It's hard to believe there's only 16 more days until school starts again! This summer has sure gone by fast. But...I will say I am ready to get back on the routine AND get back to work. OK, I know that sounds weird. Two and a half months with 2 boys who are bored to death and a toddler who doesn't speak much English...going back to work sounds pretty nice. Only part time though. Alanna will be going to a pre-k/daycare M,W,F and hopefully getting some speech therapy there as well. I think she is missing the classroom setting and all her friends, so I'm sure she'll love it. The day we toured the school, she said "bye, bye mama" and was ready to stay right then. Plus they have a lot more toys there than we do at home. How fun is that!
Alanna is learning a lot of new words and communicating a little better each week. She still likes to carry a conversation with just about anyone. Maybe she's hoping to find someone who will talk back to her...in Chinese. It's a little awkward when we are in the store waiting in line and she will start talking to the person behind us...in Chinese of course. They just look a me, waiting for the translation. Sorry, wu bu dong (I don't understand either)!
Her favorite new saying is "I'm hungry!" People must think I never feed her, because she'll ask for food ALL DAY LONG. She has even awaken in the middle of the night crying "I want turkey! I want food!". She is by no means starving in this house! She has managed to shed a little of her protruding belly, now that she is eating normal portions for a 3 year old.
Words Alanna has learned:
The bedtime prayer "I now I lay me down to sleep..."
God wants me to have courage to obey (this was a memory verse from church)
A, B, C, D, 1-10, yellow, red, blue, green, circle, nose
I'm hungry, I'm tired, wait, see you later, help please, a little bit
turkey, salsa (we love Mexican food), cereal
Words Alanna is working on:
I love you (not so good at the "v" sound, it comes out as "I like you")
milk (sounds more like nyuck)
pool (sounds more like "cool")
Monday, July 21, 2008
Friday, July 4, 2008
July 4th
Waiting for the 4th of July parade
Eagerly waiting for some bubba tong (candy). Alanna thought this was pretty cool that people drove by and threw out candy!
Rob & Alanna just got blasted with a water gun. It was pretty hot out, so they kind of enjoyed it!
Thursday, July 3, 2008
More photos
Holden (9 yrs) and Braden (12 yrs)One of the things they are liking about going to public school is the fact that they can now grow their hair out a little longer. As long as they keep it combed and not looking like a bedhead, I'm ok with it.
Holden, Alanna & BradenAlanna experienced her first birthday celebration for Braden.
My baby is a pre-teen!
My oldest son, Braden, celebrated his 12th birthday today! We spent the day at Splash in the Boro waterpark. This year, he opted to skip the birthday present and just take the cash. He's trying to save up for Guitar Hero 4. Braden has also been working this summer mowing a few lawns and working with his dad in our business when the job allows. We're still working the Dave Ramsey budget and trying to teach our boys to plan and budget as well, so...we're encouraging him to start saving NOW for his first car. DID I SAY CAR!!? Only 4 more years and he'll be driving!
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Camping Adventure
We just returned from our first camping adventure with Alanna in tow! Five families from our Home Group (Bible study group) joined us at Stone Mountain Park Campground for 5 days of camping and to go to Atlanta Fest. This was a 3 day music festival of Christian artists. We only attended the concert one day, but enjoyed hanging out at the camp the rest of the time.
This is the veiw from our campsite.
The boys doing some fishing with bread. They caught enough brim for us to have some lunch!
Alanna, observing the action. I think this was before she took a tumble down the hill at our campsite.
Enjoying some good ol' Hersheys and marshmallows. They couldn't wait until the campfire!
This is at Stone Mountain Park. The boys are on the Sky Hike, which is a large adventure course. It took them 1 hour in line and 1 hour on the course!
I checked out the glass blowing demonstration while Alanna took a short nap. She quickly discovered the playground!
We then took a Swiss cable car to the top of Stone Mountain.
Here's Alanna jamming to Toby Mac. She LOVED the music! I will tell you when this girl gets tired, she gets pretty goofy and starts doing sommersaults. She tried this at home while we had all our camping gear on the floor. She managed to roll right over the fishing poles and got a hook stuck in the side of her shirt. I had to cut a small hole in her shirt to get it out. Thankfully it didn't stick in her side!
Sorry to say, my camera battery died at this point. I am usually a good planner and pack everything we could possibly need, but that didn't happen on this trip. This was not our normal camping trip. I felt like I spent all my time keeping an eye on Alanna. She doesn't pay much attention to her surroundings and it seemed like she was falling down every 5 minutes! She also likes to just keep on walking when everyone else has stopped or gone in a different direction. I think she also greeted every camper she passed by! This doesn't make mom feel very comfortable, knowing she'll talk or walk away with anyone. Needing a few boundaries here!
So glad to be back home! Tomorrow, I send off Holden to church camp for 5 days.
This is the veiw from our campsite.
The boys doing some fishing with bread. They caught enough brim for us to have some lunch!
Alanna, observing the action. I think this was before she took a tumble down the hill at our campsite.
Enjoying some good ol' Hersheys and marshmallows. They couldn't wait until the campfire!
This is at Stone Mountain Park. The boys are on the Sky Hike, which is a large adventure course. It took them 1 hour in line and 1 hour on the course!
I checked out the glass blowing demonstration while Alanna took a short nap. She quickly discovered the playground!
We then took a Swiss cable car to the top of Stone Mountain.
Here's Alanna jamming to Toby Mac. She LOVED the music! I will tell you when this girl gets tired, she gets pretty goofy and starts doing sommersaults. She tried this at home while we had all our camping gear on the floor. She managed to roll right over the fishing poles and got a hook stuck in the side of her shirt. I had to cut a small hole in her shirt to get it out. Thankfully it didn't stick in her side!
Sorry to say, my camera battery died at this point. I am usually a good planner and pack everything we could possibly need, but that didn't happen on this trip. This was not our normal camping trip. I felt like I spent all my time keeping an eye on Alanna. She doesn't pay much attention to her surroundings and it seemed like she was falling down every 5 minutes! She also likes to just keep on walking when everyone else has stopped or gone in a different direction. I think she also greeted every camper she passed by! This doesn't make mom feel very comfortable, knowing she'll talk or walk away with anyone. Needing a few boundaries here!
So glad to be back home! Tomorrow, I send off Holden to church camp for 5 days.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
I'm still here!
Alanna and big brother Holden
OK, I know some of you are wondering what happened to me. I'm still here...just been a little pre-occupied with a certain 3 yr old named Alanna! I'm starting to get it together, so I'll fill you in on what's been happening in the Videon home.
Alanna is picking up English pretty quickly, but still a looong way to go to have effective communication between us. She's learned to say pray, amen, bike, swimming, too deep, work (that's where ba ba goes), school (where the boys go), doggie, yellow, drink, food, banana (her favorite), apple, lemonade, shoes, and her favorite...Elmo! It's a little funny because she adds "ah" to the end of everything, so it's more like drinkah, foodah, and shoesah. They boys are having fun teaching her words like amigo, cool and eewwww! Chick-fil-A was having a family night and she had a ladybug painted on her hand. The boys said it looked cool, so now she walks around lifting her hand up saying "Qingfang cool!" She can also count to 10 and we're working on Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. Give her a few more weeks and she'll have it down!
We've been hitting the pool at the Y every few days and she is LOVIN it! She wasn't too excited about the spray ground the first day though. Just last Friday I taught her how to go under water. She'll hold her nose and count to 3, then I dunk her under. By the time I pick her up out of the water, she's already counting again! She has a blast with ba ba. They both go under water and look at each other. She thinks that's pretty neat.
My husband Robert is by no means a quite person. He has one of those voices that just booms when he wants to be loud. Well, before we brought Alanna home, I cautioned him he may need to control his spontaneous moments of loudness in fear of startling our little girl. HA! God has a sense of humor and knows exactly what child will fit our family. Alanna is NOT a quiet little girl, at all! Occasionally, she'll miss her nap time when I'm out running errands. When that girl gets tired, she gets a little delirious, expressive...and loud. If I only knew what she was saying!! I really try to keep the naps on schedule!
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Riding on her own
Friends of ours generously gave us their daughters old bike. With a little tweaking and a new basket, compliments of our Bicycle Link friends, it looks brand new! The night we got home, the bike was sitting by the door, ready to go. As soon as I put down Alanna, she went straight over to the bike and got on. I had to push her around the house for awhile, as she refused to get off.
After a little help from ba ba and her brothers yesterday, she has learned how to pedal all by herself (with training wheels of course)! I can't say she's the best driver though. She looks at her feet, trying to concentrate on the pedaling part, so she doesn't pay attention to where she is going. Everytime I try to turn the bike to get her going the right direction, she says "mei you", which means "no". After a little practice, she learned how to pedal pretty fast, which is a little scary for me!
After a little help from ba ba and her brothers yesterday, she has learned how to pedal all by herself (with training wheels of course)! I can't say she's the best driver though. She looks at her feet, trying to concentrate on the pedaling part, so she doesn't pay attention to where she is going. Everytime I try to turn the bike to get her going the right direction, she says "mei you", which means "no". After a little practice, she learned how to pedal pretty fast, which is a little scary for me!
Monday, May 19, 2008
Walking in daddy's shoes
Alanna loves to dress up in ma ma's and ba ba's clothes. She's been parading around in Rob's shoes. She then came up to me with her sweet self "gulla gulla gulla" while trying to tickle me. (That's her version of saying "tickle tickle") How cute is she!?
As you can see, her hair braids only made it half the day. She loves to wear her hair down all wild and crazy looking.
My little helper
Bedtime has still been a struggle with many tears. If only I could understand what she was saying! Most of the time, it's "I want up!" or "No bedtime", but other than that, we're not making the connection. Fortunately, she stays in her bed, even though she's crying out. But, it's hard to know what the right reaction should be. Is she just afraid and need comforting? or is she just being a toddler that doesn't want to go to bed? Ma ma can't lay in her bed every night to get her to go to sleep. Definately an area we need to work on.
We ventured out for our first grocery shopping trip today. I was expecting Alanna to beg for everything she saw, especially on the candy isle, but she did pretty well. I did keep it pretty brief though. When we got home, she chipped right in with carrying in all the groceries, and not just one bag at a time. Wish my boys were as eager. Her foster family definately trained her well. A big THANK YOU!
Sunday, May 18, 2008
First day at church
I must say this is a day to remember. We actually made it to church early! I'm sure the fact that we are still suffering from jetlag and woke up at 5 am helped with that.
We decided that I would sit in Alanna's preschool class the first day, just to see how she reacted. She definately suprised me! She walked right into the class like she owned the place, sat down and dove right into the activities. I could see her concentrating on what was going on. She LOVED the praise music and joined in all the motions and jumped around. When her group sat down to play a game, a little boy in the group was misbehaving and kept stealing the game piece. She rattled off something in Chinese and shook her finger at him. She was also quick to put all the toys away when they were finished. (This will be very helpful at home!) She did better than some of the regular attenders! During the prayer, she even mimicked a few of the words. Guess ma ma gets to go to big church next weekend. YIPEE!
We decided that I would sit in Alanna's preschool class the first day, just to see how she reacted. She definately suprised me! She walked right into the class like she owned the place, sat down and dove right into the activities. I could see her concentrating on what was going on. She LOVED the praise music and joined in all the motions and jumped around. When her group sat down to play a game, a little boy in the group was misbehaving and kept stealing the game piece. She rattled off something in Chinese and shook her finger at him. She was also quick to put all the toys away when they were finished. (This will be very helpful at home!) She did better than some of the regular attenders! During the prayer, she even mimicked a few of the words. Guess ma ma gets to go to big church next weekend. YIPEE!
Friday, May 16, 2008
WE'RE HOME!
After about 28 hours of traveling, including 3 flights, we made it home to Savannah at 10:15 pm on Thursday. SO GLAD TO BE HOME!!!
Alanna did very well on the 13 hr flight. She slept most of the time. She did not like being seat belted in during landing and screamed on two of the flights. She also did not like being strapped in the stoller while we waited in line to go through customs...and again, screamed. We got a lot of stares, but at that point, I didn't really care. We were both tired and kind of used to being gaulked at.
The trip home was very exhausting. We left the hotel at 6am (6pm Wed eastern time), flew out of Guangzhou around 9am. It took us 30 minutes to get to the airport and all of the rest to just check in. Of course we had to pay luggage overage fees. We arrived in Beijing around noon, reclaimed our luggage, loaded it on a shuttle to travel to the international flight area, rechecked our luggage, passed security and boarded our flight to Newark. Thankfully they didn't charge us any fees this time. Once in Newark, we had to reclaim our luggage again, pass security, recheck our luggage then pass through customs. This is where we had to turn in our brown envelope from the China Consulate to allow Alanna to enter the country. She is now an official US citizen! HOORAY! Now, on another shuttle to our gate, pass security again and board our flight. No rest at all, even though we had almost a 3 hour layover. It was go, go, go from the minute we landed with no time to spare. Finally, the last flight to Savanah. Alanna slept again until I woke her to change her clothes. Thankfully, she usually wakes up happy.
We were met by our boys, Braden and Holden, and our friends Ed and Eric. What a relief to finally be home. Alanna has taken pretty well to the boys and calls them ge ge. I slept until noon, got up long enough to eat lunch, took a 3 hour nap with Alanna, got up to eat dinner and we'll be going to bed again soon. This weekend I'll be spending our time toddler proofing the house! I thought we had things ready, but not so! This girl is into everything!
I'll post more with pictures after getting some more rest. Zia Jian- bye bye for now!
Alanna did very well on the 13 hr flight. She slept most of the time. She did not like being seat belted in during landing and screamed on two of the flights. She also did not like being strapped in the stoller while we waited in line to go through customs...and again, screamed. We got a lot of stares, but at that point, I didn't really care. We were both tired and kind of used to being gaulked at.
The trip home was very exhausting. We left the hotel at 6am (6pm Wed eastern time), flew out of Guangzhou around 9am. It took us 30 minutes to get to the airport and all of the rest to just check in. Of course we had to pay luggage overage fees. We arrived in Beijing around noon, reclaimed our luggage, loaded it on a shuttle to travel to the international flight area, rechecked our luggage, passed security and boarded our flight to Newark. Thankfully they didn't charge us any fees this time. Once in Newark, we had to reclaim our luggage again, pass security, recheck our luggage then pass through customs. This is where we had to turn in our brown envelope from the China Consulate to allow Alanna to enter the country. She is now an official US citizen! HOORAY! Now, on another shuttle to our gate, pass security again and board our flight. No rest at all, even though we had almost a 3 hour layover. It was go, go, go from the minute we landed with no time to spare. Finally, the last flight to Savanah. Alanna slept again until I woke her to change her clothes. Thankfully, she usually wakes up happy.
We were met by our boys, Braden and Holden, and our friends Ed and Eric. What a relief to finally be home. Alanna has taken pretty well to the boys and calls them ge ge. I slept until noon, got up long enough to eat lunch, took a 3 hour nap with Alanna, got up to eat dinner and we'll be going to bed again soon. This weekend I'll be spending our time toddler proofing the house! I thought we had things ready, but not so! This girl is into everything!
I'll post more with pictures after getting some more rest. Zia Jian- bye bye for now!
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Packing up her toys and coming home!
Tomorrow is the last day in China. Boy time just flies! They will leave the hotel 6am Thurs Beijing time and arrive in Beijing around noon, then on to Newark and finally Savannah. HOORAY! Nancy is so ready to come home, but not looking forward to the loooong flight. Pray Alanna sleeps A LOT!
The consulate appointment went well. Afterwards they went to Shamian Island for a little more shopping.
Tomorrow is back to the consulate to say the oath to care for Alanna, pick up her visa and start packing to come home. Hopefully they will be able to fit everything they aquired while in China back into their suitcases.
Although they enjoyed the day, Nancy is pretty worn out. Alanna wants Nancy to carry her everywhere, even though they have a really nice stroller. When Nancy can get her to walk, she'd rather run. Zai pao! What a change of having a toddler around again. When I spoke with Rob & Nancy yesterday I was able to talk (not really) with Alanna. She sounds amazing, very confident, enthusiastic and cheerful. Not much longer until they are all home again. Keep them all in your prayers as the journey is truly just begining!
The consulate appointment went well. Afterwards they went to Shamian Island for a little more shopping.
Tomorrow is back to the consulate to say the oath to care for Alanna, pick up her visa and start packing to come home. Hopefully they will be able to fit everything they aquired while in China back into their suitcases.
Although they enjoyed the day, Nancy is pretty worn out. Alanna wants Nancy to carry her everywhere, even though they have a really nice stroller. When Nancy can get her to walk, she'd rather run. Zai pao! What a change of having a toddler around again. When I spoke with Rob & Nancy yesterday I was able to talk (not really) with Alanna. She sounds amazing, very confident, enthusiastic and cheerful. Not much longer until they are all home again. Keep them all in your prayers as the journey is truly just begining!
Monday, May 12, 2008
We’re in Guangzhou
We arrived at the China Hotel Marriott Saturday morning. Wow, is this hotel nice! And a little pricey in the restaurants I might add. We walked across the street and ate at McDonald’s for lunch. This area is more accepting to tourists, the driving is much better and the people aren’t apt to surround and stare at you. SIGH! For dinner, we took a taxi to Papa Johns’s, then walked through Carrefour (Chinese Walmart). That place was packed! We were able to buy a few Chinese/English DVD’s for Alanna to help teach her the ABC’s and some songs. She loves music!
Sunday we went to a local museum. Very beautiful landscaping and building designs. In the afternoon, we had a paperwork party. Not so much of a party though. It was about 2 hours of filling out forms for our consulate appointment. Let’s just say I needed a Goody’s powder after that! Our group then went to a Japanese restaurant that’s connected to the hotel. Great food, but pricey. Yeah I know it’s a little weird eating at a Japanese restaurant in China.
Today is Monday and we all took our children for their medical exam. There were three different stations we had to go to and have the Dr. sign off on. When we got to the exam part, they asked what Alanna’s special need was. They had a little trouble understanding she was listed as having an intellectual/speech delay as she was jabbering away. Our guide interpreted for us and the Dr. asked if we felt she no longer had a special need. Well, not that we can tell at the moment! After the exam, we went shopping at Shaiman Island. Alanna charmed all the women in the shops at chatted away as we looked around. She is definitely a girly girl. She loves putting on lotion, testing out my makeup, trying on Rob’s and my shoes and clothes.
Tomorrow is our consulate appointment. We’ll be hanging out in our hotel room in case they have any questions about our paperwork. Then Wednesday we’ll be picking up her visa.
I’m not able to access our blog here, but will try to post again before we leave. I can retrieve our gmail though. Keep us in your prayers as we’ll have about 24 hours of traveling on the way home with a 3 yr old.
Sunday we went to a local museum. Very beautiful landscaping and building designs. In the afternoon, we had a paperwork party. Not so much of a party though. It was about 2 hours of filling out forms for our consulate appointment. Let’s just say I needed a Goody’s powder after that! Our group then went to a Japanese restaurant that’s connected to the hotel. Great food, but pricey. Yeah I know it’s a little weird eating at a Japanese restaurant in China.
Today is Monday and we all took our children for their medical exam. There were three different stations we had to go to and have the Dr. sign off on. When we got to the exam part, they asked what Alanna’s special need was. They had a little trouble understanding she was listed as having an intellectual/speech delay as she was jabbering away. Our guide interpreted for us and the Dr. asked if we felt she no longer had a special need. Well, not that we can tell at the moment! After the exam, we went shopping at Shaiman Island. Alanna charmed all the women in the shops at chatted away as we looked around. She is definitely a girly girl. She loves putting on lotion, testing out my makeup, trying on Rob’s and my shoes and clothes.
Tomorrow is our consulate appointment. We’ll be hanging out in our hotel room in case they have any questions about our paperwork. Then Wednesday we’ll be picking up her visa.
I’m not able to access our blog here, but will try to post again before we leave. I can retrieve our gmail though. Keep us in your prayers as we’ll have about 24 hours of traveling on the way home with a 3 yr old.
All is safe on the Western front!
ni hao (Hello)
Hi, it's Jessica again, as many of you have seen on the news or read online there was a large earthquake in China. I spoke with Nancy this morning and they are all safe! The earthquake hit southwest of Beijing, they are approximately 2700 km or 1677.702 miles away in Guangzhou. Praise God!
Tomorrow is another important day - the consulate appointment, this will be the day where if there are problems with the adoption paperwork they will need be fixed to complete the process. Both Rob and Nancy have expressed what a joy Alanna is; while they are enjoying their bonding time together with her they are anxious to return home.
Please continue to keep Rob, Nancy and Alanna in your prayers as they prepare to travel back to the United States on Thursday, for Braden and Holden as they prepare to meet their new sister and please pray for the people in China affected by this terrible earthquake.
Until next time......
Hi, it's Jessica again, as many of you have seen on the news or read online there was a large earthquake in China. I spoke with Nancy this morning and they are all safe! The earthquake hit southwest of Beijing, they are approximately 2700 km or 1677.702 miles away in Guangzhou. Praise God!
Tomorrow is another important day - the consulate appointment, this will be the day where if there are problems with the adoption paperwork they will need be fixed to complete the process. Both Rob and Nancy have expressed what a joy Alanna is; while they are enjoying their bonding time together with her they are anxious to return home.
Please continue to keep Rob, Nancy and Alanna in your prayers as they prepare to travel back to the United States on Thursday, for Braden and Holden as they prepare to meet their new sister and please pray for the people in China affected by this terrible earthquake.
Until next time......
Friday, May 9, 2008
Getting ready for Guangzhou
It was rainy today and we were getting a little stir crazy in our hotel room. We decided to walk into town and eat lunch at KFC. Crossing the street is an adventure all in itself! There are 2 lanes of traffic each way and the intersection does not have a traffic light. Buses, cars, bikes, and pedestrians going in all directions in no particular orderly fashion. Walking through town, you have to been on your guard at all times. Several times we were approached by beggers and even children asking for money, not to mention all the stares from people wondering what caucasian people are doing with a Chinese baby. Of course I have a story about our adventure, but I won't write about it now. Lets just say I was VERY glad to get back to the safety of our hotel.
Tonight we are packing up to head to Guangzhou in the morning. YIPEE!! We've packed all the toys, so Alanna has found something to amuse herself, baba's shorts. She loves to dress up in mama and baba's clothes. I had already packed away my laptop, but these pictures were just to funny to post later.
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