Hello everyone! Hope you are all enjoying your summer. We are having a great summer so far. We just went to Pennsylvania for a week, on a camping trip. We stayed at a cute place, called Lake-in-Wood Camping Resort, right in the heart of Pennsylvania Dutch Country.

We weren't sure how Abby would respond to camping life in the popup, but she LOVED it. In fact, her favorite thing to do was to climb up onto the bunk wing and roll off onto the bed below, and crawl back up to do it again and again.....endless entertainment! Not to mention that her PT would have been proud to see all that climbing. We sure were! :)

And Emily had a great time, too. Her favorite things about the trip were visiting Dutch Wonderland Amusement Park, having campfires, eating s'mores, and OF COURSE whoopie pies (which you can only find in Pennsylvania)...yummmmm....She liked the whoopie pies so much that she even made up a song about them...an ode to the whoopie pie, as sung by a 4 year old. :)

We tied this trip into an informal reunion with some of my college friends. We met up at the college, with all of our kids in tow. It was so nice to introduce Abby to everyone. And it was great to see Elizabethtown again, and to see all that has changed (which is a lot) and all that has remained the same (which was, in it's own way, comforting). I sincerely love my college friends, and am so grateful that we have continued to keep in touch throughout the years, making a point of getting together at least once a year. I think we are even thinking about a group camping trip to Knoebel's for next year. Should be fun.

Anyway, here are some pictures from our camping trip. Our campground had a gnome theme, which explains a couple of the pictures. Anyway, enjoy! :)

The pictures in the last post were at my parent's house. Here is a bonus picture. It was taken at our house, in the playroom, with the girls at Emily's art desk. Emily is quite the artist, always working on something new. After she is done with her latest masterpiece, she tapes her work up on the wall. Then we have walk-through art exhibits, usually videotaped, where she interprets her art work for us, as some of it is definitely abstract. :)

Hello everyone! I know, I know, it's been too long! We've just been busy, enjoying our newly expanded family. Abby is doing GREAT! Physically, she has made so many new milestones and will be caught up to her peers before we know it. Her latest feat.....climbing the stairs! And quickly! Now that she has accomplished this, it is all she wants to do.

For the 4th of July weekend, we went up to my parents' summer place in Vermont. Their house is on a lake, and the girls had a fantastic time swimming and playing in the sand on the little beach. In fact, Emily enjoyed the water so much that we thought she was going to turn into a fish, sometimes staying in the water for 7 hours at a time, only coming out for the occasional meal or snack.

The following Tuesday, Mike, Abby and I came home and Emily stayed behind with her grandparents for a week of bonding with Grandma and Pop Pop. She was so excited, but it was hard for us, since we had never been separated from her for more than a day. Anyway, she had a wonderful time...something she will never forget. And it was good for us too, as we had never had time alone with just Abby. And the week of just the two of us with Abby really helped her bond even more closely with the her Mommy and Daddy.

Abby's therapies finally started this week, and she has been doing great! The PT is amazed by how quickly she is catching up, and says that Abby is very motivated to learn. She is also quite the daredevil, and likes to show off. (i.e. the PT will ask her to do something, and Abby will do it...only head first at top speed and with no hands! Aaaggghhh!) The speech therapist has been teaching her (and us) some baby sign language to help ease her transition into the English language, and Abby seems to be picking that up quickly. There's no doubt about it...she is VERY smart and the wheels are always turning. We call her our "Chinese firecracker". She is so funny, but definitely has a spitfire personality. Sounds like another little girl we know. :) :)

Anyway, I will be posting some pictures from the past couple of weeks.

Princess Abby....


Abby wears her sandwich well...



More Abby...



Artist Emily.....



Emily the Fish....



Emily and Pop Pop on the hammock...

Hello all! This week, Abby had some more medical tests. On Saturday, she needed to get bloodwork done, since she hadn't had any bloodwork done yet here in the states. OMG!!! It was HORRIBLE! She has teeny tiny little veins and any time she would squirm at all, they would lose the vein and have to start over...so in order to complete one blood draw they had to stick her 6 TIMES! Her arms are so beaten up now with huge black and blue marks all over. I feel so bad. Hopefully we won't need anymore bloodwork for a while. She was so scared that it took 4 adults to hold her down and we were all drenched with sweat by the time it was over. Glad that's over!

Then yesterday was the EEG (to check her brainwaves and look for seizure activity). She was really scared at first when they were sticking the leads to her head because she didn't know what was happening (I think she was convinced they would stick her with more shots). Once she realized that no shots were involved, Abby settled down and was SOOOOO good for the test. :)

Then today we had Abby's follow-up appointment with the neurologist. So the results are in and...............drumroll please....................Everthing is NORMAL. Abby has a good, healthy brain. Apparently, she never had an injury AT ALL, and she doesn't appear to have a seizure disorder. Apparently, the seizure was a one time fluke. The neurologist said that small children can have a seizure even when there is no seizure disorder...from a fever or from other "triggers". She didn't have a fever at the time, but maybe just the stress of the transition set it off. And as for the benign external hydrocephalus.........apparently all that means is that Abby was born with a big head and that as a result, there is a little extra fluid that has collected to fill the space between her brain and skull. Kids get this when they have a big head, and big heads run in the family so this is quite common. And when I say big, it isn't really big. It's just that her body is in the 20th percentile for height and weight and her head is in the 50th percentile. So as she gets older, things will become more proportional and the fluid will dissipate- will be gone by the time she is 3 years old.

So, this whole thing is just so strange. What it boils down to is that Abby was put on the special needs list all because she has a big head. No problems, just a big noggin. Jeesh!

So Abby had her PT evaluation yesterday. It went pretty well, but he thinks (as do I) that she can definitely benefit from OT. He said (just like the neurologist) that all of Abby's reflexes are good and he does not think there are any neurological problems. He thinks she is totally normal except for the "orphanage delay". He said she will probably totally catch up to her peers within a very short period of time. Sounds good. :)

The speech therapist and teacher that came on Wednesday were also really nice. The teacher was a native Chinese (Mandarin) speaker, which helped in getting a better picture of Abby's verbal skills. It turns out that she's been using quite a few Mandarin phrases/ requests that we did not understand, such as "Pick me up." and "I want to take this." The speech therapist said that Abby's receptive skills are good and she can follow verbal directions in English quite well, but speech therapy will help her to catch up to her peers with her speaking skills.

Emily's also doing great. She had her dance recital a couple of weeks ago and had a great time (though she has decided she would rather try a different activity next school year, instead of dance class). I was sort of sad about this, but for totally selfish reasons. She looked adorable up on that stage. But I won't force her into anything. Right now she seems interested in either karate or gymnastics, so we will likely try one of these out.

I am posting some recent pictures of the girls and Emily's recital (below).

Hello everyone! Sorry I’ve been such a slacker with this blog lately, but things have been really busy!!! The jet lag is long gone and we have definitely settled into our routine. I had no idea how much of an adjustment it would be going from a one child family to a two child family. Abby is on the move….ALL THE TIME! :) :) I think I forgot how energetic toddlers are! But things have been great! Emily’s been such a great sister and the sibling jealousy episodes have been few and far between. Emily loves to help with everything and one day pronounced to me “I am sooooo happy. I LOVE having a baby sister in the house!”

As for Abby, she is making incredible gains each day. As you all know, we adopted her through a special needs program, and we went into this adoption expecting her to potentially have some degree of cerebral palsy, which would most likely affect her motor skills and coordination.

Since we've been back, we've had her evaluated by several doctors and specialists. As it turns out, she does not have CP at all, but has what they call an "orphanage delay". When we first met her, Abby was VERY weak (but many kids are “low tone” coming from the orphanage, as they haven’t had a chance to practice their physical skills)....so our pediatric neurologist suggested that we contact early intervention to set up evaluations and get her whatever therapies Abby might need to catch up. She also said that she expected Abby to catch up quickly to her peers.

Then we scheduled an MRI to look closely at the brain, and an EEG to check for seizure activity (as she has had one known seizure). So I called early intervention right away, and about 1 ½ weeks later, our service coordinator came to the house. Then yesterday, Abby was evaluated by both a speech therapist and an EI teacher (to get an overall developmental assessment). This afternoon, the physical therapist comes to do his evaluation.

On Tuesday, Abby had her MRI- which went smoothly. She had to be put under general anesthesia, which wasn’t fun (as Abby HATED the I.V. and fought with everything she had), but we made it through. Last night, we got the results back (the neurologist called), and it turns out that her brain looks NORMAL!!!!! The only thing they saw is called benign external hydrocephalus. Basically, there is a little bit of extra fluid in her skull. Sometimes kids with larger than average size heads have this extra fluid to fill the space between the brain and the skull. It could be caused by an injury or can just happen if large heads run in the family. The neurologist said that this usually resolves on its own by about 2-3 years of age....and that this is no cause for concern/ is fairly common. No intervention necessary. They will just do check ups on her, from time to time. Whew!!! Sometimes kids with this are prone to seizure, but it could be that once this fluid goes away, she will never have another seizure again. Well, I guess we'll have a better idea after the EEG.

As for her progress, I have to laugh…because since requesting her early intervention evaluations 3 weeks ago, Abby has met many of her developmental milestones on fast-forward. By the time the therapy is set up, she might not need it anymore. LOL! Let’s see….we’ve had her home for less than a month and here is her before and after:

Before (when we first adopted her at 20 months), Abby:
-Could not move from lying down to sitting
-Could sit unsupported, but could be thrown off balance VERY easily
-Could not move from sitting to standing
-Could only walk while holding on to someone’s hands
-Could not catch herself when she fell from sitting or standing positions (would fall over in “one piece” and would whack her head)
-Could not crawl (would “inchworm” or move forward on belly “army style”)
-Could not pick up small objects with her hands- i.e. feed self Cheerios
-Could not drink
-Could barely support her own head

Today Abby (at 21 months):
-Crawls by herself
-Independently moves from lying down to sitting AND sitting to standing
-Has good sitting balance
-Walks by herself (no support), forwards, backwards , side to side, in circles, etc
-multitasks (walks while doing something else…i.e. playing with toy, clapping hands, etc)
-Can bend over (from standing position) to pick up object from floor without losing balance
-Can drink from cup, bottle, straw, sippy cup etc.
-Can feed self finger foods
-Is trying to climb onto furniture
-And when she does fall (which is becoming rarer all the time), she knows how to fall on butt or knees (appropriately), and can usually even catch herself and regain balance
-pushes rolling objects while standing (doll strollers or play shopping carts, etc)
-Is trying to walk up stairs

It is AMAZING. She has done met YEAR’S worth of milestones in the past few weeks. I am so excited to see what a few more weeks will bring…..maybe cartwheels or headstands? Heehee.

We are home (our flight came in at 10:30 pm on Wednesday, but by the time we got home and settled in, it was 2 am Thursday by the time we got to bed). Boy did it feel good to finally be on solid ground after 20 something hours in the air! I think it will be a while before we decide to get on another plane again, for anything.

We are soooooooooooooo jetlagged. It is unbelievable! I felt drugged all day...couldn't string a coherent sentence together.... and now here I am, at 1:30 am on Saturday, as wide awake and wired as can be. I figured that while I'm awake, I might as well add some more photos of the sights we saw it Guangzhou (our favorite locale during our adoption trip). We will definitely go back to Guangzhou (or "Canton", as we Westerners know it)....just no time soon...heehee. As mentioned above, it will probably take quite a while to get over such a long plane ride...or to even want to think about getting on a plane again.

Guangzhou has always been a popular home for artists. We saw art and sculptures all over Shamian Island in Guangzhou (where we were staying). Here are some examples:




There were beautiful gardens all around, like this one:



And beautiful buildings everwhere:





I hate to admit it, but after 10 plus days of withdrawal, we broke down and visited the local Starbucks. But it was a really nice Starbucks....unfortunately, just as expensive as in the States. Grrr...



But, staying in a 5 star hotel didn't hurt either. Here is a picture of the inside of our hotel...the White Swan Hotel. There was a beautiful waterfall inside with koi ponds below. Emily and Abby both loved looking at all the fish, and the sound of the waterfall was soooo peaceful:


Aaagghh. I miss Guangzhou!!!

Hello everyone! This will be our last post from China, as we are leaving for the U.S. early in the morning..............really early (leaving the hotel at 5:45 am China time)....yikes!

Anyway, on Monday I spent 3 hours in a meeting with our group (led by our guide, Connie), gathering, reviewing and filling out paperwork needed for our consulate appointment. By the time the meeting was over, we were STARVING. We, along with of our friends from the group- Kim, John and their kids Sebastian and Naomi (Emily's best friend here) decided to try out a local Thai restaurant for dinner. It was EXCELLENT and we really had a great time.

Yesterday, Tuesday, was a pretty low-key day. It was the day of our consulate appointment. Connie took all of our paperwork (completed on Monday) and went to the consulate interview/ appointment on our behalf...so we were not required to go. However, we needed to stay in the hotel room from 10-1:00, just in case the consulate had any questions and needed to call. We took that opportunity to start packing for our trip home Wednesday (although, admittedly, we were not that productive)...heehee. We spent most of the time watching Chinese VH1/MTV equivalents and Chinese soap operas. In the evening (at 5:45), we met up with some of the group and went for a dinner cruise on the Pearl River. The dinner portion of the cruise was, well....not so great. But that's ok. The ride itself was AMAZING. All the buildings along the river are lit up beautifully at night and there are lights along either side of the river, leading the way. It really was a beautiful cruise and a beautiful night. We had a great time with all of our new friends. There was music playing inside the boat and Emily and Naomi spent a good part of the ride running around the boat doing their own interpretive dance. Abby seemed to enjoy herself too, although she had a few cranky moments, as she is teething (getting a couple of molars)...but overall, she had a great time and spent most of the ride practicing her walking....first holding on to one finger on each of my hands, then letting go and just standing by herself (but making sure that Mommy stayed nearby). There was a cooler filled with ice cream novelties, and Abby kept running over to it and staring at the big picture of an ice cream cone on the side of the cooler. After the cruise, since none of us really ate anything, we were starving and decided as a group to go out for ice cream. There is a little deli/ shop next door to our hotel that sells homemade ice cream....really smooth and DELICIOUS...like gelato. We ordered 3 cones, one each for Mike, Emily and me.....I really should have ordered an extra for Abby, as she ate three quarters of my ice cream. Did we mention that Abby has a ravenous appetite.....? This kid eats more than Emily and I do combined. When we first met her a week ago, she had obviously been taken care of, but was the first baby we ever saw with ZERO fat on her at all. Now, only 9 1/2 days later, after many good-sized meals, while she is still small, Abby is already looking a lot stronger and healthier...and we have already nicknamed her our "happy Buddha". The "happy Buddhas" are the ones with the cute round bellies. :)

Anyway, last night, we stayed out with the group til about 10:30 or so, before returning to our rooms. I don't know if it was the ice cream or what, but Abby was WIRED! She just kept cruising in circles, giggling and walking laps around our bed until she finally conked out after midnight.

Today, was our infamous "red couch photo" and a trip to the US consulate for our "swearing in ceremony". This was it. Our last adoption step. Abby has her visa to enter the US and we are all set to come home. While we are happy to return home, we do feel a bit sad about leaving Abby's homeland. We have had such an amazing journey here...a truly incredible experience....and it is a bit sad to leave. We know that this adoption is a happy thing...that we have gained so much and are so lucky to have this beautful new daughter, and that on the flip side, Abby has now been united with her "forever family" and can now pursue all of her dreams in life. However, we do get sad when we think about all that she has lost at such a young age, and all that she is leaving behind when we board that plane for the U.S....this beautiful culture and beatiful country, her native language which will leave here all too quickly, a birth mother who loved her enough to make the ultimate sacrifice (and who will never know that her daughter is truly safe and happy), and caregivers who have loved and cared for her since the day after she was born. I know it is impossible, but I really wish there was some way I could thank Abby's birthmom for the incredible gift that she has given our family, and let her know that everything will be ok and that Abby will be loved. Again, we know that starting our new life together in the states is a happy thing. Abby fits into our family so well. It's like she has always been with us. "Adopted" or "biological" doesn't matter. She is ours, plain and simple , and she has already brought so much joy to our lives. We look forward to watching her grow up and reach her true potential in life.

We will be leaving for the US really early in the morning tomorrow (Wednesday), so this is our last travel posting. However, we will keep this blog going after we come home, with regular updates on the life and times of our family post-adoption. See you all soon!!!!!! :)

Pictures taken on the Pearl River dinner cruise:

Our "red couch photo". Some of the kiddos from our group are missing from the picture, as not everyone liked the red couch. It is a tradition of adoptive families staying at the White Swan Hotel in Guangzhou to have a photo taken of the groups' children on the red couch...for good luck, as red is a lucky color in China.

And here is a photo of our travel group: