Hewgley Happenings

Easter pics

2011-04-25T08:53:00.001-07:00

Spring Fever!!

2011-04-11T10:26:00.000-07:00

T & R before church.....my little model below!! (I found this little dress at consigment for about $5, and it was new!! I love consigment!)

Enjoying the backyard!! Fenced in is nice!

practicing on the new wheels!

A trip to build a bear resulted in 'Rainbow the Owl' and 'Toby the bear'. Rachel had never been to Build a Bear but had played games on their website and Taylor had been once when he was almost 3. They loved it! Rachel got some birthday money and she had her choice of what to do with it and that is what she wanted.

Rachel turned 4.....Happy Birthday baby girl!!

..... and Taylor won 1st place in the science fair poster contest for kindergarten!!

Fundraiser/ Raffle

2011-03-19T19:37:00.001-07:00

Someone we know in the adoption community is trying to raise funds for another adoption:)) A precious treasure from China. Check out their blog, he is precious and also check out the awesome camera they are raffling off.

www.fromlouisiana2china.blogspot.com

Happy New Year

2011-01-25T16:46:00.001-08:00

Happy New Year, Rachel and Emma
Snow Days

Our new home above....

and looking out our front door, below...

we haven't seen this much snow since I was in 6th grade, I think.

Silly bubble beards

One of her favorite presents.....SB pj's....she had been asking for them for months.

loving the Leapster and DS and their pillow pets.

Santa came!!

Christmas Eve sprinkling reindeer food all around the yard

Christmas Eve, Rachel and Taylor swapped with each other....

first tooth!

2010-10-28T11:53:00.001-07:00

Above : 50's day......the best I could do :))

Below: First tooth!!

Pumpkin Patch

Loving AWANA at FBC!!

so excited the day they got their costumes!!

Florida!!

2010-10-03T06:59:00.000-07:00

We went to Florida for 4 nights and it was awesome!! We had the most beautiful, perfect weather and the calmest ocean James or I had ever seen!! We needed this time with the kids and we got to spend time with great friends the Willcox's.

Hunting Crabs...Taylor was fearless!
Rachel washing hair

Crab Hunters!! Taylor, Rachel and Grandin

The Hewgley's and the Willcox's at The Crab Trap...yummie!

the calmest ocean I have ever seen!

precious baby Andrew!! 5 mos old

Taylor and Grandin outside Floyd's

love those eyes!

Rachel, Taylor and Grandin had such a great time!!!

splashing with daddy!

Taylor took this at Hog's Breath Cafe, not our best meal but OK.

Rachel's first go-cart ride, she squeeled and clapped the whole time and said faster faster!!

saw no jelly fish until last morning and they were huge and hundreds of them!!

good timing for us!!

Trailor Choir concert

2010-09-05T12:08:00.001-07:00

this is Taylor at about 9pm......ear plugs in and sleeping hard!

the concert was to benefit the Deanna Glossup Foundation, which was started in honor of Deanna who lost her battle to childhood cancer. It is a great foundation!

this was the first thing they saw at the concert

Rachel's first haircut!

2010-09-05T12:01:00.000-07:00

the pics are in the wrong order but I decided since Rachel's shortest length of her hair was to her chin that we would get it bobbed and oh my it is sooooo precious!!!

look at this goofy girl with me drying her hair!

Daddy turned 39!!! Us with cousin Emma. We are at our rental house while renovating!! Can't wait to move, and yes that's the kitchen table in the living room, no other place for it!

the after pics.....

and before.....

August....new beginnings and special visits!

2010-08-08T19:09:00.000-07:00

Visiting with Taylor's foster brother Lee as they drive through AL

Since the last time we got to see them Lee and Taylor both have new sisters Rachel and Francie!! And Lee and Francie are waiting on a new baby brother!!!!!! (uh..yeah...we're done!)
Lee was taller last time and now Taylor has caught back up!

Taylor's kindergarten teacher Ms. Nita!

fishing at Brian's pond. First fish Rachel caught! She couldn't quit checking it out to look at the camera...I took several and everyone one she is really checking that fish out!!

Taylor faught to get this one in.

Taylor's first day of school with his Bumble Bee backpack, (which he calls pack pack!)

First day of school! Look at my precious boy!

2010-08-08T18:57:00.000-07:00

Taylor's 6th Birthday party!

celebrated once again with cousins Emma, Kirsten, Matthew and Olivia

took a long weekend to Chattanooga, Raccoon Cave mining for treasures.

Lake Winnie Amusement park, it was sooooooo hot!!

Raccoon cave was 65 degrees...awwwwwww!

spent one night in a cabin at a KOA and Rachel got to fish for the first time

and the pool was great!

Here is aunt Susan's cabin right next to ours!

Seoul, Korea

2010-07-11T09:32:00.000-07:00

James had the awesome opportunity to go to Seoul, Korea with his mom, sister and niece for a week in June. James and his sister had never been and they got to meet a few family members and see the great history of Korea. Their mom is staying a month, so she is still there.

Their first meal in Korea.....I guess they just needed something familiar :))

view from their hotel

view from their hotel

James' mom, one of her nephews (who is 1 year older than her), and her nephews wife and son. No furniture to sit on in their home, you sit on the floor.

The hotel James and Susan stayed at in the Gang Nam area of Seoul.

Called the Freedom Bridge, close to the DMZ(demilitarized zone) between North and South Korea. People place ribbons on the bridge in remembrance of.

train kept as reminder from Korea War

Located at the DMZ, in hopes of reunification one day.

A palace they toured, this is during the changing of the guard.

At the palace.

put on roofs to ward away evil spirits....I think.

This was the princesses personal garden at the palace, because once she became princess she was not allowed to leave the palace.

A very large Buddha at the temple.

at the buddhist temple

at Lotte World (like Disney)

The best dinner they had in Korea......maybe ever. Family took them to a restaurant.

The did a boat tour one night and this was a bridge they went by.

a beautiful Hanbok for Rachel

and one for Taylor

The Inchian Korea Airport.

lil bros wedding

2010-07-06T09:38:00.000-07:00

above, my sis and her husband Bill at the reception

and below, Traci and her 2, Hunter and Trey
below, my lil brother Neill and his girlfriend

The beautiful couple, Patrick and Sallie

my dad and stepmom Ginger

Rachel, James, me and Taylor

Taylor's self picture

at rehearsal dinner

on the way to Fayetteville, AR for the wedding

We spent 3 nights, 3 different hotels trying to break up the drive for the kiddo's, well especially one kiddo in particular (uh-hmmm Taylor). The wedding was beautiful and I have to say my lil bro did good. We wish them nothing but the best!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2010-06-04T15:50:00.000-07:00

No particular order, Grandmother's birthday, Taylor's

pre-k graduation and Memorial Day weekend.

Easter

2010-04-16T06:06:00.001-07:00

These are somewhat out of order but this is

Rachel with some of her easter basket loot!

and here they are making grass all over the carpet.......and yes they cleaned it up!!

Taylor took the picture below, this is at Maw Maw and Paw Paw's house.

our two with their cousins

Taylor found the biggest prize egg with $5 !!

pretty girl!

Taylor and Emma

At the end of the day at the in-laws house Rachel went over and sat on this swing...

then she layed her face on the swing.........

after this picture we went and picked her up before she fell out from exhaustion...:))

at aunt Traci's house, laying on the hammock with cousin Trey

our two bunnies

Taylor's basket

Rachel's basket

making Easter eggs

looks can be deceiving but here is Taylor with the dust buster

and Rachel with her broom

Taylor peeling boiled eggs

on a roll now

2010-04-02T08:27:00.000-07:00

Rachel eating her favorite, boiled egg, and notice flip-flops on the wrong feet. If you put them on the right feet she will sit and change them. If you tell her they are on the wrong feet she basically tells you she likes it that way:))

Taylor's "mean" face......

Rachel 'choking' the kitty.....

Carrying her one handed.

below....notice flip flops on wrong feet....again!

Above and below was taken at my works yearly Easter egg hunt. At the end, all the children get to choose a prize and you can see what Rachel and Taylor picked. Rachel is calling that her puppy and when we tell her it's a lamb she says 'no', I did hear her calling it puppy lamb yesterday. Rachel also wouldn't take her picture with the Easter bunny.....oh well.

Haven't posted in forever then 2 in one week................I couldn't resist sharing these pics though!! Precious faces!!

March

2010-03-30T09:09:00.000-07:00

Celebrating Chinese New Year (02/10)

Taylor showing off the bird feeder he made!
Enjoying some snow time (01/10)

Pig Tails

Busted....hey are you supposed to be on that table?
(03/10)

Enjoying some sunshine (03/10)

We went to the Jump Zone after having our last visit with our social worker for Rachel's adoption. For the first hour Rachel wouldn't do anything, then it clicked and she had a blast!!

Taylor loved the Jump Zone!!

Next Up: Rachel's Birthday 3/27/07------3 Years Old!!

Wow, I can't believe how long it has been since I posted. We moved to a more rural community in November, not far from where we lived, but the computer access is just not as speedy and it can get very frustrating!! In March we celebrated Rachel's 1year anniversary with us and also her 3rd birthday!! Enjoy the pics!

Christmas 2009

2009-12-27T18:14:00.000-08:00

Christmas Day

The night before Christmas, getting ready for Santa!!

We had a great Christmas, just wanted to post a few pics. I haven't really had time or energy for blogging since bringing Rachel home, but I will try to continue to put out a few pics so for the few people who check-in can see the kids growing up!! I know I have several kiddo's that I love following!!

pre-Santa pic

2009-11-28T06:32:00.001-08:00

Getting ready to go see Santa

November happenings

2009-11-26T15:15:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving Day, trying to get a family photo, not so easy

One day after nap Rachel woke up with some CRAZY hair!!

We have a pony tail!!

Cutie!

2 very silly boys!!

Halloween 2009

2009-10-31T18:29:00.000-07:00

Taylor begged for these pumpkin decorations and honestly

I didn't mind not digging out the pumpkins:))

a whole bunch of Hewgley's...

batman and a cute little leopard

Trick or Treating at Aunt Traci's

fun at the beach!

2009-10-13T09:26:00.000-07:00

Yes...I had to make them hold hands and walk away, but I got a cute pic!!

We got a very nice invitation to the beach to meet friends and stay at their parents condo with them....uh let me think about it.....OKAY, be right there:))

It was so much fun and Taylor has only talked about going to the beach and building a sand castle for like, forever. Honestly, I didn't think he would like all the sand and salt but they both loved it!! They also travelled better than I expected!! Let the road trips begin.

Cuties

2009-09-27T18:42:00.001-07:00

Riding horses

Below is Taylor's first haircut at the barber shop....and his bribe in then next pic. It has not been fun cutting his hair the last, almost 3 years....he has shed alot of tears. The biggest problem seemed to be the hair falling on him and we tried MANY MANY things to prevent that. At the barber shop they have a flowbie type thing that sucks the hair up....cool!

Just being honest

2009-09-09T12:35:00.000-07:00

Last week I was not feeling 100%, probably more like 50%....and then I worked 3, 12 hour shifts in a row, Thurs, Friday and Sat. So Sunday morning I get up and am just wiped out. James gets up and was making us pancakes and since noone has mentioned church yet, Taylor asks "mommy are we going to church?" and I said, "ask your daddy", so he did to which James replied, "I don't know ask your momma", to which I said "Taylor we haven't decided yet". James then asks Taylor "do you want to go to church?" and Taylor says, "yes, and we need to thank Jesus, right..." So guess what I got up and got my behind in gear and went to church. If you give the devil any space, man he will drag you down, but then my sweet precious 5 year old just got me right back on track!! Thank you Jesus!!

August

2009-08-22T09:53:00.000-07:00

Taylor making Rachel hold her head up for the camera!
Rachel not liking getting her picture made!!

right after a bath, look how long her hair is getting!

the card Taylor made for James for his 38th birthday (on the top left pic is a car and then on top right when he was writing his name he ran out of room for 'r' so he went to the left of his 'o' and wrote it)

He wanted to write daddy's name on the front of the card!

Rachel and ayi

No, that doesn't say 83...LOL!!

Taylor's birthday

2009-08-01T20:10:00.000-07:00

Today was Taylor's birthday. One thing he asked for was a race car driver costume. He took a nap in it today and is asleep right now in it tonight. He ended up getting two bumble bee transformers so tonight we went to Target to swap one of them. He was so excited to get the money back and get to shop. Poor thing was kind of carsick on the way there, then we stopped at Cracker Barrell, he ate some grits and milk and seemed fine. We then went to Target and then on the way home he had to throw up. I told him I was so sorry he got sick on his birthday, he said 'I OK mommy'!! He was fine the rest of the way home. I really thought he had beaten this car sick thing...it had been probably 9-12 months since he had been sick in the car.

The race car driver got to make a couple of laps around the yard with daddy!

Happy 5th Birthday Taylor!!

2009-07-31T20:33:00.000-07:00

I can't get blogger to let me rearrange pics and copy and paste and it's getting on my nerves...so go to http://www.journeytome.com/ and look at adoption stories and look for Rachel Lian and you can see this post.

Chattanooga Choo Choo

2009-07-03T09:33:00.000-07:00

We went to Chattanooga for a few days last week and had a great time. I had never really been to visit and there is so much to do. James' lil sis Susan and her three girls and James' mom all went too. I really enjoyed Chattanooga...I could so live there!! Big city perks with small town feel and sooooo family friendly!

Above is a little handmade creek they have around the aquarium and below is Rachel petting the sting rays.

Above is eating at my new favorite restaurant the Big River Grille and Rachel has the bread basket on her head. Below is at Coolidge Park where we had a picnic and played in the water.

Above is picnic at Coolidge park and below is the Creative Discovery Museum.

Above and below we are at Lake Winnie Amusement Park.

Chattanooga Zoo

Rachel went to church

2009-06-14T18:14:00.001-07:00

2 creative kiddos!

My dad and step mom got Rachel this adorable dress!! It was so much fun seeing her in a cute dress this morning!!

We have not been to church since before China....wow, I can't believe it has been that long!! We did not have daycare for Rachel until June so mommy has been working weekends so I could get in most of my hours and keep her at home. It was so great having a weekend off!! Now I am back to my every other weekend schedule. Maybe James also gained a little confidence today by seeing that she did well and he could handle both on his own on the Sundays I do work. I am sure he would have lot's of willing helpers at church if needed:))

May Happenings

2009-05-30T17:43:00.000-07:00

The Month of May

If I haven't mentioned it before this girl puts away the food!! She loves to eat!!!

We got a slip n slide and here they are enjoying the water and sun!

Miss Rachel did not like sliding or getting too wet...
but Taylor loved it!!

Taylor had a pet turtle for a night....not really, but James brought home a little turtle that ended up being a baby snapping turtle and we didn't have any live stuff to feed it so we released it the next day. Being Taylor has never had a pet we are saying this was his first.

Today was my Grandmother's 84th birthday. These are her grandchildren and great grandchildren that were there today.

And lastly a little trip to pick strawberries, we were only there maybe 45 minutes but the kids liked it. Rachel picked all of hers by the flesh of the berry so most of hers were squished. We did enjoy our strawberry shortcake that night!! Yummy!

Fun with the fam

2009-05-22T19:55:00.000-07:00

Looking good as we are leaving to go out to eat.

My 2 favorite guys!!

Taylor is such a guys guy...he loves cars and had never driven/ridden in a go cart...until tonight!! And of course he loved it!

Rachel loved watching, which made for a good photo op!

Even though they raced in the only double seated car out there, it was the fastest and they won!! Good job Taylor!!

Our family

2009-05-03T20:20:00.000-07:00

Where does the time go?

2009-04-30T12:06:00.000-07:00

Rachel and Taylor with my their soon to be 83 year old Grandmother.

Well I can see I might get this thing updated once a month. Having 2 kids has given me alot more to do. Things are going great here. Miss Rachel is adjusting well and her and Taylor's relationship seems to be getting better and better every day. We have met with early intervention and our local family doctor has seen Rachel. Our family doc doesn't believe she has mild cp. She may be a little delayed just from being in the orphanage but she is catching up quickly. It is amazing what she can do today that she couldn't when we got her. She walks, run, climbs and has taught herself to use her spoon. She is trying new words and sounds all the time. We had an appointment scheduled for Vanderbilt for next week, but I canceled it. Our local doc and I agree that for now there seems to be no need. Of course we can always reschedule if needed. We may utilize Early Intervention to help her with catching up developmentally. So she might be getting PT starting really soon. So, here are a couple of pics, which I know is what you really want to see.

Bow Bows 1

2009-04-09T14:32:00.000-07:00

Two friends of mine that are sisters made Miss Rachel lots of bows and a bow holder. Aren't they precious!! In this picture can you spot the cupcake bow, the ladybug, flower, dragon fly, or butterfly? Check the posting below for close-ups....and a cute ladybug dress they made!!

Bow Bows 2

2009-04-09T14:14:00.000-07:00

In this first picture you can see the cupcake (which is upside down), the ladybug, flower, and dragonfly.

In this one you can see the butterfly bow.

They also made several head bands that you can attach bows to....isn't she adorable!! No more calling her a boy!!

And lastly, I don't even think they knew the significance of ladybugs and adoption, but they made this little lady bug dress with matching bow. I think she may have to get a picture made in this one!!

Easter Bunny

2009-04-07T07:07:00.000-07:00

I work at the local hospital and every year they do a Easter Egg Hunt for the kids of employees. It's hard to believe this was Taylor's 3rd year attending and just like Rachel, he was also scared of the bunny his first year.

Rachel with our niece Hunter. Rachel got 18 eggs and Hunter said she would pick one up check it out then put it in her basket and go to the next.

Rachel was not wanting to be near Bunny!

Rachel in her new gown with her teddy.

Tee Ball

2009-04-07T07:04:00.000-07:00

We had missed Taylor's first two practices due to being in China but we got to be here for his first game and it was sooooo cute. They just cracked me up!! I definitely had to say a prayer of thanks that night for Tee Ball!!

The night before Taylor's game we went and picked up his uniform, which he asked to try on, then wear, then pwease sleep in!!

Look at my lil' slugger!! I was definitely a dorky mom in the stands!

Taylor on first getting some advice from coach Ronald.

2009-03-31T14:47:00.000-07:00

Look....she's already reading:))

Day 14 and she finally enjoyed her bath time!!

Taylor showing me how frustrated he's been! Change is hard!

I used to have one little monkey that liked to watch daddy mow the grass, now there are 2!

Cool little lady!

eating her favorite....eggs

15 days ago~

Rachel could say:

mama, by-bye, and woof woof

avioded eye contact

wouldn't let Taylor within arms reach without a smack

hates a bath

demands to sleep in crib without snuggling

eats everything in sight

Today~

Rachel can say:

mama, by-bye, woof, woof, baba (daddy), hi, hey, uh-oh, TayTay, ayi (aunt Traci), night night, no-no, & light...oh yeah and she says 'ss ss' meaning to say shay shay which is thank you in Chinese (I am not even sure how to spell shay shay, but that is how it sounds)

she doesn't avoid eye contact

let's Taylor get right beside her

gives kisses alot

likes a bath (actually for the first time last night)

wants to be snuggled and held all the time

still eats everything in sight!! This girl can eat!

Birthday Girl

2009-03-28T13:52:00.000-07:00

This is their first night home, Taylor is sleeping in a typical 'man' position...too funny! And isn't Miss Rachel sweet in her bed?

We were trying to teach Rachel how to blow out the candle...but she just let us do it!

Liking her chocolate cake!

Our little princess!

We had Rachel a little family birthday party today! She has been fussy as she didn't sleep very well last night, but the party went good. We got her a little basket of play food for her kitchen and I think that was her favorite. She knows how to play kitchen. She and Taylor are napping now. We are all still suffering from the dreaded jet lag!! It stinks! I think I will go now to the couch and see if I can get a few winks!

Home

2009-03-27T03:52:00.000-07:00

Just getting on the airplane, checking out the music selection. Rachel has figured this flash thing out on the camera....just close your eyes.

This is us boarding flight #2...the big one...13 hours. Note the fact James is smiling!

12 hours later and James with NO sleep...he not happy!!

Rachel checking out the toy room! Bad mama had buttoned her sweater wrong!LOL!

Playing kitchen at about 11:30pm!!

What more do I need to say.....Home!!

Yes.....we are home and it is the 27th...Miss Rachel's 2nd birthday! Our flights were anything but enjoyable....just being honest. Let's see, flight #1 to Shanghai, Rachel puked and I wasn't expecting it and so I had her in my lap and am cupping my hands and holding her puke. Taylor and James were several rows up and totally oblivious and luckily some of the people near me started helping. So that was fun! And I forgot to pack her any extra clothes...duh!! So her clean shirt now has puke stains down the front. In Shanghai I did find a store and bought her a clean shirt. Then onto the big flight. The good part is, Rachel went to sleep and slept about 8.5-9 hours!! The bad part is Taylor the one we weren't worried about kept waking in screaming fits...and I do mean fits...about every 30 minutes. He was thrashing and kicking and screaming and holding his leg. We think he was having leg cramps and really wasn't completely waking up. It was horrible!! We would get him calmed down and back comfortable, only it wouldn't last. This went on for about 3 hours solid. Finally he woke up and we had our sweet boy back, but then when he is awake, well, so are you! Rachel woke up about 1 hour before we landed and decided to have diarrhea that leaked out of her diaper!!! And no, I didn't have more pants. And have you ever tried to change diarrhea diaper in a airplane bathroom??? I washed the pants the best I could and she just kind of didn't smell fresh for the rest of the trip. Then our big flight was 45 minutes late landing in Chicago which gave us 1hr 45 min. We had to claim luggage, go through the foreigner immigration line which was long, then an extra line for something due to the adoption, then customs, then recheck bags, then ran...yes ran to our gate....2 kids, stroller, 2 bags (carry-ons) and 2 back packs and we were literally running and yelling as they were closing the door at our gate and if we had been 15 seconds later, we wouldn't have made our flight. Then we get on board and they had given our seats away and wanted Rachel to be a lap baby and I just about had a come-apart. Rachel was screaming, and she needed her seat....which we paid dearly for. So, we got our seats and had a good flight to Nashville. Then get to Nashville and no luggage! We made it but luggage didn't. It is still in Chicago, but hopefully on it's way to Nashville this morning. Once we got to Nashville, our family was there to pick us up and we had a 1.5 hour drive. We made it home around 11:15 to 11:30 and got Taylor to bed, then Miss Rachel seemed awake so we stuck her in between us in our bed turned on the t.v. and out with the lights. I promise, probably 1 minute later, I was asleep and I woke up at 1:15 am due to very loud snoring and saw Rachel was asleep and put her in her bed. I woke up and got up at 4am, could not go back to sleep. Very tired, but couldn't get back to sleep. James got up at 7:30 and now it is 9:30 and the kids are still sleeping. I thought with Rachel sleeping so long on the flight that she might not sleep and that hasn't been an issue, she is a good sleeper! So now the test....I have to stay awake today, so I can sleep tonight!!

Thanks for all the prayers and following along to Miss Rachel. We are excited to have her home and show her what being a part of a family is all about! Once again we have been blessed and we are very thankful. And if anyone wants to come visit today or tomorrow, just call, we need some help staying awake!! (no kidding)

Last night

2009-03-25T07:15:00.000-07:00

The pigeon we had at dinner last night....tasted like dove.All that was left...the Chinese probably would've eat that too!

after bath tonight

Big bro

On Shamian Island where we are staying they have beautiful sculptures all over and nice pedestrian streets that are park like.

They have what looks like a playground but take a closer look and you will see it is exercise equipment for adults. They have these all over China....I think we could use these in the US!!

Treadmill above!! It is hard to stay on it.

We have just finished packing, which was not a easy job. I think I shopped more than I realized :)) We leave for the airport tomorrow morning at 7:30 and after 26 hours of travel we will arrive at the Nashville airport at 8pm. What's weird is we leave on Thursday morning in China and get back to Nashville on Thursday evening, even though 26 hours will have passed. Rachel has been doing great with us. She is all giggles and jibber jabber in our room and walks around. As soon as we step foot outside our hotel room door she demands to be held, won't walk for anything and is very serious. She is so scared of everything. Taylor has taught her something really great LOL......mine! And she says it with a purpose, as she jerks away whatever she doesn't want him to get. She has said night night and yesterday we showed her how to give kisses and she will give kisses now...only when asked but it is sweet! Initially when it was time for nap or bedtime, she would get sleepy then point to her bed and if you didn't put her in it she was furious. She didn't want to be rocked or held or looked at for that matter. Now she demands to go to sleep in our bed and she is usually having so much fun she doesn't want to go to sleep. She lets me rub her face and hands as she goes to sleep. Tonight she rolled right over head to head to me and just looked at me...it was very sweet.

Well, we are off to bed to get ready for a early morning and a very very very long day! Please continue to pray for safe and smooth flights and that Rachel and Taylor and well me and James too handle the long travel day well. Thanks for all the comments and prayers...we really appreciate it! We are so excited to get our girl home....and I can't tell you how many times Taylor has asked to go home!

Traditional 'Red Couch' photos

2009-03-23T22:30:00.000-07:00

Last night right after bath.

5 precious kiddo's

5 new families!

We have had a quiet morning and now the kids are napping. We had to stay in our room until 11am, because our guide was at the US Consulate on our behalf having all our paper work cleared. At 11 we were finally free and walked around and then met our group for the traditional red couch photo at the White Swan Hotel. As you can see the kids were none too happy about being placed on this red couch and having lots of photos taken but we did it none the less. Rachel doesn't like any of her new shoes and just cries if you put a pair on her. We all slept well and had a good breakfast. Rachel has had 4 diarrhea diapers over the last 3 to 4 days now, but her tummy doesn't seem to hurt and it hasn't stopped her from eating or drinking. It's hard to know which of many things it could be that has caused it. Could it be a round of antibiotics, 5 immunization shots at one time, a whole new diet....or stress? I don't know maybe a mixture. It will be so great to be home and have a routine to our family again. I think Rachel will just blossom in our family!!

GZ day 3 part 3

2009-03-23T03:08:00.000-07:00

Taylor's new trick!
Giving mommy's arms a rest!!

At the Thai restaurant called Cow and Bridge....soooo yummy!

Not happy that she was taken away from Madagascar to model.

OK that's better, I can see my movie now!

When we went back out I got some famous squeaky shoes!! For these 4 pair I paid a total of

145 yuan which equals $22.00, not each but total!!

So after nap we did a little more shopping and then let Taylor play at a local park that is close to the hotel. There were alot of kids from a nearby school there when we went. After that we ate again at the Thai restaurant that is sooooo good. We are now back at the room and I just tried Rachel's new outfit on her and she got really mad....I took her away from Madagascar 2 and she is really enjoying watching these movies. You will see, as soon as I put her back on the bed where the movie was she quit crying. We also had a little breakthrough today, she actually let James carry her while we were out shopping. Yeah for mommy's muscles.

GZ day 3 part 2

2009-03-22T22:49:00.000-07:00

The kids are still asleep and I just got back from shopping!! Starting in left upper corner, I got a tea set which is sitting on top of a box that is a really nice Mahjong set but it was taped up, a toy drum with a pig on it (Rachel was born in the year of the pig), 2 cloisinine ?sp ornaments, a handpainted fan, postcard set, book, jade (green) little pig, pink lion (dances on strings), butterfly kite, traditional Chinese outfit for Rachel, the meimei and gege shirts are for Taylor and Rachel (lil sister and big brother) and a little tamberine. The mahjong set was my most expensive purchase at 120 yuan. My total was 530 yuan which equals about $80. We want Rachel to have some things from China and I hope as she gets older she will enjoy them. I will try to post a video of Rachel (we are still using her Chinese name You Yi pronounced YoYi) saying TayTay. Also, stay tuned for part 3 for the day as I will try to post a picture of her in her cute new outfit.

Guangzhou day 3

2009-03-22T20:03:00.001-07:00

At this last hotel we have a suite, so in the bedroom we have Taylor a blow up bed, a crib and our bed. In the other two hotels, we ended up with a king size bed and Taylor just slept with us. The great thing about this bed is it is actually pretty soft. China beds are like sleeping on boards, so this one is nice!!

Taylor eating a pb&j

Pretty girl!

No sundrop in China, but we did manage to find a mountain dew. It was a little different than mountain dew back home, maybe better!

OK so the shots are over with....poor baby had to get 5!!! One in each leg, 2 in one arm and one in the other. It was horrible!! She actually recovered from the whole event better than I expected and is watching Wall-E on our bed as I type. She is saying 'TayTay' for Taylor now and most of the time if we are not in the room with them he ends up crying out. I think he tries to touch her or play with her while we aren't in there and gets too far into her space and she gets him. He also likes telling on her. During nap time, I am going to do a little shopping. So I'll post more later. I have emailed a couple of people, and just a update, no more 'come aparts', we are now paying very close attention and finding ways to avoid them. We had a good day yesterday, and other than the shots today, things are going good! Thanks for all the prayers and comments and emails!

Guangzhou day 2

2009-03-22T05:37:00.000-07:00

No pictures today...I am so tired...so I am going to bed soon. It's only 8:20 and I've already slept through a movie the kids were watching. Today was a better day. Yesterday was a little hard on Rachel, which made it hard on us. I think with the all the changes, of hotel rooms, new faces and all that, she was out of sorts. Today especially this evening she seems to be happier. Today James got a haircut, we found this little barber shop, no one could speak English, he just showed her Taylors hair and she gave James a cut. We went with the group to the electronic market, basically a big mall with all electronics and bought dvd's. We bought 15 dvd's for 140 yuan and I haven't done the math yet, but 65 yuan is $10, so it was roughly low 20's. We spent $15 for the ride over, so I figure for less than $40 we got 15 dvd's, not bad. They are basically all kid movies, so tonight we watched Madagascar 2 and Bolt. Rachel became more talkative than we have seen during the movies. She was making all kinds of noises, it was cute. Tonight we had Thai food and it was delicious, and for lunch Sub-way which was so-so, not quite the same, but OK. Our poor Rachel has to get immunization shots before we can leave the country and they are doing them all tomorrow morning at 8am and it seems she is behind, so we are expecting 4 or 5 shots all at once.....I am dreading it so bad!! We have no choice in the matter but I am not going to be a happy momma!! I have basically not been able to do any shopping, since I have a fussy 23 month old attached to me at all times while we are out, so I am planning on shopping at naptime tomorrow and hopefully I will be able to show off my finds in tomorrows post! Good night for now. Please pray for Rachel for tomorrow, poor thing! Only 4 more nights and we can come home, we are definitely ready to be in our home!

Guangzhou Day 1

2009-03-21T05:42:00.000-07:00

Rachel's first flight!

We are officially on the countdown. We flew out from Nanjing at around noon for a 2 hour flight. It was a great flight. Rachel slept pretty much the whole flight and Taylor needed to but didn't :)) We got to our hotel in GZ and had a little time to unpack and then we met up with the 4 other families from our agency. There are 2- 9 month olds, then Rachel who is basically 2, then a 4 year old boy and a 4 yr old girl being adopted. There are also like Taylor a total of 4 big brothers or sisters that came along and they are all adopted, not all from China. We enjoyed dinner. The group actually was meeting at the one place we said we would not eat at this trip....Lucy's. Alot of people rave over Lucy's as the only place to really get western foods, but when we went last time we were here it just wasn't that good. We did enjoy it tonight and had great company to share it with. The weather her is very warm and very humid. I will probably be breaking out my flip flops in the next day or two.

Nanjing Day 6

2009-03-20T04:52:00.000-07:00

See video of James making her laugh at the bottom!

This was the mall I mentioned a couple of times, fancy, fancy!!

Thank goodness, and I mean this in the nicest way possible, but thank goodness that I do not have to write Nanjing Day 7 because at 10 am in the morning we will fly to Guangzhou which is where the US Consulate is. Up til now we have been satisfying the Chinese portion of the adoption and when we got to Guangzhou it will be to satisfy the US side. Basically we will do a medical appointment, apply for her visa and have a swearing in ceremony at the consulate. Once those things are completed we will be able to leave Guangzhou, which we in the adoption community abbreviate as GZ. To say we are all ready to be home is a understatement. At this point it will be a relief just to be in Guangzhou though. We got Rachel's passport today, which was the last thing we were waiting on here.

So today we went to the Ming Tomb here in Nanjing. It was another opportunity to get out and walk around and it was a beautiful day today. We have had 65-80 degree weather here and it will be hotter in the next city we got to. The Ming Tomb located at the foot of Zi Jin Shan (Purple & Golden Mountain) it is a joint burial tomb of the first Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang and Empress Ma in Ming Dynasty. Being one of the largest imperial tombs in the ancient times, it has a more than 600 years history. We enjoyed it so much and are very glad we went.

Rachel has just had 24 hours fever free!!! Yeah! She still has this yucky congested cough but she is eating and actually she eats more than Taylor and better than him. She is sleeping good. She is pretty serious most of the time, but she loves to play with James. We are all starting to get more used to each other, and having four in our family and I have noticed positive differences in us all in the last couple of days. Today we purchased a pearl bracelet for Rachel, maybe to have when she gets married one day. We also purchased a rainflower stone (which James called a polished rock), which is something special to Nanjing.

Nanjing Day 5

2009-03-18T22:12:00.000-07:00

Rachel crying because she wants to go.....we had just come back to the room after being out.

Xuanwu Lake

Beautiful tree at lake the blooms looked like white irises.

Taylor at Xuanwu lake

This is a large loom, at the brocade institution, with two people working, one up high who is in charge of the pattern, which they have a copy of sitting in front of them. They second person operates the loom. It takes them all day to do 6cm of brocade!!! Yes.....6cm!! They use silk, gold thread, silver thread and also peacock feathers.

Cutie!

Steamed egg (the sauce was like soy sauce)

This morning we met our guide at 9am and headed out to a beautiful large lake here in Nanjing, Xuanwu Lake. It has 5 islands within the lake with access through bridges to them. They have little amusement parks at different parts of the lake. It was really pretty and nice to get out and just walk around. We left the lake and went to the brocade institute. There they have like a little museum set up explaining the history of brocade, they also have large looms set up where they make brocade and also, of course, a store where you make a purchase. It was really neat. And being that Nanjing is known for it's brocade we did buy a small framed piece for sister to have one day. We then came back to the room where James, Taylor and myself had pb&j sandwiches, because we took 4 pieces of bread from the breakfast buffet this morning. Lil sis had steamed egg. It was part of her diet at the orphanage and our guide offered to place an order for us. I was expecting a boiled egg and that is not what it is, see picture. James tried it and said it had a great flavor and if he had some white rice it would have been great. Rachel slept better again last night and did wake up with a low grade fever of 99. Yesterday, afternoon we got out the stroller and as soon as she saw it she pointed to the front seat and wanted in. Now we are in trouble because every time we open the hotel room door she starts screaming. She likes to go and she doesn't want to be in this room anymore. Last night, she stood by the stroller crying for at least 20 minutes, then James put the stroller up and she went to the door and cried for another 20. Then when she quit crying she stood there and blew kisses and said "by-bye", her way of saying, please can we go.

Thanks for all the prayers for Rachel. I know alot of people have prayed for us and it means so much. She is doing so much better. She still is congested, but we have seen a big difference in the last three days. I actually got 6 hours straight of sleep last night and it has made me feel better today. Our fan did wonders for my sleep!

After nap is just free time. We may get out and do a little shopping. There are tons of little shops close by.

Nanjing Day 4

2009-03-17T21:39:00.000-07:00

Qinhuai River above and Confucius temple below

Rachel and our wonderful guide Susan

So it is nap time and we have just finished some very good sweet and sour pork, which we have now eaten three times since we have been here. None of the menu's are in English or have pictures so it is very hard to try Chinese meals. At the hotel our Chinese meal just wasn't as good. Tonight we are going to venture to a local really nice mall and go to their food court. They have Mexican, Japanese and Korean along with all the Chinese food. That is also where James went and got our pizza the other night.

This morning we went to the local Confucius park area. There is some historical places to see about Nanjing. It is pretty hot and humid here today and when you are carrying either your 23lb new baby who is like a little oven, or your 4.5 year old first baby who is jealous and tired then site-seeing of historical places was not so fun. I was sweating. My back was hurting. Taylor was whining, and needing to poo-poo and you know it is not like US with bathrooms you would want to use while out, so we made a short trip of it and came back to room. The things we saw were all a very short walk and Rachel believe it or not was ready to G-O this morning.

We had a rough afternoon and night yesterday. She ran a fever from 2pm yesterday until probably 4am when it completely broke and she slept so soundly after say 2:30 or so. She drank 2.5 cups of water between midnight and 8am and when we went to breakfast she at like a little piggy!! She ate 2 steamed eggs (like boiled egg), congee, carrots, cucumber, and some other little things. She wanted to walk down to restaurant and back up and when we got to room she did not want to go back in, she was ready to go. So the trip out was good, although I noticed she got more rattly as we went maybe cause it was so humid. She is sleeping soundly again, which has not been the norm. So even though she is definitely not well, I think we have turned a corner today and she seems to be headed in the right direction. Thanks for all the advice and prayers, we appreciate it all.

Our hotel doesn't have air, like many places in China, only heat. So as the days have warmed up our hotel room, by our standards is hot!! Last night, we slept with no covers and were miserable hot all night. I can't imagine what it would be like in July or August. Glad we are here in March. We did manage to get a fan brought to our room this morning. As we went to leave this morning our guide said I didn't have on enough clothes. I have on a tank top and a short sleeve shirt over it, with pants and tennis shoes. It is 70's. All the Chinese people still probably have on 2-4 layers on a day like today. We told her back home, you would see no one with a jacket on a day like today and James would've been in shorts. Tomorrow we are going to do a little morning trip to a local lake and a brocade institution (maybe factory). Nanjing is known for it's brocade and we hope to find something to purchase for Rachel.

I am hoping this video works of Rachel blowing kisses and saying by-bye. Too cute!

Nanjing Day 3 Made it official

2009-03-17T01:24:00.000-07:00

The official notary.

The two orphanage nanny directors that came with Rachel (below)

Giving official thumbprints (me, James, and Rachel), obviously Rachel didn't like this part.

She knew what to do with the phone.

This morning we went back to the civil affairs office, so even though yesterday was 'gotcha day', today was the official adoption day. Rachel is still sick so we went to the hospital after the civil affairs office. That was an experience especially for someone who works in a hospital. We ended up seeing a 'pediatric expert' who listened, took temp and did chest x-ray and said it was bronchitis, not pneumonia. She sounds so rattly, you do not need a stethoscope to here it. She had not had a fever since last night at 9pm but that came back at 2pm today and it was high at about 103. We gave Tylenol at 2pm and now it is 4:30 and it was 100 at 4pm. I am trying to decide when to give Advil. I guess I'll google that. I am hoping that the amoxicillin will work, it is only a 5 day script, so any advice on that would be good. I have a script for Taylor too and could use it if we needed to go longer but his was for his weight not hers, so I don't know.

Today she has said baba (daddy in Chinese), and woof woof when watching Teletubbies.

Well obviously with lil sis being sick we are just hanging at the room today. So not much else to add right now. Please continue to pray we are making the right decisions to help her get well soon. The 'pediatric expert' kept trying to get us to swap to the traditional Chinese medicines, but I told them that since we already started the antibiotic that we would finish it unless she got worse.

Papa Johns, btw, was really good last night. We had Burger King for lunch, just for convenience and it was OK. Odd things about the hospital....one was people smoke in the hospital buildings and I even saw some people in lab coats were walking around smoking. Also, you first go into registration and tell them what specialty you want and pay a registration fee. Then you take your receipt to your specialty department, then they say you need an x-ray, so you go back to registration and pay for your x-ray. Then you take the receipt to the x-ray dept (2 buildings over), then x-ray says it will take an hour to have, then you go back to the doctor (2 buildings over) and tell the doctor it will take an hour can he call to speed it up, then he calls, then you go back to get the actual x-ray and bring it back to the doctor who then has a 10-12 minute conversation with your interpreter but then they turn to you and say it is bronchitis, not pneumonia. Not to mention you are looked at intently by every person that sees you, white woman with little Chinese baby, some even stop and stare right in front of you. I really thought I would put no merit in the 'pediatric expert', but actually I really liked him and he seemed knowledgeable....I just hope I don't have to see him again:))

OK, so while typing this Rachel has been watching teletubbies with Taylor and Taylor went to get up and go to the bathroom and she waved at him, said 'by-bye' and blew a kiss. So she probably has more words than we thought. Too sweet!

More pics

2009-03-16T14:28:00.000-07:00

More pics from last night before bedtime.

I swapped the stacking cups for the cucumber!!

They were all intently watching some silly movie that was in English.

It was funny how she was into it.It's only 5:30am here so a new day is now beginning. Will try to post more during nap time or this evening. She did sleep, somewhat restlessly all night in her crib. She moved alot and her fever did not come back during the night so we'll just see how today goes. BTW, those are 18 month pj's...she is tiny.

Nanjing Day 2-We have Rachel!!

2009-03-16T05:52:00.000-07:00

So today was the big day!! We didn't leave to go to the civil affairs office until 1:30pm so we had all morning to hang out. When we got there we found a scared Miss Rachel who doesn't like being approached by strangers, not even other kids she doesn't know. We also found out she is a sick little girl. She had a fever there and she is very congested. Poor thing, it's no telling what her fever was and they had her under 2 very thick layers of clothes for tops and bottoms, and the high was in the 60's today and sunny. If we went close she cried so we just let the nanny mainly comfort her until it was time for them to go. She cried until we got in the van and really very little since.

In our last update, we were told she wasn't walking yet but she is now.

Sick baby with a fever....waiting for the Tylenol to kick in.

Feeling better, feeding mama nila wafers and my first kind of grin at daddy. Oh and now for a bigger grin. She likes playing with daddy! From the time we got her until probably 7 or 7:30 I couldn't put her down. Then she went to James and she didn't want me anymore. Poor Taylor has tried really hard to play with her and do different things and she has wanted no part of it. Hopefully that will get better in the next few days. He was asleep when we got to see her playing and starting to laugh, then after he woke up she started with the temp again. We have given, Tylenol twice, started the antibiotic and mucinex. She is a sick little girl. The first medicine we tried to give she literally looked up at me and spit it in my face. I would say she is a fighter!! She was like who is this white woman coming at me with this syringe full of yuck....poor thing!

Actually getting some hoarse little laughs right here.

The nannies laughed when I asked to describe her personality. Some of the words they used were spicy, independent, very smart, spoiled, strong willed, knows what she wants, doesn't ever want to share, has some of the other kids afraid of her and they won't try to take her stuff. So it's sounds like in Taylor we got our little James, and I am afraid with Rachel we got our little Jennifer.....let's hope James can handle two of us!!! James' mom always talks about what a good boy James was when he was little and of course still is and my family seemed to say I was spoiled being the little sis and I through tantrums when I didn't get my way and yes stubborn too.

Also, we have tried congee, water, rice cereal, formula and cereal mixed, all things they said she normally would eat and we tried at her scheduled times and she wanted none of it. She did eat cheerios and nila wafers. When we walked into civil affairs she had half a cucumber in her hand and carried it around until I finally took it after 8pm. OK everyone just got to sleep and I am heading that way. Please keep Rachel in your prayers that she improves and gets well.

Nanjing Day 1 Continued

2009-03-16T03:24:00.000-07:00

We finally found Taylor a place to play. There is a grocery store that has the cutest play area and we have now been twice.

Yesterday when I wrote that the boys were napping while I was posting....welllll....after I posted I layed down too, so they laid down at about 1:30 and then me around 3:30 and we all woke up at 7:00pm. This time change will get you!! So we had to make ourselves get up and go out for awhile so we wouldn't wake up during the middle of the night again. So as you can see from above we found a cool play area and then we went on a little boat cruise as seen in these two pics. It was a boat of about 12-15 people and I had a couple people sneaking my picture at first and then they wanted pictures made with me and then they started taking pictures of all of us. In a sea of black heads of hair, I guess blonde hair is a rare thing to see. Kind of weird for me though!!

Nanjing Day 1

2009-03-15T00:32:00.000-07:00

I may have finally figured out how to get on my blog but can't get it to post pics yet. So for same post with pics, go to http://www.journeytome.com/, adoption stories, and look for Rachel Lian.

So we finally made it to Rachel's province. The boys are down for a nap and I finally was able to get the computer set up. Let me backtrack. Thursday at about 5:30pm we left Pulaski and headed to Nashville to spend the night since we had to be at the airport at about 4:30am. Traci and Trey took us to Nashville. The hotel seemed convenient and clean but the walls were like paper and I literally slept like 1.5 hours the entire night!! No kidding. James might have slept 3 and Taylor was restless all night and then woke up for good at 2:30am!! He never does that. He was sooooo excited. Our first flight Friday left at 6am to Chicago and it was a great flight. Then we left Chicago for Shanghai at 10am. That flight was 14 hours. I had a terrible time this time. My butt started hurting immediately and for me the flight was miserable long. I also sat next to a man that came in reaking of alcohol and drank the entire flight!! Entire!! When he would sleep (pass out) he then would talk, humn, moan, in his sleep! Oh yeah and then his arm would fall down on my leg! YUCK!! Don't laugh cause I am telling you it wasn't funny!!!! Taylor only slept twice, the first time for 2 hours and then again the last hour of the flight. I couldn't believe he stayed awake, especially after getting up at 2:30 am. James got a couple hours and I slept probably 4 hours. Taylor has been such a trooper! He has truly amazed me. OK so back on track, we flew into Shanghai and stayed at the Jian Jiang Towers Hotel. Very nice hotel. We got to our room in the afternoon walked around a little, then had a not so good overpriced dinner , we just picked the wrong place. I think Shanghai, is just a more expensive city. Very modern, very pretty, lots of expensive shopping areas, etc. They did have a great hotel buffet this morning. So we called it a night at 7pm. We were all exhausted. At 2am Taylor woke us up thinking it was time to get up. We all watched a little tv, had a poptart and went back to sleep until about 5:30. So hopefully now we will be swapped over to this time zone. This morning we left Shanghai and took a train to Nanjing. It took 2 hours and it was a very nice, new train. We are now at the Mandarin Garden Hotel in Nanjing Province, it is Sunday 3 pm here so it is Sunday morning 2am at home. We are 13 hours ahead. We will get Rachel tomorrow (Monday) at 2pm. Our guide talked with her orphanage today and said she is still having some bottles. Yikes!! I have never done bottles. Taylor was already off them. They also have a baby bed in our room for sis!! I cannot believe we are about to have a daughter!! I am telling you even though I am in China I am somewhat in denial or I just don't know what to expect with having two, so I am just not letting my brain go there or something. I am sorry this is soooo long, I didn't mean to babble so much. For those of you who check our blog, I am not able to log into blogger, so I don't know if I will be posting there or not.
OK, that is it for now, please pray!! Pray for Rachel, for peace in her heart, for her to know she is safe and loved and for her transition. Please pray for all of our transition as we become a family of 4!!

2009-03-10T19:20:00.000-07:00

With all that has been going on I forgot to post any snow pics so here are a couple. Taylor was so excited about the snow!!
Today started with Miss Rachel's room looking like this......and the bad thing is this was only her stuff and most of Taylor's laying there, none of mine or James'. I literally worked all day on pulling out things we need, packing, weighing, repacking, and packing some more. I worked probably 9 hours on packing. Unbelievable!!

Taylor was just making sure I did everything right!!
You can't see it all here, but in the end it looks like we'll have 3 checked bags, 2 carry-ons, 2 backpacks, 1 rather large stroller, and me, James, and Taylor. I am not so worried about the airports seeing we are checking 3 bags, but I am not so sure how we will manage a train and train station in China. It's not going to be pretty!!

Is this my mommy?

2009-03-08T18:09:00.000-07:00

Taylor does the cutest thing when I call, to home, from work, he will say "hello" and then I will say "hi Taylor" and he says, "is this my mommy?" and I say "yes it is" and then he'll say "hi mommy". It's so cute and he asks every time, "is this my mommy?".

On a different note, I just re-read my last post and it really sounded like I was struggling and I guess I was having anxiety, but it has really passed.....for now. I really have to continue to pray and turn it over but it is working!!

I have one more workday, tomorrow, then I am officially off. So I will have 3 full days to pack and finish up all the stuff I need to finish.

One week from tomorrow (Monday) and Miss Rachel will be with us!!!!! We are officially on the countdown!

double duty

2009-03-05T06:34:00.000-08:00

We are definitely on the count down. Today is the 5th and we leave on the 13th. Our flight is at 6am and we live 1.5 hours from the airport, so my very kind brother in law is coming over at about 2am to take us to the airport, and then he has to drive back home by himself. Just one more thing for me to worry about between now and then. I am really trying to just turn it over but I am already having real anxiety. I am not a person who has anxiety.....but I found out with Taylor's adoption that I could be. The night before we left for him I thought I was going to lose my mind and then again the night before we got him. Now the day of, I was fine, but when I got to lay down and go to sleep....... So just praying again that I can allow myself to just let Him be in control and let Him take all this anxiety away.

I guess we are going to do a second journal of our travel over at journeytome.com. That is where we journaled for Taylor and what I like about it is, #1 it's free like blogging, but also at the end of the 'journey' you can buy a CD copy of your journal. So I want Rachel to have that CD one day, so I will do some posting over there too.

It is www.journeytome.com, then go to adoption stories, then Rachel Lian.

Intinerary

2009-02-25T09:55:00.000-08:00

We just got our confirmed consulate appointment so I am working with our agency right now to make all of the arrangements.

It looks like we will be leaving March 13 and returning on March 26th and just to give you an idea of what our trip includes...

Friday March 13-fly from Nashville to Chicago leaving at 6am (flight time 1 hour 50 min)
fly from Chicago to Shanghai (total flight time 14 hours 37 min)

Saturday Mar14-arrive in Shanghai and stay one night

Sunday 15th- 2 hour train ride from Shanghai to Nanjing (fast train-goes like 150-160 mi/hr)

Monday 16th-Gotcha Day!! We will finally have Miss Rachel in our arms

Tuesday17th-Official Adoption Day

Wed-Sat-in Nanjing for the Chinese part of the adoption

Saturday the 21st-fly to Guangzhou for the US part of the adoption (the US consulate is in Guangzhou)

Saturday the 21st-Thursday 26th in Guangzhou

Then on Thursday the 26th we will fly from Guangzhou back to Shanghai to catch our international flight back to US
Shanghai to Chicago (13 hours 3 min)
Chicago to Nashville (1 hour 33 min) back in Nashville at 8pm......YEAH!!

TATATATATATATATATATA!!!

2009-02-20T16:53:00.000-08:00

Yes...it came today (our TA travel approval)and yes today is Friday. I got a email yesterday afternoon from our agency stating they would be checking the mail even though the office is closed and I knew something was up and it was.!! We are very excited!!!!! We hope to leave on March 12 or 13th and return on the 26th. Miss Rachel's 2nd birthday will be the 27th and she will be home. We do have to wait for them to schedule our consulate appointment before we can make final travel arrangements and that should happen by Wednesday. It is so hard to believe that we are going to have her in our arms in 3.5 weeks. It is also hard to believe that we are about to be parents to not one but 2!! I'm so scared...but so excited!

Little sister is coming home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

No news to report!

2009-02-18T10:49:00.001-08:00

I wish I could say we have heard something but we haven't....no TA yet. But I know it will come, when is just the answer I don't have. I can't believe we are almost to Thursday again with no word and then our agency is closed til Monday and then we are anxious Mon-Thurs especially around 12-1:30pm each day. That is when they usually get their packages and make calls. So after 1:30pm each day you just know that today was not the day.

I am handling it pretty good.....I just want that TA in my hand!!

What's on my mind

2009-02-10T17:22:00.000-08:00

Someone else with the same dates as ours got their TA yesterday....but not us....not yet! I am really hoping this week. Taylor and I went to Wal-mart tonight for our weekly stuff and as you can see from the pics I picked up just a 'few' things for our China trip. I think it's easier on my pocket book if I don't do it all at once. Oh yeah and that little green dress, well it was just cute!! The little doll set looked like something easy to pack for baby sister and you can see it didn't take Taylor long to want to play with it.

No...not today :(

2009-02-09T16:07:00.000-08:00

No news today, but I did find out that someone else got their TA and I asked for her timeline and it is identical to ours....so now I am just praying it comes this week!! I have been checking out airline prices and believe it or not they are about $200 less per person than when we went in 06 and I just hope they stay that way til I get ours booked. I did not find out that ours didn't come today til late afternoon, so I won't embarrass myself and tell you how many times I looked at my cell phone for a missed call, or how many times I checked my email.

Could it be???....we'll just have to see :)

2009-02-04T11:44:00.001-08:00

So I s/w a lady who is also waiting on TA (travel approval) and all their dates are identical to ours as far as when everything is sent and received although we are with different agencies. And guess what she is getting her TA on Friday, now our agency is closed on Friday's so we just have to wait until Monday....but could it be we are going to get TA?????

I can't wait til Monday!!

Year of the Ox

2009-01-24T19:42:00.000-08:00

We are on our way!

Clapping for the dragon!

Happy Chinese New Year!

We went to the FCC (Families with Children from China) Chinese New Year event tonight. We haven't gone before but we really enjoyed it. My sister in law and her two oldest went with us.

Care package #2 and PICTURES!!

2009-01-21T08:40:00.000-08:00

The care package above, includes a doll, cookies, blanket and letter.

And here is Miss Rachel with, I am assuming, her nanny.

Chinese New Year is coming up, I believe on the 26th, so we thought this was a good time to send Rachel a care package. I used Ann at http://www.readthreadchina.com/ and we ordered on Saturday and this morning I received 2 new pictures of Rachel, a picture of the carepackage and updated info on height and weight. That is awesome....and fast!! She is little, at 23 lbs and 31 inches tall, of course you wouldn't know it with all these layers she has on:)

Basically all we are waiting on at this point is TA(Travel Approval). So please pray that we are able to get the TA in time to travel on spring break. If we get it the week of spring break we will wait until May...and that will be a hard wait....but worth it

LOA

2009-01-08T09:46:00.000-08:00

Our nieces.......Olivia 8

Emma 1.5
Gracie 3.5

We got our LOA the day we buried our brother in law, which was on Monday. Needless to say we are just heavy with sadness. We are relieved however to being one step closer to bringing home Rachel Lian. Thanks for your prayers, and please continue to pray for my sister in law and her 3 beautiful daughters.

Heartbroken

2009-01-03T18:45:00.000-08:00

January 3rd has been marked as a very tragic day for our family. Our 3 beautiful nieces lost their daddy to a car accident. We are just so very sad and are praying for comfort for them and their mommy. We will miss you R.J.!!

Happy New Year!

2009-01-02T18:09:00.000-08:00

OK I have to admit that on New Year's Eve we stayed home, I made grilled ham and cheese sandwiches and we rented/watched Wall-E. Man we are just animals :)) I will say that all of that was not the plan we did have intentions to go to our church for fun and fellowship but my hubby worked outside in the cold all day and cut a finger pretty bad so needless to say he was not in the fellowship mood. Taylor loved Wall-E. It's funny how that movie grabs his attention and he could care less about Madagascar.

This is Taylor pretending he is on a float in a swimming pool....

notice the upside down sunglasses.

My hubby got to go fishing today in the creek with his brother and they were very proud of their fish!!

....And Now Pictures Too!!!

2008-12-30T19:06:00.000-08:00

A video and now pictures too!!!! How excited to get these little glimpses of Rachel Lian. I had kind of gotten into a numbness with the adoption stuff in the last 4-6 weeks and was handling the wait so well (Christmas and a 4 year old have kept me busy) and then you see these pictures and man does it make your heart ache......but it's a good ache.....it aches with love for a little girl I've never even met or held but just like my new necklace says (Thanks Santa!:)) Not under my heart but in it.....she has grown. I just love the first picture.....aren't they precious....and Rachel is on the right.

VIDEO OF RACHEL LIAN!!!!!!!

2008-12-30T15:34:00.000-08:00

I got a AWESOME surprise today. A family that recently got their little girl from China emailed me with some footage of Rachel. They had received a CD from the orphanage and this was on there. Rachel is on the right. Click on this link to see Rachel playing with little Liana. She is funny, she is kind of in control of the toy and then when they put that little hat on Liana she gets their attention by banging the two toys together and I wish I knew what the nannies were saying after that because they kind of mock her afterwords and then laughed....then when she thinks Liana is going to reach for a toy she has, she puts it in between her legs....like don't take my toy. I know, I know I have obviously already watched it tooo much and I am analyzing every little move.......I can't help it:))

http://i433.photobucket.com/player.swf?file=http://vid433.photobucket.com/albums/qq57/Indigoraven74/LianaandRachel.flv

(I changed the link so you don't have to worry with pausing the play list)

Isn't she precious!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Praying for March, Praying for March, Praying for March!!!!!

Christmas Fun!

2008-12-26T17:45:00.000-08:00

This is how Taylor appeared coming out of his room Christmas morning and then took off running down the hall.He loves his Leapster he got from Santa and has taken it with him everywhere the last two days!

He also likes his skates and bowling game he got!!

We always go to James' family for lunch and the weather was beautiful so the kids got to go outside and play.

They get in this wagon and one of them pushes and they ride down the hill...and yes it looked scary the first time I saw them do it.

Look how far they go.

And then they pull it back up the hill.....

......so they can do it again!!

Merry Christmas!!

Christmas Eve

2008-12-26T17:42:00.000-08:00

You just couldn't get this smile off of Taylor's face on Christmas Eve....too excited!!

a picture of a picture

2008-12-20T08:48:00.001-08:00

Our Christmas pictures this year. The top was done at our fundraiser dinner, which I loved and we used for our Christmas cards this year and below is the most adorable Santa picture. I just loved it!! Taylor actually took a toy catalog with him and wouldn't do otherwise cause he said "I show him, I show him". Martene Hatfield did both pictures and we just love using her. The next time we do pictures baby sister should be home :))

These pictures we did when Taylor turned 4. We wanted indoor studio pictures and we love them. I don't have a scanner but I never thought about taking a picture of a picture until Shelli mentioned it the other day....so now I can share some of our other photos :)) Thanks Shelli!

Yeah!!!!

2008-12-20T07:03:00.000-08:00

God is at work....we got a email last night that little Yu's surgery has been fully funded, they are now just arranging the surgery and travel.

Away in a Manger

2008-12-17T14:33:00.000-08:00

Taylor is really tore up about Christmas this year. He is sooooo excited. Everyday he asks several times about when is Santa coming and when I get frustrated and say "Taylor you are just going to have to wait" he says, "I can't wait!!!!". We haven't put any of his gifts from mom and dad under the tree yet because I really don't think he could take it. It's really fun to see all his excitement.
The year we brought Taylor home my sister and her family got him this nativity set. You have to order it from FP but it is so cute and he just plays with it and if you push the angel down on top it plays 'Away in a Manger'.

Little Yu

2008-12-14T19:50:00.001-08:00

So little Yu is the boy who has received the funds we raised at the fundraiser. Yu is a precious, 18 month old little boy suffering from several heart defects. He has a PDA, a VSD and PA. His total amount needed to fund his heart surgery is $7,500 but with the money we raised plus some other generous donors he only needs $3,000 more. Please keep Yu in your prayers, that his surgery will be fully funded soon, that his surgery will be successful and that when his little heart is healed that he will find his forever family. If you would like to help you can go to http://www.lovewithoutboundaries.com/ and go to sponsor a child and then sponsor a child for surgery and then scroll down and look for him in the urgent section. No amount is too small. BTW, he is from the same province that Taylor was and Taylor's first name was also Yu. What can I say...it's a God thing!

2 Years Ago Today!!

2008-12-04T17:03:00.001-08:00

Our Little Turkey!

We first met and held our little Taylor 2 years ago today!! It's hard to believe in a way and in others you cannot imagine your life before him! We are so blessed to know and love and have this awesome person as our son. He has just the most precious innocent soul. He is so kind and there is not a mean bone in his body. He has the best sense of humor and is just so funny. He wakes up happy and goes to bed happy and is mostly happy every where in between. He is such a special gift. Thank You Lord!!

2008-12-02T13:21:00.000-08:00

Not flesh of my flesh,
Nor bone of my bone,
But still miraculously my own.
Never forget for a single minute,
You didn't grow under my heart-
but in it.
--- Fleur Conkling Heylinger

I love that little poem. I found this necklace on etsy a while back and I have asked Santa for it this year..............

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?ref=sr_gallery_20&listing_id=16162044

If you click on the necklace laying across the two books that is the one I like except I will have two little stones with the birthstones of Taylor and Rachel. Don't let me down Santa :))

2008-11-30T17:01:00.000-08:00

Miss Rachel is in the back right of this picture.....can you see her. The mom of Liana (front center) sent a cake after we did and got this picture today. They are getting to leave for China on Friday and are planning on visiting the orphanage and so we are hoping for more pics and maybe even a height and weight. All the kids look so precious and look like they are having fun with icing on their faces....how cute!

We are sending the checks to LWB tomorrow and the grand total ended up being $3432!!

Pooped....for a good cause!

2008-11-23T18:14:00.000-08:00

What a weekend. I need a break to get over it. Friday was crazy, crazy getting ready for our fundraiser on Saturday. I had so much to do but with Taylor in tow it increased my stress level and his. To top it off, I woke up with a fever and by Friday night I had lost my voice from all the coughing and congestion. So Saturday I woke up feeling better and had help. James and my sister, Traci. We worked literally from 8am until we all got home probably at 8p that night. The dinner went great. We ended up cooking 15 turkeys. We had 183 people come to the dinner, we sold more than 220 tickets. It was very stressful not knowing if you will have enough food and running out of green beans and rushing to get more. I used to think catering would be fun......HA!! We worked our tails off!!! My body hurt so bad and we were all so exhausted that none of us even slept good. The silent auction was fun and raised a little over $400. So drum roll please.............. our grand total unofficially, because we are still getting in some donations is $3200. How awesome is that!!! We may be able to help more than one child with surgery. We hope to close out all our auction sales and have it all sent in on Wednesday. Check out the LWB website for the kids that are awaiting surgery right now
http://www.lovewithoutboundaries.com/medical_sponsor_child.cfm

The one thing we did not do was take our camera.....so no pictures but it was great. We even set up a adoption info table. I used Taylor's 100 Good Wishes Quilt as the table cloth and had up the before and after pictures of the kids that parents had sent them and some powerful other stuff, but you can't see it cause we forgot to take pictures, you'll just have to take my word for it. Awesome stuff and very humbling to see all the people and friends that came out to support this event. My body might be tired but my heart is full :))

fundraiser update

2008-11-18T10:16:00.000-08:00

So I mentioned that we were hosting a fundraiser to support a orphans surgery through Love Without Boundaries.....well guess what, we made the front page news!! Can you believe that. Of course it is a small newspaper and a small town, but still.

Here is a link http://www.gilesnews.us/Stories/081114ForTheLoveAspecialNeedsChild.html

Things are going well. I ended up getting 10 turkeys donated and today I asked a local restaurant about helping to cook some and they said they would cook ALL!! That is awesome and such a load off of me. James and I are doing all the dressing, but I plan to get that done on Friday. We have so much to do but I am so excited and it has been alot of fun and I think we are on track to make atleast $2,000 and of course I am praying for more. Send your prayers our way for a successful fundraiser for LWB!!

LID!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-11-13T12:00:00.000-08:00

Yeah!! Today we found out that we have our Log In Date (LID) which is 10-22-08, ONLY 7 days after our DTC date. We actually tracked the DHL package and it did not get to CCAA (China) until the 20th so to have a LID two days later is awesome. Doing the LID dance :)))

New PICTURES...yeah!

2008-11-12T04:39:00.000-08:00

Yeah!! I woke up this morning to find new pictures of Miss Rachel Lian!!!!!!!!!! I am just going to post them all so other families waiting on children from her same orphanage can see. Above is the care package that was sent, a bear, album, camera, letter and of course you'll see in the other pictures a cake!! They actually ended up getting her a birthday cake even though it's not her birthday, but that's OK. The cake says Happy Birthday Lian You Yi.

Remember you can click on any picture to see it BIGGER!!

...just a little taste

2008-11-10T18:44:00.000-08:00

Have I mentioned that I have been hoping and praying for updated pictures of Miss Rachel Lian since the 15th of October which is when we ordered her care package. I mean alot of people who have gotten updated pictures through sending a care package have gotten them in like a week, maybe 10-14 days. So we are at day 26 and I would really hate for someone to total up how many times I have checked my email in those 26 days. So anyway, the director of her SWI is back and so Angela called and they have take pictures and are supposed to email them to Angela who will then forward them to me today, which for China their day will be while we are sleeping so I am hoping and praying I will wake up to pictures of my baby girl.

While on the phone I told Angela that if they seemed receptive then she could ask is she walking, talking and what name do they call her.

Here is their reply........

She is not walking yet. She can crawl very fast. She can stand up and sit down by holding onto handrail. She can move steps if someone hold her hands and pull her. They call her You Yi. She is not talking yet. She burbles "Ma Ma".

Oh my heart aches to have her in my arms..........................

I love you this much

2008-11-08T14:49:00.000-08:00

So the other day Taylor and I were home by ourselves and he tells me, "mom, I wuv daddy this much.....BIG much". So I say "I know you love daddy, daddy is alot of fun!!" I mean look at his little arms above and below they are bent back for love for daddy.
So I couldn't resist and I said "Well how much do you love mama?"

I shouldn't have asked :((

Just kidding, of course, I love that Taylor wuvs his daddy so much. It truly is precious!!!

Literally

2008-11-05T19:10:00.000-08:00

We were reading a 'ABC' book at bedtime and when Taylor got to 'X' he said 'K', and James said, "Taylor look closely" so Taylor but his face against the book and then said 'K' again. We just cracked up.

Progress for fundraiser

2008-11-05T16:49:00.000-08:00

So I mentioned the fundraiser below and today I had a productive day. I am pooped but feeling like I am going in the right direction. I took the day off while Taylor was at daycare to try to hit alot of places.

I got these donations:
-a case of cokes (8-2L)
-a big boy bike and 5 turkeys
-a notice running on local radio each day until
-sold 5 ticket block
-a donated cook book (for auction)
-all the sweet potatoes donated (cooked and ready for day of)
-all green beans donated (cooked and ready for day of)
-sold 8 ticket block (to my dentist)
-100.00 donation
-sold 2 tickets
-and I have 3 places I talked to today that will give me something hopefully tomorrow

Yesterday we got
-a commitment of 3 turkeys and
-sold a 10 ticket block

Tomorrow.....we try again.............we just might make this happen!!

A huge gift

2008-11-04T14:16:00.000-08:00

We definitely have received a huge gift and are so thankful. You know I am the type of person that has a really hard time asking for any help and accepting help...cause you know I can do it myself :))!! Anyway, I have always been that way but we are trying to do this adoption by adding no debt. We are saving and scrimping and we'll do what we have to but it would be awesome to do it without adding debt. So we decided to apply for a grant through Shaohannah's Hope. If you don't recognize the name it is Steven Curtis Chapman's foundation. They are awesome in that they help families with adoption grants and they have a huge adoption ministry. So we applied several months ago and we just heard back on Saturday and we did receive a grant......$4,000. How awesome is that. You can look at it this way, it will cover between 80-100% of our international airline tickets. That is a huge gift and we are very humbled and thankful!!!! Now we just have to keep doing our part, work, work, work, save, save, save!!

This is a link to their website http://members.shaohannahshope.org/site/PageServer

Stressin'.....just a little

2008-11-04T14:00:00.000-08:00

So James and I are hosting a fundraiser on November 22nd in hopes to raise enough money to fully fund a surgery for a child through Love Without Boundaries. We are having a traditional Thanksgiving dinner, silent auction and a professional photographer is taking a family photograph for a donation of $5. So it's like in October you couldn't do much because it was too far off and now...... it's November 4th and it's 2.5 weeks off and I am feeling the pressure!!!!!!!! It also very hard to take a 4 year old around to try to sell tickets and get donations. In the car seat, out of the car seat. I decided to take tomorrow off and Taylor will be at school and so I can move a little faster. Please pray for success for this fundraiser. I was really getting stressed and then this morning I realized that God is the one that put this on my heart and it has been on my heart to do since bringing Taylor home and if I am finally acting on something He put on my heart so strongly then how can it go wrong!!! It gave me peace and a much better attitude before we set out to talk to people today!! We decided on November in honor of it being Adoption Awareness Month. What a gift adoption is. I wish I could just bottle it up and show people and let them know that the miracle that they feel that their biological child is...it's the same with adoption. It is a miracle and the love you feel is indescribable.

Gacie and Wivy

2008-10-31T19:22:00.000-07:00

Dancin' with cousin Gracie, Taylor had already taken off his costume.

Miss Emma above and Miss Gracie (or little Riley) below

Olivia the grim reaper.....oooh!

Our nieces Gracie and Livy (or as Taylor says Gacie and Wivy) and also little Emma came over to go trick-or-treat with us and they always have such a good time.....as you can see.

Big Boy in his Big Bed

2008-10-31T05:46:00.001-07:00

Still a work in progress but Taylor slept in his new Big Boy room for the first time last night. He was too cute in his big bed!! Today I get to start painting the other room ~pink~!!

One track mind

2008-10-30T06:19:00.000-07:00

So as you know 2 weeks ago we were DTC and 2 weeks ago I ordered a care package for Rachel Lian and then 1.5 weeks ago I was contacted by email by the person in China who fills your order that the package was put together and being sent. As you my also remember I requested for them to ask for pictures. So over the weekend I couldn't stand it anymore and emailed her and just asked for an update and I was told that the orphanage said they would take some pictures for us :))) with Rachel and her cake/care package. So now I continue to check my email obsessively and when I am not home I wish I were at home so I could check it and when I wake up in the morning it's the first thing I go do....OK maybe the second. Then before I go to bed I check one more time. Can anyone relate??

Sunday with friends

2008-10-26T16:46:00.000-07:00

Taylor and one of his buddies and his class and teachers below.

Iwas mad that I messed up this shot, it would've been a great picture.

Another buddy, seems like his best buddies are girls!!

Wow-we have had one of those weekends with lots of activity. Yesterday was just non-stop house stuff and then in the afternoon we went to a Halloween party and Taylor got to dress up. It was alot of fun...but I did forget my camera. Friends of ours do this party every year and it is very kid friendly which I love and we had a great time. They had a pinata, pin the mouth on the Jack-O-Lantern and a mummy race. Then we ended the night with a hay ride. They also had a big fire and we roasted hot dogs.

Today was a trip back to the pumpkin farm, but today we met all of Taylor's daycare buddies and their parents. Since I never get to meet children or parents since I don't drop off or pick Taylor up this was good for me. After the pumpkin farm we went back to the daycare for another weenie roast and we made smores over the fire. We have never made those and they were yummy!!

I love my weekends off with my guys!!

funny conversation

2008-10-21T08:39:00.000-07:00

So the other day we were running errands and Taylor asked where we were going next and I said we are going to the bank to vote....
he says "wha the votin do?"
I said "well you vote for the President"
he says "wha the President do?"
I said "well the President runs our country"
he says "what the country do?"
I said "the country is where we live"
he says "I know"

a couple more pics

2008-10-15T18:34:00.001-07:00

This picture is from back in July, I love it!

This picture was part of her referral pics....look at those cheeks!
I made this collage on Picasa (it's on our desktop, and in my purse)

Intruducing 'lil sis'!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-10-15T13:56:00.001-07:00

Rachel Lian Youyi Hewgley

We are officially DTC (dossier to China) today, one week earlier than expected!!! As soon as I found out I got online and ordered a care package for lil miss. We used http://ladybugsnlove.com/index.php for this service. They will ask for pictures for us but we are not guaranteed to get any, so we will pray that we are given the gift of a glimpse at our baby girl. She was 10-12 months old in the photos above and she is almost 19 months old today. If we don't get any updated photos before we travel we won't even be able to recognize her!! Either way, we now know what is at the other end of this paper chase and it will all be OK!!

Pumpkin Fun

2008-10-11T17:30:00.001-07:00

We spent all morning painting and working on Taylor's new room, we still have another coat of paint but hope to get it looking more like a room later in the week. Once I get him moved over then I get to start painting with pink!! I have collected things here and there for lil sis and I cannot wait to start putting it all together.

This evening we went to the Pumpkin Farm and Taylor really enjoyed himself. He got to pick out a pumpkin this year and we carved it once we got home.

He found 'the one' and then got to go on a little train ride.

We have a runner folks

You little piggie...

2008-10-11T17:27:00.001-07:00

I don't know why but sometimes when Taylor is eating alot we will say 'you little piggie' and every time we say that, this is what he does... He puts up little ears???

helping the slow moving train

2008-10-01T17:08:00.000-07:00

So when you do adoption paperwork everything has to be notarized or certified. Then before sending it to the country that you are adopting from you have to have the notaries certified at the courthouse or county clerks office in the county that the notary is registered. Then you have to take those and go to the Secretary of State's office and have every document authenticated. So today I had to go to our local courthouse then take Taylor to speech, then go to Nashville to the county clerks office and then head downtown to the Secretary of States office and then I still had time to get it fedexed back to my dossier consultant and so I stopped at the Franklin fedex and sent it back. Now it has to go through the consulate and the China consulate.....I think and my dossier consultant will handle that. Only after that is complete can we finally send our dossier to China. My dossier consultant could've handled the county and state part but knowing I could do it all in a day and have it back to her the next instead of maybe taking her a couple of weeks to send it to one place and then wait for it to come back and then send it to another.....I just couldn't waste all that time. There is very little control that you have in your adoption as far as the timeline so any chance I have to do something I do it. It makes me feel good and somewhat productive and somewhat helpful in getting to China quicker. I can't believe it is October and I know we will have her in our arms before we know it....I just can't wait!!

My Hero

2008-09-29T19:33:00.000-07:00

I ordered Taylor's Halloween costume last week off of e-bay and he has been not so patiently waiting. Everyday he wants to go home and check the mail.....well finally today it came. He smashed his finger coming in the door and was crying....that was until he saw 'the box' and suddenly the tears stopped. He was excited about his muscles!!

....Oh yeah BTW he is a Power Ranger.