Shaling Annabelle Reynolds

Chinese New Year & Reindeer?

2012-01-23T15:35:00.001-06:00

2012 is the Year of the Dragon. Preston was born in the last Year of the Dragon (2000). Shaling was born in the Year of the Snake. Due to the fact that Chinese Years don't start & end on January 1 & December 31, Brock & I were both born in the Year the Dog (Feb 6, 1970 – Jan 26, 1971).

We were supposed to attend a local Chinese New Year celebration this past Saturday, but it was cancelled. Brock & the kids joined several other families with Chinese children for dinner at a Chinese buffet though. I skipped out because I coached at an all day Scholastic Bowl tournament that day, then participated in a trivia night fundraiser for a woman in need of a new liver.

After dinner, Shaling went home with XinLi, who was adopted by Curt & Susan in August. She spent the night with her and went to church with the family the next morning. Curt & Susan live a bit out in the country and on our way home from picking Shaling up, we saw some deer sprinting across a field. I excitedly pointed them out to the kids. Shaling kept asking if they were flying and I told her no, that they just run really fast. Then it dawned on me...she was thinking of reindeer. As I mentioned that thought to Brock, she confirmed it by saying, "fly...like Santa". I told her that they weren't reindeer; they were just deer. Then she muttered, "I want to see reindeer."

Here are some pictures taken by Andrea Dillon last February. They are Shaling in a traditional Chinese outfit. We should have taken some updated ones this year, but neglected to do so, therefore year-old ones will have to do for now.

Celebrating One Year As An American Citizen

2012-01-07T06:30:00.002-06:00

Exactly one year ago today, in an immigration office at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, Shaling became a U.S. Citizen. Though she had no idea what was happening (due to the language barrier & lack of a translator), she signed two documents & gave her fingerprints, and voila, just like magic, she was an American.

Because she lived in a very tropical area of China (even further south than the southern tip of Florida), she'd never seen snow. However, there was plenty waiting for her on the ground here in Springfield that night. She reached out and touched, reacting with a "Brrrrr". Because we had sent her a picture of the house, she recognized it before we ever pulled in the driveway.

We were simultaneously exhausted/jetlagged/sleep deprived & beside ourselves with excitement about our new beginnings as a family of 4. I can't believe it's been a whole year, and yet when I look at how far she's come learning a new culture, language, etc., it amazes me. What a roller coaster of a year it has been.

Christmas Break

2012-01-03T12:10:00.001-06:00

Wow...I've been so busy enjoying Christmas & New Years that I have been completely remiss in keeping up with my blog. Shaling's first Christmas in America was spread out over several days & several houses. On Christmas Eve, we spent the day at Grandma & Grandpa Barkley's house and the evening at Great Grandma Coonrod's house. Christmas morning, we opened packages together at home and then went to Grandma & Grandpa Coonrod's house, followed by a trip to Aunt Ann & Uncle Frank's house. Then, on Thursday the 29th, we went back to Grandma & Grandpa Coonrod's house because Uncle Scott & Aunt Barbara couldn't make it for Christmas.

I had to accept the cold, hard fact that I will not be receiving the 2011 Mother of the Year award. Shaling was visibly disappointed on Christmas Day when Santa didn't come. I signed all of the packages from Mom & Dad. I honestly hadn't given it a thought, because she figured out the tooth fairy the very first night she lost a tooth at home (and that was back when the language barrier was HUGE). I didn't realize Santa was still real. Yes, I am properly shamed for screwing that up.

The kids spent the nights of the 25th & 26th with Grandma & Grandpa Coonrod. They were supposed to spend the 29th with Grandma & Grandpa Barkley, but I screwed that up too, by scheduling a playdate on the 30th. It was going to be a major challenge to get them home from Carlinville on time for that playdate. So, we currently have it planned for them to stay there on the 15th of January.

We spent New Years Eve at a fantastically fun house party, where the adults sat around playing board games and the kids watched movies, played video games, and lit sparklers when the ball dropped in New York. Through it all, Shaling has had some basketball practices, Dad has watched a lot of football, Preston has been building some complicated Lego sets, and I've done some trivia and movie nights.

Life has started getting back into a routine today, but will progress that way even more so tomorrow, when the kids return to school. As I posted about in an earlier blog entry, we celebrated the one-year anniversary of "Gotcha Day" on the 27th of December. On January 7th, we'll celebrate one year of Shaling being home in the United States.

Here are some random pictures of our 2011 Christmas.

Grandma & Grandpa Barkley's house

Great Grandma Coonrod's house

Home

Grandma & Grandpa Coonrod's house

P.S. Exactly one year ago today, we went on a dinner cruise down the Pearl River. You can read about it (and see a picture of Shaling eating chicken feet) here.

Our 1st Anniversary of Gotcha Day

2011-12-27T08:02:00.002-06:00

One year ago today, our family of three became a family of four. This is our one-year anniversary of “Gotcha Day”. Because a year’s time can fade one’s memory, I reread my blog entry about Gotcha Day this morning. How blessed we were to have a very happy, relaxing, and fun day. Not all Gotcha Days go so well, as often the child is scared or sad about leaving all that they know.

We got Shaling at the Civil Affairs office in Guangzhou, China (the capital of her province). Normally, the adoptive family arrives first and completes their paperwork and then waits for the child to arrive. However, things went in a bit of a different order for us. Shaling and her friend Natalie (Ma Meixin) arrived at the Civil Affairs office earlier than expected and were actually waiting for us to arrive. We and Natalie’s new family (the Reichenbachs) exited the elevator onto the 8th floor and quickly spotted two giggly little girls with curiously wide eyes excitedly watching as we entered the foyer. They were quickly ushered back into a little play area behind a curtain, but their giggles continued to be audible.

Our guide, Connie, instructed us to sit on some couches, where we filled out the customary paperwork. She then escorted our girls out, one by one. Here is the first picture I ever took of Shaling:

Though we couldn’t understand a word she was saying, Shaling was full of smiles and sweet talk. She was eager to share with us the few belongings she was able to bring with her. One of those items was the photo album we had sent her. In it were several pictures we went to her and a few that she’d added herself (or her foster family added for her). She was especially proud to show us this family picture we had sent to her, in which she took the liberty of adding herself in animé:

We were pleasantly surprised that she had a gift (shorts and a Chinese t-shirt) for Preston. I’m guessing her foster family helped her purchase that.

This is their first hug:

Preston shows her all about a DSi:

Future Illinoisan Shaling Reynolds & Future Floridian Natalie Reichenbach:

We had our first taste of how much Shaling loves to take pictures, as she grabbed my camera and took numerous pictures. She had obviously been taught the English phrase, “thank you”, as she said it over and over and over – when we handed her items, as she opened gifts, etc. She was immediately clingy and affectionate…holding our hands and hugging all of us.

As we rode in the van back to our hotel, she was as mesmerized watching the landscape and sights as we were. She pointed at me and said “Mother” and pointed at Brock and said “Father”. I pointed at Preston and said “Brother”. She immediately went on a mission and began digging through her backpack. She eventually found a Berenstein Bears book written in both English and Chinese. She quickly flipped through the pages until she found one with English paragraphs. She pointed at the words “Brother Bear”, wanting to prove to us that she recognized and knew the word “brother”. She also used one of her new colored scented pens to copy some English words from a package. She wanted us to see how hard she was working to learn her new language.

That evening we ate at a restaurant popular with adopting families, Lucy’s. It has a very extensive menu with a variety of cuisines. Because our guide, Connie, had strongly advised us to give Shaling lots of rice, we planned to order her a Chinese dish. However, after browsing through the menu, Shaling enthusiastically pointed at a picture and said, “pizza”. We were both surprised and confused. We asked the waitress to please explain to her that she could have whatever she wanted, but she still insisted on pizza. It was her first meal with us, so we weren’t going to argue. She was super slow eating the pizza, but she ate every bit of it. We would soon discover that she ordered the pizza simply to impress us, because it took months back in the United States before she would eat it again (and it’s still not something she particularly likes).

After letting the kids run off some energy at a nearby playground, we walked back to our hotel. As we walked, Shaling grabbed for our hands a lot. Despite the enormous language barrier, we immediately loved our little girl. We were so overwhelmed by her desire to impress us, her constant smiles, and her happy-go-lucky attitude. In retrospect, I am still amazed at (and proud of) her courage to simply walk out the door with people that she had never met and with whom she could not speak, knowing it was forever. Not only did she do so, but she seemed to fully embrace it. Gotcha Day was the first day of a “honeymoon phase” that did eventually end, but not until we had been home for a period of time. Gotcha Day provided us with a full range of emotional memories we’ll always treasure.

We left for China one year ago today!

2011-12-23T08:11:00.002-06:00

One year ago today, Preston, Brock, & I took off on a trip of a lifetime & brought home the best Christmas present ever. However, the first few days of that trip were considerably less than smooth. We flew out of Springfield just before 10:00 a.m. & arrived at O’Hare just after 10:30 a.m. We were supposed to have a two-hour layover, but it ended up being closer to a five-hour layover as the airline decided to put a new battery in our airplane. On top of that, when they went to fill it with fuel, there was an issue with the fuel line & it pumped excruciatingly slow. Our flight to Hong Kong took off around 3:00 p.m.

I was recently reviewing my blog posts from last December & found myself surprised by how horrible our last evening at home played out. Preston had been home sick from school for 2 days, but had seemed to be feeling alright most of that day. However, he suddenly got pukey again that evening & I had to call Brock home early from basketball to run to the pharmacy to get some Emetrol, as well as Dramamine for the trip. It didn’t help my mood any that my beloved Illini lost the annual Bragging Rights game in disgusting fashion that night. Our cats, apparently angry over our impending departure, decided to show it by first puking on our bed & then later peeing on clean clothes I had just folded & brought up from the basement. I ended up sleeping in Preston’s room with him, while Brock slept on the couch. Full of anticipation & worry about forgetting something important, I woke up around 4:00 a.m. & never went back to sleep.

The flight from Chicago to Hong Kong lasted around 14 ½ hours. Thanks to time zone changes, we went over the North Pole on Christmas Eve. I looked out the window, but never saw reindeer pulling a sleigh. We alternately slept, watched television, followed our progress on a world map, ate (the plane food was actually quite good), read, & played games. Going through immigration was relatively painless, but I got in trouble for taking pictures while we were in line (didn’t realize it wasn’t allowed). We spent Christmas Eve night at the Hong Kong Marriott near the airport. Here are some pictures of Preston in & around the hotel:

Christmas morning, we took a ~~horrifying~~ fascinating 30-minute taxi cab ride to a train station. The trunk wasn’t large enough to hold our luggage, so the driver left the lid up. Brock & I were just certain something was going to fall out. The drive spoke NO English & the car (like many in China) had no seat belts. I was mesmerized by how quickly the buildings would change from looking like a high-dollar business area to dilapidated projects & then back again.

At the train station (which is bigger than some airports), we had a challenging time figuring out where to go. Additionally, the public restrooms (like most of China) were just holes in the ground. We were also quickly learning that in China, there is no “personal space” or right-of-way. People simple push & shove their way around. It is not considered rude; it’s just how they operate. Once we found the entryway to the platform, we discovered we had to go through immigration again.

Our train ride was right at 2 hours long. Preston slept for almost all of it. As we approached our stop, we woke Preston up & then followed the crowd to the tiny little bunk shelves where the luggage was stored. We had to stand on a tiny stairwell right next to the bunk shelves. It was rather stressful, as I can’t begin to tell you the sheer number of people crowding into a terrificly cramped space. Preston began complaining of a sick stomach, but we quickly dismissed it, as he hadn’t puked in a couple of days at this point. We erroneously assumed he was simply being impatient because he’d just been woken up. Oh, boy…he proved us wrong by vomiting ~~once~~ ~~twice~~ ~~three times~~ four times, with increasing quantity.

I have never felt so helplessly trapped in all my life. There was nothing nearby to grab to use to clean it up, it was right where everyone needed to be in order to grab their luggage & exit the train, we were the only Americans on the train & couldn’t clearly communicate just how sorry we were to all of the other passengers, & there really wasn’t room to bend over & deal with it anyway. As I ridiculously pleaded with Preston to wait until we got outside (as if somehow that was going to make it all go away), another passenger took pity on Brock & handed him some newspaper. Finally, a gloved & masked train employee showed up to clean it up. To his credit, Preston never cried.

Once we were able to disembark the train, we found ourselves amidst chaos. People were literally climbing all over each other to get out of there. As we got smashed in the crowd, trying desperately to stay together, we took a left & realized we had to go up 5 flights of stairs – Preston with a backpack & small suitcase, me with two large suitcases & a backpack, Brock with two extra large suitcases & a carry-on. There was no stopping at any of the levels for a breather, either, or we would have gotten trampled. By the last flight, I was crying out to Brock that I was not going to make it…not that he could do anything about it. For the last 2/3 of the last flight of stairs, a kind woman grabbed one of my suitcases and carried it the last of the way for me. When we reached the top, we squeezed ourselves up against a wall and tried to catch our breath. My heart was pounding & I was gasping for air. Brock was in similar shape. Once most of the crowd had dispersed, we noticed an escalator further over that would have made things much easier on us, but we had no way of seeing it through the sea of people earlier. Then, we had to go through immigration AGAIN (this was our 3rd time).

We finally met up with our guide, Connie, who navigated us through a bunch of foot traffic. We eventually found our driver & jumped in a mini-van for a 45-minute ride to our hotel. The traffic was very intimidating. There is a lot of honking over here. And for anyone that thinks I’m a tailgater – you ain’t seen nothin’! OH, my, gosh. The merging & braking & cutting off & honking & bicycles & pedestrians & you-name-it. It was nuts! We found ourselves quite relieved to arrive at our new temporary “home”, The Victory Hotel. Here is a picture of Brock & Preston standing in front of it:

Thanks to the incredible outcome of our trip, my memories of all of these troubles are as faded as a yellowed-out antique photo. I wouldn’t trade it for anything & would easily do it all over again. That being said, I’m looking forward to an incredibly more relaxed Christmas weekend this year.

A Day of Concerts: Pictures & Videos

2011-12-19T15:30:00.001-06:00

This past Saturday, Preston was a busy percussionist. He performed with the Rochester 6th grade jazz band at 11:00 a.m. and with the Sangamon Valley Youth Symphony (SVYS) Concert Band at 1:30 p.m.

The morning concert was held at White Oaks Mall. I wasn't sure what to expect, thinking it might be part of a string of performances and perhaps only a couple of songs long. However, the jazz band played 6 or 7 songs and they were the only featured group. They were quite festive, playing all Christmas songs and wearing Santa hats.

The afternoon concert was held at the University of Illinois Springfield's Sangamon Auditorium. Last year, this concert was impressively amazing. I remember bursting with pride watching Preston confidently play alongside students 2, 3, & 4 years older than himself. I won't "air the dirty laundry" here in the blog, but let's just say that there was a change in directors and this year's experience paled greatly in comparison.

Jazz Band Pictures

Dad was in charge of video while I was in charge of still photos. Shaling likes to be in charge of it all.

SVYS Concert Orchestra

Jazz Band Videos
Preston plays drum set on "Jingle Bell Rock".

Preston plays the bells during "Frosty the Snowman". As an added bonus, Shaling chimes in with some singing during a brief period of the song.

Preston plays drum set during "Jolly Old St. Nicholas" (or at least, that's what I think it is).

Preston plays the bells during "Jingle Bells".

Preston plays the bells during "Holly Jolly Christmas".

SVYS Concert Orchestra
Preston plays the tympani (the kettle drums) on "Marche Militaire Francais".

Pierced Ears & Visit W/Santa

2011-12-17T06:00:00.000-06:00

As I mentioned in the post about our visit with Dr. Huang, Shaling has been begging for months to get her ears pierced, but I made her wait for clearance that her eardrum is healed. Well, Wednesday night, we finally went to get it done! She chose ladybugs for her first earrings. Here are the promised pictures of the event:

This is her grimace BEFORE the first earring was put in. Her anticipation was worse than the actual pain when it occurred.

This is AFTER the first was already done. As you can tell from her smile, it didn't phase her a bit. She was insistent that it did not hurt at all.

A couple of pictures of the final product.

After the ear piercing, she spotted the mall Santa. She stared at him with curiosity, telling me that she didn't think that was Santa. When I quizzed her as to why not, she indicated that his beard was too short. I suggested that maybe he had just cut it. She kept inching closer, so I asked her if she wanted her picture taken with him. She did. What I didn't anticipate was the enthusiasm with which she repeatedly told Santa that she wants a dog for Christmas. She is certain now that she will be getting a dog, because she told Santa that's what she wanted. I guess this will be her first lesson in regards to Santa not bringing EVERYTHING on your list.

Here is Shaling's first ever picture with Santa:

Photo Card

2011-12-16T16:14:00.002-06:00

2011 was a year replete with blessings for the Reynolds family. May 2012 bring an abundance of blessings to ALL of our family and friends. Merry Christmas to all!

Pictures Galore Christmas

To view our unique Christmas card designs, click here.

View the entire collection of cards.

A 4-Month Reprieve

2011-12-14T13:25:00.002-06:00

Shaling went to see Dr. Huang (the E.N.T.) today for yet another follow-up check on her ear drum surgery (which was in September). We've gone to see him approximately 5 or 6 times since the surgery. After examining her ear today (and cleaning out a nasty-looking scab), he told me it looked clean and healed well. She doesn't have to return to see him until April, when he'll run a full hearing test on her to see what percentage of her hearing has returned in her right ear.

Before she even got out of the examination chair, she started shrieking, "so I can get my ears pierced?" She has been wanting that for months and months, but I had told her we weren't touching those ears until we were done seeing Dr. Huang about her surgery. I looked to him for advice in response to her shrieking. He said she should be fine. So, I guess we're going to mall tonight. I'll have to post pictures tomorrow.

Scars - Ankle & Heart

2011-12-13T06:15:00.003-06:00

Last night, while lying in bed reading, Shaling pointed out about a 1/2-inch scar on her ankle and began to tell me about it. She said, "yesterday, yesterday, yesterday, last week when I was in China. I was 8 or 7 or 6 or 5..." Apparently she saw one of her "dads" (I don't know if it was a foster dad or one of the government caregivers that she called dad) shaving and later grabbed his razor. She tried it out on her ankle to see what it did. She says she said, "ow" and someone gave her a napkin and she said "ow" again.

She then went on to tell us that that mom & dad eventually didn't want her anymore. She indicated that the next mom & dad didn't want her anymore either. She described a chain of rejection. Bewildered, I asked her how many moms & dads she had. She carefully thought about it, "well, first my mom doesn't want me when I'm a baby...", then she stared at the ceiling while counting in her head. She said "seven". Then she pointed at us and said, "eight". She kept saying that she had moms & dads that "doesn't want me". Yet, as heartbreaking as that phrase is (and trust me, I'm overwhelmed with sadness for her), she just uttered it as a matter-of-fact part of her life; no tears; no obvious depression.

I told her that we weren't going to go anywhere and that we'd always be here. She told me no, that some day we would die. I told her yes, but that we were always going to want her and that we were going to be her last mom & dad, that we would be Mom & Dad forever. She asked why and I said because we love you. She smiled, but had a quizzical look on her face. Brock told her similar things and I interjected again, telling her that sometimes we were going to be mad at her when she broke rules, but that we were still going to love her.

I know it sounds bizarre, but I got the idea that the conversation was more emotionally charged for me than her. She ended it by telling me that she really wished the owie on her ankle would go away. I explained to her that it was something called a scar and it would always be there to remind her when she got hurt. As for me, I would prefer she didn't have to deal with those owies on her heart.

2011-12-11T22:16:00.003-06:00

I've been reviewing some of our posts from last December, as we were getting ready to travel about this time last year. I came across this post:

http://bringshalinghome.blogspot.com/2010/12/video-from-tim-ellen-stowells-visit-to.html

It includes a very meaningful video that I hadn't viewed in a long time. In the video, Shaling is told that her Mom will be coming soon. She timidly smiles. Her "big sister", Yu Bei (Francine) is in the video as well, as are a couple of little boys that have since been adopted. It's pretty amazing how much Shaling has changed since then.

A Reconnection & a Flag Performance

2011-12-09T09:59:00.006-06:00

When we brought Shaling home last January, she brought with her a folded up letter from her "big sister" at the orphanage, Yu Bei. It was obvious that Yu Bei is pretty special to Shaling, because she would open up and re-read that letter often. I knew that Yu Bei was going to be adopted, because I had met her parents at an older child adoption training seminar in June, 2010. I told Shaling that Yu Bei would be coming to Illinois to live, but a couple of hours away (I believe she is in Mendota).

Over the last 11 months, Shaling would ask me from time to time if Yu Bei was with her family yet. I was in occasional email contact with Yu Bei's mother. Their process took longer than ours, partially because they decided to get two girls at once and they were from two entirely different provinces. Last I heard, Yu Bei was going to be coming home in October or November 2011. Apparently she DID make it home, because yesterday I got an email from her mother asking for our phone number so Francine (as Yu Bei is now called) could call Shaling. I told Shaling she was going to be getting a surprise phone call and she was very intrigued, though she never correctly guessed who it was going to be. As you can see from the glow in the picture below, she was thrilled with the chat.

Shaling participated in a flag camp this week. It was run by the high school flag corps and culminated in a half-time performance at the JV girls basketball game last night. Though it may not be obvious in the video (below), she really did enjoy it and expressed disappointment to me that she was only going to get to perform once. She was all smiles during the rehearsals, but not so much at the performance because she was distracted by the fact that a certain boy was there watching her (I think it made her nervous).

***Remember, the video shows up on my blog, but not in the emails that some of you receive.

Quick update on my cousin Joanna - she was able to come home from the hospital on Wednesday, but is currently on a liquid diet until her bolster is removed (which I think may happen on Monday). She is already uttering some words and though they took more tongue than they planned (found more cancer), it is not going to be as obvious as I thought. I'm convinced she'll be able to return to teaching quicker than I originally expected. Thanks for the prayers!

Grieving for China

2011-12-04T19:47:00.003-06:00

Shaling has been "missing" China a lot lately. She wants to go visit her old school; she talks about what things are/aren't also in China; etc. It's a natural grieving type of thing that I can't really make better, which of course makes me feel helpless as a parent. The good news is that she doesn't seem too terribly down about it, but I know she misses several people she cared about. I'm sure food, language, and other things are a part of it as well.

Wednesday will mark 11 months here in the United States. Perhaps the fact that we're so close to the one year mark is part of it. Perhaps the holidays are part of it. I'm not sure what all is factoring in. However, tonight, she and Preston dug out some DVDs that we brought home from China. They are cartoon episodes of the Happy Lamb, a popular cartoon in China. They are in Chinese, but Preston giggles away right with Shaling when they watch them. I've been enjoying sitting here listening to their bursts of laughter. We've had a particular stressful week around here and the sounds of enjoyment they are emitting are a wonderful respite.

On an entirely different note, I would appreciate any and all of my blog followers that are believers saying a prayer for my cousin Joanna tonight and/or tomorrow. In the morning, she'll be having surgery to remove cancer from her tongue. At 37-years-old, this is her third go-around with mouth cancer. They did run a CAT scan that showed it hasn't spread anywhere else (thank God), but she will be losing a significant portion of her tongue. I love her dearly so I would appreciate it if you would lift her, her fiance Mike, and her daughter Maggie all up in prayer.

ThanksChristmasGiving 2011

2011-11-28T13:29:00.007-06:00

Brock & I have been celebrating Christmas on Thanksgiving with his family since 1991. At that time, his parents were both still teaching, but had purchased a condo in Florida. They wanted to use their Christmas break each year to spend time at the condo, so the Reynolds (or at that time, the Devall) ThanksChristmasGiving was born. We would celebrate Christmas & Thanksgiving all in one, with both the traditional turkey dinner AND exchanging Christmas gifts. For years, we did this at Great Grandma Devall's house in Effingham, complete with Uncle Bob & Aunt Deb, Matt & Mark, Uncle Dave & Aunt Penny, Dave, Michael, Barbara, Rob, & Teresa.

Since then, spouses have been added and 6 great grandchildren have been born or adopted. In addition, Great Grandma Devall's health has declined. We no longer celebrate as an extended family. However, the three generations of Reynolds still get together, now in Mokena at Brock's brother Scott's house. Preston & Shaling had a great time playing with cousins Cooper & Chase, as well as opening gifts from Uncle Scott & Aunt Michelle and Grandma & Grandpa.

Preston & Shaling pose in front of the Christmas tree.

Chase selects a gift to open.

Cooper thinks about which gift to open next.

Shaling smiles for the camera.

Preston smiles for the camera.

Shaling shows off her new roller skates.

Preston shows off his Diary of a Wimpy Kid puzzle.

Brock & Scott show off their Cubs stocking hats.

The Reynolds clan - Bill & Nancy, Brock & Amy, Scott & Michelle, Preston, Shaling, Cooper, Chase

Dad & Shaling chill out.

Videos (don't forget, these don't show up via email -- come out to the blog to view them):

Shaling opens a present.

Preston opens a present.

Decorating for Shaling's 1st Christmas in the USA (Videos)

2011-11-21T12:25:00.003-06:00

As I told my Facebook friends late last night, I typically have a severe aversion to Christmas decorating. Not the decorations, which I love to look at, but the act of putting them up and the act of putting them away. It's one area of our lives in which Brock typically spoils me and does it with little or no help from me. However, this year is different. We brought the boxes up from the basement yesterday evening and Shaling immediately lit up like a Hollywood spotlight.

She helped fluff out the branches and inserted them in the appropriate parts of the tree. She excitedly dug through the boxes of Christmas statues, teddy bears, and trinkets, oohing and aahing at each one. She sat by in anxious anticipation as I unveiled each ornament to be hung on the tree. She put Santa hats on each and every one of us. She danced; she sang; she repeatedly exclaimed, "I love Christmas"! Her attitude was so contagious that it was impossible to be a grinch.

She (in her Barbie pajamas) & Preston (in his Spongebob pajamas) have starring roles in the following 5 brief videos. Reminder -- if you get my blog via email, the videos are not included; you have to come out to the blog to see them.

In video 1, Preston & Shaling are being goofy & belly laughing as they hang toys from Frosty's hat (Frosty dances & sings).

I filmed video 2 because the kids suddenly realized I had been videoing and asked me to video again. They continue to be nonsensical, dancing & jumping around as Brock puts up the tree.

In video 3, Preston & Shaling wish you a "Merry Christmas" and jingle bells. Shaling puts Dad's santa hat back on his head. Preston practices to be a Salvation Army bell ringer. Mom comments on her messy living room.

Video 4 features Shaling dancing & singing with a Christmas teddy bear. Braxtina, our 17-year-old cat, surveys the situation.

In video 5, Shaling treats us to "Jingle Bells", as sung in Chinese (Mandarin).

Preston: 6th Grade Band & Jazz Band

2011-11-17T12:45:00.003-06:00

This is a post all about Preston. He had his school fall concert on Tuesday night. He played 3 songs with the 6th grade band and 1 song with the jazz band (he has to split drum set time with another student, so they each got to do 1 song).

For 6th grade band, he played bass drum during "Celebration Overture":

Rochester 6th Grade Band: Celebration Overture from Amy Reynolds on Vimeo.

He played snare drum during "Amazing Grace":

He played bells during "Armed Forces On Parade":

Rochester 6th Grade Band: Celebration Overture from Amy Reynolds on Vimeo.

For 6th Grade Jazz Band, he played the drum set during "Early Bird" (his cohort got to play drum set for the "James Bond Theme").

Rochester 6th Grade Band: Celebration Overture from Amy Reynolds on Vimeo.

Medical Update: Teeth & Ear

2011-11-11T10:16:00.002-06:00

Shaling had orthodontic surgery this Tuesday. Dr. Milner took out three of her teeth - two permanent teeth & one baby tooth - to make room for teeth underneath to come up. She didn't care for the Novocaine shots, but handled the post-op soreness like a champ. She will eventually need braces, but we don't see the orthodontist again until next August or September.

She had yet another post-op visit with Dr. Huang (E.N.T.) today. He thought the ear looked much better. In fact, he said we could stop giving her the ear drops now. After pouting through some of the appointment, she smiled broadly when she heard that. She does, however, still have a small scab on her eardrum, so he wants to see her again on December 14. He predicts that we'll do a follow-up hearing test in about 5 months.

She continues to stay busy - has a basketball game at 8:30 tonight, stayed at her friend Katie's house last night, is still taking trumpet lessons, etc. Tomorrow we are giving an adoption testimonial at a "Chinese Thanksgiving" to raise money to buy coal for orphanages in China.

Thoughts on Sports, by Shaling

2011-11-07T12:15:00.001-06:00

Our little athlete has some opinions and she likes to share them (hmmm...I wonder where she gets that from). She shared opinions with me at three different sporting events this weekend: the Rochester Rocket 7th grade girls basketball game, the Rochester Rocket playoff varsity football game, and at her own 4th grade girls basketball game at The Gym.

First, at the 7th grade girls game, she watched for awhile, then gave me an unprovoked, but rather accurate analysis: "really good passes". She was also spot-on with calling double dribbles or traveling calls before the referees even signaled them.

Next, at the football game, she told me that she wants to play football; "it's really fun". After expressing a touch of surprise, I told her that she'd have to get used to people knocking her down. She ~~ignored the idea that she'd get knocked down~~ confidently told me that she likes knocking people down and that she'd knock her best friend down.

Finally, at her own game, she told me that when the girls play basketball, the boys should dance. Oh, and to be clear, by "dance", she meant cheerlead.

Though I'm still not sure where she gets off being so opinionated (ahem), I like the way she thinks!

Halloween & Basketball

2011-11-01T15:30:00.001-05:00

Got a Halloween pictures and some basketball videos for you today. Shaling enjoyed her first Halloween, taking in a big haul. She chose to dress up as Wonder Woman (her belt was just a WEE bit big). Preston is Tron.

She also played her first regular season basketball game on Sunday (with Dad as her coach). She didn't make any buckets, but she had several steals and rebounds. She hustles all over the court and makes it her mission to get the basketball.

Here are several extremely brief video clips from her game:

In this video, Shaling shoots the ball (misses), hustles on defense, gets a steal, then turns the ball over.

In this one, Shaling brings the ball up the court, then turns it over.

Shaling gets a steal, then a breakway shot at the basket (but misses it).

Shaling gets a steal, then shoots (and misses).

In this video, Shaling hustles and plays "help defense".

Ten Months...

2011-10-27T13:15:00.003-05:00

Today marks 10 months since Gotcha Day, December 27, 2010. It feels like we've packed years of experiences, growth, and love into those 10 months. Although her grammar is far from perfect and she has an accent, Shaling's verbal English is abolutely incredible. Most people meeting her for the first time have no idea that she's only been in America for a short time. Her written English (& her reading) has a much longer trek ahead, but even those skills are quite impressive when you consider where she was just a year ago. She can read 1st grade level books and her printing is better than ~~mine~~ Preston's.

She has a long ways to go as far as learning to respect and follow the boundaries we set in our household, but she is typically eager to please, whether it comes to school work or household chores. She is currently playing on a basketball team (coached by her dad) and continually begs to play softball again (she still needs to learn about the four seasons). Her ear is healing, but she sees the E.N.T. again on November 11. Her orthodontic surgery is November 8. She'll have two permanent (& perhaps two baby) teeth removed.

She has formed a terrific circle of friends, which has led to Brock & I forming new friendships as well. I'm looking forward to seeing how she enjoys her first Halloween this Monday. She chose a Wonder Woman costume. Last night, we splurged on dinner at Red Lobster because it is currently "Shrimp Fest". She ate 82 shrimp!

We are definitely feeling like a typical family of four. We don't have "adoption issues"; we simply have ordinary parenting challenges, and of course, an abundance of parenting rewards.

Here is a current picture of her with our neighbor's Corgi, Lilo (to compare to pictures from 10 months ago, click on "Gotcha Day" up above):

(You can click the picture to make it bigger)

Parenting 101, Instructor Shaling Reynolds

2011-10-24T09:31:00.002-05:00

We've had a busy week - besides the fact that Mom's favorite baseball team is in the World Series and Mom got to go to her first ever World Series game last Wednesday, we had a death on Dad's side of the family. We went to the visitation in Windsor, Illinois on Thursday night as a family of four. Grandpa Reynolds' cousin Barb passed away from cancer after entering hospice care a few weeks ago. While we are glad she is no longer suffering, it's never fun to say a permanent goodbye.

After the funeral on Friday, Grandma & Grandpa returned to Springfield to spend the weekend with us. At one point during the weekend, Grandpa was asked to mediate a sharing quarrel between Preston and Shaling. After both kids had told their side of the story and pleaded their cases, Grandpa asked them how they would handle this situation when they grow up and have kids of their own. Shaling quickly told him, "I would buy TWO of them." She's definitely got it figured out.

She had a check-up with the E.N.T. last Wednesday, but the ear still isn't fully healed. She goes back on Veteran's Day, November 11. Her Ortho surgery is scheduled for November 8, so that will be a busy week.

School Pictures

2011-10-17T12:58:00.003-05:00

The kids got their school pictures last week. I always buy a CD with a copyright release. Therefore, I know it's ok for me to post them here.

Here is my big 6th grader:

And here is my big 4th grader:

Preston has discovered that the 6th grade homework loads are QUITE a bit bigger than 5th grade. This has been quite a leap. He is juggling that, plus drum lessons on Monday evenings, Concert Orchestra rehearsals on Tuesday evenings, Jazz Band rehearsals on Wednesday mornings, 6th grade band sectionals on Thursday mornings, and junior bowling league on Saturday mornings.

Shaling is enjoying 4th grade and is quite motivated, pushing her English Language Learning teacher for extra homework. She is juggling school, continuing to learn a new language, trumpet lessons on Tuesdays, a basketball league (her dad is her coach), medical appointments, and a busy social life. She is scheduled for dental surgery on November 8 and she sees the E.N.T. again this Wednesday.

While they both occasionally challenge my confidence and ability as a parent, they both continue to make me proud as well. God blessed me well in the child department.

Family Birthday Party Pictures

2011-10-09T14:16:00.006-05:00

Yesterday, we had a simple cake birthday party for Shaling at Grandma & Grandpa's house. It was a chance for her relatives to give her her birthday gifts in person.

Shaling reads her cards to Grandma as she open gifts.

Shaling aims her new camera at me as Grandma, Great Aunt Ann, & Great Uncle Frank look on.

Grandma & Grandpa Barkley

Great Aunt Donna & Lynn

Grandpa Coonrod

Great Grandma Coonrod

In China, they put fruit on their cake (at least on the cakes that get sent to the orphanages, anyway). So, I asked my mom to try this for me. She made an angel food cake, iced it with dressing used for a grape salad, and used a variety of fruit. I think it turned out splendidly!

My mom also wanted a traditional family favorite, chocolate cake, to be present.

Starting to Open Up About Life in China

2011-10-08T06:00:00.002-05:00

Though I'm crazy with curiousity about Shaling's years of life B.F. (before family), I have been careful not to prod or push her to talk about it, especially since there is still a minor language barrier that appears when attempting to discuss anything deeply emotional or complex. However, I've been pleased to have her start showing signs of WANTING to share that life with me.

The first signs were the day she chose to let me know that she didn't know her birthmother. You may remember that from a September blog post, I Don't Know Whose Baby I Was. Considering she was found when she was roughly six weeks old, I was already aware of this, but she didn't know I knew. I was very touched that she felt it important to let me know that.

She has also shared a few rather casual pieces of information, such as the fact that her homework load in China was much bigger. She has indicated that she did some sewing in China. At her birthday party this week, she told me that she didn't roller skate in China, "nobody teach me."

She recently shared something a bit less casual with me. Shaling has a good-sized lesion on the back of her head. We discovered it shortly after arriving home. Due to

~~jet lag~~

~~being a new mother (at least to her)~~

~~sleep deprivation~~

my medical ignorance, I was concerned because I didn't know what it was. I asked the school nurse to please take a look at it and give me some feedback. She told me it was just a lesion in the skin and that it had obviously been there a long time. She assured me that I needn't be concerned.

Well, on Wednesday, Shaling shared with me that when she was a baby, someone dropped her on her head. She touched her head where the lesion is and told me that it was caused by that fall. Now, she didn't share with me who dropped her or how she knows, but I'm assuming that it was a caregiver at the old folks home where she lived until she was 2 1/2 and that one of her other caregivers told her about it. Of course, it's also entirely possible that a caregiver is assuming that is how she got the bump and simply told her that someone must have dropped her. Perhaps she had the bump before she was abandoned. However, she seemed a bit sobered by the idea that someone had dropped her. I shared with her that someone dropped me when I was a baby too. She asked me if I had a bump. I told her no, but that I was dropped.

On a more fun note, on Thursday she told me that she knew how to sing "Merry Christmas" in Chinese. She then asked me if I wanted to hear it. I told her no.

Just.
Kidding.

Of course I wanted to hear it! She then launched into singing to the tune of "Jingle Bells" with Mandarin words. She paused at one point, saying (in English), "I can't remember....oh, yeah", then continued on with the song. It was really cute. Hopefully I can get her to sing it again sometime, but in front of the video camera.

Party Videos

2011-10-07T12:00:00.000-05:00

Normally I would have pored through these videos and selected my one or two favorites to share. However, for the sake of having all nine of them available for viewing in one place for the parents of the other youngsters that attended the party, I'm going to include all nine of them. As you'll be able to see from viewing one or two of them, I think everyone had a good time. I so appreciate all of the families that were willing to bring their kids out to go roller skating on a school night so that Shaling could celebrate ON her birthday.

P.S. Don't forget, if you receive the blog via email, you have to actually come out TO the blog to see the videos. For some reason, pictures show up in the emails, but the videos do not.

Shaling's 10th Birthday Party, Video 1 from Amy Reynolds on Vimeo.

Shaling's 10th Birthday Party, Video 2 from Amy Reynolds on Vimeo.

Shaling's 10th Birthday Party, Video 3 from Amy Reynolds on Vimeo.

Shaling's 10th Birthday Party, Video 4 from Amy Reynolds on Vimeo.

Shaling's 10th Birthday Party, Video 5 from Amy Reynolds on Vimeo.

Shaling's 10th Birthday Party, Video 6 from Amy Reynolds on Vimeo.

Shaling's 10th Birthday Party, Video 7 from Amy Reynolds on Vimeo.

Shaling's 10th Birthday Party, Video 8 from Amy Reynolds on Vimeo.

Shaling's 10th Birthday Party, Video 9 from Amy Reynolds on Vimeo.

Party Pictures

2011-10-06T11:52:00.008-05:00

Shaling had a fantastic birthday party, with lots of friends coming out to roller skate with her. She received quite a variety of presents, ate pizza & cake, & got to play "princess" for an evening. Here are pictures of the big event.

Happy 10th Birthday, Shaling!

2011-10-05T12:00:00.013-05:00

Shaling was so excited about today being her birthday that she was walking around singing "Happy Birthday" to herself last night in anticipation. Just before bedtime, Dad & I gave her the present we bought her. We gave her a motorized scooter (like one Preston has) and we wanted her to be able to ride it when she got home from school today. We gave it to her early so it could be charged overnight and ready to go. Like most school days, I haven't seen her yet (I leave the house for work while everyone else is still sleeping), but Brock tells me she was riding it already this morning.

She doesn't know it yet, but I just set up a 4:30 hair appointment for her. There is a trend of wearing hair extensions made of feathers and I saw some hair extensions that were gems. I'm going to let her get a gem hair extension, as I think it will show up really well in her dark hair. Then, at 6:30, she has her roller skating party. I'm expecting 20 kids or so. I'm sure I'll ~~pull all of my hair out~~ remain sane. I'm also anxious to hear how she enjoyed her field trip to the Lincoln sites in New Salem today.

A brief pictorial reflection of her 10 years:

From roughly 2009, her referral photo (the first picture we saw of her):

Her name, Long Sha Ling, in Chinese characters.

Now she is Shaling Annabelle Reynolds

From roughly 2002 or 2003, pictures of the only baby pictures I've seen of her.

From roughly 2007, Shaling is in the front row, about four over from the left. Her head is turned and she is smiling. Her apron has a pink background and her Chinese character looks like a tilted T with an awareness ribbon next to it.

From roughly 2007, Shaling is in the pink t-shirt.

April 2010, about the time she was told she had a family coming to get her.

June 2010, the letter we received after sending her gifts and "introducing" ourselves.

October 2010, the letter we received after we sent her birthday gifts & cake.

November 2010, roughly one month before we got her. She is pictured with Ma HengXin (now Star Stowell).

December 27, 2010, "Gotcha Day" - the day we finally met her (with Ma MeiXin, now Natalie Reichenbach).

December 2010, our first family picture:

February 2011

May 2011, playing softball.

June 2011, at Camp CILCA.

September 2011, taking in her first Illini football game.

A Couple of Videos

2011-10-04T05:00:00.002-05:00

First, some disappointment at the doctor yesterday. The doctor has to see her again in two weeks. Part of the eardrum is healing nicely and part of it is not. He may end up having to burn a small opening in order to seal it. Let's pray that does NOT have to happen.

Next, a couple of fun videos. Remember, if you receive my blog via email, the videos do not show up in the email. You'll have to go to http://www.fromricetopopcorn.com to view them.

Shaling, standing by her good friend Katie, dances a routine with other grade school girls and the high school cheerleaders at the 9-30-2011 Rochester football game vs. Springfield High.

Shaling Dances at Rochester Football Game from Amy Reynolds on Vimeo.

During his bowling league on 10-01-2011, Preston bowls a strike.

Big Day Coming Up

2011-10-03T12:15:00.001-05:00

This Wednesday, October 5, will be Shaling's first birthday with us. That of course also makes it her first birthday in America. She'll be turning 10 -- her age is going to TWO digits. The school decided to celebrate by going on a field trip (ok, maybe that was just a coincidence). She was supposed to see Dr. Huang (another post-op check on her ear) on her birthday, but due to the field trip we had to call and reschedule. She'll be seeing him later today.

We are going to celebrate Shaling's double digits by celebrating twice. On her actual birthday, she is having a roller skating party with friends. Then, on Saturday, we're having a simple cake party in Carlinville for family. I've sort of phased out family birthday parties for Preston as he's gotten older, but since Shaling's never had one, I think she needs one! Watch out world, she's going to be a spoiled diva this week.

Heck, she's already had a mini-party. One of her friends, Jessie, won't be able to come to the roller skating party because she will be in Texas visiting her older brother before he heads off to Iraq. Jessie was disappointed, so her mother was kind enough to have Shaling over Saturday morning, along with a third friend, Katie. They had a birthday cookie and Jessie gave Shaling her birthday present. I was out of town for the weekend (Galena, Illinois), but they were nice enough to send me a picture. I was thrilled to get it, but not so thrilled with the shirt she was wearing.

Just for comparison's sake, take a look at these pictures from Shaling's birthday a year ago. We had a cake and presents sent to her through a service. The orphanage was kind enough to send us some pictures.

Shenzhen: Fishing Village to Major Port

2011-09-30T05:00:00.002-05:00

Shenzhen is the city in which Shaling was found and lived until we adopted her. One of my fellow adoptive families found this nifty link to a page of pictures displaying the absolutely incredible growth that Shenzhen City has experienced over the last 4 decades. I had previously learned that in the 1970s, Shenzhen was a small fishing village and that by 2010 had over 9 million people. It turns out, they have closer to 12 million people. Shenzhen greatly benefitted when China designated it as a special economic zone, allowing a bit more freedom and encouragement for economic growth than other areas of China.

It's worth checking out the entire page of photos, but here are two of the most intriguing ones:

This one is of Shenzhen, showing mostly agricultural areas, around 1980:

Here is one of several photos of modern day Shenzhen, which apparently has become the second busiest port in China:

I Don't Know Whose Baby I Was

2011-09-27T19:34:00.002-05:00

Over supper tonight, Shaling was a bit curious about my being my mom's baby and my mom being my grandma's baby. Then, she opened the door to a conversation I expected to have "some day", but figured it would come closer to her teenage years. Her grammar is still often mixed up, so it came out, "I don't know whose baby, me." She said it very matter-of-factly, with only a bit of curiosity. She didn't seem to want to grieve about it; she wasn't upset in anyway, so I wasn't quite sure what to say. I just nodded knowingly and told her that she was mine now.

She continued on, telling me that her mom died, so she got a new Chinese mom and new Chinese dad (some of the caregivers at the welfare center) and now she has an English mom and English dad. She further explained that she didn't know if she had a brother or a little sister, etc. All of this was unprompted.

Next, she told me she couldn't remember when she was a baby. She started counting backwards, "I remember 8, 7, 6, 5..." I gently told her that she was in the hospital when she was a baby. Via gesturing and sound effects, she asked if someone had hurt her. I told her no, that she was sick. She was quite dubious, explaining that she couldn't be sick because she's not short. I assured her that she's not sick now but that she was sick then and we don't know why.

I'm not quite sure how she digested all of it, but she was quick to ask if we could start her homework. Homework came a bit late today because she had a one-time cheerleading practice after school and a 5:00 trumpet lesson. The cheerleading practice is for a one-time performance at the high school football game this Friday night. I regret that I'll miss it due to a previously planned "girls getaway weekend". I'm hoping for video and pictures! On a school-related note, she had her highest spelling test score yet this year last week -- a 17 out of 20.

Quick Update on Shaling's Ear & Teeth

2011-09-23T21:22:00.003-05:00

Shaling had an afternoon of doctor appointments yesterday. First, we had our initial visit with Dr. McDaniel, an orthodontist. He confirmed that she will need oral surgery. What we didn't realize until yesterday is that she will actually have to have TWO teeth extracted, not just one. On both sides of her upper row of teeth, she has a space wide enough for two teeth, but three teeth trying to fit. Two of the teeth are exposed and one is underneath, trying to push it's way in. The surgeon (which may end up being our dentist), upon the orthodontist's recommendation, will take out one of the teeth already exposed (the one overlapping the tooth underneath the most). He will do this on both sides. We are awaiting a call from our dentist (whom I happen to know just left on vacation today) to schedule when this might happen.

Next, we saw Dr. Huang for a follow-up on her ear surgery. He said the ear is healing nicely, but he was not yet able to remove the packing inside the canal. We have to continue ear drops twice a day and she still cannot let any water enter her ear. However, the good news is that her physical activity restrictions were lifted. She did the happy dance because she is able to return to P.E., go outside for recess, ride her bike, play on the trampoline, and return to trumpet lessons. We go back to see Dr. Huang in two weeks -- actually ON Shaling's 10th birthday. Dr. Huang is also leaving on vacation this weekend. He is going home to Beijing to see his parents.

Tomorrow we are going to the Illini football game. I'm anxious to see how Shaling likes the pageantry of college football.

2011-09-19T12:30:00.005-05:00

Shaling's scar is healing nicely. Just to reiterate, the visible scar is from the doctor digging in to retrieve some fascia cells, which were used to fill in the hole in the eardrum. The surgery itself was completed through the ear canal. This picture is from 2 days after the surgery (and courtesy of Grandpa Reynolds):

She was on Amoxycillin for several days and is still on prescription eardrops, morning & night. She also had Tylenol with Codeine, but due to a high pain tolerance, took it for less than 24 hours. She finally dropped having to put in a cotton ball & bandaid last Friday. Although, we will still have to do so anytime we wash her hair. Additionally, we have an antibiotic ointment (bacitracin) that we apply to her scar occasionally. We felt like a regular old pharmacy for awhile.

She is frustrated that she cannot go to P.E. or recess, but we see the doctor this Thursday, and I'm optimistic that her restrictions may be lifted. It was especially difficult for her yesterday, when she attended her good friend Katie's birthday party at a skating rink, but couldn't skate. It helped that Mom was more generous than usual with money for tokens in the arcade area.

She's definitely back to her stubborn self. At lunch on Saturday, she thought Mom had kicked her under the table (turns out that Dad did it). She looked under the table, aimed right at my exposed big toe (I was wearing sandals), and stomped as hard as she could right on it. I have to say that it hurt. She & Preston had stayed up late the night before and had been misbehaving at lunch anyway, so I reacted with an abundance of anger and sternness. It was enough to send her to tears & curl up in Dad's arms. Even after Dad 'fessed up to being the culprit and told her she needed to apologize to Mom, she defiantly stayed angry at me (not him), continued to cry, and continued to lean up against him.

We had driven both cars there, as we had gone a variety of directions that morning, so she rode home with Dad and Preston rode home with me. On the way home, Dad tried to discuss the incident with her, but she only cried all of the more. Apparently, she has a difficult time admitting when she's wrong. Personally, I (ahem) wouldn't know anything about that. We made both kids take naps and after her nap, she finally came downstairs, sat down next to me, and apologized.

On another note, Preston has been saving his allowance money, birthday & Christmas money, etc., for several years. He typically doesn't spend any of it -- just the gift cards. Therefore, he's saved a decent sum for an 11-year-old kid. He really wanted to go buy an iPod Touch. Since he doesn't nickel & dime his money away, we felt he had every right to go do so (otherwise, what's the point of saving it). All told, he spend almost $300 on the Touch and some accessories for it.

Of course, Shaling now wants one. She has a birthday coming up. She is now begging for a Touch for her birthday. Two obstacles fall in her way. One - that is entirely more than we tend to spend on a gift for our children on their birthdays. Two - her gift (which she requested previously) has already been purchased. So, I told her that perhaps we could take any money she gets for her birthday (I happen to know at least one set of grandparents hadn't yet purchased a gift) and combine it with some of her own savings to buy one. Her savings consists of money she received at her open house in February and her own allowance. Truth be told, she has enough money to buy a Touch, but it would wipe her savings out. Besides, she needs to learn the value of saving and the patience of waiting, not to mention the idea that we don't always get exactly what our older siblings have...at least not immediately.

For several days, she would ask me, "For my birthday, can I get an iPod?"

I would respond, "We don't know yet. We have to see how much money you have." (I don't want her knowing it's a sure thing.)

After redoing this conversation several times, one day she began, "For my birthday,..." I got ready for my standard "we don't know yet" response, but she finished her sentence, "can I have lots of money?"

One final story today -- one of the applications Preston has downloaded to his Touch allows him to text, so long as he is somewhere with wireless internet. So, over the last few days, he has gotten into texting us when he goes to the neighbor's house. It also lets us text him when it's time to come home, so we don't have to walk down there or call and disturb the neighbor to send him home. While I had Shaling at the birthday party yesterday, I received a text from Preston that initiated the following conversation:

"What is Shaling doing?"

"She's watching Katie open presents."

"Is she having fun?"

"Yes! What are you and your dad doing?"

"I'm at Elliott & Adam's house. I think Dad is watching football."

I just thought it was so sweet that here he is playing with some friends, but he uses his new texting feature to see if his sister was having a good time at the party. No whining about if she was coming home soon. No jealousy (and believe that rears it's ugly head around here sometimes). Just a simple, "Is she having fun?"

Like typical siblings, they can sure fight like cats and dogs sometimes, but he loves her so much.

They've come a long way from their first hug:

their first night together:

their last full day in China:

the plane ride home:

and the arrival home (when Preston gave her the grand tour while Mom & Dad unloaded the car):

I Want To Go Home

2011-09-08T19:15:00.005-05:00

Today was the big day -- surgery day. Grandma met us at the clinic. Shaling was able to bring her Hello Kitty from Build-A-Bear. After a minimal wait, she was called back to get ready. Grandma & I helped her change into her hospital shirt & pants (plus special socks). Shaling correctly pointed out which ear needed to be repaired, even referring to it as her "right ear". I answered the usual health history questions (mostly with a lot of I don't knows, which always seems sad -- not to know your own child's health history). I also had to write her initials next to her right ear.

The nurse put a special mask on Hello Kitty so that Hello Kitty could accompany Shaling to the operating room. She also gave Shaling special goggles and her anesthetic mask (with no tubes yet inserted). The mask was cherry-scented, but Shaling was not impressed. Shaling also insisted that she was NOT going to go to sleep. She wasn't swayed by my stories of a special medicine that would make her sleep. Nor was she swayed by the anesthesiologist telling her that he had "magic" that would make her sleep. She firmly replied that she, herself, had magic and would not sleep. Her stubbornness was a bit hysterical.

Here she is with Grandma & Hello Kitty, modeling her special goggles and the dreaded mask, which she would later find to be her enemy.

When it was time for Mom, Dad, & Grandma to head back out to the waiting room, Shaling showed no fear whatsoever. She energetically followed the nurse down the hallway to the operating room, smiling broadly the entire time, as if she was headed for an afternoon at the park. We were so inspired by her attitude.

They told us later that she climbed right up onto the operating table of her own accord. She was brave right up until she realized the anesthesia was working and she was getting drowsy. She became distraught at that point and removed the mask, refusing to put it back on. At that point, they had to hold her down to finish administering the anesthetic. She was THAT determined not to go to sleep. She battled valiantly, but lost.

The procedure itself took a couple of hours, plus we had to wait for her to wake up before we could see her. I use the term "wake up" quite loosely here. After she fluttered her eyelids a bit, a nurse greeted her and asked her if she was ok. She replied, "ow". At that point, they came to get us. This is what we walked in on:

Keep in mind that this is the little girl that just 4 hours earlier had insisted she wouldn't go to sleep.

Ok.

I confess.

I teared up.

Her bravery was such a beautiful thing to see, but seeing the life literally sucked out of her was quite difficult. I sat and caressed her back for awhile. I gently asked her if she was hot, if she was ok, if she was thirsty, etc., in between long periods of silence. I received no responses. She repositioned herself a few times, but it was obvious she was incoherent. She was similar to a drunk. After about 15 minutes, she looked me directly in the eye and weakly said, "I want to go home. Can I go home?"

I had a twofold reaction. Firstly, as any parent would react, my heart ached that she was in so much pain and confusion that all she wanted to do was go home, where she felt safe and comfortable. Secondly, my heart filled with love and joy that all she wanted to do was go home, where she felt safe and comfortable. We literally just got her home 8 months ago yesterday. To know that in such a short time, home has become such an important haven for her overwhelms me with emotion.

The nurses told us that her vitals were good, so despite the fact that she was still so oozy, since she wanted to go home, they would go ahead and discharge her to us if we were comfortable taking her. Roughly ten minutes later, we helped Shaling stand up and Brock lifted her up to carry her. She promptly vomited all over the floor and herself, somehow sparing Hello Kitty & Daddy. The nurses quickly went into action cleaning it up and getting her in a wheelchair.

After a brief stop at CVS to pick up an antibiotic, a pain reliever, steroid ear drops, an antibiotic ointment, and bandages, we got her home without further incident. She has spent the last roughly 6 hours on the couch, watching television. The one exception was when she got up to use the bathroom. While sitting on the toilet, she vomited again. Her balance is all thrown off from the surgery, and I think that is what is causing the nausea. She's had perhaps a 1/2 cup of soup and some Sprite. She really wants her big brother to stay with her on the couch. She even sacrificed watching tv, so he could play the wii. In the almost nine months I've known her, this is the least energetic I've ever seen her.

Perhaps because I knew her surgery was being squeezed in with patients getting ear tubes, I was naive to how restricted she was going to be following her surgery. I knew she wasn't going to be able to swim for two months, but here's what I didn't know:

No running for two weeks.
No jumping for two weeks (therefore, no trampoline).
No bike riding for two weeks.
No heavy lifting for two weeks.
No P.E. for two weeks.
No blowing her nose for two weeks.
No trumpet lessons for two weeks.
No sneezing for two weeks.
Ok, if she can't stifle the sneeze, she's supposed to keep her mouth OPEN during the sneeze.

That is quite a list. I thought I was merely being precautionary by planning to keep her home from school tomorrow, but now I realize there is no way she was going anyway.

All in all, it went well and the doctor was pleased. He is optimistic that her hearing loss will be reversed as the ear heals. Because I don't believe there can be too much prayer, any prayers thrown her way for a smooth recovery are much appreciated.

*******

I have to slip in some good news for Preston here. He re-auditioned for the SVYS (Sangamon Valley Youth Symphony) last week. Last year was his first experience with it. There are 3 groups:

Prep Orchestra (a mostly beginner group - primarily grade schoolers)
Concert Orchestra (a mostly intermediate group - primarily junior high)
Symphony Orchestra (a more advanced group - primarily high schoolers)

Last year (his first year), he made the Concert Orchestra. He struggled a bit, especially the first two months, but persevered. We were so proud of him at the semester concerts, standing up there playing the tympani, which were almost as tall as him. Well, this year, he made the Symphony Orchestra. As a 6th grader, he'll be up on stage with mostly high schoolers. I'm both thrilled for him to have the opportunity and nervous for him, as I know the music will be a bit of a challenge. He is super proud of himself!

Memorial Day Weekend at Grant's Farm

2011-09-06T15:40:00.002-05:00

Yes, that's correct -- Memorial Day, not Labor Day. Preston & Shaling, along with Grandma Coonrod, her friend Shelly, Aunt Ann & Uncle Frank, cousin Maggie, & cousins Mike & Laura & their kids, Elizabeth, Rebecca, & Stephen, went to Grant's Farm. Mom was in Colorado & Dad was in Mississippi. I'm just now getting some pictures of the event, so I'm sharing them here. Thank you, Laura Grichnik, for the pictures & permission to post them.

Party in the USA - Preston & Shaling style

2011-09-05T17:42:00.001-05:00

During our trip home from Monticello, Indiana today, Preston & Shaling serenaded Mom & Dad with Miley Cyrus' "Party in the U.S.A." Brock videoed our budding stars with my Blackberry while I drove. Make sure to turn your speakers up!

Party in the USA, by Preston & Shaling from Amy Reynolds on Vimeo.

Surgery & Silliness

2011-08-31T20:18:00.002-05:00

Shaling saw Dr. Huang today. He says her ear looks good (clean), so we will proceed with the eardrum repair surgery next Thursday. She will be put under & he will scrape away some tissue from under her skin behind her ear. Then, he will insert the tissue into the hole in her eardrum. He should be able to do all of this through her ear canal, so as not to have to cut a deep incision behind her ear.

Today is the first time I think she understood me well when I explained what was going to happen. She reacted with fear -- even covering her ears to show she didn't even want to hear about it. When she did listen, I explained she would be asleep when it happened. She indicated that she wouldn't be able to sleep, so I explained that the doctor would give her medicine to sleep. She thought that was funny & giggled for several minutes.

When we got home, Preston was quite depressed -- he'd had a rough day. He forgot his lunch; he found out he missed his percussion sectional yesterday; he realized he misunderstood the instructions on two science assignments. He was telling me about it while I sorted laundry. Suddenly, Shaling grabbed one of my bras & slung it over her shoulders and behind her back. She began proudly prancing around saying, "look at my new backpack!" She even showed it off to the cat. Preston began belly-laughing & all of the sudden his bad day was behind him. It was so rewarding to see him cheer up so quickly.

From Yucky to Icky

2011-08-30T15:45:00.003-05:00

Last Friday night, Shaling & I drove down to St. Louis to meet Grandma & Aunt Ann at a Cardinal game. We absolutely sang our dear hearts out to quite a variety of songs, "Kung Fu Fighting" by Cee Lo Green, "Party in the U.S.A." by Miley Cyrus, "Dive" by Steven Curtis Chapman, and several more. She broke my heart when she reached up to skip Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun", telling me, "I no like this one."

When we took a break from the music, she tattled on her dad. The preface to this is that she picked out her outfit for the Friday game on WEDNESDAY...all of the way down to her socks. She even inquired about Cardinal underwear. Apparently, Dad (who, remember, is a Chicago Cubs fan) couldn't keep his mouth shut about her attire.

Shaling tells it like this:

"Mom, in the morning, Dad not nice."

"Oh, yeah?"

"Yeah. I come downstairs & say 'good morning, Dad'; Dad say, 'good morning, Shaling; you are going to see the yucky Cardinals."

"You're right. That is not nice."

"Yeah. We should start telling Dad, 'you go see the yucky Cubs.'"

"Or, we could show Dad how to be nice."

"Yeah!!! Boys yucky. Girls NOT yucky."

**********************************************

On Sunday, we attended a family reunion in Carlinville. On our way into town, we passed the distinct odor of skunk. It was a bit faint, as if it had been there a few days, but most of us still knew exactly what it was. Not Shaling, however, who gave a couple of extra sniffs and said, "smells good".

Dad replied, "No, Shaling, it doesn't smell good. That's a skunk. It smells icky."

Preston, who craves every opportunity he can get to teach Shaling something new, jumped all over this. Quite matter-of-factly, he said, "Yeah, Shaling. A skunk is an animal that farts when it gets scared so that people won't come close."

Here are some pictures from that Cardinal game Friday night:

Shaling poses between Grandma & Aunt Ann.

Shaling & Grandma

Though she barely understands what she's doing, Shaling keeps score based on what we tell her to do.

Shaling makes it up on the large scoreboard, thanks to a new fan-friendly option -- you can send a picture to Twitter and have it posted on the scoreboard.

A Puzzling Picture

2011-08-24T05:00:00.000-05:00

Life is an unanswered question, but let's still believe in the dignity and importance of the question. ~Tennessee Williams

I follow the blogs of several other adoptive parents. Usually I enjoy hearing their personal stories & seeing pictures of their children growing & adapting to their new lives. On Monday, I was touched by a different sort of picture…one worth a 1000 ~~words~~ questions.

Adoptive mom Kelly (blog: The Raudenbush Family: wondering) found an announcement on a Chinese website that included this picture:

Yes, that is a real, live baby girl (with her eyes blocked out). She is in a cardboard box, surrounded by formula, a bottle, a bag with some possessions, and what looks like a beautiful blanket or pillow or outfit underneath her.

I was going to go to the Chinese website to read the announcement directly (via Google translate), but the announcement seems to have been removed. Per Kelly, there was supposedly a large sum of money left with this beautiful, precious little girl. Her finding supposedly occurred during rush hour. However, I agree with Kelly that every hour in China is “rush hour”.

Considering the tiny bit of information we have about this baby girl, I theorize that she was abandoned based on her gender and the one child rule. Considering how well she was cared for and how much was left with her, I imagine her birth mom did not want to give her up, but that she was pressured to do by her husband, her culture, her in-laws, or a combination thereof.

Per a book (Silent Tears) I read by Kay Bratt, there is an ancient Chinese belief that a child born on the day another family member dies is bad luck…and caused that death. I don’t think most of modern China adheres to that anymore, but just like in the United States, there are a handful of families that have remained in the “dark ages”.

When I look at the picture of this absolutely health baby girl, all sorts of questions come to mind.

Did she already have a name?

Did the birth mom wait around nearby to make sure her precious bundle would be rescued?

Or, did she scurry off quickly as to make sure to go undetected?

Does she think of her darling daughter daily? Hourly? Every minute?

I admit, I've become infatuated with the picture. I’ll always wonder what Shaling looked like when she was found. According to her finding announcement, she was in an apple box. We were told that an apple box is an almost paper thin box used for carrying -- you guessed it -- apples. It was also apparent that she had been in the hospital – probably for some time – and probably just released that day. She was approximately 5 or 6 weeks old.

Because of the nature of Shaling’s abandonment, I’ll always choose to believe she was given up primarily for economic reasons. I believe her parents thought she was going to be “expensive” due to her medical issue and that they didn’t think they would be able to afford to raise her.

Whilst I’m aghast at the thought of giving up a child in such a manner, I’m also in awe of the strength of a parent that loves a child so much that they will go to such extremes to ensure a better life for their child.

I’ll always wonder…

Did her parents drop her off at that bus station together?

Or, was the task left up to her mother alone?

For that matter, was her mother a single mother without the resources to raise Shaling on her own?

What name did she have picked out for her daughter?

Did she envision her as a girly-girl? A scholar? An athlete? An artist?

How often does she think of Shaling?

Did she watch to see who picked Shaling up?

Did she see Shaling’s finding announcement in the paper?

If so, did it break her heart to ignore it?

Is she still alive?

If she worries about her daughter’s fate, I wish there was a way for me to ease her mind; let her know just how much Shaling is healthy, smart, athletic, funny, hard-working, affectionate, & loved.

Yeah, I’ve gotten a bit infatuated with that picture. And though it prompts so many questions to which I'll never have answers, the most important thing about it is that it reminds me that I’ll always have an emotional connection to a woman I’ll never have the opportunity to meet.

A connection that has changed the appearance and mechanics of my family.

Forever.

And ever.

Thank you, God.

****************************
For those who haven't seen them, this is the closest I'll have to baby pictures of Shaling (these are pictures OF pictures that were in her orphanage file):

Too Two

2011-08-23T15:35:00.000-05:00

A week or so ago, the kids were watching television. A toy commercial came on and Preston told me he wanted one. I told him to put it on his Christmas list. Shaling said, "I want too." Her English is coming along fantastically, but her grammar isn't always perfect; she'd left out the word "it".

Preston gently teased her, "You want two? I just want one."

I told him that he knew what she meant. She said, "Yeah, Preston! TOO - tee oh oh."

I was quite proud that she knew there was more than one spelling and she knew which one was correct. The reading/spelling takes even longer to learn than the spoken language.

**********************

I also have to brag -- apparently Sunday was "Mom Day" in Shaling's world. She wanted to sit by me in church; she was clingy & affectionate with me, etc. Well, we went to eat at Olive Garden ($7.95 never-ending pasta bowl). At the end of the meal, they brought us those delicious minty chocolates. She took a couple of the wrappers and folded them into a little package, asking me to open it. I was hesitant, thinking she was trying to trick me into thinking a chocolate was still in there. However, when I got to the very inside wrapper, I found this:

Fourth Grade is Fun (or Hard Work)

2011-08-22T20:11:00.004-05:00

This is a follow-up to today's earlier entry. Apparently, the first day of 4th grade was extremely tiring. The kids beat me home. This is Shaling when I arrived home:

This is Shaling about an hour later:

First Day of 4th & 6th Grade

2011-08-22T15:15:00.001-05:00

Today was a big day around these here parts. Lots of new clothes, new backpacks, new school supplies, & new "titles" -- freshman, 1st grader, 7th grader, etc. In our house, it was "4th grader" & "6th grader". In several houses in our neighborhood, things were a flurry as parents scrambled to get kids out of bed, fed, dressed, & out the door. I myself do not get to experience that joy, as I leave for work before anyone else's alarm clock rings (at least in our house).

However, I get to hear plenty about it from Brock. Oh - and sometimes I DO get to experience it via telephone. Take today, for instance. I had carefully picked out Shaling's outfit for her first day of school (with Shaling's assistance) yesterday. We chose a gray ruffled skirt, a pink shirt with a cat & lots of "bling" (with gray highlights here & there), & white tights. We also settled on her wearing ner new Barbie tennis shoes instead of sandals.

Well...I get a call from her this morning. She wanted to know if she should wear socks too. I think there was also some confusion over whether she should wear underwear AND tights. Dad, of course, has no experience in these matters and was no help. And by no help I mean he is one of the very reasons that the fashion police even exist.

It seems that overall, the morning went well. Brock even remembered to take several "First Day of School" pictures for me, despite the fact that I only asked or reminded him to do so roughly 10 or 20 times & left the camera smack dab in the middle of the counter where he prepares breakfast. Being the good man that he is, he followed through on the mission for me, but unfortunately, my daughter was uncooperative.

If you look at some of these pictures, you'd think she was irate that she had to go to school. However, that would be false. She was in a good mood -- just an ornery one. She didn't want to help her dad out. She gave him false glares, turned her head, anything to avoid allowing a decent picture. A couple of the pictures were snapped as she turned her head & if you look closely, you'll see a smirk starting to roll out the side of her mouth. By the time she did give a nice smile, Preston was so bored of posing for pictures that he isn't smiling.

Anyway, here are the pictures.

Shaling, just before Dad gets her out of bed.

Preston, just before Dad gets him out of bed.

The kids enjoy their breakfast; Shaling's bad attitude towards the camera has begun in earnest.

Preston & Shaling arrive at the neighbors' house where they usually catch the bus.

The kids stand with several of their neighborhood buddies, ready for the bus to come.

Dad trying very hard to get a good picture of both kids.

Ah, yes, her getaway vehicle has arrived.

The school bus finally takes her away from the evil clicks of Dad's camera.

Fun at the Illinois State Fair

2011-08-16T06:45:00.000-05:00

Shaling took in her first state fair parade last Thursday night. Here she is modeling her new Statue of Liberty hat:

She & Ally & Preston (& Anya, not pictured) got quite sugared up on all of the treats they collected from the parade.

Ally (who is eating a Smartie), Shaling, & Anya all enjoyed the Statue of Liberty hats.

Shaling & Preston have "megapasses" -- we buy these at Christmas time, when they're cheaper, and count them as part of the kids' Christmas gifts. The megapasses allow them to ride rides at the fair all day long, any day. So, to get the most out of them, we took them to the fair on Friday and Dad took them both Saturday & Sunday.

Here are some videos of a couple of the rides Shaling likes:

Fun House

2011 Illinois State Fair: Shaling & the Fun House from Amy Reynolds on Vimeo.

Himalaya (careful, this one will make you dizzy)

2011 Illinois State Fair: Shaling & Ally on the Himalaya from Amy Reynolds on Vimeo.

Oh-Run-Gee, Two-Sleep, Mouth Surgery

2011-08-15T12:05:00.001-05:00

Oh-Run-Gee

During the children’s sermon yesterday, Miss Beth was making a point about how everyone is unique; everyone has their own preferences. She asked Shaling about her favorite color. When we first met Shaling, her favorite color was red, which is a significant color in Chinese culture. However, her tastes have changed a bit and she replied to Miss Beth with, “blue and oh-run-gee” (I love the way she says orange, “oh-run-gee”, and will miss it when she finally starts to pronounce it correctly).

If you know me well, you probably giggled or perhaps rolled your eyes at Shaling’s new favorite colors. Brock and I met while members of the Marching Illini at the University of Illinois, so orange and blue are prominent in our household anyway. Plus, I’m a big fan of Rochester schools (which the kids attend) – the music program, sports, and education itself. The Rochester Rockets just happen to wear orange and blue as well. So, I’m sure it looks to some of my friends that I just happened to indoctrinate her. I promise I didn’t – the girl just has natural school spirit!

Two-Sleep

Shaling truly does not like to sleep alone. In China, she shared a room with several other girls and that feels much more natural to her than being alone in a full-sized bed, in her very own bedroom. She often asks if she and Preston can “two-sleep”. Though on occasion they do just that, we’ve also explained to them that as they get older, it will not be appropriate – girls can spend the night with girls and boys can spend the night with boys, but mixed genders cannot do so.

Shaling has come up with the perfect solution. She told me last week that we need to get two more “people” (kids). She wants a girl to two-sleep with her and a boy to two-sleep with Preston.

Mouth Surgery

Shaling & I had our initial visits with our new dentist, Dr. Milner, on Friday. Dr. Milner (Dave) is also a friend of mine (and fellow sports enthusiast). His wife, Sa, is of Chinese descent. Sa tried hard to speak to Shaling in Mandarin, but Shaling would have none of it. It makes me sad that she is giving up her native tongue.

Dave tells me that Shaling probably has orthodontic surgery in her future. He is referring us to an orthodontist (our first visit will be Thursday, September 22nd) and the orthodontist will make the final determination, but Shaling will probably need a tooth extracted. She’s got some permanent teeth blocking the growth of another permanent tooth. The orthodontist will probably decide to sacrifice one for the other.

Just Two More Weeks Until 4th & 6th Grade

2011-08-08T10:00:00.000-05:00

Preston & Shaling start school on Monday, August 22nd. They will be in the same building this year, as Rochester Intermediate School includes grades 4 through 6. Shaling’s friend Jimmy (formerly GuangHui) will be in 5th grade, right in between them. I think they are both excited about school starting, but also hate to see their summer coming to a close all at the same time.

They are finally done being gone from us this summer, as they returned over the weekend from a week at Grandma & Grandpa Reynolds’ house. They enjoyed tubing on Lake Shafer, riding on a “big boat” at Lake Michigan, and making crafts with Grandma. We asked Shaling if she wanted to spend 5 nights with Grandma & Grandpa again next year and she surprised us when she told us “no”. She followed that up with, “ten nights”.

On their way to bring Preston & Shaling home to us, Grandma & Grandpa went to Effingham, Illinois so that Grandma could visit her 93-year-old mom, Great Grandma Devall, in the nursing home. Great Grandma Devall has had a stroke or two and is not always coherent. This particular day, she was not only alert, but more coherent than Grandma Reynolds has seen her in several years. When Brock & Amy’s “kids” were mentioned, she indicated that she remembered Preston, but not Shaling. She also commented on the unique name. Great Grandma was reminded that we adopted her from China & that she is 9-years-old. She said she would like to meet her.

So, Grandma Reynolds called Grandpa to have him bring the kids to the nursing home. The visit went quite well, with Shaling wanting to help push Great Grandma’s wheelchair when they went for a short walk. Shaling’s only follow-up question was why Great Grandma asks the same questions over & over. I’m thrilled that Shaling had the opportunity to meet her, as she has now met a great grandparent on both my side of the family & Brock’s side of the family. Unfortunately, no pictures were taken.

When Shaling & Preston arrived home, there was a kitchen table full of school supplies awaiting them. On Saturday, they both dutifully helped me label everything and load up their new “Rochester Rocket” backpacks. The only thing left is to go shoe shopping for P.E. sneakers and perhaps new clothes shopping.

Shaling has a busy week ahead of her. She & I are meeting Mrs. Collins (Shaling’s 3rd grade teacher) for a ladies night out at a Thai food restaurant tonight.

On Wednesday, she goes back to see the Ear, Nose, & Throat specialist. He will check on how her ear is clearing up from the latest infection. I’m anxious to discover if he still plans to have her surgery on September 8th, or if it’s been postponed.

On Friday, Shaling & I have new patient dentist appointments. I’ve switched the entire family to a new dentist, a friend of mine, Dr. Milner, who is a fellow Rochester Rocket, Fighting Illini, & St. Louis Cardinals fan. Brock had his first appointment with him last week. His wife, who works in the office, is of Chinese descent, but raised in Thailand. We will follow that up by meeting Uncle Scott, Aunt Michelle, Cooper, & Chase at the Illinois State Fair for the afternoon & evening.

On Saturday, Shaling will attend a dance camp/rehearsal in the afternoon. As a family, we will then watch an evening performance of Camp Rock the Musical on stage at the theater in New Salem. Towards the end of the performance, Shaling & the other girls from the afternoon rehearsal will be called up on stage to do a dance number as part of the performance.

Grandma Just Sent 3 More Pictures

2011-08-01T13:08:00.002-05:00

Apparently, Preston & Shaling got brave enough to try tubing yesterday (I can see from the pictures that Shaling faithfully had her ear plugged). Previously, Preston was hesitant to try tubing, but I think riding the torpedo with Ethan helped bring him along. When we were in Monticello last month, Shaling was adamant she didn't want to try tubing. Somehow Grandma & Grandpa apparently worked some magic and changed their minds. I think you'll see from the expressions on their faces that it was definitely worth it!

One Last Week Away From Mom & Dad

2011-08-01T11:14:00.003-05:00

Preston & Shaling are spending the week with Grandma & Grandpa Reynolds, at their summer home in Monticello, Indiana. After having spent a week at church camp in June & a week with Uncle Scott & Aunt Barbara in July, this is the 3rd & final week of the summer that they get a break from Mom & Dad (& vice versa). Dad drove them to Indiana while Mom stayed home alone for the weekend for some Cardinal baseball and therapeutic time.

On Saturday, Dad took them to Indiana Beach, an amusement park on Lake Shafer (Grandma & Grandpa’s house is on the lake). After a few hours there, Preston began to poop out & wanted to go home, but Shaling did not. Stretching what he could out of Preston first, Dad took the kids back to Grandma & Grandpa’s house. Preston played with some other nearby kids & also went for a ride on a torpedo (a long inflated tube with seats for several kids – it is pulled behind the boat).

After spending some time in the air conditioning, Dad & Shaling returned to Indiana Beach (free reentry). The first trip lasted for about 5 hours, so the encore lasted a mere ~~two~~, ~~three~~, ~~four~~, ~~five~~, SIX hours. Unfortunately, Dad didn’t have the camera, so I have no pictures for you. He told me that she rode a particular roller coaster TEN times, but didn’t want to try the other ones. She rode the bumper cars, Superstition Mountain, some kiddie rides, & several others I don’t remember.

I do have pictures of Shaling wearing a new dress. Last April, I posted a picture of Grandma Reynolds (& Preston) holding up some material for a sundress:

She wanted to wait until Shaling was here so that she made the correct size. Well here Shaling is, modeling the finished product:

Oh, and speaking of pictures, here is one of Dad from Sunday morning (after his 11 hours at Indiana Beach on Saturday):

Today, Preston & Shaling are headed to Lake Michigan with Grandpa. Grandpa’s friend has a “big” boat on Lake Michigan. Preston has gotten to take a ride on it the last couple of years during his week-long stay with Grandma & Grandpa. We are looking forward to hearing how Shaling likes it. Here is a picture of her in the car on the way:

****All pictures in today’s blog are courtesy of Grandpa Reynolds (& his cell phone).

A Meaningful Analogy

2011-07-28T10:16:00.002-05:00

Sometimes I find myself ~~at a loss for words~~ unable to efficiently explain how Shaling must have felt during the first several months home (and may still be feeling today, at least somewhat). I think there is a storybook notion that we "saved" her. While it's true that in the future, her life will almost certainly be better because she'll have a lot more options available, at the time we adopted her she was perfectly happy and well cared for. Yes, she wanted to be adopted, because she wanted a forever family. As an adult in China, her job opportunites would have been limited and marriage wouldn't have been a realistic possibility because orphans tend to be looked down upon. However, I'm not sure she is aware of any of that.

On one of the adoption Yahoo groups of which I'm a member, someone shared the following analogy, which helps the reader see the world through the eyes of an adopted child. It's written more at the toddler perspective, but there is value in it for every age.

Immense Loss; Walk a Mile in Baby’s Booties
--Written by Cynthia Hockman-Chupp, analogy courtesy of Dr. Kali Miller

Imagine for a moment…You have met the person you've dreamed about all your life. He has every quality that you desire in a spouse. You plan for the wedding, enjoying every free moment with your fiancé. You love his touch, his smell, the way he looks into your eyes. For the first time in your life, you understand what is meant by "soul mate," for this person understands you in a way that no one else does. Your heart beats in rhythm with his. Your emotions are intimately tied to his every joy, his every sorrow. The wedding comes. It is a happy celebration, but the best part is that you are finally the wife of this wonderful man.

You fall asleep that night, exhausted from the day's events, but relaxed and joyful in the knowledge that you are next to the person who loves you more than anyone in the world…the person who will be with you for the rest of your life. The next morning you wake up, nestled in your partner's arms. You open your eyes and immediately look for his face. But IT'S NOT HIM! You are in the arms of another man. You recoil in horror. Who is this man? Where is your beloved? You ask questions of the new man, but it quickly becomes apparent that he doesn't understand you.

You search every room in the house, calling and calling for your husband. The new guy follows you around, trying to hug you, pat you on the back,...even trying to stroke your arm, acting like everything is okay. But you know that nothing is okay. Your beloved is gone. Where is he? Will he return? When? What has happened to him?

Weeks pass. You cry and cry over the loss of your beloved. Sometimes you ache silently, in shock over what has happened. The new guy tries to comfort you. You appreciate his attempts, but he doesn't speak your language-either verbally or emotionally. He doesn't seem to realize the terrible thing that has happened...that your sweetheart is gone. You find it difficult to sleep. The new guy tries to comfort you at bedtime with soft words and gentle touches, but you avoid him, preferring to sleep alone, away from him and any intimate words or contact.

Months later, you still ache for your beloved, but gradually you are learning to trust this new guy. He's finally learned that you like your coffee black, not doctored up with cream and sugar. Although you still don't understand his bedtime songs, you like the lilt of his voice and take some comfort in it. More time passes.

One morning, you wake up to find a full suitcase sitting next to the front door. You try to ask him about it, but he just takes you by the hand and leads you to the car. You drive and drive and drive. Nothing is familiar. Where are you? Where is he taking you? You pull up to a large building. He leads you to an elevator and up to a room filled with people. Many are crying. Some are ecstatic with joy. You are confused. And worried.

The man leads you over to the corner. Another man opens his arms and sweeps you up in an embrace. He rubs your back and kisses your cheeks, obviously thrilled to see you. You are anything but thrilled to see him. Who in the world is he? Where is your beloved? You reach for the man who brought you, but he just smiles (although he seems to be tearing up, which concerns you), pats you on the back, and puts your hand in the hands of the new guy. The new guy picks up your suitcase and leads you to the door. The familiar face starts openly crying, waving and waving as the elevator doors close on you and the new guy.

The new guy drives you to an airport and you follow him, not knowing what else to do. Sometimes you cry, but then the new guy tries to make you smile, so you grin back, wanting to "get along." You board a plane. The flight is long. You sleep a lot, wanting to mentally escape from the situation.

Hours later, the plane touches down. The new guy is very excited and leads you into the airport where dozens of people are there to greet you. Light bulbs flash as your photo is taken again and again. The new guy takes you to another guy who hugs you. Who is this one? You smile at him. Then you are taken to another man who pats your back and kisses your cheek. Then yet another fellow gives you a big hug and messes your hair. Finally, someone (which guy is this?) pulls you into his arms with the biggest hug you've ever had. He kisses you all over your cheeks and croons to you in some language you've never heard before. He leads you to a car and drives you to another location.

Everything here looks different. The climate is not what you're used to. The smells are strange. Nothing tastes familiar, except for the black coffee. You wonder if someone told him that you like your coffee black. You find it nearly impossible to sleep. Sometimes you lie in bed for hours, staring into the blackness, furious with your husband for leaving you, yet aching from the loss. The new guy checks on you. He seems concerned and tries to comfort you with soft words and a mug of warm milk. You turn away, pretending to go to asleep.

People come to the house. You can feel the anxiety start to bubble over as you look into the faces of all the new people. You tightly grasp the new guy's hand. He pulls you closer. People smile and nudge one other, marveling at how quickly you've fallen in love. Strangers reach for you, wanting to be a part of the happiness. Each time a man hugs you, you wonder if he will be the one to take you away. Just in case, you keep your suitcase packed and ready. Although the man at this house is nice and you're hanging on for dear life, you've learned from experience that men come and go, so you just wait in expectation for the next one to come along.

Each morning, the new guy hands you a cup of coffee and looks at you expectantly. A couple of times the pain and anger for your husband is so great that you lash out, sending hot coffee across the room, causing the new guy to yelp in pain. He just looks at you, bewildered. But most of the time you calmly take the cup. You give him a smile. And wait. And wait. And wait.

Reunited And It Feels So Good

2011-07-26T10:21:00.007-05:00

Via Yahoo & Facebook, I've been able to connect with other adoption families, including specifically a group of families that have adopted children from LongGang SWI of Shenzhen, the orphanage in which Shaling lived. One of those special families is the VanCamp family from Kansas. Christie & Mark have adopted 5 Chinese daughters, RaeAnne, ZoraLin, Jordis, Tessa, and Kendalan. Tessa, formerly Long JiXing, is Shaling's "little sister" (mei mei) from LongGang. Christie's blog is Raising Sunflowers.

After a family trip to Wisconsin, the VanCamps graciously agreed to stopover and spend a night in Springfield on their way home so that Tessa & Shaling could see each other again. Tessa was adopted in August 2010, so it's been a year since the girls have seen each other. They've both been through just a few changes since then - longer hair, new names, new living quarters, etc. Oh, and then there's that little thing called a "forever family" that they each have now.

We started by meeting them at the Crowne Plaza, where they'd booked their rooms. The kids all went swimming while the adults chatted. It honestly felt like we were old friends. Shaling & Tessa were a bit shy (or perhaps awkward) at first, but eventually were chattering away. After awhile the Stengel family (or at least part of it - Lynne, Josh, & Jimmy) joined us. Josh & Jimmy are from LongGang SWI as well.

Shaling & Tessa Swim from Amy Reynolds on Vimeo.

Eventually, we were all quite hungry and I talked Mark into trying Springfield's specialty, a horseshoe. We're big fans of Top Cats and it is really close, so it became our next destination. We had a table for 14 -- with 9 of the 14 being kids, we were a noisy group of 14..."Chinese Invasion" as Christie called it. The food was a hit, as most people, including the kids, cleaned their plates. Mark was the only one who did not, but not because he didn't like it. He enjoyed the horseshoe, but was defeated by the quantity.

Though the lighting wasn't ideal, we took a few group pictures (at least of the kids). Left to Right: Preston Reynolds, ZoraLin VanCamp, Kendalan VanCamp (in front), RaeAnne VanCamp, Shaling Reynolds, Tessa VanCamp (in front), Jimmy Stengel, Josh Stengel, & Jordis VanCamp

Shaling & Tessa had a sort of handshake/song/chant that they obviously remembered from China. I thought it was really cute, so I asked them to do it again and I took a video. Unfortunately, again, the lighting isn't ideal, but you can hear the audio:

Shaling & Tessa's Secret Handshake from Amy Reynolds on Vimeo.

Grandma & Grandpa Reynolds Come to Visit

2011-07-19T11:02:00.002-05:00

We hosted Grandma & Grandpa Reynolds for the weekend. Someone (I won’t say who, but she’s 9-years-old, beautiful, & Asian) wanted Grandpa to sit next to her everywhere we went – out to eat, church, on the couch at home watching television, etc. She also pretended she was leaving with Grandma & Grandpa when they left to go home. She gave Mom & Dad big hugs while giving us a sneaky grin and saying, “Goodbye Mom; Goodbye Dad!”

I think she bonded a bit with Grandma as well. Grandma helped her get started on a beginner’s cross-stitch (stamped). Grandma also showed an interested in Shaling’s dolls. Grandma is the ideal houseguest – she makes her own coffee, puts the bed sheets in the washer (and sometimes dryer) before she leaves, and helps herself to whatever she needs. I have to give Grandma a special public thank you here for making what turned out to be a very popular dish (a grape salad) at our neighbors’ big cookout & party Saturday night.

I missed most of the cookout/party because I wrote the trivia questions for a fundraiser night for another adoptive family. The fundraiser happened to be Saturday night and I was running the Powerpoint slide show of questions. The trivia night was combined with a silent auction and a mostaccioli dinner, plus several side games (i.e. 50/50 drawing). It is my understanding that the evening went extremely well financially, and it was apparent to me that people were having a good time as well. The family is planning to bring home a 13-year-old daughter and a 9-year-old son at the same time.

For church Sunday, as we always do when Brock’s parents are visiting, we went to the Methodist Church (where Brock is a member). We were blessed to have our friends, the Stengels, join us there. They are the ones that brought home Josh (XiaoXiong) & Jimmy (GuangHui) from LongGang (the same orphanage as Shaling) in April. The Stengels are considering attending the Methodist Church (instead of their home church, Rochester Christian Church) with us for awhile. The hope & prayer is that our newest children will then grow strong in their new faith together.

Now might be a good time to announce that I recently made the decision that the kids & I will forgo attending our Lutheran church for awhile in favor of attending church as a family with Brock at the Methodist church. Though Shaling thoroughly enjoyed Sunday school and Vacation Bible School (not to mention the overnight camp week at Camp CILCA), she is struggling to follow the service at my church. The flow of Brock’s service seems easier for her to follow. Plus, there are far more kids at Brock’s church. She tells us, “I love Dad church.” I figure I have a new Christian here and it’s more important that she develop a relationship with God than it is important where she develops that relationship. To be honest, I didn’t just make this decision for her benefit. I think it will do a lot for me & Brock to get back in the habit of attending church as a couple and as a family (he used to attend the Lutheran church with me when we lived in Carlinville).

Back to less personal (and more light-hearted) stuff: Shaling had a great time swimming with Josh & Jimmy Sunday evening while her brother Preston got to go boating on Lake Springfield with his friend Paul. Earlier that day, Shaling spoke on the phone briefly with Natalie (her orphanage ‘sister’ who was adopted by Carl & Kim from Florida at the same time Shaling was adopted). Far different than those first few conversations after arriving home, the girls spoke in English the whole time, though I wish they would speak in Chinese. A couple of Chinese waiters/waitresses have told us that Shaling is starting to forget some of her Chinese. That breaks my heart. Brock & I were both happy to hear Shaling chattering away in Chinese with Josh & Jimmy later that day. Shaling keeps asking to go to Natalie’s house. She is not swayed by the fact that it takes 20 hours to drive there.

She is attending a softball camp from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. Monday through Thursday this week. I think she’s happy to be playing again. She also got to go swimming with her friend Katie last night. Later this week, she will have some more firsts. We are taking her & Preston and 3 of Preston’s friends to St. Louis for 2 nights and 2 days in lieu of a birthday party for Preston. We are staying in a hotel with a pool. We will spend one day at the St. Louis Science Center and one day at the City Museum. She is going to love the City Museum. Check out their website; it is incredibly misnamed. There is nothing museum about it. It is 6 stories of tunnels, caves, treehouses, slides, and other climbing structures for the kids. Plus there is a small aquarium area. In that area, the kids can actually slide through a clear plastic tunnel down the middle of a large tank of various fish (including small sharks) and they can feed stingrays.

Shaling continues to adjust well. We rarely have unexpected fits of stubbornness anymore and when we do, she’s out of them quickly. She is concerned about our feelings and well-being. She loves to help out around the house. She’s the first kid I’ve ever seen willing to jump in and clean up cat puke. She helped clean the basement stairs and sweep the garage. She likes learning new things (like how to cook). She happily helps carry laundry baskets up and down the steps. When I tell her thank you, she sometimes says, “Yeah. I like help.” Yeah, Shaling, I like help too!

"I watch TV"

2011-07-14T09:43:00.002-05:00

Last night in the car, Shaling was chattering away to us about her experience at Vacation Bible School that evening. As we were smiling and nodding along, Brock stopped to compliment her on just how good her English has gotten. We told her we were proud of her. She said, "Uh-huh! I watch tee-vee!"

We both cringed to realize she is crediting the television with helping her learn English, but her opinion is not without merit. We have several movies that have the option of English subtitles, Mandarin subtitles, or no subtitles at all. Believe it or not, she nearly always chooses English subtitles...and she really does do her best to read the words as they go across the screen. She is hearing the words spoken correctly as she reads the letters, so I think there is some benefit.

Don't worry -- we aren't relying this on our only tool. We (Brock especially) do read books with her and she attempts to read all sorts of things on her own. After all, we really wouldn't want her walking around saying, "I tawt I taw a puddycat" or "I'd like to buy a vowel", now would we?

******************

For those who don't follow me on Facebook, let me re-share this quick story. Tuesday morning, I was having "one of those" mornings that we all have from time-to-time. I was struggling to get out of bed, struggling to get ready...no motivation, etc. I left the house about 40 minutes later than usual (I usually leave before anyone else -- including Brock -- is out of bed). As I headed downstairs, Brock had begun getting ready and I told him to have a good day. As I stopped in the kitchen to grab my purse and leave for work before I changed my mind and went back to bed, I heard footsteps on the stairs. I turned to look and Shaling came tiptoeing into the room in her nightgown and cheerfully said, "Good morning, Mom" and leaned in to give me a big hug. Made my whole day!

Jesus Confusion & Fort Wayne Visit

2011-07-11T15:35:00.003-05:00

Preston & Shaling started Vacation Bible School (VBS) last night. It’s confusing enough for Shaling that Mom & Dad attend different churches (Mom & the kids are Lutheran; Dad is Methodist). To add to her confusion, VBS is held at yet a different church. Our home church, Good Shepherd Lutheran, combines forces with another Lutheran church, Concordia, for VBS. This provides a bigger pool of volunteers and also larger groups of children. Well, when Shaling realized we were headed to a different church, she said,

“Different church?”

“Different Jesus?”

Of course, we explained to her that it’s the same Jesus, just different people worshipping him.

She had a great time at VBS. I watched the last 20 minutes or so, when everyone comes together to sing songs and have a closing prayer in the sanctuary. The songs are the same ones that she and Preston sang at Camp CILCA (the overnight camp they stayed at for a week in June). She was thrilled to be singing along with them again. Apparently she was still excited this morning, because at breakfast, Dad told her that she would be going to VBS again tonight.

She exclaimed, “Jesus; I love Jesus!”

Brock replied, “Yeah, Jesus is awesome.” He then pointed out that Jesus had a role in bringing Shaling to America and into our family.

Her grateful response came quickly, “Jesus, please take me to China.”

Ah, yes…just a small reminder that though this family of four feels so natural and comfortable to us, it really is still new. Six months new.

In other news, Preston & Shaling just returned from a week with Uncle Scott & Aunt Barbara in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Uncle Scott took them swimming at the YMCA nearly every day. Shaling has a new Tinkerbell life jacket and has really learned to rely on it, giving her the confidence to swim all over the pool. They went to the zoo, to a hands-on science center, and more. For the first two nights, they got to play with cousin Braedon from Ohio, plus Shaling got to meet her Great Uncle Dave, Great Aunt Penny, and Dad’s cousin Michael for the first time.

We arrived on Friday and spent the weekend before coming home on Sunday. Shaling loves Uncle Scott & Aunt Barb’s dog, Dakota (half-lab; half-husky). She either wanted to stay there or bring “Cody” home with us. Of course, neither happened. We enjoyed a minor league baseball game (the Fort Wayne Tin Caps) Friday night. It was Harry Potter night at the ballpark, so lots of people were in costume. It was also fireworks night and there was a dazzling display following the game.

On Saturday, we grabbed lunch from Chick-fil-A and ate it at the YMCA, where the kids showed off their Dance, Dance, Revolution skills to us and Shaling showed us how confident she’s gotten in the pool. Then, we went to a local chocolate maker for freshly made chocolate-covered caramels and ice cream. After that, we went to the Three Rivers Festival, where the kids enjoyed Mid-Way rides and Brock enjoyed taking in a gigantic flea market. The kids also went for their very first helicopter ride. We finished off the evening by eating dinner at quite possibly the best Chinese food buffet to which I’ve ever been. It was scrumptious.

Several pictures and one video included below. I apologize for the poor picture quality. I forgot my camera and had to use my phone.

Preston & Shaling cheese it up with a giant bobblehead of the Tin Caps' mascot, Johnny Appleseed.

Preston smiles for the camera for me. He actually spent a large portion of the game asking his dad questions about baseball. He was genuinely interested in learning about it for the first time.

Shaling shows off her new swimming skills.

The kids go for a helicopter ride.

Preston & Shaling show off their dancing skills in this video.

Preston & Shaling - Dance, Dance, Revolution from Amy Reynolds on Vimeo.

A Reynolds Family 4th of July

2011-07-06T10:50:00.008-05:00

We spent the holiday weekend on Lake Shafer in Monticello, Indiana. There were TEN Reynolds family members in one house. The men still outnumber the women 6 to 4, but Grandma, Aunt Michelle, Shaling, and I hold our own quite well. No blood was shed. In fact, I daresay we all enjoyed the time together. Thanks to Grandma & Grandpa, we ate like royalty.

Shaling & Preston enjoyed play time with their cousins Cooper (7-years-old) and Chase (4-years-old). We all enjoyed a couple of boat rides, during which Chase would count up the "hotties" for us. Apparently a "hottie" is any female wearing a bikini, regardless of age. We watched fireworks from the boat Sunday night.

Preston & Cooper enjoyed riding a "banana" - a long inflated tube that is pulled behind a boat - with some of the neighbors' grandkids. Shaling never got brave enough to try it. She did go fishing and caught her first fish. I suspect that is why she didn't want to tube or go swimming with the rest of the kids. She told me that the fish would bite her.

We took Preston & Shaling miniature golfing. Shaling isn't much for finesse. Always trying to show her brute strength, she kept hitting the ball over or past the hole. She didn't take long to pick up a common golf habit -- shaving a stroke or two off her score.

Before we left to come home Monday morning, my brother came to pick up our kids to take them home to spend a week in Fort Wayne, Indiana with him and his wife. Since Brock's brother is named Scott and my brother is named Scott, I typically differentiate by always referring to them AND their wives, i.e. Uncle Scott & Aunt Michelle or Uncle Scott & Aunt Barbara. However, Shaling came up with her own system for differentiating between them. As I explained that "other Uncle Scott" was coming to get her, she asked, "Cardinal Uncle Scott?" Brilliant. We can sort people based on their baseball fandom!

Here are several pictures from the weekend (some of them courtesy of my mother-in-law, Nancy):

Shaling's "big" catch (with Chase standing proud):

Uncle Scott & Aunt Michelle brought a giant inflatable water slide and a slip & slide. The kids truly enjoyed it.

The boys play a game in the hallway during a rainstorm:

Grandpa, master griller, shows off his ~~belated Father's Day gift~~ new apron:

The neighbors had an uninvited guest in their bushes:

For the kids, part of the treat of being at Grandma & Grandpa's house is crowding together in Grandma & Grandpa's king-sized bed and watching television.

Shaling & Preston pose for a sibling picture before leaving with Uncle Scott:

Birthdays, Perfectionism, Athletics, "Maybe"

2011-07-01T12:48:00.002-05:00

Last night was a ridiculously chaotic one around the Reynolds home. Shaling had soccer from 5:00 to 6:30; she had an all-important birthday party (more on that later) that started at 4:30, but that we planned to attend after soccer; she was spending that night at a friend's house. Preston had a friend coming over to spend the night. I am watching over a neighbor's house, cat, & plants while they're gone. We are leaving TODAY for a 3-day weekend with Grandma & Grandpa Reynolds in Monticello, Indiana (therefore, I needed to do laundry and pack bags). The kids will not be coming home with us, but instead will be traveling on to Fort Wayne, Indiana to stay a week with Uncle Scott & Aunt Barbara. We got a last minute phone call yesterday afternoon that a bedroom furniture set we knew were inheriting sometime would be delivered in a few hours.

If that doesn't already sound like I need to be locked up in an insane asylum, I decided to make what turned out to be the worst decision of the day.

I went to Wal-Mart.

On a Thursday night before a holiday weekend.

On the eve of the 1st of the month.

It was ~~freaking nuts~~ horribly busy. Trying to park was my first tip-off. Cars were driving through the parking lot as if the drivers were still on their learning permits. Inside the store, I was losing patience fast with people blocking the aisle, cutting me off, etc. And those with whom I was not losing patience, were losing patience with me being in their way. I only purchased 7 items, but when I looked the direction of the Express Lane, there was between 15 and 20 people in line, so I opted for the regular lane. It seems usually whatever lane I choose ends up being the wrong one, but last night was surprisingly (and pleasantly) different. That was perhaps the only part that went smoothly. Even leaving the parking lot was a nightmare, as I got cut-off more than once and had to survive a bottleneck to finally exit. I honestly felt like honking my horn and shouting ~~with a maniacal laugh~~ in a celebratory voice, "Hey, world, I made it out alive...A-L-I-V-E."

Anyway, back to that birthday party. It was a bowling birthday party for Josh (XiaoXiong), who is one of the two boys that arrived home to Rochester in April. They are from Shaling's orphanage and to her, they are her big brothers. Shaling was excited about it and made him a birthday card out of construction paper, water paint, and markers. She drew a picture of him and labeled it "Josh", after asking me how to spell his new name. She worked on it for a very long time, even falling asleep while doing so. She was meticulous with her work, so I was a bit taken aback when during the car ride to the bowling alley, she looked at it again and told me, "Look, Mom. Not for XiaoXiong. Uh-Oh." She spotted some imperfection that I could not detect and simply decided it wasn't good enough for him. She told me, "garbage", and wadded it up to throw away.

This was her first time bowling and like any athletic endeavor we've tried, she looked like a natural. She picked up several challenging spares. I concede it was with bumpers in the gutters, but her throws were relatively accurate and she aimed well. All of that being said, her most memorable throw of the night was when she threw a gutterball with a bumper in the gutter. That produced several chuckles. She really enjoyed it, so we're going to have to do a family bowling night soon.

I'm learning the hard way that Shaling doesn't get the concept of "maybe". She is hung-up on the fact that some of her friends have cell phones and she doesn't. She is not discouraged by the fact that Preston doesn't either. She presses and presses for when she might get one...10? 11? 12? 13? I once told her "maybe, 13". Well, Josh's birthday that we are celebrating is his 13th. So, on the way to the bowling alley, she clapped in hands together in a burst of joy and said, "XiaoXiong. 13. Phone!" Besides not understanding "maybe", she also doesn't understand the idea that each mother has their OWN rules.

Speaking of athletic endeavors, Shaling just wrapped up a 4-night soccer camp (her first taste of soccer). Despite the fact that she picked up the sport quickly, showed aggressiveness and hustle when dribbling the ball, and even won an individual kicking contest, she has informed us that she doesn't like soccer. She hasn't said why, but I strongly suspect it has more to do with the fact that none of her friends were there than it does with the sport itself.

I truly hope any of you reading this have a safe, fun, and relaxing holiday weekend. Happy Birthday, America.

Six Month Anniversary

2011-06-27T09:48:00.005-05:00

Six months ago TODAY, we met our beautiful Shaling (Long Sha Ling) for the first time when he had our Gotcha Day. On Gotcha Day, we got custody of Shaling, but didn't get to complete the adoption until the next day, because China requires a 24-hour "harmonious period" during which the child and the family are supposed to get to know each other.

Here is our guide, Connie, walking Shaling over to her new family:

Shaling with Mom:

Shaling with Dad:

Shaling with her new brother:

One of the ironic things I remember about that day is that when we ate supper at Lucy's, Shaling ordered pizza and though I asked the waitress to make it clear she could have whatever she wanted, she insisted on pizza. At the time, we were impressed that she liked American cuisine, but realized later that she was only trying to impress us, because she definitely shuns pizza now.

We were absolutely overwhelmed with emotions that day -- thrilled and relieved that we didn't get a screamer. Heck, she didn't shed a tear. The girl's bravery still amazes me. As I recall that day, I'm also so very proud of Preston. He was working so hard at making her feel welcome to the family and teaching her as much as he could. He was so happy to finally have his sister and it didn't bother him a bit that all of the attention was revolving around her. No, in fact he was intensely contributing to that attention.

Here are a couple of pictures of the two of them in their pajamas that first night, playing their DSIs (with Preston's guidance, it took her less than 5 minutes to learn how to use it):

I remember the pleasantly surprising feeling when she calmly and firmly relied on me to help her take a bath that very first evening. She thoroughly enjoyed that bath. As I understand it, they simply bathed out of a bucket at the orphanage. I shared a king-sized bed with the two kids that night. She squeezed uptight against me and fell asleep almost immediately, overwhelmed with emotional and physical exhaustion from that special day.

I giggle a bit now when I remember how impressed we were with the number of English words she knew, but considering how far we've come, her "starter knowledge" was just a drop in the bucket. On a recent Sunday, she was even reading the comics in the paper during our drive home from church and lunch. When we arrived home, she was not finished, so she spread the paper out on my car and continued reading. I took a brief video of it with my phone:

Shaling Reads the Comics from Amy Reynolds on Vimeo.

Shaling's friend, Ma MeiXin (now called Natalie) also had her Gotcha Day that day. The girls are good friends. Natalie, who now lives in Florida, was adopted by Carl & Kim. She has two older brothers, Matt & Andrew.

Here is a picture of Shaling & Natalie together that happy & exciting day:

Here is Natalie getting to know her mother & brothers (Carl was finishing paperwork in the other room. This photo is courtesy of Shaling, after she had grabbed my camera and took nearly 100 pictures.):

Happy 6-Month Gotcha Day Anniversary, Shaling & Natalie. You've come a long way! Your families are both so blessed to have you.

A Phone Conversation w/Grandma

2011-06-24T14:30:00.001-05:00

On the way to her softball game last night, Shaling asked me if Grandma was going to be at her softball game. I told her no, but that she could call and ask Grandma if she would come to her next one (tomorrow, Saturday, at 9:00 a.m.). She indicated that she wanted to do that, so I dialed my mom’s number and handed the phone to Shaling. The conversation, from what I could hear, went something like this:

“Grandma?”

“You come to my softball game Sat-ur-day?”

“Nine-Oh-Clock”

At this point, assuming I knew what my mom was going to ask, I told Shaling, “morning.”

“Good morning.”

“Mom, where my game?”

I told her, “Rochester”.

“Ro-chest-er.”

“Yeah.”

“Ok.”

“Goodbye!”

At that point I interjected, “Wait. I want to talk to Grandma.”

“Grandma…wait, wait…Grandma? Mom talk to YOU.”

Before I got to the reason I wanted to talk to my mom, I asked her how impressed she was with that conversation, making note of just how far we’ve come. She was definitely impressed, telling me that she understood ALL of what Shaling was telling her.

Also, if you missed my post on Facebook, you might get a kick out of this story too. On the way to that game, I stopped to get gas. I let the kids each get a snack. Shaling chose sunflower seeds. I asked her if she was sure she knew how to eat those. She replied, “Yeah. I eat these in China.”

Sure enough, she opened the bag, popped one in her mouth, sucked the salt off, broke it open & ate the kernel, then spit out the seed. She even asked Preston for the discarded bag from his donut so she could use it for discarding her seeds. I think she definitely had eaten those in China.

Eardrum Surgery

2011-06-22T11:48:00.003-05:00

I took Shaling back to see Dr. Huang (the E.N.T. specialist) yesterday so he could examine her eardrum that has a hole in it. If you follow the blog fairly regularly, you might remember this post: Follow Up With the E.N.T. from April when we confirmed that surgery was inevitable.

Though I am one that would like to just get the whole thing over with ~~yesterday~~ as soon as possible, I did ask about restrictions following the surgery. She will not be allowed to swim at all (not even with ear plugs) for two months following surgery. She is becoming a stronger swimmer and is really enjoying it. She recently learned to hold her breath and put her face underwater. I didn’t want to rob her of the majority of her first summer here by doing that to her.

So, her surgery will be Thursday, September 8. The doctor believes her ear canal is wide enough that he’ll be able to insert his tools through it (and not have to make an incision behind her ear to get to it). However, she will have a small incision behind her ear, because he’ll take some fascia from underneath her skin and use that to repair the hole in the eardrum. She’ll be under general anesthetic and the surgery will take about an hour.

I noticed at the appointment that she only interacted with Dr. Huang in English, not Chinese at all. That was bittersweet – it’s great that her English has come so far, but I hate to see her lose her Chinese. She also kept popping out of the chair, assuming prematurely that the doctor was done examining her. She insists her ear is fine and that she doesn’t need surgery. I’m guessing she doesn’t realize that she has a partial hearing loss in that (her right) ear. The doctor says that should return after surgery, but it could be up to 4 months for it to appear. He also says the surgery only has a 90% success rate, so there is a 10% chance that the hearing will not return.

Speaking of her improved English, I was impressed earlier this week with the way she spontaneously started a conversation with a stranger. Her softball team was getting their team picture. The photographer’s wife was setting out sample items on a table. Shaling pointed at a little girl’s picture on a large button and asked, “Is that your daugh-ter?” As I’ve done numerous times the last few months, I got ready to explain what she’d asked. However, the woman understood her perfectly and said, “No, this one is my daughter,” while pulling out another picture. Her grammar was correct; it was an appropriate question; her enunciation was clear. Not bad for 5+ months in America.

J-O-Y - Coming Home From Summer Camp

2011-06-18T17:00:00.003-05:00

When we arrived at Camp CILCA yesterday to pick up Preston & Shaling from summer camp, they both were enjoying lunch with their camp friends. Preston moved and joined us while we ate lunch, but Shaling took advantage of her last few minutes with her new friends. Shaling also informed us that she was not coming home. She was going to "no go home; stay here; fun; lotsa lotsa walking".

After lunch, we helped the kids load up their stuff in the car and then we went to the chapel for the closing ceremony. Each of the staff members introduced themselves, then the kids sang a couple of songs. One of the songs, "J-O-Y", is sung every year and I have a video of Preston singing it last year. We also sing it at Vacation Bible School each summer. It's pretty catchy and the kids' enthusiasm shines through. The video below includes Preston & Shaling, singing "J-O-Y" with their camp friends.

J-O-Y at Camp CILCA 2011 from Amy Reynolds on Vimeo.

Summer Camp Pictures

2011-06-16T08:58:00.003-05:00

I don't have much to write, since we aren't supposed to contact our kids while they're at camp. However, Camp CILCA is gracious enough to be on Facebook and post photos (they posted 63 the other night). Here are the best two of our kids (as you can see, I'm sure they're quite miserable and can't wait to escape the torture and come home):

Preston rides in a kayak -- he told us ahead of time this was his favorite activity last year.

Shaling covers herself in dirt & sand.

Heading Off to Summer Camp

2011-06-12T16:55:00.003-05:00

In about 10 minutes, Brock & I will drive Preston & Shaling to Camp CILCA (near Cantrall, Illinois -- about 30 minutes away) and drop them off for an entire week. They will have fun canoeing, swimming, playing games, hiking, singing songs that praise God, etc.

Shaling has been excited about her "No Mom, No Dad" week. For the last week or so, she's been counting down the days, even expressing her displeasure that she has to come home this Friday.

At lunch today, she wrote these words, "I'm Love MoM and Dad and Preston, shaling. happy. I'm sad shaling." Based on what she was telling me verbally as she wrote it, her intended message is that she loves us (and Preston); she is happy about going to camp; and she is sad because she'll miss Mom & Dad.

She also drew a map of camp, even though she hasn't been there. It has our house...a long drive, then a girls' cabin, a boys' cabin, & a lunch building. The only words she needed help spelling throughout drawing the entire note & map, were "girl" and "boy". Of course, her capitalization and grammar aren't perfect, but I find what she CAN do correctly pretty darn amazing.

I Make Her Head Hurt

2011-06-11T16:10:00.002-05:00

Last year around this time, Brock & I attended an older child adoption training run by Bob & Katherine Sanford. They came back to Rochester to do another one today. We were asked to give a brief testimony on our own experience. I was excited to share our story and encourage others on their own journeys.

We wore matching adoption shirts.

I went early and bragged about how great Shaling is doing.

But.

She clammed up. It's not the first time, and I've come to expect it when there are a lot of adults around, but no children. She thrives being around ~~hordes~~ large groups of children. However, she turns shy and reserved when around groups of adults. Preston, however, did share a bit with the crowd.

At least one of the couples is getting a boy from Shaling's orphanage and after we spoke, they came up and chatted with us in an informal capacity. She taught them how to pronounce his Chinese name. He is 8-years-old, so he is her "little brother", as she told them...in English, not Chinese.

In the car on the way home, Shaling told me, "Mom, you no say me China." She was basically telling me not to talk about her being from China. Concerned that she might not be proud of her heritage or that she thought we were making fun of her, etc., I asked her why. She said, "you make my head hurt."

I guess that's her way of saying that we overwhelm her when we ask her to talk about China to groups of people.

Today as an entirety hasn't been real smooth. Brock was ~~pretending to be 21 instead of 40~~ playing basketball this morning and severely sprained his ankle. The pain was bad enough that he crawled up our stairs instead of walking so that he could shower before going to prompt care. He is now on crutches.

While he was off playing hoops, I was driving the kids home from Father's Day shopping. We spotted a turtle at an extremely busy intersection close to the interstate. I went up the road and did a u-turn to go back and move it. By the time we returned, it was in the middle of the road and had two lanes of traffic backed up. I parked the car, telling the kids to stay put, and jumped out to grab it. As I scooped it up, it loudly ~~cussed me out~~ hissed, retreated entirely into it's shell, and proceeded to display just how gratified it was to be saved by peeing all over my foot. Yes, I literally scared the you-know-what out of it.

Surprisingly, I didn't drop it. I ran back to the car and told Preston to open the door. As I put it down on my floorboard, I said, "it peed on me". Preston said, "that was pee?!" I'm not sure what else he thought it was, but found the question amusing. We drove to a nearby boat ramp and set the turtle down a couple of feet from the water. We stood and watched for a few minutes, but it never did come of it's shell, so we just left so that it could calm down. I'm guessing from looking at it that it was a type of turtle called a "red slider". It was roughly 10 to 12 inches in diameter. Shaling was quite disappointed that we didn't bring it home...she kept telling me, "so cute".

Weird Al, Reunion with Pal, & Tantrum Royale

2011-06-06T15:45:00.000-05:00

Last night, we had front row tickets to see Weird Al Yankovic here in Springfield. We took both kids and though I know Shaling didn't understand all of the lyrics, she giggled and had a good time. I took a few pictures and then handed her my camera. She took about 5 times as many pictures as I did.

We wore matching shirts that I had purchased from an adoption fundraiser.

Weird Al sings "I want to be your lover" to the crowd.

Earlier this weekend, Star (HengXin) Stowell came for a visit. The girls enjoyed chattering away in Chinese and swimming together at the Elks Club. Star and her dad, sister, & brother also watched Shaling's softball game.

The girls act silly.

They find themselves to be hilarious.

On Saturday, we were working to put our house back together after having new flooring installed. I realized no one had collected the mail. I asked Preston to go get it. Then, I changed my mind and asked Shaling to get it, because I noticed she had shoes on and he did not. She was L-I-V-I-D, stomping out of the room muttering and stomping down the stairs. I told her to watch her attitude.

After she'd been gone a rather unreasonable amount of time, I went looking for her. I found her sitting in a swing in the backyard, ~~glaring lasers into the ground~~ pouting and staring downward. I told her to get inside and she ignored me. I then told her if I had to come get her, she would be grounded for two days (no bicycle, no video games, no movies) and followed that up with a notice that she had 10 seconds. She again ignored me.

I walked over and scooped her up into my arms, telling her that if she was going to behave like a brat, I was going to treat her like one. She began crying instantaneously. I carried her into the kitchen and set her down, telling her to get upstairs. She complied, but cried and screamed louder with every step, attempting, but failing, to gain sympathy from Dad. She did, however, gain some sympathy from Preston, who quizzed me on what she WOULD be allowed to do while grounded. He was relieved to find out she could still play outside.

I let her sit in her room for awhile, then went in and sat down quietly. I eventually asked her if she was ready to be nice. When I received no response, I told her she could stay in there a bit longer and went back to helping Brock put our bedroom back together. After a few minutes, she came walking in to our room carrying a few stuffed animals and a picture of "Mom" & "Shaling" that she drew several weeks ago. I initially thought she was ready to reconcile, but when she threw the items down on my dresser, I quickly realized she was returning to me anything in her room that was associated with me.

As she left the room, I grinned at Brock and told him what she was doing. I found her attempt to display her independence somewhat humorous. He went in and talked to her, telling her it might be a good idea to apologize to Mom. It took her another 10 minutes or so, but eventually she did. By Saturday night, she was cuddling with me again and telling me she loved me, so all is well (until the next Mother-Daughter battle). The teenage years should be fun around here.

We Interrupt This Blog...

2011-05-31T16:45:00.001-05:00

I take a girls-only trip each year to an "away" baseball stadium. I've traveled with a variety of girlfriends, but this year it was just two of us -- me and my friend Elaine. I tend to take notes & photos and share them with friends on the internet, usually via message board. This year, I'm going to share it as a blog entry here.

***Reminder: clicking on any picture will bring up a bigger version of it.

Friday Game

Elaine & I have pretty much exhausted all of the stadiums within reasonable driving distance. This year, we chose to go to Denver, Colorado for the Memorial Day weekend series. Because it was cheaper to fly back Monday, rather than Sunday, we purchased tickets for all 3 games. We also bought tickets to take the Coors Field stadium tour.

On Friday, we flew from St. Louis to Denver, landing around 3:30 p.m. By the time we found our shuttle to downtown, waited on other passengers, and actually arrived downtown, it was after 5 p.m. The game started at 6:40 p.m., so we quickly checked into our hotel, took a few minutes to get a bit organized, and began walking (we thought) towards the stadium. After a couple of blocks, we asked someone for help, only to find out we were heading the wrong way. Oops. My sense of direction was flip-flopped. I had to turn my “game board” around.

By the time we arrived at the stadium, we had missed batting practice. We each grabbed some supper from a concession stand and began making our way down to our seats, which were 8 rows behind 1st Base. We paused part way down the steps out of respect for the Star Spangled Banner, but then sat down and gratefully began eating. I had a Denver Dog – a hot dog smothered with red & green peppers, grilled onions and sauerkraut. It was quite tasty, but a mess to eat.

After a few minutes, a friendly looking fellow walked over and made eye contact with me, saying, “You must be IlliniAmy”. Turns out he’s one of my internet buddies from a Cardinal fan website. We’ve spoken off & on for about 8 or 9 years on various Cardinal fan websites, but had never met in person (‘course, him living in Colorado had something to do with that). Bob, known as redbird, is a level-headed, but dedicated fan.

The Cardinals put on an offensive explosion and won the game 10-3.

Some random thoughts on Friday’s game:

• Tyler Greene is fast, or as my daughter Shaling would say, “really, really, really fast”. It was fun to watch him run the bases.
• Sitting that close to first made it even more obvious than it is on television how much Albert Pujols “talks up” the first base umpire and opposing first base coach.
• I enjoyed hearing the guy in front of me matter-of-factly tell his daughter that Yadier Molina is from the Dominican Republic. He’s actually from Puerto Rico.
• Speaking of Yadier Molina, what is up with those neck tattoos?
• I also enjoyed hearing the guy behind me tell his wife matter-of-factly that the Cardinals are in the American League.
• I showed incredible restraint and refrained from correcting either guy. I must be growing up.
• I noticed that the Rockies fans only minimally booed Albert Pujols…barely noticeable. That is quite different than the other “away” ballparks I’ve visited. He is usually booed quite mercilessly.
• On the other hand, they booed Matt Holliday quite loudly, and considering how long he played there, I found that a bit sad.
• During the singing of “God Bless America”, there is a lot of side cheering and whistling at the word “mountains” of the lyric, “from the mountains to the prairies”. I found that sort of local pride to be really cool.

Saturday Tour

On Saturday, we took a guided tour of Coors Field. Our tour guides, Walt and Carol, did an amazing job of showing us their gorgeous stadium. Coors Field cost $215 million (in 1991 dollars) to build. $165 million of that came in the form of tax dollars (bonds). The bonds were scheduled to be paid off in 2011, but were actually paid off in 2000. It took 2 ½ years to build Coors Field, and it is currently the 4th oldest of the 16 National League Ballparks. It opened in 1995. Sun Life Stadium, home of the Florida Marlins, opened in 1987. Dodger Stadium opened in 1962. Wrigley Field opened in 1914. However, 10 of the 14 American League stadiums opened prior to 1995.

Coors Field has the largest playing surface in all of Major League Baseball – 3 acres. There is an upper section of seats in centerfield known as The Rockpile. Tickets in this section are always $4, no matter the day of the game or the opponent. Those tickets are only $1 for children under 12 and for senior citizens. In the upper deck of the stadium, there is a row of purple seats that marks the “mile-high” spot of the stadium. The seats in the outfield are angled toward home plate to improve the view.

The original design of the stadium called for 36,000 seats. However, the owners decided to add more seats based on the attendance figures during the two years the Rockies played at Mile High Stadium. They averaged 58,000+ per game those two years and had the largest crowd EVER at an MLB game (80,227) on their inaugural opening day. They currently average around 38,000. The nearest other MLB park is in Kansas City, roughly 650 miles away. Eric Young was the first player ever to come to the plate as a Colorado Rockies. He hit a home run that at-bat and the place went nuts.

The playing surface is Colorado grown bluegrass. The same company that services Coors Field services Wrigley Field and the University of Notre Dame. The infield dirt is crushed lava and red clay. Underneath the grass and dirt is 10 inches of sand and peat moss, then 2 miles of drainage pipe. There is also 45 miles worth of electric heating coils under the surface. They are turned on each February or March. It takes about 10 days to 3 weeks for the playing surface to reach 58 degrees. At that point, the grass begins growing as if spring has arrived. The grass is cut twice on game days and the infield is cut with a mower that does NOT have any wheels.

Besides numerous suites, all named for mountain peaks, Coors Field also has conference rooms. Some companies will have sales meetings, etc, then stay for the game. Some people get married and have their wedding receptions there. Two of the conferences rooms, located directly across from each other, have a marble home plate and a marble pitcher’s mound, respectively. The home plate and the pitcher’s mound are exactly 60 feet 6 inches apart, just like out on the field. There are two jail cells in the basement of the stadium. If unruly fans ignore ushers’ request to calm down, the police show up and put them in one of those cells.

There is a restaurant within the ballpark called the Mountain Bar Ranch & Grille. It is open on game days only, with two seating times – one when the gates open and one at game time. The second group may remain there for the duration of the game. There is a Wells Fargo Club, similar to the Redbird Club at Busch Stadium. The Wells Fargo Club has outside seating only, whilst the Redbird Club has both inside and outside. Both have gourmet foods and desserts.

Troy Tulowitzki, their shortstop, wears uniform #2 because Derek Jeter was his favorite player. In 2007, he became the 13th person in MLB history to turn an unassisted triple play. For some reason he then tossed the ball to first baseman Todd Helton, who inexplicably tossed the ball into the stands. Usually, such historic balls are kept. They did retrieve the ball from a fan, but the MLB Hall of Fame wouldn’t accept it, because it was no longer pure. The fan wrote a letter of authenticity, attesting that it is the ball Helton tossed to him and is the ball with which Tulowitzki turned the triple play. The Rockies have it on display.

The purple dinosaur mascot is nicknamed “Dinger”. They selected a dinosaur for the mascot, because while digging in the dirt during construction of the ballpark, some bones were found close to where home plate is located. The bones were determined to be over 66 million years old and are assumed to be those of a triceratops.

In 1997, Mike Piazza of the Dodgers hit the longest home run ever at Coors Field. The ball flew roughly 496 feet.

Coors Field is located in LoDo, lower downtown Denver. According to Walt, it was a very dangerous place during the 1980s, even during the day. The entire area has been completely renewed. It’s beautiful, historic, and safe. Elaine & I really enjoyed exploring the area.

Wall of All-Stars

Mountains peeking through the steel beams

View from the upper deck

The Mile-High row

The two bullpens

Old-fashioned scoreboard of other games

Statue of Liberty donated by the New York Yankees after they hosted the All-Star Game.

Mickey Mouse donated by the Anaheim Angels after they hosted the All-Star Game.

Racks of bats in one of the club areas

View from the pressbox

This is a wall in the pressbox. They mispelled Ryan Spilborgh's name, but the damage is from a foul ball he hit. This is why I do NOT want to catch a foul ball.

Underneath the "King Soopers" sign is security. Underneath the blue & purple Platte river sign is where Mike Piazza's home run landed.

The field & dirt track

View from the visitors dugout

The visitors dugout

I didn't realize Colorado had allowed medical marijuana.

Saturday Game

Elaine & I ate lunch at a Mexican restaurant named D’Corazon on Blake Street (the same street as the stadium). It was recommended by a friend of mine, Tim, who used to work in downtown Denver. He urged me to try their green chili sauce. I ordered pork chops smothered in the green chili sauce and it was amazing.

We then went to the stadium early, to be sure and get in when the gates opened, as the first 10,000 fans received free Todd Helton t-shirts. Before the game, I met up with another one of my internet friends, Ben (known as Brodie!). We had a pleasant and enjoyable chat. I made the mistake of ignoring advice to bring my jacket on Saturday, because it was quite warm during our walk to the stadium. However, by the time the game started, the temperature had dropped drastically and I was getting quite cold.

Jaime Garcia, the Cardinals pitcher, had a bad night (to say the least). He gave up 6 runs in the first inning. He was at 80 pitches by the end of the second inning. A complete game is typically between 105 and 125 or so pitches. Eventually, I received a text from my brother Scott, wanting to know what the (heck) was going on. He followed that up later with “I think it is time to find something else to do in Denver.”

The game dragged on long enough that I got cold enough to go to the team store and overpay for a blanket. I brought home a lovely fleece Colorado Rockies blanket. While wearing the blanket wrapped around me on my way back to our hotel, I felt like my own kind didn’t recognize me, because I looked more like a Rockies fan than a Cardinals fan.

The Cardinals ended up losing 15-4. Based on the score and the weather, I wondered if we had taken a wrong turn somewhere and ended up at a Denver Broncos game.

The fountains come on after a Rockies home run or a Rockies victory.

Sunday Game

On Sunday, Elaine & I took a rather long walk around the downtown Denver area. We probably walked at least 3 miles total. Then we met up with some friends of mine, Chris & Mary, for lunch. Chris & Mary are on a multi-purpose trip out west. They went to the Sunday game, then were headed for Cheyenne, Wyoming. They are going to take in Yellowstone and Mount Rushmore as well. We all ate lunch at a sports bar, The Sports Column. I had really good sweet potato fries with jalapeno catsup. I wasn’t sure I’d like the catsup, but surprisingly, it tasted more sweet than spicy.

Sunday was Military Appreciation Day. I thoroughly enjoyed the entire pregame ceremony, but found myself in tears of gratitude and pride. A group that trains dogs to assist soldiers returning to civilian life was honored. A group of Purple Heart recipients was also honored. A country music artist, Kory Brunson, performed a song titled, “We Know You’re Out There”. It was beautiful. On the video board, an assortment of photos of veterans, children, and other patriotic images was shown. Eventually, specific soldiers were honored on the board, including a local soldier killed in action, Pat Fitzgerald (the Arizona NFL player killed in action, and Seals Team VI. There was thunderous applause. There was also a missing man formation flyover.

The game was probably the best game of the weekend for a true baseball fan. It was not a blowout. It was a close game that kept the outcome in question the entire time. Losing 4-2 in the 9th inning, the Rockies scored a run to narrow the lead to 1 run. Then, with Eric Young Jr. & Dexter Fowler on base and two outs, Carlos Gonzalez hit a long foul down the left field line. Daniel Descalso, playing third, sprinted hard, just getting to the ball in time, but was unable to keep it in his glove. If he’d caught it, the game would have been over. Fortunately, he eventually hit a ground out to the shortstop, but it made for an exciting ending, with fans of both teams on their feet.

After the game, we walked over to The Cheesecake Factory for supper. Though St. Louis has one, I’ve never eaten at one before. After Sunday’s experience, I’ve decided it’s a good thing there isn’t one in Springfield. It’s T-H-A-T good. Next time, I’m skipping my meal and going right for dessert. The menu is a BOOK that takes several minutes to read. The dessert section alone is 3 pages long. The cheesecake I selected was a Red Velvet & White Chocolate one. It had two layers of red velvet cake and two layers of vanilla bean cheesecake – soooo creamy. It was adorned with real whipped cream. Good thing Elaine & I had done all of that walking in the morning.

Pictures from our walk:
I liked the artistic way someone decorated the fence around the construction.

The project isn't schedule for completion until 2016.

This is "My Brother's Bar" and it was featured on the Food Network.

Pictures from Pregame (Military Appreciation Day):

Pictures from the game:
Military Helicopter Flyover

Similar to the sausage races in Milwaukee, Colorado has a goofy face between innings. However, instead of people in costumes, it's video game style.

Memorial Day Weekend

2011-05-31T11:07:00.003-05:00

With Mom & Dad each taking an adult trip (two different directions) this weekend, Preston & Shaling spent the weekend at Grandma & Grandpa's house in Carlinville. Their weekend began when I met my mother in a parking lot near where she had been doing some shopping here in Springfield last Thursday night. As soon as Shaling saw my mom's car, she began shrieking, "Grandma's CAR! Grandma, Grandma, Grandma...I like Grandma." As I mentioned on Facebook last Friday, if I for even one second had concerns about how Shaling would do with extended family, I wasted that second.

On Saturday, Preston spent some time with Aunt Joanna & Grandpa while Shaling accompanied my mom and aunt to an annual strawberry festival -- craft booths, kettle corn, tours of an old mansion & old schoolhouse, down-home cooking, and of course, strawberry shortcake (and much more). Shaling talked my mother into buying me a St. Louis Cardinals necklace, as well as necklaces for her (her initial 'S') and Preston (Chicago Cubs). She also enjoyed a pony ride:

Mom also purchased a used bike. She already had ONE, but both kids wanted to ride bikes at the same time at Grandma's house.

I asked her if the kids were being spoiled and was told no.

On Sunday, my mom & her friend Shelley, my two kids, my ~~cousin's daughter~~ niece Maggie, my aunt & uncle, their son & daughter-in-law, and their 3 kids, all went to Grant's Farm in St. Louis. There is much to see there, but I think Shaling was especially impressed with the Clydesdale horses.

My parents had been working for awhile at getting their pool open for the summer season -- getting the right chemical balance, water-sealing their deck, etc. Monday morning, it was nearly ready for swimming. Preston spent the morning helping Grandma put all of the furniture (umbrella table & 4 chairs, some lounge chairs & small tables, some trunks for holding towels & pool toys) back on the deck, plus getting out all of the cushions. He also did the pool vacuuming for her.

Then, both kids got in a lot of swim time, though apparently Shaling thought the water was C-O-L-D. By the time I picked them up Monday afternoon, I think they both grew about six inches. I was quite ready to see them, and I was pleasantly surprised to find that both kids were ready to go home, even Shaling, my little Grandma-magnet.

2011-05-29T21:06:00.002-05:00

This artist, Kory Brunson, performed this song live at Coors Field before the Cardinals-Rockies game today (I'm in Denver for the weekend on my annual girls-only baseball trip). They did a marvelous military tribute. Though I'd never heard this song before, it reduced me to tears, especially combined with the sight of numerous uniformed military men & women on the field. Way to go Denver! You definitely showed your appreciation.

America vs. China

2011-05-26T13:30:00.001-05:00

Once in awhile, someone asks Shaling if she likes America better or China better. During the first few weeks home, she didn't understand the question. I would feel a bit defensive on her behalf, and explain that I suspected she probably she still liked China better, though she was adapting far better than our expectations. I would tell them to imagine her experience as being similar to a kidnapping, as we brought her half-way around the world; taking her away from everything she knew: food, smells, landscape, etiquette, language, people that looked like her, rules, etc.

I think sometimes it's easy to romanticize and think that we were "saving" her by taking her away from the orphanage and giving her a home and family. The word orphanage I think provokes a connotation of a dreary place, in the sense of Miss Hannigan and Little Orphan Annie. In Shaling's case, the orphanage was a clean and lively place, filled with her friends. She was exceptionally close to a couple of the caregivers, referring to them as her "Chinese Mom" and "Chinese Dad" or even her "really big sisters" or "really big brothers". I don't think she was unhappy at all.

That being said, as an orphan in China, her life options (education, jobs, marriage, etc.) would have been severely limited. In the end, coming to America and having a family and unlimited educational opportunies is definitely a good thing. I'm just not sure how realistic it is to expect a 9-year-old to comprehend that idea when she's leaving so many loved ones and "normalcy" (for her) behind.

When her English became good enough that she understood the "America vs China" question she replied, "China". I think often the question-asker was a bit startled and looked to me to see if I was hurt at all by the response. The truth is,
NOT

AT

ALL

She lived in China for 9+ years. She's lived in America for 4.5 months. She is happy; she has bonded with us; she is a blessing; she makes our family feel complete. I also know that she truly likes America even if she still feels that her heart is in her homeland.

Well, this week, for some reason, Brock asked her if she liked America or China better. For the first time, she said America. She also followed that up with telling us that Guanghui (one of her "big brothers" from the orphanage that recently arrived in Rochester) likes America too. The truth is, I expected it to take longer than this for her answer to change (and was prepared for the idea that it might never change). I also suspect that the next time she gets in trouble at home, China will suddenly be the preferred country of residence again. All of that being said, it is a cool feeling to know that America has obtained a large portion of her heart.

I do have one unrelated picture to share. On Tuesday, she saw Brock mowing the lawn and enthusiastically ~~demanded~~ asked to learn how to do it. I took a picture, because I thought it looked a bit funny. Since a mower CAN be dangerous and she's still so young, after he taught her what to do, he didn't just let her go. He stayed walking close behind. However, it appeared more like he was breaking child labor laws.

Unexpected Story

2011-05-25T11:43:00.004-05:00

One day last week, I was driving home from ~~softball practice~~ ~~a friend's house~~ ~~church~~ I can't remember where with Shaling in the back seat. As a I turned a corner, I saw a rabbit hopping across the road. Thinking Shaling would like to see a cute little fluffy bunny, I said, "Look, Shaling, a rabbit." We then had a mostly one-sided conversation that went like this:

"Yeah! Rabbit!"

"Mom, rabbit fast."

"Yes, the rabbit is fast."

"Really, really fast."

"Yes."

"Turtle slow."

At this point, I smiled as I realized that she must know the popular children's story. We missed out on the time of her childhood when we would have held her on our laps and read to her the most often. I know there will be times in her life that she'll hear someone reference a well-known fairy tale, but she won't be familiar with it. It is one of the numerous things I knew we were sacrificing when we decided to adopt an older child. I don't regret it for a ~~minute~~ nanosecond.

"Yes, turtle slow."

"Turtle win."

"Yes, the turtle wins."

"Rabbit sleeping."

I giggled and said, "Yes, the rabbit was sleeping. Very good, Shaling."

Now, if you've ever learned a foreign language, think about how well you'd mastered that language 4 1/2 months into your learning. Would you have been able to so effectively convey a story in that language that you'd read in English?

I know her grammar wasn't ideal, but she knew the words rabbit, turtle, win, sleeping, fast, slow...quite a variety...and didn't have to use any reference books. AND, to be honest, from reviewing her tests, she probably would be able to spell several of them correctly.

Yes, I'm bragging, but mostly I'm just pointing out that often Shaling (like countless other children adopted at an older age) does something that may seem simple on the surface, but upon review is actually quite impressive.

Silly American Mom

2011-05-23T09:08:00.003-05:00

Last night, my dad and a friend (Mike) drove up from Carlinville to help us tear out some old carpet and pop off baseboard as we prepare for new carpet in our bedrooms and a new kitchen floor. So, we took them out to eat at Golden Corral buffet. As usual, Shaling downed several bowls of soup, but also ate a plate of other items, including some ham, which she kept telling us was "really, really good". She also ventured out of her comfort zone and bravely requested to sample a bit of my sirloin.

Eventually, she ventured over to the dessert bar. I followed shortly thereafter. As I walked past her, she was juggling a bowl of gummy bears, a bowl of "fruit salad" candy, AND a full ice cream cone. I was impressed with her coordination, and exclaimed, "Oh, boy!"

She kept walking, but after several feet, did a u-turn. She walked up to me and ~~just in case I forgot~~ oh, so helpfully reminded me, "I not boy. I girl."

Yeah.

Not being familiar with American slang, idioms, exclamations, etc., when she heard "oh, boy" come out of my mouth, I guess she thought I forgot her gender.

Yep, Mom is just that ~~stupid~~ ~~forgetful~~ silly.

On another note, she got to spend the early part of Sunday afternoon with her Chinese "big brothers", Xiaoxiong & Guanghui Stengel. They took her along to a church-sponsored lunch & fun at The Incredible Pizza Company. Lynne (Mom Stengel) tells me that Shaling ate several bowls of soup (of course!). The kids then had a blast playing all sorts of games.

When they brought her home, she & Guanghui jumped on our trampoline for a bit, rattling away in Chinese. It is so good in so many ways for all 3 of the kids to have each other so close, but I'm also hoping that they will be able to help each other retain their Chinese language.

Banks & Bangs

2011-05-19T09:15:00.000-05:00

Yesterday afternoon, Preston came up to me and whispered conspiratorially, "Mom, I gave Shaling $10 because she gets the mail and does other things, so I thought she deserved a week's worth of my allowance." My chest swelled up with pride that he would think to do such a thing. I also felt a tinge of guilt that perhaps we had waited to long to get Shaling's allowance going.

A couple of years ago, we began giving Preston $10 a week in allowance. $5 was automatically deposited in his savings account each Friday and we gave him $5 cash. In return, he had to give $1 to Sunday school each week out of his own money. A year ago or so, he asked us to please start putting ALL of his allowance in the bank so he could save it faster.

For several reasons, we didn't get Shaling set up with an allowance right away. We didn't have a savings account for her, because we needed her Social Security number. We figured there was plenty of English she needed to learn before we explained the words allowance and bank to her. We needed to make sure we could get her to at least partially understand the value of a dollar first.

We got Shaling set up with a savings account as soon as we received her SSN (late February/early March). She received some cash at Valentine's Day and Easter (and at her open house). So she has some starter money in there. What Preston didn't realize was that a couple of weeks ago, we went ahead and started putting $10 in her account every Friday as well. He didn't know it, because we hadn't told her yet.

His generous gesture last night spurred us into going to our old friend, Google Translate, and explaining the concept of a bank and an allowance to Shaling. I then went online to her savings account and showed her the beginning balance and first two $10 deposits. She was very excited!

Also, I took Preston to get a long overdue haircut last night. We always go quite short for the summer. While we were there, Shaling decided that she wanted to wear bangs. Here are the finished products:

Ask & Ye Shall Receive: Here Are the Pictures!

2011-05-18T16:33:00.003-05:00

We Finally Played Our First Softball Game!

2011-05-18T14:44:00.003-05:00

Last night, Shaling's softball team finally got to play a game. The game was in Chatham and against an impressive Chatham team that already had a few games under their belts. The Chatham girls were a lot bigger than our Rochester girls, and this mom has to confess that when she saw them, she had visions of a lopsided ~~drubbing~~ final score.

This league plays 4 innings. No extra innings. If it's a tie, it's a tie. There are 4 outfielders, plus the battery (pitcher & catcher) and regular infielders (first base, second base, third base, & shortstop), so 10 girls are on the field at a time. Each girl was assigned a position for 2 innings in order to mix things up.

Shaling was in the outfield the first two innings, though I use the word "outfield" very loosely, as our outfielders played so shallow they were almost on the infield dirt. She played catcher the last two innings and I was quite ~~nervous~~ excited for her. I wasn't sure if she fully understood all of the catcher's responsibilities, but I did know that she would be quite aggressive about going after the ball. She did great about grabbing the high pitches and stopping the low ones, but the ones that were off to the side tended to get by her. Her throws back to the pitcher were good as well (once we convinced her she could stand up to throw it back).

I was in the dugout, keeping the scorebook. The umpire assumed I was on the coaching staff. She (the umpire) called me out to help her convince Shaling not to scoot back. Shaling kept scooting back, little by little, to the point the umpire was almost in the grass and couldn't see to make ball & strike calls. Who can blame her for not wanting to be close to anyone swinging a ~~dangerous weapon~~ bat?

In the first inning, our team went down one-two-three. The Chatham girls got two hits, but made the third out with runners on first and third, so they didn't score either. When Shaling came up to bat in the second inning, her team had one out and still hadn't reached base. She kept her eye on the ball well and didn't swing at any bad pitches. However, when she swung at two good pitches, she missed them. When she swung at a third one, she made contact, but the ball only went about 5 or 6 feet. However, it stayed fair and she ran it out, reaching first base safely. I think we need to talk to her about turning to her right instead of her left after she passes the base though.

Rochester didn't score that inning, and neither did Chatham. However, in the third inning, Rochester scored a run, going up 1-0. Chatham responded by scoring two runs in the bottom of the inning, going up 2-1. In the top of the 4th, Rochester scored a run to tie it up. Shaling went to the plate with two outs and two runners on base. However, she was not as selective with the pitches this at-bat. In fact, her second strike, she went "golfing", swinging at a pitch almost in the dirt. She struck out, leaving the runners stranded. Thankfully, Chatham did NOT score in the bottom of the 4th, so we tied, 2-2. Considering it was our team's first game, I was thrilled for the girls. They played well, learned, had fun, and got the nervousness that goes with a first game out of their system (or, maybe that was me that got the nervousness out of her system).

Shaling had some special spectators present. Grandma Coonrod (my mom) was able to stop by and watch the game on her way home to Carlinville, after having worked in Springfield for the day. Shaling's teacher, Mrs. Collins, has more than one student on the team and she stopped by for some of the game. A friend of mine, Dave Milner, came specifically to take pictures of Shaling's first game. Dave takes pictures at a lot of the Rochester high school and junior high athletic events as a hobby. He is generous enough to share those photos with the local newspaper.

Dave posted ten pictures of Shaling playing softball on Facebook and tagged me in them so that my family and friends can see them. However, I don't have a way to upload those pictures here. Hopefully I can either get him to email some to me or I will take some of my own next game.

It's Raining, It's Pouring

2011-05-16T09:50:00.003-05:00

Shaling loves to be outside, whether it be jumping on our trampoline with Preston and neighbor kids, or riding her bicycle up and down the block. Heck, she even takes the neighbor's dog for a ~~walk~~ run once in awhile. Well, this rain has been putting a crimp in her style. On Friday, it did so in a big way.

Her first softball game was scheduled for 6:00 Friday evening. I'm not sure she entirely understands the difference between practice and game. To her, just getting to toss & catch, bat the ball, and run the bases is fun, whether there is a score being kept or not. However, she was aware that she was supposed to wear her uniform Friday, because immediately up arriving home from school, she went upstairs and put on her knee-high green and white striped socks, her green t-shirt, and her black visor. She proudly paraded into the kitchen, proclaiming how cool she looked in her visor and turning around to show me the back of her shirt, pointing at it and saying "one". She apparently is thrilled to be #1 ~~daughter~~ on the roster.

My parents drove up from Carlinville (roughly a 50-minute drive), bringing along my Grandma and my Aunt Donna, to see the game. We watched the girls go through their warm-up drills, giggling and ready to play. Then, right at game time, the rain came swooping in. It wasn't heavy, but it was steady, and there had been a bit of thunder and lightning as well. So, the game was called off. It was the right call to make, but I was disappointed for Shaling and all of the girls, as they were definitely ready to take the field.

We did end up having a great meal with my family at a local restaurant (Top Cats), so at least their drive up wasn't a bust, but it would have been so much nicer if they could have seen her game too. She has a practice tonight and her next game is scheduled for tomorrow (Tuesday) at 6:00 p.m. in Chatham.

Well, the rain kept up for much of the weekend, so we had to do stay indoors. On Saturday, I took the kids to see "Soul Surfer". It is based on the true story of Bethany Hamilton. You may remember the news stories from when she was 14-years-old and attacked by a shark. She was an extremely talented competitive surfer and lost her left arm in the attack. She eventually worked her way back up the competiting surfing circuit and is now a professonal surfer. The movie kept the story "real" -- showing her pitfalls AND her toughness. It also incorporated her faith in God in a believable way.

Go.

See.

It.

After Sunday school and church on Sunday, all four of us went to Carlinville for the afternoon. We met my dad and stepmom, along with a niece and nephew, at a Chinese restaurant on the square. The owner there has met Shaling and has actually sent food home with my mom for her several times. Shaling enjoys getting to speak Mandarin with them. The food there is delicious and we ate well...some of us perhaps too well.

Then, we attended a band "pops" concert. This one was special. The band director is retiring. His first year at Carlinville coincided with my freshman year of school. He had a lot to do with me continuing on with my music, eventually becoming a member of the Marching Illini at U of I, which is how I met Brock. Had I not met Brock, I wouldn't have either of my kids. The fun part for me was being part of a handful of guests who got to join the high school band for the last two songs of the performance. I got to play my school song and shout out "C-A-R-L-I-N-V-I-L-L-E, RAH!" and for a few minutes, I felt like I was 14 instead of 40.

It was so cute between songs when I looked out at the audience and saw Preston and Shaling waving at me and giving me thumbs up signs. That reminded me that I was 40 and not 14, and also reminded me that it isn't so bad being 40...in fact, it's really quite GOOD.

When we arrived home, Shaling turned on the television and began to watch a recorded cartoon that she had begun to watch earlier in the day. However, after a few minutes, she changed her mind and for the first time since probably February, she popped in a DVD that we brought home from China with us. It has episodes of a popular cartoon in China titled "The Happy Lamb" or "The Pleasant Goat". It was fun listening to her sing along in Chinese as she watched.

However, for many reasons I'm still ready for this rain to go away, and I'm sure she is as well.

Big Brother vs Friend

2011-05-10T12:50:00.000-05:00

In conversation, Shaling has told us that Preston is her friend, not her brother. In her mind, the two boys from her orphanage that arrived in Rochester a couple of weeks ago are her big brothers (or ge-ge, which is Chinese for older brother). She always seemed quite firm on this matter, but was not mean or hateful when she said it. I assumed perhaps she was just confused...perhaps not fully absorbing that they are in fact now siblings. We are definitely Mom & Dad and the kids get along fanstastically, so we chose not to push the issue. We figure that over time, it will work itself out. Besides, Preston was quite happy and proud to have her call him "friend."

Last Friday, Shaling had a friend named Katie over to play. At some point during the evening, Shaling showed her dad an open wound on her lip. Her lips have dried out enough that she has a small sore and it was bleeding a bit. Teasingly, Brock asked her, "Did Katie hit you?"

Shaling said, "No, Katie my friend."

Brock asked, "Did Preston hit you?"

Shaling said, "No, Preston my ge-ge."

Mildly, but happily surprised, Brock asked, "Is Preston your friend or your ge-ge?"

Shaling said, "Preston my friend AND my ge-ge."

Brock tells me that Preston just grinned from ear-to-ear.

Video: Preston & Shaling Share Ramen Noodles

2011-05-09T15:45:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago, I taught Preston how to cook Ramen noodles. Both kids love them and frankly, I was getting tired of cooking them. He's old enough to start learning to cook, and what is easier than Ramen noodles? It takes 3 steps and if you forget the steps, they're printed for you on EVERY package.

A now-frequent occurrence in our household is Shaling asking for "noodle soup" and Preston saying, "I'll fix it for you Shaling." He will then make Ramen noodles for the two of them. One caveat - instead of using two bowls, he pours them all into one bowl and they sit down at the table, each with their own utensils, and share the "noodle soup". It is a ~~ridiculous mess~~ beautiful sight to behold.

On Friday, Brock snagged a video of them sharing their noodles (Just a reminder -- if you receive my blog updates via email, you will have to go TO my blog to see this video. They don't attach to or embed in the emails like the pictures do.):

Preston & Shaling Share Ramen Noodles from Amy Reynolds on Vimeo.

Mother's Day - with a son AND a daughter!

2011-05-09T10:35:00.014-05:00

Mother's Day, Father's Day, Valentine's Day, etc. are all usually low-key around our household because Brock & I are ~~cheap~~ ~~cynical~~ ~~old fogeys~~ lame. However, 2011 brought me an extraordinarily special Mother's Day. Shaling came home from school early in the week and asked me about Mother's Day. I told her it was Sunday. She furiously began drawing a picture and protected it with her arms if I happened to walk in the room. She asked me how to spell several words (including my name, but as you'll see in the picture to follow, she apparently heard me say "N" instead of "M", so I'm "Mom Any"). She reminded me firmly (several times) that I could not have it until Sunday.

She even went looking and found an empty envelope to use -- an envelope with a return address of a radio station group from which we'd bought some auction items. She's got the recycling thing down pat, I guess! She also told me she was giving me money. She thinks any plastic card the size of a credit card is money, so I was curious to see just what sort of "money" I was going to receive.

By the time Sunday came around, I received the following lovely cards:

From Preston & Shaling together:

Preston also made me a card on the computer and a gift at school. Make sure you check out the words on the card (you can click on any image to make it bigger). I like how he says that I say yes to everything he asks. I'm trying to figure out if that's short term memory, an attempt to work me over, or amnesia. On the gift, he painted the letters "ILUMP". This is a pet phrase of his that he developed over time.

Several years ago, he would tell us "I love you" as he went to bed or one of us left, etc.

Brock would say "I love you more".

Preston would say "I love you most."

Brock would say "No, I love you most."

Preston would get perturbed because he'd already said most, so he started saying "I love you most, PERIOD." It was his end all phrase. He eventually shortened it to just the first letters, "ILUMP".

Here is Shaling's card. As you can see, the money she gave me was not a plastic card. She actually gave me $5 cold hard cash (or as she calls it, "five money"). She received several Valentine's Day & Easter cards from family members that included money. So I'm guessing she thinks you should include money when you give someone a card.

Finally, Shaling created a booklet for me at school. I am quite certain that no other mother has a booklet quite like mine.

The Cover

Her choice for "H" is pretty special to me, despite the fact that I believe she had quite a bit of help with this project.

So apparently, I'm quite attractive behind the wheel of a car.

And that's just what she gave me.

Ah yes, for Mother's Day, she wants to thank me because she likes Grandma & Grandpa. I don't feel jilted in the least. All kidding aside, I think it's awesome.

The funniest thing about me is that I'm funny. I can live with that.

Interchange the word "say" for the word "safe" throughout her paragraph. Of course, the pictures, the hugs, the flowers all touch my heart.

I also received artificial floral arrangements that the kids each made out of tissue paper in Sunday school. They are beautiful. And, following church, all moms were given flowers to plant at home. We ate at a Chinese restaurant (Tai Pan) for lunch, then I met my own mom at the mall and treated her to a manicure & pedicure as her Mother's Day gift. We enjoyed the time together. Brock took the kids grocery shopping. I also got to sneak in about a 1-hour nap before Brock & I tackled a bit of yard work (didn't get everything done that I wanted, but the nap was so worth it). We ended the day by eating at a new favorite Italian restaurant (Shepardo's).

Mother-Daughter Road Trip

2011-05-03T09:10:00.001-05:00

Saturday morning, Shaling & I drove to Fairfield, Illinois (about a 3-hour drive) and followed that up Sunday by driving to Sullivan, Illinois. Our road trip consisted almost entirely of state highways…we didn’t get on an interstate at all on Saturday and only for the last 35 miles on Sunday. We drove on Route 29, Route 16, Route 128, Route 33, Route 45, Route 32, Route 36, and finally I-72. We saw lots of farms, cows, horses, trees, and flooding. It was quite apparent that the southern parts of the state fared worse than we did here in the Springfield area with all of the rain we got in April.

Though Shaling’s English has progressed by leaps & bounds, she hasn’t quite mastered the ~~dreaded~~ popular childhood phrase, “Are we there yet?” Oh, but rest assured…she has her own personal version of this particular parent pet peeve.

About 30 minutes down the road, she asked me, “5 more minutes?”

I told her no, that it would be more like 2 ½ hours. She responded with a disgusted and indignant, “What!?”

Every 10 minutes or so, we would repeat this routine.

“5 more minutes?”

“No, 2 hours.”

“What!?”

I did catch a break when she fell asleep for about an hour of the Saturday trip and nearly two hours of the Sunday trip. We discovered that she likes the egg sandwiches at Subway, but definitely NOT with their southwest sauce. She also likes their sweet tea (which surprised me, because she drinks her hot tea plain). She LOVES the grilled chicken sandwich from Wendy’s, even with their sauce. In fact, she wanted me to turn around and drive back 10 miles to get her a second one (that didn’t happen).

Our primary destination on Saturday was my youngest sister’s house. Aunt Nena & Uncle Bob have two adorable little redheads, Reaghan (5-years-old) and Kayden (almost 4-years-old). Grandma & Grandpa Barkley (my dad & stepmom) drove over from Carlinville as well, bringing along Aunt Heather & Uncle Shane’s kids, McKenzie (nearly 13-years-old) and Chase (8-years-old).

Chase’s presence was a surprise, or else we would have brought Preston along on the trip as well. Mom was thinking it was going to be an all-girls weekend. It was awesome he was there…this was the most time he and Shaling had ever spent together and they got along smashingly…~~getting filthy in the mud~~ playing in the backyard for hours.

McKenzie was a big help with all of the younger kids, especially when it came to helping Grandma and Aunt Nena get Reaghan and Kayden ready for their dance recital. Their hair was partially braided and pulled back into ponytails and they got to wear make-up. I failed to get any pictures of all of the cousins on my camera and have been patiently waiting for Aunt Nena to share hers. When she does, I will post them here.

Shaling attended the dance recital (and I’m told she loved it) and then everyone went out to eat at a Chinese buffet. They tell me she worked hard trying to teach her cousins how to use chopsticks, giggling at their failed efforts. Chase eventually just stabbed his food and Grandpa pretended to have mastered the art by showing off a skewer of food and bragging about his “success”. Shaling noticed that Aunt Nena (who isn’t much of a fan of Chinese food) wasn’t eating anything, so she took it upon herself to go get a plate of shrimp and a bowl of egg drop soup and give it to Aunt Nena.

I missed all of the above fun, because I went to a trivia night fundraiser that evening with a couple of my friends that live in that area. I had a great time…though we played with only half a team (4 people, and most teams were 8 people strong), I believe we came in 6th out of 20 teams. When I returned to Bob & Nena’s house, nearly everyone was asleep…of course the one person still awake was my daughter. Chase & Shaling were lying on the floor in the living room, with McKenzie on the couch. The television was on and Shaling was watching it, but Chase & McKenzie were fast asleep. It was nearly 12:30, so I grabbed the remote and despite Shaling’s protests, turned off the television. I believe this had a lot to do with her sleeping so much longer in the car on Sunday.

On Sunday, we went to a baby shower at Jibby’s in Sullivan for my cousin Alison. Of all the grandchildren my mom’s mom had, I was the oldest and Alison the youngest. My grandma would have loved to have been there (she passed away in 2003) and we all thought of her during the shower. She would have oohed and aahed at all of the fabulous gifts Alison received. Shaling enjoyed playing and coloring with several other girls at the shower, including my cousin Jennifer’s daughter, Shaelyn. Yes, we have a Shaling and a Shaelyn. Yes, it can cause some tongue twisting. Shaling also enjoyed ~~getting spoiled by~~ spending time with Grandma Coonrod (my mom) and once again, told me she wanted to go home with Grandma.

The drive home from Sullivan is between 75 and 80 minutes. No less than a minimum of six times, I heard:

“5 more minutes?”

Followed up by a:

“What!?”

When it finally was “5 more minutes” and I told her, I think she held a celebratory parade in the back seat of my Honda Civic.

Easter Pictures (Thank You, Grandma)

2011-04-26T09:06:00.007-05:00

A big thank you to Grandma & Grandpa, who emailed me some Easter pictures last night so I could show off my handsome boy & beautiful girl.

Shaling's First Easter

2011-04-25T09:21:00.003-05:00

Shaling & Preston spent the weekend with Grandma & Grandpa. They don't have school today, so that was done partially to allow Mom & Dad NOT to have to take off work. Thanks to Grandma & Grandpa wanting to have the kids for the whole weekend and not just one night, Mom & Dad to the opportunity to have a partial getaway weekend. Our first time together just the two of us since well before we started down the adoption path.

We spent Friday & Saturday in St. Louis, then met back up with the entire family (including the kids) at my aunt & uncle's house in the country near Carlinville. Despite the fact that I'd sent clean and church appropriate clothes for the kids, they were both dressed in brand new outfits thanks to Grandma's ~~shopping addiction~~ generosity. I stupidly forgot my camera, so I don't have a photo to include right now (hoping Grandma & Grandpa got some to send to me).

A farm is a great place for Easter Egg Hunts, so we hid a number of plastic eggs all over the backyard. We left them empty because we knew it was going to rain. However, the Easter Bunny was well-prepared. He left treat bags inside for the kids to receive when they brought in the empty eggs. I took a couple of videos with my phone. It had already started to rain, so I didn't venture out too far in the yard, as I didn't want to ~~get caught in the mud in my heels~~ ruin the phone. Therefore, the second video shows the kids fairly far away. I do think it's cute to watch at the very end of the video how one of the cats is chasing Shaling along. For those of you old enough to remember the 1980s, my Aunt Ann's cats are named Crockett & Tubbs. Name that television show!

I hope all our family and friends (those we know in person and those we know "virtually") had a lovely Easter. This year especially I'm feeling quite thankful that Jesus Christ our Savior died and rose again to relieve me of my sinful burden. I am also quite thankful for His blessing us with both of our kids.

Easter Egg Hunt 2011 from Amy Reynolds on Vimeo.

Easter Egg Hunt 2011, Video 2 from Amy Reynolds on Vimeo.