GOTCHA!!!

This week we'll be celebrating Meili's Gotcha Day! One year ago, on January 30, we met Meili for the first time and took her home (to our hotel)! Her adoption was finalized the next day but we'll celebrate on the 30th because it's the day we were all finally together. Here are some pictures from Meili's Gotcha Day.

Leaving Beijing for Hangzhou that morning (Jan. 30).

Our hotel room...

The Civil Affairs office where we met Meili.

Holding Meili for the first time.

We just wanted to watch Meili and play with her - get to know her -
but there was a bunch of paperwork that we had to fill out.


In the taxi going back to our hotel...

Meili and her dad!

playing in the snow

It's the coldest weekend of the winter so far and we have a nice amount of snow! Yesterday, Meili and I went out to play in it. I bundled her up in a snowsuit (she reminded me of the kid in "A Christmas Story.") After throwing snow around for a while, I took Meili for rides on the sled. She hasn't figured out how to hold on to the sides of the sled but she didn't seem to mind being dumped in the snow a few times. When it was time to go inside, Meili cried and cried - she did not want to get off the sled!

Meili's First Christmas Program

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books

new year's resolutions...

1. Eat LOTS of oliebollen!

2. Get rid of this diaper rash!

some favorite Christmas moments...

fingerpainting with Menga

hanging out with cousins

opening presents

Christmas Eve at Rockefeller Chapel

playing with more cousins

enjoying new Christmas presents at home

getting ready for Christmas

So far, Meili's favorite things about Christmas include: her red Santa hat, putting presents under the tree, and watching the Christmas train chug around our tree. She loves to help with whatever we are doing!

pulling the tree out of the box

helping Daddy arrange the branches

wearing Mama's Santa hat

putting the train together

Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful trip out to Philadelphia for Thanksgiving. We flew out on Wednesday and spent a few days with Karen (Henry's sister) and Steve. We saw my grandparents, an uncle and some cousins on Saturday. Then we drove home in our new (to us from Karen) car! Here are some pictures from our trip.

Going for a walk on Thursday.
The weather was absolutely BEAUTIFUL!

Checking to see if the turkey is done.
(It had been cooking for 5 hours and we were getting hungry!)

Still waiting for that turkey...

We headed to the park on Friday.
(Meili is wearing her Chinese tiger birthday hat.)

Meili, Nigel and Pookles at the park.
The wind was ICY!

One family picture before we leave.

Meili with her great-grandpa (Gramps).

Meili entertained herself for a while in the car...

but was tired and fell asleep.
She slept for over 3 hours - that's a record!

Happy Birthday Meili!

We got the call one year ago today!!!

One year ago today... I was out on the playground at school doing recess duty with another Oakdale teacher. I had my cell phone turned on (just in case someone from Bethany tried to call me). It rang during recess! It was our caseworker - calling to say that we had been matched with Meili! I felt very calm when I was on the phone but fell apart after I hung up. All of the kids wanted to know why I was crying. I wanted to tell them but I could hardly talk! Plus... I still had to call Henry to tell him the news. Here's our post from that day...

MEET OUR DAUGHTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here she is:
Meili Jiang XinYi Kingma (pronunciation: May-Lee Gee-ong Chin Yee Kingma)
Date of Birth: November 21, 2005
Current Home: Wenzhou City, Zhejiang Province, China
Estimated GOTCHA DAY: January 2007
Proud Parents: Liz & Henry

one year ago

This was a big week for us last year. It's fun to go back and look at what kinds of things we were posting on this blog. It's strange to remember that last year at this time, we knew about Meili but didn't know that she was going to be our daughter. Here's the post from one year ago today.

"Please keep us in prayer this week as we consider two different girls from the "Children of Promise" list. These are two young girls who have some unique needs and are waiting to be placed with a family. Pray for wisdom for those in the decision making process - that they will find the best placement for these two special girls."

laughing during prayer

What are you supposed to do when your kid does something HILARIOUS when you are trying to pray? Lately, when we pray "God is great, God is good..." with Meili she tries to pray along. It's hard for us to make it through the prayer without completely cracking up. First, Meili sees that we have our eyes closed so she squints hers shut - not all the way because she still wants to look around. Second, she tries to say the prayer along with us but for some reason, she pulls a funny face when she's doing it. It's hard to explain. Take a look!

family memories

We have this list. It's not written anywhere - it's just something we talk about. It's a list of things we can't wait to do with our kids. Going to the zoo, hanging out in Chicago, traveling, going to the Post Family Farm in the fall, eating pie at Robinettes, going to hockey games... those things are all on our "list." It's so fun to actually start doing some of those things with Meili and to continue some of our annual family traditions! Last week we went to Robinettes to have pie for dinner! Meili gobbled up a whole piece of pumpkin pie and a whole cinnamon donut. She enjoyed the apple cider too!

pictures!

It's been a while since I've updated this blog. We've been so busy and it's been hard to find time to get pictures uploaded. We are all doing really well. Meili is so much fun and we love spending time with her! Her surgery in August was successful and since then, she's learned how to suck through a sippy cup (couldn't do that with the hole in her mouth), she's been eating more and more adult food, and she's been making a lot of new sounds including "d." It's so awesome to hear her saying "DaDa." Here are some pictures from this weekend! First, some shots of Meili posing in her goofy sunglasses and second, Meili posing while we wait for our dinner.

saying "CHEESE"