Happy 1st Birthday Meigan!!!

Happy 1st Birthday Meigan! You are an absolute joy to have in our family and we cannot remember life without you here. You bring so much fun, laughter and life to our family. We hope you have a wonderful day!

We had her family party this past weekend when relatives were in town. We opened presents, had a pull string pinata, and plenty of cake and ice-cream. Meigan did not like cake and I did not include her picture showing the response. She did tolerate the chocolate ice-cream. Tolerate, not necessarily like. Tonight we will go out for Chinese food and hopefully find something for her to enjoy.

Successful Steamed Eggs!

We finally got a good recipe and the right steaming pot and successfully made steamed eggs like the ones Meigan ate in China. She loved them! She is really good at trying the foods we offer, at least one bite. But, I am sure glad to add one more dish that I know she enjoys!

For all those still waiting......one of the things I wish I had asked for, was her favorite recipes.

Meigan is Walking!!!!

Last night Meigan took her first few steps all by herself! She would start with Dad and then walk towards Jodie. It was only about 3 steps but she did it several times. She will stand up by herself in the middle of the room for a few seconds and she walks holding onto people or furniture for some time now. She is getting so strong and almost chubby now (good american food).



Also a few days ago Jodie noticed that Meigan's diaper was still dry in the afternoon, so she sat her on the potty and she went! We were very surprised and maybe we'll have to keep it up, and have her potty trained by the time she is one. On the other hand that sounds like a lot of work as she can't walk real well and can't talk either to let us know when it's time. Well it sounded nice!

Who Knew Oatmeal Could Be So Fun???

So Much Fun!!!

So Tired!

Despite our lack of posting, we have managed to take 202 pictures since we arrived home. Meigan keeps us on our toes as she explores her new surroundings. She seems very comfortable here and I think she knows we are staying here now. (We stayed in many hotels before home) We are having so much fun experiencing so many firsts, at least firsts for us. We've been to the doctor, first time at church, learned to finally love her baths, now tolerates the highchair happily, played on the grass and swings. She was initially terrified of the dog and now loves to chase him. She loves mom's congee, hates ice cream and car seats. We learn tons everyday! Madison and Dalton love to play with her and make her smile, not one bit of jealousy. It was a long wait and they are absolutely thrilled to finally have her home. She is so smiley and we are having a blast! She has each of us wrapped around her finger.

Meigan is Home

Max and Elaine (notice how she still crosses her fingers)

Katie and Brady

Grandma and Madison

Playing with trains

Checking out her room

Meigan likes her new room

Primary Banner

Friends Banner

Meigan likes being with her older sister

She loves playing with Grandma

Our food basket, it was filled with Black Liquorice carmels, pumpkin chocolate chip muffins and Diet Coke, Brian's 3 favorite things

Dalton finally got up and posed for a pic

Meigan and her brother Dalton

playing with her brother and sister

Playing with Grandma

Well we finally made it home. We arrived at midnight after a 2 hour car ride home. Meigan didn't sleep for any of the car ride. We didn't try the car seat for the ride home, we knew it would be a fight all the way home. Brian drove us home and he actually wasn't tired at all, we felt pretty rested from all the sleep we got on the planes. Madison was so excited to see us when she got home and so was Brian's Mom. She went right to Grandma and then Madison. Now she would rather go to Madison then Brian, it's just not fair! It took us a while to wake up Dalton who had fallen asleep while he was waiting for us to get home, but he awoke with a huge smile on his face when he saw Meigan.

When we got to the last airport stop, Katie and Brady (Brian's sister and husband) and Max & Elaine (Jodie's aunt and husband) were there to see us. It was great to see them and talk with them for a while before driving home. Katie made Meigan a beautiful blanket and that was good because it is COLD here. It is also so dry, We actually miss the humidity, never thought we'd say that! Meigan has always been in a humid climate so it will be interesting to see how she adjusts. Brian can already feel the allergies coming back on!

When we got home there was a big welcome home sign from Scott and Melanie and Lora and Matt (our friends with children from China) along with a wonderful food basket from them as well as the rest of our group who have children from China. There was also a huge banner welcoming Meigan home from our Church Primary children, they had all of the children sign there names. Brian's mom also brought over a big fruit basket, so we are well covered with food for the next week.

We really didn't feel to tired when we got home, but it was so nice to sleep in our own bed. We finally go to bed about 2am and Brian was out as soon as he hit the bed. Meigan slept in her crib last night for at least part of it and then we put her with us once she woke up about 6am. Meigan does so well with Madison and Madison packs her all around the house, she'll actually fuss when Madison leaves the room. The kids stayed home from school today so that they could spend some time with Meigan.

We've had a couple of friends come over to say "Hi" which was great. We picked up our dog from the kennel and Meigan is not to sure about him! She doesn't let Cinder out of her sight and does not want to get down to check him out yet.

Well we are going to get some laundry started and unpacking done and then take a nap, so we'll fill you in with more details later.