Wednesday, August 27, 2008

IN CHINA POSTS

READ FROM BOTTOM UP



Our last day!
September 13, 2007
It's our last day here and Mommy and Daddy are READY to get home!!! We miss our family at home sooooooooooo bad!!! Kaylee has quite the shock waiting for her with the long plane rides for sure! Let's hope Mommy and Daddy have hair left and haven't pulled it all out by the time we get done with flights that long with a 2 year old!!!! :) LOL
9pm- Well, after all the waiting and two weeks here, our time in China is almost complete. Our daughter is officially ours now. Once we land on US soil and clear Customs, she's a US citizen, third child in the family to accomplish this before Dad! LOL Now that the adoption is complete, we will work on poor ole Dad getting to be a citizen instead of a permanent resident.
Kaylee is looking way cute in her pj's tonight but is also being a handful of two year old trouble! lol Dang nab it, hard to be Mommy when she's lookin so cute! :) Thankfully things like shutting the bathroom door can curb one trouble area. That won't last long! lol
Don't worry boys, you'll hear Kaylee's name in trouble as much as yours! lol
We love you all and can't wait to start heading home to you!!! Give Annie doggie hugs for us, tell Cookie to get ready for another troublesome youngster, and break the bad news to Cassie that the castle isn't really hers (I think that covers the pets) lol
Pray for our travels home, our wake-up call is for 4:30 and we leave the hotel at 5:30. Love you all. Charlotte, Glenn and Kaylee




Consoluate Appt.
September 12, 2007
Bob attended our consoluate appt. this morning. All went well, we have our oath ceremony tomorrow at 3 pm, than we're basically free to travel!! Yippee!! :) We've had a good time but we miss our boys terribly and are very ready to get our family under the same household again! :)
Kaylee is SOOOOOOOOOO a typical little girl, she and I have fallen in love with the traditionally dressed China dolls. We have 'fought' all morning over a booklet of them that we picked up at a shop last night. Later this afternoon after nap, Glenn and I plan to go out and find her a Barbie doll she can play with since she can't play with my dolls I'm going to collect. She and I were both in heaven last night at a shop looking at the dolls. Too funny! The girls in the shop were laughing at Kaylee and I ohhhing and ahhing together over them! :)
We've had a few more two-year old meltdowns. Glenn and I just ignore the behavior, she doesn't get what she wants, hopefully she starts understanding the tantrum only gets her ignored instead of what she's throwing the tantrum over. It's all very typical two year old behavior, nothing to do with being adopted (for anyone that wondered). We have realized that she most definitely acts out more when she's had too much stimulation. We went out to dinner last night and sat with a few other adopting parents, we then let her walk holding my hand all the way back from dinner instead of riding (quite a long stretch for a 2 year old's legs), then we went to the pool to cool off. She LOVES the water and likes to splash Daddy and kick her legs while I hold her walking around. After all that activity, she was VERY tired and we knew it behavior-wise for sure! LOL Can you say cranky? lol That's ok, Mommy gets very cranky when she's tired too! lol




Nice quiet day so far
September 11, 2007
We've had a nice quiet day so far. I probably got up at 7, Kaylee and Daddy slept till 8:30 when I started turning on lights to make them wake up! lol Can't take a chance of sleeping through the free breakfast. lol While here, my plan of attack has been to load Kaylee and I up at breakfast, Glenn and I usually skip lunch and Kaylee eats in the room for lunch. Then we have a nice dinner.
Kaylee's down for her nap right now. After the orphanage visit, I should know nothing should bother her noise wise when she's asleep. They close doors, etc. at full volume there and the babies don't hardly move. Yet I can still hear her move around slightly from behind me at the sound of the computer keys. :)
Trying to think if she's been doing anything new the last few days. I do have to tell you, it's amazing how much she seems to have matured even in the last week. When we got her, she very much reminded me of a 12-18 month old baby, now a week later, she's letting us hear new different baby sounds, she basically says 'eeeeeeeeeeeee' for something she wants and 'wahhhhhhhh' for look, she's showing her independent side, has to put her socks and shoes on (over and over) all day, she brings us baby wipes and a diaper if she needs to be changed. We're not going to bother trying to potty train her here of course. I want her to be comfortable at home and then start. We've waited our whole lives for each other, I think we deserve a couple of weeks before we start any hard growing up training. :)
I can't wait for the boys to meet her. I've lived the moment over and over in my head, thinking what each one will think of her and what she will think of them. I can't wait to introduce her to home. :)
All this time to bring us together, almost a year, through all the hardships, scary moments, personal problems, everything we've been through this last year, she's worth every moment and I'd live every moment of this year over again to make sure she was in my life. Being a mother with two boys naturally and one daughter through adoption, I can tell you from personal experience now, I feel no difference between them. The pain I went through, tears, frustrations, etc. for Kaylee's adoption, it all equals as much 'pregnancy' as I had with each boy. Any moms out there with children through adoption only, never for one second let anyone tell you that you haven't endured pregnancy, you most definitely have.
Kaylee is a blessing for sure and we love her as much as our boys. :)
Orphanage Visit




September 10, 2007
Daddy writing today.
We went to Donguan City SWI today and discovered right off the bat that Kaylee was very popular there. Nannies were running down hallways and corridors when it was learned she was there. The sad part was that her main Nanny was off today and missed her.
It was very obvious how much she was loved at the orpahanage by the way they laughed and played with her. We were told about how smart she was and how she used to lead another girl around trying to teach her how to walk. I bet that would've been quite a site. One of the directors told me that they were always worried about what family would adopt her as she was so special to them and that once they saw our pictures they could tell by our faces that we were a perfect fit. I'm sure they tell every family this but it seemed so sincere when they were talking.
We gave the second director the cleft bottles we brought and the special scrap book photo album from Donguan families. They really seemed to take alot of interest in the album and seeing how the children have grown. Several children were crawling over Charlotte and she looked like Santa Clause. I took as many pictures as I could of these children in case someone recognises one as their little piece of joy. I tried to sneak pictures in the crib room but wasn't allowed. They let me and encouraged me to take the pictures of the little ones crawling on Charlotte.
I will say this after visiting the orphanage today, it's very clean and very friendly. you can tell that these nannies genuinely care for these babies so much and they are thrilled when they are adopted. They made me promise to grow her hair long lol that was already on the cards. I promised the nannies and director that we would love and care and protect Kaylee forever and they thanked us. In a way it was difficult to see your daughter jump into the arms of a "stranger" and laugh and giggle but it was theraputic as well. I now know that this has always been her personality and has always brought smiles to peoples faces just as she does now. Another difficult part was seeing all the little ones waiting to be adopted by a loving family, it's hard to not grab them up and run for the door but we did find out that several are waiting for their paperwork. If you have ever had an incling of adoption in your heart please do it please adopt one of these loving children.
Daddy!



Running late
September 09, 2007
Running late for Kaylee's blessing at a temple this morning but I had to stop and type this quickly. We actually had two people ask to be removed from our 'update' emails on Kaylee. I think I have all the requested emails removed but if not, tough, you can remove yourself. My daughter is the most precious little girl in the world and if you don't want to hear about her, it is MOST DEFINITELY your loss.
I'm so sorry to talk this way, especially on Kaylee's journal but this little girl is a huge part of our world now and if you don't want her, you don't want us.
Sorry, words from a hurt mommy this morning, off to get our little girl blessed.
Charlotte




I think it's Saturday??
September 08, 2007
Can't help but feel a little sad this morning, the Posey's are on their way home so we won't be meeting up for breakfast and Starbucks. We've all gotten really close this last week and we'll miss them. I'm sure Kaylee will wonder where the boys have gone to. Especially her Starbucks' pole dancing partner Genghis (aka Chris). We all agree that must have known each other, they stared and were too familiar with each other not to have, Kaylee and the boys were all three at DongGuan City SWI.
Kaylee is quite the little ham, let me tell you! She did pretty good last night, decided to be a little night owl and watch tv from the crib with Daddy but that's ok, as long as she wasn't fussing, I didn't make her go to sleep. Too funny though, she would stand up (I was facing Glenn going to sleep) and if she saw Glenn tap me to show me she was standing up, she immediately dove to be laying down on the bed. LOL
I guess I won't know what it's like to shower by myself for a while. She can't stand to have me out of her sight now. If I go to the bathroom, she has to be with me in the room, when I shower, she has to be attached to my hip and from the way she clutches on to stay put with the water, I've gone to calling her my little monkey. She loves the water as hot as I do though and loves to take showers that way so atleast I can still have a hot shower, even if I do have my little puppet in there, imitating everything I do. She had to help me brush my hair while I blowdried it last night. She's dying to have her hair long too. She keeps pulling on it when I brush mine, like hers is going to get longer that way. lol
She is a little sweetie for sure though. :) She's had a full blown two year old tantrum already when Daddy took his new movie he'd just bought away from her. Complete with throwing herself on the floor, crying, grunting, screaming mad. We just did the two year old taunt of 'you can do better than that, can't you? Is that all you got?' After nobody picked her up and she didn't get the movie back. She finally gave the tantrum up, I'm sure more than a little disappointed at its failure.
Boys, you better be exercising now, your sister's going to give you a work out running around the house! Jaycen, I think you have a running partner!! Drew, maybe you can sneak off the radar and sit by me (shhhhhhhhhhhh maybe we can watch tv if they don't notice us! lol)
Opp, little sweet face (as Glenn calls her) is up, better jump off here.




Good Lord, I have no earthly idea what day or date it is any more! lol
September 07, 2007
Last night we had to experience the hard but necessary part of adopting. The greeving process. If we weren't first time adoptive parents, we probably would have seen it coming a little more. Kaylee had bloomed in to full blown Kaylee yesterday! :) Hyper little girl, laughing, playing, teasing, running, everything. Well, after dinner last night, we'd come back to our room, played for a while, etc. I got up to go to the bathroom and was going to take a quick shower to rinse the sweat off (I could take 40 of these a day and still not feel clean, I HATE all this sweating!!). Kaylee did her normal of going to the bathroom door to lay down and look under. Usually she will bring her toys and play waiting for you to 'return'. Last night she started whimpering. Glenn got up and started playing with her on the floor. She started full blown crying. He picked her up, screaming, crying, kicking, full of grief. After I realized this wasn't just a normal cry, I opened the door and let her in with me. She calmed down, took a shower with me, latched on my hip like a little monkey, playing with the water as I bathed her around her latch-on position. She was laughing in the shower, perfectly fine. We went to get out, Glenn snuggled her up in a towel and took her to the bedroom while I quickly dressed. Then the greeving really kicked in. She started crying for 'ah-eee', baby for Auntie, which is what she would call her Nanny at the orphanage. She cried and cried. Normally all crying stops when I hold her. Not this time. I walked the floors with her (Glenn was in torment over watching her in this agony cry). I finally sat on the bed with her, let her cry and just kept talking to her. I rubbed her back and head, told her how much we loved her and that we'd never leave her. After a while the sobs slowed down to whimpers. After a little while longer, the whimpers tapered off. I sat her back from me on the bed and started playing with her like everything hadn't happened. I got her favorite album of us and gave it to her, pointing each person out by name like she loves. After a little of this, she got back to normal, only more affectionate with both of us. She played her the next couple of hours, Glenn and I both got lots of hugs and kisses from her. She had more trouble again at bed, I just laid in our bed singing to her and after 10-15 rounds of Hush Little Baby, she fell asleep and is still asleep this morning.
We knew this greeving would come, it has to. It's her little body and mind letting go of her past and opening herself to the future. It shows she can make bonds and truly allow herself to feel love and security toward her family. It's very hard for parents to watch and experience though, trust me.
Glenn and I have decided that as much as I have wanted to visit her orphanage next week, we don't think it's a good idea for Kaylee to go back for a visit. We're afraid she may backslide if she thinks for one minute that she's going back. The first couple of rides in the van after we got her, she had fear in her eyes and clutched me the entire time. She's now fine with riding in the van. Glenn is going to do the visit and thank her Auntie for giving her the obvious extra attention Kaylee has received. For her to be this loving and well adjusted and never been in foster care, (so we've been told at least), she HAD to have had a special Auntie.




Life with Kaylee
September 06, 2007
Well, God knew what He was doing of course! lol Kaylee is quite the comediene, tease, girly girl, smart, a clean freak and HYPER after sugar! lol She'll fit right in with our clan! lol Did I mention she loves TV and finds any where we go that has one??
She wore us out yesterday! lol We stayed in the room the most of the day and just played. It was very good for Glenn and Kaylee especially. It's hard to describe, she's bonding a little faster with me but not totally shying away from Glenn either. We are all three addressing it together and it looks that we are being successful. I will sit on Glenn's lap and kiss him, with her in our laps, then we both kiss and hug her, she seems to be getting the idea that if Mommy does it, it's safe for her too. She's sitting with Daddy right now with her new flower book so I can write here.
She can't wait to get home I think and play with the boys!! One of her most favorite games is looking at her picture album we sent to the orphange and point to everyone's pictures, having us tell her over and over who everyone is.
She can't stand long sleeves, she constantly pushes the sleeves up, (they would be a new thing for her). lol
Had quite an adventure the other day. We were on one of our many trips for the adoption when our driver suddenly stops in the middle of the road, jumps out of the van and runs down the road like an Olympic runner! We're just sitting there, going 'uhhhhh.....?????' Our guide, much to Glenn and my's humor, tries to act like this is very normal behavior! lol Apparently someone on a bike (without any of us except the driver seeing, feeling or hearing anything)bumped in to the van and kept going. We just sat there with a line of traffic behind us honking and us just looking like, okkkkkkkkk.......... He came back mad as a hornet that he didn't catch the man. No damage done though! ;)
We'll be going off the island today for a little shopping.
OHHHHHHHHH, Kaylee is officially OURS!! We're just in the waiting stage for her to have permission to leave the country. Please pray for Japan, they have a typhoon headed their way and of course I don't want anyone to get hurt but we HAVE TO FLY THROUGH Tokyo next week!




What day is it? What month is it?
September 05, 2007
So tell me, we've been gone like months already, haven't we??? Now that we have Kaylee, time goes so slow and so fast at the same time! Kaylee is just something else! LOL She gets excited when her tummy is full and wants to jump up and down! AHHHH, that could be a bad combination! lol So far no bad results, we're trying to curve that. lol
Lavonne gave Kaylee this duck canteen that she likes to carry around like a purse. It was pouring down rain last night so Kaylee and I took a few laps around the lobby, her holding one hand with me and the other held up in the air so her 'purse' wouldn't fall off her shoulder. lol The whole time squeaking with every step in her new squeaky shoes! lol Too cute!
Boys you would have loved seeing Dad acting silly last night. One of the squeakers had fallen out of Kaylee's shoe so Dad put it in his mouth and blew in it to make it squeak. Then he took giant steps around the room making the 'squeak' when he stepped down, Kaylee thought that was too funny!
We miss you boys so much!!! Gosh Jaycen, Kaylee looks so much like you sometimes! Especially when she's sleeping! And Drew, she may be smitten with you, she met a guy a little older than you last night and did everything she could to get his attention and make him smile at her! :)
Drew, I hope you feel better soon!! :( Make sure to take your allergy meds and ask for a tyneol if your headache gets bad.
I'm glad to hear Cookie is still eating! Are the dogs looking for us? I know Cassie's probably just happy with the new arrangements and calling interior decorators during the day to figure out how she's going to re-do the house now that she's become the throne with us being gone! How mad she's going to be when we come home! Guys, make sure she doesn't get the credit card!!
Jill, glad you like our bed, isn't is the greatest??? AHhhhhhhhh.............. :) Even room for all the furry clan to share with you! lol
Mom, its so funny, Kaylee is a big sleeper! She slept ten hours last night and still would be asleep if we let her and she takes two hour naps on top of it, yep my child, definitely! lol
Love you all! I'll try to answer emails soon. We've been running all kinds of errands and appointments with the adoption. I guess that's why the days go by so quickly.



We must get off to breakfast and then Starbucks! Yep Cat, I said STARBUCKS! LOL
September 04, 2007
Kaylee is sooooooooooo cute!! Oh my gosh! She's a little sweetheart who likes to be a helper. Every time I left the sliding closet door open, she went over and gently closed it for me. If you point at her cookie on the floor and tell her to pick it up, she goes and gathers every tiny little piece. She shares and loves to collect her blocks back and forth by giving them to us, taking them back one by one and putting them in the square they go in (they are the shape sorters and Glenn has her already trying to figure out how to put them in the correct shape). She's very intelligent but I think her emotional level, though very healthy, is probably more of that of a 12-18 month old than a typical 2 year old.

She has to have her highchair table clean, even if that means throwing food on the floor, she then inspects the table to make sure nothing is left and it is clean. She wore her hat with no problem, thought her headband looked cute so she left that sucker on a long time. When she took it off, she'd look at it and put it right back on. We put her in a pink top with an icecream cone on it yesterday evening for dinner. She was holding her shirt out so she could see the design. She gives hugs when you ask for them and has given a few on her own as well. She hugs you tight and squeezes your neck gently with her hands while she's hugging you. She wore her ladybug pjs to bed last night and was strutting around the room in them. She was quite proud of them. :)

She has a little congestion in her chest, I gave her a little bit of cough med. before bed, she really didn't cough that much though. She cried at first when we put her to bed but after three rounds of 'Hush Little Baby', she was fast asleep and slept all night. She hears me typing now and is moving around a little. We took some adorable pictures of her sleeping! She likes to sleep with her arms and legs sticking out the sides of the crib! LOL

She got mad at me last night. Glenn gave her a little piece of chocolate, which she liked but she was holding it for a long time and it was getting on the white sheets so I threw it away. I got quite a face for that one. lol She loves eating cheetos with me, she scooted right up close to my lap facing me as if I was about to give her the prize of the centuries. :)

The boys are going to love playing with her! I think she'll definitely have them wrapped around her little finger in no time!!

I know totally how to load pictures at home from the camera to the computer but since this is the computer in the room and I don't know much about the laptop, I'll have to let Glenn tackle getting pictures on line. Trust me, they'll be worth the wait! Even the big American Mama didn't mind having her picture done yesterday! lol :) I just got through looking through them all. You see her walking to us, the look of 'who the heck are you????' on her face upon first seeing us. You see me in mid-picking her up for the first time. You see Kaylee and I both look like we're about to cry! lol Then you start seeing her starting to smile in Glenn and my's arms. We're very lucky, this little girl has had a lot of attention and is used to being loved and attended to. I have a feeling when we visit the orphanage, we're probably going to encounter a nanny that was very loving to her and is going to miss her.

I tell you, I've loved our visit but now that we have Kaylee, I want to jump home and have everybody together again!! :) :) Miss and love you all.




GOTCHA DAY!!
September 03, 2007
We finally have our beautiful Kaylee!! She walked into the room at Civil Affairs all on her own after a nap and we have the biggest SWEETHEART ever. Of course that might change when she wants it to. LOL She LOVES to play, she's very smart and funny! She waves bye-bye, loves to copy you, she'll stick her tongue out to copy you, do her lips in kissing fashion when you do and has only cried when we tried to put her in a stroller. She wants to be held, big time! Which we don't mind at all for right now! :) She's perfectly happy on my hip in the hip sling. She's a chunk!! Very heavy to pick up, I was shocked! She's wearing an 18 months size outfit right now that's a big size 18 months. She'll probably fit in 24 months size pretty well too. We still have to go buy her some shoes. She had her bath like a champ, she splashed in the water and stood up and reached for me to get her out when she got cold.
We met up with several families for dinner tonight, she and I shared steamed rice for dinner. She points at everything. We're in heaven! She looks for us when we walk away. She's fussed a little bit for me if I wander too far.
We've taken tons of pics but want to spend more time with her tonight before we try to download any pics.
Boys, get ready! This girl has an arm and likes to throw! lol



WE GOTCHA DAY-KAYLEE!!!!!!!!!
September 03, 2007
What we've all been waiting for!! Kaylee is here!! Oh my gosh, we've been blessed with a SWEETHEART!!!!! Of course that may change when she wants to. The only time our angel has cried thus far was when we tried to put her in the stroller for the first time. She took to the bathtub like a pro and splashed and played. She is very inquisitive and points at things with wide eyes. She loves Daddy and Mommy so much and loves to play. Jaycen and Drew ge ready for playtime with your little sister she loves blocks. She's a big girl and we have a feeling she will melt some hearts very soon. Pictures to come soon.



only a matter of hours
September 03, 2007
We're down to a few hours, TODAY is the day!! The day to finally hold our daughter for the first time!! Immediately tears sprung to my eyes even typing the words!
After almost a year of working toward a most often feeling-winless fight, we are scheduled to meet our daughter, in just a matter of hours. I remember so many hours of driving and talking with God, asking with excited fear, 'Lord, could this really be happening?? Me Lord?? Could I be called to adopt?? Would you be willing to give me such a blessing?? I know I'm not worthy. How could I ever be worthy of this happening??' Many many times in this last year, God has taught me, NOPE, I wasn't worthy enough but everytime I thought, well, here we go, this is the stopping point now, this is where it all falls apart and God tells me No, you aren't going to receive this blessing. God had to correct my thinking, it wasn't whether I was worthy or not. It was what He had planned for our lives, we just had to be open to His plans. Being open has lead us to the other side of the world. Being open has lead me to be typing to you from the country of China, a place I never thought I'd be. :)
I've so many times in the past wrote here at moments like this, where the Lord has lead me to the computer, making me feel compelled to pass along my feelings, knowing someone out there is reading this for a special reason I may never know. Today is one of those times. I met some very special children yesterday. Were they special because of color, an age, a special need, or me feeling like they needed me somehow? No. I met a beautiful thirteen year-old girl, with a full beautiful heart for her new brothers. Making me stand back and admire her so much. She is going to be a wonderful mother to many more children herself one day. Being a mother with love in my heart and feeling such a need to protect and love as a passion, it is easy for me to spot the same qualities in others. This girl has it. :) I met two little boys, ewually special and they too won my heart yesterday. The Poseys' boys Chris, JUST like our Jaycen at that age!! Like Jaycen to a 'T', I love his want to play and make people laugh. And Alex, so much benefiting from his parents hard work this last week, laughing and wanting to play last night! There is nothing better than his giggle in response to being tickled! And beautiful Jin Jin!! She opened my eyes to older child adoption. A delicate little princess and a girl after my own heart, that can burp with the best of em! lol This little sweetie took great care to make sure we all had forks, napkins, didn't like pizza at all but still had to sit between her mom, Abbey and I as we ate. :) She made me LAUGH as she asked Glenn to tickle her daddy Sean too!! Abbey and Sean have worked hard with Jin Jin too and it shows.
What I experienced yesterday was pure work of love and if I thought my heart could not be opened to children, especially children with special needs even wider than before, the Lord showed me how MUCH more He could open my heart yesterday as I spent many treasured hours with these chidren and their new families. If you are a person that ever felt that tug toward Special Needs adoption, don't ignore it. It's not just an easier or faster route to getting a child home. It is truly a blessing straight from our Father himself. Are they still kids? Oh yeah! Still getting in trouble, acting up, just being kids. Do they have additional medical needs to be met? Sometimes but the only difference between that and adopting a Non-special needs child, is knowing ahead of time part of what you're facing. There's not a one of us in this world that has spent every day in our life healthy, some of us were just born lucky enough to not have a health problem to start life with.
I know I'm not an author, a poet, or anyone with great power at writing, but please take my words to heart. Adoption, especially special needs adoption is on an entire different level of a blessing. Not just for the child but the adopting family. I felt so much love from the children I met yesterday and their new families and I left them looking forward to our next meeting and my next time to get to spend more time with them.





Dad Reports from the silk road.
September 02, 2007
Dad or DH or just Glenn making my first entry to Kaylee's site.
First thing first Drew and Jaycen we LOVE and MISS you guys sooooooooooooooooo much we really wish you guys were here enjoying this with us.
Boys someday we are definatley coming back the whole family for a visit. I'll tell you what though both mommy and I can honestly say we would live here. I love this city so much already, the culture and the people are absolutely wonderful and amazing. Drew your the man of the house right now son so take care of Jaycen and the animals lol. Boys dad is gonna be bringing ya home some cool presents too. Help Grandma and aunt Jill and be good.




Still Sept. 1st, couple of hours later now! lol
September 01, 2007
Ok boys, Mama forgot to tell you what I planned the whole ride to China to tell you about and forgot earlier!
You boys know how Mama is about the bathroom, no barging in, give everyone their space etc. Well when we got to Tokyo, I headed to the bathroom and came face to face with my first squatty potty!! These suckers are basically kinda like a funny shaped potty seat except flat on the ground! I panicked inside! lol I knew I couldn't aim like a boy, you know us girls have to sit down! I'd have to take all my clothes off to keep from having an accident on myself to use one of those! lol Thankfully I backed up out of that stall and saw normal potties down the row. Normal, so I thought! I headed in to a stall and got to read all kinds of directions while I sat there for a second! The potties had all kinds of buttons you could push! You boys would have been in there for hours playing with buttons!! One for spraying warm water on your bottom to wash it off (ok, I know you boys are laughing now!! lol), then a button to blow your bottom dry. A button to push to spray air freshner I guess and my personal FAVORITE that I think somebody out there is a genious for inventing! A button to make the sound of the toilet flushing if you have any unlady like toilet sounds to make! How great is that?!? And here I thought I was a genius for learning to turn a sink on for the same effect, when I was about Drew's age!! So there you go guys, Mama making you laugh! :)
Oh, I also forgot to tell you about Dad. He wore his hat so he wouldn't worry about having to comb his hair before we left. Every time we had to go through a check point in the airport, they kept having to motion to him to take his hat off so they could compare his picture on his Passport to him! lol OH, and Dad said he had a rejected cranky former lunch room lady for our flight attendant! She kept bumping into his arm EVERY time she went by, including getting him with the cart when she could. You would have thought we'd asked for gold when Dad asked her for some sugar for my coffee. Oh well, except for a couple of bruises on Dad's arms, we got off that flight safely.
We watched three movies on the plane, Drew, I think you'd like The Last Mimsy, well probably Jaycen too. I personally read my book the whole movie. AND I had the drop'sies' the whole day traveling too! I droped my pepsi back on my tray and it splashed on the poor girl's laptop computer next to me and up on the movie screen!! Dad had to get out of his seat and dry the movie screen off a little bit for me! Tank goodness a movie wasn't showing or everybody would have seen a sudden splash up on the screen!



WE'RE IN CHINA!!!!!!!!
September 01, 2007
We're here! It's about 12:45 am here and this is the third time I've tried to write this, they have this weird thing at the Victory Hotel where your room key has to be in this special slot or all the lights turn out when you shut the door! Glenn went out the first time and it totally freaked me out! Everything went dark! lol Then I got the lights back on, he came back in, put his card in with mine and they went out again! The hotel is really really nice though!! I can't believe it's only $71 a night! We only got about 2 hours sleep the last 30 hours. We tried to not sleep on purpose to catch up with their time. We'll be going to bed here in a little bit. Wanted to write this first.

The flights weren't horrible. We were really tired starting on the last one though. The twelve hour one was relatively comfortable for a 12 hour flight. I have no idea how Kaylee will deal with the long flights. The cleft bottles didn't make it here, we filled out a missing luggage claim, hopefully they'll make it here soon!

The hotel staff just brought our crib in the room! I cried when we touched town in China, to think we're in our daughter's homeland right now!!

Please tell the boys we miss them soooooooooooooooooooooo much!!!!
P.S. BOYS, pepsi tastes funny here!!! It doesn't tast right! lol




Gonna leave for the airport in less than 2 hours!!!
August 31, 2007
Of course I'm already awake and NERVOUS at 5:30am!! lol Ohhhhh my youngest Jaycen, told daddy when he woke him up, 'please don't leave this day' and my oldest Drew, said 'mama, I wish you and I both had one of those 'hug me' shirts and we could both hug ourselves when we missed each other and feel better!' Way to bring mommy to tears already this morning! lol
Please pray for us while we're traveling and our family at home! :)
Boys, WE LOVE YOU SOOOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH and are going to miss you terribly!!!!!!!
We won't be able to send you a message until tomorrow when we get to China.




We're getting so close!!
August 29, 2007
I'm feeling sooooooo nervous this morning! I got up realizing, only two days and nights before we leave!! I have to work today and this evening so this day is going to fly by. Tomorrow night we will be packing and making sure everything is ready to go. I can't believe after almost a year of waiting, this is here! I'm so scared, nervous and excited all at the same time!
I go to sleep and wake praying for everyone's safety and well-being at home while we're gone, our safety as we're traveling, and that Kaylee will bond very quickly with Glenn and I. I also pray that we're equipped with what she needs to take care of her and any lasting effects of growing up in an orphanage or any medical needs she might encounter. It's not that I doubt myself to devoting myself completely to what she needs, I just know that without God, I would have never have gotten to this point and I know I need Him to continue and complete this journey.
I can't imagine holding this little girl after all these months of staring at her picture, taped up all around me and saved on the computer. I pray God will open her heart and let her see the love I have for her and let me in quickly. I pray that she can learn to trust me and let me in.
Glenn thinks I expect the worst too much, I call it being prepared for the not-so-always-great reality. I've seen too many personal friends go through periods of time with their adoptions waiting for their child to let them in. I've read way too many other family's experiences with it. Let's face facts. We are going to look like foreign aliens to her, we'll be speaking a language she's rarely heard and won't understand, and we'll be taking her from the only home she's ever known. Hey I'd be ticked with all that, why wouldn't she be?? It's going to take time to slowly show her we aren't there to hurt her and they're we're actually pretty nice people and give good hugs and cuddles. :)
You know what? From the little I've read about my daughter's personality and seeing her pictures, I can't shake the 'feeling' she's a very independent little girl and she likes being the boss. lol Another control freak like mommy, this will be cute! LOL Glenn always talks abut her turning those little eyes up at him and daddy melting and giving her what she wants. Somebody better watch out, mommy will be doing some melting too! lol
I worry about my boys and being away from them. Ohhhhhhhh that part physically hurts me!! I love my kids so very very much!!! They're my life! I can't imagine this much time, this far away, from them. Please pray for us all, for us and our boys at home.
Drew and Jaycen are going to be such good big brothers to Kaylee. You should see these two protect each other when they get the motivation! lol I've seen Drew watch out for his brother at birthday parties, I've seen Jaycen protecting his brother for getting in trouble for a squabble with him! lol I'd like to take credit for some of that, Glenn and I really work hard to teach them to protect their families first. Even our dogs come running if they hear somebody cry. lol
I know our family's not perfect, I'm far from perfect, I'll be the first one to admit that! But we do try, I'm not saying we always succeed or never fail each other but we love each other so much. I know that love is something genuine we have to give our new daughter that is more valuable than any gold, gems, or riches. I'm so grateful to God that He would see all of our human faults, and still place us on this journey and reserve this daughter, thousands of miles away from us, to be part of our family. Who could ever doubt His power to make such a thing come true??
So Kaylee, as mommy sits here, writing novel after novel of my love for you (I wish I'd had the same outlet for the boys, their baby books would be full of page after page of my love for them as well), get ready sweetheart, we're coming for you. And no matter how scary it is, we love you with all of our hearts and we're going to work really hard to show you we're good people for you to put your trust in.



Getting ready
August 28, 2007
Oh my gosh, I'm soooooooo excited!! I just got through typing a two page list of everything I can think of to do with the house, kids and animals for my mom while we're gone. Trying to make sure everything that someone could think of to ask is answered ahead of time.

I had bought all kinds of little bags for the caretakers gifts but with so many and now I'm confused with all these assistants to the director, etc., I've decided to use one really big bag, put all the gifts in (as sort-of a grab what you want thing, we got all kinds of bath puffs, scented soaps, deodorant, playing cards, flavored pretzels, TN guides from the state), let them know the bigger bag is for any caretakers that would like to chose gifts, and I got a pen/sign-in book with a place for a photo in the front for the director (I think I'm going to put just hers (Dear Lord I hope the boards were right that the director is a woman, I have our agency checking for sure) with a TN book, and maybe one of the nice purses I was selling on Ebay in a giftbag just for her.
I'm even more confused now, our agency said the Dongguan SWI director is a man and my board has said female! ughhhhhhh

I packed just meds, supplies and gifts Sunday night in to one suitcase, it's 46 pounds! No clothes included!! LOL We're going to check the cleft bottles and aren't taking many clothes for ourselves, we're each packing one pair of sandals and wearing tennyshoes in the airport so hopefully we can get all the major clothes/necessities in the other suitcase. We each have a carry-on bag as well for an extra change of clothes, etc. We're carrying our laptop with us since we don't know if we're in the old part or new part of the Victory and the computer is planned as our communication home.

We also are packing light weight tupperware bowls in our carry-on, since I'm not a veggie eater and plane food makes me sick to my stomach, we're going to buy plain burgers at the airport and put them in the tupperware bowls for my meals on the plane. Trying to think ahead. :)

I'm worried about my boys and my furry babies while I'm gone!! Especially my Annie girl (she's a shih-tzu, maltese mix) and she's just big time a mama's baby. She snuggles with us all the time and gives you doggie hugs! She's a big time family dog, even though she's probably around 15 lbs. We have an older dog as well, she'll worry herself sick (literally) from us being gone, worry about her too. The cat will just think she's finally been officially handed the palace to herself and probably won't worry one bit about us! lol :) I know the boys will love on them big time still while we're gone so hopefully they'll all comfort each other. :)

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