Happy Halloween!!!!

Mike and I LOVE Halloween! I enjoy being at home, handing out candy and seeing all the kids- which is what I am doing now as I update. Autumn went to two houses, dressed as a bumble bee. That is about all she could take. Hopefully, will have those pictures up soon.
The last few weeks with Autumn has been AMAZING! She is such a sweet little girl. She goes everywhere with us, and seems quite at home whether we are at Church, Target, a restaurant, just wherever- she is happy to be there.
We have had our checkups with our Pediatrician, Dr. Chu- everything checked out well. He did a slew of labs, repeated some vaccines, and thought overall she looked good. He referred us to the NC early intervention program, and we met our caseworker last week. She was very nice, and Autumn qualified for their services, since she has a cleft lip and palate, and has some mild developmental delays. She recommended that we begin some speech therapy and occupational therapy also. So that will start soon. We also registered for daycare last week. I am so thankful that she will start at First Baptist Asheville. We looked at several, and I really was pleased with the compassion that they showed to Autumn. She also got to meet her classmates, and play a while on the playground with them. She had a ball, and cried when we left- I was sad/happy about that. We also had dinner last night at the neighbor's= she did great! She just takes it all in. Such a good girl- here are some new pics. We have about a 1000- hard to decide which ones to post! :)
We took Autumn to the Biltmore Estate- Antler Hill Village- she has a pull behind for the bike - she fell asleep during the ride! I think she likes it.

Autumn and me - her first time going to Church.

Autumn received her first "Steeler's" attire from her grandparents in the mail. CUTE!

Autumn and me at her first visit with Dr. Chu.

Autumn's first time on a swing - she LOVES it!

Autumn in her Halloween outfit! LOVE the skirt!

Still in her Halloween outfit- gotta find another reason to wear the skirt! She is so cute in it!

Probably the cutest pic I have- All my girls watching Daddy on the front porch!

Finally Home

We have now been home a week with Autumn. We have been quite busy, which is why I have not updated our blog. Mike and I have had a hard time adjusting to the time change from China, as well as jet lag. The jet lag was the worst. I am sure Autumn felt it too. We had over 24 hours of total travel time between the actual flights and airport layovers. Autumn did OK, considering she is so young and not used to any type of travel. She has done well at her new home. We were worried about how she'd handle the dogs. Her first sight, her little eyes were so big. No tears though. She lets them smell her and even accepts a lick or two. Initially, their barking scared her and she whimpered a bit, but is even doing a little better with that. She has explored all of the upstairs. Just a few days after arriving home, she really started to crawl good, and then, she stood up by herself. Wednesday, she really started walking. She is quite unsteady and falls down a lot, but at least she is trying. She is doing great with eating. We are trying a variety of things, and likes it all except for potatoes and Lima beans. With the weather being so nice today and yesterday, she has spent time on the porch and seems to enjoy being outside. She is not saying anything yet, but does a lot of laughing, smiling squealing with delight. She seems to be a very happy child, and I am so thankful for that. We had our first home vist yesterday with our social worker, and I think that went well. Autumn is our daughter, but we'd like to re-adopt her now that we are home. This will give her an American birth certificate, which down the road will help her tremendously. This weekend, she is playing host to Mike's family and has really put on a great show for them. Anyway, here are some updated pics. Enjoy - will try to add more later.

SLEEPING IN HER CRIB

A TRUE AMERICAN

PLAYING IN HER WALKER

It's official!

Autumn is officially our daughter. She had her consulate appointment yesterday. We completed all of our paperwork, and how awesome that we did not have to go! All I had to do was sign for Shiyan to go for us! We did not have to do anything! We now have her abandonment certificate. It is so sad that this precious child was abandoned. We also have the clothes she was wearing and her admission pictures taken at the orphanage. She was also wrapped in a hello kitty blanket, and we have this too. These items, her only connection to her real family. She has an amazing story. Once the paperwork is cleared, then Autumn takes her oath to become a US citizen- obviously she can't do this so we as her parents do it for her. This ceremony was today. I was SOOOOO worried about how she would do. It was a 30-45minute busride to the consulate, and then a lot of wait once there. She was a perfect little angel. She loves to ride the bus. I guess that she is amazed at all of the sights- she has never been out of the orphanage, other than her quarantine for chicken pox. Anyway, she did great! No fuss whatsoever. In fact, she was so happy! Even better, on the busride back, she took a bottle for mike, actually 2 bottles, they were small. Once we arrive in Chicago this week, she is officially a US citizen!! YEAH!! She is doing so much more. She is crawling up into my lap now to get some loving and is offering up some hugs. She reaches for both of us too. She is such a sweet girl. She is also more vocal - we can't understand it, but she is vocal. She is not walking, but will walk when she is in the crib and can hold to the sides. She has started to crawl too. Her nanny said that she stopped crawling a while ago when she started to walk. I guess she is regressed and will get back to walking. She is doing a lot more every day that passes.
As for us- Mike and I are doing great. We are thrilled to be coming home the day after tomorrow. And as a treat, I also had a mason jar full of sweet tea and lemmons tonight!!! Never did I think I'd find that in China. HEAVEN!

Turned a corner-

AUTUMN BEFORE THE DINNER CRUISE
Here is Autumn with the "GUANGDONG BABIES" all from her province. We took so many pics like this, Autumn would not look at the camera. Ezra her buddy is right beside her, the other little girls Emily and Natalie.

Finally, after a week, things are somewhat "normal." Well, for living in a hotel room and eating every meal out, I guess normal. Autumn has gone back to drinking from the bottle. She just started last night. I think she is getting more comfortable with us and this is why? We have let her sort of take the lead, and not pressure her to drink too much. She did 5 oz last night, and 6 this morning. She also took another 4 ounces during the day. She is eating like a champ. And what goes in, comes out too. Mama is happy. She is starting to really show some personality and can get quite cranky when she does not get her way. She HATES a diaper change. Most changes, it takes both of us to get a diaper on. She also let me trim her nails. She gave me a nice scratch on my neck today, so had to be done. She also understands "no." She is getting a lot more active in the crib. She was trying to chew on the side rails, can't be good with her lip. She understood No, and seemed to pout a little but stopped.
We took a dinner cruise last night, she did pretty good. The papa john's pizza was great! Towards the end, there was some entertainment which the kids enjoyed. It was a good distraction. We are finding that children have very short attention spans, especially ours. We hope that everyone at home is doing well- especially Ronnie - hope you are healing well from surgery. Hang in there- can't wait to see you all soon!

And she finally smiles!

Last night- finally got some smiles and laughter from her- it has continued on through today. She is pretty fussy, but is smiling more. She is pretty comical at times. We have had a lot of fun just playing. She is eating much better, in fact, the last few feeds, this has hardly been an issue. She ate an entire ladle of wheat oatmeal and a sausage link at breakfast, for example. She is still not taking the bottle though. Overall, I'd say things are some better. We are going on a dinner cruise tonight, and having Papa Johns pizza! Yes, they have it here. We can hardly wait. The weather is better, very hot. I just went out to buy more diapers, and locals are walking around in masks. I am not sure what kind of air I took in, can't be good. The smog is terrible. I have had a cough for the second day now. Shiyan has spoken to Autumn's orphanage director again, and we have found out the she took the majority of her meals in the crib- she stood while being fed. They also added sugar to her formula and her water. Chinese formula is much sweeter than what we have- it must have been like syrup. Needless to say, we have not done this, and perhaps that is part of the problem? She also fed herself her bottles in the crib. We have tried this too, but did not work. Anyway, here is a new pic of her wonderful smile. Enjoy, and I can't wait to see everyone very soon!! This week!!! :)

More Pics

Grandparents requesting more pics, so here you go. The one of Mike, Autumn and me is at the Chinese restaurant we went to, and the bucket of eels, evening special. Yes, they are alive and I assume you can pick the one you want. Our dinner was conservative, but delicious nonetheless. Other pics, Autumn at various times. There is one with her touching her toy with her last three fingers. She does not use her index finger, just the last three. She can, and we have seen her grip using the index, but no touching or pointing. She also had a mad screaming fit about 2pm today. I was in the process of preaparing her rice cereal, and turns out, feeding her made her better. She took it all, and some extra pear purree. Along with some left over formula and pedialyte. Still no bottle or sippy cup though. It is the best she has eat yet, so I will take it. The marks on her arms and face are from the chicken pox.
We also learned, thank you Amy, that the formula we brought for her is on the recall list. Not sure if it will make a difference, but while we are here, going to do only the Chinese formula. We don't have much of a choice. I will purchase enough to take with us and try to transition her at home. HOME, can't wait to get there. Enjoy the pics-

Today's update.

I think she may be doing a bit better. We went with our group to an authentic chinese restaurant last night. Shiyan our social worker here, is so wonderful. She wants so much for us to have a good time. She had everything arranged for us- the meal was served family style, and there were about 3-4 families per table. Our group is so supportive. Everyone is aware of the hard time we are having. Most of the kids are doing well. You can really see the difference in the children from orphanages vs. the kids from foster homes. There is a 3 year old with some delays as well. There are others having the eating issues, perhaps not to the extent that we are though. She was fussy about the entire time we were there. But easily calms I think. When we got back, she took about 2-3 tablespoons of rice cereal, and ounce of her vit. c liquid, no fuss. It was amazing. She still refuses a bottle though. We are just doing the best we can.
We took her to the payroom this morning. She played more today than she has yet. Ezra is another child about her age. He was fostered. He seems right on target with where he should be and is all boy. I think that Autumn enjoyed being around him. He will be in Knoxville, so hopefully, they will be good friends for a long time. Autumn did smile twice for me today. I almost cried. I will try to post more later.