Florida Style

Curves Club Merchandise Area

2009-08-13T19:00:00.001-07:00

I've added a new merchandise area to my club featuring Avon, Thirty-One, and Usbourne Books. Just a quick glimpse of my setup.

School Readiness

2009-08-13T18:57:00.000-07:00

Here's Alia's backpack and lunch tote from Thirty-One. She is so excited, nervouse, anxious, scared, happy about school. A little over a week from now!!

July 4th - A Kid's View

2009-07-05T11:04:00.000-07:00

July 4, 2009

2009-07-05T10:58:00.000-07:00

Lucy at Grandma's House

2009-07-05T10:49:00.000-07:00

May 2009

2009-07-05T10:41:00.000-07:00

April 24, 2009

2009-07-05T10:29:00.001-07:00

The Girls - April 22, 2008

2009-07-05T10:14:00.000-07:00

Taiwan - The Missing Link of Pure Commentary

2009-07-05T08:36:00.000-07:00

I know we left off our commentary about Taiwan abruptly with Alia going into the hospital. It seemed we never caught up since then. Obviously, it all turned out fine in the end with Alia healthy and Alivia home, but here's the recount (over a year later) of our journey. I'll start from the beginning for those who many not be aware of our adoption journey and trip to Taiwan.

Alia's an in-vitro baby - she's a miracle test tube baby. We wanted more children but not by following that path again. We started looking at adoption when Alia was 2. We started with the Belarus program in Eastern Europe. Before we were paperwork ready, Belarus closed its doors to international adoption. It was a good 2 years later we thought about adopting again with Todd wondering how hard it would be to adopt from China. We discussed that China was the easiest, least expensive ($16,000), and most reliable program out there at the time and made the leap to go forward. We weren't in any particular hurry because adoptions were running 6-9 months from paper ready to referral, so we knew we'd have our child home in a little over a year. We began our paper chase early in 2006. In December, just really kicking it into gear, we were nearly paper ready (all kinds of government documents, clearances, home study visits, etc.) when I happened to look on the internet and see China's program was changing. Not only was it becoming around 2-3 years to referral instead of less than a year, but their criteria had changed and we did not meet all of it. We were assured by our agency (http://www.chinesechildren.org - an AWESOME agency) that we would be "grandfathered in" under the old criteria. I didn't trust that. I started searching on the net for an alternative. Most of what I found we'd already considered and discarded. Finally, I found Taiwan B program, an new infant program offered through Commonwealth Adoptions (now out of business). With a little more research, we switched to Taiwan B in January of 2007. Taiwan is a little different from the other programs. You receive a referral and then you do your paper chasing. The children are in the hospital from birth and then go directly into foster care with a well-trained foster family. They are medically sound, the parent(s) have made an adoption plan instead of abandoning their baby on the streets, and we would know the family history. Between January and November, time flew. We received our referral for a pudgy-faced, serious looking girl in November 2007 right before Thanksgiving. We had the opportunity to turn her referral down, but why on earth would we? She had a full head of hair and the classic Asian look. Here was our second daughter - thousands of miles away and being lovingly cared for by a foster mom while we got paper ready. That time flew as well. In April 2008, we received word of the Final Ruling and that Cheng Pei-Tzu was ours. Should have been easy from there, but unfortunately some of our crucial U.S. Government paperwork was in China and, to top it off, lost. For 2 weeks we fought with agencies on both sides of the globe to just redo our paperwork. That was the most nervewracking time of our adoption, even though we were constantly reassured that Alivia was being well cared for.

Finally, everything was in place, and my mom, Todd, Alia, and I were on an airplane to LA transferring for our first international flight to Taiwan (12-hour leg). The stewardess's uniforms were crisp and professional, the plane was huge with personal consoles for watching the latest movies and playing video games, and the food was Asian. It was Mother's Day spent in the air - we actually lost a day. Surreal.

We landed on Monday morning and were met by our driver, Mr. Yeh. He was highly recommended by our agency to taxi us around for all our crucial appointments. Todd had asked me about renting a car - we knew as soon as we got on the highway that would have been impossible. It's not that the signs were in Chinese because they were also in English. It's the fact that we thought LA and NYC drivers were crazy - not even close!! It was madness. One of the first things we noticed about the traffic is that everyone was polite and courteous, despite flying down the road at high speeds with only what seemed like inches between cars. The second thing we noticed was that our driver spoke only broken English. The third thing we noticed was that every single bit of land between buildings was planted in rice. No wasteful lands. No decorative gardens. No run-down lots.

Our driver took us to The Howard Plaza Hotel (http://taipei.howard-hotels.com - highly recommend). We settled in and then decided to go to Taipei 101, the (now 2nd) tallest building in the world (http://www.taipei-101.com.tw/). We were impressed, to say the least, and spent hours there. The food was awesome, the view unlike any other, and the shops at the mall were incredible. We were all tired and ready to head back when Alia started to complain that her legs hurt. Not unusual for her, particularly after such a long, long, did I say long? day. By the time we got back to The Howard and I got her ready for bed in grandma's room, she felt hot. I warned my mom that I thought she would probably wake up with a fever. We had brought our meds from home as we were told by our agency to do - everything - antinausea, Jr. Tylenol, Aleve, Pepto, you name it. At 1 a.m., Mom called to tell us Alia was running a fever. We brought her back to our room, gave her some Jr. Tylenol. In the morning, she still had a temp (102) even after more meds. Tuesday was the day we were to travel nearly 2 hours to Taichung (http://english.tccg.gov.tw/) where Alivia was being fostered and where the Taiwan Women and Children's Association was handling the adoption in Taiwan. There was no way we were taking Alia for what was to be a culmination of our adoption journey. That made me really sad. Good thing Mom was there - we left Alia with her with instructions on what to do and traveled to pick up Alivia with Mr. Yeh. We stopped at a rest area right before Taichung with modern bathroom facilities and a beautiful pagoda with Buddha statues and gorgeous greenery. Then it was off the TWCA to pay more money and to pick up the interpretor to go to Alivia's foster home. The streets were narrow, the city housing was narrow. Alivia's foster mom was a petite lady who spoke no English. She invited us in for tea an crackers. She handed Alivia to us as soon as we came through the door. It was strange - here's your baby!! We took pictures, cried, and drove away with Alivia. We went to the baby store - nothing but baby items, diapers, cribs, strollers, toys, you name it (no super Wal-Mart here!!). Loaded up on formula and diapers. Then headed back to Taipei with Alivia sleeping on my chest (no carseats in Taiwan).

When we got back, we made Alia put on a mask to meet her sister (people were wearing masks everywhere) and made her keep her distance. We said if she still had a fever the next morning we'd take her to the hospital for rehydration. We settled in for the night with Mom and Alia in one room and Todd, Alivia and I in another. We gave Alivia a bath and freaked out about what looked like bruises on her back - they turned out to be her birthmarks (mongolian birth spots). Went to sleep, got up in the morning to go to the U.S. Government agency to get Alivia's paperwork. That took a few hours with lost of intimidating people scrutinizing us (or so we felt). When we returned to the hotel, Alia's fever was worse, she'd had diarrhea, and she had a bad head cold. We consulted the internet groups and found we should go to the Adventist Hospital because they had English-trained and speaking doctors there.

Within 15 minutes, Alia was hooked up to an IV. Within an hour, her blood tests came back and she'd had an ultrasound of her stomach. They tests were not good. Her infection indicator was through the roof. They wanted to admit her, we wanted to put her on a plane with her daddy and get her to LA as fast as possible. In the end, we admitted her. It was just too many hours back to the States. The hospital was barebones compared to U.S. hospitals (http://www.tahsda.org.tw/en/). No soap in the bathrooms, no meals delivered. But it was great care - they focused on medicine, not fluff. Alia had an IV drip, constant monitoring. Our driver, Mr. Yeh, was so sweet to bring her flowers and let her use his handheld electronic interpretor with games on it. He was crying when he left. I will never forget him for his kindnesses.

From then on, Mr Yeh was at our beck and call. Todd spent Wednesday night with Alia and Thursday morning. Mr. Yeh took mom and I to do a little touring (we'd had so much more planned). We went to a place to buy souvenirs, to the National Palace Museum grounds (http://eng.taiwan.net.tw/m1.aspx?sNo=0002090&id=2751), did not go inside to the museum, but it was neat just to walk around. To the Martyr's Shrine (http://eng.taiwan.net.tw/m1.aspx?sNo=0002090&id=1795) and watched the changing of the guard. To The Shilin House (http://eng.taiwan.net.tw/m1.aspx?sNo=0002090&id=208). To the Grand Hotel landmark for a quick trip inside (http://www.grand-hotel.org/newsite/html/c/cindex.htm). It was all weird, having a new baby and knowing Alia was in the hospital and not able to enjoy any of this. Thursday night, mom watched Alivia while I stayed with Alia in the hospital and Todd got some sleep. Friday morning, they discharged Alia (they talked about keeping her over the weekend, but her temp, which had reached well over 103) had finally stabilized. The hospital administrator came down as he spoke English to ensure we understood all instructions. Todd went to pay the bill and hoped our credit card could handle it or that we'd be out of the country before it processed - 16,000 NT, which came out to around $900 U.S. - couldn't believe it. We limped our baby home via Mr. Yeh and when the hotel staff met Alia at the van, they said "Welcome home." which nearly had me crying again. I told Todd to have Mr. Yeh take him somewhere until that night when we had to get on a plane home. He'd had a rough time of it, really dealing more with Alia than I did. Mr. Yeh took him to Longshan Temple (http://www.taiwanderful.net/guides/longshan-temple). To a street of nothing but aquarium vendors on both sides (he loved this!!!).

Then it was time to depart. Alia was still fatigued and very ill-looking, but we managed to get home and I nearly kissed the ground when we landed in Florida. Turns out Alia had a stomach bug that was hitting the kids in Florida, too. She would have been ill whether she stayed in Florida or traveled with us regardless. It was just horribly bad timing. There is a ton more about our trip, including mopeds on the street like swarms of bees, shopping, food, tea eggs, Burger King, more food, snags at the airport in LA, but the main thing is, we loved Taiwan that gave us a healthy new daughter and got our firstborn healthy again.

Universal Studios

2009-05-24T18:01:00.000-07:00

We went to Universal Studios yesterday. We'd been holding on to a pair of comp tickets from way back in 1998. In the mail, Universal sent a free ticket. So off we went. The girls had a great time. Alia's favorite part was Kid Zone in the old Universal Studios. There we also saw Barney Live, that Alivia just loved. With 2 hours till parks closed, we trekked on over to Islands of Adventure and played in the Dr. Seuss area. What a fun day we had!

Alia Gets A Voluntary Haircut

2009-05-24T17:49:00.000-07:00

Here's a medley of Alia's new haircut. We went to Red Lobster with PopPop after. You can see the splint she was sporting from her sprain. Most of the time, her hair isn't straight. She wanted her hair cut - no pressure! The best way, and now she is so happy!

Dance Collage

2009-04-25T18:59:00.000-07:00

Cinderella Ball

2009-04-25T18:35:00.000-07:00

Here's our princess! Today was her first dance. It was with the Girl Scouts. I wanted her to have an extra special dress, so I went shopping and got a steal on this one. She already had the shoes. We primped her hair, trying to keep is simple because I am awful at hair. She was so nervous about dancing, but her daddy just called and said she had a really good time!

Wheelie Girl

2009-04-19T14:56:00.000-07:00

Here's Alia riding her daddy's 4-wheeler by herself for the very 1st time. She was so excited and we could barely get her inside for the night.

And here's poor little Alivia chasing after sissy. She just look so tiny!!! Alia said Alivia will be able to ride the ATV by herself when she is Alia's age. Somehow, I don't think so. Alia's so tall fo her age and Livy will always be the petite child. So then Alia said maybe Alivia could ride it when she turned 9 - and how old would she be when Alivia's 9? Hmm.........15 - Say it isn't so!!! I love my girls, but can they just stay young until I ready for them to get older?

Popop Visits

2009-02-08T19:01:00.000-08:00

A cold morning in Florida (30s) and the trio tucked in to keep warm while Alivia has her morning milk.

What Happens When a Pair of Scissors Gets Into the Wrong Hands....

2009-01-25T20:36:00.000-08:00

So a bit of a mishap Saturday night with Alia taking it upon herself to cut her own hair. Thereafter, she had a total meltdown and was very, very upset and angry with herself. It was a chore getting her calmed down and reassuring her that everything would be alright. We took the 2 areas she cut, braided them, put hair paint in the braids and pretty clips, and headed to the Salon at JCPenney's in Sebring today. The cosmetologist was awesome with her and Alia was brave and didn't cry that she had to lose about 4-5 inches of her length. When all was said and done, when she saw her hair cut, she just beamed and has been a happy girl ever since. Oh, these kids!!! Last time she did this was about 3 or 4 years old. I would have thought she would have learned.

Gotta love 'em.....

A Little Boogie!!

2009-01-25T20:27:00.000-08:00

Alivia loves music. This is the same card Alia was singing to earlier. She realized she could open it and it would give her something fun to do. Thanks to my dad for the cool card that kept the girls' attention for a long time!

Shayla

2009-01-25T20:06:00.000-08:00

Alia with Shayla, her dwarf hamster.

A Little Sisterly Interaction

2009-01-01T08:54:00.000-08:00

Here's our girls enjoying a little bit of sister time.

More Gift Excitement

2009-01-01T08:32:00.000-08:00

Alia gets her cards from Grandma Kathy and Grandma Nadine. Do you think she's happy???

Thank you, Aunt Bonnie & Uncle Jack for the necklace and for the chicken that follows!

Fall Fest Pics

2008-12-28T17:40:00.000-08:00

I'm rather working backwards here. Fall, Thanksgiving, Christmas. Such is the nature of this blog and it reflects my scattered brain, so hopefully no harm done. This is Alia and me during the Fall Fest photo shoot at her school. I took over 500 pics (3 of each kid, more or less) and could barely walk the next few days. My knees aren't young any more. One of the moms took this for Alia. The school set the backdrop. It was a fundraiser for PTO. This is my fun side - my creative side where I get to work with the kids. This part of photography doesn't make me nervous (no weddings, please), and I really enjoy getting the kids to smile - when I can! As you can see, I love my daughter very much. Just gotta hug her!!

When Grandma Barb was Here - Thanksgiving

2008-12-28T17:16:00.000-08:00

Well, this was supposed to be from Thanksgiving, but this pic is from the lights at Flywheeler's in Fort Meade. Scroll down and you'll see Alia and her Grandma Barb who was in Thanksgiving week from Montana. Our first excursion was to WonderWorks in Orlando where we had loads of fun. We took a break to Johnny Rockets (hence the hats) to eat some burgers and then headed back. That night, WonderWorks had a magic show dinner theater that was very, very funny. Alia got to take part in the very last part - helping to open a package. Fun times!

Christmas

2008-12-28T17:07:00.001-08:00

Alia and Alivia's first Christmas together. Alia turned 15 months this date. Out in front: Alia's hamster, Shayla, from Mom and Dad. She is holding her Nintendo DS. Alivia doesn't know what to make of the hamster (neither does the cat for that matter). She likes her Elmo's restaurant. The two boxes in the back are from our washer and dryer - we cut in windows and doors and the girls really have enjoyed them. They are big, though, so put them outside today. Next year, I think we will follow the 3 gift rule - these girls needs so little, although we love seeing their faces light up. Many of the gifts you see are from family, too. So, as my friend Ana has always said, if 3 gifts were good enough for Jesus . . . We get way too materialistic. I remember my room being so much sparser in terms of toys than the girls' room will ever be - and I was quite, quite happy. Can you imagine our 7-year-old wanting an iPod for Christmas? At least with the Nintendo, it can grow with her. And, of course, books are always a good bet. And Alivia's favorite toy? The package Alia's tennis balls came in. Go figure....

Making Lemonade

2008-12-28T16:55:00.000-08:00

Well, it's sideways - go figure, but here's Alia juicing the sour oranges. Daddy bought the juicer especially for these oranges - yum, yum!

When In Florida - Make Juice

2008-12-28T16:42:00.000-08:00

We picked oranges at a friend's house (thanks, Lorraine). They were actually sour oranges and made excellent "lemonade" which we all enjoyed. Alivia, however, preferred the oranges themselves.

Some Action

2008-12-26T17:54:00.000-08:00

Alia got a special card from her Grandpa Artherholt and she took it to school, to Curves, to wherever and just loved to sing it. She sang in front of the ladies at Curves and they couldn't help but smile.

Family Photos

2008-12-26T17:42:00.000-08:00

We need to do post-adoption updates for Alivia - every 6 months for 3 years. You're in luck - we need to do family photos as well, a definite rarity in our house!! So enjoy these that were taken at Cypress Gardens in November (before they closed down yet AGAIN). My mom took them, I edited, and they managed to turn out A-Ok. Only 3 from many, but we don't want to break all your computers!!

Daddy Loves Me

2008-10-26T19:02:00.000-07:00

Alivia never sat in grass before today. She just sat there, not knowing what to do. Was a little afraid to touch it. We don't put her down because of the worry of fireants.

Alia hams it up. Gorgeous day - 70s, no humidity.

Trick Or Treat, We're So Sweet

2008-10-26T18:51:00.001-07:00

Here's some pics of the girls and our friends when we went trick or treating Friday night. Spiderman is Zach - see how good he does his Spiderman pose!! Alia was a Monster Bride, but used Alivia's hat so she actually looks more like a witch.

The cutest teeny weeny witch and big sister bride I ever did see!!!
From left to right, back to front:

Kristin, Lori, Alia, Joey

Zach, Alivia (who slept through most of the gathering time).

Here's the trio again. We missed Zach's sister, Brandi, but had fun getting together anyway!! Weather was muggy, so the kids were pretty well done after about an hour. Alia got 71 pieces of candy - she wrote them all down in her notebook by type and quantity of each type. Don't think she was trying to keep track of what mom and dad ate, but you never know!!!

2008-10-13T18:44:00.000-07:00

Here's Alia helping baby sis to open presents from Grandma Barb. As much as we all tried, she just wouldn't tear the paper. Very polite about it all, really. Alia did not have any problem helping and then helping some more! Yes, Alia had braids for about 2 weeks at the front of her head until I finally said - they simply must go!

Behind - Again

2008-10-13T18:33:00.000-07:00

I wanted to post a few pictures to catch up a bit. We traveled to our wonderful friends, Ana, John & Shelby, in the beautiful moutains of Georgia last month (I think!). It was the 1st they'd met Alivia and the 2nd time they had seen Alia this year (lucky Alia!). Please note that Shelby and Alivia look like they could be cousins! Also, that's Alia's Cabbage Patch Kid she got at Cabbage Patch Babyland and Shelby's dog she got at same. Alivia, thank goodness, doesn't know about merchandising - yet!

Last Pic - Scroll Down to Next Post for Details!!

2008-09-27T20:32:00.000-07:00

CUTENESS!!!!

Celebrating One!!!

2008-09-27T20:25:00.000-07:00

With another crazy week, we didn't celebrate Alivia's birthday on her actual day. So today, Saturday, we got her a critter cake at Wal-Mart and let her have at it. I must say, I thought she was pretty doggone cute getting into her cake!!! Hope you think so, too. Her Sissy helped a little at the end when she wasn't actually tasting it. Then she realized it was pretty good, but still enjoyed squeezing it between her fingers much better than eating it. The end to her fun came when she decided to throw it on the wall - and then she was off for a quick bath and me for a quick cleanup of the kitchen!!

Our Youngest Turns One Today!!

2008-09-25T10:03:00.000-07:00

Here's our sweetie pie at 1!!! Hard to believe we've had her home only about 5 months. Seems like she has been ours forever. She is still cruising and we expect her to walk any day now. She is waving bye-bye and showing us items in her hands. She is saying words we think are "dada, mama, kitty, hi" but can't be 100% certain. She still laughs the best at her sister and they have a riot together. She is waking at night some, but I think she is teething again (upper teeth). The weather is getting cooler here, so we went to the park at lunch yesterday and I put her in the baby swing. She started out very happy and then suddenly started crying. We'll try it again today or tomorrow while it stays cool. We aren't having a party for her today as it's just a crazy busy day with little time, but we will let her get into her first cake on Saturday.

I was wishing her a happy soon-to-be birthday before bed last night and thinking how wondrous that is when I suddenly thought of her birth mother. It must be hard knowing you gave birth but having no clue as to what your child is doing, how she is developing, or what she even looks like on one of the most important days as a mom. So today is really a celebration of Alivia's milestone and of the precious gift her birth mom delivered to us.

Alia Cooks

2008-09-25T09:45:00.001-07:00

Here is our own "naked" chef. While she may never get her own baking show, nevertheless she enjoyed baking banana nut muffins for us. We skipped the Easy Bake Oven and went straight for the big oven. Wow, did we clear out those muffins when they came out - delicious!! I've got to start her cooking now so that she will be ready in a few years to take over cooking duties (isn't that why we have kids???). Her dad would be the better choice for teaching her. Otherwise, she may end up like her mom who only specializes in canned, boxed, frozen, eat in, or take out!!

On the Go

2008-09-01T20:41:00.000-07:00

Alivia just amuses herself sometimes. She loves to spin, as evidenced here. She thought it was pretty cool to use this silky blanket. What a card!

Alivia's New Pics

2008-09-01T20:36:00.000-07:00

Here's the wonder kid wondering why she can't stand up all the way and why she has chocolate pudding all over her face. She's working on standing without aid so badly you can feel it! And Daddy said she ate a whole thing of Jello and part of a thing of pudding - maybe those thighs have something to do with not being strong enough to stand up fully by herself yet, hmm? She cruises furniture in the standing mode great. What a sweetie!

Fay Didn't Like Us

2008-09-01T20:25:00.000-07:00

Tropical Storm Fay on the surface wasn't really too bad. A day off work, wind, rain, lots of TV watching and Wii playing. However, as careful as we were to catch the leaks that appeared after Hurricane Charlie, somehow we missed something and our kitchen floor became wet under our new laminate flooring. The laminate swelled in several areas where the water puddled underneath. We decided the best course of action was to remove it. Here you see the end result of our removal efforts. Our Labor Day weekend was pretty much taken up by this project. What started on Friday as deciding what to put down instead ended up being a bit of a fiasco. Our original intent was to take up the laminate and the old vinyl beneath, remove the adhesive, and stain our concrete a fetching color. Alia helped tear it all up. BUT, the paper backing on the vinyl stayed down. No biggie - just get the proper recommended nontoxic cleaners and it will all come right up - theoretically! Tried 3 different removers and while the paper will come up some, the adhesive below would not budge a bit. Tried the hot water method - no luck. So after a very, very frustrating Saturday, we ran over our options. Do another floating floor, put down ceramic tile, get fiercer chemicals and see if that works, rolled vinyl, or carpet. Well, anything that is floating or carpet may most likely get wet again. We don't like rolled vinyl and don't want toxic fumes. So we are going to have tile installed. Got a really good deal on some beautiful tile at Lowe's (our favorite home improvement store) and our installer will call within a few days. What an unexpected mess. Stayed tuned for final results......

Sniff Sniff

2008-08-31T20:30:00.000-07:00

We call this Sniff Sniff. It's what Alivia used to do when we would sniff - she'd sniff right back. She'd also pretend to cough when we coughed. Way tooooo cute! Originally, her rice cake was on her nose - she moved it to her forehead when I was getting the Flip video. This is from July (soooo far behind!!).

Alia's First Basketball Game

2008-08-31T20:21:00.000-07:00

Alia elected to play basketball instead of cheer leading this year. While most of the kids don't know exactly what they are doing, they are all having fun. Alia's first game. She made 5-6 out of the 8 baskets to win, although they don't keep score at this age. I was so proud of her!! This was Saturday morning, 9 a.m. (and we were actually out of the house before noon that day!!).

Again???????

2008-08-24T19:21:00.000-07:00

Totally unexpected, but Alia lost yet another tooth!! At least she is symmetrical! I wonder where that tooth fairy will fly through on her way tonight? Just couldn't resist posting several pictures of her hamming it up - and I love her braids, Polyanna!! No, she does not have cavities - those are her fillings as she wanted "stars" like mommy and daddy. And, no her tongue is not unnaturally that color - she had some candy stuff (hence the fillings????).

Our Little Walker

2008-08-24T10:43:00.000-07:00

We decided it was time to get Alivia a walker. She has been pushing boxes and anything else she can get her hands on around as she walks. So here's our little bit getting ready to step out on her own. The walker converts to a toddler ride-on toy when she's a little older.

Outside Gals

2008-08-24T10:28:00.000-07:00

Well, Tropical Storm Fay left us with a beautiful evening Friday. The wind was cool, the air was not humid, and we decided to go out and play on the parking pad. Alia invented a game called hand tennis - we used a tennis ball and our hands to play. Then she brought out the Jai Alai scoops - she got the bigger one. We were out quite a while. Alivia kept cracking up every time the ball got hit her way.

Toothless Wonder

2008-08-24T10:23:00.000-07:00

Alia has lost another tooth. She lost it at school on Thursday. The Tooth Fairy brought her a coin from Taiwan and a Susan B. Anthony 1976 one dollar coin. Alia's Tooth Fairy is very special. She leaves the extra goodies for mommy and daddy to provide (Alia got a book light for her lost tooth) and doesn't follow tradition by leaving traditional money. She travels the world finding special coins for Alia for each lost tooth. Isn't that the coolest?? I don't know how she knew Alia was in Taiwan this year, but somehow she did!

10-Month-Old Bathing Beauty

2008-08-15T20:17:00.000-07:00

Alivia is 10 months old. She crawls like crazy. She pulls up and cruises the furniture. She is getting two bottom teeth. She watches intently as you eat. She wants her own solid food and loves noodles, mashed potatoes, and rice. She is stoic as she sizes you up and then flashes that brilliant dimpled smile. Her sister loves her. Her mother is amazed by her. Her daddy thinks she's pretty cool. And I personally think Alivia thinks she's pretty special as well. Everyone says she is so lucky. I know the truth is we are all so lucky to have her in our family.

Oh How She Grows and Grows!

2008-08-15T20:10:00.000-07:00

My eldest daughter, age 7 going on 13, has a bicycle with no training wheels. OMGosh! I cannot believe how tall she is and how much she has grown in a short 7 years. Two days ago, I watched as she no longer needed me to hold onto the balance buddy bar and jog beside her (what a sight!). She pedaled those feet and took off fast down the dirt road and I was struck by the huge achievement she worked so hard for. She is my baby girl, but a baby no longer. As I watched her proudly go further than she ever had on her own, I was so happy for her and so sad that she grows so doggone fast! Today, she actually started out without help and her face reflected pure joy. And at the end of each ride, she looks to us and says "So, what'd you thinka that????" (Tears and smiles!)

Ready for Bed

2008-08-15T20:08:00.000-07:00

Our happy girls, ready for bed. Gotta love 'em!! Look at the beautiful grin on Big Sister's face!

Our Groupie

2008-08-15T20:02:00.000-07:00

Here's Alia riding her daddy's motorcycle for the first time. She was so excited!! They took the windy back roads home and her daddy was extra cautious. She loved it!

Our Girls

2008-08-15T19:59:00.000-07:00

Alia and Alivia at work.

Alia's Photography

2008-08-15T19:51:00.000-07:00

Alia took these pictures.

Updates

2008-08-15T19:44:00.000-07:00

Alright, my friend Jennifer has been on me for months to update my blog. She is, of course, right that I should keep up more regularly. So I will try to please her and in turn give you all more views of the kids and keep a memoir for our beautiful girls. In no particular order and for as long as I can hold up tonight, here goes . . .

This is Alia ready to ride a virtual reality ride at Disney Quest to celebrate her 7th birthday. They grow way too fast! She was a little anxious at first, but soon got to love the whole gaming thing. We spent from opening to nearly close just having fun. Great way for her to celebrate another milestone!

Here's the Not-So-Fun Stuff

2008-05-12T14:48:00.000-07:00

We went to bed at 6 p.m. Taiwan time. At 1 a.m., we heard knocking at the door. Then the phone rang. Alia was running a temp (she was rooming with mom) of 101.1. Stuffy nose. Of course, you immediately worry. So the night was broken with checking her temp, giving her meds, and hoping it blows over soon. Her temp this morning is 100. We will get a mask for her today for meeting her sister. We are pretty stressed about this.

More later - with pics of Alivia and update on Alia!!

Hotel pool -chilly temp!

Rest of Day

2008-05-12T14:41:00.000-07:00

After Taipei 101 and buying groceries for the hotel, Alia was worn out and took a nap. Todd and I went to the bottom of the Howard shopping and then down the street to SOGO, which we thought was a grocery store/WalMart combined. Boy, were we wrong! More shopping!! Nice shopping!! We found the thermos we needed for Alivia, headed back to the hotel, and basically crashed.

Touring

2008-05-12T14:29:00.000-07:00

One thing we realized while unpacking - we didn't pick up Alia's baggage from the airport!!!! The staff arranged for it to be delivered for $11 US. Whew! So much for the 3 of us keeping track.

From our hotel, we took a taxi to Taipei 101, the tallest building in the world. You have to watch out for the taxis and drivers and mopeds in the streets at the crosswalks, so getting across the street was a little interesting. Part of Taipei 101 is shopping - 6 levels of shopping!!! The basement had the most marvelous laout of restaurants and a grocery. We were in heaven!! We had 2 different kinds of noodles and some fried rice for lunch - $4 US for 4 nice plate fulls! Well worth the trip just to see this clean, interesting market. Taipei 101 itself is pretty amazing. World's fastest elevator, too.

Tired - But No Sleep

2008-05-12T14:23:00.000-07:00

Mr. Yeh got us safely to the hotel and ensured all was going well. So what next? Not supposed to sleep on account of jet lag, so we unpacked some. The Howard Plaza Hotel is pretty nice, actually. The rooms are just about the size of rooms in the States and the staff has bent over backwards to help us. No complaints yet, and the furniture is pretty nice, too. Beds not bad for comfort and the comforter (no sheets) is toasty warm!

Arrival

2008-05-12T14:11:00.000-07:00

What a long flight!!! Did I say what a long flight!!! We were at the top of the plane, which was pretty cool never having been in a 2-story plane before. Alia and Mom sat behind us. The seats were just a little bit roomier (leg room mainly) than any domestic flight. I hope we get a bulkhead for the way back or it will be hard. TVs in the headrest with lots of entertainment (games, movies, TV shows, flight tracking). We were served 2 meals - both delicious and plentiful. They wandered through the plane from time to time offering water and juices. Having bottled water on hand in our carry ons would have been very smart, though, and we just totally forgot to buy it at the airport (well, when you're walking a million miles, you know you can't remember everything!!). We slept some, but thought we'd slept more than we had, so time passed slowly.

We arrived in a beautiful airport. They stopped Alia to check her temp (more on that later), which was fine. We went smoothly and quickly through Immigration then Customs (had a small form to fill out for Immigration). When we left with our luggage, we didn't see Mr. Yeh, our driver, in the line of people waiting. After about 15 minutes, we asked someone how to use the pay phone and when we called, a phone nearby rang - it was Mr. Yeh. He speaks VERY little English but seems to be such a caring man (as we'd heard). The drive to Taipei was CRAZY with drivers just driving madly. From the air, we saw no yards but lots of planting plots. Little did we know that nearly ever stretch of land was planted with rice - between apartment buildings, factories, everywhere. Now that's a good use of land!

PICS: Mr. Yeh's taxi, rice patties, and pigs.

Airport and EVA Airways Pics

2008-05-12T13:57:00.000-07:00

FIRST CLASS - NOT US, THOUGH!

LAX

Journey to Alivia Begins

2008-05-12T12:51:00.000-07:00

It has been almost a year to the day I last posted on this blog. This post is so much more advanced in the timeline phase, obviously, because we will be meeting Alivia today and enjoying our "Gotcha Day." Sometimes our journey seems to have taken forever and other times it has sped by while I was scrambling to catch up! It's 4 a.m. here in Taipei - 4 p.m. your time yesterday. A wonderful time for reflection on the last few days.

We received our notice that we were going to travel this past Tuesday or Wednesday (it blurs!!). Using the recommended travel agent, we (Todd, Alia, Mom & I) were on a flight out Saturday night. So here goes:

Orlando Airport - No problem. Loved having the updated car to get us there.

LAX - Hiked a million miles to EVA airline terminal (from United terminal 6 or 7 to terminal 4). Got lost a couple of times. Ate at McDonald's along the way. Every time we'd stop and ask for directions inside the building, they would tell us to outside down the sidewalk. It was a nice 70 degrees out in LA, great for being outside but when you're lugging heavy carry ons, walking is the last thing you want to do. We get to the EVA terminal 123 A & B and have about 3 hours to wait. Stretch our legs. Have 2 airport people drive up in the electric carts and take a massive amount of people with them, saying 15! Stretch our legs. Have the people return and take more passengers with them - "last of 15!" Not too many people there and thinking - wow, quiet flight. Go up to the terminal line closer to the time (it all snakes around and you can't see the podium), yup - where we need to be, get in the front of this line here - you'll be first in Economy class. More airport people - taking "15s" with them. Hmmmmmm......better question this. Find out, we are in the wrong place. They switched the terminal for departure after our arrival and didn't make a mass announcement. So we hustle to the correct terminal and there are 100s of people waiting. From there, we load onto buses like sardines (no kidding) and head to a remote terminal and then load our doubledecker EVA Airways plane. Finally!!

Soon Five Will be Gone

2007-05-13T20:03:00.000-07:00

Hard to believe that Alia will turn 6 soon. She even tells us she is not our "little" girl any more.

2007-05-13T20:01:00.000-07:00

No More Princesses

2007-05-13T19:59:00.000-07:00

Our girl is growing up. She told us yesterday she doesn't like princesses any more. Now she likes The Littlest Pet Shop animals. Here's her main ones, though she has a few others.

I Feel Sunny Today

2007-05-13T19:56:00.000-07:00

Don't look at my mess, but here's my new office color. It's really grown on me. I really do like it now--very cheery and bright. Frostie's in front of the computer.

A Day at the Zoo

2007-05-13T19:53:00.000-07:00

We visited Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa about two weeks ago. It's a very clean, child-friendly park. Alia had a ball!

Lizard Laughter

2007-05-13T19:51:00.000-07:00

Don't think she'd be this close if he were real!

Just Hanging Around

2007-05-13T19:50:00.000-07:00

Lowry Park Zoo

2007-05-13T19:49:00.000-07:00

Here's Alia's favorite spot--the stingray petting pool. We must have spent an hour there feeding and petting the rays. She is not afraid of them at all and was even showing much older kids how to feed them.

Up Cl;ose and Personal

2007-05-13T19:47:00.000-07:00

No, the stingray is not eating her whole hand. He's just cruising for food.

Manatee Madness

2007-05-13T19:45:00.000-07:00

Fun in the Sun

2007-05-13T19:44:00.000-07:00

Making Friends

2007-05-13T19:43:00.000-07:00

Gone Batty

2007-05-13T19:42:00.000-07:00

Wow, look at his tongue, Mommy!

2007-05-13T19:40:00.000-07:00

2007-05-13T19:38:00.000-07:00

Meerkats Unite!

2007-05-13T19:37:00.000-07:00

Gotta Swim

2007-05-13T19:35:00.000-07:00

Here's how Alia spent her time when we visited my aunt at her timeshare in Orlando.

Her Way

2007-05-13T19:30:00.000-07:00

Alia loves trying different
ways to go down the slide.

Fish Girl

2007-05-13T19:29:00.000-07:00

She just loves to swim and swim.

Alia's Cousin Michael

2007-05-13T19:28:00.000-07:00

Alia has always liked Michael. She now wants to call him and send him pictures that she draws. She can't understand that she isn't able to marry her own cousin.

My Mom and My Aunt Bonnie

2007-05-13T19:27:00.000-07:00

Starting Our Vacation

2007-04-01T18:54:00.000-07:00

Checking into the hotel and getting our luggage cart.

MiniGolf

2007-04-01T18:51:00.000-07:00

Checking the scores.

2007-04-01T18:48:00.000-07:00

Golfers

2007-04-01T18:46:00.000-07:00

Happy Travelers

2007-04-01T18:43:00.000-07:00

Kelsey (Brandi's friend), Brandi, Trish, Zach .....

Sleeping Beauty

2007-04-01T18:40:00.000-07:00

Mermaids

2007-04-01T18:37:00.000-07:00

Hot Tub Kids

2007-04-01T18:32:00.000-07:00

Our Weekend Away Ends

2007-04-01T18:28:00.000-07:00

Alia looks disgusted, though. But she was upset that she was standing in water getting the bottoms of her feet wet--never mind that she just got out of the pool and had her whole body wet!

One Happy Cat

2007-03-29T11:05:00.000-07:00

What Rocky Enjoys Every Night

2007-03-29T11:03:00.000-07:00

Clowning Around

2007-03-26T11:34:00.000-07:00

2007-03-26T11:33:00.000-07:00

Butterfly Girl

2007-03-26T11:30:00.000-07:00

Alia Gets her Top Dawg Award

2007-03-26T11:18:00.000-07:00

lia

Friends

2007-03-26T11:12:00.000-07:00

Alia and Mallory

2007-03-26T11:10:00.000-07:00

Top Dawg Girl!

2007-03-26T11:09:00.000-07:00

Why So Smug????

2007-03-18T16:47:00.000-07:00

Alia is smug because she has some new friends in her house!

Meet Frostie

2007-03-18T16:44:00.000-07:00

We added to cats to our family on Saturday, March 17, 2007. They were rescued from a shelter in Tennessee by a nice couple who then brought them to Florida. Unfortunately, their grandchildren were very allergic and they needed to find a home for these two sweet cats. We were fortunate enough to bring them home. This is Frostie. He is the smaller of the two, but probably because he doesn't eat as much. He is also very quiet and lovable. They were both very quiet on the trip home and all night last night. Alia is in heaven!

2007-03-18T16:42:00.000-07:00