Hannibal didn't wear big bird on his cheeks

CARRYING ALL MY GIFTS AUNT NATALIE SENT FROM COLORADO
LOVES THIS SET, THANKS NATALIE
I SO LOVE HER ATTENTION TO DETAIL
PRESENTING BABY LECTOR!  HONESTLY I DIDN'T TEACH HER THIS.
I REALLY THINK WE SHOULD LAY OFF SILENCE OF THE LAMBS FOR A WHILE!
WHEN KIRA STARTED BITING ME I CALLED HER HANNA LECTOR, LITTLE DID I KNOW SHE WAS GOING TO ACT THE PART WITH THIS DEVICE IN HER MOUTH.  IT'S NOT A DENTAL APPLIANCE, IDEAS?

My Snow Bunny

I'M COMING I'M COMING, JUST TAKING MY TIME.  DON'T YA LOVE THE PURSE WITH ELMO IN IT!
THE BOY GOT CONCERNED THAT THE LITTLE GIRL IS OUT OF HIS REACH.  HE WOULDN'T TAKE HIS EYES OF HER TILL I WENT OVER AND PICKED HER UP.
ANOTHER HUGE SNOW BANK, I MEAN BUNKER
BUNDLED UP AND TOO FUNNY TRYING TO NAVIGATE AROUND

I'VE FALLEN AND CAN'T GET UP MOM

Finally, we got a dusting of snow!  I mean I probably had more dust in the house than Nj did on the ground.  Ugh, how I miss the snowy days of Colorado.  It always snowed and I never got tired of it.  So yesterday I bundled my little snow bunny up for a walk on the green, I mean sand trap, uh hmmm that's bunker I guess.  Our backyard is basically the 17th green so it's not fun in the summer watching out for bad golfers and those flying golf balls, but in the winter, wheee there's some hills that need to be sled upon!  

Anyway I thought she looked pretty cute in her new outfit!  The funny thing is once we got back in the house, Kira was saying opf opf (take this stuff off me)!

Wordless Wednesday

BLOWING KISSES TO MOMMA





OH MUST BE ELMO THAT AS HER FULL ATTENTION
SILLY FACE

Elegant Hands

KIRA HAS SUCH TINY, YET GRACEFUL HANDS. I LOVE WHEN SHE REACHES OUT TO TURN MY FACE OR HOLD MY HAND. I ALWAYS NOTICED THE FINE DETAILS OF THIS CHILD, ESPECIALLY HOW GRACEFUL AND COMPOSED SHE IS. NOW WITH MY NEW CAMERA I CAN STAND BACK AND SEE THIS BEAUTY THROUGH THE EYE OF MY LENS. THOUGH JUST BEGINNING TO LEARN HOW TO USE THIS NEW CAMERA OF MINE, I'M LOVING IT.

PLAYING WITH ONE TINY THREAD ON THE DRAPE TASSEL
I LIKE HOW THE LIGHT HIT THE THREAD, BUT UP CLOSE THE PHOTO GOT BLURRY FROM MOVEMENB


MOMMA, IT SAYS TO INSTALL THE DISC FIRST AND THEN YOU CAN MAKE YOUR NOSE SMALLER (couldn't reisist that, actually I have no idea how to play with this yet).

An Amazing Red Thread Connection

This is the photo that we received from the staff.  Melanies two daughters are each on the ends sitting on the nannies laps
Jordyn at home with Mom and her new sister, now awaiting her best friend to be adopted by this family.

After we brought our adopted daughter home from Hunan, I decided to stay in touch with a Yahoo group that was formed for children that came from the You Xian Welfare Institute. This was Kira’s orphanage and since we couldn’t visit there, I was hoping that through conversations I could provide her with memories of her time she spent there.
Months had gone by and very few emails came in. I thought that perhaps few babies came from that orphanage so continued to remain a member of that group. One day a woman wrote in how she just came back with her 8year old daughter and was now in the process of adopting her daughters’ best friend. I was so touched by this story, I emailed her to thank her for having such a big heart to allow these two orphaned girls to remain lifetime “sisters”. I also gave her our travel blog so that she could see what photographs were given to us by the orphanage directors. As it turns out, both of her daughters were in one of the photos we had. Melanie immediately emailed me back to tell me that her daughter Jordyn (currently at home with her) had recognized my daughter’s photo on our website and told her Mom that she helped to care for this baby named Meng Meng. Her mother told me that she seemed certain because of her name and she recognized the nannies with her on gotcha day. I was completely elated, as now I had more information that I could tell Kira about during her early months there.

So we emailed back and forth and have kept in touch.
However, as the financial world seemed to be crumbling, so were the hopes of this family who were now months away from adopting Jordyn’s Mei Mei. They were turned down for one grant and desparetly needed funds for the orphanage and travel. I told Melanie that these two children had to be together and I would try to do what I could to help fundraise.
The connection between our children spans thousands of miles and I feel that we are now all connected through the love our daughters.
I know many people are simply tapped out from the holidays and other understandable reasons. However, I am hoping to host a few auctions and ask that people spread the word of their unique story so that whatever money is donated through my assistance will bring them one step closer to Jailynn.
While I am far from the seamstress or have the talents of some of the wonderful Mamarazzi’s out there, I will auction off some of the most adorable handmade outfits from Daleea’s store that I bought for Kira. I believe there will always be time to buy material things such as clothes, but currently a child waits patiently for her family and time just drags on painfully for her.
All the proceeds will go directly to the Kerr Family Travel Expense fund.

PLEASE COPY AND PASTE THE CHIP IN TAG TO YOUR BLOG AND PASS THE WORD ON SO THAT THE KERR FAMILY CAN INDEED BRING JAILYNN HOME.

THANK YOU SO MUCH

ONE YEAR AGO A CHILD WAS PLACED IN MY ARMS

KIRA'S REFERRAL PHOTO, ONLY 5 MONTHS OLD

ANOTHER REFERRAL PHOTO THERE SHE IS, CLUTCHING HER RAG AND FIRECRACKERS?

I simply can not believe that one year ago, a frightened, tiny, fragile baby girl was placed in my arms. Years and YEARs of yearning for a child to call my own, had now culminated in one of the most memorable moments of my life. Though the rest of the trip to China was a blur, the day I held Kira for the first time is one day I will never forget.

We knew that Kira had a repaired cleft lip, and needed surgery for her open palate when she arrived home.  We were told that she was a happy baby who enjoyed the outdoors and being with her caretakers.  She wasn't walking yet, but would pull herself up in the crib.  She weighed only 17 lbs and was 29 inches tall.  She was abandoned at 2 months of age and taken to the You Xian Welfare Institute to reside.  This part of her story makes me sad and happy.  Sad because she bonded with her mother and was then abandoned, we assume because of the clefting issue. She was very malnourished upon arrival to the orphanage so her mother did a brave deed by relinquishing her into care.  Her parents probably could not afford medical or corrective surgical care.   She was found with a birth note and this tiny hat that was given to us when we met her.

I am also happy that we have these precious items and her story to give to her when she is old enough to understand. There is also another amazing connection between this tiny child and my family. Kira's birthday is the same day as my Mother's. What an amazing birthday gift I had for my Mom this time last year.

So after flying over 6,000 miles we landed in Bejing for a day and a half orientation and sightseeing tour. The entire time all I could think about was this child I was about to meet the next day. I had held her referral photo with me everywhere we went and was wondering if I would recognize her. At the end of our agency's orientation a beautiful Oriental tapestry book was handed out to all the families and then there were photos suddenly put up on the slide screen of all our children. Dani and I were looking for Kira and there she was, dressed in a little yellow coat. We opened the book and to our surprise there were more photos of her. I peered down and just started crying happy tears. She seemed bigger in one photo and so tiny in the other. Hey what did I know, I thought an 11 month old is tall, walking, talking and eating on their own. I even imagined my daughter would be this small child with pigtails for some reason, but instead she was a small, beautiful, well cared for tiny infant whom I just couldn't wait to see.

The next day we all left for our childrens' provinces and we flew to Changsha, Hunan. A bus took us to the Civil Affairs Office and I took a deep breath and walked inside. Immediately I could see the baby. She was wearing the same yellow jacket in the photos, only she was so little. It was very surreal to me, the hand off (as it's affectionately known) was very traumatic for this child. She was so bundled in layers of clothing, she kept turning around and looking for her caretakers, screaming a muffled cry because of her open palate. I started crying again and could do absolutely nothing to console her. I even asked the caretakers and our escort if they could console her. But I think it was me that needed consoling, yep, I was bawling even louder than the baby. I probably freaked the kid out! Anyway, the hour or so we spent there exhausted this tiny child and we then traveled back to our hotel by bus. It was on the bus that Kira calmed down a bit. I noticed her looking around and then realized from here on, I will be watching her observing her first new sights, sounds and adventures together. Everything was new to her, the streets, the people, us.

So here's a glimpse of our first moments together and our lives as a new family.

OUR FIRST GLIMPSE OF KIRA
THE HAND OFF

OH THIS IS THE PART THAT JUST GOT TO ME. ALL SHE WANTED WAS TO GO BACK TO HER CARETAKERS. I WAS A COMPLETE STRANGER AND NOTHING WOULD CONSOLE HER SOFT CRIES. I WANTED TO SAY "YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE A BEAUTIFUL LIFE SWEEET CHILD" AND THOUGHT THE KISSES WOULD BE OF SOME COMFORT. BUT POOR BABY CRIED FOR HOURS UNTIL WE GOT BACK TO THE HOTEL. RIGHT BEHIND ME IS LEAH, OUR AGENCY'S ESCORT DURING THE ENTIRE JOURNEY. TO ME SHE WAS MY MIDWIFE, HELPING ME THROUGH EVERYTHING, UNDERSTAND AND CONSOLING THE BABY AND I WHEN NEEDED. HOW I MISS HER!
NOW I'M CRYING PROBABLY LOUDER THAN KIRA
FINALLY CALM AND QUIET. I PUT A CHINESE LULLABY TAPE IN THE COMPUTER AND THE BEAUTIFUL MELODIES SOMEHOW SEEMED COMFORTING AND SOOTHING TO HER. OKAY I AT LEAST DID SOMETHING RIGHT HERE!
PEELING THE LAYERS OF CLOTHES OFF
AFTER 4 SETS OF SHIRTS, PANTS AND 2 JACKETS, THERE SHE WAS, OUR TINY DAUGHTER, SIMPLY BEAUTIFUL
I LOVE THIS PHOTO OF THE BABY LOOKING AT HER DADDY.  
BACK IN MY ARMS, CRYING AGAIN.  WHERE'S THE BOTTLE, CRACKERS, NOODLES, WASHCLOTH.  YES, SHE WANTED A TATTERED OLD WASH CLOTH IN HER LITTLE HANDS.  WE WERE TOLD THAT OFTEN ALL BABIES DID IN THEIR CRIBS WERE PICK AT THEIR CLOTHING OR THE WASH CLOTHS.  THIS WAS THE ONLY THING SHE WANTED, SO THERE IT IS, CLUTCHED TIGHTLY IN HER TINY HANDS.
HERE'S OUR WONDERFUL ESCORTS, ECHO AND LEAH.  THEY ARE THE MOST AMAZING WOMEN I'VE COME TO KNOW.  THEY HAVE SO MUCH LOVE FOR ALL THE FAMILIES AND CHILDREN.
GOODIE, SHE'S REALLY OURS!  KIRA STAMPED THE PAPERWORK WITH HER FOOT!
SO CUTE!  GUESS THEY KEPT HER SO BUNDLED SHE COULDN'T SIT WITHOUT BEING PROPPED UP WITH PILLOWS.  BY THE FOLLOWING MONTH SHE WAS WALKING!
MY JOY, MY DREAM, MY BABY!
AW, MORE LIKE IT,  FINALLY A HESITANT SMILE (AND MY BIG OPEN MOUTH IN THE BACKROUND)

BEAUTIFUL KIRA TODAY

You first came to us in an envelope

With letters, forms and such

Just two tiny little pictures

With nothing warm to touch.

You grew in our imagination

In our hearts and in our minds.

You brought us greater joy

Than we ever thought we'd find.

A phone call started labor pains

Which lasted 'til we met

Strangers brought together

A day we won't forget.

You bloomed as you were planned

In our hearts, our lives, our home.

Our child of chance, of plan, of will

You're now our very own.

-Unknown Author

Recalling details

I can't explain this but I have constant butterflies in my stomach today. Perhaps I'm relating to this time last year when the excitement of traveling to China had finally become reality. Or maybe it was the fact I had never traveled overseas and was wondering how I could stay in my seat for 13 hours. Yep, so much to think about. I MEAN I WAS GOING TO BECOME A MOMMY in 3 days...my mind was racing, my heart pounding and so I kept packing and unpacking. I was a complete nut case, no sleep for weeks and now wild with love for this child I would soon meet. How could anyone keep their emotions in check.

All in all I was so HAPPY! HAPPIER THAN I ever Imagined I could be, knowing this child, my daughter was awaiting me (us) in a small orphanage half way around the world.

FINALIZING THE CHECK LIST

ALL IMPORTANT DOCUMENTS, COMPUTER, GIFTS, GLASSES AND DIAPER BAG (YES I GAVE UP COACH FOR THIS BAG) BY THE WAY THIS IS MY MESSY WORK ROOM AND I LIKE IT MESSY!  MY FABRIC STASH, COMPUTER AND SCHOOL STUFF, PHOTOGRAPHY GADGETS, ETC.  ANALOGOUS TO A MAN'S MESSY GARAGE!

*CRIB AND WATCH DOG

*STROLLER, STUFFED ANIMALS

VISAS

GUESS THIS WAS THE LAST TIME I LAUGHED WITH ONE OF THESE IN MY HANDS:))

*BACKPACK

MAYBE?

 80 OZ OF JAVA.  No wonder I am an Insomniac:))