MANY FIRSTS

I apologize to eeryone that keep checking my blog, and there is nothing new. It is so difficult to find time to get on the computer. Not to mention, we still have dial-up, so it takes like 15 minutes to download 1 picture. SOOOO annoying! Well, where do I begin? There are so many new things to tell you about. Kya is now crawling very well. (those days of going to the bathroom alone are gone again) She can pull herself up, and is very proud of herself when she does. She still is not saying anything except mama, but that will come in time. We are teaching her to sign a little so that she can communicate somewhat. She can hold her own bottle, and holds her utensils, but hasn't quite figured out how to scoop food up yet.

Other than skills, there are so many things that she has got to experience. It's so fun to introduce her to new things. She had her first experience in Grandpa and Grandma's pool, and loved it. She was totally fearless. Her face actually went under twice and she didn't even cry. She likes biking. Of course who wouldn't in her little trailer, she usually ends up taking a nap in there. Next month we have a camping trip planned and a road trip, we'll see how that goes. She's such a go with the flow baby, that I'm sure she will do just fine.

This is so cool! I get to sit in here while Mom does all the work.

(check back later for more pictures)

Springtime-Finally!

It was just to nice to be inside last Sunday! And of course, great time for photos.

SomeEaster Pics

My days of being a full time Mom are coming to an end, I'm sorry to say. It's back to work Monday. I now have a new stress to worry about. Kya decided she doesn't want to let anyone else give her a bottle but me. I am glad in a way, beause it means we have that special bond at feeding time, but it's not going to fair well while she's at the sitters. She's fine to be spoon fed by anyone, so at least she'll get some nutrition if she refuses the bottle. Shawn on the other hand is having a hard time with it. He's feeling very left out at bottle time, so last night he kicked me out of the house to see if it was different when I was gone. She did fuss some, but she finally gave in and took it, which gives me hope. Maybe it will be o.k. if I'm not present. So Kaycee and I had a girls night out, we went to the mall and spent money we shouldn't have, but oh well, we deserved it!!. Kya is now feeding herself like a pro, our next step is to get her to hold her own bottle. She's really liking the standing thing (with us holding her hands), I think she'll probably just skip the crawling all together. Tuesday was her B-Day, and we got her a little cake to see what she would do with it. Basically, she took a few licks of frosting, picked up the piece and tossed it on the floor. (Our dog was very happy with that choice.!) We are having a family Easter dinner/ Birthday party for her on Sunday. Happy Easter to all!!!

This is my new walker from Grandma and Grandpa Hartman for my birthday! Look out Zoey and Smokey, here I come!!!

Don't I look cute in Kaycee's Hanna Montana hat?

Big sister is trying to teach Kya how to roll the ball back and forth. She gets so excited when we play this game with her. She actually does pretty good. Of course, sometimes the ball goes behind her , she hasn't quite perfected her aim yet.

My New Best Friend

As you can see, Kya loves our dog Zoey, and the feeling is mutual. Zoey has to absolutely be wherever she is. This day they were playing on the floor together. Kya hasn't learned yet how to gently pet the animals, she wants to grab and rip the fur out, and Zoey just lays there and takes it. Our cat on the other hand is not so tolerant. we have to keep watch when she's near him, he tends to bite when someone is annoying him, and it's not a nice bite.

I apologize to any sleep deprived parents out there, but I must brag about my little sleepin' mama! She's been averaging 12 hours a night. Whoo hoo! I know I'm gonna jinx myself by even mentioning this, but it's been great. I think she finally feels comfortable in her room. She's getting better at putting herself to sleep also. I hope everyone else in our travel group are having the same luck.

I have one more week before I go back to work. I wish I was more excited about it. I'm kinda dreading having to leave her, she'll probably think she's being left with another new family. The first week will be difficult for her. Monday she will be with a new sitter, and Tuesday my mother in law will be watching her, then back to the sitter for Thusday and Friday, so Kya will have a lot of adjusting to do again. I hope all goes well. Say a little prayer for us on April 13 at about 11:30. I also found out she doesn't take a bottle from anybody else easily, but I guess if she gets hungry enough she will. Well, I need to go feed my little peanut, so more later.

Milestones

Yes, I'm actually getting a second to blog!. I guess I should say that I'm taking the time to blog. Most days I feel like I should be doing something more productive while she sleeps. The little stinker was up 3 times last night, so I really should be sleeping, but I'm choosing computer over sleep, I'm sure I'll regret it later. Well, we hit 2 milestones in the last week. Kya now loves her baths. After getting over the little tantrum after she hit the water, she realized that it was a pretty good time after all. As a matter of fact, she got a little to relaxed, and soon the poop came. Needless to say, I had to finish her bath in the kitchen sink, while Daddy cleaned out the tub.

I know she doesn't look to thrilled in this picture, but trust me, she liked it. At least she's not shrieking like usual.

This second milestone is self explanatory. Yes, she is putting a snack in her mouth by herself!. We haven't been very disciplined about trying to teach her this, but yesterday I thought I'd try again, and she caught on pretty fast this time. What can I say, she has her Mama's smarts. This morning I had to then show her again, but she'll get it! All in good time.

On this day she was in on of her silly moods. It didn't take much to make her laugh. I just love when she belly laughs!

I can't believe we've been home for a week, and I'm just now blogging. This week has gone really fast. Between cleaning, laundry, visitors, and catching up on sleep it's flown by. things are going really well for us. Kya is such a good baby. The only time she fusses is when she's tired or hungry. Well, and now when I leave the room also. This makes it hard to get anything done. Our nights are going pretty good. As long as her belly is full before bed, she sleeps all night. There have of course been a few off nights. We haven't figured out why some nights she wakes up once or twice. I can usually rock her right back to sleep, I can tell that she just wants to be held a little, just to make sure we are still there.

Kya had her doctor appt. Tuesday, and she has an infection in her right ear, and she still has a little cough, but otherwise, the doctor thought everything looked good. She's now got her 8th tooth popping out. Other than drooling, it doesn't seem to bother her. She's turning into such a little ham. Every time she sees her Dad, she gives him this cheesy grin. I've been enjoying my days with her. I must say, I'm not missing work much. I hope when the time comes that I'll be more ready to go back, or it's going to be hard. Thank you all for following our journey, I'll still try to keep updating when I have a chance. I'll post some new pictures soon.

Leaving China

Well, this is the last post I'll be making from China. It's kinda bittersweet. I'm glad to be going home, but I'm a little sad for Kya to leave her country. Parts of China are very beautiful, and the people are gracious. We have overall been treated with kindness. We hope some day to bring her back to experience a little of her culture. I just finished packing, and I'm hoping to get a few hours sleep tonight. We have to be out the door by 6:30 in the morning. This morning we had the traditional Red Couch Photo. This is where all the babies in our group get their picture taken on the red couch at the White Swan Hotel. As you will see by the photo, it was quite the fiasco. After that we did a little more shopping, had lunch, and met our group at 2:45 to go to the U.S. Consulate to get the babies Visas, and we had a little swearing in to signify her becoming a U.S. citizen as soon as we land in the good old USA. When we got back, we had supper, and went back to our room to pack. So, I'm making this short and sweet, cause I'm whooped. Please pray for us a safe LONG journey home, and my next post will be from the comfort of my own home. Love to all, Kris

This is inside the White Swan Hotel, It's really pretty.

Doug, Beth, Maddie, and Grandma Graber.

Hopefully somebody in our group got a better picture than this, but you can see how it went down.

Kya, Kaycee, and Maddie

Finally, nice weather!

First of all, Happy Birthday to Grandpa Hartman from Kaycee and Kya. It is his B-Day here already. Today was a very nice day. Kaycee, Kya and I slept until 9:00 which we haven't been able to do most days because we are just busy all the time. We ate some breakfast, and then went exploring and shopping around the island. The weather was finally nice. I'm not sure how warm it got, but I was able to wear short sleeves for the first time in the trip. We ate lunch outside, and just had a nice leisurely day. We bought the girls some souvenirs and Chinese outfits. I'll post the pics of them in their outfits, they're so darn cute. We have another busy day tomorrow. In the morning is the Red Couch Photo,(I'll explain later) and then we have our appt. at the Consulate in the afternoon. Sometime in between there I want to get a few more souvenirs. I hope we have time to enjoy our last day in China. I have to admit, I'm gonna miss Guangzhou, I wish we could have spent more of our time here.

Kaycee posing in front of some of the pretty flowers on the island. This is a church that I thought was pretty.

We saw lots of models and photographers out today.

Shopping is soooo exhausting!!

Aren't they adorable in their Chinese outfits?. I think Kya looks like a little China doll in her dress! Kaycee has pants to match hers, but she thought they looked stupid on her. Such Drama!!

We like Guangzhou

Today we got up and walked over to the White Swan hotel for breakfast. They have a good size buffet, and they even had tater tots on it which I for one was very excited about. After that we met our group to go shopping. Shawn, being the awesome dad that he is, kept the girls, and gave me some time to go shopping alone, while they hung out in the room and watched a movie. We didn't go where I expected, I was thinking something like a flea market, but it was a jade and porcelain store, and then to the wholesale pearl market. After that we went to the grocery store, which was more like (in Doug's words) a Wal-mart on steroids. You enter on ground level, then take the escalator down 2 levels to get to the baby products. this is also where the cashiers were located, so after you check out you take your cart back up the escalators which somehow mysteriously lock your cart in place so it doesn't roll. Pretty ingenious!! Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that I think half of the 9 million people that populate Guangzhou were in the store at the same time we were. It was a wild time!! All I have to say is Thank Goodness for our guides. If it wasn't for them, I would probably still be searching for the baby food on 1 of the many floors of Carremart. If we ever get to visit China again, I am personally hiring them to take me everywhere!! After that we went back to the hotel to grab a much needed nap. We ate supper at an Italian restaurant on the island, which had the nicest employees. They came out and carried our strollers up the stairs to the restaurant. One thing I am definitely going to miss is the great service we get everywhere we go. There are adopting families everywhere you go, and you don't feel uncomfortable when you go any place with your kids. No one giving you the look if your children happen to be fussy. It is very family friendly. After dinner we went back to our room, and I got to talk to my Sister and my Niece via Skype again. This is one of the best inventions ever. And to top off a great day, Kya sat up by herself for a few minutes, and rolled over by herself for the first time. We are proud parents, of course!! Naturally, we didn't have the video camera ready, maybe we can catch it tomorrow. Good night for now, Kris

This is the restaurant we ate at, it is really pretty on the outside and in. We thought we ordered Kaycee a cheese pizza for one, hence the language barrier.

I'm sittin up in my highchair prettty good!!!

Guangzhou-Our Last Leg!!

Well, we arrived in Guangzhou on Friday night at 8:00 . Guangzhou is the final stop for all adopting families from the U.S. It is where the U.S. embassy is located. The place where our hotel is located is called Shamian Island. It is seperated from the main area of Guangzhou. It is a much safer and quieter place. Our guide Cathryn ordered us Papa John's pizza on the bus ride from the airport to the hotel, so we pretty much ate that and went to bed. This morning we had Kya's medical exam. They checked her nose, throat, ears, checked her height and weight. She is 18.2 lbs. and 28in. long. According to them, she's a healthy girl, but we'll still have her checked out when we get home. Later in the afternoon we walked around the island and shopped a little. There's alot of neat little shops and restaurants. We ate lunch at a place called Lucy's Bar & Grill. It's an american restaurant, and we had a good old fashioned cheeseburger & fries. Tomorrow we are going to a wholesale market, I hope to find some good deals there.

As you can tell, she didn't enjoy her exam, but Sissy was there to make it all better afterward.

Don't I look cute in Daddy's hat?

Wednesday-Nanchang

Today we went on a tour of a history museum of the province we are in (Jiangxi). It must not be a very popular place with the locals, cause they had to turn the lights on for us when we got there at 10:30am, but they sure didn't bother to turn the heat on. We froze to death as we walked around. My feet were numb by the time we left. Luckily, I had Kya strapped to the front of me in her carrier, and we kept each other warm. She is such a good baby, she slept for most of the museum. To see pics of yesterday, go to Beth's blog, http://snowreferral.blogspot.com/ our memory card in my camera was full, and we didn't get it transferred before we left. Beth is so much more disciplined about taking pics than I am. I am more thankful every day that we are on this journey together, to have them here, (and Grandma Graber) has been great!!. We all went down to this little cafe area in our hotel yesterday to get some ice cream and coffee. Shawn and Kaycee each had an ice cream bar, like just a normal ice cream bar, and we went to pay, and they were each 60 Yen, which is like 10.00 U.S. money, I about fell off my chair. I guess we won't be having ice cream at the hotel anymore. Anyways, after the museum, we went to porcelain district. Jiangxi is known for its porcelain. They had some beautiful large vases that I would have loved to bring home, but getting them there is a problem. I did buy a little vase called a 100 Chinese girls, it's really cute. That night, we had dinner with the other families in our group, to get to know each other better, and to get out of our rooms. Well, that's about all for now. Tomorrow is another day with not alot on the schedule, which is fine with us, we'll use the time to get packed again, and to get more acquainted with our sweet baby Kya. Love to all Kris

See what I mean by needing to repack? This is Kaycee's suitcase, it looks the same as her room!!

Some special bondng time.

Here's some pictures of our hotel. It's really beautiful in the lobby.

A Lazy Day

Today was a much needed day to do nothing. It was the first day that we didn't have to be anywhere, or get up early. We had the option to go on a tour, but opted out. Kya had a very restless night. She kept whimpering in her sleep, and sometimes even cried out. She did this most of the night, so I didn't get much rest. I can only imagine what she is dreaming about. You can tell she is still in a state of shock, but every day she does something new, and gets stronger and more muscle control. I wasn't prepared for how far behind she is for her age, and it's been hard for me to deal with. But we are seeing progress, and it gives me hope that she can catch up with lots of love, and working with her every day. Shawn worked with her today teaching her to pick up cheerios out of his hand. She still doesn't get the idea of hand to mouth, but she will. We did get a much anticipated poop yesterday. Many times babies that go through a trauma don't poop for several days, so believe it or not, we were glad to see it. Kaycee and I are feeling a little homesick, and the dreary days here don't help. Hopefully it will be warmer and sunny in Guangzhou, so that we can get outside and take walks or do something. We really enjoy getting your comments and messages, thank you all for sending them. Love Kris

Look Grandma Hartman, I stole Maddie's doll that you gave to her. I like it too!!!

Just had to show you all how cute the piggies are!! My dad is the best!! My two beautiful girls taking a nap on a rainy day. Kaycee just got done feeding her, and they both crashed. We had Pizza Hut pizza with the Snows for supper. This is Kya's orphanage sister and best friend for life, Madeline. The orphanage director said that their cribs were right next to each other, so we think that they're good friends already.

A MUCH NEEDED UPDATE

First of all, I must apologize to the ones who were waiting to see Kya via skype. We had to leave early for our paperwork this morning, right about the time we had set up to skype my sister and my mom. I'm so sorry, I had no time, and no way to let you guys know we weren't going to make it. We have been using Beth's computer to do our updates and E-mails, and we just don't always heve time to go to her room to catch up on things. She was nice enough to let me bring it to our room today, so I am blogging while Kya is napping and Shawn and Kaycee went to check out the pool. Well, enough about me, I know your all dying to see pictures, so here they are. when we actually got her, Shawn just video taped that, so you'll have to wait to see that when we get home. But, of course, we've been taking lots of photos today.

As you can tell, Kaycee is one proud sister!! She's been a big help too. She was the one to finally get Kya to smile this morning. We saw no smiles at all last night after we got her, which is understandable. I think she was pretty much in shock for a while. She cried on and off most of the time, but she did really well. I tried to hold her to put her to sleep, but I could just tell she didn't want to be held, so I laid her down and she went right to sleep. We learned today from the orphanage director that she was only in foster care up until 3 months old, so I suppose she was used to putting herself to sleep in the orphanage. The director also said that she has a very good personality, and is an easy going baby. I can tell that already. About the only time she cries is when she's hungry. She had a slight temperature when we go her, and she has kind of a raspy cough, but luckily we have a pediatrician in our group. He came to listen to her chest and said it's just a head cold, so we were relieved to hear that.

Look at those beautiful lashes! She better not be batting them at anybody for a long time.

I gotta show the good with the bad. As wide as her mouth is open, she has a really litttle quiet cry. I thought maybe it was because of her sore throat. We'll see when her cold goes away .

Kaycee was playing peek-a-boo with her and really had her giggling. This was a glimmer of hope that she was staring to like us. I read that a part of bonding was to get them to make eye contact with you, and she does that really well when we talk to her.

This is the view from our hotel room. You can just tell when you drive through the city that they are poor here. This is the typical kind of housing that you see everywhere. They have many apartment buildings high rises.

Todays the day!!!!

We are eating breakfast right now, it's 8:15 and we meet our group at 8:30, then it's off to the airport. We have about a 2 hour flight down to Nanchang. We'll probably have about enough time to get settled in our room and then we go meet our Kya girl. Kaycee is very wound up, I can't imagine why. We have a little bit of paperwork to do, then we can go back to the hotel and take time to get acquainted with our new little one. I know everyone is super excited to see pics, if everything goes good, i'll try to get some pics on tonight. Well, we better get going. Wish us luck, and pray for Kya that she has a smooth transition. Love to all. Kris

Forbidden City and Acrobat Show

Today we went to the Forbidden City. One thing I’ve learned is that the Chinese don't do anything small. The Forbidden City has got to be a mile long from front to back. It's got 9,999 rooms. If you don't know, this is where the emperor lived, when he ruled. We learned all sorts of facts about it from our guide, Catherine, half of which I don't remember. Later that day we went to a acrobat show, which was totally awesome!!! The pictures don't do it justice, but I posted some. Today we go to the great wall. I'm excited about that. We leave at 8:30, and don't get back until 6:00 tonight, so it will be a long day. Oh, I forgot to tell you, we feel like rock stars here. We had many Chinese people that wanted their picture taken with us, especially Kaycee. It's like they never saw Americans before. Well, we better get going, more later.

This little baby loved Kaycee. She kept trying to grab her hair.

This picture on the right is in the emperor's garden. It would have been prettier had it been summer.

These girls were amazing. The little one on the top couldn't have been more than 6 or 7 years old.

Friday - Beijing

To see yesterday's post, go to http://snowreferral.blogspot.com/2009/02/friday-beijing.html. More later...

Beijing

Just wanted to let everyone know that we made it ok. We are getting ready to go get something to eat, i'll post some pics a little later. We had a good tailwind most of the way, so we arrived in Beijing an hour earlier than scheduled. That was cool, cause we were ready to get off the plane. I was tired of the dude beside me with the bad breath. FYI, Shawn wants me to specify that it was not him sitting next to me. OK, i'll post more later with pictures. XOXO Shawn, Kris, and Kaycee

Well, it's Friday morning in Beijing. I thought i'd add some pics before we go to breakfast. Today will be busy. We are going to the Forbidden City, Summer Palace, and later, a Acrobat show. It's sunny here and it's suppose to get up to the high 40s. Hopefully tonigt i'll have time to post some pics from today.

This is Kaycee's new friend Anna. She was adopted when she was 11 months old. She's 6 now. Her family is back to get her a sister. They are one of the familys in our group.This is Anna's dad and mom Lisa and John at O'Hare.

Here's our plane. Kaycee kinda freaked out when she saw it. It was pretty big.

Don't I look pretty after 10 hours of flying.

I Think We're Ready!

Well, I just finished packing at 12:30am. I'm gonna try to get a little sleep before our busy day starts. We leave bright and early for the South Bend airport to catch a bus to Chicago O'Hare. Our flight leaves Chicago at 12:30pm., for the long 14 hour flight. We will arrive in Beijing at 4:30 on Thursday. They are 13 hours ahead of us if you wondered how that works. So, the next time I post will be in China!. Please continue to keep us in your prayers. Hugs and Kisses to everyone! Bye for now.

Packing "YUCK"

As you can tell, packing is not my favorite thing to do. We are traveling to 3 different cities, with 3 different temperatures. Then they want you to keep the weight of your bags under 45 lbs. Yeah right!!. Shawn's suitcase is done. Of course, all he wants to take is shorts and t-shirts. He'd wear shorts all winter if he could. And then there's Kaycee. She wants to take every piece of clothing she owns. She has to make a fashion statement even in another country. Believe it or not, after all that, I actually got half of my suitcase packed. I'm trying to pack for Kya in my suitcase also, cause we are only allowed 1 checked bag per person on the in country flights. I forgot how much 1 baby needs. Not knowing for sure what size she is, makes it hard to pack clothes for her. They do have Walmart over there, so we can buy anything that we forget or different size clothes if need be. Other than the packing, we are ready to go!!! Beth and Doug came over tonight so we could make sure our paperwork was in order. We won't see them again till we get to Beijing. I told her to have supper ready for us, since they get there a day before us. We want the number 3 with rice Doug!!! HAHA!! Well, I better get to bed. Maybe I can sleep tonight. NOT!.