The Best Mei Mei ever!

Lily has been the best little sister, ever! Lily was very patient and cooperative yesterday as Lana was getting ready for surgery. They played volley ball with a blown up blue hospital glove while we waited! When Lana was out of surgery Lily insisted on seeing her big sister. We were not planning on Lily seeing Lana on the ventilator with all sorts of tubes, but Lily was so upset at not seeing Lana, that we decided to go into ICU and have Lily wave to Lana through the window. Well, that was not close enough for Lily, so we moved a little closer and eventually took Lily to the bedside. When Lily was satisfied that Lana was o.k. she proceeded to ask the nurse a thousand questions about the monitors and machines!

"Squeezy Potty" Revisited

The whole gang! 6 CHI families
Lily and Lana are in Lavender

Thanks to Mrs. H, Lily has mastered the squatty potty! We went on a Safari in Guangzhou with three other adoptive families and there were only squatty potties in the bathrooms. Mrs. H had taught most of the American kids in the group how to use the squatties, so, she showed Lily how and now Lily is an expert! Lana is a natural, of course! In case you were wondering, here is a picture of a "squeezy potty".

"Squeezy Potty"

Lily holding a silk worm cocoon in Suzhou

Lily has turned out to be a good little traveler! When we got on the first plane we were taxiing around the runways Lily said "Go Faster!" Lily was not afraid of the flight, and really enjoyed being able to sit in a seat without a carseat! Something she has been wanting to do for a long time.

We have had a great trip visiting Suzhou and learning about the silk worms and we spent the afternoon yesterday touring Shanghai before our flight to Xi'An.

When planning our trip we explained to Auntie Karen and Cousin Maddie that the Chinese toilets are "squatty potties" and that it takes a little balance and grace to use them without falling in! Well, we did not think about how Lily would use the "squatty potty". Lily did not want anything to do with the "squatty potty"! Lily could be heard crying "I don't want the "squeezy potty", I don't like "squeezy potties"! Luckily, we have been able to find a western toilet when the need was most dire! So, now we all call the Chinese toilets "squeezy potties"!

All silliness aside, in a little less than 6 hours, we will meet Lana for the first time! We are anxious and a little nervous, but very excited to bring Lana into our family.

I'm a BIG helper!

Lily is helping Da Da make some new dressers.
One for Lily and one for Lana!

(Written by Da Da) As a home owner, home improvement projects are a way of life. I really enjoy getting out my tools to fix, assemble, build, or paint projects. These days I don't do any projects by myself, I have a helper! Whenever I am doing work around the house, Lily is right by my side. She is actually a very good helper and is a natural at putting things together! Lily can use a hammer, screwdriver, Allen wrenches and she can hardly wait to use power tools! Projects take a little longer, my tools are rarely where I need them, instructions are strewn all over the place, and there is a bigger mess to clean up, but when the project is done, it is all worth it when Lily smiles at her Ma Ma and says "I'm a BIG helper!".

Gotta love the "plumber pants"!

Happy Birthday to Lily!

Lily celebrated her 3rd birthday at Build-a-Bear! We had a great time with friends and family! Almost everyone made a bear! We planned on about 9 bears, but even the older kids and auntie wanted to make one, so we ended up making about 15 bears, and a few dogs, too!

Have Passport...Will Travel!

Lily's passport came yesterday!!! Lily has been waiting and waiting and waiting for her passport to arrive! Every time we checked the mail, Lily would ask "Is my passport here, yet?". I am not sure she knows what a passport is but she does know that it means she gets to go to China to get her big sister! One more thing to check off the list!

This picture is Lily with our dog Cami. Cami is a Portuguese Water Dog in need of a hair cut! They get along pretty well for the most part, especially when peanut butter is involved! One day, Ken was home with Lily and Cami and Ken thought it was a little too quiet in the kitchen where they were. Upon checking on them he found Cami very patiently sitting next to Lily on the floor, waiting for Lily to dip her hand into the peanut butter jar. Each time Lily's hand came out of the peanut butter jar, Cami, of course, licked Lily's hand clean and patiently waited for Lily to dip her hand again! So, now before using any peanut butter, we have to ask "Is this the dog's peanut butter?"

Lily...Someday

Someday

Someday, she’ll be a famous pianist,
or maybe she’ll be a high school science teacher.
Someday, she’ll marry, and have a couple kids.
Someday, she’ll help millions of people
all over the world.
Or maybe she’ll travel,
send letters from Africa
or phone us from Rome.
Someday, she’ll be a strong,
confident woman…
…but we’ll always remember
the first time
we held her in our arms.
Someday, she’ll have
her own hopes and dreams,
not knowing that once upon
a quiet time, we closed our eyes
and dreamed
to have her in our life.

-unknown

Lily...Then and Now

Lily...Then. This the first picture we saw of Lily! Those big, sad, weepy eyes instantly melted our hearts! Born April 20, 2004, adopted May 18, 2005. Her Chinese name is Ling Qian Ping. Ling is the last name given to all the children at the Shangrao orphanage, Qian is for the county where she is from and Ping is a water lily! We did not know the meaning of Ping when we named her Lily.

Lily...Now. Here she is now, quite a little lady with her "big girl" haircut, showing off her dimples! Lily will be 3 years old on April 20th!

Some of her favorite things are:
-Noodles (Our "noodle girl" from the beginning! We absolutely fell in love with her when we saw her slurp noodles in Nanchang)
-Musicals (Chitty-Chitty Bang Bang tops the list)
-Singing (We sing nightly before bed)
-Hot Wheels (Stashed everywhere! I have found them in my shoes, in my chair, in my purse!)
-Shoes (Playing "shoes" is a regular pastime, we need to get some larger squeaky shoes when we are in China)
-Books (Books, Books, and more Books!)
-Friends (Includes her little girl friends, and her dolls and stuffed animals, they are all referred to as "my friends")