More With Mei Mei

Spending our second day with Ya-Ya was just as good as the first, if not better. It was my birthday and the foster mom brought me two beautiful Chinese outfits and the interpreter that is helping us also brought me a top and a skirt plus an outfit for Ya-Ya and one for Ila -- even one for Scott! I am so touched how sweet and gracious everyone is. They brought in a beautiful cake for me and many people from St. Lucy’s came in to sing Happy Birthday to me – in English and then in Chinese.

Ya-Ya is getting more comfortable around us and interacted with us a lot. She wore the backpack we gave her and she was wearing the Minnesota t-shirt too. They brought along the the foster mom’s mother who is 89 years old and so sweet. Ya-Ya is really taking to Scott and even let him hold her while she had a bottle. She laughed and smiled a lot and showed more of her spunky personality. She let Scott put her shoes on her when it was time to leave and gave us hugs. Tomorrow St. Lucy’s is having a pre-celebration before the grand opening so we will all be there again. Adoptive parents like us will have the opportunity to be interviewed if we want.

After we left, I struggled to stay awake (it’s been so hard to stay up past 5 p.m. for me!) and we went to the department store Mitsukoshi that happens to be right next to our hotel. They have the most unbelievable children’s shoe department I have ever seen! (Thanks Val!) Then we made it back to the hotel and crashed for the night. We are going to try and stay up tonight to make it to a night market…wish us luck!

Peace, Lani

Meeting our little girl!

After 24 hours of travel we arrived in Tainan yesterday. It wasn't as bad as I expected since flying isn't wasn't one of my favorite things to do. It took 3.5 hours to get to San Francisco, from there 13.5 hours to Taipei, then another one hour flight to Kaosiung and finally a one hour car ride to Tainan. Our hotel is wonderful and so far the hardest thing has been not knowing the language. Oh, and also deciding what to wear when it is 90 degrees and super humid when I brought jeans and tennis shoes! I feel like we have adjusted fairly well to the time difference but maybe I am too tired (and excited) to know how tired I am.

On the first day, we settled in at our hotel, napped and had dinner. I realized I forgot my camera cord to download pictures to the computer and we had to go buy one. I slept pretty good the first night and woke up this morning at about 5 a.m. We had an appointment at St. Lucy's at 10 a.m. to meet Ya-Ya. We got up and had breakfast and then got in a cab and attempted to make our way to St. Lucy's. The cab driver got lost and at 9:58 we were just driving in circles. We didn't speak Chinese and the driver didn't speak English. By the grace of God, somehow we ended up at St. Lucy's. People off the street were helping and our driver ran into a school and got some help. We went in and met Jessica, our host, and Mei Chun, our interpreter. They are both so nice. We went into this room and sat and had tea and talked about our day and what would happen.

Ya-Ya, her foster mother and a social worker all arrived at about 10:30. When they appeared through the screen door, my heart almost stopped. I tried so hard not to cry! She was smaller than I expected and more adorable than I could have imagined. It was such an amazing moment. Ya-Ya is so beautiful and such a wonderful little girl! Her foster mother loves her so much and you can tell she is very well taken care of. She has been telling her of us and that she will be moving to the United States. It didn't take long and Ya-Ya noticed the bowl of candy on the table and wanted a piece. Scott offered her one and she took it from him. She didn't seem scared just a little shy. I gave her the backpack and stuffed dog we had brought along for her. She had brought along a backpack of her own that had her blanket in it...she has a worn out corner that she rubs her nose with...this is amazing because Ila rubs her nose with the corner of her blanket too! At one point, she put the corner up to my nose. She was shy at first and didn't say much, then I brought out the bubbles! (Thanks Cari!) Before long, we got a smile out of her. Then a giggle. We were on the floor blowing bubbles and trying to catch them.

Her foster mom brought along a photo album for us. It has pictures from the day she was born until now. This is such an amazing blessing to have parts of her past that we can cherish forever. Everyone in the room was snapping photos. Her foster mom wants to hold onto the album until we come back to take her home...she wants to add more pictures and complete the album. Then she wanted Scott and I to stand so she could see our height and weight because she wants to give us traditional Chinese outfits when we see her next visit. This woman is amazing and Ya-Ya is so lucky to have her. For the next couple of hours, with the camcorder rolling we talked and played. We went over so much information and got such a great idea of what Ya-Ya's days are like and saw her personality starting to emerge. We feel so blessed to have this time here with these incredible people that is is hard to put into words. We talked about the future and asked the foster mom if she would want pictures and updates and of course, she does. Then I mentioned that we plan visit and she just started crying. Our interpreter said they were tears of joy. It was such a wonderful moment. Then as they got ready to leave, we blew kisses and Ya-Ya put her hands on ours. We made plans to see her again tomorrow at 11:00 and maybe we will get to spend some time alone with her.

After they left, we toured St. Lucy's and saw the nurseries where the babies are. We got to take some pictures and meet the director. They are all very busy for the big celebration and grand opening in a few days. Tien and David from Journeys of the Heart will be here tomorrow and we will get to meet them as well and have dinner with them. This has been a day in my dreams for so long and it is hard to believe it is now reality. Happy Birthday to me!

Peace, Lani

Up, Up and Away!

This time tomorrow we will be on a plane to Taiwan. It's hard to imagine what the next week will bring. I am so excited to meet our little girl. I hope everything goes well. I am bringing a couple of things for Ya-Ya. I bought her a backpack and in it I am bringing a Minnesota t-shirt, some bubbles and this dog I made at Build-a-Bear. I recorded a message that's inside so when she pushes on the paw she will hear my voice. I said "Hello Ya-Hui...We love you!" The first part I said in Chinese...hopefully I did okay! Then I got a little t-shirt for the dog and ironed on a transfer of a picture of us. I hope she likes it!

Of course we can't forget Ila Marie! We bought 7 presents for Ila and each day we are gone she gets to open one. When she gets to the last present, she will know Mommy and Daddy are coming home. I pray that she does well while we are gone. (This is only the second time we have ever left her...and the longest!) I know she is in good hands with Grandma LuLu! Actually, I pray that we all do well with this and the big changes coming our way.


Talk to you all soon from Taiwan!

Lani

...Out Like a Lamb!

Check out my post for March 1st and compare...it's hard to believe that was just a couple weeks ago!

Gotta get packing...we leave in FIVE days!!

Lani

Ya-Ya UPDATE!

Just when I thought that we wouldn't be getting an update on Ya-Ya this month -- we got more pictures! I can't believe how much she has grown -- and how darn cute she is! She is changing so much and I can't wait to meet her. We leave in 8 DAYS! I feel so blessed to be able to see her face again...I can't wait to have her in my arms!

Lani

A Care Package, A Poncho, A trip to Taiwan

So much news to report!
First, I have sent off Ya-Ya's care package.


Here's what I included:
• Teddy Bear (that Ila picked out)
• Doll
• Photo album (with pictures of us, our house, her room, our pets)
• Panda peek-a-boo toy
• Stuffed panda toy (that Ila picked out too)
• Terry-cloth hoodie, pants and t-shirt
• Capri pants, t-shirt and sweater
• Footed pajamas
• Socks
• Disposable cameras
• Small, soft blanket
• Tea, truffles & almond cookies for the foster family & orphange

We slept with the blanket and teddy bear so it will smell like us. Hopefully between that and the pictures, she will recognize us or we will be somewhat familiar. I am already planning the second package and I want to make a cd of us reading some books that we will send to her.

Next, Ila got a present from her babysitter, Sari -- a poncho! Ila LOVES, LOVES, LOVES it and even wants to sleep in it. She puts it on and does princess shows for us in it. Of course, I think she is the cutest thing in the world!



And hmmm...what else? Oh yeah, we are going to TAIWAN! Two weeks from today. To visit Ya-Ya for a week. We have bought our plane tickets and are in the process of booking a hotel in Tainan, which is in the southern part of Taiwan. This is the city where St. Lucy's is -- and the foster home where Ya-Ya lives -- and they have opened a new orphanage and are having a big celebration and open house. We couldn't pass up this opportuniy to go and meet our little girl and learn about her country and culture. I have told people for some time now that I had a feeling we would be traveling in April. And in a previous post I wrote that we may have to plan a vacation to pass the time. Two birds, one stone! I can hardly think straight and often wonder what people do on a plane for 14+ hours...I guess we will find out! We fly from Minnesota to San Francisco to Taipei to Kaosiung, then drive 45 minutes to Tainan. I'm sure it will take 24 hours to finally get there. The best thing about it (how can you top having your little girl in your arms for the first time?) is that I will be holding her on my birthday on March 31st. What a wonderful world!

Peace, Lani

P.S. Happy Birthday Grandpa Bruce!

Cutie Patootie

In Like a Lion!

These pictures -- and video! -- pretty much sum up the last week for us. Lots of snow. Lots of shoveling. Lots of fun. But seriously, it is March 1st and time to start thinking about spring. We are ready! (Sorry for the video being sideways...I haven't mastered my camera yet!)

Ya-ya will be 21 months tomorrow. It has been 3 months since we got pictures of her and we are hoping and praying to get some more next week. I can't hardly think about her turning 2 years old without us -- so here's hoping that a lot happens in the next 3 months. We miss her and can't wait to have her home! Plus, we'll need someone to help Ila shovel if this keeps up!

Peace, Lani