Introducing Miss Kacey!

Congratulations, Mommy Julie!

Your daughter is beautiful, and

we cant wait to meet her!

follow the journey to bring Kacey home using the link to the left:

Chasing Baby Kacey

Here storkie, storkie

The stork is landing in the states today, and we are all anxiously awaiting the delivery of Kasey! (chasing baby kasey) link to the left.

Mr. Stork,

could ya maybe step it up a little? we've been waiting all day!

....and while you're at it, could you run Steph and Jills travel notices over too?

Thanks! we're your biggest fans......there might be a little bird suet in it for ya.

Sunday

Praise God from whom all blessings flow

Praise God all creatures here below;

Praise him above ye heavenly hosts

Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost

Amen

Play time with Kailee

Amelia's eating

If you've read previous posts, you know that Amelia has some oral aversion issues. She's good with flavors, but not so much with texture. We've been working at it very slowly, and I am very excited to report that she ate about an ounce of applesauce and an ounce of stage 2 carrots today. woohoo!

I know that eating issues are fairly common in children adopted out of institutions, and I knew that she would eventually overcome it....But still, I cant help but be relieved. Mommy's cant help but feel anxious if their child is struggling with something.

I want to say a great big THANK YOU to those who have responded via e-mail, assuring me that this issue would resolve eventually, and giving me advice and encouragement. I posted an eating question on several yahoo groups, and got almost 100 responses. Very helpful! So I thought that I would share some of the advice we got and the things we are doing.

1. Try different types of spoons. The ones we really like are Gerber spoons with the metal handle and the rubber coated spoon. She doesn't like the thick spoons, and they don't slide between her lips easily (like the nuby spoons, for instance). Food is quite enough for her to manage in her mouth---a thick rubber spoon is just too much.

2. Try putting the food on her lips at first and letting her lick it off. That way she gets interested in the taste, in a non-threatening manner. Amelia loves Gerber Dutch Apple Dessert. This was the breakthough food for us.--its yummy, I've tried it!

3. Once she starts licking the food off the lips, then start placing the food in the edge of her mouth with the spoon turned sideways. She freaks out if you put it in front ways--goes too far into her mouth and she gags. Slip it in sideways though, and she smacks and actually swallows it.

4. Make eating fun with noises, faces, whatever makes her smile and keeps her from feeling too stressed out. If she starts to cry, back off and try again another day. DO NOT force the issue, because then food becomes a battle of wills and the child feels that she's lost the last bit of control she has in her life. That's a pretty scary thing for anyone. Keep it light!

5. Get down on her level and eat with her. For instance, I put a graham cracker in her hand and munch on it with HER holding it and watching .........Making yummy smacking sounds all the time (ala cookie monster). I also do a bite for her and then a bite for me with the applesauce, again, smiling and making yummy noises. This is not for the squeamish, but I use her spoon for both of us--if baby slobber grosses you out, it might still work using your own spoon.

6. Get a fingertip toothbrush and some giggles and grins baby tooth cleaner and use it every day. Hold her as if she's getting a bottle and stroke her lips, chin, and cheeks at first. Make it funny! Once she's used to that, then gently stroke her gums and tongue with the brush. Amelia is teething and likes to chew on my finger with the rubber tip on there. I really believe that this was the turning point in her starting to learn the mechanics of eating. This stimulates blood vessels in their mouth and teaches them how to handle something in their mouth in a very non-threatening way. This also makes great snuggle/bonding time.

7. Stoke her cheeks, chin and lips with different textures. This also stimulates blood vessels and reduces her sensitivity to textures around her mouth. (ex. A silk scarf, a feather, a cold cloth, a soft toy )

8. Put her in the high chair during meals and put small bits of different foods on her high chair tray. Let her play with it and be as messy as she wants. Get her attention frequently so she can see you eat, and make yummy, smacky noises and faces. Let her know this is something you enjoy!

9. If you are adding cereals and baby foods to the bottle to ensure she gets adequate nutrition, make sure she gets the stoked bottles AFTER her feeding attempts. She needs to be a little hungry when you try and feed her. I give her a cereal/fruit/formula combo first thing in the morning, then just formula with less than an ounce of cereal for the middle bottles, and a nice thick one for dinner, AFTER high chair time. Some would disagree with me, but I think putting fruits, veges, chicken noodle, turkey and rice baby food etc. In some bottles gets her used to different flavors (and slightly different textures) in a non threatening way.

10. Don't stress about it. My favorite e-mail came from someone who said she's never seen a college student drinking from a bottle. Come to think of it, neither have I :)

Amelia has lost everything familiar in such a short time. Several e-mailers pointed out that sometimes the babies just cant handle another new experience right away, and who can blame them? EVERYTHING IS NEW. I've been doing all of the above in a very lighthearted atmosphere, but also just treasuring the cuddles and bonding that come with the bottles. She's growing and changing already.....Our babies wont be babies for long. I'm happy that she's eating, but enjoying babying my baby too.

Just thought I would pass along some of the excellent advice given to me.

Frog And Toad Are Friends

Daddy's favorite childhood book

How to teach a baby to crawl

Amelia loves the computer. we got her to crawl for the first time by putting the laptop, juuuust out of her reach. she army crawled to get it. go girl!

whats wrong with this picture???

....and we are filled with Joy!

The Lord hath done great things for us; and we are filled with Joy!

---from the psalms

Amelia Rose went to church for the first time today. :)

Guess what?

I am very happy to announce that I have accepted a job with CCAI!

I'll start 2 days per week in August, and move up to 4 days per week in September. I'll be filling the position of Post Placement Specialist, here in the Atlanta office.

I love CCAI and I have an obvious passion for Chinese Adoption---both of which proved to be the most beautiful decisions of my life.

I really struggled with whether or not I would go back to work so soon. Part of me wanted to stay home with her for the first year. But Amelia is attaching very well. She is just thriving! She is blooming like a little flower, right before my eyes.

......and this job is my chance to help other people embark on the marvelous and life changing journey of parenthood......

.....and the chance to help bring more children out of the orphanages of the world and into loving homes.

it feels right.

I'm excited!

Play Date

Polka Dots

Uncle Adam Comes to Visit

Well, technically, Cousin Adam. He's my oldest nephew, but since there's a good 24 years between their ages.........."Uncle" seemed appropriate.

Amelia thinks Uncle Adam is FUN!

My mommy brought me a whole slew of toys and a nice blanket to play on; but my favorite pastime (outside of the pool) turned out to be examining the concrete. :))

Nice view of the bald spot, huh?

My Girl

One Month Today

Amelia,
Today is our one month anniversary of becoming a family. What a month it has been! Sister girl, we have laughed and cried........... and laughed and cried some more. You are proof that miracles happen. You are my dream baby. About a month before they called me about you, I started having the sweetest baby dreams…..totally different than the ones of the past. The new dreams were filled with cuddles, and smiles, and the sweetest, most precious baby girl! And it may sound crazy, but I believe I was dreaming of you. When I felt so discouraged about waiting and waiting, and waiting for you, I prayed for God to send me a vision; a feeling; a premonition; something to give me hope that we would find each other soon. And then the dreams began; and then came the call that changed our lives. I’ll never forget the first words that Deniece Hess said about you; “ OH, SHE IS A LITTLE PRINCESS!” and you are!
I’ll never forget the moment, that the nanny walked into a hot, muggy room in the city of Guangzhou, carrying this little smiling baby………..and hearing our guide, Kathy, say : “Theres your baby!”. Oh, I felt like my heart would pound out of my chest, and I said “Let me hold my baby” and crossed the whole room in about 3 steps. I took you into my arms, and closed my eyes, and the room swirled, and we all cried. ...even Kathy, and she does this every day! You seemed amazed to see us! You kept touching our faces and smiling and cooing. Aunt Sonia was in China adoping Kailee, and came along to take pictures of our special day. You smiled at us and touched and patted our faces on the bus, all the way back to the hotel.
Several hours later, you started to become a little concerned. You cried some, and chewed on your fingers because you were teething. Now that I know you so much better, I can see that you weren’t just crying because your gums were hurting; you were a little alarmed to realize all the familiar people were gone. I think you were wondering if we would take good care of you. You would put your little hands on each side of my face and look right into my eyes. I think you were trying to tell me that you were a little worried, and needed some reassurance. So I would hold you close, and whisper in your ear, and comfort you the best that I could.
Over the next weeks, you would put your hands on my face and look at me with that very worried look from time to time. But you also played more and more, although at first, pretty quietly. It was a good three weeks before we knew you could be so loud! You like to screech and babble and laugh and yell! We see it more every day. And you are funny! We can see your sense of humor already! You love the cat and dog, and reach out to touch them whenever they are near. You still look around your nursery and just smile! Almost like you’re saying “good job mom!”.
Sometimes, I’m afraid I’ll forget some of the tiniest moments of our first month together, and I go through them in my mind, trying to make sure that I remember every little thing forever!
These are a few of my favorite things: when I hear you in the mornings, I walk softly into your room, and peer into your crib to watch you wake up. You roll around a little bit, and twist and stretch, and when you open your eyes and see me there, you break out into the biggest smile. Then you and kick and wave your arms, and grin from ear to ear, and look so excited to start the day!
We love your bath time, which we do after dinner. When I squeeze warm water down your back, you hunch your shoulders and giggle out loud. it’s the sweetest thing. Then we lotion you up, put on your jammies, and you sit on the sofa between me and daddy, and we turn down the lights, and just snuggle and play until you get very sleepy.
You have cut a new tooth--and now have a grand total of 3! You can sit up and play for long periods without falling over; you can roll over both ways, and look as if you will crawl any day. You take 2 naps during the day and sleep about 11 hours at night, usually going to bed around 9 p.m. and get up around 8 a.m. You love your bottles, but don’t really like to eat from a spoon. You love Seseme Street! I put you in your exersaucer for about 30 minutes in the mornings and you alternately play and watch. I heard you laugh out loud at some singing and dancing puppets! We read one or two books a day, and play on a blanket on the floor. Daddy likes to fly you like an airplane, and thinks you’ll like roller coasters, because you love to be tossed in the air. You also love to play gidiup horsey and want to do the fall down part over and over and over and over!
You know the word bottle--and if I ask you if you want a bottle, you grin and bounce. You know the word “no” but sometimes choose to ignore it. The other day, you were spitting out your food and I said “no”. so you looked at me for a moment and then very softly and verrry quietly spit the food out just a little; and then smiled the most mischievous little grin. I couldn’t help but laugh.
We loved you from the start; we felt like you belonged with us from the start; but sometimes in the beginning, it felt almost too good to be true! I felt like I had been given the most adorable baby in the world to take care of; almost like we were acting in a play. But then one morning I picked you up and you were so incredibly hot. I knew right away you had a fever, and I checked it with the thermometer and gave you some medicine before calling the doctor. You felt so bad that day. You cried a lot, and I and checked your temperature pretty often, and gave you medicine and sponged you off, and just held you all day. I was very worried; and we just snuggled the whole day until you felt better. I didn’t feel like I was playing pretend that day. I knew to the bottom of my heart, that I was your mother; and I really believe that you started to know it too.

Sometimes, Daddy and I just look at each other and say "can you believe it?" "can you believe how much you love her?" "isnt she the sweetest thing ever?"

Sometimes we go into your room 2 or 3 times in the night, just to watch you sleep.

We feel like the luckiest parents in the world; and we are thankful for you every day.

Happy One Month Anniversary, Amelia Rose