On Sunday, January 20th we had Maddy dedicated at our church. Dedication is similar to christening that is done at other churches. This was important to us to show that we promise to do everything we can to raise a child that loves God.
We had a small gathering afterwards to celebrate the big day. This included fare from a local Chinese restaurant and a few Asian flair appetizers from Costco. The Chicken Chow Fun was a big hit, as my brother-in-law (who shall remain nameless) went back for his 3rd plate of it. He said, "I am really not hungry anymore, but this just tastes so good."
Yesterday marked our 3rd month together as a family of 3. It is amazing how fast time as flown by since that day in Nanchang. Maddy took her first step last week and has been getting a little bolder in her walking adventures each day. Her favorite new trick (much to her parents dismay) it to stick her finger up her nose & make a raspberry noise at the dinner table. The first time she did this she was having lunch with daddy & he had to hide his face because he was laughing so hard. We don't want to encourage her in that!
This weekend we will celebrate Maddy's birthday with some of her travel mates & other friends from China and locally. It should be a lot of fun to see everyone!
Well, it was week #2 of being back at work today. It's been difficult to leave the house every morning but knowing that she's home with daddy makes it a little easier. They've had fun far & Matt thinks he can really get used to the stay at home dad gig.
Please keep my family in your prayers, my Uncle Bernie passed away this weekend. I am going with my mom to California for the memorial & burial. This will be Matt's first stint on his own day & night with Maddy.
A few new pictures of Maddy, we can't believe how big she is getting! It's almost as if she's growing over night some days.
We stayed in for new year's eve with a sick baby. As it turns out, after 2 visits to the doctor, she has bronchitis. It's amazing how attached we've gotten to her in such a short time. We have been just feeling so bad for her being sick. It has really broken our hearts to see her suffer, wanting to do anything we can to help her feel better. Thankfully she is starting to feel a little better after a prescription & a couple rounds with a nebulizer.
Here's wishing you a blessed 2008. May all of your dreams come true and may God provide for you richly this year! It's time to dig up those goals from last year, refine them a bit and get to work on making them happen.
We hope this Christmas finds you healthy, joyful & blessed beyond measure. There have been so many sad years leading up to this year that it's hard to express the joy that we feel this Christmas. Joy that comes from not just the gift of a child but the gift of seeing things in a new light through the eyes of a child.
Please take time this season to ponder the greatest gift of all- the Christ child sent to a lowly set of parents to raise Him up to fulfill one of the greatest missions of all- saving the world.
For our friends that still wait for their blessing from China ( or any other place), hang in there & know that there is hope. Just when things seem at their bleakest, there will be a light that will glimmer through to help urge you on and not give up. Even though we are back from China almost 7 weeks, we are still on the sidelines to cheer you on and walk along with you.
With sleep being a precious commodity at our house lately, we have come to appreciate the times that Maddy falls asleep in the car. The key is to make it into the house & putting her in the crib without waking her up. It reminds me of the recent MasterCard commercials:
1 Pink Winnie the Pooh snowsuit= $ 25 1 Car seat = $150 1 gallon of gas = $3 1 hour of non-stop sleep = priceless!
We have been getting the house already for Christmas, little by little. Maddy helped us decorate the tree and has suprisingly stayed away from it for the most part. We have been visitng great grandparents and going into our work places. It has been a busy couple of weeks.
The time is going by too fast before I return to work! Only 4 weeks from Monday until the big day. I am hoping before I return to post some China travel tips for those of you still waiting for baby. Nap time is almost over, gotta go!
It was 3 weeks ago today that our daughter forever came into our lives. Last night we were watching the video from that day & are amazed at how much has changed in 3 short weeks. The video showed a scared little girl that was unsure of these 2 people making a fuss over her compared to today where she just expects it from us & makes quite a stink if she doesn't have our undivided attention. We are able to make her laugh now where as that night she really didn't even want to crack a smile. We are amazed every day at this beautiful blessing that God has bestowed on us.
We have pretty much gotten over the jet lag but are still working getting a little more sleep at night. Hopefully that will come in time. Maddy has picked up crawling like a pro and is getting herself into all kinds of stuff. She is a great eater & loves mashed potatoes. In fact she likes them so much when we ran out the other night we had a major dinner time melt down! She has really taken to the cat & dog, both of which have been great sports when it comes to her going after them with a vengeance.
There is a family which many of you may have heard about in Michigan that I ask you to keep in your prayers. The husband died while they were in China shortly after the adoption of their daughter was finalized. She is now faced with coming home & not only burying her husband but also starting life with a new baby alone. This couple had been married for 19 years & had been wanting for a child for a long time. Our hearts & prayers truly go out to this family.
I am attaching a few pictures of visitors & life @ home (including a new use daddy found for the recalled Bumbo).
We made it back in 1 piece & have been starting to slowly adjust to the time change. The 3 plane rides home weren't too bad, the worst part was going thru all of the security checkpoints in each country. There is not a whole lot of consistency in what can fly in each country & that was frustrating. Matt got his hand sanitizer confiscated in Tokyo after having gone thru several checkpoints previously (including Tokyo on the way to China).
Our last day in China consisted of getting an additional suitcase to haul all of the purchases we managed to accumulate, taking the oath of citizenship @ the US Consulate & the infamous Red Couch photo at the White Swan Hotel. The oath 'ceremony' at the consulate consisted of 85 families total with cranky kids that had waited for about 30 minutes only to take a total of 5 minutes to get instructions and take the actual oath. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take pictures inside but there were several teary eyed parents. I think for us it was overwhelming to think that the final official step in the process was finally done & this was the ending of a 2 + year journey to get there.
Life at home has been going pretty well. We have both finally gotten over our colds & are starting to get back to normal in the digestive tract. Our last major hurdle is getting our body clocks (& Maddy's) on the right time zone. We are doing a little better each day, but I am thankful to still have a bit of time off to ease the transition. I have a lot of respect for those who have to return to work right away after this process. We are attaching a slide show of some pictures showing the red couch & other misc. photos.
~Maddy's Mom
Wow, our whirlwind tour of the orient is complete, we have our daughter and now real life begins again...managing the duties of everyday life are certainly more challenging with a munchkin added to the mix. Having jet lag and being sleep deprived doesn't help either.
I would like to share a few funny moments from the trip that we didn't post earlier due to the hoops we had to go through to post while in China. Our red couch experience was a bit comical, Maddy (the youngest of the girls in our group) did surprisingly well, she didn't cry at all. She even appeared to be comforting the more stressed of the group sitting around her, that was until we noticed that our darling little girl was in fact not comforting them, but was pinching them. I am beginning to think our little girl might me a bit mischievous. She certainly has been entertaining us with her funny faces, and her sound effects. Her cooing and laughing make it that much easier to get through the fussy times. I about died laughing the first time she made her "mad face" (see the photo's), or how well the smallest stacking cup, fits on her cute little ears and how she just kept playing with that little cup stuck to the side of her head...
Travel Tips: When in Beijing, beware of the English speaking art students. When walking outside your hotel, you will also be approached by DVD and sock peddlers. Be aware that sales tactics are very different in China. On several occasions I witnessed "sales personnel" chase down a perspective client, and grab them or use the merchandise in an intimidating fashion. On one occasion I witnessed a luggage sales person chasing a man in the basement of the silk market (Beijing) with a roller bag, or as I mentioned in a nearlier post I saw a poor man held at "sock-point" on the street near our hotel. Do yourself and your digestive tract a favor and avoid eating soups in China, which are most likely made with tap water and not brought to a boil (we learned this the hard way).
Well, its getting hard to keep my thoughts straight, and keep my eyes open, I'll post more later...
