Birthday Pictures

So a year ago today we wrote a letter that would change our lives. It said... please can we adopt Yin NianShuang and make her our daughter. We will love her forever and always and give her everything we can. We promised to get her medical care for her lymphedema and spelled out what that would entail. We ensured them we have medical insurance and sent along a few family photos as well. Doug and I were up til almost midnight getting this done. There was another form we had to fill out as well...as if we hadn't already filled out a million forms and sent pictures but really, that didn't matter. Keeghan had worked her way into our hearts and we would have written a novel if that's what it took. It's hard to believe it was a year ago...

The Birthday GirlThis is how we went about the cake...

And opening our present

And jumping...and jumping...and jumping

Keeghan's Cake

Keeghan did not love the candles and wouldn't blow them out but she was all about eating frosting!

Happy Birthday Keeghan!

The day I got Keeghan..12/8/08

And some pictures from the past few days...

She's changed so much! Happy Birthday beautiful girl...we love you!!

TWO

I love that little girl!!

Keeghan's birthday is tomorrow. She'll be 2. Last year as she was turning 1 we were still in a debate about whether or not lymphedema and Keeghan were to become part of our lives. We were pretty sure but didn't commit until the day after her birthday. This year she's here with us and probably getting her first chance to celebrate a birthday. She obviously has no clue what that means but we do and it matters to me that we celebrate. The cake is baked, the frosting made, and I'll put it all together so we can sing Happy Birthday and light candles tomorrow.

As her birthday approaches I'm a bit sad that she's going to be 2 and not really a baby anymore (pretty sure, however, I'll still be referring to her as "the baby") and I wonder about her birthmother. I wonder if 7/29/07 is really the day Keeghan was born. I wonder about her Mother's labor...was she alone? was Keeghan's birth Father there too? was it long? short? was Keeghan born early? late? on time? were her birthparent's excited? or did they know they would not be able to keep Keeghan with them? was she born in the morning? or in the evening? was it hot? rainy? These are all things I can tell you easily about the births of my other 3 children but questions I'll never have answers to about Keeghan and that makes me a bit sad. Guess we'll just have to enjoy the joy that Keeghan brings us and show her how to celebrate a birthday...and look forward to all the other birthdays we'll have with her.

7 months

Keeghan's been with us for 7 months now. We still have good days and bad days. It actually seems to happen that we'll have a good couple of weeks and then a bad one. And a bad week usually means Keeghan is very clingy with me all day and then does not sleep well either which makes me VERY cranky. I do get a bit more of a break these days since the big kids are home for the summer and they can sometimes distract her even when she's being overly cranky.

It seems, however, after we have one of those tough weeks we end up a bit ahead of where we might have been attachment wise before said week. We're just getting past a bad week (last night was the first night that Keeghan wasn't impossible to get to bed and then up at all hours) and she's been pretty cuddly with me today. Earlier she scared herself by flipping backwards while I was holding her and almost falling out of my arms. She was pretty dramatic about the crying afterwards so after a couple minutes of comforting her I took my hand off her back to do something else (while still holding her) and she grabbed my hand and put it back on her back so I could rub it and put her head on my shoulder. She is not typically that interested in cuddling like that with me. I do get some of that when I put her to bed and she'll settle into me once in a while while reading a book, but overall, she's not cuddly.

Affection is another thing that we're still working on. I refuse to force hugs and kisses and cuddles. She generally calls to everyone to kiss them goodnight before bed and will typically kiss Doug when he leaves for work in the morning but we don't insist on it if she isn't interested. We do make sure we touch and make physical contact as much as possible and try to make the contact positive. I carry Keeghan alot and have since I got her. She's heavy (30lbs) and all the carrying is taking a toll on my back and wrists. I'm pretty sure I've developed carpal tunnel in my right wrist and my back is telling me all this baby carrying isn't so good but I need to be doing what's best for Keeghan so I'll keep at it.

Keeghan's had some fun adventures over the past few weeks. Doug put the bike seat on my bike and has taken her for a few rides. She likes that and loves going for a run with me in the jogging stroller (she'll sometimes climb in the stroller and ask to go for a run). We've been to the beach a few times and Keeghan is enjoying that more...the big kids will dig her a hole and fill it with water to play in. She's not a fan of the ocean but does like jumping in a puddle of water : ) Doug also took the kids out in kayaks last weekend and Keeghan seemed to enjoy that as well. We still let her take the lead on whether or not she's willing to try something out. Generally if you give her enough time to warm up to an idea she'll try it out.

She was certainly meant to be ours...she loves to dance and listen to music, is VERY persistent, likes to eat, loves to be on the go and likes water in small doses : )

Catching up

I'll try and catch up on all that's been going on but I'm sure I'll forget a million things...

I'm still reading that toddler adoption book (The Weaver's Craft). It's tough to read with a toddler in the house! I love to read but when I only get through a sentence before my attention is required I just get annoyed. I'm about halfway through and it's a great resource...if you are considering/are/or have adopted a toddler you should have this book.

Keeghan continues to amaze us. I have said to several people at this point that if someone had dragged me halfway around the world to a place that looked different, smelled different, everyone talks different, and the food was all different I would not be NEARLY as happy as Keeghan is a mere 7 months later. We continue to do our best to keep her from getting overwhelmed with too much. If we have an especially busy day or two I try and make sure Keeghan gets extra time in my arms and that we have a quiet day or two at home after those busy days. She is coming to like her Baba more and has even tried to trade me in for him twice. I was headed out with her and she said "bye bye" to him but then wanted to go to him where she then told ME "bye bye"!! I was a bit taken back as nothing close to that has happened before but I guess it's good she's starting to like him : ) I'm working 8 hours on Sundays now too so she gets Baba all day and he puts her for her nap and everything. So far so good with that.

Keeghan is still not so fond of most strangers. She will sometimes say "hi" or "bye bye" but other times she'll bury her head in my legs or cover her eyes with her hand if someone talks to her. We also have an issue that once in a while she will walk up to someone and hit them...but it's only if they are turned away from her. Not sure where that habit came from and I don't like it one bit but I'm sure we'll figure it out.

Keeghan is very clever and only needs to see something once to be able to attempt it. Of course 99% of the time it's something we don't want her to attempt! Language seems to be a big exception to this rule. We're still having a tough time communicating and Keeghan's way of dealing is to yell the same thing over and over and over until we guess what she wants which is VERY irritating. You can put me in the bad mommy pile over that one because I sometimes end up yelling back before guessing correctly. The pitch of her screech is gut ripping and it's all I can do not to just run and hide when it starts. We're using some signs which does help but I can certainly see how Keeghan got attention from her nannies! She's a very insistent/persistent little girl.

Sleeping is still ok. She goes down for bed or a nap without much struggle. Sometimes we cry a bit so Mama or Baba come back to tuck us in and Keeghan does still wake at night at least once a week. Sometimes it's just a minute or two and other times it can be an hour or more. Doug seems to be more successful in getting her back down quickly. I think she realizes she's not getting me and just goes back to sleep but he may have some secret that he's not telling. I'm still the only one who puts her to bed at night but Doug has done 3 Sunday's worth of naps so far so maybe he'll give in and try bed some night. I think it would be fine if I were just not here as works out for naps but I'm pretty sure there would be serious drama if she knew I was in the house.

The big kids are obviously out of school for the summer which lead to some confusion on Keeghan's part but overall she's pretty happy to have them home to play...and so am I for the most part. By the end of the day, however, I'm pretty done being touched and talked to and am really ready for some peace and quiet and bed. We've been to the beach a couple of times which I LOVE and Keeghan is coming to enjoy as well. She's not a fan of the ocean per say but will play in a hole in the sand with a bit of water in it for hours and the fact that she doesn't freak over sand anymore is good. We also made a trip to Chinatown and had some 4th of July fun here in town. So we're keeping busy. I hope to make it to a zoo or two this summer and maybe the aquarium as well but we'll see.

Thank you...

That's Keeghan's new phrase. She says it mostly at the right time but will sometimes just randomly call out to you and then say "thenk you" in the cutest sing-song voice. I'll have to get it on video cause it's SO SO cute! I have a million other things I should talk about but I'm beat and I just wanted to put up a few new photos and blog about the thank you thing before I forgot.

Keeghan's way of eating oreos...peel in half...

...and eat only the middle...then give the cookie part to the dog!

So beautiful!!

And mostly happy : )

These pictures are from the other day (when it actually wasn't raining) out on our trampoline:

I played with the color on this one obviously...

She can somersault...and did it right off our bed this morning. Good thing Baba moves quick and caught her cause Mama had a heart attack!

Clapping for her Jie Jie's jumping skills

: p

Mischief!!

And cuteness!

4th of July

Just some stuff

For fun...

Keeghan has taken to calling me "mum mum" instead of mama. I think it's because she hears the other kids calling me mom. It's kinda cute but I'm afraid I'm going to end up Mom too soon and I'm not ready for that...I like the babyish mama better. On that same note, I love that she calls Doug baba instead of dada or dad and she still calls Devon gege. It's cute.

The big kids have been out of school for a week now and all it's done is rain. The weather here is getting a bit Seattle like and it stinks. Going outside is impossible even if it's not actively raining because everything is wet and gross. We're all a bit tired of one another at this point and summer just started.

Keeghan turns 2 at the end of this month and I don't think I'm ready for that either. It's hard to imagine that is was a year ago we first saw her face and decided to bring her home. 2 seems more "big kid" than baby. I'm still not sure how we're going to celebrate her birthday. I am thinking bigger party and Doug is not so on that bandwagon as he's afraid Keeghan will get overwhelmed. He has a point but I might just do it anyway and keep Keeghan close to me. We'll see.

I'm still feeling prisoner like. Keeghan does still get "off" if we are in a strange situation for a long time or mess with her schedule. This means I can't just pick up and do what I want. Driving anywhere more than 15 minutes or so pretty much guarantees the princess will fall asleep so I feel like I can't go anywhere too far unless I plan her nap around a drive and then, typically, it's not a good nap. I do get out here and there to work and some Friday nights with the girls which I really look forward to but overall, I still feel very stuck.

Keeghan loves sitting on the counter in the bathroom while I do my hair in the morning and will insist that I "do" her hair as well. And she'll ask me to put makeup on her too. Cute.

Keeghan LOVE the kittens but isn't so gentle with them. She has a terrible habit of picking them up by the neck so my mantra is "kitties stay DOWN".

Here I just have to end with something funny...Keeghan hates wearing a bib. The kids are having mac and cheese for lunch so I insisted on a bib and Keeghan kept taking it off. Devon, Kennedy and Carson decided they should wear bibs too in order to convince Keeghan to wear hers. Devon has on a pink love bug bib : ) There's no way I can take a picture to share as my 14 year old son would KILL me if I did that but I'm sure you can picture it. SUCH GOOD KIDS!