Our Little Zheng Lan

Our Little Zheng Lan

Saturday, October 29, 2011

Trick Or Treat

The most fun for Lizzie was Trick-or-Treating. Though she wasn't out very long, she really enjoyed knocking on doors and having her bag filled. It was a curious thing to her, but none the less, one she enjoyed. The others were old enough to take off with friends an their families, though Nathan always prefers to stick close to us. They had fun, and Josh, by far, collected the most!





Pumpkin Carving @ Grandpa's

The grand-kids who were willing to dress up and come trick-or-treating received a fun surprise. Those who didn't got left behind. We took photos of all those who were willing.

Ryann & Josh
as Bed-Time Girl and Jack Sparrow
(Sparrow's costume by my sister, Carrie. Bed-time by Costco)

Lizzie as our little black cat
(Costume by Old Navy & Target)


Nathan as our China Man
(Costume by Silk Market in Beijing)

Meleah, Brianna and Tanya
as Scarecrow, Butterfly & Peacock
(Costumes by my sister, Emily, their mom-I know, pure talent!)

Keira & Zach
as BamBam & Bug
(Costumes by their mommy, Heather)

Carving Pumpkins is so much fun! And we enjoyed some delicious food made and contributed by all! Nathan even fit in some fishing with Grandpa and daddy. It was such a fun way to start our Halloween Party Week-end!






Tuesday, October 11, 2011

3 Month Update


It has been 3 months since we picked up our Angel, and it has been such an incredible experience. I feel so blessed to be her mother, and to have her in our family! She is doing so incredibly well!

She is progressing great with the language! After a priesthood blessing from her daddy promising her that her ears would be open to understanding, she has understood nearly everything we've asked, she has begun going to sleep on her own (though I still love our time together in the rocking chair before laying her down), and her words have been coming quickly.

She can say kitty, puppy, bird, bye bye, daddy, mommy, Josh, baby, owie (every time I do her hair, she says it now), ah oh, hello, eyes, ears, nose, and so many other thing. She also has been trying to sign a few things to help us understand her (rain, drink, milk - meaning chocolate milk).

She loves chocolate milk and we made the mistake of giving it to her because she wouldn't drink her milk. Now that is all she wants! She is a trooper running the kids around and supporting them in their sports. She loves shoes, wants every pair in the store, as well as to wear all of ours (especially daddy's). She loves to carry around a picture of our family that includes her, and she'll sit and point to each member, trying to say their names, and then to her. We always say, "Lizzie's family", and then she smiles.

She loves music, singing, and dancing. I love to listen try to sing "I Love To See the Temple" along with me. She often starts to sing softly as we sit down, asking me to sing to her. She walks, runs, climbs on everything, empties every drawer she can, she is doing all those things that a typical 2 year old would do. She is, in my eyes, perfect.

She is.....attached! And so am I!

Below is a Facebook Post from Jake:

What a transition. To go from home to China, to parents of a toddler again, to back home, to needing to toddler proof the house again, to struggling to adjust the first month or so, to questioning our sanity, to seeing her play and bond with our other children, to seeing her smile, to finally seeing her expression change and become calm, to knowing that she is finally becoming comfortable, to being amazed that she fits in so well with our family and our personalities, to now finally feeling like life is getting back to normal. Well, almost normal. Normal plus one. Well again, as normal as I could ever possibly be.