Blessed... 35 Days

It is hard to believe that it was just a month ago that we went to pick up Taylor.  It is already getting difficult to remember what it was like before she came.  Again, day by day we see more and more of her personality.  Surprising to the locals, she has already adapted to our taste buds--she especially likes ICE CREAM and COOKIES!  She also likes cold drinks (cold milk)--which is not something our local friends would let her drink.

Every morning when Stephen wakes up, he first wants to come in and cuddle with Mommy and then after about 10 minutes he wants to go wake up Taylor (even though I tell him we should never wake a sleeping baby).  Usually his excitement in the hall wakes her up.  :-)  They are starting to play together now--Isaac has discovered that she loves playing cars.

We have given Isaac and Autumn a babysitting job.  When Joel and I teach on the weekends, sometimes our classes overlap a little.  Sometimes we just need a little of our "off time" to prepare lessons or talk to parents in the center.  So, they are responsible for Taylor and Stephen during that time.  They are learning a lot about responsibility and even how to manage money (giving, saving, and spending).  They are enjoying it.

This past week we took two days to travel to an amusement park just a couple of hours away--it houses the largest aquarium in the world.  We had a lot of fun.  Autumn showed her adventurous side--like her Daddy and Isaac showed that he is much more like me.  His favorite thing was the 5D theater.  We got a lot of sun but thankfully managed not to get any sunburns.

We are still praying that Taylor's adoption papers can be finalized in the next few months so that we can stay on track to go to the states in December.  And it looks like we will celebrate Taylor's 2nd birthday there before we come back home in February. 

More At Home

Taylor has been with us for 3 weeks now, and she is fitting in well.  We are seeing more and more of what we believe is her true personality.  The first name she learned was "CoCo"--our dog.  She calls us by our Chinese names--because she was taught those before she came.  She calls us--Mama; Baba; JieJie (big sister); and Gege (big brother).  She is understanding some English--very simple things, but she still doesn't speak a whole lot.  It will come.  ;-)

All the kids are enjoying her, even though she and Stephen have some power struggles--LOL.  He seems to take the title "big brother" a bit too seriously.  He thinks he needs to tell her how to obey, and she doesn't like that very much.  We are working on it.  They do play and have fun together too.

A few weeks ago the kids used their very hard-earned money to pay their half of a XBOX 360, and we have been getting a lot of exercise ever since.  All of our games are "Kinect" which means the kids have to move around to play (no controller needed).  It has been a great way to spend family time together on rainy days.  Even Stephen gets into the action.

We are still praying that the adoption can be finalized soon.  There is some paperwork that got delayed but needs to go through ASAP.  There are certain deadlines that have to be met at this point, so we really need prayers that things get finished on time.  I don't even understand it all myself, I just know that when things get sent to us now we have to scan/email or mail them back immediately.  So it is a little stressful to think about.  (I try not to think about it--I don't do good with stress.)

If all goes according to plan we will come back to the states for a visit December 21-February 21 (our last day to see friends will be the 14th).  We have a lot to do in a short amount of time--doctor visits, additional adoption/citizenship processing, "fellowship" visits, etc.  We are looking forward to it, but it is going to be a whirlwind I can already tell.  We hope to see you all, but we also won't be able to do a lot of traveling because of all of our non-negotiable appointments.  That last week we will probably take a  few days of  vacation with our family of 6 because we have found that we are really tired at the end of America trips, and the rest of the week will be with extended family.  It should be refreshing, right?  It is hard getting back on a plane and coming back to "work" when we are so worn out.  I think that we need that week of solitude.  :-)  So if you live far away and want to come see us, let's try to plan it towards the beginning of our trip.

So save up your Chick-fil-A  left-over packets of sauce and your left-over Taco Bell packets (my favorite thing to bring back to Chin@).  I am hoping to bring back a gallon-sized zip-loc bag full.  :-)