Summer Fun

It's been a beautiful summer, and we've been keeping busy during the long days that Baba is gone to work. Maelin just finished Tues/Thurs swim classes at the at the local community center (she wasn't thrilled with them; there's too much waiting and turn-taking. She'd much rather just flail around in the water un-instructed!), and we put up a 12-foot easy-set pool at home, as well. She's an absolute fish and loooooves the water! She's also been on a couple of boat rides with Baba and his friend Bill.

The park has been another summer favorite. We've gone to several different ones, and she always has fun. Invariably, the other kids playing at the park at the same time are 'my friends' :)


We spent a fun day at the Flint Children's Museum -- what a FANTASTIC place for curious little ones!! Admission was only $4 per person; we left after 3 1/2 hours and Maelin was not even close to being ready to go! They have science stuff (energy, five senses), dramatic play (a stage and dress up clothes, a puppet show area), a play grocery store, and a play pizza restaurant. Toooo fun! And on Tuesdays, they open for free!


Here's a pic from the 4th of July :) Maelin was really excited to see the parade making it's way toward us!


That's all for now...

xoxo,
Shonda

When i get big...

Maelin never ceases to make us laugh -- and her perceptions of the world around her are no exception! We are still firmly planted in the 'why?' stage, and she's constantly asking why she can't do something or have something. Sometimes the answer is, "that's for big people," or "that's for adults," or "you're too little for that." She's composed an ever-growing list of things that she plans to do. They always start with "Me get big, me..." Here are a few of my favorites:

Me get big, me can wear hair gel.
Me get big, me can wear make up.
Me get big, me can use the orange hair spray.
Me get big, me grow boobs.
Me get big, me wear bra.
Me get big, me can touch stove (LOL!)
Me get big, me drive car.
Me get big, me don't have to hold hands in parking lots.
Me get big, me can cook. (Great! When would you like to get started??)

I'm guessing that we'll have our hands full when Miss Maelin hits the teenage years!!

Love to you all,
Shonda (and the rest of the clan)

Smile, Sweet Pea!

During spring break (end of March), we went to a Sears Portrait Studio in Flint for Maelin's first professional pictures. It's good timing, because her birthday and Gotcha Day anniversary are two weeks apart. The spring dress was a birthday gift from Aunt Tammy, and the traditional Chinese outfit ("my China clothes") was purchased in China while we were there last year.

Maelin definitely enjoyed getting her pictures taken, and we were THRILLED with the results! I may have spent too much money on them...including a CD of all the pictures so that i could post them on the blog!

xoxo,

Mama, Baba, Leslie and Maelin

HAPPY ONE YEAR!!

I can hardly believe that one whole year has passed since we saw our Maelin for the very first time...I vividly remember sitting in the waiting area at the Civil Affairs Office in Chongqing. We didn't wait long before we saw an adult come around the corner with two little girls. When the first little one rounded the corner and came into view, we weren't sure if it was YuFeng or not. But as soon as the second little girl walked in the room, we knew SHE was our baby! I have a lump in my throat and tears in my eyes just thinking about that first moment...i got down on my knees near her and said, "Hi, baby!" She was unsure of us (and Jim says she had a couple of silent tears but i don't remember that), but the van driver who brought her in kept telling her that we were her new Mama and Baba. We opened her backpack and gave her a baby doll out of it. After a few minutes she also got a sucker out of the backpack, and that was an ice breaker! She let us hold her, and i remember being surprised at how BIG she was!

What she must have been thinking those first few moments...i can't even fathom. Now that i know her and love her so dearly, i can't imagine how she must have felt, having just been taken away from the only parents she ever knew. I hope they tried to explain it to her. I hope they tried to prepare her for the new family she would meet.

Our time in China was busy and exciting, but we all got sick two days before traveling home. Those first few weeks at home were really difficult for me. We were sick, we were jet lagged, our sleep schedule was on China time (12 hrs difference), and she was grieving for her foster parents. The first day Jim went back to work, i panicked! What was i going to do for 9 hours at home alone with Maelin? The time crept by as we played with play-doh, played dress-up, looked at books (although she didn't enjoy this at all in the beginning), took baths (because she DID enjoy that!) and waited for Baba to come home. I must have looked at my watch 100 times a day. I was sooo exhausted... and quite honestly, i missed having a life of my own. I missed reading books and taking naps and going out with my husband and scrapbooking with my friends. My time was not mine anymore, and that was hard during those first months.

Fast forward 365 days...what a difference! Maelin has become such an integral part of our little family that we can't fathom life without her...she is very attached to her 'new' Mama and Baba and no longer grieves for her first family. We often talk about the adoption journey: Mama and Baba were sad because we were home alone with no MaeMae (i don't mention that i used to read books and take naps - LOL!), so we flew to China to pick her up! We also talk about 'other' mama and baba, who took care of MaeMae while she was waiting for us to come and get her. We say that they loved her very much. Academically, she's making tons of progress in her first year of preschool at the Michigan School for the Deaf -- she counts to 20 (in both speech and sign), she recognizes 23 capital letters of the alphabet, tries to sing the ABC song (my favorite part is, "dubba-lou, eck, y, deeeee!"), and has an expressive sign vocabulary of about 400 signs.

Tonight the three of us drove to our homestudy agency in Bingham Farms for our final post-placement visit with social worker Lorie (Leslie stayed in the dorm). Afterward, we went out for a celebration dinner at Joe's Crab Shack in Auburn Hills. We kept telling Maelin, "Happy One Year!"

Thanks for reading, and thanks for staying with us during this incredible journey!

Much love,
Mama, Baba, Leslie and Maelin

Happy Birthday, Sweet Pea!!

It's hard to believe that our little Love Bug turned FOUR today!! She has been looking foward to her birthday ever since she started seeing her classmates have their turn at the birthday thaaang! We've also been working on "how old are you now?" and "how old will you be soon?" She is so excited to tell people that she's four now! We celebrated with a birthday party at school with her classmates, complete with a crown :)

In the evening, we went to Applebee's for dinner, a rousing version of "happy birthday" courtesy of the waitstaff, and a hot fudge sundae!

When we arrived home, Grandpa Les and Grandma Pam came over and gave her a birthday gift -- a big girl bike! No more tricycle for Maelin! She was soooo excited about the bike...she rode it around and around the house until bed time!

We'll have her family birthday party on Saturday with both families. She's looking forward to "many people come my house" :)

Good times, good times.

-Shonda

What happened to January?!?

I really try to post every month, but January just got away from us! I figured i should post some pictures now or i'll miss February, too!

This picture was taken at a family birthday party for Leslie, who turned SEVENTEEN on January 6th! It's so hard to wrap my mind around the fact that the little 6-year-old who moved in with me over 10 years ago has become a young woman! Happy birthday, Leslie :)

What a great winter it's been! Our area has had near-record levels of snow for the year, and Maelin has had a BLAST playing outside with Baba! (You'll notice that Mama doesn't do much snow...or anything cold, really...i step outside to take some pictures and 'oooh' and 'ahhh' over whatever they're doing, then come back in and thank my lucky stars that Jim likes to play outside!!) Papa brought his golf cart back to our place, so Maelin and Baba ride it around, and Baba pulls Maelin behind it on a sled. When Leslie and Maelin play outside, Leslie makes great snow-creature creations and Maelin 'helps.' :)

Apparently Baba was in need of a 'project' ... he tore up the carpet in the dining room and put down wood flooring. Maelin 'helped' again :)

Happy Chinese New Year! February 7th was the start of the new year in China, and we celebrated with dinner out at a local Chinese restaurant. Maelin said/signed "Happy New Year!" to every worker and patron that she met along the way!

On Monday, February 11th, Maelin woke up at 4:00am sick, sick, sick! She had a fever of 103.something :( I took her to the doctor that morning, and it was just 'the flu,' so no meds or anything. Maelin stayed home from school the whole week and missed her very first Valentine party :( By Friday, she was still spiking 104 temps, so i took her back to the doctor. (They gave her an antibiotic, but probably just so they didn't have to see me in their office again...) Then Maelin was kind enough to pass the flu to both Jim and i, so all three of us were sick for several days. Mine, as always, morphed into bronchitis, so i ended up missing a day of school and getting an antibiotic, as well. In the picture above, Maelin was laying on the floor coloring, when she just rolled over and fell asleep! Being sick sucks, but it makes us appreciate it when we feel well again!!

Coming soon: Maelin's 4th birthday (3-19-08) and the one year anniversary of our Gotcha Day (4-2-08)!!

Maelin's First Christmas

How exciting Christmas is through the eyes of a child! Maelin has absolutely embraced every aspect of the holiday season, starting with her first visit with Santa! Our lower elementary school classes participated in the annual Breakfast with Santa event, and although i prepped Maelin for it ("Santa will give you a present, but you'll have to sit on his lap..."), i wasn't sure she'd be willing. Fortunately, many of her classmates forged bravely before her, so by the time it was her turn, she was fairly confident no harm would come to her!

Here's the annual Christmas picture that Jim dreads so much each year! I have to start talking about it days in advance, just to prepare him - LOL! I'm sure his reticence has nothing to do with the fact that i'm completely anal-retentive about the whole procedure, from clothes and hair to sitting positions, and that i make him suffer through about 20 shots (and sometimes multiple sittings) before i'm even remotely satisfied. It's for posterity, dammit!!

We're all excited that bowling season has started again, because that means Leslie spends weekends with us! Last week we had an extra-special treat: Leslie's sister Brandi (who is a student majoring in Deaf Education at California State University Northridge) came and stayed two nights with us! We also took advantage of the extra time together for Leslie to open her Christmas gifts, since she won't be with us during the two-week Christmas break.

CHRISTMAS MORNING!! Maelin woke up around 7:45am (yes, we're sure it will get much earlier in years to come...) and was thrilled to realize that it was finally time to open all those presents! She got a few small things (clothes, a snow suit, Magnetix, books), but her 'big' gift was a new kitchen set with dishes and food accessories!

After Christmas morning at our place, we got ready and headed to Grandpa Les and Grandma Pam's house for family Christmas with them. I love this shot of Maelin - i think it captures her excitement about the whole day! In the afternoon, we headed to Great Grandpa and Grandma Minkstein's house for a meal and a few more gifts. We also had Christmas Eve at Nana and Papa Gleeson's house (which was really nice) and Christmas at Great Grandma Schmidt's house last week...WHEW!

Happy Christmas and Merry New Year to all of our dear friends and family out there :)

Love,
Mama, Baba, Leslie and Maelin