Making Progress...

We have had a very good couple of weeks and each day gets better. Her language skills are improving each day. She can repeat alot of words in English but cannot ask for or answer simple questions in English yet, but we are working on it.

We have mastered the bath although she is still standing up. I have been working with her the last couple of nights to learn to enjoy the water, as we hope to have a pool put in this summer and want her to enjoy swimming. Tonight was the first night that she really enjoyed getting in the water and splashing around. She still did not sit down but did let go of the side of the tub and bent down close to the water. This week I am taking her to the pool at SPAR and see how she does.

Today we had a Doctor visit for a "well baby" check up. I wanted our family Pediatrician to look her over and make sure she didn't have any issues. I more importantly wanted to make sure she did not have any evidence of an ear infection, as CL/CP children are really prone to suffer with them and some even require tubes. She had a great check up. Her ears looked clear, lungs sounded clear. She weighs 24 pounds - which the Dr. said is a little slim for her age but is 35 inches tall, which is quite tall for her age. Now the true test will be how she fares at her next appointment with Texas Children's Craniofacial Team. We will see that comprehensive team on March 29th. I am really looking forward to talking with that team and determining what is next in Maddie's plan of care.

We took Maddie to the park for the first time this weekend. On our first visit she was a little apprehensive about getting on the playground equipment without her sister close by her side. The second visit she had a blast! She mastered the slide and had a great time sliding down time after time. She didn't like the swings but loved the climbing equipment. She also liked the ice cream that she got after our visit to the park. Cold Stone Creamery - YUM!

I am trying to keep her on a pretty strict schedule, especially with nap time. It doesn't always work with the kids schedules and after school activities but for the most part we have been pretty successful. It definitely makes for a happier little girl. Christopher's high school basketball team has made it to the State Tournament, so we will have an out of town game in Baton Rouge this Friday. This will make for a long day and will require a bit more planning on my part for Maddie. We are all excited and can't wait to go and see him. She is so good during the games and loves to point out her Bubba on the basketball court!

She is continuing to have a STRONG bond with both her brother and sister. Each of them are very caring and sweet when dealing with her. Christopher is sharing his pudding cup with her as I type this entry into our blog. I love watching her interact with them!

Enjoy the pictures!

Another Video

1st week Home

Today is Sunday - Valentine's Day. We have been home a little more than 1 week now. Maddie has done very well this week and each day things get a little better for her and us. In my last post we were having some sleeping issues as well as issues with meeting other adults outside of our immediate family. The sleeping issues have resolved themselves and she is sleeping in her own bed (in my room) and is sleeping through the night void of any night terrors. She goes to sleep on her own and wakes up around 8ish. I am thankful that she is a good sleeper - both of my other children were good sleepers (and still are LOL).

We started the week off very slow and limited outside visitors to just immediate family (only my dad) and allowed her a little breathing room to get adjusted and settle into a routine. By the end of the week I was able to go to Keith's office for a couple of hours and Maddie played with her Aunt Suzanne and Ashley (another girl in Keith's office). They entertained her, brought her Chapstick and allowed her to write on paper with pens and highlighters. Something that shocked me was when Suzanne gave Maddie a pair of kiddie scissors and some paper. Maddie immediately took the scissors, put her fingers in the appropriate places and was able to cut paper. I can't remember my other children being coordinated enough to cut with scissors at this age - I could be wrong. I guess I somewhat expected a little development delay with Maddie and I do not see any signs of delay in terms of development. Just a few more examples of what we have witnessed over the last week:

- Keith gave Maddie his Iphone to play with. She quickly found the button to push to bring the main screen up and then ran her finger over the slide button to open the features. When looking at pictures on the iPhone she knows how to flip through the pictures with her finger - how does she know this? My dad doesn't even know how to use the iphone. lol

- Riding in the car and sitting at a Red Light. The light turns green and Maddie from the back seat points at the green light and grunts (as if to tell me "Go, its green).

We also brought her to Christopher's basketball games this week. Tuesday's game was at Washington Marion High School and we sat right below their BAND. She is NOT afraid of loud music - lol - it was definitely LOUD!!!! She sat through 4 1/2 hours of game time and never gave me ANY trouble. She was content with sitting in the stands and pointing out her Bubba on the court. She was an angel. Friday's game she was a little braver and didn't necessarily stick to me like glue but was equally well behaved. I had several different people (friends and family) that joined us at that game and she was very open to connecting with them. She gave kisses freely and even left me and walked to the concession stand with my Uncle.

We have been slowly allowing her to unwrap her Christmas presents. There was no doubt that she knew what to do with a present - she ripped open the paper and made sure all of the paper was off the box before examining the contents of the package. She has loved all of her new toys and they entertain her for hours. Tonight she unwrapped a baby doll that cries and when given a bottle, she makes a sucking noise. She has carefully carried her baby around, feed her and played sweet with her. She is a good mommy. lol We are down to only 2 presents left and she is eyeing them now as I type and wants to open them.

She is continuing to say many more english words. The kids have helped her learn to count, say her ABC's and many other words. They taught her to give "Knuckle bump, high five and thumbs up" and she loves to perform for them. It has been quite entertaining. Maddie has definitely attached to both Christopher and Elizabeth and has a very strong bond with them. They are great with her.

We are still working with her to share with other kids as they come and play. This could be more of an "age" issue rather than an adjustment issue.

We are anxious to see what this week will hold. We can't wait for the weather to get warmer so that we can spend a little time outside with her.

Video

I wanted to post some video from our travels. Hope you enjoy

Home, Rested and Adjusting

We made it home on Friday and arrived to a airport full of family and friends. What a whirlwind of travel in a 26 hour period. God looked out for us and we encountered no flight delays, beautiful weather and smooth flights. We have heard from other families that were in our group, some of which were delayed for days because of the weather situation. We were very lucky.

Now that we are home we are all adjusting quite nicely. The dog however is not overjoyed that she is here and staying - although Maddie loves Pressley (that may be the problem for Pressley) lol.

Maddie immediately took to Christopher and Lizzy. She is a little parrot and mimicks everything they do and say. They are having fun teaching all kinds of new tricks. Lizzy is also having dressing her up - some days we have 3 outfit changes. Maddie has also taken quite well to my Daddy and calls him Pauky instead of Poppy - its so cute.

We have successfully conquered our fear of the bath - although she has not sat down in the water yet. We are working on that still. She is still reluctant to let anyone outside of our circle of 5 hold her, talk to her or touch her. This may take a while - as she becomes more comfortable with us and the longevity of her situation she hopefully will warm up to people. I have moved her out of my bed at night - she is a fitful sleeper. Between her sleeping on top of me and the dog sleeping on me I was completely miserable at night. We moved her toddler mattress into my room which she reluctantly slept on last night. However, she had a much more restful nights sleep and did not have any bad dreams (which she has woken up with the earlier this week)

It has been quite an adjustment getting use to having a toddler in the house, however she listens well for a 2 year old and does entertain herself well with her toys. She has found no interest in television at all. I can't wait for the weather to warm up a bit so that we can get outside a bit.

I have scheduled her an appointment at Texas Children's Hospital in Houston, Tx to see the Cleft Team of Specialized. Our appointment is not until March 29th. In the interim she will see Dr. Wallace just to make sure she is well. I am very interested to know and can't wait to see the team in Houston. I'll keep everyone posted after that visit.

I will be posting some of the video from our travels and now that we are home for all to enjoy. I was able to move all of my blog postings and pictures over to this blog. Enjoy.

She is Officially Ours!!!!!

Original entry posted February 3, 2010

What an emotional and amazing day. Today brought to a close the adoption process for Madelyn (In China). We attended an official Oath Taking Ceremony at the US Consulate's Office today. There were many cheers and sighs of relief from all of the families present - including us. We have a little more to do to finalize her adoption in the State of Louisiana when we get home but it won't be too bad. She will become a US Citizen immediately upon landing in Newark on Friday afternoon. And once we get home I will file for her a US Passport for our future out of the country travels. We will pick up her Visa to enter the US tomorrow and off we will go by train to Hong Kong. We should arrive around 8:00 p.m. China time. We will catch our flight Friday morning at 11:30 a.m. and are still scheduled to arrive in Lake Charles on Friday, Feb 5th. As I look back on the long journey it took to get here I have to reflect on how wonderful my Lord and Savior truly is. He walked with me each step of the way. In the initial decision making process, he opened my heart to adoption and provided calm to my apprehension. During the months it took us to get through the home study he helped me reflect on his goodness and my many blessing and what I had to offer a child. In the many days and months after we received the referral for Madelyn he provided much needed comfort to my sorrow. I developed trust in his timing and the fact he can MOVE MOUNTAINS and he taught me Patience - a much needed lesson for me. Now that we have her in our lives he has once again shown his grace and mercy to us and allowed a seamless trip to China to get her and an easy transition for both Madelyn and us. God showed us that loves knows no boundaries, is unconditional and is all encompassing and the indescribable JOY that we feel as a family with now a new member. I am a different person because of him and what he has taught me and shown me about myself through this process. We can't wait to be home! We can't wait to reunite with Christopher and Elizabeth waiting at home for us - we miss them dearly! And one moment with Madelyn I must share with you. I woke up this morning to a little face in my face - sweet smile and little hands on my face. When I opened my eyes she was sitting on top of me waiting to kiss and hug me good morning - all with a smile. See everyone soon!

The Zoo

Original Entry Posted on February 2, 2010

Today we did not start out on a good foot. Madelyn woke up with a low grade fever. I assume this was a side affect of the shots she received yesterday. One dose of motrin and she was on the mend. Our adoption agency arranged for a trip to the Safari (the Zoo) in Guangzhou so we went along with several other families. What an experience. Keith and I have traveled many places and have visited many amazing zoo's in the US - San Diego being one of the top ones. This zoo was absolutely the best ever! The weather was beautiful and the temperature perfect at around 75 degrees. Unlike zoo's in the US, this zoo had minimal enclosures for the animals so they were very accessible and easy to look at. I got to hold a toucan on my arm, Keith got to bottle feed a baby white tiger (how cool) and Maddie and Keith feed banana's to the elephants. They even had a baby elephant that you could pet and feed up close and personal. You could even feed the Giraffe's - they would stretch their long necks close to you and pull the tree branches from you. It was really cool! The highlight of this trip was the Panda exhibit. There have only been a few zoo's that I have been to that have Panda Bear Exhibits and only have a couple of pandas on display. This exhibit has MANY and they roamed around, ate and climbed trees all within a arm stretch of where we were standing. Maddie had a great time! She loved looking at all of the animals and even called some by name. She ate a hot dog on a stick, ran around and just had a great time with us. What a perfect day! Tonight we had dinner at an Italian restaurant on the island and it was ok. It was nice to have a break from Chinese food. Boy am I ready for some good home cooking! Today our representative from Holt took our documents down to the US Consulate on our behalf. We have not heard anything back, which is a good thing. Tomorrow we have an Exit meeting with Holt to discuss our travel arrangements THEN - we go to the Consulate for an Oath Swearing Ceremony and Visa Issuance!!! Yeah!!!! We cannot take pictures at the consulate - unfortunately. I will etch that moment into my mind forever! Maddie is getting better every day! She calls Keith and I by Momma and Daddy now. She is freely giving kisses to both of us and has a sweet endearing face when she does this. She has learned that she can stay up a little later and avoid going to sleep if she continues to give us kisses. If the kisses keep coming we keep talking and somehow forget to make her lay down - lol. She is smart as a whip and figures things out very quickly. She will be ruling the roost when we get home - lol. Her vocabulary is expanding each day. It will be no time before she will be fluent in English. She is a little parrot and will mimick anything I say. She has mastered our names, the kids names, the grandparents and the aunts names. She can identify and say where her eyes, nose, mouth and ears are. She picks things up so quickly! I love you all - thanks so much for being so supportive in our journey to Madelyn. She is a fantastic little girl and I feel truly blessed to have her in my life! I can't wait for all to meet her! See you soon my friends!

Medical Check

Original Entry posted February 1, 2010

Today we had to go through a complete medical check in order to get Madelyn's Visa. This was a very long process not designed to be enjoyable for anyone. Our adoption agency arranged for us to be the first adoption group at the Medical Clinic. The clinic is not just for adoptive families but serves the Chinese Community as well. Our first stop was getting the TB skin test read by the nurse. After a quick visual examination and measurement, her result was positive. This meant she had to undergo a chest x-ray in order to rule out Tuberculosis. Normally the skin test will rule this disease out but not in this case. This caused me a bit of anxiety because, as some of you know, the presence of Tuberculosis means an extended stay in China - either 45 days for treatment or another week getting an exception approval to enter the country. Next we had 3 medical stations to visit, ENT, General Medical and Height and Weight. This was a bit chaotic because we were herded into one large room with 3 rooms attached and you just picked a room to begin with and moved from room to room as you finished with each exam. No order, no calling of patients names - just get in line. After we finished off we went to get 4 shots. She received 2 shots, one in each leg and 2 shots in each arm. She was not happy - she cried and cried - until Keith gave her a sucker and she calmed down a bit. Only to be stirred up again when it was time to get the Chest X-ray. The radiologist (not the rad tech - the radiologist) took us into the room and made be hold her hands in the correct position for the x-ray. This invoked a large scream and many tears. This, for me, was the hardest part. Immediately after finishing the x-ray - the same radiologist read the x-ray. (Instantaneous results - that's what I'm talking about!) We were all clear!!!!!!! What a relief and a weight off my shoulders! There were several other children in our group that had false positive skin tests as well and were cleared through the chest x-ray. Yeah! The whole process took about 3 1/2 hours. The more time went by the busier the clinic became with both adoptive families and the locals. The clinic is so not what you expect it to be. There is no privacy - all of the exam rooms are glass rooms for everyone to see. Dr's admitting patients, doing paperwork and the exams. Unreal! Needless to say this was not a very good day for Madelyn - she was completing out of sorts for the remainder of the afternoon. She took a quick nap and I had to wake her up to attend the Red Couch picture. The Red Couch picture is the picture (on the red couch) with all of the adopted babies in our group dressed in traditional chinese outfits. She cried and cried. Not really a good picture moment. Tonight was better for her. We did a little shopping. I ordered a baptism dress from one of the local seamstress' here in town. It should be ready Tuesday night. The fabric I chose was a white silk fabric with a chinese symbol meaning strong family. It will be beautiful and a wonderful keepsake for her. Tomorrow we are booked to go to the zoo. She will love seeing all of the animals. We are on the downhill run - 4 more days until we are homeward bound!

My Little Angel....

Original Entry posted on January 31, 2010

In Guangzhou continued...

Original entry posted on January 30, 2010

Today was really a fantastic day with Madelyn. Today is the first day where we felt that she felt part of the family - if that makes any sense at all. She is such a happy baby! I wanted to include some additional pictures from tonight that we took after getting back from dinner and taking a bath. She still is not crazy about taking a bath. She cries when I am bathing her and still has not sat down in the tub, but her anxiety is getting much better. She is learning the reward to taking a bath and that is LOTION! She gets to put on lotion when she gets out of the tub. She even mimicks me in the way I put the lotion in my hands, rub them together and then apply. She is too cute. Enjoy these pictures!!!

In Guangzhou

Original Entry posted on January 30, 2010

We made it to Guangzhou finally! After a week in the congestion, smog and dirt of Xi'an it is nice to be here. Guangzhou is much different - clean, safe, minimal traffic and very adoptive family friendly. We are staying at the White Swan Hotel which is amazing. It is located on Sheimen Island and is comparable to Galveston Boardwalk or San Antonio Riverwalk. Although alot of the shops are under construction it is still a much nicer place to be. We can get out of our hotel and walk around and shop. It even has a Subway!!!! We arrived late last night via a 2 hour plane ride. Madelyn did really well overall. She did not like the seat belt and wanted to sit in my lap most of the time. For just being 2 years old she did a great job. The landing was a bit loud which scared her but no other trouble beside that. There are hundreds of adoptive families that arrived in Guangzhou last night, with many different adoption agencies - all seem to be staying at our hotel. Matel (the toy making company) has a sponsored play room here in the hotel and even sent up a special adoption Barbie doll called "Going Home Barbie". Today we had a couple of meetings to complete and prepare documents for our upcoming Medical Visit and Visa Appointment. That was an interesting meeting. There were 9 other families in the room and we are all listening to instructions on how to fill out the paperwork and because the paperwork process has had to be so precise all of us are asking questions like - How do you write the date (1/30/10 or 10 January 2010), How do we sign our name (First Middle and Last or First and Last). It got to be comical! We also had a quick trip to the Medical Clinic for a TB Test and Visa Photo. She was actually ok after the TB test. Keith of course couldn't watch nor was he going to hold her while the nurse administered the test. He couldn't even take pictures - Wimp - lol. She cried for just one minute and then was fine. Although she curled her pointer finger up (of the same arm) and held it that way for some time. It was weird. She is definitely bonding to both of us. Her and Keith are really getting closer each day. He is able to hold her and kiss her without her wiping it off. Today was the first day that she actually kissed me. She has come several times today and held my face with her hands and kissed me and hugged my neck. She giggles so loudly when she plays with us. She is sooooo sweet. She is such a good little girl. She mimicks everything we do. If we take off our shoes she takes off hers. If I put lotion on she has to have some. Every time we go to the bathroom she wants Germ-X for her hands just like her momma (her momma taught her right! LOL) and she has to have chapstick for her lips everytime we put it on. When we are in the hotel room and she goes to potty she has to have all her clothes off with exception of her shirt. Then she will get dressed herself after she is finished. When we are out and about and has to potty - she will go sniff out the bathroom several times. Lizzy used to do this as a little girl - my mom and dad report that I did the same too. It must be a girl thing. lol We have taken such sweet videos of her, I so wish I could share them with you. Unfortunately I can't even email them out. Internet is so slow here and it apparently does not allow for video to move through email. I will definitely share some of the cuter ones with everyone once I get home and can blog on my regular blog. Can't wait to see everyone! This has been such an amazing experience!!!! I can't wait for everyone to meet my amazing little girl!!!

Another day in Xi'an

Original Entry posted January 28, 2010

Today was our last full day in Xi'an and I am definitely ready to move on to Guangzhou. We receive Madelyn's passport tomorrow morning and have a flight at 6:30 p.m. to catch. This should be interesting considering how crazy the airports in China are and now add a baby to the mix. lol Today we just spent good quality time together. Each day it gets better. We did a lot of Skype calling today. She got to talk with her brother and sister and can call them by name. She also got some face time on Skype with Aunt Penny, Aunt Suzanne, Jena and Poppy. She made a really good effort to say each of their names and is doing a great job at saying english names and words. I also saw a softer side of her today while we were playing. She accidently hit me in the head with a puzzle piece and immediately noticed that she hurt me. She wanted me to take my glasses off and she rubbed her hand over my forehead and face in an effort to make it feel better - how sweet! Our guide came to our room earlier today before going to dinner and translated her birthday card. I was able to write down all of her caregivers birthday wishes for her. They had such sweet words for her. The amazing thing was the people who cared for her were all Christians. This is evident in the birthday wishes they wrote in her card. They all wrote that "Jesus Loves Her" and asked for his blessing upon her life. How amazing is that. All of that time I was worried about her in the orphanage and could not understand why I had to wait so long. And to know that God had his hand upon her life and blessed her with Christian caregivers gives me a sense of peace for the last 6 months that she was with people who really loved her and loved and served my God. GOD is GOOD!!!!! Tonight we went to a Chinese Opera House/Restaurant. We ate dumplings and watched an authentic chinese show. It was really fun. While we were eating we gave Madelyn chopsticks to eat with instead of a spoon. Little girl could use the chopsticks very well. She was leaps and bounds better than me with the chopsticks - lol. It's was really neat to see such a little hand use those chopsticks. It's late and Madelyn has crawled up onto my lap waiting for me to get in the bed with her. So I will cut this blog short. We love ya'll. Thanks for all the prayers. We'll see everyone soon!