Thanksgiving was a blast!

Sorry it's taken so long to get the pictures up from our visit north. It's been crazy since well Halloween! We've installed flooring in two bedrooms

(her room with new floor)

and drove to Atlanta and back and put up our Christmas decorations! I actually finished yesterday! And now the Bricks are in town so tonight we are going to EPCOT to see the Candlelight Procession! Thankfully the weather is great!

So we left the Tuesday before Thanksgiving for Grandma and Grandpa's house! Was nice to break up the drive up into two parts! Robyn had lots of fun playing with their fun trains and hanging with Grandma! I think she had the most fun playing/torturing Chessie their cat! He is such a sweetie and just kept running off! She kept asking? Where's Kitty? Where's Kitty?!

Hanging with Moppa

and Anma

We left the next morning to drive to Aunt Suzanne's. Traffic was fine until just 10miles from her exit. Errrt. Traffic was stopped, so thanks to the GPS we did a detour (Robyn slept thru it!) and got to her house in reasonable time. Actually took us less time to get to McDonough, GA from Pavo then it took Aunt Nancy to get there from Roswell!! Day before TK day traffic was horrific! That evening we were to celebrate Christmas together!

Robyn LOVED opening her presents.. of course.. and then assisting everyone else with theirs!

Love the tongue hanging out!

For thanksgiving we spent the morning watching the boys take care of Aunt Suzanne's yard. Wow they did an awesome job! Robyn had a blast playing the piles of leaves and hanging with the boys!

With Ted

Emory

and Sam

Then we had over 30 people for Thanksgiving. Man there was tons and food and it was great to be around family all day! Robyn had a blast hanging out with her cousin Ryleigh! Those two girls were connected at the hip all afternoon! So very cute!

With Ryliegh!!

Yummy food with Daddy!

Friday we hung out some, had lunch with Thomas and his awesome girlfriend (hope he marrys her. She's cool!). We took Thomas and Brandy to the airport and had to exchange the rental car/van we had. Zack informed us that the tags were expired! So we got another van, nicer I think, and Aunt Suzanne hung out with Robyn while we got to go see the new Muppet movie. It was fun! Cute movie too!

Then Saturday, DAvid had to run back to the airport (we left our sunpass in the other car).. while I packed the car for our trip home. Robyn did pretty well for the long drive. We met my mom at a playground in Valdosta and then headed home. All in all she did great! She slept on a make-shift bed we had at Aunt Suzanne's and well.. she loved all the extra attention and we loved being around family. Can't wait till we move north so we can be closer to everyone. economy.. please pick up soon!

So there ya go. Will get some Christmas pictures up soon.. as soon as I take some. Got a new camera and I'm still trying to get used to it! Here are a few more pictures from up north and around.

so cute!

more cute!

piano lessons?

She LOVED the doggie-doggie (Morgan) here she's hanging out with him in his crate.

Looking out the window with Aunt Suzanne and Morgan

All the Smith side Cousins

Foster side Cousins!

"PULL OVER!"

Last week Zack came down for a visit!

ZaiJian

~Donna

October and November pictures!

A few weeks ago we went to EPCOT to enjoy the Food and Wine Festival.. Here's Robyn sporting her Beret in France!

Hanging with Uncle Pat and Aunt Trish at the concert.

At the Pumpkin Patch.. picking out our pumpkins!

Some early trick or treating at Publix.. yes my girl wants the cheese instead of candy (I agree!)


HALLOWEEN!!!

Checking out the loot!

Awww.. Mulan!

Eating some Teddy Grahams!

New flooring in her room!!!

Enjoying her new room floor with her Barbies!

Another Video!...

She did this twice.. Just stopped.. put her bucket down and did a dance around her candy! And she hadn't had any candy yet. She was just having too much fun!

ZaiJian

~Donna

Videos!!!

Practicing Trick or Treating the day before!!

A Month LATER>>>>>

So.. Halloween was a BLAST!! We .. she.. had so much fun! We only went around our block, but by the 7th house she was all about going up to the door and knocking and saying "Trick or Treat!" She was soo cute. At one point she stopped.. put her bucket down in the middle of the street and .. did a dance. yes a dance. Now realize she hadn't had any candy yet! OH and yes...We did type cast her this year, she went as Mulan. We figured it's the last year we get to choose. She looked so cute. Lots of pictures to follow and a few videos! There is one video of us practicing the day before.. then one of her doing the dance around the bucket!

She's know talking like crazy and has a mind of her own.. that's for sure. The temper tantrums come now when she doesn't get what she wants. Go figure. No biggie, we deal. It's all about learning boundaries! She can put her shirt on by herself, once you slip it over her head and is starting to use the potty at Daycare.. it's hit or miss at home. She's grown an inch since June! And just the coolest kid around! I still can't believe I get to be her mommy. There are days, yes it's hard but totally worth it. I've recently started attending the local MOPS group (Mom's of Pre-Schoolers) and I LOVE it. I get two hours of great time with other mommies of little ones.. we share stories and such and they have speakers on all sorts of topics. Kate and her daughter Riley go too. And Robyn and Riley really like hanging with each other. It's pretty cool! They are only a month apart, so when we go to the MOPS meeting, the girls stay in a nursery together. It's only 2hrs and well.. I'm really enjoying it.

This past weekend we ripped the carpet out of her room and put in "pergo"--some non-name brand flooring. It looks great but we learned that the not so hoity stuff is a bit more difficult to install. Hey.. ya learn! So we have the office to do with the same stuff.. this weekend.. and Then our room.. We will be buying the real stuff for that room. Maybe not the expensive but a lower priced one. Doesn't need to be too hoity. Don't get the kind of traffic in say a living room that you do in a bedroom. ( hey don't go down the dark path!! dirty minded people).. anyway after the holidays we are going to do our room then the living/dining room. Now there we plan on getting some REALLY nice stuff.. and it'll be worth it.

Anyway the holidays are coming.. and things are starting to get crazy already! Hold on.. Here we go!!! I'll try and post.. but can't guarantee anything!

ZaiJian

~Donna

Feet growing!

Ok.. so there is tons of stuff going on. First she's now sleeping in her big girl bed. We took down her crib this weekend, she helped, and it's been going great since then! We got a bookcase for all her books, man she has a lot! And her room how has .. room!

She's hit some milestones. She rides the car with hardly any issues now! It's GREAT! This weekend we had an hour drive to and from our church retreat and she was awesome both times!!! YEY just in time for our trip north next month!

And her FEET grew! I swear she was just a size 5 last week.. she's now a 6.5!!! holy cow! We had to run out and get her some shoes! She had soo much fun at the shoe store too. It was hilarious. I reminded David that no matter what age a girl is, shoe shopping is the BEST!

Well.. enough chit chat.. here are some pictures!

We had a beautiful Mommy and Robyn day at the Magic Kingdom last week! She LOVED Small World! we rode two times.. all about Mommy can handle.

I asked her if she liked the carousel, she said yes. Then I asked if she wanted to go again. A definitive.. NO.

Taking Lanse for a walk! (that's the blue dog's name.. bluey in Chinese)

"helping" mommy vacuum..

Helping Daddy clean the pool.. he said she really was helpful!

Fun at the playground with Riley

Love this shot!!

\

How 2yr olds play on this thing.. it spins!

Wahooo.. she LOVES to swing!

ZaiJian

~Donna

Lots going on.. but can't find camera!!!

Ahh.. I had it last week when Aunt Suzanne, her cousins and Grandma and Grandpa where here and now I have no idea where it is!

First Aunt Suzanne came down for a quick visit Sept 12th. She joined us for dinner with our group that meets once a month. We call them China's Lams, a group of families with girls adopted from China. The regulars didn't make it this month, but we saw one family that finally got their referral after a 5 year wait! and another gal that was adopted soon after we started our process. She turns 5 soon. Quite the chatty one. Robyn had a blast playing with her and the other families son (who was born during their wait.)

Aunt Suzanne got lots of quality playing time with Robyn both that Monday and Tuesday. Then on Friday we met the Bricks at Typhoon Lagoon! Oh man we all had lots of fun. Robyn loves the kiddie zone, the lazy river and the pool next to Crushing Gusher. It was hot out, but the water felt great! We left around 1pm and she fell asleep in the car on the way! All three of us took a nap then met up with the rest of the family for dinner at the Studios. David and I FINALLY got to go on Star Tours (new and improved) and we had dinner at Backlot Express. We ran into an international college program cast member that was also from TianJin!!! She was soo excited that we knew where her city was and had been there and she said hello to Robyn! I'm gonna try and visit her over at the restaurant now and then. Would be neat to keep in touch after she goes home!

Then on Saturday we met at EPCOT, the Bricks decided to go back to the Studios for more Star Tours and we went with Grandma and Grandpa to Animal Kingdom. We walked around a bit then went to go see the Lion King Show. Robyn loved it.. kept signing.. more more! Afterwards we headed home while the grandparents stayed to see more animals. We all took, yet another nap. Then David ran to Primos and back (in Lakeland-but worth the drive) for pizza, stromboli and calzones for dinner! We all met back at Coronado for a family dinner! Beer and pizza. yum. Then we all got on our bathing suits and went to the pool. The kids had a great time playing together! What a fun day again!

Sunday everyone came over to our house in the morning for a visit before heading home. Grandma & pa left around noon and the bricks around 2-3pm. Robyn was done with the boys by then.. and she was getting upset with everyone playing with her toys!! Mine mine.. she's not so good with the sharing! So at one point, I'm like.. where's Robyn I stand up and notice her door is closed. I opened it to find her sitting in the dark. I asked her. "Are you done with the boys" and she said yes. Ok.. nap time! She took a nice long nap and we said goodbye to Nick, Chris, Aunt Carol and Uncle Lance. Wow what a crazy week/weekend.. but man we had lots of fun! POor kid then got sick.. and has been since last Tuesday! Today I saw gack coming out of her EAR! ew ew.. so the cold has now moved on to a sinus infection (probably) we have a Dr's appt at 540pm today (love that office always able to accommodate us). So she's napping now.

Actually a note on that. I fed her lunch at her little table, and she was "feeding" me everything in her play kitchen! Anyway I said, ok Robyn after your last bite it's naptime. She took the bite, said nap nap. Went into her room and before I got her dirty plate to the sink she had closed the door, quietly I might add! So i put her dishes in the sink and walked in to her room, she was already climbing up into her bed! How cool is that! After a few rocks she was ready and that was that! wow.. this girl is just too cool!

Anyway. I'm ready for her to get better, this being sick sucks!

That's all for now. We are going to bring down the Halloween stuff from the attic this weekend. I've been trying to explain Halloween to her. She got a cute book last year that might help! Soon we'll go to that same pumpkin patch we did last year for some pictures! And a pumpkin of course!

ZaiJian,

~Donna

Promised Pictures

With Mommy!

With Snow White

And Aurora...

ZaiJian

~Donna

A year ago today...

We were in Guangzhou just hanging out. It was Labor Day last year. We did our red couch pictures at the White Swan and some shopping. Can't believe that was a year ago. Robyn has changed so much. She is talking up a storm now. She says flat cheese, for American Cheese slices and round cheese for the Laughing Cow cheese! She loves her new babysitter Emily. It's Emily, Emily Emily!!! So glad she likes her. We got to go see a movie yesterday while Emily was over watching Robyn. Seems they had lots of fun! Our weekend with the princesses was great. Will have to upload some pictures later. I'm on the laptop right now. She's napping. It's her last day of her "vacation". She goes back to "school" tomorrow. She was sick last week!! man she was sick. Strep is a nasty bug. Even with the antibiotics the fever didn't break till Thrs am. Yikes! She finally slept through the night Friday Night. Thursday night was rough. Poor David was up 4-5 times! I was to work on Friday and he was off.. and that's the deal whomever is working the next day does not have to get up. If we both work, I do it because I'm not up as early.

We were puzzled as to why she kept waking. No fever, no stuffy nose.. just crying. Then I found it in one of my sleep books on night wakings and found a paragraph the explained it all. Children can have disturbed sleep on the 6mo and 1yr anniversary of a traumatic event. Hmm.. I wonder what traumatic event was a year ago last year?!?!?!?! I mean like the most traumatic event of her whole life!! I mean two strange people took her from all she'd ever known. I mean they fed her and played with her.. but it had to be traumatic! anyway...we just kept reassuring her that day and lots of hugs and kisses.. and since then she's been sleeping through the night!!! yey!!! We are feeling a bit better now too!

There are times I just find myself sitting and staring at her in amazement. Amazed at how much she's grown, changed and the face she's here and I'm her mommy. It's totally cool! It's true tho, you can't wait till they start saying Mommy.. until it's like every other word out of their mouth! Mommy,Mommy,Mommy,Mommy,Mommy,MommyMommyMommyMommyMommy... Careful what you ask for!

It's cool.. I'll deal! :)

So... I'll try and post some pics from the desktop later today. I have two GREAT shots I put on Facebook and emailed to many of you.. then I'll sift through the Princess breakfast pictures. Oh I should talk about that. We got to EPCOT and I realized I had forgotten my good camera! !#$%!#$%@$#%!! I was soo freakin pissed! We had our phones and the flip video camera.. so that would have to do. We got to Norway in plenty of time and right of the bat you get a picture with Belle! She wouldn't go by herself so I posed with her. I'll have to scan it. You get a few copies as part of the package with the meal! what a deal! Anyway it's buffet appetizers and then you order an entree. The princesses started coming around right away. Robyn was awestruck. She just sat there and stuffed cheese in her mouth and stared as Aurora came by first. Was very funny. Then Cinderella, Snow White and finally Ariel came by. The girls were great. AGain Robyn just didn't know what to make of it. Was so VERY cute! Needless to say she didn't eat much. I had meatballs with lingonberry sauce and David had a yummy sausage sandwich and mushroom soup. We let Robyn get out of her chair for a bit and then Cinderella came by.. and she just touched her dress and stared. So cute! Then dessert came out and the kid had some chocolate mouse cake.. and holy cow she went crazy!!! We don't give her sweets much and it was evident as to why!! I had to cover her mouth because the entire restaurant knew she was there! Luckily it wasn't busy.. best time to come.. latest lunch reservation you can get. Hardly anyone there and lots of time with the Princesses! I highly recommend it!

Well there ya go.. I'll get the pictures up soon.

ZaiJian

~Donna

So much going on...

So a year ago yesterday was our Gotcha Day!!! I can't believe it's been a year and wow has life changed! Here is our post from that day.. http://fosterfortunecookie.blogspot.com/2010/08/gotcha-day-is-here.html

She has changed soo much. Someone suggested I put pictures from a year ago then every 4 months until now. I will try and do that. Just not this evening. It's been a rough couple of days. On Monday she started running a 104 temperature! She had had this dry cough for a few days and it blew up. We had to go to Nite Lite Pediatrics.. they rock. It's an urgent care place for children, so you have a pediatrician instead of an generic ER doctor.. and hey I'm sorry pediatrics is a bit different! She has Strep. They did an antibiotic shot and gave us an Rx to continue. I had to call in today because she still was still running fevers around 100-101.. Can't really send her to daycare like that. I mean she wasn't contagious anymore but I need her to rest and not be run down. Finally this evening we didn't have to give her anymore medicine for a fever. FINALLY..guess the antibiotics are doing their thing.

Yesterday she actually napped for me, but not today. Which takes me to last Thursday, which I mentioned before.. and here are the details. Ya see lately she'll nap for Daddy, Daycare but not me! so frustrating. Last Thursday I just left her in her room to play .. she was playing nicely I could hear everything that was going on.. Then It got quiet.. so I decided to peek in. Well first I couldn't get the door open because she had put her step stool infront of it.. then I smelled poo as I got the door open.. and well the picture below is what I saw.WARNING the following image contains icky things.

OH man I was livid.... Now I look at it and laugh.. I was so pissed off! Anyway it looked like she took off one diaper (the bad and good of pull-ups) that was full of pee and put on another.. then pooed in that one. took it off and it landed..as my boss put it beautifully.. "butter side down". EW EW EW EW... Well that just upped our timeline for replacing all the carpet in our house! Yes we have decided to replace all our carpet with Pergo. It'll help with resale and lessen the allergens in the house. The carpet is 16yrs old and has to go! ANYWAY.. she's doing great.. talking more and more everyday. I can understand her most of the time. Which is pretty cool. Just need her to get better. I hate when she's sick. This Saturday we have our lunch with the Princesses.. so excited!

So there ya go.. Happy Gotcha Anniversary day!! and it's been awesome!

ZaiJian

~Donna

One Year Ago Today...

We were in the air on our way to China to adopt our little Fortune Cooke. I can't believe that it's been a year already since we went to China. It's been amazing, she is amazing. There are some days we are so freakin tired.. and others we are just having soo much fun. So.. in the coming 2 weeks it'll be.. a year ago.. this happened.

Ok.. this past Thursday. She had fun in her room during her "nap". She had removed her diaper.. and it landed.. butter side down if you get my drift. ew ew ew !!!! omg what a mess. Just moves up our timeline for replacing our carpet with flooring.

fun.. under the sun!

ZaiJian

~Donna

Great Evaluation!

So.. yesterday we had her development evaluation through the state. It's free to children with "special needs" and her palate qualifies her. So Robyn and I headed down to downtown Lakeland Tuesday morning. I had some paperwork to fill out then we headed into a small exam type room with a little kid table with chairs. and a few chairs for us adults. There was the main gal.. sorry can't remember what her title was and a young man there. Jason did most of the work with Robyn while the other person asked me tons of questions. Like does she dress herself, can she use a spoon. Yes... and chopsticks. yes people this kid used chopsticks to pick up a chickpea/garbonzo bean the other night! I am posting video as proof!

Anyway just over an hour later they were done. They ran the numbers and it turns out she has totally caught up to children in her age group. She's right there. In only a year! Just this past week she hit a milestone leap. We can tell when something big is happening. She becomes difficult to get to bed all of a sudden. Now she's doing that jibberish talk where you know she thinks she saying something but you have no idea what it is! She can say. "I do it". "I did it" My turn. the "all done" signing she used to do is gone.. long gone. it's no.. no no no.. and NOOO. with the added wine at the end. lovely. She repeats words and says Mommy's here, Daddy's here. Murphy Chester.. CJ (he's the neighbor) and even says Electra.. our neighbor's daughter's name! That's a tough one! Just tonight we went to our church for dinner and our priest has been out of town for the last 3 weeks comes up and says, "She talks now?". Just this week she started showing interest in the potty. She pulls down her pants climbs up and says I did it.. even tho nothing was really done. Yea you did it.. you got ON the potty. Now let's put stuff in it! too funny.

um.. the poor kid reacts to mosquito bites like crazy. They get all puffy and itchy. They LOVE her too. (she's sweet ya know) I swear the dang bugs will pick her out of a crowd! A friend said her kids were that way once then by the next summer they had built up some immunity and it wasn't bad. Here's hoping. Because I can't think of anywhere on the planet where there are no mosquitos! Gotta figure out what kind of bug stuff we can put on her. I know you should watch the concentration of DEET but not much more than that. Need to call the pediatrician and see what they say.

So in a few weeks Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Carol, Uncle Lance, Nick and Chris are all coming for a visit and to go to Disney. We can't wait! She is gonna have soo much fun with her cousins! and so are we!

Well, that's all for now. We have some anniversaries coming up. Will make sure to post on those dates! Can you believe almost a year!

ZaiJian

~Donna

see.. using chopsticks!!! see video below!

just being cute in her cute hat!

Had to post this!

Watch her feet!! so cute!

Summer Fun!

We are soo having fun! It's been a busy week getting the house cleaned up for a party we had for our intern Breanna at work. Her last day was Friday and we had friends from work over for a BBQ and drinks! Gonna miss her! She's going back to school at the University of Michigan.. Go Blue! Robyn was GREAT during the party. let's back up tho.

Friday.. I had lots of errands to run and things to prep. Robyn was in a rotten mood, I mean ROT-TEN! Hey I get it we all have bad days! Then just as we were going to bed around 11pm she starts crying and crying.. and she just didn't seem right. I heard her swallow.. I mean I HEARD her .. so we took a look and that stoopid tonsil was all swollen again. She would NOT go to sleep. So I said, David you sleep and I'll stay with her and then we'll tag out during the night. I was gonna get him around 330am. Right around 3am.. I put a stop to the playing and rocked and rocked her unitl my back was killing me and she FINALLY fell asleep. She got only 5hrs of sleep. In the morning I took her to the Dr (they have Sat hours!!) and it wasn't strep. That's good. She wasn't running a fever at all. So the Dr said to call the ENT and let him know that sucker keeps blossoming out. I asked when they typically removed them, and she said around 3yrs old.. but with her palate. It could compromise it. Weaken it so it may not be an option for us. Oh goody. Well thankfully after the apt she took a 4.5hr nap! Right into the party so we were able to visit some without having to keep an eye on a 2yr old. But when she did get up she was in the BEST of moods and soo much fun! yey!!!

Ok.. so she's really talking up a storm. Most of which I have no idea what she's saying. I catch things here and there. She'll repeat things. She has a hard time with the hard consonants at the beginning of the word. except Daddy.. she says that quite clearly. For example. It's mopcorn.. and Mackpack. not popcorn and backpack. On Aug 23rd we finally got our Early Start evaluation appt in Lakeland. It's a free program offered by the state/county and .. well I'm not sure what it entails exactly, but after the appt I'll make sure to post what I learn! I did learn that she can go to preschool if we choose as early as NEXT YEAR!! for FREE!!!! so.. this sounds interesting. INDEED! Well enough chit chat. Here are the photos. and a video of the fun we had tonight! (It was actually cool enough to be outside for abit!)

She's gonna carry our suits to the car!

Cool kitchen from Aunt Carol! Thank you!!!

The coolest guitar. It's basically a speaker!

I plugged my mp3 player into it!

Having fun with Riley and Maddy!

With Mommy And Daddy!

There she goes in her buggy!

ZaiJian

~Donna