Our Journey to Julianne

Two Years Ago.......

2010-08-15T21:16:00.010-04:00

I can remember the morning well....sitting in the basement with Jon discussing how disappointing the prior day had been - receiving a referral of a two year little girl who supposedly had a very minor special need only to discover a huge medical need that we were not comfortable with. As we sat discussing the events of that day, the phone rang. The caller ID indicated that it was our agency AGAIN??!! Huh? That is not normal since typically once the monthly special needs list is out you are eligible once. Well, I wasn't going to argue. Our agency sent the file and sure enough, there was this cute little girl sitting on a toy donkey smiling at us as if to say, "Hi, here I am!" Little did we know at that point what a precious little gem she was. God was certainly orchestrating the events of that day and daily we see His blessings.

We have commemorated the day as "Sister Day" since the girls officially became sisters once we signed on the dotted line. The day consisted of going to DeGroff, Ohio to celebrate my niece Lili's 8th birthday party with family at a shelter within a park. Giggles and shrieks of joy overpowered the sound of the thunderstorm that lingered overhead. They had a blast. Now reality hits tomorrow since Natalie starts kindergarten tomorrow. Really???? Is summer officially over??

Wordless Wednesday

2010-05-19T21:27:00.005-04:00

What is $15 a month to you?

2010-05-18T21:24:00.008-04:00

Fifteen dollars a month......how many times do we spend this without even blinking an eye? Fifteen dollars a month would sponsor a child in Julianne's orphanage through Love Without Boundaries within its nutrition program. I clearly remember the anxiety we felt during the long seven months we waited for her. Not knowing if she was being loved and fed properly were just a small number of our worries. If you know me then you know I had many worries swirling in my head as I would toss and turn at night. I would have had many more nights of sleep if I knew that someone sponsored my child in this nutrition program. Pingliang has over 100 babies in its orphanage with mainly cleft defects who often times have a hard time getting the food down properly. If you are interested in sponsoring a baby then you can see the link below...
https://www.lovewithoutboundaries.com/Donate.cfm?child_id=0&category=&spanishFlag=false&amount=

Be sure to write "Pingliang Nutrition Program" in the notes section.

You will receive an update on your child several times a year. Thanks for considering!

It Has Been A Year! Gotcha Day!

2010-03-22T22:11:00.002-04:00

The shirt she wore.

Gotcha Day clothes
Wearing her Gotcha Day Clothes

It has been a year since Julianne became a part of our family. She amazes us with her progress and humors us with her adorable personality. During these past couple of days, we will look at the clock and remember what we were doing at that time one year ago in China. We recall the whirlwind of emotions the experience held for us and the elation of seeing her in person for the first time in the hotel in Lanzhou after all the months of waiting for her. We were truly in awe over her beauty (and extremely chapped cheeks). I can honestly state that we fell in love with her as soon as we saw her - it helps that we studied her picture for seven months. We just love her to pieces. The presence of God was SO felt during this journey. There were times where we were at a crossroads not knowing what to do but somehow God guided us to Julianne no matter how much we questioned our decision. So many lessons learned.

She is a perfect fit. That's all there is to it.

Monkey

2010-02-21T20:49:00.005-05:00

Monkey!

Together Forever!

When we were waiting for Julianne to become a part of our family, Leah and Natalie saved every coin that they came across so they could purchase Julianne a toy. They were so so so excited when I told them that they had enough money to make the trek to Target to hunt for the perfect toy. The three of us probably walked the toy aisle of the store several times just to find something that the two of them could agree on. The girls squealed with excitement when they realized a stuffed monkey was the winning choice.

Fast-forward five months and Julianne was given monkey for the first time....a perfect match! Love at first sight! She will not leave his (or her..not sure yet) side and heaven forbid that we ever lose him. She dances with him, feeds him, chews his nose, cries on him, hugs him, etc. I have looked everywhere for a backup but no luck. I did recently find one that was pretty similar on Ebay and I did purchase it for the possibility that it gets lost. Monkey is certainly loved and will be a keeper long after he is no longer needed.

Winter '10

2010-02-07T15:30:00.003-05:00

Our backyard

Julianne loves the snow!

The girls' first igloo.

Wordless Wednesday - Missing Teeth

2010-02-03T19:07:00.001-05:00

Happy Birthday, Julianne!

2010-01-28T22:02:00.004-05:00

Cake that our local ice cream parlor gave Julianne.

Ok.. I think we need to teach her the lesson about fire.
Eating at Jade Cafe

Birthday girl!

This time last year, my heart ached knowing that my daughter was turning one and we were not able to be with her to celebrate it. This didn't stop us though since we still held a party with some close friends. This year, however, is that much sweeter since we are able to spoil her with our love on this very special day.

I do think of her birth mother often and pray that she is given peace with the decision she had to make. For whatever the reason, we hope she knows that Julianne is so so loved.

Twas the Night Before Christmas.....

2009-12-26T22:43:00.005-05:00

Just for Santa

The girls are huge Star Wars fans (due to Daddy). This was his present from the girls. Note Julianne's shirt too. Half of the girls' presents from Santa were Star Wars (Clone Wars) figures. BTW, Natalie is wearing "dress up" clothes, not anything I put her in - just for the record.

My loves!

Isn't she just beautiful!

They just love their mei mei.

Becoming a Big Girl

2009-11-29T12:11:00.007-05:00

Feeding her baby.

Playing with her Nativity Scene

Putting ornaments on her first Christmas Tree

Leah and Natalie playing with the big Nativity Scene

Julianne is not sure what to do.

Watching all the girls grow up from one stage to the next is probably one of the greatest thrills as a parent. All of our fruits of our labors begin to pay off as we see them change into curious, polite and sweet young individuals. I can never pinpoint an actual age where I can say, "This is my favorite age!" because as soon as I say it...the next stage seems just as fun. I have to say, though, that I am truly in awe over how quickly Julianne has changed seemingly overnight from baby to an independent (even sassy) almost two year old. It is as if she woke up one morning last week as a new little girl.....talking in sentences, forcefully making her needs known, role playing with dolls and animals, trying to clean the house (Huh? Where did she learn that one??) etc. It is so rewarding to watch her rock her baby as she soothes her with kisses and a song (nighty night; nighty night..). Again, the fruits of our labor are paying off.

A funny story...I took Julianne to the geneticist last week (no worries there!!) Well, after the nurse left the room , I was trying to comfort her with a lullabye since she was crying. After about thirty seconds of my best soothing sounds, she looked up at me and sternly said, "Stop it!" I thought I didn't hear her correctly so I continued and lo and behold, I heard it again..."Stop it!" I think this is the day that her independence started to reveal itself because on the long way home in the car, she continued to shout my name "Debbie" the entire time. Over and over and over and over.

Halloween '09

2009-11-01T10:33:00.010-05:00

Jon's demonstration on knife safety.

Julianne's first Halloween

The neighborhood brawl

The Tooth Fairy flying to the next house.

Queen Amidala

Buzz-buzz

What we've been up to....

2009-10-24T13:36:00.007-04:00

The Loehmers and Souths

Baptism Day!

Her first pumpkin patch

The girls - best of friends!

oops!

Life has been good but busy with school starting back up. The beginning of every school year is quite stressful due to more and more expectations placed upon us. The school year has started off well for both of us and we are enjoying every student - yes, every single middle schooler. We feel very blessed since Jon and I teach across the hall from each other.

Julianne has made the transition from Mommy to Babysitter Becky very well. The first few days she cried as we left but then after that she pretty much pushed us out the door. Her day is full of toys, friends, singing/dancing, sleeping...what every kid needs and wants. We are soo soo lucky to have Becky as our sitter.

Since our last post, Julianne was baptised. We had a party with many family and friends. What a wonderful day to celebrate one more Christian in the world!

We also FINALLY met our friend Diana who was instrumental in us getting Julianne. As I have posted in the past, we were leary of adopting Julianne since fears were clouding our decision making. Diana, who I met on a chat group and too adopted from Pingliang SWI, went to the orphanage on a medical mission trip. While there, she gave us video, pictures, and updates on Julianne. She calmed our fears and we proceeded forward with our decision to adopt. Last month, we met her husband and two beautiful daughters in Indianapolis. My two older girls are the same ages as hers and hit it off. I am sure we will meet up again soon!

Simon Says.....

2009-09-25T22:53:00.009-04:00

Simon says blow Mommy kisses.

Simon says put your hands in the air.

Simon says march, march, march...

Simon says put your hands on your belly.

Put your hands on your head.................Gotch ya!!

The End of Summer....

2009-08-29T21:20:00.008-04:00

Is that Elmo?

Dress up time - Snow White

Sister Day 2009

Sister Day 2009: Swimming - Julianne was slipping a bit so she opted out.

Sister Day 2009: Our picnic lunch

Several of you asked how sister day was. Well, the girls had a blast! This will be the first of many so we plan to continue this event every August 15th. The day included a picnic lunch and a playground which are some of my girls' favorite activities. Once we got home, we filled up our pool and the girls went for a swim. A perfect day.

The First Family Photo

2009-08-17T16:54:00.006-04:00

The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face........

2009-08-14T21:56:00.006-04:00

August 15, 2008 - 9:40 am: The was the first time we saw Liang RuoTing's face. I'd like to have said that the day was bliss but I would be lying. It was probably the most intense, stressful, emotional, joyous day all wrapped up in one.

Maury from our agency called to say that she had matched us with a child. Before we even opened Julianne's file on the computer, we both started crying out of joy but also fear. Fear of the unkonwn. Fear of change. However, once we opened her file and saw those big brown eyes and the beautiful smile, we knew everything was going to be ok. And...her name! Liang Ruoting....how perfect. "Liang" was the red thread connecting her to her sisters and me. Deborah Lee, Leah and Natalie. "RuoTing" means "looks like Grace". We were amazed since Gracie Jo was (is) my neice who passed away on March 6, 2002 at the young age of 18 months. I know that little angel helped pick our Julianne for us.

After scanning her medical information, we quickly called our international adoption doctor on her personal cell phone so she could review the information. Well....she was in Yellowstone National Park with her family getting ready to start their day. She didn't have any of her medical books with her and since Julianne's condition is quite rare she wasn't too familiar with it. From that moment, we took a leap of faith and and we are so glad we did. The rest of the day was one big blur since it was spent racing against the clock to complete paperwork by a certain time. With special needs adoption, a couple has roughly 6-7 hours to research a child's condition and complete paperwork so that the file is not given to another family. Talk about stress! After many tears and hugs, we pressed the "send" button with our Letter of Intent to adopt our sweet little girl.

I look into those brown eyes now and know that God orchestrated that day - August 15, 2oo8!

So to celebrate this day, we have decided to name this day "Sister Day" since this is when our three girls officially became sisters. The day will allow them to rejoice in their love for each other! Not exactly sure what the day will hold but I am sure a playground, hike in the woods and swimming will most likely be on the agenda.

I can't believe it.......

2009-07-27T23:53:00.006-04:00

Jon and I just celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary!

My oldest is six! How can that be??

Chuckie Cheese's to celebrate!

Leah is Six! Julianne is a big fan of her big sister.

Like father: Like daughter!

2009-07-26T15:46:00.006-04:00

First U.S. haircut (on my lap)

Feeding her baby

The South Family Singers

The first three weeks of July one can usually find Jon glued in front of the tube watching The Tour de France. In my mind, this is OK because this is really the only major sporting event that he becomes obsessed with and I certainly can't complain. Three weeks vs. months of football or basketball. Ironically, our first daughter was born on the last day of the Tour and it would only make sense that our first born would also learn how to ride her bike (without training wheels) on this day as well. She was so thrilled and learned so quickly that by the time I found the camera she was already taking off on her own. I didn't get that footage of daddy running along side her or the cheers of on-lookers. Oh, well. Enjoy the footage and pictures of our week.

Waiting Children

2009-07-21T12:40:00.002-04:00

This video is so worth watching. I know Jon and I were very hesitant to adopt special needs at the beginning of our process but now I can't even believe that we even thought twice. What special need? I don't even see Julianne's "special need" anymore.

If you are contemplating adoption, this video is certainly worth the ten minutes. With prayer, God WILL guide you in the right direction.

Reunion

2009-07-19T19:19:00.007-04:00

A merry-go-round!

Long day!

Loved the slide!

Saturday was our agency's (FTIA) reunion picnic held in Noblesville, Indiana - just a mere stone's throw from Indianapolis. It was so great to see all of the families we traveled with eventhough we still keep in touch via blogs. The pictures just don't show how much each child has changed in height, weight, motor skills etc. It is amazing what four months of TLC and nutrition will do! It really is hard to describe the bond we feel towards these other couples since they were there to share the joy of adding on to our families. They also know first hand the difficult road we all had to go on to get to where we are right now - the endless piles of paperwork, answer the questions of doubting people, and live without our child while we waited for that letter of acceptance. Of the thirteen families who traveled together, eight familes were reunited during this picnic.

Did I mention....

2009-07-10T14:49:00.002-04:00

Did I mention that Julianne won the cutest baby contest from our church?

Our church had asked for baby pictures within the weekly bulletin for a contest that would take place at our parish festival, and of course, we had to enter Julianne. By the time the festival arrived, there were about twenty-five entries. Julianne won!!!! I promise that I only voted once too. She won a twenty dollar gift card to our local ice cream parlor. Woohoo!

Praise God!

2009-07-08T22:20:00.002-04:00

Julianne is home and is healthy!

The echo cardiogram revealed that her heart is perfect. What a relief. Yesterday the cardiologists tossed words around such as cardiomyopothy or possible hole in the heart. This is certainly not the case. Praise the Lord. They just believe she has just been blessed with a fast beating heart or her heart beats a bit faster since she was malnurished as a baby. Who knows and who cares???? SHE IS HEALTHY!!!!!

Introducing......the new thumb.

2009-07-07T20:37:00.007-04:00

Before drugs

After drugs!

Julianne is asleep so I slipped to the next hospital room to use the internet since our room's service wasn't working. So if I leave off mid-sentence it is because I hear crying.

Julianne did great once again with her surgery and I must say her hand looks great! Dr. Cornwall gets two thumbs up from Julianne! I can't wait to actually see her cute little hand and play Itsy Bitsy Spider with that new thumb. The best news of the day is that she WILL actually have a pincher grip - wow - isn't modern technology awesome.

Now to the more serious side of the day: The anesthesiologist did not like the fact that her heart rate was high again. He called in the head cardiologist who did hear a murmur and feels as though he is feeling her heart through her chest a bit too much. So tomorrow she will undergo an echocardiogram to look for any issues with her heart. He stated that since she has to be sedated for the procedure, she cannot have any food/drink after midnight AND he was not sure what time her procedure would be done tomorrow. I am taking bets it will be done later in the day rather than early. Ok, let's think about this.....she had barely any food today and the food and drink she did have is soaked into my clothes since she threw up twice. We'll see how the day goes.

The funny part of the day....for this surgery, I brought three pairs of shorts with me just in case I am showered in vomit/pee like the last time. Well, let's just say that all three pairs have been officially used. I am now wearing scrubs brought to me by the nurse.

Thanks for all the prayers!

Surgery Tomorrow

2009-07-06T15:04:00.002-04:00

Please say a prayer tomorrow betwee 7:30 and 12:30 since that is when Julianne is having her surgery done tomorrow. Her cute little thumb will be removed and made way for her pointer to take its place.
I dislike the thought of her being put in a cast again since she is once again discovering and using her short hand. Her favorite use of it right now is to perform "Itsy Bitsy Spider"; as soon as she hears it, she'll whip off her brace and begin to make the signs for the song. I will miss that for the five weeks she has the cast on.

Lazy Days!

2009-07-03T11:03:00.012-04:00

*Julianne went on her first vacation to the Great Smoky Mountains this past week. She traveled like a pro with very little tears or fussing. Her favorite part of the trip, we believe, was swimming and playing in the dirt.

Cades Cove in Smoky Mountains Park

Now that school has officially ended for Jon, summer can finally begin. He was taking some classes through Miami to renew his license for teaching and they are over at least until September. We are trying to savor each and every moment now.

Some of our summer happenings thus far:

*Jon and I both had birthdays last weekend. I reached a milestone of 40 and I don't feel a bit different. Imagine that.

*Julianne got her cast off, wearing a brace and her little arm is looking good. Unfortunately it will go right back into her cast this Tuesday since she is having surgery #2. This is a five hour surgery that gives her a new thumb. She'll have to wear this new cast for five weeks.

*Julianne has been walking for a month now and getting better and better. She has graduated from physical therapy since she is doing so well. She is starting to climb steps which is quite good since she hasn't mastered crawling.

*Julianne is now about 23 lbs and has grown at least an inch to two since we met her three months ago.

*She is saying "hi, hello, dog, dad, bird"and a few other possible words. She loves to sign - please, milk, more, poopy (sorry), up, eat, etc.

We look forward to a fun and relaxing summer.

Swallowed Tooth

2009-06-11T09:14:00.004-04:00

As much as I try to pretend that my oldest, Leah, is not growing up, reality just keeps slapping me in the face. Yesterday, as we were eating tuna for lunch, Leah asked me to look at her wiggly tooth...what tooth? It was gone. At that second, Leah realized that she had swallowed it and was quite devastated that she never got to see it. We decided that she should write the Tooth Fairy a letter explaining the situation and so we did. As she woke, she found a crisp one dollar bill under her pillow and already had plans how to spend it. For awhile, though, she contemplated giving it to charity but then the image of a toy popped in her head.

As much as it is bittersweet to see her grow up, she still is very much a little girl.....we woke up at 4 am to a little one crawling in bed with us since she was scared of the thunderstorm that was making its way through our town.

And four casts later......

2009-06-03T21:53:00.003-04:00

When we were waiting for Julianne to join our family, the wait was extremely difficult for so many reasons, but Jon and I kept reminding ourselves that the timing was in God's hands and we had to trust His plan. As time goes on, we are starting to understand why we had to tap our fingers until March. Ironically, there was exactly twelve weeks from the day we left to the last day of school and that is the amount of time that my work is allowing me to stay home with Julianne. And let me tell you, there is NO way that I could have worked and taken little Miss Julianne to all of her appointments which have turned into a daily event. She is healthy but many of the doctor visits are precautionary due to her "radial longitudinal deficiency". We feel so blessed that this is the case and we need to keep this in perspective to the big picture. So keeping this in mind, I will tell you about our stressful week. Julianne woke Friday with a fever and it progressively got worse on Saturday with a temp. of almost 104. Since she just had her surgery, I called the orthopedic office to see if it could be related....and they said bring her into the ER. Ugh. Six and a half hours later, it was determined that she just had a virus. They did check her stitches and pin which all looked great (at least they said it did). A new white cast decorated her arm so all was good or so we thought. Not so. On Monday morning, when I reached for Julianne in her crib, I noticed her new cast was halfway off (or halfway on to be more positve). Again I called, and yes, we had to bring her in again. On the way there, I looked into the rearview mirror and to my horror, saw that the cast had completely fallen off. The pin and stitches proved to be fun entertainment for Julianne on the way since she was picking and tugging on them. Deep breaths got me to the hospital especially since stitches are my biggest phobia and usually make me quite light-headed. So now Julianne became pretty in pink with a new pink cast. Never did I think this one would fall off too. But yes, it did (today). To Cincy Childrens we went and left with a new pink cast. Let's just hope this one stays on.
Other than our medical drama, Julianne is awesome and we are amazed at how much she is learning.

Surgery....again

2009-05-28T06:27:00.003-04:00

A trooper is probably the best way to describe Julianne these days since she has been through more medical procedures in the past two months than most people in a lifetime. At least we can say that we have really only received good news from the barrage of tests that she has undergone. Yesterday she had a test to rule out bladder reflux and thank goodness, it is just fine. Quite a stressful test for her since she was placed under a machine where she could not see me. It was fairly quick though. On Tuesday, we had an orthopedic appt. to be sure that her pin had not shifted and it thankfully is still in place. Also her cast is coming off on June 22, so we'll take all this good news anyday. However, just as soon as one cast comes off, another one is on the way since surgery is right around the corner again. On July 7 (yes, that soon), she is having a 4.5 hour surgery on her fingers. Her thumb will be replaced by her pointer finger. The younger she is then the easier it will be for her to learn how to use it.

Firsts...

2009-05-18T16:16:00.005-04:00

Her first attempt at cruising in the kitchen. We better start babyproofing! Her first tea party.

Her first dance recital.

Her first cake....can you tell she liked it??

Citizenship and the Zoo

2009-05-09T21:58:00.011-04:00

Seeing the fish and manatee

Waving "hello" to the elephant

"Aren't those from China, Mom?"

Julianne became a U.S. citizen as soon as we touched ground in Chicago back on the first of April, but we now have the document to prove it. She can now apply for a social security number, birth certificate and also a passport for that return trip to China (someday). Unfortunately, she will never be able to be president - not that we would really want to subject her to that anyway.

Julianne is recovering very well from her surgery and is truly back to herself. Before we left the hospital, I pushed for an EKG since her heart rate was so high. For those of you that do not know, heart and kidney conditions usually accompany "radial longitudinal deficiency" but thank goodness, everything panned out ok. As of now, her hand/arm/shoulder are the only affected areas from her condition.

I took Julianne to the Cincinnati Zoo last Friday with my sister and nephews - Heinrich and Peter. I wasn't sure if Julianne would really pay attention to the animals. The facial expressions that she made after spying each animal proved to me that she knew that they were more than just funny looking "dogs".

Post-Surgery

2009-05-05T19:56:00.010-04:00

She has no idea what is about to happen. OK...now she does.

Safe in daddy's arms (and Monkey's).
Go Muskies! (Xavier U.)
Feeling better.

Now that all the tears and pain have subsided for the most part, I can now say that Julianne made it through surgery like a champ. Her wrist is now almost perfectly straight due to a pin that is placed in the wrist. She will need to wear her cast for about six weeks and unfortunately about three months later, we will have to endure another surgery to move her pointer finger to her thumb position. Her current thumb is called a "floating thumb" due to no metacarpal so it will need to be removed.

Prior to surgery, Dr. Cornwall had asked what color we wanted Julianne's cast. I wanted a color that would not show dirt due to the fact that she is still using her arms to help her become mobile. So I said, "Let's have the Xavier (my Alma mater) blue color." Dr. Cornwall added his touch by putting a big "X" on the cast with glow-in-the-dark white. Go Muskies! Too bad we're not in the March Madness season.

After surgery, we were called back to her recovery room where we were informed that her heart rate was sky high - hitting over 200 beats per minute. We are still not sure if it was due to pain/stress or if this is an indicator of a heart issue. Currently, as Julianne is babbling, 152 is the current number which is still high. She is now in her crib without me holding her - just amusing herself with her lovies - monkey and blanket. Leah and Natalie had saved up money and bought Julianne a monkey back in November and now she cannot go to sleep without 'the monkey'.
As I sit here with pee and puke on both my shirt and jeans, I am feeling so blessed - three awesome daughters, a loving husband, Children's Hospital, health care, supportive family, and the list goes on.....

Surgery Tomorrow

2009-05-04T18:34:00.002-04:00

We leave before the rooster crows tomorrow (5:00am) to get to Children's Hospital for Julianne's centralization surgery. She will be in surgery for 2.5 hours and she will be staying the night so they can watch for any hand swelling under her cast. I believe she will wear her hard cast for six weeks and then eventually transition to a brace that she may have to wear 24/7 for quite some time. So prayers would be appreciated as you wake tomorrow morning. We'll keep you all posted.

Wordless Wednesday - Cleaning the Basement

2009-04-29T22:12:00.001-04:00

Happy Earth Day!

2009-04-22T19:19:00.002-04:00

Earth Day! Quite a big day in our house especially for Leah who is truly our green girl. I picked her up from preschool this afternoon and she asked, "Mommy, what are we doing today?" I simply answered, "Going home like always". She answered, "But Mommy......its Earth Day, how are we going to celebrate the Earth?" Typically, I would make a quick turn to our favorite park but the weather was not favorable for a day there. So we went home and the girls made their own Earth party in the blustery weather. They dug for worms, rolled in the grass, acted like birds (very windy outside), swung on the swings and just took in nature as it was intended. I'd have to say that this was probably the best way they could have spent Earth Day.

Happy Earth Day!

Surgery Plans

2009-04-20T15:13:00.009-04:00

Julianne's x-ray

Julianne and I met with Dr. Cornwall, a pediatric hand specialist, from Children's Hospital in Cincinnati. He did a good job of informing me on Radial Longitudinal Deficiency (used to be called Radial Club Hand). Julianne is completely missing her radius and metacarpal to her thumb in addition to wrist bones. He determined that since she is able to bend her elbow 90 degrees then she is a candidate for the centralization surgery. This will make an attempt to straighten her wrist but it would not be completely straight - probably 60 % better then how it is now. From my understanding (keep in mind I had a 14 month old on my lap when he was talking to me), they will insert pins in her wrist to stabilize it with her ulna. Her arm would then be casted for several weeks. In due time, her wrist may "topple" back near its current position, so he said. Her surgery is scheduled for Tuesday, May 5. For those in my travel group: there is a possibility that Christy (Grace's mom) will be our nurse during surgery.

Once this is completed then sometime this summer she will have her thumb removed since it is nonfunctional (has bones but are not attached to anything). Here is the cool part: They will take her pointer finger and move it to where her thumb should be. Dr. Cornwall states that it should look like the real deal. Did you know Dora, Diego, Handy Manny, Mickey Mouse, etc. all have three fingers and a thumb? She will fit right in with the best.

When Julianne turns around six or seven then they will do a procedure that will lengthen her arm. Amazing stuff.

One of the Girls

2009-04-19T16:20:00.005-04:00

Julianne experienced her first Tea Party (not a political one, though) with her sisters today.

The day started off with fingernails and faces being decorated including mine. Oh my...how beautiful (cough cough) I looked after Natalie and Leah took turns making me over (more like coloring my face). We then got into our favorite dress-up clothes and walked the cat walk for daddy. I placed a table cloth on the kitchen floor and we sipped grape juice with our pinkies in the air and delicately nibbled on gummy worms and M&M's (we had no tea cookies). Afterwards, we rushed to the ball as we elegantly danced to the Wiggles. All had a wonderful time including the first timer Julianne.

Side note: This morning after Julianne and I awoke, I was carrying her down our steps when I slipped off the landing and fell hard. I probably tumbled about four or five steps while I was still carrying Julianne. She hit her head so hard against the hardwood that I can honestly say that I wasn't sure if she would ever be OK again. Jon had heard the thud of her head and came running to get ice. She was screaming (good sign) and it was really hard to see if she was ok at this point. I didn't feel any bump or see any bleeding so I got her a bottle to see if she would take it to calm her down enough to check her over. Thank goodness she was fine - amazingly. I, however, am dealing with a good deal of bruising on my thigh and hip.

Life is Good!

2009-04-14T22:16:00.012-04:00

Life is good! When we started this journey a year ago, we had no idea what was in store for us. This adoption process strengthened our faith in God and deepened the love we have for each other (Did I ever mention...what a wonderful man I married?). It also brought us to our amazing daughter! As we look at her, we feel as if she has been in our family forever. I have heard this before but it is as if God hand picked her us but oh, how true it is, she fits right in and it is as if she knows that she is supposed to be with us. She brings us such joy and she is so much fun.

Just being on U.S. soil for less than two weeks, Julianne is learning SO much. Being behind in gross motor skills, she is doing her homework and trying to catch up to her peers. She has learned to roll over (yes, roll over) from front to back and back to front. She is starting to pull herself up to sitting position from lying down and is starting to show something that resembles a crawl. Believe it or not, standing and walking are not too much of a problem for her since she started to take steps while we were in China (sorry, Scott, you weren't the first). Each day brings her more confidence in this area. In due time, she will be hanging up her "infant" title and taking on the "toddler" name.

She is doing incredibly in the area of communicating too. On Saturday, she said her first word! We had our suspicions that she had uttered the word "hi" but this time there was beyond a doubt that she said it. She looked at herself in the mirror and as the word came out of her mouth, her hand went up in the air to wave at herself. Today I am almost certain that she said "bye" but stay tuned in for confirmation. She is such a fast learner....she is giving kisses, waving bye or hi, showing us how big she is (soooo big), etc.

Last week we had Julianne's big appointment with the IA doctor which lasted about four hours! They suspected that she might have spina bifida and hip dysplacia but after an xray that was NOT the case. PTL! All of her blood work and other tests came back fine. This was the absolute best case scenario we had so prayed for. God is good. The xray did confirm that she is missing her radius as well as one metacarpal. Since she is behind in gross motor, PT and OT start next week and she sees the hand/arm specialist next week as well to determine if surgery is in her future. I really don't think they will consider it since she uses her hand and arm so well. It amazes me that she was rarely able to use her helper hand while in China (it was kept covered) but yet she uses it like a pro. She is doing a fantastic job of using it and her strength is certainly getting better.

Leah and Natalie are such a help with her. They have each changed diapers (wet), helped her get dressed, fed her, wiped her mouth, etc. According to the girls, she is the best Baby Al*ve doll ever. We have noticed that they both want more "Mommy Time" these days. I received a call from Leah's preschool that she wasn't feeling well, but after I picked her up, she told me that she just wanted to be home with me. I couldn't argue since it was nice having "Leah Time". They are growing into such sweet little girls (too quickly).

Life is good, indeed! We are so enjoying our time as a family of five.

Easter morning.

Julianne loves to pull the books off of the shelf and flip through books.

Adjusting

2009-04-04T21:43:00.009-04:00

Can you say "jet-legged" ?

A day at the park

At the airport meeting her jie jie's for the first time.

Our last day in China. These are all of the thirteen "babies" in our travel group. Julianne is in blue on the couch.

We are slowly adjusting to U.S. time here in the South house. Waking up at 2 am has been the norm around here for Ms. Julianne and as well as staying awake until nap time. This is such a change from the 10 hour a night routine that we experienced while in China. In due time, we WILL get her back to that schedule! Each night will get better or so that is what I am telling our 2 am alarm clock.

The girls love being big sisters and cater to her every whimper and need minus the dirty diapers. Natalie has regressed a bit but this is understandable since my little "momma girl" now has competition for lap space. I keep telling her that my lap has been growing so I can fit all three girls on it at once. Unfortunately this is true (about my lap growing).

We're Home!

2009-04-02T23:08:00.002-04:00

We left yesterday bright and early to start our journey home and 28 hours later we were back home. The way home was not as bad as I had thought it might have gone. Since Julianne's schedule was so off course, there were a good amount of tears on the way home. Couple this with a bad cold, possible ear infection and a persistent cough, she did the best she could. We were even able to get in a little cat nap here and there which certainly makes the time go by quickly.
Julianne is quickly adjusting to home life with her big sisters. If she just merely whimpers, she has two little ones quickly running to her side to wipe her tears and entertain her to distract her. I even witnessed Leah carrying Julianne to the couch, covering her with a blanket and singing a lullaby to her even though it wasn't even close to nap time. Julianne is one big, cute, interactive baby doll to her sisters - a little girl's dream. But within time after a minute with her sisters, she will put her arms up for me to pick her up (a good sign). If I leave her side she begins to cry which is another good sign of the beginnings of attachment. Everything is going well: sleeping, eating, pooping, smiling, playing, etc.
Jet leg.......yes, we have it....Jon more than me at this point. We all (all five of us) took over a three hour nap today. Aaahhh, that felt great. I am paying for it now though since everyone else is sleeping and I am wide awake.
Thanks for following our journey while in China. It was so much fun to read the comments and emails while we were gone and so appreciate the support from when we started this process to now. We really couldn't have done this without the love and support of our friends and family.
I will post pictures tomorrow.

Shopping!

2009-03-30T10:00:00.008-04:00

Pizza night in the hall of our hotel - Yes, Papa Johns!!!

The lobby of the White Swan

We received a blessing from the Buddhist Monk.

"Mommy, what is that?" Julianne's first experience with a bubble.

We've been having a good time spending our RMB on our little shopping excursions! Tomorrow we have our "red couch" photo and go to the US consulate to have our swearing in ceremony.

Food faces!

2009-03-28T04:31:00.004-04:00

We fed her a lemon and got a pucker!

Broccoli - mmmmmm!

Her first lollipop! She loved it.

Aaaahhhh......Guangzhou!

2009-03-28T03:58:00.006-04:00

Julianne's medical check-up (if you call it that). She passed with flying colors or so we think.
Julianne being a trooper on the plane.

Eighty-three year old man we met at Lanzhou Aiport. He spoke English very well and was so interested in our story.

Well, we made it to Guangzhou but not before we felt like we were in an episode of The Amazing Race. We left our hotel yesterday at 1 pm and drove the beautiful rural car ride to the airport then waited and waited at the airport. Our flight was delayed two hours then off to Guangzhou......well, not quite. We didn't know that there was a "stop" in Xia'an, China. We thought "Oh, some people will get off then some more people will get on" Nope.....all of a sudden we realized EVERYONE was getting off and we were getting told politely in Chinese (well, we think - they might have been cussing at us, who knows) to get off. We didn't even have a sweater on Julianne and it was pouring outside so down the steep steps off the plane we went. We were then herded into a bus...wrong again....the lady asked for our boarding pass and we had left it on the plane with our carry-ons. Jon had to run back inside the plane and still couldn't find them. They were kind enough to finally let us onto the bus and we frantically looked for them in our backpack. Alas, we found them while they drove us to the airport. Craziness. Everyone rushed out of the bus and scattered once inside the terminal and we didn't know what we were doing and where to go. After a few minutes, we found an employee who could speak some English and she pointed where we should go. No kidding, within three minutes everyone baorded the bus again and got right back on the plane. Side note: One thing I have learned about China is that people like to rush and not follow any etiquette rules; for example, if you are getting off of an elevator, they do not wait for you to get off first instead they will rush on. We did eventually make our way to Guangzhou's Airport at about 11 PM but we could not find our guide once we got there. In due time, we found her and were off on our one hour ride to the White Swan Hotel. Julianne was a trooper through the whole ordeal and traveled like a pro.

The hotel is very nice but our room has a hint of mildew smell; I guess it is due to the humidity here. The humidity is so high that my hair is truly the frizziest in Debbie history.

Julianne continues to do well and learning new things everyday like today was sucking milk through a straw!

Cute Smiles!

2009-03-26T22:10:00.002-04:00

Trying To Walk

2009-03-26T08:31:00.001-04:00

First Steps!!

2009-03-26T07:53:00.008-04:00

Giving out kisses to the cute girl in the mirror.

The night market after 7 pm - Hey, I found a cheap hair straightener for about $3.

Julianne looking at Lanzhou City, Gansu Province.

Watching her JieJie's on video.

Jon delicately eating his beef noodles!

Julianne took her first steps (x 5) today! She was so proud of herself that I think her giggle could be heard twenty floors down to the main desk. She loves her new found freedom so much that now she is frustrated easily because she wants to get to that upright position and continue to move. Unfortunately, those skills are still unmanned territory for her. She is a fast learner, though. She is starting to sign "more" and "finished" and again she knows that this is something to smile and giggle about.

Today we were totally on our own with no guide and we had quite some more fun exploring the streets. We ventured upon two good restaurants: 1. A "dive" with delicious beef noodles and extremely friendly people. The restaurant stopped - literally- when we walked in and everyone wanted to help us order. We had a croud at our table trying out their limited English. 2. A "Western" style Chinese restaurant. We ordered from a picture menu and received a very nice and large steak dinner for only about 12 US dollars!

Tomorrow we receive Julianne's passport and head to Guangzhou. I am sad to leave Lanzhou since it was like an adventure and it is Julianne's province. Hopefully, sometime in the future we would like to return when Julianne is much older and able to appreciate it.

Julianne

2009-03-25T03:07:00.007-04:00

No car seats or seat belts in the back seat.

We had so many pictures taken with these men; now we know how the famous feel. They were so nice and curious.

We feel so blessed to have been the parents chosen to adopt Julianne. There were so many times during our wait that we wanted to turn back since we were so scared of the unknown, but something or someone would point us in her direction again. We really felt and feel God's presence during this journey since we know this is the path He intended us to take. He has sent us many angels along the way to guide us to her. Even in the Beijing airport, Jon and I had discussed how nervous we were to be going to Gansu Province by ourselves not knowing anyone. We have read in countless blogs how difficult it is to communicate since not many people speak English. As we sat discussing this, a young college student sat right next to us and started speaking to us in English. We probably spoke with her for over an hour. She was from Lanzhou and gave us her email and telephone number if we were to ever need anything. She stayed with us at the Lanzhou airport until our guide came around to meet us. She was exactly what we needed at that time.

Julianne is such a joy and easy-going baby. She is quick to smile and only cries if she is tired or hungry. I am thrilled that she can be placed in her crib when it is bed time and she will fall asleep by herself. She loves to be held but is content playing by herself on the floor as well. Waving hello or bye is her new favorite sport since she receives quite a cheer from us. She is starting to turn over and we have found that if we put her on us then she is ok with lying on her belly. Baby steps. She will catch up soon.

Adventures!

2009-03-25T02:45:00.007-04:00

Jon and I ventured outside Tuesday evening by ourselves and had a blast. We truly felt like celebrities since every head turned as we walked down the street. Westerners are quite rare in these parts. Everyone is so nice but curious as to why a blond woman is carrying a Chinese baby. To Americans, we easily infer that the couple adopted the baby but that logic does not happen here. Adoption is not as common in Lanzhou as other parts of China.

We went to Lanzhou Provincial Museum today and saw some nice Chinese artifacts as well as some dinosaurs (dead, of course). We then went to a park along side the Yellow River and had our picture take next to a beautiful statue.

After that we ate some awesome pizza - but not your ordinary pizza - oh, so good. With all this good food we are eating, it is giving us the idea that we should open up our own restaurant in the states because we would make a fortune!

We plan on going out late this evening because at seven the street vendors open their markets to sell trinkets, etc. Sounds interesting. Tomorrow we are on our own with NO guide since they are preparing Julianne's passport.

These men (sitting) were selling cell phones illegally so when the police would show up, they would grab their fold-up chairs and sprint away. Quite comical.

Jon and I tried to order from this menu at a dumpling restaurant. Thank goodness a customer came to our rescue and helped us order. She spoke a little English.

Wedding photos on a Tuesday evening on the streets on Lanzhou.

These men were using a blow torch to burn off the hairs of the pig they were about to cook.

Lanzhou

2009-03-24T02:39:00.009-04:00

Well, I believe we're finally back to ourselves and starting to feel adventuresome. The first two days here were nothing short of exhausting but now nothing can slow us down.

Yesterday we made it official that Julianne is our daughter! We spent about two hours completing paperwork, being fingerprinted (Julianne's footprint), and of course, dishing out some cash. During all of the officiating, we met a very nice family from Paris, France who are adopting their first child and he was in the same orphanage as Julianne, so of course, I took many photos for Julianne's memory book. After this, we went back to the room for a much needed nap and stayed in the hotel for the rest of the day. We ate in the restaurant in the hotel (pricey but we didn't care at this point) and had a ham and cheese sandwich with fries. I know - I know we should try new food but our stomachs were a bit uneasy and needed some comfort food at this point. Let me tell you, Julianne is a bottomless pit! She will eat whatever you put in front of her - oranges, congee, eggs, watermelon, tofu, noodles, m&m's :0), peaches.....on and on. She is not a lightweight either! The girl has fat rolls on her thighs - who said she could have "failure to thrive"? So far from the truth!!!

We went to bed early and finally finally slept a decent sleep. We are so grateful that Julianne sleeps through the night which is quite a change from her sisters. She is such a joy and so laid back and easy going unless you are changing her diaper or putting her on her belly. She does NOT like that.

Today was awesome! We went to Five Springs Park which is at the foot of Five Springs Mountain. There were probably several hundred older folk doing morning exercises together - tia chi . We drove up and as soon as we got out of the car, heads turned and we had crowds of people around us as if we were Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt (you know, with the adopted baby, and all.) TiaChi was not the only activity. Now I know why Asians are not fat (we have only seen one heavy-set Asian since we have been in China - really!!) They were playing hacky-sac, Chinese yo-yo's, bad-mitten, etc. etc. Very cool to witness. Also, we saw several Buddhist temples within the park.

We then headed to the Lanzhou Zoo which is in the park. Quite a very sad zoo; it is very old and animals are in concrete cages with a chain-link fence around them. We were face to face with puma, wolves, jaguars.....Seriously, you could get bitten if you put your hand through the fence since there is only a fence separating you and the animal.

We ate lunch at a place that served Lanzhou's famous beef noodles....oh my! There is nothing nothing nothing like it in the world. I need that recipe and trust me it would put any Cincinnati restaurant to shame. Oh, so good...even Jon loved them. Actually, the "beef" was Yak!

Ok.. enough about our day. Let's talk about Julianne so here are some things we've learned about her so far:

* She is a great eater and sleeps well.

* She thinks she can walk and will start with absolutely no balance at all. She does not want to learn how to crawl since she hates being on her belly.

*She loves to be sung to and does not mind that I can't sing.

*She has the best smiles and crinkles her nose when she does.

*She is starting to discovering her short hand and often tugs on it. Keep in mind that her hand was usually covered. She has quite a grip with her fingers on her helper hand which is great news! However, we can tell that there are bones inside her thumb but the bones don't seem to be connected to anything.

*She is somewhat serious but is really starting to show her personality more and more each day.

*She has not shown any preference between Jon and me.

*She loves to take a bath - I am not sure if she has ever had one before. Maybe just a sponge bath.

Well, I think we may venture outside tonight and do some touring on our own! Oh, a minor tragedy...my hair straightener died even though we were using a converter. So my hair is quite scary!

Gotcha Day

2009-03-23T03:06:00.001-04:00

The day. The day we have been waiting for since August 15 arrived as a whirlwind. We arrived in Lanzhou around 2:30 after we were witness to the beauty of the province Gansu from the air. Terraced mountains and dry would be the best way to sum up the scenery. We were picked up by Megan, our guide, at the airport and took an hour long car ride to the city. The neatest part, I think, was seeing how the farmers make caves in the side of the mountains to store their food since it is relatively cool inside of them. The caves were everywhere.

We arrived at the Sunshine Plaza at about 3:45 and we checked in and placed our bags on the floor when there was a knock at the door. Lo and behold, it was the orphanage director, Ms. Yang, three nannies, an interpreter, our guide, and our Ting Ting. So much happened that my head was spinning and I couldn't even catch my breath. Our guide swept Jon away immediately to complete paperwork and I.....well, I melted.....I was speechless. Absolutely speechless. Since we have seen so many pictures of our beautiful daughter we both felt like we already knew her and now we finally get to put her in our arms. So surreal. She let me hold her with an occasional whimper and glimpse at her nanny to see if it was ok. Eventually, I too had to complete paperwork and I couldn't even write since I was shaking so badly (partly since I hadn't eaten since 7 am).

Ms. Yang gave us a beautiful gift for Julianne (a home-made traditional children's pillow) , a photo album of pictures they have taken of her, and returned the disposable camera I sent (pics all taken : -) As the director and nannies left, I was in a quandary since we are supposed to give the director and nanny a gift, but I was not expecting to have three show. It all worked out. Eventually, everyone left except for our guide who took us to a photography studio to have our family picture taken I believe for official paperwork. I would love to have seen the picture since I am sure we looked like deer in headlights and at the same time Ting Ting was screaming. From there we went to the grocery in a mall and picked up diapers, water, crackers, and boxed milk. At this point, I was spent - physically and emotionally. We said good-bye to Megan and went to our room to finally get to know OUR daughter.

Thank goodness there is a full length mirror in the room because she had a blast looking into it. She realized that the little girl looking back at her was actually herself. While looking at the mirror, she actually pulled herself to a standing position while holding onto the mirror. We saw her first smile - it would make anyone melt. As play winded down we gladly went to bed for it had been a very long day.

Looking back on the day, I can honestly say that this day was quite similar to the birth of my biological children. I had the same emotions - excitement, nervousness, joy, frustration, and most importantly, I experienced love upon eye contact. At days end, I was just as exhausted too.I am so grateful for the loving care that Pingliang nannies gave to our daughter. It is so obvious how much they all love Ting Ting and even while in our hotel room, they catered to her every need. The nannies had a difficult time saying good-bye to her and that speaks volumes. Even Ms. Yang gave me her card, so that I could email her pictures of Julianne and the other Pingliang children. She misses them and wants to see how they are.

Ting Ting!!!

2009-03-22T08:37:00.005-04:00

We have Ting Ting (Julianne)!! Oh, she is perfect in so so many ways....we have officially 100% turned to mush. However, we are sooo tired so we will just post pictures tonight and I will blog with words tomorrow.

Last Day in Beijing

2009-03-21T08:04:00.003-04:00

*Having trouble downloading pics so go to

www.thesouthsgoeast.blogspot.com

Today was a marathon! First came the Great Wall of China. You're driving along past many older homes and industrial sections of town then all of the sudden, these MAMMOTH sized mountains appear! We parked and began our ascent up one of the passes on the Wall. STEEP is all I have to say! The steps themselves were uneven from centuries of wear and tear, unequal in height, and very narrow in places. It made for some tricky manuvering. The wall was begun in the 700 B.C. era and connected around the 200 B.C. era. It was built to keep the enemy Mongolians out of China. It was amazing to actually walk upon a structure that dated back over 2000 years!
The next stop was a factory/restuarant. Here, the factory cranked out VERY nice peices of painted copper vases and such and was a pretty nice restuarant. Check out the pictures of lunch. Over here it is common for the heads of the fish and chicken to be kept on even after cooking the food. I kept waiting for this catfish to lift its head and sing, "Give me back that fillet o' fish, give me that fish..."
Last stop was the Summer Palace, which is even more expansive than the Forbidden City. Absolutely beautiful! Again, countless painted structures and fantastic trees, some over 300 years old!
Tomorrow we have our "Gotcha Day"! We finally meet Julianne (Ting Ting) and have her in our arms! All of the waiting and planning has come down to less than 24 hours!!

Site-seeing Day

2009-03-20T11:35:00.007-04:00

McDonald's - China style

Forbidden City

Tien'anmen Square

Jon trying out for the acrobat show - sadly he didn't make it.

Pinch us! We are still in disbelief that we are in China. Never in a million years would we have thought that we would be guided towards China one day.

Today, we started with a breakfast within the hotel which was nice; however, trying to remember what to eat and not to eat was quite difficult. Since the water has certain bacteria in it, we certainly cannot drink it or even eat any food that might have come in contact with it. We ate and so far so good with no desperate need to go use the facility. So tomorrow we will try it again.

After trying our luck with breakfast, we all climbed aboard a tour bus and went to Tian'enman Square and Forbidden City. Forbidden City was unbelievably enormous since it kept going and going and going. At one point in history it contained 9,999 rooms (lucky #9)but now it is about 7,000. "Enormous" doesn't even do the description justice.

After having quite a busy morning, we then headed back to the hotel and we both crashed since jet lag is still an issue. It was much needed.

In the evening, our guide Catherine took us to the Olympic Village to see the Water Cube and Bird's Nest which was amazing. We know that preparing the city like they did was no easy task. You should see some of the hotels around it - The Seven Star Hotel is where Former Pres. Bush stayed while he was viewing the events.

The highlight of the day was going to see an acrobat show. I'd have to say it wasn't far off from Cirque De Sole'. While there, I experienced a real squatty potty (not like the one at the airport which was very nice if you can call a squatty-potty nice). I won't go into too much detail so you can use your imagination.

Funny story, as we were leaving the Forbidden City, we were being surrounded by many vendors trying to sell trinkets to us. It was so hard to say "no" (we say "Booya" which means "No, I don't want it"). Most of the vendors were handicapped or young young children but our guide told us to keep walking and since Jon and I are "rule followers", we did just that. Among them was a little boy who looked like he was bent down looking at rocks, but at a closer look, we realized he was really having a bowel movement right there on the sidewalk! No picture for that one.

We are so looking forward to tomorrow- "The Great Wall" and the Summer Palace. Can't wait. Then on Sunday is the BIG day of finally getting TingTing (Julianne)!

We're in Beijing!

2009-03-19T09:11:00.008-04:00

Well, after about 20 hours in the air and in an airport, we are in China! Besides the two hour delay in Chicago, our travels went fairly well. We were able to watch Slumdog Millionaire on our own little video screen on the back of the seat in front of us. I really can't tell you the last time Jon and I actually sat down to watch a movie together uniterrupted. Conversations with other adoptive parents also helped the time pass and also an occassional cat nap helped too. The greatest thrill for me was flying over (or near) the North Pole. Leah and Natalie, I looked for Santa and I thought I saw a speck of red on the ground, so it very well might have been him.

Once we arrived in Beijing, we all headed to the local market called the "Wonderful" to buy some bottled water and some Lays chips (the flavors they have are quite interesting...blueberry chips, mango chips, beef flavored chips, etc.) It was so cool to see all of the food brands that we have in the US written in Chinese characters.

The day has been so sureal and we keep pinching each other to see if this is actually happening. Tomorrow we head off to the Summer Palace and the Forbidden City.

Travel Approval

2009-02-19T21:29:00.001-05:00

Yes, we finally received our TA. Looks like travel will be around March 18th.

New Pictures!!!!!!

2009-02-02T17:40:00.004-05:00

Oh, we are so in love with our little Julianne!! Our TA could not come soon enough. In addition to her pictures we also received new measurements which allowed us to come to the realization that the 6-9 month clothes that we've bought most likely will not fit her. 18 lbs!! But what great news that she is growing well and looks so healthy!

This Week in Review

2009-01-31T21:02:00.007-05:00

What a week this has been! It started with a great time at our FCC's Chinese New Year Celebration. With this being our first true experience with it, we enjoyed every second of the day - even the icy ride to the event. The girls couldn't have had a better time with so much to do and see. They were glued to the entertainers and we found it quite comical to see two little blond heads upon a sea of black. After the event, the girls had plans to join martial arts, "knife dancing", and learn Chinese. We encourage it all minus the knives.

Monday night through the next twenty-four hours brought us enough snow and ice to give us four days off school. Having that time with the family was quite an unexpected treat; however, by the end of the week, boredom started to set in. We did manage to get in some sled riding, family UNO and Bingo, and a trip up to Skyline which were just some of the snowy highlights. Unfortunately, due to the wind storm back in September, now we have to make up these snow days into June. We're looking at attending school until June 16!!!!!

Julianne's Birthday Party

2009-01-24T22:52:00.005-05:00

Julianne turns ONE on the 28th so we decided to celebrate the special day with our closest friends at their home. It is quite funny that Julianne's birthday fell on the first day of Chinese New Year last year so tonight we thought it would be appropriate to have our own little New Year Celebration - not so traditional but we made it our own.

The night started with a small Chinese buffet with homemade fried rice (thanks Kim) and food from our local Chinese restaurant. The kids enjoyed a gift bag (thanks Kim), fortune cookie and a birthday cake and song. I am sure Julianne could hear the serenade of the five young voices singing her birthday song. We also wrote birthday wishes on a Chinese-style lantern and let it loose into the night sky. We stretched the truth a bit (well, a lot) by telling the girls that the lantern was on its way to China so Julianne could see it. I wonder how many calls the police got stating that there was a UFO in the sky. Oh well....

It breaks our hearts that we cannot be there with her on her actual birthday but we will be with her in the next few months - hopefully, in time for Easter. Happy Birthday, RuoTing!

Killian, the cat

2009-01-17T14:45:00.003-05:00

After we came back from celebrating (with a dinner) the arrival of our Letter of Acceptance, we noticed Killian, our cat, was very ill. He couldn't walk or even keep his head up. I took him to an emergency vetinarian clinic and was told the grim news that he needed to be put to sleep. He was a great cat. However, this is probably a blessing since we were concerned about a baby gate blocking the basement where Killian's litter box is. We couldn't imagine putting in a kitty door in our brand new door we just put onto our basement. He will be certainly missed especially by the girls.

Letter of Acceptance

2009-01-16T23:59:00.001-05:00

We finally have our Letter of Acceptance after 135 days of waiting since our Preapproval!!!
More to come tomorrow......

Keeping Busy

2009-01-13T19:45:00.005-05:00

This is old news but writing in this blog keeps me busy and my mind off of the wait....the wait.....
Over Thanksgiving Break we decided to paint and prepare Julianne's room. This turned out to be an entire family project with Leah preparing the wall for paint, Natalie deciding on which books Julianne is "allowed" to have and Jon and I doing the painting. Since Natalie felt like she was a part of the painting and set-up , the big switch into Leah's room went relatively smooth minus the occasional squeal and bed jumping.

Our Saturday Night Concert

2009-01-03T22:31:00.004-05:00

Natalie is "charging" her new glow and the dark pjs.

Leah is putting on a show with her new guitar.

The girls putting on a show for us.

Starting a New Year and Still Waiting....

2008-12-31T17:22:00.002-05:00

We are on day 120 since our preapproval and day 139 since our Letter of Intent. This is a bit longer than we anticipated. We hope to hear something surely this month if not next week. After we are given the stamp of approval then we wait on our Travel Approval. Essentially, it takes about 6-8 weeks for travel once the Letter of Acceptance arrives. We try not to count but I sit at home today bored so I count.

Christmas Joys

2008-12-25T12:16:00.008-05:00

With Cousins - Lili and Maggie

Looking for Santa....

Just in case Santa was not aware!

Dear Santa, I have been a good girl. Leah

Me too! Natalie

Carrots for the reindeer and cookies for Santa.

Experiencing Christmas with our four and five year old gives us such great joy. They are always in such awe of the lights, tree, Santa, the manger, and of course the presents. What is different about this year is that they both truly are beginning to understand the importance of Christ's birth. The questions they have about that day are so genuine and innocent.....Why is Jesus in the food bin? How are the donkeys and cows going to eat? Why are the "fairies" on top of the stable? These questions are springboards into some good dialogues.

Christmas Eve was spent at my parent's house. It is a tradition (started by my Grandpa) to eat Mulligan stew (secret recipe) on Christmas Eve and what a treat it is. We not only love it for it scrumptious taste but it also keeps my grandparent's memory alive.

On Christmas morning, my parents share the morning watching our girls unwrap their gifts from Santa and enjoy breakfast with us. Leah was not her usual lively self and did not seem excited that it was Christmas morning. The culprit...her belly ached. She didn't even want to open gifts....argh! After about an hour, her sickness was confirmed by a trip to the bathroom. So now she is sleeping and she is going to stay home with me today as her daddy and sister set off for more Christmas parties.

Julianne is in the #1 Picture of 2008!

2008-12-05T19:05:00.005-05:00

Julianne is already famous.....making the #1 photo of the year for Love Without Boundaries Organization. Julianne is the third child in the crib...quite a beauty! Love Without Boundaries is a large charity organization that gathers necessary supplies for the orphanages in China. To see if for yourself... http://www.lovewithoutboundaries.com/topten08/content/1_large.cfm

Waiting.......for Letter of Acceptance

2008-11-20T20:57:00.005-05:00

Day 79 and counting........the reality of going past day 100 is starting to become more of a reality for us. We know that in God's timing we shall have her in our arms when we are meant to. For the sake of planning our absence from work, it would be nice to have a heads up on when we are leaving. My ultimate goal is to be able to help her blow out her first birthday candle on January 28! Chinese New Year too! Wouldn't that be awesome!

Leah and Natalie have certainly been keeping us preoccupied though with tea parties, puppet shows, playing dress-up, reading books and last but not least settling the latest sibling rivalry. Since we are off from work on Wednesday, we are devoting the day to preparing Julianne's bedroom and turning it into a ladybug haven. Natalie has already moved into Leah's bed which is about three weeks sooner than planned due to her "pink monster with one eye" dream. With each passing night the giggling, arguing, and jumping on the bed are beginning to subside. Hopefully, we will have this transition perfected by the time Julianne is brought into the mix. If not, the current shared queen bed might have to be switched out to two twin beds and unfortunately, this isn't part of the South financial plan at this point. In due time, though.

Happy Halloween 08!

2008-11-01T09:55:00.013-04:00

The girls woke this morning with such excitement for the day as we shuffled them off to their sitter/school. I am sure this energy was felt by all since we too felt it from our students throughout the day especially since the day was an "end of the quarter" party for my seventh graders. We watched the video "Hercules" in the morning and then we enjoyed various "Greece" themed activities for the rest of the day - Obviously, this is what they are learning in Social Studies class.

After school, we rushed home to perform surgery on our pumpkin and I had to finish donning Leah's dalmation costume with spots. Once the girls were fed and dressed, the girls' friend Natalie came over for the annual Trick or Treating ritual. An hour is about how long their cute little paws could hold out. Carrying the girls is fine for the first few houses then it becomes old very quickly. The girls had fun digging through their treasure bag of candy once arriving home and little by little it began to disappear with the help of mommy and daddy. Too bad Leah doesn't like Reeces cups - my favorite!

An Angel

2008-10-21T19:34:00.009-04:00

By divine intervention, I had the pleasure of meeting a wonderful woman through a Pingliang Yahoo chat group who was going back to the orphanage from where her child came. Her mission: to supply the children with medical supplies, toys, clothing, etc. After reading her post about her pending travel plans overseas, I didn't hesitate for a second to email her. My original request to her was to simply give our daughter a few extra hugs and kisses from us. Being the kind woman she is, she went beyond our hopes and wishes. She loved on our daughter for days, took pictures (many!!), brought her gifts from us, and even sent two video clips of her. With these clips, we are able to get a small glimmer of her personality and her dimeanor and we feel as if we already know her.

Now for all of you that know me, you may know that I worry (just a bit) so having received these images truly eased my anxieties about her health. How reassuring! God's master plan meant that my path in life would intersect with that of this dear, dear woman. She is an angel and we are so truly grateful for her and all that she has done for us!!!

Enjoy the pictures and video!

Pingliang City and Orphanage

2008-10-07T19:36:00.014-04:00

Pingliang
Pingliang lies on the Loess Plateau,in the eastern region of the Liupan Mountains and the upper reaches of the Jing River. It used to be one of the important places of ancient Chinese culture and the second key post on the Silk Road as well as a strategic point, through the ages, along the natural barrier formed by the Liupan Mountains. As early as the late Neolithic Age, 4,000 years ago, human beings settled here. It is now the administrative center for Pinliang Districtand has a population of 270,000 of 14 nationalities, 73.4~0f whom are Han and 26.5~ Hui; others include: Man,Buyi, Baoan, Xibo, Tibetan, Korean, Russian, etc. Pingliang is a vast territory rich in natural resources. It cultivated land, natural forests,grasslands, and land suitable for either forest or grass. Rich in mineral resources, Pingliang has twelve active mines and verified deposits of sixteen minerals to include coal ,iron, copper, aluminum, pottery clay, limestone, etc. The coal deposits are estimated at 18 million tons. The limestone is of very high quality and in a concentrated location for easy mining. Animal resources are rich, too; in addition to poultryand livestock,there are wild animals too: musk, deer, fox,wolf, leopard, badger, hedgehog, wild boar, pheasant,etc. The wild plants of interest are mountain peach, wildapricot, mushroom, and over one hundred wild herbs likelicorice root.
(taken from www.silkroadcn.com/pingliang.htm)

Our referral

2008-10-05T21:49:00.010-04:00

These pictures were taken when Liang Ruoting was four months old. This was our first glimpse of our child. Look at that smile and those eyes!

The following pictures were taken when she was 7 months old.

Look at those big beautiful brown eyes! It looks like she will take after my side of the family with thick hair unlike her daddy's, well, let's just say "thin" hair.

Introducing....Liang Ruoting

2008-10-03T14:55:00.026-04:00

“When Jesus Christ asked little children to come to him, he didn't say only rich children, or White children, or children with two-parent families, or children who didn't have a mental or physical handicap. He said, "Let all children come unto me.” ~Marian Wright Edelman

We received our phone call from our agency, FTIA, on August 15 around 9:30 am stating that they have matched us with a baby! After following countless blogs from other prospective adoptive parents, we anticipated a wait time of AT LEAST 2 years before hearing about a child. Since we started this process just last January, we were shocked and elated by the timing of the phone call. Another pleasant surprise for us was finding out her birthday was January 28 of this year! We prepared ourselves initially for a child 18 months old or older so news of a seven month old baby up for adoption was wonderful. We said "yes" and instantly became a family of five. Our girls were thrilled upon hearing that they would have a new sister! They excitedly began talking about sharing a room with each other. The plans for who gets to sleep on the top bunk (once we get them a bunk bed) were already mapped out.

Liang Ruoting was found at the waiting hall of a railway station on February 1, 2008. She was then brought to the Social Welfare Institute of Pingliang City in Gansu Province. At the time she weighed 2.9 kg and was 46 cm long. Currently, other than her visible disability, she is considered to be healthy. At eight months old, she sits and is able to stand by holding onto objects. We just can't wait to get our hands on her.

Throughout this process, Jon and I kept searching for signs from God to validate whether we we're making the right decision. His guidance was felt in many different ways but one of the more significant signs helped us solidify that were indeed about to travel down the path He chose for us. This sign came in the form of this little girl's name. From our research, we believe that the name "Liang" indicates the orphanage she comes from. We felt chills when we learned that "Looks like Grace" is the meaning of the name "Ruoting". On March 6, 2002, my niece and god daughter, Grace Josephine (Gracie Jo), died suddenly in her sleep when she was just shy of 19 months old . This connection of Gracie Jo's name to Liang Ruoting's, was too powerful for us to ignore. As tragic as that March day was, our entire family has tried to find the positives from her short sweet life. Who would have known this would take the form of two little girls? Lillian Grace and Maggie Josephine were adopted from China by my sister and brother-in-law sometime after this tragedy. They are such a blessing and a joy. We believe that while sitting on God's lap, Gracie helped hand pick each of those girls for this family. Ironically, we received our call on Lili's birthday. Coincidence? I don't think so. Just one other example of God's presence and affirmation that His plan was now our plan. We debated on including Grace in her name, but we are not sure. We, as a family, have decided to name her Julianne. Julianne Grace OR Julianne Liang OR Julianne Ruoting. We knew that the name we chose would have "Li" in it since my name is Deborah Lee and our children's names are Leah and Natalie. So when we received the call for Liang Ruoting, we knew she belonged in our family.

“I'm singing at the top of my lungs, I'm so full of answered prayers.” Psalm 13:5

Our cup is already flowing over.........we can't wait to make her a part of our lives.