My Family

Anna Lin made this picture for me the other day. I sat at the table watching her draw it. First she drew Momma, then Daddy, then Zak, Spencer and Noah. She pointed out who everyone was. "This is Momma. This is Daddy. This is Zak. This is Spence and this is Noah" Then she held it out, look at it and declared, "my family." My heart was exploding with joy over how she has come to be our daughter. I said to her, "But there is a problem." She looked at me, eyebrows furrowed, "What?" "Someone is missing," I said. "You are not in the picture and you are part of the family." She smiled then looked puzzled. There just was not a lot of space left in the picture. Where would she go. Oh ever so clever is my Anna Lin. She said to me, "Can I be the baby and you hold me?" I smiled and said, "Yes, you can be a baby and I will hold you." So, she drew my little arms and put herself right inside them. I personally think that is such a wonderful place for her to be. :-) She then found a Chiquita Banana sticker from our bananas and wanted to put it on there for a job well done!

Later she drew another picture. This time we turned the page horizontally. She drew momma, daddy, herself and the boys. Then she added Grandma Jeri and Grandpa Ray. She said she would like to include Uncle Dave, Aunt Kelly and the girls but didn't have room. Too sweet.

No we haven't fallen off the face of the earth...

We are still here, alive and well. Just been busy. The school year has always been our busiest time. Emails do not get sent, along with email replies. Phone calls made are few and far between. And now we can add that postings do not get posted. :-) We trudge through the week only for the weekends to fly by. I'll do my very, very, very best to post this weekend. ...But here are few recent pics.

-Angi



Here are Anna Lin and cousin Sarah Ann at gymnastics. Anna Lin fell in love with gymnastics after picking up big cousin Nicole one Saturday. This was her third week and I am amazed at her progress. It was all she could do to get a foot up to the bar this first visit.

What a big brother does...

Hmmm... What do big brother's do for their little sister? Well, it depends on the big brother. If it is Zak, our 15 year old, then it involves good mornings, hellos, pats on the backs, occasional hugs, and kisses good night. I think at first Zak was not sure of what to do with this little girl who has come into our home. He has since warmed up nicely to her, even to the point of sharing his guitar with Anna Lin. (OK, so she made it known that he would share the guitar with her. But she didn't just want him to hold it while she strummed, AL wanted him to strum too.) It just so happens that now AL has her own guitar. Or, at least she thinks that. :-) She liked for Zak to hold his string instrument like a lap guitar while she plucked and strummed. (Reminded me of a zither and I believe its called a guzheng in China. This is a long, 3 -4 ft, instrument usually placed on a special platform to play.) Well, while in Toys R Us today we found a small lap harp which Anna Lin fell in love with. ...And of course we just 'had' to buy it. She plucked that harp all the way home, grinning from ear to ear all the while jabbering about how she had a guitar like Zak now and she was going to show Zak her guitar. (OK, now this wasn't all in English, but I could get the gist of the point from hearing lots of 'wu' (I or me), Zak, guitar and lots of giggles of glee.

One of the reasons we went to Toys R Us today was because one of AL's big brothers. Number two son Spencer has a CD player that he takes with him every time he's in the car. About a week ago, he decided to show her what it was and shared his ear buds (ear phones) with her. Yeah, here they were sitting next to each other with one of them holding the player and the ear buds stretched out between them. (Where was that camera when I needed it!) So, we went to the store to get a CD player for The Princess. (...because while I love my son, his teenage angst music now-a-days called Emo for emotion, is just not what I would like the little miss to be listening to.) Well, not a problem. We found a Hello Kitty portable CD player that has worked out quite nicely. After we came home she listened to it all afternoon. (Sometimes while playing her lap harp.) She listened to music and then to a "Five Little Monkeys" CD that came with a book Ms. Janet gave her. AL listened to it for hours, exclaiming "five monkeys," "five monkeys sleeping," and "five monkeys jumping" at various intervals while displaying numbers on her fingers.

What else does a big brother like Spencer do? He has gotten into a bad habit of picking on her: poking her, patting her on the head, taking her toys, anything to tease her and irritate her. (Hey wait a minute! That's what he does to us! OK he doesn't take my toys but he does take his dad's.) One of the especially fun tricks he is known to do consists of taking her little stroller and bear. Then he zooms around the house with her in hot pursuit. Last night he decided to stop the shenanigans when I got out the camera to get a shot. However, The Princess insisted. AL took his hands and put them on the stroller so he would push it with her. (Too cute!) He is now watching Little Bear with her while I'm typing. He does have the laptop with him, so he can multi-task. However, I have observed him watching some of the show too and smiling. :-)



So, what do you do if you are the big brother number three? Is there anything else you can do with the little sister? If you are Noah, then the answer is yes. Noah plays the most with her. He likes active and rough 'n' tumble play: building with blocks, playing with balls, wrestling around, and just being silly. When they are together they are usually loud (LOUD) and there are lots of thumps, plus lots of giggles. The other night he introduced a new kind of fun: hiding. He brought two blankets down and they wrapped them over their heads like hoods. Then the two of them ran around the house, occasionally opening up the blankets to see where they were going or to surprise anyone they ran past. At one point she picked up the laundry basket and ran around with that on her head. (Again too cute!)



What does a big brother do? If you are in our house, he gives you kisses, hugs, and pats on the head and back. He teases you, but you love it even when you put your hands on your hips and give him 'the look.' He introduces you to new 'toys' like CD players and guitars. He plays with you, teaching you hide n seek among other fun things to do. He also tells mom when you need something just in case you didn't hear.

- Angi

Thank you for your prayers and gifts!

We are so blessed! We have received many prayers and gifts for our sweet Anna Lin to welcome her into our family, to welcome her to The States, and to help her have a new beginning with us. On Tuesday, Ric's work gave a shower for Anna Lin. She did really well. She was very nervous at first as she walked into a building she had never been to before. I did tell her it was where Daddy worked. We picked up Daddy then walked down a hallway into another room with a lot of people in it, decorated in teddy bears and balloons. Once we sat down and began opening presents, she warmed up. The first few presents we opened, then after say number four AL took over and put her heart into it. :-) We have been so blessed by the generosity of the people at Ric's workplace, having received presents before we left for China, then continuing up until and after the shower. We are so grateful to be a part of this family of people.

AL loves all of the gifts received. She loves the LeapPad early learning systems, having great fun with learning the alphabet and her numbers. (She especially loves to count!) The clothes were perfect. Anna Lin thoroughly enjoyed unpacking, untagging, and putting the clothes in her closet. She takes one of the white bears from the shower for a walk daily in the little purple stroller. The rest of the bears sit in her room waiting for their turn at play. We were thankful for the receipts given, which helped us take the duplicate items back. (Several stores will not allow you to return an item now without a receipt (Ex: ToysRUs).) Target gave us a gift card for the duplicate presents returned, which we then added to ALL of the other Target gift cards we received. (Again, we are SOOOO blessed by your generosity!) Then AL and I went shopping (again!), mainly buying clothes for the fall and winter, plus a 'few' shoes. (Ric seems to think we have reached AL's shoe quota now!) We used money received to buy music CD's and Winnie the Pooh "Word Adventure" DVD's to name a few things. (They have some really nice ones on opposites and shapes, etc.) Anna Lin loves Winnie the Pooh and is especially fond of Tigger. Ric has been teaching her to say "TTFN, ta ta for now" along with some Tigger sound effects. By the way, the boys loved the left over food and I loved not cooking that night! :-) Thanks so much!

We have also received many presents and well wishing from friends, family and neighbors. The wonderful people from my work place (school and district) gave us a shower back before school let out in May. Again, we are truly blessed to have such wonderful and generous family and friends (which includes co-workers!). A couple of weeks ago we opened and put together a huge doll house given to us from some of the great people I work with. I was then able to use some gift cards for 'house accessories' that AL was just thrilled with, along with filling it with dolls given to AL by a friend. We use many of the toys, books, coloring sets with The Princess daily. The generosity of the my co-workers also helped us get Anna Lin's room all decorated before we left for China.

Thank you to one and all for your generosity and prayers to our family and new daughter. We are blessed to have your help.

-Angi

Aliens?!?!?!?!?

Have these two characters been body snatched by aliens???? Sometimes I do wonder... But for now they have just been eating blue snow cones at the local zoo. The snow cones were a nice cool treat after a walk around the park and then a ride on the carousel. AL's favorite animals are: the elephants (...which she has to point out that there are three and try to show three with her fingers. She apparently learned to show three as thumb and first two fingers, but thinks it is neat the way mommy & daddy do it and tries real hard.), the monkeys, the penguins, and the farm animals. She can say 'three elephants' and 'monkeys' without prompt, and actually called me a monkey at one time with lots of silly giggling afterwards.

-Angi

The Princess Diaries - Week Two

Well, we view her as The Princess in our home! :-) Lately, whenever someone has called to ask how things are going with Anna Lin my response is one of many positive adjectives: good, great, just fine, just dandy, wonderful, etc., etc., etc. Our experience with Miss Anna Lin, alias The Princess, has been so beyond our expectations. I can only say good things about it because there isn't anything happening outside of what could be viewed as normal for this great big change we have all undertaken. We are truly blessed. I feel sure that The Big Guy upstairs has a guardian angel specially assigned to her. Each day gets better and better. We understand each other more now than ever, regardless of language. We have a schedule. We have rules and expectations. We spend lots of time together. And most importantly we are consistent. I think this helps the most. All kids need these things, but AL needs it more because of the changes she has been through. She needs to feel loved and secure, being able to trust in what tomorrow will bring and that we will be there. She loves the boys and the boys have grown to love her. I'm amazed that they can still smile and laugh at the things only she can do. She hugs and kisses them, and they hug and kiss back. (Though occasionally I hear Spencer say, "Uh, I don't think so" with a sneaky smile right before he gives into to a hug.) Noah has enjoyed taking her swimming. The older guys feel they are too cool or too busy to be bothered with swimming, so they stay at home. Noah & I also introduced her to the play ground in the neighborhood, which is a great one. Ric and I took her again last night and had a great time. They have one of those talking tubes there and she thought that was hilarious! I love the picture of her with her head buried in it.

She continues to do well when we go out and about. I was at Sam's the other day when an elderly man approached us, or rather her as she was sitting in the cart. He was talking to her and she did really well. Didn't get upset, though she was on guard and surely wished he would step back a few feet. (Yes, he was touching her dress, tell her she was pretty.) She said something to him in Chinese and of course, he didn't understand. He looked at me and said, "What did she say?" I then explained, brief and simple, she did not speak English and had only been home in the States a couple of weeks. Of course, the questions followed and I tried to answer them, again as brief and simple as possible. We were in a checkout line and as we moved up in the line, he moved up too. By the time I was paying for my stuff he was asking what opthomologist we saw and suggested his doctor as well. :-) I have to tell you that if it were not for spending time with my grandfather before he passed away, I would not have been able to handle that as well. My Grandpa Jimmy would talk to any and everyone, anywhere. And heaven forbid if you were a teenage boy who was tall and thin. He was sure you played basketball. He would then head down memory lane to his own basketball days in college where him and another Italian-American would speak Italian or Spanish while playing, giving signals to each other while others couldn't understand. Now this happened several times at BiLo with him on the electric scooter heading down one aisle or another, of course with myself and three little boys in tow. He would then remind me that if I would only have a few more boys I would have my own basketball team. Fond memories. (Along with Grandpa Jimmy calling my youngest Moses instead of Noah. He knew it was an Old Testament name!) But I digress. ;-)

So, AL is doing well! We continued visiting Miss Debbie this week and by Friday she was out of my lap in 5 minutes, playing with the toys. (Miss Debbie will watch AL when I go back to work.) I still haven't left her there on her own, but I have two weeks left before I go back to work and feel we have enough time to handle that. She feels comfortable there now and I know she will be fine. Friday, AL approached Debbie to ask about things or show her what she made with the blocks and even called a few of the kids by their names while trying to help them out.

Oh, she's the helper alright. Today we met a friend of ours who has also adopted from China just a year ago at the Zoo. My Anhui Angel and her Guangdong Girl got along just dandy. Within minutes of meeting, Anna Lin took Mary Claire by the hand and headed for the entrance of the Zoo. (A little side note here... In the world of China adoption many people has coined cute names for children from certain provinces. We tend to bond together by province and by orphanage. MC is from Guangdong province and AL is from Anhui. There's your interesting tidbit for the day, or should I say week now. ;-) While we stopped for a drink, AL took to taking care of MC's sippy cup. If she wanted the lid off, then AL would take it off even if MC asked for mom to do it. (I swear AL will be a teacher or a general. Both have similar personality traits!). Later we ate lunch out and then flew paper airplanes that Anna Lin made while waiting to leave the restaurant. She explained in great detail what MC needed to do to fly the plane and showed her. It was soooo cute! Later AL didn't like that MC had taken off her shoes, so proceeded to tell her about it and put the shoes on her feet. To MC's mom's astonishment, she let her. Now Sherrell had tried several times to get MC to put those shoes on but the two-year old toddler was trying to strike a pose as Miss Independent USA. I am eagerly awaiting the photos so I can post them. I, once again forgot my camera. (That is just sooo me! And if you are a relative of mine you know this!)

It was a nice visit. We did it early since both of our beauties are up early. Thus we avoided big crowds at the Zoo and the wonderful heat that comes with a Southern August afternoon. Mary Claire gave Anna Lin a set of five little dolls. 'Kelly' dolls, little sister of Barbie. AL just loved them. Of course when we got home we spent about 15 - 20 minutes getting them out of the box and ready to be played with. I am amazed at how much they can tie up the things that come with dolls! They sew their hair so it doesn't get messed up, have metal twisty ties around their bodies, and little rubber bands everywhere plus tape. These things are sooo secure. I'm sure the government has something to do with this! Well the new little dolls prompted Ric & I to get out The Loving Family doll house friends of mine had given AL as a shower present. Oh boy, oh boy! Had she died and gone to heaven. Now, not only did she have this three story doll house, which came with a family of Mom, Dad, little girl, and twin babies, AL also had five little 'Kelly's Friends' dolls. And she was able to fit all of them into the house. At one point, she fit all of them into one room of the house too. Several times Mom was seated at the computer desk that came with the house. Ric got a kick out of that! He tried to ask her who the dolls were (the little Kelly dolls). At first she didn't understand. Then I went around going "Who is this? I am Mommy. Who is this? It is Daddy. Etc. Then I went to the dolls and said "Who is this? Oh, this is Nicole. or this is Sarah Ann. Or this is Mary Claire. She understood then and got a kick out of it, giggling at her silly MaMa. AL is now asleep with three of the little dolls on the pillow beside her. Why do I have a feeling she won't come out of her room in the morning, but I will hear her playing with the dolls. :-)


-Angi

"What are YOU doing?"

That's most of the conversation I have with AL on the phone during the week. Angi calls me at work sometimes during the day or I call home to see how things are. I hear "BaBa!" in the background and Angi puts her on the phone. She gets on the phone and says "BaBa!" then giggles in a way only she can. It makes me smile... The same way that I smile when I hear my three boys say something in a way that only they can say it. Life is good sometimes. After the phone introductions with AL we have a conversation that starts off with me asking her what she's been doing which results in us saying back and forth repeatedly, "What are YOU doing?" With emphasis on the word "You." Then we will play a phone tennis match with the phrase "You're silly." But when she says it, it sounds like she has a British accent; "You're Sully!" It's cute yes but of course we have to move on. Now we have added "You're goofy!" The giggles continue and then she excitedly starts to tell me something in Chinese and I of course do the usual, "really?" Until she runs out of gas and then it's "Let me speak to MaMa." I love progress.

Then there is the communication at home. I arrive home from work one day with AL greeting me at the door with a toy bicycle that came with an action figure one of the boys used to have. She was fascinated with it and showed it to me. After dinner we were sitting at the table and she pointed at different parts on the bicycle and in Chinese she was saying, (I assume), "what's this?" So I pointed at the part she was inquiring about and named it. Handles, handlebar, brakes, wheels, tires, chain, headlight, etc... We went through every part of that bicycle. She showed me how she could spin the wheels and we took turns spinning the wheels. Then she kept putting a pencil next to the bike and leaning the bike towards it. She was saying something in Chinese waiting for me to get it. She would stop to let me think and then she would do the whole thing over again. She's a smart girl. She saw the wheels turning in my head. It took me a little while but then it dawned on me... "kickstand." The toy bicycle didn't have a kickstand. So I said, "Oh, kickstand?", while I made the motion of the bike leaning against the pencil. She nodded her head in agreement. An understanding was made. Progress... This is how we are communicating. When I named the bike parts she repeated them the best she could in English. She likes to learn and is very willing.

I know she gets frustrated when she is trying to explain something or ask a question in Chinese. But she doesn't really show it. She is very patient and works with us to sort it out. We have different methods which include hand motions, pictures, and having her show us or take us to what she is talking about. We do know a limited amount of the Chinese words or phrases she uses. But like I said, it's limited. She is still picking up more words everyday. Now SHE's saying no. Angi took her to a store yesterday and would show her something. Anna Lin would say "no" if she wasn't interested. ("I was getting a little frustrated because she was passing on some cute purses! I mean this was a big warehouse sale. Shopping 101 silly girl. You always say yes!" -Angi) Angi said the people at the store were laughing at her cuteness and talking about her being a girly girl. All in all it's going pretty good on the communication side.

Now...what have WE been doing? I'm not sure how many people are reading this anymore but if you still are you have probably been wondering where we've been. One, if we posted about everyday like we were it would be a bit monotonous because it isn't like the day by day excitement in China. (Between the trip to another country and meeting our daughter, we definatley had a lot to say!) Two, it's been very busy since we've been home especially with me at work, the boys in school, and keeping up with little bit. I have not been feeling well at all for about a week. I've pretty much been coming home and going to bed. Not too good. Angi was sick the first week back and has been busy with AL. She does not like to be on the computer when AL is up and at 'em because that takes time away from her. So, like I said we have been busy... We'll do our best to keep this going but it will probably be on a weekly basis, unless something big happens.

Group Hug Part II - I also continue to be humbled and touched by the people who come up to me at work and even when we're out that ask how we're doing and congratulating us. It is unexpected but that's what makes it so touching. We have a lot of great support out there and I can't tell you how much we appreciate it. I have also been overwhelmed by all of your generosity. We live in a world where the focus is usually on all of the bad but I continue to see an abundance amount of good around us. The blessings we have help make us who we are...

- Ric
(Very good post sweetie! I've edited only a tad. ;-) -Angi)

We've been home one week now..

I just can't believe we've been home one week now. It just doesn't seem possible that only a week ago yesterday we were being picked up at the airport. I think the three of us are feeling normal again, sleeping regularly and through the night. Yes, all three of us. Ric and I feel so blessed that Anna Lin sleeps through the night. She even lays in her bed in the morning quietly until we get up. Amazing! No one got up earlier than 9 am this weekend, which I certainly didn't expect from this little girl. Now things may change in the future, but it sure was nice getting all those Zzzz's.

Anna Lin is doing great. She is at about the same point as far as English is concerned. She is repeating words and phrases, but not to the point of having a conversation or verbal interaction. It takes time and it's only been 1 week in the US. Yes, we were with her almost two weeks in China, but it wasn't until we came to The States that English took a priority in communicating with people. Language acquisition takes time, but the more she hears it the better.

She is doing somewhat better around people. She is fine when we go out to eat (which has been quite a lot lately!). However, when we get around other people that try to interact with her she clams up and is almost at the point of tears if people try to touch her. If you just give her some space she is fine, but don't try to push some interaction or touching. You have to leave that up to her and if she doesn't want it, then it isn't going to happen. We decided to wait on going to church and I am glad. We know many people will notice and ask about her, and say hello. We just didn't feel ready for that challenge yet. I think this was a good choice since we stopped by my brother's house earlier today and that turned out to be quite difficult which I really didn't expect. Anna Lin clinged to Ric with all her might and didn't want a thing to do with anyone. (This is what she does when we visit Miss Debbie. I just figured this was isolated to Miss Debbie's house because of the kids she watches, etc.) It took almost an hour for Anna Lin to loosen up and finally drank some yogurt drink that Aunt Kelly gave her. When we said it was time to leave, she hopped up saying "Goodbye" with big waves and big smiles. Sarah Ann opened her arms and asked for a hug. Anna Lin went over and gave her one. She loves these girls, but it will still take some time for her to get an understanding of this whole new world. In China she just didn't go visiting one friend's house then go off to another. She probably rarely left the orphanage.

She has taken an interest in books just recently, which thrills me (...as an educator and librarian of course!). I think seeing the boys with their books helped. She began reaching for the books Zak was reading in the car. If she could read it then she would know how to play several card games by now. :-) So next ride we took I had a couple board books on hand for her. Anna Lin loved these, and later at home explored the books in her room with more interest. One was a counting book, which she likes. She can count to five in English very clearly, then repeats the other numbers. There are five ducks in the story and you can move a wheel to make the ducks move on the last page. Anna Lin likes to change the number of ducks so Mom will ask, "One duck! Only one duck! Where are the other ducks?" ...and so on and so on. She loves to play 'Where is it?" games. At the hotel in China she would hide something and I would walk around with my hands up in the air saying, 'Where is it? Is it here? Nooooo. Is it here? Noooo", etc.

The boys are doing well with her, and doing well in general. She loves Noah since he plays with her the most, but has also grown fond of Spencer & Zak. I believe these two big boys have grown fond of her too. They smile and laugh at her and her four-year old antics. Many people have told us what a good thing we have done for her, adopting her, etc. We just don't think of it that way at all. We were a family wanting a little girl, and saw her as a little girl wanting a family. I can't help but think of how blessed we are that she has come into our lives. I've seen more smiles on our boys faces in the past seven days than I've seen in a good while. Not that they were unhappy. They are just teenage boys totally engrossed in their own lives and you know that us parents know nothing whatsoever and are only put here on earth to torture them. :-)

Tonight Zak played soccer with Anna Lin. She was chasing him throughout the house. It was adorable. And I never realized how good Zak could control a soccer ball. AL giggled, squealed, and staggered, giggled and staggered some more in an effort to try to get the ball. She was so tired that she just seemed to fall down every other minute. Noah got into the game, then I did (more as referee and safety person for AL as she seems to fall into everything!).

Well, I know there is so much more I planned on sharing, but time is ticking and the alarm will go off at 6 am. I'm amazing at how much a four-year old can wear me out. Both Ric and I have noticed that our legs seem more fatigued than ever! But she is worth it!

Angi