Hope Li Mei

When selecting her Chinese name we chose carefully. 

Li Mei - L. M. are my initials and we chose the Chinese characters:

Li - Beautiful
Mei - Rose

She truly is our beautiful rose!

Happy Halloween!

Hope's Baptism

Looking forward to next Sunday when we will finally Baptize our baby girl!  More to come soon!

Tiger Girl!

Hope Li Mei is coming up on her 18 month birthday and 6 month anniversary of being home with us!  I wanted to commemorate her 18 months with her dressed in the beautiful dress we bought her in China and with the Tiger we just had to get her after seeing her referral pictures!! You've come a long way baby!!

(Sorry for the grainy copyrighted photos... I couldn't wait to post them!!)

15 Months & 3 Months a Family

Today marks Hope's 15 month birthday and 3 months ago today we were on top of the Great Wall just hours away from meeting her for the first time.

The last 3 months have gone by so quickly and our sweet, squishy baby has very quickly become a silly, headstrong toddler. Two days ago Hope took her first steps and she giggles like it is the most fun thing she has ever done. She works so hard at overcoming each milestone trying to catch up to her sister. When she began crawling we noticed a huge change in her temperament and know that walking is something she is determined to do!

Not only is she starting to take steps she has learned to climb! I have found her standing in the window seat in her room on more than one occasion and about had a heart attack. Needless to say... the nursery is off limits when mommy is not around to supervise.

She now say's "HI!" when I walk into her room each morning and plays patty cake and claps and makes 'Yeah' sounds. She is babbling away with so much expression I really think she know's what she is saying!

She loves to put her pacifier ring in your mouth and lean in and take it in hers, she giggles away thinking this is great fun... her drooling makes this a bit less fun for me!

Needless to say life is busy and full of fun! I am really looking forward to the holidays this year!

Sisters

On August 9th I posted this picture saying, "Someday soon they will be making each other giggle"




... and now these sisters giggle and make us laugh each and every day! God had an amazing plans for these beautiful girls!

Chasing... Nesting...Scrapin'

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Life in our home is starting to become routine. What time I have when I'm not chasing the babies, I've been nesting like I haven't nested in 4 years. Our closets are being emptied, baskets of junk are being put away, Good Will is being bombarded and our home is getting a little love and attention! I am also getting organized with our family photos and using evening hours to decompress with Photo Shop. I'm enjoying the creativity without the mess. The photos here are a couple I did last night for a new mini album I'm working on. Not new pics but I just love the grouping!

The girls are sleeping well together at night and separately for naps since they don't go down at the same time. We have a spare play pen in our room and the girls alternate in there for nap time. This is going to be a double blessing when we get brave enough to travel with them. They will already be used to sleeping in the Pack 'n Play, hopefully we will find that bravery before they are too big to fit in them!

Hope is blossoming before us. It is amazing how much she is changing. Her mobility has moved from 'falling over' to crawling like a pro and cruising anything she can hold on to. She is now letting go for several minutes at a time and standing solo. I think she will be taking her first steps before 2010!

She is also showing us more and more of her silly personality. She has this hilarious, belly laugh that ends in a deep inhale. We all just love to tickle her just to hear her do it!

She gives the best hugs too. She will grasp your arms, put her head on your chest and wiggle! Then she has to keep looking back up to make sure you are still there and then plop her head back down again... over and over!

She also LOVES music and has quite the wiggle! I tape Dancing with the Stars just to watch my girls watch it!! I fast forward through all the talking and they just love to watch the dancing. Kate will bounce, snap her fingers and rock side to side, Hope will just wiggle where she's planted! It's hilarious!

Hope is babbling away saying all kinds of sounds and last week she started saying "HI!". I still practice with her repeating every sound she makes, she loves when I mimic her. Every day I tell her "Wuo Ai Ni Meng, Meng" (I love you with her Chinese nick name) and she will stop dead in her tracks and get very serious. I guess I'm saying it right because she really responds to it.

She is having a ball being a sister. I'm not sure how 'little' a sister she is going to be. She's 4 months younger than Kate but she is almost the same size and her hands and feet just look huge to me! Honestly if Kate didn't have such a big belly... she would be in a smaller size than Hope. So ironic isn't it?

These girls are so incredibly good for each other, it really makes me cry. They sit and sift through they toy box exploring each morning, they play hide and seek together with the window shade in their room, giggles galore. They love splashing around in the bath together and they have a blast wresling around with their big brother! They make us laugh each and every day. Not to say that there aren't normal moments, like playing tug 'o war over a toy or God forbid if Hope gets ahold of Kate's special blankie, but watching them reach out and give each other hugs and kisses... makes you feel at that very moment that world peace is an achievable goal. These are some special sisters.

Life is good, crazy, busy...

45 Days

(Don't forget to click for a closer look!)

We have had Hope in our arms just a mere 45 days. In some ways it's as if she has always been here and in other ways we are just getting to know the real Hope.

The reality is, she had a full year living a life we will never know of. She experienced life in a way we can only hypothesize about and some days we pray to discover.

She came to us a sweet, amiable, relaxed baby who melted into our arms and was happy to be held and snuggled. Now that she is settling into our family we are seeing new personality and a drive to catch up to her big sister!

Grief:
Almost on a daily basis, something will set her off crying seemingly out of the blue. Yesterday she woke from her nap, sobbing. Chris got her up and held her, rocking her inconsolably. He sadly looked at me and asked, "Do you think she's missing China?". With tears in my eyes for both of my children, I nodded and whispered, "Yes, I think you are right."

She also has moments of pure frustration and throws quite the tantrums. One night, she kept shoving a toy bin around, ranting. I offered her a couple toys, turned the bin a few different ways before I wondered if she wanted to get inside it and sit, just like Kate does. I lifted her up and put her inside, and she instantly laughed and bounced her hands up and down! I tossed in a few toys and she happily played inside the box for quite a while! However, there are times, it is not so easily solved.

Attachment:
While in China she seemed pretty easy going with strangers coming up and talking to her. Now here at home, she is a tough cookie. I have gotten comments from people saying, 'Oh, She's the serious one." She does warm up eventually to visitors in our home but will always look for me to make sure I'm still there.

She also is usually fine to play on the floor with her toys as long as I'm in the room but if I need to grab the phone or try and go to the bathroom she will begin to cry the moment I get up. We are also having a hard time capturing that beautiful smile on camera, it seems like as soon as the camera comes out, she locks up. That is part of the reason I have blogged so few pictures of her since we've been home. She is not co-operating! So all in all, I think bonding is actually going well.

Mobility:
After just a few weeks of working with her large motor skills, she went from learning to crawl, pull to standing and as of today, she is cruising along all of our furniture! Just like with the bin, she has her eye on Kate and seems so much happier to be on the move to keep up with her big sister! If she keeps this up I expect she will be waking before Christmas!

Sleep:
She is sleeping through the night and taking a nap each afternoon. She will occasionally have a little trouble settling down or stir in the night but for the most part no sleep issues out of the realm of normal.

Play:
She is very interested in whatever Kate is playing with and wants whatever she's having! Of course they have their moments, usually accidental toy throwing or bumping into each other. Kate does seem to like to push her over and say "Boom" when she falls down and Hope loves to pull on Kate's clothes and take toys away from her! Thankfully these moments are occasional and most of the time they play 'around' each other and stay out of each other's business!

Today I found them playing peek-a-boo with each other just giggling away. Kate looooves to sit on Hope's tummy while she is laying down and tickle her under the chin. They both giggle like crazy!

Kate also is starting to get into imaginative play and will walk around with a toy spoon and use a stacking cup as a bowl. She will stir the spoon in the cup and then 'feed' Hope. Hope will just sit there and open her mouth like a little bird. She doesn't even look confused when there isn't any food on the spoon!

When my mom was here on Saturday we noticed that Kate was staring at Hope and mimicking everything she was doing! It was hilarious! They also do this parroting thing. When Hope yells, "AH", Kate will yell it too and before you know it, they are yelling it back and forth. Hope also only says a few sounds, but she repeats them a lot. (Ah, Da, Mama, Avwa, Ba) Kate loves repeating them back to her. So I'm not sure if Kate is teaching her English or if Hope is teaching her Chinese... : ) Whatever it is they are interacting and we are very entertained by it!

Health:
We are still awaiting her lead levels, but today, we received her lab results and she is healthy as can be and free of any major illnesses. Our pediatrician gave us the go ahead to take her off of formula and move her over to milk. My plan is to give her a cup of milk a day in a sippy cup until she can drink it all, all by herself. Then I will move her over completely. I have to say, I will be happy to save the $30 a week on formula and the time spent washing bottles and nipples. Maybe a little sad to be through this milestone so quickly with her but I can still cuddle her with a sippy!

So that's where she's at after 45 days. Healthy, sleeping, on the go, bonding, learning to be a sister yet thinking of where she came from each and every day.

13 Months

Hope Li Mei is 13 months old today.

Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life. Proverbs 13:12

Our union just 29 days ago, began a new page in both of our lives. One of love, healing and joy...

(Click on the picture to view it larger)

Kate is very curious about Hope, these shots were taken last Tuesday. Kate was warming up to her but afraid to 'approach' from the front! So every time she touched her or tried to hug her, it would be from behind!!

Hope had her first pediatrician appointment. She was 21lbs 14oz and 30". At 12 months Kate was 23lbs and 8 oz and 30". So, so far Hope is keeping up quite well with her big sister! Developmentally of course Hope is a bit behind. She can not sit up while laying on her back, can't pull herself up to standing, let alone cruise the furniture. She even occasionally falls backwards when sitting up, so we always make sure if we aren't sitting with her that there is a pillow behind her.

Tomorrow we are expecting a visit from a physical therapist from the school district to evaluate her and hopefully will recommend exercises we can work with her or possibly even physical therapy. At this point we don't have any concerns that Hope won't overcome her delays, we just want to give her the opportunity to progress as quickly as possible.

So keep us in your prayers that we do the best things for our sweet girl!

TRAVEL APPROVAL!!!!!!!!!

Just got word from our agency that our TA came in today!! They have already notified the Consulate in Guangzhou and are awaiting a response. They said that they COULD have our travel dates as early as tomorrow but we should know for sure by Monday!

We are on our way.... to get our girl!!!

Sisters

Someday.... soon... they will be making each other giggle...

Gifts in my e-mail!!

Ann from Red Thread China gave me an amazing gift! 2 more pictures of Hope... and NOW I believe, yes I believe she could be 23lbs! What a HEALTHY girl!

This one made us laugh because it had the tiger AND the grapes!!

She also sent a picture of our entire care package.

Denise Hope from There's Always Hope also sent me a confirmation e-mail letting me know that our Visa applications we walked into the Chinese consolate yesterday and will be ready next week!!

Such a happy day!

Money, Money, Money!!!

(My Willow Tree Family)

It was seriously strange to call our bank today and order what we need for the trip! I felt so creepy I explained everything just so they wouldn't think I was getting cash for a ransom!!

Good news! They said they only needed 5 days notice and that they would hold the cash for us until we needed it for travel! Whew! CHECK!

I also made the call to complete our estate planning, something we had in the works a while ago and never completed. We just wanted everything in order before we got on a plane and headed to China! CHECK!

Ann from Red Thread China e-mailed me and said she would try and get me updated photos. I'm not sure how much luck she will have since Hope is in foster care... but I'm adding a little prayer... I'm dying to see how much she's changed! A picture with a little smile would be nice too!

Wednesday Update!

My title implies that I always blog every Wednesday... LOL! I just couldn't think of something witty today!

Last night I was up to 2AM Photoshopping (not really a word but I love this verb!) 8 pictures of our family with the Chinese characters for, Family, Ma Ma, Ba Ba, Big Brother, Grandma (both kinds!) and Grandpa.

I ordered a care package using Red Thread China. It included translation of a letter I wrote to the orphanage, a disposable camera, a soft photo album to put all of our family pictures in, a pink stuffed bear, some candy and variety of special tea bags for the orphanage and top quality long jing tea for Hope's foster family. Ann, at Red Thread China was wonderful at e-mailing quickly and answering all my questions. Now I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that her foster family gets the box before we get to China.

I also forgot to post that I used Brian Stuy Research China at to obtain Hope's finding ad. Supposedly he has located it and I am still waiting to receive it. I am so very eager to see her 3 week old picture.

I'm still thinking about the 'gifts' but know I have a couple weeks to decide... sometime today I'm going to read over all the travel stuff our agency gave us, to do lists, packing lists, etc... Then I will have a plan going forward!

Ladybug, Mei-dybug!

We have had some ladybug sightings lately but NONE as big as this one!!

In order to get to the bank and post office before Chris' friend Jacob came over at 11am, I bribed Chris with a very coveted, rarely offered, McDon*lds breakfast. With a bribe of a Sausage McGr*iddle, hashbrowns and a medium orange juice I was able to get my "sleep until half the day is over" teen out of bed by 8am and happily ready to take on the task of keeping Kate happy while mom took care of business!

When we pulled up to order our breakfast, I saw them. (Play music here) Te*ny Be*ny Babies! No way.. I have memories of being THAT parent, many years ago now of driving around to every MD's I could try and find one of each for my sweet boy... I regret this now but the nostalgia of it was overwhelming and I couldn't help but ask which ones they had! When the cashier said, #2 the Ladybug, I got all misty! I ended up ordering one and a whale for Chris (obviously not too big for a beany). Then as I pulled out my Ladybug Disc*ver card to pay for everything I found myself falling over myself to share my life story with the poor woman, including the 2 pictures in my purse! She was my age and obviously very kind, because she ooooh-ed and aaaaah-ed over my pictures and listended to my every word even though there was a car behind me waiting.

Then I pulled over, not so we could eat, but to rip open my toy! I started crying again when her name was Maiden... Really, I'm starting to lose it!

So a little update from last nights post:

• Our Visa apps are officially in the mail and by using There's Always Hope we saved $90. (Check)

• I called the NVC today and they confirmed that they did have our current I-171H approval in their system AND it was mailed to the consulate in Guangzhou today! (Check)

• Today I have been comparing carepackages and working on a letter to the orphanage. Here's where that $90 will come in handy!
  

• I'm also trying to come up with light weight, easy to pack gift ideas that are made in Michigan. So no M*rley's chocolate, Better M*de Chips, Vern*rs, T*wn Club, Fayg*, Kell*ggs, Str*h's or Michigan wine, sadly not packable!

• So far I have come up with Germ*ck nuts and dried cherries, Buic*k key chains. I might have to broaden my scope to made in the USA and include Ginsing root from Wisconsin and R*vlon lipsicks. Any ideas are welcome!

Slow Busy...

This picture has nothing to do with anything... but I don't have any new pictures of Hope so I thought I would give you all a smile anyway... isn't she yummy? I can't wait to see my girls side by side... cheek to cheek!


It seems that every step of this process is much harder than it should be or the anxiousness of it all is causing my head to spin!

Child Acceptance Letter: Once our fun party was over, I was eager to get busy! I faxed our pediatritian with Hope's medicals and had the best conversation with her. She is excited to meet her new little patient and gave me advise on caring for her in China and was familiar with the re-vaccination process. With her 'approval', not that we really needed it but felt it would be irresponsible not to take that step first, we signed all of our papers and mailed them back to our agency. Our Child Acceptance Agreement was mailed to the CC*A Thursday and it was delivered late Sunday night! (Monday morning their time)

Hope's name: We thought that choosing her name would be simple. Hope (insert Chinese name her) Last name. Easy, done. Not. Honestly we felt that Mung was not a pretty word in English and her paper work stated that it was just a name that they used in naming babies. I spent a whole day, on line with dictionaries coming up with a middle name that had meaning for us. One that would honor the 'meaning' of her name and use some of the same initials. (L.M also for my name Lynn Marie) In the end we found a name that means "Pretty Rose" similar to "Bright Sprout" only much prettier!

Her official name is going to be Hope Li Mei.

Visa Application: Wow! Who knew this was going to be a process and sooooo expensive $195 each! Yikes! I got the official "How to fill in the blanks" from my agency. Found an on-line application and started typing everything in. They must be typed. Luckily they are in pdf format so you can just type it all in on line, (HA! HA! I know someone who took it somewhere to type it on a TYPEWRITER!!!

Then I found out that the fees I was looking at were for a service to handle your application... well... I'm cheap... why can't I just mail it in and bypass this service?? Because the Chinese consulate won't accept mailed applications because applications were being stolen in the mail so people could steal the passports. Ugh!

Sooo...you need to walk them in or use a service... OH! I would LOVE to go to Chicago... but hubby said no! That this would not save us any money that besides gas and hotel I would spend a lot of money... Heh, heh... I tried. American Girl will have to wait...

Then after a little digging a fellow "picture holding waiting mommy" recommended this lovely site - There's Always Hope - now I just loved the name and when I realized it was another China AP serving PAP's get their Visa's I was interested. We will save at least $85 total!

We also needed passport sized photos for this! So here I am at 9:00 at night putting on make up and making Chris fix his baseball hat hair and all of us changing our clothes so I can take pictures. Jim wanted to wear his Mickey Mouse tee... I made him change! Sheesh! Then I spent an hour Photoshopping the pics 2" in size, printing and cutting them... of course the printer jammed, I couldn't find my paper cutter and I got glue on Chris' face and had to reprint his...

I'm not kidding getting our Visa applications ready took HOURS!!!!!! But they are done and will be mailed to my new friend Denise Hope. I just love her name!

Brown Envelope/NVC - Hmmmmm. For those of you who know this process, I'll share. For those dear family and friends who don't ... you can skip this part! It seems as though the De**oit office of immigration did not forward our recently updated (March) I-171H approval to the NVC. My dear friend (the one who used the typewriter!) gave me the heads up on this because they didn't forward hers either. I called the NVC 2 weeks ago and confirmed my suspicions, then e-mailed the De**roit office, as did the SW from my agency. Then waited a week... they did get back to me and I was stunned that I got a very sweet message!! Like a warm human being responded... they even said they were sorry! I e-mailed them back and thanked them for such a nice response!! Now I will call the NVC tomorrow to make sure they really did it... I just hate that I had to fool around with this...

Today marks 2 weeks! 2 more weeks until we can start expecting Travel Approval...

Stay tuned for packing lists, house cleaning and preparing to leave our sweet Kate home with Grandma.. sniff.

Just a little slide show...

Party of Hope - Updated Pictures - Take a look!

Our Party of Hope on July 22nd was just something I needed to do. Our family and friends have let us cry and held our hands not just for these last 4 years but for the last 10. This has been a true journey of Hope.


After dinner and the rain subsided we all headed to my little patio where I tearfully tried to say some nice things about everyone and thank them for all their amazing support. Then we passed out our 50 balloons - one for each month since we started our process and a couple extra... just because they were in the bag!

And then.... we let them go...

Such a joyful day with people we truly love!

Our friend Julianne made this adorable Chinese take out box cake with a baby inside! The logo is the symbol for Hope... We just loved it! It just made me laugh!

Big Sister Kate - Holding her copy of Hope's picture!!

The American Girl stuff was a big hit! Kate got to play with the big kids!!

All in all - it was a dream - all of it - this journey - our family and friends - we are blessed - God is Good.

Hope is coming home to a huge loving family!

Tiger Girl!!

Yesterday morning after a couple hours of sleep I was sitting here (in my ladybug nightgown) wondering when we would get the rest of her information, when I heard something at my front door. I hurried up and checked and noticed the Fed-Ex truck but no one was on the porch. When I opened the door, our package was sitting right there! I was sad to not get the obligitory picture with the Fed-Ex guy but really... I wasn't even dressed!! So I took a picture of Chris holding the package anyway!!

This cute picture of Hope was in there and we learned that Yan Meng (or Ming -
not quite sure at this point) means "Bright" as in bright light and "Bud" as in emerging flower. Isn't that sweet?!

We learned about her background and found that she has been in foster care since she was brought to the SWI. We are thankful!!! It's really all we prayed for! That she be well cared for and surrounded by love.

We also got as her medicals at 5 months which look good, as far as we can tell, she is a very healthy, well taken care of little girl. She has 8 teeth! 4 more than Kate! At 5 months she was 14.5lbs and 24.5inches. The clip below shows what she would be rated by American standards and I'm thinking this is fine.. At least she's on the charts right?

Then...This morning I was surprised to open my e-mail to find new measurements from my agency. I'm not sure how current but for a 10 month old little girl...she seems quite well... chubby! If they are recent, at 10 months she is 23lbs, 27in!! So according to the chart... Ummm... what has she been eating the last 5 months?? Either she is incredibly chubby... or something is off! At one year... Kate was 3 inches taller and half a pound heavier... and Kate is big... Is it wrong to question her weight information???

Anyway... I'm exhausted from Referral Day and our Referral Party... more on that with pictures of our 50 red balloon champagne toast, when my headache eases and I find some energy...

Also - I am humbled by all the well wishes... and want to reply to as many as I can - Thank you all!

Pinch Me I'm Dreaming!

Yesterday really happened... it wasn't a dream. It was a day I had dreamed about for years and the moment... the actual moment was over before I knew it! The moment I saw her little face, I was in love. I know everyone says that... and I can tell you it is true.

I have so many questions right now, so many thoughts, so many concerns.

Red Thread Moments:

• I couldn't believe that Lin was part of her name!

• She was born on the exact date 3 years after we began discussing adoption as the way to grow our family.
  

Thoughts that popped into my head yesterday:

• She is so adorable, she has Kate's cheeks and hairline!! No hairbows for this one either!

• Kate's a Jie Jie (big sister)!!

• I couldn't believe that she ended up being younger than Kate but old enough to be in the same 'school year'!

• We have virtual twins just 4 months apart almost to the day!!

• When I sent the e-mail to our family and friends I spelled ecstatic "extatic' and never caught they typo... such an important message and I was too ecstatic to notice!!

• I couldn't believe my agency called so early and e-mailed me the picture while we were on the phone. I had barely even finished getting ready for the day when the phone rang!

• I will never show anyone except Hope the video of 'The Call' I do not cry pretty and I had black streaks all the way down my neck! It wasn't pretty!

Questions:

• I wonder how old she was when that picture was taken... I'm guessing 6-8 months.

• I can't wait to get the rest of her information today. Our agency e-mails it before they send it Fed-Ex!! (How cool is that?)

• I'm dying to know the translation of her name!

• I'm wondering who the other family is in our travel group and will I ever know who they are??

• I am curious if we will travel quickly since there are only 2 families in our group! I would love to have her for her birthday and be in and out of China before flu season really hits and so Chris will only miss the first week of school... I think there is a prayer in there somewhere!
  

Concerns:

• I'm a little concerned that we seem to be the only people with this orphanage and I can find very little information on it. I joined the Yahoo group but am still pending membership. Even then there seems to be little traffic on it. The only piece of news I did come across is that the Linxiang SWI is a small country orphanage that has 40 babies and most of them are special needs. This SWI was hit hard by the winter storm and part of the roof collapsed so almost all of the babies were sent to foster care. So all this is a big unknown. It doesn't seem to be a Half the Sky orphanage but HTS did report this little bit of information and was trying to find donations to help them out.

• I'm having company tonight and my house is a mess... I need to tear myself away from this computer and get going!! I have balloons to fill!

• And finally a little prayer for Kate... she is teething in a big way... teething really stinks! She is very (unusually) crabby and is running a tiny little temperature. Not a good time for mommy to be so distracted!