So now that I know what I am doing...

Here are some pictures of Ainsley before and during her preschool Christmas performance.

Ya'll better watch out because I am going to go video crazy! Just kidding. Seriously though I do have quite a few videos that I want to post that I have tried to post over the last few months and have been unsuccessful. So this video was taken at Ainsley's preschool Christmas concert. Hopefully I get the right one posted since we took several. This was done in Dec but since I just now figured out my issue with the video posting...alas you are all stuck watching old Christmas videos!

More cool video...I am loving this!

Playing in the snow

Here is another video of the girls playing in the snow...Enjoy!

And almost a month later...

I know I have been awful about keeping up with the blog. Computer time has been one of the things to go for me. I am going to try to do better as we have ordered a laptop that I will be using upstairs. Part of my problem is that our computer room is in the basement and although there are LOTS of toys down there, when I am on the computer neither Ainsley or Ellie want to play with toys. Especially Ellie finds the computer oh so fascinating and "helps" me by sticking her hand in to type and play with the mouse. It gets old quickly when I have to start over so I just have not had a whole lot of time the last few months to really be on the computer. By the day's end, I have all I can do to keep my eyes open longer than 10 minutes before I drop off to lala land.

Ellie continues to make improvements. It seems slow to us but I remember where she was over 2 months ago and I am blown away. She is saying about 7-8 words and signing about the same amount. She seems to be on the verge of saying more words and has started doing more babbling lately. She will play with toys though would MUCH rather have one of us holding her or chasing after her. She seems to LOVE to run/walk away from us when we are out in public and take our eyes off her for say half a millisecond! It is amazing for a child that was so slow to develop gross motor skills in the orphanage how quick she is here! The speech therapist is happy as is the physical therapist. We have yet another speech eval this week for the Boone County Preschool program. I think it is a complete waste of time, but then what do I really know. So we will go to that on Wed while Ainsley is at preschool and Mackenzie is at school. I am sure she's made it in but it is just a matter of whether they can accommodate me by getting her in morning preschool, otherwise it is a no-go. She won't make it without a nap that many days in a row. We meet to discuss all of our options for Ellie on Feb 6th I think.

Other than that, things are going well and busy as usual. I have dropped a few things for the time being to help Ainsley have some time with mommy as she has been struggling a bit in the last few months. I can see baby steps in her progress. She continues to do well in preschool and ballet. Mackenzie is doing well in school and ballet also. I just found out recently from her teacher that she apparently reads somewhere around 250 words per minute, which is pretty amazing. But she loves to read so I guess that makes sense. She has started a Sat program, called Explore More, that will continue for the next five weeks. It is for students who want some challenges academically and she is loving it. She is doing a class called "Fantasy in Literature" and they talked about Peter Pan this past week. She is looking forward to it which is great.

Thanks to my friend Kim Crawford for the help on video posting. I think we finally go it...we very much appreciate the help!

Appointments galore

I haven't been doing a very good job about keeping up with the blog the last few weeks. Ellie is doing really well and showing improvements and growth every day it seems. Sometimes it is slow going and sometimes it seems amazing but she is an amazing little girl. We have some cute videos but since as you can see from the last blog update that I haven't figured it out, I have given up trying to post any video. Suffice it to say she can be pretty funny when she tries to imitate everything that we do!
She was actually working out with me the other day trying to copy everything the workout tape did...and of course standing right in front of me, making it quite difficult to actually exercise but very cute to watch.
She is still having quite a few appt which keeps me really busy. Between her appts and Mackenzie and Ainsley we are hopping. But I do think at some point it must slow down! The orthotics that she was fitted for after Christmas will be coming in this week and I am excited to see if they help with upper and lower body strength once we start using them. She also will go to see the pediatric dentist about her teeth and under bite. Not sure if they will tell me they want to wait till her permanent teeth come in to do anything or if they want to try to correct it now..I am not sure if it is affecting her speech at all but we will see what they have to say on Friday. Then there's the regular speech and developmental therapies and ballet for the older two...and school of course. I am starting to get back into Mackenzie's school to help out weekly in her class so that will be fun.

Here's some recent photos of all the girls

Ok...so I think I have it...

I believe that Jeff has corrected the problem and that we can upload the video so I am posting video of Ainsley sliding and Ellie in the snow too. They really had so much fun that afternoon. We haven't had a lot of snow since..or well any snow since really so I am glad that I got the photos I did. The weather has been cool but not awful and no snow for Christmas. The girls have been enjoying time with their Grammie I and Uncle Adam. It is always nice to have family in town. Ellie went to get fitted for her new orthotics that she will be getting to help correct the fact that her leg tilts inward. She should be getting them in the next week or two and I will take some pics of them on her feet. They are pretty cute:) (her feet and the orthotics:)

Merry Christmas Eve Day

So Merry Christmas to all our friends scattered around the globe. I hope to get some pics up of the girls opening gifts on Christmas but still struggling with the video posting. Jeff isn't feeling well or I would ask him to figure it out. Oh well...our friends the Lukes were here briefly and of course we had a great time. Their kids are like family to us and it is always amazing how quickly they grow up..not ours but theirs! I am beginning to feel old at such a young age! But it was fun to see them. Brian, aka Mr. Luke, mentioned that Ellie was the first Miller child to not initially shun him...I think that's great:) Of course they all now love him and the rest of the Luke family.
Ellie received her Social Security card today! Yea!! Now I will go about applying for her US Passport and get started on the re-adoption stuff..though not certain of all that we need to go with that. She will get fitted for some special orthotics for her shoes on thurs and also have speech therapy, all while meeting her Grammie I and Uncle Adam. They are flying in the day after Christmas and will be here till Sat.
We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and may we never forgot the true meaning of the season-The Celebration of Christ's birth!

Ainsley's Preschool Christmas Program

So I am trying to figure out how to upload video from our new camera. We used it in China and were able to upload then but now I can't seem to figure it out. Odd...hopefully you will see some video of her Christmas performance because it was great. We actually though Ainsley might not stay on stage as she is so shy or if she stayed she wouldn't actually sing...surprisingly for all of us...not only did she stay but she sang as well. In addition to staying and singing, she also put her arm around a boy! Hmmmm...at such a young age too! It was very cute:)

Well I have tried for about a half hour to upload video...and apparently you either can't upload it from our camera or I am just incompetent. So I will post some photos and be sad that you guys can't see the video I thought was so cute.

Official US citizen

Ellie is officially a US Citizen. Of course she was one as soon as she touched down on US soil but she has received her certificate of US Citizenship and a note from the president. I think I will put it in her scrapbook for her to treasure always..that is when I actually get around to scrap booking again! I used that certificate to and apply for her SS card which we should receive in 10-14 days. After that I will get her US passport and work on the re-adoption process.
She is doing great and we see constant change in her daily. She is gaining more and more sounds and word approximations and seems to like her speech therapist. She has also started PT and will be going to therapy every other week. We are waiting on lab work to come back from the geneticist to see if she has any chromosomal abnormalities though he doesn't appear concerned that she does. He is doing more to rule it out than actually suspect something. She still has more appt that we need to schedule. I fee like I am constantly at either therapy or appt but it will slow down soon and it is all for her benefit.
We are looking forward to our friends the Lukes coming on Sat and staying till Monday and then Jeff's mom and brother from Wed-Sat after Christmas!

Snow!

So we took Ellie out for her first time playing in the snow and she seemed to love it. I got a few cute pics of her and a quick video that I thought I would post. She went down out hill with Ainsley once and fell off. She didn't like that so much but then went down with me three times and loved it. Ainsley must be a bad driver:) Ellie is really doing well and making new strides every day. She can say up, hi, night-night, bye-bye (I think) and maybe one other. We have finished up all of our processing for First Steps and she starts therapy this week. She will have speech on Wed and then the developmental interventionist on Thurs (she is kind of a broad spectrum therapist who works on a bit of everything). She also goes to Children's today to get a PT evaluation to see what they think she needs. She is on the verge of running and her gross motor skills get better everyday. She did topple down the stairs last night. Not sure what happened as we let her climb up and down on her own and I wasn't watching. She wasn't hurt that we could tell though so that's good! Mackenzie has about a week and half left of school before her Christmas break that she is really looking forward to! She has been busy with school, ballet and playing with friends. Jeff too the two older girls to see Suessical at the Children's Theatre this past Sat evening and I stayed home with Ellie. They had fun and I got a lot of wrapping gifts done! Not sure what Ellie thought about it but she did keep trying to sit on the wrapped gifts! Ainsley is doing well. She has been battling allergy stuff for a while and we are still working on finding the right combo to help her. We just started on Zyrtec a few days ago so I will give it a few weeks and see how she does. She has had an everlasting cough that nothing can touch it seems, but last night was better and she didn't wake up thankfully. School is going well for her and she has her Christmas program on Friday night for preschool so that should be fun!

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.