Two Dogs and a Baby...

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T03:57:00.001-07:00

The Graduate!

2011-03-21T17:24:00.000-07:00

Sarae graduated from Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten March 15th. She and her classmates sang wonderful songs to the parents and then received their diplomas. Lots of laughter and some tears from some of the parents. Sarae's favorite part was running on the stage after the ceremony was over.

Happy 5th Birthday Sarae!

2011-03-21T17:19:00.000-07:00

Sarae said this was the best birthday party yet. Her theme was mermaids and we had it at Dr. Phillips Community Park with 70 or so of our friends. We had a windy, but sunny day and had tons of fun. Pastor Jeff and Adam were great chefs and grilled all of the food. I made two cupcake cakes. There were 41 cream-filled cupcakes making up each of those cakes. RJ, the balloon lady, came and led lots of games; the egg and spoon race, hool-a-hoop contest, bean bag toss, floppy frisbee race, the limbo and toss in the ring. She made flying mice and balloon hats for all of the kids and was the hit of the party.

Happy Gotcha Day!

2011-03-21T17:15:00.001-07:00

Hard to believe it's been 4 years since Sarae and I became a family! We celebrated this year, the same way we did last, by going to Magic Kingdom at Disney. We had a beautiful day and had a fantastic time. Sarae got to see her favorite Princess, Ariel along with all of the others. We were excited to meet Rapunzel and Flynn Rider for the first time. Tangled was the first movie Sarae actually went to a movie theater to see!

Merry Christmas!!!

2010-12-26T17:24:00.000-08:00

Well, Sarae is only 4, but it seems she has already been typecasted... She was an angel last year in the church play and this year was an angel both at school and church : ) Top 3 Santa questions from Sarae this year:

1. Why did Santa talk like a girl this year and a boy last year? (Her school must not have been able to find a male)
2. How does Santa get into our house since we do not have a chimney?
3. Where does Santa go potty? Me: Maybe he doesn't drink anything before he gets in the sleigh. Sarae: Mom, he drinks all the milk! Therefore we had to clean her bathroom just in case Santa had to go.

Sarae's favorite parts of this Christmas (besides the toys) was the candlelight service at church (she got to hold her own candle)and spending time with the family. Although she loved all of her gifts, I believe the one she has played with the most is the Tag Reading system. She is a reader just like me! Buddy and Cody's favorite parts of this Christmas were all the leftovers they got to eat and having Sarae and I home more than normal. My favorite parts of Christmas this year were all of the decorations and watching the children put on their plays. Hope everyone had a fabulous Christmas too! See below for more pics!

2010-12-26T17:18:00.000-08:00

2010-12-26T17:08:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving!!

2010-12-09T05:28:00.000-08:00

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Sarae and I definitely did. We started the day by making our traditional turkey cookies using Sarae's hand as a template (the other picture are of cookies I made for her class). Later, we had the traditional dinner with my mom and Tia. That following Monday, tia, Sarae and I spent the day at Harry Potter World at Islands of Adventure with my sister Lynne, her daughters, Amanda and Tracey and Tracey's children, Lexi and Colton. Tia and I were very excited about finally going to Harry Potter's World. It did not disappoint! The next day we went to Magic Kingdom and had absolutely beautiful weather and hardly any crowds. Lynne's husband, Dave, was able to join towards the end of their trip so we were able to spend time with him as well. See below for more pics. Now we are just preparing for Christmas. I love this time of year!

Fun at Harry Potter World, Islands of Adventure

2010-12-09T05:25:00.000-08:00

Fun at Disney!

2010-12-09T05:21:00.000-08:00

Playing Doctor and the Corn Maze

2010-11-07T16:36:00.000-08:00

We've had a busy, busy weekend. Our friend, Claudia came to visit and brought Sarae a Dr. Kit. She absolutely loved it and has played with it all weekend. We have had gorgeous weather and the high on Sunday was 69 degrees. We decided it would be a great day to go to the Corn Maze in Mt. Dora. Our friend Elyn was sick and could not join us, but luckily Diane, our wonderful neighbor, joined us. Sarae got us through the maze and afterwards we played on the playground, in the sandpit and ate yummy corn and other delicious food. If you live in Florida, this is a great place for kids and it is open until Nov. 28th.

Star Light, Star Bright, first star I see tonight...

2010-11-01T16:51:00.000-07:00

I wish I may, have this wish I wish tonight. I wish to be a mermaid! This is what Sarae would wish every night when we saw the first star while walking the dogs. So, no surprise she was a mermaid for Halloween. She was Merliah, from the block buster hit, Barbie and a Mermaid Tail. Here in Florida we celebrate Halloween all month. So, Sarae got to trick or treat at SeaWorld, the Zoo, Downtown Disney, at school and at our neighborhood clubhouse. Hope everyone had a wonderful Halloween!

Summer Time!

2010-07-12T11:03:00.000-07:00

This summer has flown by so far. The first picture is of Sarae and her friend Savannah before their dance recital. The rest of the pics are of Sarae and her "best friend" Cody. She's a dog-lover just like me! Hope everyone is having a great summer so far!

Virginia & DC vacation!

2010-05-09T13:18:00.000-07:00

Sarae, Tia and I hit the road on April 30th and headed up to Virginia. Tia had never been there, so we planned on seeing as many historic sites as we could fit in, along with catching up with friends. We stayed in a great condo (thanks to my sister and her husband for getting us such a great deal!)in Williamsburg, Virginia. We toured Williamsburg Saturday and half a day Sunday and then headed up to D.C. to see Marsha. Marsha had worked 18 days straight and I am afraid did not get much of a rest on her one day off since she took us on a whirlwind tour of D.C. Monday, we went to the Washington Zoo, Arlington Cemetary, Smithsonian (Natural History and Tia ran to the Archives for a quick peek at the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution), White House briefing room (yes we got to stand where the President stands when addressing the reporters!), and wrapped the day up by running around the monuments. The next morning we got to tour Marsha's work at NBC studios. We left Marsha and headed to Monticello and ended the day back in Williamsburg. Wednesday we toured two plantation houses - Berkely and Shirley. Found out the heir to Shirley is an eligible bachelor in his 40's. Tia and I thought it would be a great idea for he and I to meet, but unfortunately, it wasn't like a Harlequin romance book and he never appeared on the scene. Thursday we went to my hometown of Petersburg to see Blandford Church. This church was made into a monument for the Confederate soldiers and Tiffany was commissioned to make 15 stained glass windows - beautiful! Besides Marsha, we also got to see Mr. & Mrs. Durham, Duff, Lisa, Michelle, Jack, Megan, Kay, Kendall and Kary during this trip. Catching up with everyone made this trip extra special! A special thank you to Duff for loaning us his GPS, it made getting around the state much easier!

Happy 4th Birthday Sarae!

2010-03-21T14:09:00.001-07:00

Happy 4th Birthday Sarae!

2010-03-21T13:57:00.000-07:00

It's taken me a while, but I am finally posting pictures from Sarae's birthday party that was held on March 6th. We had a beautiful day for the party and had lots of fun. Thanks to mom and Tia for helping set up, Jim and Dana for grilling and Vanessa for setting up, taking names and cleaning up. Sarae had a great time with all of her friends and was worn out by the end of the day. The theme was Diamond Castle Barbie, which has two main characters - Alexa and Liana. The afternoon before the party, when I went to put her birthday cakes together, I realized I had neglected to measure the Barbie dolls and the height of the cakes. After momentarily kicking myself, I cut holes in the cake board, decorated a box and cut holes in the box as well and set the cake board on top of the box. This way the Barbies legs could dangle down into the box. I was so proud of figuring this out I am posting the pictures. Hope everyone's spring is off to a great start!

Gotcha Day Anniversary!

2010-03-05T03:31:00.000-08:00

Hard to believe this is our 3rd Gotcha Day Anniversary! Disney World has a great offer right now for Florida Residents where you can get 4 day passes to any park for $99 ($84 for children 3-9) that must be used by May 25th. So, Sarae and I spent Gotcha day at Magic Kingdom for 10.5 hours! Sarae was so excited the day before she woke up at 12:30 a.m. yelling out that she was getting up early and ready to go. When I explained that Disney was not open yet and it was the middle of the night, she was so disappointed she cried herself back to sleep. We truly had a magical day. The weather was sunny and in the 60's and Sarae was in the best mood. She waited in line for an hour to see her favorite princess Ariel and did not whine or complain once. I think she would have waited twice that long. Unfortunately, the one thing I did not double-check was my battery pack for my camera, so by the time we got to Ariel, my camera was dead. Disney does provide photographers and I will order the Ariel pictures as soon as I get a chance (in the middle of getting ready for her birthday right now). Another nice thing that the Disney photographers do is take pictures with your camera as well so you can get in the picture too. This was a lifesaver for us in the beginning because while Sarae was excited to see the princess', she was too shy to go by herself. As a matter of fact, she wouldn't speak to any of the princess' or TinkerBell and her friends. In case you are wondering who that man is, no he is not my new boyfriend, he is one of the photographers. When a different photographer had my camera to take a picture of us with Belle, he took a picture of the photographer as well. I thought it was so funny, I had to put it on the blog. Well, my cake timer is going off so I had better get off the computer and pull it out of the oven or we will be minus one birthday cake tomorrow! Hope this finds everyone well!

Sarae's first Christmas play at church

2009-12-22T17:08:00.001-08:00

Getting ready for Christmas!

2009-12-22T17:05:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving!!

2009-12-04T15:54:00.000-08:00

Sarae and I had a great Thanksgiving. We made turkey cookies using her hand as a template and celebrated with family. Sarae studied Native Americans in her preschool and brought home all sorts of Thanksgiving art. I had to include the picture of "Princess Cody" to show what a good sport he is and of course I had to include a picture of Princess Sarae. Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Sarae's first trophy!

2009-11-01T13:31:00.000-08:00

Our neighborhood clubhouse had a Halloween Party and Sarae won best costume. She was Mariposa (butterfly fairy) from the Barbie movie. She also won a big bag of candy playing Boo Bingo. We had a great time!

Happy Halloween!

2009-10-26T17:58:00.000-07:00

2009-10-26T17:49:00.000-07:00

Sarae and I have been celebrating Halloween all month. We went to the pumpkin patch and picked out a pumpkin. Here in Florida, a carved pumpkin won't last more than 2-3 days so we chose to decorate it as opposed to carving it. We then went with her friend Savannah, Savannah's sister Sierra and Vanessa, their mom, to Spooktacular at Sea World. We were there for 7 hours and had a wonderful and exhausting time. Next we went to my mom's church's fall festival. Another classmate of Sarae's was there and they had a great time in the bounce houses. Finally we went to the Zoo for their Halloween festivities with Henry and Francie which was fun as usual. Next week we will go to a Halloween party and trick or treat in the clubhouse here in our neighborhood. Hope everyone is having as good of a time as we are!

The summer is flying by!

2009-08-09T15:35:00.000-07:00

Sarae started her new preschool this past week and I am happy to report she loves it! I love the fact that it has a webcam and I actually get to watch her while she is there. If you ask her what her favorite thing is at her new school, she will tell you it is the playground. There is an indoor playground and she goes to it 2-3 times per day which makes her very happy. She also loves her new teacher and her new friends. Thanks to Aunt Lynne and Uncle Dave, Sarae has a great time pretending she is a chef. She also likes to pretend she is "Super Sarae" and the "jewelry diva". It has been an incredibly hot summer and the only way to possibly stay outside is to be in water. Thanks again to Aunt Lynne and Uncle Dave, Sarae has a very cool sprinkler fun pad. We had a unexpected visit from Butch, in June, who came home from college for a family reunion. Sarae was thrilled to see him and spend some quality "lollipop" time with him. Hope everyone is staying cool!

Vacation Time!

2009-05-18T17:22:00.000-07:00

My mom treated Tia, Sarae and myself to a vacation at Amelia Island Plantation Resort. It was wonderful, we had a two bedroom villa that backed up to a lagoon. It was beautiful and just minutes away from the beach. The resort was fantastic - one night they had a bonfire on the beach and we got to make s'mores, they had bike/hiking trails throughout the resort, restaurants and shops on property and trams to take you everywhere in case you didn't want to walk. Tia and I were able to go horseback riding on the beach which was a great experience. After fun-filled days, it was great to relax back at the villa which was absolutely beautiful. A raccoon would even stop by each evening to say hello. I'm hoping that was the first of many vacations to Amelia Island!

Look who's relaxing on vacation!

2009-05-18T16:30:00.000-07:00

Here's Sarae enjoying breakfast in bed, what you can't see is the large flatscreen t.v. she is watching while lying in bed. Next she hit the beach for some sandcastle building and jumping in the waves. After dinner we went on a "walk" and finally she needed to relax by the lagoon after her exhausting day.

I'm Three!!

2009-03-07T17:08:00.000-08:00

We had the perfect day for a birthday party at the park! Sarae really loves blowing bubbles and she and Tia found these bubble wands a couple of weeks ago. We bought one for each child that came to the party and they were a hit. Everyone was so good at using the wands, there were bubbles all over the place. Sarae wanted a princess theme for her party and so I decided to make her a castle cake. I took the day off from work to make it and worked on it off and on from 10:00 a.m. til 11:30 p.m. The picture shows you what it looked like at the house. As we were driving over to the park, I could hear the towers falling as we rounded a corner or came to a stop. By the time we got there, there were only 4 towers standing. Thanks to Uncle Jimmy for grilling all of the food for the party!! Thanks to everyone who came to the party! Sarae reports that she had a fun time with her friends at the party and is ready to do it again! : )

Happy Chinese New Year!

2009-03-07T16:53:00.000-08:00

We've been so busy, I haven't updated the blog since 2009! Sarae and I celebrated Chinese New Year with our adoption facilitator and other families who adopted. Sarae is growing up so quickly. She is still talking up a storm and is very into the Disney Princess'. Sarae and I both cut our hair short recently. Neither of us wanted to deal with having to put it up in the morning! We hope everyone has had a wonderful new year so far!

Getting ready for the holidays!

2008-12-11T17:47:00.000-08:00

Sarae is very excited about the holidays. She loves all of the decorations and now understands the concept of Santa and presents. She still isn't thrilled with Santa himself (still scared of him), but loves the idea of his bringing her gifts. If you ask her if we can leave cookies and milk for Santa, she will say no. I guess she doesn't want him hanging out, just dropping off. The second picture is her and "her best friend, Cody," lying down watching television together and the third picture is her "scary" face . The last picture is her wearing the dancing skirt Tia bought for her. She wears it shopping, to church, to daycare, to sleep and to dance around the house. She loves to sing and when I join in and sing with her in the car, she will ask me what I am doing and tell me I need to stop singing and just drive. Hope everyone is enjoying the holidays as much as we are!

Happy Halloween!

2008-11-04T17:15:00.001-08:00

2008-11-04T16:56:00.000-08:00

October was a busy month for us. Sarae went to her grandmother's church's fall festival where she was able to go down the blow up slides, sit in a fire truck and eat some yummy sweets. Next we went to Green Meadows farm with the Ziegler family. Those of you who have followed the blog from the beginning should remember Leslie Ziegler as one of the people who went to China with me to pick up Sarae. Her husband and two children met us at the farm for a fun morning. The kids got to hold/pet many different farm animals, ride a pony, milk a cow and finally pick their own pumpkin. The next weekend we went with our friends, Shery, Elyn, Francie and Henry to the zoo for Boo Bash. The kids got to dress up and trick or treat at the zoo. Beautiful weather and lots of fun! Finally, we went to Sea World for trick or treating which was great.

Sarae is growing up so quickly. She is now singing songs like the alphabet song, The Itsy Bitsy Spider, and Baa Baa Black Sheep. She still has some difficulties with certain letters. She says Mook for Look and Pooh for Who. She is also getting very independent and when I put on shoes on her that she didn't want to wear, she became very angry and stuck her finger in my face and said, "I no listen to you Momma!" A preview for the teenage years I am told : ) Hope everyone had a wonderful October and we'll talk with you soon!

You decide...

2008-09-06T18:43:00.000-07:00

Sarae's favorite doll is a Wonderwoman doll that she has named Tia. My niece, Tia, thinks this is the ugliest doll she has ever seen and is not very happy that Sarae calls her Tia. I've posted both of their pictures so you can decide if they look alike : )

Tia, Sarae and I headed to Sanibel Island in August. We stayed at the Sanibel Inn which we really liked. They had bicyles (with children's seats) there and we were looking forward to riding around the island. We got there Sunday afternoon and immediately hit the beach. Sarae made her first sandcastles and while initially was wary of the water, once she got used to it loved it. Unfortunately, Tropical Storm Faye joined us and we were asked to leave the inn the next day. Tia and Sarae did get to walk on the beach that next morning and pick up seashells while I packed. We hope to go back soon.

Butch, (Tia's boyfriend) had to go back to Kentucky to college and we miss him. Before he left he came over and played with Sarae yet one more time. He's great with her as you can see from the picture.

Hope everyone had a wonderful summer!

It's Hot, Hot, Hot!!!

2008-07-20T18:43:00.000-07:00

We have had a great summer so far and hope everyone reading this blog has as well. Sarae and Cody (black dog) are still best of friends, even when Sarae doesn't allow him to take his nap! He forgives her since she is constantly sneaking him food. She has learned to open the cabinet where the dog treats are kept and I've found her on several occasions giving Buddy and Cody extra treats. We've enjoyed Butch (Tia's boyfriend) being home from school and she loves it when he makes her "fly". As you can see, Sarae has begun to brush other people's hair for them, I'm afraid she's not too gentle though and will yank the brush right through your hair. Tia was a good sport and let her do this for quite a while. The last picture is our neighbor Diane who brought over a new book for Sarae. So far, Sarae is very much like me and absolutely loves books. She will ask/demand to be read to as well as read to Cody. She also loves the princesses and dancing. I was excited to find tu-tu's at Target's dollar spot and she is now up to 5 "dancing skirts". Hope everyone is staying cool this summer!

2008-07-20T18:31:00.000-07:00

I'm wearing big girl pants now!

2008-06-01T15:50:00.000-07:00

Yep, she did, she is now potty trained with no accidents for the past 3 days! Yea!! I believe I'm more excited than she is although she does like her new Elmo and Princess big girl panties. I took the week off to work on this new skill and we had lots of fun. While we were stuck in the house, she drew, painted and we had water fun in the backyard. By Wednesday Sarae was asking me to go bye-bye and I was more than happy to comply. Saturday our adoption facilitator had coordinated a picnic with past and present clients. It was great seeing everyone. I feel so much for those parents who are waiting on their referral as the time has gotten even longer since Sarae and I were matched. We saw two families that were on the same trip to China as we were. Both their children were also doing very well. Sarae had a great time playing for 4 hours straight. I'm not sure which of us was more tired by the time we left. To celebrate her great job at potty training, Sunday we had breakfast with Elmo at Sea World. We had a wonderful time. We went to the 8:30 a.m. breakfast and it was not crowded at all. The characters actually come to the tables and since there were not that many people they stayed and the children got to play/hug them quite a bit. The whole experience from the characters to the food to the wait staff was excellent. Sarae was nervous with Ernie and Bert and they were wonderful with her. They came up but let her initiate contact (high-fives) until she felt comfortable. When we left the breakfast we went over to the Pets Ahoy show where the Elmo and Abbi show is playing so we also got to see a show and after the show she got to pose with Elmo again. After that we went to her favorite - the dolphins, the sting-rays, manatees and penguins. By that point I thought I was going to melt in the heat so we came home, napped and then hit the pool. She absolutely loves being in the water this summer which is great since it is a great way to keep cool. Hope everyone is having a great summer!

Happy Spring!

2008-04-29T17:19:00.000-07:00

Sarae seems to be changing every day. She loves to walk around in my shoes, especially my heels and loves to wear a bathing suit skirt that she believes is her "dancing skirt". She also likes to walk around the house with my panties on her head, no picture of that posted on the blog though! : ) She has been earning time-outs lately both at home and in daycare. She likes to climb and kick walls (enjoys the sound I think). She is definitely an outside girl and will ask often to go there. We just got an annual pass for our local zoo and have been twice already. Sarae had a blast feeding the goats. She seems to be growing up so quickly - just yesterday she was saying "Otay" and today she is able to say the K sound for "okay". I miss hearing her say "Otay Mama". Sarae is definitely the best part of everyday! Hope everyone is doing well.

Happy Birthday Sarae!

2008-03-05T18:12:00.001-08:00

Monday, March 3rd Sarae turned 2! We celebrated at Monkey Joe's on Saturday and I believe everyone had a great time. The kids played hard and I think were all ready for a nap by the end of the party. Big thanks to my mom for watching Sarae so I could bake the cake and cupcakes and Tia for planning and decorating! As usual, everyone was extremely generous and we spent Sunday cleaning out her bedroom to make room for the new toys/books/clothes, etc. I have to say, she received some really neat books that we have enjoyed reading each night. I gave her a tricycle for her birthday present. She hasn't quite gotten the hang of it and prefers to push it as opposed to ride it with her feet on the pedals. I'm thinking I'm going to have to borrow a little one who knows how to do it to role-model it for her.

Hope everyone is doing well!

Gotcha Day Anniversary!

2008-02-26T18:06:00.000-08:00

It's hard to believe it's already been a whole year since Sarae and I became a family! I took the day off today so we could celebrate and met our friends who also were celebrating one of their daughter's Gotcha day. It's amazing how much Sarae has changed as you can tell from the pictures. The first picture is just a few minutes after they handed her to me and the rest are recent pictures. Sarae is definitely the best thing to happen to me ever. She made her first batch of brownies (with a little help) and is walking about 1/2 mile a night with Buddy and I. She even tried out the treadmill one night when it rained and we weren't able to make our normal walk. She put her shoes on the correct feet for the first time today (probably just lucky, but I'll count it anyway)! Her birthday party is this weekend so I will try to post pictures from that as soon as I can. Hope everyone is doing well!

Happy Valentine's Day!

2008-02-14T17:02:00.000-08:00

We are hoping everyone has had a great start to 2008! January was an incredibly busy month for me at work so I wasn't able to blog for that month - sorry! Sarae is doing well. Since the last blog, she has learned to climb up on the barstools and like Cody, she has climbed up to the kitchen counters. She is attempting to get a writing pen. I keep these up high since she will draw on furniture, walls, etc. Cody goes up for food, but they both are unable to get down on their own once they climb up. Sarae loves to play in the laundry basket and to walk around in my shoes. She loves music and listens to anything from 70's music, to Jazz. Currently her favorite songs are Girlfriend and Hooked on a Feeling. She will put her sunglasses on (usually upside down) in the car and will clap and nod her head to the music. Unfortunately I can't get a picture since I'm driving, but trust me it's very funny. Sarae seems to learn new words on a daily basis and thanks to Ms. Iris at daycare, she is learning her numbers, colors and shapes. I can't believe it will only be 12 more days for our one year anniversary of meeting and becoming a family!!

Merry Christmas!!!

2007-12-25T16:43:00.001-08:00

Today was Sarae's first Christmas and the best one I've ever had. Family and friends were so incredibly generous, that at one point this morning she refused to open any more gifts. The pictures show the desk that Santa brought her and the "laptop" that I bought her. I'm hoping this keeps her off of my computer - we'll see! This year I decided to make Christmas dinner from scratch instead of doing my usual Boston Market run. Let's just say making Christmas dinner with a 1 year old and two dogs who refuse to leave the kitchen (due to the good smells coming from the oven)was a bit challenging. I am exhausted so I'll sign off here. We are hoping that you all had a wonderful Hanukah, Merry Christmas, Happy Kwanza or any other holiday you may celebrate!

Getting ready for the big day!!!

2007-12-20T17:50:00.000-08:00

Sarae is starting to talk more and more. Dec. 11th she told me, "Mama, I wu yooouu" (translated - Mama, I love you)! Very exciting day for me. She also says "Ho-Ho-Ho nary ismis (translated - Ho-Ho-Ho Merry Christmas.) While she absolutely loves seeing pictures, ornaments, etc of Santa, she sobbed hysterically when we attempted to take a picture with him. She still cries when she initially sees men and as you all are aware - Santa is a man. : ) Hope everyone is managing to get ready for the holidays (if you celebrate Christmas) without getting too exhausted. Love to you all!

Hoping everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

2007-12-01T17:52:00.000-08:00

Sarae is thankful for her family and friends all doting on her, Cody- always letting her sit on him, Elmo, Barney, the Doodlebops and that one of her favorite people, Butch, Tia's boyfriend, came home from college for Thanksgiving. I am thankful for Sarae, Buddy, Cody, all of my family, all of the special people in my life and pecan pie (I think I ate a whole one myself!). After Thanksgiving, our friends, Angelo and Helena lent us their beach house so Sarae and I headed over. Butch and Tia spent the afternoon with us as you can see in the pictures. Hoping that you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and will enjoy the remaining holidays. Love to all!

Back Home to Virginia

2007-11-14T17:35:00.000-08:00

Sarae and I took our first trip(since coming home from China)together. She did great on the plane ride and we met lots of nice men in the airport who will always offering to help us with our luggage. Chivalry isn't dead after all! The weather was crisp, the leaves were turning and as always, the food is yummy! We stayed with my good friend from first grade, Michelle and her family, for the first three days. Sarae loved Megan and Jack (Michelle and Eric's children) and the feeling seemed to be mutual. Jack is already planning a trip to Florida within the next month : ) Next we headed down to the Durham's house where Mrs. Durham made Sarae's favorite dinner - spaghetti. Spaghetti on her face, in her hair, spaghetti everywhere! Saturday we had a Rolyart Road reunion. Sarae loved the animals at the Durhams and even had a little bit of a temper tantrum when I made her come inside (she was freezing). All the "girls" that grew up on Rolyart along with husbands and kids all got together on Saturday. It was so much fun. We also went over and visited Mr. Titus who is still cracking jokes at the age of 86. Duff, Lisa and Becca came over for Sunday dinner and I believe Sarae fell in love with Duff (don't we all though?!). Lisa made the most amazing Chocolate, Bourbon, Pecan Pie. I think her's is better than IndianField Tavern's was. Sarae loved everyone she met and at times, preferred their company to my own. Since I love them all I know how she feels. She slept the entire plane ride home to Orlando and was so tired last night she actually climbed into her crib herself and fell asleep - something she has never done before!

Happy Halloween!

2007-11-01T18:23:00.001-07:00

Sarae's Halloween did not go quite as well as I had hoped. She had a doctor's appt and was given 3 shots, but she seemed to think the lollipop made up for it. While at daycare she also took a face dive and got a bloody nose. Luckily no damage done. I had to work late so we didn't get to meet Leslie and her kids for trick or treating. We did get to go see Tia at her work during her break. Tia gave her a Elmo basket filled with Sesame Street characters that she loves. We then rushed to Sea World for their Spooktacular. We got there at 7:15 and the park closed at 8:00 so I carried Sarae and ran/walk to the other side of the park where the trick or treating would occur, only to find out they had already stopped handing out candy. The good news is I got my aerobic and weight lifing work out and Sarae enjoyed seeing the other kids in costumes, listening to the music and dancing and seeing the baby dolphins. Hope everyone had a wonderful Halloween! Sarae was the cutest Elmo ever!!!

What a weekend!

2007-10-21T17:27:00.000-07:00

Saturday we went to Green Meadows Farm with the local FCC (Families with Chinese Children). It was great. Sarae got to hold a baby duck and a baby chicken. We got to run with the pigs, goats and sheep, milk a cow, ride a pony, ride a train and go for a hayride. Sarae really got into it, she even decided to sit in the pens with the animals and stomp in the pee puddles (I guess she got them confused with mud puddles). At the end Sarae went to the pumpkin patch and got to pick out her own pumpkin, the only stipulation was that she had to be able to carry it herself. Sunday, we joined our friends Auntie Manal and her beautiful daughter Olivia. Olivia has the longest eyelashes I have ever seen! We went to the Character Breakfast at the Grand Floridian (hotel on Disney Property). We met Mary Poppins, Tigger, Winnie the Pooh, Alice in Wonderland and the Mad Hatter. Sarae liked everyone except the Mad Hatter. She has a tendency to cry whenever she sees men and that ran true for the Mad Hatter. All in all it was a fun-filled weekend!

I'm in a big girl bed!

2007-10-07T17:55:00.000-07:00

The night Sarae turned 19 months, she celebrated by climbing out of her crib and landing spread eagle, face down on the carpet. Luckily she was not hurt, just scared I think and perhaps the wind got knocked out of her. I was hoping she had learned her lesson, but this weekend she tried to climb out again after naptime, but Tia was there to catch her. So I changed her crib to a toddler bed. She is delighted and so far hasn't tried to crawl out of it.

In the past month our friends Helena and Angelo invited us to their beach house so Sarae had her first visit to the beach. She loved it. She ran giggling into the water and even getting knocked down by a wave didn't dampen her enthusiasm. When she had enough of the water, she ran around chasing the seagulls and other birds.

Sarae said her first sentence, "Bye, bye birdie". Whenever she hears laughter she will join right in. She's beginning to talk and gesture with her hands and then will throw back her head and start laughing.

She's going to be Elmo (one of her all time favorite characters) for Halloween and I'll try to post those pics soon.

Hope everyone is having a great fall!

Look at my new boots!

2007-09-04T17:27:00.000-07:00

My sister Lynne and her husband came to visit Sarae, bearing many gifts of course. Since they are from Texas, one of her gifts was a pair of pink cowgirl boots. Sarae loves the way they sound when she walks down the hallway. Sarae started daycare at a friend's house. There is one other little girl there all week with her and a 4 year old a couple of days and a baby one day. Although she cries when I drop her off, she seems to be adjusting well. She is definitely worn out from playing as she has been taking 3 hour naps there and even did the same here during the weekend. Before, I was lucky to get 1 and 1/2 hours from her. The last picture is Sarae vegging in front of the television. Sarae and I had a busy Labor Day weekend with chores around the house, working in the yard, washing the car and visiting our friend Coleen and her husband Ryan in Gainesville. Hope everyone had a wonderful Labor Day weekend!

It is HOT, HOT, HOT!!

2007-08-17T17:39:00.000-07:00

I thought it was just me, getting older and not tolerating the heat as well, but according to the paper, we've actually broken some records. Some friends have been kind enough to invite Sarae and I over to swim in their pools and Sarae loves it.
Sarae also loves popcorn, thanks to Tia and Butch. She demands it for breakfast, lunch and dinner so I have to hide it in the cabinet so she can't see it. Cody, my black dog, continues to be her best pal. The picture of her and Cody watching T.V. is a daily occurance. The picture of all three of them on my bed is what happens whenever I go to change my sheets - suddenly everyone has to get on the bed and no one understands "Get down". I love the picture of Sarae in her bunny robe, reminds me of the pig hat her Aunt Heidi Ho gave her in China. Hope everyone is staying cool! Love, Sarae, Cody, Buddy and Colleen

Yes, I'm on the potty!

2007-07-10T17:04:00.000-07:00

Exciting news- Sarae is starting to go potty on the potty! For those of us that change her diapers, this is very exciting. Sarae continues to do well, she has grown an inch and a half and gained about a pound and a half since we came home. She still loves fruit, veges and pasta. She loves animals and will squeal when she sees them. As you can see from the photos she is a great help around the house. Can't start them too young on their chores : ) Tia and Butch were nice enough to come over and put on a fireworks show for Sarae on the fourth of July. She loved them and clapped after each one. You can see Butch and Sarae in the last picture. She seems to have a little crush on him. When Tia, my mom or I ask her for a kiss, she will often shake her head no and laugh, but when Butch is around, she has no problem giving kisses. Smart girl!

AGHHH!! Back to work!

2007-05-26T19:07:00.000-07:00

Well, I knew it had to end and I officially started back to work this past Monday. My niece Tia and my mother are watching Sarae for the summer and everything is going smoothly. By the end of the week, Sarae had adjusted fine to my being back to work. I'm amazed by how much she has learned in the past three months. She can now twirl around, say "Wow", point to her toes when you ask her where her toes are, will take keys to the front door in an attempt to open the door, give kisses, yells "hey" at the dogs when they start barking (I do this in an attempt to get them to quiet down) and sits on Cody (our black dog) when he lays down. It's already warm so we have spent some early afternoons playing in her water table. She has great upper body strength and can actually pull herself into it and pretends it is her pool. She also likes to crawl into the kitchen cupboards to pull out even more containers. I've always said that Sarae reminds me of a boy with her high energy level, climbing, running and bouncing. Don't know if you can tell, but in the last picture, she is sleeping with a remote in one hand and her drink in another - just like a man! : )

Baptism and Sea World

2007-05-02T14:21:00.000-07:00

Sarae was baptised on April 22nd and didn't even cry when she was doused with water 3 times. Lots of friends and family were there to watch and then came over to shower her with more gifts at the house. Sarae also went to Sea World for the first time. I was worried she would be too young to enjoy it, but she loved it. She especially loved watching the dolphins in the underground viewing and made the other people laugh as she pointed and talked to them (the dolphins). She also kept calling them dada, still haven't gotten around to that talk : ) There's a new Sesame Street show and when she saw Elmo, Ernie, Cookie Monster, etc. she stood and screamed at the top of her lungs - very cute. Hope everyone is managing to stay cool - it's already in the high 80's here in Florida.

Take care!

Easter

2007-04-15T07:36:00.000-07:00

Sarae attended her first Easter Egg Hunt last weekend. She was actually satisfied with just one since when she shook it, the candy made a rattling sound. She now mimics (or attempts to) what you say back to you. She holds up her phone (or the remote) to her ear and pretends she is talking on the phone. She is waving bye-bye and nodding yes (she shook her head no from the beginning!). She loves Buddy and Cody (the dogs) and is generally more excited to see them in the morning than me. As you can see from the picture, she and Cody tend to get in trouble together as well (they have torn up a pillow). Hope everyone is doing great!

Guess who's walking?!!!!

2007-03-25T09:44:00.000-07:00

Yep, she finally realized Friday that she can walk and by my friend's son's first birthday party (Happy Birthday Henry!) really had it down-pat. It's amazing how quickly she can get into the dog's food now. They actually test dog food on humans first right?! : ) Since we were in China during Sarae's first birthday, my niece Tia threw Sarae a birthday party last week. As you can see from the pictures, Sarae really loves icing. She actually grunts when she sees icing and/or ice cream now. Sarae also went and had her picture taken with the Easter Bunny. Judging from her initial reaction to the dogs (screaming), my friend Paula and I were not sure how she would react to the Easter Bunny. Perhaps seeing Paula's children, Lily and Haden with the Easter Bunny helped because she seemed fascinated by him (as well as the fake flowers that were all around as a display which she pulled off every chance she got).

We are Home!!!!

2007-03-16T17:54:00.000-07:00

After 26 hours of traveling, we finally made it home around 10:00 a.m. on Saturday morning. Heidi and I both think that Sarae was the best traveler since she didn't whine once! Sarae continues to be outgoing and went to strangers on the plane and patted people's heads as we walked down the aisle. It took a few days for Sarae's stomach to get on the Florida time zone, but she is doing great now. She loves to eat and has eaten everything put in front of her. She loves her spaghetti and as you can see in the picture, she wears her food as well. Cody, my puppy, has realized that Sarae is a potential food source and tends to follow her around no matter where she is going. He is very patient with her and doesn't even flinch when she pulls at his ear or pokes him in the eye. Buddy, my German Shepherd mix, isn't sure what to think of her, but he will lick the top of her head and then run. He did bring her his treat yesterday which was very sweet. My sister Lynne, left Sarae lots of food and toys. We play every morning with the toys and Sarae loves them. My niece Tia is positive that Sarae actually said her name today, unfortunately I was on the phone so I didn't hear it. Sarae had her first doctor's appointment today. The doctor was very surprised at how healthy Sarae is (compared to other orphange babies she has worked with). She said that Sarae was very curious, smart and manipulative. Her motor skills are on target and she is a happy baby. Well, that is until it is time to go to sleep. She is still screaming if I put her in the crib and leave. For the last two days I've been able to pat her back for a few minutes and that has put her to sleep. We'll see how long that lasts! She got two vaccinations today and she cried for a total of 10 seconds. She's pretty tough and even when she busted her nose on my tile floor, she stopped crying before her nose stopped bleeding. Hope this blog finds everyone well and I'll try to keep it up every so often.

Take care!

More Shopping and the Farewell Dinner

2007-03-08T04:41:00.000-08:00

We had the morning free so Heidi, the Goliath Family, Sarae and I hit the leather market once again. Then Heidi and I went to Shaiman Island for some additional shopping. Heidi and I have shopped so much we are afraid we will have to buy another piece of luggage to get everything home! We had lunch at Lucy's Restaurant which caters to Americans. We had a hard time refraining from ordering almost everything on the menu, but settled for an enchilada, a grilled cheese sandwich, tomato soup, onion rings and spring rolls. For dessert we got popcorn. American food never tasted so good! : ) Sarae had her first cucumber and she loved it.

This afternoon we went to the American Consulate to take an oath that all the paperwork we turned in was factual and to finish the American portion of our adoption. Now when we step into the L.A. airport, Sarae will officially be an American Citizen - Yea!!!

Tonight we had a farewell dinner at a local restaurant. Most of the children were dressed in a traditional Chinese outfit and some of the parents as well. We pretty much ate and left since Sarae missed her afternoon nap and really needed to get some sleep.

We leave tomorrow night for L.A. and will arrive at 5:50 p.m. Our Delta flight to Atlanta leaves at 10:55 p.m. We then get on an 8:30 a.m. flight to Orlando arriving at 9:55 a.m. There is an earlier flight to Atlanta and then Orlando (by about an hour) and we are going to see if we can fly standby. If so, we'll call those people who are to pick us up to let them know the new time. Heidi and I can't wait to see everyone!! This will be our last blog since we are going to start packing everything up. Talk to you all soon!

Shopping & the Pearl River Cruise

2007-03-07T05:32:00.000-08:00

This morning our paperwork was taken to the U.S. Consulate to start processing the visas for the babies. While we didn't have to actually go, we did have to stay in our rooms until 11:00 a.m. to ensure we could be contacted if there were any questions. Heidi was kind enough to go to the local bank and exchange more money for us both and confirm our flight to L.A. Sarae took a nap and I attempted to organize our stuff a little.

Guangzhou has quite of few markets that sell at wholesale (or so they say). Today we went to the electronic market. We looked at many different items and ended up buying a little. We then returned to the hotel and Sarae and I took naps. Unfortunately, Heidi wasn't able to fall asleep.

The weather turned quite cool today and we are regretting sending our warmer clothing home with Leslie, but fortunately we have enough clothes to layer and keep warm. Tonight we went on a cruise on the Pearl River. Lucky for us, the boat was enclosed. While waiting to go on the boat, a little Chinese boy came up to Sarae and attempted to kiss her several times. She seemed amused by him. The buildings along the river all have lights on them so it is quite pretty. Guangzhou is known by several different names, Two of them are "The South Gate to China" since it sits on the river and is a major trading city and "The Flower City" - due to it's warmer climate, many different flowers are grown here. It is said to have good feng shui since it has both a mountain and a river. There are approximately 20,000 foreigners who live here. Many Africans are here, they buy from the markets and then sell the items in Africa. I know that when I sit in Starbucks (thank goodness they have tea and hot cocoa!), I see people from all over the world - pretty neat.

Sarae was actually on her schedule pretty much today and did extremly well. It's amazing to see all of the children adapting so well to their new parent(s) and their new environments. Only 2 more days til we start the journey home!

Shopping and Paperwork

2007-03-06T05:17:00.000-08:00

Today Heidi and I had the morning free so we decided to go out on our own to go shopping. We got a staff here at the China Hotel to write down in Chinese that we wanted to go to the Leather Market, than hopped in a taxi and showed them the paper. It worked and we spent 2.5 hours walking around and shopping. Sarae was so thrilled with the shopping, she fell asleep. We then rushed back to the hotel so I could work on the paperwork to obtain Sarae's Visa so we can come home. Meanwhile, Heidi stayed back in the hotel room so that Sarae could get her afternoon nap.

This evening we took a taxi to Bejing Road which is a road filled with shops.
We went with the Goliath family since they had already been there and were familiar with the layout. We went down an alley then upstairs into the little shop and they opened up two suitcases filled with different types of watches. Hopefully you can see this in the picture posted. It was hilarious - like something out of a movie.

Sarae continues to do well. She's eating very well. So far I know she likes watermelon, cantelope, noodles, tofu, eggs, and bread. I think she's getting a little bit of a tummy! She actually slept through the night last night, but since she missed her naps yesterday I'm not sure if that was just a one time thing or not. The only time she ever cries is if she is hungry or if I put her down to sleep. She screams horribly when I put her in her crib for anywhere from 5-15 minutes and then mid scream she will drop off to sleep. I feel so bad for my neighbor in the hotel!

Shopping and the medical exam

2007-03-05T01:36:00.000-08:00

Leslie had to unexpectedly leave to return to the States last night due to her nanny quitting while she was here with us. We miss her terribly and hope she had a safe flight home. Heidi has helped tremendously and even though she didn't think she could, she cleaned Sarae's nose and changed a poopy diaper. Yea Heidi!!!

This morning was a free morning so we met up with another family who had been here 2 years before. They had made a friend here then named Millie. Millie took us shopping and Heidi and I were able to check off some gifts on our list. We really felt fortunate having Millie with us as she did all of the bargaining for us.

This afternoon we went to Shaiman Island and had our medical check-ups. Sarae is a whopping 20.7 pounds. Good news - she's completely normal. The only bad news from the exam is that we learned Sarae is a kleptomaniac as she stole the rattle from the doctor. Hope Devereux will give a family discount : )

We are meeting for a group dinner here at the hotel and then it will be an early night for all of us. Hope everyone is doing well. Only 4 more days until we start our trip home.

We're in Guangzhou!

2007-03-04T00:02:00.000-08:00

We made it to Guangzhou and have met up with the other families. It's been great catching up with everyone and seeing all of the new children. We got in later than I thought last night and so when the team brought Sarae her birthday cake, she and I were already asleep, so we'll celebrate tonight instead. This is the last day of the Chinese New Year and it is also considered the Chinese Valentine's Day. For those of you that know Heidi, you can imagine how thrilled she was to be able to celebrate Valentine's Day twice this year! : ) We went to the Buddhist temple where many of the local people went. There was a lot of incense burning and the monks blessed all of the babies. It was a neat ceremony. We were going to go shopping afterwards, but Sarae fell asleep so we came back to the hotel instead. We plan on shopping tomorrow after the medical exams. Not sure if I will be able to post pictures tonight, but I will try. If not, I will definitely post the ones from this morning tomorrow.

Hope everyone is having a great weekend. We miss you all!

Mountain Park and the Tea House

2007-03-02T00:24:00.000-08:00

Today we were taken to Mountain Park to walk around and see the sites. The park, like the zoo, is open to the public at no cost so you see many people there, some exercising, some dancing, others just walking and socializing. The weather was perfect, cool, but not too cool. We walked up quite a bit so you could see the city below, but unfortunately, the pollution is so great, that you can't see very far. China has grown industrially very quickly, but there is no EPA here to help regulate the companies. In Mountain Park there is a government owned tea house and we were shown the correct way of making tea. We also got to try three of their teas. The tea trade has lasted over 4800 years in this area. I found the teas to taste too much like perfume was added, but other people in the group loved them. Sarae especially loved the chocolate wafers so we ended up buying those for her. The traffic over here is incredible and although there are lanes, people just drive wherever they can fit. It's a bit scary sitting in the bus and see another bus coming straight towards you. Somehow, everyone figures out what to do and I have yet to see an accident. There is no yielding for pedestrians and crossing the street is quite a challenge. Our guide Michael said there were three steps to crossing the street. One, close your eyes, Two make a wish, Three Run! I quite agree!

Speaking of Sarae, she is walking quite well with assistance. Doesn't seem to want to try steps on her own like yesterday, but walks like a champ if you hold her hand. She has also learned to clap her hands and say her version of "yay!". She finds this very amusing and laughs and laughs. She also says mama and dada. I've explained to her that I am her mama, not quite sure how to break the news about dada to her : ) We don't have to worry about Sarae's self-esteem - one of her favorite things to do is to look at herself in the mirror and kiss herself!

We received the paperwork for her adoption today and will receive her passport this evening. So, tomorrow we head back to Guangzhou. Not sure if we will post tomorrow or not. Will try since it is Sarae's first birthday!, but don't worry if you don't see anything.

Orphanage and first steps

2007-03-01T05:16:00.000-08:00

Today we were taken to one of the orphanages here in Chongquig. It wasn't Sarae's orphanage because her's is too far away (6 hours). This one was 2 hours and 4 of the babies in our group came from it. Surprisingly, only one other family decided to go, so it was a small group. One section is for the infants and the other section is for the elderly. We were allowed to go look at the baby's rooms, the kitchen and where they bath the babies. I think we all thought it was much better than what we had imagined in our minds. They obviously care for the babies and do the best jobs they can. The way they bath them is hysterical. They have this blown up pool like object (except it is smaller circumference wise and taller). They put a floatation device around the baby's head and place them in the pool/bath. I was glad to hear that once the babies are no longer considered babies, they are placed in foster care so they have a more normal upbringing.

We are seeing more and more of Sarae's personality come out. She is starting to laugh and smile more and actually went to a couple of other people today without crying. The exciting thing is that she actually took 3 steps today. She seemed pretty proud of herself afterwards! If you want to make her laugh, just tickle her tummy and she'll show you her pearly whites - all 5 of them!

The girls are asleep and I didn't get to download their pictures so I can only post the pics on my camera.

Wednesday - Feb. 28th

2007-02-28T03:15:00.000-08:00

Today we went to the zoo in Chongqing. We saw the pandas and the tigers, and Colleen got scolded by an old woman for not wearing a sweater. We had heard of the women scolding parents for not dressing the baby warm enough, but this was interesting for Mom to be scolded for not wearing warm enough clothes!

We also went to the Art Museum. We received a lesson in Chinese art and learned a little about the "eye of the dragon." This is the mark of the artist and his/her teacher that is placed within the landscape.

While on the bus ride, Michael, our tour guide and translator,talked a little about the Chinese culture changing from a socialist to a capitalist system. It was interesting to hear that when the government started charging for health insurance and higher education, that the people were actually happy. He explained that it was because they now receive better medical care and a better education.

We also heard some jokes from Michael regarding the Panda's.
First, why do Panda's sleep so much?
Because they are trying to get rid of the dark circles around their eyes... ha ha ha

Second, a Panda walks into a bar. He asks the bartender for a sandwich. When the bartender brings out the sandwich, the Panda eats it, then pulls out a gun and shoots it into the air. The bartender asks the Panda why he did that, and the Panda said "because I am a Panda silly" and tells the bartender to look it up in the encyclopedia. He then proceeds to leave the bar. So the bartender looks it up and finds out that the Panda is a native of China and eats shoots and leaves... ha ha ha

When we got back to the hotel, we tried to relax and take a nap. Sarae had other plans, however, and she decided she would rather be up. So, we ordered room service and stayed in.

Sarae

2007-02-27T13:09:00.000-08:00

Sarae continues to do well. She is starting to come out of her shell and is smiling a little and we have come to realize she can crawl and stand up on her own (for a few seconds anyway). They still have her on a every four hours feeding so I am getting up during the night with her. They told me that she eats congee (rice with lots of water)and noodles. We've introduced cheerios and watermelon. They told me that she was would eat anything and that eating actually soothed her. I believe it because she will sit in a high chair and I can leave the table and she is fine. She tends to cry if I leave her sight of vision at this point. Both Heidi and Leslie were able to hold her yesterday morning without her crying as long as I stood in front of her. Developmentally she seems to be on target and I have to say, we are having an extremely easy time with her. She does have a bad cough, down deep in her chest and they gave me antibiotics. She has a runny nose, but doesn't seem to have a fever. They gave me an antibiotic to give her and I'm also dosing her up with Children's Tylenol. She had her first bath yesterday. It literally scared the poop out of her! : ) By the end, she seemed to enjoy it, although the rinsing of the hair was not a pleasant experience for her.

I have to say, I cannot tell you how great it is having both Heidi and Leslie with me. I do not have to focus on anything except Sarae because those two have everything else taken care of. Since I have not been able to sleep very much, nor eat very much, it has been invaluable. They actually ventured out on their own in Chongquig to buy the most beautiful flowers for me in celebration of the adoption. Leslie has become the professional mother in the group and other first time parents are going to her for advice and questions.

I'm going to end here and now that I have figured out how to charge the laptop and post, you should be hearing from me (us) on a daily basis.

We got her!

2007-02-27T12:48:00.000-08:00

We flew to Chongquig, the province where Sarae is from, Monday morning. We got into our hotel around 12:00 and had an hour and a half to unpack. Leslie and Heidi were incredible in helping me unpack and put everything away to prepare for receiving Sarae. During this time we were practicing with the camcorder and for some reason it decided to stop recording. Thank goodness we realized this before we left and we had another couple agree to let us use their camcorder. They weren't going to videotape theirs, since they both were going to be focusing on receiving their daughter so Leslie offered to video tape for them and Heidi to take still shots. It ended up working out for everyone. We drove to the Civil Affairs office to get our babies and when we walked in you saw babies everywhere with nannies. There was about 15 minutes where we were waiting to go into our room to receive our babies and during that time we were each anxiously looking at the different babies to see if ours was there. I became overwhelmed and had to stop looking because I was getting too anxious. Leslie and Heidi kept looking and thought they had found her. They called out your name and then brought their babies to you. There were several people in front of me and for some reason, I just zoned out so when they called my name, I just stood there. Felt like an idiot when I finally heard them calling me, but all was forgotten when they handed her to me. She was smiling when they handed her to me. She's absolutely beautiful and she did not cry at all. She would look at me and then look around. At one point, she laid her head down on my shoulder and took a short nap. While they were coordinating the paperwork, (here in Chongquig the process is different and I actually finalized the adoption that day, it was interesting to see how the other children were reacting. The ages were from around Sarae's age to almost three. As expected, the older ones were having a difficult time going to these "strange looking" people. One couple in particular had a little girl (almost 3) who was crying and running from them. After watching the adoptive parents and the caretaker run after this crying child, Leslie finally went up to her and picked the crying girl up, took her to the parents and explained they needed to hold her and take her away from the caregiver so she would stop crying. They followed her advice and although it wasn't smooth sailing, the father was able to start working with her and she ended up bonding with him. It's amazing, but almost every child bonded with the father initally instead of the mother. In my case, no problem, she bonded to me.

We're here and we have her!

2007-02-27T12:33:00.000-08:00

I apologize for not being able to blog up until now. Unfortunately, when I open up to post blogs, everything is written in Chinese and I have been trying to rely on my memory to figure out how to post. Then, we realized that the adapter we brought (China uses a different voltage than the U.S.)was only for a two prong plug and the computer's was a three prong. Luckily, the hotel was able to provide us with the correct one. Hopefully, this post will be able to get through.

Our adventure began with an extremely long flight. We flew to LA with no problems and had a 14 hour layover until our plane left for China. We had gotten a hotel room with the thought that we would be able to sleep and shower. We all showered, but couldn't sleep. We did watch movies all afternoon (thanks Tia for providing those!). By this time, poor Heidi's head cold had gotten worse and she wasn't feel too well. The plane to China had tiny seats and tiny aisles. Just walking down the aisles to my seat I kept hitting everyone with my backpack. The flight was uneventful. On the plane we had to fill out forms regarding our health and what we needed to declare. Heidi and I were laughing at the translation because one option you could check was "snivling", we figured that meant a runny nose and since Heidi was sick, I believe she picked that one (she's asleep right now so I can't confirm). Once we got to Guangzhou, China, Leslie and I got through customs with no problems. I turned to wait for Heidi and saw them taking her off to another room. I started to go after her when Leslie reminded me they had already taken my forms and I wouldn't be allowed back in. I waited until I saw the guy that took Heidi off and questioned him, but he had limited English and I speak no Chinese and all I understood was "wait here for a minute". I figured they held her back due to her cold, I remember reading in the paper about their fear of sick people entering the country due to SARs and the Avian Flu. Finally, after what seemed an eternity, Heidi came out. Thank goodness when they took her temperature, she was normal. When we got to the hotel, Heidi went to sleep to try to get over her cold and Leslie and I ventured out. We went to Starbucks (yes I am forced to go here, since there is no Barnies in China that I can find!), 7-11 (to pick up drinks and snacks) and McDonalds (to pick up a little dinner). As you can tell, our hotel is surrounded by American companies.

The Dogs...

2007-02-03T17:09:00.000-08:00

Here are Buddy and Cody anxiously waiting for the arrival of Sarae. Buddy is the German Shepherd mix and is about 6 years old (he was abandoned so we are guessing what his age is). Cody is multi-cultural and he is the same age as Sarae, currently 11 months. Huge thanks to my sister Lynne for coming and taking care of them while I'm in China - I love you!!!

The Baby...

2007-02-02T10:35:00.000-08:00

One January day

I had an answer to a prayer

when I finally received a call

to say that you were there.

Though holding only a photo,

my heart was lost that day

to a tiny girl in China

half a world away.

The baby face and tiny ears,

the lovely almond eyes,

the chubby oh-so-kissable cheeks

held power to mesmerize.

The distance seemed to melt away

though still a world apart.

Gazing at your picture,

I met you heart-to-heart

At long last knowing you were real

a child to call my own,

the daughter I was soon to meet

to finally bring you home.