Re-cap

Scroll down to Monday March 9th and read the re cap of our vacation...I started the post while in Florida and just finished it while trying to get Keeghan back to sleep. I'll get some pictures up over the weekend.

We're Back!

We made it home from vacation...and I have lots of stories to tell and pictures to post, but I'm beat right now so you'll have to wait. I did, however, want to post about another blog I read. The author of this blog also publishes an online magazine that is fun to read...check it out here:

Warm sun, sand, a her first Barenaked Ladies concert

(I started this post in Florida but with a bad internet connection never finished so here's the rest of our week re-capped)

It's hard to believe our week here is almost over. Keeghan seems to be enjoying all the firsts she's experienced here. Saturday was a LONG day. Universal is more of a big kid/grown up park so there wasn't a ton for Keeghan to do. We did catch a pet show where they talk about training animals for the movies and there was even an orangutan named Keeghan in the show! We also had our first character experience with some animals from Madagascar and Curious George. Keeghan wasn't thrilled with that whole experience but was ok as long as she was attached to me.

Keeghan has not been sleeping so well being in a strange place and I tried desperately to get her to take a nap at the house Saturday afternoon (even missing out on a 3 hour sound check in my attempt) but didn't have much luck. Of course, as soon as I put her in the car to head back to the park she was out cold so I spent an hour sitting in the parking garage letting her sleep. By the time she woke up we headed straight back to the concert venue and took up our front row spots. Doug got Keeghan some food and we hung out with a bunch of people whom we've cruised with. Devon found a friend in the daughter of a fellow Dipper (Ships and Dips is how the cruises were titled so anyone who cruised is a "Dipper") and the girls were hitting a few attractions close by. Come 8pm the place was packed and we were all getting anxious for the concert. There was a parade first (this whole concert series was a park of Universal's Mardi Gras celebration). Once the parade was over Barenaked Ladies (minus Steven Page) hit the stage. Keeghan wasn't so sure what to make of all the noise at first, but likes music in general so she quickly settled into dancing along as I sang and danced. She certainly got a bit antsy as it was late and she was tired, but she was a trooper overall and made it through the whole show. She crashed on the way back to the house but still didn't sleep through the night :(

Sunday we went back to Sea World for a bit but called it a short day as Keeghan was tired (and so were the rest of us). We caught the pet show there which Keeghan enjoyed. She likes animals in general so we figured that would be a hit. We made sure to get back to the house and into bed at a decent hour so everyone could catch up a bit on sleep.

Monday we headed for the waterpark that Sea World opened last spring, Aquatica. Doug and the big kids had an awesome time riding all the slides and being in the rapids river. Keeghan and I hung out...I figured she'd have fun in the sand and wave pool but not so much. She did eventually go in the water up to her ankles but the sand was NOT happening. She would look and point but she wouldn't walk on it or really even touch it. We have trouble with any kind of new surface under our feet...ok we have trouble with leaves on the pavement so I guess I'm not totally surprised that the sand was an issue. Keeghan crashed in the stroller after we'd had lunch and I walked around with her for an hour so she could take a good nap and sun burnt myself in the process. Not enough sunscreen. The big kids got a bit too much sun that day too. We were, however, really careful to keep Keeghan out of the sun as much as possible and with a ton of sunscreen on her. She didn't get a bit tan at all so I guess we did ok! So, Doug, Devon, Kennedy, and Carson really enjoyed this park which was good.

Tuesday was our last day on vacation and we went back to finish up Sea World. We saw the dolphin show which Keeghan liked. We also went to see the Budweiser Clydesdale's that are there. Keeghan petted a horse which she thought was cool. Oh...we also got to pet a sloth one of the days at Sea World. Keeghan thought he was a kitty but touched him anyway! We also needed to see the Sea Lions as Kennedy is on the Sea Lion team at school. We found a baby and mommy and some VERY loud sea lions getting their food. Keeghan liked watching them and imitated their barking noise pretty well. Doug and Devon caught an acrobat show while the girls and I hung out in the kiddie play area and got to see some Sea World characters (a dolphin and a penguin). Then we met up with the boys, let the big kids hit the rides one more time, let Carson feed the stingrays (yuck...you have to stick your hand under them to feed them) and then it was off to pack up.

Our trip home was uneventful. Thankfully, the plane was pretty empty and we had a seat between Doug and I for Keeghan's stuff (Keeghan still insisted on being on my lap). I think everyone had fun. Watching the wonder in Keeghan's eyes everytime she saw something new, whether it was a leaf or killer whale, was amazing. I can't wait to take her to Disney World!

So many firsts

Today was quite the day of firsts for Keeghan. She was up bright an early (5:45) this morning despite a VERY long day of travel (and being up too early yesterday) with not much a nap yesterday. We headed for Sea World about 9 this morning...Keeghan in a cute Red Sox dress and sandals without socks (that's a first). She was fascinated with her feet without socks. We got her out of the car and let her walk to the entrance holding Carson and Kennedy's hands. They taught her the "1, 2, 3 swing" game. Keeghan will say "2" but not 1 or 3. [total side note here...as we got out of the car there was a family with 2 daughters from China nearby and Doug commented that he was thinking "I'm jealous that they have 2"...Clearly someone switched my husband with this man] Once we got near the entrance the walkway is made of pebbles in cement and Keeghan was totally taken by that. Then there was the water...pretty exciting! We finally made it inside and head for the big kids to ride Kraken (the crazy big loopy roller coaster) and Atlantis (the flume ride). I took Keeghan to see an aquarium near there. There are glass floors and you can see the fish and stingrays through. Keeghan thought that was cool but wasn't going anywhere near it without being in my arms. Once Doug came in he sat down on the floor and she sat with him but wouldn't sit by herself. From there we headed to see the Shamu show (Believe). We got to that end of the park with time to spare so we went to Shamu's Happy Harbor (the kiddie area) and put Keeghan on a ride. Ok, Keeghan clung to me while we went on a ride! We went on a ride that is a bit like tea cups in that they spin but it also goes up in the air. Keeghan was ok with it assuming she was on my lap and clutched on to my shirt : ) Then we tried another ride that went back and forth while spinning (sort of on the idea of the pirate ship ride when it came to the back and forth but it was spinning too). Again, on my lap, clinging to my shirt and it was all good. She clapped when we got off and told her "Yay Keeghan!". Then we went to wait for Shamu. Watching Keeghan fall in love with the whales and their tricks was AMAZING. Anytime there was a break and no whales she would point and whine wanting them to come back! I was trying to get her to say Shamu but it comes out as "Mu". So cute! Carson was just short of 3 on our first trip to Sea World and she called Shamu shampoo. Once the show was over we needed to get some lunch and put Keeghan back in her stroller to walk there and she was OUT COLD in about 3 minutes. She slept for about 45 minutes while we ate lunch. I saved her food and fed her when she woke up while Doug and the big kids went back to ride Kraken again. They got stuck while another coasted was added to the track which stuck Keeghan and I waiting for a bit. We checked out some flowers and leaves. She wouldn't touch anything without much thought. I had to show her it was ok and pick things up first. Everything required an ok from me before she would try it. She clearly didn't get too much time outside and hasn't really seen grass or leaves or walked on different surfaces. Once Doug and the big kids made it back we went off to see some dolphins and manatees. Keeghan loved those as well. She latched onto a stuffed dolphin in a gift shop : ) We called it a day on the early side as tomorrow night is going to be a late one. We came back to the house to chill, eat and swim. I put a swimsuit on Keeghan and she checked the pool out but wouldn't actually sit down or get too close. She put her feet in with some help from me and didn't flip out but she didn't stay either. Hopefully, she'll sleep well tonight and tomorrow will bring more adventures at Universal Studios and her first Barenaked Ladies concert!

Impulsive and maybe a bit crazy...

Ok, anyone who knows me knows the crazy part : ) The impulsive part came in last week when Doug told me that our favorite band (Barenaked Ladies) was playing at Universal this coming weekend. This on the heels of Steven Page (one of the lead singers...thankfully not the one that is pretty to look at) left the band. Much of the appeal of BNL is the on-stage banter between Steve and Ed (other lead singer). They often break into spontaneous rap during concerts and will even ad lib words to their own songs to fit the venue they're playing. Anyway...they (sans Steve) are playing at Universal Studios in Orlando on Saturday.

So, back to last week when I start looking to see if we can fly to Orlando and find a place to stay without going bankrupt. Well, by Thursday morning we'd decided WTF we should go and booked a house and plane tickets. And even better...we decided to keep it a secret from the kids : ) I love surprising them. So we're off for Keeghan's first trip to Orlando. We'll see Universal Studios (and obviously Barenaked Ladies) and Sea World (Disney wasn't so much in the budget this time). The big girls are still upstairs in bed and don't know!! I can't wait til they find out in an hour or so. I'm sure there will be lots of great pictures and stories when we get back.

The wait...

When we started our journey to adopt Keeghan the wait for a NSN referral was about 20 months. That was August of 2007. New NSN referrals hit the states today...the LID's that were covered were 3/3-3/6/06. Yup, 3 days. That's pretty much par for the course in the land of China adoption right now and if you look at a calender, those with the 3/3 LID's waited only one day short of 3 YEARS. So the wait is currently 36 months. In 18 months the wait has gone up 16 months. That's almost an additional month each month waited. There's another 21 months worth of LID's before they would have gotten to ours. I used a calculator that takes into account how many dossiers are logged in ahead of ours as well as the requirement change that went into effect in May of 2007 and some other stuff...and it predicts that we would have received a NSN referral in November of 2015! Crazy...and really crazy that my daughter might be with someone else or still in an orphanage. Keeghan is perfect for us and I can't imagine another little girl in my home or heart.

Snow, Snow, Snow

It has snowed alot this winter. I am not a big fan of the cold...at all. Doug is the outdoor parent, especially in winter. We got a bunch more snow last night and the kids now have an extended vacation.

Keeghan is not a big fan of walking outside. She'll do it on an even surface without ice or water or anything else she considers an obstacle. We do put her down sometimes in the hopes of her getting used to it. She hasn't been out in the snow...she doesn't seem to like it and knowing her dislike for being outside and put down I haven't pushed this issue. This morning, however, the dog came in and dropped some snow on the floor and Keeghan was fascinated with it. So, I grabbed a bucket, filled it with snow, and let Keeghan check it out. Here are the results...

Keeghan checking out snow that Carson picked up

Hmmm....

This is the face that came when Keeghan put some snow in her mouth like Carson was doing

Ugh, I don't think I like this!

And some other random cute pictures...

Sporting my shades

Me and my Ge Ge (that's big brother and what Keeghan calls Devon)