The 4th of July and our young "Jedi" in training. We went out to fireworks (OF COURSE!) on the 4th, Julia's first experience with them, and had a great time. Meeting Ms. Melissa and of course Bradon and their family to hang out and see the fireworks.

As for our "Jedi" the boys have been very into Star Wars and even more so after our trip to the Museum with the Star Wars exhibit last weekend. So now they sport lightsabers and Julia has of course become fascinated. So they have started showing her how they work and giving her some basic training if you will. Either way she's happy and loving being the center of their attention. I've posted a few pictures here and more (plus videos) will be on Dropshots later. For some reason my Dropbox isn't working right now so they may not be there tonight, but some time in the next couple of days. :)

Another weekend with the cousins. Julia's sure going to miss them when they head home next week. The weather has hit "summer" here now, so that means Hot and Hotter, the boys are making good use of the pool. I'll have a few more pictures from the weekend and the 4th up later but for now, the kids went into a photo booth at the mall, not the best quality but still a good picture of the three of them. Check back later for more. :)

Happy 4th of July everyone!!

It's been a week here. Since the cousins are in for a visit (Robert and Riley) we decided to risk the weather this past weekend and headed to the Dallas area. We managed to fit quite a bit into the 3 days we spent there. The Childrens Museum of Science and History in Ft. Worth, Six Flags, and the Ft. Worth Zoo.

The boys had a great time riding roller coasters and whatever else they could find at Six Flags. Julia and I mostly took in the sites and even left them riding the Texas Giant while we went and found the parade route and caught that. We were almost back when my cell phone rang "where are you?" lol.. All in all, we were all pretty worn out by the time we got back to the hotel.

Julia is having a blast with her cousins here. Though she does pretty much call them both "Robert". She's definitely getting used to having them around. Riley even took her on a couple of rides at the park. Her vocabulary is growing more every day. And last week she started counting...by two's.. we would say 1, she would come back with 2..and so on all the way to 10! Now she can do the whole thing by herself when she wants to all the way to 11! I also caught her starting to sing the "ABC" song the other day, but as soon as she saw me watching she smiled and quit. Her little mind is certainly taking a lot in these days!

I've added some shots from this weekend, for more, as always, go to Dropshots. :)

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

ONE YEAR TOGETHER!

I wanted to have this up yesterday, but at the same time I wanted to include pictures from our little family celebration last night. So here it is. One year with Julia is more than I can put into words. From the moment she was placed in our arms and was such a perfect fit there, to an amazing, incredibly fast moving year later.

The child is still a wonder to me, when she wakes with a smile to when she's fussing at me and trying to push the keyboard in on the computer desk and every moment in between. She is loving, joyful, inquisitive and if I may say so, oh so smart. :)

To go from not even crawling a year ago to participating in gymnastics now. It's been a pleasure, a joy and an amazing blessing to be part of this little girl's life and for her to be entrusted in our care. Her Daddy and I are in constant awe as we learn and grow with her.

Check out my ensemble. :)




Showing some attitude



Lovin' the hot tub!

Well as you can see Julia was all set to swim last weekend. She got lots of compliments on her look:) Thanks again Aunt Tiny and we are always quick to tell people she has family that adores her, Mama's not that good of a shopper yet! LOL

It's been a crazy week down here, and Julia's cousins arrived yesterday afternoon, yes she's loving life and I'm taking full advantage of the break to be able to write a quick note with out her in my lap! She's quite content to sit with either of them! So far they are having a good time. So I'm sure we'll have more pictures for you over the next few weeks and as unbelievable as it is, we'll celebrate one year with Julia next week. So be looking for a special post then.

In the mean time there are a few more pictures at Dropshots and if you haven't looked lately you should really catch up. Love to all!

Julia and her babysitter Milauni, you can tell she loves her! We are very lucky to know Milauni and her family.


Off and running with the mower.

Investigating the Bubble Machine a bit closer.



Just a quick update, since I started loading pictures, Julia has fallen asleep in the high chair so this will have to be quick.

We are trying to get more things for Julia to do outside this summer, so this weekend I picked her up a Bubble Mower and a Cinderella Bubble Machine. She liked the mower right off, the Bubble Machine took a little investigating before deciding that it might be fun too. I know she's played with bubbles before but maybe it was because then there were other kids around...not sure. But she was pretty unsure of the whole thing to start with.

You can see on the video at Dropshots that she was trying to stick pretty close to me so that was making it hard to get some really good shots.

Aunt Tiny, we love this outfit, it's still a little bit big (not by much now though) but since it was a little cooler this morning the longer pants were perfect! And I even got her to say "Tiny" while we were getting her dressed. :)

Her vocabulary is growing by leaps and bounds right now. As is she! Daddy measured her again this weekend because we swear you can almost see her growing right now, and whether he was off last time or this time I don't know (likely she's somewhere in between) but this weekend she was 34" even.

So that's been our week so far. Love to all!!

Photo Sharing - Upload Video - Video Sharing - Share Photos

Happy Mother's Day!

We've had a wonderful weekend here. We got to visit with Julia's Godfather and his family. Their youngest is just a few months younger than Julia and it was oh so special to finally get to watch the girls play together and they both did so well!! As you can see on the video they had lots of fun, I wish we had sound for you so you could hear the gales of laughter coming from the two of them. They even did very well taking turns and sharing. The girls had seen each other briefly around New Year's but it was so fast and with many other friends. This is the first chance they've had to spend some time together. And both of our families as well really, since they moved to California just before we went to China last year. But Julia honestly couldn't have a better Godfather even from a distance. We are so blessed to have this family as part of ours.

And today Ray and Julia have spoiled me as usual, and I woke up to the sound of them talking in the kitchen, it's a nice way to wake up. :) I felt very blessed as I came out, Julia saw me and smiled and said "Mama". Heart melting moment that she is famous for.:) I hope that all the Mom's in our lives had a wonderful day as well.

Go to Dropshots for lots more videos!

Another week another play date. Melissa and I have been having fun taking Julia and Bradon to Jump for Joy lately. Here are a few shots from inside last week. They have a blast running, jumping and climbing on everything. Here you see Julia making a new friend, something she's never afraid to do, and of course following Bradon's lead! We took them to Olive Garden for lunch after last weeks play date and date was the operative word there. We had set them in high chairs next to each other and they were being so good, eating their lunches and a couple of times holding hands. Not sure where that was coming from but it was really really cute.

Updated measurement. Well Ray finally got a chance to place Ms. Julia against the wall and make a mark last night. When we took the measurement she was 33 and 3/4 inches tall. Not entirely sure how accurate the method was but at least it gives us some idea. Haven't weighed her lately either but I can tell you she is gaining. Even some of the pants are starting to fit...lol. So she is one healthy solid little girl. She has even decided that she knows what the phone is for now. She's talked to both grandma's recently and to her Uncle Robert the other night when he called. And she took the phone last week and talked to Daddy for 10 minutes while he was on his way home from work. Yep, despite all the bumps, scuffs and bruises (from playing hard and falling down) she is a girly girl at heart. Started with the purse and taking money out of my wallet, of course when shopping with Daddy she reaches right for the Debit Card first, now the phone and of course her obsession with anything Cinderella. But as long as she's not afraid to get dirty and play hard (though she's not big on her hands staying dirty for any time at all..lol) I think she's got a pretty good balance.

As always if you go to Dropshots there are lots more photos and a couple of videos too. They'll give you an idea of how many it takes to get a good shot some days. LOL.

A year ago last Friday, we were waiting on pins and needles for that phone call from CWA telling us that we had a referral and giving us all the info on Julia. I had to make our case manager stop 3 times so I could get tissues. That was the one thing I didn't have ready as I'm not generally a crier. HA. So much for that. Just hearing her voice telling me I had a daughter and where she was from was too much for me. I did have pen and paper and my list of questions ready, most of which I even remembered to ask. And then finally the next day the envelope arrived. I'm so glad Lauren was off from school and was able to be here with me when it got here. Though for a little while I'm certain she thought I'd lost my mind. I'll never forget Lauren's first words after seeing Julia's pictures..."well she looks China" LOL. Keep in mind she was only 6 years old at the time. :) I thought it was cute. And she had fun running all over town with me to show Julia first to Daddy and Ms. Candy and then of course to Ms Erica whom I had worked closely with for so long.

All of the nerves melted away, the stress of the wait. Gone when I saw those brown eyes and that oh so serious face. I just wanted to make her smile. She hadn't in any of the referral pictures and I just couldn't wait to see her smile. She quickly gave me that a couple of months later when we picked her up. I had worried she might be too serious or sad, but this child was anything but. She's now serious when she is concentrating on a task, trying to figure something out, or meeting someone new but she comes back to her usual grins and giggles very quickly once she's done or when she decides to like a person. :) Mama's girl. No doubt. I got a serious photo recently that I'll share next to her referral photo, it's the first one I've taken that you can really see the baby from the referral pictures in. Most of the photos we take she's showing off or playing or something. So this was a rare one.

The nerves, stress and anxiety, I'm sure you can understand. We had waited so long to be parents. So many different paths over the years had finally led on this journey to Julia and to China. And with the wait being extended every month starting just a few months before we were originally expecting our referral, it was very hard especially for me to not wait for the other shoe to drop. Surely something would go wrong. Or at the least we may have had to wait another month. Doesn't seem so bad now when you consider people are waiting much longer. But it was the uncertainty of it all that was so hard.

After going through over 10 years of infertility, the paper chase taking us around 7 months once we actually got started because of delays and having to have the dr's physical report on both of us having to be redone and notarized again because he wouldn't listen to me and do it right the first time. All those little bumps in the road and then what was supposed to be a 6 month wait when we started being extended to nearly 11 months. But it taught me once again to trust God's timing and not my own. For surely this was the child he meant to be mine. He even gave me hope a couple of times through the wait and showed her to me. Once when she was oh so tiny in the fall and then again in Feb right after her paperwork had been signed and sent to the CCAA where it would later be matched with ours. I've always had my faith in good times and bad, but this was a true test of actually letting go and letting everything be in God's hands. Never an easy thing and especially hard for a planner like me. But I did and we have Julia and all is well. :)

I'm also going to add the translated letter or parts of it anyways. I realized I've never done that before and couldn't think of a better time than now when we are celebrating the one year mark of receiving it. It might give you some insight into what Julia's life was like before she became Julia Marie Tian, when she was
Xiao Ying Tian or as they liked to call her in China "Tian-Tian" I'm so very glad that we had already decided to keep that part of her name.

Here are some things from our initial report on Xiao Ying Tian

Xiao Ying (reflect; shine) Tian (sweet), female, was found by the gate of Zhuzhou City CWI on 8/8/2005. She was wearing a white cotton outfit with animal prints on it. There was a bag containing clothes, cloth diapers, and her DOB note by her side. After receiving the report of the abandoned baby, Qingyun Security Office in Zhuzhou City tried to find the parents/family, but failed. The baby was then claimed as abandoned infant and was brought to our CWI on the same day. Upon admission, our doctor examined the baby and found that she was healthy and with normal development. Based on the note with her, her DOB is 8/1/2005.

Development

Yingtian joined our big family days after her birth. In here, she grows happily and healthily.
Our doctor gave her basic vaccines according to the law.

Yingtian lives in a group life, so she has good living habits. She gets up at 7:30am, naps at noon, and goes to bed at 8:00pm. She likes to sleep in her own crib and falls asleep quickly. She wakes up a couple of times and falls back to sleep once changed or patted lightly. She does not like to be alone. She has good appetite; eats 5 meals a day, 240ml each meal, mainly milk, rice pastes, and milk mixed with little eggs; eats at 7:00am, 10:00am, 2:30pm, 6:00pm, & 11:00pm. We added some congee and egg yolk and she likes it. She has 1 BM every morning.

Yingtian is very open, active, and energetic. She is not afraid of strangers; likes to be held; laughs out loud when being played with; Yingtian cannot stand alone at this time yet; needs to be held by care takers; but with care takers holding her arms, she can stand very straight; has strong little arms and legs. Yingtian likes to watch TV and is very curious about colors; yells “Ah! Ah!” when happy. Yingtian loves toys; she likes to grab a toy, waves it, and puts it in her mouth after a while. Yingtian also likes for her care takers to take her outside to play; likes to watch other kids play on the lawns. She imitates bigger kids dancing, singing as well, and appears very happy. She curiously watches flowers, green grass, birds, and moving cars, etc, as if wanting to take in the whole world.

In our CWI, Yingtian lives very happily and becomes lovelier and lovelier. All of our care takers wish her a nice new family and continues to live healthily and happily forever.

HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE!!

Just a quick note to say "happy Easter" Julia had a wonderful a first Easter at home. And as always we were overwhelmed at the gifts from family. Aunt Kim and Uncle Joel, those books ROCK!! I can see them being some faves for a while now. Aunt Tiny, you always overwhelm us and that outfit is just too cute. And the OhioGrands! Y'all are just too much and you know it. Ty-Ty, Julia loves her Pablo toy, thank you so much:) We love and miss everyone and hope that you each spent today remembering the Blessings of Easter and the Resurrection and enjoying each moment that you have with each other.
Much love.

Photo Sharing - Upload Video - Video Sharing - Share Photos

Easter Party!!

Julia had lots of fun at the squadron Easter Party. She loved the bounce house and we had some big kids looking out for her in there. She really got into the egg hunt and as Mama had miscalculated how many eggs to throw down (due to a few people leaving early, not my fault) there were lots of extra eggs for the little ones to find :) Good thing, Julia filled her bucket, with Braden's help of course! She did share her eggs with one of the younger girls too though. :)

She even went to the Easter Bunny! Of couse Mama was busy setting up the egg hunt and missed that (bad Mama) but I'm hoping that one of my friend's will email the picture she took and if she does I'll post it here. :)

So that's been our week. Lots of new things going on and Julia seems up to the challenges and even invites them. I can't help but marvel at the progress this child has made. She's even starting to spell....of course it's O-H-I-O, but hey, not bad huh?? LOL.

Photo Sharing - Upload Video - Video Sharing - Share Photos

After getting off to a bit of a rocky start at gymnastics, you can Julia quickly warmed up to her teacher and couldn't wait to take her turn! We've been practicing a bit at home and she loves to sit down and do her stretches and though she still needs help with the somersaults she'll keep coming back to do more of them! So I guess we'll keep doing it for awhile and see how it goes. As long as she's having fun :)

Photo Sharing - Upload Video - Video Sharing - Share Photos


Showing that like any child, she has her moments too..she's just not so sure about them being caught on camera! LOL.

FIRST PIGTAILS!

She was not being real cooperative on the pictures but we just had to share her first pigtails with you! I think I need a lot more practice before we wear them often. LOL. But you can get the general idea and believe it or not they are actually still in. We'll see how long they really last. I don't give them more than 30 minutes. The other picture is just a random one from the other night, you can see where that new tooth is though! :)

Alas, with Spring also comes allergies. The Zyrtec was no longer cutting it and Julia was waking up frequently through the night with an allergy cough...so starting this week she started using an inhaler...we'll see if that's enough, she did better last night already but was still pretty full this morning so only time will tell I guess. My poor baby, but as you can see she does great with it, as long we make Pablo or Tyrone try it first! She's so funny.

Other than the allergies she's in great health, no ear infections or anything (knock on wood). Heck she does a lot better than I do. Thank goodness one of us does! And she has more teeth coming in. A MOLAR has cut through on the bottom left and it's match is coming on the right... go figure.

Well, I think that pretty well should catch everyone up. Hope you enjoy the pics and I'm sure we'll have more after Easter.

Just some random pics of our little Miss being cute. As you can see it's getting harder and harder to get good pics as she is almost always on the move. Yes, she certainly runs now. And no matter how girly I dress her, she plays like a boy. Falls down, jumps back up, runs into things....her legs are going to be bruised all summer at this rate. But she rarely says a word about it and just keeps going. She is talking more and more all the time. Today she started saying "Bradon" his whole name (she was just saying "Bray".... it seems she is adding more to her vocabulary every day lately.

All dressed up to go out to dinner with Lane and Ms.Melissa. This is a dress that Ms. Lisa gave me for Julia at the baby shower the Spouses Group gave me just before we traveled to China last year. I'm so glad it still fits this spring and she's had a chance to wear it! If it had waited much longer to warm up, she might not have. But it fits perfectly right now, and we're all agreed it pretty much doesn't matter what she wears, she's just too cute.