HELP!!

I feel so disorganized.......I don't even know where to start to get ready to go to China..I was so much more organized last time. Truthfully, I probably felt just as unorganized then but that was so long ago I must have forgotten what it felt like. I packed two suitcases yesterday and ended up with a suitcase that weighed 43.5 pounds-humm, they can only be 44 pounds so I think that is cutting it just a little to close. Should I get rid of some of my husbands underwear, his shaving cream, his toasty warm clothes?? After seeing the weather in China lately, I think his toasty warm clothes may be important..maybe I should get rid of some of the 45 outfits I packed for Skeeter(really I think it is about 16, yes a little over the top even for me) I didn't even fit in his PJ's before the suitcase was full, couldn't even bring myself to weigh his....okay everyone, I am going to take a deep breath and start all over again...come to think of it a beard might help to keep Matt warm.Bye-Bye shaving cream and unfortunately some of Skeeters outfits....

Baby Yuan and Scotty

Last April when Scotty passed away Love without Boundaries and Stefani with CHI asked if we could have a memorial in Scotty's name so that donations could be made to help some of the urgent children. The night Scotty passed away Amy at LWB received a call about Hua or Flower who I have already talked about, she needed heart surgery. We also were told there were some other urgent babies who needed help. While looking at the list of children I couldn't help but notice a little guy who happened to be from the same orphanage as Scotty, he needed heart surgery. His name was baby Yuan, he needed to have urgent heart surgery and Matt and I felt that it was fitting to also include Yuan in the memorial for Scotty. I was so excited to hear that Baby Yuans surgery was successful and that he was doing great. I was even more excited to learn that he was soon to be on a list for adoption. The excitement grew when I heard that Yuan had found his Forever Family. AMAZINGLY once again, I have been blessed with the chance to meet Baby Yuan and his forever family. He is moving to Washington, WOW, about 30 minutes away from our house....WOW, can this be any more amazing? I hope to meet Yuan (soon to be Owen) and his family sometime in the spring when he comes home.

one more thing, I know that the pictures of our referrals pictures sometimes have the babies in the same chair and clothes etc.....................but look at little Scotty and Baby Yuan, they are wearing the same outfit and sitting in the same chair..........that is just so sweet.

My bribery worked

I mentioned earlier that Aleaya wouldn't go potty out in public. We would leave and go home everytime she needed to go or spend 30 minutes crying in the potty without any results. Today I resorted to bribery. We were shopping at Target and I told her she could have some juice or a fruit smoothie if she went potty first. IT WORKED.........finally, my daughter went potty in public and was rewarded with a Tropical Smoothie-no crying, no tantrums.....hopefully I won't have to resort to this every time we are out and about but this was a start.

We are Going to China!!

We are leaving on Feb 13th, we meet our little boy on the 17th. We are so excited. We will travel to Beijing first for some sightseeing for a few days and then travel to Guiyang on the 16th.
We will then travel to Guangzhou for our Consulate appt-we arrive in Guangzhou on the 23rd and travel back to the US on the 29th of Feb.

Aleaya is staying home with "omma" (yes, my mom doesn't want to be called Grandma, so silly) for two weeks while we are in China. I am going to miss my little "sugar plum" so much...although, I just have to add there hasn't been anything "sweet" about her behavior lately.............whoever it was that told me three is so much easier than two-ha, I beg to differ-

My last day of work is Feb. 9th and we are celebrating Aleaya's Birthday on Feb. 10th since we will be in China for her Birthday on Valentines day...

BUNNYTOWN

Aleaya dancing to the Bunnytown hop during Saturday morning cartoons. She is just the cutest even with her bed-head!!

Motherhood-this time around-

When I wasn't able to become pregnant we chose adoption rather than go through the heartache and pain of IVF etc.....We wanted a baby and we decided adoption was the best choice for our family. I was so nervous to become a mom-I felt like I didn't even know what to do, I spent hours in Aleayas bedroom folding and unfolding her clothes, nesting, listening to lullaby's, waiting and wondering about the day we finally were able to meet our little girl. When I finally held her in my arms for the first time I was so excited-but it still took me months to get used to being a Mom-sometime it felt awkward, I was unsure a lot, not sure what my little bundle of joy wanted or needed. She taught me so much in the last two years....She taught me to love her so deeply that I cant even imagine what my life was like without her in it.

This time around it feels different, the awkwardness is gone...I am so excited to just love on my little boy and hey, I know how to make a bottle and surely know how to change a diaper this time around-certainly, there will be things that will be new, but I am so ready this time around and not scared at all, thanks to my precious little girl who taught me how to love and how to become a mother.

My baby is growing up!!

I told Aleaya that as soon as she could go potty and wear "big girl" pants she would be able to go to school. (you have to be potty trained) Since becoming potty trained that is all she talks about. I told her the other day that we needed to go to the bank. She said "No, Momma, you are going to the bank, I'm going to school" She preceded to put on her coat and then her back pack....so I guess I need to hold up my end of the bargain and start looking at schools for my little girl-My little girl is growing up way to fast!!!

VISAS

I sent our passports today so that we can receive our visas to go to China-how exciting? After all this time, can this really be happening? We have tentative plans to leave on Feb. 14Th and arrive in Beijing on the 15Th-we will go to the Great Wall and the Chinese Acrobat show- leaving on the 17Th to arrive in Skeeter(we are at a stand still for the name again, we decided to wait until we see our little boy's face and then decide on his name)so far we agree on his middle name (his Chinese name Sheng Le) okay, sorry got off the subject!! We will then arrive in Guiyang. Skeeters Province and stay for 5-6 days-we will do some sightseeing there and meet Hua and her family and of course we can't forget Trudy too, she made this all possible with Hua's family. I cant wait to meet them-we will leave on the 22ND for Guangzhou-and then off to Hong Kong to go to Disneyland-and of course more sightseeing. Hopefully all my tentative plans will all work out.............HA HA, that is so funny at this point, so far NOTHING has worked out as planned. So we will continue to leave it in Gods hands and arrive in China when the time is right. We are just so excited. It won't be long now.............

The potty again!!

Aleaya will not go potty while we are out and about in public! For some reason she wants to come home and go potty. This is fine and dandy now, I usually will stop what I am doing and just go home but this is really going to become an inconvenience at some point..it seems like maybe she is scared of the loud flushing in the public bathrooms, not to mention the "grossness" of it all...UGHH, I really can't blame her. I guess it is a good thing she is staying home when we go to China.. I think the squatty potties might be a little much for her at this point...maybe she will get used to it soon. Anyone else have this problem with their kids???? Would love any advice...