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October 1, 2008  |  November 16, 2008  |  January 25, 2009  |  August 12, 2009

Sunday, November 16, 2008 “Have no fear of moving into the unknown. Simply step out fearlessly knowing that I am with you, therefore no harm can befall you; all is very, very well. Do this in complete faith and confidence.” – Pope John Paul II Some days it feels like Maeve has been part of our family forever, and other times we look at her and wonder how she got here. :) This little girl has brought such an amazing and renewed spirit to our family. And beyond our family to our friends and our community. Case in point – we were trick-or-treating on Halloween and approached the home of a prominent couple in our community. We don’t know them well, but they welcomed us to their porch for candy and Maeve strolled away with not only candy, but an Asian baby doll. (Thank you, Mary.) Everywhere we go, she induces generosity and kindness. November 10th was our 2 month anniversary with Maeve. Since we’ve been home, she has experienced many firsts. Early in October, we went to the local corn maze. As we got lost in the corn, she kept flashing me this look that said, “You brought me half way across the world for this?” And then we saw the Easter Bunny. Wrong time of year, you think? It made no difference. This giant rabbit walked around the farm and Maeve fell in love. “Bunny, Bunny,” she called. She chased him. She danced for him. She sang to him. And then he got close. No more bunny love. This was long distance love. Back off, rabbit! We continued to celebrate autumn all that month culminating with Halloween. Now this was a holiday! The moon festival was fun and all, but on Halloween, everyone gives you candy – and baby dolls. We began the fun by painting pumpkins. Maeve chose a white pumpkin that she painted orange. Go figure. But she loved painting. She would stop every few seconds to point and exclaim, (in Mandarin) “Check out this gourd! He looks so good in orange, and by the way, so do I!” When it was time, we forced her into her Snow White costume. Maybe she would have rather been Cinderella? Her cries could be heard for miles, until we placed the tiara on her head. Bingo. Of course our princess needed a tiara. I should have put that on her first. She posed unwillingly for pictures, denying us a smile. (She later smiled each time she unwrapped a sucker. Turkey.) And then it was time. It didn’t take her long at all to figure out that people were giving away candy. “Are you kidding? Do you know how hard I have to work to get my mom to cough up chocolate? And you’re just giving it away? THANKS!” On November 3, we celebrated Maeve’s 3rd birthday. It was a wonderful day, but full of mixed emotions for us. During the days surrounding her birthday, I spent a lot of time thinking about Maeve’s birthparents. We don’t know the circumstances surrounding Maeve’s birth, but we do know they couldn’t have been easy. We pray for peace for them. Maeve didn’t have any idea what the fuss was about, but it didn’t take her long to understand the concept of “presents.” Fun, fun, FUN! We just celebrated as a family that day, but held her birthday party on November 9th. We began that blessed day sick. Well, Mike was. There was no way for him to make the baptism or the party. What to do? Our priest assured us that the baptism could still take place, so with her godparents beside me, our little girl was welcomed into the Church. She wore her white traditional Chinese dress and squeaky shoes. It was wonderful. (Beyond her father stuck in bed, of course.) Family, friends, and cake were the theme of that day. We also celebrated Jie Jie, Liz, turning 12. More cake, yum! The girls had a great time and Mike felt better by that evening. :) Maeve was spoiled by everyone raking in her first American Girl doll, pretty clothes, a rosary, and lots of new books. She got excited by each gift, but couldn’t figure out why Uncle Matt took them away as soon as she opened them. This was tempered by her sister handing her a new prettily wrapped gift right after. Good times. Life is moving along here pretty rapidly. Mason’s football season is over. Basketball for Liz and Mason is just beginning. Maeve has begun going to story hour at the library. This is fun, but I think she tolerates it for the snacks. :) Gabe isn’t involved in anything, but gets dragged to everything. Poor kid.

Maeve is going to begin speech therapy after Thanksgiving and she goes to Shriner’s Children’s Hospital in Chicago in December. They will begin the care plan for her cleft. We will have much more information about future surgeries after that time. Things are going well. Maeve is sleeping better at night. She is picking up on English quickly. She gets along with her brothers and sister well. She has a new best friend named Lilly. She gets spoiled everywhere she goes. Life is pretty good. I plan on updating Maeve’s site once more after Christmas, so I can post holiday pictures. Gabe is beginning to teach Maeve to say “Santa” and she has the “Ho, Ho, Ho” part down pretty good. We can’t wait to take her to see the lights at the zoo, go on our Christmas retreat, make Christmas cookies with her, and search for Rudolph’s nose on Christmas Eve. The kids are eager to share the traditions that soon will be hers. God bless everyone during this upcoming holiday season. :) Take care and lots of good Black Friday deals, Mike, Traci, Liz, Mason, Gabe, and Maeve

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