Sick girls and another snow day

Well, we had another snow day today which is probably a good thing as both girls were sick. As I said in my previous post, both girls were getting over illnesses. Olivia has been fighting a fever since early Saturday morning (with a high temp of 105.8) but tested negative for strep on Sunday. The doctor said it was a virus and to just keep giving her tylenol and such to treat the fever. Well she woke up about 4:45 this morning with yet another fever (103.8) so I gave her more tylenol. Sophia woke up about 5:30 with a fever of 103.2 so she got a dose of medicine. I put her back in bed and after about 30 minutes she told me her ears hurt. So at that point I decided to take both girls to the doctor this morning. Unfortunately, it (plus the fact that school was closed again) totally messed up my plans for the day as we (my girlfriend and I) were supposed to do some shopping for supplies for our FCC Chinese New Year celebration on Saturday. She and her wonderful husband did some of the shopping today and I hope to finish up the rest tomorrow. It was determined that Olivia had an ear infection in both ears and Sophia just had an infection in her right ear. The Dr. was surprised that Olivia did not complain about her ears hurting. They both seem to be doing much better with the antibiotic in their system. Hopefully they will feel well enough to go to school tomorrow.

Here are a few pictures with my new camera. I just love it!!

Now this is a snow day!!!

This is snow we received last night which cause the schools to close -- even the major county around us including the Catholic schools (which never close). It started around 4:45 pm. We left gymnastics at 5pm and it took us 4.HOURS.to.get.home. Ugh! Both kids are getting over illnesses and I am hoping being in today helps that. They stayed in their pj's all day long. I had hoped the girls would be able to play in it but no such luck. We had some freezing rain on top of the snow which made it hard.

Has it really been 4 years already???**PHOTOS ADDED**

Has it really been 4 years since we went to China for the first time and became parents? I remember that night vividly. We spent the day in Beijing. We went to the Jade factory (where one of our travel mates got sick), the friendship store for shopping and lunch and lastly, The Great Wall before going to the airport to catch our flight to Nanchang. After we got to our gate, our guide Peter said I have some news for you and I could be bribed to share it for ice cream. I looked at him and said we're getting our babies tonight, aren't we? He looked at me and said how did you know? I had heard of stories where that had happened but I never imagined it would happen to us. We landed in Nanchang about 8:30 pm, got our luggage and got on the bus. On the bus ride to the hotel, our awesome guide Sissi gave us some information about our babies, pictures that were taken the previous week, information about Suichuan County and our hotel room keys. We arrived at the hotel about 9:00 got up to our room about 10 after and we were told to meet them at room 1115 at 9:30. I was so nervous. I wondered what she looked like, if she would cry, if I would recognize her. Unfortunately, our camera was not on the right setting and most of my China pictures were not the greatest and I only have one picture of her from that night where she finally fell asleep in my arms. She loved to put my shirt to her lips and suck her tongue until she fell asleep. She was so tiny that I called her peanut. She is still tiny but not the smallest out of our group of 14. We have a reunion every year around Family Day and this year will be no exception. We will meet some of our group in Lexington the coming weekend for our annual professional photo shoot and birthday party.

Although Olivia's "git 'cha" day (what Olivia calls it in her best southern accent) was yesterday (Feb 2nd), we celebrate today as our Family Day as it was the finalization of her adoption. Today she got to do what she wanted to do. After church, we came home and ate lunch, went to Chuck E Cheese's, ate supper and then went for an ice cream. She had a blast and so did we.

I will have to come back and add photos because Blogger is being mean right now........

Sophia's new song

This past weekend Sophia decided to give us preview of a new song she's learning at school -- at least I think that's where she's learning it. It is sooooo cute. She does still have some work to do with regard to her speech but this is great!

Sigh.....Another Snow Day......

Today we had another snow day. Thankfully we weren't the only county this time but we still just had the less than an inch we had last week. We did not go out and play today as both girls are battling a small cold and I didn't want it to go into a full force cold. So instead of going outside we stayed in and baked a cake! They had fun and so I. The picture above is today's snow......

A Snow Day? For THIS????

This is how our road looked this morning and for this we had a snow day. I couldn't believe it when I saw that our county schools were closed -- and they were the only county around that was closed. Olivia enjoyed her day off from "school". Here are a few pics from the morning as the snow was gone when we got home from an errand we had to run.

Say it isn't so

Please tell me where my baby went to. Sophia has decided that she does not want to nap. This is her second day of not taking one and she has done really well. She has gone to bed earlier than her sister that has to have a nap -- everyday. What is it that makes babies not want or need a nap? Don't they know that it isn't just for them, it's for their mommies too? It is now 20 minutes after I put Sophia to bed and she has been asleep for 19 of those 20 minutes. Sniff, sniff my baby is growing up on me......

The new 'do

Well, I took Olivia and Sophia to get haircuts last week. Olivia's hair when it's long gets stringy and looks very unkempt. She looks better with shorter hair but Daddy doesn't quite like it short but since he doesn't fix their hair he has no say in what I have done with it. LOL Here is Olivia's new 'do.....

Sophia and the dentist

****I know I am due more on Christmas and I will do that soon I promise but I had to write about this while it was still fresh on my mind.

Sophia is such a big girl! She had an appointment today to get a cavity filled. It was a small one and on the side. Our dentist has a rule (and please don't tell me how wrong it is) that you are allowed back with you child but if your child is 3 or over and they start crying and screaming, you (the parent) will be asked to leave so the can finish. David and I talked before Olivia had her 4 fillings done in Dec 2006 and we thought it would be better on everyone if she went back alone because we felt like she would do better if we went there than if we (or me) went back and then had to leave. Olivia (3.75 at the time) did amazing and was able to get all 4 done at the same time. Well, we decided that it would be better on Sophia if we did the same thing with her. I talked to her and told her what was going to happen and that she need to be a big girl and if there were no tears she would get a special treat. She was so good that the dentist was speechless when I went back. She said she was wonderful and that I was blessed to have such an amazing girl. I must confess that I agree with her! I should have taken a picture of her with her dentist. I am truly lucky that both my girls like the dentist because I HATED going as a kid.

A Christmas tradition.....

Last year the tradition was started to make and decorate Christmas cookies at Grandma and Grandpa's house and this year was no different. The girls love it plus they get to spend time with their grandparents. It is hard to tell who had more fun the girls or Daddy and Grandpa. After doing the cookies they went downstairs to help decorate the Christmas tree. Here are some pictures of the activities......

Happy Birthday Sophia!!

Well I can hardly believe that my baby is now 3 years old. It seems like just yesterday we were in China to get her. She has grown so much in the last year. She:

• is talking up a storm (thanks to her wonderful speech therapist)
• is counting to 10 in English and Chinese
• is saying her ABC's
• is into playing with dolls
• has become a girlie girl
• is so funny and lights up a room with her laughter
• is completely potty trained
• weighs 34 pounds and is 38" tall
• loves her mommy, daddy and sister so much
• her favorite color is green

She had a party where she got the new dollhouse she has been eyeing at Tar*get. She loves it and plays for hours!

Christmas Program

The girls had their school Christmas program the other day and did so well. Sophia's class did Jingle Bells and Mary Had a Baby. Olivia's class did Angels We Have Heard On High (my favorite and she was an angel) and Happy Birthday Jesus. I have video from my camera of Olivia's last song. Here are a few pics...

Christmas pictures

Well, I took the pictures for the Christmas card and got some awesome pictures. I can't wait to see how the card turns out -- I ordered it yesterday. Here are a few pics from that day.....

4 Years Ago

We saw our lovely Olivia's face for the first time. It was so surreal to finally see the face of the child that was to become our daughter. I could not believe it when I got the call. I had been e-mailing with a fellow travel mate that I guess our calls weren't coming that day -- most of our DTC group had gotten their calls 2 days before. I had no sooner typed the words "I know it's all in God's timing but try telling that to my heart." when the receptionist told me that Suzanne was on the phone and I realized that it was "the call". I quickly typed the sentence "I'm on the call right now get ready" to Susan. I took the call and found out that we were referred an 8.5 month old Long Fu Yu, currently residing in the Suichuan County WI in the JiangXi Province. She was a little peanut (and still is) weighing only 12 pounds. I told Suzanne that I would be at the agency in a few hours to see her precious pictures and to get the rest of the referral information. I looked for David and couldn't find him -- of all times not to answer his cell phone! I couldn't find my (then) best friend as she was going to drive me to the agency and take pictures of me getting the referral. I finally found David at the gym and said "Hey Daddy!" I talked him into riding with us to the agency with a stop in Frankfort. Seeing her picture for the first time was such a thrill. Just looking at her I knew she was the one for us.

Olivia is a rambunctious child. She can get into more and make more messes in the shortest amount of time. She is a head-strong, stubborn child. She is not a real graceful child -- she falls and trips over anything and everything. She is also a loving child. She loves fiercely. She talks ALL. THE. TIME. She loves gymnastics and is on the developmental team.

2 Years Ago Today......

We went to the Civil Affairs Officein Nanchang, JiangXi province to adopt our youngest daughter Sophia. We were the first family called and were so excited. Olivia was so excited about becoming a big sister that she ran across the hall to where the babies were so she could see Sophia. Of course I had to go get her -- plus I got to see an early glimpse of our daughter. :-) Sophia came right to me and David. She never cried -- it was almost as if she had been prepped for this day. We took her back to the hotel, gave her a bottle and gave her a good looking over before going back to finalize the adoption.

I can't tell you how full Sophia has made our lives over the last 2 years. She is no longer a baby and is becoming a little girl. She is funny, has tons of personality, loves gymnastics, dolls (I can't wait to see her with the doll house she's getting for her birthday), school and playing outside. She is such a loving child too. She will just sit in your lap and cuddle with you but when she gets what she wants (some lovin') she is done with you. Her speech has just exploded and she talks ALL. THE. TIME. so much like her big sister that it drives me CRAZY sometimes! She is completely potty trained. She went through a short phase where she peed in the bed at night but I think that is done -- for now.

For Sophia's Family Day, we spent the day together. We went out for lunch, grilled out at supper time and went to Dairy Queen for dessert. She had a ball eating her Blizzard.