We are having lots of fun getting ready for Christmas with Johanna. Today we did our Christmas baking. Here are a few pics of Johanna "helping."

We Are Home!!

We made it home safely! I was not able to post the last couple of days in Guangzhou as I got really sick, but here are a few pics from the end of the trip.We arrived back in Ca. on Thanksgiving and got to spend time with my family. Everyone really enjoyed Johanna, and she put on all the charm! I was afraid that she would be overwhelmed with everyone when we arrived, but she walked right into the crowd and started showing off. Friday we flew back to Tx. and had a wonderful welcome from our church family. The kids are just in love with Johanna. When they walk into the room you can count on her bouncing along behind them. We are all really exhausted and are staying low key and just trying to adjust to the time change.

A DAY AT THE PARK AND THE ZOO

At The White Swan

We finally made it to Guangzhou! We were so happy to be on our way on Saturday, but got to the airport to find out that our flight had been cancelled! But our guide got us on an evening flight and everything worked out ok. Just a very exhausted baby! Here are a few pics of Johanna playing in the White Swan playroom.

I am up late, missing my kids. :( So I thought I would post a little update. Not too much to tell about Nanchang. We have basically just been biding our time waiting for all the paperwork to be completed. We have seen all there is to see, and frankly are so tired of being swarmed by people every time we leave the hotel that we just stayed in all day today. But Mary brought us Johanna's passport this afternoon and we are off to Guangzhou tomorrow! Yea! We have met a very nice couple from Rhode Island who received their daughter on the same day as us and are also here alone rather than in a travel group. So we have been keeping each other company and the girls are having a blast together. It is amazing to watch the way they both blossom a little more each day. Dinner has become a "wild time" for us. They girls get very silly and like to play games of mimic. Johanna has learned to clap, blow kisses and wave bye bye. She is picking up on English so quickly it is amazing. Because of the cleft, she isn't speaking, but communicates very well. Today we took the girls to the play room at the hotel and she chased Chuck around the room pushing a baby walker, trying to run him down. Then she moved to running at him and tackling him. He would fall over and she would laugh like crazy. She has made HUGE progress with Chuck. She is still very unsure about the facial hair, but thinks he's good for some rough housing! Grace, we all prayed for the Lord to prepare her heart for us, and He definitely has! She is an amazing little girl, and we are feeling so completely blessed! We will post more pictures once we get to Guangzhou. Anqi will be meeting us there too! Monday will be Johanna's medical exam, Tuesday our consulate appointment, Wednesday the swearing in ceremony, and Thursday we will be in CA with our kids!

We just returned from doing some touring and Johanna is down for her nap. She is doing really well and seems to be taking a lot of steps in the right direction. The BIG one was last night. I had gone to WalMart with one of the other moms here and bought Johanna some shoes. She LOVES them! She got very silly at dinner last night, after spending the day hitting Chuck and getting upset if he got near her. After dinner she danced her way out of the hotel restaurant watching her shoes! It was so funny! She was holding my hand but then grabbed Chucks and held on to both of us all the way to our room! Then she started making kissy noises to Chuck so he asked her if he could have a kiss. And she planted one on him! It was too cute! Now she knows that she can get a big reaction from us with kisses, so we are getting lots of them!

We had a great nights sleep last night..12 hours! I don't know if she was just so exhausted that she needed the sleep or she just didn't want to deal with us anymore! We started the day off fine, but in the middle of breakfast she had a meltdown that lasted a few hours. Now she is fine with me (Melanie) but doesn't want anything to do with Chuck. Well, she does want something to do with him. She wants to throw things at him and kick him! Poor Chuck.
I am posted a picture of her with her new favorite toy, a cell phone! Her and Laurel will get along great! :)

GOTCHA DAY!!!

We finally made it! Johanna is finally with us and doing great! We decided that she is going to be the one of our kids that wants to play softball. She was scared to death of the doll that I bought her, but loves throwing the balls to us. I'm keeping it short because I am exhausted. She is sleeping right now so I am going to rest. But I wanted to post a pic. Will post more this week.

Hello from Shanghai!

Well, we made it safely to Shanghai. I now see that my fears were misplaced. I should not have been afraid of flying over the ocean, I should have been afraid of riding in a car once we got here! No description that I can give would give it justice. It's the craziest thing we have ever seen. But, we are having a great time with Anqi and her family. Yesterday was Anqi's mom's birthday so we went out to dinner and had a true Chinese food experience. Chuck calls it "Fear Factor Food" But we did have alot of things that were very delicious. We had a great nights sleep last night and are ready for a fun day of touring Shanghai. Oh, and for lunch yesterday we ate at Pizza Hut. I think I liked it better here than I do at home! Tomorrow (Sunday)we leave in the afternoon for Nanchang. We see Johanna in two days!!!

Happy Birthday Johanna!!

October 30th was Johanna's second birthday. We had a little celebration for her just like we did on her first birthday, but we are just sooo ready to be celebrating with her!
I can not believe that we are really going to be holding her in 8 days! The next time I blog we will be in China! Woohoo!

P.S.

Just a little note for you ladybug watchers. On Sunday we found a ladybug on our patio. We said, Could this mean.......??? Then on Monday we got our TA!!

WE GOT TA!!!!!

Believe it or not, we got our TA on October 22!! I was so surprised! I thought it would be at least another couple of weeks. We are leaving to get our baby on November 6th!! I'm on cloud 9! It was like a 14 month pregnancy and now I'm in labor. I am going to try to download pics from China and keep our blog updated so everyone can see our little Johanna Joy. Please pray that the Lord prepares her precious heart for her new family and her new life. I get teary knowing how difficult this is going to be for her. Please keep us in prayer also for safe travels. And for our other kids while we are separated from them.

Well, I haven't posted in awhile. I was too stressed out over the adoption, wondering if it was even going to happen. We ended up waiting 111 days for our LOA! It was quite a test of patience, but it finally arrived on Oct. 2 Now we will just wait about a month for our TA and then we can set up our consulate appointment and go get our baby! Well, she's now more a toddler than baby! She will be turning two on Oct 30th. I just can't wait to see what she looks like! For the past year we have only had the picture of her at 5 months old. We have her room completed and lots of clothes purchased. And I just got my Ergo Baby Carrier! I just cant believe that we will really be there soon!

On June 2 Anqi, the exchange student from China who was staying with us, went back home. We were very sad to see her go and miss her very much. Anqi, if you read this, we are making brownies and thinking of you!! Hope you are enjoying being back home and seeing your family and friends. See you in China soon!!

DTC!!!

On June 8, 2007 we were FINALLY dtc!!

Easter Sunday

Isn't Easter the most WONDERFUL day of the year?! Thank you Jesus!!
Not even a little bad weather can spoil it. (Although, the kids were too cold, so I only got this one pic of them before they ran back inside.)

Good Friday

After leaving the lake, we stopped at a beautiful field of wild flowers for some pics.

Good Friday

For Good Friday we took the kids and their friends to Lake Livingston. It was a beautiful day! We all had a great time-including our Yellow Lab Hogan who absolutely LOVES the lake!

Johanna's Chandelier

Im so excited! I have had my eye on this chandelier for Johanna's "shabby chic" room for months! And, thanks to Aunt Shelly's bday gifts of Home Depot gift cards, we finally bought it! Thanks Shell!

Jonah's Plum Tree

Jonah is really excited to put this picture on our blog. We got a plum tree and he is responsible for watering it. He takes this very seriously!

Spring is in the air!

The wild flowers are so beautiful in this part of Texas! The kids and I are just oohing and aahing while we drive around. There are so many colors! But it does make me think about the poppy fields by our old house and how they must be blooming too and I get a bit homesick.

Here is a pic of Laurel and Jonah in the poppy fields in Lancaster the spring before we moved.

I will try to get a pic of the wild flowers at my new house too so you Cali people can see what I am talking about!

Jonah's latest memory verse

For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not parish but have eternal life.
John 3:16