Natalie didn't have to dream of a white Christmas.

Another Christmas has come and gone.  This one seemed a bit different for some reason. Also, our living room looks like someone set off a toy bomb.  That must be the work of a new child in the family.

Natalie dealt with all 5 Christmases like a trooper.  While it always took a her some time to figure out what was going on, she got into the unwrapping of gifts without difficulty.  Like any almost 2 yo, she was easily distracted by the toy in hand and didn't want to move on to the next gift.  We had to distract her for a minute and take the toy away so she would move on.  I felt kind of guilty about that because it was like "look at all these great things your are getting, now were are going to take them away."  It was all good when they resurfaced though. Now, on to the good stuff.

The picture below is Natalie walking down the "catwalk" in her new boots.  This was taken Christmas morning.  She got the boots from her Aunt Brandi and Uncle Landon the day before.  She insisted on putting them on first thing in the morning with her footed pajamas.  I think she looked like an astronaut for some reason.

Next is a video of Natalie not quite grasping what to do with her gifts just yet.

Once she figured it out, she loved the tea pot.  She got two tea sets and loves them both.  She walks around serving tea for several hours a day.  I see that as a sign that she is ready to start working and contributing some income to the household.

More shots of toys.  We are working on the concept that this stick is only for hitting the xylophone, not the cat, table, or whatever else is in sight.

She loves anything "Ni Hao Kai-Lan."  Just ask her cousin.  She tried her best to steal her Kai-Lan toy from her.  The picture below is her new ride along.  The poor dinosaur from previous videos has gone extinct like his brethren.

Finally, a video of some holiday cookie decorations.  Aunt Brandi baked some cookies for the kids to decorate and leave out for Santa.  You will see, they all did an excellent job.

It really was a wonderful Christmas as Amy and I finally had the "gift" we had been wanting for so long.  I have said it before, but it doesn't stop being true, this girl has changed our lives so dramatically and we wouldn't want it any other way.  She makes us smile, cry, and pull our hair out, but she is awesome beyond belief.

It is pretty special

last year i got Amy an ornament for Christmas. it read "i will hold you in my heart until i can hold you in my arms." we certainly had hope, but didn't really think it was possible that the next Christmas would be so much more special. we can hold her in our arms now and we couldn't be happier.

Natalie going to town on her first ever gift wrapped Christmas present.

i hope you can figure out who put this outfit together. those would be her pajamas, her tutu (a gift from her great aunt), and cat hat. she is also holding a gift bag that she likes to pretend is a shopping bag. if we are missing items around the house, it is a good idea to check there.

i promise to put up some Christmas pics very soon after the festivities. we have about 4 Christmases and they should all be very fun and a new adventure. Merry Christmas everyone. Have a safe and very happy holiday!

"No."

While Amy was holding Natalie last night I attempted to lean in and give Amy a kiss and Natalie would have no part of it. She actually put her hand to my face and pushed me away. Great, now I have two women rejecting my affection.

I will get some pictures up again at some point, but I just wanted to drop a note. Natalie is doing pretty well (just a few sleep issues really and that is all). She had a great Thanksgiving with her family. She seemed to really enjoy herself. She is a big fan of traditional Thanksgiving food.

The Christmas tree is up and she is doing a great job of being gentle with it. She really doesn't want to bother it much unless Ma Ma is "playing" with the ornaments too. No presents under it yet, so we will see how that goes.

November

So, November is Adoption Awareness Month. This is a fact I knew nothing about in years past, but for some reason I find myself acutely aware of now. I had not been exposed to adoption much in my lifetime until Amy and I decided to find the love of our lives through it. Everyone who has gone through the adoption process has their own reasons, but I would like to thank them for trying to make a difference in the life of a child or young person. Adoption or foster care touches the lives of so many people, not just the adoptive parents or child. I believe my family and friends can attest to that.

So, on a more personal note, please see the pic below of our Natalie playing with her BFF Lily. OK, we don't know that they are going to be besties for life, but I certainly hope they can become good friends. Lily is the daughter of Joe and Gina Saltsman and the little sister of Lauren. They went and returned from China about a week ahead of us. Lily is just a bit older than Natalie, but they are very close in size and, it seems to me, in personality. Amy and I are very happy to have met the Saltsmans and hope that we can watch our girls grow up together. It would be great for both girls to realize that even though a family is not based on looks, there are ones out there that like just like theirs.

Also, it isn't just for the girls benefits. I know I enjoy talking to another family the gets the difficulties and joys that go along with raising a child of International Adoption.

That is Mr. Potato head they are "playing with." I think this picture was probably taken amidst a lesson of sharing for both girls. Lily was protective of her toys and Natalie wanted them to be hers. I think they worked it out by the end of the night. Lily did graciously share one of her tutus with Natalie.

As far as life with Natalie goes, everything is moving along without much difficulty. Well, change is always difficult, but we manage, right? We think Natalie is going through some attachment issues right now. While these might not be fun for the parents, they are essential for Natalie and ultimately healthy for our family. Also helpful is that Amy is no longer bombarded with work and we can spend more time together as a family. That may mean Amy and me watching TV while Natalie runs around pulling all of her toys out and drooling, but at least she sees that we are all there together. FYI, she is drooling because she has some more teeth coming in. We have been lucky in that department as she had most of them when we got her and has had no fever or, as far as we know, serious pain with these four coming in now.

Finally, below you see Amy and Carla with Natalie. Carla stopped by to visit for a while to remind me how scarily similar her and Amy really are. Thanks for stopping in Carla. Hopefully in December we will get a visit from Olivia Proulx Smith, if her parents can work us into their schedule that is. :)

Get Candy. Get Candy.

i guess i better put some Halloween pictures up, huh? it was a pretty interesting couple of days. i don't think she ever figured out why people were dressed up in costumes, but it didn't take her long to realize she was cute and people would give her lots of candy. candy that she wasn't really supposed to be eating, but Ma Ma apparently slipped her some today. i thought i was going to be the first to break.

on Saturday, a local church offered a trunk or treat for the area kids. it is pretty cool as it is just a condensed version of the Halloweens we all grew up with. it is car to car in a parking lot instead of house to house. she was nervous at first with all the people wearing "weird" outfits, but, as usual, it didn't take her long to warm up. you gotta love this outfit though.

Go Cats!

next came Sunday. we didn't do the typical door to door but wanted to make sure she got the spirit of the holiday and that family got to see her. she loved grabbing items and putting them in her basket. Saturday was my outfit and Sunday was Amy's.

finally, just some pictures of Natalie playing in the leaves. again, she wasn't real sure what to think about this. let's just say the pictures make it look like she enjoyed more than she actually did. thanks for checking out the blog, peeps.

It is amazing how such a little child...

You can pretty much finish that sentence with just about any statement.


Someone said that to me today with the ending something to the effect of "cause so much change." It really got me thinking. It is amazing how such a little child can change your life.


I didn't used to spend most of my day thinking about one person. Sorry, Amy, but you didn't get most of the day. I didn't use to look forward to stepping through my garage door into the house. That was just a mundane part of the coming home routine. Now, thanks to a little girl, it is a big event. I didn't use to care that much for hugs and kisses on the cheek. It is amazing how such a small child can change all those things.


However, it ain't all sunshine and roses either. It is amazing how such a small child can frustrate you to no end. It...can make you so mad. It...can make her parents so mad at each other without knowing she had any effect on that. It is amazing how such a small child can rip through the life you thought you were so comfortable with like a tornado (and make the house look like just that as well).


All in all though, it really is amazing how such a child could carry so much love with her. I can no longer imagine my life without her, nor do i care to.












































This last picture is from my friends Terrell and Amy's wedding. I think Natalie liked the reception more than anyone there. She had a blast. I was really hoping there were some pictures of her with Amy in their traditional dresses, but alas, I had none. I am sure my friend Tim can help me with that.

Lookin' pretty

not much to say, but wanted to post some new pictures. we absolutely love this dress sent to us by Marvin and Julia from China.

Natalie is doing very well with her walking. she rarely crawls these days. she dances a lot though.

enjoy the pictures. we certainly do like looking at our beautiful girl.

And this is how we...

WALK!

Here is what you have been waiting for...Ramblings from a Tired New Mom

Seven years is a long time to be forced to wait to have a family (and I realize that others wait even longer). I can only believe that Stephen and I went through what we did to lead us to this particular child. Our child. And as our sweet girl lies sleeping in her crib now like a little angel, I know we have been blessed. Just a few short months ago, we had no idea when we would ever hear the good news from China. It’s amazing how quickly your life can change for the better.

I was thinking about the upcoming holidays and how completely different they will be this year. The holiday season has been rather depressing the last seven years, but especially the last couple of years. Seeing Natalie’s face in the glow of the Christmas tree lights is something I’ve dreamed about for so long. I hope she loves the holidays as much as I do.

I knew I would be tired as a new parent, but I thought that just maybe there would be days when I had the same level of energy that I used to. The adjustment to our new life has been challenging in many ways, but we are so happy to make it. I no longer have to set my alarm clock, waking up instead to Natalie chattering to herself in her crib. She’ll hear me stir and then look over at me and smile that smile, and we’re off!

We received her official U.S. citizenship certificate recently. You’ll see us posing with it below. It’s pretty cool and was really moving to read. It took me back to when we went to the U.S. Consulate’s office in Guangzhou on our last afternoon in China. We entered the building and when we got to the escalators, that American flag was such a welcome sight after being away from everything familiar for over two weeks (it wasn’t lost on us that we had experienced just a small taste of what changes and challenges Natalie was to face in the near future). We both got teary-eyed as we took the oath for her. I hope that as she grows up she’ll be at peace with what a different path her life has taken.

So we’re trying to decide what Natalie should be for Halloween. Stephen thought she’d make a great Ewok, but he got overruled. I, of course, voted Munchkin; I’m sure we’ll reach a middle ground.

Enjoy the pictures, and maybe it won’t be so long until I post again.

Natalie with two of her cousins.

Just one of the many faces of Natalie.

Loser

yeah, i know already. it has been a while. my plan was to get Amy to make the next post, but not enough people said they wanted to hear from her to get her to post. ok, not really. she is still pretty busy. she claims that there is a light at the end of the tunnel soon.

anyway, i wanted to let people know that we had a our visit to the Shriner's Hospital in Lexington and saw the pediatric orthopedist. he was very pleased with the surgery and with Natalie's progress. he did say that the rate of reoccurance for club foot is about 30% so we still need to be vigilant. they want us to have her wear the brace during the night for as long as she is cool with it or a year if she doesn't complain. Natalie is a trooper though and doesn't really let it get to her. even when she swings it all over the crib. she has even cut back on the whining when it goes on.

we are really looking forward to tomorrow by the way. we are having dinner with some new friends. this couple and their daughter traveled to China about a week ahead of us to add a beautiful young girl to their family as well. this will be the first time Natalie gets to meet her, we hope, new life long friend. it would be really great for the two of them to see each other and to see that there are families out there that look a lot like their own. :)

9/17

first birthday as a parent. interesting, but not too different just yet. of course, she had no idea that it was my birthday. Amy helped her make a card for me. very sweet.

i did take a video of Natalie playing along with one of her toys. this toy is courtesy of Marty and Kari. thanks you two, she enjoys it much like you said Brooke does. you will see (and sadly hear) me along with her Uncle Jason in this video. Amy and Aunt Leslie are off camera. i know, they should have been on, but what do you do? i have some pictures i will post soon and i promise that Amy will be in at least one.

Jason and Les came down to have dinner with us for my birthday. they brought some Indian food down with them. we can't get that in Glendale (shocker, right?). in order to not offend her other uncle, David, he did take me out to lunch today. way to step up big bros.

in the video, pay attention to her face on the second play of the tune. very cute.

Moving around

here is some more video of Natalie working on her walking. she really is doing so much better. we got this dinosaur (with Tim's persistence) about two weeks ago. when she first started using it she leaned on it too much and it would get ahead of her causing her to fall over and then she would just crawl. as you can see, that is not the case now. the only thing stopping her is the wall or our clutter.

Natalie came to visit me at work yesterday while Amy got some grocery shopping done. btw, it is much more expensive shopping for three than two than one might think. anyway, i think everyone at my office enjoyed seeing Natalie wrap Ba Ba around her finger.

speaking of Amy. Jessica and i had a discussion that she needs to post about her experiences a bit as well as appear in a few more pictures instead of taking all of them. if you agree, then let her know with your comments.

enjoy the video.

Workin' on it.

ok, i know the lighting isn't great but i wanted people to see this. it isn't even a small step for some, but it is a giant leap for Natalie. she isn't quite walking on her own yet, but you can see she is making big strides (so to speak).

Insatiable

come on people, give me a break. i try to get pictures up when i can, but we have been a bit busy lately.

on Wednesday we went to UK to the International Adoptions Clinic to have her looked at. Dr. Taylor said everything looked good. they took A LOT of blood to run a bunch of standard tests. We won't know about those for a couple of weeks. the best news was about her foot. this is the first time we have really had someone with experience in the field look at it and she said it looks great. she thinks they did a great job in Shanghai (thank you Chinese surgeon and Julia and Marvin). she even said that she wouldn't bother with the shoes from now on. so, we aren't using them at all now and trying to strengthen her foot up. we will still see the specialist to see what they recommend (9/20). Natalie also met her first UK basketball player as he was getting some blood drawn as well.

i had to go back to work on Thursday. it went over pretty well. Natalie didn't get to upset (yes, i secretly hoped she would) and neither did i. view the picture below to see my triumphant return.

today she went back to the Peds Dr. here to start some of her immunizations. Amy took her there and while Natalie wasn't a big fan of the shots, she is taking it like a trooper now. the first picture you see is her napping after the rough day.

finally, if she looks a bit chubbier to you it is because she is. she is now 19.10 lbs and 30". She has gained about 2lbs since we got back from China.

Simply pictures

this kid loves her peanut butter.

nap time

sitting outside

Sorry and thanks

i apologize for neglecting the blog recently. hasn't really been much to talk about. Natalie seems to be doing fine and we have started to get her out and about to see some people that have made requests. we will continue to have her out occasionally, but can't do it too often as she shows some signs of stress after having a big day.

several friends and family have been very kind in providing food for us so that we don't have to cook or clean as many dirty dishes. we greatly appreciate all of the help you have provided. if anyone wants to come clean the house, feel free (jk).

don't have any pictures to post really. we haven't taken many as we are recharging all the batteries we used on our trip. will post some ASAP.

News

we received a very interesting phone call last week. our adoption agency, CCAI, informed us that they had an email from Natalie's foster family in Shanghai. i'm sorry, her what? apparently, when Natalie was in Shanghai for a bit getting her foot taken care of, she stayed with a very wonderful family. we had no idea that she had been there for 4 months and especially didn't know she lived with a family. let me say this IS NOT a negative thing. from the limited conversation we have had with Julia and Marvin, it sounds like she was cared for VERY WELL and loved the whole way. the only issue we had was not knowing about this. we would have loved to visit them while we were there.

anyway, i am not gong to talk a lot about her time with Julia and Marvin as that is part of her story that she can decide to tell people when she gets older. let the kid have some privacy, people. i will say that we are excited to hear from them and wish very much to keep in touch. they have already told us many things about how Natalie developed some of her wonderful personality. we are so grateful for the love and care they gave our daughter and we want them to see her flourish as she grows into a beautiful young lady.

one last piece of news. while she was with them in Shanghai, Natalie had surgery on her foot. again, not something we were told about, but oh well. we had some suspicions since there did appear to be a small scar on her achilles area. this comes as a big relief to us though. we were so worried about her having to go through surgery in this new and strange place we call home. fyi, we will still take her to get evaluated by the wonderful people at Shriners and see how they want to proceed. again, we cannot thank Julia and Marvin enough for the love, kindness, and blessings they showered on our girl.

in closing, enjoy the videos of bubbles by the pool and playing with Aunt Joyce's dog, Lily.

Like a boss

that would be Natalie taking her breathing treatment like a champ. she really has done well with that since we had to bring the nebulizer home. it has also made a big difference in her cough.

let me start from the beginning. so, i got sick and then Natalie and Amy proceeded to get it as well. you can blame it on me if you want, but the Dr. says this has been going around. so, we probably all got it on the plane. anyway, she came down with this virus and an ear infection. all this caused a fever, a nasty cough, and a less than sunny attitude. one of the main issues was lack of sleep. she kept waking herself up with the cough and then made sure we got up top take care of her.

luckily, it seems like we have made it through the woods. she slept all night last night and her mood is much improved. it could be that she is feeling better or that she doesn't have to make daily trips to the Dr. or wal-mart.

just thought i would let everyone know that we are doing better and hope to start seeing everyone soon. it starts tonight with a dinner date with the Hensleys. tomorrow it is Amy's family for lunch and my family for dinner. she has been out and about some during the day, so we think she can handle it.

Rough going

thought you all might like to see some more photos. these were taken Sunday at Granny and Papa's. Natalie really enjoys the pool which is awesome since it is great for bonding. now we just have to get Amy in there too.
so, Sunday was a good day, but it has been rough ever since. Natalie did come down with the funk that I have and has not been feeling well at all. it has really messed up the sleep schedule for everyone as well. i am starting to feel better though and she is about 12 hours behind me symptom wise, so hopefully she will be out of the woods soon.
parenting hasn't been easy so far. Amy does have to share the brunt of the load though as Natalie prefers her when she needs to be taken care of and Amy has taken to the mommy role very well. Natalie likes me in public and when she wants to play (imagine that). considering all the drastic changes in this girl's life, the screwy schedule due to traveling, and the sickness, i think we are all managing OK.
hopefully she will be feeling better soon and we can start to show her off.

The journey home

i guess i should fill you in on the goings on since we left China. the first flight from Guangzhou to LA was a breeze. i really mean that. it was an overnight flight for us and Natalie slept almost the entire time. we didn't purchase a seat for her, she was just going to be in our laps. however, there were a few empty seats on the plane and the very nice young man sitting next to us agreed to move to another seat (like he really wanted to sit with a baby anyway). so, that left us with an empty seat between us for Natalie to sleep in. awesome.

the next flight from LA to Atlanta went OK. Natalie really wanted to be active at LAX and crawl around, but after we let her do that for a minute and saw the filth she had on her hands an socks, we just couldn't do it anymore. so, she was quite active on the flight. pretty well behaved, but doing the jungle gym routine again.

the shortest flight of the trip, ATL to Louisville was by far the worst. of course, it took forever to get off the ground in ATL. it was hot in the plane and Natalie was pretty upset. we were about halfway to Louisville when the pilot got on and told us that we had to turn around. some kind of malfunction that prohibited us from lading in Louisville because of storms in the area. thing is, there were no storms at that time. some BS excuse for some other kind of issue i think. we were not happy. they ended up cancelling the flight. i was livid and was certain i was going to be very inappropriate in my conversations with the Delta folks. however, when we got off the plane we were told that they had empty seats on a flight leaving just a few minutes later. Natalie didn't take well to the change in her itinerary though and cried the last 20 minutes of the flight. i am talking screams. not fun.

anyway, we made it to Louisville. there were many family members there to greet us. it was very nice. special thanks to Carla, her mom, and her aunt for coming all the way down from Maryland just for the occasion. also, i apologize to Dave and Robin, that Delta screwed us over and we had to miss you. thanks for coming out.

one final note. Natalie did great last night. she went to sleep about 4pm (remember, this is 4 am her time) and slept until about 6 am. so, she was really tired, and it looks like she might have really taken a big step in helping us with the transition. if she continues to do well sleep wise, then we may be able to get her out and meeting folks a bit sooner than we had thought.

fyi, i did not sleep well and have a very nice chest cold, if anyone cares.

Natalie comes home

we made it. it was not uneventful, but it was accomplished. Natalie is doing pretty well and probably was a better trooper than Daddy for parts of the flight.

i will talk a little bit more aobut our adventures later, but now is time for shower (i absolutely need it) and sleep.

so happy to be back in the States and back in Glendale.

Last day

Natalie says, "we are going where?"

we are leaving tonight. flight takes off around 9 on Friday night here.  we will be back in KY around 10 on Saturday morning.  for those of you who would like to see us at the airport, you can contact David or mom for details about our flights (and delays).  hopefully we will all be able to sleep on the planes and will be in a good mood to greet you.  

things have been going pretty well.  Natalie has really gotten closer to me in the past few days.  that is almost a bad thing since my arms are very tired.  she still likes her mommy when it is bedtime though.

while we will miss some things about our stay here, we are certainly ready to come home.  we want everybody to see her ASAP and we will make every effort for that to happen.  please remember though that we are trying to do a 12-hour shift for a child with a very regular sleeping schedule.  it will be quite the challenge.  

fyi, everyone here keeps talking about what a pretty girl she is.  we are very proud of our "sexy lady" (what we have been told one of the Chinese characters used to spell Natalie means).  awesome. 

Checking in

everything is OK here.  apparently there are some issues with the internet in Glendale, so i don't have access to David's PC and therefore can't get on blogger.  sending this via email.

we are very ready to head home tomorrow.  more about that and other things later.

3 days and counting.

that is really the only big news of the day. just three days left until we board the plane to come home.

nothing much went on today. we went to the zoo this morning. just like any other zoo really except for the giant panda. that was pretty cool to see. he was treated like royalty compared to the other animals.

we had a great video call just a little while ago with both grandmothers. skype is a wonderful thing. hope they enjoyed talking with Natalie a bit. they also got to see a bit of her fussy side as the call ran into bath time. i pity the fool who interferes with Natalie's bath time. btw, we just got done with the fussiness at an hour past normal bedtime. way to go grandmas!

just kidding, it had more to do with a messed up nap schedule. i think.

And now here is something we hope you'll really like.

it was a pretty good day despite the way it started off. today was Natalie's medical examination. you can see from the photo that she did not like it. let me first say that we were very thankful the Dr.s told us to move our appointment to today. it was supposed to be Saturday. there were 90 families scheduled to be there,so we would have been there for over three hours in a crowded facility. however, since we were rescheduled, it only took about a half hour. a half hour is all she could handle. everything checked out fine to our knowledge. they aren't exactly forthcoming with medical information here. her weight is 18.9 lbs for those who are curious. we didn't get her exact height, but hopefully will later. the rest of the day was pretty unremarkable. with a trip to a shopping market the only other real activity. we did get this video though. if this doesn't make you smile, then something is WRONG with you. hope you like it.

Video anyone?

i am going to attempt to post a video. i think the issues before wasn't the size, but the definition (eveyone now..."that's what she said"). so, these are taped in SD and not HD. the HD files are just to large and might not be supported by many players. these took place in the hotel playroom. The White Swan is the travel destination for so many adoptive families that they have a contract with Mattel to provide toys and a room for kids to play in. it is a nice touch and an opportunity for the adults to talk as well. we have met couple from Wisc., Arkansas, and New Orleans.

We have arrived

we are now at he glorious White Swan Hotel in Guangzhou. Holy crap was it frustrating though. i can tell you this, i won't be flying Schinzhen Airlines anytime soon. the picture you see is Natalie trying to call someone and figure out why our flight was delayed almost an hour.

it just got worse from there. after finally boarding, we sat at the gate for another hour. of course, not speaking the native tongue, i could not get an explanation as to why we weren't leaving. once we got in the air and Natalie feel asleep, i moved up to one of the two empty seats in the exit row for more leg room. i was promptly told by the attendant that i had to move back to my original seat. no explanation again (other had moved around by the way, i wasn't the only one).

after i begrudgingly returned to my seat Natalie soon woke up and decided to use Amy and I as a jungle gym. she wanted to get out of there as badly was we did.

we eventually made it to the hotel at 10 pm, and hour past Natalie's bed time. We could tell that she was incredibly tired, but she wouldn't settle down. she just kept moving all about. when we tried to hold her or put her down a scream fest broke out. it was easily the most frustrating moment of my young parenthood.

Amy isn't feeling well by the way. maybe a virus. wish her well.