spring break!

We're on spring break! Looking forward to... spending all day with Meili, taking a road trip with Jana and Meili: visiting Menga and Bakka in Chicago, visiting Mike, Steph, Mariah and Allison in Minneapolis, eating at Convention Grill, seeing friends, other possible adventures like the Minnesota or Como Zoo, the Walker Art Center, Lake Harriet, getting YUMMY ice cream with Mike, and other wonderful things Minneapolis has to offer. But tomorrow, we're just going to hang out. Maybe go to the park. Go out for lunch with a friend! YAY for spring break!

at the park...

Wow! What a beautiful day. It reached 77 degrees here in Grand Rapids. It feels like spring is finally here. Meili's Grandma and Grandpa were here for the weekend. We enjoyed several nice walks together with Meili in the stroller. We also took Meili to the park today and she enjoyed the swing and going down slides with her daddy. She also had fun in the bathtub tonight - she's not scared of taking baths anymore and really loves playing with little squirty toys (even when her dad squirts her in the face!)

a week already...

Wow, a week gone by already. It seems like each week just gets busier and busier. Meili is doing great! My parents were here for the weekend and my mom had fun spoiling her to pieces! Monday was my first day back at school. It was good timing... Meili was starting to feel better and I was ready to go back. I was really excited to see "my kids" again and ready to start using more of my brain! It really helped that on Monday morning Meili woke up and just started talking away and playing in her crib. It was obvious that she was feeling much better. I was glad, it made leaving for school a lot easier. My sister is taking care of her at our house when we're both at work. Meili seems to be doing well with the changes.

I'm so excited that it's getting warmer - we've had a lot of nice walks to the library and around the neighborhood. Meili is starting to enjoy the stroller but still especially loves to be carried in the Bjorn. The dogs also like the extra walks. I just have to figure out a way to tie them to the stroller without them being able to pull Meili off the sidewalk into the grass or the street. They are uncontrollable when they see squirrels.

Bedtime!

turned a corner...

Meili seemed more like herself today than she has been since her surgery last Wednesday. It was such a gorgeous day today! The sun was shining and it was warm outside. It was a t-shirt kind of day. A good day for an adventure. We walked to the public library and then to school to drop off some books. Meili loves being in her carrier and the walk did both of us good. When we got home we sat out on the front porch in the sun for about an hour... it was just wonderful. Meili had fun peeking through the front door at the dogs who were laying just on the other side - hoping to get out. She also discovered the fun of giving treats to the dogs today. She carried around a bag of doggie "bacon" for a while. Simon and Otis were SO hopeful as they followed her around. They were not disappointed.

Meili is having some trouble with sleeping since surgery. I think her mouth must hurt more when she is laying down. She cries longer and harder before she falls asleep and she cries quite a bit after she wakes up too. The doctor gave us some tylenol for her which really seems to help. Other than that, she is recovering really well. She loves yogurt smoothies which really help fill her up. (Only two more weeks until she can have food again!) We are so thankful to God for his continuous care for us and for our precious daughter!

Meili's first home

Here is a description of the orphanage that Meili lived in for her first year. It's written by a woman named Nancy who also has a child adopted from the Wenzhou Children's Welfare Institute. How great to hear such positive things about Meili's first home!

"Hi everyone! I just wanted to share with you a little bit about my visit to Wenzhou CWI. As I have told the parents who I sent pictures to, this place is absolutely wonderful :-) I know Epin (another adoptive parent) has told us that before, but there is nothing quite like seeing it for yourself!

Vice Director WeiWei is absolutely wonderful. She was so welcoming and quickly asked me if Jiaqing (her son) was with me, and how was he doing. He is small for his age, and one of the first questions she asked is "Has he grown?" She really cares about the kids, and it was obvious from the tour she gave us that she knows the children by name, cares about them, and does all she can to give them the best care.

The toddler and baby rooms were so much fun to visit! They were bright cheerful places, with music playing, and when we left the toddler room, some of the little ones followed us around to continue playing with us! It was so cute, and I was impressed that the aunties in the other rooms also knew their names. The CWI has such a family feel to it - I cannot even express how I felt when I was there. The aunties would smile and nod at me, often saying, "Aaahhh, Jiaqing's MaMa!" They all seemed to know him - not sure if this is a good thing or not :-) Actually, one auntie told me in her English that she had him in her class 3 years ago. I asked her if he was naughty or good, and she laughed and said, "Naughty!" Haha, I could have guessed that :-)

The facility has so many extra services available that I have not seen before - a kindergarten school, with a piano, a study room for the older children to do homework, a clinic with 2 doctors on staff, a physical therapy room with equipment. They bring in tutors in the evening to help the kids with their homework. WeiWei is constantly looking for ways to improve the care at the orphanage.

One other thing - there were two older girls visiting for a few days, around 19 years old - who had received job skill training while living there and now worked in a factory nearby. They had a few days off from work and they had "come home" for a visit. I really thought this said a lot about how the feeling of family is created in this CWI. I came away understanding so much more about my son, and how it was that he came to us such a happy and confident little boy, after living in this place for the last 6 years."

What a BEAUTIFUL day!

I am so thankful for the blessings of sunshine and friendship today! The sun was shining in through the windows today, making our house bright and toasty. We just had to get out into that wonderful sunshine! Auntie Kim came over and we all went for a walk. It was just BEAUTIFUL! Then we went and hung out at Schuler Books for a little while. That was great too.... except for the smells coming from Meili. (This sudden change in diet is not agreeing with her digestive system so well.) ANYWAY, it was a great way to start my last week off. Next Monday I'm back at school...

yuck!

Meili and I are both feeling yucky today. Meili had a bit of a fever when she woke up this morning around 8. I changed her and she went back to sleep until 10. Since then she's been pretty fussy - crying a lot and really clingy. I think the fever, sore mouth, and change in diet are all part of the problem. She's taking a nap now, I hope it helps her feel better. I need to go find something for my sinuses. Perhaps I'll take a nap too.

sleeping...

Hello friends! Things are going pretty well for Meili today. (Too bad I got a nasty cold and feel terrible.) Anyway... she slept really well last night, drank some juice and yogurt this morning and has been dozing in my lap on and off all day so far. I was able to put her down for a nap this afternoon after she finished some beef broth and more yogurt. The poor kid is just wiped out from everything she's been through the last two days. Thank you all for your prayers, phone calls, visits and notes of support. You all are helping me make it through all of this!

back home!

Meili and I checked out of the hospital tonight. After three hours of surgery Wednesday morning/afternoon she had to spend about 2 hours in recovery. The doctor said that things went really well. They had to remove a bit of membrane and muscle from her cheek in order to close one larger part of the gap in her mouth. After surgery I went into the recovery room to hold her while she woke up. She was in pain for quite a while. That was REALLY hard for me. The nurses were giving her morphine and tylenol to help with the pain. After she calmed down and fell asleep we were able to move up to her room. She was pretty much sedated all of yesterday from the morphine and tylenol and slept a lot which really helped. She also slept pretty well last night - considering everything she had been through.

This morning she seemed to be feeling better. I felt a lot better about things too. Meili was talking with me, playing some of our little games like peek-a-boo and she played with her toy cups a little while. She was able to start drinking liquids today and did pretty well with a sippy cup for the first time. She had some rough moments gagging on the stuff which is draining from the incisions in her mouth. It also seems that coughing and sneezing really hurt her mouth - bad timing for her to have a cold. She still has pain in her mouth - I have tylenol to give her when it's hurting. Several people from my church stopped by to check in on us which was great. My sister also spent a lot of time with me (since Henry's out of town this week.) It was cool that two Oakdale moms were working at the hospital today and were able to stop in.

I think the next challenge is going to be finding the best way to feed her - she gets only liquids now for three weeks. She was pretty wimpery this evening because she was so tired, in pain, and really hungry (I think). She did not take much of anything before bed so I have no idea how long she will sleep. But she is sleeping now and she looks SO peaceful. I think tomorrow is going to be a good day. Anyway, it's nice to be home. My dogs were pretty excited to see us! I'll report again tomorrow. Good night.

surgery day...

Tomorrow Meili goes in for her surgery. The general schedule for the day looks like this...
- 7:00 A.M. admit to hospital
- 9:00 A.M. -12:00 P.M. surgery
- 12:00-1:00 P.M. in recovery
- overnight at hospital
- discharged sometime on Thursday

In preparation, Meili is not allowed to eat or drink anything after midnight tonight. We're going to try keeping her awake until about 10 or 11 tonight so we can give her one last meal and bottle before she goes to sleep. I don't know how long she'll last tonight - she's been rubbing her eyes since dinner. We'll see how things go...

walking....

Big excitement! We were in Chicago to celebrate my mom's 60th birthday and Meili started taking multiple steps on her own - maybe about eight or nine at a time. My whole family got to be there to see it! We have some great video of it - I'll work on getting a video clip on here.

Another big thing this week.... Meili will be going in for surgery Wednesday to repair her oral cleft. The surgery will likely last about three hours and Meili will have to stay overnight at the hospital. After she comes home, she has to be on a liquid-only diet for the next three weeks. I imagine that it's going to be tough! Please pray that the surgery goes well and that Meili does not feel a lot of pain!

can't resist.....

another favorite!!!

Pictures!!!

We had fun Wednesday afternoon! We had some official "just came home" pictures of Meili taken. We had a traditional Chinese dress and some silk slippers from when we were in China. Meili looks SO cute in them. Wednesday afternoon Melissa Diekema came over to take pictures. She sent a few to us already and I just love them! I can't wait to see more!!! Here are two for you all to enjoy. (Check out Melissa's website here!)

pictures from China

A care package we sent to Meili in December included 2 disposable cameras. When Meili caretakers brought her to us in China, they gave us the two cameras, one used and one still new. Tonight we got the pictures back from the camera that was used. It has many pictures of Meili with other kids in the orphanage. Some of the most fun pictures to see are the ones of her and other kids sitting around the birthday cake we sent for her first birthday. After they lit the candles, the pictures are pretty dark and hard to see. What special pictures for her to look at someday!

Meili (center) with her birthday cake (Dec. 9).

Congrats!

Congrats to Ray (Henry's brother) and Junco on their wedding February 11 in Japan. Sorry we could not be there. We are so proud of you guys! Can't wait to see you when you get back!

sweet, tiny baby!

The pediatrician confirmed it - she's tiny (and cute!). At 15 months, Meili weighs 18 pounds and is 28.5 inches tall. That puts her in the 7th percentile for height and 5th percentile for weight compared with other kids her age. Had fun today - playing and taking more pictures!

a little bit crabby before her afternoon nap...

Here's what happens when it's Daddy's turn to play.

more pictures

SO BIG!!!!

Meili with one of our dogs (Otis)

A favorite book: Brown Bear, Brown Bear

Meili's Arrival in GR!

WOW! What a blessing!

Hey, we're home!!! We are SO thankful to report that our trip was wonderful! (well, as wonderful as flying halfway around the world can be). Meili did SO well! She slept for a few hours on the 4.5 hour flight to Tokyo, slept several hours of the 10.5 hour flight from Tokyo to Minneapolis, and slept completely through the Minneapolis to GR flight. When she wasn't sleeping, she was playful, happy, and befriending the people around her. What a BLESSING! Thanks for all of your prayers. We are just so thankful that things went so well and that Meili was such a good traveler. We purchased a seat just for her thinking that she would sleep on it. That didn't happen.... but, when she was awake, she sat there, climbed all over, and played with toys on the seat. It was totally worth it!

Now we're working on adjusting to the 13 hour time difference. We did pretty well last night, keeping Meili up until about 7:00PM. She went right to sleep when we put her in the crib. I think it was around 3AM when she woke up. I took her into bed with us and after talking and playing with me for about 15 minutes, she went back to sleep until about 6:00AM. Then we got up. I can't believe we got up before 7AM on a Saturday! Now Henry and Meili are both taking naps. Looks good but I'm trying to stay awake so that I can sleep tonight.

I'm moving pictures onto our main computer. I hope to post some later today. See ya!