Princess Mia!!

Mia is a Princess...I knew it would happen. What was I thinking??? She has her daddy wrapped around her finger so tightly. Her brothers...what can I say? She screams, she yells, she gets what she wants. They all think that she should have whatever she wants. Yesterday she had the remote to the t.v. and I took it from her. She made some grunting noises at me then stuck her tongue out at me. I sent her to her room and told her to be nice. Well daddy was on the phone and he said "Heidi, you be nice to her, she is only 2" Yes I know that.. but I am still not going to have her grunting at me and sticking her tongue out at me. When I tell her it is night-night time she cries and runs to daddy. He picks her up, hugs and kisses her and tells me he can't put her in her bed. He doesn't want to be the one to make her sad. I think he has put her in bed maybe 3 times since we have been home. she is very cute and charming. Her charm has worked on me a few times. The one thing she doesn't understand is that I am a girl too. I know all the girl tricks out there. So yes, I admit it, I am the bad cop. I am the one to say "no" and "be nice"

Summer Fun!!

Mia finally loves the water. The first few times we went swimming she cried and cried. Then one day she when I wasnt expecting it she decided to try it out. She loves to play in the water now. She has a great time swimming in her pool. She loves it when a brother stops by and shares a popsicle with her. We went to a lake last weekend and she just buried her hands in the sand under the water.
Last week we went to her first Cleft team visit. She is doing pretty well. She is going to have ear tubes put in on Friday. We are hoping that they will clear her ears up. She has basically had an ear infection since she has been home.

Home Update

We have been home for a month now and we could not ask for things to be better. Mia is adjusting great. She loves her new family and her new found freedom. At first she was very timid and she would stay in the same place forever. Now she is a little terror around the house. She is everywhere. She loves to wonder about the house. She laughs and laughs when she is walking. She will find a basket and load it up on her walks. It is amazing the things she packs around. She loves her brothers and especially loves whatever they are eating. She will circle the table to get "bites" off each of their plates. They are all to happy to have her helping them finish their food. She is sleeping in her crib all night long. It took us until last week to get her to do that. She cries for a total of 2 minutes then she is out. She is very clever. She concentrates on everything and tries to copy exactly. She loves riding in the car and her carseat. She loves to be buckled into anything and everything with a buckle. She isn't to fond of shopping. She gets rather irritated at the whole idea of going from store to store. Her brothers adore her and they fight over who gets to play with her. Graham likes to irritate her by picking her up. He is her biggest competition and I think he knows it. He will jump onto my lap just to hear her scream. She says 4 words clear as day: Mama, Kyle, No and MINE!!! We are so in love with her! We can't believe how well she fits with our family.

Welcome to America Mia!!

Apparently from a legal point of view,as soon as her little feet (with squeeky shoes) hit the ground Mia Mei became the nation's newest American. From her brother's point of view: "Chinese, American, Chinese-American, who gives a rat's tail." They are just glad to finally have her home. Mia is a little more..lets say...finicky. Over all she is a very happy baby. It's just that is happy when she is with certain people--and I just happen not to be one of them!! She is definitely a Mama's girl. She is not impressed with Dad, and could take or leave any one of her brothers at any given time, but Mama is something she is always sure about.
Unfortunately, for Mia, she had a doctor's appointment waiting for her the same day she landed (after 18+hours of travel). But after seeing the pediatrician, and ENT surgeon, she ended up with a prescription for an antibiotic for a raging sinus infection, an ear infection, and the sutures from her palate repair were also infected. So, she was pinned down for a blood draw, and for suture removal, and would have been pinned down, for a 3rd time for immunizations, but we decided to have some mercy for her and put that off for another day--hopefully a day when Daddy is at work, and Mom can take her :).
Anyway, i think the antibiotics are helping a lot. And as soon as she is able to figure out what time of the day it is over here on the other side of the world, we think she is going to really begin to thrive. She is already very interactive and curious. And maybe just a tiny bit overwhelmed. Heck, I've been with those boys since their inception, and I'm overwhelmed! At any rate, she seems to be improving both physically and emotionally. She has a whole bag of new tricks to include: waving, throwing her arms in the air at the command "touchdown", shaking her head yes, when she like something, hitting her Dad's hands when he tries to pick her up, and is even mocking a few sounds already.

Welcome to America, and welcome to the Vaughn Family!

New Pictures

I finally found my USB cord. It was in the camera case where it belongs.
Today we went shopping. Kyle thinks he is a pro at "negotiation" He walks into a store and picks out what he wants, shows the clerk how much yuan he has and smiles. They think he is pretty cute so they smile and give it too him.
Today Mia showed us she knows how to stick up for herself. On the way home from shopping Mia was eating chicken nuggets on the bus. Her friend Katelyn was sitting next to us and she tried to take the nugget from Mia. Mia slapped her hand and pushed it away. She did it every time Katelyn tried to get the nugget. Her brothers have no idea what they have in store for them. Today Kyle was in her face talking to her and she hit him in the head with her toy. He was pretty upset.
Tomorrow we get to pick up Mia's visa to enter the US. Yeah!!

China update

Everyone is probably wondering why I haven't posted any new pictures. Well it is simple, I lost the USB cord. I have searched high and low and it is no where to be found.
Mia had a very rough day yesterday. She was tired and cranky most of the day. She has a runny nose and a pretty bad cough. She is getting stronger in her walking every day. I finally went out yesterday and borrowed a stroller. There are shops here that will loan strollers out to families adopting children. She seems to like it. Kyle is still have a ton of fun. On Saturday we went to White Cloud Mountain. We took a ride to the top. There were lots of birds and Kyle thought it was great. Yesterday we went to the Six Banyan Temple. Kyle climbed up to the top of a Pagoda with some people from our group. I stayed at the bottom with Mia.
We are excited that we only have 2 more sleeps until we leave. I will miss China but I will be so excited to see my boys again.
Today we are going shopping. Mia is taking an early nap so hopefully she wont be so cranky. If I ever find my cord I will post some new pictures.

How to be a Hero Dad when Mom is away

It sometimes amazes me how it is the little things in life that impress the kids. It is not necessarily a trip to Disney Land or a glamorous Christmas Morning tht makes them happy.
Tonight I took them to the grocery store and for a "special treat" they each got to pick out their own flavor of Top Ramen Noodles. And the best part as far as they were concerned was that we cooked each one separately, so they each had "their own". They loved their dinner, declared me the best cook in the house, and they counted down another night until they meet their baby sister, and of course Mom and Kyle too.

Guangzhou

We got here pretty late last night. Our flight was delayed so we sat in the airport for about 3 hours. Mia did great. She didnt want to be buckled in the seat so I let her sit on my lap. She was perfect.
This morning we had our medical appt. She is healthy and weighs a whopping 21.3 pounds. She is very tiny. Kyle and I took her swimming tonight. It didnt go over so well. She cried and cried. So I thought I would take her to the kiddy pool where the water is shallow. As I was stepping in I slipped on the bottom and fell. She was fine but I hit my back and bottom pretty hard. Justin always tells me when I go on trips to come home in one piece and I always find a way to hurt myself.
Her personality is coming out more and more. She is very, very flexible. She can do the splits when she sits on the floor. This is really an asset for her. Yesterday at the airport she wanted to walk and I just wanted to get to the gate. I picked her up and she threw a fit. Now if I dont look strange enough being the only caucasian person there but I have this little Chinese child screaming as I am holding her. So I am walking towards the gate holding onto her the best I can and she was able to flex her little leg up and kick me in the face. I am surprised the police didnt question me. She was happy as soon as I set her down. She laughed then walked away.

Last day in Nanjing

Today is our last day in Nanjing. We are having a quiet day in the hotel until we leave at 2:30. We walked to Starbucks this morning because I needed some real coffee. Before we leave I would like to list some things we have learned about Mia so far.

She likes:
1. Kyle
2. Anything Kyle does
3. Copying Kyle
4. Eating
5. Giving Kisses
6. French Fries
7. Books
8. Walking on her own
9. Her stuffed dog
10. Did I mention Kyle??

She Dislikes:
1. Anyone other than mom and Kyle talking to her
2. Transitions
3. Getting her diaper changed
4. Mom picking her up when she is playing with Kyle
5. Ice cream
6. Anything cold
7. People touching her

It has been an amazing week getting to know this special little girl. I still cannot believe that she is mine. The transition has been so smooth. She hardley ever cries. When she does all you have to do is put something in her hand or her mouth. She will carry a plastic spoon around all day long and cry if you take it from her. She goes to bed at 8:00 and sleeps until 6:00. When she sleeps she shakes her head and soemtimes she puts her arms up in the air and waves them back and forth. She looks like she at a rock concert but she is sound asleep.
She is the sweetest little girl and I am the luckiest mom in the world to have her.
Only a few more days and we will be home. Yeah!! Kyle has already taught her some many things, like "touch down" When he yells touchdown she throws her hands up in the air. When he says "you" she points directly at him and laughs her head off. He has shown her how to give him some "skin" with her fist hitting his. I can only imagine what the rest of the boys will teach her. She is a quick learner and I know I am in trouble especially if Logan shows her any of his "finger" tricks....

Pictures from yesterday

Notice Mia is actually letting Justin hold her!!! Only because he had a piece of food and she wanted it. She cries everytime our guide John talks to her or says her name. Tomorrow we are off to Guangzhou to begin the final stage of our journey. Today we received Mia's birth certificate and abdonment certificate. She is adapting really well. It is going to be very different once we are home and she meets her other 3 brothers. She has no idea what is in store for her.

Nanjing Update

Today we went to the place where Mia was found. She was left at the Nanjing West Train Station. We took some photos of the outside of the station. We were unable to go to the actual spot as you have to go through security and we didn't have a ticket.
The orphanage visit was really hard on Mia. She started to cry as soon as we turned down the street. She didn't want any of the nannies to touch her. She cried whenever someone touched her. She only allowed one person to hold her. We were told that she was Mia's preschool teacher. They are remodeling the orphanage so she had been moved to a temporary building. There was a playroom and a sleeping room. That was all we were allowed to see. We went outside and there was a group of older children playing. They were having a great time swing leaves around. Most of them seemed really happy. I am glad we went and I am sure Mia will cherish the pictures when she is older.
Justin left Nanjing today. He hasn't made much progress with Mia. She still slaps his hand when he touches her. It is pretty funny. He picked her up and she actually cried for "amma" I have to assume she means Mama. She is really opening up to us. It is great to see her change. Her favorite thing to do is walk holding Kyle's hand. She will slap me away if he has her hand. She is scared to walk without help. She is really more like a 1-year old than a 2-year old. I have to feed her because she will not put food into her own mouth. If I put something into her hand she will hold onto it until I put her hand to her mouth.
I will try to post tomorrow, I am not sure what we have planned.

More Orphanage Pics

Orphanage Pictures

Belly laughs and Kyle

We have had a huge change in Mia in just a few short hours. It looks like her palate was fixed. Our guide wasnt sure if it was fixed at the end of April or the end of May. It makes a big difference in the kind of food we can feed her. We have her on soft foods like babyfood. Tomorrow we will visit the orphanage and ask the director when exactly it was repaired.
After her nap we took her shopping. She loved, loved, loved it. She loved everything about the store. She really is my daughter. She pointed at the Barbie display with much excitement. I bought her 2 pair of shoes and she was more than happy to try them on for me.
After our shopping trip I feed her then put her down to see if she would play with Kyle. Earlier today she tried to hit him a few times with a toy when he came near her. I am not exactly sure what he did tonight but he had her laughing so hard. Great big belly laughs. It was the sweetest thing. Then she took her toy and hit her puppy in the head and thought that was the funniest thing. She loves to play. We are seeing more and more of her personality and it is great.
Tomorrow is a big day and I will try to post pics of the orphanage.
Oh yeah, she has great big dimples..She fits right in with her brothers.

Pictures for real