Beautiful baby girl... Laila JeanneLi

We have a new blog!!!

2010-02-22T21:59:00.001-08:00

Hi, it's been a long time!!!! We have moved to our new blog and I promise to do better with updating!!! Please come visit us at http://lovinglifewithlaila.blogspot.com/

See you soon!!

Love, Scott, Joanna and Laila

Home sweet home!!

2009-12-06T14:24:00.001-08:00

We got home late last night and Laila is doing really good. She will sometimes accidentally touch or rub her nose and start to cry, I wish I could take her pain for her!! When the doctor took down her old repair he basically cut some of that out so her mouth is smaller and her little fork barely fits so she's only eating with her hands now and tiny bites. We had to start using a bottle again to get her to drink. Her sippy cup's spout wasn't quite long enough, the top of the cup would push against her nose. It wasn't hard to get her off the bottle a few months ago so I think this will be the same, just gotta make sure she stays hydrated. She has arm splints that keep her arms straight so when she sleeps she doesn't accidentally hurt herself. She's such a trooper, she sees me get them off her dresser and she will stick out an arm, when I get them on one arm she sticks out the other arm. She's the best and I love, love, love this little girl!! Shriner's Hospital is amazing!!! Everyone is so friendly and nice. We really felt like Laila got the best care possible. Our surgeon is wonderful!! He stayed in her post-op room for a long time answering all of our questions, we never felt rushed. He's even more sought after for his expertise than we thought, we are so fortunate to have a surgeon like him take care of our little one. We've always seen her as the most beautiful little girl in the world and I've never understood how you can make perfection better but he somehow has. Thank you all for your prayers and love for Laila and our family!!! I will post pictures soon!! XOXOXO Scott, Joanna and Laila

Quick update

2009-12-04T17:56:00.000-08:00

Laila's doing really good. She's getting some of her sweet personality back, waving at people and blowing kisses. She's made many friends here. Surgery went well, when they repaired her in China they didn't connect the muscle under her lip so he did that as well. The surgeon said her repair was more intensive than he was expecting but he's happy with the results. He also built the base of her nostrils some and has some nasal stents sutured in place. In 2 weeks we will get those removed. He told me I can do it, I promptly came back to my cell phone, called our pediatrician and made an appointment for him to do it!! Brian, if you're reading this, see you on the 18th!! We are going home tomorrow also!!! We were able to change our tickets and the late flight to Denver from LAX is pretty empty so we can all 5 fly together which is nice. Laila will heal better in her own home and in her own bed. Thank you so much, everyone, for your prayers!!! Will update again tomorrow. XOXO Joanna

Laila's in the operating room

2009-12-04T08:21:00.000-08:00

Laila is in the operating room as I type this. Boy, was this a difficult morning!!! Luckily they gave Laila some meds and let us go into pre-op holding. The meds kicked in and Laila actually let the RN carry her back so you know she was drugged. She was giggling and rolling her head around, she will be a funny drunk!! We are so fortunate to have our surgeon, he's the best!! We feel so much better about Laila's surgery after talking to him this morning. The hospital was on lock-down last night until about 10pm. They were putting families in the auditorium in recliners, luckily they didn't have enough recliners for us and a family room opened up with 4 beds in it. Perfect!!! We could all sleep in a bed in a private room with our own bathroom, we were very lucky!!! Scott was with Laila last night in her room which they shared with another family but they didn't have a recliner for him to sleep in so they got moved into a private room!! We are so blessed!! Now we are waiting for our sweet Laila, I can't wait to hold her in my arms!! If all goes well, we can probably head home tomorrow afternoon instead of Monday!! Please keep us all in your prayers, especially Laila!!! XOXO Joanna

In Los Angeles for surgery

2009-12-03T14:44:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone,
We got to LA this morning with no problems. Scott, my dad, Scott's parents and of course Laila and I are all here. It's been a long day of waiting around doing alot of nothing!! There was a shooting about 2 blocks away so the entire hospital has been on lock down for the last 4 hours. They can't admit us yet because no patients can leave to free up any beds. They said they would be able to give everyone a place to stay tonight if we don't get off lock down. There's been 2 helicopters flying over the hospital for hours, police at every corner and walking all around and crime scene tape all over. Welcome to LA!!! We did find out our surgeon has decided to do Laila's lip and work on her nose, estimated surgery time of 2.5 hours. She's scheduled at 7am. Scott is staying with her tonight although it looks like we all may be staying. I just hope our surgeon can get in tomorrow morning!! I'm feeling a little better about her surgery, it's still scary and I'm nervous but I know she will be fine. I'm hopeful they will let me go with her to the OR, haven't been able to ask that yet. She's having fun running around here like crazy and playing with her grandparents. They do have wireless internet here but only in the main common area, not where we will be tomorrow. I will update again tomorrow, just not sure when. Thank you everyone for your prayers and love!!! Talk to you soon!!

Sorry it's been 3 months since I updated!!!!

2009-08-25T18:49:00.000-07:00

Hi... thanks for checking back in with us. Sorry I haven't updated in 3 months, I can't believe it's been 3 months!!! Laila is perfect, we are enjoying every second with her, she's an absolute dream. We do have her palate repair surgery scheduled for November 11th but are still trying to get her into Shriner's Hospital in LA. I've had some medical issues and had major surgery. I then had quite a few complications and have been out of commission for 6 weeks. I'm now finally feeling better and have had alot of people ask for updated pictures of out little missy. I will update more frequently (I promise) but in the meantime, enjoy!!!

We're back part 2!!

2009-05-26T21:43:00.001-07:00

More pictures since Laila's been home. Above is mommy and Laila looking at a puzzle at the Children's Museum. She had a great time!!

Happy little girl!!! We love her so much, we are so blessed!!

Not sure what she's looking at but she sure is interested.

Nema and Papa with Laila at the park by our house. (Scott's parents) They came out the day before we got home and met their newest grandchild. We were so happy to see them!!

Laila loved the swing but we were afraid she would fall thru the leg hole!! She's so little!! My friend Jami sent me clothes from her daughter and Kate's gone thru all her stuff of Gabs for small sizes. Laila is wearing 6-9 month clothes and the smallest sizes I had was 12 month. Anything 12 month has to be safety pinned to stay on.

Here's Grandpa (my dad) with Laila. He's so excited to have Laila home. He's staying at our house alot, wants Laila to know him. He lives downtown, about a 20 minute drive, but has been staying with us since we got home. He went to his place for 2 nights and is back here spending time with Laila. She walks into the guest room (Grandpa's room now) and brings him toys, it's so cute to watch them together.

Kate and my MIL decorated our house for our return. I LOVED it!! It was so fun to come home to balloons, streamers, signs and other decorations!!!

More decorations!!

The sign posted over our garage so we saw it as soon as we got home. Thank you Kate and Norma, we love it!!!

Laila meeting her family. From the right is Scott's dad, our nephew Nick, Scott's mom, my dad, Laila and daddy. Kate made shirts that they all wore with our 1st family picture and it said Laila JeanneLi Van Gieson, Gotcha Day, May 4, 2009. It was a nice surprise and very touching.

Here's Laila checking out Papa and cousin Nick.

Laila and daddy heading down the concourse at DIA, heading for the train to meet our family. It was so nice to be home!!! Laila is doing so good. She's very loving, wants lots of hugs and kisses and will give them to us willingly. We are loving every second of our beautiful daughter, life couldn't be any better!!!

We're back!!!

2009-05-26T21:20:00.000-07:00

This post isn't going to be in any order but it should work. I still don't understand blogger and why I can't put pictures where I want so they are scattered so I apologize. The above picture and the following 4 were taken in the last few days. The above picture was taken last night at Kate's house. After dinner we had strawberry shortcake and gave Laila some of the cool whip. She was in heaven. When she first tasted it off my spoon she got this look of pure bliss, so cute!! Then I couldn't keep up with her so I put a spoon full in her bowl and the fun began. She had cool whip in her hair, all over her face and hands and was having a great time. It was so cute!!

Another picture of little miss with her cool whip.

Aunt Kate with her 2 favorite girls. Gabs has been so sweet with Laila. She had her mom call us the other day so she could ask if Laila could come play. She really loves her new cousin and Laila loves Gabs. Laila will walk up to Gabs and wrap her arms around her and lay her head on Gabs stomach, it's so sweet. We're really enjoying watching them interact and think they will be great friends.

Here's Gabs, I was testing out the camera and she smiled for me so I had to post the picture, she's a cutie!!

Here's Gabs giving Laila little bites of her cookie while the pugs hope for a crumb or 2 to be dropped on the floor.

Here's Laila in the playroom at the White Swan. (I told you the pictures were out of order!!) She loved this ball and we found a red one and bought it. She's had a great time with it at home.
Here she is on her little rocker zebra. She loved this toy also and it played music. When we got home I was able to find the exact same thing here so we bought it and now she has it in the living room and plays on it ALOT!!!
Just a cute picture of my daughter.
Laila in the bathtub, she loves her baths!!!

We're home!!!

2009-05-16T04:04:00.001-07:00

We made it!!!! We got home yesterday afternoon around 4pm. Laila did well on all the flights, her sleep pattern was a little messed up so she didn't sleep as well as we would've hoped but that may help us get her adjusted to the time change easier. When we landed in Denver we changed Laila into a cute little outfit and got on the train to the main concourse, we were SOOOOOOO excited to see our family. My dad, Scott's parent's, Scott's sister and her 2 kids met us at the airport. They had t-shirts made with our 1st family picture and it said... Laila JeanneLi Van Gieson, Gotcha Day, May 4, 2009. It was really nice. Some people from our flight that got to the concourse before us told them that we were on the way, they recongized us from the t-shirt pictures. When we saw our family, tears just flowed. We did it!! We were back home with our daughter and family, it's the best!! I'm laying in bed with my daughter now, life doesn't get any better. I will post again in a few days, wanted to let you all know we're home. I will add pictures on the next post. Love, Scott, Joanna and Laila

Our last day in China!!!

2009-05-14T00:52:00.000-07:00

Well, the time has come for us to pack our bags and leave our daughter's home. We are anxious to get to our home and start our lives as a family. It's bitter-sweet to leave. We are so ready to go home, we miss so many things we always took for granted. No humidity!! Drinking tap water!! A home cooked meal!! Our comfy beds!! Our family and friends!! At the same time we will miss China. China gave us the ultimate gift, one of their little girls for us to raise and love and we are eternally grateful. What a wonderful daughter we have been blessed with, she's beautiful, smart, lively, funny, strong-willed, stubborn and absolutely perfect. We will never be able to let Laila's birth mother know what a wonderful life she will have, how cherished, wanted and loved she is by us and so many others. We are thankful that Laila's birth mother left her somewhere she knew Laila would be found quickly, that this beautiful baby wouldn't be alone for long. My heart aches for this woman, as a mother I can only imagine the heartache and pain she felt, I could never imagine doing what she felt she had too do. So where ever you are, from one mother to another mother, thank you from the bottom of my heart. We will cherish this little girl forever. We love her unconditionally and will give her everything to make her life as fulfilled as possible. I pray you have found peace.

We've had a great past few days. Laila is feeling better. A couple travelling with us had some Amoxicillin they didn't need and that's what Laila would've received had we been home. I had my sister in law call our pediatrician and he said to give her the amoxicillin and stop taking the other meds we got here. She seems to be doing really good. A few nights ago we took a dinner boat cruise on the Pearl River. We could've passed on the dinner, deep fried minnows, fried fish skin, rocky mountain oysters, fish balls (didn't know fish had balls and that they are huge and yellow) and some other crazy things. We ate the rice and noodles, I know, living on the edge!! We had Laila's adoptive physical. Interesting that they told us her ears look great and later that day she had double ear infections. Not very through!! Anyway, our girl is all of 16.6lbs and 27 in. tall at 15 months. Just a little peanut. She loves her baths now, loves to play and splash. We had the consulate appointment yesterday and received Laila's visa so she can come into the US. Since both Scott and I came here for the adoption, once we land in San Francisco, Laila will be a US citizen!! For those of you still getting ready to travel here, make sure you visit the play room at the White Swan. It's great, especially for kids about 3 and under. Very cool!! On the way to dinner the other night we ran into 2 wedding parties having their pictures taken. They do weddings every day of the week here and they are happy to let American's take pictures. I took a picture of each bride and groom. There's also a picture of a tree. They all grow like this, lots of roots on top of the ground, maybe because it's so wet and humid they don't need to be down in the ground. Anyway, they just look really cool so I took a pircute. Tomorrow morning, we get on a plane to Hong Kong, have a 3 hour lay over and then get on our plane for the 12 hour trip to San Francisco, have a 4 hour lay-over there and then a 2 1/2 hour flight home to Denver. We can't wait!! Thank you all for your prayers and wishes sent our way on our journey to Laila, it's been a priceless journey, one we will never forget!! Hope you enjoy our last pictures from China. Love, Scott, Joanna and Laila

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Double ear infections!!!

2009-05-12T05:43:00.000-07:00

Sorry folks, no pictures this time. I know, I know, but our baby is sick!!! She's been pulling at her ears, had lots of yellow snot and a little cough so we took her to the doctor they have here at the White Swan. He looked at her ears and said, yuck infection. So we have double ear infections!!! She's on an antibiotic we mix with an expectorant and benedryl as well as some ear drops. I've called our guide twice and asked her to double check with the doctor, it seems like alot of medicine we're giving her but they both assure me it's normal and will be fine. We've already given her the dose for tonight and besides being pissed that we had to hold her down to give her the medicine she's fine. Playing, laughing, acting like her normal self, she's so happy!! We're so happy we found it now instead of during one of the 3 plane trips coming up on Friday, that would've been BAD!!!! Anyway, we're going to try and get our little one to sleep, she's full of energy so wish us luck. If you feel so inclined, keep Laila in your prayers that she start to feel much better by our trip back home!!! Thanks and I promise to add pictures with the next post. Love, Scott, Joanna and Laila

So Much Fun!!!

2009-05-10T05:06:00.000-07:00

Sorry I haven't blogged in a few days but we are having so much fun!!! Laila is a dream!! She's learned her name and responds to it except when she chooses to ignore us. She's learning what "no" means and doesn't like it when we tell her no. She is walking alot now, crawling all over, talking all the time and smiles constantly, which just melts our heart. She giggles alot too, it's so stinking cute I can't hardly stand it!! We are in Guangzhou now, staying at the famous White Swan. Our last few days in Zhengzhou were uneventful, we got Laila's passport and immunization records. She did good on the flight but there was way too much to look at for a nap so she played and played and played some more. I think that 12 hour flight back to the states is gonna seem like 24 hours!! We are really enjoying our time here in Guangzhou. We are no longer stared at like we have 3 heads. We feel very safe and comfortable here, there are alot of American's with their adopted Chinese children here, everyone that adopts internationally has to come to Guangzhou, so everyone that has adopted in China in the last week is here. Where we stay in Guangzhou, Shemian Island, is beautiful. It's right on the Pearl River, we eat breakfast every morning over looking the river and all the boats. Tomorrow night, Monday, we're doing a dinner cruise on the river. Today we went to a Buddist Temple, very ornate and pretty. We then went to the Chen House and saw alot of embroidery, bone and jade carving, all very intricate and beautiful. Tomorrow morning we have Laila's medical exam and get her pictures taken for her Visa. We've done some shopping, in fact Laila is walking around the room right now in her squeaky shoes, just laughing with every step. She is the best baby, we are so in love it's incredible. If anyone told me I could love her this much I'd say there's no way, but she's amazing. Her latest game is peek-a-boo, she will put the cloth over her face and ours. She definately knows we are mom and dad. Our guide held her today for about 30 seconds and she lost her mind, reaching out for us and crying so that's a great sign that she's bonded with us. She's seems to respond appropriately when we ask where's mommy or where's daddy. Today Scott went into the bathroom and Laila was playing with some toys, happy as can be. I asked her "where's daddy?" and she crawled over to the bathroom door and started banging on it with her toy. It's so cute. Also, today was my 1st Mother's Day and it was great. I'm so thankful I have this beautiful little girl to call my daughter. It's amazing. Today when I was holding her she leaned into me and touched her lips to mine. She doesn't make the kiss sound but I think that's exactly what she was doing. It brought tears to my eyes. Anyway, I'd better go, just got the little one to bed and now it's my turn. I will try and post tomorrow about our busy day. Enjoy the pictures. There's one of Scott eating a chicken's foot, lots of the buddhist temple and Chen house and some more of this adorable little girl. Love from Guangzhou!!

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Latest stuff...

2009-05-06T05:24:00.000-07:00

Laila's adoption was made official yesterday afternoon!! She is our little girl forever and ever, it's the most amazing feeling in the world. We all went to the registration officials office to finalize the adoption. We had pictures taken with the official paper and the adoption registration official. It's a big deal, usually it's just someone from the office but the guy in charge of the entire Henan province came and did ours. It was a brand new building and we were the 1st adoptions to be finalized there so it was special. They came early to put out the red carpet for all of us. They had an official photographer who took pictures of each family with the adoption official and then a group photo that will be framed and put on the wall. We then went to the notary, signed a few more papers and viola, she's our daughter!! We also went to the Lotus Center, kinda like a Super Wal-Mart. We bought diapers, formula, some clothes for Laila (everything I brought is too big and it's size 12 month),a few toys and some snacks. She did great, was in the front pack smiling at people. We are really seeing Laila's personality now. She is so happy!! She smiles alot, laughs alot and is babbling all the time. She gets a little cranky when she's tired or hungry but what little one doesn't. She's doing better with us putting her down some, which is good, it shows she trusts us that we won't leave her, but she makes it very known when she wants us to hold her and we are happy to do so. She took a few steps today from daddy to me and then back. We made a big deal out of it and she just had big smiles the entire time. She's just the best thing ever and we are so in love!!! Enjoy the pictures!!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

We have Laila!!!

2009-05-04T05:25:00.001-07:00

We received Laila around 3:30 this afternoon. We were all in the hall waiting and we see some ladies walking down the hall holding a little baby and it was Laila!! She's beautiful and tiny!! The 2 ladies walked right up me, Scott was standing behind me, and tried to hand her to me. She was having none of that!! After about 1 minute the lady just handed her to me and they went into our guides room so Laila couldn't see them. She cried for a minute and then just starting looking at us, not sure what was going on. We took turns holding her while some friends from the trip video taped it and took pictures for us. She held the rattle we gave her but wouldn't let go of the little piece of paper for hours!!! She came to us pretty clean, wearing 2 pairs of pants, 1 that we sent, 1 shirt and a sweatshirt we sent. She also had 2 bandana like things around her neck, she drools alot with her cleft. Her lip looks OK, she will definately need a revision. We then put her in the front pack and went to get pictures taken for her passport. She's very happy being carried, for the first 3-4 hours if we tried to put her down she would cry, so sad!! She loves cheerios, they are a hit!! She would lift her head up out of the front pack and open her mouth. We would put in a cheerio and she would settle back in. She looked like a little bird. She's sleeping now, went down after a bottle. She is in size 2 diapers, which should fit up to 18 lbs. We were told she's 17.5 lbs., I haven't weighed her but the size 2 diapers can be fastened with the 2 tabs almost touching in the front!! I have her in a size 6-9 month onesie and it fits fine. I put her in size 12 month leggings with elastic waist and the waist band was just sitting out from her waist, probably about 3-4 inches smaller around the waist would fit her. She is little!!! Toward the end of the night, before going to sleep, she finally let Scott put her down and she stood but only for a minute before wanting to be held. She's now in my bed, we are not going to push her sleeping in a crib, she seems a little withdrawn and we want her to feel safe and secure so sleeping with mommy it is!! Here are some pictures, we are exhausted!! Toward the end are 2 pictures of her putting her footprint on the official adoption paperwork, Scott and I have our thumb prints on there as well. The last pictures are of her tonight asleep. She's perfect, we couldn't imagine life without her and it's only been 5 hours!! Enjoy the pictures!!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Beijing Day 2

2009-05-02T04:50:00.000-07:00

Hello from Beijing!!! Today we went to the jade factory, the Great Wall, lunch, saw the birds nest and water cube from the Olympics, a porcelin factory and a chinese acrobat show. It was another great day but tiring!! We are having so much fun learning about the culture, it's all very fascinating. The Great Wall is so impressive, it's huge and STEEP!!! We went up quite a ways until I made the mistake of looking down and then I was done. Those of you who know me know I'm terrified of heights so I was totally freaked out, Scott had to walk me down while I only looked at the ground. Oh well, at least we can say we climbed the wall. The jade and porcelin factories are really cool, they walk you thru and show you the different steps in making the products. Then they let you lose to shop and they hover over you. It's very difficult to get out without buying something. They are all very polite but insistent!! It was great to see the Olympic venues, very nice!! We saw the Olympic village as well. When people heard we are from the US they asked if we know Michael Phelps!! The acrobat show was great. Think of Cirque du Soleil, it was very similar. Lots of fun!! We are now finishing up packing and trying to get our bags under-weight, that's a chore. I forgot to tell you about the other families we're traveling with. I'm not going to use names because I don't have their permission to do so but there's one family from Montana who already has a 7 year old little girl who was adopted from China at 12 months. She's adorable. They are getting her little sister who is 5 and has a repaired heart defect. Another family is from Georgia and they are adopting twin boys!!! It's very difficult to adopt twins since all the kids are abandoned they don't know for sure who's related but with these two there was no denying it so they get both boys who are 15 months old. The two boys have albinoism. There's one more couple from Colorado also. They brought along their 10 year old son and are adopting his little brother who is 7 and deaf. And then there's us, so 4 families in all and we've really enjoyed getting to know all of them!! Tomorrow morning, bright and early, we leave for the airport to head for Henan. Then Monday morning, Sunday night in the US, is baby day!! We will get our Laila so stay tuned!! In the mean time, enjoy the pictures from today.

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Beijing Day 1

2009-05-01T05:36:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone. We had a great day today. We went to Tienemen Square, The Forbidden City, a silk market and took rickshaw rides and visited a home. It was quite the day and we are exhausted. I will let the pictures speak for themselves, it's all amazing!!! (I'm trying out this montage feature, let me know what you think. Blogger is making it difficult to post pictures and put them where I want them. Just click on the forward arrow in the middle of the picture and enjoy.)

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

We made it to Beijing!!!!

2009-04-30T04:01:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone. I know that's a strange picture to start out with but blogger isn't letting me move pictures around so this post probably won't make any sense. Sorry about that. If anyone knows how I can fix that or what I'm doing wrong, please let me know!! It's driving me crazy and I want to fix it!! Anyway, we made it to Beijing and the picture above is of our guide, Josh, here in Beijing. He's holding the sign with our name and another family traveling with us. We both arrived about the same time but on different flights. Another family arrived yesterday and the last family gets in tonight.

This picture was right above our baggage carousel. Tomorrow we're going to Tienemen Square and The Great Wall, I hope we also drive by the cube and bird's nest. I'd love to get some pictures of the Olympic venues.

This was after we got off the plane in Beijing, good thing it was also in English. We'd probably still be walking around the airport looking for baggage!!

Oh yeah!! Beijing here we come. We connected to our Beijing flight in San Francisco. We actually flew up over part of Alaska, the Bering Sea and Siberia. It was a 12 hour flight and never got dark, pretty strange.

Here's the daddy-to-be drinking a micro brew in San Fran waiting for our flight.

In Denver, our flight to San Francisco. Sorry this post started at the end and worked it's way back to the beginning. Hopefully I will get it figured out soon. Anyway, we are safe and sound, it's 7:20pm Thursday night here, we're 14 hours ahead of Denver. Scott is sacked out and I'm not far behind. We have a long day of touring tomorrow but should be alot of fun. Beijing is an amazing city. I will write more about it tomorrow when I have pictures to go along. It's hard to believe we are in the same country as Laila, I can almost feel her in my arms. We just need Monday morning to get here fast!! We want our girl!! Thanks for following our blog and we'll talk to you again soon!!!! Hugs from China!!!

The cutest nursery ever!!

2009-04-23T19:35:00.000-07:00

Blogger is making me very mad right now!!! It won't let me move pictures around so this post is going to be a little different, sorry. I steam cleaned the carpet in Laila's room today and put the last few things in her room, we think it's very cute. For my birthday, my aunt got me one of those vinyl lettering kits. It says "Such a big miracle in such a little girl." I love it, it's so true, Laila is our miracle!! I love it right above the closet, I see it everytime I walk in her room and it makes me smile.

Last weekend Scott hung her curtains, they are a pink cotton/silk blend and look really nice against the lilac wall.

My sister-in-law and I hung the shelves last week. The white basket is full of CD's for her CD player on her dresser. The white paper on the dresser is our China packing list, can't believe we leave in 5 days!!!! Her toy box is FULL of toys. It's very cute, my niece Gabrielle will get a toy out of the toy box and tell me she's borrowing it from Laila and that Laila won't mind.

We just bought the rug, it's got little purple, pink, yellow and light green polka dots all over. It looks cute, we don't like the brown carpet we have so this covers some of it.

Here's her closet and as you can tell, she's not hurting for clothes!!! These are only the 12 and 18 month sizes, her closet was too full for the next size up. They are in boxes in the basement. Her dresser and changing table are also full, lots of retail therapy while waiting for 3 years!!! We can't wait to bring her home, I can just picture her sleeping in the crib and pulling toys out of the toy box. Ahhh, what an exciting time in our lives, we are so blessed!!!!

New picture of Laila!!!!

2009-04-23T19:05:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!! I opened my e-mail yesterday and there was a new picture of Laila!!! Wanna see it??
Isn't she a cutie!!! I can't wait to hold her, hug her and kiss her. That's my daughter!!! I love saying that!!! We are getting everything ready around here to leave for China early Wednesday morning!! We get Laila on May 4th and she's ours forever and ever and we couldn't be happier!!

Laila... Here we come!!!!!

2009-04-18T07:27:00.000-07:00

It's officially official... we are leaving for China April 29th at 6am!!!! We arrive in Beijing China April 30th around 2pm, about 12 midnight in the states (on the 30th). We will tour Beijing May 1st and 2nd and fly to Henan on May 3rd. We will get Laila on Monday, May 4th, and will never let her go!!! We're not sure yet how long we will be in Henan before flying to Guangzhou but our Consulate appointment is May 12th and we take our oath May 13th. We could head home sometime after 3pm on May 14th but due to flights we will stay another night in Guangzhou and early the morning of May 15th we will fly from Guangzhou to Hong Kong to San Francisco to Denver!! Whooo, long day of flying but the longest flight is 10 hours and we have at least 3 hour layovers at every stop so Laila can expend some energy and hopefully sleep on the flights!! Our fingers are crossed. Our travel agency was able to secure us bulkhead seating so we should have a little bassinet/bed for Laila on the flight from Hong Kong to San Francisco. Please keep our family in your prayers, it's an amazing journey but we pray Laila will adjust well to Scott and I and will begin to bond with us. We already love this little girl so much but she has no idea what's about to happen, it's going to turn her world upside down. She's never seen people that look like us or speak like us and we just want her to feel our love for her and not be scared. I believe I'm beginning to nest, I want everything CLEAN!!!! It's driving me crazy, I'm cleaning and organizing everything!!! I've also been working on our China Packing List, boy that's a long list and we each only get 1 bag and it can't weigh more than 44 lbs!! Wish us luck!! I will post again prior to leaving and try to add some pictures of Laila's room, totally completed and adorable!! I hope she likes it!!

We're going to China!!!

2009-04-15T20:35:00.000-07:00

We received our TA today!!!! They have requested our Consulate appointment for May 12, 13 or 14th so we will leave for China April 29th!!! Yep, just 2 weeks away and we will have Laila forever on May 4th and in time for my first Mother's Day!!! We are so blessed and can't wait to meet our daughter whom we already love more than anything. What an amazing time in our lives and we're so happy we can share it with all of you!!

LOA.... oh yeah!!!

2009-04-03T22:14:00.001-07:00

That's right, those 3 magic letters and we heard them today!!! We will be in China in 5-8 weeks to get our daughter!!! I have to get the pictures developed of us signing our papers today that were then overnighted back to China so we can get travel apporval!!!! We may have our daughter by Mother's Day!!! Today was the best day ever!!!!! I will post more tomorrow when I get the pictures!!!!

Baby Shower Pictures...

2009-04-03T21:37:00.000-07:00

We had the baby shower at my friend's mom's house. It was really nice and alot of fun!! The biggest surprise was that my BFF, Jami, from Houston surprised me. She came up for the weekend, I had no idea!!! It was great to spend some time with her and meant so much that she came for the baby shower!! The theme was ladybugs with some Chinese touches. My friend's mom works with a Chinese lady who had just returned from China with authentic Chinese decorations special for the baby shower!! We had Chinese dumplings and fortune cookies. I will post more pictures later, just wanted to give you all a taste!! My sister-in-law did a huge map of the world with a little ladybug for Laila in XinYang and with a flower in Denver. It was very sweet and neat to see how far away we are and yet that's where our daughter is.

Jami got us a diaper cake!!! I love it, it's so cute!!

These are the gift bags for people at the shower. They had little ladybug chocolates, cinnamon bears, chocolate kisses and truffles. Yummy and so cute!!

I will post more pictures this weekend of the presents and shower. They are on Scott's e-mail and blogger is acting kinda funny right now. Laila got so much stuff!!! Lots of cute clothes, lots of toys and stuffed animals, lots of bath stuff, food stuff (plates, bowls, spoons, forks), the other car seat, her stroller, high chair, little girl potty chair, toy box, lots of gift cards... books, gosh, so much stuff and we love it all!!! Thank you everyone for all of your gifts, prayers and good wishes!!!

New pictures of our beauty!!!!

2009-03-25T08:46:00.000-07:00

There's a great website, ladybugsnlove.com, that will call orphanages for adoptive parents and request updated information. We did this 10 days ago and today we got our updated information. Hmmmm... what should I give you 1st, the 4 new pictures or the information???? OK, stop begging, here's the pictures!! Oh yeah, she had her lip repaired!!!

We had no idea she was getting her lip repaired until we got the pictures this morning!! It looks great!! We got answers to 10 questions as well as updated height and weight. She is 26.7 inches tall, weighs 17.6 pounds, has 4 teeth, 2 upper and 2 lower and her feet are only 5 inches long!! She's wearing infant size shoes!! Here's all the new stuff we know about our daughter!!! She hasn't had any illnesses except colds and coughs. She has alot of friends and gets along well with all the other children. Her favorite toys are any that make music. She doesn't like strangers and is afraid of them (bad for us!!). Her personality is described as easy going, lively and gets along well with other children. She sleeps on her back. She crawls and stands by herself and will walk holding your hand. She likes to go outside. The orphanages wish for her when she grows up is that whe will remember and love China when she is grown. We are so thrilled to have this new information and the pictures, it's priceless!! In one of the photos you can see a lady's hands and it looks like the sign for play. We are hopeful they are using sign language with her, Scott and I plan on using sign language with her so this just gives us all a head start. Once again, please leave a comment, we will be adding them all to Laila's book!! Thank you all so much for your love and prayers!!

Daddy's baby shower

2009-03-18T18:53:00.001-07:00

Hi everyone!!! Thanks for checking back and just in time to see Scott's haul from his daddy baby shower. His co-workers had a great party for him today. He wore a blinking pacifier all day, wish I could've seen that. They brought in donuts for breakfast and for lunch they brought in queso, salsa, chips, sandwiches and lots of other munchies. They were all VERY generous and we can't thank them enough. They have really started Laila out with some great things. Take a look!!!
We registered for 2 car seats, one for each car, and they got us one of the car seats!! There's also some strap pad things so the straps don't dig into her shoulders and a little pink toy that you pull and it shakes. Pretty cute!!
Here's Scott with one of his favorite presents... a bib that says "I love daddy." How sweet!!
Here are the "bath" presents. There's a cute giraffe robe, 6 wash cloths, a ladybug pod (it scoops up all the bath toys and hangs on the wall), there's also the bedtime bath basket (bath soap, lotion, blanket, and the book Good Night Moon), and there's also the little yellow duck which fits over the bath faucet and makes bubbles to go into the bubble bath!!!
Here we have our "food" presents. We got a package of plates, a formula storage container that portions the right amount of formula for a bottle, bottle brushes and a really cool snack container that has a twisty type lid that Laila can put her hand in and get snacks but if she drops it, or when she drops it, nothing comes out. How cool!!

Here we have our "toys". We got another Good Night Book, a sassy baby photo album, a teething ring and a vtech toy that you push the top and it spins, lights up and plays music!! We love them all and so will Laila!!!Here we have our "adorable clothes". We got a beautiful Laura Ashley dress with cute little pink bloomers for underneath. We got a white top with little pink embroidered flowers and matching pink shorts. We also got 2 dresses with long sleeve white shirts and in 2 different sizes so she can always wear one!!! Genius!! Then we got 2 really cute little short/shirt outfits, blue and white with hearts and flowers and white shorts and then a coral shirt with a rainbow and khaki shorts. Adorable!!! We also got lots of barettes and 2 blankets!!!! Then there were the gift cards... $145 to Target!!!! Thank you so much everyone!!! You all were so generous and we appreciate everything!!! Thank you for making Scott aka daddy feel so special. You all are the best!!!!

Our first care package!!!

2009-03-16T18:04:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!!! We are thrilled that we could finally share our little beauty with all of you. Thank you so much for all the great messages, Laila is loved and cared about by so many!!! Today we sent off our care package to Laila!! I bought everything weeks ago, when we got our referral, but couldn't mail it until we got our PA and then I've been sick, so today was the day we sent our package so Laila knows she has a mommy and daddy who love her and are coming to get her, hopefully soon!!!

We sent a picture book, the plastic kind that little ones can chew on and it's pretty indestructible. Laila's picture is on the front so everyone knows who it belongs too. Inside is a picture of mommy, daddy, the dogs, her grandparents, her grandpa, her uncle and her aunt, uncle and 2 cousins.

We are also sending chocolates to the nannies as a thank you for taking such good care of our daughter. On the package it says for the nannies in both english and chinese.

We are also sending a digital camera. It was fairly cheap and we're hopeful they will take pictures and bring it along when we meet Laila. We'd love to have pictures from her orphanage to share with her when she's older.
We also sent 6 pairs of pants. 4 pair are of little leggings and sweatpants, 1 pair of pink cords and a pair of jeans.

We also sent 3 longsleeve shirts and a sweatshirt.
In some of the information we received from the orphanage it said Laila likes music so we also sent 2 toys that both play songs. One is a little book and the other one is more like a rattle and they both play music. We hope she likes them.

When my BFF Jami had her baby 2 years ago she gave us a little blue 1 piece heavy jumper that looks like a bear. It's really cute and warm!! She lives in Houston and never used it. It's too small for Laila but we know some little cuties can get some use out of it so we're sending it as well as a little pink hat. It's amazing how much you can fit in the flat rate shoebox size box from the post office!! Here it is all boxed up and ready to go!!!!Here's daddy in front of the post office sending a box off to our daughter. How exciting!!!!The post office man let me take a picture of him but I think he thought I was a little wacky. Oh well!!!And it's officially on it's way!!!! Hopefully 7-8 days and our sweet Laila will know she has a mommy and daddy on the other side of the world!!We love you Laila and hope to hold you, hug you and kiss you soon!!!!

Our beautiful baby girl... Laila JeanneLi

2009-03-12T18:47:00.000-07:00

We are thrilled beyond belief to introduce to you our beautiful little girl waiting for us in Xinyang, Henan, China. I received the call at work on Monday, Feb. 23, Sarah from our agency said, "I have a beautiful little girl who needs a mommy and daddy, I was wondering if you and Scott might be her mommy and daddy." Thru the tears I said we might be and asked for more information. She told me Luo Min Li was 1 on Feb. 12th and has an unrepaired bilateral cleft lip and unrepaired cleft palate. She loves to look at her reflection in the mirror and also loves to go outside. She is beautiful, perfect and OURS!!!!! We sent all her infomation to our pediatrician and in a few hours he called us back and said what we already knew, she's beautiful, perfect and OURS!!! We sent in our LOI (Letter of Intent) on Feb. 25th and today we received our pre-approval from the CCAA to adopt our daughter, Laila JeanneLi Van Gieson. We hope to travel in May and will get her repaired here. Enjoy the pictures and please feel free to leave a comment, we will be turning this blog into a book for Laila and would love for her to see all of your messages.
And our favorite picture. She has a beautiful smile and such life in her eyes!!!!

Sorry it's been sooooo long!!!

2009-02-15T17:01:00.000-08:00

Sorry it's been so long since I blogged!! I do enjoy sharing with you all what's going on in our life but it seems like life gets so busy it's hard to keep up with the blogging, so my apologies. We're doing great!! Still waiting on our referral for Laila, almost 14 months of waiting, but I really feel like it could be soon!!

We had a great Christmas. Kate and Guy hosted Christmas at their house this year so we had Scott, myself, my dad, Scott's parents and Darren, Scott's brother. Of course there was Kate, Guy, Nick and Gabs as well as Guy's parents, Nancy and Ken. It was nice to all be together. I didn't take many pictures but I do have this one...

Gabs and Santa, she was really excited to see him.

Here's Nick and his Uncle Darren, I love this picture!!

Jump ahead to last week, Scott and I went to Houston to visit our good friends Jami and Nathan and their little cutie Gabbi. Jami and I grew up in Boulder together and Scott and Nathan have become good friends, bonding over good cigars and good beer. We arrived late on Thursday, visited a little bit and went to bed. Jami and Nathan both had to work Friday so Scott and I went down to Galveston.

It was sunny and very peaceful. We also saw alot of destruction from the hurricane last September. These used to be full palm trees. They are basically stripped of their branches with alot either broken off or really leaning to the side.

This is a little house that someone vacated and never returned too. If you look carefully you will see a bed and TV (the black box next to the bed on the left). It was eye-opening to see and imagine the fear the residents felt and then to never return to their life.

We also saw some people surfing... it's February!!! Shouldn't they be skiing???

On Saturday Jami, Nathan, Scott and I went to St. Arnold's brewery in Houston. They make some really good beers and it's free for 2 1/2 hours!! It was packed and everyone brings lunches and drinks beer. We had alot of fun!! Then Jami made us Indian food for dinner, that was yummy. I had no idea how much work goes into making Indian food!!! Here's Miss Gabbi and I wearing our shades, she's so sweet!!

Sunday morning Jami, Gabbi, Scott and I went to Empire Cafe and met my cousin Anna, her husband Bret and their 2 little girls, Maddie and Libby, for breakfast. We wish we could spend more time together, we really enjoy them!! Maddie, Libby and Gabbi became fast friends and played and colored together while the adults all visited.

It was hard to get a picture of all 3 girls looking at the camera, here's the best I got. That's Libby in the black with the white hair bow, Maddie with the bandana on and Gabbi holding the crayons. Anna and her family as well as her parents, her brother and his family and her sister and her family come to Colorado every summer and go camping for about 2 weeks. We hope they make it again this year so we can see everyone and hopefully we will have Laila and she can play with all her cousins who have been anxiously waiting for her. Oh yeah, it was so sweet... Maddie was walking me outside to see her mom (the others were inside ordering) and Maddie asked me when we're getting Laila. She told me she can't wait and she asks her mom all the time when we're going to China and getting Laila. I love that people are waiting for Laila and loving Laila and praying for Laila... we hope to have Laila soon and can't wait to share her with all of you!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

2008-12-01T20:58:00.000-08:00

We hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!! We did!! We went to Wichita, Kansas to visit Scott's parents, grandma, brother and my aunt, uncle and cousins, lots of family in Wichita!! We also gave Scott's mom her birthday presents. Her birthday is the middle of December and they are coming out for Christmas so we decided to save her from bringing even more home after Christmas and give birthday presents now. She got a waffle maker from us and Kate's family and Scott and I got her the pretty fall cross with a bible verse on it. I think she liked her gifts.

We had Thanksgiving dinner at Scott's parents house and it was YUMMY!!! It was so nice to all be together and to know that it's our last Thanksgiving without Laila was exciting.

Gabs enjoying her roll.

Nick making his plate of yummy goodness. Here's grandma, it's always nice to see her. She doesn't make it to Colorado anymore so we enjoy spending time with her when we're back in Wichita. This is Darren, Scott's brother. He travels alot for work so we're really glad he was home for the holiday and he will be here for Christmas also!! We love Darren!!Here's my dad, I just thought this was such a nice picture of him!

Here's my dad, Darren and Scott's dad after Thanksgiving dinner watching football. We also saw my Aunt Lisa, Uncle Rich and Mike and Melissa, my cousins. I took a picture of Rich but it didn't turn out good and I didn't think he'd appreciate it on my blog. I never got a picture of Melissa, she was working when I had the camera but I did get pictures of Lisa and Mike and here they are...

The first picture is Lisa and Mike, Lisa is my mom's youngest sister, the other sister is my Aunt Jo who lives in KC. When I was 21 I moved to Wichita to go to school and spent ALOT of time with Lisa and her family. It was fun, I really got to watch Mike and Melissa grow up and I met Scott. The 2nd picture is Scott, me and Mike. For those of you who know Mike, yes he's a big guy, yes that's facial hair, yes he's taller than me and yes he's almost 20!!!! I can't believe it!! I wish I had pictures of Melissa, she's beautiful!!! It just isn't right that they grow up so fast, that means I'm getting old!! Nothing new on the baby front. We did request a file off our agency's website. Basically it's a little girl who didn't match anyone's medical conditions checklist, including ours. We saw her on the website and though she was a little girl that we could parent. Unfortunately alot of others thought the same thing and we have been added to the list of interested families. We would love the opportunity to look at her file, I've already talked to our pediatrician, but if we don't get the chance that's also good news because that means she has a family which is the ultimate goal. We know our Laila is out there somewhere, we're just waiting for her to find us. We will let you know, we pray it will be soon!! What a great Christmas gift that would be.

What's been happenin'

2008-11-03T12:17:00.001-08:00

Hello!! We're all doing great!! We are officially within the normal wait time for a referral!! The average wait is 10-12 months and we passed the 10 month mark on October 17th. My cell phone is never far away, the call could come at any time. I don't expect it for at least another month but you never know!! Other than that, Kate and Guy had a halloween party the weekend before halloween.
This is my pumpkin, the puking pumpkin. I thought it was fun.
Here's Scott in his costume, it was one of the inflatable costumes and he was a bull rider!! Gabrielle thought it was great and liked to take Uncle Scott's cow for walks.
Nick was a Storm Trooper.

One of the games we played was the mummy wrap. Here's Gabrielle getting wrapped up by a friend. Gabrielle was dressed up as a ladybug.
Another game was the Monster Mash where we played halloween songs and the kids had to dance around. They all had a great time!! This past weekend we went to Boulder so Scott could do his glider ride, it was his anniversary present. Here's Scott getting the scoop from his pilot.

Scott did have a pilot behind him for the entire ride. They got towed up about 12,000 feet and then released. They went over the mountains and flew all over Boulder for about an hour. He had a great time. Here's Kate, my dad and Nick watching and waiting for Scott. They were very busy, lots of planes and gliders to watch. This was just a cute picture, Nick is such a sweetie!! And then here's Gabs. She's potty training and wanted to take her book with her, too funny!!Will try to post again soon!! Hope you all are well.

Laila's letters

2008-10-18T08:30:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Laila's room!! A few weeks ago Kate and I picked out ribbon to go on the letters, which I already had. We found 5 different ribbons that look really cute with the purple background and the stripes below. (See previous post "can you handle the cuteness" to see the stripes and rest of Laila's room) Now we're working on the 2 shelves that will have her "special" books and pictures and I'm still looking for a white wicker something that I can use as her toy chest. Come on phone and ring!!! We're ready, more than ready!!

Sorry it's been awhile!!

2008-10-17T22:10:00.001-07:00

Wow!!! It's been quite awhile since I last blogged!! It's been busy around here!! The end of September was Nick's birthday, he turned 10!!! I can't believe it!! His grandma and grandpa (Scott's parents) came out from Kansas to celebrate with him. Here are the proud grandparents. His birthday party was at Dave & Buster's where we all had lunch and played games. Here's Nick (in the middle) with his friends Taylor, Ravshon and Angel. After Dave & Buster's we went back to Nick's house where we had a pinata in the backyard. It was a fun day. While grandma and grandpa were here they all went up in the mountains to see the leaves change. I had to work so wasn't able to join them. They also went thru Estes Park where there were alot of elk. Today at school Nick had a Veteran's Day Parade. It was very nice, they had some retired veterans as well as some current service men and women. The kids sang songs, had chants/cheers, made signs and wore hats. Here's Nick in his Veteran's Day hat. When Nick got out of school we went to Anderson Farms to get our pumpkins for halloween. We had a great time!! We went in the corn maze, fed the longhorn cows (I think they are cows??), went thru a hay maze, rode in little cars pulled by the big tractor, ate funnel cakes, pet llamas, sheep and bunnies. It was alot of fun!! Here are some pictures. Nick had just made it thru the hay maze, obviously proud of himself. Gabs and her daddy in the buggy. Doesn't Guy look comfy!! Those things are little!!Here' Nick wondering if I'm gonna continue to throw corn at him... and the answer was yep and you'd better run!!Cute shot of the 2 of them in the corn maze. Here's Nick feeding the longhorn cow thing... :)

Nick and Gabs with the pumpkins. We're looking forward to next year with Laila!! It's really exciting to know that she WILL be with us this time next year!!

Goin' to Grandma's house!!

2008-09-19T14:08:00.000-07:00

Last weekend Kate, Gabrielle and I went to Iowa to see some of my dad's family. We were able to spend 4 days with Grandma, Aunt Pam, Uncle Otto and my cousin Brenda. We also visited my brother and dad's graves, they are buried right next to each other in a Iowa. It's a long drive but oh so worth it!! Gabrielle and Grandma became great friends!! As soon as we walked into Grandma's house Gabrielle went right to her and crawled up on her lap... Grandma had the biggest smile!! It was so sweet!!

Here are the new BFF's!! Grandma loves dogs and has alot of little stuffed dogs and Gabrielle was in heaven!! We had to go buy her a little stuffed puppy so she would leave Grandma's alone.

Here's Gabrielle with her hostages, I mean Grandma's puppies.

This beauty is Grandma!! She's so fun and sweet and I wish we lived closer!! I sure do miss her!!

This is Aunt Pam and my cousin Brenda. Brenda lives a few hours away but came up for the weekend so we could see each other. I have lots of great memories of going to Aunt Pam and Uncle Otto's house when we were little and playing with all my cousins!! Brenda and I are close in age so she's extra special to me!!

Here's Aunt Pam, Brenda, Grandma and Gabrielle after dinner one night. Gabs decided it was a great time to stick out her tongue... kids!! :)
Here's Kate and Gabs on our way to Iowa in a cute little town we found in Nebraska. Sorry, we had to do it!! :) It was a good time in Iowa and Kate and I are already planning our trip there next summer with Laila!!

This and That...

2008-09-19T14:05:00.000-07:00

It's been awhile since I blogged, life sure gets busy! A few weeks ago was the "Rocky Mountain Showdown", the big in-state rival football game. It's the University of Colorado in Boulder (CU) against Colorado State (CSU) from Fort Collin. Scott didn't have a preference in the game but I grew up in Boulder so Go Buffs!!! We went with our good friends Matt and Brie, Brie is a CU fan and Matt is a CSU fan (we still like him though). Matt and Brie also having a baby in February and we're really excited for them!!
This is Brie and Matt before the game, which CU won!!

GO BUFFS!!!

The following weekend one of the local pools opened for the last day of the season to the dogs... literally!! No people swimming allowed, only dogs!! Mia is our swimmer so we left Zoey at home and took Mia. She had a great time and there were alot of dogs!! The place was packed!!! We had fun and Mia was a swimming fool!!

Our Favorite Photographer!!!

2008-09-08T19:20:00.000-07:00

In an earlier post I mentioned that my best friend Jami is a photographer and she took some pictures of us when she was here a few weeks ago. She sent me some pictures and I love them all!! Here I've picked a few of my favorites to share with you. If you're in the Houston area and would like some great pictures taken, contact Jami at photosbyjami@gmail.com She's great!! Enjoy the pictures!!! Here's Scott and I and yes, I have had my hair done since this picture!! :)

Here's me, Scott and Jami's little girl Gabbi, I love this picture!!Here's my very handsome nephew Nick.Here's Kate and Guy, they look so good!!Here's Gabrielle and Nick, she kept trying to make Nick look at her!!And I love love love this picture of the whole family... So these are some of the pictures Jami took... feel free to contact her to take some pictures of you and your family!!!

You Know You're An Adoptive Parent When...

2008-08-30T15:04:00.000-07:00

1. The fact that there are 143 million children without a parent to kiss them goodnight has made you lose sleep.
2. You know DNA has nothing to do with love and family.
3. You spend free time surfing blogs about families who have experienced the miracle of adoption.
4. If drives you crazy when people ask you about your child's 'real' parents.
5. You've been 'pregnant' with your adoptive child longer than it takes an elephant to give birth (2 years!).
6. You have taken an airplane ride half-way around the world to meet your child whom you've only seen in photos.
7. You believe God's heart is for adoption.
8. You know what the word 'Dossier' means and can actually pronounce it!!!
9. You realize that welcoming a child into your heart and family is one of the most important legacies you could ever leave.
10. You have welcomed a social worker into the most intimate, personal and private parts of your lift.
11. You shutter when people say your child is so lucky that you adopted them, knowing full well you are the blessed one to have him or her in your life.
-Author Unknown-

Jami's Photography!!

2008-08-28T17:52:00.000-07:00

Jami is a photographer, did I forget to mention that?? I have a few of the pictures she took of us but she will be sending me more. I will post them and the one's of Kate's family. They turned out really good. If you need some good pictures taken and you're in the Houston area, let me know and I will give you her contact information!! She's fabulous and I love the candid pictures and getting them outside instead of sitting in some studio with a staged smile!! She's coming back to see us when we get Laila and taking all of her pictures, I can't wait!!
Here's one she took of us with Gabbi, I love the smiles, not staged, just genuine happiness!! Can't wait to show you the rest of them...

Fun weekend with Jami and family

2008-08-28T17:20:00.000-07:00

We had a GREAT weekend!! My best friend Jami, her hubby Nathan and their little girl Gabbi came for a visit!! Jami and I grew up together in Boulder but she now lives outside of Houston and I miss her tons. It was great to see her and Nathan again and see how much Gabbi has grown and how smart she is!! They got here on Thursday but Scott and I were working so my SIL Kate met them at the airport, they needed our carseat!! They spent the rest of the day Thursday visiting friends in Boulder. Jami's sweet mom Barb passed away last September and Jami has spread Barb's ashes at different places that had special meaning to Barb. Boulder is one of them. Friday morning Jami, Nathan and Gabbi went to Boulder to spread some of the ashes. They chose a beautiful area up Flagstaff Mountain, it's got beautiful views of Boulder.

Later Friday afternoon we all headed downtown and had dinner with my dad. Jami lived with my family for a year during high school so she's like a sister to me and a daughter to my dad.

Here's the family at Maggiano's in Denver.
Here's Miss Gabbi... she's such a cutie and sweet!! This is Gabriella Ann and my niece is Gabrielle Anna!! Good thing we call her Gabbi!! On Saturday we also went to the Rocky Mountain Balloon Festival at Chatfield Lake but I didn't take my camera and I forgot to get some off Jami's camera. I will add those later. They left for home Sunday morning. We were sad to see them go but we're already looking forward to our visit when we get Laila!!

Royal Gorge, good times and SNOW!!!

2008-08-18T08:00:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!! We had a great weekend!! Kate, Guy, Nick, Gabrielle, Scott and I left on Friday for the Royal Gorge. We had a cabin at the Jellystone Park in Canon City, just down the road from the Royal Gorge. This is a great place for kids!! There are hay rides with Yogi although it rained the whole weekend so we couldn't take advantage of this. They do have a kid movie every night, they had a clown doing face painting and a little carnival. This was the view from our cabin, not too shabby!!Here's Scott and Gabs outside the cabin. We got there mid-day on Friday and just explored around the campground, grilled dinner and lit our campfire and had smores.

Kate and Guy, you can't tell from the picture but this is outside around the campfire. Nick standing on a big rock while it rains.

Me and my very handsome nephew. The next day it was on to the Royal Gorge. Let me explain to you that I am scared of heights. Maybe terrified is a better word. I do go across the bridge but it's in the middle, I look just in front of me, walk very fast and don't move out of the way for anyone. I probably appear very rude but if I move out of the middle and see how high I am I would puke. Here are some pictures of the others actually enjoying the bridge... (Kate had my camera)

As you can tell, it was cold and rainy.
This is looking down at the Arkansas River under the bridge. We were able to see some buffaloes, elk and big horn sheep, of course they were behind a fence.The rain stopped and the clouds cleared long enough for Scott and Guy to ride the Sky Coaster. Kate and I did make sure their life insurance policies were paid up to date!!Here they are strapped in and getting raised up. They then released themselves and flew out across the gorge!!! They reach speeds of 50mph doing this crazy thing!!
Yes, that's them!! INSANE!!!!

We then took the vertical train down the side of the mountain and that's the bridge up above us. Amazing!! We also went thru their old west town, rode the carousel and train and just had a great time. We went back to the cabin and went to the carnival, had dinner and had another fire. The fire didn't last long, it started pouring again and it was cold!! Sunday morning we had breakfast and packed up. We decided to go up Pikes Peak mountain on the way home. Well, we couldn't go all the way up, there was too much snow, the road was closed at mile 13. We went up as high as we could and there was SNOW!! I love Colorado, where else do you see snow in August???The view on the way up... beautiful!!Scott and I on the way up Pikes Peak.Nick and I in the SNOW!! Hope you all had a great weekend, we sure did!! Next weekend will be another great one!! My BFF from junior high, Jami, her husband Nathan and daughter Gabbi are coming to visit!! We can't wait to see them!! Come on Thursday!!!

How to leave a comment...

2008-08-18T07:53:00.001-07:00

I've had alot of people ask me how to leave a comment on the blog so I'm gonna tell you!! Under each blog posting it says "comments", click on this. You will now be on a different page. In the "Leave your Comments" box, leave your comments!! Next it says "word verification", type the letters or word in the box that are above the box. Then you need to "choose an identity". If you have a blogger or google (gmail) account click on Google/Blogger and enter your username and password. Otherwise click on "Open ID". Leave the top part on OpenID and under that leave your name. Then click on "Publish your Post". If you have any other questions about how to do this please e-mail me!!

Can you handle the cuteness??

2008-08-13T21:22:00.001-07:00

We've had Laila's room painted and the furniture for quite a while, we wanted to show our social worker we were serious about adopting so we wanted a nursery. Well, I've been wanting to do things a little differently and my sister in law, Kate, was just the kick in the butt I needed. I said I didn't think we had time to finish it and she said, "oh yeah we do" and she was right!! 2 days of work and this is the result... it's beautiful and and we LOVE it!!
That's Kate, tapeing and measuring the stripes. The nursery is a light lilac and we did stripes of a darker lilac and light yellow.These are the stripes, we added new white baseboards and a white chair rail and it's ADORABLE!!! We learned how to make mitered corners also!! The final product... I'm in love. We have her dresser with the cute lamp, her crib with her stuffed bear waiting for her, a changing table with the diaper genie and her glider where mommy and daddy will rock her to sleep. We still have a few finishing touches... I have letters that spell her name that I will paint and hang from the wall with ribbon, I have her special quilt that I will hang and I'm getting some sheers that will go over the wood blinds on her window. I will post pictures when it's entirely finished but this is pretty close!! And how can I have a post about cuteness and not show off Nick and Gabrielle, these are recent pictures of them. Please excuse the TV show in the background of Gabs picture, I'm addicted to What Not to Wear!! Hope you have a great week, we're heading for the mountains and Royal Gorge Friday!!

Pops

2008-08-09T07:46:00.000-07:00

This blog is about my Pops... I'm so fortunate that he's my dad!! My biological dad died when I was 5 in a car accident. We lived in Colorado Springs at the time and about a year after the death my mom joined PWP, Parents Without Partners. At one of their social gatherings she met Dennis (Pops) and they married about 9 months later. Pops lived in Boulder, CO, so we moved to Boulder and he adopted my brother and I. I grew up with a wonderful family, a protective big brother and parents who loved my unconditionally and showed that love every day. Now Pops is retired and living in a high-rise condo in downtown Denver. He has a great life and really enjoys himself. Last week Pops' best friend from 2nd grade, Bert, came to visit. Bert lived in San Diego for many many years and recently moved to Scottsdale, Az. Bert came up for a class reunion for Boulder High School last Friday. They had a great time!! They have done various things around town and just really enjoy each others company. One night last week Scott and I went downtown and had dinner with Pops and Bert. I took a few pictures which I will share with you.

This is my Pops!! He is so excited for Laila!! He has grandchildren from his 1st marriage but they live in Germany and he doesn't get to see them as often as he'd like. Laila will be his 1st grandchild he can see on a daily basis and really be part of her childhood and we are so happy about that!! She's gonna have a fabulous grandpa and be one lucky little girl!!

This is Bert. He's really funny and we love him!! Now that he lives in Scottsdale we won't need to stay at a hotel when we go to baseball's Spring Training. Get the spare room ready Bert, we'll be there in March, hopefully with Laila!!

Here's Pops and Bert. They are now in Scottsdale for a few days then will go to San Diego and stay with Bert's daughter for a few more days before Pops flys back home on Thursday. He is then staying at our house and watching his furry granddaughters while Scott and I go to the Royal Gorge with Kate, Guy, Nick and Gabrielle.

Did anyone watch the Opening Ceremonies for the Olympics?? It was magical and so impressive, I was awe-struck!! It's so neat to see all of this happening in Laila's home country and will be fun to see it when we go to China!!

Take care everyone and we'll talk again. Thanks for visiting our blog and don't forget to leave a message, we love to read them!!

I love this blogging stuff!!

2008-08-05T09:25:00.000-07:00

I can tell I will become addicted to this!! The hardest part is actually deciding what to write... alot of people will be reading this and I don't want to be a dork!! This post will have alot of different things in it, a hodge-podge if you will. The question we get asked the most is, "When will you get Laila?" That's a good question and I wish we knew. We THINK we will have our referral for Laila by Christmas, possibly sooner. What a great Christmas present that would be!! We will travel to China about 2 months after our referral for 2 weeks and come home with our daughter!! A friend of ours who I work with, Sandra, made this quilt for Laila and we think it's beautiful!! My mom-in-law, Norma, helped me pick out the fabrics and I'm very grateful for her help. We love our quilt. Luckily we have many blankets and another quilt for Laila to actually use so this will probably be a pretty and eventually end up in a chest.

Last summer our brother-in-law, Guy got a job here, yeah!! That means Scott's sister, Kate, Guy and the kids, Nick age 9 and Gabrielle, age 2 moved here and we are so happy!! They lived with us for about 9 months and then in May bought a house only a few blocks from us. We are really enjoying watching the kids grow and just being close to family. Last Thursday Gabrielle turned the big 2. She's a ham and absolutely adorable. She's talking more and more everyday and I love watching her vocabulary expand, reminds me to watch my vocabulary. :o) Here are a few pictures from her birthday party last Friday.

This picture doesn't do justice, she looks mad or something but she's actually saying cheese for the camera. Whenever she sees a camera she says cheese so this is the look for the pictures.

Here she is again, I'm gonna post another picture from before she said cheese all the time cause she is a cutie!!

Go Avs!!

Here she is, what a cutie!!

Here's my nephew Nick and my hubby Scott. Nick is going to be taking guitar lessons and was showing off his new guitar. It's very nice and he's excited. Nick is the sweetest little boy and he's wicked funny. He's letting his hair grow a little longer because it's a girl magnet!! What a ladies man!! His dad is proud, so is his uncle!!

I just think this picture is so cute of Nick!! He had just lost his 2 front teeth and was so proud!!

Gus, on the left, is our nephew pug and Cassie, on the right, is our niece pug. We love them.

One more thing... I need to give a HUGE thank you to my friend Kelsey. She helped me put together our blog and I couldn't have done it without her help!! Thank you Kelsey!! Her blog is on the left and it's really cute! She and her husband Mike, my work husband, have 3 year old twin boys and a 5 year old girl so it's always fun to keep up with their family.

There's tons more I could add but I will save it for another day. Check back often, I will be adding more!!

Here it is... our blog!!

2008-08-04T21:16:00.000-07:00

Welcome to our blog!! We are excited you're following along on our journey to Laila. We thought we'd do a quick update on those you know and love and will be hearing alot about!!

Here we are, the parents to be!! We've been happily married for 7 years and not an itch in sight!! We are thrilled that we will be blessed with our beautiful little girl from China and can't wait to meet her!! We are already head over heels in love with Laila!!

This is Mia, our crazzzy puppy!! She's hysterical!! We've never met a dog with a personality like hers. She is excited for her little sister, it will mean more faces to lick and more toys to chew on. Mom and Dad can hardly wait!!

This is Zoey, our sweet doggie. She's a big lover and if you're anywhere around her you will somehow end up petting her. It's amazing how she makes that happen, maybe with your foot, leg, whatever, she doesn't care but you will pet her, she makes sure of that!! She is daddy's girl so it will be interesting when daddy has a new girl!!