Day To Day Life With Kenzie

Guess what?

2008-01-20T14:15:00.000-08:00

We have a new site, because we are going for a waiting child. From now on, this new site will to just the purpose of this site (Kenzie stuff), as well as our process to adopt, are you ready? Karli!!! Anyway, you'll hear lots more on the site. (BTW: if you click on the link right away, it may not have much, because I'm in the process of getting it up and running.) So, you can copy and paste this, or go to the link in the very top right-hand corner. Thanks.

http://www.kenzieandkarli.blogspot.com

p.s. I probably won't be publishing anything onto this site anymore; just the new one. (And if I do, it will be on rare occasion.)

Krazy @ Kidz 'N Action

2008-01-12T19:07:00.001-08:00

Earlier today, the kids went to a birthday party at a place that's sort of like a giant playground. They had a blast, and here's a video of Kenzie there!

Big News!

2008-01-10T17:28:00.001-08:00

Gosh, it seems like this week is the week of new accomplishments! Today, Kenzie woke up from her nap dry, so my mom took off her diaper and put her on her little potty chair. She sat for a few seconds, and then she went on it. We're so happy! A few hours later, she came to my mom, and she was poopoo, but when we walked in the living room, we discovered that the potty chair had been tampered with. So, we think she may have tried to sit on it and go. We're on the right track, and hopefully in no time, she'll be a full-time potty princess. Yay!!!!

There Goes Our Peace & Quiet!*

2008-01-08T14:24:00.000-08:00

Just a few moments ago, Kenzie learned to open the hall door. Let me tell you a little bit about the "hall door." It...
-leads to all of the (bedroom/bathroom) rooms in the house
-doesn't let Kenzie in the hall to allow her to get into people's rooms who don't shut their door
-keeps Kenzie from getting in the hall when Kylie or Keaton do stuff (such as skating or skateboarding) in the hall
-basically just keeps her out

But not anymore!!! Hopefully, though, she can only open the hall door. (Our handle on the door dips down into a curly-Q type thing. So all she really has to do is pull on it and push it lightly, but still...) Guess we'll just have to learn to shut doors! Anyway, just thought I'd share a little new with you.

*not that we really had it, anyway, but some can dream, right?

Happy 2008!!!

2008-01-02T13:51:00.000-08:00

Let's just say that we have an amazing 2007 with Kenzie. Well, 3 1/2 months worth, anyway. She's improved so much since we got her! Aside from her hair getting longer and darker, she's grown in size, too. She is now 50th percentile in height, and 25th in weight. She's come along pretty well mentally also. She could do a whole bunch of things* already, but let's add a few more to the list. Now she...

-Can unzip zippers. (Meaning, she can only pull them down, so she can't zip up things.)
-Drinks soda. (Last night, we put a little bit of caffeine-free coke in her sippy cup. She loved it!)
-Actually enjoys you spinning her around and/or throwing her up in the air. (She used to be terrified.)
-Plays "chase" with me. (This is where I walk slowly behind her, reach my hands out, and say, "I'm gonna get you!" She runs as fast as her feet will take her, laughing the whole time. If I do decide to catch her, I tickle her.)
-She's a little bit ticklish in places now.
-One of our friends gave us a small denim chair for babies. She sits in it and watches TV and stuff. I mean, how many one-year-olds sit down on a chair for long(er) periods of time?
-Can say "Ga-Ga" (It usually means either "Good girl," "Sit down!". She says them in different tones; you now, different ways for each one.)
-She has two new teeth. Equalling a total of eight teeth. (She had six when we got her in September.)

Anyway, that's a little bit of a look back in the recent few weeks. But this is a new year, and we're going to fill it with many new experiences. I'm sure you'll be hearing a lot about them. :-D

*see post "WALKING!!!!!!" for other skills and updates from the past one or two months.

Merry Christmas!

2007-12-27T14:29:00.001-08:00

It's almost a very Happy Christmas and a Merry New Year!

2007-12-23T19:28:00.000-08:00

Today is Sunday, the night before Christmas eve, the night before Christmas. Since tomorrow may be busy, and Tuesday definitely will, I'm posting my Christmas post now. (That and the fact that I'm bored.) So, anyway, sometime after Christmas day, I'll probably have a some pictures or videos up here. Also possibly some updates on Christmas gifts and situations. We're not going anywhere this year, at least not really. We never do. So, if you go anywhere this Christmas, think of me at home. Four of us kids, parents, grandparents, and...didn't I tell you? I got my gift (a guitar) like three months ago. My parents wrapped up the "empty box." Supposedly. FYI, I picked it up and it was kinda heavy, so I think there's something in there. If there isn't, though, thinking of me opening an empty box with those plastic, crunchy "peanuts" should bring a smile to your face. Heh*Heh*Heh 8-)

p.s. I know this isn't that cheery, but I'm not in much of a Christmas mood this year. Funny, though, because I thought having the baby would brighten up the year. My mom and Grandma thought so too, but they're kinda ready for Christmas to be over. Oh! I almost forgot. If you're in our adoption group, we sent out cards to everyone. Hope you enjoy them (and you got them.) The pictures were here first birthday/early christmas type or photos. Pretty good for ten bucks, huh?

Guess I'll be writing to you all after Christmas. Hope your Christmas (or whatever Holiday you celebrate) is full of fun and family and friends and love and...just whatever you want. Whatever makes YOU happy is what I wish for you to have. And if this is your 1st Christmas with your new kids (adopted or biological), hope they bring smiles and joy to your face. Even through all the Christmas stress, and how you can't wait for it to be over. Just try to make it their best. Kenzie's never had a Christmas (well, she was a few week's old, so she didn't really have a good one), and I guess my mission this Christmas is to give her a good one. Because, even if she doesn't know it, this is the happiest time of her life. And not just Christmas. She's got toys and a great family and everything. What more, I ask you, could a 1 yr. old want?

A Day of Play at Chick-Fil-A

2007-12-23T16:44:00.001-08:00

"Important" Announcement!

2007-12-21T14:57:00.000-08:00

OK, so I was just reading through the blog and everything, and I noticed it said "Adopting FROM China." But, see, we've already adopted, so we're not "adopting." Anyway, I, myself, have come up with a more sensible title. Now, since I can't change the actual web address, I'll just change the title. So, I just wanted to say that from now on, this blog will be called "Day To Day Life With Kenzie." 'Bye.

Beginning Steps--December 10, 2007

2007-12-21T09:20:00.001-08:00

This video of her walking was taken on December 10, so she is much steadier now. She's also walking more. Sorry about all my videos being short, but soon I hope to have one of her that's several minutes long.

Laughing off the Wall

2007-12-20T15:31:00.001-08:00

This is a short video of Kenzie laughing and having a blast during a soccer game.

WALKING!!!!!!!!!!!

2007-12-10T10:58:00.000-08:00

Kenzie is now walking across the room--without falling! She has walked our whole living room, by herself, which is about 20 or 25 feet. Lots of walking for her! She walks with her arms out in the air, for balance, but she looks sort of like Frankenstein. Maybe we can call her Kenzie-stein. By Christmas, she will be super-steady, and hopefully walking even further. WE went to the park yesterday, and played. I held her left hand, and we walked around the park. She also did the teeter-totter, slide, monkey bars (with our help), and the swing. Her favorite. (I would have pictures, but my dad deleted them off his camera on accident. Oops!) Anyway, she just woke up from her nap. She is really smart, and learning new things daily. Now, she can...

-Wave "Hi," "Bye," most of the time when people tell that to her. They're two totally different waves. Sometimes, she even says it!
-Say "Elmo."
-Dance. She dances whenever she hears music.
-Watches TV
-Brushes her hair
-Holds someone's cell phone or our home phone, and brings it up to her ear, and start blabbering.
-Whenever she sneezes, we say, "Bless the baby!" She loves it. After we say it the first time, she does fake sneezes or coughs, just so she can hear it again.
-She loves soft things! We'll get a pillow or blanket, and go, "Awe, baby. Awe, baby." And she'll rub it against her cheek.
-She plays "boom" on my grandma's bed. We say "boom" and she falls back on all the pillows.
-She's fascinated with skin. She pokes on people's and her own all the time.
-She's a quick learner, and very smart. You have to watch out. One time, I climbed on the fireplace to get a DVD from the top shelf, and as soon as I got down, she climbed on a bench and got up there herself. Wow!
-She behaves very well, and doesn't cry too much. We were really shocked when we took her to see Santa at the mall. Mom warned them that she might cry, but she did extremely well. As for her first birthday, and Christmas photos.

Well, that's pretty much it for now. I'll update you on her walking. Once she's super good at it, I'll try uploading a video. I'll try to get more pics on here when I can.

The Birthday: Part 2

2007-12-02T18:49:00.001-08:00

The Birthday Party Post

2007-12-02T17:06:00.000-08:00

Hey! I had so many pictures that I have to post two slideshows. The next one's coming up! Kenzie had a blast eating cake 'n ice cream, opening gifts, and showing off her new skill: walking. She can't walk very far by herself, but she can walk up to five or six feet worth of steps on her own. She just needs a little balance. She also enjoys dancing to music. Doesn't matter if she's sitting or standing, she loves to wiggle to the beat. This is what she got for her birthday:
-Zebra bouncing toy (not sure what it's called)
-Elmo birthday present box that opens and comes with a plastic little Elmo & cake to play with
-Two packages of blocks that look like Fisher Price PopOnz, but they're not. But they are Fisher Price.
-Elmo singing Christmas elf
-ABC Alphabet Carry 'n Go book

And that's it, it was a small party. But, Christmas is on the way, and she'll get more then. The cake was delicious, and she had fun. She loved the hats, balloons, and we video'd a lot, too. Hope you enjoy the pics!!!!!

The Birthday: Part 1

2007-12-02T16:59:00.001-08:00

Sorry about that

2007-12-01T13:47:00.001-08:00

Sorry about that. Leaving you hanging there, I mean. Well, this is going to be almost as quick. OK, so she got home yesterday around one or so. That's just over 24 hours home. She is doing very well, crawling around, playing, and taking a few steps here 'n there. She's also eating and drinking a lot better. She's still having a few diarrhea diapers here and there, but overall she's good. Tomorrow is her birthday party, so we'll have photos from that soon.

p.s. It's an Elmo party!!!

home at last!

2007-11-30T13:22:00.001-08:00

Kenzie is home, and doing good. More later.

Updates On The Upside

2007-11-29T19:37:00.000-08:00

Just received another call from my mom. By now, my dad is there, too, and he will be on his way home in a few minutes. Here is her report:
-the baby drank 3 oz. formula
-she's a little grumpy/cranky (wouldn't you be?)
-they've got an IV in her arm; this is giving her water
-no diarrhea so far. Hallelujah!!!
-my parents are just about ready to put her to bed
-they did some blood work
-they don't have the blood work back yet, so they're still unsure of how long she'll have to stay there.
-she's doing pretty well

We'll just have to wait for the blood work to get back, and for her to get a little better, and then she should be on her way.

Waiting

2007-11-29T15:57:00.000-08:00

There are many kinds of waiting. Waiting for Christmas, waiting for an awful movie to be over, a horrendous opera performance, your favorite TV show to start, to get your Chinese child home, and then there's waiting in the ER. Waiting to get your baby home, and waiting in the ER are perhaps the most bothering of the kind. Well, that is what my mother is experiencing right now, as I post this. She has been in there, waiting, for about an hour. The doctors' office was supposed to call and say that Kenzie needed to be admitted quickly on doctors' orders. Apparently, and quite dismally, there was no phone call. So, there's my mom, with an almost-one-year-old on her lap, sitting in a rather uncomfortable and hard plastic chair, in the ER waiting room. Children are probably crying around her, including her own, and calling of patients' names that is NOT Kenzie are probably only some of the sounds she hears. Anyway, there's no telling when she'll be able to get into a room.

HOLD IT!!!!

Just got a call from mom, she was just admitted into a room. Finally. This will be ending by current post. I will keep everyone up to date, and will let them know what happens.

2007-11-29T15:15:00.000-08:00

Kenzie and my mom have just left the house to go to the hospital. My Grandma will be watching us here, at home, until sometime tomorrow, probably in the evening or afternoon. The time of now is 5:20, so, what's that? About two hours from her doctor appointment? Yes. Now, I personally wasn't there, because my aunt was watching us. But according to my mom & grandma, this is how it went:

Dr. Moshan (DM, she's Indian, I believe. And she usually says that everything is 5th's Disease.): It's probably Rotovirus. Just get her to drink fluids.
Mom & Grandma (MG): She won't take fluids!
DM: Get her to take the fluids. Then she'll be better.
MG: But she won't take them.
DM: Get her to try.
MG: We did, but she won't. We can't MAKE her take them.
DM: Well, it's either that, or to put her in hospital.
G (just my grandma): Well, I think that would be best.
DM: I agree.
G: It's not good for a little baby to have that much diarrhea, and not be able to take fluids.
DM: I agree.
(Why didn't she say that to begin with???!!!!)

So, anyway, that's what we did. In the hospital, she will have IVs put into her to help get some fluids into her. I'm not sure what else. Hopefully, she'll be better soon. And in time for her birthday! We're praying for her, and encourage you to do the same.

Sick on her birthday???

2007-11-29T11:34:00.000-08:00

We (the family) have almost got through all of our viruses. In case you didn't know, Kenzie wasn't the only one to get sick. My mom, grandma, sister, brother, and me also got it. We are pretty much all over it, thankfully. Except Kenzie. Today makes about three days of diarrhea, having over a dozen diapers daily. Just this morning, she had five diapers. She is also not consuming any liquids into her body. She's smart, and she probably knows what's going on. My guess is because she knows it'll go straight through her. Earlier this morning, when she was still drinking fluids, she drank a bottle, and within a minute it came out the other end. If you get my drift. (She's in desperate need of another diaper just now!!!) She seemed to be getting better yesterday and Tuesday evening, eating and drinking. But now she won't. We've tried everything. She won't take formula, sippy cup, gatorade, juice, water, food. And if you know Kenzie, she's not the kind of baby who doesn't just "not eat." She lives to eat. By the way, she's having a lot of ''stuff'' in her diaper for someone who's not eating. But, the thing is, she doesn't act sick. She's watching Elmo's World (her fave!), and playing around w/ us. She has a 3:10 pm doctor appointment, and they said they may send us to the emergency room. In fact, they were debating whether to give us an appointment or send us straight there. No matter what the inconvenience is, we want to make sure that she doesn't get de-hydrated. I had this problem when I was a baby, and it was a lot of work. We're just really hoping she gets better soon, because, if you don't know, her birthday is this Tuesday (Dec. 4), and her party's Sunday. As long as she gets better. How bad would it to be sick on your 1st birthday? Anyway, we're just ready for all of this sickness to pass. So far, we thought we were pretty lucky. We heard a ton of stories about the kids coming home and getting sick and having problems. Nobody's perfect. But she's still our angel.

Hey!

2007-11-27T11:38:00.000-08:00

My new slideshow is a mix between her when my mom put her hair into a ponytail, and the day she received her certificate of American citizenship. It's from a few days ago, and there are a few photos of each. Since the link to our other site in my last post is not actually a link, you can go to the side and click on the link under "Our other family site." It should work. How is Kenzie doing? Pretty well. She is a little sick, and my mom has been changing over a dozen liquid (poopy) diapers a day. However, today we took her to the doctor, and he told us to put her on Pedialite and Lactose formula. She should be better any day now.

Guess what, everyone?

2007-11-26T13:03:00.000-08:00

My little sister now has her very own blog!!! She decided since I enjoy it, she may like it, too. So she created one! Here's the link:

http://www.thensidescoop.blogspot.com/

1st time in the balls!!!

2007-11-26T11:55:00.001-08:00

Thanksgiving Thursday

2007-11-26T11:49:00.001-08:00

2007-11-22T17:24:00.000-08:00

Today, as you all know, was Thanksgiving. We cooked a bunch, and ate turkey, stuffing, beans, potatoes, rolls, and lots of cakes and pie. Kenzie wore her "My 1st Thanksgiving" t-shirt, and matching hair bow. We also set up our Christmas tree, and we decorated our house a little bit. Tomorrow, my dad's off work, and he's supposed to decorate our yard w/ lights. Although he's never done it, so we're not sure if it will happen. Kenzie loves our tree, and all the Christmas stuffed animals, and her Elmo ornaments. It's also almost Kenzie's birthday! On December 4th, Kenzie will be officially 1 year old. We can't wait! She is doing pretty well trying to walk. She'll probably be walking pretty well by her birthday. She can already walk up to four or six feet by herself. And her balancing is getting better. That's all for now. 'Bye!

2007-10-31T20:23:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween everyone!

2007-10-31T13:59:00.000-07:00

I hope you all have fun today! Later this evening, we are going to a Fall Festival @ our church. Tomorrow I'll post pictures of Kenzie and the rest of the kids in their Halloween costumes.

2007-10-31T13:18:00.000-07:00

2007-10-31T11:48:00.000-07:00

Here are some new photos that my mom found on her camera. Enjoy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2007-10-29T13:01:00.000-07:00

Hey, everyone! I know I'm kind of going crazy on the slideshow thing, but it's fun and a lot quicker than putting the photos on here. Anyway, these are the photos that I promised from last Thursday; our day at the park.

the rest of the promised pics

2007-10-28T20:24:00.000-07:00

this slideshow is (part of) the collection of photos I promised!

2007-10-28T16:33:00.001-07:00

(I am putting this on here after I realized that I didn't title my photos. All the rest of my slideshows have captions, though, so you'll just have to suffer.)

Ear Piercing!!!

2007-10-26T12:12:00.000-07:00

Kenzie got her EARS PIERCED WEDNESDAY! We were on the way to church, and my mom's friend was with us, so we swung by Claire's and got her ears pierced. She cried for about a minute-and-a-half, though mostly because mom had to hold her still. Now she has two beautiful sparkling dots on each ear! Yesterday, Thursday, we went to the park. Kenzie had a blast playing on the swings, going down the slide (with me!), and finally fell asleep when she was swinging with me. I also want to ask everyone for prayers, because one of the families in our group lives in San Diego, and has recently had to evacuate because of the fires everywhere. She has two girls (twins!), and I just would like to ask prayer for their safety and their home. Kenzie's doing really good right now. So, I guess that's it. Talk to you all later!

Our Group!

2007-10-22T08:50:00.001-07:00

Picture on the Wall

2007-10-22T08:43:00.000-07:00

Sorry that I haven't been updating my blog!

2007-10-22T08:31:00.000-07:00

Sorry that I haven't been updating my blog! Especially to the people in our group who are hoping for photos and everything. I have been so busy, and so tired. I'm also sorry because there's no pictures, but I couldn't access it in China. I'll post pics soon. Here are a few answers to your questions:
-Is she mobile yet? The answer is yes. she is crawling around like crazy.

-Has she adapted well? Very well. She sleeps in her crib, attends the church nursery, sits through baseball & soccer games. She's let lots of people hold her, and she loves the dogs. We have 6 of them.

-How was the at-home medical check? She'll always test positive on the skin test, but the chest X-Ray said no. She had a blood test, and they removed six tubes of blood, but everything was OK. The Doctor's only concern was that there wasn't enough iron, so she had to go back to give yet MORE BLOOD. But it's only because the Chinese formula doesn't contain it.

-Is she on American formula and/or bottles yet? Yes, she is on American formula. She still uses the Chinese bottles, but she uses American bottles and sometimes a sippy cup occasionally.

-Does she feed herself? Definitely.

-Does she get along with her brother and sister at home? Oh, yes! They're all good friends, and they barely give her space to breathe. There's always fights over who gets to hold her or play with her.

Anyway, that is a quick update. I will put some photos on here in a few minutes, but I think they're all from China, because we haven't taken that many of us at home. I will also be updating more, since I'm homeschooled, and this is part of my curiculim. I also hope to tell you where and where NOT to go in China sometime soon.

Kayla

One More Day

2007-09-26T04:42:00.000-07:00

One day till we go home! One day till we go home!
One day till we go home! I'm so excited! *this is my
victorious going home song* *picture me singing and
dancing to it if you want a good laugh* Okay, so I am
like, so totally ready to be on that plane home.
Don't think I'm not enjoying myself, though. It's
been good, but I want to go. The only thing I'm going
to hate is leaving everyone I've met here. Yesterday,
I think I've had the most fun night ever. What did we
do? We took an evening river cruise on, what else
but, the river. If you haven't heard of or seen the
river of Guangzhou at night, it's basically
Chinese-Vegas. Almost, like, every building on
Shamien Island has multicolored lights all over the
building at night. Some are like TV screens ad play
movies, and some are like rope lights. So, we took
the cruise and had a disgusting buffet dinner, which I
completely don't reccomend, but the lights made it
totally worth it. It was also the day of the Moon
Festival, so they served moon cakes. Which, like the
buffet, they were not at their best. Despite what
people said, Collin got me to try a piece of one
anyway. It was disgusting. I can't describe it, it
was like a jellied peanut flavor, yet it was fluffy
like a cake. So, yeah. That was my cruise. So
beautiful! Today, we have the red couch photo, and
then we attend our last group dinner. Speaking of
groups, yesterday, we toured a park with the other
groups and guides from great wall which has made me SO
thankful that we have Veronica (cause I can't
understand 2/3 of what the others say IN ENGLISH!),
and I love our small group. The others are to loud.
To get back on track, tomorrow we wake up, and we take
the evening train into Hong Kong. We sleep over in
Hong Kong, and then we fly to America that morning. I
believe my plane gets in at seven-thirty. PM. I
can't wait to get home and see my friends again! But,
this IS the experience of a lifetime, and I'm totally
happy to be a part of it. A quick update: I haven't
wrote anything in my journal. It's been all blog, all
the way! When I get home, I'll write what stores and
restaurants are good, what aren't. What we should've
brought. Advice. Blah-yada-blah-yada. Hopefully
I'll get an update in tomorrow morning, but if not
it'll nost likely be at home. Home is where the heart
lies. Never forget that. If I ever wished I was away
from home, forget it. I actually miss my brother and
sister! Anyway, I've gotta go, cause it's almost time
for the red couch photo.

K*_A*_Y*_L*_A

More on China

2007-09-23T18:30:00.001-07:00

Two days ago, we went to the "country side" of China.
It was rural, yet interesting. But, I totally could
NOT live there! There's mosquitos, and loose chickens
running around, and lots of dirt, and it smells like
something died, but kept on walking around! Can you
believe they SLEEP on wood? Oh, by the way, I found
out today that the Chinese PREFER to sleep on "hard
stuff" instead of "soft 'n fluffy". Weird. Today, we
toured the Chen Family Temple, because we are now in
Guangzhou. We are staying at the White Swan, and we
got our adoption *Barbie*. The flight from Nanchang
to Gouangzhou was quick, and my little princess did
VERY well. I don't know if I mentioned this, but...I
wanna go home! Now, let me say, Guangzhou is better,
and it's more fun. Yesterday evening, we went to
Lucy's, which I applaud on their food (I got a grilled
cheese sandwhich), but...not-so-satisfied on the
service. I was just so happy to eat an American meal!
I don't think I'll be having Americanized Chinese
food for a LONG TIME. We've also done more shopping,
which I give an A+, ***** (five star) rating, and a
round of applause to. Today, we went to this big
place that had Jade, pearl, porcelain, fans, wood
carving, and other stuff. I got a lot of cool stuff,
which will go great with my porcelain boxes and stuff
that I got for my BFFs! While shopping, Dad said,
"Whatever you want," and I said, "That's a dangerous
thing to say to me in a store this big." It was
dangerous...for him! In a few moments, Dad and I are
going to go get some BarBQue in the hotel, and maybe
do some shopping in the hotel, and I may (if I can
talk him into it) go swimming later. Tomorrow, we are
going to the clinic, to check her "out". Right now,
I've got to go, because, she just woke up and I'm
hungry for my lunch. Which I haven't eaten, and it's
4 PM.

Fried Eggs and Burgers

2007-09-19T07:08:00.000-07:00

I want everyone to know that I have officially decided
that putting a fried egg on top of your hamburger must
be a Chinese thing. What am I talking about? Well,
we each have our adoption stories, and one day we
decided to go out to dinner with a lady named
Michelle, and two people named Donna and Jeff (who
have a daughter from our orphanage). Okay, so we're
there, we order what we want...Donna goes up to her
hotel room to change her daughter, Mia. While up
there, they bring out the food. My burger, mom's,
and Michelle's: all fine. Donna's: there was a FRIED
EGG between the pattie and the bun!!! We quickly
assumed that they had gotten her steamed-egg order and
her burger order mixed up. (Though, the steamed-egg
still came out okay.) So, she takes the egg off,
smashing the yoke all over her bun. Then she decides
to only eat the pattie, and underneath it, what else
do we find but bacon? BACON!!! (This pretty much
took the place of Michelle's vomit-sneaker story.)
So, this happended Monday, and I was cracking up all of
Tuesday, and teasing her for it. Today (Wednesday),
we go to a McDonald's, and guess what's on the
menu...a regular cheeseburger with everything on it
like ketchup and pickles, and...egg. A fried egg. We
have now decided that it must be a custom, and OUR
"regular" burgers must be the outcast food. And,
you know how "in-the-States", at McDonald's, there's
chocolate or strawberry syrup curling around the ice
cream? In China, there's green (sour apple), purple
(plum), and orange (mango?) draping the white stuff.
And they serve corn! What about Wal*Mart? Well, it
was pretty cool. It was two stories tall, and had
lots of stuff. There were three or four KFCs
(Kentucky Fried Chickens) in there, and there were
really cool escalators, which didn't have stairs. It
was like a moving ramp, so you could get your cart up
to each level. It was also magnetic, so the cart wouldn't roll off.
Today, we were supposed to tour a park
by some lake, but because of a typhoon (hurricane)
that hit China recently, it's very windy and cold, so
we toured this 6-story-tall "pagoda/pavillion" that
was mostly indoors. The baby finally cried two nights
ago, which had to happen some time. It was around 9
PM, and my mom had went downstairs to get a Nanchang
calling card to call home, and I was asleep, and
Dad...he was watching Kenzie. What I remember is
hearing a crying scream, and her pretty much gasping
for air in between. It was really loud, and I
remember saying, "What's that? Make her stop! Shut her up!". Half
a minute later, I got up, and handed her the photo
album, which we learned that that and a Carebear
toothbrush seem to be her comfort. She only cried for
two or three minutes, and it was a hurt cry, because
she had eaten a lot (it was fried egg night!), and her
stomach hurt. But the orphanage people were right,
she only cries when she's hungry. And since she eats
a lot, that equals to not much crying. Today, I think
she had a slice of water melon, a plate of eggs, 2
8oz. bottles, 3oz. of juice, 2 chicken nuggets, 1/3
cup of corn, and some water. And it's only 1:38 pm
over here! She woke up at five-thirty, and she's
already taken 2 naps, so she may be up late. Turns
out she DOES like baths. A lot! It's probably one of
her faovrite things, besides eating and going outside,
that is. We also bought a stroller, which she
l-o-v-e-s! We developed the film from the orphanage,
and I'm having a traditional Chinese outfit made for
me, and the baby's getting one made with shoes and a
hat at Tiffany's. Tiffany's...I had a "bad
experience" there. So, I had her in the Ergo (baby
sling), and my mom, Michelle, her daughter, Erin (13
1/2 mos.), and me were all at Tiffany's small store.
She (Kenzie) was in front of me, and I felt something.
So I ask outloud, "why are my pants wet?" And my mom
tells me she "went" on me." So I start freaking out,
rushing my mom, and almost running back to the hotel
to change. At dinner, I found out that my mom made a
mistake, and you sweat a lot in those, and I freaked
out for nothing. It was pretty funny. I also tried
bamboo. Well, at the time I thought it wass bamboo.
John (Collin and Lily's dad) had a whole bag of what
he said was bamboo, so I tried it. It wasn't
brilliant, but it wasn't revolting. I told eveyrone I
had bamboo. But the next day at breakfast, I found out
it was actually sugar cane. So, that's been my past
two days, and right now, I've got to go play with
Kenzie YangYang, and finish up my Skittles. Till
then!

2nd Day with Kenzie

2007-09-17T09:15:00.000-07:00

Okay, so it's our 2nd day with YangYang. Today, we
went to the Civil Affairs office, the notary place,
and this other building where we got a picture of our
baby. That covered our day from 8:15-12:00pm, not
inculding breakfast. Our hotel has the most amazing
breakfast buffet with everything from French fries, to
Chinese dumplings, to eggs, to spaghetti. Even
watermelon! Just like the paper about Kenzie from the
orphanage, watermelon is clearly one of her top
favorite foods. She's been a very good baby, she
still really hasn't cried, except for an occasional
yelp ever so often. Can you believe she slep 12 hours
straight last night?! Compared to some other kids who
were still screaming, that's really good. In our
group, there are two sets of twins (girls, of course),
and eight girls who aren't twins. I would probably
say that Kenzie is one of the smallest, and one of the
most-adapted, and well-behaved babies. She is totally
content with her surroundings. I mean, she'll
seriously go to anyone, and take pretty much anything.
If she dislikes it, she gives a simple shake of her
head. She also enjoys the great outdoors and looking
out the window, seeing as she is a very curious baby.
Boy is she in for the plane ride home! 13 hours of
nonstop action from our window seat! Anyway, she also
enjoys TV, which fits in good with our family. No
matter what you put it on, from music to news (even
Chinese!), her eyes just bug-out, and all her
surroundings seem to fade from her. Right now, she is
napping. Again. Well, she WAS napping, but then our
guide (the lovely Veronica!) called and said it was
time for our meeting with the orphanage director. (Not to sound
sarcastic there, she really is wonderful!) This
was a session of time in which we could ask him or
other staff members questions, and, naturally, recieve
answers. We found out that she enjoys baths, and her
favorite nanny is Wangpei. She doesn't have any
allergies or previous injuries, although she did have
a cold and fever while staying at the orphanage. The
Lu part in her name is short for the place that she
was found, and Yang means "sunshine." Who gave her
her name? A woman name Hu Xiao Ying. She's the vice
director in charge of the abandoned baby department.
She is just as well the woman who handed over our
precious little YangYang for the first time. They
also showed her the photo album while in the
orphanage, which may be another reason why she's so
comfortable with us. She must've been quite attatched
to it, because we have another one just like it that
we brought with the same photos, and ever since my
mother got it out, she is very clingy to that. She
also totally doesn't mind hairbows. She loves to feel
and look at them. Like I said, she is a very curious
baby. She loves to look in mirrors, and feel things.
If she hears a noise, she'll always pop her head up.
Today was excellent weather. A little breeze, a
little sun. While on this trip, I also met some new
friends. Their names are Collin (age 11), and Lily
(age 5). Lilly is also adopted from China, and is from
Nanchang. So, her parents have already experienced
not only the adoption thing, but coming here as well. This
trip is way more than I thought it would be. It's
challenging (the Great Wall), it's interactive
(meeting new people), it's fun (playing around with
Kenzie). It's all I expected and more. Our guide is
really great, which I know I've already said, but
she's a big help. Great Wall agency may not be the
best beforehand, but they're very good on the in-China
travel. Our hotel room is this amazing suite, and it's
totally sweet! We have two rooms, and two bathrooms.
Each room has a huge windows, with a two foot pieces of wood
that jut out in front, so you can sit and look at the view, or
even sit YangYang, who is way more impressed with the
view. If I look out the window now, I see a much
prettier city than Beijing. Not much pollution, and
it seems so much bigger, because I can see a lot more.
On of the most challenging things over here is trying
to cross the street. It doesn't matter if the light
says stop, the drivers go anyway. I still haven't
really done any shopping, but tomorrow is Wal-Mart
time, and there's tons of time to shop. So if you
know I'm getting a souvenir for you, don't freak, 'cuz
the right one will come along. Till then...what's
Chinese for "bye"? Oh, I don't know. Um...write back
soon? Yeah. I'll post again either later tonight or
tomorrow. 'Bye!

Kenzie!!!!!!!!!

2007-09-16T10:29:00.000-07:00

OK, so after much of a long anticipated wait, today
finaly came along at turtle-speed. The only long part
was waiting for the time where we could take the bus
to the airport, and then waiting to board the plane.
Everything else went SO quickly! The plane did NOT
seem like 2 1/2 hours, and the ride to the hotel did
NOT seem like an hour. By the time we got to the
hotel, time breezed by, and in no time, we were at the
Civil Affairs office. Witihin an instant, it seemed
we were holding our little YangYang in our arms!
Right now it is like 7:15 pm or so in Nanchang, and
she is asleep. At least I think. Occasionaly, she'll
have a cough, but she's a tired little princess. As
soon as we got her, she was like the perfect
angel-child. She didn't even cry! She has adapted
so, so well. We brought lots of toys, and she was
totally okay with me surrounding her by them, and she
has already laughed, "talked", and made sounds. She's
been getting along VERY well with everyone, and we've
got a lot of her on video and taken tons of pictures.
Tomorrow, we're going to finalize it, and then the
next day we're going to...Chinese-Wal-Mart! The Great
Wall? That was challenging! There's five towers to
make it to "the top," aka, every "stopping point where
you can say you've reached the top." I only went three, but I got
my "I climbed the wall!" card, and that's really all I
care about. Tian 'A Men (is that how you spell it?)
Square was OK, and the Forbidden City was pretty neat.
But, let me tell you, my feet HURT! It was so much
walking, I really don't see how our guide does it that
often. Our guide is Veronica, and we've heard great
things about her, so we were thrilled ot have her.
And she is AMAZING. She is one of the nicest people
you will ever meet. At first when I came to China, it
was like it was a dream, and I felt like at any time
I'd wake up in m bed at home. But when I saw Kenzie
and held her...it was just so real. By now, she's
definitely asleep, and I'm ready to eat my pizza for
dinner. So, to all those at home, I send my love,
blah, blah, blah, and stuff, and I'll see you all
soon! Later!

Arrival in China

2007-09-14T15:50:00.001-07:00

Hey everybody, after a very long, and I mean LONG
flight to Beijing, it is my second day here. Right
now in Beiijing it is 6 am, which I would normally say
is really early for me to get up, but I was so tired
that I fell asleep around 5:30 last night. (PM.)
Anyway, around seven we're going to go down to
breakfast, and then at 8:30 we will be leaving to tour
everything. We will get back at 6:30 pm, so that's a
lot of walking around. I mean, ten hours!!! After
that we'll come back to the hotel, maybe have dinner
(we, out of exhaustion, skipped it last night!), and
then we'll sleep. Tomorrow, we'll pack up, and catch
a flight for Nanchang. And so we'll be off!!!

3 days!!!!

2007-09-10T08:41:00.000-07:00

Hey, everybody! I am so totally excited, it doesn't even seem real! I mean, to think that in 3 days, we will be on our way to the journey of a lifetime. Wow. That sounds really nice. And to think that when we return back to America, or even while we're in China, our lives will automatically change for the better. It's like all this waiting has finally paid off...anyway, the other day, we recieved our actual "itinerary". We will get there (in Beijing) at 1:45 PM, Friday, China-time. (That's what I'll call it.) We will go to the hotel, maybe do some shopping, and then get some much-needed sleep. The next day, which is Saturday, we will be "touring," the new would-be word for walking for a VERY long time, the Forbiden City, The Great Wall of China, and Tian An Men Square. I think this will be fascinating/interesting, but I am still not looking forward to climbing up to the TOP of the Great Wall, which is where my mom has designated her, my dad, and me to have to climb up. (OK, they call it walking, but have you seen those stairs???) So, after that, I'm sure we'll be even more famished and will probably do dinner, and then go to our hotel. We'll sleep, and the next morning we'll "rise 'n shine" oh-so-early to fly over to Kenzie's province. Her province is Nanchang, and is a few hours' flight from Beijing. About the smae time we leave the airport to fly to Nanchang, she'll probably leave on a bus or car in JI'an to travel up to where we'll be meeting her in that province. I believe we'll spend four or so days there, before heading to Guangzhou. What is there to do in Nanchang? Nothing. At least that's what I've been told. They have a zoo, but once again, I've been told it's not exactly the "tourist spot," meaning it's not very good. We're planning to mostly shop around. In Guangzhou, we'll be doing all of the paperwork, doctor visit, visa, all that stuff...We'll also be shopping, but not so much touring there, as well. And, then, I guess we'll just stay there until the day we have to go out to Hong Kong, where we will depart China from the day afterwards. Update: we finally got the paper which lists all of the fees and stuff. You know this already, but we got our itinerary. We got new luggage stuff, and a few of the medications or things needed, like sunblock. My Dad has also confirmed about taking his computer, so I will most likely get to update stuff, and will probably have seperate posts for my journal entries in China. Journal entries? I'm taking a journal to China. I'll probably write during the flight there and back a lot, as well as when I'm bored, and probably on the car ride to pick her up, or something. I'm still debating on whether I want to put those entries onto my blog, but I'm pretty sure I will. I might also have new pictures. When we get back, I think my dad will be making a family website, and probably with better capacity than the one I have now. But don't get worried! (How someone could get worried over that, I don't know? But if you have a weak heart, I hope you didn't have a heart attack.) Whatever. So, I'll still post, but it won't be as big news. Just updated photos from home, accomplishments, and once-again life with a baby. But, to get to the bottom line, I am just SO excited about traveling, and getting the baby. We even made "got'cha day!" t-shirts! If you're adopting a baby, or if you already have, it's like "I'm adopting, uh-huh." But it doesn't seem...what's the word I'm looking for? Real. That's it. Real. But, when you get that picture and information, it's like...WOW. You can't believe it. It's like you have everything ready to go, but you wanna keep checking, and you wanna think you have a lot, because you wanna do ANYTHING to help time go faster. The key-word there is patience. But they key-PHRASE is probably..."go shopping, see friends, and watch TV to take your mind off of how LONG it will be before you have that baby in your arms." Oh, did I tell you that I have been deligated to film our first encounter, no wait, she's not an alien, meeting with Kenzie. I don't even know HOW to film it! I guess I'll learn. (Also, I will probably update tomorrow, and the day after, that, and I may stay up all-night, and update around 3 in the morning on Thursday. We'll see.)

TAs and travel dates!

2007-09-01T13:24:00.000-07:00

Hey, everyone! Three weeks seem to have flown by and we recieved our TA (travel approval) on Monday, and our consolate appointment on Wednesday. Our appointment has been set for the 27th of September, so we have already purchased our tickets, and will be leaving the airport near our home at 6:30 AM, September 13th. We will arrive for a stop in Newark around ten-something, and then it is over the North Pole to Beijing. What a long flight that will be! We will tour when we arrive in China on the 14th (since they are a day ahead of us), and then we will travel to Nanchang on either the 15th or the 16th, and we will recieve the baby on the 16th. Then, we will be busy shopping in Guangzhou and doing paperwork, and her doctor visit. We have decided against touring the orphanage, but we will be taking a train to Hong Kong, since our flight leaves from there. However, we won't be going to Hong Kong Disney World, like originally planned, but we will probably go to the one in Orlando when we come back. We will arrive back home in America around 7:45 on the 28th. Wow, we are going to be so busy...anyway, we're going carry-on-only, and it seems like everyday we get more and more added to our luggage, which I thought was packed, but we have lots still to add. My dad is still debating on whether or not to take his laptop with us, so I may or may not get to update this site, but I will be keeping a journal, and will take entries from that and posting at some time or another. That's all for now, but since it's getting close, I'll probably be updating tons. 'Bye!

updates and more updates

2007-08-07T21:34:00.000-07:00

Just a quick update after my referral story:

-I finally got my passport photo a little over 2 weeks ago (my parents already had them), and we are just waiting to get the actual passport so I can get my visa.

-We are going carry-on-only. (I'll tell you how it works out!)

-I will be taking my or my dad's laptop to China to update everybody on our trip and everything. I also hope to be posting daily, as I have time on my hands and need something to do with it. (LOL) So keep reading and stick with us. We're almost there!

Referrals!!!!

2007-08-07T20:32:00.000-07:00

OK. OK. OK. So I KNOW I haven't posted since October last year, and when is it now? Yes, it's August. Wow, that's almost a year! And...a LOT can happen in that time. Trust me! We have been so busy, because (if you don't already know) we recently went from "matching room" to "having a referral" all in the last week! That's right. WE ACTUALLY GOT OUR REFERRAL! Finally. She is a beautiful baby girl who just recently turned eight-months-old last Saturday. She is from the Jiangxi Province, and her orphanage is in Ji'an. Her full Chinese name is Ji Lu Yang. That's pronounced Jee-Loo-Yawng. Her story is rather interesting, as well. She was abandoned at the doorstep of a retirement/assited living home. There the "older people" took care of her until she was almost five months old. Then she was taken to the orphanage, where she spent nearly three months before being matched with our family. Lucky for her, she will only spend a month-and-a-half longer there! At the retirement home, they called her YangYang (Yawng-Yawng), so to help her adjust, we will be calling her that when we first get her. Right now, it is just me, my mother, and my father traveling to pick her up in China. WE are all SO pysched for the trip. We are already packed halfway, and it seems to grow every day! Oh, how I've been waiting to pack. Pretty much ever since '05!!! But we haven't just been sitting around waiting for information. We got our referral on Thursday of last week, and we drove up to Austin to pick up the paperwork on Friday. (That way we could have it before anybody else!) Late Friday night, we took it to a Chinese restaurant we like to get the lab results and other papers translated. We found out about where she was abandoned, and some things about her. Like the fact that she has chubby cheeks. (Can't you tell?) She also likes to play with blocks, and enjoys toys that make noise, which is rather surprising for them. We were actually rather discouraged when our agency (GWCA) told us that they didn't think that there was anybody who was referred a baby from that orphanage. So sad...until we were looking at other blogs, and it turns out that a family in Georgia is getting a baby girl from there, too! The girls are only one month and one day apart (ours is born on December 4, 2006, and theirs is November 3, 2006). They may actually be cribmates! They may be together right now! And, the good thing is, unlike some people, they live within a semi-reasonable driving distance from us. How cool is that?! Anyway, we already FedEx'd our paperwork back to Austin, so it can go to China. Tomorrow, they will send everybody's out, and we will be expecting TA soon. I'm so excited! The projected travel date (from our agency) is September 13th!!! Yes! It actually seems real now! Before it was, 'oh,yeah, we're adopting from China...' But now we have something to look forward to! Earlier today, me and my Grandma picked up somebody from the airport and I said, 'Think. Next time, it's us you'll be picking up with the baby.' And those words are SO TRUE!!!

Adoption stories

2006-07-31T18:15:00.000-07:00

My mother's friend and I have recently sent in our adoption stories to a woman who is making a book about--our's, and-- other people's adoption stories. Everybody who sent in a story also sent in a photo of something that reminds them of the baby. I sent in a photo of a care bear, since our nursery's theme is, of course, care bears. I just emailed her to ask her about how far she is in the processing of the book, and she recently emailed me back and said it's going fine, and right now she's looking for someone to illistruate the book. I think it's supposed to come out this Fall/Winter. I will find out the name, and post it some time this month. I will even be getting a free copy!!! How cool is that??? I'm also going to be in an article of a magazine, called Discovery Girl.

Here is the story I wrote for it, you can also be looking for it in a book soon:

******BRINGING BABY HOME******

I’m eleven years old, and the oldest daughter in my family. When I heard that we were going to adopt a baby girl, I was happy. I felt like it would give this family a new “adventure”, and make it fun. So, I’d like to tell you about our story from beginning to end. The story (that’s still in progress) to bring Kenzie (our baby) home. It’s full of boringness, and excitement. Here it is:

First thing first. We needed to choose a good agency. An agency that could help us bring her home safely. So my parents looked into it, and found an agency called Great Wall of China adoption agency. They then started on paperwork, and afterwards a social worker came to my home to give the OK for us to adopt. She made reports, and had people look over them. It took forever!!! And, (finally), just as we had thought, (and hoped), the answer was yes. That’s when the real work began. We’d then have to send paper work to Austin, Illinois, and even go to the Chinese consulate in Houston.

But there’s also tons of fun stuff to do, not just paperwork. That’s when I came in. I decided to give myself the job of decorating, designing, and basically “creating” her nursery. My younger sister is a care bear fanatic, and so when we saw some care bear crib bedding she just had to have it for Kenzie’s room. So, it was decided that her nursery would become a place for her care bears that couldn’t fit in my room (that we are now sharing). My dad also recently got her a new crib, and her room is full of little people, Barney the purple dinosaur, Sesame Street, and tons of books. She even has an American Girl Bitty baby (which I bought). I also can not tell you how many times I have had to move everything in her room around, or how it seems to get really, really, messy even though she’s not here yet. One of the things that I’ve also started during this time is a blog. Which you can read at: adoptingfromchina-afc.blogspot.com, but it may not have been updated for a while. Since our life is so busy, but it’s still cool.

Adopting a sister from China meant having to travel there, and I wanted to do just that. So, I asked my dad. And to show him how much I wanted to go there, I came home and made a packing list for China (which is sort of “in progress”). The list includes thing like: towels, diaper rash cream, and small toys for the baby. He said yes, and after Kylie saw a movie about Chinese orphans, she had her mind set on China also. Now my dad is even letting my brother go, but he’s only going because we’re going to Hong Kong Disney land. It’s also cool how almost all of my family is going this list of people includes: my grandma, grandpa, possibly my other grandma, and possibly my aunt and uncle. It’s something memorable, and I think that they should go. It’s going to be so much fun!!!!

Once we finally got our L.I.D (log-in-date), the real wait began. Our L.I.D is November 17, 2005. But right now the CCAA is only on May 30th, (or something like that). What a L…O…N…G… wait! Who knows how long it’ll be till we actually get our referral. But it’s all in good time. Hopefully our “journey” will end in China soon!!!

We also made it to the review room, but it doesn’t feel like were one step head from where we were. It feels like were a step backwards, since they keep extending the wait. After this we’ll be matched with a baby (I think), but it’s so very hard to imagine that it might take a year extra to be matched. Why should it take so long? I’m hoping it will go by sooner than expected!!!

We found a waiting child on the list that my dad wanted to apply for her, so we applied. We applied for a (really) cute two year-old, but I couldn’t look at her photo because I didn’t want to get attached, and then get turned down. Well, we did end up getting turned down, and are back on the regular (long) list for a baby. In a way though, it’s sort of a relief, and we decided it would be best to have a younger one anyway. Especially since most of the stuff we have is for a younger child anyway. In a way, we did it impulsively, she probably went with a family who’s perfect for her.

I hope it’ll go by soon!!! But, I doubt it, since it’s been over one hundred and ninety-four days, and the line doesn’t seem to be moving. But it’s so worth it for my future baby sister. Even though the wait got bumped from six months to almost a full year, my family and I will probably still travel this year. I’m so lucky to be getting a new sister, and the baby we get will be lucky to have us.

One day our journey will end, our journey to Kenzie will be over. But it’ll be the start of a beautiful new one. Full of excitement and fun. Especially if we go for another baby after this. Even though the wait’s long it’s still fun to meet new people, and it teaches you things. It’s a one time experience, and I’m glad I’ll be part of it. Were waiting to bring baby home!!!!

THE--(long)--WAIT.....

2006-07-30T19:44:00.000-07:00

How is everybody out there??? (This is a picture of my dog, Ella.) We're still stuck in this wait. Sorry that I haven't kept all you readers updated on our adoption journey to Kenzie (our baby), but there isn't anything interesting to write about. But hopefully that will all change,--very soon--but... for now, we're still stuck here. You see, according to the original timeline (you know, to get a referral, and travel) we would already have the baby here right now. But November is on it's way not too long from now. November 17 is our L.I.D, and if China wants to keep the wait at a year--like they say they do--then we'll hopefully have a referral soon, and travel by January/February next year (2007). Although, I'm trying NOT to raise my hopes too high, because that probably won't happen. Then again... things change in time!!!!

We're also planning on enclosing our outdoor patio/porch into a playroom sometime in September. I've been planning it out since about June. We're going to get some really cool floors, we're gonna' repaint it. I hope she enjoys it, and it's fun and entertaining for me.

Hopefully all of you who are adopting--girl or boy--will recieve a photo of your beautiful girl, or handsome boy. We'll keep you posted!!!

Packing list for China

2006-07-19T19:01:00.000-07:00

I thought you might want to read our packing list. Here it is:

Packing list for China page:1

for baby: (you should probably use a duffel bag or suitcase for the baby’s stuff)

3-4 toys (plastic keys, stacking cups, board books etc.)
3 onesies
1 pair of pants
2 pairs of shorts
2 pairs of tennis shoes
small amount of formula (buy most in China)
2 tops
bottles
bowls for snacks
25-50 diapers (you can buy them there)
2 blankets
doll/stuffed animal
pillow

for you: (I would also suggest a duffel bag or suitcase for your stuff)

2 pairs of shorts
1 pair of jeans
3-4 t-shirts
a dress/skirt/nice clothes (for the day you get the baby)
hat
flip-flops/sandals (for the shower)
books, cards, etc.
underwear

toiletries: (stuff them in your bag)

toilet paper (take the roll out of the middle, so you can flatten it out)
tooth brush (I’d buy a cheap one at wal-mart)
tooth paste
shampoo
conditioner
wash rag/towel
page: 2

buy there:
(most people suggest you buy 1 or 2 cheap bags there to put stuff in)

18 gifts (or enough gifts for every year till she turns 18)
umbrella stroller (buy this when you get there, so you can push the baby)
extra diapers
formula (the baby will be used to the Chinese kind)
stuff for you
some people suggest getting cute shoes for the baby there
silk dress for the baby

Medicine: (put this in your bag)

Motrin (for you and the baby)
Band-aids
Tylenol
Advil
For allergies: (bring a pack or so of tissues)
Neosporin
Bug spray/skin-so-soft
Anti-itch cream
Personal medical needs

Suggestions that people said “NOT” to bring:

Umbrella
Makeup
Hairdryer
Purse
Fancy clothing
Not a whole lot of film (one lady said she had too much film!)
Travel games
2 pairs of shoes (one lady didn’t get around to her 2nd pair)

Page 3:

Suggestions people “COULDN’T” live without or wish they brought:

The Texas Medical Kit
More LITTLE toys
Clothing (in more than one size for the baby, with the too big too small)
Puffs/tissue
a plastic container for the formula from china (the bags are not reclosable)
kitchen tongs to hold bottle nipples
stainless steel thermos
paper back books (for the flight, and extra time on your trip)
nail clippers (for the baby)
anbesol (for teething)
EXTRA baby Tylenol
Polaroid camera (to take and give out snapshots to people, they enjoyed it)
Baby spoon and bowl
Hats (for you and the baby)
More formula (some people didn’t even get to a store till the 6th day)
Cheap diaper bag
A big backpack
An empty suit case
Cough drops
Email adresses of friends (with digital camera to email them photos)

Suggestions of what to give to the Chinese:
Chocolate
50 chinese new year memorial stamps in zip-lock
squishy cloth photo album with pictures of the family to baby’s caretaker

snacks:

cheerios (in reclosable bowl for the baby)
oatmeal
granola bars
plums
applesauce
rice cereal
baby food

page 4
tips:
don’t wear sandals outside of your hotel room
take as little as possible
cover the faucets with cloths (to remind you to NOT use the water)
if your close are too big or small the orphanage will be happy to accept them
little gifts for maids (they say: that they DON’T accept tips

toys/baby needs

stacking cups
links
stuffed animal
4-5 board books
suggestion: take a journal that you’ve written in, to read to the baby
disposable bibs
(the first years) disposable plastic spoons
baby wipes
baby sized towel
thermometer
sippy cup
bottle cleaning brush
diaper rash cream
baby powder and lotion
disposable changing pads
binky
car seat
nasal aspirator
little noses nasal spray
little tummies (for constipation)
q-tips

WC (waiting child)???

2006-04-29T19:17:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned earlier we are thinking about switching over to the Waiting child program. So we will be checking the Great Wall of China Adoption Agency's waiting child list, to see if there might be one that we are interested in applying for. Our friend has switched over, and if we do, we might could travel together. This would really speed up the process. It has been a really
L-O-N-G time since we have sent in our dossier. It may go faster!!!

Review Room

2006-04-27T19:06:00.000-07:00

We (finally) have made it to the review room!!! Yes!!! Hooray!!! After waiting for more than five months, and to be exact, one hundred and sixty-two days. What a long time. Sometimes it seems to fly by, but most of the times, it seems like every second is a minute, and every minute (feels like) an hour. But, we've made it this far, soon our papers and documents will be reviewed (of course) and looked over. Hopefully we will be in another room very, very soon. But that's not probable, although it is possible. As it is right now, the wait is around twelve months or more. I think everyone's tired of it but the perfect baby is out there somewhere for us and for you!!!

My parents are thinking about applying for the waiting child program, keep logging on for updates, and we might be posting photos soon!!!!

"Just a dinner"

2006-01-08T22:08:00.000-08:00

The other day our family got a new crib, for Kenzie's (our Chinese sister we are currently adopting) nursery. It is a very elegant, beautiful, unusual, white, Rosalia crib by Pali. Which meant that since we were putting together our new crib, I had to redo her room, but luckily we got rid of some "JUNK" from her room to make room for her new crib. And I was lucky enough to have the privalage to show our guests her (finished) room, while they were here for dinner. That day (which was yesterday, Saturday) we had one of my mom's (GOOD) friends and her son, daughter-in-law-to-be, and husband over for a delicious dinner of salad, lemon chicken, steak, green beans, potatoes, sausage, biscuits, and dessert, which was oreo pie. We also had some good fellowship with them. But... along with company, came cleaning the house. Which meant sweeping, mopping, cleaning the bathroom, cleaning the counters, cleaning our rooms, and of course just cleaning everything that was messy, along with taking down our Christmas stuff. Oh by the way, merry ("belated") Christmas!!! I just think that it was nice to eat dinner and talk with each other, while of course showing of our (clean) house. I'm just happy that Miss. Debby and our family will be able to get a baby from China, and I hope that we get what we requested. Althouugh we wouldn't mind getting somebody we didn't request. Waiting...

"Years go by fast...."

2006-01-04T16:28:00.000-08:00

I'm sure as you know that I mentioned a friend of ours who got her referral on my first post, yesterday in China, today our time, she got her little (two year old) boy. And although we won't get our referral till (MAYBE) August, it seems like it will only be a short amount of time till our travel, and then again, it doesn't. Now because of the extended wait that the CCAA has announced (due to so many requests and adopters), it'll be several months later than we thought. Then again that's without splitting every month in half. My mom doesn't really care. She says, "We'll get her when the time is right; there's a special baby picked out for us waiting to be adopted." Now when it comes to me, it's not that I really care, it's just that I'm sort of impatient, and I had a set time when we might get our referral. Now as for a friend of ours she says, "China should honor what they told us previously." By the way we went, shopping with her the other day. We went to: Babies-R-Us, the outlet mall (Carters, Claires,...), and a favorite of mine, Kid-to-Kid. It's like by some miracle that my mom clicked on her website,
she lived near us, she's friendly, and she moved into a house that we looked while searching for homes to move into. She's so nice, and my brother and sister love her. You could probably wake them up at 5:00 am and they would jump right out of bed if you told them that we were going to her house. and it's also by some miracle that we have a few things in common. You know, I wasn't really into this whole "adoption thing". You know I didn't mind having a new sister, but I didn't really start buying or looking at things for her, until I found out I was going to China. The other day in China my friend Ali (the family who just got their boy) got sick, poor Ali; she missed touring The Great Wall and The Forbidden City. i know it's kind of early (actually WAY early), but we're already searching for luggage, making packing lists, and searching for "care package" items. Years seem to go by extremely fast after something happens and even when nothing exciting happens and it's a regular day. I only hope that this LONG, and MISERABLE wait goes by just as fast.

L.I.D (log-in-date)!

2005-12-12T20:05:00.000-08:00

YAHOO! YAY! YES! After waiting for what seems like forever, our family has finaly got an L.I.D (log-in-date), November 17th. But.. we have previously heard that the wait (which is LONG to begin with) may be extended from 6-8 months up to 10-12 months. We sort of had a "celebration diner" at a steak house and did some "celebration shopping" at Wal-Mart. Nothing really fancy, just a little to celebrate our L.I.D, although we did go to the mall and a really cool consignment shop called "Kid-to-Kid". Right now I am fixing to go look thru a pile of "stuff" (baby clothes, toys, etc,...), as I'm watching TV. Last night we went to a Christmas party, and came home. We haven't been doing much this week, and so there's not much to write about. I'm sorry about not updating my blog, everyday there's usually TaeKwonDo, girlscouts, co-op, or we just go out to a resale shop. I hope everyone who is adopting is a happy as we are about wherever they are in the process, and that everyone (if the wait was extended for them) is to not too unhappy about the new and different time frame!

Disney World (Florida)...

2005-11-26T12:23:00.000-08:00

This week (and part of last) our family went to Disney World, Florida. Our family had been to Disney world before so, it was no "I have to go on, it's my first time", although my younger brother was only two years old (so it was hard to remember at the age of two and now he's four). Our family didn't go on as much rides, although we went on most. We skipped water rides due to rain and cold air, we skipped rides with long waits, and sometimes we wouldn't ride because after fifteen minutes in line someone (who was the whole reason we were in line because they wanted to ride it) changed their mind (but after out of line would change their mind again). One our family's all-time favorite is the monorail, this year (like usual) we rode on the front on the way to Epcot. We also enjoy shopping at the Lego store, the (HUGE) Wonderful World Of Disney store, Once Upon a Toy, and that's just about all of our family's favorite stores (well, mine anyway). This year our family stayed at a really cool hotel, it's pretty new, it's the Nickolodeon Holiday Inn and Suites Hotel. It has twelve buildings, in the first six it has a smaller pool that looks like it should be in a section of a water park (because of the water slides it has, and the next six has a larger one with a little bit more details, each pool has two hot tubs and an area for younger kids, a mall, a kid's spa, stores, buffets and character breakfasts (characters: spongebob, rugrats,...), shows (slimetime), and rooms are available with one, two, or three bedrooms (not including a kitchen and living room)! During our trip we chose to go to Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure. My younger brother enjoyed them the most (I think), because he met Spiderman and Captain America. At Universal we rode E.T. (fun), Back to the Future, Jimmy Neutron, and Shrek 4-D ( which was horrible). Then we began for our trip home, it was a (very,very,very,...) LONG drive home, but we made it home at 12:19 am Friday.

"I want a new sister because..."

2005-11-11T20:02:00.000-08:00

Earlier today four (out of the five) members in our family went to a relative's home to watch a recorded adoption story. On the way home our second youngest child was asked, "why do you want a new sister?' She responded by simply saying, "so she and I can play together." Later that day our family's youngest was asked that very same question, he responded by saying "No, because of the dirty diapers." Then later on that day (while we were at the park) I thought how much their answers would change because next year our second youngest will be seven, and our youngest will be five. I thought how she (the seven year old as of next year) might have to take on more responibilities, and he (our five year old as of next year) might enjoy bonding and playing with her. I guess that when people adopt it is what they think is best, so they would adopt because they are comfortable and feel that it is best to adopt. But, sometimes the kids have a lot of input into the decision. Then I thought (yet another question) of how our relatives and family (outside of our home) thought of the idea. They said something like, "why would you want to bring up another baby in your home?" But now they are a little more comfortable with the idea (buying outfits and wanting to go to China with us to get her). The parents in our family are going to do what they think is best, but the family has some input (including the children), but we won't change our mind just because someone thinks that we are crazy to adopt. I think that our family will enjoy having a child. Later on I asked myself the same question, my answer was "yes, it'll definitely be a challenge, but it'll be a very fun and exciting adventure." So, what I guess I'm trying to say is, if you are going to adopt you should definitely do what you want and what you think is best. But your decision should be what you feel is comfortable, but it is still okay to let your kids know what is going on and let them talk their feelings over with you (just like my family did). Our family is definitely going to be happy with the baby. (Even though it'll be 6-8 months till we get the baby) China here we come!

The Endless Wait...

2005-11-10T19:57:00.000-08:00

This is a website telling my thoughts and feelings during the procees of my family's adoption (right now we are still most definetely in the process, and some links or things you were searching for may not be here), and this is where our website story begins... We have recently sent our DTC (dossier-to-China) on October 28, 2005. From then on begins an endless wait... Starting with an LID (log-in-date), then a referral (after the wait of 6-8 months), then finally comes China. A year (technically 6-8 months) usually gos by pretty fast, but not this time. With a bunch of activities in which we are committed to, I really hope that they will make "The Endless Wait" go by a whole lot faster. We know a friend who got their referral today, and it makes me feel like our referral will be here soon also. On DTC day (a few days back) we sort of celebrated by going to Babys-R-Us to buy a cute little gift for our baby (which we hope will be girl between the ages of 0-12mos.), and we have most (if not all) of her nursery ready. We are planning on naming her Kenzie. The two youngest of the family are happy to be getting a new sister, and the youngest (which is a boy) will get to be a big brother. Anyway, we are expecting a referral about July of 2006, and we are expecting a LID(log-in-date) very soon. Our family is Christian, and we have been praying for the baby's safety. We have recently created this website on November 10, 2005, even though we wanted to start it earlier. Our family is very excited, and can't wait to go to China. We are not planning on turning down a referral, (because as most people know that baby/child will get put at the bottom of the stack, and will probably never get adopted); we will be happy to open up our home to any baby. Our family is very excited, and can"t wait to go to China to get our baby!

**Day To Day Life With Kenzie**