Pretty as a Picture

Last Friday was picture day at school. Not something you'd normally expect to happen the first week. It's caught me off guard in the past. This year I wisened (is that a word?) up and got the boys' hair cut the week before school started. I wonder how long it will be before they protest the concept of matching outfits?

Cami is Terrific Two

A pink princess cake for the little princess.
Cami dives into her cake.
We did a little ice cream cone pinata bashing.
We had a few takers for face painting.
Evan is enjoying the gift opening more than Cami.


Cami recently celebrated her second birthday. We kept things pretty low key for her first birthday so as not to overwhelm her right after she arrived from China. So, this year we had a party at a shelter house in the park complete with a pinata bashing. The weather was chilly, but still decent by our standards. Due to the approaching darkness and the ease of transporting unwrapped gifts to the van, we opted to open gifts the following afternoon.

To my disappointment, something went awry with our digital camera in the park, and very few pics came out clear.

I wonder where Cami was born two years ago. I wonder if her birth mother is thinking of her today. I wonder if she knew before she was born that she'd have to give her up. I wonder how much time she was able to spend with her. I thank her for the gift of Cami Chen Chen.

Two Firsts in One Day

Evan's First Day of Kindergarten
Of course, Collin had to have his picture taken, too
My big boys go to school
Evan's first day of soccer

Yesterday was a day of firsts. It was Evan's first day of morning kindergarten. I thought he'd cling to me when it was time to line up, but he surprised me by getting in line like a big boy. After hearing "I don't want to go to preschool" all the way to preschool for the entire first semester last year, I was shocked to hear "I LIKE school" when he flew out the door at 11:30. Daddy took him today and reported that he RAN to get in line when the bell rang. So far, so good.

Collin had his first day of first grade. He now has to go to school all day, so he was apprehensive about this. Lunch, in particular, was a scary prospect. He balked about getting in line until I walked away to help his brother. Then he got in line when there was no audience for his mini-meltdown.

After school, Evan had his first day of soccer. He can't run very fast, but his heart seems to be in it and he tried hard. We ordered the smallest shirt size possible, but it still looks like he's wearing a dress with leggings. We won't tell him that.

Pics from Minneapolis Trip (journal in next blog entry)

Pergola Gardens at Minnehaha Park
Minnehaha Falls
Longfellow Gardens
The deadly surrey
Entering Como Town Amusement Park
Evan puts out fires.
The boys got their drivers' licenses . . .
after driving miniature cars.
Cami on a kiddie ride
Evan buzzes down a zip line.
A woman's work is never done. Cami found a sand play area.
Entering the Minneapolis Sculputure Gardens with the Cherry on a Spoon in the background
The infamous Cherry on a Spoon
I didn't get this one. I think this was an empty coat, a pair of lips and a body without arms.
Memorial Arbor
Collin swings under a sculpture while Evan had a meltdown
We walked through arches of greenery inside a conservatory
The conservatory
Inside the conservatory was a giant fish sculpture made out of small pieces of glass.

Minneapolis Excursion

This weekend we met Grandma and Grandpa K in the Twin Cities for our final outing of the summer. Our agenda was as follows:

Day 1: Departed after Daddy finished morning walk-in clinic. Arrived around 1:30PM at our hotel in Eden Prairie. G and G arrived about an hour later. We then carpooled to the Mall of America where we hopped the light rail train. The kids hadn't ridden on a life-sized train before. Going through the tunnel under the international airport was extremely thrilling. Evan wanted to do the "monkey bars"- the handles dangling from the ceiling for standing passengers to grab. We got off the train at the 50th St. /Minnehaha Station and walked into Minnehaha Park. We viewed the falls and then boarded a double surrey for a VERY eventful cycling experience. Cami got strapped into a baby seat on the front of the surrey. Craig and I pedaled while the boys tried to "help." Cami dropped her sippy cup on the ground and we rode over the top of it. Evan's shoe fell off and he had to run back and get it. Evan almost fell under the surrey and had to be strapped in like his sister. We had to get out and push the thing up the hill a few times. We had to yell at an innocent family to get out of the way when we were careening down a hill and didn't know how to stop. We then had to profusely apologize to this family and explain that we didn't know what we were doing. We walked through the Pergola and Longfellow Gardens. We ate at a delicious fish restaurant in the park. Collin actually consumed fish (there was nothing else on the menu) for the first time in his life. After supper, we boarded the train again for the trip back. We were thankful to be headed in the opposite direction as the loads of Vikings fans going to the Metrodome. The cars heading in the opposite direction contained a sea of purple.

Day 2: Went to Como Park in St. Paul. Rode every ride possible at Como Town. Almost every ride is age-appropriate for preschoolers. Talked with a mom who had a daughter Cami's age adopted from Guatemala. Instant connection. Her daughter didn't sleep for a year, either. Hit a few parts of the zoo. Returned to the hotel in hopes of resting. Kids weren't interested in resting. Went to eat at Romano's Macaroni Grill in Edina. The kids were able to sit in a viewing area and watch the culinary events in the kitchen. Took a walk behind the restaurant and accidentally stumbled on a free hidden gem: Centennial Park. Gorgeous! And I didn't have my camera!!! All seven of us paraded through a sidewalk maze while being stared at by an elderly couple. Went through fabulous formal gardens, swung on grown-up swing, saw a wedding, saw model boat from a miniature yacht club on a lake, listened to classical music piped in via a sound system, walked under and over arched bridges. Walked around three small lakes connected by a stream. If you ever head to the Twin Cities in the summer, you MUST see this park!!!

Day 3: Went to church. Parted ways with my parents who were going to the Renaissance Festival. Went to the free Minneapolis Sculpture Garden. Amazingly, we found it very easily off I-394. ( I was prepared for much arguing and getting lost in the van.) Craig carried a whining Evan on his shoulders the whole time. Left after an hour and headed home.

More From the Strip Artist

The other morning I head Cami making happy noises in her crib. I headed to her room to get her out. While I was walking down the hall, I heard this scraping sound coming from the other side of her wall. What on earth???

I opened the door and was greeted with the sight you see in the above photo. Cami had just ripped a HUGE section of the bear border wall paper off the wall. I was absolutely SHOCKED.

Now, normally, I would have been really upset about this little event. However, we were planning to transition her gender neutral nursery (formerly occupied by the boys) into a pink little girls' room soon, anyway. I've actually bought all the stuff for her new room. She has saved us a ton of work with the dreaded wallpaper removal process.

Funny how two boisterous little boys slept in that same crib in the same spot and never touched the wallpaper border.

So, if you ever have some ugly wallpaper you want taken down, forget the vinegar, fabric softener, etc. Just give us a call and we'll send Cami over!

Fu Reunion

Bridge over the Missouri River
The Iowa Welcome Center is in an old boat
The Fu Girls connect
Cami and Olivia's first encounter since China
Enjoying a picnic lunch
The boys found a baby swing that still fits them
Of course, both had to have their pictures taken in it

Today we sojourned to Sioux City, IA to meet up with Max, Lisa and Olivia. This was a midpoint for us to meet. They were one of the four other families who were in our travel group to China. We shared the Gotcha Day experience together. We have not seen them since we parted ways at the O'Hare Airport in Chicago last June. Olivia was the oldest baby in the adoption group and Cami was the youngest. The girls are six months apart in age, but as time passes, the age gap becomes less apparent. Olivia filled out nicely and is an adorable young lady. The Fu girls enjoyed staring at each other in their strollers. All the little girls in our adoption group had the surname Fu. This is derived from the name of the orphanage in charge of supervising their care - Fuzhou Social Welfare Institute. Children adopted from this institution are forever known as "Fu Girls." There is even a national Fu reunion held annually.

We originally planned to do some swimming, but the clouds were iffy all day, so we filled the time by visiting a couple of parks. Despite the attempts to burn off as much energy as possible, Cami stayed awake almost the entire day.

We hope to reunite with Max, Lisa and Olivia yearly as they are the closest family in our travel group geographically.

Le Chef

Collin disappeared into the basement today and returned sporting the above ensemble. He thought it was necessary to dine on his lunch while clothed in full chef's regalia. Notice the cooking utensils in his apron pocket. He wore this for the duration of lunch before dumping it all on the kitchen floor for mom to pick up later.

Collin is seven now and it's dawning on me that sooner rather than later he's going to be way too cool to wear cute little costumes around the house.

In other news, Evan decided yesterday that he needed to urinate in a plastic drinking cup. He went into the bathroom, peed in the cup and dumped the contents into the toilet. This, of course, horrified me. I had him place the offensive item in the dishwasher and sent him to time out.

Then Craig got one of those "You wouldn't believe what your son did now" calls at work. His reaction was to laugh and state that this was a perfectly normal male behavior. "Did you pee in a cup when you were little?" I asked. "Probably," he answered. Hmmm.

Now, this is where my female thinking comes into play. Why on earth would you want to pee in a cup when we have four perfectly suitable bathrooms? Also, wouldn't it be more effort to pee into the cup, dump the contents into the toilet and then put the cup in the dishwasher than it would be to just pee in the toilet in the first place?

And men say they don't understand women.

Some Deep Thoughts on a Situation in China

One of the reasons I started this blog was to discuss international adoption. Tomorrow the Assoc. Press will probably start blitzing the internet, newspapers and television with a breaking story regarding a little girl in China. I don't want to mention the names of the family members here, because people are googling the name of this little girl and it's a pretty touchy situation. I don't want to have a lot of strangers posting comments on my blog.

A husband and wife who are both architects and live in a suburb of Washington D.C. went to China to adopt a preschool age girl. They received mixed reports as to whether or not she had TB. They headed to China under the impression that everything was OK with her. I don't understand all the medical logistics, but to make a long story short, the Centers for Disease Control would not let them bring the child back to the U.S. until certain lab tests come back, which could take anywhere from two to six months. Due to the meds the girl has been on, she is not contagious to others on the airplane. The family claimed they didn't have enough money to stay in China any longer than their original two-week plan, so they left this little girl with an American family living over there. They specifically mentioned the need for both of them to work and pay their mortgage. They videotaped their final moments with this little girl. The footage can be seen on YouTube and elsewhere on the internet. As you can imagine, she does not react well when she is removed from her parents. I could not get myself to watch the whole tape, but those that did said it was "heart wrenching."

I signed a petition this family started to get some of the rules to change to allow adopted children of U.S. citizens with certain medical conditions to be allowed to return to the U.S. with their parents. As I understand it, this situation would not occur if the child was biological.

How did all this make me feel? Well, shocked. Shocked that the parents left this little girl in China. According to the parents, she was abandoned by her birth parents (as was my own daughter), then abandoned by her foster family and placed in an orphanage. She then spent two weeks with her parents. Her parents reported that she was very terrified anytime they took her out in public. She made some progress in attaching to them during the two weeks she was in their custody. Then- the parents left her to return to the U.S. So, she has now lived with five different caregivers.

Here are my concerns:

1. When these parents return to China to reclaim their child, be it in two or sixth months, it's pretty safe to assume (due to her behavior while they had her and her experiences of being bounced from caregiver to caregiver) that she is going to have major attachment issues. She is old enough to know what is going on. Is she ever going to be able to trust that any adult is there for her for the long run?

2. These parents claimed they could not stay in China longer because their credit cards had been maxed out. They did not even stay one extra day. Every parent going to adopt from China needs to have an emergency back up plan. What if a typhoon hits while you're there and you're stranded? What if there is an earthquake? What if your child picks up a virus while you're over there and requires hospitalization? What if you're too sick to get on the airplane for the flight home? International adoption is so full of risks.

3. The mortgage the parents need to work to pay off is for a $550,000 home. They live in a suburb where the cost of living is VERY high. We have personal friends who lived close by who can attest to this. Now, maybe they have to live there because their families are there. I don't know. I'm just not sure why anyone would want to live in a place where you have to spend that kind of money to buy a decent, livable house. This is why we have chosen to live in the midwest.

4. According to the parents' blog, they thought that by remaining longer in China, they would "probably" lose their jobs. They left so quickly, that I have to wonder if they even took the time to discuss the possibility of some kind of leave with their bosses. Could one of them stayed behind while the other parent returned to work?

I know, I haven't walked in their shoes. I've been called "harsh, judgmental, cruel, etc" on the international adoption forums for my opinions on this.

I wholeheartedly agree that the Centers For Disease Control needs to change some of their policies. They are not the good guys here, either. This child is a victim of govt. red tape and American materialism.

I just have a hard time with a society that places a job and a house before a child. I think of all the people whose children are diagnosed with terminal diseases. How much time do they miss from work? God will provide! He may not provide what WE think He should provide, but ultimately, He knows what we REALLY need.

I'm sorry this post has been so deep and political. I'm really struggling with this right now and I can't stop thinking about that poor little girl in Guangzhou.

Thanks for letting me share my heart with you.

Hide and Seek

This morning I was cleaning up after breakfast when I noticed that the boys had disappeared from the kitchen. Their breakfasts weren't finished, so I called for them to come back. No response. I checked downstairs in the rec room. No response. I hadn't heard the outside doors open and close, so I was pretty sure they weren't out there. I then headed upstairs. I heard giggling coming from our closet. Upon entering our closet, I noticed that the clothes hamper was wiggling. I opened up the lid to discover two little boys inside. How they both fit in there when it was 1/3 full of clothes baffles me. They must have some contortion skills I did not know they possessed. Anyway, it was so cute, I had to take a picture. Then everyone was herded downstairs to finish breakfast.

Something I Need to Get Out of My System

I'm just bursting with excitement and just telling Craig isn't enough of an outlet. This may also be premature, but it's looking like I HAVE ALL MY SUNDAY SCHOOL TEACHING POSITIONS FILLED FOR THIS FALL!!!!! WHOOOO HOOOO!!!! PRAISE AND THANKS BE TO GOD WHO HAS LED THESE PEOPLE TO MAKE THESE DECISIONS TO HELP!!!

That's it.

Collin is 7!

Bouncing off the walls
The birthday boy's Transformers' cupcake
Grandpa's b-day is Aug. 5th, so we had a joint candle extinguishing event
Cami finds crushed cake to be an excellent moisturizer.
Opening presents

Seven years ago today, we greeted a 6 lb. 4 oz. boy with a big, bruised, purple conehead. He's now upwards of 50 lbs and his head is covered with a blond buzz cut. Hard to believe he starts first grade this fall. I won't know what to do with myself! Per Collin's request, we had a party with a few little boys at our local indoor playland. In the evening, Grandma had a joint birthday celebration for Collin and Grandpa K at her house.