One More Update on Jen, Mike, and Mei!

They are in Guangzhou! That is a huge answer to prayer, and God's hand was definitely in this. They ended up taking a bus to Guangzhou, as the train station was basically closed to passenger trains. Jen told me in an email that they hadn't seen the sun since they have been in China, and as soon as they got on the road, the sun came out. Because of the improvement in the weather, the trip only took them 12 hours instead of the 15-20 hour estimate that they were originally given. She said that Li Ping and Bruce (their guides, who were also our guides when we were there) said this is the first time this has happened to a group in their 16 years of working with adoptive families. All this to say, praise God! They made it, and will even be able to keep their original appointments.

Pray for Jen, Mike, Mei, & Group 122b!

Jen, Mike, Mei, and the part of their travel group that are in Nanchang are being pretty badly affected by winter storms. Nanchang is in southern China--this is somewhat like Atlanta or so geographically--not used to lots of sleet, ice, and snow. The airport has been closed for a couple of days, and now that it has reopened, preference is given to those who missed flights due to the weather. It looks like they will be taking a 12 hour train ride to Guangzhou, and will likely have to get their consulate appointment rescheduled. Keep them in your prayers as they wait it out and see what happens, and then for safety as they travel.

We're Two!!!

All of the girls in our China travel group turned 2 in the months of November, December, and January. They have grown so much since they joined their forever families in September of 2006. Happy Birthday to all of our Tonggu buddies!

What's Wrong with this Picture?

That's not Mary Joyce's bed!!!

Mary Joyce has learned how to climb into Katherine's crib--not good. Last night, she climbed in while Katherine was in there. We ended up putting Katherine back down to sleep in the Pack & Play until Mary Joyce fell asleep, and then moved her back to her bed. Tonight, we used that method again, but we think for our sanity and for the safety of both girls, we are going to have to put the side back on Mary Joyce's crib for awhile. The girls have to share a room. We are living in a 2 bedroom parsonage, so we really don't have another alternative. The room we are using as our home office is a converted porch, which has a door with outdoor access and no closet--not a good bedroom for a baby or a toddler, and too small for a master bedroom. I feel like we're moving backwards, but there is a safety issue involved here. We think moving her back to a crib will work because she can climb in, but can't climb out. I think she is using the platform and mattress as steps to climb up, and she doesn't have those footholds to use to get out. We'll see if it works. When they both get a little older, we'll go back to the toddler bed. Ah...parenthood...

Mei Day!

Jen and Mike have Mei in their arms. Here is a link to their post:

Mei Day

Congratulations!!!

Picture Post

I'm playing catch-up with everything this week, or at least it feels that way. (Pretty sad, considering it is only Monday...) Anyway, here are some recent pictures from our house.

Mary Joyce's Sweet Smile


Her Serious Side


Katherine likes bananas even better than sweet potatoes. The pictures aren't nearly as dramatic, though.


I asked Mary Joyce to "show me her teeth," which is a trick I learned from another China mom for getting your child to smile for a picture. It usually works, but this time she decided to get silly. I think this may be revenge for the "pretty face" that I used to make for pictures when I was about her age.


Mary Joyce has an assortment of stuffed animals and dolls that she must have on her bed when she sleeps. If I take them off and put them on the shelves, by the time I go in to wake her up, they have all mysteriously reappeared on the bed. This was the sight that met me one day last week when I went to get her up after her nap.


Katherine and her Daddy--She looked absolutely fascinated while he was on the phone. Very cute...


Sweet Baby Katherine


Chet's mom sent the girls several new outfits for Christmas. I've had a hard time getting pictures of them while they were wearing them, though. I finally was able to get a few pictures on Friday.


Katherine's Close-Up: Cute as a Button!


Mary Joyce's Close-Up: Pretty in Pink


My sister is a graphic designer, and she always comes up with the most meaningful and creative gifts. These pictures were our Christmas gift this year. The photo doesn't do them justice, but we were finally able to get them on the wall this weekend. Thanks, Sis!


That's all for now!

They're Off!!!

Our friends Jen and Mike are leaving early tomorrow for China to bring home their youngest daughter, Mei. Their wait has been so long, and we are so excited for them to finally have their precious girl in their arms. Here is a link to their Adoption Voyages site:

Mei's Voyage Home

Quick Update

This is just going to be a quick post, but I did want to let everyone know that Katherine was officially discharged from physical therapy today!!! Our little girl is now right where she should be, and everything is looking great. :-)

As a side note, we've decided to hold off on all-out potty training for awhile. Mary Joyce doesn't seem to be as ready as we thought she was, but she is still pretty young.

That's it for now!

Just Because...

Our big girl, Mary Joyce, is growing, too. Her vocabulary is growing by leaps and bounds on a daily basis. Soon we are not going to be able to get her to stop talking, I'm sure. :-) We are also starting potty training this week (on Thursday so we can get past Wednesday night church service). Big stuff going on around here...

Working one of her Christmas puzzles. She is very good with puzzles to be barely two years old. She is also having one of her "tights" days. She made that request this morning when time came to get dressed.


I finally got a smile on camera! I told her to smile and managed to actually snap the picture before she got to me to look at it. She gets the cart before the horse a lot--she wants to see the picture on the back of the camera before I have a chance to make the picture in the first place. In fact, she was headed around to look at the camera when I made this picture.

Exersaucers, Sweet Potatoes, and Teeth--Oh, my!

I just posted Katherine's 5 month update, but I had to go on and do another post on her progress, as she is making so much lately. On Monday, we went to her physical therapy appointment, and Katherine has progressed so much over the holidays that she will only have one or two more visits. Her therapist is wonderful, but it will be nice not to have to make those weekly visits. While there, I was showing the therapist Katherine's new tooth when I noticed that she has not just one, but now two teeth on the bottom! Surprise! :-)

We also put Katherine in the exersaucer for the first time yesterday. She really didn't care for it much, but this morning was a different story. She was really interested in the toys and seemed to be enjoying herself. She got so busy reaching for things that she looked like she was swimming or flying (second picture below). It was pretty funny.





Our pediatrician also gave us the go-ahead to start Katherine on rice cereal, then stage 1 baby foods, introducing one thing every 3 or 4 days. We have been doing the cereal for awhile, which she will eat, but doesn't love, if you know what I mean. Well, today, we introduced sweet potatoes. Let's just say that Katherine will really enjoy Thanksgiving dinner in 2008. She was smiling, opening wide for more, and at one point grabbed the spoon when I wasn't moving fast enough. (Kind of like her big sister with congee when we were in China.) Of course, Katherine had as much food on her as she did in her tummy by the time we finished, but it made for some great pictures.

Geaux Tigers!!! (and Dawgs...)

Being the Louisiana native that I am, I have to take a moment and say, "Geaux Tigers!" Congratulations to LSU on their national championship win!



We were also happy to see that Chet's UGA Dawgs ended up ranked #2.

A good football day in our house... :-)

5 Months Old!

Miss Katherine is 5 months old today, and she is growing so much! She is rolling over much more and is doing a much better job holding her head up lately. She has also discovered her feet, and right now they seem to be her favorite toys. And the big news--while we were in Louisiana, her first tooth popped through! So that's what all of that drool was about... :-) Katherine has the sweetest smile and the disposition to go along with it. We are really blessed.

Here are some pictures from today, and, yes, you do see 4 different outfits. One is her pajamas and another is her dress from church this morning, so there was really only one unexpected wardrobe change. Maybe she just wanted to have a variety of looks for her 5 month blog post...

Relaxing in her jammies...


"I have feet!"


Sunday After Church Nap


"Hey, everybody!"


"Who is that pretty baby in the mirror?"


Wearing Mary Joyce's Sunglasses--Mary Joyce thought Katherine needed to wear them for awhile...

Our Trip to Louisiana

We left Christmas afternoon to visit my parents and extended family in Louisiana. We all had a great time. Katherine was able to meet her great-grandparents for the first time. Mary Joyce had a wonderful time with Lao Lao and Papa, and is still asking for them, even though we've been home a few days now. We had a great trip! Here are some photos from the week we spent there. This is my first attempt at adding a slide show to a blog post, so we'll see how this works...

Christmas Morning

We were able to spend Christmas morning at home with the girls before leaving for Louisiana. This was Katherine's first Christmas, and Mary Joyce had a better idea of what was happening this year. Here are a few Christmas morning pictures:

Mary Joyce pointing out her kitchen set to Daddy and Elmo:


Cooking in her Christmas kitchen:


Katherine looking at the cute baby in the mirror:


A Christmas morning bottle:


Having fun with the new accessories for Mr. Potato Head:

Catching Up-The Days Before Christmas

I should be unpacking suitcases or washing dishes while I have a few minutes, but I decided to get started catching up the blog after our Christmas vacation. There will be a couple of more posts coming later, but for now, here are some pictures taken in the days leading up to Christmas:

Cutie Katherine:


Santa Mary Joyce:


Sisters by the Christmas Tree--Mary Joyce likes to "hold" Katherine, but considering there is only a 10 pound difference between the 2, it is more like Katherine leaning on Mary Joyce:


Mary Joyce has a fascination lately with tights and bows. There were a few days when I would take out pants to get her dressed, and she would very emphatically tell me "tights!" and "bow!" (By the way, when she says "bow," it has at least 2 syllables like any good southern girl's accent should.:


In their Christmas Dresses on the Sunday before Christmas:


Mary Joyce and the Christmas tree:


Christmas Katherine:


That's all for now. I'll try to post some Christmas morning pics and some from our trip to Louisiana later today or sometime this weekend.