Holly's Passport~

We received Holly's passport so she and Evie can go with us to get CallaAnne~

Now it's time to apply for our visas. Getting closer!

HollyMei's China Book~

She may have been last to receive her book but she was equally delighted!!!
Whew! It feels good to have all that complete.
Mostly it feels amazing to see them find pride in their Chinese heritage.

"How will our children know who they are if they do not know where they came from." unknown

HollyMei Day~ {One Year}

HollyMei has been with us for one year 

and the transformation redemption has been amazing to experience

from a very scared little girl~

 To one of joy and confidence~

From two complete strangers joined together as sisters~

 To being real sisters, twins, and the sweetest best friends they could ask for~

Sweet HollyMei, we couldn't love you more and so thankful God chose us to be your family!

You are so sweet, funny, and adorable!

Bless you forever on your HollyMei Day!!!

Happy 6 Months Forever HollyMei~ {on Tuesday}

Six months with HollyMei...

Seems like she's always been with us~

 Full of personality yet quiet and calm.

Before HollyMei came home, Evie followed the boys everywhere they went

but now she is SO happy to have her BFF with her all the time!

She and Evie are the best of friends and completely act like sisters/TWINS~

HollyMei is talking up a storm now and repeats everything said...

especially Evie who has had a beautiful influence on her.

{Favorite question: Is dat funny?}~

It really is a miracle how God chose her for our family so perfectly.

Such a precious blessing in our family and we couldn't love her more.

Happy 6 Months Forever HollyMei!!!

A Song in her Heart~

I discovered early on Holly loved and responded to music and began singing lots of things to her.

Tonight I videoed her singing our Brush Your Teeth song~

I also put on a cd of Chinese Children songs this morning for their room time and her face was priceless...

she perked up and just beamed that she could understand the words.

Made my heart sing too!!!

Another Dr's Appt~ {SJ}

Today was SJ's day for a follow up eye appt and we found out she would need to patch one eye for 2 hours each day~

Not what she wanted to hear but it is only for 3 months and we go back for a recheck.

Hoping for the best.

And you know we had to stop by to see BC~

{photo shot by Amelia}

 Evie and her REAL baby~

After our visit we headed home for some playtime~

Holly really can't ride anything alone so she was SO happy to be riding around with Will~

Look who climbed on a float all by herself~

AND Look who jumped off the diving board for the 1st time~

HollyMei~ {4 Weeks Forever}

Four weeks looks so good on this beautiful girl.

These photos show a good sampling of her personality...

loving, funny, serious, sweet, and sometimes loud~

 She's come so far and learning so well.

She still has her moments of grief when she lies on the floor and rubs her shirt on her lips.

She comes to find us as soon as she wakes up and climbs right up to snuggle.

She definitely likes us all to be together...

NOT a fan of her daddy leaving her behind and cries deeply for him.

Love how much she already gets a father's love... beautiful!

This particular afternoon WP started a big kissing epidemic and that's all it took~ 

Crazy kids is all I can say...

crazy in love in this crazy Forever Family!!!

Happy 4 Weeks HollyMei!

We ADORE you!!!

Most Asked Question...~

Scott is our #1 errand runner these days and he came home to say the most asked question he gets is...

How do you communicate with her {HollyMei}?

I guess looking from the outside in,
 it makes perfect sense to wonder that.

Other questions:

~Do your other kids remember Chinese and speak to her? {no}

~Do you know a lot of Chinese and speak to her? {no}

Then how???

In China HollyMei was in such shock,

 she didn't really communicate that much even with our guides that spoke her language.

We definitely didn't see the smiles and personality that is blossoming now that we are home.

Back to communication...

at first it's just pure survival words like potty, eat, bed, all of which we said, acted out, and led her toward.
She has learned a lot by watching the other children too.

HollyMei has been in our arms for 3 weeks today and boy has she come a long way in so many ways~

Does she even look like the same child?
Just in the week she's been home, she has learned to understand lots of things and to say many things.
Keeping her world small just here in our house {cocooning} has made a huge difference.

Her scariest times are when it's time for sleep and having a bathroom emergency...
both in which she is learning to trust.
When I see a disturbed look on her face, I know she needs to potty and I started singing... 
Potty, potty, potty in a fun way as we race to the bathroom.
Just from that silly routine, she has learned to trust I will take her and I have learned she has a great love for music.
NOW she sings it to me when she needs to go and we both go running together.
I started singing a brushing teeth song and she already sings it too when I show her we are going to brush!!!
"Brush, brush, brush you teeth,
Brush your teeth together!" 

She is so happy to wake up each morning and find me in the family room waiting for her.
She spends a little time in our laps then off to find something to do.
She and Evie have their own school shelf so they usually play together~

Just this morning I sat with them as Evie taught Holly how to play a game.
How did they communicate?
Just in showing and facial expressions.
I do have to say they both speak their own languages to each other and it seems to work itself out pretty well. :)

Truly Maria Montessori taught that children learn well with few words and being shown how to do something.
Giving lots of positive eye contact works well with her as well.

Holly says Mama, Baba, baby, potty, Evie, thank you, hello with the Chinese phrase with it 
because that's what we do and she is mirroring us~

She loves to eat and pretty much eats it all.
There are a few things we have learned she does not like by trial and error... 
strawberries, oatmeal, and cold things are not her favorite.

She is very loving and kisses Scott and I all the time...
melts us of course!

She and Evie are getting along very well...
maybe we're in the honeymoon period or maybe we aren't but either way, they are doing better than we imagined.

Evie is sharing well and Holly is learning what that means basically because she's never had anything of her own.

My mom and sister have facilitated the sister bond by sending HM a bitty baby, carrier, and clothes just like EC has~

Do you think she was a LITTLE bit happy?
Holly has watched how Evie plays with her baby and now...
She is all about a baby and has learned to sing Rock-a-bye, dress her, and kiss her! Pure sweetness!!!

I am going to blog @ Growing Whole Hearts what we are doing for preschool.
For the most part it is going well but gets crazy at times too.
Just rolling with it and getting in a groove 
so when fall gets here it won't be a big change.

LOVE wins again!!!

Quarter of a Century~ {Savannah}

25 beautiful years is how long Scott and I have loved this 4th of July baby~

We couldn't wait for them to get here today so we could start a day of partying poolside~

We all enjoyed a fun day in the sun~

We sure missed Mill but I think she was in good hands~

We grilled burgers and dogs then topped it all off with cake and homemade ice cream~

My grandfather turned 98 this past week so we loved celebrating him as well!

Holly was all smiles all day~

I'm pretty sure she is liking the family thing!!!

Happy birthday sweet Savannah!

YOU started this whole family thing and we sure are thankful God blessed us with you!

One of the BEST 4ths ever!

Pediatrician Appt~

Today was HM's ped appt and she did pretty great!

Dr. Steele is amazing and took such sweet time with us asking questions

and just getting a baseline on our baby.

I took the bitties in and Scott took the rest to the park to play~

 All smiles for the first half of the appt...

then sad sad after a finger poke and TB test~

We got a great report, referral for her specialist, and new appt in 2-3 weeks.

Vitals:

Weight~ 26lbs {0%}

Height~ 37 1/2" {4%}

BMI~ 13.84 {7%}

Recommendations:

~Drink lots of water

~Eat lots of vegetables and fruits

~Supplement with an iron vitamin for a little while

~Make appt with specialist

I think we can do all that and so thankful we have a very healthy girl!!!

Two Weeks w/ HollyMei~

Two weeks ago God blessed us with the 9th beautiful blessing in our family~

HollyMei Qiuhan Ankerich

The look in her eyes is heartbreaking... NO idea what was happening to her.

How are things going now?

Better everyday!

We have seen huge growth in trust through attachment and bonding.

There is a twinkle in her eye and she is feeling the love of her family.

The first couple of days home she was a ball of nerves especially when it was time to rest or sleep.

She is sleeping a 2 hour nap plus 12-14 hour nights... huge for her health and overall good~

She is bonding sweetly to all her sibs... big and little.

She calls for baba and mama when she needs us or just because.

She does exactly what Evie does and usually that is good.

She is understanding more and more English.

She laughs and laughs when we repeat her Chinese phrases.

The boys have taken her under their wing just like they have Evie.

A one to one ratio is working out great!!! :)

Today it just felt right to get back in a some sort of routine.

Everyone up about 8 and breakfast right away.

Next chores and back to sunroom for the short version of school.

Holly joined right in and everything went great.

We went out about 11 for a walk but the rain cut it short so we came in for a little PBS.

Lunch and NAP time~

Is there anything sweeter than sleeping children?

Well other than them snuggled up in your lap?

Off to the pool when they wake up...

if the rain holds off.

Thankful to be home with our Holly baby!!!

Fighting Jet Lag~

There are lots of hard things about adoption...

the wait, the travel {long flights}, reentry home, jet lag, etc.

Not sleeping much during the night and getting up with the girls then a super early day (4 or 5am) 

makes for a very long day in which you just want to close your eyes!

For the first time in all of our trips we are napping about 2 hours in the middle of the day which helps the afternoons.

We are trying to make it to 9 each night and doing pretty well.

We are thankful to have the pool for a diversion~

HollyMei LOVES bath time so we thought she might love the pool too and we were right~

 The bigs were awesome getting in with everyone~

Being outside as much as possible helps everyone!

We loved having our first meal together and even got all the littles around the bar together.

Thanks to Chris and Marcia for cooking!!!~

Evie is waking up before Holly so today she did a little painting~

And Holly ended up sleeping a 14 hour night (8pm-10am)~

Daddy got in the pool today~

NOW it's time for bed... thank goodness!!!

We may be jet lagged but HOME is a great place to be!!!

Thankful!!!

Our Homecoming~ {Prayer is Power Filled}

We began our journey home Wednesday afternoon in China on a van headed to Hong Kong~

And after an almost 4 hour ride of whipping in and out, curving, and breaking with a long wait through customs...

Scott was SO sick when we reached the Marriott near airport.

I mentioned it on IG that went to FB 

and the prayers starting pouring in...

Prayer is Power Filled because no sooner had we gotten to the room 

and he was sick than he began to feel better then sleep.

Thursday morning we were up @ 5 headed to airport for 4 hour flight to Tokyo, 2 hour layover, then 13 hour flight to Atlanta.

We went from 4 to 12 people with NO complications at all.

Flights were pretty smooth and the girls slept more than they were awake. 

Praise the Lord!!!

The best journey home we have ever had. 

We were SO thankful!

Flight got in just a little late and our immigration wait was long but all worth it when we rounded the corner 

and was met by family and friends waiting to welcome us home!

I have to thank Kelleyn for shooting all these beautiful photos!!!

Memories we will always cherish~

We can't thank Lifeline enough for the support through the long wait, during our travel, and when we return~

Our family is finally reunited and we couldn't be MORE thankful!!!

HollyMei is a dream come true and more precious than she even appears.

Thank You Jesus for our family... we couldn't be more blessed!!!

Last Day in China~

Dressed in outfits made by my friend Lori, we headed down for breakfast~

Came back to dress in silks and shoot a few photos~

Best idea ever...

Brought our picnic blanket for a play area in our hotel rooms.

When we leave, I just wrap everything in a big pile then unspread when we come back.

Just hanging out in the room while we wait for our van to Hong Kong this afternoon about 4:30 then one more hotel night and fly out tomorrow morning 8:20!!!!!

 Land home about 3:30 Thursday afternoon to OUR people!!!

 Home sweet home... Can't WAIT!!!!!