Home One Month!!

YES!! I am FINALLY updating the blog. I know, I know....it is long overdue.

Do you know what today is? We have been home with our sweet girl for ONE MONTH! I can't believe it has only been one short month. It honestly feels like she has been with us forever.

So, let me update y'all! These are the questions that I get on a DAILY basis. I'm telling ya! EVERY DAY I answer these same questions. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind at all answering people's questions. You need to understand, though. In a place like Houma, I can't go anywhere without running into someone that I know. And everyone has the same questions! :) So next time you see me out and about, be sure to come on over and say HI!

- How is she adjusting?
She is doing amazing! It seems as if she has been with us forever. She really is a true blessing.

- How is she sleeping/jetlag?
The jetlag only lasted for about a week. She loves her bed! (She shares a room with Carter.) She sleeps about 11 hours a night. And takes about an hour and a half nap each day.

- Does she like the food?
Girlfriend can eat!! She loves the food. She eats more than Ethan! Really though, she likes to eat anything. She is willing to try it all. I haven't found many foods that she doesn't care for.

- How are the boys doing?
The boys are AWESOME!! They are, by far, the best brothers in the world. I am so proud of them. They have handled all of this change so well. And I can't even begin to tell you what it's like to watch them with their little sister. It melts my heart!

- Does Aubrey have a favorite brother?
Nope! I thought she would pick one that she would attach to more than the others. But suprisingly, she hasn't. She shares a room with Carter and spends most of the day with him. So they play really well together. But when Bradley and Ethan walk through the door in the afternoons, she squeals with excitement. She loves all three of them!

- Does she speak Chinese?
Yes, she does! And it's the cutest thing to listen to! :)

- Does she speak any English?
She is learning. She speaks about 15 words right now. She tries to repeat a lot of what we say too.

- Has it been difficult trying to communicate?
Actually, it hasn't! I can honestly say that I'm surprised about that. We have had no trouble so far. I'm her mom.....I know what she wants/needs. What more can I say?

- Does she understand y'all?
Another surprise to me! She understands so much of what we say. Time to eat....she's at the table. Brush your teeth...she's in the bathroom. Get your shoes.....she brings them to me. Throw it away...she does. Etc., etc. It is truly amazing!

- Is she potty trained?
Yep! Surely is! She tells me everytime she needs to go. We had a little set back our first weekend home. But she is fully potty trained now. Yay!!

- How is she with you and Jeremy?
She is definitely attached to us. She knows we are mama and daddy....no doubt! :) She is with me 24/7. You can only imagine how attached she is!

- Is she affectionate?
Oh my goodness! She is such a loving child. She loves to give hugs and kisses! All the time!

- She seems so happy and well-adjusted! (I know, not a question...just something I hear often.)
Yes! She is so happy. She smiles almost all day long. She has the sweetest little girly laugh I've ever heard. She is so girly. She loves to wear a bow, paint her nails, dress up, etc. But she can get dirty outside with the brothers and try to catch lizards!
Like I said a few times already, it seems she has been here with us forever, not just one month.

Let me just say, this has been one of the most amazing experiences of my life. I never, ever could have dreamed how awesome adoption could be....until now. To go to the other side of the world to bring our daughter home. No words, pictures...nothing....could every describe how that feels. She is truly a blessing to our family. We are better because she is in our lives.

I am so thankful that we followed God's desire for us to adopt. It wasn't easy at times, but it was definitely worth it. So worth it that I could probably do it again. SShhhhhh!!! Don't tell Jeremy! ;)

Seriously, though, if adoption is on your heart, PRAY about it! Every child deserves a family.

Look at what one month with a family looks like. Every child deserves this! The love of a mother and father!



Back in the USA!

We made it to Chicago!! After 14 long hours of flying today....we made it! JuJu did awesome on the flight! She slept some, watched tv, played, and then slept some more.
We are in our hotel in Chicago and ready for bed, even though it's only 6:20. Our flight leaves in the morning. We will be HOME TOMORROW!!!! I am soooo excited! :)
See y'all tomorrow! :)

A Party for JuJu!!

We are all packed and ready to go!! Come on 4:30!!!! We have had a wonderful time here in Ch*na, but I am ready to be HOME!!!

Here's our plan:
We are taking a van to Hong Kong today. We will spend the night there. We will fly out of Hong Kong at 11:50a.m. Thursday morning and arrive in Chicago at 1:10p.m Thursday afternoon. (And NO, it is NOT a one hour and twenty minute flight. The time difference is crazy!) We will be spending the night in Chicago. We will fly out of Chicago at 8:50a.m. and arrive in New Orleans at 10:25a.m. on Friday, March 22.....JuJu's third birthday!!

Anyone is welcome to greet us at the airport. Afterwards, around 1:00, we will have a little birthday party for JuJu at Jeremy's parent's house. (If you need the address, send me a message or text.) Come anytime that afternoon. It's not going to be much at all. Just a little get together so everyone can meet her. Because after that, we will be spending the weekend at home with our boys. We miss them terribly.

Please say some prayers for us! These next few days will be tough. We have about 17 hours total of flying ahead of us.

We can't wait to see everyone!! We miss you all!!! :)

Who is excited to see this little chick?!?!
P.S. I just love the fact that you can't see her eyes when she smiles!

Shopping, Shamian Island and Much More!! :)

Well, I haven't blogged in a few days. Sorry! :( So let me catch you up on what has been going on!

Sunday was a day full of shopping. For the morning, we went shopping with Ann. Let me just say, she is wonderful!! We absolutely LOVED her! She got us some great deals and was lots of fun!

Shopping for pearls for JuJu's wedding day!

 Shopping for jade!



 



 We even took a taxi back to our hotel all by ourself! Yay for us! :) We spent the afternoon shopping with our group. But we actually only bought one thing. We mainly went just to socialize with everyone.

I love my little banana eating girl!



No matter what her medical file says, this girl does NOT like water!! ;)

Monday we went to Shamian Island for some more shopping. Those that have adopted before know this place well. It is the place all adopted families would stay because this is where the consulate was located. Since the consulate moved, families no longer stay there. We were only supposed to be there for about two hours. But our guide told us all that we were more than welcome to stay longer. We could just take a taxi back to the hotel. Shamian Island is GREAT! There are quite a few shops and a restaurant called Lucy's that is fantastic! We had a wonderful time there!

 Let me just explain this outfit a little to you. Isn't the skirt cute? That's what I thought! Well, that is NOT what JuJu thought. SHE DID NOT LIKE THE SKIRT!!! I repeat....DID NOT LIKE THE SKIRT!! Well, Miss Priss, you are gonna wear this skirt and you will like it!!!!!!!!!!! Can I get an AMEN?! So she wore the skirt! But I compromised with the shoes. I had some cute silver ballet flats. But nooooo, she wanted her tennis shoes.

This is the famous little statue that everyone makes their child take a picture with :)

And here is JuJu's friend, Meili Joy.

 

Lunch at Lucy's!

 Wait for me, JuJu!!

This girl LOVES noodles!

I don't think you have enough food, Jeremy!

Silly Girl!

This is some of our travel group. We took a picture with everyone today. Hopefully we will get it soon.

JuJu being silly in the lobby of the hotel.

Monday evening we went on a river boat cruise along the Pearl River. The lights were beautiful!

 

 

 The bromance!

 

 

Too much cruisin' for my JuJu!

Tuesday morning(today) we had Aubrey's consulate appointment. Finally!!! Woohoo!! No phones or cameras were allowed. So I have no pictures to show from this morning.

Lunch at Tekila's with some friends!

 This afternoon we visited the Guangzhou Zoo. This zoo has nothing on the Audubon Zoo, but it was still nice. JuJu slept most of the time we were there.

The men with their babies!

 

Sleeping beauty!



 

Tomorrow afternoon we will get Aubrey's visa, and then we will have a van take us to Hong Kong to spend the night. Thursday we will start our long journey HOME!!! I have really enjoyed our time here in Ch*na. We have learned so much about the culture. And I can't wait to share it all with Aubrey. We are so blessed to have her as our daughter. And a HUGE thank you to our parents and friends who have taken such great care of our boys while we have been gone. There is nothing I can say or do so you will know how appreciative we are for what you have done. It has been such a blessing to know that they are being so well taken care of and loved while we have been gone. I can't wait to get home to them!!!!!!! Love you boys!!!!!!!!!!

Last night in Ch*na people!! Tomorrow we will be in Hong Kong!!!!!

 

One Week

It's been one week since Gotcha Day! JuJu is doing amazing. She is such a sweet little girl, and I can't wait for everyone to meet her.

What a difference a week can make!!

This first picture was taken about 30 minutes after they handed her to us in the lobby of our hotel.

 And this picture....this evening. Please excuse the pizza on her shirt and the half eaten banana in her mouth. But she was cracking up laughing because I was trying to take her picture.

She is truly a sweetheart and we are so blessed to have her in our lives.

We spent the day shopping today. It was so much fun!! I will blog about it another night and include lots of pictures! :)

Oh, and I can finally say....we are coming home THIS WEEK!!!!!!!!!

Medical Appt, Visa Paperwork and a place called Tekilas

The morning was very stressful for JuJu. (By the way, JuJu is the name we are calling her right now. We haven't started calling her Aubrey just yet.) We had her medical appointment. There were soooo many people there. She had her picture taken. She was weighed and measured. She was checked by the ENT. Then another doctor checked and talked with us about her special need. Then she was taken from us for the blood work for the TB test :( She did not like that....and neither did mama and baba. But all in all, she did pretty good. There were some tears, but coming back to mama always made it better.

Their are 12 families here at the hotel with our agency. Let me just say, it is wonderful to be around people that we can talk to! And it's so great to finally meet all these women that I have talked to for months on facebook. So this afternoon, one adult from each family gathered in a meeting room to work on the paperwork for visas for our children we are bringing home. That person for our family was ME! :) Jeremy so graciously allowed me to do more paperwork! ;) JuJu did great for the majority of the time I was gone. She just LOVES her daddy! Jeremy said she was playing, laughing, and singing. Girlfriend loves to sing! But about 15 minutes before I came back, she was looking for me. And she lost it......poor sweetheart was missing her mama. She was so happy to see me come back. So....all of her visa paperwork has been prepared. Just give us the visa so we can get HOME to those brothers!!

There are so many restaurants to choose from that are within walking distance of the hotel. We met up with two other families in our travel group and decided to have Mexican food. There is a place called Tekilas about 5 minutes down the street that we decided to try. It was great!! Definitely going to have to go again.

Tomorrow we are going shopping!! This is the day my boys have been waiting for. They want some silk pajamas;)

And I just realized I have added no pictures so far. So let me see what I can find.

Oh, you know.....cause EVERY hotel needs two of these!!

 Our hotel in Guangzhou.

Playing with my little JuJu!