The Girls Love to Sing!

We encourage the girls to sing English songs. This is such a fun way for them to learn. They don't like TV so that doesn't help them learn their English like most children do. I have been recording some of their songs and our favorite one is "Five Little Monkeys". I may not ever get tired of hearing it the way they sing it! I am trying to record all of their Chinese songs, but they know so many of them. This should be fun for them when they are older.

Fun in the snow! Anna's first snow.

Adjustment Period!!

We have been home now for 10 weeks and I can honestly say that things are going great for all of us. The girls are doing so much. They pick up more English every day. They started school full time which helps with their English. They go to the gym to swim and play basketball two times a week. They are active at home with singing and dancing. Anna cracks me up with her singing "Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed". They really have fun and we enjoy the entertainment. Anna has been exposed to a lot more than Mia has been while growing up in China. Anna can sing, dance, do dance routines, and play many games. However, her school work and studying is not so good. She really struggles with authority and having to do certain things during a normal day. She is very frustrated and can get mad easily. Her tantrums have decreased considerably and aren't as intense but she is still struggling. We are doing our best to keep a schedule so she will know what to expect. She is having a hard time in school. She will refuse to do her work. Everything she does she seems to rush through and is very messy. She eats messy, spills her drink, writes messy, her drawers and toys are messy. I often wonder what her mind must be like. It must jump from one thing to another without having time to sort anything out. We may have to call in the experts.
Mia is just the opposite of Anna in many ways. She is very neat, but slow when doing homework. She is cooperative 98% of the time. She is quiet and soft spoken (unlike Anna). She can sing many Chinese songs very well. She seems to know a lot of them. She doesn't seem to have been exposed to sports but she is enjoying swimming and basketball.  They were both very afraid of the water when we started going but now they can go underwater. Anna is doing somersaults under the water and swimming down to the bottom. Mia can swim underwater for a little way. They have only been going for a few weeks and their progress does amaze us. Mia is adjusting very well in school. She really seems to enjoy her time there. The only big issue we have with Mia is bonding to us and not to other people. She will go up to strangers and grab for their hands. This can be very hard to explain to them but she is getting better. We know that this will take time. We have told the teachers at school that she is not allowed to hug, kiss, or hold their hand. We have asked that they discourage this behavior until she learns what is appropriate.
They are settling in very well (and so are we). It has been an adjustment for all of us. We get a lot more smiles now and have some really fun times. We are very blessed to have them in our family!

Christmas and After!

Mia and Anna don't understand what Christmas is about but will have a better understanding next year. They received a few gifts from family and friends and attended church. They do well in church even though they don't understand what is going on. They attend church with us each week and we will start teaching them about God. They are learning more English each day and will start school on January 8th.
The girls are still in the process of attaching and bonding to us as parents. They are confused on who are family members and who are friends. We do take time to explain when hugging is appropriate and when it is not. Hugging and kissing the dentist's assistant is not appropriate. Of all people, go figure! We are very lucky that both girls like to hug and kiss and are very affectionate. The eat well and are not picky eaters. They happily go to bed at 8:00 and sleep until 7:00-8:00am. Mia will go to sleep on her back and wake up in the same position. Anna will have all her blankets twisted and turned around on her bed. She must be very active at night as she is during the day. While Mia is more easy going, Anna is active and intense.
We took the girls to our favorite Chinese restaurant and they met our favorite waitress, Winnie. She welcomed the girls and they told her that they loved us. The girls went crazy over the food. They each had two large plate full of food. The one thing they loved the most was the sticky rice. We have made pot stickers, fried rice, lots of different noodles, but no plain rice at home for them. Now we know! They passed up the fried rice and the fried noodles. Anna got the oysters on the shell and told the oysters how much she loved them. I hope they gained about three pounds each just from this one visit!
The girls are doing well and we hope they are happy. We really truly blessed!

Mia and Anna Receive a Package from Aunt Denise.

Mia and Anna received their first package! And what a package! The gifts were packed in a copy paper box. Yes, it was that big. When we opened it without them in the room, we were amazed at all that it contained. The girls were having a lot of upsetting moments because of doctor visits, dentists, blood drawn for testing, etc. Having all this to do, the thoughtful gift from Aunt Denise was both welcomed and exciting. We explained who it was from and showed them their Aunt Denise's picture on the computer. They seemed to have forgotten that when they opened it and thanked us! We then explained to them again who it was from and they were thanking their Aunt Denise. Denise, if you hear "thank you Denise ayi", they are saying Aunt Denise in Chinese. They loved everything in their gift bags. They haven't "unpacked" their gift bags yet. They even put a few more of their other things in it. They did color their little purses and when a friend from church came over they put the hair clips in her hair and stickers on her hand. Did I mention that this friend was over 80 years old. I told them that I will help them with their scrapbooks. We have a lot of photos that we can put in them already. Some of the pictures are from when they were still at the orphanage. We sent disposable cameras to the orphanages and they sent these back with us. They are going to be thrilled once they have their scrapbooks started! We can't thank you enough Denise, so I will let the girls do that. Here is the video we took of them and I have also included a few photos!

Mia, Aunt Denise, and Anna

New shirt!

Happy Birthday Baba!

It amazes us how much English Anna knows. She can sing a few songs in English, such as, Old McDonald Had a Farm and Happy Birthday. We told the girls that it was Baba's birthday and had shown them his birthday cake. Since we have only been home a few days, I didn't have time to really prepare for his birthday. Needless to say it was pretty lame except for the part where the girls sang "Happy Birthday" to Baba. What a surprise when Anna understood what she was to do when the cake came out. She has such a raspy voice. We saw a video of her when she was about six years old and we thought she had a cold because of her deep, raspy voice. Not so. Mia also tried to follow Anna's lead and sang some of it in English as well. So here is the video.

We're Home!

We flew out of Guangzhou to Shanghai leaving the hotel at 6:15 in the morning. We had everything packed up the night before and just transferred our pajamas to our carry-ons in case we had to stay over night in Detroit. We had a couple hour wait in Guangzhou before getting to Shanghai. We had a long layover in Shanghai lasting about 6 hours. Anna had a total melt down over a piece of candy no bigger than a small jelly bean! I had purchased a small box of candy for each of the girls so they had something to keep them happy. Anna goes through her candy faster than Mia. Even though Anna still had some left she asked Mia for some of hers. Mia told her no and the yelling, screaming, finger pointing was on. I had to hold her down to try and get her under control. We had a few people come over and it wasn't long before we caught the attention of the local police. Once Mia explained what happened, they were all smiling but still standing around watching. I love being the center of a freak show! Where was Phil you ask? He went to find a restroom. He said he could hear her yelling from across the airport. Nice. Yes, she has a set of lungs and isn't afraid to use them. Once we got on our flight, both girls fell asleep and slept on and off. We didn't expect that! Mia's eyes would light up whenever she saw the tray with food and drinks coming! That had to be her highlight. Anna's was playing this stupid game on the back of each seat. This particular game would lock up that system and so she went through two of them. I didn't get to enjoy movies or anything. Our connection in Detroit was 1hr 20 minutes. That meant getting through customs, immigration, baggage claim, baggage check, and bathroom break. We made it with three minutes to spare! Once we got to the Peoria Airport we were greeted by Ruthi and Claude and all eight of their beautiful and thoughtful daughters! We love you and thank you for the warm welcome and ride home!!! All your advice has paid off and we have the girls home! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! We stopped at McDonald's on the way home. Once we got home it was very simple, we ate, got baths, and went to bed! Anna and Mia have made such a production in the hotel each night on where they were going to get to sleep. They had to have lights on and mama next to them in bed. Once they saw their rooms and their beds it was nothing but squeals and I love you's! They both jumped into their own beds, Mia with the lights on and Anna with them off. Go figure! No mama, no baba! (Thank goodness). We will see how the other nights go!! We did show the girls where all the food was and they were in disbelief! Trust me, we don't have anymore than any one else, but to them a full fridge, cabinets, and freezer just sent them into squeals of delight. What a sight! Glad to be home!!!

Mia and Anna's Friends in the States!

Today, Wednesday December 5, was the girls consulate appointment. We really had a nice officer who called us first and then help with Anna's little snafu. We were able to take care of it right then and left shortly after arriving. The girls were up early so they were a bit tired and grouchy so we came back to the hotel for some rest. They are doing much better now. It seems like when we are with the guide, the girls start complaining about the plane ride, the little arguments they had earlier between each other, and then they feed off each other. It is a shouting match from the back seat of the car with Mama in between. No fun at all. Once they are away from our guide it is all smooth sailing!
We have two of Mia's friends who live in the States that we said she could talk to once we are home. She was a little confused about her friend who came her a few years back that she doesn't speak Chinese anymore so we will have an interpreter. Her other friend came to the States a few months ago.
Anna was told today that her very best friend, Sherry, was also adopted in the States and she will get to call and talk to her once we are home. Sherry was also adopted just a few months ago. The girls talk about what they will do when they are home. I just hope they don't have any melt downs while we are at the airport. We can only ask for more prayers that they are not afraid and will enjoy the airplane ride. We all need to be home to help make this adjustment. We did stock up on Chinese food, including hot sauce, but Anna doesn't like anything hot. Mia keeps ordering the hamburger with cheese and fries. They told us that Anna's favorite food is fried rice but she always turns it down. People have commented on how well adjusted they are with us already. We feel very comfortable with them and I think they are as comfortable with us. I am amazed that they both let me bath them and wash their hair for them on day 1. They willing wear the clothes we brought them except for the bell bottoms that we had for Mia. Apparently she hates bell bottoms and prefers straight legged pants. We'll learn! 

Our view from the hotel room!