Happy New Year 2014!!

What an amazing year 2013 was.  One of the best ever in my book.  2013 will forever be the year I became a mom for the first time, we became a family of 3, and I was finally able to meet my beautiful daughter and watch her encounter so many firsts.  Given how amazing 2013 was, I can't wait to see what God has in store for us in 2014.  We will be working hard on our dossier in hopes of getting home baby as soon as possible so that we can become a family of 4.  The New Year is bound to be full of challenges, more firsts, lessons to learn, laughter, family time, and joy.  I can't wait!!  Learning to love every minute.

   

Ava's First Christmas!

What a blessing Ava's first Christmas was for all of us. God has blessed our family beyond what I ever imagined over the past year. It's hard to think that just a year ago Ava was living in an orphanage, without an idea of what even Christmas is.

It was the simple things about Christmas that Ava loved...the lights, baking goodies for the neighbors, checking out all the pretties on the Christmas tree, having family around.  She didn't even know that presents were a part of Christmas until we started opening packages. And truthfully she didn't need the gifts to know Christmas is special...and magical.  It has been so fun watching the innocence of Christmas through my daughter's eyes. One of these days I'll have to tell her about all the life lessons she has taught me :)

We celebrated Christmas in 3 different parts. The weekend before Christmas my whole family came to our home to celebrate together. The weekend was spent laughing, playing games, baking, watching basketball, opening gifts, and just hanging out. Last year we started a new tradition of cooking a big Chinese dinner the night before Christmas. This year we made Mongolian beef, pork dumplings, fried rice and ordered in Kung pow chicken and steamed buns. So yummy!!  Ava got lots of cool toys. Some high lights were:  a new baby doll, large building blocks, mrs potato head, piggy bank, alphabet magnets, and bubbles.  Us adults had as much fun as she did playing with her new toys.  Ava spent tons of time with her family and loved every minute.

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day we were able to hang out with just our little family. Candle light service, Christmas movies, sleeping in late, junk food, new toys, and lots of playing together.  It was such a fun, laid back Christmas. Ava got a basketball goal from Santa so we spent a lot of time working on our game!  She also got 4 cars that we used to race circles around the house!!  So many great memories were made on this Christmas Day. I couldn't finish the day without looking back at some of our first pictures of Ava. Wow, how a year has changed all of us :)

The weekend after Christmas we made the drive to celebrate with Matt's side of the family.   The weekend was filled with cousins running around crazy, loud laughing and talking by all, baking, tractor rides, 4 wheeler rides, fun on the farm, presents, and lots of cuddle time with family.  I absolutely love watching Ava with her cousins.  Each time she gets more and more into playing with them.  I love to hear her belly laugh when she's having so much fun with family.  Her and her cousin Addie hung together this weekend...I think they know the girls have to stick together.   Some of Ava's favorite gifts were lots of cute clothes, games we can play together as a family, a race track with cars, and a Minnie Mouse bean chair.  She knows she is one loved little girl.

10 Months...Narrowing in on a Year Together

Every month I feel like Ava is growing and learning things faster and faster.  It amazes me how she can change on a daily basis.  Ava is a sweet, big hearted little girl.  I soak up every minute I can with her.  

10 Month List  

1. Ava is a chatter box.  Talking all the time and we are understanding more and more all the time.  Her list of words continues to grow but one of the most fun new things this month is that she walks around singing songs all the time.  Some of them we can tell what she's singing, some of them not.  She sings Old McDonald, Itsy Bitsy Spider, Elmo's Song, If You're Happy and You Know It.  And each time she finishes a song, she claps and cheers for herself!  Love it :)

2. Ava loves to help Mama and Baba around the house.  She helps with loading and unloading the dishwasher, closing all the doors in the house, taking things to the trash, picking up toys and other things around the house, and shopping for groceries.  She actually is a good little helper for the most part.  So we are always trying to find ways to be helpful around the house.

3.  Favorite Movies this Month:  Elmo's Favorite Songs, Madagascar (all 3), Planes, Baby Einstein.

4.  Overnights are still fairly rough.  We are up her anywhere from 3-8 times per night.  Sometimes she just needs to be comforted and reminded we're there and other times she wakes up screaming.  We are doing lots of research on sleep (or lack there of) this month and trying every different thing we can think of and is suggested.  We took Ava in to the doctor this last week because of a lingering cough and discovered she had an ear infection.  We had no idea, she gave us no signs...but we are really hoping that once the ear infection is gone, maybe she'll sleep again.  Knock on wood, we're on the right track.  We all need sleep in this house :)

5.  Ava celebrated her first Thanksgiving during the last month.  On Thanksgiving we went to Kansas City to be with my family and then went to Kansas again for the weekend to be with Matt's family.  Holidays mean so much more with a little one around.  Everything is so new and exciting!!  I love to watch the innocence in her eyes when she watches the turkey cooking for the first time and eating more food in one sitting than she could have ever imagined before.  Makes me so thankful for her and so sad for all those kiddos still waiting for their forever families.  The other part of holidays that I love now is having a house full of little kids.  Listening to them run, play, and laugh together.  One of the best sounds in the world!

6.  You still love daycare; your teachers and your friends.  The biting has been very minimal over the last couple of months.  You are learning all kinds of new things and making so many cute crafts that I don't even know what to do with them all.  I am now the mom that has a refrigerator covered in crafts and I wouldn't change it for anything.  When we get to the center in the mornings, you can't get out of your carseat fast enough but you are always happy to see us at the end of the day.  We learned this last week, that Ava gives hugs to the parents she knows as they come to pick up their kids.  I love that she's such a lover!!

7.  Books, books, and more books.  You love to read!  This month Ava is perfectly happy reading her books on her own if Mama and Baba are busy at the moment.  But reading books together is one of my favorite times of the day.

8.  Ava has been eating much better.  Sometimes it takes a little sneaky business from Mama and Baba but at least she is eating from all her food groups.  She loves her milk!  She will not drink juice or chocolate milk, but just good old 2% white milk.  We have started making her drink water with meals.  Mainly because we are really working on drinking out of a big girl cup and it often ends up all over the floor :)

9.   Ava getting more picky about her clothes already.  She loves to pick out her clothes for the day.  She actually does a pretty good job of matching things.  The only problem is that she tends to pick the same clothes over and over again.  So we have some clothes that are not getting worn very many times. This is called picking your battles.

10.  This month we've had Christmas decorations up in preparation for the Christmas season.  It has been so fun to experience the lights, Santa Clauses, Christmas Tree and ornaments, nativity scenes, touring around the city to look at Christmas lights with her.  I have a feeling this is going to be the best Christmas ever!  Living through the eyes of our beautiful daughter!  

9 Months at Home!!!

9 months at home, with Mama and Baba.  Spending so many crazy, memorable moments with family and friends.  We couldn't have asked for a better, more fulfilling 9 months.  Thank you for filling our lives with joy and so much love, Ava!!

1.  So many new words over the last month.  Jacket, bath, bed, sleep tight, wo ai ni (I love you), ap-sauce, b-fast, chicken, foo-ball, ball, ma (milk), more, mine, movie, "Move It" from Madagascar, water, shoes, socks, see ya, please, thank you, slide.  You still tell lots of stories that we don't understand yet, but we're getting closer and it's so fun to hear you talk even when we can't understand it all!  You are a very animated story teller :) 

2.  You have been really focused on recognizing family members and knowing their names lately.  You  often pull out her photo book we sent to China with family pictures and "study" it.  Earlier this month I spent some time tacking family pics on the refrigerator and labeling them with their names.  She loves this and we review the pictures and names for probably 15-20 minutes daily.  She is quite the studier :)  I'm certain that comes from Baba!!  From doing this she is fluent with identifying and saying Lau Lau, Pappy, Nai Nai, G-Pa, Uncle Bobby.

3.  You graduated to a toddler bed around a month ago.  The first night you rolled out of bed, but after that did well and slept through the night for several weeks.  But the last week and a half have been  rough and we're not certain what has been going on.  You are waking up on average 4 times nightly; occasionally on the ground but every time you wake up crying and sometimes kicking your arms and legs.  It really seems like you are having nightmares, which makes Mama and Baba so sad.  You are always awake before one of us can get in your room to cuddle but we so wish we could stop the nightmares for you.  This is such a helpless feeling as a parent.  You are not scared to go to bed at night so from our research that shows that you are not remembering your nightmares the following evening~thank the Lord.  Praying that this doesn't last too long.

4.  You enjoyed your first Halloween.  You were able to Trick-Or-Treat 3 times.  The first time you were really confused as to why you had to wear a monkey outfit but once you started getting candy for it you were much more agreeable.  On Halloween night, we only went to a few friends/neighbors houses and the rest of the evening you really enjoyed handing out candy to the other trick or treaters.  

5.  You also made yourr first trip to the pumpkin patch to pick out your own "puppy".  Yes, you called your pumpkin, puppy!!  Too funny!!  You did not enjoy carving the pumpkin and certainly did not want to help clean out the seeds but did enjoy painting your "puppy" in order to give it that Ava style.

6.  The biting at daycare has been up and down...really you probably went about six weeks without biting and then all the sudden (along with the not sleeping) you've bitten a couple of times.  I always feel so bad when I learn you've bitten another child.  I think I'd be angry as the other parent, so maybe that's why God put me on this side as I have so much more compassion when the teeth are towards my daughter.  Hoping that with your words increasing the biting will decrease and go away forever.
7.  You love to play and honestly Mama and Baba love it too!!  We all get to run around the house and act like kids every night.  It's awesome!!  Some of your favorite things to play with are your huge bouncy ball, kitchen, bowling set, building blocks, and your y-bike.  We pretty much play from after dinner until bath time every night.  This way we all go to bed extra tired but it's so worth all the memories and fun.
8.  You still love your books.  We probably read through 5-10 books a day.  Some of your current favorites are:  Mr. Brown can Moo, Mommy Hugs, I Love you Stinky Face, Connor the Conductor, Who Says Quack, and all of your touch and feel books.
9.  At the end of last month we were able to spend a few days in Colorado in a cabin with all of Matt's family.  It was a wonderful, relaxing getaway.  It's so fun to watch and hear all the cousins running around a cabin; chasing each other, teaching other, playing games, and just having a great time!  I so wish they could spend more time together.  They have such a ball, as do all the adults.  I am truly blessed to have such an amazing in-law family.  
10.  You saw your dentist for your six month visit and your love for brushing your teeth showed.  He was super impressed and could tell right away that you love brushing your teeth!  The other day you were so excited when Baba came home from his dentist appointment with a new toothbrush...which you quickly stole for yourself ;)

Picking out her "puppy"!!

Lessons in Love

All you moms out there will definitely understand where I am coming from today. Lately, God has been teaching me more and more about how much He loves me. I grew up knowing that God loves me and loves me unconditionally. I thought I understood what loving unconditionally meant, but I had no idea...

God has been teaching me what unconditional love really means through Ava and baby and through my family.  My family has been teaching me for years what love means by standing by my side during one of the hardest times of my life. Loving me, being patient with me when I was very unlovable at times.  Never giving up on me, always praying, always available when I just wanted to talk about how I was feeling.  It's hard to put into words my feelings of love for Ava. I get giddy when I know I'm going to get to see her soon. I don't mind getting up in the middle of the night to see why she's fussy and believe me when I say I love my sleep!  But I love our midnight cuddles more.  She gives the best hugs and kisses. Her smile and laugh carries me through the day at work.  Watching my husband be a baba (daddy) fills my heart completely with peace and joy. I don't mind putting off housework and other tasks that need to get done to keep our house looking proper to just play or read books as a family. Those of you who know me well, know this is a big deal!!  And loving a baby whom I haven't met yet, who is on the other side of the world, waiting for their forever family.  A baby who causes my heart to fill with joy and happy butterflies whenever I think of them. A longing in my heart to just have them in my arms and in our family; their forever family as soon as possible. Only God can teach us to love and feel like that. Unconditional love comes from Jesus Christ...Unconditional love IS Jesus Christ.

And yet, it occurs to me that even as much as I love my family and babies, God still loves me more. There is absolutely nothing that would make Him stop loving me...nothing.

Home Study...Done!

We received our finished Home Study this week!  One more big step done.  One big step closer to our baby!

The Home Study took us a little longer than we anticipated because we took a long while to pray and consult with members of Holt and people we trust discussing the age of child we are open to adopting into our family. We are still not specifying gender but we are being far more thoughtful of baby 2's age. There are many reasons for why we have been so wrapped up in the age but it simply boils down to we have to do what's best for our family, including both of our children. We also don't want to limit God because we know He has the perfect child already hand picked for our family. So we are praying for our family and for our baby knowing that God has us and baby in His hands.  

8 Months At Home

1. Over the last month, Ava has become more aware of “her stuff”. It's cool to watch her start to understand that she owns things. Unfortunately, this new discovery also brings out the word “mine” on a regular basis. Not my favorite thing :) The other night when we were watching a movie she had her blanket, 2 monkeys, a toy car, her cup, a rubiks cube, and her baby doll lined up with her on the couch. And when she moved where she was sitting, she also moved all of her belongings with her.
2. Despite “her stuff”, Ava is learning to share and at daycare is really a pretty sharer. She definitely has learned the rules at daycare. When she's around her cousins, sharing is a little more difficult but she normally will share her toys. She is great about sharing food!! She's constantly trying to give us bites of her food as well and any other family members that are around.
3. We have noticed that Ava has shown the emotion of being scared lately. The only times we have seen it is with one of her favorite movies “Monsters Inc” and when picking out a Halloween costume. Ava loves “Monsters Inc”, but the first part of the movie always scares her when they are doing the scare training in the simulation room. The first time I realized it scared her happened when I put the movie on for her and then went to the kitchen to start dinner. Next thing I knew Ava was hugging my leg and pointing at the monster. She's been very curious about dinosaurs lately and roars at them whenever she sees a picture of them. So when we were looking for a Halloween costume, we saw a dinosaur. Ava immediately pointed and roared at it. When we got it off the rack for her to see closer, she threw herself on the ground and covered her eyes. We felt terrible that we didn't realize how scared she actually was of them.
4. Ava has been learning body parts this last month. She has down head, nose, eyes, ears, tongue, teeth, hands, and toes. She loves being quizzed about her body parts and concentrates really hard. Her favorite is toes! So we usually do toes last and then Ava goes into “toes, toes, toes!!”
5. Ava LOVES football! I think she's been fully brainwashed ;) She points out any TV that has a football game on. We were at a wedding rehearsal dinner several weeks ago and people were trying to talk to her and she kept looking past them to watch football. So, as happy as we are that she likes football we've had some conversations of not being rude to people who are trying to talk to you. Who would have guessed this would be a problem already!!
6. Ava still doesn't watch a lot of TV/movies but since it is getting colder and darker earlier you have been watching a little more. Luckily, your picks for shows is broadening. Her favorite shows are still Madagascar, but she also likes Care Bears, Monsters Inc, Mickey Mouse Club, and Sofia the First.
7. Ava continues to eat well. A new favorite is apples. She doesn't like them sliced, but prefers just to eat a whole apple. She also loves chicken tenders, applesauce, yogurt, crackers, hotdogs, cheetos, bananas, green beans, quesadillas, and lots of other things.
8. Ava refuses to sit in a high chair or even a booster seat...not at home, not anywhere. She makes it known that she is big girl and prefers to sit in the chair like a big girl :)
9. Ava tackled her first hiking trip with Mama and Baba in Colorado. The first hike was a short, fairly level 1.5 mile hike through Lory State Park just outside of Fort Collins. We carried her in the baby carrier for most of the trip but she did want to walk a short distance. Her second hike was up Horsetooth Mountain outside of Fort Collins. This is an all time favorite hike for us and we were so excited to climb this mountain with her. Again we carried her in the baby carrier all the way up with several stops to take a breather and let her stretch her legs. Once at the top we stopped to eat out picnic lunch and then headed back down. Ava probably walked a good mile back down. It was so fun to watch her take in the sites, watch the birds, and smell the plants/trees. She is definitely going to be a hiker.
10. Ava has really enjoyed being Mama and Baba's helper lately. She likes to help with laundry~she hands us one item of clothing out of the washing machine to put in the dryer at a time. She will also pick up things around the house and put them back in their place. She likes to be organized :) She also likes to help with cooking and taking dishes out of the dishwasher to put away. We're hoping this helping interest continues for a long time.

7 Months

I know I say it every time, but 7 months...REALLY??!!!  The time goes by so fast!  I so wish I had a pause button to slow down the days.  You are growing and changing and learning new things all the time and I don't want to miss any little detail.

1.  You are talking all the time.  I swear you don't stop talking all the way home from daycare any more and we love it!!  We still don't understand any of what you are saying, but you clearly know exactly what your saying.  Our famous words are still, "use your words, Ava".  You are able to tell us with your words or by pointing what you want most of the time.  Your communication is coming along.  But you still go to the automatic whining first until our reminder.  We are so impressed with your communication progress over the last month.

2.  You LOVE Madagascar...in fact I think it might be an obsession by this point!!  We try to trick you by putting in other movies, but you always figure us out.  At least you are willing to watch 1, 2, or 3.  But I'm pretty certain we've watched them a bazillion times!!  Seriously, you even know some of the lines ahead of the characters saying them :)

3.  You still love daycare, your teachers and classmates.  They love you too.  I love how they all say good bye to you at the end of the day and you blow all your teachers kisses everyday.  You bring home cool crafts daily and I know you are learning a lot.

4.  Biting continues to be an issue at daycare.  However (knock on wood) you have gone two weeks now without an incident.  Let's hope we are on a streak!!  Mama and Baba have started making you share toys at home as well to hopefully get you more used to sharing.  I have also had some good cousin and neighbor time lately in which you've had to share.  Like I said, hopefully we're on a roll!

5.  You continue to be a good eater, but you definitely have your favorites and are much pickier than you were in the beginning.  You reached the 30 pound mark this last month!!  You love applesauce, apples, chicken strips, yogurt, icecream, popcorn, and veggie sticks.
6.  Your dog, Jack went to Heaven last week.  You have looked for him a couple of times and will randomly say his name.  We all miss him and our home is so different without him.  We are thankful our house is filled with noise thanks to you.
7.  You went to your first KState football game (in fact your first 3 football games) during the last month.  You have so much fun clapping and cheering, watching people, dancing, and eating game food.  You've also made quite the friends with people we sit by.  The older couple who has sat next to us for a couple years has brought you a new toy to two games!!
8.  Books are still a favorite pastime.  It's not uncommon for you to have 10 books out at a time, all open.  You will read them to yourself, but really like to have books read to you.  Some of them you have memorized and know what we are going to say even before we say it.  We love that you love to read.  As a family, we usually spend at least an hour reading on a nightly basis.
9.  You outgrew your small blowup bathtub and are "swimming" in the big bathtub nightly for bath time.  We were going to buy a new blowup tub so that we didn't have to use a lot of water for bath time but you loved the big tub so much we didn't think we could get away with it!!  You dump out all your toys and draw on the tub walls for about 30 minutes every night.  The other part of bath time that you love is brushing your teeth.  Ok, maybe not really brushing but at least chewing on your toothbrush.

10.  You have a laugh and smile that will brighten any room.  You are seriously the happiest little girl I have ever known and I am so proud to call you my daughter.   

Our Beloved Jack

Sweet Ava, this last week has been one of the toughest we've gone through as a family.  Our beloved dog Jack went to Heaven on September 10th. Jack became very sick with a relapse of a bacterial infection that he had fought last summer.  I am writing this blog because we know you are too young to remember what good friends you were and we want you to always know how much you loved each other. 

In the beginning, it was not love at first sight between you two.  Jack was used to being the only child in the house for 9 years before you came home. He was not happy about sharing his time and parents with you; however, he quickly came around.  We think you won him over when he discovered that he ate pretty well if he stood under your high chair.  And for several months before he passed, you ranked higher than we did in his eyes.  He loved you so much!  He was so excited to see you when you'd come home from daycare every day.  He'd run right past us to get to you and give you a hundred kisses.  Jack was a silly dog who would gather up his loved ones belongings while we were out for the day and leave an article of clothing or a toy in each of the spots where he had slept in that day.  We'd often come home to articles from each of us on the landing and in the library chair.  I think this habit was just a comfort to him to have his loved ones smells close by while he slept during the day.  A reminder to him that we were coming home at the end of the day.  

Jack was very protective of you. He was always right by our side when we went to check in on you while you were sleeping.  As soon as Jack heard you on the monitor in the morning or in the middle of the night, he was in your room checking on you.  He was often the first one there. In the mornings he loved going in when we went into your room to get you out of bed.  He knew he could get in lots of kisses while you were getting your diaper changed. 

While riding in the car, he'd sit or lay right next to you. You'd often share snacks with him or he'd occasionally steal them from you. We loved looking into the back seat and seeing you petting Jack as he sat next to you.

Jack joined us for nightly story time and dance time. We went on so many walks and runs together. You loved "walking" Jack by holding onto the leash from your stroller. We also spent many afternoons hiking around the lake and creek in our neighborhood.  You both enjoyed swimming at the lake together and neither one of you ever wanted to leave.  You also spent a lot of time in the back yard throwing the ball and having Jack run and get it.  He never quite got the bringing it back part though, so that would make you mad at times :)  Jack was so much more than a dog in our family...he was our first baby and your big brother. 

God's timing continues to amaze me.  Jack was our companion and helped us through the tough years while we were waiting for you and your brother or sister who is still in China.  We don't know what we would have done without Jack during those years. And now, we keep saying how could we ever handle this loss if we didn't have our sweet daughter, Ava at home and your sibling in our hearts. We would have loved to have Jack for many more years, but given we almost lost him last year we will be thankful for every moment we were allowed.  

Thank you for giving us a reason to smile and laugh over the last week.   Thank you for sharing your stuffed animals to cuddle with.  Thank you for all the hugs and kisses. You may not fully understand, but you have a big heart and know something is wrong.  On the drive home from daycare late last week you started saying "Jack, Jack, Jack".  I simply told you that Jack was in Heaven and can still hear you, so talk to him all you want. Because I know he wants to hear your voice. I'm sure he misses you as much as we miss him. 

Ava, this is your baba. Jack was our first and only "kid" for 9 years. For many of those years, I thought our family was complete; however, your mama wanted to expand our family. For awhile, I was hesitant; however, she kept pursuing and eventually I saw how much better our family could be if I let someone else in. It all started when I saw your first pictures at the time of referral. I started loving you immediately and continued to love you more and more each day. You won me over right away and over the last almost seven months since I first held you in my arms, my love for you continues to grow on a daily basis. As I told you the day after Jack passed away, "you wiggled your way into my heart and the hole that Jack left is considerably smaller because of you". You will never know how much you helped me during this time, but I know it was considerable!  I love you so much, Ava and can't imagine life without you. 

Officially in Process Again!!

We are so excited to announce that we are officially in process to adopt baby number 2 into our family!!  We met with our social worker yesterday, September 4th for our official home study.  The timing was perfect and we were able to include our 6 month post placement visit for Ava and our first home study visit for baby all at the same time!!

So what this means is that our first round of paperwork is done and results of clearances from the state were mailed back to Holt.  As we all know anything that has to go through government and state offices can take much longer than we'd like :)  Our social worker will now write up our home study, which is a report all about us including information about our childhood, our extended families, financial information, and information about the age/sex/medical conditions we are open to considering for adoption.  As we did last time, we are not picking boy or girl.  And we are leaving the medical conditions fairly open, as we did last time.  We truly feel that God has a child already picked out for our family and we know that He is completely in control of matching our family with that child.

Another First For Ava

Ava went to her first KState football game!!  This was definitely one of those things on my "I can't wait to take Ava here" list.  I've been dreaming of taking my child to KState football games for so long.  For us KState Football not only means cheering on our favorite team but it always means time with family, tradition, tailgating, eating, games, weekends in Manhattan, and lots of great memories.  

Ava did really well at her first game.  We went a couple hours early to tailgate with family.  It was a HOT first game with temperatures near 100 degrees.  So we all huddled in the shade as best as we could.  Ava didn't seem too bothered by the heat though.  And luckily it was an evening game, so shortly after kickoff the sun went down.  Ava loved the dancing and clapping and cheering during the game.  She went back and forth between her grandparents, uncle, and us for entertainment.  Ava and I made a couple trips down to the grassy hill to let her run around for a while but both times she cried and threw a fit the whole way down...she did not want to leave!!  But she clearly needed some room to run around.   After the game we enjoyed some fireworks and then she was asleep within 2 minutes of being in her carseat.  

 

One Year Ago...

I was home, enjoying a day off.  I had lunch with a good friend and enjoyed catching her up on our adoption story...telling her that we could be matched with our child at any time.  I remember the feeling of being cautiously excited that we could be in the next round of match calls.  So excited that it could finally be us but cautiously guarding my heart from disappointment.

And then at 2pm in the afternoon, the call came...it was our social worker calling to tell us that we had been matched with a 13 month old baby girl in Shanghai.  I remember saying "a girl??!!!" because we had been preparing for a baby boy all along.  I was so excited!!  I would have been elated with a boy or girl but what Mama doesn't want a daughter?!!!  Our social worker told me just a little info and then asked if I wanted her to email us her packet.  "Yes, send it!!  She sounds perfect!"  I immediately called Matt and told him to get right home, we had some important pictures and information to look at.  I remember thinking he was taking forever to get home.  It was all I could do to wait for him.  When he finally got home we hugged for a long time, crying...we were about to see our daughter for the first time.   Once we opened the email, we couldn't believe our eyes...she was beautiful and absolutely perfect.  We read over her info so many times and just stared at her picture.  She was real and she was going to be ours.

After the news set in a little we started making phone calls to family and close friends.  It was so fun to call with such great news, finally.  Everyone was so excited but calling my mom to tell her the news had to be one of the best phone calls I ever made.  She was at work and when I told her she was going to be a grandma she started running around her office, yelling "I'm going to be a grandma!!"  

What a year it has been...a year with so many blessings.  I can't believe how life has changed in the last year...we waited the 6 months before we could travel to meet Ava and used the time to finish up paperwork and prepare, we spent almost 3 weeks in China meeting our beautiful baby girl for the first time and getting to know each other, since we've been home there have been so many first experiences for our family and we are loving every moment and taking advantage of every minute together.   And now we are waiting to start our dossier to grow our family by another baby. Who would have thought a year could change us so much.   We are so thankful for all that Jesus has blessed us with and pray He continues to guide our family as we continue to grow and learn.

Ava Tian we love you so much and our love continues to grow every day.  Thank you for bringing us so much joy.  We can't imagine life without your smile and laugh.  We can't imagine life without all you have taught us.  We can't imagine life without watching Madagascar 5,000 times.  We can't imagine life without dancing in the evening.  We can't imagine life without your hugs and kisses.  We can't imagine life without you running around our house.  We can't imagine life without you pulling out all your books and movies.  We love you so much for giving us a chance to love you and be your Mama and Baba.

Home Study Paperwork is In!!

Step one is done and in the mail for baby 2!!  We finished up our home study paperwork right before we left for vacation and put it in the mail.  We made our goal so now our 6 month post placement visit from our social worker will also be used for our home study. Love that!!!  For the most part all of the paperwork had to be redone. We were able to reuse or just reprint some of our previous paperwork. The 15 page questionnaire was different this time including lots of questions about parenting so far and plans for integrating another child into our family.  Fingerprints and background checks are done. The paperwork was definitely easier to work through this time since we knew what to except and how to process through most of it.  It gives me butterflies of excitement knowing that we have another little one in China who will definitely fit perfectly into our family.  Baby, we are so excited to meet you.  We are already praying for you and preparing for you.  We can't wait to have you exactly where you are meant to be...home.  Love you Baby!!

Half Year!

We've reached 6 months...half a year as a family.  We couldn't be happier together!  We've a lot together and are all growing more comfortable in our roles. Ava continues to show us how resilient and strong she really is.  She also continues to grow and change.

Ava's Six Month List:

1.  You are talking more and more all the time. Just in the last week "no" has been heard and understood numerous times by you!  You are also using some of your words more consistently including more, thank you, baba, mama, jack, wa wa (water), pappy, good girl or boy, lau lau, nai nai, wow, whoa.  You mimic us all the time and will also tell lots of your own stories.  I'm sure we will be understanding those stories more in the next couple months. 

2.  You know lots of animals and animal sounds.  This something I had forgotten mention in any of my last updates. But I'd guess you've known some animal sounds for at least two months.  But this month you have started to identify animals in books, magazines, and on the tv.  Some of the animals you know are cow, duck, chicken, goat, sheep, horse, lion, tiger, bear, elephant.  

3.  You are learning the alphabet and love singing and listening to the alphabet song.  You can get to about F on your own. Mama and baba will also say the alphabet slowing and have you copy what we say. You also really like that activity.  We love to observe you learning more all the time.  

4.  You are learning shapes. One of your favorite toys is the red ball that you put the shapes into. You can now do that all by yourself.  You are also able to correctly identify: square, triangle, and circle.  

5.  We have seen more emotions from you lately.  We have always noticed your joyful laugh and upset cry. But recently we have seen some signs of feelings of sadness.  The first time we noticed it was when we went leaving the lake house and you had to say goodbye to your grandparents and uncle.  You had just spent the week with them and clearly understood that these goodbye hugs were different than other hugs you'd gotten all week. 

6. You are still loving daycare and so are we!  You are learning so much and your teachers do a great job of balancing fun and learning.  You have had an issue with biting other kids occasionally. Your teachers continue to reassure us that it is just a phase and you will grow out of it.  But with your language still coming along this is a way you can express "I'm not sharing". We know you'll learn and are so thankful you have teachers who we trust to appropriately discipline in times like these. 

7.  We went on our first family summer vacation this last month. We went to Table Rock Lake and met Lau Lau, Pappy, and Uncle there.  It was a perfect first family vacation because we could be laid back at the house and head out on the lake or swim whenever we wanted.  It was so fun watching you enjoy tubing, swimming, and just being outside. The same reasons mama and baba love the lake too!

8.  You are no longer wanting to be rocked at bedtime *tears*. As soon as we get out of the bathtub you are trying to climb into your bed already. You have to have Violet to go to bed and normally play with her for about 30-45 minutes before you fall asleep.  We now go and take Violet out of your bed after you fall asleep because you have rolled over her in the middle of the night waking us all up!! LOL

9.  Your eating is hit or miss. You are always willing to eat applesauce, yogurt, veggie sticks, salmon, corn on the cob, ice cream, and mandarin oranges.  Most of the time you will eat turkey lunch meat, cheese sticks, hamburger, chicken, eggs, apples, bananas, and many other things. All depends on you mood ;). Overall you are a really good eater.

10.  We have officially retired your high chair. You have decided that you no longer need a high chair and can sit at the table with mama and baba.  You seem to eat better out of the high chair so we went for it.  Hoping your baby brother or sister can use some of this stuff you grew out of so quickly. 

Every month we can feel and sense our love for you growing stronger. Just when we think we can't love you any more our hearts grow again.  You are learning quickly and sometimes we feel like you are too smart for us. You are definitely going to give us a run for our money as you grow and we can't wait (well, we can...don't grow too quickly)!  You are going to be such a wonderful sister to your new sibling.  You have so much to teach them already!!  Love you to the moon and back baby girl!

A Brother or Sister for Ava

That's right... we have started paperwork for Baby #2!!  We are so excited to start this process again.  We weren't thinking we would start quite so quickly but we can't wait to get back to China and bring home a brother or sister for Ava.  We are almost through the first round of paperwork and are planning to have our home study in September.  

While we were in China with Ava we made the decision that we would definitely be coming back to China for Baby #2.  We fell in love with the culture, traditions, and people of China.  Now that we have seen the poverty and need of the children awaiting homes, we just can't ignore the situation.  There are so many children out there who are just waiting to be welcomed into a family and to be loved.  I am definitely still learning how to be a good Mama, but I do know how to love my child.  Love is something that I can guarantee to my family.

Matt has been cracking me up this go around; it's like our roles have changed!!  When we were adopting Ava, I was the one pushing all the paperwork and making sure we are on target with our goal.  This time Matt is the one pushing for us to get paperwork done asap.  He is the one keeping us in line and arranging our appointments.  Don't get me wrong, I am super excited too but I have never seen Matt so excited about anything or should I say anyone.  Before Ava he was always so scared about being a dad.  Now he knows he can do it and he knows that an amazing little person is waiting for us at the end of all the paperwork and there is no sense in making them wait any longer than we have to.

Our family is growing and we are excited to share the news with everyone!!  Please pray for us as we begin this crazy, amazing journey again.  We love you all and couldn't do it without your prayers.          

I Love...

I love the way...
You blow kisses to everyone,
You can put a smile on anyone's face in a second,
You move your tongue around in your mouth from side to side when you are really focused on trying to figure out something new,
You squeal with joy when you figure out something new,
You give a hug with all your might,
You love to read the same books over and over and over again,
You love to have fun,
You never meet a stranger,
You don't stop until you master the task at hand,
Your smile lights up a room,
Your laugh echoes through our house,
You are so brave facing this big new world,
You will stop whatever you are doing to dance,
You love me even with all my faults.

Ava Tian you are the most amazing gift we could have ever asked for.  You are far more than I ever imagined.  I love you SO MUCH!!!  And you have my heart forever!!!

5 Months of Pure Joy

I can't believe how much I love this beautiful little lady!!  She has filled my life with pure joy...happiness beyond anything I've ever experienced.  She fills our house with laughter, mischievous shenanigans, singing, dancing, reading, and lots of talking every day.  Now that she's in my life, I can't imagine life without her.  I love you so much Ava Tian!!

5 Month List:

1.  It seems like you have grow huge over the last month.  We need to get you in for your 2 year physical but if I had to guess I'd say you're a pound or 2 heavier but probably a couple inches taller!!  In our bathroom you can all the sudden see into our drawers and pull out what you want...you couldn't do that just a short time ago.  

2.  You had your first American birthday party!  We celebrated for several days and finished off the celebrations with a party with family, friends, and lots of neighbors.  You had a ball and were quickly a pro at opening presents and blowing out your candles.  You were also so sweet and gave every single guest a hug and some even got a kiss!  I know you made their day with your sweetness. 

3.  You are eating really well again including chicken and beef.  Yay!!!  You even tried elk burger for the first time this month and really liked it.  I didn't buy you your own burger because of your aversion to beef lately but you ended up eating half of mine ;)  Favorite foods include:  strawberries, yogurt, ice cream, eggs, sausage, and fish.

4.  You love the water!  You received a fun water table and sprinkler for your birthday that you love.  You already had a blow up pool in the backyard that we couldn't keep you out any time we were outside.   We are just used to stripping you down to your diaper and shoes when you go out in the backyard because we know we won't be able to keep you out of the water and keep you dry!!  We've spent several days at the lake and last weekend you didn't want to leave.  You kept saying more, more.  Meaning you wanted to swim more and more!!  You're a fish already!  Swimming lessons are coming soon.

5.  New skills:  You are able to crawl onto and off of furniture all by yourself.  You can go up and down the stairs all by yourself (if you want to) safely.  You mostly use a spoon and fork to feed yourself; you just need help loading the utensil first.

6. You are doing really well at daycare and love being there.  You still blow us kisses when we drop you off and when we come to pick you up you are always a happy girl.  You are making friends and love your teachers.  You are even starting to say their names.

7.  Words you are saying consistently:  Nai Nai, Grandpa, G for please, thank you, Baba, Ja for Jack, ice, more, Mama, Lau Lau, wa wa for water, strawberry. 

8.  Our little girl is a reader!!  Yes, you love books and lots of them.  Often by the end of the day there are books all over the living room floor and you move from one to the next while Mama and Baba take turns reading to you.  You favorite books lately continue to be the Hallmark interactive books.  Luckily you received a lot of new books for your birthday so we are hoping that another few books will soon become your favorite!!  We love that you love to read!

Happy Birthday Baby Girl!!

Ava turned 2 on July 2nd and we've been partying ever since!  What a fun celebration it has been.  Starting on her birthday, Matt and I both took the day off and we were able to hang out as a family.  We went the lake for the afternoon, had a yummy dinner of grilled salmon and fresh corn-on-the-cob, and finished off the day with Cold Stone cupcakes.  After Ava went to bed that evening Matt and I sat by the chiminea talking and shedding a few tears about how surreal is was to be celebrating our daughter's birthday.  God is so good to us and has blessed us beyond our wildest dreams!!

This was the first trip to the lake where she was ok sitting or walking in the sand.

Opening gifts from Mama and Baba:  a bug barn and lots of books!!

My WHOLE heart!!

Lau Lau and Pappy were able to come visit on July 4th and stay for several days.  July 4th was spent with our amazing neighbors; lighting fireworks and enjoying each others' company.  Ava loved the fireworks!  At times we were having to hold her back because she kept wanting to get closer to them.  Have I told you already that she's not afraid of anything??!!

 

Ava stayed home from daycare on Friday to get some extra time with her grandparents.  While Pappy and Baba spent the day building a sand box for Ava, Ava got to "help" Pappy and Baba and spent a lot of time at the park and splash pad with Lau Lau.  Special memories...

Playing with her new water table from Lau Lau and Pappy

Friday night, Ava's other set of grandparents arrived for Ava's Birthday Party on Saturday.  Saturday we spent the day preparing food, decorating, and setting up for the party.  My dad, father-in-law, hubby, and brother also made my day with new back patio steps.  I've been talking about needing new ones for awhile and they felt like the day of Ava's birthday was a great day to start this project!!!  LOL.  All I asked was that I had steps done in time for the party and they made it happen.  So happy!!  Our family was so much help getting things ready for the party and helping serve during the party.  Our guests showed up around 5 and we were able to spend some time talking, playing yard games, and broke in the new sand box and water table.  The rest of the evening was spent eating delicious BBQ, cake and ice cream, and opening gifts.  Ava is a pro at blowing out her candles.  We think it's because she loves pinwheels and has been trying to master blowing air in order to spin the pinwheel for several months already.  Good practice!!

What a blessing to be surrounded by so many family and friends to celebrate our baby girl's birthday!  We are so thankful to have you all in our lives.  Ava is beyond blessed to have Grandparents that love her to the moon and back.  

        

Father's "Baba's" Day

In our house Father's Day is called "Baba's Day".  Ava enjoyed celebrating one of her most favorite people.  She made him a clay footprint at daycare that turned out really cute.  For Baba's Day we made him a breakfast of french toast, eggs, and Canadian Bacon.  We then went down to the Farmer's Market.  We were able to pick up some delicious fresh produce as well as some Elk burgers which we can't wait to try.  While there, we stopped in at Jones Brother's Cupcake and picked up a little snack to share...yummy!!  After we all had a little nap and chill time we loaded up a picnic and headed to the lake for the afternoon.  It was Ava's first time to Fremont Lakes.  They are a bunch of small sand likes that used to be sand pits so they make for a good swimming hole.  We all had a great, relaxing day together.  Another fun memory.

4 Months Together

This morning as we celebrated 4 months of being together, we looked through our China photo album. I know I say this every month but I can't believe it's been 4 months but in so many ways it is hard to remember a time without you. It's so fun to look through pictures of when we first met each other and to think of how much we've all grown and changed. I won't change one second of it. We love you beyond words!!!

1.  You are SO much fun and are very funny!  You make us laugh all the time by doing something silly or just busting out laughing in the middle of no where.  A couple weeks ago we had lots of friends over at the house and I was trying to take a picture of 2 of your friends when you bombed the picture on purpose!!  It was so funny to hear you laughing as you blurred the picture and then kept on moving.

2.  You have such a sweet heart.  You are generous with blowing kisses and giving hugs.  When we tell you to say hi to someone you normally just blow them a kiss instead.  You'll often blow kisses to our waiter at a restaurant which in turn means we get great service!!  We pray you always have that sweet personality. The world needs more Ava's. 

3.  No more crying at daycare; in fact you love daycare.  The last couple of weeks when we drop her off in the morning she blows us a kiss and says "bye, bye" with a big ol' smile.  We celebrated big time the first time you didn't cry when we dropped you off and you gave us that beautiful smile.  It meant you were trusting us~ you knew we'd be back to get you at the end of the day.  Your teachers at daycare are also fantastic.  You are constantly doing new things that are creative and get you moving.  We are so thankful for your daycare teachers.

4.  You are still not eating hamburger or chicken very well but doing better than last month.  You do however love fish.  When we have fish for dinner we just break off bites of our piece for you but what we hear through the whole meal is "more, more"!!  And you end up eating almost half!  Don't worry, I'll always share with you :).
5.  Your favorite books lately are Hallmark interactive books.  You have one about Christmas and one about a train conductor. These are the books you pull out every night and we read over and over!!  You'll probably be getting some new books for your birthday ;)
6.  You went to your first parade this last weekend. When it started it was fun to watch you try to soak in all the people and festivities. At times it seems you were trying to figure out the point of us watching people walk down the street. But as soon as they started throwing candy you got into it really quickly!  And you discovered quickly that the more kisses you blew the more candy they threw to you...you are a smart girl!!
7.  You are a great sleeper!! And we are so thankful for that. You normally are in bed by 9pm and sleep through the night until 730am. Mama and Baba love our sleep too so we are so thankful you are such a great sleeper.
8.  Jack is your buddy!!  He loves you so much. You love him and enjoy his kisses but will push him away quickly when you are done being licked. You and Baba made a trip to Kansas and left mama and Jack at home. Jack moped the entire time and kept bringing things out of your room to lay with. I think Mama and Baba are now second fiddle behind you :)
9.  You love to swim!  We have a blow up pool in the backyard which you swim in a couple times a week. We've also made our first trip to the local swim lake. You're still not a fan of wearing your life jacket but if it means you get to swim in the lake it seems worth it.
10.  New words and sounds:  Ava continues to talk and sing all the time. Her daycare teaches say she talks all day to her friends.  Her new favorite words are: Grandpa, Lau Lau (which comes out li li), whoa, ice, China, thank you...and when she's feeling it I get to hear Mama more often lately. She continues to sat Baba all the time. And when she wants be ornary and I ask her to say "mama" she says "baba"!!

3 Month Family Anniversary!!

3 beautiful months have come and gone and left us with so many amazing memories!  We can't wait to see what the next 3 months have in store for us.  

3 Month List

1.  Ava's biggest challenge during the last month have occurred in the last week and a half...daycare.  Her first week was rough with lots of toddler attitude to boot :)  This past week however, she has done awesome!!!!  Still crying at drop off but it's not lasting very long and occasional tears when they go outside to play.  Her teachers say that she is making lots of friends and participates really well!!  We are so proud of her for braving yet another challenge in her life and rocking it!!!

2.  Ava loves "Insanity" workout videos!  LOL!!!  Matt and I work out to them in the basement and she  dances right along to the music on the DVD.   When we have an exercise that requires us to be on the floor Ava will come sit beside us and bop her head up and down like she's doing the exercise too!!  Seriously the funniest thing ever.  I have to get pictures and video of this before she stops.  I will never be able to workout without having my sweet little girl beside me to cheer me on again :)

3.  Because she's been in daycare and I've gone back to work we watch even less TV.  She still loves Baby Einstein and we've gotten a couple new ones this last month.  But she also will come running into watch the TV whenever any music is playing on a show.  When she does this, she'll do her little jig and then go right back to whatever else she was doing.

4.  Ava met both of her Great-Grandmas this last month!!  What a blessing to be able to share my beautiful baby girl with these special people.  Those introductions were definitely meetings I will never forget.

5.  Favorite Book:  Ava continues to love to look at books and have books read to you.  Her favorite book currently is a touch and feel book called "That's Not My Panda".  When she finally reaches the part of "that is my panda...his tummy is so soft" she rubs the soft part of the bear against her cheek.  Such a sweet, silly girl!!
6.  Ava made her first trip to the lake house in Missouri!!  This is something that I dreamt a long time about and was so thankful to be able to take her!  We spent 5 days at the lake with my family.  We spent a lot of time playing on the patio, going for boat rides, blowing bubbles, and just relaxing as a family.  Such a fun memory for us with many more trips to come in the future.
7.  Ava is (knock on wood) sleeping through the night almost every night!!!  YAY!!
8.  Favorite foods:  Ava is still a really good eater, but has become more picky in the last month.  Ava is especially struggling with eating hamburger and chicken lately.  She tends to put it in her mouth and chew on it for awhile but then will spit it all back out.  She eats a lot of yogurt, strawberries, turkey lunch meat, and eggs.  She has also discovered popsicles during the last month.  She thinks those are yummy!!
9.  Ava and Jack are definitely good buddies!!  Jack has been quite sad with Ava going to daycare during the day.  I don't think he knows what to think with all the quiet in our house during the day.  Everyday she gets home, she gets attacked with kisses from Jack~somebody misses her.
10.  New words and sounds:  We haven't heard a lot of new words lately, but are hearing new sounds since she started daycare.  We have a feeling that new words are coming very soon.  Her favorite new sound is ga-ga.  And she continues to sing all day!!  Sing will break out with "E-I-E-I, cluck, cluck, cluck" frequently during the day.   

First Mother's Day

I had so much fun celebrating my first Mother's Day with the sweetest family EVER!!  Mother's Day has always been a bittersweet holiday in the recent past for me.  I have a fantastic mom and mother in law to celebrate but in the back of my mind I was always wondering about how long I had to wait to be able to be a mom.  So this year was extra happy for me; it was finally my year!!

I received some beautiful gifts from my family.  Ava made a beautiful craft for me at daycare this week that she finger painted pink.  I also received a beautiful, heartfelt note from my husband along with new workout gear.  But better than any gift was a day with my family that was planned for me.  We started the day off with brunch at Le Peep, one of our favorite spots in Omaha.  Afterwards we headed to the farmer's market and picked up some starter veggie plants and delicious fresh produce.  We also spent some time dancing to the local musicians.  This was a big hit with Ava!!  Finally we headed to the zoo for the afternoon.  What a fantastic day!!   Feeling very blessed and thankful today!

  

First Days of Daycare for Ava and Back to Work for me

What a big week in our house.  Lots of changes and challenges, but we all made it through.  Ava had her first day at daycare on Tuesday and then went Thursday and Friday when I went back to work.  Tuesday was a pretty good day for Ava.  She cried when we dropped her off but quickly stopped.  Thursday however was a really rough day for Ava.  To start off she decided that the night before my first day back would be a great night to be up for 2 plus hours during the night ;)  So when Matt went to get her out of bed and ready for the day she was not ready to get out of bed yet.  This lead to tantrum one of the day.  Her teachers reported that she cried and wanted to be held most of day but as soon as Matt and I got there to pick her up she was all smiles...at least for a little while.  We decided to go for a family walk after we got home.  About half way through Ava started letting us know that she was not happy with us.  This all lead into a rough evening but by bedtime she was smiling and loving us again.  Friday her teachers stated that she still had a rough day crying off and on but at least 50% of the time it was a fake cry.  It was a rough week for her, but we are certain that with time it will get better and that she will like going to daycare.  She loves watching other kids and you can tell that kid noises are all that she is used to hearing, but at the same time we wonder how much daycare reminds her of the orphanage.  When I put myself in her shoes I can't imagine how scary daycare might be if it reminded me of the orphanage where I spent my whole life until a couple months ago.  She is a very brave little girl!!

First day of daycare kisses

My first day of work was Thursday.  Truly on of the toughest days of my life.  It's a good thing that I love my job or the heartache might not be worth it.  I started crying Monday night and then continued throughout the week.  I can report that going to work on Friday was easier than on Thursday.  So I know we can all do this!!  My co-workers are the best ever: offering hugs, listening to all my stories about Ava, and letting me leave in good time so that I could go pick up my girl.  I absolutely love that smile of her's when we pick her up at the end of the day!!  Melts my heart every time and I hate to miss it.

My biggest fear of going back to work and her going to daycare is how much I am going to miss when I'm away from her.  I can't believe how much she's grown and changed over the last few months and I hate the thought of missing any little step in her life.  But I also know that for right now I need to work for our family to be successful and Ava needs to be around other children and people to grow even more.  I can promise her that every moment we spend together will not be wasted.  We will celebrate every moment and take full advantage of our times together!  Love my little girl with all my heart!!  

Happy Birthday Grandpa!!

Wishing Grandpa Fuller a very happy birthday!!  We enjoyed being able to celebrate with you :)    Love you!!

Celebrating Grandpa Fuller's birthday with him at Plum Creek.  

Meeting 2 Great Grandmas!!

A last minute change of plans lead us to Kansas instead of home after our lake trip.  Ava and I headed home with my parents so that we could take a trip to southwest Kansas to meet Ava's Great-Grandma.  She didn't know Ava and I were coming and boy was she surprised!  Her response to Ava was one that I will never forget.  Once the shock and tears slowed her response was "I never thought I'd be able to get my hands on that beautiful little girl".  My Grandma was one of those people who prayed so long for Ava; long before Ava was Ava.

Even before we walked down the hall to Grandma's room we were stopped by a worker at the home who asked if we were here to see her.  We said yes and the worker said that she thought that was Ava.  Grandma had shown her lots of pictures and had obviously been talking about new Great-Granddaughter with her.  Grandma took great pride in introducing Ava to all her friends and staff.

Ava also got to meet her Great-Grandpa, Uncle K, Aunt D, and 3 more cousins!!  What a big day for Ava.  She was a little overwhelmed at first by all the new people but quickly warmed up to everyone.  

To add to the fun, Ava also got to meet her Great-Grandma on the Fuller side during our week in Kansas!!  Again, we were able to surprise Great-Grandma which was so fun.  I love seeing the expressions on people's faces when they see Ava for the first time.  And she was thrilled to meet Ava!  She quickly pulled out a toy for Ava and found cookies.  :)  

Feeling very blessed after getting to spend time with some very special people over the last week.  Hoping it's not too long before we get to see these wonderful people again.