Two Years Ago Today

I KNEW that we had a second daughter in China.

REALLY....I DID.

And, two years ago today I met her in a picture.

Just ask Greg, he can attest to my INSTANCE about this...I blubbered in his weary ears many a nights about this around late 2006-early 2007.

We had wanted to use Emma's adoption agency to find our second child. THEY thought that our second child was in Columbia or Vietnam. THEY were instant. And, rude about it.

Uh, yeah...sorry. *I* knew where our second child was. C-H-I-N-A. Period. God was telling me every TIME that I asked, it was loud and CLEAR.

The feeling was SO STRONG...I had only felt this way ONE time before. In 2004 when we began our adoption process to adopt Emma. :)

A Mother knows these things.

Before I found Sophie I had looked at a LOT of pictures. Very cute picture of Special Needs children available for adoption. I had been looking mostly at boys...boys with Cleft Lip and/or Palate. But, I did not have *the pull*. We had found one adorable little guy that we DID petition for...but, he was meant to be with another family.

Just months later I found Sophie. It was SO EASY. I found her on November 8, 2007-what would have been my Nana's 118Th Birthday. I loved my Nana so much that I KNEW it was a sign. When I locked eyes with Sophie on the screen there was something SO FAMILIAR about her, I was SO RELIEVED to have finally found her. I even said to her picture "It's about time...there you are"!

I thought that she looked a bit like my sister circa 1978...no, Molly is not Asian. ;)

The very next day we committed to adopt Yangxi Zi Ye...soon to be known as Sophia Grace. Sophie's big sister Emma had ear tubes put in that very morning. On the way home from the hospital I told Greg that we HAD to call Sophie's adoption agency. There must have been an unusual urgency to my voice because he called Sophie's adoption agency that morning as soon as we got home from the hospital. :)

It took a LONG time to finally bring Sophie home. Too long. I will not go into detail, suffice to say that the employees at USCIS do NOT give a damn about children waiting for their families. We missed her first two birthdays.

Now Sophie has been home with us for almost 8 months. :) She is a wonderful little girl who makes us all VERY HAPPY. She is just so sweet.

I LOVE YOU SOPHIE.

About the Girls Halloween... ... ...

Emma and Sophie had a pretty good Halloween! :-)




Emma got overwhelmed at times. But, she made it clear that she WANTED to trick or treat. She was not about to miss out on pounds of candy. ;-) I was proud of her because she communicated her feelings to us...no meltdowns.




Sophie did not know what to make of it all...at first. The first house that we approached she sat down on their stoop to pose for the camera! :-D ONCE she realized that Emma was getting candy she caught on-FAST!




Alright, now for what you've all been waiting for......

Great Outcome!

We had a meeting this morning at Emma's school. We wanted to discuss Emma's diagnosis of Autism with her teachers and make sure that Emma is receiving ALL of the assistance that she needs. Her teachers do a GREAT job already as do the paras-we know that we are lucky.

We talked a little bit about her Kindergarten IEP (Individualized Education Plan) that will be coming up after the holidays. We mostly discussed what else can be done for Emma right now. The bottom line is that we appear to be on the same page. PHEW. Starting on MONDAY Emma will be attending the MORNING CLASS vs the afternoon class. The class is a tiny bit bigger, BUT she will be with the same teachers and paras AND she will get Integration Time with typical peers just like last year! With Autism this is VERY important, Emma needs peer role models to learn from. (It is a long story as to why this was not available with her afternoon class). So, while the princess will likely not be thrilled to rise early every morning the pros outweigh the cons. I think that this will be very good for Emma and worth a few groggy protests. Plus, I may be able to attend a little playgroup with Sophie while Emma is in class some days as these groups are offered mostly in the mornings.

Baaaaaad Mommy!!! : o

DUH-DUH-DUH!!! Yesterday was Emma's Halloween Party at school. Perfect photo-op, right?! Well, guess which Mommy forgot to bring her camera with? The party and parade were very cute and Emma helped lead the parade because of course she WAS Thomas the Train. :) Sophie was not sure what to make of the entire event. She wore her pumpkin costume and was fine with it as long as I did not put her hood up. The hood makes her cry-sheesh. :) Emma brought home a huge load of candy and has been very good about sharing it with Sophie. I will take pictures of the girls tomorrow before they head out Trick or Treating. For now I will leave you with random pictures taken this week...I am just going to lump them into one post. :)



The girls showing off their candy from the school party/parade, Sophie's faces are cracking me up!!

Just call these Megan's Bento Boxes. The girls had breakfast for dinner last night & they were pleasantly surprised with the presentation:

This is NOT a Pineapple, okay? It is called a "Pie-Apple". The girls are addicted to them. :)

Lao Lao mailed the girls another Pre-Halloween treat of Raisinettes and Goldfish. The girls gave their seal of approval with the thumbs up sign. :)

Emma was just looking soooo cute the other day, I had to take her picture. :)

~ Carving Pumpkins ~

Yesterday we decided to carve pumpkins. I was envisioning it as a FAMILY event...you know, kind of like a Hallmark movie. I was excited for Sophie being her first Halloween and her love of "punks". Things did not go exactly as planned. Greg stayed downstairs to watch football. As I was prepping our pumpkin work area I realized that Sophie REALLY, really needed a nap. I figured that carving 4 pumpkins was going to take awhile anyway, so there was time for a 45 minute nap with out her missing much. Emma was happy to help me....for about 10 minutes. She did a GREAT job and gutted a big pumpkin by herself. She loved pulling out the "goo" as she called it. Then I found myself ALONE carving all four pumpkins...UH, how did THAT happen?! Emma and Sophie WERE excited about the finished product though and I took a few cute pictures.....




The girls posing with our Halloween pumpkins: A family picture carving pumpkins. Oh wait, I forgot that I was the only one there at that point!

Sophie woke up refreshed from her nap and did an obligatory pose for me.

Did I mention that Emma did a GREAT job gutting the pumpkin?! Really, she did.

Friday Craft Time

The girls and I went to The Dollar Store on Friday morning to stock up on some craft supplies. They both have an emerging interest in drawing and participating in (quick) little projects which makes me SO happy. Sophie is drawing lovely circles and Emma is writing a variety of letters now. We decided to make pumpkins with Halloween around the corner.....


*They were SO proud of their finished work!!!*

*Emma's pumpkin HAD to have hands and feet. Why? I am not sure...that is JUST EMMA! :)*
*I told Sophie where to draw her eyes-nose-mouth!*

Cooking With Daddy

Emma stirring eggs for Daddy's Saturday Morning omelet. She & Sophie hate eggs and wanted pancakes. ; ) Ground Pepper...
Sophie did not want to cook. She just wanted to EAT. :D
Adding Cheese...

Emma's Self Help Skills have been emerging a lot lately. : ) She has been asking to do more things by herself and often shoos me away if I try to step in. It can get a bit messy, but it so neat to see her maturing.