Playing!

Olivia, Megan and Megan's friend (Natalie) playing with stacking cups. The stacking cups are one of Olivia's favorite toys.

Olivia's First Play-Date

Today Olivia had her first "play-date". We went over to Karen & Piper's house. We had lunch then the girls played while the mommies talked. Piper joined her "Forever Family" in August. Piper is 3 months older then Olivia. I met Karen at Mom's Night Out with the FCC group that I am a member. FCC is a group for families with children from China.

Sharing is a new concept to these girls and I feel that they played pretty well together. I had forgotten to take pictures till the end of the play-date so the pics were taken at the end of the play-date when the girls were starting to get tiered.

Colette

Home 2 Weeks

What a 2 weeks it has been since we have been home. I finally feel human again. Bob went back to work last Monday. On Wednesday the girls and I took up Girl Scout cookies to Bob’s work. I had never been to Bob’s office (he started with Williams in September). Bob met us in the parking lot after checking us in. WOW! Do they have security? Let me just say that Bob is safe where he is employed. Anyway, he took us up to his office and I was surprised to see that it was decorated with streamers and balloons. Then his boss & co-workers came over to meet us and led us to a conference room where they had cake & gifts. It was very nice to meet all of them. I was surprised by all of this since Bob has only worked there for 6 months. Bob is blessed to work with such a great group of people.

Megan was on spring break from school. We mostly hung out out at home. However we did go shopping at the mall one day (Megan was thrilled…. loves shopping). Thursday, my friend Diane & the kids stopped by for a visit, Olivia enjoyed playing with Abby. Friday night was our first time going out to eat here in the U.S. It was great and it gave me a feeling of normalcy. I know that sounds funny, but Friday night is our night of going out to eat and I really enjoyed it! Saturday Bob’s dad and his wife, Diana came for a visit. It was nice having family here to welcome Olivia home.

I look back and can’t believe we have had Olivia in our lives for 4 weeks. My heart swells with all of the love I have for her. She is a true blessing to our family. I will try and post later all of my thoughts & feelings. I am just having a hard time doing it.

Colette

The Family

The Girls with Grandpa & Grandma

Getting To Know Grandma Diana

Getting to know Grandpa & Grandma Walker

Playing with Grandpa.

Olivia lets Grandpa hold her.

Olivia checking out Grandma.

Food Glorious Food!

Olivia loves food. We haven't found anything she wont eat. The rest of us can not have food without offering her some. When she see food she cries and whines. Tonight after she was done with what was on her plate she would lift it up and grunt for more.

Bob & I both agree that she is putting on weight. When I took her to the doctor last week she was 50% on height and 25% on weight. We have a feeling she will soon be 50% on both!

Colette

Sisters Playing

Doing Better

Bob is doing better. The shot has helped. He was able to sleep last night and his ears are starting to clear, so he is able to hear better.... Thank God. I was getting tiered of him not being able to hear me. As many of you know I don't have a soft voice. Anyway, if things continue to progress he should be able to go back to work on Monday. Olivia & I both now have colds, but are doing ok.

Update on Bob

I took Bob back to the doctor yesterday and they did a chest x-ray. He has pneumonia. They gave him a shot. Hope this helps. Keep him in your prayers. He also has an ear infection and his ears are plugged so he can't hear too well out of them.

I am pretty tiered caring for Olivia and getting over jet lag. Megan has been a great help and I couldn't do it without her. Next week is spring break, which will be nice to have her here at home.

Colette

The 2 sisters Meet At Last.

These 2 pics were taken after we got home late Saturday night. What a proud big sister!

We're Home

We’ll after a very, very, long day…. Or should I say a day and a half. YIKES! We made it home. We left our hotel at 5:30 a.m. on Saturday morning China time and 3:30 p.m. Friday afternoon Tulsa time.


Everything went well flying from Guangzhou to Hong Kong. It was a very short flight and the plane wasn’t full so we had a seat in-between Bob & I. Then we had a short layover and boarded the plane to the U.S. They told us the plane was full. We only booked a lap-seat for Olivia, so we were scared we wouldn’t have the empty seat between us. Well, we lucked out and it was empty. HURRAY! Olivia did very well for such a long flight. She did get fussy a few times but we were able to calm her down quick. She played with the empty plastic water cups we had for hours and hours. She slept some and I actually slept a couple of hours. We landed in the US on schedule. After going through custom’s and security and many many lines we got to our gate. We got something to eat during our 4-½ hour layover. Well, our layover turned into an 8-hour layover. UGGGGHHHHH. Can you say frustrated. Trying to entertain a baby was interesting. Needless to say her squeaky shoes got lots of looks and smiles.

We finally landed in Tulsa at 12:30 a.m. Boy were we tiered. This would be 2:30 pm on Sunday in China. Needless to say we looked whipped. I don’t know if I have ever been that exhausted mentally and physically in my life. I knew it would be a hard day and it lived up to my expectations.

The bad thing was Bob started having drainage & a headache on Thursday before we left. Well, during our long layover he started running a fever. Poor guy. He has since gone to the doctor and he has a bad case of bronchitis and feels horrible. He is having a very hard time sleeping because of all the drainage. Here he has jet lag and is unable to sleep. Hopefully he will start feeling better soon and the rest of us don’t get it.

It was so good to see Megan. I missed her so much. It was neat to see her and Olivia together. Megan has been such a big help with Olivia. She has fed and played with her. Last night Olivia had her first real bath. Up until last night I was only able to give her a sponge bath. Anyway, Megan got in the bathtub and slowly I was able to get Olivia in the tub and bathe her. YEA! Megan is going to be a great big sister.

Well, this has taken me over 2 hours to write. I forgot how it takes forever to get things done with a little one. I need to try and get her down for a nap. This afternoon she gets her first doctor visit in the U.S. Wish us luck.


I want to thank everyone for all of the support and prayers while we were in China. Please pray that Bob starts to feel better and the rest of us stay healthy. I will try and post pictures of Olivia & Megan later.

Colette

Leaving Olivia's Homeland

It is 5:00 a.m. Saturday here in China and 3:00 p.m. Friday in Tulsa. We are showered & packed. I am about to wake Olivia up for the day. Our very, very long day. We gain 14 hours so it will be a 38-hour day. We can actually say the longest day of our lives. We are really dreading the 3 flights. We fly from Guangzhou to Hong Kong, which is only an hour flight. Then we fly from Hong Kong to Newark, New Jersey which is a 15 ½ hour flight YUCK! Then after going through customs and a long layover we have a 3 hour 45 minute flight to Tulsa. We are scheduled to arrive at 9:00 p.m.

We have loved China but are ready to go home. This has been a journey of a lifetime and we want to thank all of our family and friends for their support and love. We want to send out a very big THANK YOU to the Peters for keeping Megan. We have never worried for her safety, always knew she was being well taken care of and loved. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Megan we love you and miss you and can’t wait for you to meet your sister.

See you all very soon.
Love, Bob, Colette & Olivia

Adoption Completed

Today we went to the U.S. Embassy and got all of the finaly paperwork. Bob & I swore to forever take care of Olivia. When Olivia takes her first step in the U.S. (Newark) she will offically be a United States citizen.

Colette

Email Buddies

I have been emailing with these 3 other moms for quite awhile. It was neat to finally meet each one of them and see their babies.

From left to right: Mary & Addie, Jackie & Gabi, Katie & Sofie.

Colette &Olivia

Group Picture

This is our traveling group. We have come to really bond with some of the families. I will forever have wonderful memories of our time together.

The Play Room

Sharing toys with Sophie.

Shopping at the Mall

Shopping at a shopping mall. Colette had fun buying pearls.

Eating some pizza at the Pizza Hut.

The Famous Red Couch

Daddy & Olivia

Mommy & Olivia

12 Babies

4 girls & their daddies. These girls are from the same orphaage.

Xinyua Orphanage Babies

Mom's With Babies

What an experience. It was hard to get the babies to cooperate. There were 10 babies from the Hunan Province that got their babies in Changsha. Once we got to Guangzhou we picked up 4 special needs children. There were 2 boys & 2 girls. The boys didn't join the group.