Together one month

Garrett's 2nd Birthday (OK, a little late)

Malia's First Cake

Ready to visit school/work

Meeting Raggedy Ann

And... the rides

I can't believe that it has already been one month that Malia and I have been together. It has been amazing (hard at times but so worth it). She understands so much English even if she is not speaking it yet. Her English words seem to increase almost every day. The big ones for the week so far are "outside" and "ready?". Malia and Rosie are getting closer every day and Malia has even let Rosie sit on her bed the last two nights when we read books before bed.

I can't believe that I go back to work in 1 1/2 weeks but we visited the daycare on Monday and she seemed like she would be OK. The teachers were nice and the kids all rushed up to say hi to the new kid. We also walked around work and she meet a lot of people I work with. They loved the squeaky shoes and of course Malia. She had fun playing catch with them in the hall. Tuesday we went to the Mall of America for the Toddler Tuesday. The theme was Raggedy Ann so Malia got to meet her. I think however her favorite part of the day was the unlimited 3 hour ride wristband. She is a little daredevil and loved the roller coasters. She yelled out "yea" as we could go around turns and now does the same in the car when I take cloverleafs on the freeway. Another trick was taking her hands off the bar on the carousel. I guess that ride is getting too boring now that she went on some wilder rides. We also finally had a party for my nephew Garrett to celebrate his second birthday (due to timing with the China trip). I think that is most of it for now.

One last call out to my friends still waiting to be matched to their children. Keep believing... it does happen!

Another great week

So it was another busy but wonderful week with my little girl. We had our first doctors appointment since getting to the U.S. She did well considering she had to get blood drawn, a skin test, and 3 shots. I haven't broke it to her that we have 4 more to go before she starts at day care. Wednesday was gorgeous weather so me, Malia, my sister in law Amy, and her kids (Aislynn and Garrett) drove to the Albertville outlet mall for some shopping. They kids all did fantastic in the car but it was a little tough shopping with three kids under 3. We survived and got some good deals. I finally found some tennis shoes that fit Malia since she has short but thick feet. She is a 5 1/2 wide. Then it was lunch at Burger King and back home. Friday we went to the drop in and play class where my mom works again and Malia did her first official art project - painting of a fish. It is proudly displayed on the fridge. Today (Saturday) we had all of my childhood friends over with their kids to meet Malia. It was chaotic and wonderful. Bella and Malia really got along well. Bella was so cute about taking care of Malia. Her sister Gabbie was a little more unsure about this new kid. I am sure they will warm up and play more next time. as always there are more pictures.... enjoy!

What a beautiful day!!!

It finally feels like spring and for more than one day. Saturday we went to the Nickelodeon park at the mall. Malia loved the rides again but her cousin Garrett wasn't so sure. Sunday and so far today the weather was wonderful. We went to visit John and Arlene after church yesterday. Arlene looked like she enjoyed seeing Malia. We then went to the Como Zoo since it was so nice out. We walked around and Malia helped push Great Grandma in the wheelchair as her broken leg is still healing. Today we headed to the mall to get Malia's first haircut. The stylist was so patient and we made it without any tears. When we got home we had a blast playing with the new bubbles.

So for those still waiting to be a mom. Hang in there. I know really well that the wait is terrible and you can't even describe to others how it feels. Well I know and I still can't believe that the wait is over and that Malia is really here. On another note, I started to introduce some sign language late last week on top of saying the word for everything we see or do. She picked up the sign language really quickly. She is consistently doing more, eat, all done and would probably do more if I knew sign language better. For the downside, she now knows eat and likes to sign it all day long while pointing at the kitchen or her highchair. I swear she would eat day and night if I let her. Since getting food is a coping mechanism for kids from the orphanage I try not to turn her down. The hardest is when dinner is done but needs to cool a little and then she REALLY wants to eat. If you have time during the wait, I would suggest learning sign language. Regardless if they speak Mandarin or Cantonese, they seem to get sign language.

Open Play with Grandma

Today we went to an open play class where my mom works with early childhood programs. Malia did well meeting all of the people and loved the class. She even sat for the circle time. I was again amazed at how well she is acclimating. I know she will do well in daycare after this experience.

She also played for 1 1/2 hours with the Rose Petal Cottage last night while I did laundry. She has been such a great little girl and I can't wait for more people to meet her and see her full personality.

Finally, here are a couple bath pictures.

Almost one week home...

I can't believe that tomorrow we will already have been home one week. I am so fortunate to be Malia's mom. She is doing amazingly well adjusting to home. She has slept through the night every night since we have been together. She also takes a solid 2-3 hour nap (which is my time to clean up, check email, make phone calls, etc). We have been out to the indoor play area at the Eden Prairie mall, the park, and today the zoo. We are just doing short outings right now to show her some places we can go but that we always end up at home. She is eating well and loves playing with her new toys but bath time is still her favorite. She would take 3 a day if I would let her. Here are some pictures of our first week home. Enjoy!!

Pictures from home

Here are some pictures from home. The cousins all hit it off immediately as you can tell. I think between the photo albulm and the web calls from China they kind of knew each other.

Pictures from the airport

Thanks to everyone who could make it out to the airport. It was wonderful to see familiar people after such a long trip. Here are some pictures of the moments when we got here.

We're home!!!

We made it home and Malia is officially a U.S. Citizen. We had a large group waiting for us at the airport. It was such fun and a relief to see familiar faces and places. Malia is wonderful on the flights home. She did well with the early morning and slept about 1/2 of the first 34 hour flight from Hong Kong to Tokyo. She was so patient with waiting for the connecting flight. Finally we were on the last long flight home and she just couldn't fall asleep and stay asleep. She was up playing and eating almost the whole flight home except for crashing the last 1 1/2. We made it through the long slow line at Immigration but had a fast pass through customs. Malia loved the house, her room, and playing with her cousin Garrett. She also said hi to the babies, Jude and Aislynn. I will post more later, including photos, since all of the cords are still packed somewhere.

Disney Day 2

Malia did awesome even with sleeping in another place and in a pack 'n play versus the portable crib. She slept 12 hours straight and is now even down for her nap. She just loves Disney and we think we favorite is the carousel. Every time we would walk past it she points and will tap your arm and point again. Big smiles when we took another spin on it. I have to post the group picture we had someone take of all of us... we laughed when I looked at it because they cut Malia off. The other one is Malia on the Buzz Lightyear ride (she got 600 points). Enjoy the pictures and we will see everyone soon!!! SO SOON!!!

Flight Info: NWA 20 - arriving 12:20 (for those that want to meet at the airport).