Wen Love Calls

Summer

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 01:20:00 +0000

OK....I know its been a loooooooong time, and I'm sure many of you have given up on me by now. But, since there are several of you who are still making comments about how long it's been since a blog post...well, I guess some of you still love us. That, or you are all just truly nosey people!!

Summer...it's just flying by! My calender the last two months...almost impossible to read! I think (and a say this cautiously) that things are calming down a little bit. Maybe??? At the very least, Owen is now done with his summer session at school, and we are ALL officially on a "summer schedule". It's been rough being the only one up...for hours, after he got the bus at 7:15...all summer!

Regardless of our crazy calendar.....largely due to J's insane baseball schedule and the fact that for whatever reason EVERY medical/dental appointment--what feels like a whole years worth--is squished (is that even a real word??) into the two months of the summer....we have been able to get in some summer fun! Here are some scenes from the summer:

This was Owen's initial reaction to seeing the pool this summer.....

Initially, when I indicated that we were going to go INTO to pool, he looked at me and shook his head "no". Then he saw Ella and J jump in, thought that was hysterical, and decided he'd join the fun.

Wondering if he'd be over the "panda incident", we ventured to the zoo.

All went well--just not a big fan of the Children's Zoo. We did just fine in the Butterfly house though....my second favorite part of the zoo :)

Then to Ella's favorite part of the zoo.....

And now...my FAVORITE part of the zoo....the Gorillas! I can stand there ALL day and watch them--seriously ALL day. They fascinate me!

How can you not want to watch this.......

OK, I know you're not here to look at pictures of Gorillas....but, it's my blog, and I LOVE Gorillas So, just one more.........

There's just something in those eyes :)

Owen's first Carousel ride...I do love Carousels too :) And now so does Owen!

He also loves opening presents...even when they aren't for him!

Gram :)

On July 2nd Brian and I celebrated our Anniversary. Ella was very excited ALL week about us going out for our anniversary, and personally picked out our outfits in advance!! Even though we were not going to a very fancy restaurant, we couldn't disappoint her, and wore our "fancy dress", and suit! The smile on her face when she saw us all dressed....PRICELESS. Here is how she dressed us.....

Swing set fun....

Again...my blog...love flowers :)

Owen's first Fourth of July...mostly spent...you guessed it....on the baseball field!!!!

Monday mornings, back to school, have been tough! This is Owen on a Monday morning waiting for his breakfast!

Moments captured....what are big sisters for???...pushing you on the swing.....

More fun in the pool

So Handsome!

Sharing summer snacks--Ben loves cantelope, and will stop at nothing to get some. Owen was happy to share :)

Ok, I really do have a lot more to blog about, but I'll let you enjoy this blog post for just a little while :)

Joy

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Sat, 23 May 2009 00:07:00 +0000

OK....I know it's been a looooooong time since my last post! I actually uploaded these pictures over a month ago and never actually got them published onto the blog! I plan of doing a lengthy "Owen update" in the next week or so (I have a lot to say!), but for now you'll have to settle for a few pictures. Once we get settled into our new summer routine.....or should I say lack of routine, I promise a more fulfilling post!

This was Owen's reaction when Ella and I brought him home a bear from Build-a-Bear!! Priceless!!
He was just a little excited to find a bear in the box!!!

A hose and a whole lot of fun!

A Picture Worth a Post of it's Own

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Wed, 13 May 2009 12:07:00 +0000

Ella and Mikey have been best friends since birth. I was so happy to capture this moment between them. They really do love each other!

Fun with Friends

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Wed, 13 May 2009 11:42:00 +0000

Yesterday, after Ella got out of school, we went to lunch and then to the park with Michael and Meaghan Grace. These three really do love each other!

Mother's Day

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Mon, 11 May 2009 23:30:00 +0000

Mother's day......my first as a mother of four.

Owen was very excited to bring me my cards and gifts
A beautiful card, made by Owen, which accompanied a gift...a mold of his little footprint!! A big thank you to his teacher!!

I LOVE this picture of these two cuties!! Look how Owen is holding his hands around her.

Meme, Gram, Poppy, and Aunt Ali joined us for brunch which we had brought in by our favorite caterer.

In my card from my sister--a poem written by her in the third grade. Just ignore the part where is says I punched her in the jaw....wasn't me....I would never (really, I can't believe I would ever do that!!) Aside from that part, isn't that so sweet????

Me and my Baby Girl. I was having Brianna take pics of us two to put in the frame Ella made for Mother's day. She really is delicious!!

Just when it finally stopped raining....a Shower!

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Mon, 11 May 2009 20:56:00 +0000

This past Friday we celebrated the upcoming arrival of Paige Min Shan. He mommy, Lisa, has been waiting a long time for her. Paige is waiting in a foster home until her mommy and daddy can come to get her.

Lisa, who thought she was going walking with Meaghan Grace's mommy, was quite surprised when 30 of her friends and family were waiting for her in Michelle's driveway!! Everyone had worked very hard to make this a night special for Lisa, and it was. It was filled with beautiful gifts, good wishes, and lots of love for little Paige who we will hopefully all meet VERY soon!!

Lisa, dressed in her "workout attire" approached the driveway
She realizes what's going on....for a moment we're afraid she'll run away!!!

Four lucky Mommies!! Michelle (Meaghan Grace's mommy), Lisa (Paige's Mommy), Joanne (Mia Hope's Mommy), and Me

Lisa got MANY gifts!!

Since this is my blog, I decided to post a picture of part of my gift!! Lisa's son plays many sports and Paige, just like Ella, will be spending A LOT of time on the field. I made Lisa a basket of things to make life of the field a little easier and called it "Fairy on the Field" (Lisa LOVES fairies!). In it were two t-shirts. One said "I have no life, my brother plays baseball", and the other said "My brother plays Lacrosse better than your brother". In the basket were things like travel snack cups, travel spoons, a travel formula/cereal dispenser, sippy cups, a bottle cooler bag and ice packs, a thermos, a blanket, disposable bibs, toys, bubbles, and snacks. The basket came out really cute!!

Love is.......

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 19:54:00 +0000

.....giving someone you care about a foot massage

How cute are these two rubbing each other's feet with lotion after their bath last night?????

Seeing clearly

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 23:23:00 +0000

Owen got his new glasses today!! Hooray, now he can hear and see!!! The minute the optician put them on he started looking all around. I was quite obvious that he was seeing much better!

Spring.....a time to blossom

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 20:58:00 +0000

We had a beautiful weekend here in the Northeast and got to spend a great deal of time outdoors. I LOVE this time of year. The time when the world seems to go from black and white to color again. I am so enjoying how the landscape is coming back to life. While Owen was napping, Ella and I walked around our property looking at all the buds on the trees and all the perennials peeking there head back out of the ground.

The plum trees.......

The Cherry tree......

The Hydrangeas.......

The Redbuds......

Yes, I'm quite sure my neighbors were thinking I was nuts as I walked around taking pictures of our trees and bushes! This just makes me SOOO excited!!!

The kids were equally excited to get some much needed outdoor play. For Owen, it meant his first baseball lesson!! Ella, has by now, become a little pro--she's worked real hard last year and can actually hit pretty well now!

All ready with her pink bat and batting helmet

Look at that swing!

Next Ella decided to practice her pitching skills and poor Brian had to wear the pink helmet for his at bat!! He's such a good Barbie playing, pink hat wearing, tea party attending kind of dad!!

LOVE that face!!! I had uploaded a closeup of Owen as well and it somehow disappeared as I was adding text----UGH!!!

Now, it's Owen's turn. Dad is showing him how to hit. He had just woken up from his nap and wasn't quite awake yet when we threw him into the game!

Ella and Owen watch as J takes a swing (notice them holding hands!!!). Luckily for J, Ella didn't make him wear the pink batting helmet!

Enough baseball, on to the other fun backyard stuff........like driving the car......

or hanging upside down on the swing set.....

climbing UP the slide.....

or just picking Dandelions with your brother or sister :)

Flowers and trees aren't the only things starting to bloom.... so is Owen. I have noticed so many changes in the short week and a half that Owen has joined the hearing world. Right after he was fitted with his hearing aids, I began to notice him making new sounds. In addition to the new sounds, his vocalizations have seemed to change. I can't explain it, he just sounds different. The few words that he was able to repeat now sound just a little bit clearer, and he can now say "dada" as of a couple days ago. He is also understanding a lot more when we talk to him, and is starting to appropriately respond to a couple of verbal commands without cues such as gestures. It can still be quite frustrating, for everyone involved, when we cannot explain things to him and he doesn't understand what is going on. Such as when we need to break from playing outside and go in to eat. It would make things a lot easier on us, especially him, if we could explain that we need to go in for a little while and can come back out later. In a situation like that we get a lot of crying and understandably so. All in time :)

School is still going very well. It is a long day for him, but he really does seem to be enjoying it. He has yet to give me a hard time getting on the bus in the morning....thank God....and gets off the bus in the afternoon smiling. His speech therapist is back from her conference, so speech is in full swing starting this week. I am so excited about that! His speech therapist says he's so much fun to work with and is doing well. Wish I could fast forward six months to take a little peak at how he'll be doing then!

***Fellow bloggers....can someone please tell me why I sometimes can't get my post to publish with the spaces between the paragraphs that I DID put there????? I keep going back and adding then again, and the AGAIN it's publishes without the spaces??????

First Day of School!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 19:16:00 +0000

Dear Owen,

Today was your first day of school. It was a very emotional day for me, full of feelings of all kinds. I cried the entire drive there. I was worried that you would be frightened, I was worried you would think you weren't coming back home, I was worried that the day would be too long for you. But most of all I was overcome by the significance of this day. This day, it was the day I worked so long and hard for. It was the day that represented the culmination of everything I wanted to give you. We gave you a family, we gave you love, and we gave you the comfort of all your basic needs being met. Today was the beginning of new hope. It was the beginning of you receiving all the help you need so that you can reach you fullest potential. It was a silent promise fulfilled....a promise to your birth mother....a promise that I would give you everything I could, a promise that I would not only love you, but get you the help you need to make the most of your life. I would give you the life she couldn't give you, and make her sacrifice worth the pain of letting you go. Now, you have your wings, and I am going to love watching you fly.

Love, Mama

Today our little guy started school. He did GREAT!! I decided it would be best if I drove him there and let him take the bus home. We arrived at the school a little early and were greeted by his teacher. She brought us back to his classroom and Owen immediately began to play with some toys. There are only 4 kids in his class! There is also an aide in the room with the teacher. Looks like he'll be getting a lot of attention!! I was very comforted by the fact that his teacher is also an adoptive mom. I knew he was in good hands and with someone who would be very sensitive to the life Owen lived before we brought him home. What a blessing. In addition to getting a wonderful teacher, he also ended up with Speech Pathologist I was hoping he would have. I heard wonderful things about her and I was really hoping that he'd end up in her caring and knowledgeable hands.

The day seems to have gone pretty smoothly. I received a phone call at lunch time from his teacher saying that he was doing well. Later, when he arrived home, there was a note from her saying that the rest of the day went well and he had a great first day. The only issue he had was that he would not let them take out his hearing aids at nap time! I laughed, thinking what must have been going through his mind. He loves his hearing aids, so I can see him not handing them over to someone he barely knows!

I worried about his bus ride home and couldn't wait for him to get here so that he could see that home was the buses destination! I can't even think about how frightened he probably was not knowing where he was going. I felt terrible that there was no way to communicate to him that he would be going to school, and then later, coming back home. He got off the bus looking a little tired from his long stressful day--nothing a little Easter candy couldn't fix!! He perked up in no time! In his backpack was his notebook, filled with pictures of all the things he did throughout the day. His big smile in the pictures was definitely a comfort :) I am so grateful that we have access to such a wonderful school for him. There are so many hearing impaired children who don't live close enough to a school for the deaf and don't get such an opportunity. I know this is a wonderful place for him :)

All ready to go!

Owen's classroom

He looks very comfortable!

Here comes the bus!

He's home :)

Ella, who decided the house was so quiet she'd just stay in he P.J.'s and relax all day, was very happy to see Little Brother when he finally got home!

Happy Easter!

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 01:48:00 +0000

Saturday night Owen got to color Easter eggs for the first time. I had bought a "rainbow" egg coloring kit that I thought was pretty cool, and a neat (meaning clean) alternative to the traditional dropping of the eggs into the dye and wait method. The kit came with little bags, in which you placed the eggs, and several colors of dye. With the egg in the bag, you squeezed in several drops of up to three different colors and rub them on the egg---making a rainbow egg. Very "hands on", very pretty,..and did I mention neat? J was not thrilled with this new technique and called it boring. I argued that staring at an egg in a bowl waiting for it to turn just one color...that's boring! Well, the little ones had fun, except Owen didn't like the smell of the dye and was making his OH SO CUTE STINKY FACE!! Owen, who I thought would need a little practice, was a pro starting with his first egg. Ella had fun too. The best part--they were very pretty....and didn't make a mess :)

Owen was very pleased with his treats from the Easter bunny! His favorite thing was a toy camera. He knew just what to do with it and went around the house taking "pictures", leaving his candy behind. Then, while Ella went around the house looking for the eggs the Easter bunny hid, Owen followed taking a "picture" of her with her newly found egg! By the time we were almost done he caught on! We then had a delicious breakfast of Bacon, Onion, and Cheese Fritatta. Owen, of course, ate every scrap of food on his plate. Then came Owen's favorite part of the day...getting dressed. He LOVED his new outfit. It is just too precious how happy he gets every time he wears something new. He went around the house and showed everyone his new cloths and new shoes. He then waited while I dressed Ella. When I was all done getting her ready he decided he'd complete her outfit and preceded to pretend to put hearing aids in her ears!!! How cute is that??? It is the last step in the getting dressed routine, one he was sure not to let her miss!

As we do every Easter we headed to Meme and Poppy's house for dinner. Owen was quite delighted that Poppy was also wearing a button down shirt and a sweater vest! His only problem was that Poppy's top button was open, but he made sure to have him button it so he'd be just like him.

And now for the best part of the day.......GRAM MADE PICKLES!!!!!!!!! For those of you who don't remember, one of Gram's Christmas presents was jars so that she could make pickles. When we were little, Gram always made homemade pickles and we've been asking her for years to make them again. Needless to say, Owen loved them!! My sister and I agreed, they were just as we remembered them :) Thank you Gram!

The OH SO CUTE STINKY FACE!!

Egg dying fun!

Fun...pretty...and non mess making

Dad and J joined in

So pretty :)

Checking out the Easter treats

The favorite camera

Finding eggs

Owen, being the photographer

Finally joining in on the egg hunting fun!

Breakfast

The princess and the prince :)

All six of us in the car together for the first time and really feeling the need to give in and get the mini van!!

Dad and J with Aunt Ali

Gram :)

Beautiful B

Barking Brody!!

Owen leading Meme around the house

B and the little cutie dog

Poppy and Owen

Poppy, Owen, and Ella

Owen checkin' out how Meme set the table

New family photo :)

Ella and Owen pose with their Great Grandmother

Ella LOVES her big brother!! The feeling is mutual!

Dinner time!!

Eating one of Gram's pickles

He even tried Artichoke!

Dessert....yum! Meme makes good cakes!

Owen making Poppy button his shirt!

Hello to the World of Sound!!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 03:37:00 +0000

Today was the big day....the day Owen' was fitted with his new hearing aids. I don't think I could have been more excited!! We arrived at the Audiologist's office and Owen immediately began pointing to his ears, as if he knew exactly why we were there. I actually think that somehow he really did know why we were there! Once again, he was the perfect little patient. He cooperated well through the entire appointment and basically let us do whatever we needed to do. He sat well through the fitting of his earmolds to his hearing aids, the programming of his hearing aids, and the verification testing that was done to ensure his settings were appropriate. At one point during the appointment Owen was sitting on my lap and I was leaning over his right shoulder talking to the Audiologist. All of a sudden it was like a light bulb went off and he realized that he was hearing me from his right ear. He turned, looked at me with surprise written all over his face, and gave me the biggest smile. Welcome to the world of sound little guy!!!

Sportin' his new HA's
Happy to hear!

Those lips!!!!

20 Years! WOW!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 02:31:00 +0000

Twenty years ago I took a seat in front of a girl in homeroom on my first day of High School. Who would have know, twenty years later, that girl would still be one of my dearest friends. On April 4th, Dana and I traveled back to our High School for our 20th reunion! Wow, 20 years!!! I really can't wrap my mind around how that can possibly be. Sitting in the same cafeteria, looking at the same faces, was sort of a surreal experience. Amazing how quickly time passes. It was so nice to see everyone again. I think we all look GREAT!!!

Old friends

Back to school

Me and Traci

Me, Dana, and Traci

Dana, Christine, and me

A Little Bit of This......A Little Bit of That

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 02:14:00 +0000

Well, life around here, it's been a little CRAZY!!! I think, I THINK, things will calm down soon. Then again, I feel like I've spent my life saying "things will calm down when.......", only to find that they never really do!

Things continue to progress in a positive way. Owen should be sporting his new hearing aids this week. He will also be sporting some new glasses! He was seen by an Opthomologist this past week and it seems that I was right about his vision not being so good! He's pretty nearsighted. I'm waiting to him to have his hearing aids so that we can see which frames work well with them. As indecisive as I usually am, I think I already know which frames we'll go with as long as they fit nicely with his HA's. Of course I will be taking Brian with me for his opinion, just in case I'm not making the right decision. It never hurts to have a second opinion on things such as these. In the case of the poor sales people who must suffer through my indecisiveness, it DOES hurt them for me not to have someone with me for a second opinion! I am usually kind enough to warn them ahead of time just how long it will probably take me to finally make up my mind. My decisions are ALWAYS very well thought out, and well, that just takes a long time!

Owen is all set up to start school on April 13th!! I'm excited, nervous, and sad all at the same time. What a new world it will be for him. He'll be able to hear, see, and be getting the help he needs. I am so excited for him!! I just know he's going to do great! I am sure he is going to love school. He loves structure, routine, and having "something to do". I do worry about his fears the first couple of days, but I know that he will adjust quickly.

We've made huge strides on the animal front. We went to Sophia's birthday party at an animal farm and he liked all the animals! I was shocked! I had actually considered not taking him to the party, because judging by the "panda incident", I didn't think that goats and cows would go over too well! Ella loves it there, and I didn't want to ruin it for her. But, the way things worked out I had no choice but to bring him and hope for the best. He was very excited to see all the animals, bottle fed the goats, hand feed a few animals, and even went on a pony ride! That was much better than the screaming I thought would be going on! Needless to say, Ella had a wonderful time too!

Here are some pictures of a little bit of this...and a little bit of that...

Kisses for Big Sister...Owen LOVES Brianna!
Ben, joining Ella and Owen for some cantaloupe. Ben LOVES cantaloupe and at this point had already had two bowls!
I guess he was full because when we got back home later this is how we found him. We just love this cutie cat. He is so full of personality!

This is Zeus. He is almost 16 years old now. We adopted him, along with his brother Apollo who we lost when he was only 7 to an aggressive cancer. Zeus spent most of his life being a "scaredy cat". In his kitten days he spent a lot of time hiding under our bed and until recently wouldn't venture down from the second floor. Well, I guess he's either loosing his mind, or he's old and just doesn't care anymore, because here he is laying on the rug by the front door. He's been coming down more and more. Even Ella is amazed when she seems him downstairs! He is also Ella's favorite. The other day she told Ben "I love you Ben, but.....I love Zeus more". At least she's honest! She does have every right to love him more though. He sleeps with her EVERY night, most times right on his pillow. That old guy loves that little girl!

The little helpers carry the groceries into the kitchen. Of course this was all Wen's idea!

He sure does LOVE to be a helper

And he inspires other, usually not so hard working, family members to help too!

He tried REALLY hard to bring in the water too!

Today at Sophia's birthday party, Owen was loving Uncle Angelo!

Meeting the Easter Bunny for the first time!

The cute little baby goat. Ella was still talking about his cuteness on the drive home!

Pony ride time!

Owen's first pony ride. As for me, I stood at the fence shocked that he got on!
Who would'a thought!

Loving up the Birthday Girl!

How cute is the birthday hat on the bunny???

The favorite part of the party....bottle feeding the goats

Owen Update

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 12:18:00 +0000

Ok, I know this is overdue. Things have been a little busy around here :)

Owen has had all of his evaluations. The results of his hearing test revealed that he has a moderately-severe to severe hearing loss. With this degree of hearing loss, normal conversational speech is inaudible to him. No wonder he has no speech! Can't hear it, can't say it. He is scheduled to see an ENT this Thursday. He has a little bit of wax in his ears that we need to have removed before we can take impressions of his ears for new hearing aids. He will be wearing two, behind the ear style, hearing aids. I've been researching several brands and haven't yet decided what we'll go with. Things have changed a lot in the four years that I haven't been practicing, and hearing aid technology has evolved greatly. So much to think about! Then there's the little decisions like do I get beige to match his skin, or do we make it a little fun and go with a set of blue HA's????

All of Owen's evaluations for services through the school district have been completed. Everyone was very impressed with how appropriately he plays, how smart he is, and how friendly he is. He will mostly likely be attending a full time preschool program for hearing impaired children. I had the chance to tour the school and meet many staff members. Everyone seemed wonderful. The school is very nice and in addition to the classrooms has a full gymnasium, full kitchen, and computer lab with brand new computers, all of which the preschool children have use of. The classes are very small, about 7 kids, with two teachers in each class. The school uses an Auditory Verbal approach in which the children are taught spoken language auditorily. I CAN NOT WAIT to see how Owen does once he's properly aided and getting the help he needs. We are waiting for state approval for school placement and his CPSE meeting is probably going to be next week. He can start school immediately after that.

As excited as I am that he will be getting the help that he otherwise never would have received, I am so worried about him adjusting once again to a new situation. I know it will only take him a few days to realize that he goes to school and then comes home, but it makes me sad to think about how worried he'll be in the beginning. I see it every time we do something that's not quite our regular routine. For example yesterday I took him and Jason for haircuts. Well, we have never left the house with just the three of us. When he realized that just the three of us were leaving he went and sat at his little table, looked at me and shook his head "no". I kept waving for him to come and he started to pout :( Poor little guy was so scared and confused. Leaving with just me and Jason was unpredictable, and he couldn't predict what would happen next.

Things still continue to get easier and easier everyday as we get to know each other better and he learns whats expected and acceptable. We have had far less whining, and no tantrums. He no longer cries at bedtime, but instead fully participates in the routine. He helps pick up the toys in the living room, and shuts off the television. When we get upstairs I usually let Ella watch a little television while I sit with Owen until he falls asleep. He now turns the T.V on for her when we get upstairs! When we're all washed up and ready for bed they both sit on Owen's bed and I read a book or two. He then kisses Ella goodnight and takes his hearing aid out. The other night he even tried to open the battery door like I do each night! No more crying, no more pouting, no more self soothing behaviors while he falls asleep.

What amazes me most is that he's only been here about a month! Most people can't believe how very little time he's been home. I can't wait to see what the next few months bring!!

The Birthday Boys!!

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 21:40:00 +0000

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JASON AND OWEN!!!!!

On March 14th we celebrated both Jason and Owen's birthdays. I am so grateful that we were able to have Owen home before this day. We celebrated with some family and a couple of close friends who may as well be family :)

Jason turned 13!!!! WOW, it sounds weird just saying that! It never ceases to amaze me how quickly time goes by. That day thirteen years ago seems like yesterday, and at the same time so long ago. And for thirteen years I have never stopped being so proud to be his mom. I love my big guy :)

Owen turned 3!!! I am so grateful that we didn't miss this birthday! I am glad we were able to celebrate his birth, but at the same time could not stop thinking about his birth mother the entire day. Honestly, I don't think there has been a day that I haven't thought about her and wondered. I wish she could somehow see his smile :)

This post has taken me all week to get published!!! Could someone please request that just a couple of hours be added onto the day??? There just isn't enough time to get everything done in 24! I do have more to tell you....about his evaluations.....another day. For now I'll let the birthdays get a little attention!!

Enjoy the pictures. Of course now I wish I would have taken more. And one day, hopefully one day soon, I really do want to learn how to use my camera a little better...you know in my spare time!

Good morning little birthday boy!
Birthday kisses
Birthday hugs :)
Can you stand how cute these two are????

Owen takes Ella to show her the Happy Birthday sign above the door. I love this picture, it just does something to my heart :)

Ella loves her the big Birthday Boy too!

It was a Y*nkee birthday for J, complete with opening day tickets at the new stadium!

Presents!!

Owen quickly became very good at getting the wrapping paper off his gifts!

A new bike! No more riding Ella's princess bike!

B with Uncle Angelo--with their cane and crutches, both recovering from there injuries, and both enjoying being waited on! (Angelo broke his leg in three places after falling on the ice--OUCH!)

Owen showing off his skills with chopsticks

Ella and Sophia having dinner together. Sophia's mommy Dina and I have been friends for over 23 years!! That makes me feel really old!

The boys hang out and have dinner

Cousins

Ella, Sophia, and Nikki. I've been friends with Nikki's mom Dana since H.S. Next month we go to our 20th reunion! Again, felling REALLY old!!! It warms my heart to see Ella with Dina and Dana's daughters :)

Owen really loved Nikki! Who could blame him?

More presents!

Happy Birthday!!!!!!

New scooter from Meme and Poppy.

Just because.......

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 19:23:00 +0000

Just because........ I know there are some of you (not gonna mention any names) who are needing a "blog fix"! I really don't have much to say. Things are continuing to go well and continue to get easier each day. It just happens to be my favorite time of the day. The time when the light coming in the living room makes it such an inviting room. It is my favorite room in the house (now that the novelty of the laundry room has worn off that is!). Some of you (again, not gonna mention any names) would say that it lacks color.....yes, it is "monochromatic".....and I LOVE it that way! Did I mention it's my favorite room in the house????? I love to sit in here, I love the way it "feels"......peaceful, warm.....especially this time of day. So, needing an excuse to sit in here today, I decided to take my laptop and do a little blogging in my-----colorless room. By the way, beige does happen to be a color ya know!

The view from where I'm sitting.....I could sit here all day with the sunlight pouring in. Who needs color????

OK now for some pictures of the kids!

"Best friends" Last weekend was beautiful here and perfect for a little outdoor play!
Owen and Meg pose for a picture together. Please ignore the fact the Owen is riding Ella's princess bike. Notice the snow in the background---I wasn't quite prepared for bike riding whether considering last week we got over a foot of snow. Rest assured, some little someone will be getting a new bike for his birthday!
Ella has already taught her new brother that the view of the T.V while sitting on the COFFEE TABLE is quite good!

Over the weekend Owen met Poppy. They were instant friends!

Ella also introduced Owen to Slurp**s! Once he figured out what it was, he liked it!

Handsome little devil--thank you Aunt Dana and Nikki for the cute shirt!

The Difference a Week Makes

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 13:12:00 +0000

Oh boy, what a week!! A pretty exhausting one at that! Slowly, we are making our way into what is our "new normal". Bringing a new child into your family, who already has his own formed personality and ideas, and figuring out where he fits into that family, is no easy task. But a week has already made such a difference. He has already learned how to play nicely with Ella, he doesn't whine half as much as he used to, he has only had one tantrum all week, he's not falling apart every time I tell him "no", he's sleeping at night from 8pm-6am now, and he's eating just about anything we put in front of him!! He's has eaten oatmeal twice for breakfast, ate chicken nuggets for lunch the other day, and last night joined us for Friday night pizza! Ella said "he's NEVER going to eat pizza", and I agreed. So I had the noodles all ready to go, but when he walked into the kitchen decided that I would break a piece of pizza off and let him taste it. It didn't get spit out, so I let him take a bite, and another, and another. Then, when he saw Ella and B sitting at the table he decided that he and his slice of pizza would join them. He ended up feeding himself...the WHOLE slice! I guess I shouldn't be happy and doing a dance of joy that my new child has now added chicken nuggets and pizza to his diet, but it sure does make life a lot easier not to have him push away everything you offer him. Today for lunch we had sandwiches and he ate his whole ham and cheese sandwich. Ahhh.....the little things, like having everyone eating the same meal--it makes life so much easier. Life in general has gotten a little easier each day and for the most part Wen is very happy, smiley, friendly, and easygoing. I just exhausted!!Here's lookin' forward to next week!!!

We also got a lot accomplished this week as far as getting Owen set up with all his medical appointments, and evaluations. We were at the pediatrician yesterday. Things went well especially considering his last encounter with a doctor was not a pleasant one! His pediatrician thinks he looks great and gave us all the necessary referrals for specialists and lab work. I am going to have him seen by an opthamologist. I'm just not convinced that he doesn't have a little something going on with his eyes. I also got him registered with the school district the other day so that we can start having him evaluated for services. I was very pleased with my meeting with the special ed coordinator. To my advantage, she is a speech pathologist and has a love for working with the deaf and hard of hearing population. I truly felt like he would end up getting everything he needed, and I wouldn't have to fight for anything. She has already started looking into preschool programs for him. We are going to be taking him to the local school for the deaf to have his evaluations done. Both she and I felt this was a good place to have him evaluated as they are very familiar with this population. They do have a preschool program there that is for hearing impaired children with hearing aids and cochlear implants. I am really hoping that this is where he will be placed. Considering that his auditory system has basically been unstimulated for three years, he will not only need to learn how to talk, but he'll need to learn how to hear and make sense of all these new sounds he's hearing. I think that a program where they are familiar specifically with the needs of hearing impaired kids, not just speech delayed kids, is probably the best place for him right now. It'll take a few weeks before we have everything figured out, but at least we're on our way!

Here are some pictures from the week :)

Ella being goofy in her "big sister" shirt
Owen....LOVING his big sister!

Playing rough with the big brother!

Poor Jason!

Handsome with his new haircut

Friday night pizza

Who would have thought...pizza...he's eating pizza!!! Definitely not noodles!

Snow Day!

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 01:18:00 +0000

Just when I was ready to get back into a routine---SNOW DAY!!! We got hit with about 14 inches of the white stuff. Ella was asking all morning to go out and play. We were all wondering what Owen's reaction would be. Here's how it went:

We're all ready to go out!
Ella LOVES the snow!

Wen would only walk on the path that Brian shoveled!

Jason convinces him to stop whining and go play in the snow. For a minute he's having fun.

OK, maybe it's not so bad

OK, it's kinda fun

I'm starting to remember that I really don't like this.

A little snow in my mouth....I really don't like this very much!

Ella in the meantime is having a GREAT time! My angel making a snow angel.

Having fun with big brother, who shares Ella's love for snow play.

Owen enjoys the snow a lot more from inside the house! He laughs while he and B watch Ella and Jason play outside!

In case you couldn't tell from the pictures, Owen did not really like the snow. First, he wouldn't come out of the garage. Then, he only would walk on the path Brian shoveled. He finally found some fun in throwing the snow...for about 2 minutes. Then the whining began again. I was just fine with taking him back in. I am not a fan of being wet and cold either!

The first couple days

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 14:01:00 +0000

It's a snow day here in the northeast, so I figured I'd give my friends a little reading material and do a little blogging!

The first few days home with Wen have been going well. Everyday he seems to be more and more comfortable here. He and Ella have been getting along very well and he is absolutely delighted to see her when she wakes up in the morning (he ALWAYS wakes up first). Ella seems to be adjusting well to the big sister roll. There have been some things that she's had to get used to! First, Ella is usually pretty quiet in the morning. She'll wake up. Sit on the couch for a while and have her cup of tea (yes, her cup of tea!), and gradually start her day. Wen wakes up raring to go! He's bright eyed, ready to play, and LOUD!! He's vocalizing away, playing, dropping toys, banging things! As soon as Ella wakes up he wants to play. No more sitting on the couch quietly for her! Also, since Wen doesn't talk, he'll often"show" Ella what he wants her to do. For example, if he wants her to sit on her little car so he can push her around, he'll take her by the hand over to the car, and try to pick up her leg and put it over the seat of the car! My poor timid Ella! Luckily, she's less nervous about him doing things like that, and he's been less "pushy" everyday!

I think attachment is going well. He really seems to know that we are his family. He'll come to me now for comfort if he gets hurt. He's more and more affectionate each day. The cutest is when he's holding Ella's hand and then kisses it! Just too darn cute! Yesterday we were at a friend's house for dinner and Brian needed to leave to pick up B. When Owen saw him leaving he ran after him, but then was fine when I went and called him over to stay with me. Sleeping has been a little bit of an issue. He'll wake a few times in the middle of the night, and the other night was up for a couple of hours. I know it took me several days to get adjusted while in China, so I'm hoping that soon his body clock will adjust and he'll be sleeping a little better.

As for me, the jet lag hasn't been as bad as I thought it was going to be. I'm starting to think that maybe I don't need as much sleep as I used to believe! My biggest adjustment has been getting used to the new increased level of noise in the house! I don't like noise much, and it has been VERY noisy!

Wen has his hearing test scheduled for March 16th. I can't wait to see what his hearing loss is like and get him appropriately fitted with new hearing aids. He's going to need some pretty intense speech/language therapy and I'm hoping that we can get him in a hearing impaired preschool program. Luckily there is a school for the deaf not too far from us that does have a preschool program for hearing impaired and deaf children.

Here are some pictures of Wen's first couple of days home

Discovering his toys and getting to know Aunt Ali
All these toys and all he wanted was B's phone!

Showing Ella his "new toy"

Ella shows Wen her room

The first morning home Wen went to look out the window and look what was on it---A LADYBUG!

Looking out into his new yard

Loving his new sister

Brushing their teeth together!

Having lunch together :)

I LOVE my big brother!

Remember the pickle story from the airport? This was a gift for Brian from our good friend Angela! How hysterical!!!

We're Home!

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 02:11:00 +0000

"Remember today, for it is the beginning of always. Today marks the start of a brave new future filled with all your dreams can hold"

Welome Home Owen!

After about 25 hours of traveling, we arrived home at about 8:45 to a very warm welcome from our friends and family, AKA the paparazzi! Cameras in hand, they all waited at the end of the driveway anxious to see the little boy they all heard so much about. Ella immediately jumped out of my mom's arms and into mine..something we were both longing for :) I then took her around to the other side of the car, followed by B and J, to finally meet "little brother". As soon as I opened the door Wen, like he knew just who Ella was, reached out his hand and took hers. Needless to say that brought a couple of us to tears! It was dark out, but the driveway was quite lite by all the camera flashes. I can't even imagine what was going through his little head! He was very happy to see B, and J as well and greeted each of them with a huge smile. Once again, we were blessed with magical moments. Four siblings who just met, yet seemed to have know each other for so long. How could that be? My heart is so grateful.

The kids were anxious to get Wen inside and show him his new house. He willingly went around the house holding one of their hands and went room to room. He amazingly seemed very comfortable with each of them, as well as with my mom and my sister. We all had a very late night that night finally settling in at about 12:30. Like clockwork, Wen was up at 6am!

Overall things are going very well. Wen absolutely LOVES Ella (and Ella loves him!), and is very happy when he sees B and J. We're still all getting used to the time change and I've been walking around a foggy and a bit overwhelmed by lack of sleep, the mess developing around my house, and the suitcases full of laundry that still need to be done. Also, my Ella who was so brave without her mom for two weeks, has come a bit undone! It's like every suppressed emotion is now coming out. She will not let me leave her side for more than a second and has been so overly emotional. That's mainly the reason this blog post has taken me so long. Ella basically won't let go of me, which makes it a little hard to type! And of course her needs have to take priority. So I now sit at my table with my laptop while the two little ones are eating lunch, trying to get it done!

Here's few pictures from Wen's big welcome home! In the next couple of days I'll hopefully get a chance to post some pictures of our "new family".

My mom had this beautiful banner made to welcome Wen home. (She also made sure the house was clean, the fridge was filled with food, and all the laundry at home was all done--how wonderful is that!!)

Michelle, Joanne, and Lisa came earlier in the day and decorate the house with balloons
Wen's new friends
Ella, Meg, and Mia are anxiously waiting!
We finally make it home to the large crowd gathered in front of our house
I'm greeted by our other children

Wen's first glance at the paparazzi awaitin his arrival!

Brianna, happy to finally meet Wen

The smiles on their faces...priceless

Ella, so happy to have "little brother" home at last!

No words for this one :)

A new family

Goodbye Guangzhou, Goodbye China

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 04:14:00 +0000

It's our last full day in China. We head out early tomorrow morning for our long day of travel.

Yesterday afternoon we had our traditional "red couch" photos. It's a tradition to have pictures taken on the red couch in the lobby of the White Swan hotel. Wen wasn't in the best mood considering we had to wake him up from his nap. He definitely wasn't his usual smiley self, but still the pictures came out pretty nice.

Last night we attempted to eat some authentic Chinese. We stopped at two local restaurants, but after reviewing their menu decided that we really didn't need to eat Chinese. If I had been in the mood for some fried frog, sliced swan meat, or maybe a little ostrich kidney it would have been fine to eat there. I was way too hungry after not eating lunch and there was just no way I'd be able to get enough steamed pigeon in me to make me full! We then decided we'd try the German restaurant, but they were having a party there and were not seating for dinner. Much to my luck.......La Dolce Vita is right next door to the German restaurant and that's were we ended up. AAHHHH.......happiness. Again we had a very delicious meal. Actually I think it was probably better than any local restaurant we have home! A little Pizza Caprese (mmmmm), and two more wonderful pasta dishes (and of course a nice bottle of red wine) were on last night's menu. Of course we went through a couple of baskets of bread as well. Marianna, you would be very happy there. If you knew how good the food was I think you would even muster up enough courage to get yourself on a plane to China! We again worked on getting Wen to convert over to the Chinese-Italian he now is. A little olive oil and balsamic vinegar....he actually asked me to put in on his plate! Then the bread dipping began. Yes, we will be able to go out to eat when we get home!

We spent part of the morning packing and then headed over to the park. Wen had a great time! Again the local women were "mothering" him. I told Brian that if any of the Chinese women on the plane ride home offer to feed/entertain/take care of him DO NOT SAY NO!!! I'm sure they'll give him back once we land! Yes, I am dreading the long flight home. This is the part of the trip I was always worried about the most. So I am once again asking for your prayers-lots of them- for a safe, easy, and otherwise uneventful journey home. Please:)

Again, I want to thank all of you who have been so interested in following our journey. Your comments, emails, and facebook messages mean more to me than you know. Wen has so many wonderful people to meet when we get home :) You have all been so supportive over this past year while we worked so hard to get Wen home.

I also want to thank my mom and my sister who took such good care of our other three kids while we were here in China. We couldn't have done this without you :) Thank you.

Meaghan Grace and Mia Hope your provided the inspiration for us to follow our hearts and bring your new friend home. We can't wait to see the "three dimples" all together! I can't wait to see if Paige will be the fourth "dimple"!

My husband, who trusted me enough to make this happen...thank you, I love you.

*B, J, and El---just one more day! I miss you guys so much it hurts. We love you and can't wait for you to meet your new brother :) You guys are going to be the best big brother and big sisters he could ever have. He is one lucky boy that you will be his family and one day he will know just how much you all wanted him to be your brother.
XOXOXOXOXO
Mom and Dad

P.S- Mom-I think maybe you should take the Panda rocker out of Owen's room! We can't have him be afraid of walking into his new room!

Red Couch picture
Wen wants Tai's hat

Wen gets Tai's hat and is very happy!

Tai runs away! His mom and dad better be careful, I just may be sneaking him into my suitcase and taking him home!

Travel group (the two other GW families left Tuesday)

Wen was determined to ride on the little car with this big stuffed animal. He tried, and tried, and tried to sit on it with him. Then Tai's dad put him on Wen's shoulders---he was very happy to have a solution!

MMMMM.......some great bread dipped in a little olive oil and balsamic....who wouldn't like that???

Doesn't he look so cute in his new hat???

LOVE the personalized jersey - thanks Laura!

A local little boy and his grandmother

Yep, another women feeling the need to take care of Wen. She thought his hat was too big and decided to adjust it

Every adoptive mom just has to take this picture

La Dolce Vita

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 05:27:00 +0000

Well the second half of our day yesterday went much better than the first. We opted to walk back to Shamian Island (with our guides) from the pearl market instead of taking the bus. We first walked through a very busy business section with lots of stores. There were SOOOOOO many people! Wen and his little friend Tai were mesmerized just watching everything that was going on. We just love watching them and wondering what was going through their little heads. We next walked throught the pet market. I didn't take any pictures here as it's not something I really care to remember and for the sake of my animal loving friends and family I'm not even going to bother describing it. I'm sure me saying that says enough :( After getting through the animal market we walked through the herbal medicine market. As we walked our guide stopped along the way and explained what things were and what they were used for. It was quite interesting and the Chinese definitely know something we don't know. They are all very thin (we have not seen even one overweight person here--seriously!), and they have such beautiful skin.

When we got back to Shamian Island we decided to go straight to dinner. We were joined by our new friends Heidi and Jason and there son Tai (who is one cutie patootie). It was a beautiful walk to the restaurant. We opted for Italian and were VERY pleasantly surprised by how good our meal was. We went there thinking "Italian food in China????". Brian and I can be very critical when it comes to Italian food. Upon arriving we were initially comforted by the beautiful building the restaurant is in, the cleanliness of it, and the fact that they have western style toilets! Already I was thinking this would be our place for lunch and dinner the next couple of days! We sat down to baskets of bread and breadsticks complete with a balsamic and pesto dipping oils. The bread was so light and delicious. Now I'm thinking "OK, this could be good". Then came the true test--our meals. Brian and I ordered Penne with onion, bacon, and tomato sauce , and Chicken with a spinach wine sauce. They were DELICIOUS!!!!! Even Wen enjoyed his spaghetti with tomato sauce and some bread dipped in pesto!! Hooray--that I can make! Later we saw the chefs-two big Italian guys and that explained everything! Our meals combined with the wonderful bottle of wine we ordered, and the company of Heidi, Jason, and Tai was like a little taste of heaven. I was soooo happy and content. It was like my battery was recharged and I was thinking OK, OK, I can do this for a couple more days"! Needless to say, I'm really looking forward to going back there :)

We had a very pleasant walk back to the hotel from the restaurant. On the way we stopped for some Starbucks, and did a little more shopping! There were lots of people out walking and still lots of people in the park exercising.

To make the evening even better we had two important firsts last night. I got my first kiss!!!! AAAHHH, yes, my first kiss. I was holding Wen and puckered my lips and he leaned over and kissed me! Dad later got at kiss too. Also, last night was the first time he let me lay with him to go to sleep. I then put him in his little bed that is right next to Brian's (basically attached to it) and he slept there all night. Either he was really wiped out from all his shots, or he's finally starting to realize that when he wakes up in the morning we will still be there.

Tomorrow we go to the Consulate to take our group oath. Then we'll get all packed up and ready to head out on Thursday (of course in between that we'll be going back to La Dolce Vita!!)

*B, J, and El- We are DONE shopping for you!! El-have fun at school today!! Tell Ms. Diane I said hello. Two more days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Brian bargaining in the pearl market. Look at all those bags of pearls!!
So many stores, I'm not sure how they can all make money. These were ALL pearl stores!

Wen and Tai just taking it all in! I just LOVE this picture.

Herbal medicine market

These dried seahorses are used for making soup

Scorpians, yes scorpians, also used for a medicinal soup

This artist was making carvings out of ox bone

This little girl was reading in the park and was just as sweet as she looks. She spoke English and was delighted to pose for a picture. She is definitely one of the beauties of Shamian Island.

One of the many couples taking their wedding photos in the park yesterday.

Family photo in front of a "lucky" tree. Notice the trunk--it's like many thin branches twisted together. The trees are so beautiful here

La Dolce Vita!!!!

Spaghetti face!

Wen and Tai. Wen is very nuturing and gentle toward Tai. It make you wonder if he helped with the younger children at the orphanage--ya know at the ripe old age of not even three!

Tai's shoe came off---Wen was helping him put it back on! It actually makes me a sad that he is so independent and was forced to grow up so fast :(

Shoe is on, now he helps him get up!

My first Oreo---this is no rice cookie! Slowly they are beginning to corrupt me!

Joy, Fun, and Frustration

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 05:27:00 +0000

This blog post brings out a wide variety of emotion today. First the joy and fun part. We had a wonderful time at dinner last night with our travel group. Four of the five GW families met and went to the Cow and Bridge. My meal was just OK. Maybe I should have opted for the steamed pigeon, or the ostrich kidney! I think tonight we're going to try Italian---that should be interesting! We then went back to the hotel and spent some time in playroom. Initially we were the only family in there. Wen spent a great deal of time arranging all the toys. He's going to be a wonderful "cleaner upper". We were then joined by two of the other GW families. It was so wonderful to finally see Wen playing with other children. He had a GREAT time. For the most part everyone played very nicely. Toward the end of the night it was just us and the Cook family with their new son Levi in the playroom. Wen and Levi had a blast. They were running, rolling around, and having a great time! The pictures of the two of them speak a thousand words. Levi is quite a character. He is four years old and has some command of the Chinese language. He runs around talking, and laughing, and talking in Chinese. I can only imagine the stories he was telling us. He has quite a personality and I could have watched him all night!

Now for the part of the post that is part funny, part frustrating. We had our medical exam this morning which all adopted children must have before returning to the U.S. The best way to describe it is controlled chaos. There were very many people there and you are basically brought to different "stations" for different parts of the exam. First, we had our "hearing test". This is the funny part of the story. The doctor took a squeeky fish and put it next to Wen's ear to see if he would turn to look at it. Well, we hadn't taken his hearing aid out, so of course he heard it. Then I took his HA out and the doctor once again took the fish from in front of him, held it to the side of his head, and squeezed it. Well, he wanted the fish and had watched it in her hand, so of course he turned when she squeeked it--he had watched her put it by his ear. Well, from this "test" she decided that he can now hear and actually told us he didn't need his hearing aid anymore!!!! I was trying really hard to be respectful, but the ridiculousness of the situation got the best of me. I was laughing so hard I had tears rolling down my face!! Brian was having a hard time controlling his laughter as well. The rest of the exam was pretty uneventful until our last stop. Apparently under the new Hague regulations all children who are returning to the U.S are required to have all vaccination required by the CDC----BEFORE they leave. I had no idea that this was the case and was a little unprepared for what they would tell me. The doctor looked at his vaccination record and determined that he needed FOUR shots for EIGHT different diseases!!!!!!! They said he needed MMR, DTaP, HIB, and Varicella!!! I argued, begged, and pleaded, to no avail, against this assault on his little immune system. Unfortunately, the consulate will not issue his Visa without meeting this requirement. I am so furious that I was forced to allow them to give him SO many on the same day. I really wish this could have been done at home, in a much safer manner. Please keep him in your prayers that he will suffer no side effects from the many vaccinations he recieved today. His poor little arms are SO sore :( I am just sick to my stomach thinking about it.

After Wen's nap we went on our scheduled tour to the pearl market. Once again, we made some purchases! I really liked the pearl market :) Funny because if it wasn't for the fact that I had to pick up something for Meaghan Grace I probably would have skipped going there. Wen was napping and after his ordeal this morning I really didn't want to wake him up. But, I had an order to fill and my girl's at home were liking that we'd be going to the pearl market today. I'm really glad we went, but once again the purchases are a surprise....sorry girls!

We ended up having a really nice afternoon and evening....more on that tomorrow! It's late, I'm tired and I'm not even gonna proof read this tonight...so just pretend there aren't any spelling/grammatical errors.....it's 9am in the U.S and I KNOW some of you have already been stalking my blog for a couple of hours!!

*B, J, and El--you all got some really cool stuff today!!! Three more days until "little brother" comes home!!!!!!!

The boys in the travel group (no girls in the group!)
Our group dinner

New friends

The local people excersising in the park

Beautiful Shamian Island

The medical exam place

Notice the tambourine...notice me TRYING to keep a straight face!

Crazy crowded!

Things are starting to not go so well....and we're not even up to the shots!

Can you stand the cuteness?????

Shopping, shopping, shopping!

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 06:21:00 +0000

Shopping, that about sums up today! We went on our scheduled tour to the Chen Clan Temple. We thought we were going to see another buddist temple, but actually it's now a folk art museum---with, of course, stores where you can buy things! I did make some purchases, again. We got a chop (kinda like a stamp) with Owen's name written in Chinese, and a scroll with our family name on it. The other things we bought there are a secret....they're gifts :) Then it was off the the jade and provincial porcelain place (this is what our guide called it). Ummm.....we shopped a little more :) We got some chopsticks--we're gonna need those, a jade pendant for Wen, and some other goodies for our other kids which I'm not going to mention, because they're surprises too! Sorry for the suspense B, J, and El! I also splurged and got myself and Ice Jade braclet--very pretty.

We got back to our beautiful hotel, had some lunch, and brought Wen back to the room for a nap, AKA "my blog time". I must really love you blog crazy people (you know who you are!) to be spending every nap blogging. Especially now that we are in Guangzhou and I could be shopping! It really is nice to be here. There are so many little shops and the hotel is actually located on an island-Shamian Island. Our room looks out the the Pearl River which is the 3rd largest river in China.

Tonight we will be meeting the other GW families for dinner at the Cow and Bridge, a Thai restaurant here on Shamiam Island. It's nice to have a greater variety of food now. Also, the breakfast buffet here is wonderful! Luckily, they did have noodles for Wen. So far we have tried french fries, tater tots, chicken nuggets, french toast, pancakes, and toast. The only thing he has even tried was a french fry. He took one bit, chewed it, and spit it out! I told him that sometimes we need to run through the drive through for some fast food when we are out, and they don't sell noodles! Hopefully, once he see's Ella eating he'll decide to try some new foods.

Enjoy today's pictures :)

*B, J, and El--lots of shopping means some good stuff for you guys! I think you'll like our purchases! B and J- enjoy your last day off (and go to bed early tonight!) El-you're lucky, I think Meme is making meatballs today, YUM, I'm jealous! We love you guys. We're almost home!

The view from our window

Now that's a jade ship!

It's a whole new world out there!

This is how Owen has been falling asleep! When he's tired he grabs Brian's hand, brings him over to the bed, tells him to lay down, and climbs on!

Outside the Chen Clan Temple

This artist is fingerpainting. His work is unbelievable!

Magnolia --- for you mom :)

Wen and his new friend Tai. Isn't he so cute???

I don't care how hot they are, I'm hungry!

Noodle lover!