Since I last posted about Lei, I have learned so much new information about his orphanage and caregivers thanks to several families who have visited the orphanage contacting me after I posted on the Zhejiang orphanages yahoo group. We now know that Lei is at Jiaojiang SWI which is on the China Sea where it meets the Shujiang river. There are only 14 children at his orphanage and one was just adopted in the past week by a Dutch family who actually have contacted me while in China. They visited the orphanage just a few days ago so they are sure they met Lei. I sent them his referral pictures and they are going to look through all their pictures to see how many he is in and send them to me. As you can imagine we are so excited that we might see recent pictures !!! One family did send me a picture of her daughter with him in the background in July 2006. He just looks like an angel from heaven, and I'm not kidding :-) We also now know the director of the orphange's name and we have a direct contact in China thanks to a gentleman who's son is adopted from Jiaojiang SWI. The recurring theme from all the families I've been in contact with is that this is a very good orphanage with loving nannies and a director who really cares about the children. The families who have told me this have all been to the orphanage and have met the director and caregivers.
Our LOI should be on it's way to CCAA by now because it was being translated last week. I also filed our I-600A today and our homestudy is moving at warp speed. All this said, I still know realistically that we probably won't travel until next May. Knowing who our son is and having to wait so long is just going to be heartwrenching ............ It already is. I will post any new pictures and information I receive. Hopefully I will have new pictures soon !
Saturday, September 15, 2007
Soccer Girl !!! WAY TO GO #14
Ok, well today was only Audreys 2nd Soccer practice and game but we all sure had a good time and we can already see her improving. ( She now knows to kick the ball when possible and which goal to kick it towards ;)) Of course there is this phenomena that is quite humorous to watch in which the opposing team member will stop with the ball and then Audrey and her teammates aren't sure what to do. They stand there and wait for their opponent to move. I guess you can't play soccer if your opponent doesn't move lol. Anyway, our first soccer game with Audrey we weren't sure what to think but today it was great. Sunshine, fresh air, exercise for the girls, and oh, the junk food at the concession stand wasn't bad either ;-) Rachel really enjoys soccer now too and she is going to be a natural when she's old enough to play. She can already kick the ball great !
Sunday, September 02, 2007
It's All About Audrey and Rachel
Actually Audrey has a fleece blankie from her "Rae" (grandma) that says "It's all about me, Deal with it". Audrey asked me what it said last night and I told her and she seemed quite pleased and kept repeating this phrase sigh lol. Thanks Rae !!! Haha
What is new with us? Well everything is always new, sometimes fun, sometimes exhausting and most of the time both !. Rachel is still as headstrong as ever and tests us daily. She doesn't have great speech skills yet, but she has no problem getting her point across. She is our little "spitfire" putting it politely ;-) Her main words these days are "one mo" and she puts up one finger. She learned this quickly because no matter how much you give her she isn't satisfied so it's always "ONE MO PEAS". She can also say "GUM" quite plainly. (a whole other story there). She also says "BAD" perfectly lol. Guess maybe her mama has said that one more than once. Whenever any of us do anything that displeases Rachel, she is the first to raise her finger and scold us with "BAD". Rachel feels inclined to do exactly what Audrey is doing at all times which is a great challenge. I let Rachel play with Play Dough the other day and you would have thought she had gold. She sat there mesmerized for at least 45 minutes using the little plastic scissor that came with it. I think she felt like she had arrived because I let her use what appeared to be real scissors ;-) Rachel has been doing some crafts at her new preschool and the teacher says she is really really into it. I told them that I believe it is because she is "craft deprived" at home. I am about the least crafty person you will ever meet lol. Rachel is finally starting to pay attention to security items, ie, baby dolls, stuffed animals, etc, although she still doesn't act like she has to have them. Rachel twists the hair on the back of her head at night to self soothe which is great except that when she wakes up the back of her head resembles a brillo pad ;-) needless to say I am still trying to push stuffed animals off on her. We are making progress slowly but surely.
I could write a book on what Audrey says on a weekly basis. Actually what she says begins from the moment her feet hit the floor (unfortunately this is usually quite early) until after her feet are back in the bed at approximately 9pm. Audrey is in the "Sassy", I have conquered the world and know it all" phase now. I'll start first with the talking. Audrey currently reminds me so much of that VolVo commercial where the man picks up the daughter and puts her in the back of the SUV and she never stops talking the entire time and he just has this numb smile on his face ;-). This scene would be our daily life now lol. Audrey doesn't have to have anything to say to talk now and if nobody will listen to her then she will sit and talk to herself, it is too funny ! Audrey can write her name now and a few other choice words like "MOMMY" *grin* ;-) She can count to 40 and I think if I would take a little time and sit down with her she could count to 100 in no time. Audrey is a stuffed animal junkie and we are seriously considering intervention soon !
Audrey is still taking gymnastics and she starts playing soccer next saturday so I will be sure to post pictures of that. I will be starting Rachel in gymnastics next fall when she turns 3. They have mommy & me programs for under 3 but I am just too old and tired for that one lol ;-)
What is new with us? Well everything is always new, sometimes fun, sometimes exhausting and most of the time both !. Rachel is still as headstrong as ever and tests us daily. She doesn't have great speech skills yet, but she has no problem getting her point across. She is our little "spitfire" putting it politely ;-) Her main words these days are "one mo" and she puts up one finger. She learned this quickly because no matter how much you give her she isn't satisfied so it's always "ONE MO PEAS". She can also say "GUM" quite plainly. (a whole other story there). She also says "BAD" perfectly lol. Guess maybe her mama has said that one more than once. Whenever any of us do anything that displeases Rachel, she is the first to raise her finger and scold us with "BAD". Rachel feels inclined to do exactly what Audrey is doing at all times which is a great challenge. I let Rachel play with Play Dough the other day and you would have thought she had gold. She sat there mesmerized for at least 45 minutes using the little plastic scissor that came with it. I think she felt like she had arrived because I let her use what appeared to be real scissors ;-) Rachel has been doing some crafts at her new preschool and the teacher says she is really really into it. I told them that I believe it is because she is "craft deprived" at home. I am about the least crafty person you will ever meet lol. Rachel is finally starting to pay attention to security items, ie, baby dolls, stuffed animals, etc, although she still doesn't act like she has to have them. Rachel twists the hair on the back of her head at night to self soothe which is great except that when she wakes up the back of her head resembles a brillo pad ;-) needless to say I am still trying to push stuffed animals off on her. We are making progress slowly but surely.
I could write a book on what Audrey says on a weekly basis. Actually what she says begins from the moment her feet hit the floor (unfortunately this is usually quite early) until after her feet are back in the bed at approximately 9pm. Audrey is in the "Sassy", I have conquered the world and know it all" phase now. I'll start first with the talking. Audrey currently reminds me so much of that VolVo commercial where the man picks up the daughter and puts her in the back of the SUV and she never stops talking the entire time and he just has this numb smile on his face ;-). This scene would be our daily life now lol. Audrey doesn't have to have anything to say to talk now and if nobody will listen to her then she will sit and talk to herself, it is too funny ! Audrey can write her name now and a few other choice words like "MOMMY" *grin* ;-) She can count to 40 and I think if I would take a little time and sit down with her she could count to 100 in no time. Audrey is a stuffed animal junkie and we are seriously considering intervention soon !
Audrey is still taking gymnastics and she starts playing soccer next saturday so I will be sure to post pictures of that. I will be starting Rachel in gymnastics next fall when she turns 3. They have mommy & me programs for under 3 but I am just too old and tired for that one lol ;-)
Saturday, September 01, 2007
A little about Lei
Lei is his first name and Liu is his surname. Alex is taking his sweet time choosing a name so until he decides we shall use his Chinese name. Who knows, Lei may tell us he wants to continue to use his Chinese name vs. a new American name so we better be prepared for either ;-) His Chinese name will definitely be included in his american name regardless. Lei is from Zhejiang province which is just south of Shanghai and north of Fujian province on China's eastern coast. He is from a place called Taizhou City. From what I can tell so far, this is a fairly rural region and not close to any large cities.
Lei is described as restless, energetic, likes to imitate, and play with toys. He sounds exactly like his sisters ! His update from the SWI also mentions more than once that he gets along well with other children and especially likes to help the younger ones. It states that he likes to help feed and take care of the them. Hearing this is one of the things that just really stole my heart for him.
I will post more as I know it and of course more about the girls !
Lei is described as restless, energetic, likes to imitate, and play with toys. He sounds exactly like his sisters ! His update from the SWI also mentions more than once that he gets along well with other children and especially likes to help the younger ones. It states that he likes to help feed and take care of the them. Hearing this is one of the things that just really stole my heart for him.
I will post more as I know it and of course more about the girls !
Latest Pics of Girls
I just got these back the other day and thought I'd share them. I am going to try to post more about our goings on tonight when the girls are to bed ..........
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