Hi from Happy Girl

Since we have no new pictures I decided to add a few from a sunny day 2 weeks ago when Abbey was at church. I was sad that she didn't get to go today, but we don't want to get anyone else sick. I am thinking/hoping that she will be well enough to go to her daycare tomorrow because she loves it so much.

New Things

Why no pictures of Miss Abbey? She has a cold and I hate to take them when she's sick.
The lovely jumper and very cute dog was sent by Pam and family in Texas. Abbey was very excited to recieve this package when she had the flu.
The darling hat and scarf were made for Abbey by her Aunt Anna.
Thanks to all of you!

I was very happy with our 22 month old Dr.'s visit this week. When I first got Abbey she was not on the growth chart. In January she had gained 2 lbs and had made it to the 3rd percentile. When she got the flu I became very concerned that we were sliding back to her China weight. She made a great recovery and I was so glad to find that she now weighs 23 1/2 lbs and is in the 15th percentile. I have decided to officially stop worrying about her weight now. She also grew 1/2 an inch since January! The Dr. said that I could take her off formula now so we started 3 bottles of milk a day. She hasn't ever been willing to try milk out of a sippy cup but we warmed it up, put it in a bottle, and voila - she drinks! She has now had two early intervention sessions and they don't seem to think she needs much help. I am still going to keep it in place for awhile and I am also going to try to add occupational therapy. I know that she will be fine in all areas, but I want to give her a boost since she was in the orphanage for so long. She started speech therapy today and it's such a relief. I've been working since November to get all this in place. Her daycare provider taught her how to say "up" last week and she is using it at every opportunity. She is trying to say "more" and is now saying "p" for please. We are noticing that although she is still happy to sign alot she is more focussed on trying to say the words. She is doing so much better than I would be at learning Mandarin after being in China for 3 months. I think of all the interaction she did not have compared to most babies that are with their families from birth and I am so impressed. She loves to go outside and saw "aw, aw" with the crows, but if they are close she wants to be held. Like most toddlers she wants to do everything herself...wash her hands, push the buttons for the microwave and my car key, etc. As February rolled in I also saw a change in her expressions of affection. She began giving me little love pats, stroking my hair, giving me kisses, etc. It has been so amazing to see that after soaking in all the love in these last few months she is now starting to give it back. I love it! She has a wonderful, adorable laugh, as I am seeing from other blogs that all these sweet little ones do. She loves her new Hello Kitty electric toothbrush. The Early Intervention specialist recommended it to help her feel more in her mouth (she had been stuffing lots of food in there and that can be a sign that they are only recognizing pressure). I was given an ipod that I just set up with her new Hello Kitty base. I loaded on the Chinese lullabies and I know she is going to love those. By the way, we got two CD's from the Twisted Sisters and they have wonderful learning songs. I don't know how to explain it, but their music is alot easier to listen to than other children's music. Very fun. Okay, I need to get back to working on other things now. Bye!

Okay, that was some sort of a slip up....I just re-read my blog and realized that I meant to put Twin Sisters! Abbey doesn't listen to heavy metal, yet.

Our First CNY Together

Last year my niece and I went to a big FCC banquet. There were 600 people there (and another 600 on another night) and lots of entertainment with lion dancers, acrobats, and the Miss China Town court. This year I felt that I needed to do something on a smaller scale with Miss Abbey. Someday we will do the big hoopala but for now it was more important for me to have things a little quieter and closer to home. We invited several adoptive and waiting families to join us at a local Chinese restaurant for dinner. It was really nice to just be with the people who have meant so much to me through this whole process. Abbey got more and more excited as the evening wore on and by the time we were coming home for her bath she was a little wild and running around stomping. I think she really enjoys a good party. And my, she can really pack away the Chinese food.














Two friends who meant the world to me during the loooooooooooooong wait (I know it's nothing compared to those of you waiting now). It almost doesn't seem real that I finally have my girl and am not just looking dreamy eyed at their girls like I was for so long. We are all so blessed.









Wo ai ni Zhuozhuo!

I Love Somebody, Yes I Do!

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If you don't want sap, now would be the time to click away...
I just had my best Valentine's Day ever, being with my little love. She headed off this morning to daycare with her little Valentines just as cute as ever. I headed off to my first grade class and they were ready to burst with excitement. I asked the kids who had ever folded paper and cut out a heart and only a few raised their hands. Can you believe they let out a big "ahhhh" when I unfolded my cut paper and they saw the heart? They were very sweet in exchanging all their Valentines. I was fortunate to have a senior volunteer who helped them all paint their bags with heart stamps. My friend Salome also came and volunteered all afternoon and it was a HUGE help. When I finally got to go pick up little Abbey I was greeted with a beautiful card with her fingerpainting and picture on it. We had a very fun little dinner together. We went to the deli and had pasta and fruit salad. A very kind man brought her a balloon. Then they gave her a huge sugar cookie and milk. She's never had a big treat like that since the oreo you may remember from China, so she was pretty excited. We ended up meeting another family with a little girl from China and got to see some pretty Koi at the pond. When we came home my BIL, Bob, and my niece stopped by and gave Abbey lots of love, tickles, and kisses. I got to rock my baby to sleep. I am just in love with her and every thing we do together is so much fun.

Hi from Abbey

We have no pictures from Flu Week, but here are some from the week before.


Multi-tasking: picking out books and brushing her teeth at the same time.














She loves the ball popper!

Many Tears

We've been very sick all week with the stomach flu. It has been a nightmare. Abbey is better today and I am trying to get back on my feet. This has been one of the hardest weeks I have ever had. I tried to write a lot more and explain everything twice but my posts didn't go through, so I will just keep this short. I was extremely worried about Abbey and this has really taken it's toll on us physically and emotionally. That's all I can say right now.

Ayiyiyi

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Abbey is very proud of her stair workouts each day! I love her little ayiyiyi's.

Rambling...

Abbey changes so much every day that I can hardly keep up with it. She is a very active little busy bee and I love it! Things that weren't issues before are now and things that were issues before aren't anymore. Suddenly she is not thrilled about having her diaper changed and really wiggles around. I've resorted to singing a new version of John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt...Abbey Apple Alligator Ant, which definitley gets her mind off things. She is also loving the song 5 Little Ducks and folds her arms up to flap her little wings. Gerber fruit puffs are "out" now
and get thrown into the floor of the back seat if I try to give them to her. Instead of her stethescope she signs please for whatever necklace I have on so that she can wear it. Also new is stranger anxiety. She was startled by the man who did her hearing assessment. She came barreling around the corner into his office and stopped in her tracks and burst into tears. He was extremely tall and looked like Abraham Lincoln. He was very nice but she wanted nothing to do with him and we will have to go back for a retest in several months. From what they could tell her hearing did seem great. At Trader Joes our checker had a lip ring and that also set her off. I have to say that I secretly love it when she clings on to me for protection. For the first time she cried for a minute when I took her to the church nursery last week. Now that we are apart all day she wants to be with me whenever she can, and I feel the same way so we will just stick together!
We had a great time at her speech assessment. She will definitely qualify and I am so excited to learn how to help her learn to talk. I know it's just due to the change in language at a critical time and the lack of stimulation in the orphanage, but I'd rather be proactive than just wait for her to pick it up. Because of what all she's missed I want to give her every opportunity to catch up. Just this week I have been getting face to face and making consonant sounds and she is already trying them out.
One thing has stayed the same, I feel that I am the most blessed person on the planet. I know all of you mommies share this feeling. My heart is just so full of love and amazement to have her in my life. There really aren't words...

Doll Stroller

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My friend at work is the proud Grandma of twin girls. They have two of everything so she has offered to pass along things they aren't using. Friday she made my day by bringing this little doll stroller for Abbey. Mommy learned a new lesson. Do not give your child an exciting gift right before dinner and bedtime. I knew I should wait until in the morning to give it to her, but I was too excited. She was over the moon about it and could not calm down to eat her dinner. She played with it until I finally got her to bed and then she was so excited that she woke up at 12:30 a.m. and ended up in bed with me because I was so tired I was not thinking straight. Anyway, she is loving playing like she is the mommy.

Asian Tea Dress

Thursday my Principal asked to see me in his office. I was thinking, "oh no, is this about the student I had a talk with about needing to take a bath?", but no, it was because his wife had picked out this adorable dress for Abbey! I had heard about this asian line at Gymboree and had even gone and looked longingly at this dress but I knew that it was something I should not be spending money on. I believe that God sometimes blesses us with things we don't even need but are so happy to have, just like we do with our children.

I want to take a picture of her in this when she grows into it with one of her little parasols from China.

Angel Baby

Again, no time to blog...hopefully soon, but in the meantime I wanted to atleast post a couple of photos. I am so in love with this little angel. She lights up my life!