Together At Last!!

Hi Everyone,

It is 4:30am in Taiwan and my girls are sleeping-yep, my girls!! Janie and Lexie are together. They both fell asleep around 8:00 last night so I went to sleep too..now I am up!! Lexie is amazing. She is beyond adorable...so tiny and so sweet. Janie is a great big sister. She is so interested in Lexie and Lexie is very interested in Janie. 

I have sooooo much to tell everyone, but I need more time. I just wanted to at least get a few pictures up.

I will say that Hannah's Hope (the home where Lexie was) is AMAZING. The nannies (special mommies) love the babies so much. They were sooooo excited to see Janie and so happy for the sisters to be together. They were sad to see Lexie go--lots of tears. To those of you that have traveled already-you know what I mean. To those of you waiting to travel, please know that your babies are being soooooo well taken care of and soooooo loved!! I knew it with Janie and I learned it all over again with Lexie. I had a short time to play with your darlings and I did get a few pictures for you...and if you sent things, they were given to the babies yesterday!! I will email each of you privately with more details about your babies (it might be tomorrow though)..we have a busy day ahead of us and my girls are keeping me BUSY!!

Janie: She is still having some sleep issues. It isn't jet lag-she just isn't sleeping much. But when she does finally crash, she crashes hard. But when she is awake, she is soooo happy and extremly wild and crazy!!! She loves Lexie-giving her toys, pacifer, etc and not too jealous. A little but not too much (yet). It is funny though, she wants to do whatever Lexie is doing. When I made Lexie a bottle, Janie wanted one too. When I changed Lexie's diaper, Janie got a diaper and laid down too....so cute!!!!

Lexie: She is an active thing. Loves to crawl around and grab everything in reach. Wants everything that Janie is holding. She is going to give Janie a run.....She is grieving some (which breaks your heart, but is a good thing). She is a much better sleeper than Janie. Janie has been up twice already tonight and cried loudly--Lexie just sleeps right through it. 

We are beyond thrilled and have so much more to share...just wanted to give you a quick update. I keep going from crib to crib looking in at my 2 sleeping angels! God has blessed me and my heart is soooooo full! I cannot even describe how amazing this is.

We love you all!

Taipei sights and the zoo!

First off--let me say it is taking FOREVER to download pictures to this blog---it was taking a while recently back home in America-but taking really long here too....so pictures may only be a few each day-sorry guys!

We just got back from the zoo...Janie is napping (yay) and mom ran down to Outback Steakhouse to get us some lunch-so I had a minute to give you an update.

First, let me say that it is "chilly" here but I am still sweating. This morning I had on a long sleeve shirt but this afternoon changed to short sleeves-all the Taiwanese are wearing jackets and bundled up--too funny! 

Last night, we were way to tired to do anything but this morning after sleeping in some (Janie slept about 6-7 hours) we went down for breakfast and to walk around this area of town. I'm not sure why Janie is having such a hard time sleeping--I guess this is her body's way of handling the change of routine--but she is doing great-such a happy traveler! 

When we traveled for Janie we stayed at the Westin in Taipei. It was WONDERFUL. This time we really wanted a suite so that we could have a separate living area for one girl if the other baby is sleeping!! So, we are at the Agora Garden. We would have liked to get a suite at the Westin or the Grand Hyatt-but we would have to win the lottery first!!

The Agora Garden is good. Notice I didn't say great-but I also didn't say bad--it is good. The room is good as far as size. We have a separate bedroom with a big bed, dresser, and a huge closet. A big/nice bathroom. And a living area with a separate work area and a kitchenette- although no cooking supplies (plates, pans, etc). It is definetly not the Westin but it is OK. It has some great pros, but some cons as well. It does have a nice view of the Taipei 101 building and the garden area is very pretty...our room overlooks it....I will post about it later in case any readers are heading to Taiwan and needing hotel advice....

Back to Janie!!!

How do you entertain a 21 month old on a 14 hour flight???

1. Coloring (or "culwor" as Janie calls it)

2. Barney/Sesame Street DVD's and player

3. Mr. Potato Head

4. More coloring

5. Etch a sketch

6. Baby Einstein

7. More coloring

8. And our favorite....her Mimi playing "horsey". Here is Janie crawling on Mimi's back to bounce!!!

It is a good thing the gentleman next to us was so understanding. He said he was a father to a 3 year old son-he was great....very friendly, thank goodness!

A few pics from this morning:

Janie and her MiMi

The Taipei 101 Building

There were 2 things we hoped to do last year but never did...go to the Taipei zoo and go to a night market. 

We went to the zoo today and are going to night market tonight. The zoo was GREAT!! It was only $2 (American price) admission and we didn't even see half of it--it's huge! Sooooo many people there-it was beyond crowded but so much fun. Janie's favorites were the giraffes (or "raffe" as she calls them), the monkeys, and of course the elephant. She got an elephant puppet suvenior! 

There was also a new exhibit at the zoo today. It was called an American woman with blond hair carrying a cute Asian baby. Yep, that was me! I remember getting looks last year with Janie--this year is no different and I got sooooo many stares today. One lady stood right in front of me (only about 1 foot away) and just looked at me. I just smiled and finally moved away--tooo funny!

I love this picture above. Janie saw the shuttle train and kept saying "Choo Choo" so we rode it from the back of the zoo to the front exit. She waved to people and other trains going by. Then when it stopped she said "Yay" and clapped her hands....such a funny funny girl!

We are going to attempt the night market tonight. I've heard it is CRAZY CROWDED on weekends but it will be easier with just Janie instead of taking 2!!

Tomorrow we head to Taitung to meet Lexie and have her join our family! Can't wait!

We are here!

We are in Taipei! YAY! Flights went well, both were actually early. Janie did great (especially for a little girl who didn't sleep much at all). We got her up Friday morning at 5:00am and boarded the first flight at 11:00. This was the LONG 14 hour flight. She fell asleep before take off and slept for 1 hour 15 minutes (getting up at 12:15 Georgia time). Then she stayed awake and played, played, played until 8:00pm (Georgia time) and finally gave it up and fell asleep for 3 hours. Then she was awake for the rest of the flight. 

Then she ran all around the Tokyo airport during the lay-over but got really grumpy and was sooooo tired. The flight from Tokyo to Taipei is 3 1/2 hours and she slept the entire time. Now she is RUNNING around the hotel room and beyond excited. Hopefully she can sleep tonight and get on Taiwan time. It is currenty either 11:00pm or mid-night Taiwan time (we are a little confused with day-light savings time). Taiwan is either 12 or 13 hours ahead of Georgia. So Janie has had about 7 hours of sleep in the past 36 hours--yikes. She is such a little trooper. She is so happy and excited--she just goes with the flow.

One thing that did happen to the poor thing--she did get a few nose bleeds on the 14 hour flight and 1 on the shorter flight. I guess that was a long time to be up so high!! Poor thing! But she is doing just fine now....

Also there was a baby on the first flight that cried several time and Janie would look over and say "Baby" or "Shhh" and seem so concerened....she is going to be the BEST big sister! 

More updates tomorrow. Thanks for all the prayers for safe travels!!

Here we go again!!

Not much to report yet....just waiting at the Atlanta airport. Flight leaves at 11:00am to head to Tokyo then on to Taiwan....Janie is busy, busy, busy already--fun times ahead!!

I started a blog for Lexie, but will keep all Taiwan activity here on this one since most of you find it easier...then when I am home, I will combine both blogs into one for the girls!!!

5 days and my thoughts....

My mom took Janie with her to the grocery store this morning and I am sitting here thinking.....(not always a good thing-ha ha).

In 5 days my life will be forever changed (again). In 5 days I will get on a plane and follow God's lead to travel around the world. In 5 days I will try to explain to Janie why she is sitting on this big thing in the sky for so many hours.....

Then just a few days after that I will be handed my daughter! Janie will meet her sister! MiMi will snuggle her grandchild. I honestly have 2 ways I look at this journey:

1. The funny side of this journey:

• I am about to be outnumbered! Yep, Janie is running (not walking anymore) and Lexie is crawling--I think they will keep me on my toes!
  
• I will finally go on that diet and lose the weight I need to-chasing these 2 girls will be a workout! 
  
• I think they will "plot" against me and plan to make my life very interesting.
  
• Getting all 3 of us ready in the mornings--well, let's just say I can already see the chaos ahead
  
• And much, much, more that I just shake my head thinking about....
  

2. The serious side of the journey:

God is smiling on us. I have tears in my eyes as I think about this. And I am left to wonder, what have I done to deserve this? You know, when things aren't going right, the non-faithful always question God with "What have I done to deserve this?" They question why God is "punishing" them.....Not me, today I am asking the Lord "What have I done to deserve this amazing blessing?" I am thanking HIM for this journey....wow! It pretty much leaves me speechless--which if you know me, you know is hard to do! 

When He brought Janie into my life I could not imagine how much He loved me. Janie is His child and He has chosen me to be her mommy--now, He has done the same with Lexie. I feel so honored to be the "chosen one" for these girls. I remember aching for Janie and wondering when God would show me my child. Now I know, He had me wait so that Janie and Lexie would be together. He knew them all along....only God could plan this. These precious girls must have special plans ahead--I cannot wait to be a part of this path. I can only imagine what is in their future. 

Some people go thier entire lives and never feel the blessing of one--now I have 2. I cannot be more grateful......

Beautiful Taiwan Photos

A fellow Taiwan adoptive mommy had this link on her blog. I had to share! Simply beautiful Taiwan pictures-what an amazing country! 

CLICK HERE

Taiwan Here We Come (again)

Remember this picture from Sept. 12, 2009!! 

You will likely see another one soon!

We got the go ahead to book flights. We are leaving on Saturday, Nov. 27 to head to Taipei! Here we come Lexie--just a few more weeks!!!