We're Home
August 10, 2008  |  September 8, 2008  |  January 2, 2009  |  January 2, 2010

Saturday, January 2, 2010 THAT WAS A SHORT YEAR! So as you can see, we've been quite delinquent in posting. Between Facebook and our family blog, there's only so much time to post. Needless to say, it has been a most eventful year. It has had its ups and downs, but we're all still here; a little older, a little wiser, and a little crazier - because we're adopting AGAIN! (more on that in a minute) At the end of April we took Ava up to the Children's Hospital at the recommendation of her cardiologist. It had become important to see if the dimensions and pressures were okay in her pulmonary artery. There was some suspicion that it was constricted and that they'd have to place a stent in order to increase the blood flow - or at least to inflate a little balloon and widen the artery. Happily, upon getting in there, the blood pressure on the lung side of the artery seemed to be fine, even though they confirmed that the artery was definitely kinked. The doctor had inflated the balloon but didn't see any reason to place a stent, especially since she is very young and has a lot of growing to do. So after only 2 hours in surgery (via catheter), the doctor called it good and we settled in for a single night in the hospital. Ava bounced right back to her usual high-energy self the next day. Throughout the year, Ava has continued to develop her English-speaking skills and can now form whole sentences reasonably well. Her motor skills have advanced quite a bit and she's as dextrous and bright as any of her peers in the preschool she attends two days a week. In May, Ava potty-trained herself within 3 days. We had strategically placed small plastic potties throughout the house and just let her run around bottomless. She only had one accident and picked up the routine right away. Boy was it nice to be out of diapers. She still uses pull-ups at night, but then she still takes about 4 ounces of milk at night (we've converted to exclusively goat milk now). She started preschool in the fall. At first, it was major drama for either of us to drop her off - lots of crying and carrying on. April would drop her off always with a promise that she'd be back. Every day when April returns to get her, Ava says "Mommy came back". For this reason we are never late! Sleep took a turn for the worst this year. Ava still does not sleep through the night, but it at least it only takes 5-10 minutes to get her down now. That is thanks to Melatonin, which seems to regulate her initial sleep patterns. Sean still sleeps with her at night and we're hoping to break her of this habit when she turns three in January. Ava is as loving and affectionate as ever. After having four boys, who aren't nearly as affectionate, it is great to get hugs and kisses and "I love yous" all the time. She and her "big" brother Keaton (which is actually the youngest boy) are practically inseparable. They've learned to play together really well and she pretty much idolizes him. She's always gotten along great with the oldest two, Preston and Soren, but has more or less stayed away from the 3rd boy, Gavin. Just within the last couple months however, she is finally showing affection toward him. Poor kid probably has a complex! Ava began her career as a fashion model this year! April struck an agreement with the owner of a company called WoobieWear, and Ava models their seasonal lines of accessories. We do the photography ourselves. We've done two shoots so far and the company has used several of the photos. By the end of June we had a steady stream of family visitors coming for the first time to visit us at our new home. It had been a couple years since we moved from Oregon and it was nice to have them here. We brought Sean's sister's girls here again from Texas and his dad, mom, and brother's family all visited in addition to April's parents. In all, it was about five weeks of family visits. That meant we were ready for a vacation! In late July, we spent a week in Breckenridge, one of the world's greatest mountain towns and ski areas. We packed the week with lots of swimming, hiking, and chillin'. "Moderate hiking" in Colorado means that you start at about 10,000 ft and end around 13,500 ft. Flatlanders would get a little winded but we're pretty used to it now. "Aggressive hiking" in Colorado means you typically join with hundreds of other Coloradoans that attempt to climb all of her 54 "fourteeners" throughout their lifetime. When we moved here, we had no idea Colorado had that many mountains over 14,000 feet. By Thursday, the weather had deteriorated to some wicked thunderstorms. Rather than hole up in the condo all day, we jumped in the car and drove 2 hours west to Glenwood Springs, home of the largest hot springs pool in the world. We spent a thoroughly enjoyable day in 80 degree weather and a 94 degree pool. SOOO relaxing! At the end of the week, our pals from our home town visited for a couple days and joined us for the fun. Being transplants from Wisconsin, they cooked up an awesome dinner of beer-battered brats, sauerkraut, etc. We all ignored the old wives' tale about getting cramps and immediately jumped in the pools and hot tubs right after the barbecue. While in Breck, we celebrated Ava's one year anniversary of joining her forever family. Unbelievable how fast it had gone. Also while in Breck, we began to discuss the possibility of adopting another child, this time older. We were not back one week when April found our next daughter's picture on the website of Holt International's Journey of Hope program. We petitioned to be matched with her and because of our experience, we were able to avoid the lengthy committee selection process. We were officially matched on October 1st with Bai Jie Ya, soon to be Gemma. This process is a little backwards compared to how it's usually done. Once we were matched, the paper chase then began in earnest and we're still in the process. It's going a little slower than it did the first time for a variety of reasons. Gemma currently resides in Guangzhou, which should make the 2nd trip fairly simple for us. By the time we finally get her, she will be 9 years old. She has been with the same foster family for the last 7 years so we are under no illusions about the challenges we may face with attachment, etc. We will launch a second adoption website for Gemma soon. In November, we were able to do something extraordinary. While in China, Ava had a little crib mate that she played with and sort of "mothered". Due to the wonders of the internet, and the Yahoo group dedicated to the Maonan SWI, April had made contact with a family in California that adopted this little crib mate of Ava's. We therefore plotted another vacation over Thanksgiving break in order to reunite the two orphan "sisters". On November 22nd, we all met at Disneyland and spent the next 2 1/2 days getting acquainted, or re-acquainted as the case may be. We are now inextricably linked with this family from California, whose daughter is quite literally the sister of our beloved Ava. Again through the wonders of the internet, Facebook in particular, we stay in contact daily. We've already pledged to get together on a fairly regular basis so that the girls can continue a relationship as they grow up in America. The balance of the year saw more family visits over Christmas and was otherwise uneventful. With that, we will bring this adoption blog to a close. Stay tuned for our next blog as we chronicle our experiences while bringing Gemma home. To stay in touch with our family, and especially if you'd like to make a donation to help us fund Gemma's adoption, please visit our family blog here. Thank you for following our progress and God bless!

Ava all hopped up on the happy meds Measuring distances in the pulmonary artery Post-op, settling in for the night Going home from the hospital! Ava has boundless energy and is quite the little gymnast! First day of preschool Getting ready for spring snow Yet another spring snow storm, this one was a little ridiculous! Mommy and Ava built a little snowman Ava and her best pal Keaton finding Easter eggs

Easter Sunday at our home


There are way too many boys in this house!


Modeling the Christmas line of WoobieWear hair accessories


Another of the myriad of poses


Hiking in Breck


Swimming with Big Brother at the condo


Enjoying Chinese food on Ava's one year anniversary


Ava and her referral picture on her one year anniversary


Loving the toasty water at Glenwood Hot Springs


Ava's future big sister Gemma


Crib mates Ava (Nan Qi Ya) and Hannah (Nan Qi Huan)
reunite for the first time in a year


Ava points to the sign and says "Dada...Ava...Mama"


Hanging out with Pooh


Hanging out with Pluto


Pure excitement at Disneyland's Christmas Fantasy parade


He was elusive, but we finally found him!


On the last day in SoCal, we ventured out to the beach for a little relaxation


A favorite beach pastime enjoyed by all the kids.
Ava just liked stomping the castles because the sand feels great on her feet!


So much fun to chase those big white birds!


The whole gang and a beautiful California sunset

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