A Whole New World

Greetings from the Finkenbinder Clan! I't's been a while since my last post and mainly well it's due to lack of time and the fact that the computer is in Meili's room. The only time I have to blog or use the computer is well when she is sleeping so it makes it a bit difficult to find time for things like Facebook and blogging. But today I am making the time to do it :-)

What we have been up to....

Since we have gotten back from China we have been in a whirlwind of sorts...visiting family and friends and people just dropping by to say hello. It has been great and very busy! First up we had a very exciting Birthday to celebrate! Ian turned 10 years old! I can't believe it! We celebrated with family on the lake and Ian had his best friend over for the day as well. They had so much fun swimming, tubing, playing on the jet ski and hanging out together. What more could a boy want? Meili also got to experience her first time on the lake and to all of our surprise she loved it! She even took a nap while her mimi was holding her in the water. Turns out this girl is a fish!

The next weekend we took a trip to visit my family in Oklahoma where she got to meet her great grandparents for the first time. She warmed up right away giving everyone her signature hello high five. She loved Aiyana's room (my little sister who is about to turn 8) and had a ton of fun swimming and playing in the pool. We also took her to Ted's Mexican restaurant in OKC where she loved the tortillas and the dessert of course! We also took her to visit her other grandparents and she had a blast pounding away on their piano and dishing out more high fives as well.

Then the next weekend we welcomed some more friends from out of town who spent the weekend with us and of course had to get some more lake time in. ;-) Meili enjoyed hanging out and playing with all the kids. They had told us that she was shy when we were in China but Karl and I are finding out as she gets more and more comfortable in her new life that she is actually pretty outgoing around new people.

This weekend we went to visit some more family Uncle Chuck and Aunt Lisa and say Happy Birthday to Grandma Ruth! Then we met up with my dad for dinner last night.

Ian has also started school up and it has been great to get settled into a new routine and I feel like we have found our "new normal". Ian has been a great big brother but lately we have had some bumps in the road with him. Not sure if it's an age thing or he is settling into the new reality of things or all of the above but he is having a few issues. He seems to want to debate me and argue over everything...which is wearing my patience a bit thin. Also he is just having this very moody attitude...not sure what it is all about but I hope it is just a phase and he moves on quickly. I wasn't really expecting the teenage attitude at age ten so Lord please help me and give me wisdom and patience as I parent this wonderful boy.

Meili continues to do awesome! I think she is starting to gain some weight! I don't know how she couldn't as much as she eats! We take her to the Thai Thai restaurant sometimes and she just chows down on noodles like you wouldn't believe! I really don't know where she puts it! The staff there absolutely loves her and they give extra special treats whenever we go :-)

Food hoarding...She does like to hoard food in her mouth and her hands...whenever she is down to the last bite she will put it in her hand and not let go of it unless she knows she is getting more..another interesting thing she does is hold food in her mouth for long periods of time. I'm sure it is just a phase and a result of living in a group foster home.

Sleeping...She is going to bed much easier at night and her crying is now down to about 15 min! Which is some huge progress! She can still be very stubborn at nap time though.

Language...Her language development seems to be right on with her age group surprisingly she is not only repeating single words but now repeats 3 word sentences. Our little princess is a smart one! She loves to count too and sing and most favorite she loves to dance! She also likes it when Karl holds her up really high in the air. I think we may have a future cheerleader on our hands! She doesn't like that Ian has gone to school and is ready to go get him about 10am. She yells out his name and then grabs my hand and leads me to the door saying "Gee Gee bye bye"

Yesterday we took Meili to the Asian Market in Springfield. When we walked in it smelled just like China! I got overly excited about it I think... Ian wasn't very excited and didn't like the smell. He wouldn't have made it in China. Ha! Meili loved it and she wanted to run around and throw packages of noodles into our basket Ha! We found the treats that they give her at Thai Thai so mommy had to get some for bribery tools. Ha! (she loves those things so much and will do just about anything to get one) After leaving there we met up with my dad to have dinner with him since he was in town.

So it seems Meili is settling into her whole new world very nicely and mama and baba couldn't feel anymore blessed or joyful to have the blessing to be parents to these wonderful children....

Pictures for your enjoyment!!!