometimes we resist, we fight against Him, and don't really even understand the things that He wants for us. Ellie has no idea that we are trying to help her when she throws tantrums and fights against us - she has been in a place so lacking freedom and love that she doesn't really know how to interact and receive love and affection. The patience and love of our Father help us learn these things, and we pray that we can give even a small portion of that love to Ellie.

We have seen Ellie grow from not interacting at all and saying nothing on day 1, to playing, smiling, saying "ba-ba", "da-da", and "up" in just a few days. She loves to explore new things, and I can't imagine what is going through her mind as she takes in the thousands of things she has never seen before. She still has a long way to go, but we can't wait to see her blossom in a more stable environment once we get home.

Today we did a bunch of just hanging out. We talked with some of the other families in our group after breakfast for a while. Then came back up and worked on packing. We have everything packed and ready to go! We got more ice cream this afternoon, then went off to the US Consulate, a 35 minute ride, to make our appearance and say the oath to get Ellie's immigration paperwork and her visa to enter the US. Then back to the hotel, give Ellie a bottle, and back to Lucy's for dinner. And, of course, and after dinner ice cream. Then we took some pictures on the famous "red sofa" at the White Swan.

Wake up call is at 5am, then leaving the hote at 6am for an 8:30 flight to Toyko. From Tokyo to Detriot, and then back to Cincinnati at 4:30PM. By that time we will have been up for 23 1/2 hours :-( Please, please, please continue to pray for us as we are travelling. Especially that we each can get some rest on the flights and that Ellie doesn't throw too many tantrums :-)

We hope to see many of your soon! We'll try to keep posting as we get back to normal life in Burlington. It will be facinating to see how Ellie changes each day, week, and month......

Monday....Patriots Win and Other Stuff

Everyone is ready for bed after another day in Guangzhou. The exciting news today is that our guide, Connie, took our paperwork to the US Consulate today and everything was ok'ed with no problems. The only "official" thing remaining for us in China is the oath we take Tuesday at 2:45PM.

We spent most of the morning in the hotel room waiting for Connie to call, either with questions from the consulate, or letting us know everything was ok. She called around 11:30ish to let us know everything went well.

Oh, I almost forgot our exciting morning of "watching" the Patriots/Colts game on ESPN.com this morning. We woke up around 7am, just in time to see that the Pats were down 13-7 in the 3rd quarter. We continually hit refresh on the Gamecast screen (it was not updating in realtime for some reason :-( It wasn't quite as exciting to watch the Pats come back via a computer screen, but pretty cool to see Brady and the boys get it done anyway. I've got 3 words for this year's Pats....Best Team Evah!!!

Anyway, we ventured out around noon for the park and some ice cream. We found some great ice cream bars for 3 or 4 yuan (40-50 cents) and hung out at the park for a long time playing. We went back to the hotel for Ainsley and Ellie to get naps while Kenzie and I went out for some shopping and "daddy and daughter time." Steph sent me out to buy the rest of our souvenirs because she doesn't like bartering....she feels bad asking for a lower price and walking out if needed...I love the challenge :-) After shopping, Kenzie and I bought our favorite drinks, Sprite, and hung out in the park for a while. We came back just as everyone was getting up from naps and decided to hit the cold pool again.

This was the first time we all went, and we had no idea how Ellie would like the pool. She didn't like it at first, but warmed up to the water after a few seconds. I attached a few pics of everyone at the pool today and Ellie getting warmed up with Steph.

Tonight we ordered out for some Papa John's pizza...my favorite. Then we when back out to get just a couple more things in one of the shops and, well, more ice cream. How can you beat ice cream for 50 cents?

Tomorrow morning is group picture time. Then in the afternoon we have the oath. In between, we will start packing for the looooonnnnngggggg trip home on Wednesday. We are so looking forward to being in our own house, with our own beds, room for everyone to run around, and some sense of "normal" back in our lives. But let me assure you that we are NOT looking forward to a 4 hour, 12 hour, and another 1 hour flight to Tokyo, Detroit, and then to Cinci. Please be praying for all of us....especially that Ellie will be able to relax and sleep on the flight....I can't imaging how hard

it will be for a 2 year old who has always been able to do what she wants within the confines of her orphanage room.

Ok, I'm off to bed soon. We'll probably post one more time Tuesday. Thanks again for your support and prayers!

Guangzhou-Day 2

We woke up at about 7 this morning which was great! I(Steph) didn't of course ....that would be way to much to ask...I think I was up at 4ish but the rest did so that was good. Someone knocked on our door last night incessantly at like 9. I finally went to the door, even though we had already gone to bed, to find that it was the turn down service. I had to REALLY explain that we had already gone to bed and didn't need the turn down service. He seemed a bit confused and perplexed but tonight when we came back from dinner they had already done turn down so I think they got the gist that we go to bed early!

Today we had a great breakfast. I took Mackenzie and Ainsley up to the room before Jeff brought Ellie up as they needed to use the bathroom. Apparently after we left, Ellie managed to throw up/burp up her food. I am thankful for missing that pleasant experience but Jeff sure is amazing!:)


We were off to a Buddhist Temple this morning. This is very much a part of the Chinese culture here..and often the kids get blessed by a monk. It was interesting but a bit sad to see how entrenched the Chinese people are in praying to idols that will do nothing for them. I am so glad to know that my God listens and hears me when I pray. We then went on to a shopping place for some local goods. The prices were a bit steep so we didn't end up buying anything. Though I am sure the quality of everything was great, you pay for great quality stuff. So we decided to pass on those higher ticket items and just get some local stuff near our hotel. Once we got home and had some lunch in our room, Jeff stayed with Ellie and Ainsley while they napped and Mackenzie and I went out shopping. I was able to get some outfits for the girls, some small things for the girls and some gifts. I spent too much money according to Jeff's bargaining standards so I sent him out later to get some more stuff knowing he would probably drive a harder bargain. I have come to realize that I am not good at wheeling and dealing but Jeff is...it really boils down to the fact that 1. I don't like confrontation 2. I feel badly for the people and that I am insulting them. I also took Mackenzie to the pool and she had some fun swimming for a little bit. It was very cold but she did get in the water. We then came back from the pool, Jeff went out shopping and the girls got up from their nap. We had dinner at Lucy's again which was good and did some final wheeling and dealing on our way home. We are now getting the kids ready for bed and off to sleep we go! Tomorrow we have to be in our room at 10 and wait till our guide, Connie, calls us to let us know about our consulate appt. We don't have to go but Connie actually goes for us and petitions for us. So we have to stay in our room and wait to hear if the consulate has any questions for us or if everything is ok. The last picture posted is of Jeff next to his new company car...or so he dreams. Actually he is standing in front of it as I am pretty sure they wouldn't let him in the door:)


Post more tomorrow!

In Guangzhou....

Sorry for not getting post up yesterday....we were busy getting caught up on sleep, doing paperwork, and exploring the hotel and area around the hotel.

Friday night was our flight from Hangzhou to Guangzhou. Ellie did great on her first flight ever. Check out the picture of her hanging out in her seat. She got pretty fusy at the end of the 2 hour flight, and then fell asleep just as the plane touched down. Mackenzie and Ainsley also fell asleep a few minutes before landing.....great timing. They were all pretty upset when we woke them up to get off the plane. Our flight was late, as was the flight of another family being picked up at the same time, so we didn't get to the hotel in Guangzhou until somewhere around 11pm Friday.


Saturday morning we slept in a little and then hit the breakfast buffet in the hotel. It is awesome....especially for people who have been in some smaller Chinese cities all week. They have some great American breakfast foods....fried eggs, french toast, omlettes, fresh fruit, bacon, scrambled eggs.....it was great!


After breakfast we were off to get Ellie's visa pictures and then her visa physical. The physical is pretty basic....height, weight, check her ears and hearing, read her medical history and ask us a few questions about what Ellie is doing. Here is a picture of the clinic.

After the physical Steph and Ellie went back to the room to rest a little. I took Kenzie and Ainsley to a little playground and then we "explored" the hotel. We are staying at the White Swan hotel. It is beautiful...I think it may be the nicest hotel we have ever stayed in. Here are some pictures of the view from our room.


We tried to swim in the pool in the afternoon. It was about 80 deg in the air, but I think the water was 50 deg. It was freezing! Needless to say, we didn't stay in the water very long. We got out and laid on the chairs in the nice sunshine. Mackenzie looked over at me and said "this is splendid."

I had tons of paperwork to do at 3:30. The girls all took naps as I went to the lobby to fill out paperwork.

We had dinner at "Lucy's", which is an American food restaurant just down from the hotel. The whole area around the hotel caters to American families here adopting. Lots of little shops and that sort of thing. And a Starbucks just around the corner.


We are off to breakfast, then some sightseeing with the group today. Hopefully we'll post more pictures later tonight.

Lillian

My last post was intended to be my last post from Hangzhou but since I have some time I wanted to dedicate a post to Lillian. Now many of you who read this blog may not know who Lillian is..there may be some who do but I would venture to say most don't. Lillian is the director of our adoption agency, CAWLI or China Adoption With Love, Inc. Though we had some contact with Lillian stateside, most of our time was spent either via phone or e-mail with Meg, one of the social workers with CAWLI. We have liked our agency a lot and have been impressed with the way most of our adoption has been handled. Like any agency, CAWLI is not perfect but they have been pretty close for us. It wasn't until we reached Hangzhou that we realized what an amazingly special woman Lillian really is. She called us before we received Ellie to check on us and then called us again that night. We expressed our concerns to her as we had several the first few days. She called us every day since then, sometimes twice a day to talk and see how things have been going. She talked us through some of our issues that we were experiencing, offered us some suggestions and then made sure the doctor was sent via airplane to make a visit just for our peace of mind. Not only did we feel her concern for us but we felt it for Ellie. I can tell that Lillian truly loves these children and cares about their well-being. It has truly touched us and blessed us and I can't even begin to convey to those out there how much her presence has meant to us over these last few days. Lillian..you are the best! Thank you so much for caring for the children in China and for taking great care with the families that you represent. May God bless you for all that you do in China and across the world!

Last Post from Hangzhou!

We had a great day yesterday except for getting Ellie to sleep! She apparently wanted nothing to do with going to bed last night. We kept her awake past her "normal" bedtime at the orphanage and that must have wired her up. We watched a light show at West Lake in Hangzhou and it was amazing! Patrick took some video this night before so I hope to get the remaining pictures and video from him before they leave today. We went shopping at the local market yesterday and got a few things but weren't able to get all that we wanted as Ellie melted down and we needed to go. I am still on the search for squeaky shoes and a few other things. Hopefully we will get some shopping done in Guangzhou. Today we meet Patrick, Kim and Moyer for breakfast and then they have to leave for the airport:( Once again they have been amazing and we will be sad to see them go. On a happy note though we opened the shades this morning and saw a glimpse of sun!!!!! We haven't seen sun since before leave Cincinnati so this is amazing! Hopefully we will see some nice weather in Guangzhou. We need to pack up and get all the girls cleaned up for out trip today. We are meeting Kevin, our guide at 2 for finalization of last minute details. I believe we get her passport today so that we can travel with her and then our flight to Guangzhou leaves at 6:30. We may not post tonight from Guangzhou but will definately post tomorrow. I believe she has her visa physical tomorrow morning!

I am posting a picture of Moyer and Aunt Stephie...isn't he adorable? For that matter...I think we are both pretty cute:)