Bringing Home Michelle

Bringing Up the Brats

2010-07-15T08:40:00.007-04:00

Here is the Big Announcement - we are starting a new blog! Almost 2 years ago Bill started "Bringing Home Michelle" to document our story as we waited for Michelle and traveled to get her. I felt like it was his blog and didn't really write much those first few months. But something happened while in China - I wanted to share our story as well. The friends we have made through the blog world have really impacted our lives! Your encouragement, comments, support have meant the world to us.

I realized a while ago that while I wanted to continue blogging, I wanted to include our whole family. We have 4 great children, and I felt like this blog was really only for Michelle. I asked the kids months ago about a couple of names, and when I mentioned this one they loved it! You will have to check out the new blog to see why we choose that name.

We will keep this blog up for a while. I hope old friends might wander by and want to get in touch, and if our story of how Michelle came to our family is a help to anyone it is worth leaving it here.

We hope you will come join us at our new blog! Click here http://colefamily6.blogspot.com/
- that's the link to "Bringing Up the Brats".

#1444 Reunion - Part 3 and hopefully the end.

2010-07-14T16:08:00.014-04:00

This was our red couch photo of our travel group in December of 2008. Thought you might have fun comparing these kids now to the photo below. Leah is on the front row far right - in the picture below she is on the far left. Alex is seated in the front on the cushions in the handsome green outfit - below he is making a mad dash for his mom. Mya is seated on the couch, far left, with the pretty black bow in her hair - below she is seated on the couch with the pretty pink bow in her hair. And Michelle is 2 down from Mya, sucking on her fingers - below she is on the right end of the couch in the pink dress.

Ellen tried the entire trip to get a picture of Michelle with Alex. This was about the best we could do. He was not into the whole picture scene.

I know I included this in my first #1444 post, but I just love this picture and all these beautiful kiddos.

While we were doing the red couch photo's, Teresa asked me to take a couple of pic's of her family for Molly's upcoming year update to China. I liked this picture so much I wanted to include it on our blog.

After the photo session, we headed out to eat at Mike's Feed Store for some yummy barbeque. They had a great area set up for us upstairs, away from most of their customers. All the kids had crayons and papers - I had warned the manager when I made the reservation that we had a LOT of young kiddo's, so they were prepared!

Here is most of our crew.

Sweet Mya! I loved seeing that pretty smile on her face. I didn't see it much last time we were together. She was a very sad, scared little girl when she joined her parents in China. It was great to see how happy and well adjusted she is now with her beautiful family. I thought she was a lot older than Michelle, but Sara reminded me they are just 8 months apart. That must have been part of the reason why they played so nicely together. It was great to see all these girls hanging out and having fun together. Makes me anxious for our next reunion.

Josh has a way with little kids, and Molly and Carson were no exceptions. Molly really liked Josh!

Boys being boys!

This is not a great picture of me, but it's such a sweet picture to me anyway I wanted to post it. I have waited a long time to see Teresa and Molly in person.

Carson insisted on posing riding this pig outside the b-b-que place. Looks like a great "Wacky-Wednesday" photo to me!

Michelle and Molly with Molly's Daddy.

All the LuoHe families went out for ice cream after dinner. It wasn't that we were even slightly hungry, we just wanted to continue the time together. We thought we might catch up with the rest of our group, but we had some GPS problems and ended up going a very strange route to the ice cream store. (Picture 3 cars caravaning through lots of neighborhoods. Josh kept asking me if we were going to someone's house for ice cream.) So we ended up being just the LuoHe families.

Here Alex has just realized I am taking pictures and he is getting ready to bolt.

Finally, as our trip came to a close, Molly & Michelle bonded. It took them a little while to get used to one another. I thought at first they didn't really remember one another - Michelle was so little when she was adopted, I'm not sure what she remembers. And Molly probably didn't recognize Michelle because she has grown so much and her hair is much longer. But as they were playing later that evening, I noticed Molly being very "motherly" towards Michelle. Brushing her hair, putting jewelry on her, etc. It made me wonder if there is something in those memory banks that they could almost remember.
Michelle loved her Wa-Wa from day one! It was a great transitional doll and gave her a lot of comfort in those first few days with her new family. It is still probably her favorite toy. She sleeps with her, take her on trips, etc. When Molly's family was getting ready to go get her last year, we mailed them a Wa-Wa from her mei-mei. It was sweet to see those pictures of Molly on their blog holding her Wa-Wa. So, it was very sweet to get these girls together with their Wa-Wa's. I was afraid we might get them confused, but there was no danger there. Michelle's Wa-Wa looked like she had been through a bit more "life" than Molly's Wa-Wa. (;
We had fun hanging out in the Berter's hotel room and letting the kids play. Josh & Carson are 2 of a kind - crazy, very sweet boys. Here they are doing their Mr. T impressions. I have never seen so much pink in a hotel room in all my life. Michelle thought she had gone to girl toy heaven! She and Molly had a lot of fun playing dress up too. Molly is more of a "less-is-more" kind of gal, while Michelle grabbed all the bling she could find.
O.K. #1444 people - those who came, those we missed this time around, and those who are honorary members. Mark your calendars - July 2012! Virginia Beach? Great Wolf Lodge? I don't care, as long as you are all there! Can't wait!!!

Stay tuned tomorrow for our BIG ANNOUCEMENT... (and no, we are NOT adopting again!)

#1444 Reunion - Part 2

2010-07-13T08:52:00.016-04:00

We arrived in Louisville a day earlier than the other families. We did this for 2 reasons - I knew we had a long trip and we would not do well traveling 20 hours in a 48 hour span. We also wanted to make sure we had time to visit the Louisville Slugger Museum. It turned out to be a great time for our whole family. Joshua thought he had gone to baseball heaven! Here he is posing with one of Mickey Mantle's bats. We got to tour the factory and see how the bats are made, especially how they make individual bats for all the professional players.

Michelle loves baseball! She has gone to all her big brother's games this spring and if you ask her what she wants to be when she grows up, she will probably tell you either a mermaid or a baseball player. She insisted we take her picture as well! When we toured the factory, we were each given a miniature Louisville Slugger bat. Just what every parent wants their 3 year old to have! Ha! Needless to say, these went into hiding as soon as we could get ahold of them.

Bill Jr. played little league baseball and still enjoys watching the game, so he enjoyed the tour as well. I was told recently he rarely appears in our blog, so I am going to make a point of putting more pictures of Bill Jr. in the blog.

The museum has a section for young kids to play, a batting cage, movie about the history of baseball and Louisville sluggers, factory tour and much more. We were able to order Josh his own Louisville Slugger with his name burned into the handle just like the big leaguer's. If you ever go to Louisville, take the time to visit the museum. We had a great time!

Later in the afternoon, we went back to the hotel for a short nap and some pool time. As we were at the pool, we began to see the other families arrive. Once we all arrived, we grabbed some sub-sandwiches along the way and went to a park to let the kids run around and let the parents catch up with one another's lives. It was a fun park, with water fountains for the kids to run through and lots of fun swings and slides.

I took this picture of Sara and Angela just for Renee Mongold. We missed you lady!

Bill and Lizzy were great big siblings to watch Michelle while we talked with the other families. It was a warm evening - Teresa asked if we could please plan our next reunion somewhere cold, like Maine. After the 100+degree weather we had been having on the east coast, the mid-80's didn't seem so bad to us. Sorry Teresa - we really weren't trying to melt your family. (:

On the way to the park, we saw this really interesting building facade in the middle of the road. It was literally the front of an old building with the road circling around it. Our kids inherited their Dad's sense of adventure and their mom's quirky sense of humor, so of course we had to stop and take some pictures. This was such a pretty picture of Elizabeth.

Things kind of went downhill after that. I don't know if you can really see our faces, but we were trying to re-enact a haunted house.

On Saturday we planned a trip to the Louisville Zoo. Here are all the kids, at least those who were 10 and under. Starting from the left (as you look at the picture) are Molly & Carson, Josh & Michelle, Maya, Owen, Carter & Cole, Leah with Eli & Jeremy.

Alex was continuing his organized picture strike, so we had to catch him seperately!

I love this picture! Michelle had a lot of fun with these girls. Even though Maya and Molly are both almost 2 years older than Michelle, they were very close to the same size and played so sweetly together. Most of Michelle's good friends back home are boys, so it was nice to see her get some "girl time", especially with these girls who hold such a special place in our hearts.

Now the brothers get in on the action!

Probably one of the best parts of the trip for us was meeting all the older siblings. We traveled to China with all our kids, but most families did not. They are all such nice kids. There were a lot of boys Josh's age, and he had a great time with the McClintock kids. Cole and Carter are very nice boys. Carter is not a picture taker either - if I could get one of him and Alex together, well, that would have been a huge accomplishment!

Here is Molly with her Mommy.

You may notice that there is no Josh in this picture. Joshua kept running ahead, and hanging out with some of the other boys. We were all walking at different paces, hanging out and talking with different families, so we did not worry that Josh wasn't with us. At one point, about halfway through the zoo, we all gathered at the splash zone to let the kids get wet and cool off a little. That was when we caught up with the other families and realized Josh was lost. Bill found a zoo employee who called the security team and they reported Josh was with them. At least he knew enough to find someone who worked there and let them know he was lost. I think Bill was a little annoyed, because Josh did not seem too remorseful once we retrieved him. Instead of feeling like he was in "zoo jail", the zoo employees made it a fun experience for Josh. It seems he told them he was sad because he missed the rhino exhibit because he was lost, so they took him inside the rhino cage and let him pet one. Gheeze!

Leah and her Mommy in the petting zoo.

Josh also had a lot of fun with the Smith boys. Eli & Jeremy are such nice kids, and for a long time Jeremy was our "extra child" was we traveled through the zoo. At one point I smiled at Bill and told him, "See, we have room for another kid in our family." To that, Lizzy replied, "If we knew we could get such a nice, quiet child like Jeremy, that would be fine mom. But we don't get quiet children - we have kids like Josh and Michelle." Good point Lizzy - but I wouldn't have it any other way. It's amazing to see how all these kids are in the families they were meant to have. I believe with all my heart God choose each of these kids and their parents for one another. It amazes me to see how they all fit together!

Another fun thing at the zoo was seeing a local FCC group. (Families with Chinese Children) I noticed as we were walking though there were several kids that looked like ours but weren't part of our group. As we stopped for a while to play at one of the playgrounds Sara spoke to one of the parents and found out this was one of their FCC outings. So cool!

After the zoo, we made a quick detour to Churchhill Downs to see where they run the Kentucky Derby. Everyone except Lizzy had fallen asleep in the car for a little nap, so we just took a quick pic and headed back to the hotel.

I'll post the rest of the trip tomorrow...

#1444 Reunion - Part 1

2010-07-12T09:41:00.003-04:00

This weekend our travel group, CCAI #1444, had a reunion in Louisville, KY. It was a central location for a lot of the families, so we decided it was a good place to meet. It turned out to be a great location - lots of fun, kid-friendly things to do. We had 4 of the 12 families join us, plus some "special guests". It was great to see the Altermatt's, the Smith's and the McClintocks. The Berters, along with Molly and Carson, live not too far from Louisville, so we invited them along to join the fun.

I took a lot of pictures, and since we didn't get home until after 11:00 p.m. last night, I am only going to put up a few today and blog more later in the week. I have to admit, I was feeling a little jealous of the Berter's and Altermatt's with their short drives!

We had a great time. It was wonderful to reconnect with these families who share such an important part of our lives. And it was great to finally meet the Berter's! Michelle and Molly were in the same foster home for a while, so we think of Molly like a "sister". It was great to see them together, and even though it took a little while for them to warm up to one another, they got along great and seemed to really connect by the time we had to leave!

I'll post more soon, but wanted to give you a couple of pictures for now.

Here is our version of the "red couch" photo. These are all the kids adopted from China, not just the #1444 group. Leah on the end in the red sundress, and her older brother Jeremy is on the opposite end. Carson and Molly are next, then Michelle and Maya. (Michelle, Maya & Leah were part of the #1444 group.)
And here is sweet Alex with his Mommy. Alex was not in a picture taking mood, so we had to get a picture of him seperately.

More soon...

Daughters... they grow up too fast!

2010-06-21T08:33:00.003-04:00

It seems like just yesterday my daughter Elizabeth was just like Michelle. Here is Michelle playing with one of her best buddies, Luke. She is happy it's summer and she can enjoy lots of outdoor time.
Elizabeth has grown up so fast. I am excited to see the beautiful young woman she has become, and I know she is more than ready to move on to the next phase of life. To say she is excited about college is an understatement! But I'm not so sure I'm ready. I'm gonna miss her so much!
Here are a couple of pictures of her singing with her friends at her school's baccaluareate service last week. Tonight she graduates from high school. I've enjoyed every moment of her growing up. I love my sweet girls. (and my boys too!)

You've come a long way baby!

2010-06-03T14:59:00.002-04:00

When Michelle first came home, she would not let me even brush her teeth. It was weeks, if not months, before I could get in there and really clean those pearly whites the way I wanted to. I can't say that I blamed her - she had a lot going on with that sweet little mouth.

Today, she jumped up in the chair. I have to say, Dr. Wooddell is awesome. She gives her a ride in the chair, she gets to wear sunglasses so the lights don't hurt her eyes, and she gets to "tickle" all her fingers before she has to "tickle" all her teeth. Good job Michelle. I love seeing those pretty teeth smiling back at me.

Summer Fun

2010-05-27T10:14:00.009-04:00

It seems like my kids will be in school forever... as I read on Facebook and hear from friends in other parts of the U.S. who are getting out of school this week, I can't believe we still have 4 more weeks left!

But, we have some fun summer plans to look forward to as well. We are planning a reunion with our travel group. There were 12 families that went with us to Henan Province, and we will join about half the group this summer in a central location for most of us.

When we looked at the map, we realized Michelle's "Big Sister" from her orphanage and who we believe spent some time in foster care with Michelle as well, lives very close to our reunion site. We have kept in touch with Molly's family, and invited them to join the fun. Read what Molly's mom said this morning in her blog
http://blogbyteresa.blogspot.com/

We feel a special connection to all the kids from Luohe, but Molly holds a special place in our hearts. We think of her as family, even though we have never met her. When we visited Michelle's foster mom in Luohe, we asked to see Molly, but were told she was out playing with the foster-moms' sister.

Michelle was younger than Molly when she was adopted. I'm not sure if Michelle will ever be able to articulate to us what life was like for her in China. But Molly can, and I hang on every blog her Mommy posts, especially whenever Molly tells of her time in China. She is not only Michelle's "Big Sister", but in many ways we feel like she is Michelle's voice as well.

I can't wait to see this beautiful, spunky, precious child for myself this summer!

Input would be appreciated!

2010-05-19T12:39:00.007-04:00

This blog post is really written with other IA parents in mind. Of course, anyone can read and contribute, but I am really hoping for some input from other adoptive moms.

Let me begin by saying we love Michelle's speech therapist! "J" is amazing, and she has done wonders with Michelle this year. We also love Mrs. Z and Mrs. C at preschool. We couldn't ask for better people to love Michelle and be her first teachers.

The speech therapist has been going into preschool for a few weeks, trying to work with Michelle outside of our home environment. Michelle normally does very well in school, but she has 2 things she doesn't really like - story time and music. I've sort of joked here about her not liking music, but I really do think some of this is outside Michelle's realm of control. Yes, there are going to be things in life she doesn't like, and yes, she must learn to control herself (as in, I get that she can't roll all over the floor and be disruptive during circle time. I really do get that!) However, I don't think story time/circle time and music are especially "3-year-old" friendly at this particular school. I've watched how they do both, and let's just say, I would do things differently. In the words of Forest Gump, "That's all I have to say about that."

So here's what happened - last week while "J" was in preschool with Michelle, all the same behavior began again. They were having story time, and Michelle began the rolling around business again. So "J" told her if she wanted to have snack later, she better behave during story time or she wouldn't be able to have snack.

I guess this brought the desired response - Michelle sat up and listened much better. Mrs. Z reported all this to me, and I couldn't really read what her thoughts were on the whole situation. To be honest, it took me a little while to process what my thoughts were on the situation.

Here's the thing - I'm not o.k. with Michelle having food used as a form of discipline. We don't know a lot about Michelle's time in the orphanage, but I am certain of this - when she arrived in our home she was certainly malnourished, and I believe undernourished as well. Her hair and skin were incredibly dry, she ate with such vigor it scared us, and she was wearing size 12 months even though she was almost 2 and a half years old. It took a long time for her to trust us with food. It took a while before she realized it was o.k. to leave food on her plate, that we would feed her again soon. It took her a long time to be more excited about the happy meal toys than the french fries. (Yes, we go to McDonald's - please don't judge me!)

So, today when "J" came for her speech therapy at our home, I addressed this with her and told her it wasn't o.k. with me. She was very apologetic, and I assured her I knew she would never intentionally harm Michelle. Yet I still feel uneasy about the whole situation.

The reality of it is this - I want my daughter to be treated like everyone else. I don't want her to have to be sad when they bring in baby pictures to school and we don't have any of her. (O.K., we do have one very fuzzy black&white finding ad picture - does that count?) I don't want to have to explain to the teacher that it's not o.k. to put her in time out, because we don't really know if she was isolated in the orphanage, but suspect she may have been and don't think it's a good idea. I want her to grow up as normal as possible. And yet, I know in some ways she is different from other children. She didn't have anyone who loved her, who held her at night when she went to sleep, who gave her love and attention and food when she was a baby.

I know there are lots of moms who have gone this road before me. Do you always have to remind teachers, for the rest of their lives, that they might just need a little different consideration? Do you make a point of having these conversations before they arrive, or do you just wait and encounter them as each situation arrives? It's not always as easy as it might first appear.

Disney Fun

2010-05-14T07:39:00.003-04:00

Minnie and Minnie

Every year my daughter Lizzy (La-La as Michelle still affectionately calls her) is part of the Disney Concert at her school. It's always on a Saturday, and it's always for the purpose of raising food and funds for the local food bank. This year there was a bit of a glitch - the power went out just minutes before the concert. This presented a bit of a dilemma - with hundreds of young children eagerly awaiting their favorite Disney characters and songs, cancelling really wasn't an option. But singing in the dark wasn't either. We finally decided to move the whole thing to the school cafeteria and perform it on backup generator power. The show must go on!

Michelle and Lizzy, also known as big sister La-La, also known as Rafiki from Broadway's version of Lion King.

Isn't the internet cool?

2010-05-14T07:35:00.004-04:00

We have met some of the nicest people through blogs and internet groups. It is really special to us when we can connect with anyone who adopted from the same orphanage where Michelle lived. We "met" the Morgan family just before we went to get Michelle (you can read their blog on our sidebar, Little Brother Here We Come). Their little boy is only a few weeks younger than Michelle and came home just a few weeks after her. When we found out they were going to be in our "neck of the woods", we knew they had to come over for a chance to meet them for real. We had a nice dinner and a wonderful time visiting with them. It was great to see all those sweet children playing together, even if Michelle didn't do a great job sharing her toys. (We need to work on that!) I hope our paths cross again!

Mothers day

2010-05-12T13:21:00.005-04:00

Michelle's preschool did a Mother's Day Program. This is the very beginning, about 10 seconds before Michelle spotted me and bolted! I have been told by her teacher, "Michelle doesn't like music." What?!! And yet, this is the 3rd program I have attended, and I have never heard my child sing a word. At home she sings all the time. We are a musical family, so she really has no choice but to like music in our home. But at school, I am told she will not participate in music. My oldest daughter has a theory - she thinks Michelle has very sophisticated musical taste and therefore preschool music is boring to her. She does love the "Bea-bles" after all.

After the program we went back to the classroom for cookies and gifts. I love the little handprint cards and plastic flowers. I am blessed to get to experience all these once again. (Her hair was looking a little crazy. It was the end of the day.)

Fun at the Farm

2010-05-02T17:31:00.002-04:00

Michelle's preschool visited Frying Pan Farm this past week for a field trip. It was a perfect day, and we had so much fun seeing all the baby farm animals.
When I asked Michelle what animals she thought we might see, she said she wanted to see a baby humpback whale. I think she has been watching a little too much Dora and Diego.
There were a LOT of baby pigs - Michelle thought they were really funny.
She was a little concerned about the ones under the "fire", but I told her the lamp would not hurt them and helped keep them warm.
Her favorite part of the visit was riding around the farm behind the tractor.

Caught off guard

2010-04-21T14:10:00.002-04:00

I had kind of an odd experience today. I was having a discussion with a woman I know casually, in front of Michelle. This woman is probably a half generation older than myself, but I still think of her as more of a peer.

As we were talking, she was referring to Michelle and she put her hand to her mouth and whispered the word "adoption". It took me a minute to realize exactly what she had done, and at that point she had moved on in the conversation. It seemed awkward to go back and correct her, but I wish now that I had done just that.

I couldn't believe this woman whispered the word adoption to me as if it was something to be kept secret or said in a shameful way. First of all, even if we wanted to, I'm pretty sure we aren't going to be able to keep the "adoption" secret. I think Michelle will figure this one out pretty quickly. Even if we could, I would never dream of keeping that a secret from her. We are living in the 21st century! Do people really even do that anymore?!?!

I think adoption is one of the most beautiful ways you can add to a family. I am still amazed and humbled when I look at this precious child and think that I get to be her Mommy.

It's not exactly like we live in an area where international adoption is an unusual thing. There are several families in our church, several in our local schools, and it's one of the things I love most about living so close to our nation's capital. Not everyone looks like me, and it makes life much more diverse and interesting.

When we first brought Michelle home, I will admit when we went out in public I wondered what people might think or do in response to our family. But I quickly realized around here, it's just not that big of a deal. Sure, people occasionally look twice as we walk down the aisle in the grocery store. Usually, they look twice and smile. In this area, in my generation, it's just not that big of a deal.

So, I guess you can read all the books, and hear all the stories from other families, but it can still catch you off guard when it happens to you. And, in my case, it can leave you kind of speechless for a minute. (If you know me, you will realize how very rare that is!) I want a Do-Over!

Old and New friends

2010-04-16T17:01:00.002-04:00

A couple of weeks ago I visited one of my dearest friends, Stella. She lives about 2 hours from me, and since she will be moving this summer I decided this would be a good time to visit. Stella has 3 beautiful girls, all adopted, and above Michelle is pictured with their middle daughter, Isabel. The last time we saw Stella and Isabel, Michelle was not saying much and kind of kept to herself. This time she and Isabel became fast friends and had a great time playing outside, especially being the "princess in the castle".
Stella "introduced" me to Cheri. Cheri and her husband traveled to China last October to bring home Amelia. Cheri and I became friends on Facebook, and it's been fun to compare stories, ask questions, and share the highs and lows of adoption. It was so sweet for me to get to meet Cheri and her precious daughter Amelia in person. I love it when you meet someone and you feel like you've known them for years. I felt that way with Cheri. We had a great afternoon, talking and catching up and watching our sweet girls play in the beautiful April sunshine.
These 3 should be the poster children for adoption. Aren't they gorgeous!?

I love flowers!

2010-04-08T17:07:00.003-04:00

Michelle is so excited about spring. Her comment to me yesterday was, "I LOVE flowers!"

She obviously had a fun day at preschool. Her pigtails are a little lopsided, so I know it was a fun day.

Cute, cute 3 year old things!

2010-03-27T07:54:00.008-04:00

Michelle is at such a fun age. Her language is "exploding", in the words of her speech therapist. And that makes life fun and interesting for the rest of us. Thought I would share a few cute things she is doing and saying.

~Her favorite thing to do these days is walk around with a blanket around her waist and pretend she's a mermaid. She actually says Muh-maid. She loves it when we chase her through the house, trying to step on her mermaid tail.

~She likes to pretend she is an animal for the day, based on what color clothes she is wearing. If it's pink, she's a pig. Brown, a squirrel. Blue, a horse - that's from the "Brown Bear, Brown Bear" book. Black, she's a penguin. You get the idea. I have to admit it was a little disconcerting the first time she looked at me and said, "You a pig." But after I realized it was because I was dressed in pink, I was o.k.

~She loves my iPod Touch. I try to only let her play it when we are out, waiting in line or that sort of thing. The other day I caught her looking through my purse. When I asked her what she was doing, she said, "I looking for my Ipod." Uh oh!

~She can count to 10 in Spanish now, thanks to Dora. She can also count to 10 in Mandarin, thanks to Ni Hao Kai Lan. Don't judge me - it was a very snowy winter, and at least she learned something.

~Every night when we say prayers, I always say, "God bless Mom, God bless Dad, etc." and she repeats those after me. A few nights ago, we got to the end, "God bless Michelle." Instead of saying her name, she said, "God bless me, the ballerina, and her toes." Guess she was ready to move on from the rote prayers. She obviously had much more to tell God that night.

~Yesterday we were going out with our friend Tyler. He is our neighbor, and every other Friday I get together with his Mom and we go out to lunch. I ran into our other friend, Patrick on the way out of preschool, and invited him and his mom to join us. As we were walking into the restaurant, I told Michelle Patrick was also joining us, and she said, "Both my boys!" Here is a picture of her with both her boys... funny kids!

She was annoyed with them about something. We see this expression from time to time at our house.

A Good Day!

2010-03-18T07:44:00.006-04:00

Yesterday we had our one year follow up visit at Walter Reed. It's a long day for both of us. We had to leave our house by 6:00 a.m., run through the clinics associated with the cleft team throughout the morning, stick around for lunch, then meet back with the entire team later in the afternoon for their evaluation. It's amazing to see the difference a year makes. Not only that Michelle is doing better from the results of last years surgery and months of speech therapy, but just that she is a year older and much more comfortable with herself.

Last year she had only been home with us a few weeks when we did this clinic. This year, she knows me. It's hard to explain this dynamic, but those of you who have adopted know what I'm talking about.

She breezed through most of the clinics, but again, we had a lot of "fun" at the ENT clinic. Thankfully they saved that one for last this time. She has unbelievable amounts of ear wax - I've asked several times if there is anything I can do to prevent or help with this, but I'm always told it's just the way she is. So, she had to become a burrito (wrapped in velcro straps on a board) while they dig around in her ears to remove the wax. It's hard for any mom to watch your child be restrained, but I think it's especially hard for me to watch Michelle. I hope she never went through something like that at her orphanage, but you never know. I just pray the whole time she will know I'm there with her and it won't cause any emotional scars. She was a trooper - she was unhappy, but seemed to understand it was o.k. as long as I stayed close by.

The final evaluation was a good one and what we expected to hear. While she does have more surgeries in her future, those are down the road. For now, we just have to keep a close eye on one of her ear tubes that isn't working properly (still in place but closed), continue with speech therapy, and we'll check back in next year.

We came home to enjoy some outside time. This is the first day we have been outside to play, and you can see by the expression on Michelle's face that she was a happy girl. I love the first picture. I kept trying to get her to smile, but she kept opening her mouth. I guess she had been doing that all day, so she thought that was what I wanted her to do.

Yeah for spring! Happy girl!

Hey Lady!

2010-03-14T21:08:00.001-04:00

We all were riding in the car tonight and I was singing. So Michelle started yelling, "Hey Lady, be quiet!" After saying that a couple of times, Lizzy told her I wasn't a Lady, I was her mother. After a couple of seconds, Michelle said, "Hey Mudder, be quiet!"

Guess she doesn't like my singing!

Pink 'Lelella'

2010-03-13T20:48:00.003-05:00

We were so happy to have rain instead of snow.

It gave Michelle the chance to finally use her pink lelella.

We are back!

2010-03-02T07:28:00.010-05:00

I haven't blogged since Christmas, and there are 2 reasons. First, I have been so busy I truly don't know if I'm coming or going. Lizzy had the lead in her high school musical 3 weeks after Christmas, "Guys and Dolls". That sort of takes over our family for a short time while we are in "musical mode". She did great, and we had lots of family come to see her, so it made for a fun and very busy time.

Then, we have been doing the great "East Coast Audition Tour". Lizzy is planning to major in music, and she traveled to 6 of the 7 schools where she applied to have her auditions. Most of those consisted of her singing, taking a theory test and aural test, and for some a keyboard assessment. She applied to schools as far north as upstate NY, and as far south as Georgia, so we have been on the road. It has been fun to visit these schools with her, to watch her decide what she really wants in a college experience. However, I am also glad it's behind us now, and we can resume life as normal, whatever that means. She's already receiving some letters from schools, offers of scholarships, etc., so stay tuned. More to come!

The 2nd reason I haven't blogged much is I had every intention of beginning a new blog. We started this blog to journal our story with Michelle, but we have 3 other wonderful children and we are hoping to start a family blog to feature our other children as well. That obviously hasn't happened for the reasons mentioned in the previous paragraphs. I hope to get that done, perhaps this summer. Until then, I'll try to keep this blog a little more up-to-date.

We managed to survive the epic snowstorms here in Northern Virginia. We've lived in places that have lots of snow, but most of those places also have lots of snow plows. That is not the case here, and we spent a lot of family time. I have to admit, it was nice to slow down and have everyone home for a while, but we were all ready to get back to real life.

Michelle is doing great. She is growing like a weed, and in the words of her speech therapist, she is having an "explosion". Not only is she saying everything now, she is much easier to understand.

In Virginia the 3rd grade does a big unit on China. Last week Josh's class had a Chinese New Year Party. I shared some pictures of our trip, and they had some great food. The highlight of the day was the dragon parade. The kids had to make their dragons at home for a project, and then they paraded through the school to show them to all the parents and students. Michelle thought this was wonderful. Sorry I don't have any better pic's of Michelle. I'll try to get some up soon.

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-25T11:47:00.002-05:00

Next to Jesus, I can't imagine a better gift than Michelle for Christmas. A year ago today we had breakfast in China, lunch in Japan, and dinner at our home. It was a 36 hour Christmas, filled with excitement, exhaustion, some fear and a lot of relief. Reminds me of the Christmas story... I'm sure Mary and Joseph must have felt all those same emotions. Adoption reminds me so much of what God does for us. Before we even knew we needed Him, he came to earth to redeem us, make us part of His family.

Merry Christmas to all. May you celebrate this day with family, friends, and the love of Jesus!

Winter Pictures

2009-12-19T18:27:00.004-05:00

Michelle's Pre-school had a Christmas program this week. Michelle liked the Jingle Bells and loved her "Ho! Ho! Ho! Dress"

We got a big snowfall last night and it is still coming down. Michelle had fun in the snow.

The big kids helped Dad shovel the driveway.

And Michelle kept playing!

Happy Family Day!

2009-12-15T06:40:00.006-05:00

A year ago today we went to a municipal building in ZZ China. It was the moment for which we had waited over 2 years. I remember standing out in the hallway and a man walked by and saw Bill and I and said, "Bing Qi!". (Michelle's chinese name) He recognized us from our photos, and I realized at that moment she was just down the hall!

Our daughter Lizzy asked if we could pray before going in to meet her. I don't remember exactly what we said, but as we held hands and prayed, I remembered thanking God for his amazing blessing to our family, and I remember a peace coming over me that could only come from Him.

We walked down the hallway with several other families in our group, and as we peeked in the room it was already crowded. There were 4 children adopted from Luohe orphanage that morning, and we recognized 2 of the families already inside from pictures on our yahoo group. Then, suddenly, a couple of ladies walked out into the hallway with Michelle. She was so tiny, wrapped in layer after layer of clothes. As she stood before me, I looked at this precious little girl and said to her, "Ni Hao, Bing Qi. Wo shi ni de mama." Which means, Hello, Bing Qi. I am your mama. I had practiced these 2 phrases for weeks before our trip. She looked up at me and said, "Mama?" The nannies picked her up and placed her in my arms.

Just as she started to have tears in her eyes, Josh came to the rescue. He was standing on the side, with a "wa-wa" (doll) ready to go. He came over with a big smile, gave her the wa-wa, and she looked at him and grinned. I knew right then we would all be fine!

We had such a wonderful first day with Michelle. She was so sweet and fun from the very beginning. She decided right away I was her "person", but she still played with everyone. It still takes my breath away when I think back to that time I first saw her precious face, that God would grace our family in such a way is just so amazing to me.

It's incredible the difference a year makes. We had a little celebration last night, a day early because my oldest daughter has a concert tonight. We couldn't really sing Happy Birthday because it wasn't the right song, so we sang "Michelle" by the Beatles as we brought out her cake. She loves the Beatles, and grinned from ear to ear. She blew out the candle on top of the cake, something she wasn't able to do a year ago. Now that she has had her cleft palate repaired, she can blow out candles, drink through a straw, and say almost anything she really wants to say. Her speech is getting more clear and articulate each day. That in itself it a miracle.

We love you Michelle! You complete our family, and you were so worth the wait.

Still Growing

2009-12-13T22:58:00.004-05:00

We had our one-year follow up appointment with our Social Worker last Friday. As part of the interview we had to weigh and measure Michelle again. She has grown another 2 and 3/4 inches and gained another 4 pounds in the last six months. The catch up growth hasn't been quite so fast as the first six months we had her home, but it is still quick! She has gone from being at the bottom of the WHO growth chart scale to being just a hair over the median. I credit goldfish crackers!

A little shout out to our peeps!

2009-12-10T10:28:00.004-05:00

A year ago our not-yet-complete family boarded a plane to fly from Dulles to Beijing. We were so excited to meet this precious little girl we had dreamed of, prayed for, longed to know for over 2 years. Seeing her sweet face in pictures was no longer good enough. I longed to hold her in my arms.

But, before we would meet her, God held another special surprise that we had not anticipated. We met these amazing, wonderful families who would take this journey with us. We enjoyed their company, and we delighted meeting their precious children and seeing them become families.

We remember them all, and have loved following their blogs and their stories as their children thrive in their new homes.

So today, a special "shout out" and hug to the Mongolds, Bednars, Smiths, Altermatts and McClintocks. And all those who traveled with us.

Memories of Christmas Past

2009-12-03T07:06:00.003-05:00

I knew I was really jet lagged last year after Christmas, but I don't think I realized the full extent of it until I began getting out our Christmas decorations this year. I normally pack my ornaments as if we will move the following year. Being a military family, we never know for certain if we will receive surprise orders in mid-July and have to pack up quickly. So I always want to be prepared, and for 20 years I have wrapped each ornament and placed them in a box, then secure them again inside a rubbermaid type container.

This year, I found all our ornaments inside leftover gift bags, all jumbled together! Then, it took me over an hour to search through our basement to find my nativity set. It seems Mary and Joseph were wandering through my basement boxes, lost, and certainly not on the way to Bethlehem! Yikes! But, the best part, where I truly sat down and laughed until I almost cried, was when I pulled out the stockings. The bottom of mine was completely full! Chocolates, a big bottle of hand lotion, all kinds of goodies. You know if I left chocolate uneaten, there was some serious jetlag going on!

Last Christmas was wonderful - other than the greatest gift of all, Jesus, I can not imagine a better way to spend Christmas than bringing home Michelle. She truly is the gift that keeps on giving. However, I must admit, I am looking forward to a little more "normal" type of Christmas this year.

Here's a little early Christmas cheer to brighten your day!

Pigtails

2009-11-24T06:32:00.001-05:00

11 Wonderful Months

2009-11-15T15:21:00.002-05:00

It's hard to believe, it was 11 months ago today we first saw Michelle's sweet face and held her in our arms. As Lizzy said earlier today, sometimes it seems like that was just yesterday, and sometimes it feels like she has been with us forever.

She has changed so much in the past 11 months. It's obvious she feels comfortable now. She runs around our house and plays like she is "in charge". She gives me kisses everyday now and tells me I love you. And her language is exploding - it's so fun to see.

Just a couple of days ago we were waiting in the car to pick up Josh from school. I was listening to the radio, and Michelle told me, "No,no! I not like that song." So I told her o.k., we would turn it on something else, but not a kid CD because it was Mommy's turn. I told her we could turn on the Beatles. She said, "Ooooh! I like the Bee-bles!" I think it's awesome that she likes the Bee-bles.

Musings from the dentist office

2009-11-12T10:43:00.002-05:00

Have you ever tried to take 4 kids to the dentist at the same time? I know there are those of you out there who do - I read your blogs. My hat is off to you, especially if you can do it and have one little piece of your sanity left when you are finished.

To get 4 children dressed, fed, and out the door by 8:00 a.m. is no small feat in our home. (and mom too!) Yet, somehow we managed to do it, along with all the backpacks ready to go so hopefully we won't be too late for school. But it takes a long time to look at 4 mouths, and so everyone ends up late. Including mom, who has a million things to do today. And did I mention it's picture day at preschool? And it's Michelle's snack day? And it's Thanksgiving Lunch day at Josh's school, and mom neglected to tell him she would not be joining him, so we have to deal with the tears and disappointment. It's sad that Josh doesn't have super-mom, he just has hanging-by-a-thread mom. And today, that thread is looking a little thin.

So, we make it through the dental visits. I wish I had a video. At one point I believe all of my kids were sitting with some form of open mouths - it was quite comical. And, Dr. Wooddell is AWESOME!!! Makes it fun for us all. So, we have to come back in to repair a filling, and we have to schedule an appointment for Lizzy to have her impacted wisdom teeth removed BEFORE she goes to college. (O.K., I'll add that to the list of a thousand other things we have to do BEFORE she goes to college.) But the best news is, no cavities. Good job Cole children!

So, I send 2 off in their own car. Have to answer some cell phone calls from the school counselor, but still beats having to drop off 2 kids. Get Michelle to preschool, still looking somewhat put together for picture day. Mrs. Z gives her a big hug, even though she's late, and tells her she loves her shiny teeth. I love Mrs. Z. Then we go to drop off Josh. I get the eye rolls from the office staff as I walk in the door, and I'm reminded I will be receiving an electronic phone call this evening since I neglected to call ahead to let the school know about his late arrival. O.K.

I don't think I deserve an electronic phone call, or an eye roll for that matter. I think I deserve some kind of medal for making through the morning!

Afghan Girl

2009-11-10T06:42:00.004-05:00

Bill bought Michelle a dress at a local market during his travels last week. I think she likes it!

I love, I love, I love my calendar girl...

2009-11-06T07:04:00.005-05:00

http://www.henankids.org/ Click at the bottom of their page to preorder before 12-01-09!

Just in time for the holiday's, the Henan Kids calendars are in and ready to order. I know what everyone on my Christmas list is getting!

I got a "sneak peak" yesterday, and I will tell you these kids are gorgeous! It's amazing to see them so happy and healthy. We happen to be a little partial to "Miss August". Go buy one! The proceeds go to support children still in the Henan Province. I can't think of a better gift to give this Christmas.

Happy Halloween!

2009-11-01T08:36:00.002-05:00

Fall Fun

2009-10-28T15:08:00.005-04:00

We have had some fun days lately enjoying the lovely fall weather. Last week we met our friend Tyler at the local nursery for some fun.
Michelle LOVES to go "round and round". We did this until we were both dizzy.

I just included this picture of her playing on the pirate ship because she looks like such a big girl! She is growing like a weed.
Michelle and Tyler had fun digging for treasure in the sandbox. They hide hundreds of plastic spiders in the sand. Yuck! but the kids love it.
Then, last Friday, Michelle's preschool took a field trip to a different, smaller pumpkin patch. We love Mickey Mouse.
I think it's cute the Michelle calls these "boos". She wanted her picture made as a "boo!"
She wanted this to go "round and round" too, but Mommy convinced her it would be more fun just to crawl through it.
They had sheep, ducks, and a bunny. Michelle thought it was fun to feed the sheep, but she would not feed the ducks. (I think she was a little afraid. Smart girl - they can be a little aggressive.)
Most of the kids from her class did not go on the field trip. It was a rainy kind of day, so I think most of them just stayed home. But we are glad we went. Here she is with her friend Madeline and her teachers.

On another note, Michelle's language is exploding. She is saying 4 and 5 words sentences all the time, and her articulation is improving day by day. For the most part, that is a good thing. However, this morning she crawled in my lap and was pointing at all my face parts - eyes, nose, etc. Then she points to my mouth, and very clearly says, "Ma-Ma's BIG mouth!" Ha!

Just to make me smile

2009-10-08T09:47:00.003-04:00

No pic's today, just a sweet little story! Life has been more than a little crazy here at our house - 4 children, trying to get one prepared for college, one that hates 3rd grade (but at least likes his teacher. Just doesn't like the work. We can live with that .) Husband with a very demanding job with me trying to teach part time - well, it just makes life so busy that a lot of days I rush through and don't take the time to appreciate how really blessed I am.

So, this morning we had to make an emergency run to the grocery store. Michelle is staying after preschool for "lunch bunch" because Mommy needs to be a good "Army wife" and go to a Change of Command Ceremony. And, her brother ate her lunch yesterday after school.

As we were walking up the aisle's, Michelle looked so cute. She had on this cute little candy-corn shirt that said SWEET, matching orange socks, cute little kitten hairbows. And she was dancing/skipping/hopping up the aisle, wobbling her head back and forth. And as we walked out the automatic doors, she turns and says, very clearly, "Thank you door!"

I know it's probably not a big deal to anyone else, but it made me smile and remember how great my crazy, busy life really is!

Just Some Pictures

2009-09-26T08:07:00.003-04:00

A week of new things

2009-09-18T10:06:00.004-04:00

When Michelle turned 3 she aged out of Early Infant and Toddler Services, and came into School Age Services for her speech therapy. The first day I told her we were going home to play with a new friend, she asked for Ashley. I told her it was a new friend, that Ashley would no longer come play. She was a little sad about that, but Joanne quickly won her over.

She does a wonderful job with Michelle. She has been to our house twice now, and both times she brings a huge bag of toys. They play all sorts of games and activities, and Michelle has so much fun she hardly realizes how hard Joanne is making her work to say things correctly. Her speech is coming along. She still has to work hard to make so many of the sounds (B,P, even W sometimes), but she is getting better each week. She gets the "placement" right for many words. By that, I mean she might substitute another letter - say "muppy" instead of "puppy", but that is progress. I am amazed at how many words she says now - of course, much of it only our family can understand, but she is getting there. I expect big changes in her as the year progresses. We are so happy to be working with Joanne.

Michelle also started school this week. These are pictures last week of her meeting her teachers. You can see she thinks this is pretty fun. Here she is with Mrs. C. (I didn't ask them if I can put them on the blog, so I'll just use initials.)

And here she is pictured with Mrs. Z. It's a wonderful preschool. Small classrooms and lots of individual attention. Michelle is in the class with the young 3's, and its' a perfect fit for her.

The first day of school they had balloons and stuffed animals lining the walk way and benches as we entered. Michelle fell in love with the giant Clifford dog, and she was so happy to see a smaller Clifford when she went into her classroom. Her teachers told me she held onto him most of the day.

She did great her first day of school. I told her Mommy would stay and play for about 5 minutes, and then she would have to stay by herself with her teachers and friends, but that I would come back later to pick her up. She looked a little sad as I left, but I watched her through the outside window and she did fine. No tears, and she quickly found lots of fun things to play with. I brought my camera for pick-up, and I would say by all the paint on her shirt (and in her hair) that she had a great first day of school!

Going to the Doctors is just not fun!

2009-09-15T05:58:00.002-04:00

Sorry, no pictures for this entry. I am just not that hard core when it comes to blogging, that I would even remember to take my camera to the doctors office.

First, let me preface this by saying we have had way too many doctors appointments recently for Michelle. First we had a follow up for her cleft surgery at Walter Reed 2 weeks ago. That same day I took her over to our pediatrician for a shot, so she would be up to date when she had her physical. She needed a school physical for preschool and speech therapy through the county. (I'll blog more about that at a later date.) The next day I took her in for her school physical. Let's just say the doc we saw was not the smartest, nicest person on the planet. It was a bad experience for Michelle and myself. Then, 2 days later we returned for more shots, because we still hadn't filled the requirements. (Don't even get me started!)

Now for the fun part - yesterday we got to spend the afternoon in the ER! Michelle was playing by my bed. It's kind of low (used to be a waterbed) and made of hard wood. (old This End's Up furniture. Indestructible) She was jumping around like a frog, and I saw this coming, tried to stop it, but she jumped face first into the corner of my bed. It took about 10 seconds for her to look at me before the crying began. When she started gushing blood and her nose started swelling, I knew we had no choice but to go to the ER. I put in a quick call to my pediatricians office, just to see if they could see her, and they referred me on to the ER.

So, I'm trying to hold ice and a washcloth on her poor little face, praying she didn't do any major damage and especially that she didn't mess up anything associated with her lip or palate. I'm also, at the same time, trying to gather up enough "supplies" to last us through a while at the ER. (can you tell I've done this before?) And at the same time, making phone calls to rearrange a very busy afternoon. (Think 3 kids coming home and 8 piano students showing up at my door with no mom/teacher there to greet them)

Michelle sat in the backseat with an icepack on her nose, crying most of the way and saying over and over again, "No doctor, no doctor." The first thing she told the ER nurse as we walked in was "No doctor." (She also remembered as we left we had gotten smoothies at Starbucks. She started her campaign for "ice ceem". She's like a baby elephant - remembers everything.)

My sweet husband met me at the ER entrance, took the car to park and I took Michelle in to the ER. By this time the bleeding had stopped, and already the swelling was beginning to go down. After a while, Bill realized she was probably o.k. and he went back to work.

There were a lot of sick people there, so I knew we would probably not be a priority case. Four and a half hours later, when the doctor finally appeared to a sweet little 3 year old, covered in Elmo stickers, "sliding" up and down the patient exam table, he took one look at her and said,"Well, she appears to be fine now." Of course I didn't scream out loud, but silently inside.

He did check her out. She seems to be fine, but he suggested I follow up in a few days with her surgeons just in case they want to do further checks.

Life can be a little crazy sometimes! But I wouldn't change a thing.

Zoo

2009-09-06T21:07:00.006-04:00

Sorry it took so long to get these up - it's been a busy week. We enjoyed a fun day at the zoo with Na-Na and Granddaddy Merritt on Monday. The weather was perfect! Unseasonably cool for late August, but the animals loved it. I decided, against my better judgement, to drive instead of metro in to the zoo - after getting lost about 4 times, we finally made it. I will NOT do that again! I don't know why I didn't take the gps system - oh well, we made it and a good time was had by all. I didn't take as many pictures as I thought, but here are a few good shots.

Michelle and Granddaddy had fun watching the elephants.

Lunch was "interesting". Again, I made a different decision than usual - we usually bring our lunch and picnic, but this time I decided to buy lunch there. It was ridiculous how much it cost, but at least we got the cute souveneir lunch bags! The bees were out of control, and since I left my epi-pen in the car (what was I thinking!?!) I had a hard time time enjoying myself. Michelle dropped her hot dog after one bite, and all I could think was, "That was $6 for the pigeons to enjoy!" As you can tell, lunch was not the highlight of the day!

We have been to the National Zoo many times, and I have never seen the Panda's inside, but for some reason on this beautiful day they were inside. Michelle thought they were wonderful. We tried for a good picture of her in front of their exhibits but the lighting was off and never got a good shot.

Later that day Na-Na took her to a souvenier shop and told her she could pick something for an early birthday surprise. Mommy saw some beautiful red silk purses with little stuffed panda's inside, but after a quick lookover, Michelle said, "No tank-u". Then she spied a panda bear, but when she saw the straps she did not like those either. I told her it was a backpack, and she said, "No backpack!" Then she saw the stuffed animals, and fell in love with the stuffed panda bear. I am amazed that she knows exactly what she wants and has no trouble finding ways to express that to us.

We love you Na-Na and Granddaddy. Thanks for a fun day!

It's fun being 3!

2009-09-01T20:33:00.008-04:00

We started off this morning practicing how old we are - it's easier to show "3" than to say "3".

After naptime, Michelle was so excited to come down and see the house decorated for her party. She liked the pin-the-nose-on-Elmo game. (The panda bear was from the zoo trip yesterday. I'll put up those pic's tomorrow.)

Mommy & Daddy bought a Sesame Street ball pit. Michelle and her friends thought it was fun. It will be a great addition to our basement playroom.

Ice cream cake from Baskin Robbins. Yum!

I LOVE this smile. She broke out in this beautiful grin as we were singing to her and said her name. Happy Birthday Dear Michelle.

She thought the whole cake, singing thing was pretty cool. She wasn't sure what to do when it came time to blow out the candles. She tried to hold her nose and blow. (This is what we do in speech therapy when she blows bubbles.) After a while I realized it could be a pretty messy procedure, so Mommy eventually blew out the candles for her. Our older son Josh thought that was terrible, but Michelle didn't seem to mind.

Cake and balloons - what more could a 3 year old ask for?!

Na-Na and Granddaddy came up to celebrate her birthday. They gave her a kitchen so she can cook with Mommy. She got some fun toys! (but I still think she was more excited about the balloons than the toys. Isn't 3 wonderful!)

As I was typing away in the blog, our older daughter Elizabeth went in to check on Michelle. She is laying in her ball pit, dressed in a princess outfit, surrounded by her toys and holding about 15 helium balloons in her hand. Elizabeth stuck her hand in the ball pit and said,"How are you princess?" To which Michelle responded, "Mine! Mine! Mine!" Guess she is getting into the spirit of this birthday thing after all.

Happy Birthday Michelle

2009-09-01T08:04:00.002-04:00

There will be more to come later - pictures of the big 3 year old! But for now, I just wanted everyone to know it's her birthday, and we plan to celebrate in style. I had wanted to keep things simple, but couldn't quite control myself at the party store when I saw all the cute Elmo things. And of course, we will have balloons. Michelle doesn't know exactly what this is all about, but she does know there will be balloons involved, so she's excited. She has been walking around the house for a few days saying,"My buh-day!" Today when I woke her I told her it was her "buh-day", and she got a huge grin and did a little happy dance. Priceless!

I have a personal tradition I do with each of my kids on their birthday. We sit and look through their baby pictures. I love going back and remembering the day they were born. I tell them the stories. It's more for me than for them.

I will have to start new traditions with Michelle. I wasn't there the day she was born. But I do know that even then, the red thread was beginning to wrap it's way around my heart and draw us together. Today I pray for the woman who gave birth to our daughter, that somehow she will know she is safe, healthy and happy. Mostly I will pray and thank God for the precious gift of Michelle!

Summer pic's

2009-08-24T08:59:00.004-04:00

Michelle has been wanting a ponytail, and since her hair is a little too short in the back, we came up with this idea. I think the Cindy-Lou-Who look is pretty cute, don't you? (Thanks for the idea Renee.)
We had a fun time at Cape Cod. I don't have most of the beach pictures developed yet, but here are a couple of shots. She thought "putt-putt" was about the most fun a girl could have! I thought she would be impatient and loose interest, but she waited until it was her turn. Then, she would hit the ball a couple of times, pick it up and put it right beside the hole, then hit it in.

A couple of nights later we went out for ice cream. As we pulled up to the ice cream parlor, Michelle saw a mini-golf place close by. As we were getting out of the car she said,"No ice keem. (No ice cream) Putt-putt." You know it's fun when she would rather play than eat ice cream.
Daddy was able to join us for the weekend. We went to one of our family favorite restaurants for a seafood dinner. "Lobster" was quickly added to Michelle's vocabulary. (Gotta love those B words. We are working on B and P words in speech therapy.)
Another Cape Cod tradition is going to the Brewster General Store. The kids have a great time filling a bag with cheap candy, and Michelle enjoyed this tradition too. It was fun after years of visiting Cape Cod to see it through new eyes. She even warmed up to the beach after a few days. When we went to Virginia Beach she was knocked down by a big wave, so the first few days at the Cape she wasn't too sure about the water. But by the end of the week she was splashing in the tide pools and having a great time.
Michelle helped Dad out with a work presentation by modeling her "Army girl" t-shirt. She is growing so fast and such a joy to our family. She amazes us every day with the things she is learning. She knows all her colors, can count to 12 (although she often skips 3 for some reason), and to our surprise knows most of her letters. She walks around all the time, pointing to shirts and signs and points out the letters. Of course, her favorite one is "O" for ElmO.

Her speech is constantly improving. She is beginning to put together 2 and 3 word sentences. Just this weekend we were eating dinner, and we had one of her favorites, canteloupe. She had already finished hers and when she saw her Daddy serving big brother Josh some, she said, "Da-Da! My turn!"

This week is her last speech therapy with Ashley. Next week she ages out of Early Infant and Toddler, and will graduate into the Preschool Program. Ashley has done a wonderful job with her and we will miss her. It's been exciting to see Michelle make progress from week to week. I know that this is not always the case, that it's often 2 steps forward, one step back, so we are so encouraged and grateful for the progress she is making.

Referral Anniversary

2009-08-07T23:29:00.002-04:00

Tomorrow we will be gone most of the day, so I wanted to post a short memory about 8-8-08. See the sweet picture to the right of this post? It was a year ago we first saw that precious face. I will never forget when the phone rang, and my son came upstairs to tell me, "Mom, it's Denise from CCAI." I somehow knew before I even answered the phone she was calling to tell us about our daughter. And I knew from the moment I saw that precious face she was meant to be ours. And now, I get to look at this sweet face every day. How blessed am I?

August 8, 2008 was a special day for China. It was the opening day of the Olympics, a day of pride for their nation. But August 8, 2008 was an even more special day for the Cole Family. It was the day I finally saw the face of the child I had prayed for, longed for, dreamed of, for so long.

7 1/2 Months Later

2009-08-02T09:19:00.002-04:00

Here is a picture taken December 19, 2008, next to one taken yesterday. The kids are really growing up fast!

Visitors

2009-08-01T23:06:00.003-04:00

We have been pretty busy lately. Last week we were involved with VBS at our church, and my older teens played in the band. Michelle was in the nursery for part of each day, and I think she picked up some kind of "bug". So, this week we have been staying home, trying to get well. Yesterday was the first day she felt much like herself. I think this is the first time she has been sick since we have had her - of course we went through a lot of recovery with her surgery, but this was her first true cold.

Today we had some special visitors. Renee and her boys stopped by on their way north to visit family. Renee traveled with us to get Joshua Song when we went to China last year. It was great to see them after almost 8 months, to see our kids so happy and healthy with their new families. (Their blog is linked to our sidebar - A Thousand Reasons to Smile.)

And speaking of other blogs we follow, we are anxiously awaiting Molly's Gotcha Day this Monday, August 3 on Continuing the Journey. Molly and Michelle were not only in the same orphanage, but also in the same foster home for a while, so we are excited to see Molly join her forever family.

Please watch

2009-07-22T07:39:00.003-04:00

I urge each of you to click on the link below. Even if you have never considered adoption, hopefully it will encourage you to pray for these children. I found it very moving - of course, it's my heart's cry these days!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7aa3ZN8Tyzc

Busy Summer

2009-07-13T08:18:00.009-04:00

I thought once summer arrived and school was over things would slow down and we would have lots of time to hang out at the pool. So far that hasn't been the case - life seems to be continuing at warp speed. However, after the past weekend, several of our obligations are over, so perhaps more pool days are in our near future. I certainly hope so!

We had a fun July 4th celebration. We had a cookout with some of our neighbors and then they shot fireworks. Michelle wasn't such a big fan of the noise, so after a few minutes I brought her back inside the house.

One of her favorite summer activities is having an ice-pop. It's funny how she has mastered that word - she can certainly say things when they are important to her!

This past Friday she got her first taste of what it means to be an Army Brat. Her Daddy took over a Command, sort of a job change/promotion without the move that is usually involved in that sort of thing. We had a ceremony with a couple of hundred people attending and then a light reception with refreshments. Michelle was a big hit - she sat still through about half of the ceremony. Not bad for a 2 year old! We hired our neighbor to come be a "mothers-helper", so when it got to be too much for her, sweet Lauren took her into the other room to play. Michelle enjoyed the cake and all the excitement of the day.

Grammy Cole was able to fly down from Cape Cod for the special day. We are proud of Daddy - I know he will do a great job!

Helping out a sister/friend

2009-06-29T20:16:00.004-04:00

When we came back from China, we looked through some of the pictures taken by the orphanage, and we were delighted to see pictures of Molly and Michelle together in the same foster family. Even though not biological sisters, we have come to think of Molly as Michelle's foster sister.

We had already been following Molly's blog - you can find it on our links to the side under "Continuing the Journey".

They are going to get Molly soon, and things are moving a little faster than expected. That's the good news - Molly gets to be with her family. The bad news is, in this rough economy, their family is struggling a bit to get all the funds necessary for the adoption.

If you would like to read more about Molly, and maybe help them out a little, please visit their blog. It's a great blog, and they seem like such a neat family. Plus, they are having some great giveaway's to everyone who contributes.

Tell them Midge sent you!

A fun, family weekend

2009-06-29T08:59:00.011-04:00

Our family woke early Saturday morning and headed down to Virginia Beach. We left at our house at 7:15 and had toes in the water before 11:00 a.m. This would be our only real family vacation this summer due to busy schedules, so we tried to make the most of it. Michelle loved the ocean, and really liked the water until a big wave knocked her over. After that she decided to just stick to playing in the sand. The weather was perfect - just warm enough, and the water was just cool enough. The big kids stayed in the water for close to 5 hours - needless to say, we didn't have to rock anyone to sleep that night.

That evening we drove out to the Rogers home for dinner and a Luohe reunion! Pete and Catherine came to stay with us just before their trip to China to get Emma last November. Catherine sent us some beautiful pictures and priceless video of Michelle. The girls were in the same orphanage - it was hard to tell if they really remembered one another or not. Emma seemed to really be checking out Michelle when she came in. In the below picture Emma was looking through the photo album she was given by the Luohe orphange - and, as usual, Michelle is eating! LOL

On Sunday we drove to Busch Gardens for some more family fun. Busch Gardens has a "Salute the Hero's" program, where all active duty and their families get in one day each season for free. We have lots of great pictures from our fun day which I will try to put up later, but this is one of the main reasons we came - to see the furry red guy of Michelle's dreams. This year they opened the new Sesame Street Land and Michelle gave it a big thumbs up! I wish I had captured her expression when she first saw Bert and Ernie. It was one of awe and amazement to see these characters in the flesh. She was excited but a little reserved until she saw Elmo, and when she saw him she just ran over and gave him a huge hug!

The weather again was perfect on Sunday - slightly overcast and cool with only one brief shower. Busch Gardens is such a fun family park - lots of great roller coasters for the teens, lots of fun little kid rides, and lots of shows and animal attractions if you are not a ride person. We are all tired after such a whirlwind trip, but fun was had by all.

Happy Father's Day!

2009-06-21T18:22:00.003-04:00

It's wonderful that this year Michelle gets to celebrate Father's Day! What a blessing she is to us, and we are amazed to see how her Heavenly Father worked on her behalf to put her in our family!

Today we had a special dinner after church to honor Bill and Bill's Dad who was down to visit. Michelle loved the roast and kept asking for more. After a couple of small servings, I told her she couldn't have anymore until she ate her green beans. I was surprised at how quickly she cleaned them off her plate, so I happily cut a few more pieces of meat to give her. However, as we were clearing the table, I noticed a very neat little row of green beans lined up just under the plate of little miss priss!

Don't Blink

2009-06-13T16:41:00.007-04:00

Enjoy your children while they are little - they really do grow up way too fast! It seems like just yesterday Elizabeth was this size. As my husband so eloquently put it... "One day they are 2 years old, so happy just to play with you...

... the next thing you know, they are climbing into the back of a stretch limo with some guy with a beard!"

Just kidding Lizzy - Colin is a nice boy! (Isn't she lovely?!)

Like a Weed!

2009-06-10T20:52:00.003-04:00

As part of the six-month follow up the social workers asked us how much Michelle has grown since we have had her. We hadn't measured or weighed her lately, so I got out the tape measure and scale. I had read about 'catch-up growth' in adoptees, but Michelle has been 'catching up' even more than I expected. She has grown 4 3/4 inches and gained 9 1/2 pounds in six months!

When children are left unattended...

2009-06-08T22:49:00.002-04:00

I left Michelle alone for about 10 minutes while I started dinner. When I returned, this is what I found...
You should see the carpet! I'm just glad she waited until after the social worker left today!

Time flies when you are having fun!

2009-06-08T12:17:00.002-04:00

We did our 6 month post adoption report today with our homestudy agency. They came to see Michelle and ask how things are going. It's amazing, looking back on how far we have come in just under 6 months. New family, new home, new country, new mouth - she's been through a lot and it's amazing how well she is doing.

What a blessing! I can't imagine life without her.

Thank Heaven for Little Girls!

2009-05-31T13:15:00.000-04:00

Party Girl!

2009-05-26T08:07:00.002-04:00

Last week (or maybe the week before - time seems to be going too quickly these days) Michelle went to her first birthday party. Our friend and neighbor Tyler turned 4, and the kids had a great time playing in the yard, blowing bubbles, swinging and eating cupcakes. As you can see, Michelle was an especially big fan of the cupcakes!

New Pictures

2009-05-19T16:38:00.006-04:00

We are way behind in posting pictures. Here are a few shots of Michelle from the past three weeks.

She really likes Ashley, her speech therapist. Ashley sometimes has Michelle hold her nose to help learn how to make B's and P's. They also blow bubbles to strengthen her lips and learn better breath control.

Michelle likes blowing bubbles, but she likes it even better when Ashley blows the bubbles and she gets to pop them!

Michelle also got a hair cut last week. We are letting it grow out, but she needed her bangs trimmed and the back shaped up a bit. I (Bill) tried doing the bangs myself, but it started to look like she was sporting a mullet! We decided to let the professionals cut her hair.

Michelle loves music, and all things associated with it. She tries to sing, does hand motions for some of the little Bible songs, and dances a lot. She gets so excited when she hears "This Little Light of Mine" and runs to find Mommy to show her little light. The other night we were all getting ready for bed, and singing together. When Daddy started to sing with her, she looked at him and said, "No! No! Shhhh!!!!" So, a few minutes later Mommy was singing with her and she said, "More." Pretty much tells the story of the Cole family singers.

Happy Mother's Day

2009-05-10T21:47:00.002-04:00

Just a quick update from the Cole family. Since I am a mom to 4 wonderful kids, I'm going to include updates on all of them.

Michelle - What a joy to spend my 1st Mother's Day with her! We took a quick trip to visit my father-in-law, and I think she finally understands when we go to visit someone, we will eventually return home. She had a great time swimming in Bumpa's pool. Her language is really coming along. It's so cute to see her use some of the techniques she is learning in speech therapy. Now she will grab her nose without prompting if she is trying really hard to say a word with a "b" or a "p".

Joshua - Made me such a sweet Mother's Day card in school and signed it "From your favorite son." (ha! guess he's trying to send a message...) He is doing really well this spring in baseball. Last game he hit 2 doubles! It's so much fun to watch him play.

Bill Jr. - His band, "Stability Check", did a great job this past week at his high school's Battle of the Bands. They had a huge crowd of friends turn out to support them. (and us too, of course!) They played so well (and so loud!) They ended up 4 out of 11 bands, and the 3 bands that placed above them were all comprised of Seniors. Pretty good for a bunch of Freshmen.

Elizabeth- Ah! It was a great weekend to be Lizzy. First, her best guy friend asked her to the Sr. Prom. Then, Friday night she sang for her school's talent showcase and did a fantastic job. Then, we went to visit Bumpa (Grandpa) this weekend and he gave us his gently used, in great shape, Jeep Cherokee for Lizzy to drive! She is so excited to have some wheels of her own, especially since she won't have to ride the bus anymore. Thank you so much Bumpa!

As I was holding Michelle this afternoon, Bill looked over at me and said, "I'm so glad she has you for her Mommy." I am so glad to be her Mom, so glad to be Mom to all these sweet, precious kids. Of all the title's I may have, wife and mom are my favorite ones. (sorry, no pic's- I will try to put some up soon.)

Life - and smelling the flowers

2009-04-22T10:00:00.002-04:00

Today we had our 2nd session with the speech therapist. I really like her therapist, Ashley. This past week we have been working on B's, D's and P's. I hear some progress, especially with the B's. We have also been working on blowing things - mostly bubbles, to strengthen those lip muscles. Her "homework" is a lot more fun than the other kids' homework! Michelle did pretty well for about the first 10 minutes, but after that she wasn't so cooperative. At least I am picking up a lot of cues and things to work with her during the week.

She is trying new words every day. It's amazing to see all these connections being made in her little brain. Just a few minutes ago she picked up her pretend cell phone and said pretty clearly, "Da-Da, come home!"

She is fascinated with all the spring flowers. Flower has become one of her favorite words, and whenever we are out she is on the lookout for flowers. We also had fun this past weekend taking her to the petstore. She loves the "meow's". (She can't say cat, but she can certainly make their sound.) Unfortunately, we can't have a "meow" since Mommy and Billy are allergic to them. But we have fun visiting them at Petco!

She hasn't been sleeping well lately. For a while the night terrors seemed to be getting worse, but I think the past few nights have just been a cold keeping her awake. (It's hard to tell if it's a cold or allergies?) She has been up several times a night, which makes both of us tired. Oh well, as my friend Julie so wisely said, we are making up for missing out on those little baby days.

Life is busy and hectic, but good. I have never felt more stretched than I do now, trying to manage our busy household and teaching. But I wouldn't have it any other way. My biggest challenge is to try and enjoy each day, even with the stress of life. I know this time with Michelle will fly by - I've already seen it with my older kids. We are trying to take a little time each day just to smell the flowers!

Family Pictures

2009-04-13T09:44:00.006-04:00

Michelle had a great time hunting Easter eggs. She got the hang of it pretty quickly, with a little help from the grown-ups. She also LOVED her Elmo Easter basket!

This was the 2nd time Michelle had met her Grandfather, whom we call Bumpa. He helped her look for eggs and spent Easter with our family.
Had to include this picture of big brother Joshua - silly rabbit!
Michelle and Mommy.

Granddaddy Merritt and all his grandchildren on his birthday. We had such a fun visit with family.
Having fun dying Easter eggs with cousin Walker.

The Merritt Family - welcome Michelle.

Bill told Michelle to smile and pointed to her lips, and this is what we got!

Cousins are so much fun!

Michelle remembered NaNa from when she came up to help with her surgery. I thought this was a sweet photo.

Happy Easter!

2009-04-12T22:18:00.000-04:00

Heading south for spring break

2009-04-06T09:30:00.002-04:00

Just a quick update - we came to visit my (Midge's) family for spring break. We had a family get together at my brother's house Saturday night, and needless to say, Michelle was a big hit. I'll try to post pictures when we return next week.

Saturday was also my birthday, and Michelle gave me a very sweet present. As we were getting ready for bed that night, she said, "I lub you." It was the first time she had said it, so it made my birthday extra special!

Richmond Children's Museum

2009-03-26T07:11:00.006-04:00

On Wednesday I drove with Michelle to Richmond to meet one of my dear friends, Stella, and her daughters Noami and Isabel. I've known Stella for a long time and she has been such a huge encouragement to me as we were making the decision to adopt. Stella has 3 adopted daughters. This was the first time she had met Michelle, and the first time I had met Noami. As you can see, Michelle had a great time playing in the museum. The most amazing part of the whole day was she left her hairbow in for such a long time!

3 Months Home Today!

2009-03-25T07:38:00.006-04:00

I was insprired by my friend Sara's blog. They brought home their daughter Mya the same time we brought home Michelle. Sara, I hope you don't mind that I copied your idea!

~Michelle has grown so much! She has gained 6 pounds since we got her, and she has gone from 18 month clothes to 2T. I have no idea how many inches she has grown!

~When we got her, the only English word she knew was Ma-Ma. (I think it's universal) Now she says so much. She has learned how to sign to ask for anything she doesn't know the words for.

~ She was very stingy with her affection - now she kisses everyone she loves!

~ She has developed a serious love affair with Elmo. It's really cute!

~ She is a girly-girl, through and through. She loves pretty clothes. When we put on her silk pajama's (her favorite) she rubs them and says "ooooohhhhh!" She also likes to look at herself in the mirror and loves when I tell her she is pretty.

~She has adapted great to the dog. She pets him and gives him hugs when he is on the ground close to her, but she also blesses him out when he eats her food. She has learned "No Clark!" very quickly.

~She thinks McDonald's french fries are great. She's a dipper - ketchup is a staple in our home.

~3 months ago she had a huge hole in the roof of her mouth. Food came out her nose when she ate, and she had trouble speaking. Plus, she had a ton of fluid and ear wax in her ears, making it difficult to hear. Today she has a healthy, whole mouth and clean ears that can hear everything! That's a miracle. Praise God!

I can't imagine life without her!

March Pictures

2009-03-22T23:22:00.006-04:00

Some cute pictures from the past few weeks!

Yeah Goldfish!

2009-03-19T09:17:00.002-04:00

Today marks one month since Michelle's surgery. The dr. told me at the one month point she can resume a normal diet. So, anticipating that, yesterday I went to the store and bought her favorite snack, Pepperidge Farm Goldfish. She saw me come in the door with the plastic bag, and spied the Goldfish bag through the plastic. She pointed to them and looked at me as if to say, "Mom, please, oh please, can I have those?" I decided 12 hours probably wasn't going to make a huge difference, so I got out a small bowl and began pouring them into the bowl for her. She stood in the middle of the kitchen and did a little happy dance. I would have given anything to have it on video. Yeah for Goldfish! We've missed them and we are so glad to have them back.

Speech therapy

2009-03-18T06:55:00.005-04:00

Every week I look at my calendar and think "If I can just make it until next week, then things will slow down", but they never do. I don't know why I keep thinking that!

Part of why life is really busy right now is Bill is away for a few weeks. He will be taking a new job in this same area in early July, so the Army is beginning to train him to take that new position. I shouldn't complain - I know there are thousands of families who miss their loved one every day while they are deployed to Afghanistan or Iraq. But I still miss him!

Michelle misses him too! He was home for a short visit over the weekend, and she gave him his first kiss. She is also trying to say his name when she sees pictures. The "d" sound is really hard for her, but she is trying.

We had a sad weekend. Bill's stepmom passed away last week. Bill arrived home late Thursday, we left Friday to make the 3 hour drive to Bill's Dad, and then returned home late Sunday to have him fly out at 4:30 a.m. on Monday. It was a whirlwind weekend, but we were so glad to be able to go and support Bill's Dad. His stepmom was sick for a long time, but it was still sad to know she had passed away. The one good thing that came out of the weekend was Michelle's grandfather, called Bumpa, finally got a chance to meet her. Bill's cousin took some sweet pictures of them together, so I hope to post those at a later date.

Yesterday we met with the early infant and toddler connection to "interview" Michelle and see exactly what services were recommended. First we went by the health department to have them recheck her hearing. (too far to drive up to Walter Reed!) She seems to have full hearing now with the tubes in place. We already suspected this - it's obvious she can hear much more, but it was nice to see it on paper.

The interview was with 3 therapist, and they spent over an hour playing with Michelle and asking me lots of questions. They concluded that she doesn't need occupational therapy. She seems to be very close to her age in most of the developmental areas. As expected, she does need speech therapy and should begin receiving that once a week starting hopefully by early April. It was exciting to hear the speech therapist write her goals. I believe by the end of the summer she will be chatting away. She is already trying so hard to learn new words and imitate things we say. Even at lunch after the evaluation, she kept signing she wanted a drink. We went by McDonalds and she was drinking from an apple juice box. She can't use a straw (partly from the surgery, partly because she has never been able to use that much force to suck due to the cleft, so she never learned.) I have to squeeze the box a little to make the juice go up to the top. She has to ask each time she wants a drink, so I was trying to get her to use the word drink instead of just signing. She was trying so hard. She has a hard time with d's, p's, b's - anything that requires lips or upper palate. But she is getting there. I'm excited to see how she progresses once she begins therapy.

The therapy team was impressed with how cute she is, and how well adapted she seems with her new family and being in a new environment. We think she is very charming!

Good Report

2009-03-04T12:09:00.003-05:00

We had a follow up appointment today with our doctor. Normally he would see her at 3 weeks post-op, but he will be TDY the rest of the month and wanted to see her at 2 weeks. (for those of you who aren't military, TDY basically means he will be traveling/working somewhere else for a while.)

When we walked into the waiting room, Michelle looked up at me, opened her mouth and said "Ahhh". Smart girl - she remembered what we do at this place!

The Dr. said everything looks good. No holes or fissures - YEAH!!!! He said she still has stitches in the back of her mouth, so we have to continue eating soft foods until we reach the one month mark, but he did say we could now include things like noodles.

I feel like I have been holding my breath for a long time - now I can finally relax a little. Praise God - we give Him all the glory for what He has done in Michelle's life!

A few pictures

2009-03-02T12:47:00.005-05:00

Sometimes a girl just needs to sleep in her tu-tu!

Thank goodness for jello. It has certainly been a staple in the Cole house the past week.

Not exactly sure how this started - for a while we had to bring Curious George with us in the car everywhere we went. Then we had to start taking Pooh Bear along as well. This is what I see now when I look in the rearview mirror.

Slowly Improving

2009-02-27T20:59:00.002-05:00

Just a quick update - every day Michelle seems a little better. She is still not wanting much to eat, but tonight she did have a little pureed soup. She also slept 7 uninterrupted hours last night. WhooHooo!! She is doing well with just plain Tylenol now. I think we may be in the home stretch.

A couple of sweet memories from this past week. I'm writing these mostly to remind myself some day, so I won't forget that there were some good times along with the not so good. First, I have the sweetest friends. We had dinner brought all week long, and I'm pretty sure it would have been pb&j if not for those meals. Also, my friends Julie and Laura got me through those really tough days. Thank you both!

And even though Michelle has been pretty miserable this past week, she has still had many sweet moments. She gave me 2 kisses yesterday. She is super stingy with her kisses - she will give them to the stuffed animals, but I've only gotten a very few, so 2 in one day was a big deal to Mamma. Also, she's still not big on watching t.v., but she has fallen in love with Elmo. (from Sesame Street.) Today when she discovered she has an Elmo, or Melmo as she call him, square on her quilt, she had to give it a kiss and tell him, "night-night Melmo".

I'll post a few pic's tomorrow.

From a Friend

2009-02-26T06:51:00.002-05:00

Chris and Joann Grassano are two good friends who wrote recommendations for our home study. They have been following our blog, and their daughter Janna felt moved to make this drawing of Michelle. What a nice bit of encouragement!

Survival Mode

2009-02-25T09:36:00.004-05:00

I remember just before our adoption trip to get Michelle, we had the chance to have a telephone conference with Josh & Lily, the founders of CCAI. They had lots of good advice, but the thing I remember most was Josh reminding all of us that this trip was about one thing only, adopting our child and bringing him or her home safely. He said we would probably all have some ups and downs, and all we had to do was survive the trip. We had a really good trip, and for the most part I enjoyed our time in China, but there were several times when things weren't great that I remembered his words, all I had to do was survive.

So, that's kind of where we are now in Michelle's recovery. The last couple of days have been a little rough. Michelle hasn't slept much, and it's hard to tell if she is really in pain or if we are revisiting the night terrors. Our biggest challenge has been keeping her hydrated. She hasn't wanted to drink, so yesterday I spent most of the day walking around with a cup of water and a medicine syringe. She won't drink water out of a cup, but she will let me squirt a teaspoon at a time into her sore little mouth, so that's what we have to do.

While it's not easy, I do think things are slowly progressing the way they should. I am so grateful that so far she seems to be improving a little each day. I haven't seen any openings or leaking through her nose, so that seems to indicate healing. Yeah! She also seems to have a little more energy - last night she was laughing and playing with her brothers. I just have to keep my eyes focused on the goal - a healthy, whole mouth for Michelle.

No fun!

2009-02-23T20:03:00.001-05:00

Today was kind of a lousy day. Glad we get to start over tomorrow.

mmmmm.... Jello!

2009-02-22T20:41:00.004-05:00

Michelle seems even a little better today. Still not completely off the pain med's, but certainly taking less of them. I could tell today she was hungry - I heard her tummy growling, but she still doesn't seem able to tolerate much to drink or eat. She is still taking the Pediasure - something in the consistency agrees with her. And she is eating a LOT of jello. I don't think she has ever had jello before - it's fun, it wiggles, it is not nutritionally wonderful, but at least is has water which is what we are going for at this point, to just keep the child hydrated.

On a different note - o.k., WARNING! I'm going to be a little gross here - she had her first BM since before the surgery. I have never been so happy to change a poopy diaper!

My mom went home today - thank you Na-Na for all your help! When Bill came home after taking mom to the airport, she looked around him and asked for Na-Na. I think it was good for them to get some Grandma time!

Late this afternoon I took a little trip out to Target for some retail therapy. I realized I may be very much housebound for the next week or so, and I'm always on the go, so I need to just get out for a while. I found the cutest video for Michelle called Ni Hao, Kai-lan. It uses Mandarin chinese words throughout and introduces the kids to chinese culture, put out by Nickelodeon. Michelle doesn't really show much interest in t.v., but I thought we might need something to entertain us besides food for the next 3 weeks, so it's worth a try.

Lastly, I've had several people ask us to continue the blog. I had said I would probably stop blogging once Michelle has recovered from surgery. We really want to keep in touch, especially with all our special friends we made during our adoption trip. (I heard you Sara and Renee!) At some point we may start more of a "family blog", because I would like to include more pic's and updates for the grandparents from my other kids. For now, we'll continue to keep you all updated on Michelle's progress, and we'll certainly let you know what our future plans are for keeping in touch.

Thank you all for your sweet notes and prayers. I know we aren't finished with the recovery process, but every day seems to be getting a little better. We are so grateful that God has brought us this far! We are so grateful for Michelle! God is good all the time!

We are home

2009-02-20T20:20:00.002-05:00

Just a quick update on Michelle - we came home this afternoon. It's amazing the difference 24 hours makes. Last night she was still in a lot of pain, stayed on morphine through the evening and part of the night, and had lots of swelling. She was awake a lot and I spent much of the night holding her. This morning she was a little better, but wouldn't drink much. The 2 criteria for her coming home today were that she had to be off the morphine and she had to be drinking well. Shortly after lunch she started drinking and even ate a little applesauce. She is happy to be home. She is still far from 100%, but doing very well.

They did not put her in the arm restraints. I was very glad for this, although it means mom has to be all the more vigilant to keep her hands out of her mouth. I can tell the hardest part of all this will be the food restrictions. As we walked into the kitchen this evening she did the sign for "more" - meaning, give me a snack. She did have a Pediasure tonight and seemed to like those.

She is quite the fighter! Normally she is such a sweet little girl, and almost always very agreeable, but when she is mad, look out! She let us know yesterday she was not happy about the whole situation. Today when the resident came in to release her from the hospital, she was sitting on a blanket playing, and he talked to her for a moment and then asked if she could "give him five". She gave it to him pretty hard - he said he detected some attitude with that gratitude!

Thanks for all your prayers - please keep them coming!

Surgery Day

2009-02-19T15:48:00.008-05:00

We woke up at 3:30 so we could leave the house by 4:10 and be in the pre-op ward of Walter Reed by 5:00. Michelle stayed awake for the whole ride.

She was a doll during the in-processing and everything went smoothly until they put us in the actual pre-op room and all the doctors in gowns came to see her before surgery. At that time she decided that this was not fun after all and she started to get upset. One of the nurses offered to let her play with a water-base pen. The nurse assured us that the ink would wash off and it did distract Michelle for a while. She happily drew on the bedsheets, her pajamas and her own hands and feet. She even tried (with some success) to draw on her parents clothes and skin. It was great fun! Then she smeared some ink on her cheek so I got a wet paper towel to wipe it off; and it didn't come off! It just smeared more and lightened from a navy blue to a royal blue.

After much scrubbing with soapy wipes she settled into a series of baby blue smears with darker blue pinstripes. She didn't seem at all upset. When they took her off to surgery she yelled out "Mama!" one time, but she was pretty sedated by that point. Midge and I spent the next 3+ hours in the waiting room.

The surgery seems to have gone very well. They put tubes in her ears and repaired her palate. Michelle was pretty upset as the anesthesia wore off, but Midge was there to comfort her in the post-op area. We are now all upstairs in her room and Michelle is sleeping peacefully thanks to some Tylenol with Codine. She has had a few sips of water which is a good sign.

Daughters

2009-02-15T18:49:00.003-05:00

Two months ago today God blessed us with Michelle. Seventeen years ago today God blessed us with Elizabeth. We are blessed!

Prayers for the Kids

2009-02-11T07:09:00.002-05:00

It's amazing the connections we have made with other adoptive families through the internet. We were part of an online group through Yahoo that introduced us to many families who were adopting at the same time we were. It's a place to ask questions, but mostly to give one another support.

There were 4 families who adopted kids from Luohe the same day we adopted Michelle. One other family was in our group, with our agency, and 2 of the other families were with another agency. We saw them several times in our hotel and at various places along the way.

Of those 4 children, 3 of them were cleft kids. I met Ben and Stacie in our hotel one morning and they seemed like such a sweet family. Ben had his cleft palate repair surgery done about 10 days ago, and we just read last night on the Yahoo group that it is not going well. He has an infection in the tissue, and most likely some of the tissue inside his mouth will be lost. It means he will have to stay on a liquid diet for at least another month, and most likely he will have to go through this same surgery again at some point down the road.

Please keep Ben and Stacie in your prayers. I know she must be discouraged and sad, seeing her child who has already gone through so much having to endure yet another difficult time.

Please also pray for Michelle as she prepares for her surgery next week. I'm looking forward to having this next part of our journey behind us and I'm excited because I believe this will greatly improve her quality of life. However, I realize it may be a rough few weeks getting to that point and that these things always involve risks.

We are praying for a smooth and successful outcome for Michelle, and we continue to pray for healing and comfort for little Ben.

More thought about Walter Reed

2009-02-05T13:39:00.003-05:00

Bill did a great job of posting yesterday about our visit to Walter Reed and Michelle's upcoming surgery. Here are just a few more random thoughts from me. (Midge)

*We woke up at 5:00 a.m. so we could leave by 6:00 a.m. to be at our appointment on time at 7:30 a.m. Army Doc's are wonderful but why must everything be done so early in the morning?

*We woke at 5:00, and my daughter Lizzy woke at 5:05a.m. to begin her bout with the stomach flu. I was really torn about leaving her or not going with Michelle. In the end we decided to take 2 cars and check in with Elizabeth periodically. It was the right decision, but a tough one to make. I think having 4 kids means often being pulled in several directions at once.

*Doing hearing testing on a 2 year old is like trying to herd cats!

*In one of the waiting rooms, we noticed they had a foam mat with interconnecting pieces. They had letters and numbers. Bill reminded me it was exactly like what we saw in Michelle's orphanage for the kids to nap on. Almost immediately after we spotted them, Michelle did too! She got really excited, and started laying down and saying "night-night". Then she wanted me to come lay down beside her and "take a nap". She seemed so excited to see something that reminded us of her past, and it was amazing how she communicated that to us.

*I'm so grateful Michelle now has a bed to nap in every day!

*The timing of her surgery could not be more perfect for our family. Bill is traveling a lot starting in March, and my mom is already going to be up here the week before, so she will just stay to help us with the other kids. Isn't God so good to put all these little details together for us?!!

*I saw a LOT of very young soldiers walking around the hallways on artificial limbs yesterday. It amazed me to see how far the technology has come in such a short time. Most of these guys were walking with a very normal gait. If they weren't wearing shorts I would have not realized they were missing legs. I'm so glad we live in this day and age when there are so many medical advances.

*It broke my heart to realize most of these guys are not much older than my kids. Please pray for our soldiers and their families!

Chinese New Year Celebration

2009-02-04T17:34:00.005-05:00

We had a nice Sunday lunch with two other adoptive families to celebrate the Chinese New Year. We met at the Golden King restaurant in Sterling, Virginia, and had some delicious Dim Sum.

The next day, Michelle went to Josh's after-school Chinese class. They had a Chinese New Year celebration complete with a Lion Dance. Michelle thought it was great fun!

Walter Reed

2009-02-04T16:47:00.003-05:00

Today we met with the cleft team at Walter Reed. It was an all-day affair, but we left pretty impressed with the caregivers there. We started bright and early with a consult with the head of Plastic Surgery who will repair Michelle's cleft. We then rotated through Audiology, Speech Therapy, Ear Nose & Throat, the Social Workers, and the Oral Surgeon. After lunch we sat down in a conference room with all the specialists that we had met with during the morning. The team had compared notes and made sure that they were all on the same game plan for Michelle's long-term care.

The first big event will be a surgery on February 19th to repair the cleft palate. They will also put tubes in her ears. The tubes are necessary to help alleviate fluid build up behind her eardrums. Cleft kids often have issues with their eustation tubes which can lead to excess fluid and frequent ear infections.

Hearing testing on two year olds is difficult, but our audiologist is pretty sure that Michelle has some hearing loss. Some of that is probably due to the fluid behind the ear drum and impacted ear wax (yuk!) in front of the drum. Both of those will be cleared up when they put in the ear tubes. We are very hopeful that her hearing will improve significantly after the ear tube procedure.

After her surgery Michelle will have to be on a liquid/soft food diet for a few weeks. That will be tough because Michelle loves to eat with the rest of the family and we haven't yet found a food she doesn't like. We may have to invest in a good blender.

There are more surgeries and procedures in Michelle's future, but not for a few years. She will need an orthodontic device installed to expand her palate when she is about six. She will also need a bit of bone grafted into her top gum line when she is around seven. We may even elect to have some cosmetic surgery on her lip and nose at some point, but we are still thankful for the great lip repair that the Smile Train charity did in China while she was an infant.

It was a long day, but we left the hospital very impressed with the Cleft team.

Shower-Celebration!

2009-01-31T08:52:00.004-05:00

We really needed this stroller!

This ladybug towel was adorable!

My friends Dudley and Rachel made a lovely quilt for Michelle and another for her dolly!

Sisters!

MinHee and Monica gave us such a beautiful shower!

Two of my sweet friends from our Lifegroup at our church gave us a shower last night. It was wonderful! Michelle had a great time and charmed everyone with her cute outfit and "squeaky shoes". She ate cake, ran around laughing, and had a lot of fun opening presents. I think everyone was surprised by how well she is adjusting to life as a Cole!

We felt so loved - we got some great books, puzzles, toys, and even a ballerina tu-tu with a fairy princess wand. I couldn't believe how many people gave Michelle a gift, and then "one for her doll". And I won't have to buy her clothes until she's in kindergarden! We also collected donations for her orphanage, and we are delighted to give back to the Lily Room at Luohe.

Thank you so much Monica and MinHee, and to all my sweet friends.

Snow Day

2009-01-28T07:58:00.006-05:00

I am pretty sure Michelle has seen snow before in Luohe, but I don't think she ever played in snow. She thought it was fun, although she didn't seem to like being cold. She liked the snowballs. She also liked having her sib's home from school.

At the Park

2009-01-24T11:18:00.005-05:00

We were so glad to finally have a day above freezing here in Virginia. Michelle had a lot of fun playing at the park.

A Whole, Wonderful Month!

2009-01-15T07:56:00.008-05:00

Josh reading to Michelle.

Today we celebrate having Michelle with us for a month! I can hardly believe that it was just a month ago I saw those beautiful, scared little eyes for the first time. I can hardly believe all the things we have done in a month - all the paperwork, traveling home, celebrating Christmas and New Years, recovering from jet lag, lots of Dr.'s visits, getting everyone back to school and finding a new normal in our house! WOW!

It also amazes me when I look at Michelle to realize it's only been a month. This child was so meant to be a part of our family that sometimes it still takes my breath away. She seems so at home with us now. She's crazy about her brothers and her sister, and she is absolutely in love with her Daddy! She likes to be my helper around the house, loading dishes or folding laundry. She tells the dog off when he won't leave her alone, and yet she pets him softly when he comes close to her. She loves to get in the car and go "bye-bye", although she is still afraid of the garage door opener. She sleeps so sweetly in her little bed, she eats well but not so much that it scares me anymore, and she plays and laughs and cries when she is tired. She even says a few things in English, and she is picking up more each day. All the things she is supposed to do! Isn't that incredible, how in one short month she has realized we are her family and this is her home.

I always heard everyone say no matter how long or how hard the wait, once we had her it would all seem like a distant memory. It's so true, and she was so worth the wait! We love you Michelle, and we are so glad you are home.

ABC's and SAT's

2009-01-13T16:22:00.003-05:00

My sweet friend Mary brought over a leapfrog ABC learning system for Michelle. She absolutely loves it and plays with it all the time. I have to say it drives me a little crazy when she plays the ABC song at the same time she plays the Frosty the Snowman from Hallmark, but I guess it's a good thing she likes music, especially in this house. This morning my husband and I were looking over our kids PSAT scores, and discussing college for my oldest daughter Elizabeth. It suddenly struck me how very bizarre it is to be parenting on such opposite ends of the spectrum. Life is certainly not boring!

On a positive note, I started back teaching yesterday and things went very well. I teach piano and voice 3 afternoons a week, with my longest day on Mondays. (1:30 - 5:30 p.m.) Michelle slept through some of the lessons, then played with the big kids in the other room for the rest of the day! Another huge thanks to my sweet friend Laura for all the toys - they made my first day of teaching a breeze. This means so much to me on a personal level to know I will be able to continue teaching! Don't get me wrong, I LOVE being a mom and staying home with my children. I consider it a privilege to be the one to be with them all day. But I also love my students and music, and it's nice to have a little something other than laundry in my life.

Michelle had her first dentist appointment today. She was fine, until the Dr. put the mask on her face, then she got this look on her face that sort of read, "I've been tricked!" She did not open her mouth easily, although Dr. Wooddell is very good at what she does and managed to get a good look inside. She told me as far as cleft kids go, Michelle seems to be in very good shape. No cavities, and she has all her teeth. (very unusual for cleft kids!) So we were happy with the good report. We have a date to meet with the cleft team at Walter Reed on February 4.

I have a few new pictures, but I'll have to put those up later.

First (of many) visits to the Dr.

2009-01-06T14:17:00.006-05:00

We went to the pediatrician's this morning. This was the first time I had seen Dr. West, and she was incredible! Very sweet with Michelle, very thorough, very knowledgeable about "orphan issues". We had sent her an email describing Michelle's medical history and some of our concerns, but she never received it. However, she spend a lot of time examining her and talking with us. She is planning to look over the information we had from the orphanage, and then order lots of tests and referrals. We are so grateful to be in what seems to be very good hands.

Michelle was a little wary of her at first, then really started squirming when she looked at her ears. When she tried to look into her mouth to examine her cleft palate, Michelle clamped her mouth shut tight! Oh boy, I think we are in for a fun few weeks!

On the home front, she is doing so great! Every day she seems to pick up a new English word - she can already say Uh-Oh, bye-bye, light, night-night, Ma-ma, Joshua (although this sounds more like O-wuh) and the phrase "I don't know!" (with a funny little expression on her face and her hands turned upwards). She seems to understand a lot as well, and is responding well to her name.

She is very sweet and loves to play with us. She lets me hold her a lot and loves to have her Daddy hold her now, as well as her siblings. The one things she still won't do is give me kisses. She gives ALL her dolls and stuffed animals kisses, but is very tight lipped when it comes to Mommy. Yesterday I asked her for a kiss, and she kissed her teddy bear. When I touched my cheek and said, "Give Mommy a kiss" she leaned her bear over and let him kiss me on the cheek, even making the kissy sound. Oh well, I know it will be even sweeter when she finally gives it up for Mom. She will at least say "Wo ai ni" (I love you in Chinese.)

I can't even begin to tell you how glad I am to have this sweet child home!

Pictures at Home

2009-01-05T22:06:00.002-05:00

Michelle is becoming quite the American girl, dunking her cookies in milk and talking on her sister's cell phone.

Dancing with Daddy.

Happy New Year

2009-01-01T17:26:00.004-05:00

As I was walking this morning, I couldn't help but notice the headline for the local newspaper read, "Thank God it's over!" (referring to 2008). I know for many people this was probably a tough year - finances, deployements, loss of loved ones. But, I have to say, I will always remember 2008 as the year God richly poured out His blessings on the Cole family.

We began the year praying for 3 specific things ~ stability for our military family, an affordable house that met our family's needs, and a new family member from China. God answered all 3 of these requests with a Yes that blew us away.

Eleven moves in nineteen years was beginning to take a toll on our family, and with both of our older kids in high school, we so longed for the chance to get them through high school in one place. In April of this year, we found out Bill would have a good follow on assignment at Ft. Belvoir, getting both of our kids through their high school years.

In July we closed on a house - the same house we had been renting for the past 2 years. We looked at so many houses in this area and found nothing we liked as much as this one. While we were sad for our landlords that they were divorcing, we were so glad for our family to get to stay in this home and neighborhood that we liked so much.

And then in August, when we saw Michelle's referral photo, we knew she was meant to be ours. Bringing her home on Christmas was just icing on the cake! She is more wonderful than we could have ever imagined and so meant to be a part of our family.

So, I want to say thank you to my Abba God, who loves to give good gifts to His children. We are blessed beyond measure.

I wish you all a wonderful 2009!

2008-12-28T07:08:00.003-05:00

Christmas Day at the airport in Tokyo

Christmas Eve with the Chinese Santa.

Life is starting to resemble something close to normal here, except that we still have our nights and days mixed up! Recovering from jetlag is even more fun with a 2 year old, but I'm sure eventually we'll figure it out.

Friday was supposed to be about rest and laundry, but we had the added fun of a visit from the plumber. After the 4th load of laundry, my son reported a dripping sound from the basement. We quickly shut off the water and put in a call to the plumber - it wasn't the washing machine, but one of our upstairs toilets. Just glad we were home and didn't return to a basement full of water. (note to self - next time we leave for 3 weeks, turn off the water!)

Yesterday Bill's mom flew back to Cape Cod. We all miss you Grammy! So glad you were able to be a part of our trip.

Today was Michelle's first normal breakfast. In China the hotels have huge buffet breakfasts, and we told her when she came home with us we did not eat like that every day. However, our sweet neighbors left a breakfast casserole and blueberry muffins, so the feast has continued. Today it was Cheerios and yogurt - welcome to the real world sweet girl.

We are planning to try church this morning - we want so many of our friends who prayed for her to finally have the chance to meet her. My parents are coming up for a few days tomorrow to meet their new granddaughter.

We will continue to post on this blog for a while, at least through Michelle's surgery and recovery. I know we won't be able to keep up every day, but I will try to keep everyone up to date at least weekly. Thanks again to so many people who supported us in prayer during our trip - believe me, we felt your love and prayers! God is so good - all the time!

I'll be home for Christmas!

2008-12-25T18:22:00.004-05:00

We had a fun Christmas Eve at the White Swan. We went to one of the restaurants in the hotel for our last Chinese meal, and then we went with hundreds of people out towards the pool to meet Santa Claus. Michelle wanted nothing to do with him, so mom had to hold her for the picture.

We had a five AM wake up call in Guangzhou, and after a skip through Tokyo and a long flight to Dulles we got home to Northern Virginia around three this afternoon. With the thirteen hour time difference factored in, it has been a very long Christmas, but we are not complaining. Michelle was an angel on the flight. She only cried for about five minutes. She slept for a few hours, but spent most of the time quietly playing with Midge and her siblings.

Our neighbors were so nice setting up the Christmas presents and depositing a complete Boston Market Christmas feast in our refrigerator and adding in some home baked treats!

Too tired to post pic's tonight - we'll try to put some up tomorrow. We are all headed to bed early, but will have happy dreams of our time in China. It was a wonderful trip, and Michelle is the best Christmas present of all.

zai jian China!

2008-12-24T02:06:00.002-05:00

Well, we've checked all the blocks - we've been cleared by the U.S. Consulate, and we leave for home early tomorrow morning. As most of you in the U.S. are sitting down for your Christmas Eve dinner, we will probably be beginning our long journey home. We leave the hotel at 6:50 a.m., fly through Tokyo, and then land in Dulles around 2:30 p.m. We get an additional 12 hours to our Christmas - not sure if that will be a good thing or not?

We couldn't have asked for a better trip! Michelle is, of course, wonderful! She has done great with all of us, and she is more than we could have ever hoped for or imagined. The fact that we get go bring her home on Christmas is just icing on the cake. I couldn't have asked for a better Christmas present.

But, even beyond Michelle, we've had such a great time. Having my older children share in this experience has been so great. It was so good for us to become a family from the very beginning. I think they have all had a great time. And having my mom-in-law along was an additional treat - I think she's had fun too, and she's been a huge help to all of us. China is a beautiful country with lovely people. The things we've experienced here will live in my heart always.

We have also had a super group of people to travel with - we have made friends that I hope will last for years to come. It has been a privilege to see them all become families, and we will continue to pray for them as they return home.

But as wonderful as our trip has been, we are ready to come home! A huge thanks to all my "Christmas angles" who will make Christmas possible for my family. Wendy, Laura, and Julie - you are all true friends.

We will post again tomorrow from Virginia, with the newest U.S. citizen! Love to you all, especially Mom & Dad, Benji and family, and Dad & Thayer. Can't wait to talk to you all tomorrow evening. Merry Christmas everyone!

A Trip to the Spice Market

2008-12-23T00:47:00.008-05:00

This morning I stayed in the hotel room to wait on confirmation that our paperwork was logged in with the Consulate and the rest of the family headed off Shamian island to visit a local spice market.

In addition to spices, there were plenty of traditional remedies and medicines for sale. Does anyone want us to bring them home dried seahorses, dried snakes or a bottle of Snake Wine?

I did get word just before noon that our paperwork was accepted by the Consulate. Tomorrow morning we will go there as a family to take the oath of citizenship for Michelle!

Red Couch and other Photos

2008-12-22T07:57:00.003-05:00

These are all 12 of the adopted children in our group. The red couches are famous among adopted families.

We took a lot of photos today in the lobby of our hotel. We will post some of the other families and more of the Cole's tomorrow.

Dr.'s Visit and Night Terrors

2008-12-22T02:00:00.002-05:00

Ever since the first night we had Michelle, she has seemed to experience some sort of night terrors. She wakes up several times during the first few hours of sleep, although not really awake, crying and thrashing around. Often her eyes are open, but I can tell she doesn't really see me. My mom's heart wants to pick her up and comfort her, but she seems to do better if I just rub her back and leave her in the bed. Everything I have read about this seems to confirm that's the right course of action, but it's hard feeling like I'm not doing anything to help her.

She was unsettled most of last night, and had a rough naptime today. She has done so well adjusting and attaching to us, I guess it's normal for her to process all this stress and change in some way. I pray once we are finally home she will be able to relax and rest well. She is so sweet - we want so much for her in her little life.

She did o.k. with the Dr.'s physical this morning. She was fine until the ENT started looking into her ears and nose - she really lost it when he looked into her mouth. Not a great sign since she will have many weeks upcoming of Dr.'s poking and prodding in those places. I guess we will just take it one day at a time.

It's such a comfort to know God is always watching over this precious child. Even when we aren't sure as parents what is best for her, I take such comfort knowing she has a loving Father in heaven who loves her even more than I do.

Photos from Guangzhou

2008-12-21T09:37:00.006-05:00

We had a pretty easy day today. The only "official" thing we had to do was get Michelle's visa photo taken. Bill Jr. and Grammy went on a tour to a Buddhist temple and the mansion of one of the oldest families in Guangzhou. Josh and I went with the ladies on a walk through Shamian Island where our hotel is located.

Click on the picture below to see some of the photos we took today.

Guangzhou

Tomorrow we have to get Michelle a medical examination which most kids find traumatic. Please pray that it goes smoothly.

The White Swan

2008-12-20T08:24:00.004-05:00

We left our hotel this morning around 11:00 a.m., made it through Michelle's first airplane ride, and arrived safely here in Guangzhou. She did not like the noise from the engine on the plane, but other than that she did very well during the flight - slept most of the way.

If you have ever adopted from China, you know about Guangzhou - everyone must come here to complete their adoption. Here we will finish the American side of the adoption. The White Swan Hotel caters to American families. It's warm here - I think it reached 80 degrees today, and it's supposed to be warm again tomorrow, with a cold front coming in after that. There are lots of little shops that we hope to look in tomorrow, but here's the best part for me - they have FREE STOLLERS you can use during your visit. I love Michelle and I love holding her, but since I am the only one she will let hold her, I was thrilled to give my tired arms and back a rest! We also enjoyed some cheeseburgers tonight at Lucy's.

Michelle was in a good mood tonight, but not too thrilled about another change. She cried a lot going to sleep. She is normally such a happy little girl - it's a lot for a little person to go through, so much change all at once. I am looking forward to completing this next phase and then getting home to really settle in with her. Every day she seems even more comfortable with us. She really enjoyed playing with her siblings today - she let Bill hold her for a couple of minutes as long as Lizzy held her hand. Baby steps, but we are making progress.

Leaving for Guangzhou in the Morning

2008-12-19T07:35:00.003-05:00

Tonight is our last in Zhengzhou. The adoption paperwork is complete and tomorrow we will fly to Guangzhou (formerly Canton) to fill out the immigration/visa and citizenship paperwork at the U.S. Consulate.

The flight from Beijing was interesting with twelve American families on the plane. We attracted a lot of attention. Tomorrow we will have those same families now with 12 adopted children. I bet we will get even more stares.

Here is a picture of our group (minus one family) on the stairs in our hotel lobby. I am biased, but I think we all have pretty awesome kids!

A Picture for Catherine

2008-12-19T04:56:00.002-05:00

Here is a picture of Midge and Michelle with Renee and Joshua on the steps of our hotel.

Trip to Luohe

2008-12-18T17:55:00.002-05:00

The trip to Luohe yesterday was stressful at times, but we are very glad that we went. We left the hotel at eight in a rented van with one other family and Evelyn, one of our agency guides. The other family had adopted a little boy from Luohe who is a few months younger than Michelle. We arrived at the orphanage on the outskirts of town a little before eleven and met the Orphanage director. His staff served us tea and he told us (through Evelyn) about his Social Welfare Institute (SWI) which includes both the orphanage and a Senior Care home. He also presented both families with a framed embroidery (like a cross-stitch) that was made by some of the older children in the orphanage.

Some of the SWI staff then took us on a tour of the orphanage. We saw the room where Michelle spent much of her time when she was an infant. There were several kids there along with a couple of nannies. The nannies were very happy to see Michelle. One of the boys seemed to recognize her because he ran over and gave her a kiss on the cheek. Michelle didn’t seem scared, but she did hold on to Midge the whole time we were there. We passed out candy canes and took a picture of the crib which the nannies said Michelle had slept in as a baby. We were disappointed when they asked us not to take any pictures of the children.

We then went upstairs and visited a room sponsored by our adoption agency for children with severe special needs. The room was brightly painted and the equipment and furnishings were more modern. On the way back downstairs we met a Chinese man and his wife who greeted us in English with “Merry Christmas” and introduced themselves. They told us that they were Christians and that they had two older biological children and had also adopted two special needs children from the orphanage. They were very nice and seemed unusually open about their faith for Chinese. We were not able to talk for long because we were headed into the town to meet Michelle’s foster family, but they made quite an impression on us.

The drive through downtown Luohe was an experience in itself. Traffic laws in China are seen as loose guidelines by most drivers. There are also large numbers of mopeds and even bicycles sharing the road with the cars which adds to the excitement. Unlike Beijing or even Zhengzhou, in Luohe the mopeds and bikes outnumbered the cars. I also saw a donkey cart in the mix. Right of way here is determined by the relative size of the vehicles, so it helped that we were in a large van. There were countless close calls as we wove through the traffic but we made it to the proper address without hitting anyone.

Luohe doesn’t get too many foreign visitors so we attracted a lot of attention when we got off the van. The first place we went was to Michelle’s foster grandmother’s home. A sweet old lady came outside who Michelle reached out to and obviously recognized. The woman then started calling out to her friends in the neighborhood and a crowd quickly gathered. Everyone was friendly, but it was a little disconcerting being the center of so much attention. It was clear though that everyone in the neighborhood knew Michelle and was fond of her.

A few minutes later Michelle’s foster mother came and gave her a piece of candy. She held Michelle for a minute and spoke with her in Chinese. Michelle obviously was attached to her. Then the foster mom handed her off to one of the neighbors in the crowd and offered to show us her home. By this time a crowd of about 50 people had gathered. We decided that my daughter Lizzy and I would go along with our guide, Evelyn. Midge, my mom, Bill Jr. and Josh stayed with the crowd as they passed around Michelle.

We went up to the foster mother’s apartment and she showed us where Michelle had played and slept for the past several months. She told us (through Evelyn) that Michelle had been very withdrawn when she was first placed in her care and that she had loved seeing her become more outgoing. The foster mother had been cheerful in the crowd of townspeople, but she got a little emotional in the apartment. She loved Michelle and was sad to see her go. We were all teary-eyed. Evelyn suggested to the foster mother that she might want to stay there, but she insisted that she wanted to see Michelle one more time. Being a foster parent is an important job because it has such a positive impact on the children’s development, but it must be a very tough thing to give the children back, even if you know that they are going to a great home.

After a few minutes we left the apartment and went back to the crowd of people on the corner. While we had been gone Michelle had passed through the arms of several of the women in the crowd. The foster mother took her from a neighbor, kissed her, and then handed her back to Midge. We got back on the van and everyone in the neighborhood waved goodbye to us as we headed back to the SWI for lunch. Michelle seemed happy sitting on Midge’s lap, but I think Midge was a little shaken by the whole experience. We had expected some strong emotions when meeting the foster mother but had not been prepared to be ‘mobbed’ by half the neighborhood.

The lunch at the SWI was the best that we have had so far in China. They grow many of their own vegetables right there on the SWI campus and raise a few pigs as well. They told us that the cook had once worked at a fine hotel. We all ate our fill and then spent a few minutes watching some of the senior residents play mahjong before boarding the van. Michelle had fun playing peek-a-boo with Midge for most of the trip back. She also sat next to me for the whole ride and decided that I am not such a bad guy after all.

More Pictures

2008-12-17T07:57:00.013-05:00

O.K. - this kid can eat. I mean, really eat! She is also all about Mommy right now. So, when you put those two things together, it was interesting to watch her little mind process how she would eat the Chinese version of cheetos today at the park. She took a couple out of Bill Jr.'s bag, put them in my hand to hold, then she would eat them. I guess that's the beginning of trust.

Grammy has been wonderful! I can't imagine the trip without her! Michelle really wants Mommy to hold her, but if Mom can't, Grammy is the only other one who she will let hold her.

She LOVES the bathtub! She also has this cute little wave that appears out of nowhere. She is such a charmer!

Two sisters now to match the two brothers!

The Cole's in front of the Christmas tree in the lobby of our hotel, the Crown Plaza in Zhengzhou.

Josh is having a few adjustment issues- it's hard to go from being the baby and usually the center of attention. However, he's a great brother, and Michelle just loves him. He is by far her favorite entertainment.

We spend a lot of time just walking up and down the hallway of our hotel. Not sure why, but it seems to be one of her favorite activities. These are her new p.j.'s - we went shopping today and got a pair of the "Michelin-man" pajamas because she was waking up cold. Hope these will not only feel more familiar to her, but keep her a little warmer at night.

Funny side note- we also bought her a bib at the mall tonight that we loved. It says, "Is my math loving" and has a little mouse doing addition problems. So many things here that are translated into English are very funny to us - just not exactly the way we would say it. We have no idea what this means, but we liked it!

We also had fun at the mall getting the full experience of the kids split pants. The young children here wear these huge pants with a large split down the backside. You see lots of little behinds as you walk around. Whenever the kids need to go, and wherever they need to go (and I really mean just wherever) the kids just squat and go. We stepped over a big puddle in the middle of the department store - I kid you not!!!

On a different note, the families we are traveling with are really nice! We have such a great group - 12 families total. It's a big group, and it's been so fun to see all the kids as they are becoming a little more comfortable each day. Some of the kids won't eat, some of them have unusual attachments. For example, one little girl will not take off her shoes. Today at the store I noticed she had on a new pair of shoes - that's progress. It's so precious to see all these children welcomed into these loving families. Almost all the children in this province have some sort of special need. Several of them are cleft kids like Michelle, one little boy only has one hand, one little girl is 10 years old and deaf, another girl is 12 and was about to age out of adoption, several have heart conditions. It's amazing to see how sweet they all are, and how much their families love them! These kids are so sweet and just need to be in a loving home. I'm honored to be a part of such wonderful people.

Tomorrow we will travel to Louhe, to visit Michelle's orphanage. It's a long trip, almost 3 hours each way, but we felt it was too important for us not to go. Please pray for us - I have mixed emotions, not sure what to expect or how Michelle will react to going back. My biggest concern is I don't want her to think we are taking her back. However, I know other families who have returned with their kids and they say it is a good kind of closure for the children.