Yao Sha
Little Miss Sunshine
Sunday, February 27, 2011
ShuShu Colin and Ayi Cheryl's 2nd Visit:)
It came and went so fast and we were incredibly sad to see them leave however we had a blast while they were here. Luckily they got down here with just a minor delay due to a highway closure. Sha could not contain herself she was so excited all week to see them and when they finally pulled up she flew off the couch. She simply adores them both, we all do;) The highlights were going shopping, having lunch at Bill's, playing Wii Pictionary and of course Sha's favorite, introducing bullfrog hotpot to Colin and Cheryl. Colin popped it down like it was a pill, it was awesome fun. We also had our first haircut which unfortunately she did not want any pics taking, it was more dramatic then I thought it would be. Finally, and I will be disowned by the family, but Sha managed to get Grandpa, Baba and Shushu in her "Princess Diva" outfits, they will kill me for posting but I just can't resist. Enjoy:)
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Home 11 weeks...almost 3 month since Gotcha Day
It's 7:00 o'clock on Saturday morning, the sun is out, Colin and Cheryl are in route down, the house is clean, Paul, Sha and Jack are still sleeping, I have Oprah playing on my DVD with my favorite kcup coffee and I am having an "a-ha" moment because my life is good. Now I can blog:)
Since my last blog we have experienced SO much starting with Chinese New Year at CAWLI, Sha got to finally meet Meg and Lillian which was huge to us. She also met back up with Catherine and Julia, Julia was adopted the same day Sha was so we met in China. The party was amazing, about 800 families there and Sha just had a ball. We also celebrated Sha taking the school bus for the first time, meeting Danielle, Michelle and gang, loads and loads of snow days which she loved, Jack not so much, Valentine's day, Paul's Birthday, our first phone call from the school nurse (which I handled ooh so calmly), me going back to work and some of the BEST breakthrough's we could ever imagine. So with all that said, where do I begin.
I really want to start with the best which of course are our breakthrough's because in all reality the pictures below tell the rest. For comedy sake though I will tell you all about the school nurse call at the end because anyone who knows me knows how much of a hypochondriac I am so you can imagine how that call went.
So one of our breakthrough's I like to call the "light bulb" moment. Last Sunday I went to pick Sha up at Chinese school and met her teacher. We were chatting for a bit the teacher was telling me her full name when all of a sudden Sha said, "My foster name is Jameson, I am Sha Jameson. " I felt my world stop because it hit me instantly that she may not think she is here forever. The teacher kept trying to do small talk with me and all I wanted to do was to respond to Sha and I couldn't at that very moment. Later that night she was taking her bath and I was sitting there with her. Back track one second, another breakthrough is she always asks me to sit in the bathroom with her so we can chat-love it. While she was in the bath I brought up her saying her foster name is Jameson. I flat out told her it's not her foster name it's her forever name. She was lying on her stomach and had her chin resting on the side of the tub and gave me a look like "forever name?". I then explained to her that Mama and Baba are going to be with her always. I wanted to relay it in a way she could understand it, I told her "We will be here when you graduate from high school, when you go to college and her favorite topic ever, her wedding. I told her, "When you get married Baba will be there to walk you down the aisle and Mama will go dress shopping with you". I ended it with telling her we are her forever parents and she is our forever daughter and there will be no more moving around, we are the real deal. Her chin instantly lifted then she stood straight up and I knew the light bulb went on in her head, I saw in a 9 year old girl a huge weight lifted off her shoulder, her face just shined, she had a new smile to her and just lit up over the idea of us being there, she simply got the concept.
Later that week Sha was telling me how they are doing Valentine's stuff at school. She was wanting to know where our small wedding album was, she is obsessed with this album and carries it everywhere. She took out a picture of Paul and I and when I told her not to remove the pics she kept saying "It's ok, it's ok". Awhile later she came back asking me to write "Happy Valentine's Day", it was a school project. 20 second's later she asked me to write down "I Love You". The night before Vday, I was doing what I love best and decorating the table with a bunch of candy and fun stuff. Sha came up to me and told me to go into Baba's office. She pulled out this handmade card she made us and said "Happy Valentine's Day" to us. We laughed inside because she was a day early but she was clearly excited to give this to us. When I opened the card I saw the wedding picture she took out of the album and realized why she was asking me to write all that down. The card was the most amazing thing ever, the pictures below tell it all and I cried for about a day and a half, in fact I am getting it framed it was that good. It was the fact that she hit a new height and I truly believes she not only trusts us and knows we are always going to be here but that she truly loves us.
We just keep making amazing strides, she is doing fantastic in school, making friends and her English is fantastic. I'd be lying if I said it's been this glorious the entire time, it has not but the fact that we have moments and Vday cards that melt you makes up for all of it. It's a learning experience for all 3 of us and we are loving every minute of it.
So I leave you with this. My job has been fantastic to me and has allowed me to work from home to accommodate Sha's needs. The other day I am on speaker phone with a new employee I have never met when suddenly I see Sha's school calling. Ironically my mother had just arrived to drop something off when I answered the call so she heard me tell her to hang on it's my daughter's school calling. Now.....here's where it's funny. All that I heard was the school nurse telling me that Sha's is lying down in her office feeling dizzy with a 102 fever. I don't know what went through my head first, panic or guilt. The day before this call Sha also complained of dizzy and a little nauseous but appeared ok, ate breakfast so I sent her to school. She came home fine that day although when she was getting out of the car she looked a little green but still went willingly to school. I felt sick to my stomach thinking was I sending her to school when she is sick. I kept telling her if she does not feel good to tell her teacher and I will be down in 5 minutes to pick her up. So the next day when I get this call I'm thinking I'm an awful mom because I sent her to school sick. Right away I tell the nurse I will be right there to get her. My mother heard this and knew it was my first week back at work so she offered to go down there to get her. I was like "No, I'm going, I told Sha if she didn't feel good I would be there in 5 minutes". The thing was I panicked and my mother was very calm so she drove me. On the way there I called Paul and said "Sha has a fever of 102 and I'm going to get her". Well it was at that very moment that I realized why my mom was so calm. She informed me that the school nurse said her fever was 100.2 NOT 102 which we all know is a big difference. So that briefly calmed me a bit . When we got to the school I ran in and saw Sha waiting for me. I ended up taking her to the doctors anyways and thank god she was ok, possible a little cold starting but so far so good. I was sitting in the back with Sha on the way back home when I said to her that I was happy she told her teacher she didn't feel good and she knew to get her to the nurse. I reminded her that I would be there in 5 minutes it she ever had to come home sick. Well the best part was Sha turned to me and said "No, it was not 5 minutes (heart stopped), you were there in 2 minutes."
:):)
I know I've been behind in my blogging and and I am touched by all of you who have asked me to update the blog as most of you appear to really be enjoying it. Thank you for that.
Since my last blog we have experienced SO much starting with Chinese New Year at CAWLI, Sha got to finally meet Meg and Lillian which was huge to us. She also met back up with Catherine and Julia, Julia was adopted the same day Sha was so we met in China. The party was amazing, about 800 families there and Sha just had a ball. We also celebrated Sha taking the school bus for the first time, meeting Danielle, Michelle and gang, loads and loads of snow days which she loved, Jack not so much, Valentine's day, Paul's Birthday, our first phone call from the school nurse (which I handled ooh so calmly), me going back to work and some of the BEST breakthrough's we could ever imagine. So with all that said, where do I begin.
I really want to start with the best which of course are our breakthrough's because in all reality the pictures below tell the rest. For comedy sake though I will tell you all about the school nurse call at the end because anyone who knows me knows how much of a hypochondriac I am so you can imagine how that call went.
So one of our breakthrough's I like to call the "light bulb" moment. Last Sunday I went to pick Sha up at Chinese school and met her teacher. We were chatting for a bit the teacher was telling me her full name when all of a sudden Sha said, "My foster name is Jameson, I am Sha Jameson. " I felt my world stop because it hit me instantly that she may not think she is here forever. The teacher kept trying to do small talk with me and all I wanted to do was to respond to Sha and I couldn't at that very moment. Later that night she was taking her bath and I was sitting there with her. Back track one second, another breakthrough is she always asks me to sit in the bathroom with her so we can chat-love it. While she was in the bath I brought up her saying her foster name is Jameson. I flat out told her it's not her foster name it's her forever name. She was lying on her stomach and had her chin resting on the side of the tub and gave me a look like "forever name?". I then explained to her that Mama and Baba are going to be with her always. I wanted to relay it in a way she could understand it, I told her "We will be here when you graduate from high school, when you go to college and her favorite topic ever, her wedding. I told her, "When you get married Baba will be there to walk you down the aisle and Mama will go dress shopping with you". I ended it with telling her we are her forever parents and she is our forever daughter and there will be no more moving around, we are the real deal. Her chin instantly lifted then she stood straight up and I knew the light bulb went on in her head, I saw in a 9 year old girl a huge weight lifted off her shoulder, her face just shined, she had a new smile to her and just lit up over the idea of us being there, she simply got the concept.
Later that week Sha was telling me how they are doing Valentine's stuff at school. She was wanting to know where our small wedding album was, she is obsessed with this album and carries it everywhere. She took out a picture of Paul and I and when I told her not to remove the pics she kept saying "It's ok, it's ok". Awhile later she came back asking me to write "Happy Valentine's Day", it was a school project. 20 second's later she asked me to write down "I Love You". The night before Vday, I was doing what I love best and decorating the table with a bunch of candy and fun stuff. Sha came up to me and told me to go into Baba's office. She pulled out this handmade card she made us and said "Happy Valentine's Day" to us. We laughed inside because she was a day early but she was clearly excited to give this to us. When I opened the card I saw the wedding picture she took out of the album and realized why she was asking me to write all that down. The card was the most amazing thing ever, the pictures below tell it all and I cried for about a day and a half, in fact I am getting it framed it was that good. It was the fact that she hit a new height and I truly believes she not only trusts us and knows we are always going to be here but that she truly loves us.
We just keep making amazing strides, she is doing fantastic in school, making friends and her English is fantastic. I'd be lying if I said it's been this glorious the entire time, it has not but the fact that we have moments and Vday cards that melt you makes up for all of it. It's a learning experience for all 3 of us and we are loving every minute of it.
So I leave you with this. My job has been fantastic to me and has allowed me to work from home to accommodate Sha's needs. The other day I am on speaker phone with a new employee I have never met when suddenly I see Sha's school calling. Ironically my mother had just arrived to drop something off when I answered the call so she heard me tell her to hang on it's my daughter's school calling. Now.....here's where it's funny. All that I heard was the school nurse telling me that Sha's is lying down in her office feeling dizzy with a 102 fever. I don't know what went through my head first, panic or guilt. The day before this call Sha also complained of dizzy and a little nauseous but appeared ok, ate breakfast so I sent her to school. She came home fine that day although when she was getting out of the car she looked a little green but still went willingly to school. I felt sick to my stomach thinking was I sending her to school when she is sick. I kept telling her if she does not feel good to tell her teacher and I will be down in 5 minutes to pick her up. So the next day when I get this call I'm thinking I'm an awful mom because I sent her to school sick. Right away I tell the nurse I will be right there to get her. My mother heard this and knew it was my first week back at work so she offered to go down there to get her. I was like "No, I'm going, I told Sha if she didn't feel good I would be there in 5 minutes". The thing was I panicked and my mother was very calm so she drove me. On the way there I called Paul and said "Sha has a fever of 102 and I'm going to get her". Well it was at that very moment that I realized why my mom was so calm. She informed me that the school nurse said her fever was 100.2 NOT 102 which we all know is a big difference. So that briefly calmed me a bit . When we got to the school I ran in and saw Sha waiting for me. I ended up taking her to the doctors anyways and thank god she was ok, possible a little cold starting but so far so good. I was sitting in the back with Sha on the way back home when I said to her that I was happy she told her teacher she didn't feel good and she knew to get her to the nurse. I reminded her that I would be there in 5 minutes it she ever had to come home sick. Well the best part was Sha turned to me and said "No, it was not 5 minutes (heart stopped), you were there in 2 minutes."
:):)
I know I've been behind in my blogging and and I am touched by all of you who have asked me to update the blog as most of you appear to really be enjoying it. Thank you for that.
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