Life with Mia

My Valentines

2010-02-12T10:30:00.000-06:00

Mia had her party bumped up a day in anticipation of the incoming snow, but Michaela's party was supposed to be today. Well, I guess we've got to do something with all that chocolate! :-)

First Snow in 17 years

2010-02-12T10:28:00.000-06:00

We are having a great day enjoying the first snow day in decades!
Mia knows exactly what to do with a snowball. FUN! FUN! FUN! at least for the moment until we get cabin fever or someone falls and busts their you-know-what!

Scenes from Christmas Day 2009

2009-12-25T16:56:00.000-06:00

What a Day to Celebrate!

2009-12-25T16:50:00.000-06:00

Even though we are missing Elliott, our oldest son, we have enjoyed a day visiting with him via our Skype webcam.
Mia wanted a new bike, tricycle, this year for Christmas. I was glad to oblige because the last little one she'd gotten two years ago she'd worn the tires out. She preferres to play outside and not with dolls. She has been pulling a laundry hamper around with any kind of rope, string or ribbon she could find, so when Nana asked what to get her this year we immediately thought of a wagon. Merry Christmas to all who still hange4 around and I hope that you'll drop me a comment or two.

Chasing Butterflies

2009-08-04T10:45:00.003-06:00

On my last day at home before school starts, Mia and I found ourselves home alone. Well, it's a beautiful day and the outdoors was calling. There were swarms of butterflies around my zinnias and Mia always has her net handy, so we ran and chased them for at least an hour. She's always been a sweat -er so it didn't take long before she was dripping in this Mississippi humidity.

100 Wishes Quilt

2009-07-18T16:11:00.002-06:00

It's complete! The 100 wishes quilt is a tradition many adoptive families like to give their chinese children. A group of waiting parents from all across the U.S. sent swatches of fabric squares to each other along with blessings for their adopted child. We sew the squares together and compile the blessings from each family along with their corresponding fabric swatch into a scrapbook. Now Mia can find what family sent her which square and know where they're from and that they are a family with a Chinese daughter or son just like herself. I pray that it will be another reminder that she is not alone in how she came into our family, and that she is part of something bigger than herself.

Boating to Pensacola

2009-07-15T12:08:00.003-06:00

Our first major trip out on our boat. We enjoyed 4 days, 3 nights in the bay waters off Pensacola beach. Mia enjoyed the swim time and the undivided attention of her siblings and Sergio, our friend from Spain. We had hoped to see the Blue Angels fly, but a busted water pump put us late and we missed all but the last bit. Maybe next year.

Celebrating Freedom

2009-07-07T12:26:00.003-06:00

Double Barrel Bubble Blower

2009-04-18T10:14:00.002-06:00

For many days now, Mia has enjoyed mega bubble blowing. The wind has helped make the show specktacular. Michaela is not so easily impressed and is preoccupied with the duties of a surragate mother to a little kitty.

I blinked!

2009-04-13T19:31:00.002-06:00

And it is April 2009! What has happened since Christmas? It something like a turducken - a giant mess stuffed within a mess and then baked till done. Here's a few photo's to show the madness I call my life.

Collage!

2008-12-26T09:14:00.001-06:00

Still learning the collage process....give me a week and I'll have some pics that include the boys too.

Mayhem at Nana's

2008-12-26T08:52:00.000-06:00

Christmas 2008

2008-12-26T08:12:00.004-06:00

Mia had just as much fun wrapping the presents and playing with the rolls of paper as she did unwrapping them. Almost. One present she refuses to play with is an Asian doll. When she opened it her face went solumn and she quickly threw it to the side. Normally she loves dolls but she's quick to tell us, "I don't like Ling". Oh well.

This year I determined not to carry out the Santa Clause routine. Also, I broke with the traditional hanging of the Stockings. Why? It for me was just more "stuff" to stuff inside. We have plenty. They didn't miss them one bit. Santa will be a bit more difficult to ignore because nearly everyone wants to know what he's brought them. People will probably think I'm destroying the "magic" for them. I just want them to have faith not magic.

Michaela taking her Nana's presents to her on Christmas Eve. She was beside herself in anticipation of a few surprises, though she had placed her orders weeks ago. There were a few things she didn't know about. She was thrilled.

Our Silver Anniversary

2008-12-07T15:58:00.000-06:00

Sillyness

2008-12-05T13:50:00.004-06:00

After 2 days with a raging fever, Mia finally emerged again today. Silliness still intact.

I'm thinking its probably 5th disease or Roseolla - who knows but she's no longer the little pile of pitifulness and the spark is back in her eyes. She brings so much joy.

Mia Melt Downs

2008-10-13T17:18:00.004-06:00

She's becoming quite the drama queen. It's over the little stuff. She hates the sprinkler. Michaela touched her stuff. Abbie, the dog, ate her snack. OMG! The world is ending! The tears just pop out of her eyes. I can check all her molars for cavities because the loud, never-ending, piercing, blood-curdling screams continue for minutes that seem like hours. We love her to pieces even as she's falling apart. Just look at that face! (click to enlarge :-))

What a way to end a Summer

2008-08-31T17:51:00.002-06:00

A Saturday at the beach now a night waiting for a hurricane. Beauty and the beast all in a long weekend.

Icing Hitler

2008-08-24T12:59:00.002-06:00

The birthday girl just couldn't stop celebrating yesterday so we just let her keep eating and eating and blowing out candle after candle. She probably sang happy birthday to herself at least 20 times. Today she was a bit pieved that I wouldn't let her have her cake and eat it too!

Mia's Third Birthday

2008-08-23T16:42:00.002-06:00

We celebrated Mia's third birthday today. The magic of the day still lingers in the house. She's knee deep in goodies and sky high on sugar.

I did not tell Mia of the event to come until late yesterday evening when I picked her up from preschool. Immediately she perked up and seemed to know her "special day" was coming soon. It just seemed to cruel to call August 20th her birthday and then have to wait till Saturday to celebrate.

She got up this morning more excited than I've ever seen her and sang "happy birthday" over and over. I was surprised that she consented to a nap but she settled right down when I told her if she took a nap everyone would be here when she woke up. And it happened just like that. You should have seen her face when she walked into the room full of family and her cake, presents and decorations where all in place.

As we sang the song she looked a little embarrased at all the attention but she was glowing. All morning she'd wanted to "blow the fire" and when she saw the candle she was so proud. Everyone watched in awe of how she gingerly opened each gift and said thank you. The icing on the day when as everyone was packing up she came back into the room and she "Mia's special day!" It took a few moments for the words to fall on our ears, but she repeated herself and our hearts just melted. It truly was a special time for her and for all of us.

Happy Freedom Day!

2008-07-02T06:53:00.003-06:00

Since the boys have taken both my cameras with them to Spain to see Sergio (yes that's him to the left and yes he's spanish and wearing a mexican sombrero :-)) I've decided to load a few random shots. At top is Mia loving her guacamole (spicy too!) and the other shots are of her brother Elliott and lake time with sister (a daily occurance). She's been told the brothers are at Sergio'a house, but she will never understand why they have just dissappeared. We're knowing they're having lots of fun with Sergio on his home turf. They became great friends while he was an exchange student here in Lucedale for this past school year. It'll be a weird 4th of July without them, but Ethan shot enough fireworks before he left to satisfy me for a while.

Chairman Mao appears on the Mia Show

2008-06-30T05:47:00.003-06:00

Mia appears nightly on her stage beginning around 8 p.m. and the show will go on for as long as we allow.

Readoption Day

2008-06-30T05:10:00.009-06:00

The last step of Mia's adoption is final. She appeared before a local Chancery Court Judge on Friday with another mountain of paperwork stating that yes, she was a true orphan and that we are fit parents (ha!). She put on her usual little Mia show for him and he scooped her up into his arms declaring he'd take her "if" we ever decided not to....She showed him her pretty dress and shoes and her charm was flowing. We told him we wanted her to be like everyone else but one day she'd realize she doesn't look like everyone else here in Mississippi. He said, "she looks the same to me."

The first 16 months of her life she lived in China, now 16 more months have passed (her adoption day was 2-5-07) and we know more than ever how blessed we are to have her in our family. Now she's been officially declared a Mississippi girl! She will be issued a Mississippi birth certificate. Mia already speaks with a twang and loves grits - oh my! What are we doing to her?!

A Letter from Half the Sky

2008-06-24T20:23:00.002-06:00

It's been a month or more since we've heard from the earthquake in China. That reminds me of when Hurricane Katrina hit the Mississippi Gulf Coast, after a few months life for others goes on, but for the victims it is just a beginning of a new reality. Here's a letter I recieved to remind us of the pain these people are enduring, yet also a reminder of how many people devote their lives committed to relieve suffering. If only I were 10% as committed as they.

Hello Friends, A little over a month after Sichuan’s May 12th earthquake, we opened Halfthe Sky’s first BigTop children’s activity center (with preschool, artclasses and counseling) in a refugee camp in Dujiangyan, near the quake’sepicenter. In a town that has experienced so much sadness, the opening wasa happy, festive occasion to welcome a new oasis for fun and support forthe children and the community. On hand for the opening were city andministry officials, child trauma experts Marleen Wong and Suh Hsiao Chenof National Center for School Trauma and Bereavement, and psychologistsrepresenting our newest partners in this important effort, the MentalHealth Centre of West China Hospital at Sichuan University. The experts offered some training for assembled volunteers and, as atevery celebration worth its salt in China, a group of adorable childrensang and danced for the crowd. For a brief moment, the earthquake seemeda world away.http://www.halfthesky.org/work/earthquake08-healing.php#part2 Even before the opening the BigTop had become a magnet for children, aplace where they can play and share even their most troubling earthquakeexperiences. A few days earlier, when the furniture was being painted,curious children arrived again at the tent and were disappointed not to beallowed in because of the paint fumes. Half the Sky staffers couldn’t bearto send the children away so they set up a table outside the tent, on theconcrete platform (above the mud) where the children played with bubblesand toys. Three little girls made themselves comfortable and the oldest, anine-year-old, immediately put a plastic doll face down under a toy tableto protect the doll from an earthquake. She told her friends and a Halfthe Sky staffer about the day of the quake, when her teacher ran out ofthe classroom, expecting the class to follow. Instead, the children sat attheir desks until they heard their teacher yelling that they should getout as fast as they could. All three girls then started cooking with toy utensils, chopping up leaveswith a toy cleaver to make soup. When asked why they were only makingvegetables, one girl said solemnly: “Because we are very poor. This is allwe have.” Another girl, around 10, took advantage of the ample art supplies in thetent to draw a girl with pigtails and a rainbow. She solemnly explainedthat she wants to be a mathematician and the drawing was not a selfportrait. It was a drawing of her best friend, who after the earthquakeleft the area and now there is no way to contact her: “I am afraid I’llnever see her again.” While the volunteers and staff at the tent will provide “psychologicalfirst aid” for the children, they will also refer children toprofessionals at the Mental Health Centre of West China Hospital atSichuan University when first aid is not enough. Children like aterrified 6 year old girl who, after 50 hours, was the only survivorrescued from her primary school. Protected by the body of her teacher, shesurvived with minimal physical injuries. But no one could protect her fromthe emotional trauma of waiting for help for so many hours in the schoolwhere her friends and her teacher died and - after all that - learningthat her father did not survive. Of the many volunteers who helped in the tent or attended our trainingsnone is more impressive than a group of eight survivors from the collapsedJuyuan Middle School, where perhaps 900 children died. Whether pitching into sweep rainwater from the BigTop before its drainage problems werefixed, or helping to set up toys on newly painted shelves, or playing withchildren, these impressive, hardworking teenagers have all decided thatthey want to focus on helping others rather than on what they lost on theday their school collapsed around them: “We received a lot of help fromothers. Now we can help. When we help people it helps us,” says one of thestudents, who gathered in a circle in Half the Sky’s BigTop. One smiling boy bears the most obvious scar of that day—a gash that tookfourteen stitches to close. It runs alongside his eye down to his mouth.Like all of the children who survived, he is mindful of friends who didnot: “At first I felt guilty that I survived. Now because I amvolunteering I feel more comfortable.” The students from Juyuan also provide an example of what was perhapsNCSTB’s Dr. Marleen Wong’s most surprising message to the caregivers shetrained in Sichuan. In the midst of the all-too-obvious devastation andpain wrought by the earthquake, Wong introduced new research about aphenomenon called “post-traumatic growth.” A small percentage of children,says Wong, will make positive life changes that are a direct result of atrauma or a disaster. These are the children, says Wong who become “wisebeyond their years, more mature, have a deeper appreciation of life,” inthe wake of a tragedy. “They have new values and life priorities.” One Juyuan student explains that not only has he resolved to volunteer inthe wake of the earthquake, he has also resolved to change his life:“Before the earthquake I was not into studying. Now I think it is the mostimportant thing I can do so I can help my country. I can bring hope to thepeople in Sichuan.” The day after BigTop #1 opened, I had the great honor of carrying theOlympic Torch on behalf of China’s orphaned children, especially thosenewly orphaned in Sichuan and Chongqing. Fifty preschoolers from our Halfthe Sky programs in Chengdu and Chongqing joined me on a rainy Sunday inWanzhou, Chongqing. It was an exhilarating and wacky time. And we didmanage to tell the children’s story – at least to the Chinese media (inthe end, no foreign media was allowed.) We were on the front page of theChina Daily and featured on national TV news. We didn’t quite go global,but it has been wonderful to hear from so many Chinese citizens who wantto help orphaned children. Children in their own communities that theydidn’t even know existed. Half the Sky supporter Anne Chambers has found another innovative way tohelp young earthquake victims. Her company, RED212, has launched anannual Bill and Warren Day (to commemorate the day Warren Buffett pledgedhis fortune to the Gates Foundation) to celebrate business people, big andsmall, as a force for social change. HTS’ Children’s Earthquake Fund is tobe the first beneficiary, by auction of a Monopoly game signed by WarrenBuffett himself! If you or some other mogul you know would like a shot atthis treasure, I’m told there is only one day left!http://cgi.ebay.com/Warren-Buffett-Autographed-Official-Monopoly-Game_W0QQitemZ250260912893QQihZ015QQcategoryZ156999QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem Slowly but steadily, Half the Sky is beginning to find ways to recoverfrom the disaster too. Although we are now firmly committed to helpingthe newly orphaned and displaced children of Sichuan heal and hopefullyfind their own “post-traumatic growth,” we are ever-mindful of the manythousands of children to whom we’ve already made a long-term commitment. Right now, our first Blue Sky provincial training is underway in HubeiProvince. Over 100 caregivers from welfare institutions where Half theSky has no programs are at our model center in Wuhan learning about HTS’approach to providing family-like nurturing care to orphaned children. Weare now offering Blue Sky training sponsorships – a great way to help usreach our goal to put a caring adult in the life of every orphaned childhttp://give.halfthesky.org/prostores/servlet/Detail?no=90 This fall, funds permitting, Half the Sky will open new Blue Sky ModelCenters in Xian, Harbin, Shenyang and Qingdao. We are no longer acceptingapplications for this year’s volunteer build but we dearly hope that youwill consider sponsoring a child or supporting the new model centers inother ways. You have been so tremendously generous during these awful weeks. Now, asthe Sichuan story fades from the news, we are even more grateful that youcontinue to remember the children whose struggle is just beginning. Idon’t know how we can ever thank you enough for all you have done andcontinue to do. I hope that watching our progress as we work to rebuildyoung lives – in Sichuan and all over China – will be thanks enough. Youknow we will always keep you informed! This should be the last of our emergency updates. I’ll now return towriting you every month or two. Of course, if you don’t wish to receivefurther updates from Half the Sky, please unsubscribe by sending a blankemail to leave-half_the_sky@titan.sparklist.com If you would like to donate to Half the Sky’s Children’s Earthquake Fundyou can do so by calling Half the Sky (+1-510-525-3377) or visit ourwebsite:http://give.halfthesky.org/prostores/servlet/Categories?category=Children's+Earthquake+Fund If you would like a Canadian tax receipt, please donate athttp://www.canadahelps.org/CharityProfilePage.aspx?CharityID=s86248 If you would like a Hong Kong tax receipt, please call Half the Sky – Asia(+852-2520-5266) or donate online athttps://www.paydollar.com/b2c2/eng/charity/payInfo.jsp?charityId=4947 If you’d like to view previous earthquake journal entries:http://www.halfthesky.org/journal/ Thank you! with love,Jenny Ps – For our many new friends - Half the Sky is a global NGO thatestablishes and operates programs that provide emotional and educationalsupport for orphaned children living in government-run welfareinstitutions in China. Half the Sky does not operate orphanages. It is not an adoption agency.We exist for China’s children. Jenny BowenExecutive DirectorHalf the Sky Foundationwww.halfthesky.org Half the Sky was created in order to enrich the lives and enhance the prospects for orphaned children in China. We establish and operate infant nurture and preschool programs, provide personalized learning for older children and establish loving permanent family care and guidance for children with disabilities. It is our goal to ensure that every orphaned child has a caring adult in her life and a chance at a bright future. Want to receive our free Half the Sky newsletter, full of stories and photos, via regular mail? Just go to our website www.halfthesky.org and click on "Join our Mailing List."

4 Kunming Kuties Reunite

2008-06-03T13:40:00.003-06:00

My how they have grown! One day I hope they will desire to seek each other out on their own. Their paths were intertwined for a time in an orphanage in Kunming China beginning in June '06. Mia was moved for a while to a foster care village about 100 miles away but was returned to Kunming just before we adopted her. Now as they grow and mature I wonder if they will be curious to know about the other girls with whom they shared such intense beginnings. Will they want to stare into each others eyes and feel this connection? Will they want to know that they are not alone in this world because they were abandoned as infants? Will they be curious to know what circumstances brought 9 beautiful Yunnan blessings to grateful American families?

They are truly gifts.

Reeling One In

2008-04-10T06:46:00.001-06:00

Pishin' with Daddy

2008-04-03T17:40:00.003-06:00

Every day Mike takes Mia fishing. She loves the outdoors, her Daddy, and feeding the ducks almost as much as she does reeling in the inevitable catch. I am hoping to join her more this next week as school's on Spring Break. I need a little color on my white legs and Michaela and I have a lot of relaxin' to do before the final push for summer.

This year is clicking along so fast. Mia speaks in sentences now. It's amazing how much she's learned in one year. Now we're focusing on her self control. Do we ever get through working on self? She's still quite headstrong and many a screaming fit this girl can throw. Her potty training is going slowly but surely.

We've almost fininished the final steps of the paperwork. Our final homestudy report has just been sent to Beijing so this means that the social worker will not have to visit again. Yeah! We are almost done with her "re-adoption" paperwork, which means that we'll petition our local court here for her to obtain a Mississippi Birth Certificate. Our little girl from China is growing up a southern girl "fur sure!"

How Beautiful....How Beautiful!

2008-03-24T17:19:00.003-06:00

How much can we cram into one weekend......? I was exhausted from all the frock and shoe shopping (how fast they, ALL FOUR, do grow!) cooking (World's Best Carrott Cake), basket filling.....music memorizing for our church's adult choir....children's department filled to the brim....balloon release (and Mia freaking because she wants to keep her balloon) rushing after church to the family gathering and FINALLY...egg hunting late in the evening at home in the freezing (well it was sweater worthy) temps. But how marvelous the time to celebrate. I wouldn't have it any other way. Spring break is 2 weeks away. I've got my books bought and I'm gonna sit...sit...sit...alot! What about you? How was your weekend?

Our Sparkle Princess

2008-03-12T20:26:00.002-06:00

Slurping My Blog

2008-02-20T17:18:00.003-06:00

Why would I want to do that? Well, I've found a way to publish my blog to a book format. So far, I've not gotten past the technical details and have spent about 4 hours trying to figure out how to slurp. Nothing's easy. Any ideas on why blurb won't access my blog? Sounds like a Dr. Seuss book, doesn't it. :-)

UPDATE! I finally figured it out and am in the process of editing the past 2 1/2 years of stuff. I am thinking of deleting this site since I am blogging less and less.

Flash Back

2008-02-05T07:30:00.000-06:00

Celebrating Our First Year Together

2008-02-04T09:39:00.000-06:00

This time last year we were meeting our babies in Kunming, China for the first time. It was chaotic and surreal. This was the day Mia was born into our family and we will celebrate February 5th (well it's already the 5th in China!) as a special day forever. How blessed we were to share this day with another family that recieved twins. All three were placed with the Kunming Childrens Welfard Institute and share the same last surname, Guan, given to them by their orphanage director (because of the area of town they were found.) They will hopefully grow up knowing they are not alone in the world and that this life is full of hope, mercy and grace, if we search for it.

I Do It!

2008-01-13T07:54:00.000-06:00

Notice the shirt is backwards as well as the shoes, but Mia is SO PROUD and insistant that she does everything herself. It makes for a real struggle when we're in a hurry. She's a very independent little girl, but a joy!

Sukiyaki and Sushi

2008-01-01T18:49:00.000-06:00

Last year we were at Mary's eating our Japanese feast with our cell phone close by...waiting for "the call". This year Mia is gobbling the delights and enjoying herself like she's lived here all her life. She's made so many friends and "adopted" so many family members in the past 11 months.

A Perfect Ending to an Awesome Year!

2007-12-25T17:41:00.000-06:00

I finally figured out how to add a video! Scroll down to "Put your little foot" - My sister and mama just love the Mia to pieces.

Merry Christmas to All!

2007-12-25T17:25:00.000-06:00

All first Christmas' are special. Yet somehow Mia's first Christmas is especially tender. She is our joy and we enjoy every moment in her presence. Every first for her is re-lived by those who see her expressions. Right now she's freaking over an annoying house fly. She pays close attention to the tiny details of life and is so sensitive to world around her. We love to watch her reactions to new things. I just sit and marvel at how the year has turned out. This has certainly been a year to remember.

10 month Anniversary

2007-12-02T15:35:00.000-06:00

It's unbelievable that she's been ours for 10 months. This same time last year I was beginning to think that the adoption would fail. The batches were creeping by in a snail pace and just as our "number" was about to come up, the cut-off date missed us by one day. As sadly as 2006 passed, 2007 has been a year of rejoicing. God blessed us with our referral on January 3rd and even though we were skipped in the December batch, we ended up traveling with that same group! If you have a moment, just scroll down to last years posts and see what a difference a year can make. I could go on and on about the many ways God has proved to us that His hand has been in this adoption from the beginning of conception.

On November 11, 2004, with hearts sensitive and open to adoption, we were given an opportunity to consider adopting from China, at that same time a little girl was conceived in Yunnan province. Nine months later she was born just as our paper-work landed on Chinese soil. What started out being an 8 - 10 month wait suddenly clamped down and the referrals were halted to a trickle. "Why?" we wondered. But God knew that the baby that was to be ours would not be given up by her birth parent until June of 2006. As we neared our 12 month anniversary of our log-in in Beijing, the orphanage in Kunming was just preparing the paper-work of one year old Guan Yun Zhu. She was to go to a foster-family for a short while where she must have been loved very much. I can only imagine how hard it has been for all those who've been a part of her past to let her go. We are eternally grateful for their love and care.

On January 3rd I received the wonderful news that our little girl was from Kunming, the city of eternal spring and one of my favorite tales, the lost city of Shangri-La, a city known for high mountains in the clouds. My scripture verse that day read, "Let the clouds pour down righteousness; Let the earth open up and salvation bear fruit, and righteousness spring up with it.." Isaiah 45:8 (NASB) Many people say that we've "saved" a little girl, but I know for certain that she is "saving" us in so many different ways.

This year has been a year of abundance. Our hearts have grown and our Mia is happy and healthy. I can't begin to express my thankfulness. "

"Joyful, Joyful we adore thee!"

Put your little foot

2007-11-28T21:09:00.000-06:00

Little Pumpkins

2007-10-21T20:25:00.000-06:00

There's just no end to the words Mia is speaking now. She's sometimes even putting two words together, especially when it's to command our dog, Abbie, to sit...down...DON'T! Mia continues to speak her "Chinese jibberish". You'll swear she's speaking her native tongue, but alas, how can that be? Today in the Chinese restaurant she eyed someone at another table and proceeded to introduce her family to them. Her social skills have improved tremendously. She even stays in the nursery "alone" at church and is quite happy.

New Friends

2007-09-03T18:29:00.000-06:00

Hello to my new friends from Florida State University! How much fun I had playing peek-a-boo and "put-the-band-aid on your leg"! I will miss you and often call your names. Please come back to see me and my family soon. Love, Mia

p.s. my family really enjoyed the visit too.

Birth Day

2007-08-19T06:52:00.000-06:00

We celebrate her birth and rejoice that we get to be in her life. How precious a child's love and the laughter is just icing on the cake! Not only has she captivated our hearts, but it's spilled over to Grandmothers, cousins and others. Just two years ago she was born, but she was planned well in advance by God. Two years ago our paper-work touched China's soil as Hurrican Katrina touched the Mississippi Gulf Coast. We so desperately wanted our wait for her to be minimal, but alas God knew that her paper-work would not be ready until October of the NEXT year.

She was meant to be ours, but we will always remember who's she was for her first birth.

Mine!

2007-07-31T18:33:00.001-06:00

Two-year olds are notoriously possessive. Mia is no different. I don't even think anyone taught her to say it, but if you dare touch her space or her stuff, beware! We've gotten quite good at labeling everything for her and speaking in noun/verb sentences. "Go, potty." "Bye-Bye truck"....you know she's catching on very, very quickly. She's even managed to embarrass me in church the other night by announcing and pinching her Mama's "boobies". Now who had to go and label those for her?
We have our 6-month homestudy this Friday. Six-months with her have passed so quickly. Waiting was torturous. Six months waiting was an eternity and we begged for it to pass. Now I want to hold onto the time with her as our baby. We are all loving her funny little mannerism and cuteness.
School begins tommorrow and God has be gracious to answer my prayer. Mike will keep Mia.

Summer's end

2007-07-23T17:38:00.000-06:00

Mia is speaking more and more words daily and with such enthusiasm, especially "no"! We think she's the most beautiful baby in the whole world. I'm already planning her 2nd birthday and have just gotten in a shipment of Pu'er tea from her home province for the occasion. I'm thinking a ladybug tea party.

Country Girl

2007-06-13T14:49:00.000-06:00

Mia lives in rural Mississippi, perhaps not much different from the rural Kunming, China where she's supposed to have been born. She loves the outdoors, animals and has plenty of family excitement.

Field Work

2007-06-05T13:51:00.000-06:00

Today is our 4 month anniversary with Mia in our family. It's hard to believe we've only had her for such a short time. The long two year wait melted the moment we held her in our arms. It seems she's always been ours. There's no questions that she belongs to us. Mia means mine in Spanish and she is "mine". I've had 3 biological children and I was prepared to feel differently about this little girl. I knew that love would come and I was prepared for it to grow with time. What has taken me totally by surprise is that love was instantaneous for both myself and Mike. I absolutely can't tell any difference in my love for her and that of my other children. Her smell, her touch, her manners, even her tantrums tug at my heart strings and speak to me of love. Love is definitely of God and not man and it goes beyond biology. I look at her chinese eyes and celebrate the fact that we are blessed to watch her grow.

This month we've seen Mia grow to love her church family as well. At her dedication service she kissed the preacher and the entire congregation let out a collective "aaaawe". Mia is still partial to the men and it leaves the ladies feeling very left out. But we are working on her people skills. She loves to watch the other children in the nursery and will take part in our Vacation Bible School in a few weeks. She doesn't let me out of her sight much and I'm not pushing it, yet.

Our Elliott is in Spain to "study" for four weeks. Ethan is busy working at our store and stops only long enough to change clothes, jump in the lake and join his friends. I'm enjoying time with our Michaela now that school's out. She's a big help with the Mia. She's been dying to go to the local stock yard and I finally broke down this past Wednesday. It was steamy and soon Mia was dripping. I've never seen a child sweat like she does. Her thin little locks are rivers and it's just ridiculous! The trip was well worth it though as she was enthralled by the animals. Chickens go "bock, bock", pigs go "oink, oink", the rabbits....well you have to scrunch up your nose and go....(I can't even make that noise!) But the best was watching her little mouth purse at the cows go "mooooo".

The textbook lessons don't do it, folks, you have to do the field trip! Today's lesson was at the City Park with lessons on spinning the merry-to-round. I'd forgotten the true meaning of drunk with joy. Everyone needs refresher courses now and again.

If you're looking for "Jesus" in Guangzhou...

2007-05-20T17:50:00.000-06:00

I'm constantly amazed at the responses I get from this blog and feel so guilty that I'm not able to update more. But here's a quick response to the person from China that recently left a comment to "Purple Palace".

No, I'm not Chinese. I'm from the South part of the USA, Mississippi. We are delighted to have been given the chance to receive one of China's beautiful little girls, and orphan from Kunming. She is daily brightening our lives. I share our story for friends, family and all who care to read. I'm often floundering for words and embarassed to make so many grammatical errors. I have no time to write much less edit! So please accept my apologies.

We did not meet Jim C., from the Passion of the Christ, while we were in China. He and his wife were there, though, at the same time as we and another couple in our group had the opportunity to speak with him and snap his photo. You can find that photo if you look at my side-bar and click on Nathan and Lisa's web site. Scroll down through their journal and you should see the story titled "Jesus in Guangzhou".

I am honored to meet each and everyone of my faceless readers. Thank you for being so generous with my blunders. I will have more time to update Mia's progress after this week. School's out for the summer!

Purple Palace

2007-05-05T10:43:00.000-06:00

For 8 years we've struggled to get Michaela to sleep in her room alone. Even with a room filled with all her lovely things she still begs to go elsewhere. I'm hoping that Mia will learn to love her room. Michaela wants so badly for Mia to sleep with her, but we dare not upset the bedtime routine again. We'll talk maybe of a "sleep over" this summer when routine is out the window.

Born Again

2007-05-05T10:29:00.000-06:00

We're celebrating Mia's 3rd month in our family today. On February 5th of this year, the child we'd been holding in our hearts for 2 years was finally in our arms. Looking back on that strange day, I can tell now she was tired, scared and very confused. I can't imagine what stress she was feeling. I know that I probably scared her to death grabbing her and telling her over and over, "I'm your Mama! I'm your Mama!" She was smiley and curious, but was insistent that I not touch her. I could only feed her cheerios and hand her toys. For a few days I was concerned she may be hard of hearing. She would not respond to noises. But now I'm certain that she had just had too much overstimulation and was just zoning out to keep from freaking out. This little girl who is so active now was then almost completely passive. She stayed put where placed. She wouldn't even wiggle when her diaper was changed. At night she never moved either. Gone are those days. Now she is everywhere! I am amazed how choked up I get remembering our little Kunming girl on this gotcha day. How one life can affect so many others. Though Mia is 20 months old, she now has to celebrate two birthdays, the day she was born into this world and the day she was born into our family. My prayer is that she will add another date to her life's calendar and be adopted into yet another family, the family of God.

Sisters

2007-05-01T19:02:00.000-06:00

We took a trip north to move a few of Elliott's things home from the dorm. Michaela was most excited over the fact that Mia could sleep with her in the hotel room.

Elliott moves home for the summer today. Yeah! He will baby-sit for a couple of weeks then is spending a month in Spain in a "Study Abroad" program. We are so excited for him.

Bathing Beauty

2007-05-01T18:08:00.000-06:00

Mia LOOOOVES bathtime! We get soaked. She's wanting to stand up though and she toys with me and pretends to sit down then laughs and stands up again. It's tough being tough to such a cutie-pie. When I've had enough of the wetting and splashing and trying to sit down, I pull the plug. Unfortunately, she's learned how to re-plug and just claps and claps like she's saying, "I did it! Yeah!" I'm such a party pooper. I've gotta losen up and not care she's shriveling up!

Nesting

2007-05-01T17:45:00.000-06:00

Mia's Room. Finally.

Daddy Day-Care & other strange happenings

2007-04-28T19:20:00.000-06:00

These past two weeks I’ve gone back to school. Mia is enjoying time hang’in with Dad. It’s been more an adjustment for me, I think, but Mike has had to make some adjustments too. He goes to the store and tries to deal with the paperwork as quickly as possible and then runs his errands. They are home by 10:30 or 11:00 and she’s down for nap till almost I’m home at 4 p.m. She greets me with a squeal and hugs and kisses me. She is so loving. Elliott will be home mid week from MSU and will take his turn bonding with Mia. I’ll be able to take some half-days and finish up my school year in just a couple more weeks. It’s been really nice to know Mia is enjoying time with her Dad and that Elliott, too, will be able to have his time as well. She seems to know who she belongs to and who’s stranger.

We finally finished her room. For many months I would not dare think of a nursery. I claimed it was because I didn’t know her age and couldn’t buy a crib. But actually I think I just was afraid that it never would happen. Well now our arms are full and we have a beautiful baby who needs her space in the household too. Once again the maternal instincts have kicked in and have demanded the nest be fluffed. What fun I’ve had pulling together this niche. We’ve moved Ethan upstairs to share with Elliott, while Michaela has moved over and has and bright purple palace fit for a princess. Our Mia now has pale pink walls adorned with ladybugs and her Chinese calligraphy. We’ve even put in new carpet and it feels wonderful.
At Christmas-time we weren’t sure we would have our baby or not and now our life is complete. She is walking, talking and is so vivacious and alert. Her sleep pattern is beginning to settle down a bit. We attribute much of her nighttime awakenings to her teething. She is 20 months old now and is now cutting eye-teeth. We are so pleased with her progress and you she see how pleased with herself she is too! With every new step forward she seems to be so eager to learn more. We are especially glad that her relationship with Michaela is starting to blossom. They are really loving each other’s attention now.

I've tried twice to load photo's. I HATE DIAL-UP! I'll get them all ready to upload and wait...wait...wait...for an hour then I'm disconnected. UGGHHH! One more try later this evening. Sorry.

Showers of Blessings

2007-04-13T08:52:00.000-06:00

He has done great and marvelous things for us and we are rejoicing this Spring season of new birth.
"Clap your hands, all you nations; shout to God with cries of joy. How awesome is the LORD Most High, the great King over all the earth"....Sing praises to God, sing praises; sing praised to our King, sing praises, For God is the King of all the arth; sing to him a psalm of praise. (psalm 47: 1-2, 6-7)

Progress is Good? Right?

2007-04-09T18:45:00.000-06:00

For the past three weeks we’ve had a Physical Therapist come as part of an Early Intervention Program to help Mia get caught up in walking and crawling. The first week was almost as painful for me as it was her. She struggled to get up from her belly onto her knees and push up on her arms from her chest. If she did manage to assume the correct crawling position she would soon fall flat and sprattle-legged. Lauren, her therapist, showed me correct ways to help her during the week. The whole crew has been praising her as she stands from a seated position, as she takes a few steps and as she squats to pick things up from the floor. For too long she has been content to let us do things for her. It was apparent that she was not progressing and that she needed to be pushed to do things for herself. During one session, Lauren saw that Mia wanted an object and pushed it further out of her reach, wanting her to go for it. Mia looked to me to help her out, but I was only to cheer her on. She became furious and soon was throwing a tantrum. For ten minutes she raged and I could only sit by and watch. I left the room at one point, frankly to get my composure, and she quieted down. It was obvious a lot of her anger was focused on me. I am her helper, why wasn’t I helping her? Since then I think Mia has begun to see me in a different light and not demand me to do so much for her. I struggle with that. I want to ease her pain, but in so doing I am preventing her from becoming stronger. Therapy is helping me a lot too! We’ve seen Mia progress tremendously in just the past few days even. Lauren came today and was amazed at what she can do. As I was cooking in the kitchen and Mike was watching her, he motioned me into the living room. Mia had cruised around the room and had started climbing the staircase. She was half-way up! This afternoon Michaela wanted to hide Easter eggs (we’d never got around to it yesterday L) and Mia was pulling away from my fingers, which she usually grasps tightly, and walking in the cushy grass long distances. Kitchen cabinets are now of great interest also! Oh my, progress is awesome but are we ever fully prepared for the consequences? I am amazed at the confidence that has come to Mia almost overnight. Maybe, just maybe she’ll want to sleep tonight. Please Mia? Please!

Citizen Mia

2007-04-06T13:42:00.000-06:00

The "Not-So-Rosy" Part

2007-03-16T15:35:00.000-06:00

During the 16 month wait I discovered a great place on line to keep me in touch with others also waiting. The Rumor Queen blog (chinaadopttalk.com) had its share of controversy, but without it I would have been completely clueless in this complicated and tedious process. The Queen, a fellow adoptive mom, published an article called “The Not-So-Rosy Part”. It was a reminder to all of us that these children who were to be placed into our arms were not just little beautiful bundles of joy, but that they were coming to us with a past, even if it was a brief past.
So many of the articles we see posted only show the positive sides. Isn’t it wonderful that we can share our joys our children bring us? But the point is that many people, prospective adoptive parent in particular, see only the successes we’ve experienced and don't realize the difficulties. I see that in my own blog. Maybe, perhaps, because I’ve had biological children it was an understood part of parenthood that there would be dark days. With children there will always be some hardships, some phases they must pass through, but I am finding out that with an adoptive child I have more areas where I am clueless.
For the most part, Mia has come to us without hesitation and has seems to feel totally at home with us. But still I’ve wondered how much she remembers of her foster family. She is so loving. Someone has shown her much love and laughter before us. Mia is smart and has a good memory. She mimics and remembers the “tricks” we teach her easily. Does she stop and ponder the people she no longer sees and the games she played with them? I see her especially thoughtful with persons who have dark hair and eyes, very solemn in fact. Older people and men get the same deep looks. Did an elderly man live and care for her? I’ll never know.
For almost a month now we’ve been home. Mia has been sleeping, eating, and interacting wonderfully, until the past week. Though her day-time schedule is still going smoothly and she’s eating, napping and eating good, her nights have been disturbing. She’s waking nightly before 1 a.m. and not going back to sleep easily. Sometimes she’s refusing to lay down. Sometimes she’s just tossing and turning and crying out every few minutes. We’ve tried almost every trick we know and have reviewed every possible thing that could be triggering her sleeplessness, but we are clueless. My thoughts go back to the article by the Rumor Queen. Could this be part of the attachment process? Could Mia be working out the changes in her life subconsciously? It’s quiet possible. I look at this happy, funny girl and see her so exuberant and think, “how can anything but joy be in her heart”. But because I don’t know her past, I’ll always wonder what is going on in her brain that she can’t begin to comprehend.

Fun in the sun

2007-03-12T13:22:00.000-06:00

Musical Mia

2007-03-10T20:17:00.000-06:00

We noticed pretty quickly that Mia was familiar with music. She clapped her hands within a few days of getting her so I knew she'd been exposed in some way. Her love for music is something our family enjoys nurturing. Already she's got quite a repetoir developing. Her favorites, please don't blame her, she's not been able to pick these herself, are "Barbara Ann" from the Beach Boys and "Clap Your Hands All Ye People". We are working on "Put Your Little Foot" and an original composed by me! I love to sing little ditties to her like: "Mia Yunzhu, Mia Yunzhu, I love you, I love you. You're my precious daughter, you're my precious daughter, I love you, I love you" sung to the tune of "Are you Sleeping". Yes, I know, not real original, but she's learning her name and she's especially cute when she drops everything to rock and clap along. Wednesday is children's choir night so we've been going and listening in on Michaela and the others as they learn a new musical called "Praise Rocks". Mia, who's usually napping at this time, decided to wake up, and raised her arms charismatically as she sang along.

Others are helping to cultivate her musical talent too. Her Nana bought her the little toy piano in the above photo. She's hilarious when giving her performances. They get better and better with each practice session. Elliott, too, is in on the lessons. He's home for a week now for spring break. Often they sit at the "big" piano singing and playing away. There's a song in our hearts that has replaced those empty days and silent days of waiting.

Thoughts from Acorn Ridge

2007-02-28T12:02:00.000-06:00

How precious her love for us. We knew we would love her no matter what, but to see her return that love and to grow in her trust is so comforting. I write a thousand words everyday in my mind, many thoughts on her past, her birth, what her future may have been. Looking into her eyes everyday is changing us in so many ways. I've got so many journal entries, but don't quite know where to begin. Maybe I'll figure out just how to express my discoveries, or maybe you can give me some suggestions. What would you like to know about this adoption journey? Why did we follow this adoption path? Why China? What was her life like prior? What would have been? I'm sure I'll spend many days asking and reasking myself the same questions. But does anyone else want to hear about it? If you do, then I will.

Michaela loves Mia

2007-02-26T16:17:00.000-06:00

The weather here is simply delicious. I just want to drink it in. How wonderful the days are passing with Mia's smiles and alertness making us smile along with her. The house is joyous. Isn't it amazing how children can transform any environment?

2007-02-23T16:58:00.000-06:00

Settling In

2007-02-23T08:47:00.000-06:00

Our jet lag is gone, I think! We are beginning to see some normalcy....I think. What a beautiful little person is Mia ZhuZhu. I love it that the title of this blog is Mia, Mia....where are you, because that is what we love to play with her to get her aquainted with her name and also to make eye-contact. She is learning so fast. She is funny, silly, loves music, dancing and people. Her motor skills are advancing fast too. We have a developmental specialist coming next week to help evaluate her. She is not able to do much on her stomach and needs help rolling over and sitting up when on her back. They will also help with her speech. She babbles and immitates pretty good, but is also behind for her age. My only fear right now is that if we don't jump start her quickly she'll begin to experience frustration. I don't think it will take long for her to catch up. She also is bonding well with me and Mike. I do think I'll have to slow down with her new people exposure. Church is a vast sea of faces and she'll go to just about anyone, especially men! Michaela is fast becoming a great friend and playmate. She especially helps with her "belly-time" as they roll and play in the floor. Mia's first introduction to the animals was a success too! I was so afraid she would freak, but the squeals I heard from her were of joy. She loves to watch them and pull their fur. Can you imagine what joy she brings us? We are beside ourselves enjoying this little delight with which we've been blessed.

Forever Family

2007-02-19T13:30:00.000-06:00

Home Sweet Home!

2007-02-18T20:56:00.000-06:00

How thank-full we are, for God has brought us safely home! How marvelous His grace and mercy. How excellent are friends who receive our Mia with open arms and open hearts. For all the kindness and many extra miles you've gone to cheer us on this journey we are grateful.

Mia is jet-lagged but still smiling. We had a pretty turbulent pacific ocean flight, our dinner ended up on our laps and scared little Mia. Our luggage is still missing. That's why I'm still up. Waiting for the courier to come with our underwear and souveniers!

I'm still trying to upload photo's. Michaela and Mia's first hug is priceless. Thank you all again for your support. All is well!

2007-02-16T12:06:00.000-06:00

(Elliott)
Well I am packed and heading to my first home of Lucedale from Mississippi State University to go and pick up Michaela. I am going to try to make sure the house is in order, so that mom won't have any work to do when they get back. It was great to be able to keep you all informed when mom was unable.
I'm now awaiting tomorrow afternoon when I can see my beautiful little sister for the first time. No sleep tonight.
May The Lord Bless You And Keep You

Swearing and Now Homeward Bound

2007-02-16T10:04:00.000-06:00

(Elliott)
Well this may be the last post until mom and the family get back home. I haven't heard from them yet, but I think I they will call one last time before they leave China.
All of the families went to the US consulate and they had to swear (or take an oath rather) that all of their paperwork was truthful and such. Now Mia Grace Yunzhu is an american citizen and she is (and has been for about 2 year) apart of our crazy family. Just from hearing about their trip, I know that Mia has a RICH heritage. The Chinese way is very different, but it is such a respectable thing. I'll let mom tell that story when she gets home...

Ok so Here's the schedule:

Flight out of Guangzhou for Hong Kong at 8:25 a.m. Saturday morning(6:25 p.m. Friday our time).

Flight Out of Hong Kong for Chicago: 11:35 a.m. saturday (9:35 pm. friday our time).

Arrive in Chicago 11:44 a.m. saturday (local Chicago Time.. yes.24 hours. they'll be exhausted!).

Mom said that they should arrive in new Orleans at 4 o'clock p.m. Saturday.. Michaela and I will be there with open arms.

**Please pray that everything goes smoothly and that they are safe and NO LAYOVERS!!! I just read on another families blog that they aren't getting home until sunday because of flight changes. I hope that their flight plans stay the same!

I know that mom will be very eager (after her rest of course) to take back over her job as "Blogger" and do a MUCH better job at telling you all her story.

>Some Pictures<

2007-02-15T07:21:00.000-06:00

(Elliott)
I talked to mom this morning, and she said that they are all doing really well. Mia kept getting the phone and saying "Zhu Zhu" (jew jew) into it. HA. She really is such a loving, beautiful girl. She would jabber and jabber into the phone but when I said "hey Mia" or talked back at all... she would stop talking.... Mom said that she was kissing the phone. What a sweet, loving little girl. I can't wait to meet her!
Tomorrow the family is "sworn in" and Mia becomes a US citizen (what a BIG day for HER).
Pray for their safety and a safe flight home. They have heard that the flight BACK into the USA is the hardest (the flight over there wasn't SOO bad.. They recovered fastly). They will probably be out for several days once they get back. Thank goodness they get back right before a school holiday!
Thanks for praying for my family and all of the other adoptive families. God Bless!

Happy Valentines Day!

2007-02-14T02:18:00.000-06:00

We are counting down the days now! I think we've done all the local siteseeing we're gonna do so we're getting pretty bored. Mia is just a part of the family now and you're gonna eat up her cuteness! We are thankful that we've not been sick. We found some great tea in China that will cure any ailment so we drink a potful several times a day. I've got to learn how to cook Mia congee which is a rice mush laced with chicken and whatever veggie you throw in. She loves it and opens her mouth wide and says AHHHH when she see's it. She also loves broccoli! Our consolate appointment is Thursday (our tommorrow) and we have a group swearing in process. I don't anticipate any problems but please pray that all our paperwork is in order. Things are getting very climatic hear in regards to Chinese New Year. I can now understand the beauty of this holiday and will write more about it later when surfing the web doesn't cost and arm & leg. It's decorated beautifully everywhere and everyone is in the holiday spirit. They will take off for 2 weeks so if our paper work isn't done properly will be here.....indefinetly. I love chinese food, but I'm about done with it for a while...though I have lost those extra five pounds I was wanting. Wish I had time to talk more. I appreciate your love and prayers and hope to see ya'll soon!

Rumors of "Jesus" in Guangzhou

2007-02-13T10:07:00.000-06:00

(Elliott)
I was reading another family's blog (Nathan and Lisa-travelling in same group as mom and the family) and there is a rumor going around that one of the men on the trip saw Jim Caviezel (Jesus from The Passion of The Christ) in Guangzhou. He is supposed to be adopting a five year old boy. The man that saw him took a picture with him. No one can find anything on the internet saying that he is over there, but there is a good possibility that if Jim Caviezel is there, they could be in the Consulate on Friday together. How cool would that be?? Adopting a baby with "Jesus." ha.

Tuesday

2007-02-12T20:05:00.000-06:00

The internet is 50 Yuan for 20 minutes about $6.00 and it takes a looong time for photo's. But Nathan and Lisa Smith have a laptop and are able to get wireless in their room so if you'll look to the links on the right you'll see what the group is doing. They even have a few photo's of us in the photo section.
We are now in Guangzhou. It's more American friendly here but life as a tourist is pretty tedious. We have it better than most because we were given an apartment. It's huge, about 2000 sq. ft. So now we can spread out and enjoy some solitude. We have 3 bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths, an office, a huge kitchen (no pots or utensils) and a bar! We even have a washer and dryer so we do all the groups laundry which keeps me occupied.
Mia is so cute! She's still got a bronchitis type cough and now has a rash, but she sleeps well and is very smiley and happy. We are loving her and she loves us. We are so thankful. I can't imagine that she belongs to anyone else. For the next two days we will just hang out and try to find stuff to do. We have our US consolate appointment Thursday and will start packing to leave on Friday. Our trip back will be over 24 hours long I know, but I'm prepared for 30 - 36 hours of traveling. We're so ready to get home to our Michaela and Elliott. It's been a hard week knowing they are "left behind".

2007-02-11T21:52:00.000-06:00

The picture with Mia feeling on Dad's face (which is something that she is quite fond of doing) is on "Gotcha Day," the day when the families meet their children.

some updates

2007-02-11T18:29:00.000-06:00

(Elliott)
Mom calls me and Michaela regularly (about 1 or 2 times day), so I'm pretty well updated.
They are now in their final stopping place in Guangzhou, where Mia will become a US citizen. Mom doesn't have access to internet,but she does hope to find SOMEWHERE with it before they get back, hopefully.
I have lost complete track of dates and everything... but some time in the past few days mom and dad spent about 2 hours filling out paperwork for Mia's Passport, Visa, and so on... The rest of the week will be pretty "uneventful" (yeah right). Mia has a doctor's appointment wednesday and their Consulate appointment is on Thursday. Mia is recovering slowly from her little sickness and will be better hopefully by the time they get back.
All of the babies have to be examined by the doctors and "pass" a medical test before they can come back. Pray that all of the children get better and stay well, if they don't pass that means that they have to stay long (blah).
Keep praying for our family and all of the other families as they reach the point were they are close to coming home. FINALLY!
This week is going to be a long one for a lot of people (especially me and Michaela).
Saturday at 4 p.m. their flight should arrive in New Orleans. Michaela, my grandmother, and I will be there with open arms.

**P.S. I forgot that Ethan had put some pictures up on "Facebook," and I had saved them.. so here they are..

First Week

2007-02-08T19:16:00.000-06:00

It's Friday morning here in Kunming. We leave tomorrow morning to go to Guangzhou. I think everyone is ready for a change of scenery. The sick babies have had to get IV's everyday and the parents days are tedious getting them hooked up and waiting while they finish their medication. Mia seems to be better today. We had given her Benedryl to clear her congestion, but I think that it was what made her very cranky. So we're just giving her something for her fever and the anitbiotic the Dr. here gave her.
The hard part of hotel life here is getting food. No one speaks english and even though there are several restaurants in this hotel, no one wants to serve the americans. Yesterday we found a Thai restaurant but when we asked to be seated they said "follow me" and took us to an elevator, pushed the down button and said "goodbye". We have had so much MSG that our heads are woozy. This afternoon we visit a park by Green lake. This should be a good outing for us. The bus rides even a short distance takes hours because of the trafffic. Please pray for the sick babies. If they don't get a clear ticket from the Doctor, they will have to stay longer. The parents are just wanting to go home. We miss you all.

Here I Am!

2007-02-07T22:06:00.000-06:00

Mia ran fever early this morning and is congested, and fussy. We've been in the room all morning so we've had a little time to practice our walking. This afternoon we're supposed to get out and sitesee. Maybe even go see some of the children's finding spots.
We miss Michaela terribly! I can't believe it's just been one week since we've been gone. Yes, we are homesick! The trip is unbelievable but hotel life gets really old especially when you can't speak the language. It's pretty hard to just stroll the streets here. Hope everyone is well. Mia is learning so much so fast. I know she will love Michaela! WE MISS YOU!

View of the countryside-Yunnan Province

2007-02-07T06:08:00.000-06:00

Thursday

2007-02-07T05:58:00.000-06:00

It has been a tremendous day in so many ways. I'll have to give you the brief version because internet time is rare.
First, Mia is warming us so much. She still prefers Mike, but she is loving on me and even said "Ma Ma". We went on an adventure today in the Yunnan provence countryside. We were on a cramped bus for 1 1/2 drive to the famous wonder of the world, "stone forrest". It's a vision kin to the Grand Canyon. The countryside was a site I'm so glad we got to experience. We ate in a little place amoung the mountains. I'll have much to write about this area. I would love to upload photo's of the silk embroidry factory - the children that swarmed the bus, the small farms, the food, the poverty.....It's so much. But do know how much today was to us because Mia is really starting to love us. She's truly 18 months old - her coordination is good and I believe she'll be walking before we get home. She is very smart and cute, but she does know how to throw a fit!
I must hurry - Thank you all so much for responding. It is definitely a world away from Mississippi. One more week to go!

Daddy's Girl!

2007-02-06T01:01:00.000-06:00

Wow! I finally get a moment to post and I don't know where to begin. First, the "gottcha" day was crazy. Last night was just a little tedious but she soon settled in a slept all night until about 5:30. She slept, but I did not. The room was cold and we were instructed to keep them bundled and warm. I was afraid she would smother under so many layers so I kept my hand on her and kept checking to see if she was breathing, just like she were a newborn. I could just imagine something happening to her on the first night and I'd be locked up in prison for life! This morning I went with half the group to buy supplies, while the other half went to apply for the babies passports. There are 5 babies with pneumonia and they had to go back to the orphanages hospital for iv's for an hour. While they were doing that the director of the center gave us a tour and even fed the babies their lunch of "congee". The orphanage is just like the photo I posted earlier except much more buildings are included. The colorful building is the school. We got to tour the dormatories and were impressed with the organization and the cleanliness. They are the control center for about 400 children all ages. About 100 are at the dormatory and the other 300 are in foster care in the surrounding area. Every nanny spoke to Mia and told us little funny things she does. She was living about an hour away from Kunming.
Mia is so sweet. Smiley. She loves to put on a show! I see her really warming up today. We go to a special event dinner tonight and it will be interesting to see all the babies at the dinner table. Please continue to pray that those sick babies get well soon. They are doing well considering.

The Joy That We've Been Waiting For!

2007-02-06T00:03:00.000-06:00

(Elliott)

How beautiful my little sister is!. This two year journey is finally over just to start a new one. A new life has begun for Mia Grace Yunzhu Welford.

I know you’ve heard the stories
But they all sound too good to be true
You’ve heard about a place called home
But there doesn’t seem to be one for you
So one more night you cry yourself to sleep
And drift off to a distant dream

Where love takes you in and everything changes
A miracle starts with the beat of a heart
When love takes you home and says you belong here
The loneliness ends and a new life begins
When love takes you in

And somewhere while you’re sleeping
Someone else is dreaming too
Counting down the days until
They hold you close and say I love you
And like the rain that falls into the sea
In a moment what has been is lost in what will be

When love takes you in everything changes
A miracle starts with the beat of a heart

And this love will never let you go
There is nothing that could ever
cause this love to lose its hold

When love takes you in everything changes
A miracle starts with the beat of a heart
When love takes you home and says you belong here
The loneliness ends and a new life begins
When love takes you in it takes you in for good
When love takes you in....

-Lyrics by Steven Curtis Chapmen-
-When Love Takes You In-

Mia's Here!

2007-02-05T10:05:00.000-06:00

(Elliott)
I was getting so nervous because Mom hadn't called me and it was 7:43 a.m. here and I had to go to class, but RIGHT when I was leaving the dorm she called.
They're exhausted. They met Mia Grace at about 12 a.m. our time last night and they stayed in this SMALL little cramped up room for about 4 hours! Several of the babies have pneumonia and have to be treated, but Mia is doing GREAT!
She looks beautiful, and now she has a thicker head of hair.
At first she didn't go straight to mom, instead she wanted dad. Mom said that Mia is still "trying to figure her (mom) out" (aren't we all Mia... aren't we all).
It was about 11 o'clock p.m. monday there when mom called me and Mia was still going non-stop.
I had trouble hearing mom with the loud burst of joyful jibberish that came from Mia!
After not-even one day she refers to Dad as " BA BA" (which means daddy)! What a blessing. This little girl's heart is already with us!

P.S. Mom has had ZERO luck posting pictures, however, a couple that is with mom and them is Nathan and Lisa. You can check out the link to their website on the right of this blog. There are some pictures ( one of which mom and Ethan are in the Background of) and Mrs. Lisa has updated her blog quite often.

2007-02-04T09:51:00.000-06:00

2007-02-04T09:44:00.000-06:00

Not much internet time here(the internet gets quite expensive). It takes such a long time to upload photos.
Well we fly out for Kunming at 6:30 monday morning, your sunday afternoon, and we go straight to the civil affairs office to take care of paperwork. We should see Mia tomorrow morning!!!(not 100% sure though). The flight is 3 and 1/2 hours long (this flying thing is starting to get old).
The great wall was incredible, and I went to see an acrobatic show while Mike and Ethan went to sleep ( party- poopers). Also we went to a jade factory ( IT WAS SOO EXPENSIVE!).
It's 11:48 p.m. here. Tomorrow we will see Mia.. Tomorrow Morning. My mind is racing, and we are praying so much for this long awaited day!

ONE MORE DAY

2007-02-03T12:25:00.000-06:00

(email from Mom to Elliott,... She is having trouble logging in to her Blog site... Free thinking and being able to write about it isn't very popular in "The Republic of China.")
Saturday Feb. 3, 2007
We've had a BUSY Saturday and we are exhausted. You wouldn't believe what we've done, seen, heard and eaten today! Ethan has been great- stimulation is endless so his imagination is...well, you know Ethan - nuf said!:-) We will have a little more time at the end of our day tomorow. Today we had zero time on our own - we were out doing the entire time. Authentic everything. We ate Peking Duck for dinner. There was SOOO much food. Food just kept appearing on these Lazy Susan's. It was incredible. If I can get the computer to upload some pictures quicker - I'll come try to in the morning.

Today (Sunday Feb. 4th) we go a church service that is only available to foreigners (it's Christian, and that's why no Chinese are allowed to go). After the church service we will go to The Great Wall.

Must go and start the paper-work process. We've got a few copies and protocols to get ready before we leave here early Monday a.m. I think we leave for the airport about 6:30 a.m. monday and our flight to Kunming is shortly after that. We'll get all our paperwork done before we get Mia -so we'll see her pretty quickly I think Monday. I'll sleep good tonight, but I'll bet we'll be nervous Monday(sunday for you guys)!

After we get beautiful little Mia we should start to slow down and be able to do stuff on our own time. I pray that Mia's heart is getting prepared to leave what she's familiar with and be apart of a family that (although crazy) loves her very much. My prayers are that God has given her a sense of peace.

Beijing... FINALLY!

2007-02-02T07:42:00.000-06:00

NO pictures yet, but they will be coming soon.
We arrived in Beijing after a 13 hour plane ride (wow, what a miserable ride)and we are pretty wiped out. Our hotel is ver nice, and we are right next to a wal-mart ( not like a U.S. Wal-mart, more like "34 flea markets in one building," says Ethan. Well Beijing is an interesting city with a ton of people.
They mentioned something about smog to us, but when we landed, it is definitely a noticeable thing. It's like a low lying cloud!
We are about to get to bed now (finally!) and we will start our site seeing tomorrow.
Tomorrow we see: Tienanmen Square, Forbidden City, and Summer Palace, as well as several factories I think!
Thank you all so much for the prayers and support, and please continue to do so as we stay here for 2 weeks.
Also pray for Michaela, she has never been away from her parents for a length of time like this. She knows that she must be a "big girl," but I know it's got to be difficult for her.

2007-02-01T10:10:00.000-06:00

Chicago and Snow!

2007-02-01T09:43:00.000-06:00

This is Elliott ( Katri's oldest son) and I am the one that mother has put in charge of updating her blog with pictures and such until she is able to get to a computer.

The family ( Mom, Dad, and Ethan) are now in Chicago. There flight went well from New Orleans, and they are waiting FOUR HOURS until their flight out of Chicago to Beijing! It is snowing in Chicago now ( something that doesn't happen AT ALL in southern Mississippi).
Continue to pray for their safety as they start their 13 hour flight to Beijing in just a little bit. They will get in Beijing at 1 O'clock in the morning Central time but it will be 3 O'clock in the afternoon in Beijing (MAJOR JET LAG)!!

God is good and in just a few short days little Mia Grace Yunzhu Welford will meet her family!

Kunming or Bust!

2007-01-26T22:04:00.000-06:00

Can't even begin to describe the past two days. Absolutely came out of nowhere and took the wind right out of me...in a good kinda way. But we've got tickets and a schedule! Now the test is to see how much we can get done before Wednesday! Yes - we've got to leave for New Orleans on Wednesday night. Early flight out Thursday, February 1st. We will fly out of Chicago and go straight to Beijing (13 hours). I'll post our itenerary later.

Pray that Ethan's visa's get processed in time or we're out $1K. His passport is "supposed" to be here tomorrow and we'll turn it around and overnight it to VA to get the Chinese consolate to stamp it. I'm trying to prepare lesson plans and get my classes taken care of - Mike has the store to secure. And there's our Michaela. She's so excited and is being so brave about the whole thing. It's gonna be a long 14 + days without her. Thank you to all who are cheering us on. We feel your love and support.

Mia, here we come!

TRAVEL APPROVAL!

2007-01-25T17:31:00.000-06:00

Just when you think you've got things figured out! I just knew I could wallow in this dreary January gloom feeling sorry for myself thinking we've got another month until we meet our Mia. Boom! The sun came out this morning. I was singing a happy tune all morning, then when I was walking back to my room from the school cafeteria, I saw Mike's truck parked in front of my building. Is someone hurt? What's wrong? Nothing - except our agency called to ask if we're ready to leave next THURSDAY! Can we do it? I don't know, but we're gonna sure try. My prayer warriors sure pack power. We should know tomorrow if we're in for sure. If not it'll be okay. All in His perfect time.

Translated Documents & Red Threads

2007-01-13T08:38:00.000-06:00

We received a translation of Mia's growth record. It seems to have been done in October, 2006. That must have been the time her documents were submitted for International Adoption. How my mind ponders questions like who decides to pick her? Why did they select her? International Adoption makes up only a small fraction of all children available in China. We are blessed to have been given this child. She seems like a little bundle of joy and sounds like someone knew she'd fit in perfectly in the Welford's household.

During this entire process I have prayed for our "Red Thread" to be made known to us. The chinese have a saying that we are tied by a red thread to someone we are destined to be with...it may tangle, stretch and knot but it will not break. The date we felt the pull of this red thread was on November 11, 2004 at a Stephen Curtis Chapman concert. Nine months later our little Mia was born. I have been praying that God would confirm this adoption to me and He has, over and over again. When I look into her smiling face and read the pages of her growth and personality, I know she is ours and was meant to be.

Her foster family obviously gave most of these details in her report. It is said that "
The child was found on June 20, 2006 by the local people who reported to the police. After the investigation by the authoritative police station, the child was confirmed to be an abandoned baby and was brought in to the orphanage the same day. They determined then that her birthday was around August of 2005 and gave her DOB as the 2oth. She would have been 10 months old. It doesn't say how long she stayed in the orphanage before going to a foster family. The file also describes Mia is "outgoing, clever, active, cute, smiley, sociable, like outdoors, likes to be held and accompanied. Wave hands and kicks when happy. Likes to play games with other children. Gets along well with other kids. Likes to play with toys she’s never seen. Positive response to the strangers and new stimulation." I'm just going nuts to hurry up and meet her!

We are waiting for travel approval and consolate appointments and figure the likely time to travel will be the last of February and first week of March.

What we're learning

2007-01-10T10:48:00.000-06:00

Mia may have been here at one point but we know that she is in foster care now. From what I am learning, foster care is in village- type housing surrounding the orphanage. Her surname, Guan, is commonly given to children that are found in this inner-city area by the same name. We took some of her paper-work to our local chinese restaurant to have it translated. Even though our agency is translating most of it, we didn't want to wait the extra week to find out more about her. From what we understood, she is able to feed herself and likes to go outside. Her favorite toy is a rattle. I am anxious to see if what they said about her abandonment is true. The girl seems to think that she may have been left on June, 2006. If that's true, she would have been with her family for almost 10 months of her life. The girl at the restaurant may have misunderstood this so we will have to wait for official translation. My prayer is that she is able to bond as a result of the nurturing she's received as an infant.
Our agency says we will probably travel in March. I've been on pins & needles again because of a new law regarding our Citizenship and Immigration paper. Ours expires on the 21st of this month. We can't bring back an "alien" orphan into this country without it. The new law says that we can't even get consolate appointments without it being current. We've been waiting on this renewal since the last of October and haven't been able to speak with a real person until today. I was assured by the officer that she would get it in today's mail. I pray this is so.

Maybe Mia Grace YunZhu?

2007-01-04T20:47:00.000-06:00

Yun (Cloud) Zhu (Pearl)

I think Mike wants to call her Mia Grace. Can she have 5 names?

Announcing our Mia!

2007-01-04T12:08:00.000-06:00

We are in love!

For unto us a Child is Given!

2007-01-03T13:03:00.000-06:00

With this baby we are blessed!

Guan Yun Zhu
Born: August 20th, 2005
in Yunan Province - Kunming CWI- Foster Care

She weighed 22 lbs in October! (okay to all those who know their dentistry! :-) Our Family coordinator said she see's two teeth shining on the bottom - that's probably not all the teeth she has!) We will have pictures and more information to share tomorrow!

God is so good. We are overjoyed. Thank you for your prayers as you've journeys thus far with us. We covet your continued presence.

This time tomorrow

2007-01-02T20:11:00.000-06:00

My last day at home before school starts and I've tried to stay busy. Finished packing away all the decorations and nicely tidied the house. Michaela and I dashed off for one last shopping jaunt just to pick up a few necessities and have her baby-doll "check-up" at the local mall. Anything to keep our minds occupied. While we were there I bumped into someone I've been wanting to meet for along time. We've spoken on the phone a few times. She's a veteran adoptive mom and waiting again for her third girl from China. If you believe in coincidences then it was no big deal, but for us finally to meet on the eve of referrals is a blessing to me. She was with her two daughters trying to pick up a few clothes for their waiting child. They've requested a girl around age 6-7.

I've found out from another agency that referrals had landed in Los Angeles this afternoon and people on the West Coast have started getting their calls. I expect our agency to open up tomorrow and I think DHL (the carrier) will deliver before noonish. I'll be on pins and needles by 3 p.m. I'll freak out if I've not heard anything by 5 p.m. Please pray that we won't be forgotten. I've seen alot of sad stories in the past 15 months. Families that have sat by the phone and it rings only to say the worst. It is rare, but it is possible.

But there's a God in heaven who watches out for us and I pray His love and care will provide.

Thank you to all who wait with us.

Referrals in Europe!

2007-01-02T07:26:00.000-06:00

Are packages already at the Agency? Will someone go in and check? I return to school tomorrow.....will we get the call tomorrow?

Maybe he'll sign-off on our papers soon

2006-12-31T07:47:00.000-06:00

...this post is taken directly from the CCAA's website - it rarely changes so it was nice to see some activity. Our friend Sheila and her husband just got back with their new daughter, Anna. They are doing great and give me hope that the wait does end in time. I pray that "Everything is indeed for the Children."

New Year Greeting

Date of Post:December,31 2006　　Source:CCAA

As the light of springtime emerges gradually, it is a fresh start for all living things. With the advent of the New Year, I would like to, on behalf of the China Center of Adoption Affairs (CCAA), thank leaders of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, related departments and fellow institutes for the concern and care you have given to CCAA, thank all governments of receiving states and adoption organizations for the sincere trust and good cooperation we have received from you, thank all circles of society for your warm support and deep-felt care to the orphans and handicapped children in China. We wish you have a harmoniously life, good health, happy family and good luck in everything in the forthcoming year.

Packing off 2006 which is full of achievements and fruits, we welcome 2007 which is full of hope. The CCAA will continue to follow the principle of “everything for the children”, develop the inter-country adoption work in China towards the direction of being more consistent with international convention, being more reasonable with the reality in China, working harder in accordance with law and regulations and making a better protection of the rights and interests of children and contribute more for the orphans and handicapped children to make sure that they can grow up healthily and happily in the same world and under the same blue sky!

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Director General of CCAA:Luying
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　December 31, 2006

What's another week?!

2006-12-26T17:57:00.000-06:00

We celebrated Christmas with everyone of our family members! What a feat to get us all home at the same time. It was the first time ever to occur and it may never happen again. We cheered with joy at the announcement of my niece's pregnancy. It was understandable that everyone is still a bit hesitant to be excited over our adoption. This wait is incomprehensible even to me. My sister-in-law so thoughtfully brought our Mia a gift for Christmas too, a chinese baby-doll. So many are scared that this may end in failure, a miscarriage or sorts. How precious is life and the relationships we build.
It was so nice to begin the Holy Day with a Christmas Eve candlelight service at our church with the pew lined with our family. The next morning was wonderfully delayed as we all slept 'til 7 and leisurely admired each others gifts. Somehow I talked the whole bunch into going to see "The Nativity" movie and even Mike's mom went along. The biggest joy was when Ethan admitted that it was really good. He's quite the movie critic.
We are in the homestretch and we've completed 16 months of this wait. Our dossier went to China on September 26, 2005. It's kind of like the re-entry story of the Apollo 13 module. If you haven't heard from us by this time next week - well.....we're coasting in outer-space. Pray that we hear soon. Holidays have our agency shut down until Thursday & Friday. If we haven't heard before the 4th or 5th I'll be nuts! Another week? God be merciful.

Hark the Herald is quiet

2006-12-15T08:47:00.000-06:00

No, I don't feel guilty for not sending out Christmas cards this year. Every year Mike begins to sift through the ever increasing display of the yule-tide greetings, photo's and newsletters and I know he's thinking, "When are our cards going out?" Well, I refuse to be bluffed this year. In fact, I am quite staunch in my resolve to hold out on cards until the news of our referral comes. I have visions of a grand announcement in the New Year.
The heavens were silent for some 300 years prior to the coming Messiah. But upon Jesus' birth heaven burst open and out flowed The Word. His arrival was heralded in majestically. Words alone were not enough. Only the serafs and angels could do justice to this miraculous event. I've spent my entire life trying to understand His impact upon my being.
How inadequate I feel to describe our wait for this child. How empty our world feels knowing that we cannot predict the timing. We mortals love to be in control, yet our dominion is an illusion. Peace is found knowing that His love is perfect and in the fullness of time His plan will be completed. Our family is blessed to have been given this opportunity. Another life to enrich our path. God's fullness is limitless. We can not begin to imagine the things He has planned for each of us. My prayer is that, like the serafs, we reflect at least some of His splendor.

Soon a plane will carry packages from the China Center of Adoption Affairs containing the dossiers of many children already matched with a family. Once they are delivered to the different agencies, it will take several days to deliver the bundles of joy. Some agencies are anticipating referrals to come right before Christmas, some right after and some the first week of the New Year. I can hardly think of this time now without having my chest tighten and I can't imagine how I will hold up when it actually happens. If I could blow a trumpet to proclaim our delight, I would! The phones will ring and the blog will post. Stay tuned......Whenever we get the news that we have a child, the heralding will begin!

Silent Night, Holy Night
All is calm, all is bright
'Round yon virgin, Mother and Child
Holy enfant, so tender and mild
Sleep in heavenly peace
Sleep in heavenly peace

4 MORE WEEKS!

2006-11-30T08:37:00.000-06:00

The bad news is...we missed by ONE STINKING DAY!
The goods news is.....NO MORE GUESSING. We are definitely gonna be in the next batch.
I can finally relax and know that the new year will be bringing us a baby girl.
I really didn't want to be in Bejing in the cold winter anyway.
God is Good!

FIELD TRIP!

2006-11-27T12:16:00.000-06:00

Are we in? Stay tuned!

2006-11-27T10:52:00.000-06:00

We are currently under an ORANGE alert. The question remains, "Will we be included in this batch?" God willing - we will know by weeks end.

Sweet relief

2006-11-06T19:16:00.000-06:00

There were no referrals for October. How cruel can this wait get. Especially for those who had been waiting fourteen plus months. The month as the hardest month ever to get through. Even though we all have different log-in dates, we all wait together. Waiting to herald in the newest bundles of joy and waiting to see if we are moving ahead any faster in line. Referrals have typically been going out during the last two weeks of each month, but there's nothing "typical" about this wait. October came and went and we in the adoption community were on edge. So many lives wrapped up in the events to unfold. Rumors fly. Hopes dangle atop a tedious roller-coaster. November 1st was sweet relief for us all. The CCAA finally gave news and agencies began confirming - Referrals were released! I feel like a proud sister now. Our newfound friends here in our hometown now are parents to a beautiful little girl. They were logged-in with the CCAA August 16th, 2005. They hold in their hearts a ten-month old from Guangdong province. They await travel plans. This joyful realisation brings anticipation for all of us in my group logged in September 9th, 2005: Are we next?

It's a month to begin planning for the holidays. A month of reflecting on our blessings. I'm meeting so many wonderful people this side of China, I can only hope for more as we meet face-to-face in such a culture-full country. I have grown to a newer maturity. Though I can't begin to imagine what it will be like for us to finally receive our referral, it seems like a far-off dream now.....stretching farther and farther away, I'm trying to visualize it. How will it feel to finally see her face? Maybe we're next. We've hopped back on the roller-coaster ride for yet another month of ups and downs. We will either set ourselves up to be sorely dissappointed if we don't make it, or we will be swept away in joyful surprise if God intervines, OR.....we will resign ourselves to December. I just so wanted to see my baby's face before Christmas.