Little Miss Busy Body

Olivia is doing great. She is so busy checking everything out and into everything just like an average "almost" two year old. Yesterday was our first trip out to the store. She was waving at everyone and even high fived the teller at the bank. She is not the shy little girl we had in China. It is hard to get pictures of her to post though because she does not like the camera. I am not sure if she is afraid of it or what, but when she sees it she kinda whines and hides, so we have to sneak and they are often failed attempts at quick shots.

Her diet has not improved much. It still consits of rice, noodles, dry cereal, french fries and oatmeal bars. Besides formula that is about it. We keep putting an assortment of other things in front of her and they keep coming out of her mouth. Oh well, eventually she will figure it out, I hope. If not, she will eat rice for the rest of her life. I know someone else like that and he looks like a pretty healthy man-right Jack?

Today we are going to school to see big sis Morgan and eat lunch with the 4th grade class so Morgan can show her off to her classmates. I think they will both enjoy this outing. Olivia is starting to enjoy being the center of attention, especially if other kids are involved. Plus she just LOVES her big sister Morgan.

Mike started back to work this week after being laid off for almost four months. He was ready to go back so that was an answer to prayers. I have this week and next week off and still don't have a babysitter lined up for Olivia yet, so I am worried about that. I only need someone for two hours a day for 7 weeks until the end of the school year. It shouldn't be that hard, right? UGH! I am just going to keep praying about this one.

Well, off to get ready for lunch.

We are home!

We are home!!!

The kids are in love with Olivia. The first night home we laid her down in her crib and she slept from 9PM till 8AM when I woke her up. The next night she woke up every couple hours but would go right back to sleep. Last night she slept through the night again. I think we are getting there. She takes all her naps in her crib and has no problem with laying down and sleeping in her room.

When we got home on Wednesday she was a little overwhelmed because there were other people at the house but by the next day Katie and Morgan were both carrying her around and playing with her. She pretty much runs around the house but she still does not like our two dogs (Yorkie & Pomeranian) so if she sees them she wants you to carry her. Now when people come over she plays and shows off for everyone but still won't let others pick her up. It is amazing how she has come out of her shell. In China she would not let anyone talk to her. Not Chinese or American. She would turn her face away from them. We just thought she was very shy. Here she will walk up and bop them in the head with a balloon and laugh.

Eating is a different story. She was still on 4 bottles a day at the orphanage. She does not take a sippy cup or drink out of a regular glass or know what a straw is. It is bottles only. She won't even try anything different yet. She will eat dry cereal, granola bars, bread, rice, ramen noodles, french frys and not much else. The other night she did eat a chicken nugget. We figured we will just keep putting things in front of her and eventually she will have to eat something. I am keeping her on formula at this time since she is so little and until I know she is eating better. She sure has a strong will when it comes to food. We are just trying to not make a big deal out of it so that it does not become a power struggle and so she does not realize she has the power in this.

We were amazed when we put her in her carseat. It didn't bother her a bit. She acted like she had always been in one. So that was a relief.

In China we had a couple major temper tantrums or what I call a melt down. These can last up to about 45 minutes. She wants me to hold her but does not want me to touch her. She screams and cries and squirms. I think it is her way of grieving and releasing the trauma that she has gone through. We had a couple of these episodes in China and one since we have been home. I am not sure if there is a trigger to them or if she just hits a time and it just has to happen. It is really heart breaking to see. She acts like she is in physical pain. She will not let you comfort her but if you put her down she panics and immediately needs to be back in my lap. While she is screaming she wants to kick and hit. It is like every emotion is coming out at the same time and she has no control over it. I imagine these will become less and less frequent as time goes on.

She runs around the house and steals the show. She loves to make faces and show off. We call her Pistol Pete and she knows she is the center of attention. She is quite the actress. The introvert we were introduced to two weeks ago has disappeared and we have seen our little extrovert take her place. We wouldn't have it any other way.

T Minus and counting...

This is it.... the last post from the USA. We are leaving here at 6:00 AM for Chicago and our flight leaves at 12 noon. The next time you hear from us we will be in Beijing, God willing.

Reminder....to follow along on our journey log on to:

www.journeytome.com

username: stahley
password:stahley

I will probably not be posting here because the blogs do not always work in China.
Later all-
Soon to be ChinaMama

Closer and Closer

Sorry I have not posted in a while. Things here have been uneventful. Time seems to be dragging. Two more days until we take off. We are just tying up loose ends. One of the problems with being uber organized is that you get everything done ahead of time and then there is nothing to do but sit and wait.

Today is my last day to drive bus. I took tomorrow off so I could finish up my last minute errands. I am sure ready for a break. I had an altercation with a parent today and just need a break from them all for a while.

Tonight is our last travel meeting with our agency. I will be there via telephone (just like last time).

We got about two inches of snow last night. It looks very pretty. Probably the last snow we will see. It is suppose to get into the high 50's here this week and where we will be at in China the 70's and 80's. Very humid.

Well now I am just rambling. I will try to post once more before we take off.

Gettin' Real

Today our passports came back with our visa stamps and our travel letters and confirmations! Whew! We also got our itineraries. WOW! It is all coming together now. According to our agenda we will get Olivia on Monday March 13th. That is in 11 DAYS!!! Less than one week and I will be flying over an ocean someplace on my way to China too. Over one year of dreaming and planning is all coming to a head. I can hardly wait!