Thursday, November 13, 2008

Magical Memories

Over the summer our vacation planned were suddenly derailed when the timing would have prevented me from having our dossier documents Certified and Authenticated as soon as I possibly could! Out of guilt for turning our vacation into a day trip into the city while I went to the State Department and the Consulate, we told the kids that we would take them to FL in November. So off we went on Saturday as promised. Of course, out of everyone, Ella enjoyed this trip the most. She loved EVERY minute of. She loved the landing on the plane, she loved the shuttle ride to the baggage claim, she loved the hotel room, she LOVED EVERYTHING. It was so much fun watching her take in everything, living in the moment, and getting pleasure out of things others wouldn't even notice. We crammed A LOT into four days, and did as much as we possibly could in that time. Needless to say we were all exhusted by the time we arrived home at 11:45pm Tuesday night. Here's our trip in photos!

A couple of "weird things" happened while we were away! The first was while we were on our flight to Orlando. Sitting next to Brianna was a woman and sitting behind Brian was her husband. They were VERY friendly and told us all about their college aged children and their current vacation plans. During our conversation the wife mentions that they live in the town where I used to work and she asks us where we live. We told her we live about 40 minutes away from them in @*#&$%. She then says "I think I was just in @*#&$% on Tuesday". She tells us that she was on her way to another town with a client and made a wrong turn and remembered seeing a sign saying @*#&$%. She then goes on to describe the development she turned into and guess what---it was OUR development!!! As she's describing the neighborhood Brian is sitting there smiling and she says "you live there, don't you???" Yes we do!!, Brian tells her!! With that I take Ella to the bathroom. I get back and Brian turns to me and says "Melis, she's a speech pathologist". I look at her and say "Oh, I'm an Audiologist and I used to work in your neighborhood" (for those of you who don't know as an undergraduate your degree is in Speech Pathology and Audiology and you then chose one of those for your Master's degree). She then says to me "I took a little bit of a different route and mostly teach sign language now". Shocked, I say "Oh, we're adopting a little boy from China who may be deaf, I might need you!" She then replies "Oh wow, I do private work too. I go to people's houses and teach the child as well as the family sign language. We do things like go to the park, or out to a restaurant and learn all the relevant signs---and now I know where you live!" Needless to say I was temporarily speechless. All along I have always strongly felt that Wen was probably hearing impaired, but not deaf. I compose myself, turn to Brian and say "Well, I guess maybe he is deaf". What are the chances????? Did God just plop this person into my life because I really am going to need her??? And she drove past my house just the other day????

Second "weird" thing--later the same day we're on line to see the famous mouse. I look behind us and see a women with a little Chinese girl. I point her out to Brian and as I do I realize the mother looks really familiar. I'm trying to place her and then realize it was a women, who I don't know, but who's blog I followed the entire time she was in China!!! I remembered her whole story, and both of her children's names. Of course I went over to her to let her know that although she's not a celebrity, she's been "spotted" and tell her that her daughter is just as beautiful in person as she was on her blog! Brian just stood there shaking his head. Again---what are the chances????

Being my first attempt at a slide show, please forgive any spelling/grammatical errors in this post. It's taken me too long to finish it and I just can't proof read and "fix" another thing!!! Off to make dinner for a hungry family!

Saturday, November 1, 2008

Happy Halloween!!

This year Ella had a very difficult time deciding what she would be for Halloween. She changed her mind several times! She finally decided that she'd be a giraffe. She LOVES giraffes. We had a beautiful day to trick-or-treat and as always we did it with Ella's best friend and boyfriend Mikey. Jason went around with a group of his friends and came back with a sack full of candy. Brianna who is too old to get dressed up, but apparently not to old to want candy, did go out with her friends dressed basically like themselves!
Ella stood still two days in a row, first for her school Halloween party and then for Halloween, while her face was painted
The cutest giraffe ever!!!



They're all ready to go get some candy!
The boys. J is the one with the B@rt mask on. He kept it on for about one block!
El sharing a ride with her best friend
Poor Meg trailing behind!
Ella asked Mikey to hold her hand as they walked back toward the street. He always takes such good care of her!
Mom and Dad with their little "Giraffie"

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Super, Soggy, Soaking Wet Monday

What do you do when it looks like this outside your window??????
You have a movie party with your friends!
Can you stand these two little buddies holding hands??? Ten years from now we won't be letting them even sit next to each other!!

What better way to spend a rainy afternoon.......
Than watching a movie full of fairies and flowers!

Two Bedrooms Done!

Brianna and Ella's rooms are done! Two down, two to go! I just love the way they came out. Luckily, so do they! Next, Wen's room. Just have to figure out what the heck I'm doing in there-- any suggestions are welcomed :) Then, since everyone else was getting a new room, I told Jason that we'd repaint his room. I hope I'm not sick of painting by then! Here are the girl's new rooms:
El's New Room


B's New Room
Pretty purple bathroom





Sunday, October 26, 2008

Rebecca's Giveaway

Rebecca, the wonderful woman who designed my beautiful blog is having a giveaway with some AWESOME prizes!! She and I have become "online friends" as we both wait for LOA to bring home two very special boys. With travel to China right around the corner she is hoping to raise some money to help cover the rest of her adoption expenses. She has had some VERY nice, and very valuable prizes donated by some generous people. Click on the link on the side "To China for Owen" to read all about Owen and help bring this special little boy home or go to her site at www.tochinaforowen.blogspot.com .

Monday, October 20, 2008

Update!!!!!!

Over the weekend we got a long awaited update on Wen! Oh how I wish I was able to post his picture so I could share his beautiful smile with everyone! In his original referral pictures he looked so grumpy. It was wonderful to see him smiling! According to the information I received our little guy is extroverted, lovely, smart, and loving. He is a quick learner. They call him "Xiao Shuai". Xiao means little, and Shuai means handsome. He's potty trained and tells his nanny when he needs to use the bathroom. He drinks from a cup. They reported that he talks and says MaMa. I don't know who he'd be calling MaMa, and maybe they're just saying this because they think that's what I'd like to hear. But, if he truely is talking he must have some hearing. I guess we'll have to wait and see! I can't wait to be able to post his picture. Hopefully just a few more weeks!

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Pumpkin Picking

We spent most of the long weekend working on Ella's new room. As excited as she was about her new room, she still was asking all day, everyday "when are we going pumpkin pickng?" So on Monday we made some time to finally take her. She was sooooooo excited! Now she keeps asking, everyday, all day, "when are we going to carve the pumpkins?" Hopefully we'll get to that this weekend!
Ella was just a little happy to be at the farm!
J carries a heavy one
El tries to carry a heavy one too!
Brianna....with us......and smiling, strikes a pose!


Handsome x2
This is Ella's "I'm so excited I can't keep my tongue in my mouth" face!
Now for the best part...the roasted corn!
Ella LOVES corn!