Blog site for the Rollers

I look back and realize I did not make it clear that I would not be posting here on blogger for some time. I had thought I might/would use both sites, this one for Libby and the other for Maisy, but far too much work. Many thought the babyjellybeans site was just for travel, but I will actually be using it for the whole year. We get a disc at the end of the year and can also make it into a book. Please join us at the site below if you would like to continue to follow the Roller girls

https://www.babyjellybeans.com/web/do/site?ID=30607

Password: amazingmaisy

Hope to see you there!
Janice

Good Golly Miss Molly!

Libby drew whiskers on her favorite doll Molly. When asked why, she said because she did not want a doll, she wanted a cat. When I pointed out she had both a stuffed cat and a real cat, I got an eye roll and was told, "Yes, but I do not have a doll who is a cat". There you go...

Love you, you crazy, funny girl!

Happy Early Birthday Libby!

Lexa doing the "Libby lean"
What beautiful kids at the kids table!

As many of you know, we leave on August 19th for China. Libby's birthday is August 27th and we will just be arriving in Guangzhou that day! This was the first year that Libby has really talked about how excited she was for her birthday. "And everyone will sing Happy Birthday and I will blow out candles". We decided to have her birthday a little bit early so it could be all about her. Soon enough her world will be upside down!

Water girls!

We had a small party this year at our house. The heat was unbearable and for the first time ever, Eric and I talked about getting central air :) Thankfully, our friends and their children are troopers. We had two pools and a slip and slide in the backyard. It was obvious many of the adults wished they could join in! Libby could not have been more happy. She loved playing with her friends, having a flip flop ice cream cake, and whacking at the pinata. All of the presents she received were huge hits and I do not think she could have had a better time. In just a few short weeks, our little girl will be a big girl of 4! Happy birthday, our dear little Captain Wacky Pants!

The pinata was a huge hit and the kids could have hit it all day. The adults were the ones who needed to head inside :)

Sheng is not sure about Lucky Cat
The beautiful flip flop cookies made by Rena and Lexa

Friend Rivalry

This has been the summer of "winning". Libby has to be first up the stairs, first down the stairs, first out the door, etc... I am told to drive faster than the car next to us so we can win. Everything and everyone is now up for comparison and competition. At the beginning of the summer, I thought it was pretty funny. It seemed like all of her friends about the same age were very into it. However, as the summer has gone on, I realize she is now listening and paying much more attention than she ever has. Take for example her friend Lexa. They took swimming lessons together last winter. Eric would talk about how Lexa would dive in and do this and that while Libby was much more hesitant to try. It did not seem to bother Libby to hear this talk at all. Now, however, she is getting that in this regard, Lexa is "better" than her in the water. She has heard my concern that she is not as adventuresome. She has heard the praise Lexa gets because she is. She now does not want to do anything with Lexa that involves water. It made me think about the book I am reading, "Siblings without Rivalry". It made me realize we can create the same negative situations, not on purpose, but with our children and their friends, as we can between siblings. Once upon a time, we could talk freely about who did this and that and who was doing X first, etc...Little pitchers are now taking that information and computing it. It makes me realize that it is my responsibility to change how I talk not only in front of Libby, but at all times. I firmly believe that competition is a good thing, but not when it comes about in a negative package. I have to reframe how to encourage Libby to do something, without it being about someone else already doing it and the competition that I may actually be feeling myself to have her achieve something. It has been a summer of growing for both of us. Hopefully, I can take these lessons and use them in a good way with both her friends and her new little sister.

Catch Up

Oh, that Tenzing is so funny!
I think we are the cutest couple here!
Practicing my giggle...

The time is flying by! My goodness, we are seeing the end of summer around the corner and the Roller's leaving for China in just one short week. We have had a fairly busy summer. We discovered a new place called Caponi Art Park. They have a program for children every Tuesday morning, but also have other performances or you may just walk through the park and look at the sculptures. It has been a fun new find. Attached are pictures of Libby and Tenzing at the one about the Voyagers. They had a great time dancing and giggling, and, well, being the silly monkeys they are when they are together.

We have spent a lot of time at Waubun Park. I love St. Paul, but envy Minneapolis and all the little wading pools they have all over the city. It has been such a hot and humid summer, that water has been a nice relief.

Libby told her first made up by herself joke this summer. I was looking at a cookbook and she asked me what I was reading. I told her a recipe. She then started to sing, "Recipe, recipe, recipe, pee, pee, pee. I have to go potty". She then turned to me and said, "Get it Mom, get it?" I get it, honey.

New Blog Site for Trip

I will be keeping this site for everyday family life, but will have a special site for our trip and first year home with Maisy. We did it for Libby and it turned into a great baby book for her. At the end of the year, we get a disc of everything. There is really nothing new in it, but wanted to get it out there. If anyone has any comments or suggestions for it, let me know.

http://www.babyjellybeans.com/web/do/site/home?ID=628796

password: amazingmaisy

Consulate Appointment

We have our CA! It is a week later than we had hoped for, but it all works out. Here is a brief glimpse at our itinerary, which I may have to tweak:

8/19 Depart
8/20 Arrive Shanghai
8/22 Arrive Wuhan
8/23 Meet Maisy!! Register and apply for notary and passport
8/24 Register and take notary
8/25 Free day to site see
8/26 Receive notary
8/27 Receive passport
8/28 Fly to Guanghzou
8/29 Free day to site see
8/30 Maisy's medical exam
8/31 Free day to site see
9/1 Interview at consulate
9/2 Take oath at consulate
9/3 Pick up Maisy's visa and take train to Hong Kong
9/4 Hopefully get to do some site seeing in Hong Kong
9/5 Fly Hong Kong to Narita on to Minneapolis/St. Paul
9/5 Arrive MSP at 1:00 pm!!

I had to correct the day we arrive back into Minneapolis/St. Paul. I get so confused by this, but we leave HK on the 5th, cross the international date line, and therefore land here on Sunday the 5th, after flying for almost 18 hours!

Whew! :)

Travel Approval!

It has been a rocky road to get here, but we finally have our travel approval to go to China! We are beyond excited. We had been in touch with our agency because of some "issues" on their side not getting our paperwork done. Told that they hoped to see our TA sometime next week. Late Friday got the call that it was here! I think we are still in shock. Ironically, they wanted to know if we wanted to travel at the end of next week! Uhm, yes, but not possible. We are looking at leaving August 12 and will fly to Shanghai. Hope to spend two nights there and then fly on to Wuhan. Either that first afternoon or next morning, they will bring Maisy to us. For those wondering, yes, she then stays with us forever. We do our province or state paperwork that week. At the end of the week we leave for Guangzhou. There we will complete our paperwork at the US Consulate. Then we fly home! OMG, we are just freaking out now. I think it is finally sinking in. We are going to have another daughter! :) Will keep things posted here until I get the new site up.

We need to paint and clean and go through clothes! So much to do, but all of it worth it!




Attaching our little video of Maisy for your viewing pleasure.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4g8G4VkDhc

Article 5

Celebrate! We have the next step approved! Our Article 5 came in yesterday. We need that paper to get our Travel Approval. We hope to have that in 1-3 weeks. Please think good thoughts that we are on the 1 week side as we were very much on the far end in getting our Article 5. After our Travel Approval, we have get a date for our Consulate Appointment. Once we get our CA, we then can make our travel plans. Did you get all that? :) Let's just say things are rolling in the right direction and we just hope that for each step that can take 1-3 weeks, we get the shorter end of the length of wait. My fingers, toes, legs are crossed that we travel soon. So happy and now feeling like having a bit of a cry :)

Too pooped to party anymore!

Libby decked out in her Spiderman helmet, ready to ride

Birthday celebration, day 2
Libby and Jai "surfing" on the slip n slide

What a weekend! I sit here on Monday morning recovering from three days of sheer fun. We had Sheng and Jai's birthday party on Friday night. Sheng turned 3 and Jai 4. Their parents rented a bouncy castle with slide. You Know Who was in there playing right along with all the rest of the kids. HE then decided to slide down on his tummy and ended up with very ouchy rug burns on his knees. There were "big" boys there (4-7 in age), so you would see all the little girls bouncing, then the boys would come in, shortly later, the girls would exit. Then the boys would leave and the girls go back in to bounce. It was an interesting socialization situation right in front of us and shows you how differently boys and girls play. Saturday, we were invited back for day two of the bouncy castle. It was a lovely night and we got to finally meet a little girl who had been in the same SWI as Sheng and mere 3 weeks apart in age. To think they ended up in the same city on the other side of the world, less than 5 miles apart!

The St. Anthony Park parade was yesterday morning. I sent Eric and Libby off to have fun while I cleaned in peace. I know this sounds lame, but it was so nice to get things done without her highness shouting my name or Eric constantly asking for something. Libby needed a new helmet, so they stopped at Target on the way she picked out a Spiderman one! :) Later that day, we were at our friend Molly's second annual 4th of July party. It was a great party. Christopher, one of Libby's favorites, had been at rocket making camp, so the whole party headed to a park to watch his rockets go up. By 8:00 Libby was all done in from a weekend of parties, and asked to go home! We all slept until 9:00 this morning. Whew!

Future engagement picture or what?

They held hands almost the entire time together-aahhhh

On the Libby front, she is pretty much back to her happy self. Telling her that she was not going to pre-school lifted a weight from her little shoulders. We are trying different tactics with some of her anxieties and they seem to be working. Her separation from me continues to be a struggle, but one step at a time, right?

This evening, I meet my friend LA for drinks, just the two us. It is long overdue and I look forward to catching up and chatting in a nice restaurant with no interruptions!

Enjoy some new pictures from over the weekend. Hope you all had a fun and safe 4th.

Bouncing before Eric took the slide that ended his sliding career
Upside down with Uncle Pat

Would be at wit's end if I had any left!

I thought our week started on a good note. I had a fabulous time at the Jayhawk's concert on Saturday night. Laughed so hard and caught up with friends I wish I saw more often. Sunday was also a fine day. Eric worked on the swing set for Libby. We had a nice steak dinner for Father's Day. Lulled into thinking it was going to be a good week.

We realize that Libby has a lot of things going on right now in her little life. She was to start a new summer pre-school. She is getting a little sister soon. She is taking a big trip to China. Then, she will start a whole new school in the fall. We have tried to be very calm with all of these things and to reassure her with each of them. Funny when you think everything is okay, and the rug gets pulled out from under you. Libby did not suffer from separation anxiety when we took tumbling last summer and when she started pre-school in the fall. It was a very uneventful year in that regard. She is now, however, officially a pre-school dropout. No amount of comforting or assurance worked this time. The teacher called me and said she pretty much sobbed the whole 3 hours last week! Tried again this past Tuesday and it was the same thing. We gently talked about it the last two days and she told me she was ready to go back today. When it was time to go, she told me she did not want to. I know there are those who would say to bring her and let her cry, but the teacher has been doing this for over 30 years and said she that it broke her heart when Libby cried last week. Yes, that bad. She will also no longer go to dance class. This is a class she already had for 8 weeks and never once had an issue with and now the last two sessions has cried and cried. Add to this a major lack of sleep and it has been just an awful week. Libby has had a couple of really rough nights. Then, Merlie the Dog, who makes Scooby Doo look brave, had a total meltdown during a bad thunderstorm and I am the only one who can comfort her. I feel worn down and run down. Libby is home today. I told her no TV at all, period. I will also not be playing with her. If she wants to play, she needs to go to school. She has been told that I needed this time to work (I am, honestly, load of laundry in and going to scrub the bathrooms next). Calgon, take me away!

And just to make me a bit crabbier, our Article 5 is still not here and just had an e-mail saying it looks like it will be mid-late August for travel. Aaaargghhhh!

Here to amuse you are a few pics of Eric moving the swing set from down the block with the help of a few good neighbors.

Whine Loud and Ye Shall Receive!

Can you believe it? We received two new pictures of Maisy!! Just too excited for words. The first picture has her wearing a little shirt we sent her. She is not wearing the matching pants for some reason, but who cares? :) I love how the nanny is smiling at her. We also had a chuckle at how she is being measured with the tape measure. Uhm, and people wonder why when they meet their children, the stats are off a bit!

The second picture makes me laugh because it looks like they have slicked down her hair down to make it look better, and it does not! The pictures do answer the question I have been wondering, does she have hair? Not a ton, but it is there.



She appears to be healthy, but petite. I think her cheeks are very squishable and can hardly wait until we are holding her and doing just that. Please keep our little peanut in your thoughts and prayers and keep us there too, that we may travel soon. Just giddy with happiness at seeing her little face!

I see the Moon

"I See the Moon...

I see the moon and the moon sees me,

Down through the leaves of the old oak tree.

Please let the light that shines on me,

Shine on the one I love."

Maisy is on our minds more than we could possibly convey. I look at the clock for the time in Wuxue City to see if she is sleeping or waking up. Try to imagine what her day is like and if she is playing with others or by herself. Hoping she is being shown affection and caring. The words above are on the front page from a book called "We see the Moon". If found out that it is a song from the 1950's, which I found on youtube. Truer words could not be found. I hope Maisy feels the kisses that are blown her way each day by each of us. Pray that her little heart knows that she is loved and that we are anxious to be there with her now. Yearn to hold her in our arms and know our family is all together.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0g8b1WuNifQ

We have done a pretty good job at keeping our chins up during this process. We would be lying, however, if we did not say that we have times of great sadness. This little person whom we have never met is such a big part of us and we miss her so much. We received an e-mail today from our coordinator at Children's Home. The director of the SWI said he would send a picture "later". For the first time in a long time, I got really angry. I have tried to keep my cool with both the US and China and their paperwork and bureaucracy. This just felt like a slap across the face. We get that we have no control over anything, but throw us a bone in the shape of one stinking little photo so we can at least see her. Taking deep breaths and am going to give big hugs and snuggles to the girl I have right here whom I love to pieces.

Catching Up

I am the Easter Bunny Princess Captain Monkey Toes

We are settled back to our regular routine after a whirlwind visit with Eric's parents. Their kids call them the AP's or Aged Parents. Thankfully, they were here last weekend when the weather was so much nicer. We were able to enjoy the great outdoors much more. One day, we went furniture "looking" at Dock 86. The AP's love furniture stores and we were curious about this one. We found the most darling love seat in the clearance section. The AP's were so generous as to purchase it for us. We also got to show them Grand Old Day. We made our way down to the kid's area first so that Libby could have the pony ride she so desperately wanted. I asked her after wards if she now wanted a pony, and I got a firm "No". It was okay, but the bouncy castle was much more fun. Eric's dad, Doug, Eric and Libby also joined in the Scottish dancing. They were having a great time until Libby tripped over some candy that fell out of her pockets. Two of the dancers were kind enough to come over later to check on her and to tell her what a good job she had done. Spent several hours one day at the Science Museum, and I am sure Eric wishes he could spend the whole day there by himself to play! Another day, we wanted to see the polar bears at Como, but there was no parking and the buses kept coming in one after another, so we walked around the lake. We had some great meals out, including the Cheeky Monkey, Blue Door and Supatra.


Libby's favorite part of Grand Old Day (maybe dada's too)

Scottish dancing before the tumble.

The other night night, Eric told Libby that we have one rule, that she has to at least try the food on her plate. She looked at him and said, "I have one rule, I don't LIKE it!". Other phrases that are cracking us up right now are things like, "We will do it two days weeks ago" and "That costs hundreds and hundreds of dollars".

At the Science Museum

Our coordinator at Children's Home had the sad job of telling us that the director of Maisy's SWI said he will not give any more updates-period. She has asked if they would at least send a few photos and we have not heard anything. Please think good thoughts because we really want to see how our girl has grown!

Tomorrow is Father's Day and I always try to do something nice for Eric. I will use the excuse that it snuck up on me, because I have nothing up my sleeve! I hope all the Dads out there have a great day, and that I have an epiphany in the next 24 hours. :)

**Thanks for the heads up LA! Now I really have to do something special for Eric and I have no excuses!

And I am cute!

Name Interpretation

There is a very kind Mom on my favorite adoption blog who will interpret the characters of your child's Chinese name. Here is what she gave us:

薛 is the surname, so no significance beyond this. As far as I know, it has no English translation.

福 is the ever popular and very positive "happiness" as in "blessings of good fortune"

景most often translates as "scene" or "view" as in the scene within a movie or any noteworthy scenic form.

福景 combined convey a meaning of "happiness of the moment", as though you were seeing an event or sight that brings spontaneous happiness within your heart.

Wow, that about sums it up!!

A Matter of Perspective

Dada and Libby doing their circus routine

Last week, we got a very short update on Miss Maisy. So short, the agency is going back to the rep in China and asking him to please get more. We received no pictures, but you already know that because if we had, they would be plastered here! The day we got the update, we had one of Libby's schoolmates and her Mom over for a play date. I said "Oh, she is 17.9 pounds, good". The Mom looked at me in horror and repeated the weight and then asked Maisy's age, and then looked at me, but could not think of something to say. The next day I was at my friend Rena's. She also has a Hubei girl. I told her how much Maisy weighed. She practically shouted, "That's Great!". All in how you look at it. :)

This June will mark the 5th anniversary of when we started the adoption process to get Libby. We expected to be home the following June with our little girl. (I am not sure how much people know about the process, but no, we were not matched with Libby all those years ago and then had to wait to get her. You are not matched with a child until right up at the end.) It would be 2-1/2 years later before we were matched. My friend LA, whom I met in a China adoption chat site had a log-in date of two months ahead of ours. When we first met, we thought Eric and I would be traveling just a few months after her and her husband. We got our referral one year after they got theirs. I go to this China adoption blog site often as it has more information than any other site I know. I see families posting who have a log in date 5-6 months after our December 2005 one. They are still waiting. And today I thought wow, take a look at the past 5 years of your life. Marriage? Divorce? Child/Children? New house? Think of all the changes that have happened in your life in that time. Then do me a favor I have no right to ask of you. Please think/pray for those people who have been waiting all this time to become a family. Close your eyes and shoot some good thoughts into space. Thank you!

Pre-k, here we come!

We just got the call from Randolph Heights, and Libby is in their pre-k program! Woo Hoo for drop-outs! If you read the blog, you know why we are happy. First of all, it is Free. To have that $185/month will be such a nice thing, especially since Maisy will be home by then. I also love that it is 5 days a week and that it is so close by. Whew! And, I do not have to look at parochial schools that Eric would not have been thrilled about her attending :)

My strep filled week would only be more complete if we got our update on Maisy and to find she is doing well. That may be too much to ask for, but I would love to see some new pics and to find her health has continued to improve and that she is doing good. Libby just told me that she is going to teach Maisy to swim underwater and how to pull up her underwear. There you go. Oh, and how pick her nose....

I'll leave on that note!

Woo Hooo

I797 (wait while I turn to read the rest of it) Notice of Action has arrived. The notice type is Notice of Provisional Approval. I contacted our agency to see if this was just another piece of wasted paper by the USCIS, but she said this is the one. We are approved! OK, I will grant you that there seemed to be little doubt of that happening, but still, one more step down. Next will be our Article 5, then our Travel Approval and once we get our Consulate Appointment, we can make travel arrangements-whoosh. I am now exhausted. I am sure it has nothing with my strep throat or our solid week of little sleep due to a series of unfortunate events.

In other good news, we found an Ikea sofa sleeper on Craiglist several weeks ago. It fits perfectly into the playroom and hopefully will be a good place for guests to sleep. We will find out when Eric's parents visit us in a few weeks. The nice couple selling it were from Germany and had finished their two year stint here. I jokingly asked if they had anything else they would like to sell. We now have two of the Malm dressers in white, and a very lovely armoire. All in great condition and for a fraction of the cost at Ikea. Time to get cracking and to get this house in order!

As for travel to China, our coordinator thinks it will be two months to our TA and then we will travel 3 weeks later. This is still keeping in the window of end of July/early August. The weather here has been hot and humid and I think it has been so to prepare us for our trip :)

Thank you to all of you who are here for our journey. I am still waiting to switch over the blog I have going to our new Baby Jelly Bean site, and you will see that here first.

Hugs to all of you!

Libby's Loves

"Mama, Mama, I love pink circles, Tenzing and S's". Turns back to watching Super Why. Yep, and I love you!

We are not the prayingist family, but a few weeks ago during bedtime, Libby and I said a prayer for Maisy. We asked God to take care of her, to let her know we loved her and that we hoped to meet her soon. Almost every day now, Libby will ask me to do the "God is great" prayer. At first I was like ?! Then I realized it is the only prayer she knows because she says it at preschool at snack time. I am a tad embarrassed, but, oh, well. During the prayer, Libby always pipes in and says "And I am going to be your big sister, me, Libby". It is so dang cute. Maybe we need to get one of those prayer dice to help us out in the future?

Musing on a sunny day

I don't muse very much here. I generally just write things that are happening with us and leave it at that. However, this past week or so, I have had something ping ponging in my head and I told myself if it was still here, I would sit down and write about it.

On Mother's Day, there was an article in our local paper about older mother's. It was not the worst I have read, but it was still quite unflattering. One thing that I found so tiresome in it, was the comment that so many women put off marrying for their careers. Seriously, it is like an urban myth that just will not die. I remember once being called a career gal, and I could not help it. I just laughed and said "I work". Of all the women I know who did not marry by 30, none of them did it for their career. Oh, sure, we all worked, but it was not Miranda on Sex in the City taking over the world. Trust me, there are far fewer of her than just regular women who work to pay their rent, have fun with their girlfriends, and hope to meet a nice guy. Of all the women who did marry by 30, almost all of them still work. Hmmmmm. The article implies how selfish these "career" women were to not have married and had their children while they were still young. If I had met the right guy when I was younger, I would gladly have done so. I did not. In fact, many of us who did not marry until our 30's have to laugh at some of the things that have been said to us. "Oh, you are not married, so are you at least divorced?". Nope. "Did you at least live with someone?" Nope. And I do not exaggerate with the "at least" at all. Somehow, just being single in itself seemed to be far worse than not having "at least" been married or to "at least" have co-habitated. Really? Why? It would have been so much better had I married at X age, had X children and divorced rather than just be a single woman hoping to meet the right guy? I am sure there are sociologists out there who would tell me "yes". I could give many examples of women who felt that they had to be married by some magic number. Many accomplished it. I can't say all are happy for having done so. In fact, as I was typing this, I had a flash back to college and two women who lived in one of the off campus houses with me. They both were absolutely explicit (breathed it) that if they were not engaged by the time they graduated, they were failures. Oh, and the ring had to be half a caret, no less! Watching them work was awing. Yes, they were both engaged by the time they graduated, married, had children. Last I heard, one married, other divorced. I dated a guy who was very upset his father was remarrying. His mother had been gone for many years. His problem with his father's intended? She was 50 and had never been married. What was wrong with her?

As to the older mother part, again, it would perhaps have been nice to have been younger when I became a mother. But I would not have Libby and right there, even the thought of being younger loses all value to me. I could write pages about it, but will save for another time.

There, I have mused, I am done.

Knock Knock

I love my dance outfits, especially the leg warmers!


Who's there?
Smiley face
Smiley face who?
Smiley face monkey toes!

Yep, Libby is now telling her first knock knock jokes. This one could go on all day! I laughed so hard when she told me this one, her first one, that every time after wards when she would tell it, she would demand "LAUGH, Mama". It now has some variations, Smiley face Mama, Smiley face dada, Smiley face Merlie, etc...I need a knock knock joke book, I think!

New with us. Let's see. We got a notice from the USCIS that we would get a notice when our paperwork was completed. Gee, thanks. I got all excited over nothing.

My Mother's Day fruit bouquet!


Had a lovely Mother's Day. Eric and Libby let me sleep in while they made a fruit bouquet. As you can see from the picture, they did an exceptional job. It was both lovely and yummy. I was then treated to French toast and bacon, cooked perfectly. Later that day, we were joined by friends Doug and Colleen, and their two children, Jai and Sheng. It was a great day.

Libby with Jai and Sheng

Tomorrow is Eric's birthday. Let's just say, he should not be allowed to watch Food Network. Ironically, he will complain endlessly if I am watching it, but then will come up with, "We should really try to make that gyro meat from scratch". Hmmm, translation, "You should make that gyro meat from scratch and have a little birthday party for me while you are at it." :)

Kiss that girl!

A thank you to my friend Rena for telling me about using Murphy's Oil Soap to get out set stains in clothes. I had bought a cute shirt for Libby at a sale and did not realize it had a stain until I got home. It came out like "snap" when I tried this.

The sun is finally out and the next week is supposed to be lovely-wooohoooo!

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend.

Look Mama, Chinese people!

Yep, nothing better than sitting in a Chinese restaurant and having your daughter blurt this out in that quiet pre-school voice! Today, Libby asked for noodles, so we stopped at the restaurant near our house. She never commented on the Chinese waitresses or busboys, but when a family came in, Mom, Dad and two teenage boys, she took it upon herself to let me know Chinese people were there. Two non-Chinese men were walking by at that moment and got a good laugh out of it. I had to call Eric to tell him. As funny as it was, and it was, it showed us that she is now putting those puzzle pieces together. We have always talked about her being born in China and that she is Chinese. We have always also talked about her being adopted (One book put it this way, if you were old enough to remember being told, you were too old) as part of her life story and weave it into conversations. However, she is now of an age where she is looking around and adding things up. She tells me that she is happy I have brown eyes, like her. I think our discussions about Maisy, and her being in China, also has Libby thinking. Sometimes I wish I could go into her head and see what she is processing.

On a different note, Libby wanted to make Dada a heart for his birthday. We met friends Michelle and Malia at Paint Your Plate last week to do so. I had hoped for a simple heart shaped plate, which they did not have. Dada will be getting a heart shaped jewelry box instead :)

We did not get into our pre-k school as we had hoped. Ironically, it is our neighborhood school, so it is guaranteed for kindergarten. The competition for this pre-k is fierce as it is a good program, is 5 mornings a week, and free. We are 3rd on the list, which would appear great, and yet they did not give us a lot of hope that we would get in because it so coveted. I am going to remain cautiously optimistic while checking out other options.

We met my nephew, his wife and their two children on Sunday at the Children's Museum. They live in Hibbing and had never been there before. Seeing if from fresh eyes helps remember how wowed I was the first time I went there. We still love it to pieces, but it is nice to appreciate how fortunate we are to have it so close by. Shout out to nephew and family to come for a visit this summer!

All in all, life is good as we begin the countdown to summer, and our journey to our next daughter.

Chicago, Chicago, that Toddlin' Town

The long armed family photo

Under the Bean

What an adventure! First off, we really needed a family vacation. It has been quite a year so far, and it was nice that the three of us got to spend some quality family time together. Eric had never been to Chicago, but I had been there many times in my woolly youth, and let's say, did not see the "family" side of it. Turned out to be a great place for a vacation.

Amtrak: Our fare was very reasonable for RT fares. It was a total of $280 for all three of us! We wanted a practice run for Libby for when we go to China and this was going to be as close as we could get to a confined space and an 11 hour flight to Tokyo. However, the train has much more leg room than any plane and being able to get up and walk around was wonderful. Also, each seat had a plug in, so when we needed the DVD player, we did not have to worry about the battery. There were interesting people on the trip both ways, but overall, no scary people or anything to worry about. Libby did great, but by the return trip home, was pretty much done in.

Relaxing on the train

Embassy Suites: Highly recommend this hotel in Chicago. We had a very nice size room. We were centrally located to most of Chicago's attractions, plus had a grocery store across the street. We had a complementary full breakfast, including cooked to order food. Each evening, there was a managers reception with free cocktails and snacks. It was nice to be able to relax with a glass of wine and not be in a bar, and to feel very comfortable. Another plus was the pool, which we often had to ourselves. Libby loved it and it certainly improved her comfort level with swimming.

We had a great time at Navy Pier, and Libby enjoyed the Children Museum, but her favorite place was Millennium Park, especially the Bean and the fountain with the faces. However, she announced one day she did not want to go on an adventure. I sat down to talk with her and she asked me where Merfi, Merlie and her bed were. Turns out she missed all of them. We were still able to have fun for the rest of the trip, but it was obvious her heart was in St. Paul.

The Children Museum's pirate ship

The fountain at Millennium Park

Our least favorite part of the trip was Chicago's Chinatown. It did not compare at all to San Francisco's and we got more stares in our one hour there than we did in all the time we were in China. It was an uncomfortable experience, except at the Chinatown Fire Station, where they were very kind and friendly.

Driving the Chinatown fire truck

Although you cannot prepare for everything, we can now try and prepare for how Libby will react while we are in China and hopefully do a good job in making her feel secure and still have fun. I love my guy and my girl and can hardly wait until we have one more girl in our little family.

LOA!

We are beyond thrilled to announce that we got the call today that we have our Letter of Acceptance! This was our next giant hurdle and so glad we have made it! Eric will be picking up the packet at Children's Home. It will be more information for us to fill out (we are experts now) and also something very special. It will have instructions for us to finally send our care package to Maisy and her foster family! I have had the items together in a box for months, and can hardly wait to ship them. We have included:

1 Hat
1 Dress w/leggings
1 White sweater
1 Romper outfit
1 Lamb picked out by Libby
1 Bunny blanket
1 Soft fluffy blanket
1 Photo album filled with pictures of family

We will also include gifts for the foster family, and I am putting those items together to include.

We would love to push it and ask for another round of updates, but do not want to rock the boat. When we get our Travel Approval, we will ask again at that time. This is quite common, and her SWI seems receptive, so we can only hope that they respond with updated measurements and pictures.

Please keep Maisy in your thoughts and prayers that she is thriving and being cared for and loved. We will be over the moon if we get to meet our little girl by the end of this summer.

Big Bottom Girls

Libby and Boo, who was our house guest for a week.


Lovely day with Libby at Como today despite the rain. Miss Libby is always able to give me a giggle, even when quite inappropriate. While at the sunken garden in the conservatory, I hear this: "MOM, there is a naked statue in the water, and she has a BIG, naked bottom". Telling her to hush only gets me "Does she toot out of that bottom?" Anyone, anyone, when does this fascination end?

We have had a rough week in our house. Hopefully, all things are back on track. The big storm two nights ago was almost the final straw for me. Merlie the Dog is petrified of thunder. When the storm began, she was in the bed, on top of me, drooling in my face and whining. Somewhere in the night, Libby had already snuck into our bed. I thought I could get us all settled if I brought Merlie to Libby's room and the two of us slept there. Unfortunately, Merlie did not settle, and Libby woke up and began calling for me at the top of her lungs. Merlie and I went back to our bed, and I ended up with Libby's arms wrapped around my neck, Merfi the Cat on my tummy, and Merlie at my feet. Eric tried to get Merfi to come to him, but nope. I was hanging off of the bed for most of the night and actually had big black circles under my eyes the next day!

Libby and cookies she helped to make

Today I went to a local department stores to help update my "Garanimals" wardrobe for our trip to China. You want to pack lightly for international travel, but also should have enough clothes if you need them. At some point, I will put in here a copy of a packing list for travel to China with you, spouse, daughter and new daughter in mind. It's a humdinger! Anyway, my store credit card had expired (only use it once a year for the big sale, and then pay it off), but if you signed up again, you got 20% off, plus the coupon for 25% off if you had a card, on top of the sale prices! I saved a TON of money, and got things that really work well together. Now, I just need that travel approval so I can get the suitcases down and get this show on the road! :)

Libby and Lexa dressed up for the ball.