"But what do you eat?"

Sorry to those who read this blog as a resource for adoption. My posts have been wandering off to new areas of my life, sorry about that :) But, I've gotten a lot of questions about going dairy and gluten free. Mostly, what on earth does one eat?

I hated cooking before. Now I consider it a hobby! I am sooo excited to get in the kitchen each evening and create that night's dish. The reason being is that the results are just fabulous! And healthy too! Who would have thought that was possible?

Besides referring to my local health food store for basic stuff, there are three main resources I use in planning my weekly menu. Here they are:

Gary Null's Power Foods (cookbook)
Vegan Planet Cookbook
Karina's Kitchen (blog)

The blog is especially helpful for those new to the GF journey. She has some great posts about how to substitute flour, sugar and dairy. Her recipes are so delicious and her writing style is personable and fun.

Ok, enough on that. You want adoption news? Well, gosh darnit, guess what? Riley is on Christmas break and the kids are at each others throats most of the time again. I am realizing that they have no clue how to play together. Sunder takes stuff from Riley which makes her mad, then Sunder yells and scratches to defend herself, then Riley responds by picking on Sunder. So my new thing is to sit down with both of them in a neutral place and guide them on how to play together. We'll see if it helps otherwise summer break is gonna be a real drag!!!

Christmas Shopping with a Kindergartener

Riley and I recently went to the bookstore to get a gift for daddy. Here's how it went...

Riley (grabbing random book from shelf): Here, how about this one?
Me: Daddy doesn't read romance novels.
Riley (30 seconds later with another random book): How about this one?
Me: You can't just grab any old book. When you're buying a gift for someone you want to really think about that person and get them something special. Something they will like.
Riley: (30 seconds later with another random book) I think he'll like this one. Can we go now?

So much for instilling the Christmas spirit into my dear child.

Living Without Pain

Have you noticed since being home with Sunder I update the blog less and less?! Hmmm.

Anyway this post is a little different in that I want to follow up on this gluten-free/dairy-free adventure that I am on. I have been studying health and diets a ton lately and I'm starting to believe that many of our ailments are unknowingly self-induced by the foods we eat.

For years I have suffered from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and a chronic cough. At one point my cough specialist had me on 4 different drugs (at the same time). I figured it's just the way I am and the best I could do is manage the symptoms. Then I heard about food allergies. Now when we think of food allergies we think of dramatic external responses like rashes or hives. But I've learned that many people have "intolerances" to certain foods in which the reaction can manifest itself in any number of ways from chronic fatigue to migraines. I was told that wheat and dairy are typical culprits. I had nothing to loose so I cut both of those things out of my diet cold turkey. The results were phenomenal. My energy level skyrocketed. And I started smelling all these new things I never noticed before when my nose was stuffed from all the mucous caused by dairy.

So then we decided to take the test a step further. To our oldest daughter. She has suffered from chronic constipation since we got her in China. We tried several different medicines to no avail. We tried forcing her to drink prune juice and high fiber cereals. Nothing. We took her off WHEAT and GLUTEN and within 48 hours HER SYMPTOMS TOTALLY DISAPPEARED. I am not making this up. And I wanted to share this becasue I am certain there are others out there who are compromising the quality of their life due to chronic pain and health issues. If you are, I stongly urge you to really look at what's going into your body. Don't settle for a mediocre life. Experiment with your diet. Keep a food journal and notice what is going on inside after eating.

I am not a medical expert, I'm sure there are many many instances where this won't help a person, but I know what has happened for us these last 2 months and it's nothing short of a miracle.

I also want to mention that it's not like I am suddenly cured of everything. I still have the nasty cough and some other things that I am working through with a Homeopathic Practicioner. But for the first time in my life I have HOPE and I have seen dramatic results so far. Here's to your health!!!!

We've Turned the Corner

The true Riley has finally re-emerged!! Yes, it's true. For the last several weeks she has been like a new girl. She seems to have finally accepted our new family.

When we got Sunder the first three months with Riley were so difficult. She was filled with anger which she took out on me day after day. She seems to be done with this now. In fact she has been so lovey and full of snuggles. She is happy and above all she is sometimes tolerant of her sister. It seems as time passes Riley is more willing to play with Sunder. Recently they've had some great times together. Of course they will be bickering 20 seconds later, but who's keeping track? My little girl is back!! Things at our house are good. Very good and Thanksgiving will be especially special for us this year.

Here's some recent pics:

Help! What to do about Food?!

So I am on this new wheat free-dairy free diet. It has revolutionized the way I feel. However, my kids aren't thrilled about my new health kick. They will hold off on my love-filled lunches and dinners and wait until breakfast or snacktime to fill themselves with less ideal foods. On top of this, my husband is allergic to red meat and hates any other kind of meat except fish. Meanwhile, meat has become more of a staple for me since I no longer do conventional pastas or cheeses.

I now feel like I have to make 3 or 4 different dinners everyday if everyone is to be happy and get a balanced meal. WHAT SHOULD I DO? Dear Bloggers, how do you handle food issues in your home? Please help me!! I am willing to reveal my secret method of "how to keep a mostly clean house" to anyone who can offer me a breakthrough.

By the way, cutting gluten and dairy from my life is perhaps the best thing I have ever done for myself. I feel like a new person and my former chronic conditions seem to be totally gone.

Gotcha Day Revisited

I'm creating Sunder's adoption movie this week. It's been over 3 months since that hot muggy day in China when this toddler was placed in my arms. This moment was such a blur to me. I am so thankful for video! Seeing this footage for the first time is surreal. I didn't realize that she actually reached out to me when I held my arms out to her. One thing the video does NOT convey is the emotions we were feeling. We look much calmer than we really were! And oh... the look in Sunder's eyes. So confused and wondering "what the heck is going on". She was such a trooper that day and every day since.

Big Sister Update

Riley spent the last three months being angry and hostile towards me. She was not having this whole little-sister thing, and I was the brunt of her anger. But the last several days she has been like a whole new person. She's been really affectionate with me, wanting to snuggle and hug all the time. She wants to hang out with me even! I think we're starting to see our little girl coming back and what a relief it is. I must admit I'm happy she is liking me again :)

However, both girls continue to generally dislike sisterhood. On rare occasions they will enjoy each other. Sometimes I see a glimmer of compassion from Riley. Sometimes Sunder thinks big sister is neat. But mostly...NOT. I have reconciled that at this time they prefer to be kept apart and I'm now ok with that. Riley eats breakfast in the dinning room. Sunder eats in the kitchen. They are both much happier at breakfast time now. At other times throughout the day one is sent off for "alone time" while the other gets mommy-time. I hope it's not like this forever, but we're meeting the girls where they're at and working with it.

On an unrelated note:
I'm starting Sunder's adoption video today! I'm am so excited. Here are the songs we've chosen-
Imogen Heap- "Hide and Seek"
U2- "Sometimes you can't make it on your own"
Rob Thomas- These Small Hours (Little Wonders)
This last song is the one which I named the blog after!

The Busyness Blues

I was walking my daughter to school and our little one, age two, wanted to look at every single autumn leaf on the ground. At first it was kinda cute but I quickly became impatient. I scooped her up and half-jokingly said, "Come on! We don't have time to enjoy ourselves!" Another walking family overheard me and nodded sadly in agreement. This has really been eating at me lately.

I wake up and before I can realize what's happening the day is over. At night my head hits the pillow and 30 seconds later it's time to wake up. Then the whole process repeats itself endlessly and forms this pattern I call "my life." And while I love it, I feel a bit miffed that it is passing me by without my permission. I like to have time to reflect on my day. Or time to just hang out with friends and family, yet... who has time for such activities? And every single person I know has the same predicament. Yes, EVERY SINGLE PERSON I KNOW IS TOO BUSY.

Last night I woke up at 3am. I couldn't go back to sleep. In my earlier days this would have annoyed me. But last night I was so happy to be awake. I spent a whole hour in my bed with my random thoughts. It feels like months since I've done that and it was heaven.

So here's my question, is this an American thing, this unrelenting busyness? Or is it a human condition? Do we really WANT to live like this or do we have no say in how we spend our days? I feel like I have to work so hard just to maintain the status quo. I've thought about "what can I cut out of my life" but really, to stop doing the dishes, laundry, or grocery shopping is just an unrealistic idea. What do you think? How can we get our lives back? Can we?

Recent Pics

Another ice cream lover in the family.

Fake but cute smile.
Helping hand.

At the pumpkin garden!

Washing the pumpkins

and it's only Thursday

I always construct the most elaborate blog posts in my head. But time is precious so they usually don't get beyond the walls of my brain. I had all planned a brilliant post about busyness and how we as a culture are much too busy. But alas, it's only Thursday and already we've had a few pints of chaos in our week.

Monday morning I'm at a store when I suddenly hear Sunder scream shrilly. I turn to see her fingers are stuck in the hinge side of the door. We had to leave the store immediately and it took the rest of the morning to calm her. You could see the imprint of the door on her little fingers and they were swollen. Ugh! Then yesterday our upstairs toilet flooded. It leaked through and flooded our basement. I don't want to think about how much water damage is done. Several hours later the ceiling in our basement caved and a ton more water that had been accumulating came bursting through. Hoping the remainder of the week is a bit calmer. But needless to say, my post on busyness and too much chaos in our lives will just have to wait.

By the way, Sunder's hand is still tender, but doing much better.

Circus Circus

When we got back from China, Corin and I started a new tradition with our oldest daughter, Riley. Once a week one of us takes her out for something special- some special one on one time. Then the next week it's the other parent's turn. This has been great fun for us and I always love planning our next mommy-daughter time and look forward to it with anticipation. Riley loves it too. When our younger daughter gets older the parent staying with her will do something special with her as well.

This week it was my turn to do something special with Riley so we went to the circus! I think I was more excited than she was! I have never been to a real circus.I know I have been so deprived! We both had a great time. Riley liked the music and I found the motorcycle cage to be one the most amazing and scary things I've ever witnessed. They had about 10 motorcycles in this tiny cage going around and in and out of each other.
Now what to do next time? I'm thinking of creating a treasure hunt. But for now I know she has a special night with daddy at Chuck E Cheese coming up and that's always a sure bet for lots of fun!

New Doo and Learning to Read

Sunder had her first hair cut this week. She was fascinated with the chunks of hair falling to the ground. Of course she wanted to play with it! She is no longer shaggy and looks so cute. She also looks more like a toddler now and less like a baby. Since the Giardia left she has gained over 2 pounds. She still has a big appetite, but not near as much as when we first got home. She is really picking up English now and she wants to at least try to mimic our words. We've been asking her to "use your words" and she will usually make an attempt instead of whining. Also this week she is starting to show an interest in books. When she first came home she didn't seem familiar with books and thought they were some sort of Frisbee and she would chuck them across the room. But this week she likes to sit in our laps and look at the pictures. Very exciting for a family full of avid book-lovers! It has been amazing to see the growth in her relationship with Corin. She adores him now. When he comes home from work she greets him with a hug and she loves to come down to his office with him and hang out while he checks email. I feel their relationship went to a deeper level this week.


Riley is doing great with kindergarten. She is really catching on with her reading now. It is so fun and amazing to witness her learning. Her writing is also improving so much. Last year at this time she could barely hold a pencil. And while her teacher and I still have some concern with her fine motor skills, she has gotten so much stronger in this area. She continues to struggle with the big change in our family. But we are getting the proper help that will enable us to help her through this transition. So I feel a lot of hope that things will get better for her soon. I will never forget when we met her in China. She was sick so we took her to a Chinese doctor. He said, "This child has a strong spirit." At the time I couldn't believe what he said as this limp unresponsive baby sat in my lap. Now I know he was right!

3 Common Misconceptions by Me and Other Adoptive Families

Since being and adoptive parent for nearly 5 years, I’ve learned a lot about adopted children. There were things we experienced with our first daughter but we were so clueless back then. Brining in a second child has brought on a whole new wave of issues for our oldest. So we are revisiting a lot of things with her right now. We also have a basis of comparison that we didn’t have before- two girls with completely different back-grounds. And we just know a lot more now. What follows are some very common things I often hear adoptive parents say. I used to subscribe to 2 of the 3 statements, myself. But I now think differently.

1. My child is from one of the “good” orphanages.
Totally guilty on saying this one. We got to tour the orphanage of our first daughter. But as is common with these visits, we weren’t allowed to see the baby rooms. The grounds sure were nice though. And the fact that there were only 50 babies in this orphanage made us happy that the nanny/child ratio must be pretty good. Did I mention we didn’t get to see the baby rooms? Hmmmm, why do you suppose that is? The nanny/child ratio may be better than other places, but it is still an institution and it is most likely run like an assembly line. Our first daughter was malnourished when we got her and both our girls were quite sick upon receiving them. This should tell us plenty about the kind of “care” they received.

2. I’m so glad we’re getting an infant. Infants have less “issues” than toddlers.
Again. Guilty as charged. I was thrilled to learn our first daughter was only 9 months at referral. I knew the transition would be tough for her, but I assumed because she was so young, we wouldn’t see any weird long-term behaviors or signs of trauma. When we got our 2nd referral for a 2 year old, I must admit I was nervous about adopting a toddler. After 2 years of not having a family, we knew it would be rough and we expected to see some difficult behavior from her.

3. I’m so glad my child is in foster care and not an orphanage.
Ok, I never bought this one. And I never liked it. Our first daughter was in the orphanage the whole time, so of course I didn’t like this statement! But, why would we assume that because a child is in foster care that their situation is somehow better? I’ve heard plenty of stories where these fostered children showed signs of physical abuse. We think these fostered kids are being loved and well cared for. But forget that the people watching them are being paid to do so. I have seen zero evidence that fostered kids come home better adjusted than orphanage kids. (And we now have one of each.)

I want to share what we have experienced with our girls. They have totally opposite histories. My point here is that I’ve grown tired of my inaccurate assumptions about adopted kids. We are just now starting to see the full scope of our kids’ issues and I’m sorry that it took me so long to “get it.”

Fist Daughter: adopted at 11 months, orphanage the whole time
1. Malnourished on Gotcha Day, respiratory infection
2. Would raise her arms over her head, turn her head to the side, and appear to be searching for her bottle. Would make a “sucking face” as if trying to find bottle. Used as comfort mechanism.
3. Wanted to sleep with all her possessions in the crib with her
4. Excessive breath-holding spells, sometimes 3 or 4 a day. Complete inability to regulate emotions.

Second Daughter: adopted at 24 months, foster care
1. Severe bronchitis on Gotha Day, body covered in bug bites
2. Diagnosed with parasites three weeks after being home
3. Cries/whines in her sleep every night
4. Throws fits-of-rage tantrums, screaming until she vomits and refusing comfort during these spells.

What is interesting to me is how different the girls’ backgrounds are, yet how similar their issues are. I have done away with myths about orphanages vs foster care and infants vs toddlers. I think these are things we say initially because we are ignorant and because we want to feel better about our kids’ rough beginnings.
In an upcoming post I’ll go into detail about where our oldest daughter is now with these issues after being with us for nearly 5 years.

Tagging Along with Two

When Riley was a baby she came everywhere with me. I took her to my business meetings, my doctor appointments, my hair-cuts, everything. She was a good-natured kid and anyway we didn't know any babysitters who could watch a kid at 1:00 on a weekday. So she just tagged along and always has.

So... we've been home for 2 months and I'm just now getting that this doesn't work so well with two. The odds of a successful outing diminish RAPIDLY. I took them both to a recent doctor appointment and it was a disaster! Sunder was throwing stuff down the stairs and thinking that was a fun place to play. A few of the doctors ended up babysitting my kids so I could get through the appointment- very embarrassing!!

Today I was a helper in my oldest daughter's classroom. No biggie, right? I've done this before when she was in pre-school. Everytime I drop Riley off at school, Sunder is in heaven playing with all the stuff in the classroom. So I see no harm in bringing her today. She'll just play and be all cute. Again disaster! Sunder suddenly has no interest in the toys. She wants to be held and carried around the classroom. If I set her down...tantrum...disruptive to the whole class. Her few minutes of groundtime, she goes right up to her sister and starts hitting her. Lovely. After 1.5 hours of this we finally have to leave.

So apparently I need to change my ways. I guess it's time to either schedule all my activities at 10:00 at night or find a babysitter :)

Farm Trip and Sibling Update

Riley had school off so yesterday the girls and I went to a local farm and picked raspberries. Riley loved it. Sunder was bored out of her mind and insisted I carry her through rows and rows of raspberry patch.
After all my talk about the girls not liking each other I have to announce that the last two days have been amazing. They have been playing together and being sweet with one another! Riley was doing things I've never witnessed before. She attended to Sunder when she cried saying, "Don't worry, mom, I'll take care of her." And holding her hand and letting Sunder follow her everywhere. Of course not every day will be like this, but as long as we have a good one every now and then!

Thoughts on my Rosy Childhood and Sibling Rivalry

I swear my sister and I were best friends growing up. We played together all day long. I don't recall a single fight (not counting the teen years of course). It now seems pretty ridiculous that I assumed my own daughters would feel the same way with each other. They don't. They are usually either fighting or my oldest is ignoring the little one entirely. Riley seems to want nothing with Sunder. She spends hours in her bedroom with the door closed so she can be away from her. Of course these two girls with polar opposite personalities have only been together for two months. I know their relationship will ebb and flow as all relationships do. But I've had to reconcile with the possibility that they may never like each other much. They may never share the close bond that I had with my sister.

I began to wonder, "Am I idealizing the relationship I had with my sister?" I called my sister and my mom and they both agreed. We did indeed get along fabulously. None of us remembers even an ounce of conflict. But, my mom made a good point during our conversation. She said maybe we only remember the good times because that is mostly what we had. The few bad times had been long forgotten. I hope she is right. I hope that over the years my girls will have many happy times together. Even a few would be nice! And I hope that these are the things they remember when they look back on their relationship with each other.

Life on the Other Side

I spent over 2 years imaging what life would be like once this adoption was done. At the time I didn't realize just how much "The Wait" consumed me. I knew it was one of the hardest things I've ever endured. I knew I spent way too much time scouring the rumor websites and crunching numbers in a desperate attempt to make sense of what was happening to us. But now that I'm on the other side I truly see just how consuming the wait really was.

Many people told me, "Once that new child is placed in your arms the months of waiting will disappear." This was not the case for me. Once I learned my baby had waited for a family almost as long as we had I was even more disgruntled with the whole thing. I have no feelings of nostalgia for the last 2.5 years of my life. I'm a pretty easy-going person. I did all the right things to "keep living my life" during the wait. We went on a fancy vacation. We bought a new house. I worked like a dog growing my business. But still every second in the back of my mind was the question WHEN and WHY SO LONG? My oldest daughter did not have 100% of her mom because 50% of my heart was still in China searching for the final piece of our family. I feel like my oldest was a bit cheated out of her mommy during that time, but I couldn't help it.

Since being home the best thing is getting to know our new family of four. But the second best thing is all the free mental capacity I now have because I'm not dwelling on waiting anymore. My mind is now open and clear. Corin and I are having so much fun dreaming of our future again and wondering where the journey will take us next. We are again excited about life and loving the present instead of dreaming of an uncertain future. Best of all, my children are finally getting 100% of their mommy every day since my heart and mind is totally in it now.

My heart hurts for those still waiting, especially those who are beyond the 2-year mark. It is tough. Nothing I can say will ease the wait for you. But please know that someday you WILL have your life back and I can't wait to celebrate that with you, my waiting friends.

"yes, I WAS worth the wait!!"

Cling!

We have officially entered the cling stage. Adoptive families typically go through this stage shortly after coming home with their new child. Sunder has explored her home and surroundings and is comfortable with them. Now she is really working on establishing trust with me. Every 5 seconds she wants "Up, please" (or as she puts it, "Uh Beeeee."). She wants to make sure I'm going to be there for her over and over again. And I think it's important to do just that. So she is getting carried all over the place. What makes this tricky is that Riley is also needing a lot of attention, loving, and holding too right now. It was a tiring long weekend with both of them being so needy. They are both going through huge adjustments right now and I'm doing my best to accomodate both of them. I certainly go to bed exhaused each night, but also feeling happy because both girls are processing these huge changes in their lives.

Just Pics

Jus' Chillin'

"I finally like this guy."

First day of Kindergarten.
The look on her face sums it up.

First day of school...but not for me!

Giardia Test Results

It's never good to hear from your doctor on a weekend. Test results are in for Sunder and she tested positive. Our doctor is certain I am positive also. I'm almost glad because finally I know what has been making life so miserable for me these last weeks. I learned that Sunder is a carrier of this lovely organism and that is why she hasn't shown any other symptoms. We will both pick up our medication tomorrow.

Here is a photo of our tiny unwelcome visitor. Yuckos!!

Tough Days

Sorry I've not been good at updating. We've had some difficulties at our house. Our oldest daughter is having a terrible time adjusting to sisterhood. She is acting out against me and the new baby. On top of that she just started full-day Kindergarten. Her whole world has been turned upside down and she is reacting in a very hostile way. I feel like our family could be on "Super Nanny" with the way she's been behaving, and I feel like I don't even know her right now. At the end of every day I am so exhausted from trying everything I can to deal with her and help her. But it seems all I do is loose my patience with her and then I feel guilty about being a horrid mother.

On top of that I began round 3 of stomache cramps/body aches, etc. We are being tested for Giardia (me and Sunder). Lovely. I am just focusing now on getting our health back, but I feel like someone took a rusty rake and scraped my insides out with it. Looking forward to brighter days when I can actually enjoy both kiddos...

One Month

One month ago we met a scared tantrum-throwing little girl. She was our new daughter. She was super clingy with me and wanted nothing to do with daddy.

What a difference one month makes. Now that we are back home, readjusted to the Denver time and getting on with normal life, we are finally able to see this beautiful child and get to know her more everyday. I now see her as inquisitive and easy-going. She is funny and always thinking and making new connections in her world. The tantrums are mostly gone now that we are communicating better. She still throws fits when she doesn't get her way. What 2 year old doesn't?

She is a great sleeper and a great eater. She loves bathtime and loves brushing her teeth. Her comfort item is a towel and she is occasionally up to mischief. Like the time she rinsed out her toothbrush in the toilet, or the time she decided to throw her scrambled eggs all over the house. She harasses her sister to no end, and then turns around and gives her a big hug as if to say, "Don't take it personally. I'm just doing my job." She lights up when daddy comes home and rushes to hug him!

I'm finishing my first week alone with the 2 kids as Corin went back to work. Overall it went very well. The hardest part has been Riley. She is having a tough time having to share me with another little person. (how come I was never this popular in High School?) She is really acting out lately. She starts full-day Kindergarten next week and I think it's just what she needs. A little space and something to call her own.

Here are a few more picture from Family Day, one month ago!

Fuzzy Warm Things

When you adopt a child it's always interesting to uncover what they already do and don't know. We got a kick out of discovering Sunder knows the use for nail clippers, hacky sacks, and mommy's bras! But when we were on the flight home I wanted her to stay warm so I pulled out some thick socks and put them on her feet. I could tell by her response that she had never worn socks before. Imagine that! She was awe-struck with these fuzzy warm things on her feet. She kept stroking them then looking up at me with a look of "Wow! These things are cool!" During the night on the plane she'd occasionally reach down and make sure they were still there. It was terribly cute.

Here are a few pics from the girls' time at the mall playarea this week.

It's Finally Happening!!

Sunder has been with us for three weeks. For three weeks my poor husband has endured her rejections. For three weeks he patiently held out his arms to her and was refused over and over again. But today for the very first time, he held out his arms to her and SHE WENT TO HIM!!! Not only that, but she seems to like him a little bit. This is huge and we are all so happy that they are finally connecting. Soon enough she will realize that daddy is the fun one :)

I have not fared well. Since returning I have been sick and so dang tired I can't even think straight. We've been home one week today and still can't get my feet underneath me. I have lost 10 pounds, which is not a good thing in my case. I am very weak and am trying to eat although nothing sounds good.

Sunder is doing so amazing. She is so comfortable with us, our extended family and our house. She is sleeping and eating great. She wakes up happy and full of chatter. She is using the sign language we've taught her. As a result our communication is getting SO much better and the tantrums have decreased dramatically. She likes order which makes me very happy, since I've been outnumbered in my household until now :) Now we have 2 orderly types and two messy ones. Everything is in good balance :)

Still working on the time change adjustment. Last night was our best yet. The kids went down at 7:30 and woke up and 5:30. We just gotta shift that a few more hours and we'll be golden!

Night or Day?

I forgot how hard it is to return from the other side of the world after 16 days. We have no clue if it's night or day. At any given moment, at least one person in our household is either sleeping or wishing they were! Our most likely time to be wide awake is from 4am to 10am. Least likely time to be awake... the entire afternoon.

I walk around the house in a groggy stupor. The kids are sleeping in the afternoon. I spend three hours wondering if I should wake them or let them sleep. It seems cruel to wake them when their bodies so desperately need the rest. But if they keep sleeping til 4 pm, we'll never get back on track. What to do? My head is too foggy to make rational decisions. Well, it turns out I don't have to decide. They are finally awake and... it's dinner time.

I find that we are very productive in the morning. We make a pancake breakfast, go for a morning stroll, complete the banking and grocery shopping. All done before 9am! I even went to exercise class today. Anything to create the illusion of having my life back. I remember last time it took us 10 days to adjust to the time change and get over jet-lag. We are on day three- ugh!


Here's some recent pics.On the plane ride home. Sleeping like a baby!

At the airport, waiting to be declared at US Citizen.

Our first family outing to the grocery store. I was nervous to go with two kids. Yeah, I know all of you with more than two are thinking, "What a lightweight." Hey, luckily my husband was with me. The girls loved the dual steering wheel cart, although it has the turn radius of a semi.

Home Sweet Home

We made it! How sweet to walk the streets of Park Hill and smell fresh cut grass and see a blue sky, eat sandwiches with fresh veggies and drinks full of wonderful ice!

We are THRILLED to be home! The ride home went so well. Sunder and Riley were both great and slept most the flight. We had an 8 hour layover in LA, so we got a hotel room to just relax and take showers. We went to the restaurant downstairs and ate carrot cake, hamburgers and fries. Everything tasted so wonderful. The girls slept more in the room.

By the time we flew into Denver from LA, Sunder was completely shut down. She was all limp, lethargic and had just had enough. BUT... the moment we walked into our house, her face lit up, she got down and started running around the house. I swear she knew this was her home. She proceeded to give Corin a huge hug, then gave one to me as well, smiling radiantly the whole time, as if to say, "We are home and this is my home."

My plan was to stay awake until 4pm before crashing out. But at 1:30, my speech was slurring and I couldn't see straight. I told Corin, "Just a short nap." My my gosh, my BED FELT SO GOOD. I don't even remember falling asleep! I woke up 5 hours later, ooopsy!

We strolled the girls to the park. Then had a late dinner. Sunder loves the bath! She had a nice long one. We weren't sure what to expect for sleep time. but we just put both girls down for the night. She screamed her head off. I went in a few minutes later to comfort her and about 2 minutes after that... silence. We'll see how the rest of the night goes!

Sorry, no pictures yet. Everything is in a shambles and the jet lag is tremendous right now. I have many more stories to share, so I will be posting here a lot the next few weeks I'm sure.

Farewell, China

We are just minutes before checking out of the hotel. We still have a long afternoon ahead. We have a long ride to the US Consulate where we take the oath. This is the final step of this adoption here in China. But are we done? NO! When we get back home guess what? MORE PAPERWORK!

We are thrilled to be heading out today and can't wait to get back to Denver. We will be home in the morning on Wednesday. We look forward to reconnecting with each of you.

We are so thankful for everyone's thoughts, prayers, messages, and support during our journey. We are blessed to have such wonderful people in our lives and we love you! See you in The States!

Poolside

Sister Love
Move Over, Gene Kelly!!

We've enjoyed the pool these last few hot days. Yesterday was Sunder's first trip to the pool. She was so darn cute in her little swim suit, clutching her towl and marching off to the pool!
At first she was leary of the water, but once she got used to it she loved it. She laughed and splashed and had a great time.

We leave for the States tomorrow night! I can't believe this chapter is almost over after so long. We are so ready to get back home and reassimilated as a family of four. There is much work to do. We need to learn how to better handle the tantrums. We also need to learn some techniques to help this little one bond with daddy, which just isn't happening. It is hard to realize that they aren't bonding, but we will be able to get some good professional advice about this at home and we realize it may take a long long time.

We feel so blessed to have this little girl in our family. Her personality is so fun and when I see her and Riley playing and laughing together, it fills my heart with joy.

We will try to send one more post before we leave. Corin just brought Sunder into me because she needs mommy, so I gotta go for now!