Aliens?!?!?!?!?

Have these two characters been body snatched by aliens???? Sometimes I do wonder... But for now they have just been eating blue snow cones at the local zoo. The snow cones were a nice cool treat after a walk around the park and then a ride on the carousel. AL's favorite animals are: the elephants (...which she has to point out that there are three and try to show three with her fingers. She apparently learned to show three as thumb and first two fingers, but thinks it is neat the way mommy & daddy do it and tries real hard.), the monkeys, the penguins, and the farm animals. She can say 'three elephants' and 'monkeys' without prompt, and actually called me a monkey at one time with lots of silly giggling afterwards.

-Angi

The Princess Diaries - Week Two

Well, we view her as The Princess in our home! :-) Lately, whenever someone has called to ask how things are going with Anna Lin my response is one of many positive adjectives: good, great, just fine, just dandy, wonderful, etc., etc., etc. Our experience with Miss Anna Lin, alias The Princess, has been so beyond our expectations. I can only say good things about it because there isn't anything happening outside of what could be viewed as normal for this great big change we have all undertaken. We are truly blessed. I feel sure that The Big Guy upstairs has a guardian angel specially assigned to her. Each day gets better and better. We understand each other more now than ever, regardless of language. We have a schedule. We have rules and expectations. We spend lots of time together. And most importantly we are consistent. I think this helps the most. All kids need these things, but AL needs it more because of the changes she has been through. She needs to feel loved and secure, being able to trust in what tomorrow will bring and that we will be there. She loves the boys and the boys have grown to love her. I'm amazed that they can still smile and laugh at the things only she can do. She hugs and kisses them, and they hug and kiss back. (Though occasionally I hear Spencer say, "Uh, I don't think so" with a sneaky smile right before he gives into to a hug.) Noah has enjoyed taking her swimming. The older guys feel they are too cool or too busy to be bothered with swimming, so they stay at home. Noah & I also introduced her to the play ground in the neighborhood, which is a great one. Ric and I took her again last night and had a great time. They have one of those talking tubes there and she thought that was hilarious! I love the picture of her with her head buried in it.

She continues to do well when we go out and about. I was at Sam's the other day when an elderly man approached us, or rather her as she was sitting in the cart. He was talking to her and she did really well. Didn't get upset, though she was on guard and surely wished he would step back a few feet. (Yes, he was touching her dress, tell her she was pretty.) She said something to him in Chinese and of course, he didn't understand. He looked at me and said, "What did she say?" I then explained, brief and simple, she did not speak English and had only been home in the States a couple of weeks. Of course, the questions followed and I tried to answer them, again as brief and simple as possible. We were in a checkout line and as we moved up in the line, he moved up too. By the time I was paying for my stuff he was asking what opthomologist we saw and suggested his doctor as well. :-) I have to tell you that if it were not for spending time with my grandfather before he passed away, I would not have been able to handle that as well. My Grandpa Jimmy would talk to any and everyone, anywhere. And heaven forbid if you were a teenage boy who was tall and thin. He was sure you played basketball. He would then head down memory lane to his own basketball days in college where him and another Italian-American would speak Italian or Spanish while playing, giving signals to each other while others couldn't understand. Now this happened several times at BiLo with him on the electric scooter heading down one aisle or another, of course with myself and three little boys in tow. He would then remind me that if I would only have a few more boys I would have my own basketball team. Fond memories. (Along with Grandpa Jimmy calling my youngest Moses instead of Noah. He knew it was an Old Testament name!) But I digress. ;-)

So, AL is doing well! We continued visiting Miss Debbie this week and by Friday she was out of my lap in 5 minutes, playing with the toys. (Miss Debbie will watch AL when I go back to work.) I still haven't left her there on her own, but I have two weeks left before I go back to work and feel we have enough time to handle that. She feels comfortable there now and I know she will be fine. Friday, AL approached Debbie to ask about things or show her what she made with the blocks and even called a few of the kids by their names while trying to help them out.

Oh, she's the helper alright. Today we met a friend of ours who has also adopted from China just a year ago at the Zoo. My Anhui Angel and her Guangdong Girl got along just dandy. Within minutes of meeting, Anna Lin took Mary Claire by the hand and headed for the entrance of the Zoo. (A little side note here... In the world of China adoption many people has coined cute names for children from certain provinces. We tend to bond together by province and by orphanage. MC is from Guangdong province and AL is from Anhui. There's your interesting tidbit for the day, or should I say week now. ;-) While we stopped for a drink, AL took to taking care of MC's sippy cup. If she wanted the lid off, then AL would take it off even if MC asked for mom to do it. (I swear AL will be a teacher or a general. Both have similar personality traits!). Later we ate lunch out and then flew paper airplanes that Anna Lin made while waiting to leave the restaurant. She explained in great detail what MC needed to do to fly the plane and showed her. It was soooo cute! Later AL didn't like that MC had taken off her shoes, so proceeded to tell her about it and put the shoes on her feet. To MC's mom's astonishment, she let her. Now Sherrell had tried several times to get MC to put those shoes on but the two-year old toddler was trying to strike a pose as Miss Independent USA. I am eagerly awaiting the photos so I can post them. I, once again forgot my camera. (That is just sooo me! And if you are a relative of mine you know this!)

It was a nice visit. We did it early since both of our beauties are up early. Thus we avoided big crowds at the Zoo and the wonderful heat that comes with a Southern August afternoon. Mary Claire gave Anna Lin a set of five little dolls. 'Kelly' dolls, little sister of Barbie. AL just loved them. Of course when we got home we spent about 15 - 20 minutes getting them out of the box and ready to be played with. I am amazed at how much they can tie up the things that come with dolls! They sew their hair so it doesn't get messed up, have metal twisty ties around their bodies, and little rubber bands everywhere plus tape. These things are sooo secure. I'm sure the government has something to do with this! Well the new little dolls prompted Ric & I to get out The Loving Family doll house friends of mine had given AL as a shower present. Oh boy, oh boy! Had she died and gone to heaven. Now, not only did she have this three story doll house, which came with a family of Mom, Dad, little girl, and twin babies, AL also had five little 'Kelly's Friends' dolls. And she was able to fit all of them into the house. At one point, she fit all of them into one room of the house too. Several times Mom was seated at the computer desk that came with the house. Ric got a kick out of that! He tried to ask her who the dolls were (the little Kelly dolls). At first she didn't understand. Then I went around going "Who is this? I am Mommy. Who is this? It is Daddy. Etc. Then I went to the dolls and said "Who is this? Oh, this is Nicole. or this is Sarah Ann. Or this is Mary Claire. She understood then and got a kick out of it, giggling at her silly MaMa. AL is now asleep with three of the little dolls on the pillow beside her. Why do I have a feeling she won't come out of her room in the morning, but I will hear her playing with the dolls. :-)


-Angi

"What are YOU doing?"

That's most of the conversation I have with AL on the phone during the week. Angi calls me at work sometimes during the day or I call home to see how things are. I hear "BaBa!" in the background and Angi puts her on the phone. She gets on the phone and says "BaBa!" then giggles in a way only she can. It makes me smile... The same way that I smile when I hear my three boys say something in a way that only they can say it. Life is good sometimes. After the phone introductions with AL we have a conversation that starts off with me asking her what she's been doing which results in us saying back and forth repeatedly, "What are YOU doing?" With emphasis on the word "You." Then we will play a phone tennis match with the phrase "You're silly." But when she says it, it sounds like she has a British accent; "You're Sully!" It's cute yes but of course we have to move on. Now we have added "You're goofy!" The giggles continue and then she excitedly starts to tell me something in Chinese and I of course do the usual, "really?" Until she runs out of gas and then it's "Let me speak to MaMa." I love progress.

Then there is the communication at home. I arrive home from work one day with AL greeting me at the door with a toy bicycle that came with an action figure one of the boys used to have. She was fascinated with it and showed it to me. After dinner we were sitting at the table and she pointed at different parts on the bicycle and in Chinese she was saying, (I assume), "what's this?" So I pointed at the part she was inquiring about and named it. Handles, handlebar, brakes, wheels, tires, chain, headlight, etc... We went through every part of that bicycle. She showed me how she could spin the wheels and we took turns spinning the wheels. Then she kept putting a pencil next to the bike and leaning the bike towards it. She was saying something in Chinese waiting for me to get it. She would stop to let me think and then she would do the whole thing over again. She's a smart girl. She saw the wheels turning in my head. It took me a little while but then it dawned on me... "kickstand." The toy bicycle didn't have a kickstand. So I said, "Oh, kickstand?", while I made the motion of the bike leaning against the pencil. She nodded her head in agreement. An understanding was made. Progress... This is how we are communicating. When I named the bike parts she repeated them the best she could in English. She likes to learn and is very willing.

I know she gets frustrated when she is trying to explain something or ask a question in Chinese. But she doesn't really show it. She is very patient and works with us to sort it out. We have different methods which include hand motions, pictures, and having her show us or take us to what she is talking about. We do know a limited amount of the Chinese words or phrases she uses. But like I said, it's limited. She is still picking up more words everyday. Now SHE's saying no. Angi took her to a store yesterday and would show her something. Anna Lin would say "no" if she wasn't interested. ("I was getting a little frustrated because she was passing on some cute purses! I mean this was a big warehouse sale. Shopping 101 silly girl. You always say yes!" -Angi) Angi said the people at the store were laughing at her cuteness and talking about her being a girly girl. All in all it's going pretty good on the communication side.

Now...what have WE been doing? I'm not sure how many people are reading this anymore but if you still are you have probably been wondering where we've been. One, if we posted about everyday like we were it would be a bit monotonous because it isn't like the day by day excitement in China. (Between the trip to another country and meeting our daughter, we definatley had a lot to say!) Two, it's been very busy since we've been home especially with me at work, the boys in school, and keeping up with little bit. I have not been feeling well at all for about a week. I've pretty much been coming home and going to bed. Not too good. Angi was sick the first week back and has been busy with AL. She does not like to be on the computer when AL is up and at 'em because that takes time away from her. So, like I said we have been busy... We'll do our best to keep this going but it will probably be on a weekly basis, unless something big happens.

Group Hug Part II - I also continue to be humbled and touched by the people who come up to me at work and even when we're out that ask how we're doing and congratulating us. It is unexpected but that's what makes it so touching. We have a lot of great support out there and I can't tell you how much we appreciate it. I have also been overwhelmed by all of your generosity. We live in a world where the focus is usually on all of the bad but I continue to see an abundance amount of good around us. The blessings we have help make us who we are...

- Ric
(Very good post sweetie! I've edited only a tad. ;-) -Angi)

We've been home one week now..

I just can't believe we've been home one week now. It just doesn't seem possible that only a week ago yesterday we were being picked up at the airport. I think the three of us are feeling normal again, sleeping regularly and through the night. Yes, all three of us. Ric and I feel so blessed that Anna Lin sleeps through the night. She even lays in her bed in the morning quietly until we get up. Amazing! No one got up earlier than 9 am this weekend, which I certainly didn't expect from this little girl. Now things may change in the future, but it sure was nice getting all those Zzzz's.

Anna Lin is doing great. She is at about the same point as far as English is concerned. She is repeating words and phrases, but not to the point of having a conversation or verbal interaction. It takes time and it's only been 1 week in the US. Yes, we were with her almost two weeks in China, but it wasn't until we came to The States that English took a priority in communicating with people. Language acquisition takes time, but the more she hears it the better.

She is doing somewhat better around people. She is fine when we go out to eat (which has been quite a lot lately!). However, when we get around other people that try to interact with her she clams up and is almost at the point of tears if people try to touch her. If you just give her some space she is fine, but don't try to push some interaction or touching. You have to leave that up to her and if she doesn't want it, then it isn't going to happen. We decided to wait on going to church and I am glad. We know many people will notice and ask about her, and say hello. We just didn't feel ready for that challenge yet. I think this was a good choice since we stopped by my brother's house earlier today and that turned out to be quite difficult which I really didn't expect. Anna Lin clinged to Ric with all her might and didn't want a thing to do with anyone. (This is what she does when we visit Miss Debbie. I just figured this was isolated to Miss Debbie's house because of the kids she watches, etc.) It took almost an hour for Anna Lin to loosen up and finally drank some yogurt drink that Aunt Kelly gave her. When we said it was time to leave, she hopped up saying "Goodbye" with big waves and big smiles. Sarah Ann opened her arms and asked for a hug. Anna Lin went over and gave her one. She loves these girls, but it will still take some time for her to get an understanding of this whole new world. In China she just didn't go visiting one friend's house then go off to another. She probably rarely left the orphanage.

She has taken an interest in books just recently, which thrills me (...as an educator and librarian of course!). I think seeing the boys with their books helped. She began reaching for the books Zak was reading in the car. If she could read it then she would know how to play several card games by now. :-) So next ride we took I had a couple board books on hand for her. Anna Lin loved these, and later at home explored the books in her room with more interest. One was a counting book, which she likes. She can count to five in English very clearly, then repeats the other numbers. There are five ducks in the story and you can move a wheel to make the ducks move on the last page. Anna Lin likes to change the number of ducks so Mom will ask, "One duck! Only one duck! Where are the other ducks?" ...and so on and so on. She loves to play 'Where is it?" games. At the hotel in China she would hide something and I would walk around with my hands up in the air saying, 'Where is it? Is it here? Nooooo. Is it here? Noooo", etc.

The boys are doing well with her, and doing well in general. She loves Noah since he plays with her the most, but has also grown fond of Spencer & Zak. I believe these two big boys have grown fond of her too. They smile and laugh at her and her four-year old antics. Many people have told us what a good thing we have done for her, adopting her, etc. We just don't think of it that way at all. We were a family wanting a little girl, and saw her as a little girl wanting a family. I can't help but think of how blessed we are that she has come into our lives. I've seen more smiles on our boys faces in the past seven days than I've seen in a good while. Not that they were unhappy. They are just teenage boys totally engrossed in their own lives and you know that us parents know nothing whatsoever and are only put here on earth to torture them. :-)

Tonight Zak played soccer with Anna Lin. She was chasing him throughout the house. It was adorable. And I never realized how good Zak could control a soccer ball. AL giggled, squealed, and staggered, giggled and staggered some more in an effort to try to get the ball. She was so tired that she just seemed to fall down every other minute. Noah got into the game, then I did (more as referee and safety person for AL as she seems to fall into everything!).

Well, I know there is so much more I planned on sharing, but time is ticking and the alarm will go off at 6 am. I'm amazing at how much a four-year old can wear me out. Both Ric and I have noticed that our legs seem more fatigued than ever! But she is worth it!

Angi

We made it past the first day of school...

Well, we made it past the first day of school. The boys went back yesterday. The past few days have been crazy getting them ready: schedules picked up, fees paid, school supplies bought, oh yeah...and dealing with only being home a few days from the trip to China! Wednesday night we all sat down to fill up the book bags with the necessities. Anna Lin helped by taking supplies to whoever needed them. We went over schedules (trying our best to decipher the A/B class days), books that would be needed, etc. This whole scene was especially new for Noah who is in middle school this year and now has multiple classes.

6 am came 'real' early for me, as I scrambled around to get this one up at this time, to get them showered and fed in order to be on that bus at that time. Of course, somewhere in between the slow scuffling of teenage feet came the pitter patter of Anna Lin. She had seen everyone get ready and leave except Noah, who left the earliest. After the last person left, she hurried up to his room giggling quietly with her finger over her lips shhhing me. (We had to wake him the day before at 11 am! So, she apparently thought we would need to do that again.) As she peeked around his door she realized he wasn't there. I told her had already left like Spencer & Zak. She seemed to understand and did not get upset. You can tell he is one of AL's best buddies. She was absolutely thrilled when he came home later that day, jumping up into his arms. She was also happy when Zak & Spencer came home as well. Now she was the princess again with her royal subjects present.

The rest of the day was pretty busy, between visiting Miss Debbie (who will watch her when I go back to work), going to an eye appointment for me, and lunching with daddy. At lunch Anna Lin learned a new word, ice. She likes to munch on ice, preferably daddy's ice. She has also started to repeat phrases such as 'you're silly', 'what are you doing?' and 'thank you.' I can't remember if I had written about the trip to McDonalds, but here it is again. Noah, AL & I went to McD's. Each time after you order, pay for the food and get your food, the staff says 'thank you.' By the time we were getting our food, AL was in the back saying 'thank you' repeatedly in a similar expression to the McDonald's employees. She did this the entire ride back home, which was hilarious to Noah & I. Although Noah might have wished for her to stop sooner since he was sitting next to her in the car. :-)

We have added a couple new foods to Anna Lin's eating repertoire: hot dogs and potato chips. This is what she eats at McAllisters and we are thankful since it is one of our favorite restaurants. We tried nachos previously and that didn't go over very well at all. She liked the chips OK but wasn't going to have anything to do with the cheese sauce regardless of how many people dipped the chips and ate them in front of her. Anna Lin also gave the thumbs down to macaroni and cheese. She loves noodles but without the cheese sauce. Ric was disappointed. He said it was unAmerican. (Hmmm...let's think about that honey.)

Anna Lin has continued to acclimate very well since coming in to our family. She seems to understand us more and we seem to understand her more. (Yes, my Chinese still seems to be expanding but at a slower rate. While I was trying to get her to say 'eat' or 'I want to eat', she was busy trying to teach me it in in Chinese. 'Cha' is what she was saying, though that may not be the correct pinyin spelling.) The past couple of days have been so busy there just hasn't been time for a nap, except a little doze in the car. For this reason she has slept all night, going to bed around 8 or 9 pm. I followed shortly after her last night, not being able to keep my eyes open even with having coffee earlier. Wow! I slepted from 9 pm to 6 am. Sweet! That was the most sleep I've had since we came home. Well, I better get for today. I'm hearing strange noises from the next room. Since no one else is home Anna Lin is obviously exploring something...

-Angi

Where's Ba Ba?

Where's Ba Ba? Ba Ba is of course Daddy, who went back to work today. Anna Lin woke up about 7:30 (Thank you Lord!) and after a few moments noticed someone was missing from our family picture. She didn't cry or get mad, but definitely chatted about it. I told her over and over in English that he went to work and would be back with lots of pantomime. Finally I called Ric at work and had him say hello to her. She got a kick out of that, smiling and giggling. But oh, the best to come was when Ric came home. She laid into him. "....Ba Ba....Ba Ba....Ba Ba." Then gave him these coy, sly looks, talking stern but then flashing cute smile. Ric and I were rolling. She kept saying ....ba ba par day....ba ba par day... Those were repeated over and over. I don't know what the par day is (or how it is spelled) but my guess is... "I was sleeping and the next thing I know you weren't here anymore. Where did you go? And why did you not take me with you?" ('Cause you know this is the go-go girl who loves to go anywhere, anytime. Well, except when she totally conks out on you and refuses to wake like she did to me tonight at 7 pm! I know I'll pay for this later, but promised Noah I would stay up and watch a movie with him.) She must have gone on for about 10 minutes, but I'm sure Ric ate it up. :-)

She did great out and about, while we were taking care of Noah's schedule pick up and fee payment then some shopping. (Yes, shopping. I know that is hard for you to believe that we are somehow still doing some shopping, but I've come to terms with it and have now accepted this as an integral part of our bonding process. ;-) Later Noah & I took the angel swimming. I wasn't sure how she would react. She turned her nose up to the swim suit in China (but then she seems to do that with almost anything new at first so I've noticed). I changed and showed up in front of her with my suit, holding hers as well. She let me put it on, eyeing it suspiciously all the while. Next thing you know we are at the pool, where she gasped at the sight of it. Anna Lin giggled up a storm as big brother Noah jumped in making a big splash. She had a great time. I did not have a floating device for her on purpose. Swimming is a great way to bond, but the child has to depend on you completely in order to learn to trust you. AL did great, even letting her legs go in the back while holding on to my neck. Soon she was jumping into my arms from the side of the pool, with Noah jumping in too. (But not into my arms. He's way to big and weighs way too much!!!!) It was fun and maybe we will do it again soon. Ric missed out since he was tired and crashed as soon as he came home from work. He had woke up this morning at 5 am. Unable to go back to sleep he headed into work. (One of the jetlag issues is waking up very early and wide awake. I did not have that issue today and was quite thankful!) Well, he'll just have to tag along next time.

-Angi

Gifts from China...

So, as you've heard we made it bearing gifts from China too. The last gift was a mondo cold. Man it's a biggie! It is one reason I am up right now since I couldn't breathe decently regardless of the medicine I took. It did manage to get me 6 hours of sleep. I would like to say it was straight through but... Last night I had 3 hours, so I'll take 6 any day. Anna Lin did great, no crying, but kept getting up to go to the bathroom or just look around. So she went to bed at 12 am (she had taken a 4 hour nap earlier and we are dealing with jetlag that is why it was so late), 1:30 am, 2:30 am, ... You're getting the picture, right? Unfortunately I have given AL 'the gift'. It is in the early stages (runny nose, little loss of appetite, etc. Yeah, this seems to be a multi-functioning virus. It's hit me all over at one point or another.) and I sincerely hope it doesn't hit her as hard as it has been hitting me.

Anna Lin had a good day. Ric and I, along with the little big, were up around 6 am. AL started the day out right eating cereal with dad. We knew she liked Cheerios (plain) but when she saw Ric pour milk in her bow she wanted it too. And ate it! (Yes, way to go AL! She's branching out. Last night she even ate a piece of pizza with her brothers. ) So, then Ric gives her a piece of Captain Crunch. Well, she loved it. Soon she's wanting to eat that too.

Then in an effort to keep her busy and quiet while big brothers are sleeping still, I give Anna Lin a bath. She loves her bath. When my school gave me a shower, a library friend of mine gave me a bag of fun bath items for her: bubble bath, fun shampoo, a bucket, etc. She had a great time with that in Mom & Dad's big bath tub. (Thanks Ginna!) I let her play, play, and play. (Because that is what a 4 year old does...ALL THE TIME! OK, so Ric & I had forgot about that and are getting a serious workout!) Then it was off to her bedroom to try on her clothes. I opened her closet door and pointed to the clothes. (I don't think she had really noticed them the day before.) I had a pile of shorts and shirts on the floor, but had not gotten to dresses in her closet. At one point she stopped and pointed to the dresses in the closet and the clothes on the floor, then herself. "Yes, baby, these are all for you." Well you better believe, she understood that English sentence and just beamed. She opted for a cute slip on dress given to her by another adoptive family. (Thanks Sherrell, Lee & Mary Clare!)

Noah soon woke up and played with AL. (He has been such a help and has always enjoyed playing with little kids like his nieces Nicole and Sarah Ann.) I got out a box of old wooden blocks. You know the kind you probably played with as a child, red, blue, yellow and green, rectangles large & small, column pieces, squares, etc. Her and Noah went to town. (Ric had previously posted about this.) We hid most of her toys and have been getting them out one by one when the opportunity presents itself. Otherwise, it would have been too overloading. Of course, she had already gotten out her pretty dress up umbrella that Noah helped her find the night before. This has to be kept close by. (In China many women, young and old, want to protect their skin and use umbrellas to shield them from the sun. It really is a great heat deterrent especially from our hot Southern sun. )

Now while all of this is going on, I was making my list of things we needed to get at the store: CD player for AL for lullaby music to help with nap time, Lullaby CDs, plus this that and the other. I had already called Po Po (Grammy) to see if she could go with AL & I shopping. Of course she said yes. Soon after Anna Lin asks about going out (In Chinese. Sounds like woo ma cha, which means I want to go. I've learned many simple phrases from her.) I told her Po Po was coming and was going to go shopping with Ma Ma and her. Oh, well, she understood part of that because we got that beaming look again. However, having ants in her pants like most 4 year olds, she just couldn't understand we had to wait for Po Po. ...And not to mention 1:30 pm since it was Saturday. But she did well and didn't fuss, just would ask every now and then.

Next thing you know it's time and Po Po is at the house. Unfortunately I hadn't given AL any motion sickness medicine. (Now Ric seems to think it's just me and Chinese drivers, since it hadn't happened when he drove. I reminded him that she had like a 24 hours dose of the medicine so I was sure it was still in her system when he drove home from the airport!) She didn't get sick but got a little green. We kept the trip to Target short since I believe sitting in the shopping cart had similar effects. Plus she was tired from restless sleeping, jetlag, etc. By the time we pulled out of the parking lot she was asleep. (It was interesting to drive, since I had not driven in two weeks. Kinda surreal. I felt like I was driving extra careful, waiting for the Chinese traffic to verge on me. After a little bit I realized I was in The States and not driving with a school of fish, which is how we have compared their driving: chaotic but in sync.)

Later that day AL met 'The Girls,' which would be my adorable nieces Sarah Ann & Nicole. I had showed her their pictures and she was fascinated by their hair, especially Sarah Ann. I think she realized she was around her age. Kelly brought the girls over. AL was cautious at first. Everything is so new and overwhelming for her right now. Next thing you know they are giggling, holding hands, etc. SA and AL chased each other around the the house squealing in that high pitch that only 4 year old girls can hit. At one point SA goes to see the boys' lizards and invites AL to come along. It was hilarious to listen to them jabber: one in Chinese and the other in English. We ending up eating out with them, and Dave joined. AL didn't eat much. We tried nachos and she nibbled but we didn't push it. I think everyone had a great time. Spencer ended up with a cookie after he ate his meal like good boy. So, he was happy. I think AL misses her friends. I know there were at about five 4/5 year olds at her orphanage. This was good for her. She is sooo fascinated with SA's hair. I don't think she has ever seen blond hair before. Plus she loves long hair and within a few months will have it herself. Soon AL is so noticeably tired that we cut our visit short (though it really had been long, by very nice.).

By the time we left the parking lot she was out. It was all we could do to have her go to the bathroom at home and change her clothes. She fussed at us because we certainly were disturbing what she desperately needed...sleep. As soon as I layed her on the bed she was in slumberland. This was 9 pm, which isn't too far off her normal bedtime. She woke up once to go to the bathroom and is still sleeping now at 6:22 am. Out of the many gifts China has given us, she is the best.

Angi

Home - I'm Lovin' It

"Home! And this is my room - and you are all here! And I'm not going to leave here ever again, because I love you all! And --- Oh, Auntie Em ----- there's no place like home!" Yes, there's no place like home. No offense to anyone from other countries but God Bless the United States of America! After 18 hours of fly time and around 10 hours of layovers we are glad to be home. Us and our luggage had been searched numerous times which I am truly grateful for. Keep up the good work airlines! From China to Columbia, SC they did not allow any liquids to be brought on the plane. Although we did see someone get on the place in China with a water bottle and a juice box. LAX was crazy. All in all it was not bad though. It could have been much worse. We thought we were going to be in for a long stay in the immigration lines at LAX but luckily some friends were watching out for us and got us bumped up to a special line for adopting parents.

Once AL's passport was stamped by the Immigration officer it was official. Please congratulate AL on being a citizen of the United States of America. She has no clue what that means though but she will know later. AL was very good on the trip home. She hardly fussed even though she had a hard time sleeping on the trans-Pacific flight from China. As we all did... We were waiting for her to say "no more planes!" but she kept gettin' on them. When we arrive Saturday morning at 10:30 AM in a rainy Columbia she seemed reserved but interested to see the Boys and Grandma and Grandpa. We had no problems with the car seat. I was shocked! She climbed right in and started to strap herself in like it was old hat. This was a far cry from a few days ago when she refused to be strapped in on the plane leaving Hefei! No problems with the drive home from the airport. Must have been the driving in China... She seemed very excited when we got to the house and was really enjoying the Boy's and running around the house. Some friends of ours that watched the house and took care of the pets while we were gone left a very nice decorated cake and some gifts for her along with some balloons and gifts. AL was very excited and happy.

After a while we went outside and introduced her to Mako our cat and everything was going Ok until we said "say goodbye to Mako" because we were going back into the house. Well, that triggered something. We are not sure if it was because of lack of sleep, jet lag, or what but we had our first meltdown since the first couple of days in China. I think she thought we were taking her away again to somewhere else but I don't know. After a nap which Angi had to wake her from she was all better. No problems today so far. She's happy as a lark. Whatever a lark is I don't know but I understand they're very happy. She is going non-stop. Angi is worn out. She has a cold and didn't get much sleep last night. AL got up a couple of times. So far today AL has played with Spencer even though he didn't know what to think of it. She has found a buddy in big brother Noah, whether coloring or playing with the blocks. He's an expert at construction so he's the right man for the job.

I think we are off to a great start so far. We are soooo glad to be home and I think she is glad to be home with us. We love AL. As you can see from the picture above we ate at McDonalds in the LAX airport. Free re-fills! They don't give free re-fills of soft drinks in China. Angi and I also had a quarter pounder with cheese while AL had a chicken nugget Happy Meal. Of course she liked the plastic doll that came with the meal and played with it the rest of the way back. We had pizza for supper last night and I think we are good now. Thanks for keeping up!

- Ric

Zai jian China! Hello USA!

Well here she is ready to go. This is a go-go girl too! I picked up white scrunchies for her today. A couple of people asked me to pick up a pair for their China sweeties, so I thought I would expand her collection. Tracey, another mom, and I snuck out after breakfast for last minutes buys. We LOVE Andy's shop. The prices are great. I picked up last minute gifts for the boys. (No...I'm not going to say what they are.) and books for Anna Lin. Andy's has great beginning Chinese books with pictures and words in both Mandarin plus English. This has helped us with the language barrier since I can point to the pictures. Also bought her a pen to go with the notebook I bought her last night. She hasn't seen it yet. This will be a last resort for keeping go-go girl busy. It's beautifully covered in a red Asian fabric. I know she will flip because she loves to scribble in my notebook with my pen, and write & write & write on paper. I love this kid!

Last night I received a great present from Anna Lin...a totally unsolicited bear hug! She even told me to put my arms up before she did it. She hugged, hugged, and hugged some more. Then gave kisses on cheeks. What a sweetie she is. It is amazing how far we have come. She now seems more open to learning English. I felt she was holding back some, but since yesterday she has been trying new words right & left. Right now she is watching her last episode of the Monkey King's Journey to the West. We'll have to find a DVD somewhere. Maybe China Sprout will have it. (www.chinasprout.com).

She has been wonderful today during all of the packing. Ric took her on a last trip to the Deli Shop for an apple bun for me. This allowed me to pack presents without a jealous 4 year old watching. We leave in two hours, go to our US Consulate swearing in ceremony for AL, then off to McDonald's for a late lunch before going to the airport. Our flight is 9 pm. When we arrive in LA it will be 7:50 pm the same day. Wow, where will the day go! I think every family was glued to the TV last night watching the Guangzhou English channel CNN news. So, we have packed our carry-ons appropriately. We're hoping LA won't be too insane. We have a 4 hour layover, so maybe that will work out well for us.

I have a request for all of our great friends out there. Several of you have indicated that you would like to come to the airport to greet us. Knowing what I know so far of Anna Lin, I think it is best for us to meet only my Mom and kids there. This is a really big day for her, with lots of changes, plane rides, etc. I want to keep it as calm and simple for her as possible. It will be interesting to see how we do with the car seat on the drive home. (Boys, I'm really hoping you will help with this. Give her lots of encouragement, show her you're buckled and then high fives when we get her in.) Xi Xi, (shee shee) one of our guides explained to her that she needs to buckle up on the plane and do what mommy/daddy says. While we will be worn out, the big thing is AL's adjustment. Noah asked if we will go out to eat. I told him that it would be best for us to order out. Maybe Chinese from The China House. Then she can have her noodles. Or we can do pizza for us, since I know for sure I have ramen noodles at home. As long as she has noodles without any extra thingies in them life is good. Thank heaven we will be able to drink out of the faucet!!!!!! No more water bottles.

Zai jian! Hasta Luego! Ciao! See y'all later!

Angi

Planes, Typhoons, and Goodbyes

Before I forget. We read the comments everyday and appreciate all of the kind words and well wishes. Well, this will be our last night on Shaimen Island and in China. Tomorrow after the swearing in ceremony at the American consulate we will head to the airport and wait for our flight to LA. I understand there is a very large category 5 typhoon heading for the coast of China and is supposed to make landfall tonight. Luckily we are not in it's path, I think... Noah, you will be surprised to hear that your little sister can make paper airplanes. All by herself. She started folding some paper and we were watching her and we thought, "is that a?" (Or as Zak would say, "What the?"). Sure enough, next thing we know it's airborne. She will have fun making lots of planes with her big brother Noah. We had lunch at Lucy's again today (I need to post a picture of the outside). Just the three of us. It was really nice. AL took the price tag off of her water bottle we bought at the market, tore it in half, and put half on one ear and half on the other. Instant earrings! This girl knows how to accessorize. (No Spencer, you can't get one). We are going to get together with the group again tonight for dinner. Maybe I will make it this time. Not sure where we are going but I will go with whatever the group decides probably to the surprise of my co-workers. I hope it's not Chinese though... I've tried several dishes and it's just not my thing. Although I wouldn't mind having some of the beef fried rice I had in Hefei. The best I ever had. And I must admit that the sandwiches at "The Deli" are delicious even though the way the are served makes me nervous. (You use a pair of tongs to get one out of a glass enclosed container). But they are fresh and the sweet bread is wonderful. I know Angi and I will have to make our own "tuna fish and ham" sandwich at home. Sounds like a weird combo but it works. Tomorrow will be a busy day packing and getting things ready to go. I must admit I am getting nervous about the flight and returning home. I am wondering how she will do on such a long flight. It was hard enough on us. I am also nervous about the changes she will go through at home. Here she is around familiar things to a certain extent. Although, she has never experienced most of the stuff we've done the past few days I truly believe she is happy right now. I hope we have prepared her for her new home in the States as best we could. For people wondering about adoption or wondering what it's like to adopt a child. We accepted this little girl before we saw her in person. From the moment they said you can adopt "Lin Lin." We picked her up the first day and we have not looked back. She is ours and we will care for her and love her as we have for our three bio-boys (yes Boys we love you). Even when it hurts that she doesn't sometimes accept us we're still there for her. That's commitment and faith and it's needed for marriage and anything else that's worthwhile. Are we perfect parents? No. But we try to be the best parents we can be and I believe that's what's important. OK. Group hug! =:)

I gotta get back to the States...

- Ric

AL finds a little sister...

Here in China any little girl is referred to as 'mei mei' (may may) by older girls. Well AL has referred to all of the little girls our friends adopted as mei mei. But today she met one she has latched onto. While taking the couch picture of the kids in our group of travelers, AL reaches over and wraps her arms around Ana (ah na). Ana is an adorable almost two year old girl. I wondered if Ana was bothered by this, but when we tried to separate them neither one wanted to let go. It was so sweet. She then pushed her in the stroller along with Ana's mom for most of the day. She gave me 'the look' whenever I had to tear her away from the stroller. And she wanted to know where 'mei mei' was going when we got off the elevator but she didn't. I told her mei mei was going to go to sleep (acting out sleep and saying mei mei). AL's just too cute. I told Ric, "Ooooo, she needs a little sister!" Then I got 'the look' from him. Where's the love? Ana is a bright little girl. I'm amazed at how she is picking up the language. AL fell asleep in the car. She kept saying, "Lin Lin" and pointing. Her dad said, "Lin Lin is tired." Then she kept saying, "Lin Lin tired" while pointing over to Anna Lin and putting her hands along the side of her head like she is sleeping. Too sweet!

Angi

Shopping, shopping, shopping...

Well thanks to our guide we finally found a few of things for the boys. (Wouldn't you three like to know what they are! You may know one thing because I asked you about it, but you don't know the other. Ha! Ha!) It has been hard finding something for them because they are older. Many things are geared toward little kids here. After sealing that deal (I haggled for about three days!) we stopped by the 7 Eleven for goodies. Can you say 'Hello Kitty?' This particular mini mart has lots of Hello Kitty treats. Today AL tried this little bag of marshmallow treats. Mmm. Mmm. Good! So, I had my bag and she had hers. Life was good. :-)

Angi
*Notice the big pink pom-poms AL? I picked those up the other day when we began AL's pigtail phase. Everyday we put those two piggies in and have to put the poofy pink stretchies on. Everyday! Did I say everyday? Yep, I said everyday!

More Ketchup Please!

This girl likes fries! Not just fries, but fries with ketchup. Which is a minor miracle in itself (see previous post by Angi). We had a very busy day today. Our guide wanted all of the families, (from Harrah's) to get together to take a picture on the "red couch" at the White Swan hotel. This is a tradition with adopting families. The picture is just the kids on the couch. One family could not attend because their little one was not feeling well at the time. We then walked over to Lucy's for lunch. I had ANOTHER cheeseburger and fries. No beer this time. Too early in the day for me. Then more shopping with the other families. The mall here is nothing like I have ever seen before. Multi-story (like 8 or more) and more shops than you can count. The shops you see are not the only ones though. They have hallways that go back into other shops. You could easily get lost without a guide. And sooo many people. We saw a "Nightmare before Christmas" store. Didn't go in but it looked interesting. We went out a different entrance to the shopping mall than the one we came into and walked out into a very busy street with lots of people and cars. Wait a minute, that's all of the streets in China we've seen! But there were so many shops and restaraunts and extremely tall apartment bulidings. You have to see it to believe it. I've got pictures...

We then went to a Buddist Temple which has a pagota that our guide said used to be the tallest building in the city at one time. I can tell you for a fact it isn't now. It was a beautiful setting in the middle of town and the architecture was incredible. After all of that we were very hot and very worn out. AL fell asleep on the cab ride home. (No sickness, but we did give her some medicine before hand. I think this helps a lot.). Tomorrow, we have nothing to do. We are going to hang out and relax. We do have to buy another piece of luggage for AL. Two more days! I dread the plane ride but at least I know what to expect of it. I also found out it's shorter going back because we have a tailwind. 12 hours instead of 15! Sweet! Hey, three hours is three hours. That's three quarters of the way to LAX in a plane!

AL was very good today for the most part and we continue to bond and understand eachother. I think her and Angi are really getting along good. She wants her to put pigtails in her hair now and dance with her. They have also had fun with nail polish. AL was introduced to the horsey ride today. She got on my back and I went around the room while she tried desperately to hang on. Great fun. Back hurts now... I'm old people! Did I tell you that Angi and I got a kiss on the cheek? The posts are starting to run together. Anyway, it was a special moment. AL does not like it when I have whiskers though. She says "bleck." Anyway, I'm done for the moment.

Boys - We can't wait to see you and love you and miss you very much!

- Ric
(*If you don't see a link to the video clip I did of AL & Daddy doing the horsey ride, then send your comments demanding it!!! I told Ric to post it. It's a hoot! -Angi)

Foods to stock up on when we get home...

There are a few foods we need to try to match in The States:

Drinkable yogurt is a big hit with Anna Lin. You buy these either in individual containers or in packs of 6 or so. Some are in little bottles that look like mini old fashion milk bottles. Some are in boxes. Some are even in yogurt containers and you just poke the straw in them. We have drinkable yogurt in the States so we should be OK once we are home.

Little jello containers type snacks. I don't know the Chinese name. Now this looks very much like our jello packs but there is a creamy part to it and it is kinda juicy. It's hard to explain. But they are individually packed. The kids do not use a spoon. They just peel back the lid and slurp. Yep, slurp. If you get the really small ones they will slurp the whole thing in their mouth, suck on it, then plop it back in the cup. This happens over and over until it is gone. Interesting... :-) We have jello, but I don't remember seeing the creamy part. We'll see how we do with that back home.

There are also these rice crackers. AL was very happy with these. Although they sure do stink! Almost like garlic. Maybe she'll be happy with Goldfish.

Then there are these things that look like little bread balls. We first saw these at the zoo. Our guide said to buy the bag to feed the deer. (Yes, deer are a big hit at the zoo in China. My youngest son informed me that he was watching a deer as we spoke. He was at my mother's house in the woods.) So, these little bread ball thingies... AL started to eat them and we at first said no, thinking they were for the deer only. However, the guide informed us that they were really for kids. Sure enough I taste one of them and it was similar to a vanilla wafer. Yes! Another one we can get at home.

Finally, last but not least are the noodles in a bucket. This is basically Ramen noodles, or Lipton noodle soup in a cup. (I just love this kid. She eats cheap food!!!) For anyone adopting an older child like AL or even older, I suggest breaking up the noodles before cooking them. It sure makes it easier for her to eat.

AL also likes rice, but is very picky about it. One day fried rice is fine, the next it isn't. Tonight we ate at Cow & Bridge for Thai food. I had them bring a bowl of plain white rice, because she can spend an hour picking out anything other than the rice itself. Well, she wouldn't touch it on her own. I tried to share my food. (Shrimp and coconut rice, fried pumpkin (Very good. Think sweet potatoes.) and spring rolls with shrimp.). Well, she wasn't biting. Luckily I fed her some of her noodles about an hour before we left, so she was OK about it. We have a special area where I keep her food and our snacks. She'll go to it and bring it to me if she wants it.

Watermellon seems to be a big hit, along with bananas. However, AL is very picky. If there is anything brown on the bananas then we're going to have issues. :-) (Have I told you that I think God had a plan for this kid. He says to His people, "Hua Lin needs to be with Ric and his family because he is also very picky and a clean freak, along with a couple of his boys. She will fit in 'real' good with this family." AL wipes her hands off everytime she gets something on them practically! I'm a wait until I'm all done hand wiping kind of person. But I'll gladly go through a travel pack of wipes a day if it keeps her happy. Of course, it totally pleases Dad!

There is so much more I want to write about. I'll do my best to get it down sometime. I've really been trying not to get on the computer while she is up so we can spend time together and bond. Today was our best day, and one week since we met our Anna Lin. She has been lovey and snuggly today more than ever. And her English! Wow! It is now several words a day that she is repeating, and a few that she is using in normal context. Today's new words were wait, foot, toes, wash hands, along with a couple of others. Also, when she goes to knock on the door when Ric is already inside she has started saying, "I'm coming." :-) This is because Ric always says this when we knock. I just thought that was so cute that she is anticipating what he will say.

Angi
*Ric will add a picture later. He says we can't post without a picture each time. So, I leave that up to him. But it may be a while. He currently has a virus of some sort and stayed in the hotel while we went to dinner. I think he has what I had last Saturday. Or he has a cold. Who knows!

Another Step Closer

Yesterday we went to get AL's picture taken for her U.S. documents. After that we went straight to the clinic to get her physical examination done. It went very well. She was extremely good and was very interested in all that they were doing. She had to get her height, weight, temperature, and eyes, ears, and throat checked. All were good. She was 104 centemeters (3.5 ') tall and weighed 18 kilograms (40 lbs). Very healthy girl.

They checked her eyes with that thingamajig that eye doctors use to check your eyes. :-) She had to put her chin on the little shelf and her head forward. I would have liked to know what he thought. The doctor told our guide that he would finished writing up the report the next day because it was a little complex. We have an pediatric eye appointment for her in October. As far as I know she doesn't see out of the smaller eye. It moves along with her other eye, but I believe she may even have a cataract on it. I had to write down her special need diagnosis on a paper while we were there. Anna Lin was very interested in that. She looked very close to the paper while I was writing. Very close to the paper. That was surprising. I wonder if her sight in the good eye impaired. However, we do not get that impression from our day to day things we do. Well, we find this out later and deal with it as we need to. I see the eye doctor for a follow up when we get back. I planned that so I can take her with me. That way if they decide they want to see her sooner our doctor can handle that.

After all of that excitement we went shopping as I posted earlier. She had not had a nap in a couple of days because we have been busy and she didn't seem to need one but she seemed really worn out yesterday afternoon so she laid down for a very long nap. She is very good about taking naps and going to sleep. She has not fussed about it since day one. Even on the first day she laid down and went right to sleep. It doesn't take long either. Usually within five minutes of hitting the pillow if not sooner. Last night Angi and her went out to eat and went to the market for some groceries. She was very excited when she got back to the hotel because she had all of the snacks and noodles that she likes. She paraded around the room with them and was very silly. She added another English word to her vocabulary, "foot." She is saying a few new English words each day. Bright kid! This was a worry for me (Angi), and I'm relieve at how well she is developmentally.

We also had a big milestone in the bonding department. She came up to Angi and gave her a big kiss on the cheek. Purely unsolicited. Then she came over to me and did the same. BIG suprise! Things are going very well indeed at the moment. We have not had any meltdowns in a couple of days which is very nice. I know it won't always be like this but we are enjoying it while it lasts. There will be more adjustments when we get back home. I'm sure she will be jealous of the Boys but who knows?

We are going to meet up with some friends today that we met in Hefei so that AL can play with their daughter and son. They are staying at the White Swan and they invited us to the play at the playground. I will have pictures. The White Swan is a five star hotel that is very impressive.

(Angi - While the princess went down for a nap yesterday, I snuck out to find big shoes for her with our guide. It took five stores but finally we found some, along with hair bows. She doesn't have much hair but wanted piggy tails anyway. While out and about Susan took me to a antique type store where lo and behold were our friends from Hefei! We all squealed and hugged. Her Mom was buying the store out practically. It was so nice to see them. I had lollypops in my bag and gave them to her two kids that were doing a beautiful job waiting. These are the people we will get together with today. I can't wait.)

- Ric & Angi

When In Rome... Uh, I mean China...

Yes, I was told I must eat where the locals eat. As you can tell by the picture I did. Hey, we were the only caucasians in the place! It was good too! Tasted just like regular Pizza Hut pizza. And before you say anything the menu looked NOTHING like a regular Pizza Hut menu. We can't get squid toppings in the States. ( Zak, you would have liked that, your Mom got fried calimari and waffle fries.) I first looked at the menu and I thought, "Uh oh", but then I found the "American Pizza." Ah yes, pepperoni and mozzarella cheese. Let's see, since we've been in Guangzhou I've had two cheeseburgers with fries, two Coronas, and a pizza. But tomorrow it's Thai food so watch out. Two other families with our agency are goind to arrive tomorrow and we will be going out as a group to the "Cow and Bridge." I'm looking forward to it. We went shopping again today and it was a good day. AL was great. She only fussed a couple of times but for as long as she had to stand around she was really good about it. She's taking a nap right now while I do this in the dark. Not easy to type... At Pizza Hut she fussed at our guide Susan for eating pizza with Angi and I. She told Susan it was burnt... She thinks anything that is baked and not a noodle is burnt. AL made a yucky face and looked on in disgust. Pretty funny. Noah used to do that too with burgers and hot dogs cooked on the grill. Also with dark toast. AL's English vocabulary is growing every day. Today she said "noodle." We talked to the boys this morning and we showed her their picture and had her say "hello" to each one of them as they got on the phone. She did say "hello" and tried to say their names too. She also said "how are you?" We will probably go back to the playground later today. She really loves it there and had a great time on the slide the last time we went. We're still ready to go home and I'm not looking forward to the long plane ride back. AL get's motion sickness although she did OK when we gave her some dramamine on the last flight. She also refuses to put on a seat belt. I think that it makes her uncomfortable because of the motion sickness. I kind of suspected that when we first took her in the car from the way she acted. Because she didn't have a problem with the seat belt the first time in the car. We asked Susan to explain the seat belt thing after we got off the plane in Guangzhou and we will have her explain it again when we leave for the States. I am NOT looking forward to putting her in a car seat after the long trip back. Boys, please don't think this is all there is to her when she freaks out for being strapped in. Things will be different back in the States. If you could only see how we are riding around the cities without a seat belt on and the way they drive you would not believe it. Driving here is like being in a school of fish. I am not kidding. Not just cars. Pedestrians, bikes, motorcycles, you name it they all share the road. But we have seen only one wreck while we have been here. It's amazing and I love to watch it. Oh, we went to Lucy's again last night and I had another cheesburger with fries and a beer, which I was scolded at again by AL for having, and we went for a walk along the boardwalk by the Pearl River. Very nice time. They have a very tall skyscraper that has a lighted changing billboard on one whole side. Very cool. They also do boat tours but I don't think we will do one with AL's motion sickness. We see lots of people around Shamain Island playing badmiton and hackey sack around the common areas. Very popular. Our guide Susan told us that badmiton and table tennis were very popular in China. They play badmiton without a net around here just like the Boys like to do in the front yard at home. Oh now I'm rambling and will go. Check the previous post. I uploaded a picture for it. Angi's slack. I think Angi should tell you about our official visit we had today...

- Ric

Good Girl Gone Shopping!

Today was the best day so far. Not perfect, not without a laser-beam look at some point, but the best so far. The attitude and evil eye looks are becoming fewer and last for a shorter time. They usually come for one of two reasons, we have the most dreaded word for any young child (or kid in general)...NO! Or she's frustrated we don't understand her. We slept all night, from 9 pm to 7 am. This was soooo nice. Then we went to breakfast with our friends and fellow Harrah's clients, Elaine and Tim with their 17 month old new daughter Sarah. During most of breakfast Anna Lin starred at this little Caucasian girl who must have just gotten a new little brother here in China. I wanted point out to AL that the skirt the girl was wearing was just like the one she had on the day before. She had fussed to our guide that she didn't like it because it was too short! :-) It is the one in the video clip of the fan dancing.

After breakfast Ric & I took the princess shopping. It is harder to find her size clothes. The outfit in the video clip is from Target and is a 4T. It fits her just right now. Anyway, most of the clothes here are geared to little ones. We did buy five dresses and a couple of tradition Asian outfits for AL. Then we found a pair of sandals too. They just fit her and maybe her toes hang over the edge just a tad. But the store didn't have any size bigger so we got them. All together for what I just mentioned, and three little drums, about five books (two in Mandarin/English) and some rubber duckies for the bath, we spent about $70-$75. A couple of the dresses were Gymboree. Now at one point Ric had to take the princess out of the store. And she was not too happy about this. The sales lady had started speaking to her in Chinese, which from now on I'm going to say "NO!" to this. Next thing you know we are being snubbed again, even though we are the ones buying. Plus the lady is taking things off the rack and holding them up to her, etc., etc., etc. Well, when the attitude came out Ric took charge and out they went. He kept her outside until I finished up and paid for things. Except on the way out I saw a little Buddha statue...then he came in but had her in his arms with a firm grip. :-)

We went straight back to the hotel. She looked through and folded her clothes. (This girl can fold and organize anything!) Then we put a new dress on her and all was right in the world once again. In a few hours after working on some paperwork for the US Consulate appointment for her visa we headed out for lunch. This time to the Deli Shop. Ric said, "That's a big walk, you sure you want to do that." Well of course! Not only have I not ran in almost a week, but the princess needed to get some energy out as well. Ah, it was heaven for me, but not for poor Ric. I got the tuna/ham sandwich which was baked in a sweet bread. (Yep, tuna and ham sandwich. Sounds odd but it was good.) Plus I picked up two multi-grain, raisin-walnut rolls. Yes, I was in heaven!!!! Ric ordered Chinese...and was not in heaven. Unfortunately he received plain white rice and pork that was...uh...just a bit too fatty for his liking. Anna Lin got noodles and broth, a banana and yogurt to drink. She loves to drink yogurt and bananas. Ric did not get a sandwich because they were not refridgerated. They were in covered cases and you get a tray and tongs to get your items out of the case. I didn't care. It could have been a day old and I would not have cared. I wanted that food and I was going to have it! Ric said he would see if I got sick. If I didn't then he knows its OK and will try it next time. (...Not feeling the love Honey Bun. Not feeling the love.)

The rest of the day was pretty good. Some fun back in the room. A visit across the hall to neighbors. A walk around the hotel to see where everything was. A trip to Lucy's again for dinner. By the way, while there Ric ordered a Corona. Anna Lin announced that beer was bad. That is the one thing Ric can say in Mandarin...beer. Sounds like pee joe. She said pee joe was yuck, emphasizing this with a yucky face and tongue sticking out. Hmmmm. Interesting. After dinner it was a walk by the river and then back to the hotel to watch some Chinese cartoon shows until the princess went out like a light about 9pm. All and all it was a very nice day.

Tomorrow we go for her medical check. She has to have this for her visas and/or citizenship application. (I can't keep up with all of the different forms, etc.) I hope she does well.

Angi
*Remember I'm not responsible for any typos. Since time is limited I'm a purely stream of conscious writer. :-)

Happy Birthday to me!!!

Well, my birthday was yesterday and I got the best birthday present... A chicken wrap sandwich with french fries!!! OMG it was sooooo good. (OMG is Oh my God). I've got to go now for the Princess is calling. But I just wanted to share that about the food last night. Oh and we slept allllll night long, from about 9pm to 7am. The air conditioning stayed on allll night too! Yay!

Angi

Change of Scenery

Well, we made it to Guangzhou! It was an interesting journey. We spent the car trip to the airport in Hefei with a bag in front of AL so she could re-introduce us to her breakfast. Not sure if it was mentioned before but she gets car sick. Not all of the time but this is the first time we've seen her get physically sick from it. Usually she just sits forward or back and holds her tummy. Needless to say we were looking forward to the plane ride now. Let's see... Girl who never rides in car + girl who never has flown in a plane = MOTION SICKNESS! Boy Scout Motto, "Be Prepared." And we were because we brought some Dramamine with us. She was VERY nervous on the plane and had to go to the bathroom about 5 times in a 1 1/2 hour flight but she did not get sick and even ate lunch on the plane. Yeah Dramamine! Jane our guide in Hefei told her that if she was a good girl for the plane ride we would get her some ice cream in Gaungzhou and we made good on the promise right after we checked into the hotel. She only ate about three bites but hey we kept our promise. By the way, Jane was wonderful on helping us make the transition through the airport and it worked out great. AL was a little upset that Jane was not around, (she sneaked out on her), but she got over it fairly quickly because of the excitment that comes with a 1st plane ride. We arrived in Guangzhou and AL was very excited we were finally getting off of the plane. We used the flat escalator things, (technical term), in the airport and I showed her that you could run on them and really make some good time. She thought that was pretty neat. She also helped pull Angi's luggage through the airport and liked that a lot. We did too... Our guide in Gaungzhou is Susan and she is great also. We checked into our hotel and had a tour around the area and we felt pretty at home. BIG difference from Hefei. The area we are in is on a sort of island and it was built up during colonial times. We can get out and walk around and everything is very close walking distance and adoption family friendly. We feel like we'll have a better time here with AL and have better control of things. We were definately out of our element in Hefei but this is a lot more comfortable. AL is a little off balance even though our guide Susan is around. AL tries to cling to her like she did Jane but Susan knows to redirect her to us like Jane asked her to do. I feel that she responds to us better and I am getting better in tune with how far she thinks she can push things before we stop her. The language barrier is more difficult than I first thought it would be and I know it's very frustrating to her when she says something in Chinese and we can only agree with her, (like we know what we're agreeing with), or make comments she doesn't understand herself. But it's getting better and when she's back home and the boys are speaking english along with us she will pick it up. We talked to a guy at the Hefei zoo who was Chinese but was visiting from Atlanta, (small world), and he said his son was speaking very good english in about 6 months so thats good. Tonight was a good night. We relaxed with some other people from our agency who are here adopting that Angi has been conversing with for a long time and had a very nice time. We actually walked to a restaraunt! This restaraunt serves western food and I had a cheeseburger with french fries! Woo Hoo! Loved it. Ate every bite. I can eat more noodles now. My life is complete. Angi had a chicken wrap and enjoyed it to. I can do this for a few more days. We met some other people there who are adopting also and they asked if we were ready to go home and we said YES. Everyone is. Well this is a pretty long post but we've been slack for a couple of days. Angi and I have not been feeling well along with AL plus we had a couple of rough days mentally. Things are much better now. I am going to try and post a link for a video in here so check it out.

Hello boys, we miss you...

- Ric

Halfway There

See that face? Fools you. Yes, she's mostly sweet and funny but she can be a, well, a 4-year old. Lately when she doesn't get her way she gives us a face similar to what Spencer gives us when we tell him he can't use the phone, (no, the other face Spencer.) The only problem is I think she's saying the same things he does only in a language we can't understand. But I get the gist of it. We are leaving for Guangzhou today and I couldn't be happier. We are going to be around other adopting parents and it will be a good environment for AL to see there are other kids like her with parents like us. It's time to move on.

- Ric

A Roller Coaster Day...

Today started great. Anna Lin was more loving than she ever has been. We stopped into a friends' room and AL played with her two kids. They had a good time. Anna Lin fell in love with Maryn's Cinderella cell phone. Thankful she was very good and gave it back. But I knew that meant more shopping in the very near future. They had lots of toys, with sounds and lights, which, uh, we don't. So, I kinda sank a step in AL's opinion of me. :-) We did carry on only, so we only have the bare minimum. But she does have stuff, just not their stuff.

So, once again life was good. ...Then the director came, along with our guide. They came in the room. AL did not rush to the director or embrace the fact that they were there. However, she did rush to Jane. (It's not her fault. It's totally natural, but still hurts.) The director wanted AL to sit on her lap and she would not. She sat on Jane's instead. I was OK with this. It was a touchy scene. They gave us the passports. ...Then asked us for our phone number and address. ...Yeah, you read that right! I wrote a make believe address and number down. Neither Ric or I had a good feeling about this woman. Not that she was terrible, but apparently this is a big NO NO with the Chinese government and we couldn't believe she was asking for this information. All went well until they left. AL started crying, but not because they were leaving. She thought Jane was leaving. Well I can deal with that. She settled down after they left and we decided shopping was in order. It was too early for a nap and I had a cell phone to buy (Barbie cell phone to be exact. Thank you Parkson department store.). We bought the phone, a wooden xylophone, and a wooden puzzle of China for $10. Yes!

It was good to get out and buy a couple of things. However, Anna Lin still tries to ignore us when we are out and about with other people. Jane was adament that she hold my hand and that helped. But my patience is wearing thin, especially because of lack of sleep. I have a real hard time being nice and patient to a little girl when we buy her something and then she is mean to us. Oooo! The mommy comes out in me. I don't mess around with my kids about manners and such. She started throwing a fit about holding Ric's hand or mine and I told Jane, "You tell her we're going back to the hotel if she can't behave." The idea got across to AL, but there were other hurdles to jump over, or fall on as the day went. I won't go into it. I started this post on Friday, but it is now Saturday and with time between this and that I just won't revisit it. We survived the day and that is good enough for now.

-Angi

We get Anna Lin's passport today!

Well things have moved along quicker than we expected. We are to get Anna Lin's passport today. Jane is working on that. The orphanage people bring it. We did not think the director was coming. Jane told us to stay in our room until around 12pm, so she could find us when we needed to sign paperwork. Well, we're waiting and waiting and waiting. Finally I called to see if we had time to go across the road to the minimart for noodles. Jane said yes and off we went. While leaving the lobby we saw our friend Kelly, chatted as we continued on our way. Once out of the building, Ric said he saw the director standing in the lobby watching us. ...Hmmm. We were a little puzzled at what to do and since we had no options but to go back to the hotel that is what we did. We figured if she approached us we would do our best and hope for the best with Lin Lin. (That is what we are calling her right now.) The director does not speak English, so we were feeling lost without our guide Jane.

In the lobby we did not see the director. I went to Kelly's room and Ric went to our room just in case she was there. Again, what are we to do or say since we don't have Jane. If she was there I would have Kelly's guide call Jane and we would go from there. However, Ric called me and said, "The coast is clear." Then he called Jane. Apparently since the last time we talked the director had contacted Jane and wants to see Anna Lin. So now Jane is on her way here and we will meet. Ric and I are very nervous. Very nervous at how Anna Lin is going to take it. Many people say that it is very emotional but it is also a turning point for the child, providing closure with the goodbyes.

...We'll see.

Angi

I Wish You Were Here...

I'm talking about my guitar. Just kidding! I'm talking about my three boys! I really miss you guys and can't wait to see you again. We have talked to the boys, (except for Zak who is visiting with a friend on vacation), a couple of times and they sound like they're close but of course so far away. I know we made the right decision in not bringing them for various reasons especially for the first day with AL. But I know the guys are in good hands and they sound like they're enjoying themselves. I hear they have a score to settle with a fish called the "nibbler" that keeps eating their bait! Spencer said "they're going to get him!" I think Noah is going to be an experienced marskman in archery by the time we get back. Yesterday was a really good day. The visit to the zoo was much needed by all of us even though I thought heatstroke was going to take me we had a great time. I think it was a very good time out for AL with us. She loves to go out. On the first day we had her we went to a store which is similar to our Wal-Mart, (Yes Wyman, even in China), and the way she shopped had me in fear for our financial future. Any time she sees a place to buy things she gets excited! We'll have to have a discussion about that further down the road... We might try to go to a guitar store today. We were going to go the other day but it didn't work out. If we get a chance to go it would be interesting to see what they are like over here. I also thought it would be something I could relate to AL with. She likes music and maybe it would give us a connection. When we get on an elevator with other guys she calls them "BaBa." The Chinese name for Daddy. I know it's only been a few days and it will take some time before she fully understands and accepts me as her Daddy. Still, it's a little different. But let me tell you, she has accepted me better than I could ever had hoped. She calls me BaBa and wants me to pick her up. She says "up" now and jumps into my arms. When it's time to go she yells "BaBa" and gets my shoes and pulls my arm. I have been amazed at how content she seems to be the past couple of days. I hope it continues but I know there are still going to be times of adjustment that are going to be tough. Let alone the normal tantrums of a girl her age. I think she will really enjoy the boys and they will enjoy her and I am looking forward to those days. By the way, we have been reading the comments you have been leaving and please keep them coming. It's comforting to know we have people back home that care about us and will be there for us when we are back. Being away from my Family so far away and seeing AL go through her difficult changes has been a hard thing to do. It will be worth it. I know this is a long post but speaking of worth it, someone is going to have a birthday in China this Saturday (China time). My Wife has been the best on this trip. All of her research into adoption has paid off and it doesn't hurt that she has raised three wonderful but crazy boys. I don't know what I would do without her even though she has made me more adventurous than I really am. My trip to the noodle shop to get some take-out didn't result in the food she hoped I would bring back to the room. It seems my Chinese is a bit rusty, (are you sure those are spring rolls?). I hope that we will be celebrating her birthday in Guangzhou. We are ready to move on to some different scenery. Now, about missing that guitar...

- Ric

The Wild Animal Park

We went to the Wild Animal Park today, or better known in the US at the zoo. I met a family staying at our hotel and we discussed going together. I'm so glad we did. I think it was very good to see another family like us. Kelly is a single mom adopting her son. She brought her mother and her youngest daughter too who also was adopted from China. Both the son and daughter are around 3. In the adoption world this is considered virtual twins. Many people do not plan this, but fall in love with a child on a waiting child list and ta da they have virtual twins. And I've digressed again. :-) We went with her guide since they had already planned for the trip and had a van. I think this was also good for Anna Lin. She needed a little distance from our guide, who is absolutely wonderful but AL has taken a serious liking to her and probably wishes Jane could take her home instead of us. :-) Jane looks like her and speaks her language, and has been with her throughout the whole ordeal. She even met AL before we did, so there's a connection.

Anyway, as I said today was good. It was hot too! But nothing I wasn't used to living in the South. Ric and I brought moisture wicking clothes. I'm glad we did. By the time we finished at the zoo my shirt was damp all over. It was a light weight cotton which was quite comfortable. But we were there for quite some time and it was hot, hot, hot. My shorts were truly moisture wicking and were fine. Anna Lin wore her new dress again, after sleeping in it too. It was soaked too. (You don't know how happy I was that she spilled her noodle broth on that dress in the hotel room later in the day. It gave me an excuse to give her a bath and put clothes on her. She now is wearing an outfit I brought, though she won't be able to wear it in a month if she continues to eat as well as she is now!) Well we got the stares again, but at least we weren't alone this time. I have to tell you that I totally understand the staring. Hey there are no other Caucasians around, then you see this Caucasian couple with an Asian girl and we get double the stares (with whisper maybe too). :-) It makes me long for our home where there is some diversity.

There were school kids there who wanted to practice English on us, along with some adults. One little girl with her mother said hello sheepishly after I passed her. Too cute. We met a Chinese American who lives in Atlanta and Kelly chatted with him a bit. (AL and I had to visit the potty (squatty potty!), so missed out on most of the conversation.) A group of adults came up to our families as we rested and gave us the thumbs up! I was watching earnestly as they approached. A man who was walking with a young couple had come really close to Anna Lin earlier saying something, and again when Ric was holding her. AL didn't seem to appreciate him and I personally didn't like the looks of his manner. I was talking with Sarah the guide when he came up the second time and told her about him. He's lucky he walked off because I was ready to send her over there to see what he was saying. Anyway, the group of older adults was very nice and gave us the thumbs up. They could tell our kids were 'different.' I saw her put her hand over her eye as she talked about AL. They told Sarah to tell us thank you for taking the kids into our families and taking care of them. It was very nice. AL seemed to be listening to the lady. She became real quiet and serious. However, when it was time to move on she did not hesitate to jump up demanding 'ba ba' carry her flashing a big smile.

As I said earlier, today was a good day for the most part. We saw the zoo, AL made a friend with Marion the other little girl. Of course they didn't start to connect a little until we had to leave, but hey it was something. We came back to the hotel, popped open the bowl of noodles (ramen style), then had the bath, and all was right in the world. ...Well until she decided to tear a part a pair of sunglasses we bought her and mom told her no. Then she tried to push it and mom took the glasses away. ...Well you can probably fill in the picture. Needless to say she had a fit and eventually got over it. Then we finally get her down for a nap, again all is right in the world...when housekeeping rings the doorbell and she wakes up. Oooooo! It wasn't pretty. She was mad. You know that "toddler nap time interruption mad!" Thank goodness I'm aware of that type of mad. I plopped her back in the bed and bounced away. (Again we have the Hello Kitty soothing music playing in the background thanks to the laptop!) Hallelujah! (sp?)

Oh that reminds me. Anna Lin is picking up English here and there. Today when we got back to the van, it was sooooo nice and air conditioned in it that I said, "Hallelujah!' when I sat down. Then Anna Lin said it. It was so cute. She understands "up" now and says it. She also has said "I Love You" repeating her Ling doll that says that when you push a heart on her leg. She says it in Mandarin and English. She's a bright kid! Both guides have said this also and that she has a lovely personality. We are very lucky. And boys...(meaning my guys: Zak, Spencer & Noah) she likes to burp and fart, and laugh about it. Now you know your father was not thrilled about this aspect and sincerely hopes you will not exploit this when she comes home! So you better not show her the fart song on the Internet!

Just had to add that for my guys. I miss you all terribly!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And cried my eyes out last night when I had my little post adoption blues issue and missing home issues. Speaking of missing home. You're dad said he would die for a hamburger right now! :-) I wonder if we'll end up at McDonalds China soon? Ooooo! And your dad got an adventurous streak today. We needed some water and other drinks. So we went across the street with AL by ourselves to buy them. (Crossing the street is an adventure in itself!) The lady remembered us from the other day with our guide and just showed us the amount needed on the calculator. And ta da! We had bought something on our own outside of the hotel. Well that is enough adventure for one day.

-Angi
Again I am not responsible for any spelling oversights in this post. My editor is asleep, like the princess, and I'm enjoying the quiet way too much!

Lord Bao's Temple

Here is a picture of Anna Lin and I at Lord Bao's Temple. Ric has tried to set up a link off to the right to a Kodak picture share site. We are not sure if it is working yet, since we have to go way around things to see the blog. It apparently is blocked in China.

We are going to go across the street for some quick provisions: water and diet coke. Then are heading off to the zoo. Keep us in your prayers. We had a break down in communication and a little break down last night, plus Anna Lin has the 'back door trots.' Poor thing. I'm sure this whole ordeal has thrown her body out of whack.

Angi

Shopping with the princess...

Orginally we were going to head to the zoo today, or The Wild Animal Park as it is referred to here. However, it rained early on this morning and we did not know if it would happen again. So, instead we decided to shop for some clothes and go to the local guitar shop. Shopping in Hefei is an interesting experience. Jane took us to a department store and we went up four floors to get the kids area. Every building here has to have at least 10 floors. I think it is an unwritten requirement, or maybe it is written somewhere. I just find it fascinating. People who are from big cities such as Chicago or New York would be more at home here than we are, being from a city that is only 300,000 in population. Whereas Hefei has at least 1 million people according to our guide. Ric said he thought is was listed as 4.5 million when he looked it up before we came. Regardless, you get the idea. There are a lot of people here!

So, we go shopping. Anna Lin gets nauseous in the car. Jane suggests because of this to roll the windows down. I wanted to say, "But then I will be nauseous and are you sure that won't make her feel worse?" But I keep quiet to see how it will go. Jane also pointed out that when she drove from her orphanage it was probably with no air conditioner and with all windows down. Well, it doesn't seem to bother Anna Lin and maybe it helps. However, I was about knocked out by the fumes of the vehicles zooming around us. Yet, I didn't say anything being thankful we had Jane and Peter to take us around and look out for us. We get to the store, once up the four escalator flights, and find the kids department. It has changed according to Jane and is definately label driven. Plus the selection is not big for clothes. So, we go to look at toys for the bathtub. I really should have bought the toys I saw, which was more like sandbox toys but we could have gotten by with them in the tub plus a Disney princess purse set with sun glasses. A pair of sun glasses was also on my list of things to buy. It was 79 RMB (yuan which is like our dollar). In US dollars it was about $10. I was OK with that, but Jane thought it too expensive. We decided to look else where. (Again, I wish we would have bought both then because now we are at the hotel without either, although we certainly aren't dying without them.) Jane then took us down the road looking at shops for clothes. We went into one and tried on a dress. Yes, Jane and the clerk actually managed to get the other dirty dress off her. The first dress was OK. I actually didn't care for it much but was anxious to please Anna Lin. We then tried a green and white shirt and pant outfit. It was cute for what we were seeing. I have to say I am picky about clothes. Not that I'm a strictly brand name person, but in China the fashion in some ways is a little different if not definately diverse. The pant outfit seemed to be a bridge between what I would say a normal casual outfit and the different Chinese outfit. I said yes to the outfit, again to make our little girl happy and to make sure she had clothes to wear. Then the clerk found this beautiful dress, white with purple flowers. Oh, that was it. We had to have it. Anna Lin is definately a girly girl! (I brought pink nail polish. So, I'll try that out tonight!) We then bought socks, cute thin socks with little holes in them. Great for summer. Four pair for 10 RMB or $1.25. That worked for me and they are adorable.

Now this girl is holding on to the bag for dear life. She likes her bags of stuff and keeps them close. (This is natural with orphans, having little if any items of their own.) It was all I could do to get her to leave the bag in the car when we went to our next stop. Jane had asked if we wanted to shop more for clothes. I just couldn't do it anymore. I don't know how to explain it. maybe I was out of my element too much or tired of being stared at too closely, but I needed to get out of that environment. I'm not a crowd person and that is exactly what we were dealing with. And to think Jane said it wasn't as busy as it would be on the weekend! Well, I just figured AL would just have to try on the clothes I bought before coming and we would get more in The States. Period! Yeah, we'll see how that logic works on a four year old.

Now we were suppose to visit a guitar shop, but apparently that moved. It is not close to the zoo, so when we go to the zoo we will visit that. It looks like that will be tomorrow. I ran into Kelly, the lady who adopted with little boy who name is Sailor (sp?). We met at breakfast again. She was heading out for the orphanage visit. We have decided not to do it because of AL's car sickness. An hour in the car would not be a good thing. She is getting better and the trip back home today was the best. Although earlier I wished I had a bag because I thought she was going to get sick. Peter looked a little worried too. I wonder if this was because he's driving a BMW. :-) I'm kidding. I think he has a softspot for her. He walked with us shopping today and got a kick out of seeing her in the new dress. (She wore it out of the shop.) Anyway, I'm getting off on another tangent, but you who know me well would be soooo disappointed if I didn't! While Kelly and I are talking I mention the zoo trip maybe tomorrow. She said they are suppose to do that as well. We exchange room numbers and I will contact her after nap time. (Both AL and Ric are snoozing as I type. Once again I have the Hello Kitty game background music playing its repetative soothing music.) It will be nice if we can get together and do that. Then we can be stared at together. ;-)

Instead of going to the guitar store we went to Lord Bao's memorial. He was a great honest judge long long ago. They have park all arround the city, following the river. It was good for AL and us to get out and walk around. We ran into the French families again. They were very nice and chatted, exclaiming over how beautiful Anna Lin is. I think it brought back some memories of yesterday morning, leaving her nanny, etc. She seemed to withdraw a bit. Ric seemed to have found common conversation with one of the dads and I hated to pull us away but Jane & AL were walking away. I think Jane sensed what I had also. You know poor Ric is dying for some guy talk! (A side note here: We are glad we didn't bring the boys. One of the French couples had two of their four kids with them. All around our guys ages. These two were 13 and 14 years old. They seemd bored to death, but at least they didn't display an attitude about it. Our guys would have been bored, no doubt. This isn't a 'fun/vacation trip.' We'll do that in a few years when she is older and can appreciate it.)

Next was a trip to the hotel with bathtime for the princess with Jane discussing everything with her. She did great, letting me clean her all up. We put the dress back on, plus new panties. I couldn't get her to even think about those yesterday. I'm so glad I brought the Hello Kitty ones. Not because they are Hello Kitty but because they were bigger than than Dora ones I bought her. Then it was time for clean new socks. And the same shoes went back on, but that is OK. They are fine and fit. The sandals on the other hand that I brought from The States did not. She wasn't interested in them to begin with. However, I had Jane say we just wanted to see her shoe size and if they fit. They didn't. We got them on because of the stretchy back but they were too tight. I'm not worrying about shoes until we get home though. What she has is not very old at all and fits fine.

I talked Jane and Peter into eating with us at the Noodle place. I just couldn't eat in our room again. It was nice having Jane there to help with the ordering, etc. Anna Lin loves spring rolls, pieces of beef that Peter had originally bought at the market for him and Jane to eat for lunch, and my noodles. But of course. It's always better if it is someone elses. AL originally asked for rice, but wouldn't have a thing to do with it once she caught sight of the spring rolls and the beef that Peter brought. (He also had duck, which we both tried. The beef was good and the duck was OK tasting like none other than chicken of course!) She confiscated my Diet Coke and protested when I took a drink. Then she poured the coke in the noodle bowl, experimenting maybe? Oooo! We waited to see what she would do next. !!! She stopped eating the noddles then wanted more Coke. However, Jane explained to her that she had poured her drink out and now it was gone. (Thumbs up for Jane! We think alike!) I later compromised and poured some of my 2nd Diet Coke into her glass only if she would sit down. She had been exploring the room and was getting rambunctious. Ric thinks she is sneaky and maybe we'll see more of this as the week goes on! Only time will tell...

-Angi
Disclaimer: I am not responsible for any mispellings that may be in this post or any previous posts due to the fact that I'm still dealing with jetlag, am completely out of my element, have just received a four-year old daughter into our family who I have limited communication with, etc., etc., etc. ;-)