Baptism

Sunday was Mia's day at church.  She was welcomed into our church family and was baptized.  It was a beautiful service but whew I was worn out.  She was busy during mass and then even busier during the baptism ceremony.  

Thanks to my Dad for standing in for her Godfather, and my bestie, Dana for being her Godmother.  We followed up a beautiful ceremony with lunch at our house for our family and friends.  Thanks to all our family and friends who celebrated this very special moment with us - We are so blessed!

And then there were 4

My beautiful children....

Our First Weeks at Home

I am behind on my blog posts.  Having a baby in the house has proven to be very time consuming.  We have had a very busy couple of weeks.  We have been experiencing some very rainy days but we did have a break in the weather that allowed for us to swim.  

Mia loved the pool!

She is learning to walk and is starting to dig!

She and Maddie are still fighting for my attention.  Mia doesn't like sharing her mommy.  However, she did make progress this week :  She and Daddy have made friends and she decided that he is one cool guy.  Mia allows him to hold her and play with her, feed her and loves to give him kisses.  FINALLY!

We had a set back this week.  An early morning trip to the emergency room because of shortness of breath, led to a breathing treatment, a followup appointment with her Doctor, another breathing treatment, $300+ worth of medication and regular breathing treatments for the next week.  The doctor thinks it may just be a reaction to our climate and allergens in the air.  We follow up Tuesday and see where we go from there.

She is doing better now after several days of medication and felt good enough to play on the playground at the mall for a while with Maddie.  That little face - mischievous!

Mia is adjusting

Mia is adjusting quite well.  Now that we are home we are all recovering from jet lag including Mia.  She has finally gotten her days and nights correct, however, a couple of hours into sleeping at night she wakes up and wants me hold her while she sleeps.  The first night she did this I let her cry until she cried herself to sleep (I refuse to have her in the bed with Keith and I).  Last night I just could stand to hear her cries - she was breaking my heart. I did lay with her on the couch until she fell back into a deep sleep.  I was able to lay her back down into her crib and she slept until this morning.

We have had such a warm reception of friends and family that have come and called to welcome Mia home.  They have been so wonderful making sure that Maddie felt included, some even bringing gifts for her.

Mia is warming up to everyone.  She loves her brother (of course who wouldn't).  She is adjusting to Keith and will allow him to hold her.  She gets excited to see my mom and dad.  I think kids instinctively know who their grandparents are.

Lots to do in the next few weeks.  Mia's well baby check up is next Tuesday and we are still waiting on an appointment date for Texas Children's Craniofacial team.  We should have one confirmed tomorrow.  Her Baptism is scheduled for July 29th and we must attend classes this week at church beforehand.

Our GOTCHA Moment

Chillin in the high chair

First Mani and Pedi with Lizzy

Home!!!

After 30 hours of continuous travel we finally arrived home.  We had many of our friends, neighbors and family waiting on us Thursday night to meet Mia.  My mom had a beautiful sign made for the yard and had food, cake and presents.  What a wonderfully warm homecoming.  We loved seeing everyone.

Mia made the flights better than I expected.  She is constantly moving and digging but really did great in a small area.  Maddie did okay too - she was completely out of sorts so the trip home was a bit much for her.  She was immediately back to normal once we walked in the door.  She spent the night with my mom and dad - she needed some NaNa and Poppy time.

Mia was quite wide eyed with all of the strangers kissing her upon her arrival but has such a sweet disposition she just took it all in.  She even let a few hold her for a quick moment - then back to mom.

One thing we did not anticipate was how she would react to our dog.  It wasn't much of an issue on Thursday night.  Friday morning though once she was playing and things were quiet in our house - I quickly realized that she is terrified of the dog.  She will cry at the sheer sight of Pressley.  If Pressley walks close by her she belts out a terrified scream.  I hope this fear will subside over time.

We are all adjusting just fine.  Just trying to get into a routine.

I think I like my Dad!!!!

Guangzhou!

We have finally arrived in Guangzhou!  This is one of the last destinations that we will be staying any length of time at.  While here we got Mia's medical exam complete.  Because she was under the age of 2 she did not have to have any vaccination shots or a TB test.  This was a welcome repreave for all of us.  I don't think I could have stood the tears.

Mia is doing great.  She has quite the personality.  She loves to give kisses, she will shake her head no if she doesn't want something.  She has the most precious facial expressions - she will furr her eyebrows and raise them.  She is very funny.  She still very much loves her mama and is very attached to me.  She will allow Lizzy to hold her or help her walk but only for a short time.  Her appetite is fantastic and she eats anything and everything we put in front of her.  Some days she never stops eating. Her little fat thighs are just kissable along with her chubby cheeks.

Maddie is still having a rough go of things adjusting to the shift in attention from her to Mia.  Today Keith took the big girls to the amusement park and I stayed with Maddie and Mia.  I have been making a concerted effort, as well as everyone else in trying to make Maddie feel okay.  I was able to spend some one on one time with her today and yesterday while the baby was napping.  She seems to be getting better.  I am sure once we are home Maddie will feel better.  I know she misses Nana, Poppy and Christopher.

Tomorrow we are going to the zoo.  I hope that Mia likes the animals, I know Maddie will.  

We will be heading to Hong Kong on Wednesday for the final leg of our journey.  I can't wait to be home.  We will fly out Thursday morning and should be in Lake Charles at 10:30pm.  

I cant wait for all of you to meet  my sweet Mia.  

Happy 4th of July to all.  I am definitely happy that I am an American and from the Greatest Country in this world.  You definitely realize how richly blessed we are in our country when you visit a place like China.

We took the big girls shopping at the mall and to some smaller boutique type shops.  They just needed a quick fix - had to buy something.  Later that night we decided to try the Chinese restuarant in our hotel for supper.  WOW - how unusual.  We had a table full of food.  (Keith ordered and wasn't sure what he had ordered but it was all good).  I had ordered a water to drink and received a wine glass of boiling water - lol.  I had fed Mia before we went down for supper because it was a little later for her than normal.  When we got to the restaurant she still wanted to eat.  She can communicate her "Wants" to me - she makes this sweet little sound and opens her mouth if she wants a bite.  She now has learned how to feed herself (children in China are not allowed to eat with their hands).  I was feeding her rice last night and at one point was not paying attention to the fact that she was finished and wanted another bite - so she grabbed my hand and made her little noise.  She is too cute. 

Her and Maddie are quite jealous of me and Mia will push Maddie away to have me all to herself.  We are working with Maddie to ensure that she understands this and isn't mad at Mia for doing this.  When Mia naps, I am taking some time for me and Maddie to have our time. She seems to be doing much better now.  It has turned out to be quite an adjustment for her.

Today is Thursday and we will be leaving this city tomorrow headed for Guangzhou.  Today we ventured out in the heat again and visited a landmark pagoda in the city. All I can say is that it was hot!  Pretty but HOT!  Mia began warming up to others last night.  She even let Lizzy hold her from the restaurant all the way up to our room. She is enjoying playing with the big girls.  She definitely likes when Lizzy helps her walk around. Mia will be walking unassisted in no time (watch out). Mia is even starting to warm up to Keith.  She will give him kisses and high five -but still won't let him hold her.  She doesn't cry as much when I walk out of the room and will allow Keith to sit by her or hand her snacks without fussing.  She is beginning to imitate what he does, blinking her eyes, shrugging her shoulders, etc.  She is definitely getting more comfortable in her surroundings.

We get many stares here and many people ask to take our picture.  The big girls find it weird.  I think it is cute.  I told them to think of them as the paparazzi - lol.

Mia is such a sweet and loving baby - I can't wait for everyone to meet her.  (My grandmother would have loved her and her big black eyes and fat little legs)

Tuesday, July 3rd our guide took us to a traditional chinese park.  IT WAS HOT!  Louisiana Hot!  Maddie thought she would see swingsets and slides.  Their parks are a bit different from ours - they have lots of walking paths and beautiful pagodas with places to meditate and pray, etc.  It was beautiful.  Mia is still extremely attached to me and although she likes being with others, no one can touch her or hold her except for me.  She definitely is a momma's girl.  She is more animated each day and the smiles come more readily.

After our trip to the park, our guide, CiCi (who is quite amazing) invited us to her home for a traditional chinese dinner and games with her daughter.  What an amazing experience.  She lives in a high rise apartment building with beautiful views of the city.  Her home was very clean and beautifully decorated.  She gave us a quick tour but did not let us see her kitchen - not sure why not.  She had a hired cook help her with dinner.  Dinner was amazing!  She had cooked fresh soup for us with carrots, lotus roots, corn and pork -yummy.  Other dishes we enjoyed were fresh noodles, spicy eggs, broccoli and duck.  It was quite interesting as we were given 1 small soup bowl and after you finished eating the soup then you used that same dish to put the other delicacies into and then eat.  You didn't get 4 different dishes for your meal.  It was so neat.  The big girls played a card game (similar to "Spoons") with CiCi's daughter and had a blast.

Mia had a good time too - she is such a good baby. 

We are having a wonderful time and loving our time with Mia!

Today is Tuesday and everyone is doing well.  Each day gets better.  Mia is quite the chunkey monkey.  She has been very well cared for and needless to say she likes to eat.  At first she would not eat with her hands (pick up any food with her hands)  now we quickly got her out of that and she loves to hold her food and feed herself. 

She is quite the silly girl.  She loves to crawl around and play.  She has been putting mine and maddie's shoes on (or at least trying to) and puts her shoes on her hands.  She laughs and laughs.  She is very content with us and seems to be adjusting very well. She still does not like Keith but she is coming around.  She still cries when I leave her sight and upon my return immediately wants me to hold her.

She is a good sleeper.  She goes down around 9pm and wakes up between 7 and 8 am.  This morning it was 8:30. A few times last night she would wimper in her crib until i reach over and touch her.  I think she just wants to know that I am there.  She is so sweet.  She is warming up to Lizzy and Lilly. She will give kisses to them but will always look back to me and give me one too.  She says Mama already and will holler at me when I am not feeding her fast enough.

Last night we went to eat at a nice restaurantand then rode the largest ferris wheel in the world.  Fun stuff.

We are here in Nanchang until Friday when we get Mia's passport and then on to Guangzhou.

Happy 4th of July.

(Ill send pictures for you to post on the blog in a separate email.)

Mia has arrived!

Today is Monday and we are quite busy.  Sorry for the delay in the post but I have been so busy and a little overwhelmed with tending to a baby - I must say I am a little out of practice. 

The orphanage director and a couple of employees brought Mia to our hotel to meet us.  They came up to our room to make it easier on her to transition.  We had her toys all laid out and ready to go.  She arrived about an hour early to our surprise.  She cried and cried when I took her into my arms.  She did settle down eventually and play with me and the kids.  She definitely does not like Keith just yet - that will come in time.  The orphanage director says she likes to play with her friends and that she loves to be kissed and hugged.  As the afternoon went on we saw a few smiles and more tears.  She is so fat - Lizzy says she has cankles (instead of ankles) she is so fat!  She is definitely not missed any meals.  The orphanage staff did tell me that she just recently got over pnuemonia (about 2 weeks ago) - so I am keeping a close eye on her to ensure that she stays healthy.  She had a good appetite last night and loved to play in the water at bath time.  When I laid her down to sleep in her crib she cried but only for a moment.  She stopped as soon as I started singing and went fast to sleep in a couple of minutes.

Today is a different story - we have seen less tears and more smiles.  She is definitely bonding to me and calls out for me - MAMA!  She only wants me to hold her and sit with her and play.  She is fine while we are in our room playing if someone sits and plays with her but I can't get to far from her.  If we leave I must carry her -she is not riding in the stroller or letting anyone else hold her.  Only her mama.  Today we went and finalized her adoption in china at the civil affairs office.  We met up with the orphanage staff that brought her yesterday.  Upon seeing them she cried and held on tight to me.  Sweet baby girl.

We are beginning to see her sassy little personality.  She has so many funny facial expressions.  She definitely likes to be kissed and will readily give me kisses.  Mia is quite jealous of me holding Maddie - so there is a bit of a power struggle between the two girls.  At one point in the elevator I was holding them both.  I leaned and gave Maddie a kiss and Mia leaned in, lips puckered ready for her kiss too.  She is so cute.

I spent some quality time with Maddie today as Mia napped.  I can see that although she likes her she definitely does not like her monopolizing mom.  We are working through that as we had expected that to happen.

Lizzy and Lilly have been a big help with everything!!!! 

I'll try to post again soon.  Pictures to come later today