Birthday Balloon Launching- new pictures added!

HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY KELLY ELISE!

Kelly's Nanna in Texas had a wonderful idea to launch one single red balloon for Kelly's birthday. She wanted to send her prayers for Kelly in a symbolic, physical way- so that she could visually see her prayers going up, up, and away- carried on angel's wings to Kelly in China.

I decided to get everyone in the family in on it, so we could all send a balloon up for Kelly's birthday, from our different parts of the country, and all of us, on the same day, could watch our wishes, prayers, and love go up and away to God in Heaven for little Kelly.

I got pictures from Kelly's Nanna in Texas, her Nonnie in San Diego, and her cousins (and Auntie, of course!) in Colorado.

I'm still waiting on pictures from her Great Aunt in Texas, and her Grammie in Missouri. I'll post them when I get them, but I wanted everyone to see what I have so far.

Big Thanks to my family, for sharing in this special symbolic celebration of Kelly's first birthday. It meant so much to me to know you all took time out of your busy schedules to do something to honor our sweet little girl's first birthday. Thank you Nanna, for the wonderful idea. What a special memory we will carry with us forever.

Thank you for your love and prayers for her, each and every one of you reading this. Even though you may not have taken part in the balloon launch, I know so many of you are thinking of her, praying for her, and sending love and wishes for a very happy birthday for Kelly. I cherish each and every one of you and every prayers you send up on her behalf. They are not in vain!

Okay, without any further delay.... here are the pictures!

Kelly's Grammie, in Missouri, preparing for launch!

Grammie's balloon for Kelly going up, up, and away!
Here is Nonnie in San Diego, CA, about to launch her balloon for Kelly.
Nonnie's birthday wishes for Kelly written on her birthday balloon!
San Diego birthday balloon launch- successful!
Nanna's birthday balloon for Kelly, preparing for launch from Victoria, Texas, with a picture and a prayer attached for Kelly- and of course, directions to China! And off Nanna's birthday balloon for Kelly goes!Up, Up, and Away! Nanna sends all her love to her Bebe Boo!

Kelly's cousins- Emma, Josh, Eli, and Hannah launch their birthday balloon from Colorado Springs, Colorado!
Colorado Balloon Launch- successful! Off it goes!!!

Waiting for daddy to get home from work before Visalia lift-off!
Yeah!! Daddy's home! Time to prepare to launch! (Oh look- what's that daddy's wearing??? Could it be a plain white t-shirt?! Argh!!!)

Caleb and Camryn- preparing to send off our birthday balloon with our prayers for Kelly attached. We love you so much, mei mei.

Visalia Launch- successful!!!

Bye-Bye birthday balloon! You can barely see it in the picture- it is that tiny speck above the left branch of the left palm tree.

Penny and Rufus Clip

I couldn't let it go! I had to find that clip I mentioned in my last post!
HERE IT IS!
So my memory was a bit fragmented, but here's the clip of Penny and Rufus- I loved this exchange between the two of them.
I spent a good portion of my childhood living out in the country, and my kitty cats were my best friends, just like Rufus was to Penny, so I especially loved this. Isn't it sweet?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhrwSm6DcpM

(Read my last post if you don't know what the heck I'm talking about..!)

Favorite Childhood Movie

My hands-down, FAVORITE movie, when I was a little girl, was "The Rescuers."
I don't know if my mom remembers, but she bought me the soundtrack. (This was before the time of videos. It was an album! Now I'm really dating myself!)
I remember listening to that album every day, and several times a day on the weekends. I can still picture myself- laying on the floor in front of the stereo- looking at the album cover as I played the album over and over and OVER again! My FAVORITE SONG was this one I have linked below.
I'm amazed at how this song is coming full circle in my life as I pray the prayer of this song for my own daughter! It's so strangely amazing. Why did I love that song so, when I was so little? I always wondered why I was so drawn to this particular song, of all the songs in that movie? How could I even fully understand it? Could it be? Was God planting a seed in my heart way back then? I know it sounds so corny, but I think so. All I know is that I bawled as I made the connection tonight. You know how something can strike you, almost from out of nowhere, and at that point in time, you suddenly realize the significance of something you never realized before..?
It JUST came back to me, as I was posting my last post, and I said, "Be strong little one."
I think they changed the end a little though, in this clip... I don't know... I remember Penny and Rufus, the cat, having a conversation afterwards. Rufus had been encouraging Penny to keep the faith that she was going to have a family one day, and after the song, Penny felt better and told Rufus she believed him that somebody would want to "dopt" her.
Does anyone else remember it differently than this clip? It's been soo long- my memory could be quite fragmented! I think I need to see if I can get a copy of the movie.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYjz1cIzGOM

A Letter to Kelly- Happy First Birthday

Dear Kelly,
My precious baby girl, how I long to be with you on your first birthday. I'm so sorry we cannot be together on this, your special day.

How I yearn to hold you in my arms, to sit you in your highchair with your birthday cake in front of you. How I can picture myself lighting that single candle for you, and all of us singing happy birthday to you, as you try to figure out exactly what you're supposed to do with that candle!

That reminds me! Do you know? On his first birthday, your big brother, Caleb, tried to grab it? We had a big birthday party for him, and as we finished singing "Happy Birthday" to him, he reached out and tried to grab that birthday candle! He didn't know what he was supposed to do, so why not grab that sparkling thing, right?! All of us girls screamed, for fear of him getting burned- and poor little guy- we scared the daylights out of him! He began to cry!

He recovered quickly though, and as soon as he was able to dig into that cake, all was forgotten!

Oh Kelly, what would you do? How would you be on your first birthday? I wish I could shower you with all the love you deserve to know is yours today. You have soooo many people who love you, Kelly. Do you know that? You have sooo many people who are praying for you, and who are wishing you the happiest of birthdays ever today.

Sweet little one- you have a family who loves you. You have a family with whom you belong. You have a purpose, a hope, and a future. God created you and breathed life into you. He knew, before you or I were ever born, that you would be my daughter. You are so very wanted, and you are so very loved.

Happy Birthday Kelly Elise Song Jia He Kneip.

Be strong little one- you will be home soon!

We love you!

Update on Baby Kelly Elise

We were expecting an update on Kelly this month, since it's been three months since our last update, and our agency is able to request updates every three months.
Well, we got it on Friday!
I have to be honest, I was a little disappointed, only because we had hoped it would include photos, but it didn't. I also wanted to know if she's crawling/walking, but they didn't say. Well, I am super thankful just to know she's doing well.

Here is what the orphanage has to share about our little princess:

Medical/Development:
She had no colds or fevers.
Her bath is in a tub.
She is babbling, but can not say any words.
She can wave and clap and likes to play peek-a-boo.

Personality:
She likes noisy toys and rocking horse.
She will be very shy with strangers, hide behind the nannies, sometimes will cry.
They call her "He He." (We will have to find out exactly how they pronounce this... I was told "He" sounds like "huh" but sort-of like the sound you would make if you were punched in the gut... not exactly a sweet sounding baby name, is it...?)
She is quiet and happy, likes to play with other children.
When she is fussy, holding her up, taking her play outside, or talking with her will make her calmed down quickly.

General:
She eats formula mixed with rice cereal, drinks boiled water and juice.
They will try to not cut her hair.

I copied and pasted this directly from the report they sent, so the grammatical errors are not mine! LOL
I'm sure it's par for the course in the wonderful world of translation.

My sister told me we could request that they not cut her hair, so we requested that through our agency- that's why they mentioned that about trying not to cut her hair at the end of the report. (Try not to cut her hair...? Okay... I'll take what I can get.) Not that it's a big deal- she could be bald and we wouldn't care! But it'd be nice to have some hair to put all these little bows I'm getting in! (In most orphanages, all the children get crew cuts, no matter what gender or age.)

It made me feel good to know Kelly's acting shy and hides behind the nannies and cries when a stranger comes around. Even though that will make it harder on her when we first go to get her, it is a great sign that she is bonded to her nannies. That's a really important thing to have in her "hard drive", so to speak... it's a great sign that she'll attach with us more easily, because all the experts say that as long as a baby has bonded once, they can bond again. However, if they've never bonded to anyone, it can present some pretty serious attachment disorder issues later.

I received the update via email from my agency, so I wrote an email back asking for pictures. There are no guarantees I'll get any, but I'll be sure to post them if I do!

Harmonious Practicing

As much as I'd like you to believe my children spend their days playing their musical instruments harmoniously together like it appears in these pictures, nothing could be further from the truth! (Okay, maybe not "nothing", but, it is a rare day!)

It just happened to be a nice day out one day last week, and both Caleb and Camryn were feeling particularly benevolent towards one another, so they decided to practice their instruments together and see what duets they could play. I enjoyed it so much, I had to take a few pictures.

One day, when we get a video camera, I can post video of things like this- what fun that will be! You'll get much more enjoyment out of it, I'm sure... but for now, I hope the pictures will do.

(P.S. Caleb passed down some plain white t-shirts to Camryn, and I've noticed she seems to wear them all the time when she's at home! This isn't the first time I've posted pictures of her and she's in one of those darned white t-shirts. Bleh! She really does own some cute, girl clothes! ;)

Mutant Strawberry and Silence from China

I got a basket of strawberries from a local grower the other day, and as Camryn and I were eating our way through them, we came upon this strange-looking little berry!

Kind of looks like it sprouted antennas, or was beginning to grow some ears!

Okay, so the buzz within my CCAI Yahoo group is that things have been unusually quiet with LOA's and TA's coming in from the CCAA- it seems only one has come in since April 4th. That's just plain weird, but no one from our agency is saying so. We're all speculating as to the reasons why, and wondering if this means things are changing in China- yet we're not being told about it... so, of course, we're all worried our LOA's are going to take MUCH LONGER than normal. Knowing the Olympics are coming up doesn't help with the anxiety. It is rumored that China will close down all government offices for as long as a month for the Olympics. This all just does not look good, but I am trying not to worry about things that may not even be true. I'll keep you posted as we find out more.

Baby Shower Blessings

Here are some of the many wonderful gifts we got for baby Kelly. It was such a nice day- everything was beautiful, and all my friends who came to shower me just made me feel sooo special!

I feel TERRIBLE for not getting more pictures. I'm so sorry! I had every intention of taking several so I could show everyone my shower, but it seemed like everything happened so fast, and before I knew it, it was over and I had only taken the one picture of Jennifer and Tami before it began.

Even though I didn't get more pictures, it was still a special time I will remember always, and I want to thank everyone who came, or sent gifts, and a special thanks to Kelly's Nana, too, who couldn't come, but sent so many wonderful gifts for her "Bebe Boo." (as she calls her!) Kelly, you are loved!

Jennifer & Tami- thanks for everything, my loves!

It doesn't show but a small fraction of the lanterns, but they decorated Jennifer's house with paper lanterns throughout, and they had these darling little fortune cookies made that were dipped in yummy pink frosting and had a personalized fortune message, thanking eveyrone for their love, support, and prayers for Baby Kelly. It was the cutest thing - I loved it!

Clint's grandfather

Sadly, Clint's grandfather (on his mother's side) passed away this week. He was 88 years old. Clint went out to Texas to help his mom with funeral arrangements and to be there for the service. We are all missing him, but we're saying prayers for a peaceful time of saying goodbye.

It has been very busy around here for me lately. I normally work 3 hours a day, but I've been working overtime to help with several projects that have hit all at once. (I work at my daughter's elementary school. I work in the office as a clerk/project assistant- which basically means I do whatever they tell me to do...) We have been working on creating new kindergarten files for our newly registered kindergartners for the next school year. We've also got State testing going on, so there's much to do with that- plus we've got lots of orders coming in for next year's textbooks and school supplies- so it's just a hub of activity up there right now. I enjoy my job and I work in a positive environment with great people, so I can't complain- but it's just hard to juggle work and home and all the other things that go on each day.

Still no word on anything with Kelly- maybe tomorrow..? Actually, it's not likely on a Friday, but say your prayers anyway. You never know!

Also, please say a prayer for Clint and his family too- thanks so much.

Last night we watched the movie, August Rush. If you haven't seen this movie, I highly recommend it. I had heard great things about it, and I love Keri Russell, so I was anxious to see it.

I loved this movie- all the unspoken truths it illustrated- how things work together for good, oftentimes in the midst of extremely painful circumstances, in ways that we don't even realize. I loved how everything that happened in the movie brought them together in the end- I believe the same of every circumstance in my life bringing me to the point that I'm at today, including how God brought us to Kelly.

I loved how the movie honored Evan's perseverance and faith in what he KNEW in his heart to be true, even without understanding why he knew it. I loved how it honored all the people that were instrumental in Evan's life, in him getting to where he needed to be, again, without even realizing it.

I also loved the musical aspect of the movie. I have found, in my life, that music is so much more powerful than I can ever comprehend- it often touches parts of me that I didn't even know existed. I loved how the movie honored it as the gift it is, and how it honored those that have the gift for music- no matter who they are, how they interpret it, or where they come from.

Lastly, I loved how this movie honored life. Even though Evan started his life discarded, unknowingly wanted, yet seemingly unwanted, his life and his existence had so much more purpose and value than his circumstances ever would have revealed. You can not base the worth of a person on their circumstances or where they come from, but rather on the fact that the Creator of the Universe (and Life itself) chose to breathe life into their precious little soul, and there are treasures to be found in each of us that we oftentimes don't even know exist.

Baby Shower!

A couple of my dear friends from church, Jennifer and Tami, are throwing us a baby shower on April 20th!

I'm so humbled by their love and generosity, I don't quite know what to do with myself. We don't have any family in town, so our friends at church serve as our family here. They have loved and embraced us just like family, and we are truly blessed.

This shower will be such a treat, especially considering how tough these past days and weeks have been.

I don't even like to talk about it, because there's nothing I can do to change it, but every day that goes by without getting our LOA ends in sadness for me. It's another day Kelly has spent in an orphanage, no closer to coming home than the day before. It kills me too, knowing her first birthday is on the 29th of this month. I so hoped to spend her first birthday with her- or at least knowing I'd be traveling to get her soon after. Now it looks like we'll be lucky if we travel before the fourth of July, the way things are going. I honestly don't know how to handle the sadness of that reality- the sadness that comes with each day that I don't hear anything. I'm just functioning the best I can and trying to stay productive- but on the inside, I'm just sad sad sad.

I look forward to this baby shower- even though I've been sad and it's been hard, it will be a wonderful day to enjoy our precious friends, and a day to focus on all that we have to look forward to.

I'm so happy to know Kelly will one day come home, not only to her mommy, daddy, brother and sister who love her so- but also to a warm and loving church family who are all so eager to wrap their arms around her and embrace her with all that they have. We are so blessed to be surrounded with such loving people. Kelly has no idea what's waiting for her, but boy is the love that she's going to be surrounded with going to knock her socks off! She's going to eat it up, I'm sure!

Precious Friends

While in the Bay Area, we were able to pay a visit to some very good friends- a very special family we have grown to love over the past several years. Here the kids are, climbing trees and having fun together.

It was so wonderful to see them- Blake and Britney have grown so much! What sweet children they've always been, and what well-rounded individuals they're becoming! They're such a solid, loving family.

I just have to say- Debbie went above and beyond the call of duty! Knowing Camryn was away from home for her birthday, she baked a birthday cake for Camryn and had candles for her to blow out and everything! Thanks Deb, for making Camryn's birthday away from home so special!

It was great to reunite with good friends- we're blessed to have such great people in our lives.

OOTM

ODYSSEY OF THE MIND- STATE COMPETITION!




What an amazing bunch of girls!
Camryn had a blast with her team-
all six girls are pictured below
in their classic pyramid pose!


Here they are with their awesome coach, Mr. Frolli.

After all their hard work, the girls didn't end up moving on to the next level in the competition. They ran out of time while they were finishing the technical element of their performance, which ended up costing them crucial points and put them in 7th place. They were all pretty disappointed, but considering there were 50 teams at the beginning, coming in 7th isn't so shabby. These girls really shined and should be very proud of themselves. I know I am!

Guitar Hero & Pre-Birthday presents

Since we were heading out of town the day before Camryn's birthday and we'd be gone for her entire "birthday weekend," we decided to let her open a few birthday gifts the night prior to our leaving.

Notice how Caleb finds a way to entertain himself while his sister gingerly opens her presents.

Oh Caleb!

Lots of fun "My Scene" Barbies and accessories came from Nana! Such fun!

Oh My Goodness! What is this????

Guitar Hero?!! NOWAY!!!

Of course, she had to break it open and begin the jam session immediately!

This is serious business- just look at that concentration.

Of course, Caleb had to get in on the action!

What fun this game is! If you've never played it, or watched your kids play it- you should! It's quite an experience.

I've got more pictures from our weekend to come soon...

Odyssey of the Mind

Our daughter, Camryn, has been involved in the extra-curricular activity called "Odyssey of the Mind" this year. Back in February, Camryn and her team won first place in the Regional competition! Now they are preparing to compete at the State level this weekend! These girls are a smart and creative bunch- I have no doubt they will do great!

We'll be traveling to the competition, and it just so happens to be on Camryn's 11th birthday, so we're going to make it into a fun birthday trip for the entire family to celebrate Camryn, her birthday, and her accomplishments!

God speed my little sweetie! We're so proud of you!