Video's From China - Meeting Mia etc...

December 13th was the day we met Mia and she joined our family forever!  Below are a few videos from that day as well as the days to follow...

Please do not judge the messy hotel room.  It was "cleaned" several times a day but we just could not keep up with the 3 of us in a small room!  :)



Meeting Mia - Part 2


A very sad car ride back to the hotel... :(


Bubbles right when we got back to our hotel room


A few more minutes in the hotel...after she ate dumplings! :)


French Fries with Dad


Day 2 - Amazing Changes...

Adoption Day!


Mia with her nanny. She LOVES her nanny VERY much! :)


Playing with a balloon...


Chatting with Dad


Random Days...

At the Airport going to another City in China - Mia's first plane ride...


What are you looking for...LOTION - OF COURSE! :)


Fun with Mia...

One Month!

In the spirit of being fully honest on this blog, I must admit this week has totally kicked my a$$.  It started with work being incredibly busy (it is always busy this time of year and honestly that is a good thing and you all know that I love business and my job), a sick child being sent home from school, a dog that had a medical emergency and had to be rushed to the vet (I will save you the gory details but he is fine now), a snow day which is NEVER good for people who work from home offices, Mia having to get shots and blood taken, preparing for Mike's birthday (no party or anything just dinner reservations and trying to make the day special for him) and ultimately ending with me getting sick myself.

December 13th officially marks the one month anniversary of getting Mia.

Mia is still sleeping through the night but her sleep schedule is still a bit off.  She is liking a later afternoon nap and of course then does not go to sleep until much later in the night.  She wakes up early but just lays in bed and goes back to sleep until mid morning.  She also started to call me into her room in the middle of the night just to cover her back up.  I did it a few times but eventually had to tell her no and make her do it herself.  This stopped her calling me in for that.

We had a bit of food sucess this week.  She is still my carb queen but we found out she really likes meatballs (gotta love this girl).  She also liked an Arby's roast beef sandwich.  She finally ate corn again  and seemed to like it.  Peanut butter crackers also were a hit.  If there was ever mistaking anything she liked before, there is no way now.  Every time she eats something she likes she says "yummy, yumnmy" and occasionally rubs her tummy.  It is pretty cute.

She has started to use a few more English words without being prompted.  When she was watching Olivia, she actually said watermelon and apple when she saw them.  Watermelon is one of her favorite foods so she says that a lot but I have never heard her say apple.  I love hearing her say new words.  It is just like hearing Logan say new words when he was learning to talk.  I will totally miss her Mandarin monologues but will LOVE to be able to understand everything she is saying.  When she gets going she has SO MUCH TO SAY!    

The doctors totally stunk.  We LOVE Dr. Mark Adams.  Both Mike and I went to his dad when we were kids.  That said, this poor girl had to have the full work up.  She had to get two shots this time and have her max amount of blood drawn to test for everything under the sun.  Even with the max blood draw, she may have to go back on Monday and give more.  One thing they are testing for is her level of immunization for certain vaccinations so she does not have to get the shots she already had.  Like every mother, helping hold your child while they are being poked and prodded is NOT fun.   I felt so bad for her and cannot imagine what she is thinking.  I really hope I was a comfort for her with my hugs and kisses.  I also brought one of her favorite candy treats from China so I could give them to her  when the shots and needles were gone.  They seemed to do the trick although it was the saddest sight to see her licking them with HUGE tears dripping down her face. I am not sure if it is the shape of her eyes or just her tears, but they are SO big and just pour down her face when she cries.  Just as we suspected, she is going to need to see a pediatric dentist and we need to make sure she stops sitting in the typical Chinese "W" squat as it can hurt her hips and ultimately make her pigeon toed.

Her interest in "things" are cracking us up.  She loves all her girly things, but this week it was all about dinosaurs, nerf guns, and trains.  I LOVE THAT!  All dressed up in pink and toting her favorite Thomas the Train cars and helicopter.  :)

Mia starts pre-school Monday.  In the beginning either Mike or myself will sit with her, then leave for a bit and come right back.  When she is ready we will eventually leave for the day.  We found out that in her class their are two other Asian children that do not speak English.  This gives us some comfort as the teacher has experience with non-English speaking children.  We are curious to know whether either of the children are Chinese and speak Mandarin.  I KNOW she will love being around the other children as she loved all her friends at the orphanage.  I also think she will love all the activities they do.

Logan is continuing to be a great big brother and at times is REALLY spoiling her.  :)  He was also able to go spend the night at his grandparents again without Mia melting down.  The key was hiding his suitcase in the garage.  I think this was a HUGE relief for Logan as he LOVES his time with his grandparents.  One of their new favorite activites is antiquing and collecting coins.  My parents are the BEST grandparents any kid could wish for.

Something a bit new with Mia is her wanting to cuddle with us and asking for us to come sit and hold her.  Of course we are LOVING this.  :)  There is nothing like the cuddles of a sweet little one and my worries of any attachement issues are slowly fading.

That is all for the update this week.  Hoping for a MUCH easier week next week!  :)

We found Mia crashed out on the sofa mid-day.

Logan and Mia watching a Dora Movie he bought her in her room

Our sweet little baby doll

A Glimpse of Mia's Life Before She Became an Official Member of the Krisher Clan!

As many of you know, each month we sent Mia a care package while we were awaiting our travel clearance to go get her.  In each of the packages we sent a couple of disposable cameras.  In totally they received about 7.  When we got Mia, they gave us 2.  Most of them are taken right before she left the orphanage.  I can tell by the cut next to her eye.  She had that when we first met her.

There really are no good pictures per say, but they are priceless to me.  As some of you know, we were contemplating a trip to Mia's orphanage while we were in her province.  That said, the orphanage was 3 hours away by car.  That meant we would be in the car at least 6 hours with a little one we just met which did not sound like fun.  On top of the drive, we were concerned with how she would feel going back and having to leave all her nannies and friends again.  We were leaning against it but when we found out she had severe car sickness (according to her nannies) the choice was made for us.  That said, these pictures are all I have of her life before she officially became a Krisher.  

A note on the car sickness thing.  I think it was nerves and not car sickness at all.  She got REALLY quiet every time we got in a car and I think it was because she was afraid that we were going to leave her or that she would be taken away again.  The more we were in a car together the less upset she would get and in turn, not get sick.  By day 3 there was no more "incidents" but we still carried a bag with us just in case.

In the pictures below, you will see her friend Jhan, Jhan.  I think Jhan, Jhan and her were BFF's in the orphanage.  They were also adopted at the same time.  JJ is now living in Virgina with her new forever family.  If we look at the pictures with Mia, she gets excited and will talk and talk and talk about them.  I am starting to understand a little of what she is saying about them, but wish I could understand everything.  She does not get sad when she looks at them which both delights and amazes me since she was in such pain and agony crying out for her nanny and friends the first couple of days and especially in the middle of the night while she was sleeping.

I will post another "progress post" soon but all is well and good and we are SOOOOOO enjoying our little diva princess and all the joy she is bringing to our lives!  :)

Enjoy the pictures....  

It appears they occupied one floor of the larger building they were in

She talks about his little one quite a bit.  I can see why.  She is ADORABLE!  Good thing we did not go visit the orphanage or we may have had to take her with us! :)

Another one of her little friend

I am not sure if this was a nanny or not.  She does not call her mama so maybe it was just someone who came in to play them music.  Regardless Mia tells us she liked it when she played the piano for them. 

I guess this is playtime?  Not sure.

Not the most flattering picture, but this kinda cracks me up.  It shows her inner "tough girl".  :)  This is also a picture of her best friend Jhan, Jhan.  She still talks about Jhan Jhan today.  As you can see in pictures below, Jhan Jhan slept next to her in the crib line up.

I love to see that smile!  Notice the grass mats.  They just put blankets on them for the kids to sleep on.  Now I know why she was so uncomfortable for the first few weeks on a mattress.  It was just WAY too soft.  Poor thing.

A more serious pose and btw mama is NOT loving the shoes!  :)

Yes my sweet girl, we love you that much and more!  :)

This does not even look like my sweet, beautiful girl.  I know this was taken right before she came to be with us forever because of the cut by her eye.

This is a picture of her primary nanny.  She called and still calls her mama when she sees these pictures.  Mia LOVED her very much and I am so grateful for this woman for everything she did for Mia while we waited to come get her.  Words cannot express my gratitude for this dear soul.

We are not sure who the woman in the picture is.  Mia calls her I Ayi (pronounced I-E) which means Aunt.  This is what they call people who they know but are not nannies.  As you can see Jhan, Jhan is also in the picture.  Jhan, Jhan was adopted by a family in Virgina at the same time Mia was adopted.

Another nanny

I just had to add these next couple of ones.  They just DO NOT look like my sweet girl, but I cherish having them.  I cannot believe how much she has changed.

The crib line up.  Either she is tired or just not thrilled about having her picture taken again.

Again, the crib line up.

Yummy Yummy!

Just a quick update...

As many of you know Logan went back to school this week and to our surprise Mia has done wonderful!  I think it is because she is sleeping when Logan actually goes to school and has not watched him walk out the door with his backpack.  She asks for him a couple of times but seems to be happy with the answer "Logan is at school and will be home soon."

As I have posted in the past, one of Mia's biggest struggles is food.  Again, I totally understand this as there were plenty of meals in China that nothing that was put in front of me tasted good.  Yes, if I were starving I would have ate it, but who wants to be starving to eat and enjoy food?  Being a total foodie, I completely sympathize with my poor girl.  That said, tonight we went out to Naked Chop Sticks.  This is the third Asian place we have went to since having Mia and we knew it was probably the most authentic.  So, for the third time we ordered her dumplings (which she LOVED in China and has refused after one bite at both places).  She ate the first bite and said she liked them and then she ate another bite and another.  All off the sudden she started dancing in her seat and saying "yummy, yummy" in English and asking for more in Mandarin.  It was adorable.  She was actually dancing in her seat as if to say....THANK YOU...YOU PEOPLE FINALLY GOT IT RIGHT!  She ate, and ate, and ate.  She was so happy.

It appears we will be making a lot more trips out to the Naked Chop Sticks!  :)

Mama Mia!

This week has been so much fun and we are getting used to the chaos of life with two little ones!  We had forgot how much focus a four year old takes.  It seems like they go from one thing to the next every few minutes.  Some of her favorites are playdoh, playing babies, make believe dress up, cooking in her play kitchen, drawing, and stickers.  It is hard to keep up with them let alone the mess that follows.  :)

Mia continues to make huge leaps and bounds as far as adjustment.  She is now sleeping in her own bed!  Yes, I said her OWN BED, as in her OWN BED IN HER OWN ROOM!  WHOOOOOOOOO!  Love the little girl, but am super happy to have her in her own bed.  ;)  We really thought it would take months to make this transition happen but again she surprises us in the most delightful way.

She is understanding virtually everything we say to her.  She does not use her English words very often without being prompted.  I am thinking she is convinced she is going to teach us Mandarin.  In fact sometimes when we tell her the English word for something she will tell us no and tell us the Mandarin word.  Other times she will repeat it happily.  Regardless, we know her speaking English will come in time and are not worried.

She is not loving the transition to her American name Mia.  I fear it is because we mostly called her Jing Jing while we were in China expect for one night when she was taking a bath and she would shout "mama"  I would say back to her "Mia".  Of course I was calling her name like she was calling mine but now when we call her Mia, she says "Mia Mama".  When she says it over and over again, it sounds like Mama Mia.  Ugh.  :)  Sometimes when I just call her Mia she will tell me no Mia...Jing Jing.  The no is in Mandarin but I know what she is saying.  Sometimes she says no, your name is Mia and points to me.  Uh-oh!  Again, all in good time.  We love the name Jing Jing (it just seems to fit her) too but we do want her to have and know her American name as well.

She is such a funny girl.  She likes to joke around all the time.  She likes to mix up names of people and things and giggles.  She also thinks she is so funny when she is getting dressed and puts on her clothes wrong (backwards, on the wrong feet etc.).  When playing she will look at you while pretending to eat playdoh or whatever and just smile and giggle.  She also loves to make silly faces (as you can see below).

She is still very strong willed and I do not expect that to change.  I sincerely believe it is just a part of her personality.  Honestly, I love that side of her.  That said, when she gets into trouble, and I tell her to say sorry Mama, she will say sorry Mama, Baba (which means Dad).  She does it just so she is saying it her way.  Usually asking her if she wants to go to time out curves the behavior and she will say "sorry mama".  I used to do something similar when I was young.  When my dad would spank me I would try my very hardest not to cry, but eventually I did.  I was so mad that he made me cry (not caring about whatever I did that caused me to get a spanking in the first place) that as he was walking out of the room I would shout "didn't hurt".  Of course he would come back and spank me again.  We would go round and round like this until I finally learned to not say anything.  I remember my older brother telling me to just be quiet but I was so strong willed I just did not want anyone else to "win".  All that said, I TOTALLY understand her and would not change a thing about her.  Obviously my goal is to help mold that strong will into something positive and amazing.

Mia LOVES Kai Lan and also seems to really like Sesame Street.  I think both of those are great learning tools for her, especially for the language.  I love it when she repeats what they say and shouts at the TV.  I also love to hear her giggle when they do silly things.

Yesterday as she was going down for a nap, I could hear her sing a sweet little song in Mandarin.  LOVE IT!  :)

Food is continuing to be a challenge for Mia.  Right now she is pretty much living on fruit, noodles, french fries with a TON of ketchup (she uses one fry and licks the ketchup off it over and over again before she finally eats it - YUCK!) , chips and bread.  I know she would like more things if she would just try them but she just will not try most things.  If she does, it entails her sticking her tongue on it for a half a second and shaking her head no.  If she actually puts something in her mouth 90% of the time she spits it right back out.  Regardless she very rarely wants another bite.  NOT MY FAVORITE THING!  

Logan is being such a great big brother and again, I am so proud of his caring, nurturing spirit.  As you can see from one of the pictures below, without being prompted, Mia climbed up on the chair where Logan was playing on the computer and put her arms around him.  Although she practically took up the whole seat and I am sure was quite the distraction he did not seem to mind.  So stinkin' sweet.  We did have a bit of a melt down on New Years Eve.  We had my parents over and they invited him to spend the night.  We said he could go and thought Mia would be okay as he left for a play date the other day and she did great.  Anyway, when she saw his suitcase she LOST IT!  She cried like she did for her friend (and the girl who was in the crib next to hers) in China and that was just seeing his suitcase.  We think seeing the suitcase triggered something because her friends in the orphanage would pack a bag and she would never see them again.  We tried to calm her down but there was no consoling her.  Eventually we told Logan that it was just too early to leave her for the night and he could not go.  Then I had two crying kids.  He felt like it was Mia's fault that he could not go and of course that did not go over well.  We tried to explain it to him but all he was hearing was that he could not go like he was always able to do in the past.  It took about an hour for everyone to calm down.  NOT the way I wanted to spend New Year's Eve, but again, I totally get it and all in all it has been a fantastic transition for everyone.

I cannot say it feels like Mia has been here forever but I can tell you that it feels like she should have been.  Having her has been such a joy and such a blessing.  We love her more than anything and she completes our family in the most beautiful, amazing and fantastic way.