Wednesday, September 14, 2011

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AVA XUE!!

Happy 2nd Birthday Baby Girl!! I am so proud of you as you have come such a long way in the last 24 days since I became your Mama. I am so blessed to have been able to celebrate your life with you today! And I cannot wait to see you blossom and grow into a beautiful little girl!

We have the rest of our lives to celebrate your life. We are your family forever baby girl!!













Tuesday, September 13, 2011

CUTE TO COMPARE

I just love when I take an outfit out of Ava's closet that was her big sister's. When I put it on her it brings back such beautiful memories we had with Halainah. It makes me sad that Halainah is growing up so fast...but so happy that we have amazing pictures to remember those moments...moments that we will cherish forever. And thankful that God blessed us with another miracle that we can love and nurture and create amazing memories with as well. Thank you Lord for these beautiful gifts!!

This is Halainah at 18 months old in her very first Matilda Jane dress. This is the dress that got me hooked and now I am obsessed with MJ. This picture was taken in the Outer Banks, North Carolina...and it was such an amazing vacation.


This is Ava at 23 months in Changchun, China. It was so incredible to see my new daughter come out of her shell a little and smile in her big sister's dress. This picture was taken only 3 days after she was taken away from the life she had known and placed into our arms.

This is Halainah at 17 months in our backyard. We were on our way to one of Aunt Bonnie's famous BBQ's.


This is Ava at 23 months old. I rolled the waist on her pants twice. She has such a tiny waist. I have learned that dresses work best on her tiny body and if I do put a skirt or pants on her...12 months is the way to go.

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

JUST ABOUT 1 WEEK HOME

We have been home for just about 1 week. And what a week it has been...oh boy...never would I have expected to come home to the whirlwind that we have. I am not going to lie...it has been hard...very very hard.

As you know, we came home to a flooded house due to Hurricane Irene. We had about 7 inches of disgusting mucky water in our basement. When we finally arrived home from China we had about 4 inches left. The water was sitting for days since we were not home to take care of things. Therefore, we have mold and everything else that is not pleasant. We had to hire a professional service to come in and start cleaning up the mess, disinfecting and to take care of the mold problem...but since everyone is flooded around here...we are still waiting for them to come so our basement is even more of a disgusting mess. And now our hardwood floors on our first level have become damaged due to the dampness and mold.

In the meantime, my brother and Crystal flew all the way here from Colorado to help with the cleanup. And my Aunt Ann, Uncle Klause and Cousins Sultana and Tyler and Sasha and her boyfriend came to help also. Honestly, we appreciate their help so much. Even though our basement is still destroyed...we conquered our garage and our yard. If you could see the amount of items we lost and the piles and piles of damaged stuff that we threw out...well...it was so so sad. Lainey is upset because she lost 2 bicycles and her water sink. We just couldn't save those.

We are at a loss right now...flood insurance is denying a lot of items to replace...like a washing machine and dryer and our freezer. And much much more...so we are trying other avenues to help ease the major blow in our finances.

We have been eating out every day since we have no gas and simply cannot afford it anymore. Before we left for China, I went on a major food shopping trip...hundreds of dollars spent on food. I stocked our box freezer to the top with food so that when we came home we would be set. I cried when I emptied the freezer straight into the garbage...all that food...gone to waste. We have been denied hotel coverage through our insurance so we are roughing it as much as we can stand. We will get through this I know...it's just really really hard right now...so please pray for us. We also had to deal with the death of an amazing and beautiful little girl, Alex who was such a ray of sunshine. Her entire family is grieving hard...she fought a tough battle and is now dancing with the angels...she will never be forgotten. Halainah loved Alex dearly as did all of us!!

As for Ava...she is doing wonderful. Last night was the first night that she slept as well as she did in China. I think she is finally on our time. We have been keeping her up all day to try and get her on our time. In China she took an hour nap but she was all sorts of messed up since we have been home. The first night home she went to sleep at 7 am...second night 5 am...third night 3 am...and so on. Tonight she went to sleep at 11 and should sleep through the night.

For the first couple of days she wanted to be held all of the time and if Tony and I walked out of her sight she would cry. But she plays more and cries less. She is coming around big time. She even goes to others now to be held. She bonded well with Sultana and Aunt Ann, and my brother and Aunt Crystal.

Halainah loves her "baby little". She is really saying baby sister but it sounds like "baby little" so Ava is now known as baby little to my family. Don't get me wrong...they fight sometimes like sisters and don't share and Ava sometimes hits...but Halainah is patient. Halainah had a little break down this evening because her sister was wearing a pair of her old Twinkle Toes sneakers...Halainah wanted to wear her newer pair...but when I went to put them on they didn't fit anymore...so now Ava has two pairs of Twinkle Toes and Halainah has none. Well that was a major breakdown and I guess we need to get Halainah a new pair that fits. But welcome to the world of 2 kids for me...guess this is the way it will always be now...LOL.

I wish I could say that life at home has been amazing. But it has been hard. I am thankful that it has been smooth for Ava and her transition into our family has been so special. All of the other stuff...hopefully will be all a distant memory in the near future.

Now let's play catch-up with pictures:

This was taken in the White Swan Hotel on the Island on our last day in China. We really missed staying at it on this trip.

And this was our attempt on the famous red couch. Ava was having no part of it.


On the island...the famous line of kids...Ava wasn't having any part of this picture either...she was terrified of the statues!!

In the beautiful White Swan Hotel again!!


Our agencies attempt at a group photo.

An attempt of getting all of our children in the picture...Ava is all the way at the end.

She is a thumb sucker...just like I was...sure hope that she isn't 8 when she finally stops!!

On our first day home...Ava crawled into Opa's lap and went right to sleep!

Beautiful Halainah in her headband we bought in China.

Halainah and Opa

Ava in her headband...doesn't she look thrilled?

Halainah sharing her raisins with "Baby Little"

Halainah and Cousin Tyler

Aunt Crystal cleaning with Ava on her back! Ava wouldn't let you put her down at this point...so we had to compromise...it was the only way to get the clean up done!!

My beautiful China Doll Ava...she looks so big in pictures...but she is so tiny...this outfit is 12 months...I started putting all 12 month clothes on her...they fit her the best...18 month is ok too...but 24 month....NO WAY! She will be 2 in 1 week!!

My attempts at getting my 2 munchkins together for a picture

So silly!!

New PJ's from Jiu Jiu and Aunt Crystal!! And you thought the 12 months wouldn't fit!!

Thursday, September 1, 2011

HOME SWEET HOME

We arrived home safely. It was a very rough flight full of turbulence. I wanted to kiss the ground when we stepped off of the plane. Ava did great and seems to feel at home here.

Our home is destroyed...it looks like a war zone. I have already made a few calls to our insurance companies. It's going to be a rough couple of days. I need to find someone to pump our basement as our first course of action.

I will post more soon. Right now...I feel like a truck hit me. I'm so thankful to be home with my two beautiful girls even though our home is out of sorts. Regardless, I am one blessed Mommy.