Yes, FINALLY!

I told someone when I created this blog that I would not be very good at keeping this up, and, true to my word, I am not!  I apologize!  I am including a little video of Miss Alexis singing her favorite little song (the only one she currently knows): Row, Row, Row Your Boat.  Enjoy!  Sorry it is sideways - I can't figure out how to turn it and get it saved that way! :}

First day of school (for boys)

In Chris' size 9s

Now on to some updates!  We have had quite the summer starting with the flooding and then trying to get that mess fixed.  The boys are still sleeping in the living room now 3 months later and they are sooooo anxious for their rooms.  Besides sleeping on the sofa or bed (we put a twin in the living room and they alternate), I think they just want their own space.  Chris and Zach have been awesome about this "living arrangement" and I know it can't be easy with a new sister in the mix!  Lexi, I think, has loved having them at her disposal for the summer and she misses them while they are at school.  What a day that was!  The boys disappear for the better part of the day and she's stuck home with mom!  Just after the boys started back to the Middle School, I quit one of my jobs.  As hard as it was, I know it will be great for both Lexi and me.  I quit the paint store and am now just working at the library.  I am able to work more evenings and less daytime hours to be home with her and so far I am really enjoying it.  By the time I reach my actual goal of stay-at-home mom she'll be starting school and the boys will be graduating!  UGH!  Oh well, baby steps.  Lexi and I have gotten into somewhat of a routine and that is good.  I love having my laundry and dishes done and she is quite the helper!  She is a total girl and LOVES shoes.  We change them at least 4 times a morning and they get placed EVERYWHERE around the house.  And if she's bored looking at her shoes, on she goes to the pile of the boys' shoes or she'll tackle my closet and out come my and Tim's shoes.  According to Lexi, shoes look great on the dining room chairs, in the boys bed, and on the shelves in the living room.  I even found one in the pantry!  What a decorator!!

In July we had Lexi dedicated on July 25 which would have been her sister's 10th birthday. It was kind of bittersweet as we dedicated Lexi in person and in our hearts were dedicating Danielle, too.  We hadn't had her dedicated before she died and even though we know she's been in our Lord's care all this time - it seemed fitting to do both girls. 

Alexis has been growing in size and speed these past few months, learning to "dance", sing (as you heard), and speak some words.  She now says "Up!" all the time as well as "Hi", will occasionally say "dadda", "Bye", and "no".  We are still trying to get her to say the boys' names and they come out sounding quite interesting!  I guess "Chris" and "Zach" will come later.  I am still not hearing "mom" or "momma", but am trying to be patient as many other words may make themselves heard before them.  Lexi has cut more teeth which were not a lot of fun for any of us, is eating a variety of food and shares her mom's sweet tooth.  This picture shows her in a rocking chair I was given about her age.  It has seen many years - and is in better shape than its owner! I wanted to put this in for my grandma to see as she and my grandpa gave it to me.

As you can see, Lexi doesn't have her glasses on in all the pics - they are off more than on and whoever came up the idea of having a 1+ year old in glasses is truly crazy!  We fight (and fight and fight) about having them on and I inwardly groan every time I hear someone exclaim, "she seems to be keeping them on good!"  Not the case at all, as I and the boys can attest, as well as the dear women at Family Eye Care who adjust Lexi's glasses on a near weekly basis! :)  Oh, well, we go to see the eye specialist in Oct. to get an update on her vision and any next steps to take.  

I don't know what else to report.  The basement should be finished in the next couple of weeks, Chris starts hockey on Oct 12, and Chris marches this weekend in a parade for band.  Everyone seems to be staying healthy, jobs are good, and school has started well for the boys.  Lexi seems to wear us out daily with all her energy, but her smiles, laughs, and funny little quirks are all worth it!!  Enjoy the fall everyone!

Oops - it's been too long!

Sorry, I have to apologize for not keeping this up!  I had such good intentions when I started this; but, well you know how things can be with 3 kids in the house, one of them a one-year-old, and it being summer.  Enough excuses...

 Alexis has been growing so much in these few months we've had her home.  All the worrying I did after we first got back from China about "how are we going to do this?", "is she ever going to be happy?", and "what does our future hold?".  Well, it was all for nothing!  God has a plan and it is always good.  I am amazed at hoe quickly she has taken to our family and her surroundings, as well as how much she has advanced!  Lexi is walking by herself (mostly because we refuse to hold on to her anymore), starting to feed herself cereal (Cheerios type stuff), and has started to wave Hi and Goodbye to people and blow kisses.  I can't believe this was the same little peanut that we received in Chengdu 3 months ago who cried, wouldn't eat much, and wouldn't sleep unless it was with us.  Lexi LOVES taking a bath now and will try to climb in the tub herself at various times during the day.  Our "new addition" has been her glasses.  The doctor mostly wants them to protect her right/good eye and they are slightly  magnified.  I don't know how much they make her see better with how much she TAKES THEM OFF!  It is a source of frustration - as it should be with an 18-month old, right?!?  She looks too darn cute in them - I was really upset when she first got them, wondering if I'd ever really like them on her; but they've grown on me and I love them - even as I put them back on repeatedly throughout the day!

Lexi has been enjoying her time with her babysitter on Wed. and Fri mornings going to the park and "hanging out".  But my biggest joy is her smile when I get home and the fact that she "wants Mom"!  I know many struggle with getting the bond and the adjustment down with an adopted child and we've been so blessed to have it work so well.  I get asked all the time how the adjustment is coming along and it feels like we are beyond that stage and really just dealing with her at her age and having a pre-toddler in the house.  She is definitely a stubborn one and my first child to ever have a real temper tantrum (we applauded when she finished - was that wrong?). 

Meeting cousin Alysa!

For the 4th of July we went to Michigan and had a great time visiting our family and friends.  I decided to have a "meet and greet" for Lexi for everyone at the zoo and God couldn't have blessed us with a more perfect day!  You know when you picture where you want to be, what weather you'd like, and how it should happen - IT DID!!  I rarely ever have that happen and I really feel like God answered that prayer.  We had a SUPER time with everyone that came - Lexi met relatives, friends of the family, my friends from when we lived there, and I had the advantage of visiting with everyone that I haven't seen in a long time (thanks, Lexi, for bringing them out!).  Tim's sister and her family were able to make it and we were able see our new niece/cousin Alysa who was born the day we got our traveling papers!  It was awesome that our China traveling buddies, the Dugans, were able to make it and we could see Riley and them again!  She has grown and is doing so well!  There were many that we couldn't see and we are sorry we missed you - another time, I guess!!

After we visited with everyone, we did go through the zoo. Lexi seemed intrigued with many of the animals and even got to pet a skink!  She really liked that - more so than petting any of her stuffed animals!

 The rest of the weekend was spent with Grandma and Grandpa getting as much Lexi-time as possible.  It is hard living so far away!

The rest of the summer is just work
and try to stay cool. The boys have
been awesome with babysitting Lexi on a couple afternoons a week (they don't always enjoy it, but they are great big brothers).  We are currently trying to price out a new furnace and possible air conditioner :(.  Due to some flooding in the basement the end of June, we are having to redo a whole half of the basement, including the boys bedroom and rec room; the furnace was rusting out from water damage.  They are now sleeping on the living room sofa and love seat until their bedroom is "rebuilt".  It has been a bit rough all living on one floor of this ranch home, but we are making due.  Zach and Chris have been pretty good about playing with Lexi and putting up with her "giving tours" of the house (her holding our fingers while she learns to walk) when they have no place to escape.  I have the feeling once their bedrooms are done, we won't see much of them for awhile!

getting Chris tummy!

Well that about brings you up to date on all that is "Ringelberg" right now.  Tim has been busy with work, I have been working both jobs this summer, and the boys worked/volunteered at the library for Summer Reading.  We are excited that this Sunday, July 25, will be Lexi's Baby Dedication at church. Tim and I wanted to do it this Sun. as it is Danielle's birthday.  She would have been 10 years old. (For those of you who don't know, Danie, our daughter, died in a car accident when she was 6 months old.)  We thought it would be neat as it is Lexi's half birthday the day before; just like her actual birthday is the day before the accident in January, Danie's half birthday - isn't it just like God to put things like this together!  We can celebrate the birthdays knowing that Danie is celebrating in heaven.

Let me know what you think, or any questions you have for the family!  I look forward to your responses!!

A note from Lexi

Hi all!

I wanted to let you know how I think things are going: I am loving my new home - the boys are entertaining to say the least and I am getting them wrapped around my fingers (and I thought my dad was easy!!), the cat is a curious creature who seems to want to be around me, buy when I go to pet him - he takes off!  I will just continue to torture him by playing with HIS toys instead of my own! :)  Mom and Dad are doing pretty good with getting to know my likes and dislikes.  I didn't know I was that hard to figure out, but I guess the different country thing is what they blame.  Here are some of my likes and dislikes that I have discovered since being in America:

Likes:  empty water bottles (I hit everything with them and mom doesn't seem to mind too much -until I go after the breakable stuff)
playing cards with Chris (52 pick-up is my fave!)
anything that crinkles (travel tissue packages, magazines, bags of chips mom puts next to me in the grocery cart, you get the picture)
brownies!! , noodles (especially in lasagna and alfredo), and music (any type - the louder the better I say!)

Dislikes: an IV in my hand, not getting fed fast enough (when I'm hungry there should be no hesitation!), being told "NO!" (that word stinks!), milk, poopy diapers while taking a nap (they make me cry = and people respond! :))   and green vegetables.

The boys say I talk too much, but they have no idea of my true potential.  They will just  have to wait and see! I am getting used to the cage they put me in to sleep during the day and night (it isn't so bad, but they don't need to know that: SHHH!)
I love getting to know new people and if they have fun jewelry, I am much more apt to go to you.

Mom and Dad have dragged me to a few of these doctor people and I am not a big fan.  They poke and prod and I find it all annoying.  They seem nice enough until they look up your nose, in your ears, or are putting a needle in you somewhere - SHEESH! Mom and Dad just look relieved every time we leave the doctor people - I guess I am ok then with my funny eye and bad teeth.  "It's all good!" as my Aunt Becky would say.

I hope that gives you a little sample on how I'm adjusting - mom and dad say I'm doing great and I think so too!  Life here isn't too bad. Until another time....

What Lexi's Been Up To:

I know I haven't posted in a while - Tim and I are back at work and Lexi is keeping us busy with all her motoring around. We are assuming she is getting much more comfortable with her surroundings since she is crawling all over the house! Nothing is safe anymore! The boys will make comments (not all good) about her behavior, eating habits, dirty diapers, etc. and I have to kindly remind them that Dad and I have been through this all before because they were like this too! They cringe and I laugh!!
Lexi seems to be adjusting to our work schedules and we hope that her world isn't rocked too much in a couple weeks when her brothers are off from school and taking care of her. We had to hire a sitter for the summer to watch her 2 mornings a week. Heidi is a sitter we've had in the past for the boys and we are looking forward to having her back - we hope Lexi loves her as much as we do.

These past three weeks that we have been home have been filled with trying new things, seeing tons of people and getting "back in the groove". That is really hard to do with school wrapping up, family visiting, and throw in a Tulip Festival! Lexi loved the Festival - there was so much for her to look at and listen to, including her oldest brother, Chris, play in the school band. Poor guy had to march in all 6 parades. They did an awesome job though! We are noticing Lexi's attraction to music and we try to have some going much of the time. Last night we got to hear Zach and his 5th grade band in his spring concert and they did super, too! Lexi even danced to their rendition of "Rockin' Robin". Off to Chris' last concert of the year tonight!

Lexi has been to the park, shopping, the doctor (twice), the ophthalmologist, and many times to the library (Mom's work) and out to eat. She has been a real trooper as she tries to get used to all these new places. We have an appointment at the dentist on this Thursday, an eye ultrasound for her left eye on Monday the 24th, and she meets with a pediatrician on the 3rd of June. Our doctors here are general/family practitioners and the one she saw wants to have her evaluated by a pediatrician just to make sure all is well.
The little piggie has gained just over 2 pounds since she has been in America and for that we are grateful! She weighed in at 17 pounds fully-dressed when we got home, now she is 19 1/2! We still can't get her to drink any milk or formula, so that is disguised in her cereal and some other foods, but she is finally taking juice from a sippy cup. Her appetite is big and many new things are finding their way into her mouth! Food that is - she ate half my burrito on Mother's Day, is a big fan of Ramen noodles, yogurt, and brownies!! (She gets her chocolate love from me!)

We feel very blessed with how well things seen to be going - I know many people struggle with bonding and adjusting. The boys, Tim and I are really enjoying having her as part of our family and hope she feels the same. Though I wouldn't give her back in a micro-second, I still feel bad about her being away from her friends at the orphanage. She has acquired quite the "posse" here in Orange City! Many of our friend's kids can't wait to hold her and see her when we are around town or at church.

Our big accomplishment this past week was this picture. She took a bath and FINALLY stopped crying long enough to enjoy it! This was the first bath that did not have tears and screaming from beginning to end. I had to capture it on film!! She even splashed and played with a couple of toys. Yay! Another break-through! :)
This should be enough for now - will keep every one posted on how the appts go - enjoy the rest of May!

Update (Finally)

We arrived home in one piece - after missing our connecting flight to Omaha and getting in late. Lexi did pretty good on the plane, just a little fussy, which was to be expected since she was still not taking a bottle or sippy cup to help her ears. She slept well thanks to some help from Benedryl (THANKS, Colleen!!!!) and it was relatively "painless" taking her half way around the world. I don't know whether it was the lack of sleep or what, but I became really emotional on the long journey home. It really hit me at that point that we were taking her away (far away!) from everything she knew - her friends, her care givers, her world essentially! WOW!! I felt so very selfish and so very sorry for her - as much as I wanted out of that country and as much as I wanted this little girl: how could I do this? That is the part of the adoption that I never really thought about till then. I can't imagine how she feels, what she remembers - I just pray God gives us the grace to see her through this and that she will acclimate well to our family. Too make matters worse, I watched The Blind Side movie on the flight and cried some more! (Awesome film, by the way!) I am trying really hard since we've been home to show extra love to her through all her crying and wanting to be held, but it gets old really fast when you're so tired from jet lag and lack of sleep from the trip itself. Tim really wants her to get used to her crib and she won't have it - cried for 2 hours the other night! We are wanting to be sympathetic and loving, but also trying to get some ZZZ's - where does the line get drawn?

We were welcomed home at the airport by my parents, who brought the boys, and the Bilbys, our best friends of the last 14 years, who helped us sooooooo much during this adoption process. It was a great relief to see familiar faces (who spoke English! :) ) and be home! Tim and I both agree it was a good trip overall, but we are not in a hurry to go back!

My parents stayed until Sunday morning and we were sad to see them leave - Lexi included! As you can see, she got in some bonding with Grandpa! They were such a great help watching the boys and they all had a blast, it sounded like. The boys ate really well and thankfully there were leftovers! We attended Chris' Jazz Concert Sat. night and Lexi really seemed to enjoy the music - fun night for us all. The help for the 2 days was wonderful and really appreciated, as well as the meals that our church family has been providing. We are so blessed in so many many ways!

"I Have Brothers!!"
Lexi has taken to
the boys and they
are doing great with
her! They have been
very accepting of her
crying and I couldn't
be more relieved!

Today and yesterday were taken up with Dentist appt. (me) and Doctor appts. (Lexi). At the dentist, we had him take a peek at Lexi's teeth and he wants her to see a Pediatric dentist as he thinks her brown teeth may have cavities and not just plaque build -up. Ugh! Oh, well at least it is the baby teeth. The doctor's appointment was short lived as she started screaming as soon as he touched her. He is so understanding and we rescheduled until she is more bonded and secure. The eye doctor we saw today is wonderful (THANKS Mary and Becky for the recommendation!) and he has high hopes for her left eye. We will be scheduling an ultrasound for her eye in the future to see what is going on behind it, but his initial look was positive and he thinks we can do some minor correction to make it look as normal as possible. So we are praying that God continues to keep the left eye healthy and that there will be no deterioration going on, which could lead to more drastic measures.

Thanks for all the continued prayers and we (not we, I) will keep up the posts!! Love to all...

It's Official!

This crazy goof-ball is officially ours! These were taken while shopping, looking up at Daddy pushing the stroller!

We went to the US Consulate this afternoon and had the swearing in - it is official, all paperwork is done! Alexis will be recognized as a US citizen once we reach American soil, but she has her passport with Visa being sent to the hotel tomorrow so we can leave Thurs. morning for home! We have a slight delay after landing in Beijing Thurs. morning then off to Chicago, then to Omaha. We end up leaving for Chicago around 4 and arrive there a few minutes later! If only it really worked that way! Unfortunately, we lose the day in flight - crazy time change! Oh, well, please pray for us that the flights go smoothly - Lexi won't take a bottle or sippy cup right now, so I am concerned about her ears during the trip. Can't wait to see family again - missin' my boys! - and introduce Miss Alexis to everyone in person. Have a good day! By the way, to all my friends who encouraged me to shop and get shoes - little missy is coming home with 10 pair! I don't think I've ever owned that many for myself in my life!!

At the pearl market - these are bags

of thousands of pearls!

Little Miss Piggy snarfing some noodles.

April 18

blub-blb-blp-blub-blp
(loosely translated: I'm bored!)

My first Barbie! Ha, Ha, boys!
one of many to come!





Yesterday we went to a Folk Art Museum that used to be an academy for students to come and study in the Chen Ancestral Hall. It was built in the late 1800's during the Qing Dynasty. It now is an important historical and cultural site here in Guangzhou. We saw some beautiful art - bone carvings, brick carvings, wood work, and pottery. Picture is a carving out of an olive nut!! Afterward, we went to a really nice park that featured the famed Five Goats Statue. It is to be believed that when the people first came to the area the "fairies"/goats brought seed to make the area prosperous.

The rest of the day was just shopping and then the group met for dinner at a Chinese restaurant where we had beef with celery, sweet and sour pork, a snow pea dish (that was delicious!!), fried noodles, and rice of course. Tasted wonderful!

For today not much happened, we shopped a little in the morning and then hung out in the room. Alexis is struggling with teething, we think, and gets really cranky at times. I feel bad since we really only have Tylenol to take the edge off for her. Pray that these couple of teeth we see ready will poke through soon and relieve her of the pain - don't really want to deal with this on the plane in a couple of days.

We are anxious to see you all. Off to the Pearl Market tomorrow!

Tears ang hugs

That was the theme for the day! Alexis still struggles with us putting her down = tears, she still won't drink = tears, she had to go to the doctor for a checkup = tears. With all the tears comes hugs and she hugs back hard = LOVE THAT!! :) We are trying to be understanding, but get frustrated and tired with all the holding and rocking and reassuring. You just don't know what is going on in the little head of hers!!

We are excited to be back with our group again and catch up! Everyone's kids are great and adorable and as Jason commented "a great match up". I had to agree looking around at all the families at dinner tonight, God does an amazing job matching all these kids with these parents and have it all work. All of us have our work cut out for us, but what God has brought us to, He will bring us through!! What I loved tonight was seeing two of the children, a boy age 8 and a girl age 10, who sat across the table from each other talking in Mandarin. They were both taken from their orphanages and placed with new parents - a totally new "world" for each of them; but they have each other to speak to for these few days to make the transition easier. It is just amazing! What a perfect God we have to stage all of this!! What a blessing this trip has been, and though I can't wait to get home, I am trying to enjoy all that has presented itself and trying to soak in all that is China to share with Lexi as she grows up. Thanks for reading!!

Notice the tongue sicking out!

Ups and downs

Today was a day of ups and downs - quite literally! This morning we ate our last big breakfast at the Chengdu Crown Plaza hotel and then were off to the airport. The flight went relatively well - Lexi slept through the ascent and was up halfway through the flight. The descent, on the other hand, was not so fun: she cried! I think her ears were bothering her and the pilots stop was unbelievable! Talk about putting on the breaks!! Felt like we tried stopping on a dime!! The ride to the hotel was a long one, but fun to see yet another city in China. We ate American for supper and for some reason not having rice or noodles was really nice! :)

Lexi still continues to struggle with her schedule and eating. We have her eating alright, but now she won't drink much. Another up and down! We did have her playing by herself for a few minutes so we could get organized for tomorrow which was nice, but the down is: she still won't lay down in her crib to sleep. How long do you let a baby cry in a hotel?? I feel so bad! Both for the other people staying in the rooms near us and for her being scared and not quite secure enough with us yet. What a dilemma! Have a great Friday and weekend - will post (yes with pics) tomorrow - Lexi goes to the doctor for the medical exam part of the adoption. Lucky her!

Little Lexi - BIG bed!

Enjoy this - thought I'd try to do a video upload - sorry so shaky! This is for Zach! Entitled "Help, I've fallen and can't get up!"

We are packing and off to Guangzhou tomorrow for the last leg of our trip! Bye Chengdu!

It's Panda Time!

Today was the day I was waiting for this whole trip - ok second day! We went to the Panda Breeding and Research Center and I LOVED IT!!!!!!!! I really could have stayed there all day and into tomorrow - they were so much fun to watch, especially the little ones. My favorite part of the day was going in to pet the big guy - I didn't find out his name, but am sure that Zach will come up with a good one for him. :) Their fur is very thick and seems coarse (I had to pet him with a glove on). Lexi wasn't too impressed with it all, though did watch them a bit when we got her out of the stroller. She seemed most intrigued with the red pandas! I had promised the boys I'd have pics posted for them when they woke up - enjoy guys! There are tons more where this came from!! (Like you expected any less from your mom.)

An interesting happening at the park - there were quite a few peacocks and while trying to video tape them, one flew up in my face - I screamed and the video went awry! The boys are probably laughing by now as they remember the "attack of the gorilla" on their mom and they are not surprised by this at all! Ask them about the gorilla - they will gladly tell you!



Lexi's pic of the day:

and her "audience" that
were checking her out
more than the giant pandas!



* These were all pictures taken by Tim of actual pandas (not pics of pics)!!*