One month in our arms

It's hard to believe that yesterday marked one month that this precious little dumpling has been in our arms.  In that time she has come out of her shell in a big way.  She cried every time we walked into our hotel room in Taiyuan.  Nights weren't easy either.  We occasionally heard her babble. She was grieving, and if you have adopted, you know it's hard to watch.

 Today she's a very different girl, a typical toddler.  She screams when she wants something and screams just to be heard.  It's really nice for when you want to make phone calls.  Um, not really.  She really does pester poor Madeline.  Oy!  She's always wanting what she has and will scream, pull her clothes or hair, or, usually, squeeze her arm.  Yep.  Everything is mine, and I want it now.

She loves her chocolate milk and can drink it by the gallon.  She'll generally eat what I fix the big dumplings.  This girl LOVES to drink water....like all day and a lot....which means lots of pee pee diapers.  I still do put her on the potty to pee, but she drinks so much stinkin' water, I have a hard time keeping up. lol  She's sleeping well, both for naps and bedtime.  We had a few days of big time crying and thought it was grieving.  But my wise sister who has parented this age before told me it just might be that she doesn't want to sleep.  Ding ding ding! We have a winner.  Thankfully those times of crying about sleep were short lived.  She sleeps like a champ without any crying now.  

  Since coming home, she has learned a few basic signs- water, milk, more, please, and thank you.  She can say water (wa wa) and diaper (bi bur) and mommy (though she says mommy when pointing to herself, so she doesn't know it means me yet.)  I originally wanted to her call me mommy because I know she called her foster mom "mama", and I didn't want to upset or confuse her, which it did (upset her) in China.  She says mama and baba but only to babble, not in reference to us.  She babbles quite a bit and will even act like she's having a conversation with you.  It's so funny.  She loves swinging at the park, swimming in the pool, riding in the wagon or on her tricycle, brushing her teeth, dancing to music, and anything she can grab out of her in her sister's hand.  She loves to fake laugh so she can join her brother and sister in their laughing fits too.  She reminds us that we have to check her mouth for loose teeth because both her brother and sister have loosey-goosey teeth that need checking.  Oh she won't be forgotten.  Nope. Well, I could go on and on, but I think I'll stop right there.

As I said in my previous post, I knew I had to start taking some photos of Havi at home because I need to send them to our agency as part of our post placement report.  So one night I decided to take my camera with me on our evening walk.

 I thought I would take this snapshot of the three dumplings together because China wants to see the child experiencing their new culture.  They were thrilled to go on the walk, though not to stop and smile for my camera.  Oh well, it's good enough to send to China.  Done.

 We spotted this small but pretty rainbow as we were nearing home.

Happy 1 month with us, Havi Xue!
You have turned our lives upside for the better, you loud, spunky little girl!
We love love love you like crazy crazycakes!!!!

To the beach!

Yep, we're backing up again...to when Bammy was down here visiting.  I know I said I was going to do a Havi post, but that will have to wait.  I've actually had some time, no wait made time to pick up my camera to capture these first few weeks of Havi at home.  Well, maybe it's also because we need to send photos to China for our 1 month post placement visit.  But either way, I'm snapping away.  

Early one morning when Bammy was here, we all headed to the beach.  We arrived by 9am to avoid the heat and crowds.  Score.

 Havi hung out with me under an umbrella while Caleb and Madeline built sand castles with Bammy.

 Then Havi made her way down to the water's edge.

 She was not nearly as ecstatic about the ocean as she was in Hong Kong.  I can't blame her.  The beach in Hong Kong was small, and the waves were mild.  Not so here on the east coast of Florida.

She did enjoy the sand though and picked right back up where she left off with it in Hong Kong....eating it.  Oy!  But her favorite part of the beach?  Well, that was rinsing off in the shower.  She couldn't get enough of the water splashing over her head.  It was a short but sweet and enjoyable first trip to our local beach.  I'd say it was a winner.

Later that night, we went for a walk in the neighborhood.  I love taking walks in this quiet beachside community....just people and their four-legged friends out and about.  We always saw people walking in our old community.  But we lived on a busy street.  So we always had to contend with lots of car traffic while navigating the streets.  Not so here...which is why I can ask my kids to step off the sidewalk and into the street to pose for me without fear.

Then Patrick plucked Havi out of the wagon so she could also participate in this photo op.

Do you see that face?  And those arms across her chest?  Oh yes!  She did that back in China.  This girl can cop a 'tude like no one's business.  Yep, it's safe to say she's giving Madeline a run for her money for the next Academy Award.  She's just a little bit dramatic. Ha ha.  Or as we say in our house, a lotta bit dramatic.

Well, Madeline's 3 year Family Day/Gotcha Day anniversary is approaching.  It's actually on Friday, and to prepare for it, I plan on making some yummy treats.  This girl loves chocolate.  So I will be making some fresh chocolate ice cream for her.  You read that right...ice cream....because we just bought ourselves a handy dandy maker for the home.  It's safe to say I'll be churning up some cold creamy goodness this summer (which, lucky for us in Florida, lasts all year.)  I will also make a double chocolate chocolate cookie, nothing fancy, just lots of chocolate for my little chocolate lover.  Other items that I've been baking up are your basic quick breads and muffins that we like to snack on.  But I also made some delicious butterscotch supreme cupcakes from Rosie at Sweetapolita.  Big big winner here!  And it was great to have something that wasn't vanilla or chocolate. lol  I do love my cake and cupcakes, but I'm trying to change things up a bit because I know the rest of the peeps in the house aren't as crazy for them as I am. So we'll see what else I can bake up.

Anyway, I'm gonna try my best to catch up on my blogging here this week.  Promise.  I know you're all itching to see that third dumpling of ours in action.

Her first trip to the park

I'm a bit behind in sharing about Havi's first week home.  That's because I have been busy in the kitchen or in the pool with the dumplings.  Anywho, last week when Bammy was here, we went to the park late one morning/early afternoon.  The lighting was harsh, but I brought my camera anyway.  Havi loved the slide and swing.

Now, don't get any crazy ideas, like I allow my kids to go down slides head first.  This is the toddler slide, so very short and low to the ground.  Madeline has to crawl her way out.  So she's completely safe going head first.

So there you have it.  A short, sweet little trip to our favorite-y favorite park by the river.  It's the first of many more for this little girl.  

This week saw Bammy heading back to Connecticut.  The dumplings were so sad to drop her off at the airport.  We hadn't even left the airport parking lot when they were telling me how much they missed her already.  It was a great visit!  

Yesterday Havi had a doctor's appointment.  She did fairly well.  She got 3 out of 5 vaccines in order to make her current for her age and to comply with the Hague requirements.  She did cry but not for long.  She cried harder and longer when she tripped in the waiting area and hit her cheek hard against the leg of a chair.  It bruised up right away.  Poor girl.  Oh yes, and right before our social worker comes out tomorrow for our one month post placement visit.  Nice.  Anyway, I plan on writing up a post to share with you more about our precious little Havi.  For now, I'll leave you with one word to describe her- LOUD!

Happy weekend everyone!

Wrapping it up...traveling home

Last post I left off with us hanging out in the hotel room for a bit before we left for the airport.  We checked out of the hotel and headed to the airport at 10pm.  It was a quick 30 minute drive.  However, it took a while to get us all checked in because of Havi's immigration status.  At that point, we had an extremely tired and cranky big girl dumpling.  Oy!  All three dumplings fell asleep while waiting to board the plane.  Let me tell you how much fun it is to collect all your belongings and rouse your sleepy kids every time we had to get on or off a plane. Um, NOT!  But that's how our travel story goes....

Anyway,we finally left Hong Kong at 12:45am Sunday morning.  Havi traveled in her jammies.

We arrived in Seoul at 5:30am.

This next photo cracks me up because it was about the only time Madeline was awake.  Notice the cranky face?  Caleb moved to another spot, and she promptly fell asleep right there...and stayed there for 3 hours without budging.

If it weren't for Caleb, Havi would've wandered off.  Patrick and I were so sleep deprived.  We kept trying to take turns watching her and sleeping while waiting for our 13.5 hour flight to begin, but it was so hard.  My favorite phrase- "Caleb, you got her? Okay. Good."  Yep, mom-of-the-year award right there.  I could.not.wait to fall asleep on the next flight.

Finally, finally at 10:00am, we boarded the plane.

Havi did beautifully.  She actually slept the whole flight from Hong Kong to Seoul and then slept about 9-10 hours on the long flight.  It was great.  I slept a bunch too and also managed to sneak in two movies at the end of the long flight.  

The other three in the row in front of us also slept most of the time too.  Though, when we finally arrived in Atlanta, we were all pretty hungry and grumpy.  We had a 4.5 hour layover.  However, by the time we passed through immigration and finally made it to our gate, we only had 2 hours left to wait...at a crowded gate...with no place to sit but the middle of the floor...with two tired dumplings and one that wanted to play chase through the crowd of travelers.  Oh, let me tell you, that was loads of fun.  Patrick picked up some food for us, although nobody liked what he bought for each of us.  Why?  Because we normally eat it all but were all vying for the best grouch crown.  I'm not sure exactly who won.  You'd have to ask him.  Poor Baba.

Anyway, we finally boarded the plane for our final one hour flight.  We arrived about 15-20 minutes early.  So my sister and crew, who were driving our minivan to the airport for us, weren't even there to meet us.  Thankfully my good friend and her daughters were there to greet us.  They followed us to baggage claim and helped us with all our luggage.  Then as we headed outside, my sister pulled up and, in paparazzi style, started snapping away.

Yes, I was tired, but I was actually blinking in the shot above.  I wasn't that tired.

My sister's father-in-law couldn't wait to hold Havi.

Havi did really well in the carseat.  She rather liked being up so high and looking out.  It was pretty funny.  When we arrived home, our neighbors came out to greet us and give us muffins and balloons.  My sister made that cute sign that my niece Leah is holding.

Then it was inside to play with all the toys and eat some dinner.

The two littles together.  I love it.  Madeline was so cute.  She said, "Havi and Josh don't really play together."  Nope, honey.  Not yet.  They're too young.  They'll just take each others toys for now.

Thanks so much, Deb, for snapping those homecoming photos for us. They are priceless.

We've been home almost a week now and have done really well with jet lag.  In fact, Havi and I have had zero trouble.  Seriously.  It's as if I didn't fly half way around the world.  For real!  The bigger dumplings have struggled with staying awake till bedtime on the days that I haven't forced them to take a nap, which has only happened a few times.  When they nap, they go to bed as usual and wake up after 5am...instead of 2am or 3am.  Yeah, poor Patrick, as he's been the one to get up with them.  

My mother-in-law arrived on Tuesday to spend some time with the dumplings and help out.  Caleb and Madeline have loved playing with her, as they always do. And Havi has joined right in.   It's been nice to have her here.  Oh, and remember how much Havi enjoyed the pool in China?  Well, let's just say I know where we will be spending time each day with this girl.  Seriously.  The sight of her brother and sister swimming has her trying to break down the doors to get in the pool too.  She loves the water.  She squeals and splashes, puts her face in the water.  She'll even let me lay her down in a floating position.  Anyway, I promise I will try to snap a few photos of her at home and post them.  I need to do this anyway because we'll be meeting with our social worker next weekend, and she's going to need photos for our first post placement visit report.  Thanks for hanging in there as I finished up blogging about our travel, and I hope you'll stick around now that Havi is finally home.