Ready for Football season!

Today we made our annual trip to the Valley for some new Clemson gear… of course we ended up outfitting our newest little Tiger….

and I present CJ Spiller’s #1 Fan!

Here’s a few more… just because she’s so stinkin’ cute…

Abby at 17.5 months..

(BTW, the overalls are a size 12 months and they swallow her whole, but hey, they’ll work for next year too!)

Words Abby can say….

Uh Oh, Bye Bye, Dog, Mama, Dada, Hi, Bird, Ball, Backpack, Dora, More, and she can growl like a Tiger.

Windows Live Writer… does this mean I’ll Post More often?

I just downloaded Windows Live Writer after reading about it on another Adoptive Mom’s blog. Her posts are always so funny and well put together, so I thought I’d give it a whirl. Here’s a picture to get things started…

Is it Spring yet?

This mama has SPRING FEVER!!!! Hurry up warm weather, I'm ready for you!
 
Abby is learning so many things since she's been to school (aka daycare). Recent things she's picked up since starting daycare are:
 
1. drinking from a straw
2. clapping
3. mimicking us when we cough
4. standing for a few seconds
5. trying to get into cabinets
6. jabbering on and on loudly about something. Anyone speak baby?
7. wants to feed herself all the time now and does so well!
 
We are very excited that we are going to have a mini-reunion with some of those in our travel group over Memorial Day weekend. YAY!! Asian Invasion in Hotlanta!

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snow and stuff...

Well I am back at work. Daycare for the most part has been going well. But I hate only having about 2 hours with my girl before bed time. I can't WAIT for the weekend to get here. Lots of play time. Lots of mommy-Abby time.
 
The daycare teacher has said that Abby's only problem is that she wants to be held all the time. Heh. Imagine that. Probably because we hold her all the time. Who wouldn't want to? I told the teacher that Abby had 8.5 months of never being held and from the day we got her, we have held her and loved on her, and you know what? Abby decided she liked it and it was good. So it's a good thing she wants to be held all the time!
 
This weekend is Abby's first birthday!!!! I can't imagine that she's already one. She has changed so much since we became a family. When we got her she could just barely roll over and couldn't sit up by herself at all. 3 months later, she is crawling and pulling up and wants to walk so badly. She was toothless but now has 4 teeth. She had never been fed anything but the bottle and now she wants nothing to do with babyfood, only wants table food! She can say Mama, Ma (for maggie), uh oh, and bye bye, though she won't talk on command at all. When asked where's daddy, she looks at him, when asked where's Nai Nai, she looks at Edra, and has no problem picking Maggie out either!
 
She won't leave poor Maggie alone. She crawls over her, pulls on her, "pats" her and in general just tortures her. But Maggie must love it, as everyday when we get home from "school" she runs around in circles jumping up and down and tries to kiss Abby. It really is cute!
 
I'll leave you with some pictures, because I know that's what you want to see!

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Abby is Crawling!

And it had absolutely nothing to do with the fact she was wearing a Clemson onesie....

For no other reason than she's so stinkin' cute

I decided to whip out the camera today. I love this green on her!!
She loves to stand and can do so for a long time, and is almost crawling!
 

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So you've probably already figured this out...

but I am not the best blogger. Heh. We are home, everyone is happy, healthy, and growing! I have been super busy trying to work part time from home as well as take care of Miss Abby and we are having sleep issues. As in she isn't. And that is making my life very challenging!
 
Parenting an adopted child is different from regular kids in that you can't just let them cry it out. Abby spent almost 9 months in an orphanage where she didn't learn that crying would get her needs attended to. She is just learning that and we are building a level of trust between us and we are in a crucial bonding period. So I must answer her cries. At first we went with her getting up 5-6 times per night. And then there for a while, she was up 5-6 times in the first 2-3 hours of her nighttime sleep. And she wasn't napping good during the day. I had a very sleep deprived baby.
 
A dear friend (thanks Sandy!) who adopted and who is a child pyschiatrist gave me some wonderful advice which we are following and it is slowly getting better. last night she went down at 8 and was up at 8:30 and then not again until 12:30 and then she slept until 6. I got her up and fed her and tried to start some housework with her in the carrier and she fell back asleep at 7:30. And now it's almost 9 and she is still asleep. The key to our success the past few days is that after she's up this morning (whatever time that is), I won't let her nap again. I will do everything in my power to keep her up. We won't do this on and on, I know she needs an afternoon nap, but we won't start those again until her internal clock is reset to sleep at night. I think a few more days may be all we need. Thank Goodness. Mama needs a break!
 
I also am feeling very lost without my exercise. I really need to get back into it and plan to try a trainer ride tonight after she eats just as Derek is coming home from work. I may not get an hour in, but I'll take what I can get. I've had several friends offer to come and sit with Abby so I can run (Thanks Missy and Jan!) and will probably take them up on their offer next week. When it warms up a bit I can take Abby in the jogger, but it's a bit too cold right now. I love training and racing, and I really want to be able to do that this year, though I realize I am going to be limited to sprints, 5Ks and 10Ks until Abby is a little older and we are in a good groove. Maybe 2010 is the year of short course and in 2011 I can move back to longer distances.
 
Now, back to Abby. Still no teeth, though I am sure they are just about to break through. She is not crawling yet, though we expect that to happen at any time. She is up on all fours rocking back and forth and pushing backwards. Very soon she will get the hang of it and be all over the house and then the fun will really begin!
 
That's about all I have time for right now... need to get a few more things done before precious wakes up. Here are some pictures to keep you entertained!
 
Suzanne

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Such a blogger slacker...

But I have a good excuse... I'm a new mommy and I've just been handed a 8 month old.... when she sleeps, I sleep. When she's not sleeping, I am on duty... daddy is doing a good job, but when he's got her, i'm cleaning the room or getting the bottles washed and ready, or putting laundry together, or showering, or... you get the idea. This is hard work! All you mommies out there can laugh at me now...

Let me see.... Friday we came to Guangzhou. Abby did pretty good on the plane. She only got a little fussy because we weren't moving and had to sit in a seat for a hour and a half. The 14.5 hour trip home should be fun. NOT. Ready to come home, but I am not looking forward to that flight.

The White Swan hotel is beautiful. And the AC is glorious!  And the breakfast buffet is huge! We are pretty much doing a big breakfast and then dinner. Lunch is just snacks.

Saturday we toured Guangzhou... went to a Buddhist temple and the babies all received blessings. We went to a arts and crafts store and also an art museum.  Sunday we did visa paperwork and a group dinner at the local Thai restaurant. Which was ok, but was not as good as Thai Taste at home.  Monday we went for the babies visa photos and medical exam. Abby was a trooper and didn't cry once. She was 25" long and 13.7 lbs, but I take that weight with a grain of salt. She had a full diaper and had just taken a bottle, so i think she is probably just over 13 lbs. Either way, she's gained weight!  In the afternoon we went to the pearl market. Very fun, I spent a ton of money and got presents, Daddy stayed at the hotel room with Abby as she was snoozing good.  Today we had to wait in our room while our guide took our paperwork to the Visa appt. Just one hiccup for us as I left out an important document, but our guide got it from us later and took it back to the consulate so it was all ok.... At noon we took the babies down to the lobby for the traditional red couch photos. It seems all the families who stay in the White Swan hotel get their picture made on the red velvet sofa...

We received Abby's going home Barbie yesterday. It is a gift from Mattel Hong Kong. A white barbie with a Chinese baby. Very sweet and very collectable! Though Abby is going to get to play with hers....

Today after the red couch photo we shopped. I bought a suitcase and have been filling it up. I will know I am done shopping when I can't fit anymore things in it! LOL.

Some more tidbits about Abby. She loves her bath and doesn't mind when we dump water on her head to rinse her hair. She is taking 5 bottles per day instead of 4. The extra one comes in the middle of the night and seems to help her sleep.  She hates to have her clothes changed, and is now sitting up precariously on her own. Rolling over is no problem.  She won't take any solid food, only her bottle. She pushes everything out with her tongue if we try to give her any soft foods. Still no teeth.

Ok, ok, enough writing, I know you really just want to see pictures. Don't know when I'll get to blog again, I'll try to do it once more before we leave on Friday. You know, it's just hard to fit it in when you have a new little one!

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A Thanksgiving we'll never forget...

Sorry for the lack of posts, but this is our first rodeo. New mommy and new daddy = not much time for anything else. And yesterday miss abby didn't feel too good. A little fever and diarhea, and didn't sleep well the past few nights, but I think we are past all that now. I'll get the hang of this before too long and will be able to multitask better.
 
I quit following the feeding schedule the orphanage gave us and prett much went to feeding on demand. She is such a tiny peanut, she needs all the extra calories we can stuff in her. She is not interested at all in solid food... that will take some time.  We are getting more and more smiles and giggles and this morning she discovered she could splash with her feet. So stinkin cute!
 
She's napping right now... and we have to pack soon for our trip to Guangzhou soon... we are so ready to leave Jiangxi... it is so freaking hot in our room... no air right now...and I've been sick all week from the pollution...we literally are dripping in sweat all the time even though it's about 50 outside... hoping the White Swan has better AC....
 
Last night we had thanksgiving dinner in the hotel restaurant... they tried, but it wasn't the same.  We have a great group of families... everyone is so much fun and we all get along pretty good.  This morning we woke up to Christmas decorations and Christmas music all over the hotel. It was almost like Santa had come!
 
We are ready to come home... still not looking forward to the plane ride from hell (14 hours on a plane with a baby) but we are so ready to be able to brush our teeth with tap water, breath clean air, and not have to dress the baby like a mummy. seriously, if skin is showing you will get chastised. I was reprimanded in the shopping area because apparently the fleece snowsuit I had abby in was not thick enough nor did I have her in enough layers. It apparently did not matter that she was dripping with sweat...
 
enough with the writing, I know you just want to see the pictures!
 

 

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More about Miss Abby

She sucks her thumb a lot. Actually, it's her first finger and her thumb. I am sure it helps with teething and she is doing it when she is overstimulated or needs to calm herself. It is so stinkin cute!
 
We had her first poopy diaper today. Hooray! It is a big deal around these parts as stressed out babies tend to be constipated. One way to know they are relaxing with you is when they finally have that first poopy diaper. And it was a doozy. Abby didn't sleep well last night and after seeing that diaper I am sure she was constipated. She was wiggling every which way, I'm sure she was not comfortable. Tonight should be much better.
 
It's not that cold here, but we have to dress her in so many layers that she is sweating. Today we took a walk down to the local market and a Chinese grandma, aka the clothing police, examined her big pink fluffy fleece snowsuit and looked at her layers and indicated it wasn't enough. For real! All this with sweat practically dripping off her little head. I didn't even have a jacket on, just a long sleeve t-shirt. Oh well, you can't please everyone. Mostly everyone just gives us the thumbs up and a lot of smiles. They follow us along chattering in chinese, probably wondering why we don't answer them. A few know english and that helps a lot.
 
I did see the biggest baby I've ever seen today. A boy, looking like he was less than a year old, had to be 25-30 lbs, and short. A true Buddha baby. LOL. Poor little Abby looked like a squirt compared to him.
 
So far we are having a wonderful time getting to know our daughter. She is giving us all kinds of smiles and laughs now, and we are trying to teach her about eating baby food... she's not quite sure what to do with her tongue, she spits out about as much as goes in. But we'll keep working on it, no doubt about it, she won't lack for food at our house, LOL.
 
CCAI had a pediatrician come today and look at all our babies. Another great thing about our agency... they truly are on top of everything. The doctor said her lungs and heart sound good and that her ears were wet but clear. Evidently the Chinese babies' eardrums go up instead of down and it's hard for them to get ear infections. Very good news. He did say she has pretty severe ecxema (sp?) and gave us cream to put on her cheeks. Should clear up. Told us to get outside a lot and give her more sunshine and when it clears up to keep moisture cream on it. Can do!
 
Ok ok, here are some more pictures... the first two are from this morning when she woke up... and the last one is of a little school group of children that we saw in the marketplace.  Will try to post more pics later today as we take them...

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Abby is here!

And she is fabulous!!! She cried for maybe 30 seconds when we got her but then settled down. She was a bit shell shocked last night, but she is rapidly showing us her little personality! She loves her bath, she loves to kick her feet, and she loves being in the Ergo carrier.  She doesn't show a preference for either one of us, and is quite content to be held by either...
 
She is tiny tiny tiny. She is swimming in her 3-6 month pants. The tops almost fit, but the pants are huge on her! And the shoes I have for her are all way too big. Not sure I can find any that will fit here. But I'll sure try!
 
Today we went to the government office and made her adoption official. Everything went very smoothly... I give all the credit for that to CCAI. These folks are definitely on top of everything! Then we came back for lunch and met with the director from the orphanage. I can tell he is very proud of his babies... as soon as we walked up, the girl with him starting saying "jiang yan, jiang yan" so she must have been pretty special to the people at the orphanage. The director had books made up for the babies, that has their pictures in it, the staff, the orphanage, and a little about it all. At least that's what I think it says... it's all in Chinese.
 
Hopefully tomorrow we'll get more giggles out of girl. We are seeing them, but she is stingy with them... you have to really be funny to get a giggle...
 
Now here are some pictures!

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