1st Gotcha Day Anniversary

Gotcha Moment

I am starting this post on Fri, Aug 30, 2013 but not posting it till Mon, Sept 2.  Its a way for me to share my feelings each day remembering what we were doing a year ago at this time, while preparing for the biggest day & change of our lives, without posting daily - lol!  Also, I will be including a picture or 2 from each month that Amy has been with us.  Some you may have seen already but its amazing to see how much she has grown & changed.

At this time last year, we were half way through our flight to Hong Kong, on an adventure that would enrich our lives in a way we could not even imagine.  After 6 + years waiting and even longer wanting a family, it was hard to believe that in just 2.5 days we would meet our little girl.  I was anxious, excited and scared beyond belief.  Our wish had finally come true and our lives would never be the same, nor would we want them to be.

Forever Family Day

A year ago today, we arrived in Hong Kong and our hotel was across the street from the largest mall we have ever seen!!!!  It had many restaurants to choose from, along with a grocery store, which we visited.  We found one place to eat that was very good & ended up eating there both nights.  We would have loved to spend more time in the grocery store but it was a bit overwhelming and the people really do not believe in personal space - lol!

The next morning we slowly woke up and got ourselves ready for a quick, short day of sightseeing in Hong Kong.  It was our first day to experience the Chinese breakfast buffet where you can get anything from fruit & homemade waffles to noodles & rice. Boy, do I miss those buffets :)  We both were eager to get out & experience the new culture.

We spent the day wandering around Hong Kong.  They have some of the top designer stores there, which all had lines out of them and a security guard monitoring who & how many people were going in.  It astounded us.  Paris wasn't even this bad.  But the best part of the day was going to the Peninsula for tea in the afternoon.  It truly was an incredible experience and since the weather was not great, it was a perfect way to spend the afternoon!  That evening we relaxed and tried to get some rest before the "BIG" day.  By that point, luckily, we were very tired so we were able to sleep, even with the 12 hr time difference.  But I made sure we were packed and ready to leave before bed.

Lounging In Guanzhou

Sunday morning we were up and anxiously awaiting our departure for the airport.  We had a van taking us into China and to a small airport where we would fly to Nanchang.  The drive wasn't bad but the airport was unbelievable small.  No English to be found, minimal air conditioning, credit cards would not work, no cash and nowhere to exchange money.  It was a long wait for our plane with no food or water :(

Finally we arrived in Nanchang around 4 - 4:30, where our guide Evelyn met us.  We loved her and Josh actually still keeps in contact with her a bit.  On the bus ride to the hotel she gave us information about Amy, some of the feeding techniques, what things we should continue to do and what we should change.  We found out at that time Amy was scared of strangers and particularly men.  Josh decided then that he would be cautious on how quickly he approached her and how close he would get.

We arrived at the hotel just after 5 and Amy arrived between 6 - 6:30.  Barely any time for us to get settled but we didn't care.  When Evelyn knocked on the door, I slowly opened it in awe.  This precious little girl had no idea what was going on or why she was being thrown into this strange woman's arms.  It took a while but she finally calmed down and I was able to get a smile out her by showing herself in the mirror.  That night she slept in her crib and that would be last night she would sleep by herself - lol!!!

1st Manchester United Game!

1st Smile for Camera - notice her outfit too ;)

1st Day in the pool in Naples

1st Birthday - didn't like getting hands dirty

1st pair of shoes

It took Frankie to finally convince her to touch the grass

Christmas with Grandma Wallace

Just enjoying a beautiful day outside 

Christmas morning with Nai Nai

After long nite of partying for Mallory's birthday

Just playing in kitchen

Day at the zoo

Helping wash windows

1st Easter

Mama's 40thBirthday

Isabella's Birthday - all recently adopted

Mother's Day

Fun in the rain

The girls in Boston Commons - met the other 2 in China

Uncle Nick's Birthday 

1st Referral Anniversary

Having fun in the kitchen on her tower

Helping mama paint

Morning at pier watching dolphins

1st Gotcha Day anniversary

Tonite we celebrated with my family & CiCi.  CiCi is a Chinese exchange student that is staying with us for the school year.  She made us an incredible dinner of dumplings, chicken, beef, soup & cabbage.  All true Chinese cuisine that just made this anniversary even more special.In the past year we have gone from having no daughter to having 2 and we could not be happier!!!!!  Not sure you can see the difference, but Amy has slowly begun to accept the camera & us - lol!

Hope you enjoyed the stroll down memory lane as much as I did.  I wasn't able to post in China since Amy wouldn't let go of me so I am enjoying telling the story from my point of view.  Its been a fantastic year and we look forward to many more.

Love to you all and thank you for sharing this incredible experience with us!!!!!

Spring in Naples 3.24.13

Oh My. 4 months since a blog post. Well we've taken a few hundred pictures and dozens of videos, had many many adventures, grown a few inches and a few pounds (not Mama and Baba, mind!).

This morning started with gusty 25 mph winds, so we didn't think outside projects would get done. But after Josh's morning bike, family breakfast and Whole Foods shop, the weather started cooperating. So we set out to our work. Kelly is the house CIO - as in Chief Irrigation Officer. Now we have an Assistant CIO. Miss Amy. She did very well looking after the PVC! Next came the windows. She especially enjoyed helping scrub them and then the rinsing began. Haha! What a blast we all had!

 

 

 

 

11.23.12

Sat Nov 17 - Enjoying afternoon outside

On Saturday afternoon, I decided to take Amy outside to sit in the chairs, enjoy the afternoon sun and let Mom get ready for an evening out. Luckily I ran back inside to get my camera. I think this is the best series that we've taken of our beautiful, wonderful, active, energetic, talkative and happy daughter.

I've added these in order. She started by relaxing but then decided that sitting was boring.

Hi Baba. I'm just chillin here in this big chair

This is pretty nice. 

Enough sitting. I'm ready to get up

Almost there.

I'm up, I'm up. 

This standing thing is great. 

I'm so proud of myself. Big smile for Baba

Amy Walking November 2012

This first video was taken on Election night. Kelly had sent me a short video of Amy walking with her cart earlier in the day. So I was able to get a longer one as we did one of many laps up and down the hallway. That certainly made my Election Night memorable. 

This 2nd video is Amy walking by herself for the first time -- Friday November 16, 2012. There's a very happy Aunt Stacy voicing her enthusiasm in the background!

October 21 - Time to Catch Up!!!!

We've been away from the blog for a few weeks now. 4 to be exact. Now on a quiet Sunday evening it's time to summarize through pictures and video the last few weeks.

First of all, life is really great with Amy / Maggie Li / Maggie Munchkin. She's full of energy, personality, sounds, movement .... oh AND teeth. This week we joked that we prepared ourselves for difficulties with bonding, attachment and other serious adoption related challenges. Little did we know that discomfort from teething would be our major issue. Our Munchkin has gone from 8 little teeth to about 15 in the space of 6 weeks.


Back on Sept 23, Florida State (Kelly's alma mater) played their first "big" game of the year. Kelly's pal and fellow FSU grad Ashley had given Amy this dress. This is one of the first big smiles Amy gave the camera.

This next one we get to see every night. Little Amy has great bath hair.

By age we were a little early but by weight, Amy was OK to face forward in the car. We turned her around in early October and she REALLY enjoyed the change. She likes to face forward and see where she's going - in the car, at Whole Foods or at Home Depot. Here's one from the driveway.

In mid-October, Amy had her first pool experience here in the States. The water was a little cold for all of us but after expert inching-in by Mom, she started really enjoying.

We were able to capture a really fun minute on video. For some reason, Kelly started playing "high-5" with Amy as were finishing dinner. The video is great.

We also want to show Amy's room additions. On the left is the calligraphy that has Amy's given Chinese name (Gan Anyue) in characters, her birthplace and date. On the right is a map of Jiangxi province. Evelyn, our amazing guide in Nanchang, gave us the map. It has hand-written note of where Amy is from.