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!!!

First Week Home and more pictures!

Well I can't believe we have already been home a week! It has flown by! It took us a few days to get readjusted to the time zone change. Let's see... we we're welcomed home by our friends and family, then family came to visit, Meili had her first Doctors appointment, and we are bonding and growing as a family of four! Like I said very busy :) God is so amazing in every way and He has had his hand on us non-stop through the whole adoption journey and then watched over us as we traveled and I can't thank you all enough for your prayers for us through this entire journey.

Meili is one amazing little person!! She has handled everything so well. She has made herself right at home with us and is a delightful, smart, loving, energetic, toddler. She puts a smile on our faces every day and keeps us laughing and keeps us on our toes! Ian and Meili are too funny together they instantly bonded and already have that brother sister vibe. I think Ian has to be the best brother in the world the way he cares for her and plays with her and she thinks he is too fun to play with. She is also picking up English words quickly repeating a lot of what we say. She says...mama, baba, hello, thank you, bye bye, etc.. This little cookie is a smart one :-)

The Doctors visit for her this week went well. They do think there is a bone in her extra digit so she will likely have to have surgery to remove it. She has an appointment with a hand specialist so I will know more after that appointment as far as what they will do. Her overall check- up was good. She still has to get some lab work done and I'm not looking forward to that part at all. They also are scheduling her an appointment with an eye doctor as well.

Here are some more pictures of our travels and gotcha day with Meili enjoy...

At the airport and very tired...

Chicago Airport

Inside the plane

Almost There

Karl sat by this guy...

Just cleared customs :)

First morning in Beijing

Breakfast

Great Wall

Getting ready to climb it

Lunch

Beijing Olympic Arena

Hutang Lane

A Family we got to visit 

Getting ready to meet our children!

First time holding Meili

She likes baba more

Smile

Smile some more

Not a morning person

Looking Cute

Bread makes her happy!

Cheese

Medical Check

Holding on to baba

popular Chinese cartoon :)

Very hot and fell asleep while walking around Guangzhou

Sleeping

Wasn't happy about posing with the statues...

Pigtails

Pictures!

Love

Too Cute!

Happy Girl!

Ian's Kung Fu Outfit!

She loves to eat :-)

More to come of our adventures....

Blessings

Yay!! We are back home!! Wow what a journey back it was! First airplane ride was 2 hours and Meili did okay on that one...next plane ride 13 hours...plus one hour waiting on the plane to take off...lets just say my precious one was not exactly happy about it. We got on the plane and she waved to the people sitting in their seats as we walked by and then we sat down. She was very tired and fighting sleep and decided to let us know she was not happy by screaming a high pitch defining scream and we could hear everyone on the airplane say "oh my" Karl and I looked at each other like Lord please help us get through this. Finally she started to get tired and fell asleep and slept most of the plane ride. Praise be to God!! I have felt everyone's prayers over the last few weeks and I can't thank you enough for praying for us! The Lord heard your prayers and He has helped us every step of the way. We are so thankful. When we got off the airplane we were greeted by friends and family :-) Such a blessing to have you all there and we can't thank you all enough for what a warm welcome home it was. Seeing Ian was so awesome I missed him so much and he ran up and gave me a big hug!! I had been missing him something terrible so it was so great to be back together again now as a family of four! When we got home we gave Meili a tour of the house and then laid her down in her crib...she cried a bit and then went to sleep BUT she is still adjusting to the new time zone like all of us and woke up screaming at 3am. I held her for about an hour and then laid her back down and she cried for about 30 min. Poor Ian woke up... so he came down and got in bed with us. So the next morning we were all pretty tired. When Meili got up she did really well and she really likes Ian a lot. She wanted him to feed her breakfast...he..he. Ian is taking on his role of big brother like a pro! He is so wonderful with her and as the day went on they became great friends! He is such a huge help to me...he played with her for a while while I unpacked and tried to get things settled. It is so cute watching them together. Last night went more smoothly less crying at bedtime and she woke up at 4am instead of 3am so we're making progress!! Today she has been a doll and as sweet as can be...running up to us and giving us hugs and kisses! I can't believe how well she is doing..she blows me away with how well she has handled the drastic changes in her life. She is a very happy lovely girl and we love her so much! We couldn't feel more blessed by the Lord and all that he has taken care of for us..and how He has had His hand on us and protected us all. I know also it's because he heard all of your prayers...and I am so thankful for them and for all of you!! I am getting ready to move the pictures from the one computer to the next so as soon as I do that I can post pictures..I know you all have been waiting patiently. Can't wait to get them on here...