Tree lighting ceremony

We went to the tree lighting ceremony downtown last night. It was a cold, windy night but we braved it anyways. Helaina was a bit timid about the whole thing. It was very crowded and noisy so we had to practically yell for her to hear us. When the countdown began to light up the tree she didn't really know what was going on and burried her head in Jim's neck.

When she finally turned around to see the lit tree there was so much noise, clapping and shouting going on that she had a nervous look on her face.

The tree is huge and very impressive, but apparently not impressive enough for our gal.

All done with the tree lighting for another year - except for the tree lighting that will occur in our own living room within the next few weeks.

A haircut, a birthday and Turkey Day

In an attempt to grow out Helaina's hair to all one length (maybe by the time she's 5!), we decided to take her for a trim to get those scraggly ends evened up. She loves going to Snip-it's and here's part of the reason why - the lollipop that they clip on to the apron. Such joy.

Looking down at her blue raspberry lollipop ...

... uh oh, the temptation is just too great ...

... too late, opened up with a promise to sit still. Yah, right.

Mommy's birthday. What inventive gift did Daddy come up with this time? A Chinese kitchen knife that looks like a lethal cleaver. Fingers, better watch out.

A Daddy & daughter trip to the grocery store Tuesday morning to pick out my cake. Helaina selected a white cake with balloons, yellow writing and sparkly candles.

She can hardly wait to sing and help blow out the candles.

Thanksgiving day - cousin Anna enjoying some squash, then some quiet time with her Mommy.

Pulling on Grandpa's hair is always fun.

Yet another birthday celebration on Turkey Day. "Helaina, you're not digging into that frosting yet, are you?" "No, Momma." Uh huh.

Our 200th Post for National Adoption Day

According to my blog stats, this is our 200th post - wow. I remember Jim and I sitting at the computer doing our very first post in early November 2007 when we were showing off our referral photo of little Men Ying. And now, 200 posts later, we've legally finalized our re-adoption paperwork. On Friday we attended the National Adoption Day ceremonies held locally. There were 35 families finalizing adoptions for 51 children. We were able to have a free family photo taken by an photographer who donated her services. There was a ceremony where legistators and judges make speeches. Much to Helaina's delight there were donut holes and cider, coloring books and crayons.

Helaina ringing the gold bell signaling that the Judge had approved and finalized our paperwork.

Helaina receiving her goody bag (which the Judge said was more like a goody suitcase, and she was right). Every child received a goody bag and Helaina's contained a picture frame, disposable camera, stuffed bunny and bear, Hello Kitty stickers, zoo passes, SU basketball tickets, Crunch hockey tickets, the movie Babe on DVD, coloring books, crayons, a National Adoption Day storybook and one gift that Helaina loved the most - an SU basketball. Lately Helaina's been practicing dribbling balls - any ball she gets her hands on whether it's a soccer ball or basketball. She's amazingly good at it and can dribble for quite a long time. Josh thinks she'll be a pro some day and has her practicing with both hands and alternating hands!

Picture with the very nice Judge who finalized our paperwork. I should have probably shared the picture of Helaina kicking over the Judge's chair because she was squirming so much trying to get free from Jim's grasp so she could snatch a balloon.

Enjoying some yummy cake.

Helaina LOVES helium balloons. When she saw them being carried into the room and set on all the Judges tables, that was it. She was balloon-obsessed for the entire time we were there. Thankfully after the ceremony the clerks started to untie the balloon bundles and hand them out.

Jim and I knew we wanted to attend this ceremony, but we also are realistic and knew that with our active toddler it would be tough getting her to sit quietly during the speeches, or even sit at all. I found comfort in the fact that there would be 50 other children there also making noise and being disruptive. During the ceremony Helaina kept asking when it would be over and when would we go home. At one point I told her in a few minutes and she began counting out loudly (at a quiet point in the ceremony) "one minute, two minute, three minute"!! At other quiet times during the ceremony she stood on her chair and whined "I want go home!!!" and then started singing the ABC song. I gave her a stuffed animal that was part of a centerpiece on our table thinking it would keep her quiet for 2 seconds. She took it, flung it and spilled a cup of cider all over the tablecloth. She was constantly chanting "I want balloon. I want balloon. I want balloon." It was nice, but glad it's over! We anxiously await Helaina's birth certificate (in English) which should arrive in about 6 weeks. One more milestone behind us.

This morning we took Helaina to a bounce house. We pulled into the parking lot and she was so excited that she started squealing with delight as she began to unbuckle herself from the car seat. Yup, she can now unbuckle herself completely. She's been able to get the chest strap undone for a while now and just last week our Houdini acquired enough strength to get the double crotch-buckle thingie undone. Couldn't believe it - I even have a hard time getting the double buckle unclasped sometimes and my 3-year old can now do it.

Climbing up the steps to her favorite slide.

"I go backward!" She's just nuts.

My favorite movie

Anyone who knows me well knows what my favorite movie of all time is. Here's a hint ...

... and here's another hint - a picture that hangs in Helaina's room.

Yup, the Wizard of Oz. We finally introduced Helaina to the movie Saturday night and she loves it too - oh, what a happy Momma I am! We thought that she was old enough to at least test it out and see how she reacted - and she thoroughly enjoyed watching it (Helaina already knew about Dorothy and Toto because her room has many Oz items in it, including a tapestry blanket with both Dorothy & Toto that's on her bed). Toward the end of the movie we fast-forwarded through some of the Wicked Witch and flying monkey parts but other than that she watched the entire movie, laughing and smiling and chatting away with us all through it.

She actually asked to watch the movie again this morning when she got up! I heard Jim groan from across the room because now he's got 2 females in the house that are "over the rainbow". I think I see a Dorothy costume in Helaina's future next year for Halloween.

Nothing better than watching the Wizard of Oz first-thing on a Sunday morning - in your panda jammies! Some of Helaina's favorite parts of the movie were: when Toto escaped from Mrs. Gulch's basket and ran back to Dorothy, when the Good Witch of the North landed in Munchkin Land, when the talking apple trees threw apples at Dorothy and the Scarecrow, and when the "horse of a different color" in Emerald City turned 4 different colors. Helaina cracked us up at the end of the movie when Dorothy and Toto made it back home to Kansas and the film changed from color to black and white again. Helaina announced "it black and blue now" - how hysterical is that! She also clapped when the movie was over, and of course I joined her.

It was an absolutely gorgeous day today so we headed out to Helaina's favorite park this morning to tire her out for a nice afternoon nap. She just loves this "shaky bridge", as she calls it, spending lots of time jumping on it and running back and forth over it - again & again & again.

Look at that face going down the slide. Our little girl thoroughly enjoys everything she does, and she does everything to the max.

The Museum of Play, play, play & more play

Daddy's day off sent us on a road trip down the thruway to the Strong Museum of Play - one of Helaina's favorite hang-outs. The place is huge with lots of room to run, thank goodness because today's holiday PACKED the place.
Sitting on the steps of 123 Sesame Street.

On TV with Elmo and Abby.

Helaina wanted to ride the train in the enclosed car so Daddy squeezed himself into it (it was a lot harder for him to squeeze himself out of it though).

Helaina's a dunker, in this case taco chips in cheese sauce.

Shopping at the pint-sized Wegmans grocery store.

Brush, brush, brush. Dr. Scott would be pleased.

We promised Helaina an ice cream at the end of the day and she could barely contain herself when she saw this pink crunchy thing. The ice cream line was long and I thought we were going to have to dart Helaina while we were waiting to buy it. A little girl at a table was eating one and I swear I thought Helaina was going to snatch it from her. "I want that! I want that one! Pink with sprinkles, I want that!"

We bought the Elmo shirt that Helaina was wearing at the museum store last year. She thought it was a hoot when she saw it in the store window.

The last thing we always do when we visit the museum is the carousel. Crowded, crowded, crowded and Helaina is not a very patient person (uh huh, hard to believe). Daddy was anxious to get out of the mayhem and on the road - hence, the crazed look on his face. Sort of matches the crazed look on the horse's face too!

A peaceful moment with her baby doll

The other morning I was in the kitchen cleaning up breakfast dishes and Helaina was watching Blues Clues in the family room. She usually sings, dances and jumps around to the music on her favorite shows and I noticed it was unusually quiet. I asked her what she was doing and she yells into the kitchen "I feeding baby Rowan. Be done in a minute." She's very interested in dolls lately - she's seen a TV commercial for a doll that goes potty and every time it's on TV she announces "I want that my birfday in February." Tonight I overheard a conversation she was having with Daddy about her baby. She said "Rowan sick. She got tummy ache. I call Dr. Lin." Dr. Lin is our vet!

We celebrated Aunt Cynthia's birthday this weekend. Helaina's great at birthday parties - blowing out candles and opening gifts are 2 things she excels at.


Funny Helaina:
Last weekend when we were finishing lunch one day Jim told Helaina that after she was done eating she had to get ready for her nap. She looked at me and said "Momma, I take nap now?" Jim laughed and asked her why she had to check with Mommy - couldn't he tell her it was nap time without consulting Mommy?, so I said "Helaina, who's the boss? Mommy or Daddy?" Our brilliant daughter thought for a moment, got a huge grin on her face and said "Helaina!" Oh, how right she is - she became the boss about 30 seconds after she was put in our arms in China!

November 6, 2007 - a day to remember

Two years ago today Jim and I saw this amazing little face for the first time. I remember every wonderful moment of that day as if it were yesterday.

We knew our adoption agency's waiting child list would be emailed on that day so Jim and I were camped out in front of a computer most of the morning - waiting, waiting, nervously waiting, sick-to-my-stomach waiting. In 2007 as the wait to adopt a child from China was lengthening every day, being able to be matched with your child on an agency list was like winning the lottery. We had tried unsuccessfully 3 times before and had learned from our mistakes (and our agency's mistakes). This time we were ready. Our determination, persistence and phone calls to our agency paid off big time! Within less than a minute of receiving the list with 7 waiting children on it, little Men Ying's name, age and special need was screaming out to us "pick me, pick me!" With my heart pounding and my hands shaking I remember dialing our agency's number and being told we were the first family to call in, "Which child's file would you like to see?" Gulp.

The rest is history. That afternoon Daddy-to-be ran Men Ying's pictures and medical history out to our pediatrician for review. We were shocked to receive a phone call from her that same evening with her evaluation - which was excellent. That entire evening was spent with us staring at Men Ying's pictures for hours and reading over and over again the orphanage's report on this little girl who sounded absolutely adorable - a little girl living in an orphanage half-way around the world not knowing that we were setting in motion a chain of events that would rock her little world.

Some of the statements in Men Ying's paperwork that made us smile:
She has a cute little round face.
She enjoys to be held by visitors including foreign visitors and likes to touch their faces.
She will stare at you when you call her name.
When meal time gets close she will look to the direction of the kitchen.
She is not a picky eater.
When you say "let me hold you" she will smile, open her arms and come running.
She likes to take a bath and splash water.
She likes to watch TV.


Last paragraph in the report from the orphanage director: "Men Ying is a very adorable, pretty and engaging little girl. We hope she can be adopted by somebody who loves her and she is looking forward to bringing you more joyfullness and happiness."


I called our agency the next morning and told them that we were in love with this little girl and we wanted to adopt her. International adoption is such a giant leap of faith with a million unknowns, but it's amazing that when you see the picture of your child you just know in your heart - that's your child. Over those next few weeks I kept asking myself how I could be so in love with a child I've never met - someone that I only had a few pictures of and a few pages of information on. It's just one of those adoption miracles - you know that's the child you're meant to love, period.

Back-seat driver

Helaina has become quite the back-seat driver lately (she gets that from me, and anyone who has driven with Jim knows what I'm talking about). Jim has taught her about traffic signals. Helaina will tell you "red mean stop, green mean go, yellow mean slow down."

On our way to school the other day I was running a bit late. We were driving down a street with numerous stop signs. Unfortunately I was behind an elderly woman who took enough time to knit a sweater at each stop sign, she was sitting there so long. At one of them I mumbled under my breath "come on lady, I'm late". Well, at the next stop sign Helaina pipes up from the back "Come on lady, go go go!" Cracked me up. Then yesterday on the way home from school I made a right on red at a traffic signal. Suddenly from the back seat I hear Helaina: "Momma, no go yet. It red, not green!" Too funny. I explained to her about right on red, but she still insisted "wait green". Sometimes I think she's 3 going on 13 - yikes.

The Lollipop Ladybug

Here's our adorable ladybug on Halloween night just before heading out. I should have taken pictures of her in her costume earlier in the day because as it got closer to trick or treating time, Helaina got more and more excited with only one thing on her mind - candy (not picture taking).

"Uh, let's go!"

A close up of the eye shadow, which she absolutely loved. "You share make-up with me, Mommy?" You'll notice the eye shadow blop above her left eye - Helaina helped apply it.

If you ask Helaina what her favorite candy is, I'm about 90% certain she'd say a lollipop - just absolutely loves them. Hey, if you want a true sugar rush a lollipop is the way to go. And what better way to bathe ALL your teeth in sugar than with a lollipop. I refer to Helaina as being "dentally challenged" because she's got some issues with her teeth and I'm sure Dr. Scott would cringe if he saw her with the lollipops. Here she is after getting an orange Tootsiepop. She clutched it in her hand all night - wouldn't even put it in her Elmo pail. Every 5 minutes she'd ask "I eat dat?".

Helaina with her stash - and it was a MOUNTAIN of candy.

In this picture you can see that she's thinking "Ok, what shall I grab next before Mom and Dad cut me off for the night?"

Maybe Helaina's lollipop obsession started in China. These are lollipops she was given in China at 2 different times ...

... first one was given to Helaina in the Civil Affairs office by her Nanny to try and get her to stop screaming when she was handed over to us for the first time - didn't work but she clutched that lollipop for dear life ...

... second one was given to her by another Nanny that we unbelievably ran into in an underground passageway one day when we were sightseeing in Xian.

Yah, in a city of 10 million people we ran into one of Helaina's nanny's. Jim was carrying Helaina (who happened to be fussing at the time) and all of a sudden I see this young woman rush up to him and start to try and get Helaina out of his arms while speaking Chinese. Our guide steps in immediately and after a heart-stopping moment tells us that this was one of Helaina's caregivers from the orphanage. Helaina went to her willingly and stopped fussing immediately. I think it was a little speck of familiarity for our daughter amidst all the changes that she had been through in just 3 short days. So the lollipop obsession continues ... we showed Helaina the 2 Chinese lollipops just last week when we were looking at pictures from our trip and she saw them. "I eat them?" she asked. I told her that she could never eat them and that they were special because her nanny's gave them to her. She didn't quite understand and still wanted to eat them, so I put them back in their hiding place so she can't find them - and eat them!!