Happy Gotcha day

WOW she is really enjoying that cupcake!

My three beautiful children

Ellie and Mom ~ year number one!!

Tuesday October 6th was Ellie's "Gotcha day." We had a little party for her and she got to use the "you are special "plate for her dinner. She also picked out a cute little Hello Kitty cake with cupcakes around it for dessert! She loved the attention but wasn't sure exactly why we where doing these things. She said to me at least four times....but Ma I still 5. I would repeat again that it wasn't her birthday it was her adoption day. The day we came to China and got her! I think next year she will understand everything much better!! Hopefully by then she will also be less upset by the idea of this whole adoption thing. She had it good in China, great foster parents and big sister, "school" all day at the orphanage with special friends, and all the sugary bubblegum she could chew!! (Which did eventually lead to very unpleasant dental visits here in the U.S. ~ but that is another whole post!) I like to think of my son Rorey, happy here with us and then some Chinese family shows up and takes him off to China to be their son. Really that is how it was for Ellie. She "knew" that they were not her forever family. But her heart didn't know!! From four months until 4.5 years she lived with them, then WE showed up and took here away from all of it!! So I try daily to remember how hard that would be for such a little girl. I know she is attaching to us, it's just a slow process. Three steps forward, two steps back!! Hey that still adds up to one step forward!!

Year one down, a lifetime to go!!

Tuesday was the one year anniversary of Ellie's adoption! I'm in awe that a whole year has actually passed! It seems like just a few months ago we stood in that dark government hallway anxiously and watched our four year old daughter walk into our lives. After nearly two years of deciding and planning and chasing paperwork there she was. Our lives will never be the same again, and neither will Ellie's. I'd like to tell you that this year has been wonderful, that Ellie fit right into our family, that it was easy. That would not be true. Adopting any child is a challenge, but an older child is a large adjustment. Was is worth it? Absolutely! Would we do it again? Definitely! We love her and she loves us, but Ellie is smart. She knows she lost her past to be here with us, and sometimes she is still upset about it. I encourage her to talk about China and her foster family as much as possible, but remind her that this is her "forever family." I tell her it is OK to cry because she misses them, but not OK to scream for them when she is in trouble for hitting her brother. We are teaching her that she is Chinese and that it's a good thing. I never want her to feel uncomfortable with who she is, or be ashamed that she was adopted into our family unlike her brothers. Life has changed forever here in our house. Not just for us and Ellie but also for our boys.

Grocery store outbursts and Ellieisms

I have been meaning to write this post for months, tell you all the cute little things that Ellie says...well actually hillarious things that she says. I have waited too long, becuase I have forgotten many of her little "Ellieisms" but here is a list ...the ones I can remember.

1 Ma, I can't like that.

which means she doesn't like something.

2. Ma, I China.

she says she is Chinese
3. Ma, that risey
thats crazy
4. Ma, I so scary
I'm scared. but I agree with the scary sometimes!LOL
5. I want Wardy hair.
she wants a buzz cut like Rorey...NOT going to happen.
6. yes a,
still with the yes a
7. UUMM...taste good.
which can mean tastes good, smells good or I like it, or I'm hungry.
8. I no know
I don't know
9. Calls herself : Ellie Clark
which is Rorey's middle name, she acts like she has never heard her middle name which is her Chinese name....Sha Mei. I ask...don't you remember the first 4 years of your life???
10.We are called Ma, Ba, Ge, and Ge.
I don't know if they use these terms in China? But normally its Mama, Baba, Gege
11. Calls her teacher by her last name only: example: bye Renshaw.
no Mrs or Ms etc. I asked if she was former military.
12.Wingo you tweet?
Ringo you want a treat? (our dog)


Her latest outburst happened Monday while she and I were at the grocery store. I picked her up from school at 12:15 and we headed out. She was sitting in the cart like everything was fine, asking for potato chips and sorting all of our food into piles when out of the blue she says: " I....you.. I China at my house. At lou Baba house. You come, we (makes the action of flying) fegee(airplane) YOUR house.
then she sat there with a disjusted look on her face and stared at me. I just looked at her with my eyes big and smiled at the 2 ladies who turned around to see who was yelling. I finally said ...yep!
She always catches me off gaurd with this stuff!! She only talks about it when it is just the two of us, and around here that doesn't happen very often. So I was speechless which also doesn't happen very often. I wonder what will happen next Monday afternoon????

First Day of School

Waiting on the bus

Two cool for school

Happy ...thank goodness

Miss sassy

School started last week, and although I was so excited to get ALL THREE KIDS in school it still made me a little sad when that bus drove away. Riley is in 6th grade this year, and it's his last year in middle school. Next year he will be moving to the junior high!! I can't believe it!! My baby is 11 years old...... it's amazing how fast time goes by. Rorey turned six in May, and he started Kindergarten this year. He still wasn't really sure that school was for him. He cried at the meet the teacher night, and wouldn't sit and listen to the teacher read a story. Luckily the first day of school was better, and he got on the bus with out tears. We never planned to send Ellie to Kindergarten this year, but since the school denied her any services until she was "enrolled" in school we really didn't have any choice. Ellie is going to half day Kindergarten this year so she can attend "English as a second language" and get caught up on her social skills. I am considering this year her "pre-K" year since she was not able to be in Pre K last year. Next year Ellie will start Kindergarten over again..... full day. Hopefully by then she will be nearly caught up with the kids starting Kindergarten. She is LOVING school. Loves to be around the other kids, color, and play outside on the playground. Things are going really well so far. BUT check back in a few weeks!!!

The "Chinese"

Well this one is pretty obvious.....Ellie is the Chinese one in the house. Challenge and Charmer have done very well adapting to a new little sister, considering how much she is like them!!! I can't believe we could go half way around the world to adopt a child and find one as similar to us as she is!!! Everything about her (except her looks of course) fits right in with our family. She is bossy like Riley, she is whinny like Rorey, she needs glasses with the same issue as Rick, she hates vegetables like Rorey and has the weirdest shaped toenails....just like both boys!!!!!! She is tough and independent and was made for us!!

Charmer Extraordinaire

Oh yes...son number two. Rorey started out as even more of a challenge than Riley. He was a terrible baby, cried for 2 months straight.....day and night!! Rick started wearing earplugs to bed once he had to go back to work. Rorey even frazzled my mother, who would occasionally come at night so I could get a few hours of rest. As he grew I realized that even though I didn't think it was statistically or genetically possible....he was even MORE stubborn than Riley. He only slept on his terms, he only ate on his terms, he only talked on his terms... (which didn't happen until he was 3) We won't even get into the potty training issues we had with him, because that is another whole post!! You may be wondering how I survived this, which I wonder myself when I look back on it. The answer is also the reason why Rorey is aptly named "the charmer." It's because he IS a charmer. Even though he is extremely opinionated, obstinate, contrary, willful, independent, & unyielding, he is sneaky!! He has figured out how to deliver his ideas to people and manipulate them while still being congenial , amusing, considerate, and sympathetic. He loves to hold the door open for me (and all his girl friends) and always says "lady's first." He loves to hold hands and escorts his little friends by the small of the back into preschool class. He has made wedding plans with at least 3 girls from pre-school, and a few older girls that do not return his love!! He tells me he is never moving out of my house and will be my buddy for ever. He tells me I am the "best cooker ever" ... even when all I made was Easy Mac. He can be soooo sweet, but there is virtually nothing I can do to change his mind when it is made up. So where does this leave me?? What is going to happen to this kid??? Will he be a politician? Maybe a con-man?? He says he is going to be a chef, but I don't think that is where his talents lie. So I'm in the same boat... same problem new kid, I have to mold him and make the best of his gifts. Channel them in a positive direction. God made my kids with difficult personalities for a reason ...he has big plans for them. I don't know what they are but luckily God does!

Challenge....OH MY!!

God has a sense of humor doesn't he?? Riley has been the "challenge" of my life since he was born. Why you may wonder>> Well I guess that starts with me. I'm shy, Riley is extremely outgoing. I'm introverted, Riley is NOT. I like to be quiet and relax, he can't sit still for more than 3 minutes. I don't go outside much, Riley wants to be out every second available. I'm reserved around strangers, Riley would talk to ANYONE, ANYWHERE at ANYTIME! He doesn't care what other people think, he dresses like he's living on the streets and still has the girls and teachers at school twisted around his finger. He is a leader at school, so many kids wanting to be his friend. Which makes me nervous that he will get them in trouble. Riley is too smart for his own good, I have always had to make complete explanations for EVERYTHING, He won't take BECAUSE for an answer. He started doing multiplication in the back seat of the car on the way to pre-school. He was upset when I told him " yes that is times ... multiplication" He thought he had invented something new. He had the vocabulary of an eighty year old man at the age of 3. He is a whiz with anything electronic. He acts hyper but can turn it off instantly ...... if it's in his best interests! He is mean to the little kids at home. He can't keep from hitting them in the head when they walk by. BUT he is super wonderful at the sitter and so helpful, she says he is a great big brother.

I guess he just saves all the bad stuff and crazy behaviour for me. (well most of it) So the challenge is to mold him, to try not to break his spirit but still keep his feet on the ground. To make sure he never turns from his faith. To make sure he never forgets that GOD is in control, no matter how smart Riley thinks he is. He has wonderful traits........very challenging traits to channel , but his future is full of endless possibilities!

Second verse same as the first!

As some of you might have noticed I decided to change the name of our blog. Since the "slow Chinese boat " did finally arrive in China and bring us back to the US with our new addition I thought it was high time to dock the boat. I really didn't want to start a totally new blog, so a name change was in order. If you know my family personally I'm sure this name will make perfect sense, if not keep posted.....it will!!

One tooth two teeth...tooth fairy let's go!!

ONE FRONT TOOTH

NO FRONT TEETH!!!

Rorey has been holding on to his front teeth for way tooo long!! His left tooth has been loose for....hum maybe 2 months or more!! The right was a little bit loose until it came in contact with a fast moving soccer ball. As you can see in the top picture, it actually came out first...thanks to Riley and his good kicking abilities!! But the pitiful left front tooth was just hanging there (and I mean hanging...) Today just happened to be the day for pictures and last night I broke the news that the tooth HAD TO GO! So after 10 minutes of craziness and Rorey hyperventilating before I could even get a hold on the tooth, I told him we would tie dental floss on it and pull it out. He agreed, let me tie the floss on, and didn't even know what had happened when it flew out of his mouth and onto the coffee table!!

Now we can stop singing...."Does your tooth hang low , Does it wobble to and fro, Can you tie it a knot? Can you tie it a bow? Does your tooth hang low??

I told him last week that his tooth was making him look like a hillbilly...because it was hanging really low on one side and moving around. He looked at me and said "who is hill billy??" I love this kid.

Lions and Tigers and Bears...OH MY

We love penguins

Sea Lion show was great!!

Riding the train ...one more time!

Don't these kids know I HATE snakes!!

We went to the St. Louis zoo a couple of weeks ago...it was during the really HOT , Africa hot, heat advisory weather!!! We knew it was going to be bad so we were prepared with lots of water bottles and snacks, light clothes and the foreknowledge that we would be completely drenched with sweat!! Which we were!! But all in all we had a lot of fun and the kids did pretty well considering. Ellie was excited to see EVERY animal there was and Rorey was really pumped up over the stingrays that you could touch. We bought some kind of pass so we could see everything and ride the train as many times as we wanted to, which was great and kept the kids happy. I think we all enjoyed the sea lion show very much, and we even got a little sprinkling while there. After like 6 hours we packed up and headed back to our hotel for some swimming, even me!! I usually don't swim, but after a day like that it was wonderful!!

Spring/Summer update

Gosh where do I begin?? I have been ignoring this blog for soooo long that I forget what has happened since I last posted!! Several people have "cyber yelled" at me for neglecting my blogging responsibilities, so I'm going to try and make a regular post at least once a week. HAHA!

Let's see, since Easter, hum......Rorey turned 6 in May, Rick was home for a week and we went to the current river in June, We celebrated 4th of July with my parents (Ellie loved it), I spent 186 dollars on school supplies last week--What a shocker going from one kid to three in school!!

Other than that we are just going along as usual. Ellie is really good with English now, she is as "spicy" as ever.. worse actually! Riley has grown up and wants to pick out ALL his clothes. I can't pick anything out for him anymore. (even if it is something he would pick out also....it stinks if I pick it out) Rorey is still as sweet as ever, and he is really excited to start school. My Dad had open heart surgery, did great and is back to babysitting three days a week for the kids.

Easter Fun

Here is a look at the beautiful Easter eggs that we colored this year. On Easter morning we got up early and headed to church at 8 o'clock! It was a wonderful service with great music and a good message. Once we returned home Nana Sandy and Papa Jim were here to visit the kids and watch the Easter fun. The kids all searched for their Easter baskets...including Ellie....even though she had NO idea what we were doing!! LOL My parents also brought baskets so Nana hid them outside for the kids to find. Did I mention that we had the Severns over for Easter dinner? Oh yeah...I cooked.....the whole deal. Ham, cheesy hashbrowns, fried apples, cinnamon coffee cake. My mother-in-law brought layer salad, my sister-in-law brought deviled eggs. etc.
Everything actually turned out really well and we had a great meal. We also had an egg hunt after lunch...Ellie had a blast. Another holiday first for the books!!

Ellie turns FIVE!!

Happy birthday to Ellie!

The princess bike

Ellie turned 5 years old on March 26th! Well at least that is her "official" birthday!! Only God and her birth mother know the exact day, so we will just have to go with it. We had a "Dora" birthday party on the 28th ...the following Saturday. Although Ellie was really excited about the party and the presents, she got very embarrassed when all the attention turned to her and we sang "Happy Birthday." She loved to open all the gifts, and she even remembered to say thank you several times! BUT the highlight was the gift from both sets of grandparents..a new princess bike!!! She also got great Dora dolls, a wonderful doll house, more doll stuff, a movie or two, what else? I can't keep track people!! So am I crazy? We now have two 5 year olds in the house! It can be a little crazy around here sometimes...especially when Riley also kicks in his two cents worth!! WOW madhouse!!

Wow I'm behind!!

Hey everybody...sorry I'm so bad at keeping up with this blog! I have to admit that I've been lurking on facebook WAY to much! I have to set some new guidlines for these time sucking computer past times!!

Since I last blogged ...Ellie has turned five (which means we now have 2 five year olds!!), we reached the six month mark of Ellie's adoption, and we had a great Easter. This weekend we are having a "mini reunion" of China families here in town. It started as a "Urumqi" group....but has grown to include others. Ellie has not seen three of the children since they were adopted in April and August of 08. I can't wait to see how she will react to being with them again. Meah is 8 now, Drew is 5, and Tonito is 4. There will be other kids there also..... from other areas of China. So stay tuned.....I promise I'm going to get caught up on all of our latest adventures!!!

Valentines Day pictures

Ellie with "Greatgrandma"

Rorey sitting on "Nana Sandy"
Riley being....well Riley!

Rick the life of the party!!
Ellie's first Valentines Day

On Valentines Day, we headed to T-ville to visit my Grandma in the nursing home, and then to my parents house to visit them! We went out to dinner with them and my cousin Tony joined us also. As you can see our family is easily entertained, the kids had great fun wearing the ice cream cone covers on their heads. The kids got candy from Nana & Papa, along with some other fun items, and we had a nice afternoon .

School districts...ugh

I have to say that I have heard many horror stories from many families about dealing with school districts. And I had my own when it took me 3 months to get a return phone call from our special ed provider(SASED) regarding getting Rorey into speech therapy.(nearly 3 years ago) BUT I have never been more disgusted than I am right now, since we received a letter from SASED and I had to tell Ellie she can't go to school anymore. Apparently they changed their minds about her eligibility. Now how in the world am I going to explain to a 4 year old who speaks limited English that it isn't her fault, that she didn't do anything wrong, but...even though it was the highlight of her week, even though she drastically needs this, even though they let her come for 3 weeks, it's done....no more. What makes me most upset is that apparently they have been using these "sessions" to further evaluate her (which we were never told) and have now concluded that she doesn't qualify. If I had known that, I would have approached this differently, I would not have told Ellie it was a long term thing. I would not have called it "school ...like Rorey and Riley." Now I have a devastated child who I can't console because she can't speak English. BUT she doesn't qualify for English as a second language.(ESL) Does anyone else see the irony in this?

OK I'm done whining, even if no one reads this I feel better just getting it off my chest.

Play day at the library

Rorey and Ellie in the play house
Rorey's awesome "castle"

Since I've been such a bad blogger lately thought I would throw in a couple of pictures we took at the library last week. These kids love to go to the library....

play house, Lego table, loads of books, DVDs to check out....What else could you ask for? The only problem we have there is the very loud voice of Ellie reverberating from one end of the building to the other!! She does not understand the concept of an "inside voice"!!

School Rocks

First day of school pictures

Ellie has been kind of jealous that the boys are going to school and she is stuck at home everyday. So finally after much "discussion"(I'm trying not to be sarcastic) with our special education provider, Ellie has started going to English as a second language class (ESL) twice a week. She is sooo happy! She is very proud and she tells us all about it, shows us her stickers, gives us a 2-3 paragraph explanation of what she did(..most of which I can't understand!!) HAHA! The teacher goes to our church, and she is super nice...Ellie loves it! She is learning more English everyday, but we still have trouble understanding some of it!
On the other hand Ellie has been teaching Rorey more Chinese everyday, and they seem to have their own language going on......I like to call it Chinglish. Who knows what in the world they are talking about most of the time! Next year Rorey and Ellie are both going to go to Kindergarten. Ellie will only go half days, and take the ESL classes while she is there. Then the next year Rorey will move on to First grade and Ellie will start into a normal all day Kindergarten. We have decided that is the best plan we have available to us, and we don't want her to struggle in school because she is still learning English.

The English "floodgate" has opened!

Everyone has told me that Ellie would have a speech explosion after being here for three months. She has learned a lot since October, but it has seemed to be only a word here and a word there. (and in a sentence with Chinese also) Well the 3 month mark came on January 16th, and everyone was sooo right! In the last week she has been spouting LOTS of English, phrases and sentences. Since we know some Chinese she still talks to us and us to her in Mandarin sometimes, but she has been putting it all together the last week. Yesterday morning she found me in the laundry room getting ready for church. (unfortunately our clothes don't normally make it back up to the closets!) In her pathetic whining voice said "Mama...I want sausage." The child loves meat!!! I just looked at her and asked "did you say you want sausage?" She said yes....with an a on the end yesa. Wow I said.........that was a great job! But, NO we have to get to church......... eat a poptart!

Urumqi Reunion

Grace and Ellie together again!

Brooke, Vickie, and Grace (sleeping beauty)

Rorey making the moves on the girls!!

Ellie and Kelsey together again!

Last Saturday we braved the cold weather and drove up to Joliet to meet up with some "cyber friends"..Vickie...her daughter Grace (who came from Ellie's orphanage) Grace's big sister Brooke, and Kelsey.... another friend who visited Ellie and Grace in China before they came home. Grace is sooo sweet as you can see, she is a year younger than Ellie, and came home a year ago in October. We planned to meet at Chuck E Cheese...which was a zoo obviously because it was a Saturday afternoon! The kids played for a while and then we went to TGI Friday's to get some real food, and where we would be able to hear each other speaking without screaming across the table!! Grace feel asleep in the car on the way to lunch, so Vickie had to hold the poor little thing while she was trying to eat ! She did finally wake up and then decided to snack on Ellie and Rorey's french fries. Rorey was sitting right there helping to feed her and then asked Vickie if she wanted to go on a date!! He is so full of .....something!! Grace is very tiny compared to Ellie, not that Ellie is very big! Of course compared to her brother Ellie is very tiny, so everything is relative I guess!! Ellie was looking at Grace's picture before we left to drive up that day, and it was obvious to me that she remembered Grace. But it upset her when she saw the pictures from her orphanage of Grace as a baby, and when I said we were going to see her. Maybe she thought we were heading back to China? Or perhaps it just brings back memories of leaving China? We never know when something is going to send her over the edge! Hopefully in a few months Ellie will be able to tell us why she is upset by certain things, and we will be able to help her deal with her fears. We had a great day, and it was so fun to finally "see" each other after all of the e-mails and blog reading!!