Halloweeen fun

Addie-Mei had a riot with Halloween. She dressed up three different times, and each time she was something different. She had a costume party first and she was Tinkerbell, second, she dressed up as a ballerina for her preschool costume day, and then she wanted to be a Sprite from Disney's "Johnny and the Sprites" show. Here are some pictures.

Tamie

Fall Festivities

Sweet Surgum

Tinker Bell

Pumpkin girl

What a pretty leaf

Swinging in the sun

Fall Fun

Mama, it is really cold today!!

Sweet

My Hiking Girl

Nice family photo of the two of us

Beautiful fall colors

Addie-Mei and I have had a wonderful fall. We have had fun playing outside with the wonderful weather we have had. We also had Aunt Debbie come down for a visit and had lots of fun with her. We ended up going to Conner Prairie and Addie-Mei got to help make surgum. What a sweet treat!

Addie-Mei has had some fun with Halloween festivities this fall. She had a costume party at a friends house which was a blast. We are blessed to have so much fun with our friends.

We went camping down to Brown County State Park for fall break this past weekend. It was COLD and it rained a couple of times, but we had a BLAST!! It was Addie-Mei's first real camping experience and she loved it. We had the opportunity to do lots of hiking and enjoying of God's creation. When we came home she kept asking to go back camping. She had lots of Mama time and I had no chores to do, so we both loved it. Now it is back to reality and she is not liking it much.

For those who are following the Melamine contamination of milk in China, we are on the list of possible exposures. The formula used in Addie-Mei's orphanage is one of the brands found to have tainted batches. We will be having some testing done in the next week or so to make sure her little kidneys are healthy.

I hope you enjoyed the pictures.

Tamie

Long time no post, sorry

Well, it has been a little time since I posted. Sorry about that. Addie Mei and I have had a wonderful summer. We finished out the school year with nothing spectacular happening.

Over Memorial weekend we had the wonderful oppurtunity to go visit one of the families we went to China with. They have a reunion of their first travel group from 12 years agao every Memorial weekend. They invited us to join in that celebration with them each year so we can stay connected. We went to Holiday World, as they live so close to there. Addie Mei had a wonderful time playing with the other children and also playing with the "big China girls" as she calls them. It will be great for her to be a part of such a great group.

We had a wonderful trip to St. Louis in early June. I had a conference to go to and brought Addie Mei with me. A friend and his wife also went and we shared a room together. My friends wife watched Addie Mei when I had sessions to go to. We were able to go to the St. Louis Zoo and went on our first train ride together to get there. As you can see in the above pictures, Addie Mei decided it would be fun to turn into "Super Addie Mei" and fly between the beds for about 30 minutes. It was a riot to watch. Eventually, she put a cape on and continued.

We enjoyed our swimming pool all summer and I gave swim lessons to a couple of my freinds children. Addie Mei is swimming all over the place. When there is only a couple of people and limited waves in the pool, she swims without any swim vest. She does very well, even though she cannot touch the bottom of the pool. I am shocked that someone so little can swim so well. She LOVES the pool.

We ended our summer with our annual MI vacation. We love going to MI to visit our family. It is nice to reconnect with friends also. We went to MI Adventure with some friends from down here, and my sister and two nephews also joined us. It was so much fun. We also went to a fair while we were there. Addie Mei is a true fair girl. She really likes the animals and the rides. I am thrilled she enjoys the simple things in life.

We enjoyed the IN State fair when we returned to IN. I have never gone before, but enjoyed myself as well. It is large, but very child friendly.

School has started and Addie Mei is in two preschools. She goes all day Monday, Wednesday and Friday to one and half day on Tuesday and Thursday to the other. She loves school and enjoys meeting new friends. She turned four this summer and I can't believ how fast she is growing up. Next year she will be in Kindergarten. My how time flies......

My classes have also begun and I am thrilles to be teaching a SPorts Medicine class. I can use my Athletic Training in the classroom finally and I am loving it! I have great kids and I teach at a great school.

I have been working all summer on writing a Lifebook for Addie Mei. It is a book containing everything that I know about her history and the journey we each took to get to each other. It documents all the things I know so she can have all the information as she pieces together her past. She may not understand these things now, but will need then later in life. It has been very difficult at times to revisit the reality of her past, but I am honored to have her now and be influential on her future. The picture of us together was taken to put in this Lifebook.

I will try to post more often for those die hards out there!!

Love,

Tamie

Florida Fun

Well,

We just got back from a wonderfull time in FL for Spring Break. I am amazed at how well Addie Mei did on the 20 hour drive. She loved the water in Ft. Lauderdale. We built sand castles, got buried in the sand, walked the pier, and just relaxed. It was great.

We then went up to Orlando. Addie Mei was so excited to meet her Princesses. There are too many stories to share all. She had a great time. We got there at 8am and she made it through to 10:45pm. She only slept about 10 minutes on my shoulder through "It's a Small World." She was a trooper. She got to rise her first rollercoaster, and Mama even went on the Teacup ride. I had to take Dramamine in order to keep my self in check, but I did it for her!!

I hope you enjoy the pictures.

2nd Gotcha Day Anniversary

Well, our 2nd anniversary was not as much fun as our first. I had to travel out of town for work and my flight home was delayed. Addie Mei and I did not get to spend a lot of time together on our actual Gotcha Day, but we had a great time celebrating the next day. Unfortunately, we did not get to go to our special place for dinner.

I spent some time making a book for her telling her adoption story. The main Character is Princess Addie Mei and I used actual pictures of our journey. She really likes seeing her pictures in a book and hearing her story. I hope this will help her grasp her history.

This past weekend, we got to go on an Easter Egg hunt and also she had her church program. She was so cute. It was the first time that she did not cry. When they were done singing and everyone was relatively quiet. She blurts out, "I love you Mama." It was so cute.

Not too much else to report. All is well in Indy!!

Blessings,

Tamie

2nd Anniversary

Addie Mei and I will celebrate two years together as a family on Wednesday!! It has been such an amazing journey. Through all of the ups and downs, I would do it all over again 10, 000 times to experience the joy this child brings to my life and the lives of so many other people.

Addie Mei is growing up so much. She is such a sweet little girl. She is a big helper and she loves to play!! She can sit for an hour playing with this little plastic princess doll and undress and redress her. She is quite persistant.

We are both looking forward to our vacation we have planned for Spring Break. Using the nice refund Uncle Sam provided, we will be heading South to the sunny state of FL!! I am going to be bringing Addie Mei to meet all of the Princesses she adores so much!! I have never been to Disney World and always wanted to go. Now I get to experience it with my daughter!! I am doubly blessed. I am thankful that we can go when it will be majical for her!! Look for the update when we return!

I hope you enjoy the pictures.

Tamie

Getting Big

I thought I would update on my little girl. She is changing so much. It amazes me that in just 2 short years she is such a different little girl. In a couple of weeks, we will be celebrating our 2 year Gotcha Day Anniversary. In some ways, this day has more reason to celebrate than her birthday. I know that with out her birth, obviously I would not have her. I was not there for her birth, though, so the first day we met is so special.

She has really been maturing into a such a sweet little girl. We survived the very trying early threes. That was tough for both of us. I love her so much, but was at my wits end with some of the behaviors, whining, and constant crying that we dealt with for about 4 months. Lately, she has been all over affectionate. She tells me she loves me about every hour we are together, and she is full of hugs and kisses. She is really developing her own little sense of humor. It is so cute to watch.

She is also very industrious. We have an air mattress I put on the floor for movie nights. One day, I forgot to put it away, and it became a WONDERFUL trampoline. She and a friend then decided to lean it on the love seat, and now it has become a great slide. She gets her baby dolls and wraps then in a blanket and down they go. She soon follows and is reunited with her little babies. It is so much fun to watch her. It also is used as a sinking ship where she is falling, and I have to reach down from the top to rescue her.

She seems to be starting some growth finally. At least she is eating a lot lately and sleeping very well. Hopefully, this will result in her growing a bit.

We had a wonderful opportunity recently to meet another little girl who was from the same orphanage as Addie Mei. It was so sweet to watch these little girls who share the same roots playing together half of a world away from their beginnings. They were not in the orphanage at the same time, as the other little girl left 5 days before Addie Mei arrived. Nonetheless, they do share similar roots and Addie Mei was very happy to know that Director Han took care of her friend as well. She seems to be very proud of her background, as proud as a 3 1/2 year old can be, at least. This is a picture we took while they were playing.

That is about it for now. Will post again with more pictures after Gotcha Day!

Tamie