Our Adoption Journey

One Year Ago . . .

2007-09-03T11:40:00.000-05:00

This is one of my favorite pictures of Kira. It just looks like her to me.

Beautiful Girl

Cool Cat!

Ha Ha Ha! I got the remote!

Kira and her friend, Nini

Kira and Mommy

Kira at her babysitter's with her best buddy, Ella

I Like My Care Bears!

Pretty Dress!

This is why Mommy doesn't put me in dresses very often!

Tomorrow, September 4th, will be the one year anniversary of Kira’s Gotcha Day. It doesn’t seem possible that a year has passed since our time in Taiwan. On the other hand, it seems like she has been part of our lives for more than a year. Tomorrow, we will celebrate by watching video of our first day together, looking at our travel pictures, and going to dinner at TGI Fridays, which is the first restaurant we went to together in Taiwan. Thinking back to a year ago, getting to know our daughter and watching her get to know us, it didn’t take long to see that she was curious, social, and funny. I wondered what I would learn about my daughter as she grew. Well, let me just pause to tell a little about Kira one year later. She is now 20 months old.

Kira’s favorites
Kira’s favorite movie is Shrek. Our daughter, who can’t otherwise sit still for 10 seconds, will sit immobile and mesmerized for about 45 minutes of Shrek. We even considered taking her to the theater for the Shrek 3 movie, but decided she was too young, even for Shrek.

Kira’s favorite foods: Well, look at her belly and you will see there isn’t much she doesn’t like, but take this girl to Cracker Barrel for turnip greens and you’d better stay out of her way! Yes, turnip greens!

Kira’s favorite words: Kira is in speech therapy for cleft-related articulation issues. Nonetheless, “No” and “Mine” come out quite clearly!

Kira cuteness
Kira is tech savvy. We let her watch a video for about 15 minutes before starting our bedtime routine. She will open the cabinet, pick out her video (9 times out of 10 it’s Shrek), turn on the DVD player, open the DVD door, put the DVD in, and push play! We only have to get the DVD out of the case for her so she doesn’t break it and turn the TV mode to DVD. She also loves the computer. She will put her little index finger on the mouse and look up at the monitor to see what she made happen.

Kira loves animals. When visiting others, it isn’t the humans she anticipates seeing, it is their pets. Her babysitter has two dogs. Whenever we pull up to her babysitter’s, she puffs her mouth out trying to say “woof-woof”. My parents have two cats. When we pull up to their house, she says “Meow Meow!” Damn, I don’t think we’re going to be able to avoid eventually getting a pet, but I’m determined to put it off as long as possible!

Whenever we get ready to go bye-bye, we have Kira get her shoes out of the coat closet where we keep them. She does, but she always gets out Mommy’s and Daddy’s first. I think she wants to make sure that we’re coming too. She loves going bye-bye. When we’re just playing around the house, one of her favorite things to do is grab her little Dora purse, put it over her shoulder, wave, and say “bye-bye”, pretending she’s going bye-bye.

Kira thinks it’s hilarious to watch me put my contacts in my eyes!

Okay, Mommy doesn’t find this so cute, but I have to tell. Kira went through a stage, which has actually gotten better in the past month or so, of hitting when she is told no or doesn’t get her way. We have taught her to be gentle. We have done time-outs. Well, Kira now, when she hits me, will say “uh-oh”, then do a “gentle” stroking of the place where she hit me!

Kira’s Progress
Kira has gained 10 pounds and grown almost 8 inches since coming home. Seriously, at times her rate of growth has actually seemed alarming to me, but her doctors all gush at how wonderful it is. She is near the top of the charts for height and weight.

Kira went through palate surgery shortly after coming home and has made great strides, especially with eating. While not getting started on solid foods until almost a year old, now at 20 months she eats anything and everything. We have reached the point where she simply enjoys food and doesn’t get upset anymore when mealtime is over. She is secure now that food will be plentiful and she won’t have pain or difficulty eating it. Kira has also mastered drinking from a straw. This may not sound like such a big deal, but it takes many cleft-affected kiddos years to accomplish.

Kira started speech therapy in May. She is making progress, and her ability to make sounds that are difficult for her is improving every day. We still have difficulty understanding most of what she says and probably will for a long time, but her vocabulary and speech development are good. We do baby signs with her, which helps ease the frustration of communicating, and she does really well with that.

Kira has had repeated sinus and ear infections. We seem to have her sinuses under control with medication, but her ears have recently started acting up again. She had tubes put in last October at the same time her palate was repaired. Well, they have become impacted with gunk and wax. She has to go for surgery next week, September 10th, to clean them out and put new tubes in. So, please keep us in your thoughts for that. It is a simple 10-minute procedure, but anytime your child has to be under general anesthesia it is nerve-wracking.

______________________________

My darling daughter, you have made my past year so much richer. I can’t wait to see what the coming years bring. I love you so much.

Summer Fun

2007-06-23T21:10:00.000-05:00

How do I make this go? The pedal? Put my foot on the pedal? What's a pedal?

I guess I'll have to push it!

I like riding on the bike with Daddy!

I'm too big for this swing. My feet are dragging!

Okay, I'll push the swing instead!

I like slides!

It's even more fun to climb up the slide!

I Thought I'd post some pictures of some of Kira's summer activities. She's having a ball and is definitely an outdoor girl.

It's official. My baby is no longer a baby anymore! She is a little girl. It's a little sad to look at her and realize this, but it is also so exciting to see the little person she is becoming. I've had to learn toddler discipline. Kira has picked up the toddler trick of throwing herself on the ground in tears of tragedy when she doesn't get her way! Mommy quotes Dirty Dancing and tells her "Kira, this is not a tragedy. A tragedy is 3 men trapped in a mine ... monks burning themselves in protest!" Somehow, it's still a tragedy to her!

Pics

2007-05-05T20:43:00.000-05:00

How am I going to get out of here?
HELP!

Reading

Hunting Easter Eggs

Wearing Mommy's Sweatshirt

Giving Friend Ella a Kiss

Fun In the Sun

Relaxing Before Bed

The Adventures of Kira Continued

2007-04-07T00:57:00.000-05:00

The above pictures are Kira's 12 month photos taken by photographer Mark Garber.

A face only a mother could love! Kira woke up looking like this one morning. I thought the bed head was hilarious!

Kira is doing great using a spoon . . . as long as we don't mind wiping her face a little . . . and her hair . . . and her shirt . . . and the floor! Oh, well, it requires a bath, but she's learning!

This is a picture of Kira "escaping" to the forbidden area of the house. If she catches the baby gate open, she will run to the forbidden side, close the door, give us the grin you see here, then run to the forbidden formal living room / dining room!

"Here are my shoes, Mommy! I want to go bye-bye!"

Hi everyone! I thought I'd share some of the latest pictures. Kira is doing great. She just had her 15 month pediatritian appointment. She is 23 pounds and 32 inches tall! This girl just won't stop growing! She is now at the 80th percentile for height! When she came home seven months ago, she was at the 25th percentile. Now, I am 5'0" and Dan is 5'4". We thought that if we adopted an Asian baby, she would fit into our family size wise! LOL!

Kira has been enjoying her toddler life. She loves to take wagon rides, and she loves to be outside. When the weather first got nicer and we started going outside more, we discovered something funny. Kira was afraid to walk on the grass! She would stand there like she was afraid she was going to sink, then she would get on her hands and knees and crawl to the sidewalk! It was really funny. She is used to it now, though, and will run around on it. She is all ready to hunt easter eggs on Sunday!

PARTY ALL THE TIME!

2007-02-03T11:34:00.000-05:00

What am I supposed to do with this sticky stuff?

Baptism

Kira Loves Daddy!

SOOOO BIG!

As you can see, the month of December was filled with all kinds of celebrating! Kira turned one year old on December 15th, celebrated her first Christmas, and was baptized. She LOVED all the attention at her events, but I think it was good for her to get back into a nice routine after all the craziness of the celebrating.

We are doing well. We have settled into a nice routine, and I have settled into life as a working mom and am loving it. Thinking back on the past 5 months, it is amazing to me how much has happened and how much life has changed for all of us. Our precious little girl has gone through grieving for her foster family; adjusting and attaching to new parents; enduring fairly major surgery; exploring a new home, country, smells, foods, just to name a few things; and adjusted to a babysitter after Mommy returned to work. She has blossomed into a happy, active, mischievious toddler (with a toddler "attitude" lately I must say - she's only 13.5 months old, it can't be the terrible two's yet!) She is growing like a weed. In 5 months, she has gone from wearing size 6 month clothes to wearing mostly size 18 month clothes!

Dan and I have gone through new parent on the job training and adjustment to parenthood, have now settled into our new roles as Mommy and Daddy, and are finding balance between work and home. All in all, I am pretty proud of all of us! Looking back at my life six months ago, I don't know what I did without my precious little girl.

Just wanted to reflect on our experience as family so far. I hope everyone enjoys the update and pictures!

Growing So Fast!

2006-12-06T14:37:00.000-05:00

Wow, it seems like so long since I've updated our blog. Kira has so many new tricks to brag about! :) She is all recovered from her surgery and doing so well. In fact, we had an appointment with her cleft team today and it was very positive. Her palate looks great. Her ears look great. Her hearing is normal.

Okay, brag time! Kira eats like a champ now, and she is experimenting with sounds a lot more. (These were issues before surgery.) In fact, she said her first word this past weekend and it was . . . MA MA!!!!!! For a few days she was really practicing the syllable ma ma ma. I never heard her say it when I thought she was using it as a word referring to me. But, now I know she has definitely used it a few times calling for me. She also shakes her head no, claps, waves, puts toys in and out of containers, and is very close to walking. She really has just had a rapid display of development just in the past couple of weeks. I was starting to worry that she wasn't really waving, clapping, or putting toys in and out of containers. (She, of course, learned to shake her head no a long time ago!) Just when I started worrying, she started doing it all. I can't believe she's going to be a year old in 9 days!

Well, I had to go back to work last week, which was such a bummer. Of course, half of the school I teach in was sick when I returned, so I immediately got a very nasty cold and brought it home to Kira. We are just starting to feel better. Now I am just looking forward to Kira's birthday, her first Christmas with us, and my 3 more weeks off with her for my Christmas break.

Kira's Palate Surgery

2006-10-26T14:20:00.000-05:00

Kira had her surgery to close her palate on Tuesday. Everything went fine. When the surgeon came out to talk to us, he was actually smiling and told us that it went really, really well, absolutely as well as a bilateral repair can be, with no tension anywhere. He was confident that it was a very good repair. Now it is our job to keep it that way until she is totally healed and keep those little fingers out of her mouth!

She, expectedly, had a very rough day Tuesday after she woke up. They actually called us back to the initial recovery room, where they don't usually have parents,
because she wouldn't calm down, and they wanted us to help calm her down. I remember, from my own experience with anestesia, that horrible panicky feeling coming out of it, and that was obviously what she was experiencing. She was absolutely thrashing around for a good while. It was so scary seeing her right after surgery all bloody and thrashing around. I really had to keep myself together and stay calm for her. We joked that, with blood oozing out of her mouth and dripping down her face, we didn't need a Halloween costume for her, she could just go as is and would be a pretty scary looking goblin! I guess some comic relief helps you get through seeing your child like that. :)

That whole first day and night was pretty horrible for her, but she started doing much better Wednesday. We came home Wednesday afternoon and she was much happier at home. She quickly figured out how to crawl, pull up, and play with her arm restraints on, and she is accepting them fairly well except for when she is trying to get to sleep. It breaks my heart. Her habit falling asleep is to pull her blanket up to her mouth and suck her fingers, which obviously she can't do now with her arm restraints on. She will be getting very sleepy and try to grab for her blanket and pull her arms up to her mouth and just cry when she can't. We aren't getting much sleep around here this week! This surgery has also turned her from a Daddy's girl into a Mommy's girl. She pretty much only wants Mommy now.

Our biggest problem has been getting fluids in her since she's been home from the hospital. She has to use a feeder called a Haberman feeder because she is not allowed to suck until her mouth is healed. It is a bottle where parents can sqeeze the formula into the mouth. She virtually refused to eat this way for 4 days. Every once in awhile she would stop crying for a couple of ounces, but it just wasn't cutting it. We forced enough to make sure she wasn't dehydrated, but yesterday afternoon I was sure we were going to end up back in the hospital with her on IV nutrition again because things just weren't getting better, and she was actually starting to show signs of dehydration. Finally, last night she gave up the fight and started eating normally with the Haberman feeder. She has taken her regular amount of formula all day today. I can't even say how relieved I am by that!

Okay, well, please keep us in your thoughts and prayers that Kira continues to recover well and that her repair stays intact until she is completely recovered.

Family

2006-10-08T16:29:00.001-05:00

With Grandpa

With "Gram" - great-grandmother

4 generations

I haven't posted for awhile. I know every parent knows how hard it is to find time for all those little things. It's hard to type with a little one sitting on your lap, and I need to get things done while Kira is asleep! Now that I have a chance, here's a quick update.

Kira is just doing so wonderfully. She is such a good baby and so full of fun and personality. She's a little charmer, too. Whenever anyone comes to visit, she hams it up for them, and everyone just thinks she's hysterical. She makes me laugh so many times a day. Everyone tells us to be ready for a difficult baby the second time around, that we won't have such an easy time twice! (Of course, they don't see her in her difficult moments! HaHa!) It's amazing to fall more and more in love with my baby every day and to watch her fall more and more in love with me.

Kira's palate surgery will be on October 24th, just a couple of weeks away. I am so nervous and will be really happy when we have cleared that hurdle. It will be a long couple of weeks while she recovers. She will have to wear arm restraints for 3 weeks to keep her from putting her hands in her mouth and poking a hole in the repair until it heals. They look like little shin quards worn over the elbow. She will still be able to move her arms and use her hands, but she won't be able to bend her arms to get her fingers in her mouth. Poor baby, that will be so hard for her (and all of us). She always has her hands in her mouth (what teething baby doesn't?!), especially when she is tired.

I'll keep everyone updated on her surgery and recovery.

Welcome Home Kira!

2006-09-14T09:13:00.000-05:00

With Aunt Tracy

With Aunt Tracy and Uncle John

With Uncle David

With Grammy

I'm going to be a soccer player just like Daddy!

Playing with Cousin Ethan

Getting a kiss from Cousin Connor

With Aunt Maureen

Well, I have been a mother for a week and a half. It is both more difficult than I could have imagined and more rewarding! It is really hard to barely have time and energy to take care of my own very basic needs. But, we really are doing great and adjusting well, and I have never had a feeling like the feeling I have when my daughter smiles at me. Kira gets more comfortable and relaxed every day and is really a good baby. She is a totally different baby than a week ago. I think we are pretty much back on Ohio time now. She is sleeping pretty well. She has just woken up for about an hour and a half the last 2 nights.

It is so fun to learn more about my daughter every day. She gets braver and explores her new home more each day. She crawls all over. She loves to stand holding onto someone or something, but she can't quite pull herself to a standing position yet. She does this adorable thing with her hand when she is interested in something. She reaches out to whatever or whoever she is interested in and opens and closes her hand very slowly as if to say "Come here, I want to touch you!" She pulls at her hair and sucks her thumb while holding onto her blanket when she is tired, stressed, or feeling insecure. She does well in her carseat, which I was worried about, but so far someone has been in the backseat with her entertaining her while she is in it, so I don't know how she'll do when she doesn't have that. She somewhat prefers Daddy still, but we are both acceptable to her and can comfort her and put her to sleep.

We have had two doctor's appointments already, one with her pediatritian and one with her cleft team. The pediatritian said that she looks remarkably healthy, except for some pretty bad looking infected ears, which is common in cleft-affected kids, so she is on an antibiotic. Her cleft team was very impressed with her lip and nose surgery done in Taiwan and with all the medical records we have for her. We are waiting for the scheduler for the surgeon who will do her palate surgery to call us with a surgery date. They will throw ear tubes in also while she is in for her palate surgery. They seem to want to do it as soon as possible. The earlier it is done, the better it is for speech development. I am so nervous about it, I was actually in tears last night. I can't stand the thought of seeing her in so much pain. I feel like we are just going to get her settled, happy, and feeling comfortable and safe and then she'll have to go through this, and it is just so frustrating. I know it must be done. I am on a yahoo group for people adopting cleft affected children, and there has been a lot of discussion about surgery timing and attachment. Many parents have actually found that the amount of comfort and care that parents provide after surgery has actually helped attachment, so that is comforting.

More when I have a chance!

Going Home Today

2006-09-07T08:15:00.000-05:00

Chiang Kai-shek Memorial

Ai-Mi can go home! She has her visa!

Taipei 101

The View From Taipei 101

With Mommy on the Observation Level of Taipei 101

Falling Asleep on Daddy

With Penny and our caseworker Cecilia

It is Friday morning here in Taiwan and we leave this afternoon. We're just hanging out in our hotel room this morning until check-out, so I have time to post.

We have had a busy last couple of days, but Ai-Mi is really adjusting well. I think she's a little trooper after all! She is sleeping at night pretty well. She wakes up a couple of times scared, but each time it is getting easier to comfort her. Naps are still pretty fitful, and she is still a little scared. She preferable likes to take them in Daddy's arms, and of course he is obliging! She has really taken to Daddy. She likes him to speak in Cantonese to her. In fact, if he speaks in English, she pushes his head away. It is quite adorable! Daddy got some smiles for the first time out of her on Wednesday, and now we can both get her smiling. She started accepting a bottle when she is alert on Wednesday, also, so we no longer have to sneak them in when she is sleepy. She is crawling up a storm and even wants to pull up on things, but she can't. Yesterday afternoon, for the first time, she really seemed genuinely relaxed and playful with us, and I really felt like I could start to see her little sparkly personality.

On Wednesday, we had no appointments except to pick up Ai-Mi's visa at AIT, so we got some sightseeing in. We went to the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial and back to Taipei 101. We went to the Observatory when we went to Taipei 101, and didn't have a great experience. It was cool to see the view, but Dan and I both felt motion sick from the elevator ride, and the elevator ride scared Ai-Mi. We had planned to eat dinner there at an Italian restaurant after going to the Observatory, but we were all ready to go back to the hotel after that.

Yesterday was a very busy day. In the morning, we had an appointment with Ai-Mi's doctor who performed her surgery. He gave us all of her records and gave us his email to give to her doctors in the U.S. so that they could contact him with any questions. We also asked specifically about the treatment of using the nose tubes, and he made it sound pretty different than Ai-Mi's foster mother and the staff at Cathwel had. They had made it sound like she needed them to breathe. Well, the doctor explained that, in Taiwan, they do the rhinoplasty (nose repair) at a younger age than in the U.S., so it requires the tubes to keep the shape of the nose. It is controversial and not done in the U.S. They usually stay in for about 6 months. It has been 5 months since Ai-Mi's surgery, so he said that it is fine now to leave them out. So, I feel much, much better about that. I am also a little upset that they have been doing that to my baby for 5 months. I can certainly see why it is controversial and not done in the U.S. I think it has truly kind of traumatized Ai-Mi. She absolutely hates for anyone to come anywhere near her nose, and no wonder!

Yesterday afternoon, we met Ai-Mi's birthparents, both her birthmother and her birthfather, which I wasn't expecting. We got to Cathwel for the meeting and couldn't find anyone. So, we were just kind of standing in the lobby when they arrived, which was a little awkward. Penny came right then, however, and we had a nice meeting. We all talked for about an hour. They had both written a letter to Ai-Mi. Ai-Mi's birthmother gave her a little necklace for a lucky life, and we gave her our gift and also let her keep the photo album we had made for our "dossier," which I think she really appreciated. Also, they have been visiting her monthly at Cathwel when she has gone in for updates, and we got lots of pictures from those meetings. We took pictures of our meeting with them, but I'm not going to post them, or the pictures with her foster family, for privacy reasons. It was quite an experience. I didn't know whether the parting with her foster family or the parting with her birthmother would be more emotional if we got to meet both, but the parting with the birthmother was definitely more emotional. I want to write a detailed account of the meeting while the details are still fresh, so that Ai-Mi can know all about it. I think I'll work on that on the plane this afternoon.

Well, we have to be out of the hotel by 1:00, but we don't need to be at the airport until 5:00, so we are going to have Nick Lee, the driver we have used, take us on a tour and then to the airport. To all of those waiting to travel to Taipei, I hightly recommend Nick Lee. He is great! He has bought us food that he wanted us to try, helped us haggle for some jade jewelry that we wanted to buy, and is just very fun to talk to.

Well, I will post again in a few days to report how adjustment at home is going!

Day Two With Ai-Mi

2006-09-05T08:57:00.000-05:00

Playing With Mommy

Daddy is Worn Out

The Hunger Strike Ends!

Sweet Girl

First Time Dining Out

Playing

Well, things are going a little better today. Right now we just got Kira to sleep, hopefully for the night.

Last night I couldn't get a hold of our pediatritian, but I did get a hold of our international adoption specialist to ask her about the nose tubes and scar cover thing. Kira had been crying so much that the nose tubes had worked themselves out, and I just didn't think we could all go through getting them back in. I really wanted to talk to someone and hear that they absolutely must stay in before doing that. I described the situation to the doctor, and she recommended leaving them out. She said that it was a very irregular thing to do to keep something like that in a child's nose so long, that she imagined it would cause all kinds of pain and sinus problems. She said that a baby can breathe through their mouth, so even if her nasal passages weren't very open, she would breathe. She said the only problem could be that, if she couldn't breathe through her nose well enough to breathe while taking a bottle, they might have to go back in. At that point we hadn't gotten her to take a bottle. The doctor also said that the plastic piece taped over her lip scar seemed ridiculously unnecessary. Her surgery was five months ago, and she has long since healed up. She thinks they have just been over cautious and just do things differently. So, the tubes have stayed out and no scar cover has been put on! Yeah! We can look in her nose and see her nasal passages. They are pretty small. But, she is breathing through them. She didn't even have her mouth open while sleeping last night. She has been breathing through her nose just fine. Meanwhile, I got a hold of our pediatritian today and he is going to contact the cleft clinic that we will be using and get an appointment expedited. The one we already have is not for another month.

Yes, the hunger strike has ended! Kira fell asleep at about 10:30 last night without having had a bottle. She woke up screaming at 1:30. So, I made a bottle and Daddy was able to give it to her. In fact, she chugged it ravenously! She then fell right back asleep and slept until 7:00. Praise the Lord, we all needed the rest! The trick is to give her a bottle when she is asleep. If we do that she will start to drink without being alert enough to fight it. She will wake up just enough to eat. I have been able to get her to take 3 more bottles that way today. She still screams if you offer her a bottle when she is alert, and she isn't eating as much as she should be, but she isn't starving or dehydrating.

AIT went fine today and Kira did fine there. We came back to our room and all took a nap after that. Again, Kira woke up very scared, but was a little easier to calm. We got her calmed down, played awhile, then went out this afternoon to TGI Fridays, then went to the Handicraft Market. I really liked the Handicraft Market, and we bought virtually all of our souvenirs for people there. Ai-Mi did great going out. Since we got back, she has been tearful off and on, but a little better than yesterday. She is now asleep and hasn't woken up for almost an hour.

Thanks everyone for all of the support! I'll continue to keep you updated.

Our Little Fighter

2006-09-04T05:25:00.000-05:00

All packed and Ready to Go!

Arriving in Taiwan

The View From the Roof Of Our Hotel

Meeting Mommy

Who Are These People?

Playing With Daddy

Favorite New Toy

What a day this has been: wonderful and incredibly difficult! When we arrived at Cathwel we were met by Penny, the adoptions fascilitator at Cathwel. She took us to a little room and talked to us a little. She said that Ai-Mi's foster family would be arriving with her soon. While we waited she gave us a brief tour and we met our caseworker and the head nurse at Cathwel, both of whom then joined us in our room when Ai-Mi's foster family finally arrived with her.

I didn't know that we were going to be able to meet the foster family and it was wonderful to meet them. The foster mother, father, and their 3 year old daughter arrived with Ai-Mi. We spent a few minutes playing with her while she was held by her foster mother and then she let me hold her. We all sat and talked and the foster mother talked about her schedule and habits. She is also a nurse and explained that Ai-Mi has to wear the tubes in her nose that we've continued to see in pictures. Our pediatrician had told us that he didn't know why they would be in so long term, that that wasn't standard procedure. But they explained that her nose sort of "collapses" and it is difficult for her to breathe without them. She showed us how to change them, and that was the first trauma of our daughter's day. It was absolutely brutal, and our poor baby screamed bloody murder. They immediately handed her to me afterward to comfort her and, after a few minutes, she was okay again. I can't imagine having to do this every day, but we will have to do it ourselves tomorrow. They also gave us a plastic thing to tape over her scars from her lip surgery for 8 hours at night. Her lip surgery was 5 months ago. I am actually going to call our pediatritian tonight (which will be day in the States) because this all just doesn't seem quite right to us.

Anyway, the changing of the nose tubes were the only tears at Cathwel. We thought, how wonderful, she's going to be a little trooper. Boy were we wrong! Bless her fighting little spirit, she has had one rough day. It started out fine. She fell asleep in my arms during the ride back to our hotel. We got back to the hotel and played happily a little bit, then she fell asleep again. She woke up from her nap terrified. We can get her calmed down, but we always must be holding her and whoever isn't holding her must be within her view. We have not been able to get her to take a bottle yet. We know that she is hungry, but she screams any time she sees the bottle. It isn't a bottle she's not not used to: they gave us two bottles and nipples that she's used to and that's what we've tried. She reaches for it, but cries and then pushes it away, wanting her foster mother to give it to her we assume. Dan did manage to get her, while very sleepy, to play with the nipple in her mouth and drink maybe 1/2 an ounce. So we've got a very pissed off baby on a hunger stike! We actually called Penny about an hour ago about her not eating. She called her foster mother to see if there was a "trick" to getting her to eat. She called us back and said that the foster mother says that she normally loves her bottle, so it's probably just that she's upset by all that's going on. When she's hungry enough, she'll eat. On top of that she's teething and I think she's in pain from that.

I'm already exhausted and have been in tears myself today. I've left her crying with Dan to take a break right now to post this. My heart is just breaking for her. She is just so scared and sad and vulnerable and, so far, we aren't the ones who can make it better for her. But, I know things will get better. Right now I'm most concerned that she eats. It's been almost 12 hours now with virtually no food in her.

Well, we have AIT tomorrow. I'll post more tomorrow night, hopefully with news of a less traumatic day for our little one!

First Day in Taipei

2006-09-03T07:33:00.001-05:00

Greetings from Taipei, Taiwain! We are here!

It was a long trip, but a smooth one without any complications. Airport security was a breeze. It actually didn't seem any more rigorous than usual. We left Cincinatti at 8:30 AM Friday morning, Ohio time, got to LAX at 10:00 AM LA time. We left LA at about 6:00 PM LA time and arrived in Taipei at about 10:00 PM Saturday, Taipei time. The flight was as comfortable as a 13 hr. flight can be, and I think I slept for about 7 hours. We weren't very tired when we got to the hotel around midnight because we hadn't been awake too many hours after our night of sleep on the plane. I think we were probably in bed by 2:00 A.M. and slept until about 7:00.

We've had a nice day today. First of all, the Caesar Park Hotel is very nice. Our room is very, very spacious - the largest hotel room I've ever stayed in. There are several restaraunts in the hotel. We ate a buffet breakfast this morning at one of them. Then we went just kind of walked around the area near our hotel and checked out our part of the city. We went to the K Mall, which is right near our hotel. It is different than malls in the U.S. It is very electronics oriented and there are many stores, but the stores are very small. After that, we ate lunch at Pizza Hut, then did some shopping we needed to do at a department store and the 7-Eleven. We were tired after that, so we came back and took about an hour nap. We decided to go to Taipei 101 this evening. (For those who don't know, Taipei 101 is the tallest building in the world.) We didn't go up to the observation deck because it had started POURING down rain. So, we did some more looking in stores and ate dinner at the food court, which was HUGE. Taipei 101 is basically like a big, ritzy mall. It has all of the posh American and European stores. We want to go back when the weather makes it possible to get a good view from the observation deck.

From our first day in Taipei, here are some observations:

- Taiwan is HOT and MUGGY!!!!

- You don't find many women wearing shorts. Most wear skirts or crop pants with a short sleeved top or tank top and sandals or tennis shoes.

- If you've ever been to New Orleans, the smell of Taipei reminds me of The French Quarter, and I'm not talking about the nice smell of gumbo!

- Almost everyone we've come into contact with speaks excellent English. However, most are embarassed by their English skills and are apologetic. Imagine, we go to THEIR country and they are apologetic about not speaking OUR language well enough! It sure is quite a contrast from mean-spirited Americans who are unwelcoming to anyone who can't speak their language in their country and also expect everyone to speak their language in the rest of the world.

- Food service workers wear masks when working with the food. You will also ocassionally see people walking down the streets wearing masks, which I guess is customary if you are sick in Taiwan.

- The Taiwanese are prepared for heavy rains. They have systems to deal with wet umbbrellas before entering building, either a thing to put them in for a minute to dry them or a plastic cover to put over them. It is the rainy season right now, as we found out today.

- Lots of people drive scooters and there is parking for them everywhere.

- There are lots of Japanese tourists here, and a lot of the consumerism here seems to be geared toward them.

- You don't have to go far to find a Starbucks, 7 Eleven, Pizza Hut, TGI Fridays or KFC here.

- During our cab ride to Taipei 101 we passed a really ritzy looking shopping area that reminded us of Chicago's magnificent mile.

Well, stay tuned to hear about our 2nd day, which is when the excitement really begins. We will be united with Ai-Mi at 10:00 AM tomorrow morning!

Photos!

2006-08-18T22:35:00.000-05:00

We received a VCD today with photos of Ai-Mi! There were 18 photos, and they were displayed to music. A lot of the pictures show her playing with toys we sent her and looking at pictures of us that we sent her. What a special surprise! We also received an update on her growth. At 7 1/2 months, she was 25 1/3 inches and 15 pounds 7 ounces!

Above are a few of the pictures. I love seeing my girl look so happy, and I feel so grateful for the care she is receiving until we can be with her. (Which will be in a little over 2 weeks!!!!!)

Kira Is Coming Home!

2006-08-10T22:14:00.000-05:00

We got the news today that we will meet our daughter September 4th. We are absolutely on cloud nine! We have a very busy few weeks to prepare to travel and be prepared for a baby in our house!

Oh, my gosh, my head is just swimming. I was out to lunch with a friend when I got the call. So, I stepped outside to take it. Then I called Dan at work, and we just cried and giggled. My poor friend was wondering what was wrong when I finally
rejoined our lunch 10 minutes later!

There is so much to do! I am taking a summer class that ends next week, for which I still have 2 papers to write. Plus, the school year starts next Thursday and I have a lot to do to get ready for that. I will start out the first 2 weeks of school and then, Kira, here we come!

Dan is already calling a travel agent. I already called my Principal to let him know to get a long term sub. I know I have so much to do to get ready to travel and to be ready for a baby, but right now my mind just won't work to think of it all!

Kira will be almost 9 months old when we arrive home.

Here is a reminder of our timeline:

April 21, 2005 -- Homestudy approved

May 23, 2005 -- Dossier #1 arrived in Taiwan

May 25, 2005 -- I-171H approved

May 19, 2006 -- Referral!

June 16, 2006 -- Dossier #2 arrived in Taiwan

September 4, 2006 -- Gotcha Day!

New Pictures

2006-07-04T11:17:00.000-05:00

Our agency emailed new pictures this morning! Yah! Happy Day! For the first time, in two of the pictures, we see our baby's face without tubes, tape, or bandages. The pictures were taken on June 17th and June 22nd, so she is 6 months old in the new pictures.

Our documents have been back in Taiwan for 2 1/2 weeks now. We don't have any information on our court process and may not get any until it's over.

Moving Forward

2006-06-19T13:44:00.000-05:00

Well, we got all of our child specific paperwork done, and it arrived back in Taiwan on June 16th. Now we just wait through the court process.

Meanwhile, we received more pictures of Kira (Ai-Mi) but no more information about her. The latest stats on her are from when she was five months old. She was a petite 23 ½ inches long and 14 pounds! The pictures were dated May 30th, so she is 5 ½ months old in the latest pictures. We can tell from the pictures that she has recently had another surgery, this time on her nose. I know, please don’t think our baby vain for having a nose job at 5 months old! The adoption doctor we talked to at Cincinnati Children’s had said that we might want to have another surgery on Kira’s nose when she looked at the pictures after Kira’s first surgery. Well, her doctors in Taiwan were already on it! It is good to know that they are doing everything that she needs.

Now that all of the latest round of paperwork is done and we just wait again, it is starting to get very hard. Kira turned 6 months old on June 15th, and, of course, I thought about her all day. I can’t stop staring at her pictures and I know every nuance of her face. It is a different kind of wait than waiting for her referral, and more hopeful, but it is just so hard. My poor baby has been through so much, and I can’t be there to know what is being decided for her or to hold her and comfort her. Dan is having a much harder time waiting now than before we got her referral. He was so cute when we got our new pictures! We knew that our agency had sent them and that they would be arriving by fed-ex in the afternoon. He called 3 times from work to see if they had come before they finally arrived at about 2:00. I went right to his office to show them to him! Apparently, he had told some coworkers that he was waiting for me to call about the pictures because he told me that, when I called and had him paged, 3 coworkers went to find him to make sure he heard the page! When he saw the pictures and saw that she had had surgery on her nose, he said, "Why did they do that? Nothing was wrong with her nose!" I love my husband and can’t wait to see him be a Daddy!

Introducing Ai-Mi!

2006-05-24T19:01:00.000-05:00

We are delighted to announce that last Friday, May 19th, it happened! We received a referral for a five month old baby girl named Ai-Mi Hsu. She was born on December 15th and is now living in foster care in Taipei.

Ai-Mi was born with a cleft palate and cleft lip. She has had repair surgery on her cleft lip, which you can see is in the process of healing in her picture taken at about 4 months old. We don't think that she has had surgery on her cleft palate, so she will require additional surgeries, probably a couple more before early school age, and she will probably need some speech therapy. Mommy and Daddy can't wait to get her home and get her all fixed up.

Okay, so many of you are probably wondering, what happens now? Within the next week or so, we will receive lots of paperwork that we will have to complete. It will have to go through the authentication process, which is basically getting all of the papers notarized and then having the notary's certification verified at the county, state, and regional level. Once that is done and the paperwork goes back to Taiwan, we will enter the court process. The court process lasts approximately 3-6 months,and then we will get word that we can travel. We should have Ai-Mi home by Christmas!

Still Waiting

2006-02-26T14:12:00.000-05:00

Well, it has been 9 months and 3 days since our paperwork arrived in Taiwan, (not that I'm counting or anything!) and we are still waiting on a referral. Our "paper pregnancy" has now lasted as long as an average physical pregnancy! We are anxious for it to be over! About a month ago, I emailed our caseworker at our adoption agency and had her ask the staff at the agency in Taiwan if we have been shown to birthmothers yet. (I had asked at 4 months and 6 months and the answer was no.) This time the answer was yes! This is progress, and it is encouraging, but it makes it even harder to wait. I participate in a forum for people adopting from Taiwan, and it scares me to see people who have waited 14 months for a referral, a few even giving up and choosing another program. However, it seems that the average wait is still between 10 and 12 months right now, so we are hoping to hear something soon.

Name Debate

2006-01-12T20:04:00.000-05:00

Well, we have decided on a name, just not how to spell it! We welcome your opinion.
Here it is. . .

Kira Linh Ly
or
Kiera Linh Ly

Both Dan and I think Kiera is probably the prettier spelling, but I'm afraid it will be mispronounced "Key-air-a". Since the poor child will already have her last name mispronounced, I really want to avoid an easily misprounced first name. I don't want the poor girl to be called "Key-air-a Lie" her whole life! (Our last name is pronounced Lee).

Of course, we don't know what her Chinese name will be, but we will keep whatever it is to use as her Chinese name. Everyone, including the grandkids, in Dan's family has an American name and a Chinese name, so her Chinese name will not get lost.

Curious to know what others think...Kira or Kiera?

Links

2006-01-02T18:45:00.000-05:00

Check out these cool links!

Adoption.com

Cathwel Social Services

China Sprout

Graceworks Lutheran Services

Taiwan adoption links

Taiwan travel

Timeline

2006-01-02T17:55:00.000-05:00

April 21, 2005 -- Homestudy approved

May 23, 2005 -- Dossier #1 arrived in Taiwan

May 25, 2005 -- I-171H approved

May 19, 2006 -- Referral!

June 16, 2006 -- Dossier #2 arrived in Taiwan

September 4, 2006 -- Gotcha Day!

Welcome

2006-01-02T17:50:00.000-05:00

Welcome to our blog! We hope that this site will help family and friends share in the excitement, joy, and sometimes frustration of our adoption journey. I'll start out by briefly describing the process we are going through.

We officially began our adoption journey almost exactly one year ago, although we had already been doing research on country programs, international agencies, and homestudy agencies for months. We signed with Commonwealth Adoptions' Taiwan program and contacted Lutheran Social Services to start our homestudy in January 2005.

We knew from the very beginning that we wanted to adopt from Asia. We were led to Taiwan's program because we met all of their program requirements (length of marriage, age, etc.), and we were very impressed with how well children are cared for while waiting for their families. We have requested a healthy girl aged 0-24 months.

Our paperwork has been in Taiwan for just over 7 months now, and we continue the very difficult task of waiting for that life changing phone call telling us that we have a referral, that our daughter is waiting for us. Once we receive and accept a referral, we will then get to work completing more documents and then wait several more months until we get the news that we are able to travel to pick up our daughter.

Stay tuned to this blog. We'll keep you updated!