Some Pics of our New Place

We made the move back to western Washington a couple weeks ago. We are finally starting to get organized and unpacked. Moving is such a hassle - ugh. But overall, we are very happy that we made the move. Lia loves the new house!  Rather than "growing pains", we have experienced some "shrinking pains" since we downsized quite a bit for this move. This house is half the square feet of  our house in eastern WA, but it has an open layout, and we are making it work. The views of the surrounding wooded ravine and towering evergreens are beautiful, and we are just five minutes from the shores of Puget Sound. This town has a slower pace of life, and we appreciate that, but the city is also only 20 minutes away, which allows us the best of both worlds. We feel very blessed to be living here, and the weather has been beautiful...

Our American Citizen...One Year Ago & Today!

A year ago today, our plane from China landed in Seattle and Lia officially became an American citizen. My, how our sweet baby girl has grown and changed in the past year! Last September we had a developmental assessment done. At the time, Lia was 22 mos. old and her only word was "mama". Her hearing was 85% blocked, and she came in at a 17 mos. old level for gross and fine motor skills. Yesterday we had a second assessment, and our lively, chatty, 33 mos. old is now doing things that many 3 yr olds can't do! The only area where she is behind is speech (which we will continue to work on in the coming years). You've come a long way baby - WE LOVE YOU!    

Lia's first time at a local park...one year ago tomorrow!



...and in our backyard on her very own swing - TODAY!



Our First Family Day!

Lia: Then and Now

We successfully got moved across the state last weekend, and now we just have a huge mess of boxes on our hands. With all the craziness, I didn't have a chance to blog about our first Family Day on Monday. We DID celebrate (Chinese dinner with Grandma & Grandpa). It was low-key and perfect. Lia doesn't really "get it" yet, but it was certainly important for us to mark the occasion. She was just thrilled with the Disney Princess balloon that grandpa brought for her.  :)

A lot of adoptive families celebrate "Gotcha Day", but I deliberately chose the term "Family Day". Mainly, because our "gotcha" moment in Xi'an wasn't really something to celebrate. Of course we will always remember that moment, but it was intense and upsetting for Lia and for us... She was terrified, sad, and screaming, and we were nervous and worried and sad for her. Not exactly a moment you want to "celebrate" for all time...

The term "Family Day" just makes more sense for us. It is the day we became a family...and that IS definitely something to celebrate!

Yep! It's Happening Again...

That's right, we're on the move again!  For those who have been following this blog since the very beginning (Nov. 2006) - this will be my sixth move in five years...*sigh*.  This time however, it's not because of a job. It's just a quality of life issue. While we've enjoyed our three years in eastern Washington, we are ready to head back to the west side of the state. My job is headquartered there (although I'll still be working part-time from home for the most part), and Steve is able to run his consulting business from anywhere - so given that our current landlord decided to sell the house we've been leasing, we had to make the decision to move to another house here in town, or move back closer to family and friends on the west side of the state.

It was not an easy decision. Moving is always expensive, and because all of Lia's medical providers are here, the thought of setting up new relationships with all new doctors and therapists was daunting. But with the help of some great contacts here in town, I've been able to make connections on the west side which I feel will be good for Lia. We were also sad about leaving our local friends who traveled with us to China last year, but we hope they will visit us at our new home so our girls (and we!) can stay connected.  

I was a bit worried about how Lia would handle all the hustle and bustle around the house. Packing and moving boxes, various rooms and surroundings changing...but she has not seemed the least bit stressed about it. We've told her that we are moving to a new house - mama, daddy, Lia, the dogs - and all her toys, and her bed, and our TV and all the food, etc. and she seems OK with it so far. I'm not sure she really understands it yet, but so far, so good.

I think I've had the hardest time with all of it. I don't like feeling "pushed" out of my home, especially my daughter's first home with us. I also took a nasty fall while packing last week and ended up at the ER! Let this be a lesson to you all - never underestimate the damage that can be done by slipping onto your bathroom floor. A sprained ankle, bruised tailbone, and big bump on the head later...UGH! It could have been a lot worse, and I am thankful that it wasn't, but I am still sore 10 days later...

In better health news, at Lia's visit to her ENT last week, her palate was looking really good (still 100% closed) and her audiology tests came positive as well. Her right ear appears to have perfect hearing, while her left still shows a little bit of impairment (but not too far outside the "normal" range). Hooray!

We also finished our final 12-month post-placement report with our social worker two weeks ago. This fulfills our final requirement with the Chinese government. I was thrilled to send along four terrific photos of our happy, smiling girl for the government adoption officials to see. It's hard to believe that one year ago today we were boarding a plane to China!