Thursday, May 28, 2009

FUN IN THE SUN!



It is hard to find time to blog as much these days. Maggie keeps us pretty busy,as you can imagine. She is doing great and is a very happy little girl. She has got a new riding toy that she loves. She likes to get at top of the driveway and coast all the way down to Mom or Dad. You can see by the picture she likes to show out and put her feet up by the handle bars. The music also has to be playing in order for her to ride it.
Maggie likes to wear shoes especially ours. She still wakes up at least once a night but goes right back to sleep. She will go to the doctor for the first time Monday. I am sure she will love that. Over all this is one great kid and I can't wait for everyone to meet her.

Friday, May 22, 2009

OH HAPPY DAY!





I am amazed at how well Maggie is doing now. I left the house today to go get my hair done and she did great with Kevin. We had dinner at Mammie's house and Maggie had so much fun with Cullen and Carson! The past three days she has really started to open up. She has started to go to Kevin a lot more now. She is much more comfortable around family. Her fun personality is really shining through. We have only been home a week and a half and she has just fit right in. She is such a blessing and has brought so much joy into our lives!

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

DAY AT THE PARK




We had a great day. Maggie loved the park. She loved to swing,she was not scared at all. The higher you swung her the harder she would laugh. We thought she was going to ware us out with the slide.
Angie left the house for the first time and of course she cried that Momma left,but I just took her outside and took her mind off of it. It felt great to hold her without crying and pulling away. She did great for her first time without Mom around.
Maggie is a fast learner she says bye-bye and understands stand up and sit down. This is great when she lays in the floor with her tantrums. We just tell her to stand up now and she does.Well most the time . She is very shy around other people can't wait for her to allow people to see her personality because she is so funny and sweet.

Monday, May 18, 2009

BIRTHDAY PARTY FOR GRANDDADDY





We had my Dad's Birthday party today. Maggie did great,she had her moments like all two year old does. She also had her first meal at Cracker Barrel she loved the macaroni and the dumplings. She does not like cold stuff. Milk and juice has to be barely cool for her to want to drink it. I am to assume that they never gave the kids in the orphanage cold stuff to eat or drink. Still not much talking yet but she does whispers words. She did say daddy before she went to bed. This child loves the bathtub. I had bought her some markers for the tub. Never thought we would get her out and to bed.

Saturday, May 16, 2009

ONE DAY AT A TIME

We have not been getting much sleep the past few days. We have been trying to get her into a routine. She will let me put her in and out of car seat and high chair. Still no real amount of holding other than that. She is slowly letting me in. Cullen and Carson came over to visit today. Maggie had a blast with them. She ran and gave Cullen a hug before he left. So glad to see her progress. We have my Dad's birthday party tomorrow she will get to see her new best friends,Cullen and Carson. I will have new pictures tomorrow.

Friday, May 15, 2009

HOME SWEET HOME!


We are finally home after a thirty hour journey from China. All of which Maggie slept for two hours. We had a two hour delay in Tokyo and had to reschedule flight from Chicago to Nashville. We arrived in Chicago and flight home was delayed two hours also. We were greeted by all of our family at the airport. Maggie is doing well after her first day home. I am glad she can finally be in one place without having to pickup and sleep in a different bed. She loves her toys and has been pushing her shopping cart all over the house. She had macaroni for the first time and loves it.
We will continue to post updates of her progress as she adapts to her new home and family.

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

WE LEAVE IN THE MORNING TO COME HOME!!!!!!

We went today to the U.S consulate and got sworn in. We have her visa and now we head for home. We will never forget our trip to China or the people we met here. The Chinese people have been very hospitable. The culture here is different but we as people are really not that different. We have enjoyed seeing Maggie's homeland.
Now we can't wait to go home and let our lives begin together. We leave Guangzhou for Tokyo and then on to Chicago. Our last stop Nashville. Thank you all for the comments left . They have been wonderful to read and give us joy to hear form you when we are so far from home. We will keep blogging when we get home to let everyone know how Maggie is adjusting. THIS WILL BE OUR LAST POST FROM CHINA. WE ARE COMING HOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Monday, May 11, 2009

WE ARE ALMOST DONE!



We have one more step left to do. We go to U.S. consulate tomorrow and get sworn in and that is it. We leave to come back the next morning. We are tired of living out of a hotel room. We went on a dinner cruise down the pearl river tonight to celebrate with all the other families. It was a nice night. The food was not good though. We ordered papa johns after we got back.
Maggie is doing great she let me pick her up once to look at something. It only lasted a few seconds but was thankful for those few seconds. She saying a few words, she is saying more,bye and mama. She loves to play with bags. Loves to put things in them and out of them. She is a very quick learner. We can't wait to get home and see how well she does when she is in a stable environment.

Sunday, May 10, 2009



We went today to do some shopping at a five story shopping mall. It was different they let kids roller blade and skate board inside. It was very crowded because it was Mothers Day. Happy Mothers Day to all moms reading this. We have had a great day. Maggie is blowing kisses and clapping when she does something good. We are very proud of how far she has come in such a short time. We will wait to hear from the consulate tomorrow. Then we will go to the zoo. Tomorrow night we go on a dinner cruise with all the adoption families down the pearl river. We only have two full days left before we leave for home. We have had a great time here in China to see Maggie's homeland but we are ready to get back home. We miss all of our friends and family.

Saturday, May 9, 2009

Great day in Guangzhou!




We have arrive in Guangzhou last night. We got up this morning and went and did her medical check up. Then we went with another couple from Alabama to do some shopping. We had some tea with the owner of the store he was very nice.
We got her a stroller hoping that she would ride in it. She did great after we started to move. She sat in a high chair at dinner for the first time. It has been great for Angie she has been so tired of carring her everywhere. She still want let me hold her but we are gaining some ground. She loves to feed dad and give him five. She went to playroom today and she had a good time. She is up and walking around.
We are staying in The White Swan Hotel it is very nice. The area here is like the Florida and so is the weather. I had to fill out a ton of paperwork today. It was 2 hours of filling out this and signing that. We get to have our red couch photo tomorrow. This is very famous with adoptions from China. The hotel is full of American families adopting. In our group two families are from Alabama and one from Mississippi. Grateful to be with so many wonderful families.

Thursday, May 7, 2009

LAST DAY IN CHENGDU!






we have got a few more smiles today. She is letting me in a little by little. We even shared cheerios and she would hand me some. That is a win in my book. I will take what I can get. She is being lazy and not wanting to walk.We have seen her walk so we know she can. She is just plopping in the floor. The people here in Chengdu all just stare at us when we are out on the street. We met a young lady tonight at dinner. She was so nice and told us that Maggie is very lucky to be coming to America. Maggie has a little attitude also we have seen that the past two days. She will kick and roll over mad.
Today we went to the Chengdu Shu Brocade and Embroidery Museum. It was neat to see how they make them. Some pieces take two years to make. It takes two people to make them. It is amazing to see two people operate the wood machine. It is almost like an organ with the foot petals they use.
We want thank you all for leaving the messages on the blog. We will print them out when we get home for her scrap book. We are truly blessed to have so many people that care about us.

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

IT IS OFFICIAL SHE IS OURS!

Went to Civil Affairs office today finalize the adoption. Tomorrow we go back to pickup papers and to a park. Today was a rough day. Maggie has wore Angie out. She cries every time she puts her down. We both are just mentally drained. She will not let me give Angie a break at all. We are all going to get through this day by day. There is another couple down the hall at our hotel that adopted a little girl the same day. We have gone to eat together and talked they are really nice.
We go to bed tonight hoping and praying that tomorrow is going to be better.

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Day 2 with Maggie ! part 2

I could not get the words to fit in last post. We are doing well . Maggie is adapting as well as to be expected in just 2 days. She has really bonded with Angie very quickly. She cries every time I hold her. It will just take time with me. The guide said that I maybe the only man she has ever seen. All the orphanage workers are all women. We have to meet with China Officials tomorrow and sign papers. Finding things to eat is a challenge. Maggie likes anything we feed her but she is small.
Kevin

Monday, May 4, 2009

Day 2 with Maggie!











GOTCHA DAY!


We have Maggie now. She has had a rough day. We have all made it through day 1 so it can only get better each day. We go to see the panda research center tomorrow. Very tired will post more tomorrow.

Sunday, May 3, 2009

We are in Chengdu!!!



We had an amazing time in Beijing. We had so much to do in just one full day.The people like us here they all wanted to have their picture taken with us. They all wanted Angie to hold their babies. I guess they haven't seen a blond haired woman before. The traffic is something to see here,nothing like traffic jam back home.
We just arrived in Chengdu and checked in hotel. The hotel is very nice and even has free Internet in the rooms. We meet or guide Susan and she is great! She took us to market to get snacks and water. Tomorrow we go to orphanage to meet Maggie! We even have a crib in our room. It is getting very real now! I hope we can get some sleep tonight. We will post tomorrow as soon as we can!

Friday, May 1, 2009

WE ARE HERE!!

After a long flight we are here in the hotel in Beijing. Had a scare at airport I was tag by geothermal scan and had to go to get temp taken.Tired will post more when have time.We leave for Great Wall and Summer Palace tomorrow. Our guide David is very nice.We leave to do all this at 8 am .