HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

I love Halloween! It is so much fun, especially since we have our little Panda this year! How cute is she? Tooooo cute! We are all ready for trick or treat! BOO!

Wordless Wednesday!

Home 1 Month!

I can't believe Bing has been home for one whole month! What a month it has been, too! Bing is the perfect fit for our family! She is such an amazing baby! Everyday she does something new! She is now standing up without the help of furniture! It won't be long at all before she is taking her first steps! She is so cute when she stands up, she gets the most pleased look on her face! She is like a little ray of sunshine every single day! You absolutely can't not smile when you are around her! She is a dream come true! You can just tell that she is so happy to finally be home! Kaelin Bing loves home and she looooves her brothers and sisters so much! Did I mention she loves her mommy and daddy, too! It is so remarkable how quickly she catches on to things! Right now she is learning her body parts and so far she knows her belly button and her nose and eyes! She is such a little smarty! Oh and she is officially an American citizen now! She got her Certificate of Citizenship along with a letter from President Bush welcoming her to the U.S. in the mail today! Congratulations Kaelin Bing Wen!

The Main Attraction!

What can I say? I am a crappy blogger! In all my defense I can only say that it is because of Baby Bing! She is, after all, my top priority now! To sum her up, she is a dream come true! Our family has been so blessed with this beautiful little angel! Kaelin Bing is really getting around now, too! Her favorite new thing is to play in the dog's water bowl! I tell her "no no" but it is so hard not to laugh because she is just so darn cute! Another new thing is she is standing alone! Only for a few seconds, but she is doing it! She also knows pat a cake and how big is Kaelin (she puts both chubby little arms above her head) so adorable! Kaelin is now sleeping better and we are getting at least 6-7 hrs out of her each night and a couple of short naps during the day! Her favorite thing, besides her bottle, is to be outside! We have had a couple of beautiful days here and she loving it! Even when it is cold, I bundle her up and we go out anyway! One thing she doesn't like is grass! She is hilarious when you sit her in it, she tries to lift up her feet and she makes her funny face! I took her for her first doctor visit and she is a healthy girl! Too bad she had to get 3 yucky shots that made her sick for two days! She is better now, thank God! Those stupid shots are so scary, but necessary, I guess! Sometimes I wonder if it isn't just a big money making scheme by the pharmaceutical companies! (Don't forget this is my blog so I can say what I want, so don't flame me on that!)Bing is up from her nap now so bye for now! Enjoy the pics!

Velcro Baby!

I can't believe we have been home for over a week now! I haven't posted in so long because Bing Bing takes up every bit of my time! When she is asleep (rare occasion!) I have to get caught up on housework, bills, and laundry! Bing has such a personality! She is so inquisitive, cuddly, and happy! She loves for me to hold her all of the time and has become a real velcro baby! She is getting used to the dog and cats too! She is still taking about 4 bottles a day and 1 in the middle of the night but is also eating very well too! She is likes carrots, chicken, mac n cheese, eggs, toast, pancakes, french toast, yogurt, applesaauce, cheerios, bananas, and crackers! She is up from her very short nap now, so I will try to write more later!

We're Home!

I am finally posting that we are home! We arrived in Detroit about 3:30pm yesterday and didn't get home until about 6 because it took forever to get through immigration and customs and then over an hour and a half home! It didn't help that our plane got a flat tire in Guangzhou and we had to wait on the runway for an hour and a half while they got a new tire and fixed it! Of course this made us miss our connection in Tokyo! We were able to get another flight, thank God! Bing was good for the most part during the long flights, but we did have a bit of a rough time half way through our second long flight as we were introduced to her evil twin! We think she was for the most part just scared and confused and bored! We did the best we could to console her, but were almost ready to kiss the ground when we finally landed! I posted a pic of her feet touching the ground in the US for the first time! Our kids were so happy to see us, especially their new sister! They were so worried about us because we weren't on the flight we were supposed to be on and the airlines would not tell them where we were! They were so relieved when we finally emerged from the Northwest terminal! Of course I cried, as I knew I would! She loves her new brothers and sisters! I have so many more pics to post, but they are all on Marie and Sarah's cameras! As much as we really loved and enjoyed China, it is sooooooo good to be home with our sweet little baby girl! She is currently snoozing in the pac n play in our bedroom! Poor little thing is so exhausted as we have had so many visitors! Gary and I both keep close to her as she is a bit overwhelmed and nervous, especially around the dog and cats! At first she was horrified over our dog but now she is tolerating him and watching every move he makes and is fine just so long as he keeps his distance! He is so good,too, he knows she is upset and has no problem steering clear of her! The cats, well they are curious and she is too, but also would prefer they keep their distance as well! The first thing I did when I got home was take a big drink right out of the kitchen tap! We had burgers for dinner and then went to bed! I will post more pics soon of her with all of her brothers and sisters! Our whole family is in love!
PS. Don't worry about that big pool in the background in a couple of the pics! We have every safety precaution possible for when she is walking! Aside from locked gates, and alarms we are installing a Katchakid. Of course, there is no better precaution than never taking your eyes off of your child for even a second! Being the mom of 6 happy and healthy kids, I know this is the most important precaution!

Last post from China!

It is almost 11pm in China and we are soooooo tired! Our bags are packed, 3 carry- ons, 1 laptop bag, and 4 big suitcases! We have to have the checked bags outside our room by 4:30 am because we are leaving our hotel at 5:30 am! We were so worried this morning that our flights would be delayed because of the typhoon that hit Guangzhou last night, but everything is on schedule as far as we know! I posted a couple of pics of what it looked like right outside our hotel this morning! Poor Gary had to wade through it to get our laundry and buy baby wipes and two more suitcases! Good thing we got those typhoid and hep A&B shots! Then this afternoon we all took a 40 minute bus ride to the American Consulate and Bing got her Visa and as soon as we cross the border into the US she is an American citizen! I posted a pic of her posing in her red white and blue!
We have had such an incredible time here in China! It is so hard to put into words what it is like here. You would really have to come and experience it for yourself to get the full understanding of the beautiful land and wonderful people! I guess if I had to choose just one word to describe China it would be "humbling". These beautiful people have nothing, and I mean nothing, yet they are so polite, happy, and friendly! They are so incredibly hardworking, too, as we have learned that many of the girls work 12-14 hours a day in the shops around the hotel earning only 50cents per day! We have gotten to know quite a few of them and I wish we could adopt them all! They are all in their late teens and early twenties and absolutely adorable! They even got me some birthday presents and presents for Bing! As poor as they are, they are the most kind and generous people we have ever met! We have gotten quite a few of their email addresses and are going to keep in touch with them! Gary and I were sitting and talking after Baby Bing fell asleep tonight and we both agreed that we will never be the same after we leave China! We have so much yet we still always seem to want more! We can honestly say that we are changing our mind set and will be truly thankful from now on for everything that God has bestowed upon us! I was so bugged that I didn't have time to get my new rugs and window treatments for my newly painted kitchen before we left, but now that just seems so stupid and trivial!
We have enjoyed every single second of being in China! Even though we miss our kids, Justin, Marie, Adam, Sarah and Marcus, our dog, Storm, and cats, Tigger and Fiona,and the rest of our family, we will have a very hard time saying goodbye to Kaelin's homeland! As I laid her down to sleep tonight I got teary thinking that this was the last night that she will sleep in China. It is our prayer that she will love her new life and that her birth mother will somehow feel a sense of peace that the baby girl she gave birth to is being so very loved and cared for.
We have truly had the trip of a lifetime and the best and most incredible part is that we are bringing home our precious baby girl, Kaelin Bing Wen! We will always love China and all of it's people! When Bing is older we plan to come back and show her what a beautiful and amazing country she is from! I have to get up in 4 hours and I haven't even gotten to sleep yet! Goodbye from Guangzhou, Guangdong! See you in the good ol' USA! Love, Di

It's a girl thing!