Museum in Chicago!

We went to the museum in Chicago over Christmas vacation and here are a few pictures!

"Sue", Anna and Mia

Anna, a friend, and Mia

Lions, and tigers, and bears, oh my!

Mia is underground.

Anna and her underground friend!

Christmas and Christmas Parade!

We all had a great time over Christmas vacation. Christmas was spent with our daughters and their families!

Mia and Anna at the Christmas parade in Peoria, IL

Austin, Stephen, Jax, Jennifer, Jordyn, Jamie, Mia, Benjamin, back row; Matthew, Anna, Kadina, Mark, and Julie

Anna Receives E-Mail from Teacher from China!

We received an e-mail from Anna's teacher, Miss Heidi, who teaches the children English while in China. Miss Heidi is with an American organization from California who sent her to China, Bao'an Shenzhen orphanage. Anna has talked about Miss Heidi (Miss Haddie) from the first time that we met her. She has sang many English songs and always says, "Miss Haddie say to Anna". It is such a comfort for parents like us to know that someone cared very much for your child. That they were loved and hugged. The last pictures that we received from China before traveling to pick up Anna included Heidi and Anna together. We would like to thank Miss Heidi for everything that she has done and continues to do for the abandoned children in China. These children face such sadness everyday of their lives and you have special people, like Heidi, who come in and do amazing things! Everyone can remember that special teacher they had in their lives that gave them so much encouragement. Well Heidi, you will always be that special someone in Anna's life and in ours. You don't know what all you have done for this child! She shows such concern when someone is sad or hurt. She will help the elderly walk, comfort a hurt child, and ask about an ailment that we may have had. We never new who to thank until now - thank you so much Miss Heidi.
Here is an excerpt of the e-mail that we received:

Hello, my name is Heidi. I am the director of Sunshine Academy where your daughter Anna attended school for several years. I have known Anna since she arrived at the Bao'an Center. In fact, I gave her the name Anna. :)

I was thinking of Anna and thought I would take a look to see how she is doing. I cried when I read your sentence: 

Did we do the right thing, you bet we did. She is the most loving, affectionate, and happy little girl.

I always say that she is one of our miracles - a child who changed so drastically through the consistent love and boundaries given to her by her teachers day after day. I was (and still am) so incredibly proud of her. And of our teachers that invested in this little girl. 

And then came the day when you stepped into her life! A true miracle again. We prayed for you all and for her and now it is a thrill for me to see pictures of our girl Anna with her family in Illinois! Fishing and playing with her sister and hearing about going to school.... I love it!!! 

You both have given Anna a rebirth - an opportunity that is totally and completely a miracle. Rejected so many times and with such a difficult past, I am over the moon with seeing the love that you have for her. I pray that you will continue to have the grace you need to raise this precious girl. 

Please tell her that Miss Heidi says hello and I would like to give her a big big hug! Please tell her that I have seen the pictures of her and her sweet sister Mia and I am so proud of her. She is such a pretty girl who has accomplished so much already!! She is very brave and I know she has a wonderful future ahead. 

And you are also both very brave - to survive those first few days and weeks all in the name of love. Thank you so much! 

With much love from China,

Heidi

Anna did have a hard time adjusting. She was angry, hurt, confused, and tried so hard to control everything around her. It took months for her to quiet down and just enjoy the new things around her. Anna is very outgoing, friendly, and so very sincere. She is the most affectionate and caring child! We can't tell you how much this little girl of yours is loved. Thank you Miss Heidi!

Miss Tyler (who Anna said was Heidi) and Anna 1 Year Ago!

Miss Heidi this is a special message from Anna!!

 

The first video what had of Anna talking to Miss Heidi was too long to upload so we had to retake and Anna wasn't as spontaneous as the first one. When Anna had been with us for a few weeks she would sing an English song (Old MacDonald, Happy Birthday, etc.) and always say Miss Haddie (Heidi). When she knew more English she would say, "Miss Heidi say to Anna". We didn't know she had other English teachers until Miss Heidi told us about Miss Tyler who had been with Anna for the last few years.  Thanks to all the special people from Sunshine Academy for your years of service to these special children. Anna is so much more different than Mia in that Anna has been exposed to so much more and was given a head start on living in America. We just want you to know that you do make a difference and it is huge!!! Thank you for caring enough and loving these children who so desperately need love. I pray that one day we won't be in need of orphanages because all children will have a loving, caring, supportive homes! May God bless each and every one of you.

Anna's "Gotcha Day" and The Clothes She Was Wearing.

Anna is from a region similar to our Florida weather, southern China. The weather was rainy and cool when the three of us went to meet Anna. The temperature was around 55 F. Anna and her caregivers (4 total) were already there and waiting in a room off to left of the main area. We had to fill out paperwork before we could meet her but that didn't stop her from running out of the room laughing and giggling. Her smile was so sweet. I clearly remember seeing her in warm black tights and a black skirt. Her legs were so very, very thin. You wanted to protect this child from the moment you saw her. When her caregivers brought her into meet us, we handed Anna a stuffed lamb and she threw it back at Phil. She was scared at this time. She did sit with us and seemed to be relaxing. That is about the time all her caregivers left and then she really got upset. She kept repeating in Chinese that she wanted to go back to the orphanage. I remember her caregiver telling us that what ever happens just make sure we get her home. She needs a family more than anything. This little girl was so scared and mad that she fought, screamed, cried, yelled, all the way back to the hotel. She had on this little coat that was buttoned and without that we would not have been able to drag her out of the civil affairs office and to the car. When we all got back to the hotel room Anna told our guide in Chinese that she couldn't stay because she didn't have any clothes so I went and grabbed her suitcase and emptied everything of hers onto the bed and said, "there ya go." She loves to tell this story over and over again. Did we do the right thing, you bet we did. She is the most loving, affectionate, and happy little girl. Here are pictures of "gotcha day" and what she was wearing that day.

Anna on "gotcha day" with all her caregivers watching

Anna and Mia's first meeting

Us with Anna's caregivers

Anna's clothes on "Gotcha Day" on a warm day

Mia's "Gotcha Day" And The Clothes She Was Wearing.

I wanted to share with you pictures of what the girls were wearing when we picked them up in China. It is important to know that they dress the children very warm and they are dressed in thick layers of clothing. They also serve warm water (almost hot) instead of cold water with ice. Most orphanages are not heated or air conditioned, even in areas with weather similar to central Illinois weather. Mia's orphanage was in a region that was very cold in winter and hot in summer. When we picked her up in December 2012 it was 40 degrees F. She was wearing a coat and three layers of clothing. The clothes were too small for her. Some orphanages ask that you bring a change of clothes so they can take back the clothes they have on but this wasn't the case for our girls. Mia remembers getting back to the hotel and I gave her new clothes to change into. She said she was very happy to wear her new clothes. Some children will continue to wear their old clothes for a week. She accepted her name, clothes, and new family very well and never looked back. Here is a picture of Mia when we first saw her and a picture of the clothes she had on. She also had the bag we sent her including the small gifts (flower bag on table).

Mia's caregiver, me, and Mia

Mia's caregiver and Mia saying goodbye to her

What Mia was wearing (not shown - her orange shoes)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fun Summer and Now Back To School!

Things have been pretty quiet over the summer. As Anna would say, "Aahhh faster". She says this when something is over quickly - like summer vacation. The girls have enjoyed bike rides on the trail, swimming, fishing, local fairs, picnics, and collecting eggs from our chickens. The girls have really enjoyed helping in the gardens this year. Anna actually loves pulling weeds. There was a stretch of time when we were pulling weeds everyday for weeks and weeks. We had a few weeks off from pulling weeds. Today she told Phil, "All the time, no pull weeds, can I go pull weeds?"  Uhh, yea go pull weeds. The both pulled weeds for about 45 minutes. Anna had a pile of weeds in no time that was huge. She will have dirt on her from head to toe and Mia won't have any dirt on her. She doesn't pick as fast but she is the neatest one.
We have also enjoyed several camp fires at night in our own back yard including smores and watching a meteor shower. The girls weren't too keen on scary stories but once they got the hang of them and could reason that the stories are not real they started to enjoy them. I started out by telling them nursery rhyme stories (The Three Little Pigs, Goldilocks, Little Red Riding Hood). Then we got into a little more scary stories. We have corn fields on all sides so the sounds of the wind blowing through the fields are scary all on their own, now add coyotes howling a little ways from the house and things get real interesting. We told the girls not to make any sound and just listen, Anna looks over at Phil and asks him if he is sleeping. I told her that he was not asleep because he wasn't snoring. A few seconds later and he is snoring up a storm. She runs over and pinches his nose and whispers to him, "The coyotes will hear you, you have to be quiet." They have really grown tall and Mia has really gained much needed weight. We are still working on putting weight on Anna. She has two things against her, a high metabolism and she doesn't absorb all the protein that she eats. She can eat at one meal as much as Phil and I do combined. I kid you not - the child can eat and eat and a few moments after a meal she will ask when she can have a snack. We are even asking the school to add another snack or additional main course at lunch just to keep her from being so hungry.

Both girls are back to school and adjusting. Anna received 5 green stars this week and Mia is also doing well in class. We didn't get called once for behavior this week. I think that may be a record. We have requested IEP's for each one and are hoping that they can start testing the girls for mental and cognitive developmental delays. We also think they may both have a learning disability. When I went back through all of Mia's early years I read that she did not talk until she was three and that she did have cognitive delays. They had the younger children doing everything for her because "the younger children were aware of her limitations". Nice. No wonder she lets Anna do everything for her and Anna even makes simple decisions for her. Mia's teacher is working on making her more independent at school and we have always worked on this at home. Sounds good on paper but in reality she needs a lot of reminders until she gets it down. Both girls will still need extensive English classes (one on one). They have come a long way since coming home and we are all able to relax more now. We have all got into our routines and things aren't as stressful.

Watching the bobber - what patience!

Too intense to sit in the chair after catching 7 fish! Awesome!

Untangling my line for the second time - Ugh.

I caught 4 fish my first time ever!

New Kitten!

The neighbor stopped by and asked us if we had lost a kitten. He had a 5 week old, orange and white kitten in his hands but not for long. Anna came right up to him and asked if she could have her! He said he had about 12 kittens that were not weened as of yet and we were welcomed to have this one. She has long hair and is really playful. Are plans were to bring home two kittens at the same time so they could both have one but it didn't work that way. We had a contact who had seven kittens and would be available at the end of June. Now we only needed one more kitten from them instead of two.
The girls are given 5 minutes each to hold the kitten and then the kitten gets 15 - 20 to play by herself! We actually set a timer so everyone is happy, including the kitten!

Sorry to say the kitten is no longer with us. We are not sure just what happened to her but we let her outside to play with the girls like we do everyday and we havn't seen her since. Maybe we will wait another year before trying it again.

On a good day when they like each other!!

First little kitten!

One girl is usually mad when the other one has the kitten!