I'm Back

I am still here!  We are living in Hawaii now.  We moved here last August for Erich's next duty assignment.  Things are going well enough, though I cannot seem to get a job.  Oh well.  I am taking the opportunity to work on my Master's degree in Early Childhood Studies.  Sydney has started Junior Kindergarten at a nearby private prep school and LOVES it.  She is doing so well and I know she will be a lifelong learner.  Oliver is very excited to start school next fall, though we are still trying to figure out how we will fund it since I cannot find a job and the sale of our house was had to be lowered by $15K, just about what Oliver's tuition will cost.  (I have added a button if anybody wants to help donate to his schooling).  I am going to try to keep up with the blog, maybe try to post at least once a month.  For now, here are a few photos of the kiddos :)

Shout Out

Hello out there.  I am debating on whether or not to keep the blog going.  If there is anyone out there still following, can you please let me know.  We don't seem to be getting too much interest (not that we are that interesting, anyway).  But if anyone out there IS following I would like to know.  Thanks!

Updates coming soon!

It has been a very busy year for us so far, so I have put updating the blog on the back burner.  I have some time off at the end of the month, so I hope to update the blog then.  Here are a few pictures until then.

Sprinkling Easter Bunny food on the lawn the day before Easter Sunday.

Having fun at Auntie Lorna's house.

See how we have grown...

Chillin'

On the way to Auntie's house.

We are OFFICIAL!

We had our re-adoption hearing on Friday, which finalized Oliver's citizenship and name change.  The hearing went very well and they even remembered us from Sydney's adoption hearing two years ago.  They were so nice and wished us lots of happiness and luck. Now the paper chase begins to get Oliver's U.S. birth certificate, Certificate of Citizenship, Social Security Number, passport....and on and on :)  We are just happy to have the opportunity to do it all now and grateful that our family is officially complete!!  

After our adoption hearing.  The judge took the picture with his camera,
as we were not allowed to bring one.  Thank you, your honor!

A season of blessings

I took Oliver for his pediatric cardiology appointment last week to have his PFO verified/checked.  Well I am happy to report that he was pronounced 100% healthy.  The doctor could not see the opening and was a little confused as to the measurements we received from Taiwan.  He was wondering if maybe the doctors in Taiwan were using an inferior machine and misdiagnosing the condition.  In any case, Oliver's health is great!
After adopting two children from Taiwan I can advise prospective adoptive parents, with all certainty, that you must take the medical information they give you with a grain of salt. Things can get lost in translation, people can exaggerate the facts. This is not to say that the facts cannot also be minimized or glossed over, but if we had taken the medical reports as 100% accurate and not taken a risk on bringing Oliver into our family, we would have definitely missed out on something wonderful.
I was told by our agency that Oliver was passed up by several families because of the birthmother's history and prenatal smoking and drinking.  When we were considering him, we looked at the all the information and considered what would be the most serious difficulties this child might face if all the information was accurate.  We were willing to take that risk.  Thank goodness those other families were not!! I think that it all boils down to the fact that you have to listen to your heart.  Oliver was not meant to be with those other families, he was meant to be with us.  I believe they listened to their hearts and something told them that this was not their child and another one was waiting for them, just as we listened and knew he was ours.  You have to believe that things will work out the way they are supposed, no matter how hard it might be in the present time.

How can you not agree with this?...

My Silly Monkeys!

The New Normal

Some of our adventures over the last month...

At the National Zoo.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Brother and sister playing.

At Mt. Vernon...

Is there anything better than throwing stuff off a bridge?  

Visiting with the Washingtons at Mt. Vernon (that is my niece Katie with Sydney).

Things have been a little hectic and a little stressful around here.  Trying to get Oliver into the child development center where I work has been a bit of a nightmare, but he will finally be able to start tomorrow even though I went back to work last Thursday!  My sister watched him on Thursday, I had to call out on Friday and Daddy stayed with him today.  We will be back to our regular schedule tomorrow and will be having to figure out how to make it work with Oliver, because he sure does make things interesting!

Looking out the window.

Oliver is a wonderful little person.  He is full of energy and curiosity; he wants to be independent yet wants to be taken care of.  He is very loving, free with lots of hugs and kisses; and he is highly intelligent.  We are amazed at how quickly he is picking up English.  He has picked up several signs, but is really trying to learn to speak the words as well.  He says "hi", "bye", "uh-oh", "hungry", "no", "mama", "dada", "I do", "thank you".  He is quite the little parrot and so observant.  He copies EVERYTHING Sydney does.  I hope this means he will speak soon and potty train early.  I know he will do very well at the CDC once he gets used to it, and will learn a lot there.  

Going to see Santa!

Sydney is doing well even though she is going through lots of changes.  She has moved up to a preschool room at school.  She had a bit of a rough time on her first full day.  She cried when I dropped her off and then had several potty accidents during the day.  BUT-she is almost potty trained.  We have graduated from Pull-ups to cotton training pants.  She doesn't really go potty on her own yet, she has to be reminded constantly, but she doesn't put up a fight most of the time and the accidents are few and far between (although if we didn't remind her to potty, there would be a lot more).  I can't believe how much she has grown in the last few months.  She will be three next week!  My baby is gone and has been replaced by a three year old preschooler, with lots of sass and attitude.

We are really looking forward to this holiday season.  It should be lots of fun!  We already went to see Santa.  We got a really good picture of Sydney smiling with Santa, but Oliver was having none of it.  The picture with just Sydney and Santa wasn't as good, but still cute.  There have been lots of requests to go see Santa again, so we just may have to do that :)
I have updated Sydney's and Oliver's pages with new pictures.  Enjoy!

Trying to catch up

Wow!  Time is flying by.  I only have 2 weeks left before I go back to work and I feel like I have done about 1% of the things I wanted to do.  I am hoping to take time to update the blog next week with pictures and information about how we are doing.  I have a TON of pictures to sort through!  Thanks to those of you who let me know you would like to continue to follow our adventures.  Stay tuned!

Going Private

I am going private with the blog in one week.  Please post your email address  in a comment here if you want to continue to follow along.  Thanks to everyone who shared our journey with us.

Home at last!

We arrived home on Friday evening.  Our trip back was uneventful if a little trying on all of us. 

Is it almost Wednesday?!  Things have been a little hectic.  We have been fighting jet lag and getting to know each other, as well as trying to keep up on daily tasks (not that easy!)  Oliver is adjusting pretty well, coming out of his shell and definetly building his bond of trust with us.    I am posting a few pictures of our final days in Taipei as well as some pictures from the last few days.  

In Taipei...

Our first trip out to eat at a local dumpling restaurant.  Yummy!

We really enjoyed it :)

Sydney loved this sculpture in our hotel lobby.  It had all the cool stuff: bears, dragons, & lions!  At least that what Sydney would tell you :)

Visiting the Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall and grounds.  

SYS Memorial

SYS Memorial

Goodbye from the SYS Memorial!

Like the Japanese, the Taiwanese know how to bake!  There were so many yummy treats to look at!!

Back Home...

Sydney was Alice in Wonderland this year.  She got to go door to door Trick or Treating with Daddy and had a blast!

Oliver was Buzz Lightyear.  He helped me give out candy.

At the window.

Happy Oliver 

  Sydney has insisted on taking a bath with Oliver every night :)  She is really enjoying him and we are so glad to see what a wonderful sister she is already. 

St. Lucy's Part Two

Our visit to St. Lucy's was wonderful, but both times I have left feeling a little rushed and wishing that we had had more time, even though we were there for several hours.  Our visits with the birth families were quite a surprise for us.  We were not told they were going to be there and, unfortunately, I felt totally unprepared...not for myself, but for them.  I wanted to be able to give them all the comfort and information that they wanted and needed.  I think that they did feel comforted and grateful that their children were going to a good home.  It was easier with Oliver's b.m. but Sydney's was a little harder.  Sydney was getting tired, I had Oliver to watch over and our emotions were high by the time she and her family arrived.   I really regret that I did not have my thoughts together more for them.   I know how important this meeting was to them, because they drove three hours to see her. But it is what it is and the most important thing is is that they walked away happy to have seen her, comforted that she is loved and cared for.  In the end, we were happy that we could tell the children about their birthmothers in the future and have some pictures for them.  

Oliver went to Sydney right away and they colored and drew together for the longest time.  Sydney was very sweet and loving.  She knew exactly who he was and that he was her brother.

Visiting with Spring Peach. Sydney knew who she was and went right to her!

Visiting with Rosa, Sydney's nanny.  She was so happy to see Sydney.

With Daddy.

The best family photo we could get :)

The children loved spending time with Spring Peach, and visa versa.

St. Lucy's Part One

I don't have a lot of time to post.  We forgot our power cord for our computer and are low on power.  I am posting a few pictures.  To be short, the pick up went very well, Oliver is adjusting fine.  We met BOTH birth mothers!! (More on that later!) We are all doing well and resting after our AIT appointment which went just fine :)  Victoria, I got your picture for you!

We made it!

We are here.  A little bit of jet lag, but we are all doing ok.  Sydney did very well on the flights.  She was so cute: when we would land she would yell out "we made it!".  The turbulence did frighten her a little bit and she insisted on holding our hands during any bump or strange sound.  But she did so good.  I am extremely proud of her.  Today we woke up (a little early), had  breakfast at the hotel and went for a nice Sunday morning walk. The weather is beautiful right now, although it is calling for rain on Tuesday and Wednesday.  

Here are a few pictures of our trip so far...

Watching a movie on her IPod

Visiting with Grandma at the USO in Seattle.  A very nice man made Sydney
a balloon flower and teddy bear.

Sydney with her Aunt Taby, Grandma and cousin Brock

In front of our hotel in Taipei

Visiting a local flower market

Our last update from St. Lucy's

Guess what?  We received our last update today.  From now on, WE have to send the updates!  WOOHOO! 6 more days and we will be together at last!  We fly out the day after tomorrow.  (Thankfully, my sister lives nearby now and will be housesitting for us.  Thank you, Lorna!)
Follow us on our trip; we will be posting while there!  We are looking forward to it, but looking forward to coming home even more! :)

Two years together

 Taipei, September 2009

September 2011

Just home from Taiwan, 2009.

2011

This week we celebrated our two year anniversary as a family.  It has been a wonderful time filled with growth, learning, fun and a fair share of tears.  Sydney definitely tests my patience at times with some of her behavior, but I know it is part of being a two year old and there is a light at the end of the tunnel.  I can see that she is growing and maturing into a caring, thoughtful person.  The other night we were eating popcorn and when I had finished mine, she put some of hers in my bowl.  Not because she was done or didn't want it (she LOVES popcorn!).  But because she wanted me to have more and wanted to share what she had left.  Tonight as we were making banana bread, she accidentally dropped a cookie cutter into the mixing bowl, which consequently sent banana bread mix all over the kitchen.  Without being asked, she went and got paper napkins from the table and cleaned up much of the mess on the mixer by herself, even though I told her it was ok and I would get it later.
Her imagination is soaring as well...she loves to pretend play.  Dinosaurs, bears, lions, and snakes are all regular visitors in our house.  She loves to play kitchen and put her babies to bed, as well as diaper and clothe them.
Her social skills are developing quite well.  She really likes to interact with older children, I think because they give her a lot of attention, and she doesn't waste too much time on any child who doesn't show interest in her or interact with her, but she is almost always friendly and kind to them.  I know that once she gets over being territorial, she will be a great sister to Oliver.
I could go on and on.  She is just the light of my life and the apple of her daddy's eye.  We are so blessed to have her in our lives and love her more and more each day.