Brooke's 1st Camping Trip

Brooke's 1st Camping Trip!
On Top of Stone Mountain!

Andrew with Friends.

Andrew on the Sky Hike...Look No Hands!

Andrew in front of Stone Mountain.

Enjoying a 4-D movie!

Night life!

During spring break, we took Brooke on her 1st camping trip. We went to Stone Mountain GA with four other families. We were worried on how Brooke would react to being away from home for so long. She did great except for one day where she cried almost all day! She slept in the Pack and Play and enjoyed being outside. Brooke refuses to let anyone other than us hold her now, so we hope this will change.

Andrew had a great time playing with all his friends and enjoyed going to the park. His favorite was the SKY HIKE. He also walked down Stone Mountain 1.3 miles.

We had a ton of fun and will post lots of photos soon!

I HAVE MADE IT...... TO THE BIG 4-0!

I am happy to say I have made it to 40! It is great! I have a great husband and son, a new baby girl, a new job, good friends and a great life. (And we are still EMPLOYED!! )

I hope the next ten are as great as the last ten!!

This is when Byron and I were about 5! He was so cute. We did not meet until 9th grade!


Me! About Brooke's age. I was the third child so I only have a few photos (LOL)!

Home for 3 Months!

It is so hard to believe just 3 months ago today we met Brooke for the 1st time! I can still remember seeing her in person the 1st time!!! It feels as if she has been with us forever. I think how lucky we were to be able to bring her home so young. So many adopted babies wait and wait for families, paperwork, and court hearings. I feel blessed to have a photo of her for every month of her life (including a hospital photo with her Birth mom)! This will be so important to her when she is older. I feel so lucky to have found our Taiwan Program. I would still be waiting 2-3 more years if we were with China!!!

Referrals have been very slow with JOH, so I am praying for referrals this month!!! I want each and every JOH family to have the joy I feel today!

We are taking Brooke on her first camping trip next week for 5 (hopefully not long) days. Several of our camping friends are also going. She is in a stage of not letting anyone hold her, so I hope she will feel more comfortable around some of our camping friends. It will make camping easier. Andrew did not enjoy camping until he was about 5 years old!!!

Happy 21st Wedding Anniversary to US!!

Today we have been married an amazing 21 years!! (and they thought we were to young!) We were high school sweethearts! Here are a few of our Dating pictures from the 80's

February has been a month of Change!

Brooke sneaking into Andrew's room to get his prized Backugans! First day at the park!

Brooke and Andrew watching Barney!!

Brooke's News:

Brooke will be 8 months old tomorrow. This month she has learned to pull up and wants to stand all the time. She has started to climb the stairs. She likes to play with anything that is not a toy!She is still sleeping through the nights. Her day time naps have increased from about 15 mins to 1-2 hours (two times per day). She is very happy in the morning. The is just the opposite in the evening. She hates to go to sleep and gets so tired that she has a huge melt down. We really try not to be out in the evening with her! She is babbling and will say DaDa. She is getting very vocal. She is getting all over the place.


Michelle News:
I am changing jobs and this has been very stressful. I really am looking forward to my new job. It's just stressful with a new baby and learning a new job. I don't suggest starting a new job so soon after adopting a new baby!!!

Andrews News:
Andrew has done great at basketball. Tomorrow is his last game! He is really looking forward to baseball. We have made so many friends through baseball and look forward to seeing everyone. On our 1st warm day in February, Andrew enjoyed taking Brooke to our local park. We saw many friends there!

Family News!
We have had several warm days in February and look forward to spring, camping and baseball. Today it was 65, tomorrow night the news is saying SNOW! The high will be 35-40 on Sunday. By Thurs it will be in the 60's again! This is one of the great things about AL is the weather. We have a few cold days then warm days! It is so boring in the winter!! Great timing to bring home a new baby!! We have a camping trip planned in March and really hope Brooke does great. If anyone knows of a good baby hiking backpack let me know!!

Brooke is 7 Months old

Brooke is crawling!
Andrew helping Brooke to the next level...standing!

LOOK AT ME!

Andrew educating Brooke!

I love this toy! I play with it all day. Rush to Wal-mart and buy one for your baby!

Brooke is now seven months old. I had a difficult time documenting Andrew's mile stones. Really I was just lazy!! So I guess he will be jealous over the detail Brooke will have.

Brooke is now crawling very fast, trying to pull up and can sit up really good now. This has also made her reflux decrease! She is getting all over our house. She loves to go to Andrew's room and sit in front of the door (he has a glass door) and watch him. She also likes going in the kitchen and play with the 2 liter coke bottles in the floor. She has two favorite toys. One is a singing bear and the other is a fish that plays music.

ANDREW IS GOING TO LOVE BROOKE MORE EACH DAY!
When people ask Andrew how he likes having a baby sister he used to say "I don't" , now he says "it's OK or Kinda of"! So I guess we are making progress. Andrew really wanted a brother! At home he is really interacting well with her. He is very protective.

Today we decided to leave her in our church nursery for the 1st time. Andrew did not like this idea. He said "are you going with her?" I told him no. Then he said "well then I will, they don't know her!" I let him walk back with her and then he went to Children's Church. Our church meets in a movie theater, so we have to take everything down. It was our week to help with "break-down". Andrew decided to "watch guard" over Brooke instead. On the way home he said "everyone was touching her head, I don't think everyone needs to do that!" So I guess from this story, we really can see how attached he has become to her!

January News!

Finally a new post!!

Girlfriends 3rd anniversary!
Brooke and Izzy!

Byron turns 41!

We almost killed the class turtle!

Uncle John. Brooke looked so cute! (breathing treatment for RSV virus)

Andrew and Brooke!

Family Tradition: They make it and I take the pictures!

Family Fun! RockBand! Maybe Byron has other career options?

I have had so many of you ask about my blog....or lack of post. It has been really busy in our house. So here is one very long post. Photos to come very soon!
Brooke News:
Brooke has now adjusted to being in our family. She is no longer crying for hours every night. She is very happy most of the time. Andrew is doing so well with adjusting to not being an only child. He really enjoys playing with Brooke. He is great a making her laugh especially for pictures. She has become more clingy and not wanting others to hold her.

We took her for an appointment at the international adoption clinic. They we amazed at how young and health she was!!! She has learned how to crawl. This week she has mastered the art of sitting up by herself. She is trying to stand up, but with no luck. I guess we need to start baby proofing our home! It seems she is getting bigger each day. She is still sleeping great. We have started her on solids. She loves to eat. She now has favorite toys. I will post pictures soon. She now has a favorite toy...a brown dog that plays music!

We did receive Brooke's Certificate of Citizenship! So she is officially a U.S. Citizen! I am now waiting on her Social Security Card!

Andrew News!
Andrew brought home the class turtle "Buba" during the Christmas Break. Well.... somehow she became a chew toy for our hyper dog Izzy!! Just, the day before I had made fun of my sister-in-law for taking a hamster to the vet. So I dreaded telling her about this... We took Buba to the vet. She had to spend the night and them have medicated soakings two times a day! We then had to share this news with the entire class. Thankfully Buba made a full recovery! Andrew will not be bring home a class pet again!

Andrew had a great Christmas. We now have Rock Band for Wii and have had alot of fun playing it. We have discovered Byron is an excellent singer. I could not make it through a song with out being kicked off the stage! I will stick to the Drums.

Andrew is playing basketball and is doing well. Baseball season will be starting soon. This is his favorite sport. I plan on using Brooke as an excuse not to sit out in the cold for practices!

Byron's News: We have had many visitors to welcome Brooke home. Our friends gave Byron a surprise "mans" baby shower before we left. Thanks Mike, it was a great idea! I have always hated showers, and insisted that I not have one!

He also turned 41 on January 1st! Andrew enjoyed decorating. We have used these same decorations since Andrew was a baby! I really need to get them laminated, so we can use them the next 15 years or so!

Michelle's News:
Today I had lunch with the "girlfriends" They brought lots of cute gifts for Brooke. They have been on the journey with me from the beginning. This group was started by a great person after our church experienced some changes. It was a way to keep for all of us to keep in touch. Today was our 3rd Anniversary!!! Thanks Glenda (our founder). She was sick and unable to attend. We missed you!!!!

Our small group at church also helped us celebrate having Brooke home!

We have had lots of friends give gifts to Brooke and Andrew. I want to send out a Big THANK YOU TO ALL!

If I have not had enough changes in my life, I am now changing jobs! I will start in about one month!

I have been invited to join a Facebook group.... It took me awhile to figure out this blogging thing. So for 2009, I will attempt learning about Facebook. I really don't understand what the purpose is. So if I don't respond to your request....be patient! You may need to just e-mail me!

My goal is to update this blog every two or three weeks! I will post pictures soon.

December News!

Well it is great to be home. Brooke is adjusting very well. She is now sleeping in her crib from about 9 pm to 7 am (Yeah!!). She is very happy during the day. At night....she is very fussy for about 3 hours!! She likes watching Barney so we turn that on for her to watch sometimes when she won't stop crying! She is starting to crawl and will be all over our house by next week. Brooke is now 6 months old!



She was sick last week with the RSV virus. She has not acted like she is sick, so this is good. Brooke likes to look at board books, play on the floor with toys, taking baths, and sleeping in her swing.



Andrew has done great. He plays with Brooke and is interacting more each day with her. We all head back to work and school this week. We have been off for about one month! I am attempting to upload photos of our journey using smilebox so watch for these photos!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

For my JOH friends, I sorry that I have not updated my blog in so long. We did not think we would be so tired after returning home!!! It took us about two weeks to return to normal. Please email me if you have any questions about travel or other things.

Anyone following this blog: if you want more information about our adoption process please email me our leave me a comment with you email address!

Day 5! Going home!!

Day 5!
TODAY WE GO HOME!!
We were all up early and finished packing! It is somewhat sad to leave knowing we may never return. Overall our trip has been great! I had to much anxiety the first two days! We really enjoyed yesterday. I think we were all more relieved to have Brooke! Brooke has done wonderfully! Now for the long trip back home.
HOME:
We had great seats coming home. We had more legroom and were all on the same row. Byron, Andrew, and Brooke slept most of the time on the long plane ride. Brooke was fussy on the plane from Detroit to AL. It was very emotional to be back home. It felt so good to finally be in Huntsville! We had many family and friends to great us. In addition, Chuck, Amy and Morgan (From Taiwan Oct 08) were there! We hope to have some great pictures of Morgan and Brooke. We were all so tired! Brooke did not go to bed until 4 am!

Day 4

Day 4:
Just like clockwork, Andrew and I are up at 3:00 am.! Today we will be going to Taipei 101. For breakfast, we had honey buns (from home) and cold pizza. Brooke slept until 7 am. She is a good sleeper! We hope this continues. She hardly moves all night long. We went to out AIT appointment. This took four hours! They were very nice. There were many Taiwanese trying to get a Visa to come to US. They were also waiting along time. I don’t think our government is very helpful to others wanting to come here. You could tell that they were all frustrated!
We then headed to Taipei 101. It is huge! We went to the food court first. Andrew and I ate at KFC, They had a picture menu that made it easy to order. I had chicken wings and pop corn chicken, which was very good. Andrew had chicken nuggets with a special Asian sauce, which was also good. Byron ordered a chicken sandwich, but said the sauce tasted funny. He and Mei-Rue also ordered some kind of chicken and noodle soup. Andrew and I both tried it. It was not that bad! Taipei 101 is the tallest building in the world and has the fastest elevator in the world! From the top, you could see all of Taipei! Mei-Rue went to a bookstore called Page 1. They have earphones you can get to hear everything in English. The man giving these to us said, “Many people have come to him saying Byron looks like John Travolta!” After Taipei 101, Mei-Ru took us to the market. She showed us various things. The fish here comes whole. She said this is how they can tell how fresh it is by looking at the eyes. They have lots of food that is the same, like the cereal. Then we went to the produce section to see different types of fruit. Some are the same. We really enjoyed the bread store and looking at the different types of breads. Squid bread, seaweed, ect

Next, we went to the Martyrs Shine. It is very big and beautiful. Andrew enjoyed the pond. Byron and Andrew climbed the 85 steps up to the shrine. While I stayed down with Brooke and Mei-rue. We talked about the different things about Taiwan vs. America. We also purchased some souvenirs.

It was getting dark so we headed home. Brooke did great the entire day! For dinner, we had cold pizza and M & M’s, and Pringles! Brooke had her first bath, cried for about 10 mins, and went to sleep. Brooke started smiling at us today! She has not smiled since we picked her up. She has not seemed unhappy, but not happy either. Andrew is doing well and has been playing and reading to her. Byron and I started to pack and went to bed about 10pm.

Day 3

Day 3:
Our AIT( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Institute_in_Taiwan )appointment did not go well at all! This is an American agency that issues the visas. The AIT informed our guide that we did not have an appointment and to come back tomorrow! Our guide was very upset and made several phone calls. She told us we may not get to leave until Tuesday. Andrew said “I don’t want to stay here till then!” We had to go back to the hotel to fax several documents and made plans to go shopping and to the Martyrs Shine at 1:00.
We stopped at a store and bought several small things to give to Brooke when she is older. Then we went to the Grand Hotel. It is very beautiful and large. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Hotel_(Taipei_City) Later we went to the Martyrs Shine ( http://www.taiwan.com.au/Envtra/Taipei/report37.html) to see the changing of the guards. See video (not ours) http://tw.youtube.com/watch?v=2jCuZ7UAIsE . Our guide was helpful in explaining the importance of this place. While there a group of school girls came up and ask to take our photo. They were about 10 or 11 years old. They continued to come up and say HI and Bye! Later we ask if we could take their photo. This made them very happy. We had noticed several people taking our photo while we have been here in Taiwan. Andrew finds this very strange. One of the students spoke some English and she would tell the “brave” girl to say something to us. At one point she said to Andrew “You are very handsome”! Brooke did really well during the outing. We were all tired and went to the hotel room. On the way back Mei-Ru received a call and informed us that AIT was going to issue the Visa tomorrow. She said she was going to have to apologize to AIT, even though it was their fault. That’s our government for you!! Mr. Ru from AIT called to apologize stating “My boss said for me to call and say I am sorry” I’m sure this will be how Mei-Ru will apologize tomorrow. Andrew and I did not eat lunch, so we were starving!! So we decided to try another restaurant in our neighborhood…..Pizza Hut. We made Byron take the first bite! Andrew and I are afraid to eat anything. Byron made a face that said it was not good. Andrew and I said “Oh no what are we going to eat!” Luckily he was just kidding. The pizza was great, just like it is in the U.S.!!!
I went to bed at 6:00pm and woke up at 8:00 pm to hear Brooke screaming. She cried for about 2 hours and finally went to sleep. Andrew slept thought the entire melt-down. Brooke maybe getting sicker. She seemed better yesterday, but last night began coughing and sounded congested.
Here is a video of the Temple we went to the first day: http://www.mefeedia.com/entry/998921/
Day four:
Just like clock work, Andrew and I are up at 3:00 am.! Today we will be going to Taipei 101

Day Two in Taipei

Day one continued:
Today we were able to meet another JOH family. They picked up there daughter Alanya yesterday!
We went to dinner with them. We ate at our hotel restaurant. We ordered drinks and they took our menus. Then we had to tell them we wanted to order food. I tried to order a ham and cheese and made the mistake of asking , if that came on toasted bread! I think he thought I wanted toast. When the food came out, I received a hamburger with Ham and cheese on it! Andrew had speggitti (Yuk) and cheesecake (great)! I thought our friends Chuck and Amy (traveled here in Oct) said the hamburgers were good and steak not so good. Therefore, everyone ordered hamburgers, which were Yuk, Yuk. I just took the hamburger off mine, had ham, and cheese which was ok. Chuck later emailed us to tell us that no it was the steak that was good and hamburgers were not good. OH WELL!
Day Two:
We had gone to bed at about 11:00 and all of us were up by 3:00 a.m. We went to Breakfast at the hotel. Byron tried several new things. We left to go to TWCA (agency) at 10:30. We stopped at a rest stop on the way. Our guide assissited us with selecting lunch. Andrew and I had chicken nuggets (yuk) and Byron
He had some kind of very adventurous pork plate. He even ate with chop sticks! When we were back in the car guide Mei Ru said “You are very American”! She said most families will try different foods. Later in the drive, I ask her what she thought was strange in America. She said “ I really have a problem the food…and started laughing. I said see you know how I feel!!

We stopped by agency, and then went to foster family. The foster mother was waiting in the door with Brooke. She looks just like her last photo. She was smiling and happy. I held her first and then Byron and then Andrew. She is very active. We were also informed that she has been sick with a cold and is now on medication. The foster mother provided a lot of information of Brookes schedule ect. She then fed Brooke before we left. Well….Brooke has a reflux problem like Andrew did!! And milk was coming out everywhere!! The foster mom states she feeds Brooke and then places her in the stroller in an upright position. Then we left after about 30 mins. We went back to the agency to sign some paperwork. All the things that we sent were returned to us. In the car on the way to the baby store (Brandy you will like this) Brooke spit up again….Andrew started gagging and started talking about the night everyone was sick in your car!! We quickly handed him a zip lock bag and begged him not to throw-up in our guide’s car!!

It has been an amazing experience!

We went to the baby store and bought bottles, diapers, formula, and some baby books. Brooke loves the small board books. They have English and Chinese and came with a small CD. Brooke slept most of the two hour ride back.
When we made it to our hotel we were all very tired!! We played with Brooke, fed her, gave her yucky medicine. She was a little fussy, but not to bad. Andrew and I took a short nap while Byron watched Brooke. Byron ordered pizza from Dominoes. Byron said it was better than his lunch. Andrew and I (YUK)! We had beanie weenies! Byron went to bed at about 10:00pm and I stayed up until Brooke went to bed at 12:30 a,m I put one of the CD’s in the computer to play for her/ Our computer played it with graphics of various lights. She liked watching this. She is still asleep at almost 7:00 am!! Almost no crying last night. Most families report babies cry all night the first night. Well Byron is off to pick up our Breakfast…at McDonalds! I hope it is good or Andrew and I will be very hungry.
We are off to AIT to get Brookes Visa. Then we are going to one of the tallest buildings in the world: Taipei 101. Our guide says there are lots of American restaurants!!!

First Day in Taipei

Our flight was very long..... will post more about this adventure later.
First Day in Taiwan!
We woke up early to eat breakfast at our hotel. They did have a western breakfast. When I was helping Andrew with his breakfast, I mistakenly put soy sauce on his pancakes!!!
We did not have a guide today, so we toured the neighborhood on our own. We first went outside and walked around the block. It was a little nerve racking. There is lot traffic and hundreds of scooters. We are staying in the downtown area. Later, we decided to brave it again. We headed off to see the Temple and find some American Restaurants. We also made out a currency chart so we would know how much things cost. (JOH friends; current for today may change in future)
US $ NTD
1..00 34
2.00 67
3.00 101
4.00 134
5.00 168
6.00 201
7.00 235
8.00 268
9.00 302
10.00 ` 335
15 503
The money comes in coins of 1=$1.49; 5=.15; 10=.30 ; 50=1.49; Bills 100=2.98; 500=$14.92 1000=$29.84
Our first purchase was a Pepsi under $1.00.
We also found a Subway sandwich shop, Pizza Hut, Dominoes, Starbucks, and Dunkin Donuts!
We walked to a temple a few blocks from our hotel. There were people outside selling items used in the worship ritual it looked like some kind of food, fruit and incense.
About one block from the temple, we found a large park. Andrew played with a two-year-old boy for a while. This park had a small playground, basketball court, pond, and large fountain.
At one point, two teenager girls ask if they could take our picture! Andrew thought that was neat.
We ate lunch at McDonalds for $329 NTD or about $10.00 for three meals. All of the food tasted like that in America except the Diet Coke
We really did quite well. We found most her know some English and Byron is good at making gestures about what we need. Byron brought his GPS and used it to mark our hotel, as well as restaurants that we may want to goes back to.

Tomorrow we pick-up Brooke tomorrow!!

Preparing to Leave for Taiwan.

We have been busy preparing to travel to go pick up Brooke!! We have purchased tickets, booked our hotel rooms, purchased gifts for foster mother, guide, TWCA staff and most importantly Brooke's Birth mother. Byron and I have also been struggling with the stomach bug this week. We are praying that Andrew does not get this while we are traveling. We still have a lot to do and will try to post pictures and updates as we go on this Amazing Journey. It will take us over 24 hours to reach Taiwan from Alabama!! We will first fly to Detroit, then to Toyko, Japan then then onto Taipei, Taiwan!! This is our 1st international flight, so we are not really sure what 24 hours of airline travel will be like. We know it can't be good!! We do know the end result will be worth it!

Final Ruling is here!!!

We also received notice that our final ruling is in!!!! We are headed to Taiwan. We will pick up Brooke on December 10th!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So that means we will all be home for Christmas!!
We have been busy trying to make travel plans!

There have been lots of referrals this month (5 girls so far this month)!!! That mean my good friend Christy moves into the top 10 on the wait list. Another milestone achieved. She is now number 10!!!!

I hope the good news keeps coming for all those on the wait list!! We are almost at the end of our adoption process!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!