A visit with friends

"The Supreme happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved" ~ Victor Hugo


I know you will all find this hard to believe but we ventured down to Athens, GA this weekend and it wasn't even a game day! Last year we were lucky enough to travel to China with some really great people. Two of them live in Athens and we went down to visit with them and their beautiful daughter, Lily. We had a great time and it was so much fun watching the girls play together. Hopefully sometime in the spring/summer we will all be travelling together again..this time to Vietnam to get Malia and Grace. I left the memory card for my camera at home (I know..gasp...) but luckily Debbie took tons of photos (225 to be exact) and so thanks to her I have all the ones below!


So apparently if you didn't graduate from UGA you aren't supposed to stand under the arch on campus. Well, we are such rebels aren't we!



As usual our many attempts at a family photo was difficult. It really is difficult to get all three of us looking and then for us all to be smiling it is almost impossible. I can't imagine how much more fun this will be with four of us.

There were some beautiful spots on campus for the girls to play in the leaves. They were so cute holding hands and just enjoying each other's company. It was funny because Lily would call Annslee "baby" and she is three months younger : )

Mama enjoying some smooches from my girl.

Nothing like a girlfriend to share secrets with. I am sure in the years to come they will have lots of them to share and lots of giggles to go along.

The girls got along really well (except when they wanted the same toy of course) and that is good since they will be having to entertain each other on a 14 hour flight to Vietnam soon!

Thanksgiving..better late than never!

A fun time was had by all this Thanksgiving. We were certainly more rested unlike last year when we had just gotten home from China the night before. Annslee watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade and was pointing out all the balloons and was very excited to see Santa! We ate way too much, GrandD took a brief nap and we played outside a lot in the 70 degree weather.


I love this photo because it looks like Gigi has Annslee on a leash..hey, she probably should!

Enjoying the weather with Zoe, Gigi's new puppy was a lot of fun. Jacob and Annslee would run from her and then turn and beg her to chase them again.

We had lots of company during the weekend and she had a great time with cousin Jacob. He ended up in her cabinet while she was asking "where is he??"

Annslee and Judith had to rest some during the tailgating : )

She enjoyed playing football with Dada and Jimmy! She is a good passer and an even better tackler!

As usual she had a great time at the game. The Titans were losing 21-0 at the end of the third quarter so she wisely decided to fall asleep. Hmmmm... that meant that during the fourth quarter as the Titans scored 24 unanswered points I was unable to stand and cheer as she slept through all the crowd noise and the fireworks!

We ended the weekend by going to Opryland Hotel to enjoy the lights and the decorations. We saw Santa there but she merely wanted to wave and say hi to him and shook her head no to the suggestion of sitting in his lap. She did like the giant Christmas Tree in the Delta section.

Anyone going to Thailand??

If you are, can you pick me up a bookmark?


Panda Poop Paper Yields Big Profits
By Associated Press

Wed Nov 22, 10:38

CHIANG MAI, Thailand - There's the Panda Express fast-food chain. Jing Jing, a mascot for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The forthcoming animated movie, Kung Fu Panda. Even a Mexican rock band named after the cuddly bear.
Not to be outdone, Thailand has come up with yet another, seemingly unlikely way to capitalize on this globally loved, bamboo-munching animal _ panda poop.
When keepers of the country's panda couple _ Chuang Chuang and Lin Hui _ got tired of disposing the 55 pounds of feces daily produced by the duo, Prasertsak Buntragulpoontawee came up with the idea of turning it all into notebooks, fans, bookmarks and key chains.
"At first the Chinese were very skeptical," says the head of Chiang Mai Zoo's panda unit, referring to the proprietary attitude China takes toward its iconic animal.
But the multicolored paper products have proved hot selling-items at the zoo, with the 300,000 baht (US $8,200) earned to date helping balance the accounts of panda keeping.
The Thai government pays $250,000 a year to China's Wulong Panda Research Institute to rent the pandas, who, depending on the weather, reside in either a $1 million air-conditioned cage or an extensive, fan-cooled outdoor enclosure ringed by a mini-replica of China's Great Wall.
Panda poop paper production involves a daylong process of cleaning the feces, boiling it in a soda solution, bleaching it with chlorine and drying it under the sun. Experimentation continues on how to reduce the chemicals now used.
Prasertsak says he was inspired by sa paper, or mulberry leaf paper, a traditional, local product which has proved a highly popular gift item in recent years.
"We tried selling it on markets outside but so far with not so much success," he says. "But in the zoo, when people see real pandas and then their product they're excited and buy."

Guess what I got???

Yep..you guess it...our I-171 H came!!! It was issued on November 22nd and we got it on the 24th..the day after Thanksgiving. For those of you keeping track we were fingerprinted on September 5th. Now that we have our approval from the Department of Homeland Security, we can start gathering our paperwork for Vietnam. Once we complete that we can have it sent to the Vietnamese consulate and then on to Hanoi! We are one step closer to Malia.

National Adoption Awareness Month

"It has been said that adoption is more like a marriage than a birth: two (or more) individuals, each with their own unique mix of needs, patterns and genetic history, coming together with love, hope and commitment for a joint future. You become a family not because you share the same genes, but because you share a love for each other." ~Joan McNamara


Since November is National Adoption Awareness month I thought I would post something I read about defining some commonly misused adoption terms (in a humorous manner) :

Four Adoption Terms Defined:

Natural Child: any child who is not artificial
Real Parent: any parent who is not imaginary
Your Own Child: any child who is not someone else's child
Adopted Child: a natural child, with a real parent who is all my own!

On a serious note, respectful adoption language is important. People who are not educated on this subject can seem hurtful to parents and children. It is really the responsibility of us, as parents to help educate others in this area. I am the first to admit that in the check out line at the grocery store, I am usually not in the mood and will just ignore the comments. However, Annslee is now getting old enough that I need to start learning how to appropriately deal with these situations.

Here are some links I found useful:

Using Respectful Adoption Language

Adoption is a Family Affair

Adoptive Families Magazine

Names, Fortune Cookies etc...

As you already know Annslee's little sister's name has been chosen. I thought it would be fun to let you know of the orgins, meaning and popularity of their names.

Malia has many orgin sources and meanings. Depending on where you look it is Hebrew, Native American or Hawaiian. Most sources say it means "peaceful and calm" ...hmmmm...we can only hope. In Hawaii it has been described as the sunrise or sunset..the most beautiful times of the day. One baby name book said it means "wished for child" ..I think I will go with that one! According to the Social Security website for the year 2005 Malia ranked 424 in popularity.

Annslee is named after both her grandmothers (Ann and Lee) but the traditional spelling of Ansley is an Old English name and means "meadow" or some say it means "grace & shelter from the storm" for Ann & Lee. Believe me, she was a wished for child too..regardless of what the name means. As far as popularity goes, according to the Social Security website for the year 2005 Annslee was not in the top 1,000.

I forgot to post this on our Family Day. As usual she ate all our fortune cookies because she loves them. Her fortune said "The world will soon be ready to receive your talents" I hope the world is really ready for that!!! Mine said "Remember three months from this date. Good things are in store for you." Wonder if that could be a referral from Vietnam?? Either that, or hubby better step it up for Valentine's Day : )

Family Day Fun

Mama took off work today and we girls played all day!! Elmo was at the bounce factory so we headed over there. We bounced and went down every slide. She finally was able to climb the ladders by herself and even tried to tackle the "rock" climbing wall. She loved going down all the slides!

Finally Elmo arrived (he was stuck in traffic) and we went over to take a peek. She was not too sure about him at first and wanted Mama to go give him hugs, which I did several times as she looked on. She eventually gave him some high fives and then a BIG hug : )

Dada got home and we headed out to dinner. The girls at the restaurant loved Annslee and even took her with them for a while and Dada and I got a moment to eat a few bites. She ate her noodles and loved the ice cream and pudding.




I got out the outfit she was wearing when we met her and it actually fits better now than it did then. No surprise that our photo shoot ended up in the kitchen cabinets.

Wow, we sure are lucky to have such a beautiful happy girl!!!

Our family one year later!!

One Year Ago..

We walked into a room with ten other families and our lives were changed forever. I remember waiting for Jia Na to be called out and then we stepped forward and the orphanage director handed us a precious gift..our daughter. I held her and at that moment I thanked God for every moment in my life that had led to this. I had dreamed of being a mommy and it was finally a reality. There really are no words to adequately describe holding your child for the first time while ten other families are doing the same thing. It was a crazy, loud, chaotic and wonderful delivery room experience. Our lives are forever tied to the other families we shared this with.

You could ask me years from now about the room and I think I could describe every inch of it. I could recall the rain outside and the nervous excitement in the air. I would be able to see the words "Thank you for all of your love pouring on the children" written in English and Mandarin on the wall behind us. I would remember she was holding tightly to a green veggie stick and wearing Spider Man shoes. I would still see the sweet smile she flashed at Mr. Chen (the orphanage director) right before he handed her to me and then the look of confusion as she turned to us. I would still be able to feel the weight of her in my arms for the first time and the ultimate unconditional love we felt for her at that moment.


First Family Photo




We sent a care package to her foster family with this photo of us in it. We could tell she had been shown this picture because she kept staring at it then looking at us as if trying to figure out if we were the Mama and Baba she had been told about.

This was moments after she was handed to us. I held her for a couple of minutes but she wouldn't stop crying. Dada worked the magic (for the first few days)

We couldn't believe how content she seemed once we got to the room. I am still amazed at how brave these babies are and how resilient to change.

She loved looking at herself in the mirror and she still does. Hey, why shouldn't she...she is so beautiful after all.

Conclusion of a long weekend

We went to the Titans game with Mia and her mommy and daddy and had a great time. It was a little cold but the girls didn't seem to mind.

We had mimosas and the girls wanted some orange juice for themselves. You will notice Annslee's reaction as Mia was trying to take her juice (of course we were encouraging her b/c Annslee's face was so funny) Once they both had cups they did CHEERS over and over and the giggles got started.

Daddy took this picture of her at the game and it is my new favorite photo!!

We had fun tailgating and the girls had a great view of the fly over on their daddies' shoulders.

She enjoyed the popcorn but well over half of this bucket ended up on the ground!

She and Mia had fun in the stadium and then Mia slept through the second half. I wanted Annslee to do the same because I wanted her on my lap under a blanket. She had other plans and kept getting up and down out of her seat for the second half and of course wouldn't keep a blanket on. Good thing she had on her new fur lined boots!

The Party Girl

Annslee had two birthday parties to attend today. She had one in the morning, home for nap then another one in the afternoon. To get fueled up for such a busy day she had to have a donut of course!



After the donut feast we headed to Amelia's house to celebrate turning two! The girls danced and ran around the pool table. Annslee also enjoyed seeing all of Amelia's toys..you know the grass is always greener on the other side. We ate yummy ice cream cake and had a great time seeing each other.





She came home to take a nap then we headed to Mia's for party number two for the two year olds! This was an Elmo party and Annslee of course dove right in. She loved the Pinata and the ice cream! She really has just started to like ice cream (or anything cold) in the last few months so it was funny seeing her eating it with such vigor!







It was a very busy but also a very fun day. We are blessed to have such great friends!!

The Kiss

As I posted earlier we went to a Bark in the Park but my photos from that day were on the erased memory card. No fear...there was a photographer there and he caught these priceless shots!


Coming in for the smooch of the pooch!

 

 


Looks like Annslee is unsure but the dog is ready for more.

 

 

I can still remember...

One year ago today we were getting on an airplane to fly to Beijing to meet our beautiful daughter. I remember being nervous and excited and thinking surely we had forgotten to pack something. This year we were thinking of voting, getting her fed, bathing her and putting her to bed. What a difference a year makes.

Here is my journal entry from last year written hours before we boarded the plane.

This is IT!!! November 07, 2005

We are all packed and ready to go get Annslee!! I can't believe that in a few short hours we will be on a flight around the world to meet our daughter. Mark and I both have been very emotional today and I know it will only get worse so watch out for our photos from China..you may see some tears.

This has been such a long process and I know many of you have been on the journey with us and we are so grateful for that. After months of paperwork, then more months of waiting and finally having to stare at her photo for 10 long weeks we will FINALLY hold her very soon.

For those of you keeping track: We will meet Annslee on Monday morning the 14th (China time) so that will be Sunday night for all you Westerners. That means when you check the site next Monday you will see her in our arms! I Buckle up... the journey is getting started.

A Fun Filled Weekend

This was Florida/Vandy weekend so Linda and Ropen came to town! It was so great seeing them and getting to spend time with them. Linda has always said Ropen is a chick magnet and man he is. Annslee wouldn't give anyone else attention as long as he was around!



On Saturday we went to the game and Annslee had a great time. We sat in the Florida section and she soon picked up on the "gator chop" and was doing it with the crowd. Of course that won't be a lasting thing in a UT house and her love for dogs will insure that Smokey will win out.

The game started around her nap time but that didn't stop her. She slept through the whole first half. I guess we don't really need to be quiet at home while she naps since she slept through a football game surrounded by fans and fireworks.

November 4th is also my dad's birthday. We usually all go out to dinner with him and so we decided to celebrate together again. This is our first one without dad but I think he would have enjoyed himself!


Chopsticks, bread and a mirror...what fun!

Fall Fest Fotos

These are photos that were taken at the Fall Festival at my friend Trisha's church a couple of weeks ago (the first pony ride day) Anyway, since these weren't on my camera I still have them : ) They turned out ok, to be honest Annslee was not in the mood and she really didn't want the scarecrow in our picture so you notice he is missing. The photographer kept trying to put him in the shot and Annslee would knock him over and wave bye bye to him.

Dry Day!!

When Annslee was picked up from daycare we learned she was dry all day!!! What a big girl she is becoming. We haven't had to change a poopy diaper in months but she will still pee pee in her pull up sometimes so we were excited to hear that she had such a sucessful day at school. As she would say, "Yay, Anns!!"