New Blog

I have started a new blog in the hopes that I will be more apt to post, having to keep up with two made me not want to post to either. Here is the new address, there is also a link in the sidebar.

www.rainbowsandsnowflakes.blogspot.com

Kristin

Noa is 2!

We had a small family celebration for Noa's birthday. Dad was home on Wednesday we celebrated then, a few days early. We had hamburgers, cake and ice cream, and plenty of presents. Friday we celebrated again at Casa Bonita where Noa enjoyed looking at the glowing toys sold by ladies walking around, but then was terrified of them when I tried to buy him one. We settled on a stuffed bear in a cowboy outfit, it now gets lots of kisses and hugs. Saturday, the actual birthday we had ice cream cupcakes from Cold Stone which were delicious. The best part was the Dean Dean was here. (My mom) We had such a great time just hanging out and loving on the kids! We all wish she would move here, Makana tells me that almost nightly!

Noa also had his first evaluation for head start. He qualifies for speech services in our home. We will start those in about a month. He has gained over 5 pounds since coming home in February, he now weighs 25 pounds and a double chin to prove it!

Home and all is well

We got home on the 13th of February and have been adjusting well. Noa is doing great, Makana is still a bit jealous of him. She likes playing with him though. I start back to work on Monday, I am not ready, but he did a couple of half days last week and did OK. He is learning a few words like eyes and nana for Banana. He certainly has a way of making his wishes known even if he can't talk yet! I will include a couple of pictures that I just found of our last day in China and some from being home. He had his first ice cream today and he LOVED it as you can see.

Almost home

We are finished with everything, the oath and all. Half of our group is already on its way home. We leave the hotel before 6 am tomorrow here. We travel until about 3:00 pm Denver time, which is around 1 am in China. We should be tired and ready for home. We are pretty much packed and shopped out, sitting in the room. We hope the kids will sleep as much as possible tomorrow. Here are some of our newest photos.

Red Couch and beyond!

Just some pictures from the last two days. Yesterday we went to a temple and a rich family's home. Most of these pics are from there. Today was the medical exam and the US visa paperwork, never fun! Tonight we take red couch photos! We've also done a little shopping, the weather is so nice! I'll just let the pictures do the talking today. The one of Noa reaching our is my most common site these days!

In Guangzhou

We made it to Guangzhou yesterday, there was a huge traffic jam on the freeway that held us up and we almost missed the plane. Our guide called the airline and they actually held the plane! On the freeway cars were parked in every direction and people were walking around, cleaning their cars, reading newspapers outside, wild! During the flight I was covered by every type of food the kids could eat, rice, crackers, juice, disgusting. It is about 75 degrees here and I have jeans and long sleeved shirts. I bought a couple of t shirts yesterday and hope to find some capris or skirts or something. Expect to see pictures of me in very mismatched clothes! Today is Sunday and we will visit a Buddhist Temple, a Folk Art Museum, and a Local Crafts store. This evening we will have Nainoa's passport photo taken and have a group dinner at the Cow and Bridge. We will try to take plenty of pictures and post them later. The hotel here is amazing, we stayed at the Victory last time, so we are happy to be here. For those of you who are worried about the twin beds here, we just pushed them together and had the best sleep yet, all in one big bed!Noa is beginning to show some attitude today, refusing to do things and fussing at me, it is good because I know he is getting comfortable with us now! His eating has slowed a little too, only one bowl of congee, 2 pieces of French toast, milk, juice, and oranges this morning! I will post more later!