Three Months Today

So here we are.... we have been home 3 months now! Can you believe it? So many changes happen every day. The kids are doing great! All 3 of them. Alex and Jordan are becoming more sibling like. They are having a lot of fun playing together and now that Alex has re-discovered Thomas the train.... he has a lot to teach Jordan. Lauren turned 2 the end of February. We were just looking at the videos from China this week and I was noticing how much she has grown since China.

There is Lauren on her Birthday. Now that I am looking at the picture it is reminding me of Pretty in Pink... though she has 14 more years to go and I am not ready for boy kissing!!!

She is more mature, more assertive (if that is possible) and is now finally talking! She still chooses when to use her words but the words are now 2, 3 and 4 word sentences. We decided that with the snow on Friday that we should go to Starbucks and get a Hot Chocolate. She was very excited. When I got it in the car and she said "My hot chocolate pleassse". I said "Hold on until we get home" and then realized... wait did you just say 4 words in a row?! She got that hot chocolate and walked in like a young women holding that cup and happy to drink it!!! How funny. Now she will throw out a "That is mine" "Look at meeee!", "Thank you Mom". I love hearing her words...

Now hearing words leads me to Jordan. I would have to say that if you met Jordan right now you would not know that it has only been 3 months. He is talking so much! Most of his

sentences are complete and with little accent. It is amazing. His English tutor is working on diction and now letter and number recognition, as well as, colors and shapes. He is still using Chinese, sometime mixed with English. I actually asked him this morning how do you say that in Chinese and he gave it to me. I am glad that he is over the idea of "Why do you want to know Chinese... you are English!". I had a talk to him a couple of weeks ago about how much I love his Chinese language and how much I am enjoying both Alex and he learning Mandarin. He was not wanting to use Mandarin or learn more. Since then he is enjoying the lessons and using it with Alex. I think we are going to be in trouble soon because they are starting to talk to each other!

Maybe this is not a good idea :)

Jordan has been experiencing so much since he has landed in Denver. He has met both my Dad and his wife, Nancy, as well as David's Mom. Both times we have been so shocked to see how excited, and not shy when he met them. He ran right up to both the them and gave hugs and said "Hi Grandma" and "Hi Grandpa, Nana". He is so excited to meet family. It has been fun to watch.

We have taken him to the Aquarium when my Dad and Nancy was out visiting. He has his glasses now and it was a whole new world to him.

I can not tell you how many "Ca MaMa" (look Mom) I heard that day! He has been so much fun to watch. He is so excited. Our niece, Julia, celebrated her birthday at Chuck E. Cheese this year. Jordan walked in with his eyes the size of saucers. He was so excited that his body was physically shaking. I told Lori if he could live here he would. He could not get enough of the ride-on rides. Horses, trains, motorcycles, if it moved he was on it... multiple times! He could not believe a place like this existed. By the time we went home, Jordan was so exhausted from all the fun and excitement that he actually fell asleep in the car! It is interesting to watch. Alex and Lauren were excited and had fun, but there is something fundamentally different from their fun and his. It is hard to explain but wondrous to experience. I keep thinking of all the things Jordan will experience soon. We are going to be going to my favorite place in the entire world this summer, Cape Hatteras, NC. Jordan has never seen an ocean before. I did talk to Jordan about Vacations. He looked at me a bit lost. He had just bought a toy airplane and I had asked him "Do you want to take that plane to China?". He looked a bit panicked when I said it and I realized that he might be thinking that I was going to take him back because he immediately said No. I quickly corrected my position and said "You know we can take the plane to China for a few days... on a vacation. Do you know what a vacation is?" He said No and I proceeded to tell him it about going places for a few days for fun and to see things or people. He looked at me and said "But why Mama..... (opening his arms) House is so beautiful.... why vacation?" He has no idea what is in store for him! He is going to love vacationing. I am also looking forward to taking him to my Dad's in Rochester. He will meet all of our friends and family there, swim in my Dad's pool, and kayak on the Erie Canal. His world has opened up so much. It is funny.... then there is Lauren who in the first year of her life has been coast-to-coast and seen 7 different States, seen both oceans and has been to Asia! All of this reminds me of how I really want to think about how we spend our time and what experiences we want our kids to have. It is so fun to share this world with these kids. We are so blessed and fortunate to be able to give our children all these wonderful experiences.

David too has had some big changes. He is now working for Newmont Mining, which is located in Greenwood Village down in the Denver Tech Center. He has been there a month and is really liking it. We had to take the kids to his new office because Jordan kept asking me "Where is BaBa working?" Since he has checked out the location he is alright with David's daily disappearances. The only downside to David's new job is the drive to and from work. It is about 30 mins away without traffic and some days it can take 1 hrs and 15 mins with traffic. David avoids the traffic by leaving our house before 6:15 am and not leaving work until at least 6pm. That gets him home no sooner than 6:45pm. It has been a big adjustment not having David home for dinner, but we are all getting use to the schedule changes.

As for me, I am settling in as a Mom of 3. I am getting to know Jordan more and more. I am priding myself on days where I can spend a little time with all of them individually and hoping that I can get to a point where I can do that and get the laundry, dishes and house picked up all in the same day. Currently it is a situation where it is one or the other. So I hope anyone visiting catches me on a house day :) It is all great! It warms my heart to hear the kids playing and sharing their ideas. The squabbling is getting less nerve-racking, and our routines and expectations are all coming together. I am now trying to look at myself and I am going to try to work on myself a bit. I have done some stress eating... my huge downfall... that I now have to rectify. I think that time in the gym will help in so many ways. I was really enjoying it before the adoption. I know it has been a while since our last posting, but I hope that this long one makes up for it. We appreciate all of you who read this and supports us. We hope that you are all doing well and getting ready for the year ahead as Spring if upon us! It is always wonderful to have the feeling of a newness all around us. It makes me think of new possibilities and experiences... may you all have wonderful ones!

Slowing getting out of our fog...

Is it really February already? We have been home 6 weeks now and it feels like a blink of an eye. We have had a few guest the past few weeks which has been fun. David's Mom, Joyce, was and is still visiting. Jordan has taken to her very well and she is enjoying each of her grandchildren while in Colorado. She was just at Lori's for a few days while my father and his wife, Nancy, were out. She had a good time with Drew and Julia and my Dad and Nancy really enjoyed meeting and spending some time with their new grandson. Jordan does fit right in. He has embraced his grandparents without skipping a beat and has enjoyed the games and fun times that we all have had with them. It is wonderful to see him make himself at home here and with his new family.

Jordan has had a big change however.... I was finally able to arrange an appointment with an Optometrist who speaks Mandarin, well she does adults, but she arranged a joint appointment with the adjacent Family practice to help translate during an eye exam. Both doctors were wonderful and we were finally able to evaluate Jordan's vision. As it turns out it is worse than I suspected. Poor Jordan was VERY near-sighted. The poor little guy was not even able to see the big E on the letter chart! People have been so wonderful and helpful since we have been home. I have been amazed at how generous and kind people really are! So the very next day we went to Lens Crafters for 1 hour glasses and Wa La... we have a seeing son! He had a hard time the first couple of days taking his glasses on and off frequently but is now well adjusted. We are still having trouble keeping his glasses up because he does not have a prominent bridge but we are working on it. Here is a picture of our little guy on Pajama Day at school with his friends!

Jordan's glasses have also helped his clumsiness. I guess with the size of his prescription he did not really have depth perception. He seems to be getting hurt less and bumping into less things, which is good because we were starting to get concerned about it. His poor head needed a break! I am excited to see what Jordan does with his new world. He has been so quick to pick up things... I cannot wait to see what he learns now. His teacher has already commented on how much better he is doing in school.

We are slowly starting to get out of the house and feeling like we are getting into some routine. I feel like we have been saying this for a while and yet I am saying it again. We have the school routine down. Jordan loves going in the morning... Alex is usually not as excited but once he is there is ready to go! By the way, here is Alex during his Pajama day! He loves his teacher, Mrs. Stover.

Lauren is doing well to. She has finally slept until 6am two times this week.... dare we get a third? This is the first time in a very long time, but definitely since our China trip. David and I are enjoying our very much needed sleep. We have A LOT to catch up on! She has been spending a lot of time with Grandma lately. Lauren has started to really enjoy dolls and has a Little People Doll house that she and Grandma have been spending a lot of time playing. It is funny to watch her play. I was never one for dolls when I was younger, but Lauren has this natural way with them. I have been playing with her but it would be a lot more natural for me to go grab some trains or cars and do that, even as an adult, which I find funny. I do love watching her play with them. I now understand all that my mom missed out on with me. I can not believe that she is going to be two soon. Where did that time go? I am enjoying every minute with her because I know next time I notice, she will be 6 or 7 and in school and I will have wondered where my little toddler went. Alex is up to my shoulders now and I think, really can he be turning 8 this year?!

Tonight the 3 of them were playing outside in our little yard. They spent some time tormenting a little bunny in yard as they chased it asking for the bunny to come back. After that little adventure they played in the fort pretending. It was nice to watch them play as friends and siblings. It has been hard for Alex and Jordan just adores him. Jordan follows Alex around all the time and wants to do everything that he does. It was nice to see that they were pretending together tonight and enjoying it. Time will help with all the adjustments, but it is so comforting to see some moments working. You know that there is a light and things will smooth out sooner rather than later. Well it is getting late and it is possible that my daughter will be up in a couple of hours. I hope everyone's February is going as well as ours is and that love is in the air :) Happy February everyone!

Jordan and School

Today was Jordan's First Day of school. It is hard to believe that we have been home for 3 weeks and now Jordan is going to school! For those of you who I was not able to reach while we were in China we were not able to use Blogspot because it was censored so I switched over to Shutterfly. Please feel free to visit our page on Shutterfly with all of our stories, pictures and videos at: http://thekristofffamily.shutterfly.com/ There us a password of my2kids on there for you to get in there.

We are all doing well and thankful to be home!

Let it Snow?

Well I finally fell asleep at 11pm. I think David was asleep before his head hit the pillow. Lauren woke at 12:45 and did not fall asleep until now so I am thinking 1.5 hrs of sleep might actually help me on the SFO to Beijing leg! It's all good. Not only that, but we are looking at a little snow storm of about 2 inches (of our supposed 1-3" for the day) on the ground already. This morning really makes me happy that we chose the 6am flight with the longer layover at SFO than the 10 am with a tight connection!

So off to get ready and go. Everyone in Colorado. Enjoy this blustery winter day. I suppose we are in December... "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas..."

Get Ready, Get Set... GO!

Well it is almost 10 pm and I my goal was to be in bed by 9pm tonight... so much for that!! Who could sleep anyways with all this excitement and anticipation lingering. I know that 6am flight is going to hit me like a ton of bricks but I had to write one last time before China!

Since I have never flown Internationally before I am so nervous about so many things. I hope the flights run smoothly not only on times but in the air - hate that bumpy, choppy, sometime roller coaster like environment. I also hope that my children surprise me tomorrow. Lastly, I hope that our bags find us well and that we are as prepared as I think we are for our China experience. Then my hope is that I can settle my nerves and my anticipation enough to enjoy all that there will be to enjoy in Beijing.

In the mean time, we would like to thank you for all of your little prayers that you all have been saying for us. With so much love and blessings bestowed on us, we should be carried over there on angels wings. Was that too mushy because I am pretty emotional today! :)

Until my next posting from China..... Good night!

Much to be Thankful for...

Well here we are getting ready for not only our trip but a modest Thanksgiving Dinner. I was going to forgo Thanksgiving Dinner this year but my son, the ever present Alex, has his heart set on a turkey dinner with stuffing and the works. I am not sure that he will even eat the meal but he is so cute about it. He has made a paper Thanksgiving turkey, coloring it very festively, for the table and everything. The kids Uncle Bill (our friend Bill Tosch) is making it in for Thanksgiving, which is in plenty of time for China, thanks to our wonderful friend Mickey. We could not be more appreciative of her help with such short notice to fly Bill in!

The more we thought about this da, which is fast approaching, the more we thought that this is truly a day that we should be celebrating. We have so much to be thankful for. We are thankful for all the friends and family that have been supporting us and for those friends who have not commented on how ditzy I have been lately (and you know who you are!). We are also thankful for being in a position to make this trip such a wonderful and enjoyable event. We lastly are so very thankful for being able to get Jordan soon and have him home before Christmas and the end of the year. We are so fortunate to be able to arrive home at a time when both David and Alex are off so that we can figure out what are family is going to be like without the distractions of jumping into our everyday routine.

We want to wish everyone a very happy Thanksgiving full of good blessings and lots of laughter. December 2nd here we come!

Travel Notice

Our Travel Notice has been officially issued and has been faxed to the US Consulate so that we can get appointments for Jordan's visa the last week we are in China... but yes, we are still waiting to hear from the Consulate to verify that we can get appointments the week of December 13th. What a process. At least we have our travel notice. We are almost there! Hopefully we will be able to finalize our travel on Monday (9 days before we leave!) YIKES! We are hanging on top our hats right now finalizing all of our preparations. What a wonderful Christmas this will be!!! Thanks to everyone for hanging in there with us on this wild roller coaster ride :)