The Jansen Five

Love Without Boundaries

2012-01-01T12:03:00.005-05:00

Introducing our Love Without Boundaries little guy that we are sponsoring in order for him to be placed with a foster family. He lives in Zhaotong, Yunnan. Bob was able to name him Michael. This little boy is just seven months old and is described as healthy. His orphanage has asked for him to enter our foster care program in Zhaotong, but for that to happen he needs to have three sponsors. Sponsorship costs just $35 a month, and each sponsor will receive a monthly report and photos of this little boy. Please consider making a difference to this child's life by sponsorsing his foster care placement. Every child deserves to know the love of a family. If anybody else would like to join us by sponsering this sweet baby, please do... or look at the many other children looking for sponsors.

New Year's Resolution

2012-01-01T11:17:00.009-05:00

The house is a mess... most of the time. Usually I get some help when I pout and nag, and sometimes I get help out of the blue. But I need a system. A system where I am not the only one knowing what needs to be done and then just doing it. I started following the Fly Lady last year and was doing pretty well, but then summer came, and I never got back into it. I also like that Fly Lady has partnered up with Cozi, because I can create my own lists and then check off chores as I do them on my Android, or any computer. I also keep my calendar updated on Cozi, which is great as I am trying to juggle activities for 4 kids!

So, I want to show the rotating checklists that I have made... based on Cozi's zone rules:

I am also working on some individual lists for the kids. But here is my start!

A New Beginning

2011-11-23T15:18:00.012-05:00

Very slowly, I will try to update you on our last two years, actually, maybe it is best that we just move forward. In a nutshell, this is our second year hosting an exchange student from China. Our first exchange daughter, Angelina, was from Shanghai and our exchange son, Kevin, is from Shenzhen. It has been an incredible experience getting to know these two students, and they have truely become a very important part of our family. I have also become a volunteer with Youth for Understanding, the organization that places these students. I am the lucky representative of 8 local students from China, Thailand, Germany, Japan, Columbia and Brazil.

Secondly, I got a JOB!!! Yes, after 10 years of being a stay-at-home mom, knowing that Lia was going to full day kindergarten, I am now an employee at Bowers School Farm. I am also going to start an on-the-side home business with Scentsy.

Introducing Casey Bone

2010-01-20T13:49:00.011-05:00

It was really hard losing our other dogs this summer and fall. Though, we had always said we would wait for a while before getting another pet, once we were petless, we knew it wouldn't last long and we started looking for a new pet right away. As a birthday gift to Caelan, she was going to be the one to pick out what dog we were going to get. We decided on a "mini-Goldendoodle, " a mix between a golden retriever and a miniature poodle. I wanted to have a smallish dog so that the kids would be better able to bring the dog for walks, etc.

Little Casey is so cute, and Garrett and Caelan are so excited. Lia LOVED our other two dogs, but she is not very excited about Casey. She doesn't like all of the jumping, licking and nipping, so Lia stays away unless Casey is sleeping. Oh, and Casey is the name that everybody liked except Lia. She wanted to name the puppy "Bone."

Christmas

2010-01-20T13:32:00.009-05:00

I want to try and catch up quickly. Christmas was wonderful in our new house. We have moved so many times in the 12.5 years that we have been together (on place #7), and while I have really liked (most) of the places that we have lived, this house truly feels like home. The kids enjoyed going to visit one side of the family and then coming home and hosting our first Holiday gathering. On Christmas, we had nearly 40 family members over. The Christmas present highlights were Lia's princess bike- a 12 inch bike that I am afraid she may not be able to ride until she is 5... Garrett got a new sled. Of course, we really haven't had enough snow to properly take it for a ride. Caelan got a couple of "Liv" dolls that she has enjoyed.

Eli

2009-12-08T16:36:00.005-05:00

I am very sad to say that unexpectedly, we had to put our other dog, Eli, to sleep in November. He was completely fine until one day he started bleeding from his nose. Then a couple of days later he started bleeding from his eye, ear and mouth. By the time the vet came over a couple of days later, he was very, very sick. We found out that he had mouth cancer. I was hoping that we could continue to baby him a bit and keep him around for Christmas- he seemed happy enough, loads of tail wagging going on, but he stopped eating and drinking. I attempted to force him to drink water for a couple of days, but then decided that putting him to sleep was the best option. So sad. I still can't believe that both of our dogs got sick so close to each other.

Loads of Catching Up to Do- Halloween

2009-12-08T16:28:00.003-05:00

Due to technical problems, a camera that wouldn't stay charged long enough to download pictures, we were having trouble with the blog. Bob got one of his Christmas presants early- a new camera. It is nothing special, but I am sure it will take the rough handling we tend to do with our cameras.

Well, On Halloween, Lia was a princess, Garrett was a SWAT police officer, and poor Caelan was supposed to be a witch, but instead was sick in bed with the flu.

New House

2009-11-01T08:51:00.010-05:00

It is official! We are now living in our new house. It is huge- at 2700 square feet (plus full basement), compared to the 1300 square foot house with no basement that we were living in before. The kids all have their own rooms, and we even have a guest bedroom. There are three functioning bathrooms, and we have a 4th bathroom ready to be finished. The house was a foreclosure, so there is much work to be done, but in the last week I have taken care of quite a few issues. We have internet and tv. The electrical system no longer is hazardous. We have clean carpet, a serviced boiler and are considering whether it is worth it to put in central air- I say no. We will have a brand new front porch completed tomorrow. The kids rooms are painted. We have a new fridge, washer and dryer. Whew! Hopefully I can manage to sort through more boxes and get the playroom and clothes organized and put away in time for Christmas...

Many Changes

2009-10-09T11:03:00.006-04:00

Wow! I can't believe how long it has been since I last posted. So many changes. First, Bob got a new job. I admit that with an urging from me, we decided to look into moving a little closer to my family. Having three kids made me finally admit that I needed a little bit of help and though we had several close friends in Bay City, I really was hoping that the kids could be closer to at least one side of the family. So in early August, Bob resigned, and we moved to Detroit! He had to start the new job right away, so I packed up our house and found renters to move in. We found a house that we liked at the end of August but probably wont close on it until the end of next week. We are currently staying at my Grandpa's house, which my brother Patrick is waiting patiently for us to move out of, so he can move in.

So the kids are in a new school, Garrett is in a "Young 5's" Kindergarten. Basically it follows the kindergarten curriculum, but is designed for those younger kids. He will have the option to move on to first grade or repeat kindergarten. It has been WONDERFUL for him, I see a huge difference in his interest in school and fine motor skills and all of the things I was worried about. I am still pretty sure that he will be in kindergarten next year. He is playing soccer with his two cousins and is taking a "Pony" class at the school district's farm.

Caelan is in third grade at a new school, I am thrilled with the opportunities that she has there and beyond thrilled with the cultural diversity of the building. In fact her new best friend was adopted from China! We have been a bit slow in signing up for new activities as she sort of needs to accomplish one new thing at a time, but will be starting dance next week and will hopefully do indoor soccer this winter.

Lia is going to a Chinese Immersion preschool two days a week. It is a full day program (which I admit I was not sure if she could handle) and her morning is spent in the Chinese class, where they only speak Mandarin, and the afternoon is a traditional American preschool. Lia LOVES it, and after the initial week or two of adjusting to going there- crabby when she gets home is a major understatement- she is doing great. There have never been tears when I drop her off and I am just so pleased.

Once we move in to our new place, I will have pictures of the first day of school and the house and everything else. I can't wait. Our house in Bay City was awfully small for all of us, but in the new house, the kids will have their own rooms, plus we will have a guest bedroom. The house has 4 bathrooms!! It is double the size and we will also have a basement. Yahoo! Oh, and I plan to never, ever move again...

Kali

2009-07-23T07:58:00.009-04:00

I got Kali in May of 1997 shortly after I finished my student teaching. I was living in Hamtramck with Kate. She was a very hyper puppy and Kate and I always joke about sitting on the couch with our feet on the table while she ran circles, jumping over our legs like they were hurdles. A little over a year later, Bob and I moved to Alaska, and Kali made the drive up there with Bob. She has probably been to more National Parks than me! She was in her glory while we lived in Alaska, she loved the snow, Bob often brought her with him while he went skiing or snowshoeing. She even camped for 2 months with us that first summer we lived up there, going all the way from Dillingham to Coldfeet, and down to Juneau. She was a great dog. Sadly, on Friday we noticed that her tail was bleeding, and eventually realized that it was no bug bite or cut like we originally thought, but a very large growth (probably a tumor, according to the vet). After discussing our options with the vet I decided that it was time to let her go, and on Tuesday, after 12 years with her, we put her to sleep. I am terribly sad about this, but know that we really didn't have another option. Goodbye, sweet Kali-girl.

Virginia

2009-07-05T12:36:00.019-04:00

Bob and I used to travel quite a bit before Caelan was born. Most of you know that we lived in Alaska for a while, and every break we had was spent going somewhere. This changed quite a bit once we had kids. We managed to squeeze in a few trips when Caelan was a baby, she has always been a very easy going kid. But the arrival of Garrett put a major crimp in our ability to go anywhere. He is very active and has a difficult time adjusting to new situations, and Bob and I both find it stressful at times to go anywhere with him. I am still surprised that we brought him to China. Lia is sort of unpredictable, but in general enjoys going to new places, and as long as she has her "cozy blanket" and an unlimited supply of milk for her bottle, she is pretty content.

We used to camp and backpack quite a bit and both of us have been to several National Parks. We decided that this summer would be a good time to start the tradition that we had hoped to continue when the kids were babies of going to a new National Park every summer. Neither of us had been to Shenandoah National Park before and it seemed a manageable drive so it was decided to go there.

The first day we drove 8 hours to New Stanton, Pennsylvania, where we stayed at a hotel, swam, and went to dinner. The next day, we drove a short distance to Idlewild Amusement Park. The kids loved the rides, until I brought Garrett on "The Spider." He was terrified and everybody at the park knew it.

After the park, we went to Bedford, PA, to rest up before making our final drive to Virginia.

W arrived in Shenandoah on Sunday and stayed at a hotel in Luray, VA for three nights. The first day in the park, we went on a hike up to Mary's Rock. Bob and I took turns carrying Lia in the Ergo, but both Caelan and Garrett did the 3 mile hike with ease. Garrett came down looking like an accident victim with all of his cuts and bruises, but it didn't phase him at all.

The next day, we went to the Luray Caverns, swam in the afternoon while Lia took a nap and then went for another hike in the evening, with a man that Bob works with, Greg, who also was visiting the park. On the way back to the hotel we saw a mama bear with three cubs close to the road.

Tuesday morning, another hike was planned with Greg, but Garrett insisted that he "wasn't going to go hiking for the rest of his life." By this time he realized how cut up he was- and he was just really crabby, so I decided to stay at the hotel with Garrett and Lia. Bob and Caelan left and we went put-put golfing and swimming.

Garrett felt better later in the afternoon, so we did make it for another hike, up to Little Stony Man. Hiking on cliffs and mountain sides was a bit nerve-wracking for both of us, especially with Garrett bouncing up the hill and us trying to keep up with him the whole time, but we did it.

We left on Wednesday and made it all the way back to Michigan, and stayed with my mom at their cottage. It was a great trip and I am amazed at how well they did in the car. Where should we go next summer?

99 Things

2009-06-23T13:40:00.003-04:00

I saw this on another blog.

Here are the rules: Bold the things you’ve done and post on your blog!
1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyworld
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo (yes, I did, at tryouts for a play at the Community House- I did not get a part)
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train.
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon ( I ran an 8K, does that count??)
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied.
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke!
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class- Remember Tai Chi, Beth??!?
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching (when I was a kid, didn't see any whales though)
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma (blood)
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy.
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job

76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone --pinkie finger of my right hand
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Kissed a stranger at midnight on New Year’s Eve
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life (well, I like to think so, I have had to call 911 several times).
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Given birth to a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee

Happy Birthday to Lia!

2009-06-17T15:13:00.004-04:00

Preschool Graduate

2009-06-17T15:01:00.005-04:00

Garrett is officially finished with preschool. For all of you who are wondering, it was Bob who originally pushed the idea of Young 5's for next school year. I finally got on board with the idea, even though all three of the kindergarten screenings that he went to said that he was ready for kindergarten. So Young 5's. It is a half day in our district, as opposed to full day K in Bob's school. Well, Bob seems to have changed his mind and now thinks that we should send Garrett to full day kindergarten at his school. Sigh... Hopefully we will make a decision soon.

Dance Recital

2009-06-17T14:54:00.005-04:00

This year Caelan was in three dance classes, tap, ballet and jazz. Next year, she will be adding hip-hop to her schedule, and even Lia will will be taking ballet. So cute! Here is Caelan (and friends) in their recital costumes.

The Gator

2009-06-17T14:49:00.005-04:00

I have really slacked off on this blog, but I did want to put up a couple of pictures of Garrett's new toy. I was pretty excited when I found this Gator at a garage sale for $40. It has definately been the best $40 I have ever spent. It is his "pre" ring bearer's gift, as he was pretty sure he didn't want to be the ring bearer at my brother's wedding in August, because it was too "embarrassing" to wear a suit. He has since changed his mind:-)

This is the expression on his face after he first saw the Gator in the shed!

French Exchange and "Cool Schools" Segment

2009-06-13T13:09:00.005-04:00

Bob's school was on the news while the French students were visiting. Conveniently, Caelan's class was shown as was our sweet Louise! Louise is the first French student interviewed, with the pig tails:)

Lia's B-day

2009-06-12T19:35:00.008-04:00

Lia celebrated her third birthday on Saturday. We had a small party at a park with some Bay City friends on Saturday and then on Sunday, Bob brought the kids to his parents. There was a graduation party over there but I went to a bridal shower for my brother and his fiance.

One Year!!

2009-05-05T12:36:00.007-04:00

It has been one year since we were handed a frightened and shocked 23 month old girl at the Civil Affairs Office in Guangzhou China. Look how much she has changed!

We have been extremely busy, but I plan to update the blog more often in a couple of weeks. We have a 10 year old child from France staying with us right now, and I am doing my very best to keep my house in order while she is here!

11 Months!

2009-04-06T13:38:00.008-04:00

Well, Lia has been with us now for 11 months! She has changed so much. She will be three on June 6 and I am considering sending her to preschool for a couple of mornings next year. We are back to working on the potty training, though Garrett's current preschool said that they would take her even if she wasn't quite potty trained. We are still undecided about what Garrett will do next year, kindergarten or young fives.

We just had a week off for spring break. We decided to visit Bob's family and then go to Chicago. After that trip, I feel like I may never leave the house again. Well, I guess I need to center trips around play lands and swimming pools. Garrett doesn't really enjoy museums and restaurants. We drove most of the way, but then took the train into Chicago, we spent quite a bit of time at the Lincoln Park Zoo. Caelan and I went to the American Girl shop. We saw my brother and his fiance. We ate great food, and went to Navy Pier.

Finally...

2009-03-17T18:29:00.008-04:00

Well, my computer has been on the fritz ever since I installed a new printer. Finally, after spending hours troubleshooting, I unplugged all of the USB devices, and unplugged the power for the night and YAHOO! my camera and printer appear to be working once again.

Things here are going much better. With the weather starting to get a bit nicer, we are all in a better mood. Lia went in for her speech evaluation and oddly enough a week before hand started talking in sentences! She went from never speaking more than one word at a time to speaking in 3-4 word sentences. She does not qualify for any additional speech services. She is having less extreme tantrums lately too.

Garrett has gone to two "kindergarten" evaluations. Both have said that he is very well prepared for kindergarten. I am not convinced. He put on a good show. He is pretty smart- but can be a real pain and flat out refuses to do traditional kindergarten tasks like write and sit:) I am leaning towards young five's- he won't be 5 until mid- July, but I guess I am still undecided.

Caelan is gearing up for her visitor- a 5th grade French exchange student from Paris who will be staying with us from the end of April to the end of May. We are all very excited to have her:) She also has her dance recital in May, and she will be making her first communion, reconciliation and confirmation all in April. Whew. It will be pretty busy the next couple of months!

Well, here are some pictures from Lia's first official hair cut (I cut her bangs a couple of times) and Garrett's trip to the Dow event Center to see Monster Jam- a monster truck event.

Kreuer Fundraiser

2009-03-03T12:11:00.005-05:00

I am sure that most of you already know about Carrie and the loss of her sweet daughter MJ last fall. Well, shortly before MJ died the Kreuer's accepted the referral of another sweet girl from China. They are currently trying to raise some money to help bring Anna Grace home.

Old pictures

2009-02-24T12:00:00.004-05:00

I never got around to loading the pictures from my old computer to my new one when we moved in 2005. I still have no idea where the pictures from Garrett's first year are, I am guessing I had them all on CD, but here are some picures of Caelan when she was a baby. Actually for some reason I am having a hard time opening most of them- but here are a few!

Ice Fishing

2009-02-15T16:49:00.007-05:00

Bob and the kids went ice fishing yesterday. Read about it here- be sure to read the last few paragraphs!

Chinese New Year Celebration

2009-02-10T12:41:00.008-05:00

On Saturday we had a little party with our local FCC group, actually it is FACT (Families with Asian Children Together). We ate breakfast, the kids played games, and did some crafts. It was only the second event that we have attended since bringing Lia home. All of the kids had a great time.

Oh, and just to go along with my earlier post, I have allowed Garrett and Lia to bring in their tractors (which normally stay outside).

Long winter...

2009-02-10T12:15:00.005-05:00

I feel like it has been forever since I posted. Things have been fine here, though I am so ready for winter to be over. We are all quite crabby. Thankfully, we have had a few days of decent weather and I have been able to get the kids out to play and ride bikes.

Lia is going to be further evaluated for additional speech services. I feel like she is still doing wonderfully picking up new vocabulary, but she is having a hard time combining words together. She very rarely puts two words together, so I am hoping that some additional speech will help. I talk to her constantly and repeatedly try to get her to repeat what I say, but my attempt to get her to say "more milk" always comes out as "milk" or "more" but never them both together.

I have to admit though, Lia has been having somewhat frequent and pretty extreme tantrums. I am trying to work through them and when she is really mad, I hold her and try to get her to settle down. I think part of the problem is that we just haven't been able to get outside much this winter. Everybody is stir crazy. Cold and snow is one thing, but it has been extremely cold. I also keep reminding myself that she is two. She has been hitting quite a bit and so far, I have not found an effective way to get her to stop.

Potty training is at a standstill. She was doing great- in fact at Christmas I thought she was totally potty trained- but she has definitely decided that she prefers diapers and at this point, I have given up. Once her mood improves, I will attempt it again, but right now I just feel like she has enough that she seems to be working on.

Oh, and to be quite honest, Garrett has also had a hard few months. He is a child who needs to be outdoors all of the time, and then he is simply an angel. But coop him up in a small house all winter and watch out. I have done my best, we go to the library at least one a week, go swimming once a week, play at the Mc Donalds playscape, children's museum, but it is just not enough. Bob thinks that we need to buy a farm...

I am going to do a more cheerful post with pictures from our Chinese New Year celebration in a few minutes so I don't leave you all with my venting.

Caelan's Blog

2009-02-01T14:33:00.005-05:00

Caelan has just started her own blog, Stories by Caelan. Read all about it here!

How to Clean the House

2009-01-29T06:58:00.006-05:00

A Year Ago

2009-01-19T13:29:00.017-05:00

Well, it hasn't quite been a year, but on Friday it will be a year since I wrote this post. I can remember waiting for that call, it was excruciating... knowing that we had a child out there and not knowing who she was or where she was. What a relief it was to get her file and her pictures, but then the wait started again as we had to wait until May 5th to hold her in our arms. We knew nothing about her except that she was tiny and was a sound sleeper. She is still a sound sleeper- in fact at 6:45 every night she asks to go to bed and then skips happily to her crib!! She usually wakes 12-13 hours later. But now, we know her pretty well.

1. She loves chocolate, actually all sweets, but she is particularly fond of chocolate. Here is a picture from when I told her she could have no more chocolate. She was going to do whatever it took to get more chocolate. Now, I wouldn't normally take a picture of a crying child, but she was definitely "faker" crying, it may look like she was upset, but the minute I said, "Do you want to play?" she was done.. Note the chocolate dripping from the sides of her mouth.

2. She really likes band-aids. Whenever she asks for a band-aid I give her one, but she has caught on to the fact that the other two kids do not always get a band-aid when they ask. Here was our conversation yesterday: Lia: Band-aid? Me: Why do you need a band-aid? You are not hurt. Lia: Owie. Bleeding. Ok, so I gave her one.

3. She is still very attached to her bottle, though at the suggestion of our pediatrician who thought that 3/4 of a gallon of milk was too much for a child, we started mixing her bottles half with water. We still can't leave the house without a bottle, but she is drinking much less now.

4. She has to do everything that Garrett is doing. It is pretty funny as he has always been sort of a loner and isn't thrilled when other kids enter his personal space. She has to sit next to him thigh to thigh, plates touching.. I was trying to video her scooting closer to Garrett, while he kept scooting away. Ignore her slapping me- we are running around chasing each other moments earlier and she was still trying to play.

5. Again, she goes to bed without any complaints and loves her crib, but sometimes she doesn't fall asleep right away. The girls' bedroom is attached to a main living room, and sometimes if I am walking by (we keep the door open when it is cold because there are no heat ducts in the kids' bedrooms), Lia will yell out "Mom, doing?" Meaning "Mom, what are you doing?" It cracks me up every time.

6. She likes wearing the least amount of clothes that she comfortably can. I don't know how many times during nap time I have gone into her bedroom and found her naked and bouncing around in her crib. She also wants to wear PJ's all day long. I usually let her when all we have to do is drop off and pick up Caelan from school, but it is a fight on the other days to get her dressed.

Christmas

2008-12-28T09:33:00.008-05:00

We had a wonderful Holiday. WE drove to Detroit to be with my side of the family on Christmas Day and then Bob's family on the 26th.

Here the kids are in their Christmas P.J.'s setting out cookies for Santa.

Garrett's first glance at his gifts.

Caelan with her gifts and new guitar.
The Jansen family band. Lia quickly wanted to try on her new P.J.'s.

Lia got the Rose Petal COttage, and quickly added a much needed item- her potty!

My parent's five grandkids in their matching pajamas.

My Grandpa with his youngest grandchildren/great-grandchildren.

At Bob's parent's house, opening gifts

The kids with their Great Grandma Jansen

Cousins at the Jansen Christmas party

Luke and Garrett with Grandpa Jansen

More presants

Visit With Santa

2008-12-15T05:41:00.007-05:00

We went to the "Santa House" on Saturday night. Neither Caelan nor Garrett have ever been even the slightest bit afraid of Santa, but I wasn't sure what Lia would think. It is a pretty overwhelming place, toys and people everywhere, not to mention Santa. Everybody was excited and when the time came Lia went walking right up to him, and then quickly turned back around to me, saying no. I asked her if she wanted to sit in Santa's lap and she said no, but then pointed to Mrs. Clause. I asked if she wanted to sit with Mrs. Clause and she said yes, so there she sat. I don't think that she said anything to her. I am pretty sure that since Lia is so tiny, people assume that she is much younger than she is and can't talk, but she did have something prepared to say if she was asked what she wanted for Christmas. She would have said "toys." Caelan asked for "surprises." Garrett would like a remote control car and some Sketchers.

Getting Festive!

2008-12-10T13:01:00.010-05:00

Well, we got our tree on Sunday. Every year we cut down our own tree and as much as I LOVE this tradition, I don't always participate. But this year I did help pick out the tree. We had a fun afternoon, first going out to lunch and then finding the tree and going on a hay ride. It was terribly cold, but sunny, so not too bad. Then Bob took the kids down to the water, we live on a lake, for some pictures. He did take a good one for our Christmas card this year. We took 120 pictures on Sunday and ended up with only three that had all three kids looking decent:)

We have gotten around 8 inches of snow in the last couple of days so Caelan is now on snow day #2. It was fun yesterday, though today has been a little more of a challenge and I have heard a lot more arguing... I am sure there will be school tomorrow.

I would like to know who thought it was a good idea to give Garrett a SAW?!?

The rest of these pictures were taken on the bay, behind our house. It is a bit of a hike out to the water, but it is there:)

Pictures from the last couple of weeks

2008-12-04T12:31:00.003-05:00

This picture is from my "girls" weekend. On the left are Jill's two little ones, Lilly and Robert. Then there's Garrett, followed by Karin's boys, Carson and Gavin. Then, Caelan and Lia.

An early morning picture (sorry everyone:). Me, Kate, Jill and Karin

Lia on Thanksgiving.

Garrett jumping on Bob.

Grandpa Jansen taking Garrett for a ride.

The cousins on Thanksgiving

Garrett's "almost" sleepover with Amelia

What a Weekend

2008-12-01T07:12:00.002-05:00

Well, we had a wonderful Thanksgiving with Bob's family. Garrett was a bit on the grumpy side, but Caelan enjoyed her cousins and Lia charmed everybody. I think that she has her Grandpa wrapped around her finger:)

On Friday, I went shopping. I have never done this. I was in line at Toys r Us at 4:30am and completed 99% of my Christmas shopping by 2pm.

Bob and I celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary on the 25th of November. It was the Saturday after Thanksgiving in 2000 that we got married. As a gift, I got tickets for us to go see Willie Nelson, one of Bob's favorite musicians. I knew that I would be stressed about leaving the kids, as it isn't ever done, so I worked it our perfectly. The babysitter would watch Lia and Caelan at home and Garrett would go have a sleepover at Amelia's house (his friend who is featured in many pictures on this blog). It was an hour drive to the concert, but we managed to eat dinner, do a little gambling, and then Billy Bob Thornton opened. We were about 45 minutes into Willie Nelson when a call came in on my cell phone (I am not sure how, as we had no reception). It was Becky saying that Garrett had been vomiting for the last hour. SO half way through "Crazy" we headed home. Poor Amelia, her first sleepover ended with Garrett puking in her bed... Oh, well. Hopefully I will get Bob to see Willie Nelson at some point!

Happy Birthday, Caelan!!!

2008-11-24T06:20:00.007-05:00

Well, our girl turns SEVEN today!! Amazing! We had a party for her at the local children's museum on Saturday.

Exciting News

2008-11-15T13:27:00.004-05:00

Lia is using the potty!!! She hasn't had a single accident today and we even ventured out to Chuck E. Cheese! YAHOO!!!!!!

Third Check-Up

2008-11-13T12:00:00.005-05:00

Well our teeny-tiny girl is not so tiny anymore. She is up to 24.5 pounds (which is the 25% on the American growth chart) and 32.5 inches. She is five pounds heavier than she was in May and 3 inches taller! I knew she had grown, but I am pretty surprised at how much!

She has had a fairly constant cough and she now has an inhaler to see if that will help. It only seems to bother her if she is running around or being particularly active.

This week has been hard, as she came down with Garrett's cold and has been unusually crabby. I have gotten several looks from people, as I have had to carry her kicking and screaming in several public places. I know it is because she isn't feeling well- and she is two- but I am not used to her having such temper flare-ups. She seemed happier today.

We spent last weekend with my girlfriends. I will post some pictures soon. It was great- we went to elementary school and high school together. We brought the kids too.

Six Months as a Family of Five!

2008-11-04T13:05:00.011-05:00

Tommorrow will be six months that we have had Lia! Hasn't she changed?!?

Taken in August, 2006 (I think).

August/September 2007 at the SWI (One of the referral photos)

April, 2008 at the SWI

With us in China, early May, 2008

Late May at home

June

July

August

September

October

Latest picture (taken on Halloween)

Caelan's Vote

2008-11-03T13:28:00.003-05:00

Even after the numerous discussions about this election, we are pretty sure that at today's mock election at school, Caelan did not side with us...

Halloween

2008-11-01T13:38:00.008-04:00

We had a very fun night. The weather was perfect- in the 60's- and the kids were troopers. Garrett has never been very enthusiastic about dressing up and trick-or-treating. When he was two, he made it to one house (because we pretty much made him) and only a block or two last year. This year he sat and ate candy in the wagon the last block, but did great for most of the night. I was anxious to see what Lia's reaction would be, but she was so excited. She loved wearing her costume and was thrilled every time she got another piece of candy.

Helping the Kreuer Family

2008-10-30T06:53:00.003-04:00

The Kreuer Family Church has established the MJ Kreuer Memorial Fund to help the Kreuer Family. I can't even imagine what the family is going through- this is every family's worst nightmare. From what I understand, the Kreuer's are responsible for the life flight to another hospital, surgery and three days in the hospital, all out of their insurance network, as well as funeral expenses. If anybody else can make a donation, I know they would appreciate it.

Here is MJ's obituary.

If you do send a check, the church said to please indicate on the
check that it is for the MJ Kreuer Memorial Fund.

The address and phone number for the church is:
Central Baptist Church
1714 SE 36th Avenue
Ocala, Florida 34471
phone: 352 694-2212

A Terrible Tragedy

2008-10-28T18:03:00.004-04:00

I am in shock writing this, but my friend, Carrie's sweet daughter, MJ, who I wrote about two posts ago passed away. While I have never met Carrie in person, she comments on every blog post of mine, and I consider her a good friend. Another of Carrie's friends posted about her here.

The Hair is Gone

2008-10-23T13:09:00.005-04:00

Well, I cut off 8+ inches of hair and my package is in the mail to Pink Heart Funds, an organization that makes wigs from donated hair. I am sure I will post a picture soon:)

Here are some October ones in the meantime.

I Have Been Tagged

2008-10-19T08:49:00.007-04:00

I have been tagged by my friend, Carrie. I am a regular reader on her password protected family blog, but here is her "adopting again" blog that is not password protected:) Carrie and I were both waiting for referrals with CCAI, she adopted 6 year old MJ a few months before we brought Lia home.

OK, seven random or weird facts that you might not know...

1. I get started on a lot of projects, just rarely finish anything: scrapbooking (I promise to give it another try Amy and Becky), quilting, baby shoes, soap making, candle making...

2. My house is usually a disaster. I love staying home with the kids, love to cook, love to play... but I have not yet mastered keeping a tidy house.

3. Bob has slapped me twice. Both stories are VERY funny:) The first time was when we were living in Alaska. It was Thanksgiving and we were coming home from a friend's. I was carrying a very heavy stoneware Pampered Chef pan with half a cake in it. It was icy, and just as I said to Bob, "Be careful, the driveway is slippery, " I flew backwards, cake pan flying up in the air and down on my head. I just laid there, stunned, when Bob came flying around the car, yelling. "Meghan, Meghan are you OK?" As I said, I was a bit stunned, and didn't respond right away, so he slapped me across the face to make sure I was conscious... I am laughing just thinking about it. The second time was when I was very, very pregnant with Garrett. I was laying in bed, sweating like a pig, wondering what possessed us to have a July baby. Bob was sleeping, when he sat up in bed (sound asleep) started yelling, "What is that?" while looking at my enormous belly, and then slapped my belly. He has no memory of it. As surprised as I was at the time, I even laughed about it then:)

4. I have been thinking of applying to law school, or minimally taking the LSAT to see if it is even a possibility. I would love to work with families, particularly on adoption related cases. I am pretty sure I don't want to return to teaching.

5. I would love to adopt another child, but at this point finances, home space (lack of space), and a reluctant husband are stopping me:)

6. I would love for us to live outside of the US at some point. I am not sure where, but somewhere warm. Living in Michigan and Alaska has me dreaming of warm climates.

7. The music that I most like to listen to (in no particular order): Dave Matthews Band, U2, Michael Jackson, Prince, and Stevie Wonder. I love watching The Office, Grey's Anatomy, House, Brothers and Sisters, Desperate Housewives and Private Practice.

And now I am going to tag the following friends (sorry!)
1. Amy C.
2. Karen S.
3. Nicole G.
4. Kim O. (Because she isn't busy enough....)
5. Amy
6. Leslie
7. Tracy

"Ba-Ba" Revisited

2008-10-13T13:05:00.003-04:00

As you can see, we haven't gotten anywhere with the bottle in the last few weeks. She walked her "ba-ba" around the backyard for quite a while yesterday. Note the baby laying face-down in the grass:)

And the Winning Continues!

2008-10-12T15:02:00.004-04:00

This time, my dad is the lucky one. He entered a raffle, buying only one ticket for $20, and was just informed on Friday night that he is the proud new owner of a 2009 Harley Davidson. My dad recently bought a motorcycle and rides around down at his cottage, but now he will have two of them! I know he has visions of him and my mother riding around together, but anyone who knows my mom knows that that won't happen. Here's a picture of the model that he won. Exciting!

I won!

2008-10-06T12:52:00.004-04:00

This is pretty funny. On the way to school on Friday the radio station that we were listening to was having a "contest" to win a gift certificate to a local restaurant. The question was, "What was Jack Wagner's hit song that went to #2 on the charts?" If you knew me back in the mid-80's, you probably remember my infatuation with Jack Wagner and General Hospital... Well, I called in, answered "All I Need" and won the contest. The kids were pretty excited that they heard me on the radio. Although, Caelan and Garrett stretched my prize a bit, by the time they got to school I won a certificate to a restaurant and "A lot of money."

Family Day Tomorrow

2008-10-05T11:19:00.003-04:00

For our friends, The O'Meara's. Bob and Kim worked together for a few years while we lived on the west side of the state. They are picking up their sweet daughter on Monday! I can't wait:)

Follow their trip here.

Mackinac Island Pictures

2008-09-30T12:46:00.005-04:00

We had a great trip last weekend. The weather was beautiful. The kids did a lot of swimming at the hotel, and while on the Island we rode the 8 mile trail around it. This is the first year that Caelan rode her own bike. Bob and Garrett rode one of the "tag-along" bikes, like a tandem, and then I had Lia on the baby seat. We walked around quite a bit, had a nice lunch, played at the playground. Bob and Garrett took a horse pulled taxi ride, while the girls and I picked out the fudge. Yum!

The Beloved "Ba-Ba"

2008-09-30T12:36:00.005-04:00

Lia loves her bottle. We knew that she had very few solid foods and was fed primarily using a bottle when she was at the SWI. When we were in China, however, she ate anything and everything that she could get her hands on. Now that we have been home for 4.5 months, she has become much pickier. There are a few foods that she fairly consistently will eat: oatmeal, yogurt, bananas, pasta. Actually these are the four things that she will eat for breakfast/lunch. She eats well at dinner, but oddly refuses dinner foods at lunch or breakfast (I have tried this several times). But, she is VERY attached to her bottle. I have tried to limit her milk/soymilk intake to 24 ounces each day, but it is hard. She is very easygoing- however when she wants her bottle, there is nothing else that can console her.

I am starting to try to figure out ways to discourage her bottle dependence without upsetting her. I did have her pick out some new sippy cups, but so far she is not very receptive to drinking from them- though they make pretty good storage containers for toys and cereal...

Any tips?

Our Little Republican

2008-09-29T15:10:00.004-04:00

We are faithful Obama supporters, but due to Miss Caelan's close relationship with John McCain (see picture taken during last year's Mackinac Island trip)- our girl has been trying to convince us to vote Republican.

OH- all is fine with Lia's kidneys. There is no problem, and all tests came back perfect!! I will post more pictures from this weekend later tonight.

Language

2008-09-25T11:36:00.003-04:00

While I am impatiently waiting for the results of Lia's most recent lab work, I just want to mention how quickly Lia is picking up words. She still doesn't combine words yet- well unless "Bubba, NO!! MOM!!" counts? Bubba is Garrett's nickname.
She can repeat fairly clearly any word that I say to her and correctly uses quite a few words on her own. In fact, today we were counting as we were going down the steps and I said, "1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8" and but then we were at the bottom, then Lia said "9." I was surprised.

We are going to Mackinac Island tomorrow for the weekend, so I am sure that I will have quite a few pictures to post next week.

Formula and more

2008-09-19T11:55:00.003-04:00

I got an email this week from CCAI about the possibility that children under age two, adopted during the first part of the year may have consumed some of the contaminated formula that has sickened so many children in China. I have been following the story, but given very little thought to the fact that it could have affected her. Lia was only drinking formula mixed with rice while in China and was actually still drinking Chinese formula through May, after we brought her home. I am not sure if she was fed the Sanlu brand, and in fact I can't even remember what brand we bought for her while there.

To be safe, we are going to have a urinalysis done. She doesn't seem sick, but there are a couple of concerns that I have had that are still not really fitting.

She is also being retreated with 3 medications for the H Pylori and we will check again for that in another week or so. I felt that her initial symptoms were still present and our ped. spoke with the gastroenterologist at U of M and he suggested retreating.

On another note, our annual Mackinac Island trip has been postponed. We have gone the weekend before my birthday for the last 3 years, that makes it this weekend- but the kids have soccer and Bob has to facilitate a United Way volunteer event at his school. Weather pending, we plan to go next weekend.

Yes, my 34th b-day is Wednesday and oddly enough (because I feel as good as I did at 25!!) I have had strange aches and pains this week. First, I woke up unable to move my head yesterday- like I slept funny and then this morning, I was having trouble with my knee... Ah.. I need to get back into shape:) I did great this summer and now I am falling back into bad habits.

Hair

2008-09-14T14:59:00.002-04:00

I have been growing out my hair for two years now so that I can donate it to Locks of Love. I think that I now have a 10.5 inch ponytail, ten is the required amount. Yahoo! I like having longer hair- just not this long. I think I will try to grow it out another half inch before I cut it- I NEED to be able to put it in a ponytail!

Soccer

2008-09-08T13:20:00.005-04:00

For the first time, Caelan and Garrett are playing soccer. Neither has played before. Caelan's team (with my friend, Becky and I as coaches) had a tournament this weekend. They ended up coming in second place for their age group- there were 16 teams. Wow! They did great. Caelan did better than I expected, especially considering it was her first game.

Garrett also had his first game. I think that Bob was slightly frustrated, as I know he is hoping that Garrett will be his star athlete, but Garrett just ran up and down the field smiling at the spectators. I am not sure if he ever kicked the ball- well maybe he did have one "kick off" but he sure was a happy little guy:) I laughed so hard. Too funny.

And isn't Lia adorable!?!

My Day

2008-09-08T13:02:00.003-04:00

8:00 Bring Caelan to school
8:15 Bring Kali (our husky) to the groomers
8:30 Bring Garrett to School
12:00 Pick up Garrett
3:00 Pick up Kali
3:30 Pick up Caelan from School
4:00 Bring Caelan to Religion Class
Drop Kali off at home
5:15 Pick up Caelan
5:30- 6:30 Caelan to soccer Practice
Home by 6:50...
Sigh... Oh, and this all adds up to close to 70 miles of driving today. Big sigh...

First day Pictures

2008-09-03T13:25:00.005-04:00

Caelan is now in the 2nd grade at the school where Bob is the principal. Garrett started his 2nd year as a preschooler- now he goes 3 mornings a week. The transition went smoothly and everybody was thrilled to be back at school. Well, maybe Bob could have handled another month off (hee hee!)

Here are some pictures. This first one needs some explanation- Lia wanted to get down and walk around (see her expression?) and Garrett has been VERY resistant to getting his picture taken. We have taken quite a few pictures this summer of Garrett's backside:)

Garrett and his best friend, Amelia with Lia on their first day.

And because she is so adorable, here are a few more pictures of Lia. Compare her latest sleeping arrangements with a few posts ago. She sure does love her stuffed animals!

This one was also taken today. Lia seems to have gotten into a fight with some ants? spiders? Who knows, but she has some bug bites that popped up after yesterday's backyard play.

School starts tomorrow...

2008-09-01T21:11:00.005-04:00

and I almost hate to say it, but I am glad. I am looking forward to having some one-on-one time with Lia. We will be able to go to her playgroups and run errands while Garrett and Caelan are at school. I am having a very hard time being out of the house with all three. The two attempts at grocery shopping with all three were disasters. I was the frazzled mom at the grocery store with the cranky, whiny group of kids. Even the library has not been fun. I can certainly handle one, I am pretty good with two at the store and library, but not all three. I am sure it will get better:)

I started back at work, I am an online math and reading teacher. They switched over to a new classroom program, however, and I think that more teachers were switched over than students since I have worked only six hours in the past three weeks. I am hoping to work at least 10 hours soon, but for now it is nice to ease back in.

More tomorrow...

Summer Reading

2008-08-15T22:35:00.003-04:00

I did manage to read quite a bit this summer. Here is my list:

Done with Appointments- YAHOO!!

2008-08-13T17:11:00.004-04:00

Well, the eye exam and hearing exam went fine. Lia was cooperative and neither doctor noticed anything unusual. She had three vaccines last week, and while she wasn't too happy about them, she is pretty tough and tolerated everything.

Our "Little" Garrett also had his four year check up. He is a pretty small guy and due to his activity level he didn't grow much from 1-3 years old (moving constantly, never sleeping)- but this year he gained 6 pounds and 3 inches. He is now 36 pounds and 41 inches. Wow! We were starting to wonder about him:)

The only lingering Lia issue is something that was stated in her medical reports- that she has "Malabsorption." Even the doctor who reviewed her charts said that it could mean a number of things. She was diagnosed with H pylori right when we brought her home, but even after treatment she still seems to be having issues (you don't need the details!). She has actually gained three pounds since we were in China, but if the issues continue our pediatrician may check with a U of M gastroenterologist to see if we should check for other things, maybe gluten allergies(?) I am not sure. But, she is really doing great!

Three Months

2008-08-06T16:41:00.008-04:00

It was three months ago yesterday that we met Lia for the first time. Our adoption was finalized three months ago today. I am going to post some pictures from today and then a one taken the day we met her and then one from the camera that we sent to the SWI. How much she has changed:)

Four months ago at the Orphanage:

Today (this is the same bear):

A few hours after returning to the hotel on our first day with her:

Today:

Two hours in the Emergency Room

2008-07-29T20:06:00.003-04:00

With who else? Garrett...

At around 5pm, Garrett came over to me crying and coughing. He was actually foaming at the mouth and drooling this stringy mess. It was like nothing I had ever seen before and it kept coming and coming. I panicked.

We drove to the ER and proceeded to wait for a long time. I kept asking him if anything hurt or if he ate anything unusual. He insisted that he didn't. By the time we were actually back in a room, he said "Now I remember, I drank some funny water in a bowl in the backyard." The funny water? It was Caelan's afternoon "experiment" - something that she learned in first grade. You mix water with salt and pepper. Then you dip your finger full of dish soap into the bowl and the salt and pepper moves to the side of the bowl. Garrett was foaming Palmolive! Uugh! He is fine and no longer drooling foam. What a night.

End of Summer, sort-of

2008-07-28T07:43:00.003-04:00

Well, Bob's days of leisure are over. He officially goes back to work tomorrow after 5/6 weeks off. We spent most of the summer at the cottage. We are planning to go there next weekend, but I am not sure after that how often we will make it up there. We are going to my parent's cottage for an "Olympics" party on the weekend of the 8th, which I originally thought was going to be a typical Hannan party: boat ride, hot tub, some wine and a good dinner, but I think that they are planning "games"... Hmm.

Lia has quite a few appointments coming up as well. Nothing this week, as I am waiting for my babysitter to come back from Florida (Hi, Katerina- we miss you!!), and would prefer not carting around all three kids. Lia is going in for a vision screening, hearing screening, vaccines and will have her first visit from Early-On (other than the evaluation). Garrett also has his 4 year old well child check. Fun. His also will have vaccines involved.

How many have you read?

2008-07-27T15:33:00.008-04:00

I saw this on another blog and as I have been reading quite a bit lately, I wanted to see how many I actually have read. I didn't do very well, but at least I did better than "6". (This is coming from a teacher with a minor in English- and when life is calm, I do a lot of reading for fun.) I do suspect that I have read a few others- but did not bold them as I can't remember any details.

Here’s how it works:

1) Look at the list and bold those you have read.
2) Italicize those you intend to read.
3) Underline (or mark in a different color) the books you LOVE - mine are in red
4) Reprint this list in your blog so we can try and track down these people who’ve only read 6 and force books upon them.

The premise of this exercise is that the National Endowment for the Arts apparently believes that the average American has only read 6 books from the list below.

1. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling (I did read the first one)
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6 The Bible ( I have read quite a bit of the bible-13 years of Catholic Education- but I am sure I haven’t read the entire Bible)
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19 The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
34 Emma - Jane Austen
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44 A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52 Dune - Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding
69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce
76 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession - AS Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte’s Web - EB White
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90 The Faraway Tree Collection
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

Big Girls Weekend in Chicago

2008-07-22T09:28:00.004-04:00

My friend, Becky and I have been planning a trip to Chicago with Caelan and her daughter, Isabel for probably six months. She wanted to do something special for Isabel's seventh birthday. My brother, Kevin lives in Chicago and so does my cousin Molly. My aunt is now renting a condo near Lincoln Park Zoo. I wasn't sure if I was ready to be away from Lia for an entire weekend, but decided to go. Lia did great, as I expected at home with Bob. We drove 4 hours, to Michigan City, Indiana, where we got on the commuter train to Chicago.

Friday we went to Lincoln Park Zoo and out to dinner with Kevin. On Saturday morning, we woke up and took Molly and Ruthie (the girls' American Girl dolls) out to breakfast at the American Girl Cafe. Caelan and Isabel were pretty excited. We shopped a bit at the store and then went to Navy Pier to the Children's Museum and then spent the afternoon on Navy Pier. We walked back along the lake and then went to dinner. It was short, but I felt like I had been gone for more than a weekend. It was very refreshing. I really don't think that I needed any kind of a break from Lia- but Garrett has been a bit of a handful lately and two nights away was exactly what I needed. Also, it was nice for Caelan to do something special. We had a great time. I LOVE CHICAGO!!

Garrett's Fourth Birthday

2008-07-22T09:10:00.005-04:00

Garrett turned four on July 16th. He was very excited to turn four and as we went to bed the night before, he knew that because he was born at 12:16am, he would officially be four before he woke up. As he went to bed he asked at least ten times, "Am I four yet?" After many "No's" he did wake up at around 3am and I could finally say "yes". We celebrated with Bob's mom, Jenna, Zane, Mikey and Emily. Here are some pictures. Note that Lia is uninterested in the gift opening and cares only about the placement of the children's chairs:)

For our Alaska Friends

2008-07-12T09:56:00.005-04:00

Just a quick one, I wanted to include a couple of pictures from our very good friend, Cory Cook's wedding in June. In typical Cory style, we walked in and there he was making coffee, not even dressed yet, though the wedding was set to start in a few minutes. We chatted a bit, and unknown to Bob, he was the best man and we were at the head table. Bob even came up with an impressive toast on the spot. Hee hee! Cory's wife is wonderful and perfect for him. They are both moving from Vermont and have teaching jobs in New Hampshire. I thought that those of you who know him would enjoy some pictures.

Home for a few days

2008-07-09T09:46:00.006-04:00

We have been at our cabin for most of the last 2-3 weeks. Lia is loving it. We start the day by going for our morning walk, followed by lounging around the lake. Lia loves being outdoors and playing in the sand. She likes the water, though it has been a little cool. I am pretty happy with my exercise routine up there, I always walk around the lake once (4 miles) and I have been also trying to ride around the lake in the evening, though I may need to get a new bike seat if I want to keep that up. Hee hee!

I brought Lia and Garrett home for a little break on Monday. We had a very odd day on Sunday while at the Traverse City Cherry festival, starting with waiting two hours to eat breakfast at The Omlette Shoppe. Yummy, but not worth waiting for two hours with three small kids. Then as we went to watch the air show, an older woman passed out next to us. While she seemed OK, she was very disoriented and against her urgings, I called 911. She was not happy, but she wasn't with anyone and I couldn't just leave her like that. Then, Bob and I seperated for a moment so that he could watch the rest of the airshow while the kids and I looked at the crafter's booths. He thought I was going to meet him at the car. HA! The car was 2 miles away and I had all three kids. That was not my intention. After walking back and forth for an hour looking for him, I realized that he was nowhere around. He had my cell phone, my money, and the diaper bag. Great. So we made the long trek back to the car and sure enough, he was there. What an odd day. So I was crabby and the kids were crabby, and it was time to come home.

Bob and Caelan stayed until Thursday and we will hopefully go back there on Monday.
Here are some pictures.
Lia and I walking on the beach
Garrett and his friend, Amelia, at a park.
The "other" side of Garrett...
Caelan and Jenna on the jet-ski's
Morning family photo (Garrett has since gotten a hair cut)
Garrett's early b-day present- a pedal tractor which replaces last year's model.
Dancing on the beach
Bob's big fish
Caelan jumping at the festival

Cousin Lukas and Lia at the beach. Luke is 10 months younger than Lia.
Jenna, Caelan and Emily (of the Silva 4)

Lia's Evaluation

2008-06-18T19:48:00.004-04:00

Wow! Five posts in one day. Well, this afternoon an "Early On" teacher came out to the house to evaluate Lia. I want to make sure that we are doing everything that we can to get Lia caught up to other children her age. As I expected, her fine motor skills are age appropriate. Also her cognitive skills are level appropriate. She is delayed in gross motor and language. She said that Lia is at 15-18 month level with gross motor and 12-15 month with language, though she seemed quite impressed with Lia's receptive language. She does qualify for weekly playgroups and monthly home visits. In August, she is going to be even further evaluated to see if she will qualify for additional services, but I got the feeling that the teacher believed that in another month she would likely have progressed past the point of needing these additional services. I was worried that Lia might not show the teacher all that she is able to do, but she was quite cooperative and I believe that the assessment was accurate.

Lia's Diagnosis

2008-06-18T06:53:00.005-04:00

After the lab work showed that Lia was mildly anemic, the pediatrician ran further tests and determined that she has beta thalassemia minor, a genetic blood disorder. From what I understand right now, this is the least severe type of thalassemia and she should have no chronic problems. Basically, she is a carrier but will never develop beta thalassemia major, because she has only one copy of the thalassemia gene. When she is ready to have children it is advised to have genetic counseling to determine whether her partner has beta thal as well, as it could be passed on to her children. I was unable to talk in much depth to the doctor as Lia was having a major tantrum at the time. I am pretty certain that this diagnosis has nothing to do with her small size.

Speaking about her size, I plotted her weight, height and head circumference on the American growth chart and it seems so out of whack that I suspect the last three measurements that she had in China are inaccurate. The international adoption pediatrician who reviewed her medical reports was so concerned about the last three measurements because her growth seemed to be taking a bit of a nose dive, but her current measurements are right in line with the measurements that we have from her first 12 months. Odd. But if it had been any different, she wouldn't have likely been referred to us.

Here is a picture from the weekend. Cousin Jenna, Caelan, Lia and Aunt Vikki:

Big Storm

2008-06-18T06:44:00.006-04:00

I know that the U.S. seems to be getting hammered with all of these storms, but we had a wild night on Sunday. Bob and I went to bed when all of a sudden it seemed that buckets of rain were being doused on our house. We heard the loudest roaring wind that I have ever heard and ran downstairs. Our bedroom is the only room on the second floor, the kids rooms are downstairs. The power went out, so all we could see was lightning flashing nearly constantly. We have no basement, and while the bathroom is probably the safest room, we also determined that the kids bedrooms and the closet between them were also a good place to go in a storm.

We live on the Saginaw Bay, part of lake Huron, and in our living room we have a wall of door windows looking to the bay, so Bob was looking out the door when he saw the neighbor's pole barn that he has been building, come crashing towards the house. I ran to Lia's room (Caelan is staying with Bob's parents for the week) and Bob went to Garrett's room. The pole barn landed on top of our cherry tree, which is only ten feet from our doors. It took out our fence in a section as well. Once the storm passed, we could see that trees were down, tree limbs were scattered everywhere. The kids toys were blown over and moved. It was scary. Apparently, a funnel cloud did touch down in the bay, so many of the houses along the bay were damaged in the storm.

Garrett's Big Day

2008-06-18T06:38:00.006-04:00

As I have said before, Garrett is a big fan of motor vehicles. He will sit in the car while we drive long distances, looking out the window, saying "Wow I wish I had that truck.." and "Wow I wish I could drive that bulldozer." He is fascinated with mowers, construction trucks, pick up trucks- really anything with wheels. Bob once told Garrett that he saw a truck pulling a trailer with two riding mowers, two push mowers and a John Deer tractor. Garrett's response was "Dad, was it a dream?" Too funny.

Bob's dad works construction and brought Garrett to see some of the trucks that he works with. Garrett was actually able to use the controls on some of them, and they brought many for a ride. Here are some pictures from that day.

Summer

2008-06-18T06:29:00.003-04:00

I am going to write a few little posts this morning, as we won't likely have much time over the next six weeks to keep this updated. Last summer, we bought a small cabin near Baldwin, Michigan. By small, I mean 300-400 square feet, consisting of a living room, bathroom and kitchen. We had such a great time up there last year and spent most of July there. Bob is now off until the first part of August and we plan to head over to our cabin on Sunday. Our friend that we met in Alaska, Cory Cook for all of my Alaska friends, is getting married on Saturday night, so we are going to that first. Oddly enough he met a woman from Michigan while teaching in Vermont.

Well, as long as Lia adjusts well to being at the cabin, we will hopefully stay there for the next 5-6 six weeks. Life is so laid back up there, I think she will be fine. My day will consist of waking up, having breakfast and a cup of coffee, going for a walk around the lake (4 miles, and I do it every morning), eating lunch, hanging out at the lake, eating dinner, again more time at the lake, and then bedtime. We will be able to focus all of our attention on the kids.

Happy Second Birthday!

2008-06-11T19:23:00.007-04:00

Lia's birthday was on Friday. We got her a little swimming pool, which she spent hours in, and then went out for ice cream. On Saturday, we went to my parent's cottage for the night. I was a bit nervous about going, as I feel that Lia is doing really well and was afraid that an overnight so soon wasn't really the best thing for her- but she did great. I am coming to realize that she is a pretty easy going girl. She enjoyed the hot tub and her cousins. She even got a pretty big kick out of "Uncle Patrick." My brother, Kevin, and his girlfriend Teresa came too along with my sister, Maura and my parents.

We went in for a second round of bloodwork. The doc is trying to determine whether the cause of her anemia is a genetic condition or just lack of iron. Thankfully, this time the blood draw wasn't nearly as stressful. We went back to the hospital and I specifically made sure that "Esther" was the only one who would draw her blood and she got it on the first attempt. I am hoping that we will hear something about the lab tests tomorrow. She also has been found to have a stomach bacterial infection which she is being treated for.

Next week, Lia is being evaluated by the county's early intervention department. She is understandably delayed in her language development, but she has been picking up words pretty quickly. She definately can repeat sounds, and says mom, dada, up, bye-bye, thank you (in a voice only a mommy can understand), cheese (do you think she has had her picture taken a few times?), woof (yes we have a noisy dog) and a few others. Her fine motor skills seem pretty good, but she does struggle with gross motor skills. She walks in that wobbly baby way and can't run. We did go to the playground today and she was able to climb the steps independently pretty well by the time we were ready to leave. But, I do think that it is important that someone else tells me what types of things we should be working on.

Caelan is riding a bike after two summers of trying. She was doing well last summer, but she fell in August and refused to ride again. She got the hang of it again last week and we just ordered her a new bike. Originally I told her that she had to use her own money to pay for it, she has a savings account and hasn't spent a single penny of it. But I have decided that bike will be her payment for being my "personal assistant" this summer. I have found that if Lia is playing and I get up to get anything, she stops playing and will not return. So I have been asking Caelan to help me with things. She even got my coffee this morning and put the perfect amount of cream in- though the coffee pot had been off for an hour, so I knew there was no worry of her burning herself.

As it is the season, Garrett is very busy mowing... Not much else going on with him. For those who know him, he takes mowing pretty seriously and goes out with his bubble popping mower any time a neighbor is also mowing. It was very funny last week, as he kept "mowing" with a toy baby stroller. I asked him what he was doing and he said that he was getting too big to push his mowers and he had a hard time reaching the handle. Too funny. I can't wait until he is actually old enough to mow our lawn!

Out of school

2008-06-04T18:59:00.004-04:00

Well, it has been a busy week. We took Lia in for her bloodwork last Wednesday and it was a nightmare. The tech was unable to draw any blood successfully. I left with a hysterical baby, and I wasn't feeling much better than she was. That, and I knew we would have to repeat the bloodwork as the tiny bit of blood that she was able to collect clotted. Her arm was badly bruised so I waited until yesterday to bring her back in, this time to the hospital, where the first two tech's were unable to draw even the tiniest bit of blood. Lia gets so nervous that she tenses up and her muscles (apparently) stop the flow of blood to her veins. Finally the third tech was able to draw the necessary blood. We got some of the results back already, and so far everything looks fine, but she is mildly anemic, which did not surprise me.

Otherwise, she is doing pretty good. We had a rough few days over the weekend and the beginning of the week. She was clinging to me and very upset if I had to put her down, like when I took a shower and put the dinner in the oven. She had quite a few tantrums and was hard to console, but the last two days have been wonderful. She has started to play more independently and even wanders in different rooms.

I brought my two girls down to see Patrick's new baby over the weekend. See the picture below:) Abby, my brother's oldest, is only 9 months older than Lia. Look at the size difference! Lia doesn't seem all that small to me until I compare her to other kids her age.

Bob and Garrett went to our little cabin to open it up for the season- we plan to settle there for the summer on the 22nd of June. The kids are now out of school. Bob has to work for the next 2 weeks and then he will have six weeks off.

First Doctor's Appointment

2008-05-27T18:56:00.006-04:00

It has been a very busy week. I have not been able to check my email as much as I would like- so I apologize to everybody who I have not gotten back to. I was beyond exhausted last week and both Garrett and Caelan had end of the year activities. I think that we are settling in finally, and I no longer fall asleep at 7:30pm.

Lia is still doing very well. She sleeps every night for 12-13 hours straight. The only exception was on Thursday night because she came down with another cold/cough and had a fever. This is so different from the older two. Garrett used to wake up 10+ times a night (no exaggeration) until he was close to two, and then it was more like 3-4 times. He still wakes up 3-4 times a week in the middle of the night... When we first came home, she was a little resistant to being put in her crib, but after a couple of days, she actually points to the crib when she is sleepy. At nap time, I lay in Caelan's bed while she is falling asleep and she sits in her crib, straightens out her blankets, looks around the bedroom and smiles. She is so full of happiness. I guess I expected that she would be angrier at us.

She had her first doctor's appointment today and I am bringing her in to the lab tomorrow morning for her many, many blood tests. She has a very large bump on the back of her head that I was a bit concerned about. The doctors at the clinic in Guangzhou called it a cyst, but my pediatrician said it is just a gland. A little larger than usual, but she is not concerned at all. She also didn't seem to be very concerned about her size. She is not on the American growth chart, but after three weeks with us, she is now at nearly the 10th% on the Chinese girls growth chart at a whopping 19 lbs, 8 ounces! She is a much pickier eater than she was in China. She loves bananas and yogurt, and the veggie soup I made tonight was a hit. I am going to try to stop offering food to her every time she seems nervous or upset, as I feel like she is feeling quite comfortable with us now and I am worried that I am going to create some bad habits.

On another note we have had three girls added to our family in the past three weeks. My brother Partick and his wife's baby girl born on May 15th- they ended up naming her Grace Bridgette. My cousin Molly had her baby girl yesterday- Caitlin Mulligan. And Lia. I am so excited to meet all of the new babies.

Here are some pictures, most that I took yesterday. Lia LOVES to be outside, which is so funny because last week she was terrified of the grass, now she is all over the place.

Home:)

2008-05-18T19:25:00.002-04:00

We are home. Yeah!!!!!! After a long but surprisingly smooth flight we are back in Michigan. Both Garrett and Lia were wonderful on the flight. Lia didn't much care for the standing in lines at security and customs, but neither did Bob. Hee hee!

Lia is all over the place, not the quiet, calm baby that we saw that first week. She is busy checking everything out. She has slowed down in her eating. I think that she is realizing that the food will be there when she is hungry.

She slept horribly last night and so did Garrett, I am hoping that tonight will be a better night, because we are all exhausted.

We made it to Caelan's recital today.

Thanks to all of you for your comments during the trip and I have gotten quite a few emails that I will respond to when I feel that I can form a coherent thought. Goodnight!

Last Day

2008-05-15T23:51:00.003-04:00

Well, I just got word that Patrick and Stephanie had their baby- a girl, who will share her birthday with Bob:) She is 7 lbs, 15 oz. and 22 inches long. I don't think they have a name yet, maybe Charlotte or Molly. I guess everybody is doing well and she was born 20 minutes after they got to the hospital.

We are packing up, our flight leaves in the morning, so this will be our last China post. We went to the zoo this morning and will go to the US Consulate for the oath in the afternoon. Wish us luck, we are pretty nervous about our long flights. Lia is still doing great. She had a couple of major meltdowns yesterday, but I think that she is not used to being awake for such long stretches and she was just over tired.

Wish us luck on that long flight!

May 14

2008-05-14T07:25:00.003-04:00

Well, Caelan and my parents made it safely back to Michigan. Have I already said that I wish we were with them? Thankfully they made it in time to be in town for Patrick and Stephanie's new baby- Stephanie was due yesterday. No baby yet.

Lia is still doing very well. She is really starting to try to communicate, fortunately, I do speak "grunt." The only word that we have heard her say is "bye, bye." But that is an easy one because it is the same in Cantonese. She is exploring quite a bit and really giggling a lot. For the start that she had, she sure is a happy baby. She loves the swimming pool and wanted to try to swim by herself today. She is slowing down a bit with her eating but I am sure that she is getting pretty used to her shrimp wontons at breakfast. She will be a bit disappointed with the Jansen family standby- cold cereal.

We haven't taken many pictures, but here are a couple.

Quick note

2008-05-12T22:31:00.002-04:00

Just a quick note to let you know that we are fine and the earthquake was quite a way away from Guangzhou. My parents and Caelan left this morning and will return to Michigan at 3:15pm Michigan time on Tuesday. We are so ready to be home and wish that we were joining them.

Lia's size

2008-05-12T00:12:00.004-04:00

I keep forgetting to post this, and while she is taking a nap, and I am thinking of it, I just wanted to let you all know that she fits pretty well into size 12month clothes. It seems like she is wearing size 4 shoes. Though at the rate she has been eating, she and Garrett may be in the same size by the time we get back from China:) Also, we aren't sure what the problem is, but she leaks out of all the diapers. We have both American and Chinese pampers and as of right now we put the small size on her first and put a medium over the small size, but there are still leaks. It is a mystery. I was teasing yesterday and said to Bob, "maybe she is peeing out of her belly button." In his feverish state, he thought I was serious, and asked this morning if we should get her belly button checked out. Hee hee! I think that her little legs are so tiny that we just can't manage to get the diaper tight enough. That, and it seems that she is ready for some potty training, as she can go for quite a while between changing.

Mother's Day

2008-05-11T08:40:00.005-04:00

Happy Mother's Day to everybody:) We woke up this morning and ate breakfast at the legendary White Swan buffet. Yummy! I am pretty excited that we have 5 more mornings of that spread.

We went to the pearl Market this morning, though Bob and Garrett stayed here. Bob is sick, we are not sure with what, but he has a fever and has been in bed all day. Caelan and my parents have only one day left. We are all ready to come home, and I wish that we were going with them.

Lia is becoming more comfortable with us every day. She has done very well the whole time that we have had her, but she will often tune us out. Like she knows that we are there, but doesn't interact. I feel like today she was "tuned in" the entire day. She has also had a few tantrums. They rank in intensity to Garrett's top performances, but for Lia, as long as you give her a cracker or a bottle, the tantrum lasts no longer than 2 seconds.

She is still eating a lot and always has to have a cracker or something in her hand. If she doesn't, she gets very upset. She is actually smiling a lot, but we are having trouble capturing it on the camera.

May 10

2008-05-10T01:08:00.002-04:00

We are now at the White Swan. So far this morning we just ate breakfast, packed up and came over here. Lia is taking a nap. We are going to take a Red Couch Photo this afternoon, so I will try to post it tonight or tomorrow.

Lia is really opening up. The first couple of days, she was so quiet, not even crying or anything. She went to sleep easily, Bob even remarked once"How long before we mess this up?" Hee hee- as neither Caelan nor Garrett did much sleeping. Well, I think we messed it up:) She is sleeping in a crib right now, but I think that she has taken the last two naps on Bob's chest. She will cry when we lay her down and last night she even woke a few times. She is also letting us know when she is unhappy about something. Our quiet, relaxed girl can get pretty loud and mad. She is certainly showing a preference still for Bob and I, but I am pretty sure she would select a person with a cracker before either of us. She slowed down her eating a bit yesterday, but is now back up to eating quite a bit.

May 9th

2008-05-09T00:46:00.003-04:00

I am posting early today because we are done with our tours and will not be doing much more today. Tomorrow we are switching over to the White Swan Hotel. Right now there are very few families staying here and it would be nice to connect with some other families, also the kids really need a change of scenery and I am exctited to have a nicer pool.

Lia tends to be a little nervous and quiet in the morning but then she really opens up in the afternoon. She interacts more with the kids than she does Bob and I, but when she wants to be comforted, she wants Bob or I. Or Grammy. Or Pop.

She is slowing down a bit with her eating. She must be stuffed. She is still sleeping wonderfully. last night she did wake up once and sat up and cried. I picked her up for all of three seconds, gave her a hug and laid her back down and then she was fine. She sleeps for 12 hours and then takes a 2 hour or longer nap.

Today we went to a Buddist Temple for a family blessing. We then went to an Art Museum and then an Arts and Crafts shop. We were able to pick up a few things, though Garrett isn't very fond of shopping, I think we will leave him at the hotel for the trip to the pearl market on Sunday.

May 8th

2008-05-08T08:31:00.003-04:00

This morning we woke up and my parents, Caelan, Lia and I went to the Guangzhou Department store. It was interesting to see, though not much different than a US department store, though it had nine floors complete with a grocery store. We picked up a few toys for Lia, she seems to like hard rattle type toys best, though she had a lot of fun with her little Groovy Girl doll this evening.

We played at the playground for a while while Lia took a nap. She came over with Bob and went down the slide a few times on Caelan's lap. She looked very worried when she started going down, but once she made it to the bottom, she laughed.

We also finally went to an authentic Chinese restaurant. We have been to a few places on Shamain Island, but many of them also serve Western food. It was quite an experience, as we weren't really sure what we were eating:) It was pretty good, though. Lia eats everything, so I ordered her some type of egg dish and it had something questionable in the middle. Some type of fish? I really have no idea, but it was pretty tasty and she really liked it.

When we got back, Lia walked down the hallway back and forth, walking by herself. She is pretty wobbly, but we weren't even sure if she could get up on her own, but she definately can. She LOVES the squeaky shoes.

Here she is, taking a bath in the sink. She loves to look at herself in the mirror, so this is working out much better than the big bathtub.

Playing with the new toys.

Playing a game with Caelan.

Picking out dinner- our first true authentic Chinese meal the entire trip:)

May 7th

2008-05-07T08:19:00.003-04:00

We had Lia's physical exam today. Everything looks fine, her cough is nothing more than a cold, but they gave me some cold medicine and it has really helped. The surprising thing is that she is actually 19.1 pounds!! She is 30.5 inches long. So she has grown a good amount since her last medical exam. I suspect that she has gained a pound or two in the last two days:) She really is eating non-stop, though today we've tried to limit her feedings to only one bottle at a time, because yesterday she was polishing off a bottle and a half and I think she was getting uncomfortably full. She loves to look at herself in the mirror, and still loves to be outside. She is still doing pretty well, though today she seemed a bit nervous and gets very upset if the words "bye, bye" are uttered, or if anybody leaves the room. She also is becoming less agreeable when getting her diaper changed, but LOVES wearing shoes and gets upset when we take off her shoes. This is a bit of a change from yesterday.

This afternoon, we went to apply for her passport. Tomorrow we are going to the Guangzhou Department store. On Friday, we have a tour of a Buddist Temple and an Arts Market. We might change hotels on Saturday as there is much more for the kids to do in the other hotel. They are doing great, but are getting a bit restless as there is not much to do on the island. We are thinking of seeing if Garrett can shadow one of the hotel maintenance employees, hee hee, if you know Garrett- he loves to do work. In fact as we speak, he is pushing a stroller. pretending he is mowing...

I have no pictures to load today. I am tired, but will try to load new pictures tomorrow.

May 6th

2008-05-06T08:01:00.004-04:00

Well, Lia continues to be the most laid back baby. She slept for nearly 13 hours last night, not waking at all. Of course, Bob and I were up every 15 minutes to peek on her. I am exhausted, only because I was so worried that she would wake up and not cry, and I wouldn't know that she was awake, but she truly slept like a log.

She woke up and was all smiles. I got her dressed, putting on a hat and she kept looking at herself in the mirror, smiling. She and Caelan kept playing this "high-five" game and she giggled and giggled. She devours her bottles, eats congee and loves bananas. She can walk, though prefers to be carried. We got her a pair of squeaky shoes, and she had a lot of fun walking down the hotel hallway wearing those:)

The adoption paperwork was a breeze. She has a pretty nasty sounding cough, though it doesn't seem to bother her at all. Tomorrow we will apply for her passport and our guide is going to try to get us in to the clinic for her physical. Yesterday, she seemed a little shocked and unsure what was going on, but she is more relaxed today. She loves to be outside and looks around at everything. She seems very content, and the only thing that has upset her so far was when her bottle ran out, and when she thought that Caelan was trying to take her cracker. We gave her a toy rattle this morning and she held on to it all day, even during her nap.

She is so sweet and we are all so excited. Oh, and Carrie, yes we are staying at the Victory. The birds keep us up during the night. What kind of birds are those, anyway?

LIA DAY!!

2008-05-05T06:07:00.010-04:00

We have our girl!! What a day. After no sleep and an anxiety ridden morning, we finally drove to the Provincial Affairs Office at 2pm. Although we originally planned for just Bob and I to go to the office, at the last minute we all went. Lia's bus was late, so our guide ushered us to a private room, where we waited about 15 minutes for her to arrive. We saw her nanny walk her in to the lobby, as Bob and I were huddled by the door. They brought her into the play room and then quickly brought her out to us. She was wearing one of the outfits that we sent in our first care package. She was handed to us, and didn't make a sound. She kept looking us all over, but didn't cry at all. We asked some questions about her to her nanny and then exchanged gifts to the SWI director and nanny. She is certainly in shock, and I am not sure what she thinks of her day, but she held on to both Bob and I tightly. She whimpered a bit when the nanny left the room, but no tears.

She was all smiles when we left the building, it actually sounded like she was singing. Her little legs were kicking and she still kept looking around at everybody. She was quiet on the van ride, and just looked around. When we got back to the hotel room, we had to do some paperwork with our guide, Jason, and then I fed her a bottle. She drank it slowly, and kept stopping to look us over. Bob held her after her bottle and then she fell fast asleep.

It is so hard to believe that she is here. We are thrilled and can't believe how smooth the day went. Tomorrow we go to the same office to finalize the adoption. She will officially be Lia Xiang Wan Jansen tomorrow by 11:30am!

Today is the Day!

2008-05-04T20:30:00.003-04:00

Just a quick note to let you know that Lia will arrive this afternoon at 2:30, after a five and a half hour bus ride. Poor girl has probably never left the SWI before. She is in for a huge change today. The kids are very excited. We are leaving the hotel at 2pm, and should arrive back at the hotel by 4pm. I think we have more paperwork at the hotel and then I should be able to post something soon after! I could hardly sleep last night, but after a big breakfast and 3 cups of coffee I am ready to meet our girl!

Hong Kong, Day 2 and 3, Disneyland

2008-05-03T05:26:00.007-04:00

We have been having a great time at Disneyland. The park is a little much for Garrett, but he has gone on a few rides. I think he is still adjusting to the time change, as he has been waking up at 4am ready to go, and has not been very agreeable... Caelan is having a great time, she even went on Space Mountain, which was a pretty fast roller coaster. We are staying at the Disney Hollywood Hotel. We will be going to the fireworks tonight and then to bed early as tomorrow morning we are going to Guangzhou.

Hong Kong, day 1 continued...

2008-05-01T10:32:00.007-04:00

We are just about ready for bed, but we had a wonderful day here in Hong Kong. We are staying at the Regal Riverside Hotel, which is on the Shing Mun River. This morning we woke up, the kids, Bob and I ate breakfast, as my parents were still sleeping. Once we were all awake, we went for a walk near the river. We were still exhausted from the trip so the kids, Bob and I took a nap, which lasted for 5 hours. After our nap, we took a cab to "The Peak" where we are dinner and saw a wonderful view of Hong Kong.

Hong Kong, Day 1

2008-04-30T21:11:00.004-04:00

Just a quick post to let you all know tht we made it to Hong Kong! It was a long flight. Garrett did great on the long flight. He took a nap, ate and then slept for seven hours! That was from Detroit to Tokyo. It was wonderful! Now the Tokyo to Hong Kong leg was a different story, as we were all ready to be off the plane. Eighteen hours of flying is too much for anyone. Garrett was loopy and noisy and we were all ready to be at the hotel. Caelan rode wonderfully, as expected:)

We are going to take it easy today and then tomorrow we are going to Disneyland. I will try to post pictures soon.

In Detroit

2008-04-29T11:16:00.004-04:00

Well, the first part of our journey is complete:) We are in Detroit, waiting for my dad to get home from work so that we can head out to the airport. We will leave here in 45 minutes and our plane takes off at 3:30pm. Next stop, HONG KONG!!

Cookies

2008-04-27T10:34:00.002-04:00

For my friends who are waiting for LOA's, PA's, and referrals, this is for you:

I can't wait to hear all of the good news when we get back!

Tap and Ballet Rehearsal

2008-04-27T08:24:00.021-04:00

I am trying to figure out how to load video, so I will start with Caelan's practice tap and ballet routines.

You Know You’re an Adoptive Parent if…

2008-04-22T18:42:00.001-04:00

1. The fact that there are 143 million children without a parent to kiss them goodnight has made you lose sleep.
2. You realize DNA has nothing to do with love & family.
3. You can’t watch Adoption Stories on TLC without sobbing.
4. You spend your free time surfing blogs about families who’ve experienced the blessing of adoption.
5. It drives you crazy when people ask you about your adopted child’s “real” parents.
6. You’ve taken an airplane half-way around the world with a child you just met.
7. You believe that God has a heart for adoption.
8. You realize that welcoming a child into your heart and family is one of the most important legacies you could ever leave on this earth.
9. You know what the word “Dossier” means, and you can actually pronounce it correctly.
10. You’ve welcomed a social worker into the most private parts of your life.
11. You shudder when people say your child is so lucky that you adopted them, knowing full well that you are the blessed one to have him/her in your life.

(Anonymous)

More Pictures!!!

2008-04-21T07:28:00.002-04:00

I got the rest of the pictures:) Here are a few!

The Countdown is On!!

2008-04-15T07:47:00.002-04:00

I just adjusted the time zone in my ticker so that it shows China time!! One less day of waiting- WOW!

New Pictures!!!!!!!!

2008-04-14T07:17:00.004-04:00

The woman who visited Lia's SWI last week emailed me eight photos this morning. I am going to include a few here. She said that she has some others as well! What a wonderful morning!

A Gift

2008-04-13T09:34:00.004-04:00

We have just received the most precious gift. A family traveled this past week to Lia's SWI. I got the following email from her this morning:

"we saw your daughter and got loads of photos of her. i'll try to send a few in the next day or two. she's very sweet. she was quiet when we saw her - but all the kids were very subdued. she has a lovely smile. you're very lucky to have such a gorgeous wee girl and it's fantastic that she'll soon have a family. the swi made us very welcome and it was so rewarding to go there"

I will post new pictures as soon as I receive them!