Merry Christmas!

The best gift this Christmas

Christmas Eve we went to Mass and then went to Nana and Pop's for dinner. Once we got home it was time for jammies, a quick reading of "'Twas the Night Before Christmas" and placing Mile, cookies and Carrots for Santa and The Reindeer. Daniel was not happy he had to leave the cookies under the tree. It was hard for him not to eat the cookies. We had a wonderful Christmas Day yesterday. Daniel was up bright and early (as always ) at 5:45. Leah awoke at 7 AM. They tore through Santa's gifts in 13 minutes flat. After the toys were opened, Daniel played with my swiffer duster and a can of soda. We're certain Santa is "thrilled" he took the time to purchase all the new toys. Leah was happy she received the 4 items she was hoping Santa would bring. Daniel thinks every day is Christmas. He's received so many presents since he came home. He must think we get a gift every day. Reality soon will set in.

Last Christmas Santa left a baby doll for our baby girl that was waiting for us in China. We were planning for a few more Christmases of a family of three before our daughter arrived from China. Little did we know that God had other plans for us. And what awesome plans they were! We spent this Christmas as a family of four. Instead of more dolls and bows we had cars, trucks and scooters banging into walls. What a blessed Christmas :)

Playing trains with Poppy

Ready for bed in our new Christmas jammies

(notice Fager in the background thinking abouit how tasty those christmas cookies may be)

"SpongeBob" Leapster game

"A new firetruck!"

Leah trying hard to be patient with her DiDi (little brother)

Our beautiful girl!

One Month Ago today....

our lives changed forever. One month ago today Dave and I were touring Beijing (Tianamen Square and the Forbidden City). We were planning on flying to Daniel's province of Henan, having one more night of quality sleep before Daniel arrived the next day. We met Mrs. Li (our agency's contact in China) for a very good lunch in a local Beijing restaurant. Mrs. Li matter of factly told us that when we arrived in Henan, Fu Jie would be at the hotel at 5:30. Huh? Our flight was scheduled to land at 4:30. The airport is 45 minutes from the hotel. Ok, you have 15 minutes to get settled in your room and childproof for a 2 year old. No problem! As luck would have it, our plane was delayed and we landed at 5:15. Daniel was waiting for us in the lobby when we arrived. All our plans for the first meeting were tossed out the window. We had no toys to give him or no food. Everything was packed in our suitcases. Even without all those things, the meeting was wonderful. When I saw him being carried by one of his teachers toward us, I just remember thinking how small he was. All the photos we had were so deceiving. He is a tiny peanut! It was the most amazing feeling seeing him for the first time after looking at his photo for so long. Once we got to know each other a little in the lobby and got checked into our room (major chaos!), we went up to our room. The orphanage workers joined us for about 10 minutes or so. We had no food for Daniel. We thought we'd have time to go to the sore that night before he arrived the next day. Caretakers told us "Get him some bread and milk". Ok. Sure! The caretakers left and when they were walking out the door Daniel started running after them and started to cry as the door closed on him. It was pretty heartbreaking. He cried a little and within 5 minutes was on the floor playing cars with us laughing. Now time for dinner as the poor kid was in a car for 4 hours and had not eaten. So, Dave called room service and ordered milk and beef congee (rice porridge). When it arrived Dave and I laughed as it was a huge quantity. Dave looked at Daniel and said "Hope your hungry!" Daniel ate well. He came to us dressed in 4 layers. It was hot in the hotel room. We slowly removed one layer at a time so as not to alarm him. We spent the evening getting to know each other a bit. He would copy everything we were doing when we played cars. If Dave tapped the car on the floor before rolling it, Daniel did the same. We gave him a few of the toys we brought that night. Everything we gave him he either carried or sat on. He was afraid someone would take hem away. By the next day that behavior stopped.
One month ago today we were sleeping well and had somewhat quiet days. We're not sleeping as well these days and our days are spent running after a very active and curious 2 year old all day. However, we are happier and have more love than we did one month ago today. When we departed Henan, our guide Lee thanked us for giving Daniel love and a family. He said that one day Daniel will return that to us. He already has.

One month ago!

Daniel today!

Santa and Birthdays

"Not quite sure why these people keep lighting cakes on fire and singing. Let's just eat the cake!"

Happy Birthday Daddy and Uncle Tommy!

Pop-Pop and the crew

"Look at the cool thing my cousin Ryan showed me!"

"So you travel around the world with flying reindeer, climb down chimneys and bring toys, huh? Whatever you say buddy. Want a cheerio?"

We had a busy weekend celebrating birthdays and visting Santa. Daniel and Leah had 2 parties this weekend. One for Pop-Pop and Daddy on Saturday. Again on Sunday for Daddy and Uncle Tommy. (Gee Daddy gets a lot of parties!) Daniel is not so sure about this birthday thing. He just watches with this confused look on his face. We had a lot of fun. We visited Santa on Saturday night. We weren't going to put Daniel on Santa'a lap until he followed Leah up the ramp to see Santa. We figured let's give it a shot. He just sat there. Looked at him a few times and continued to eat his snacks. Leah was in awe and asked for one item from her list. She was a little upset she forgot the other things but we told her Santa is magical and knows everything she wants. Santa knows all....now he just needs to get working on the wrapping :) How many day
does he have left? Not nearly enough.

Cabin Fever

Yesterday was a day that felt like a week. It took me 2 weeks with 2 kids to almost "lose it" so I guess that's pretty good. Not too good when you consider 1 of those weeks I had help with Dave home. So, 4 days by myself with 2 kids. Not so good when you look at it that way :) The weather was horrible and we couldn't go anywhere. Roads were an icy mess. We were stuck...With each other....All day...... Leah and Daniel "argued" constantly. I said the words NO and STOP and DON'T DO THAT at least 50 times each. So, I had to come up with a plan fast. First we made play dough. That was messy and fun...and lasted about 10 minutes. Ok, next! We painted and made a bigger mess. Even more fun. That lasted about 30 minutes and another 15 minutes for Mommy to clean up the kids and the table. Next was the pots and pan band. It was loud, gave me a headache and scared the heck out of the dog. But, Leah and Daniel had fun and that's all that matters!

Daniel in China

We received some photos of Daniel before we met him. These were from a family that visited his orphanage a few weeks before we went. -http://07gochina.blogspot.com/ I still have to get in touch with Lee and Heather to thank them (Thank you if you're reading this!) Some of the photos are also from the camera that we sent in the care package. We also have MANy photos that the orphanage staff had given us. I'll try and scan and post these soon. These photos are priceless! While looking through the photos I realized that all my plans for Daniel's "firsts" went down the tubes! This kid has done so much while living at Xinyang Childrens Home. It appears they went to a little amusement park. He's seen goldfish and parakeets. The orphanage has a wonderful art room filled with arts and crafts. It really was a wonderful atmosphere and it makes me feel good to know his first two years were good. Much of this has to do with Half the Sky - www.halfthesky.org. I cannot say enough about this organization. This is the time of year to donate. If you need another charity to donate to, PLEASE consider Half the Sky. The children in Xinyang are so loved and it is visible in Daniel's personality. He loves giving hugs and kisses and is very concerned about other's feelings. When Leah cries he is very concerned and tries to tell us (in his cute little babble) that there's something wrong. he'll go over and stand next to Leah. It's really sweet. Here are the pictures!

Getting Back to Reality

Leah is getting really bad with the forced "cheese" smile - a photographer's nightmare!

Daniel enjoyed the lights on the trees

picking out a tree

Daniel the "thug" - his pants are falling off and he always wears his hat backwards

Dave went back to work yesterday. I tried to go back to work myself and was semi-successful. Hopefully I'll be back in full swing within the next couple of days. Daniel was sleeping well for a couple of nights and then got Leah's cold. He's now been with us in bed again for the past 2 nights. Needless to say Dave and I have not gotten much sleep. This boy kicks and flips and hits all night long! Daniel has fluid behind one of his ears and is really congested. He's on antibiotics so hopefully he'll start feeling better soon. We all need some sleep! We took Daniel to CHOP last week and all looks good. He is pretty close to where he should be developmentally. He is lacking some gross motor skills like jumping off a step. They think it's mainly due to lack of muscle since he is very underweight (19.5 lbs). He's on a high calorie diet (don't we wish we all had this problem!) and can eat as much as he wants which is music to his ears. Hopefully he'll start packing on the pounds. we have an appointment set up with the cleft palate team at CHOP at the end of January and are awaiting word from the speech therapist to set up an evaluation.


Things have been going pretty well. The adjustment (other than sleep!) has gone pretty smoothly. Leah has done great with everything. She has her moments when she needs our attention and the two of them "fight" to sit on my lap. Daniel does not like it at all when Leah is on my lap so I think she does it on purpose to make him mad. Sibling rivalry already :) He's been doing his share to annoy her as well.


We went o get our Christmas tree this past weekend. We decorated it on Sunday and surprisingly it's still standing with all ornaments intact. I was a little concerned for the tree with Daniel around, but he's listened well. We're planning on visiting Santa this week sometime. Will post pics when we do!

One more pic

We're still here!

Sorry for not posting sooner. Jet lag STINKS! It's been pretty rough the past few days. I think todayis the first day I feel somewhat normal. The plane ride home was very LONG! Daniel did well. Only had 2 breakdowns on the flight. He did very well for a 2 year old stuck in a 5 x 3 space for 15 hours. We had a wonderful homecoming. It was so nice to see our family waiting at the airport. leah was holding the sign she made and was so excited to meet her little brother. I do not have the photos from the airport but will try and post when we get them. Leah has been great with Daniel. He's beginning to annoy her a little now. On Thursday she was all "Daniel can come into my room". Today it's "HE's in my room. Get OUT!". Ah, sibling love already :) But really, she is a wonderful big sister and is having a great time with him. Daniel is having some issues with sleep which are not unexpected. We are getting through them and know he will be fine once he settles in some more. He is amazing though. It's like he's known us his whole life. He has been so comfotable with all the family we've had visit so far. Giving hugs to everyone. You can see he was very loved at Xinyang Children's Home. He loves to sing and dance, although we have no idea what he is singing! It's cute though. He does have the EIEIO from Old MacDonald down. He was afraid of our dog Fager when he arrived home. We've worked through the fear and they are now best friends. We can find Daniel hanging on Fager all over the house. Luckily Fager doesn't mind. We had our first photo shoot today and I am proud to say my son is a born model! He must've known his Mama was a photo nut! He did great and really seemed to enjoy it. Well, I'll try and keep this updated now that we are starting to get on somewhat of a schedule.

Daddy has 2 monkeys now

"This dog's not too bad"

"I love to eat!"

"Let's go Phils!"

Leah in her new Princess hat

Stylin' in their new duds!