Tai Update

Tai loves the pool

Fun with Baba's drums

Tai loves helping mama with the laundry

Think Lucy will mind if I play in here for awhile?

Doesn't this little guy make you smile?

A Day out with Thomas.... Sooooo Fun

Tai's first Dragon Boat Festival

Fun with shaving cream
Happy 4th of July! I am proud to be an American!
Look at all of these bags of presents
Happy 2nd Birthday Tai

I am a very bad Blogger!!!!!! Sorry about my lack of posts, but I have been a busy mama! I would much rather be playing with my new man than sitting at the computer. Today is our five month anniversary of out gotcha day! I can not believe how fast the days have gone. I feel like yesterday we were in China and they were walking Tai into our hotel room. When I think back on our trip I get so emotional. We feel like Tai has been with us forever, we have a hard time remembering what life was like pre Tai. We are still having a great time being parents. Tai is such a happy little boy. He loves to laugh and giggle. He is doing so well and thriving in our home. He is talking up a storm! Everyday he says a new word. He so close to saying a complete sentence, I think it will be any day now! He still loves music and loves to dance. His favorite toy (or toys) are his Choo Choos! He LOVES his trains or anything that moves... airplanes, boats, cars,etc. He is definetely all boy! We are keeping busy this summer....going to the park and the pool. Tai is doing great at Mothers Day Out and loves being with the other kids. He still gets a little teary when I drop him off, but he always has a fun time!

The other good news about Tai is that we found out his heart healed itself! Whoo Hoo! Tai had his "boy" surgery a few weeks ago and they were able to do another echo while in the OR. Turns out his VSD finally closed on its own. Yippeeee!!!!! So no surgery for this little guy! Our prayers were answered!
Ok, so I will post some pics now. Enjoy!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Two weeks home

Tai and Lucy finally made friends.... over cheerios of course!

Do you think if I ring this thing, then they will take me outside too???????

Just another cute pic

I love all my new toys!

Lucy looking all stylish after her spa day - She deserves a break too!

Yummy! I think this may just beat noodles!

oooooh, fun on my scooter

Just chillen with a snack on my new chair

Lucy, patiently waiting for any droppings.......

Love the bath tub at home... Finally!

What a difference a week makes! We are really enjoying this little guy. He has the best personality. He loves to play, laugh, and smile. We just can not get enough of that! We are very thankful that he is sleeping better!!!!!! Woo Hoo. He still wakes up sometimes at night, but goes back down peacefully and easily. Everyone is sleeping in their own beds too! Woo Hoo! I think it was a hard two weeks, but I know that it was worth it! We have had alot of fun while baba is at work. We have been to the zoo, the pool, the parks, and a few play dates. Tai even had his first babysitter today. Only for 2 hours and I was home the entire time. Just thought we would try it out. Mama desperetely needs a break from time to time. Tai did hmmmmm........... lets just say he wanted his mama. So we will try again next week. Julie was very patient. I only hope we didn't scare her away!

Baba hates going to work, but LOVES coming home to his family! Iam pretty sure he is more excited to see Tai, but oh well. I couldn't ask for a better husband and daddy! They are so fun to watch together. We love our afternoons as a family!

Enjoy the pics. Thanks to all my blog junkie friends for sticking with us!!!!!

HOME.... At Last

What a big boy! He doesn't need any help with the slides anymore... as long as he has his cup!

I love the parks in America too

Bye Bye China! My parents say I will be back someday to get a sister.... so see ya then!

Tai thinks so too

Tired mama and baba in their fun shirts.... ready for a LONG flight home

Sorry I have been a very bad blogger since we got home. Maybe you can tell by my lack of posting that life has been a bit hectic to say the least. Our honeymoon in China is definitely over. When we arrived home we suddenly realized that we now had to make our own beds, clean up our own house, cook all our meals, do our own laundry, and drive our own cars...... all while trying to figure out how to be first time parents to a 20 mo old!!!!! Yikes! It has been an adjustment.... for ALL of us! The jet lag was pretty bad, and it has taken a good week for us to feel "normal" again. Tai was a trooper on the flight. He played, he slept, and he ate great (noodles and rice that is). His parents on the other hand did not. Needless to say being awake for over 34 hours was hard on the two of us. It hit hard in Detroit when our plane was delayed over 4 hours! Tai was a happy, playful guy but we were exhausted! It was rough to be so close to home and stuck! When we finally arrived home we were greeted by all of our wonderful friends and family.....and that made it all worth it!!!!!!

Tai seems to be adjusting well. He is happy and playful and talking up a storm! Both in English and Chinese. He still uses a few chinese words, he still calls the dog "go" and he tells us he wants to be picked up in chinese (bo bo). I think he has about 20 words that he uses consistently in english. And he repeats us very well! We have to say, that we think he is VERY smart!!!!! He is still mostly eating noodles. He is so funny when we try to offer new foods. He shuts his mouth and shakes his head "no". But we still try, every meal. But the noodles are always on "stand by". Still not a huge milk fan, but getting better. I mix it with fruit and make smoothies and that seems to work OK. This kid is definitely a carb junkie.

Tai and the dog are doing great!!!!!! So for those of you offering.......sorry to say but Lucy stays!!!! The first day or two were rough. Tai screamed whenever Lucy was near. But slowly he warmed up to her. He LOVES her now! He points to her and says "go go" . It is so cute. And he loves to feed her from his cheerio cup, and of course Lucy is loving all the "snacks". She is so good with him too. She never gets upset or snaps at him. He pulls on her hair and she just sits there. She is kinda protective too. She likes to sit in his room and watch him in his crib, it is so sweet. Tai tries desperately to give chinga (kisses) to the dog. He puckers his lips at her, but she will have no part of that! It is so funny!!!! So we are all having fun together. I have taken them both to the park and on walks. It is quite an adventure, but still fun!

The only problem we are having with Tai is his sleeping. He is still having a hard time at night. This is the big reason I have been so out of touch since getting home. It has been really hard on us. We are sleep deprived and exhausted all the time. After much research and talking with the pediatrician, we have determined that he is having night terrors. It is very sad and hard on us. He seems to sleep through them, but we don't! He goes to sleep well, he just wakes up every 1 1/2 to 2 hours screaming and inconsolable. Time and a consistent bedtime ritual is really all we can do. So we are just focusing on that. Every night does seem to be getting better. So I think we are making some progress.

Friday we had a big day at the Children's Hospital. Our morning started out at the cardiologist with and EKG and and ECHO and a visit with the doctor. Then after lunch it was nap in the ER conference room (my friend works there, and it was much quieter than dads office) then it was off to see the international adoption doctor for shots and blood work. It was a very long and hard day. Poor kiddo was exhausted!!!!! And a little sick that night after the shots. poor baby! But we got THE BEST news ever that day!!!!!!! Apparently Tai still has a very large VSD (hole in the heart) but the tricuspid valve has formed a flap of skin and it is covering the hole!!!!!!! It has basically formed like a wind sock over the hole........ and essentially fixed the problem! Isn't that just amazing!!!!! The cardiologist was very pleased with Tai's exam, said he is doing great, and he sees no immediate concerns! Normally, that large of a VSD would be a concern he says, but since he is doing so well, and has his "wind sock" then no worries right now. We did not get the best ECHO b/c our kiddo is "that kid" - the one that kicks and screams and throws a fit! uggh. So we need to go back in 3 months for sedation and another echo. We will go from there. But he seems very reassured by his exam! Woo Hoo!!!!!! The international adoption doctor was also VERY impressed with our lil guy. He is right on track and developmentally doing well. (we knew that already though). He is in the 50th percentile on the American growth chart, so that is great! Oh and the rash on his face is getting better. So we couldn't be happier right now. Jason keeps telling everyone that we "stole a healthy kid from the special needs list". We most definitely HIT THE JACKPOT WITH THIS KID!!!!!!!!!

We are having a great time and loving every minute of parenthood. As tired as we both are, we wouldn't trade it for anything! We don't miss our old life at all!!!!! I apologize again for being out of touch, and I will try to be better. It is very hard though. I know I have a zillion phone calls to return and emails to respond too, and I will try to get on that. But just know that we really appreciate all of your love and support, and we love hearing from you all. I still want to sleep when he sleeps. So that doesn't leave much time to myself. A 20 mo old is very demanding!!! Plus we are trying to focus on the whole bonding thing, and just figure out what our new life is like. Here are a few new pics for ya all.............. enjoy!

A few final pics

Our travel buddies... Mellissa and Brian and Wen..... We will miss them!

And he is ours............. FOREVER

Oh, We love this little guy

Red Couch Photos

And he's off................................

Yep! Ours was the escape artist in the group!

Look at our handsome emperor.......don't ya just love that smile?

Da Boys in our group! There were actually 3 others but they left on Tuesday, so this is our "true group"

Happy Family - now complete! America Here We Come!

Catch Up

I have had a hard time getting on blogger here, esp in the evenings. I think there are so many adoptees getting on in the evenings... so it is backlogged. Anyway, I added the pics to yesterdays post during nap time, so today I just added the captions. So you many want to scroll down and read them. Also, it is sometimes easier to post the pictures smaller, but if you click on them, they will blow up bigger. I assure you, Tai is much cuter full screen! So check it out! This will probably be our last post from China. I know all of my blog junkie friends will be sad about that. But for those of you at work, you still have Holly to keep you going! BTW- I am very excited that we were able to see Graycn live and in person via video skype on Hollys Gotcha Day!!!!!! Oh, she is ADORABLE! Jason keeps saying that we will be back " to get us one of those" ! Good thing Tai likes Ramon noodles......looks like we will be saving for baby #2! For all my OREO friends... I think you just moved up "the list".

So the past few days have been fun and full of adventure. I think my last post we were off to the Pearl Market. WOW! Pearls were everywhere! We had a great time.......lots of purchases........and a few gifts! After the pearls we walked back through town to the hotel. We walked through a traditional Chinese mall, which was very interesting. Much like home, but much bigger! We even stopped to buy some sandals for only $7 USD. He needed more shoes!!!!! Just like his mama! He's a shoe boy now! The shoes here are way cuter than at home. Then we walked through the streets of Guangzhou. Our guides took us to the herbal market, which was most interesting. The things that they eat are fascinating. Like the dried blubber of a fish to make your skin soft. The sea horse,frogs, mushrooms, roots, scorpions. All very interesting. Then we walked through the outdoor animal market. Tons of small puppies, kitties, birds, fish, turtles. Sooooooooooo many! Tai liked to look and point at the "Go Go's" No crying this time, but they were in cages and he was in his stroller! We also saw a man on the street carving trinkets and pendants out of ox bone. The detail was amazing! So cool! We of course had to purchase some of his work! After our long shopping day, we headed to dinner with our American friends from New York and their son Wen. We went to an amazing Italian dinner! For those of you waiting to travel here.......I HIGHLY recommend this place! It was fantastic. A little pricey, like a nice meal out at home. But very worth it. A note on the restaurants here..... Lucy Bar and Grill, we thought was awful. Unless you want a beer on the patio overlooking the park. The Cow and Bridge Tai food was good, but certainly nothing special. The padtai was much like PeiWei. Anyway, not impressed enough to go back. So last night the four of us plus kids ventured out to find some good chinese food. Well we had a very hard time. We actually walked out of the first restaurant. We wanted some good dumplings, noodles and rice dishes etc. All we could find was steamed pigeon (yes the whole bird, beak and all) or braised pig ( yes the whole pig) or pig feet, or some sea creatures (still intact). We couldn't even find Peking Duck. We would have been adventuresome but we could find NOTHING to feed the noodle eating maniac boys! We finally stumbled on a German Restaurant with a very nice outdoor beer garden, we thought it looked good. After Mellissa and I asked for the menu and stood outside for about 10 minutes seeing if there was something to feed the munchkins, we decided it would be good! Yeah! They then tell us there was a private party and we could not eat that night. BUMMER. So it was back to the Italian restaurant. Which was fine with us! It was once again........ VERY GOOD!

I have gotten more used to the shopping on the island. Getting good at saying NO. But sometimes is hard, b/c it is kinda cheap. We did find a place that is making a Chinese blanket for Tai. We were able to pick out the material and they will sew it by hand for us today. We also purchased a handmade stocking out of silk and they are going to hand embroider Tai's chinese name on it for us! All of this for $40!!!!! We are very happy with these purchases. Holly, this place is just to the right when you exit the WS hotel. Between the art shop and the shop on the corner. A small store, but worth it! I swore I wouldn't do it....... but I could not resist the squeaky shoes. It is hard to find cute ones for the boys, but I managed to find one pair that I liked. And Tai likes them even more!!! The one thing about the shopping is that it is all geared to the girls! Very hard to find cute boy things. I suppose that is good on the wallet. If we had a girl I would have purchased at least 20 pairs of squeaky shoes by now!

Yesterday, was a free day. We decided not to go to the zoo. We heard it was not so good here. The safari is apparently much better, but it is a 50 minute taxi ride each way. A long way to go if Tai hated the animals. So we had a very nice day at the park and exploring the island. We also did the famous red cough pictures. We got some nice ones. I will try to post those later.

Today we have a free morning, mama is spending it writing to all of you blog junkies! Then i will start the packing. This afternoon we go to the US Consulate to make our oath and get Tai's visa!!! Hoorah.......... we are coming to America!!!!!!!!!! We had quite a scare today when the consulate called us to tell us there was a problem with our paperwork. Mama and Baba's heart stopped for a bit! After much back and forth and discussion with our guide... we finally figured out what was really wrong. In 2 provinces in china you can pay extra to have the american name on the passport, Jiangxi is one of those provinces. We paid for this. After looking very closely at all the paperwork with Jenny, we didn't look at the backside of the passport page. Well they did not put a space between Tai and Alexander. They said that we may have problems getting though immigration. So to avoid this we REDID all paperwork and Tai will now travel with his chinese name. means more paperwork at home for us. But as long as we can get him into the country....... then that is OK. Please help us pray that everything goes smoothly for us. We are still a little nervous still. We only have 2 hours in Detroit to pass customs and do all of Tai's immigration paperwork.

On our last day in china we have been reflecting on this whole journey. We keep thinking that if Vietnam had not shut down on us, then we never would have seen Tai! We know that he was born just for us. God made him just for us, we know that without a doubt! We don't know why we had to go on such a long hard journey to get here, but we can tell you that it was most definitely WORTH THE WAIT!!!! He is perfect, amazing, and wonderful. We sometimes can not believe how in love we are just after 2 weeks. We got a little emotional just thinking about the possibility of heart surgery, where before we thought it was no big deal. We are also a bit emotional about taking him away from his country. This is his home and his birth place, his heritage,his culture. We have tried to learn everything we can about China so we can share it with him. We also really like China. The people are so friendly and welcoming. The history and the traditions we find fascinating. The children are beautiful, we are mesmerized by them all. We think that chinese adoption may just be as addictive as getting a tattoo! We have had an amazing time here. We have loved just being a family of three. We have all grown closer to each other from this experience. But it is time to come home. Today was the first day that we really wanted to be at home. We are tired, sick, out of clean clothes, out of money, and ready to be in our own beds! Tai was up about 6 times last night, we today we are exhausted. So we will see you all in tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We are ready to start our new adventures together as a family of three in Kansas. Truly, our journey is just beginning!

Thank you for all of your love and support! We couldn't have done this without each of you!



BTW - Tai is so smart and funny, if you couldn't tell from his pictures! He is talking up a storm to us. In english and chinese. He is linking 2 english words together already! He is picking up on the sign language too. His favorite phrases are bye boat, go go, hello, uh oh. He has the best smile we have ever seen. Everyone here keeps telling us that "he is a lucky baby". But we believe that WE are the lucky ones!!! God has been good to us...he answered our prayers!!!!!!

Sites of Shamian Island and Tai of Course

Outdoor herbal market

This man is picking out the best scorpions with chopsticks. Just wonder what he is going to do with those scropions........... yikes

Dried frog... we think! Some sort of herbal medicine

Dried Seahorse anyone?

Chicken Man on the street?????????? not sure what he does?????

Public walking area and shopping, MASSES of people

Mama and Mellissa buying pearls..... the dads are wondering just how much money we are spending! After you buy the pearls, the ladies string them up for you.

Pearls anyone?????

A glimpse at the parks in china, everyone is exercising! No wonder these people are so skinny and live so long. We need parks like this at home!

Mama and our guide Lily filling out mounds of paperwork so we can bring home Tai!!!!!!!!!

Kim - this one is for you! Don't worry, we already have her in the bag!

Beautiful Chinese bride. We see them everywhere on Shamian Island. I am in awe of all of them, so beautiful!

This adorable school girl was very eager to pose with her book for us! So studiuos! She can teach the american childen a lesson or two we think.

A view from our hotel

Chinese Elementary School.... A step up from Parmalee!!!! The children in China go to school until atleast 5:30 pm. We have also seen some of them in the evenings after dinner. No wonder they are all so smart here. I think they are onto something!

The Medical Exam building

Look how much Tai loves the doctor

Sure is a lot of writing under the heart section, for having NO MURMUR! ha ha

Supposedly......... NO Murmur......... we will soon see........

Hearing and Eye exam......if he looks at the tamborine, then apparantly he can hear! Very scientific!

Wen helping Tai put on his shoes. Wen is the very helpful.......always cleaning and organizing. Brian and Mellissa hotel room is immaculate......... ours not so much!

Two friends dancing at the buffet.......... Don't you just love those two smiles! They have both brought so much joy to us!

Tai even likes Italian noodles.........oops we forgot the bib. Oh well, we are learning!

Tai had sooooooooooooo much fun at the park! He is going to love his "very own" playset....

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! What a big boy, all by himself!

Finally, mama found a way to get whole milk down him! A banana and milk smoothie! I finally learned after this to mix yogart with whole milk........ and he will drink it! Whooo Hoooo

Just too cute

Hello!!! One of Tai's favorite words. He also loves the telephone! Actually anything that remotely looks like a phone goes to his ear, such as the calcutlator, music box, remote control. But not the land line phone....... he doesn't know what to do with that! So funny!

Pouty face.... when we tell Tai "boo" (no) or "teeng" (stop) when he does something like throw food or toys on the floor...... he does not throw a fit........ he pouts... it is too cute!

Tai's MOST FAVORITE thing to do..........look at the fishies! We do this every morning after breakfast... think we need a fish tank at home. Might distract from the GO!