It's CORALIE Day!

Coralie in the outfit she was wearing when we met.

It's been two years and it still brings tears to my eyes that Coralie is ours.  I know I've shared these thoughts before, but not sure if I've shared them here.  We first saw Coralie on ASIA's website in December, 2009.  I immediately emailed about "Wednesday" (Coralie) and another little girl on the list.  Both were already being reviewed, but we were 2nd in line for both.  About a week later, we learned that both families were proceeding with the adoptions of the girls.  I was pretty heartbroken because...get this...I was SURE the other little girl was meant to be ours.  It shames me to tell you that I told Marci (ASIA's AWESOME Waiting Child Coordinator) to please let me know if the other little girl became available again by some chance.  I didn't even mention Wednesday.  About 2 weeks later I got an email that Wednesday was again available and did we want to review her file.  I knew the answer was yes.  It seemed that her special need was a bit more involved than originally thought and was not very common.  We were sent her file the week of Christmas 2009.  We had one week to make the decision on whether we wanted to pursue her or not.  The day came that we had to tell Marci 'yes' or 'no'.  We woke up still not knowing which way to go.  Finally-as it typically happens-Jeff said, 'let's do it'.  From that second on, she was 100% our girl, but until that moment it could have easily gone either way.  From time to time, I think about that.  How easily it could have been 'no'.  Never once have had that thought without tears because I couldn't bear life without her.  She's an amazing treasure and I am the most blessed mama in the world to be able to call her mine.    

Coralie's First First Day of School

We registered Coralie for preschool last spring.  She was frustrated that she couldn't start the very day she was signed up.  She asked repeatedly over the last few months when she was going to get to go to school.  When I took her to orientation, she got cold feet.  Her little eyes welled up with tears and she scrunched up her face.  I could see that she was trying so hard to be a big girl and not cry, but she was oh so close.  I am not typically a crier when I drop my kids off at school for the first time.  I was excited for her and excited for me to be down to only one child to drag to the grocery store.  Seeing her sad little face almost got me.   I had to pull out the big guns and offer to get her a milk shake on the way home as a big girl reward.  Some may call that a bribe...I'll consider it incentive.  Either way, little miss accepted my offer of a 'shilpmake' and went in her classroom to play.  I could tell she didn't really want to, but she was brave.  When she started school the next Monday, I was really hoping there wouldn't be tears or any need for 'incentive'.  My hopes were realized with she walked right in her class with barely a goodbye to Emmeline or me.  I stood in her classroom for a minute talking to her teacher and then told her bye.  She was playing with the play kitchen with her back to me.  She said goodbye without even turning around.  I may or may not have *almost* shed a tear on the way home.  Emmeline asked 'Where Coralie?' probably 1000 times that day.  When I went to pick her up, her teacher said she had a great day and that she and Max (a little boy in her class) were buddies.  When we left, Coralie turned around and said in a sing songie voice 'bye Max'.  Seriously?  Already?  She's FOUR.  Poor Max.  He has no idea the mess he may have gotten himself into.  She's a handful, dude.  But she's totally worth it.  :)  

Unfortunately, she only goes to school in Mondays and Wednesdays, so on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday she continually asks if she can go to school.  She doesn't understand why I just can't take her down there on her off days.  I am just happy that she seems to love it and I hope she feels the same way next year when she is in Kindergarten full time.  

First Day of School Pics

Summer went by so fast.  I can't believe the middles and Ryan have already started back to school.  Yesterday when Brady got in the car after his first full day of school he said, 'that was the longest day EVER.'  I guess 2nd grade isn't quite as fun as first.  Today was better for him and he decided he liked his teacher.  He was still undecided yesterday.  The girls both have male teachers and Brady's bummed because he 'always gets a girl'.  Life's tough, buddy.  :)

AnnaClaire seems happy with her teacher.  She always just goes with the flow with very little complaint.  Of all the kids, she is the one who makes sure I see her paperwork from school first thing when we walk in the door from school (instead of first thing in the morning).  She is still so painfully shy.  I am hoping this will be her year to come out of her shell and let others see what an amazing little girl she is.

Allie has the same teacher that she had last year.  She's pretty happy about that. She also has a friend from last year in her class again.  Our school is very large so that is a rarity.  She and her friend talked on the phone all afternoon.  Does that sort of thing start this young these days?  Oy!  

What's up with us...

I have neglected this blog so much since we brought Emmeline home.  That makes me sad, because there are so many times that I will come and read posts from years past.  It makes my heart happy to see the pictures and the read the stories about the kids and what they were doing.  Over the last 10 months, I just never seemed make the effort to post anything.  Lately, I've had several people ask me to update my blog.  It's funny because I went for months hardly thinking about it and not hearing a peep from anyone about the blog, but in the last month or two I've heard from several.  It definitely got me motivated to at least make an attempt to start updating again.  So...what's up with us?  Hmmm...here we go...



On October 20th, 2011, Cameron and I returned home with Emmeline.  I know I referred to her as Cecilia during the end of our wait for her, but as anyone who knows us for a while will tell you, we are fickle creatures when it comes to naming.  HuiLan just didn't seem like a Cecilia and I struggled with the name for months before deciding that she just wasn't a Cecilia.  But what was she?  When I got on the plane to China I still didn't know.  When I first held her in my arms I still didn't know.  The morning after I met her, I was Skyping with Jeff and we had to decide right then so her paperwork could be done.  We decided on Emmeline, a name that had been on our list a few times, but had never made the cut to the short list.  My mom mentioned it when she came by to say goodbye before Cameron and I left. It just felt right.  So Cecilia Faith HuiLan is Emmeline Faith HuiLan.

Emmeline did really well transitioning into our family.  The older kids (Cameron, Brandon, Ryan) and the middles (Allie, AnnaClaire, Brady) welcomed her immediately.  Unfortunately, Coralie didn't do well at all with the fact that Emmeline existed.  The first few months were a battle over mom.  If one of them came near me, the other ran over to protect their turf.  I was confident that God had placed Emmeline in our family, but definitely had moments of concern that bringing her home had ruined Coralie forever.  My sweet, loving, full of personality girl turned into a whiny, clingy, tantrum throwing, head spinning creature.  Month by month, the girls made progress in their relationship.  They now genuinely love each other and enjoy having the other one around.  Wouldn't you know, God gave us a child with as much personality as Miss Coralie.  I wasn't sure that was possible!

Last summer, Jeff and I bought a lot in the middle of nowhere (seriously, it's so far out that I question our sanity every time we drive over there) in a lakefront community.  We soon realized that it would probably be years before we built something on it, so we traded it for a lot with a shell house on it.  The outside of the house was complete, but the inside was just studs.  We signed the paperwork for it just after Emmeline came home and Jeff and his buddies went up almost every weekend to work on the house.  It's been a true labor of love.  I am really proud of Jeff for all the work he's done on the house.  He's not what I'd call a handy man, but he has learned what he had to to get it done.  I guess I should say that he *wasn't* what I'd call a handyman because now he is quite handy.  The girls love going up there (like pink puffy heart type love).  The older boys go only when we beg and plead.  Brady usually enjoys it once he is there, but he often asks to stay with the big boys.  One of the reasons we bought where we did is because they have a community dock where we can not only dock our boat, but we also can use several other boats which are property of the homeowners association.  The kids were so excited when they recently built a neighborhood pool by the boat dock.  Fun family times will be had at our little lake house.

Cameron graduated college in early May.  So proud of him!  He knew what career he wanted, studied it and got a great job straight out of college.  I have a feeling they (the kids and their career decisions) won't all be that easy.  :)

As if graduating college wasn't enough, Cameron married the world's best daughter in law at the end of May.  I was thrilled when Cameron asked Charity to marry him and I am even more thrilled now that they are married.  She's the perfect mate for him and I feel so blessed to have her as part of our family.  

My sister, Lori, had her first baby in December.  We are very thrilled to have little Isabel as part of the family. You can tell that the girls loooove having a baby cousin.  That's my sister's husband Frank (or Franken as Coralie calls him) holding Isabel.

Those are the main highlights of our last 10 months.  As always, we feel that God has blessed us and continues to bless us and we just praise His name.  

What a Difference

Hard to believe it hasn't even been 5 months since I was handed Emmeline in China.  This picture is from our first few days together.

 

This picture is from this past week...

Love that kid!

Pumpkin Patch

We had so much fun at the pumpkin patch yesterday.  Jeff and I must be getting old because we were both completely worn out afterwards.  The kids?  Not so much.

Itinerary and Travel Journal Link

Here's our itinerary.  We meet HuiLan on Sunday the 9th.  It's Sunday in China right now so that means I am only ONE WEEK away from finally having her in my arms..  Well, I say 'finally' (and anyone who has read the blog knows my struggle with adoption impatience) but honestly, looking back now this process has been somewhat of a whirlwind.  It just seems like forever when you don't know when you are going to meet your child and you have no control over choices being made for them and you aren't there to comfort them. I think the reality of not traveling to China has hit Jeff a little.  It's very bittersweet to meet our daughter without him being there.  I know it was the best choice; though of course not perfect.  I have started a travel journal at You Belong.  It's youbelong.net/loosclan  I've been having technical difficulties with my journal, so I may just use the blog to update.

Here's our itinerary:


Thursday, October 6th: Leave for China!

Saturday, Oct.8: Fly from Seoul to Xi’an

Sunday, Oct.9: Meet child at Civil Affairs Bureau.

Monday, Oct.10: Conduct adoption registration paperwork and notarization formalities.

Tuesday, Oct.11: Apply for Child's passport.

Wednesday, Oct.12: Free time.

Thursday, Oct.13: Sightseeing in Xi’an.

Friday, Oct.14: Fly to Guangzhou.

Saturday, Oct.15: Have child’s visa photos taken and go through the physical examination in the morning.

Sunday, Oct.16: Sightseeing in Guangzhou: Safari park.

Monday, Oct.17: Check TB test result.

Tuesday, Oct.18: At 10:00am, family goes to US Consulate to submit orphan visa petition documents and do oath-taking ceremony.

Wednesday, Oct.19: Family goes to US Consulate to pick up visa in the afternoon.

Thursday,Oct.20: Leave for home.

Our family is growing again!

On Saturday, Cameron and his girlfriend Charity went to Fall Creek Falls where he proposed.  She said YES!  We are so thrilled for them both.  Charity is an amazing girl and we could not have asked for a better person for Cameron to spend the rest of his life with.  God is good!

The Room

We are finally getting HuiLan's room together.  EXCITING!  Now I have a place to go and touch her things and dream about having her here with us.  Weird, huh?  It's just something I do.  I remember going into Allie's room when we were waiting for her and pulling her little outfits out of the closet and rearranging them.  It just made me feel close to her.

This was the room last Monday morning...

This is Monday afternoon.  Whoa, a little brighter on the wall than I expected. 

On Monday night and Tuesday, I worked on the crib and on Tuesday night Jeff deep cleaned the carpet.

On Thursday, I put together the bookshelf and then I opened the dresser box to find that there were no instructions.  After four very long calls to Target.com, we were nowhere.  They don't carry the dresser anymore and don't have any manuals to send.  I just bought the dresser last month!  Thankfully, God blessed me with a mechanically minded son (who is newly engaged!  WOOT!)  that was able to figure out how the 8 million pieces of the dresser fit together.  So here is the room this morning.  We still have work to do but I am not sure much more will be done before we leave.  I want to get a wall decal for behind the crib but I am not sure what I want it to say.  I've seen a few things that I would like to try and make for the other walls, so you can expect them to be done about the time she starts Kindergarten high school.  

I even packed a little this morning.  Ten days until Cameron and I leave and I am starting to get EXCITED!

Beyond Blessed

We sent some questions about HuiLan to the orphanage.  Here are their answers...

What's the meaning of her name and why was it chosen for her?
There's no special meaning to her name; we all call her HuiLan

Is she close to anyone?  Does she have a best friend?
We have shifts here due to the nature of our work, so HuiLan is close to her nannies.  She plays well with other kids, no special best friends.

What's her personality like?
Her personality is quite vivacious.  (UH OH)  She loves to play and loves to laugh.

Does she have a favorite food?
Nothing special.  She's not picky.  (Hallelujah!)


What's her favorite activity?
She likes her aunties playing toys with her and holding her hands walking around.

How does she like to be comforted?
She likes to be held and hugged. (AWWWW!)




and the best part of all.................


Is she crawling?  Is she able to stand unassisted?  If so, has she taken any steps?
She can crawl, can stand and can walk. (God is so good!)


I am so ready to go get her!

Flights are booked!

I guess we are going to China!!!  Cameron and I leave on Thursday, October 6.  That's 24 days if you are keeping count.  We'll get to Xi'an a day early (early am on Saturday 10/8), but that's the best situation the travel agent could work out.  We don't have our in country itinerary from ASIA yet, but from what they've told us, we should meet Cecilia on Monday, October 9th.  Four weeks from today!  On one hand, it seems so close and on the other, it seems so far away!  I.can't.wait.

Coralie has something to say...

Patience & Faith

I need to read this EVERY DAY until I go to China to get Cecilia.  Every.  Day.

Source: myconcretesky.com via Lisa on Pinterest

Coralie Day!

note: I was with Brady at the hospital on the official anniversary of Coralie Day so this post is a few days late.





I can't believe it's been a year.  This first year with Coralie has gone by so quickly.  I can't explain to those who don't know Coralie what a special child she is and to those who know her, I don't have to.  If I had been able to tell God exactly what we wanted in our next child, we could have never come close to the actual child we were given.  She is amazing.  We are so blessed.  Once again.

On the day we met Coralie, we were one of the first families to get to the Civil Affairs office.  We were the very last to meet our child.  they brought Coralie in amidst the chaos and joy of other families being formed.  She was whisked into another room.  

Our first glimpse..



then they brought her out, but not really TO us...

She was NOT impressed with her new family. AT ALL.  She walked around the room trying to get as far away from me as she could.  I had to bribe her with a yogurt drink to get her to come near me.

She was quite devastated by the entire experience.  My heart broke for her.  It also fell hard for her.  I was madly and deeply in love from the moment we met.

The first few days were really hard.  She rocked constantly and beat her head against the wall.  She screamed something in Cantonese that mean she didn't like what was going on.  She grieved her life at the orphanage.  It was all she had ever known.

Our little shell shocked baby girl.  I thought she might never be happy again.  I felt guilt for taking her away from the life she'd known.  I questioned whether we were doing the right thing.  

Then we visited her orphanage.  We saw a glimpse of her true self chattering away with her friends.  She was like a little rock star when we were there.  The kids were so happy to have her back.

We met her little friend Pei and I realized that Coralie could be heartbroken because she left or she could be heartbroken because she was left behind.  

After the orphanage visit, we saw a change in Coralie.  

Maybe we weren't THAT bad.

and then it happened...

and we've been stuck like glue ever since.

We love you Coco!