It was 2 years ago today that our baby girl was placed in our arms...with her forever family.
As we celebrate this day, we are praising God for His wonderfulness and faithfulness!
I think this video says what I am at a loss for words for (don't forget, you have to pause the music at the bottom of the page)!
Happy Gotcha Day, Little Kaylee!
Awesome Face Painting!
Our girl's first Lantern Parade
(Well, she didn't actually walk in the Parade!)
Kaylee didn't like the 'face painting', so we went for 'arm painting'.
Like our shirts? We found them in Guangzhou!What a special day! We have had our KK in our family for 9 months and 1 day. What a milestone!
Milestone? You say.
Yes, milestone!
For 9 months and 1 day means she has now been out of the orphanage longer than she was in the orphanage! That is a milestone!
I hope that her memories of the orphanage are diminishing and that her memories of being a Bowren are abounding!
What a precious member of our family she is!
What a proud feeling...to be the mother of 2 kids! How great it is to have our Kaylee home for Mother's Day 2007! :)
Well, everyone said it would happen...and I believed them...but it still shocked me when it did happen!
Yesterday was the day of stupid comments!
The first one happened at church. When someone came up and said, "She's so cute. Is she Chinese or Korean?" My thought: "Hellooo, she's American, you nincompoop!" My answer: "She came from China."
The second one happened at the grocery store. I am shopping for Easter when one of the clerks says, "Oh, she's so pretty! Does she look like her dad?" My thought: "Well, at the sperm bank, they don't let you see pictures of the donors." My answer: "I don't know (awkward silence while I look at her like she's nuts), we adopted her from China."
Of course, there is the previous comment of', "Do you think she is babbling in English or Chinese?" My thought: "Oh my goodness! Are you serious??? I don't think babble has a language origin!!!!! IT"S BABBLE!!!!!" My answer: "I believe she is just babbling, not in any certain language."
Ugh people! I must say, I have learned to think before I speak thru this process! I know, that makes some of you laugh, but I really have!
What a busy weekend! Monday, February 26th, we went to court for Kaylee's readoption proceedings. Texas does acknowledge foreign adoption, so this was not a necessary step, but...in order to get her name legally changed and to obtain a Texas birth certificate (easier when school time comes around), this must be done. After we left the courtroom, I said to Kaylee, "You're stuck now, girl!"
As of January 19th, we have had Kaylee for one month. It is so hard to believe! It was a fast month. She also turned 10 months old on the 20th.
Things are getting better. She is over her RSV...after MANY breathing treatments and prayers! She is going potty on her own now...we have a track record of 9 days of potty on her own! Kaylee is also sleeping most of the night. We put her down at 9pm and she will sleep until 11pm...then, for some reason, she will wake up for about 30 minutes. We put her back down and she will sleep until about 6am! Yea! I knew it had to get better!
I am attaching one precious photo and 2 others of the fits she has when I put her on her tummy to play! She hates that!
Just wanted to let everyone know that we are home. We arrived Saturday evening to many friends waiting at the airport! We had a small celebration with the friends there nd then headed home. We had dinner with our parents at the house and then headed off to bed.
Please continue the prayers. Kaylee is not sleeping at night...and not pottying on her own...Jake starts school tomorrow...bags are still not unpacked...lots to do and little sleep!
It is Friday night in Guangzhou and our last night! We are so excited about boarding a plane for home tomorrow that we can hardly contain ourselves! We will be back in San Antonio Saturday night!! Thank you so much for your thoughts and prayers along this journey...please pray us home!
You may continue to check this sight...although, now I should change the title to 'Journey with Kaylee'. I will post updates about our family!
God Bless you and yours!
Wow! Did I perk up after a few rounds thru the shops in Guangzhou! It was a lot of fun to see the things here! We had a great time and I can't wait to show everyone our 'wares'!
Tomorrow we willgo for our consulate appointment, take the famous 'red couch picture' and finish up any necessary shopping!
Things are calming down in our family. We are still anxious to come home, but at least here we feel more normal! Jake and David have just gone down to the game room and Kaylee and I are chilling in the hotel room. She is alot of fun and seems to be a perfect fit!
We left Lanzhou this morning and arrived in Guangzhou at about 3pm. We now feel as though we are back in civilization! They have a no smoking hotel, people speak English, you can see the sun, the weather is about 75 degrees. What a relief. We were beginning to melt down in Kaylee's province and now we feel as though we can make it the 4 days needed to complete the adoption process.
I plan on doing some serious retail therapy tomorrow. There are many places by the hotel to buy things. We are going on a tour tomorrow afternoon and then to the pearl market.
More pictures tomorrow!
Hello Friends and Family,
We wanted to send Christmas wishes to you all! We are still in Lanzhou, anxious to board a plane tomorrow for a nicer place. Christmas here is quite uneventful...we are all wishing we were home today. Jake is having the hardest time of all. Please know that we appreciate your love and prayers...enjoy your celebrations in your home and with your families.
I am attaching pictures, showing the many faces of Kaylee Bowren!
Hello all!
Yesterday we went to the mall to shop for the baby. This was quite an experience! We went to a large department store to buy what we needed. As you shop, you go from department to department and tell them (or in our case, show them) what you want. They then write the items and the prices on a ticket, you take these tickets to a cashier stand and pay, then you return to each department with your tickets marked 'paid' and pick up the items. I am guessing there must have been a problem with shop lifting...what do you think? The local people were quite taken by Jake. We heard a few times that he was beautiful. The ladies in the grocery store were teasing us that they were going to steal him. He was a bit embarrassed by it all.
After the shopping experience, we came to the hotel to relax awhile, then headed out for our surprise. The surprise was dinner and a bit of a show at a Tibetian restaurant. It was the best meal we have had since we have been here. The interesting thing for our family is that we think we may have met Kaylee's people (We have heard from the start that she is probably not 'pure
Chinese'). When we walked in and sat down, she was enthrawled with these people...and they were enthrawled with her. They wanted to hold her, take pictures with her and dance with her. I think she looks much like the waitress that served us...What do you think? After dinner, they performed some traditional songs and dances for us. They asked some of us to dance and after much persuasion, Jake did! They also presented the babies with a birthday cake. Most of the babies will turn one in December or January. It was a great evening!
This morning, we visited a local park and zoo. Remember, it is about 19 degrees here!!!! BRRRRR!!!!! It was a good experience, though. Kaylee is the one under the pink blanket...sleeping her way through the zoo! Yes, Jake is the one riding a camel! It only cost 50 cents for him to do that! Notice the spitting sign, It loses something in the translation!
Enjoy the pictures. More later!
Here are some good things that are happening in China...the Cival affairs office...where we made the adoption and her name change official, my boys trying Chinese noodles, and big brother feeding little sister!
Kaylee is adjusting well. She is eating alot, drinking alot of formula and doing well in that area. The sleep is not going so well, though. Her paperwork said that she sleeps thru the night, but so far that hasn't happened. Last night, she went down at 830 and slept until 3, then she went back to sleep at 430 and then woke up at 8pm. I know that is not bad, just wish we could not wake for that hour and a half. Tonite, we will try to not put her down until nine and see if we can make it thru the night! We were told that tonite we have a 'surprise'. We will inform you of that as soon as we can!
Wow! This town is disgusting! I cannot begin to explain the filth here! From the hotel, to the streets, to the buildings...everything! All we can smell is smog and smoke! I am attaching a picture of the usual toilets here! I REFUSE to try one, but Jake thought it was pretty cool...until he started thinking about doing something in it besides 'number 1'!
