The Things My Kid Says!

Twerp #3 is my Turkey! He was also a turkey in the Kindergarten play last week...and a great turkey he was! It was the perfect part for him!

Twerp #3 has an interesting way of looking at life! Thought I'd give you just two examples of things that will show you how his brain works...

1. One of his projects for school is that he has to dress a paper doll in the costume that shows where he is from...last year Twerp #2 dressed her doll in a Norwegian fashion. So on Monday, Twerp #3 says, "Mom, you've gotta help me figure out how to dress my doll for Friday. I'm 1/2 Huntington Beach and 1/2 Irvine, right?" He was indeed correct, however it took an intervention with the teacher for him to understand that she wanted the whole "Norwegian/Slovakian" combo, not the "HB/Irvine" combo. Too cute.

2. Today, as we were coming back from the doctor's office, he was explaining to me that there were actually 3 holidays in December...Christmas, Hanukkah and "you know, Mom, it's the day that the earth turns around and then suddenly the earth is another year older"...oh yeah, New Years Eve.

It's fun to see his mind work and try to figure it out. I love Twerp #3. I love his mind and how God created him. He is perfect and I love you, Twerp!

A Haircut

We went to get Twerp #4's hair cut today. It was her first haircut with me, so we went to the place that has little toy airplanes or cars that the kids get to sit in. I didn't think she would like someone getting that close to her head, but I didn't think it would go anything like it did!

Here's the before picture. Her bangs are in her eyes...the back of her hair is really long...SFLB (short front, long back) went out in the 70's, so we had to get it a little more updated. Her hair is still growing in from where she had it shaved in China for her IV during the surgery, so we wanted to make it a little nicer while it is still growing in...

Here, she's a happy girl.

Here, not so happy! She couldn't figure out why she was sitting in this airplane and why she had a cape on and why I was watching her cry with a camera in my hand!


The haircut only lasted for a total of 5 minutes. All the toys we gave her would calm her down for a few seconds, but not much longer than that. Then, she'd remember where she was and start to cry again.
Here she is just a mere 10 seconds after her haircut. As soon as I took her out of the airplane, she immediately stopped crying and started to wave goodbye to the stylist! So funny. She played with the trains while I paid for our cut and then we went home for a nap.


At least I have some hair for her book and a certificate to put inside also...oh yeah, and a bunch of really sad pictures! One day, we'll look back on this and laugh...maybe even tomorrow!

Birthday Cake!

We ate cake for Twerp #4's birthday. I wasn't feeling up to making a cake from scratch, so we go the "Funfetti" cake mix from Target. Sounds a little scary, but my kids always love it and all the colorful pieces sprinkled throughout the batter. It was a hit with Twerp #4 too!


She was also a little neater and cleaner than most of our kids' at age 2. She is starting to love the sweets. We haven't given her too many sweet things, mostly fruit and the occasional sucker when she needs to be quiet for a little bit, but her love of cake has started to blossom.


She found Twerp #3's Junior Firefighter hat and wanted it on most of the day. It made such cute pictures!



Welcome to 2 little one!

Our first family picture!

We've tried to get a family picture for the last month...but not everyone was able to cooperate. Usually it's either Twerp #3, or 4 that won't look at the camera or even stay in the vicinity of the camera! But on Twerp #4's birthday, we strapped her into her chair and got the other kids to gather around and got a good one.

She's 2!

Happy Birthday, Twerp #4!

I can't believe she's finally 2! Actually, I can believe it because she was only 1 for the last month that we've been home. What I can't believe is how well she has adapted to our home, our family. Twerp #4 is amazing. God created her to be our daughter and to fit in perfectly with our family.

My oldest and my youngest get along so well. He lays on the ground, and she jumps up and down on his bottom...then he tickles her. It's adorable. Twerp #1 is the best big brother EVER! Twerp #3 is also an amazing big brother, but he doesn't sit long enough for me to get a picture of the two of them.


Auntie Maren can make Twerp #4 smile. I just love this picture. Happy birthday Huan Qin!


Grandma Pederson LOVES coming over to see the Twerps. Twerp #4 is changing so quickly that our weekly visit with Grandma shows her just how quickly this girl is growing. Grandma can see a change each time she comes over.


I can't wait to see what this next year brings for you! I can't wait to look back on our pictures of you today and see how God is shaping and molding you to be more and more like Him! Happy Birthday, Aaselia!

Love, Mom

One month later...

Today is our one month anniversary for our Gotcha Day with Aaselia! One month ago today, we held her in our arms for the first time. One month ago today we realized just how small of a diaper an almost 2 year old can wear. One month ago today, all of our lives changed.

One month ago today, this is the face that we saw. She was sad, alone, confused and catching a cold. She couldn't understand anything that we were saying. She was quiet...hardly made a noise. She didn't have the muscle strength to walk due to her long stay in the hospital. Her entire world was turned upside down.


Today, it's a different story...and she's a different kid. She understands quite a bit of what we're saying. She's going out of her comfort zone more and more often. She can play by herself for a little while while I'm doing laundry. She LOVES going on walks! She loves to play in the playhouse in the backyard. She plays pretend and wrestles with her brothers. She gets jealous when someone else is on my lap. She still loves it when I make Chinese noodles and Lo Mein. She laughs throughout the day. And the first thing I hear at 2:45 when the three kids walk in the door is, "Is Aaselia up yet?"


We're a family of 6. We're a family that is loving her culture...Twerp #1's favorite market is 99 Ranch up in Irvine. He loves to pick out her next snack to try and really loves the samples they make at the store. Aaselia - Twerp #4 - is a joy to our family. I'm sure things will change so much more over the next few months. I promise that I'll get back to blogging regularly. After 3 weeks of being home, I can't blame it on the jet jag anymore, huh?!?


It's been awhile since I've written here...or since I've written anywhere! I was really good about blogging in China, but when you're up at 4:30 every morning and having a hard time sleeping on the hard beds, you'll blog whenever you can.

But now that we're home, it's a little harder to get things done. I mean, I've had a hard time staying caught up with the laundry and homework, not to mention blogging! I have to admit that the hardest time of the day for me is from 3:00 - 6:00. One child waking up from a nap (and so cute you'd just want to cuddle with her for the next hour or two!), three kids needing help with homework, dinner to make, a floor to sweep, snacks to hand out, more homework "guidance," a pile of cheerios to pick up, mail to sort through, soccer to get to, reading with all three children for their daily homework, spelling tests...it just goes on and on. But we're having a blast and just starting to get into the swing of things.

God bless you all!

We're Outta Here!

So...we're leaving in 13 hours for China, baby! We're leaving tonight, but won't get to Beijing until Thursday! We're going to be blogging from China, but due to the "Great Firewall of China" we can't use this website. We'll be posting all about our trip at www.babyjellybeans.com. Search for margala in the last name field and you can see what we're doing and the first pictures we have of Aaselia!

We'll be back in 2 weeks...so I'll post here after the 29th of September. God bless, ya'll.

Love Without Boundaries

As Stephen and I have been pursuing our adoption with the paperwork and waiting and reading and living through other people's blogs, there is one charity that pops up all over the place. It's called Love Without Boundaries. They are dedicated to helping orphans in China as they find their forever families. They support thousands of orphans in China: medically, educationally, nutritionally. It's run on a completely volunteer basis: more than 97% of the funds they receive go directly to help orphans.

They also have a book that uses the imagery of "the red thread," a popular belief in the adoption community, to show how our lives become entwined with our children's, as adoption weaves a beautiful tapestry of love and family. The moving photos and essays in this volume, again submitted by parents from around the world, talk about discovering the thread that connects us with our adoptive children, weaving the fabric as our children become integrated into our families, and cherishing the intricate tapestry that evolves.

For $5 for postage, you too can read these amazing stories.

Go to www.lovewithoutboundaries.com for more information

By the way, for those of you that are counting, there are only 5 more days until we leave for CHINA!

A Trip to Alexandria, MN

It’s been a busy August. I spent much of my month in Minnesota for our family reunion on my Mother’s side of the family. We get together every 4 years and this time we had around 170 people join us at Mount Carmel just outside of Alexandria, MN. I thought I’d share some pictures of that week.

Fist of all, you should know that Stephen wasn’t able to join us in MN this year. He needed to save his vacation time for our trip to China coming up in a couple of weeks…so I went alone with the kids. My sister also had the same tickets that I had (given that we were supposed to be in China that week), so she was able to help me get through the airport and hand with one kid on the plane. Very nice.

We spent a couple of days in the Twin Cities with my Aunt Lori and Uncle Keith. I should have taken a picture of the outside of their home. On the outside, it’s just a plain house…no fancy gargoyles on the outside or anything like that. But…once you walk inside, you just feel home. It’s an amazing experience. Thank you Keith and Lori for making us feel comfortable and for letting us stay with you. You definitely helped to make the trip something special!

Then, on Sunday we all went up to the lake for the week. This is the main lodge/dining hall at Mount Carmel. It’s beautiful and can feed a small army! My parents along with a lot of the “first generation” were able to stay right in the lodge and they had air conditioning and no steps to climb. It’s a great place and completely winterized. (That doesn’t mean too much for us Californian’s, but it does to those of you in the Midwest!)
This is my beautiful cabin! It was amazing. It was much smaller than my home, but much nicer too! There were heated bathroom floors (didn’t use) and a huge tub (multiple families used!) and a nice kitchen and living room where I could bribe family to come and visit me in the evenings with chips and popcorn and pop. It was a great and wonderful place to spend the week. On top of that, I had a commanding view of the lake and the beach and the playground. I could send the kids off to play and not have to worry about them at all. Perfect.
This is the cross that is just down the hill from the chapel. It’s the first thing I think about when I think of Mt. Carmel. It’s a nice place to sit and think and pray.
We had family activities in the afternoon…this is a picture of the Eikum/Merrifield team playing against the Nelson/? Family in volleyball. Twerp #1 and a cousin loved to play and did really well serving the ball from mid-court. Fun.
We also had a lot of time to spend with family. This is a picture of my mother and her 1st cousin. Man, they look so much alike! Their smile and laugh and just the way they get along.
Finally, a picture of the first generation. These are my grandparents, Lloyd and Fran Eikum…along with Twerp #3. My grandmother was one of 9 children and that is who comprises the family reunion…all of those descendants. I love spending time with my grandparents, I only wish that they lived closer so I could visit them once a week. The things I learn from them and the things I learn about myself are something to be cherished.
Well…it’s only a little taste of our time in MN, and I’ll have to write a little more later. Only 11 more days until we leave for China!

How God Works...

I am amazed at how God works sometimes. I'm not sure why I'm so amazed, but I am. He continually surprises me at the "order" of things. He continually shows me how my ways are not His ways...

Stephen and I were pretty disappointed that we couldn't leave for China tonight. But one of the gifts that I have is to often see the bright side...the silver lining so to speak. It didn't take me long to realize that I'd be able to go to our family reunion. Ahhhh, the chance to hear Great is Thy Faithfulness in 4 part harmony with 175 people singing strong! To spend quality time with my 90 and 94 year old grandparents. This will probably be the last reunion that they will both attend (not to be negative, Grandma) and it will be a memory to treasure forever. I'm gonna get to spend time with my Aunts and Uncles, cousins, friends...I'll be able to spend quality time with my 3 kids before I add a fourth. There will be good times.

I checked the ticket prices for our trip to China in September. The tickets are a full $1200 cheaper PER PERSON! Holy smokes, we're gonna save a bundle. And then there are the little things. Like, I can take the kids for their dentist appointment with only 3 of them at the same time...don't have to have Huan Qin in the stroller that time. I can get my own doctor appointments done with before we go to China... There are all these seemingly little things that will fit in exactly the 2 1/2 weeks between my trip to Minnesota and my trip to China.

God Is Good! He knows what we need before we even ask. He knows what perfect timing is before I can even think to ask. We're gonna have the perfect trip in September...I just know it. Please continue to keep little Huan Qin in your prayers. Pray that she continues to grow and fill out. Pray that her nutrition is just what she needs and that she gets strong and continues to improve. For now, Stephen and I praise God for what He is doing in our lives and the lives of our children.

We've Got an Update on Huan Qin!

Tonight we got an update from Sabrina! We heard that Huan Qin has been released from the hospital. She is doing so much better and went home this morning with the director of the orphanage. We also got updated measurements on her. She's now 9 kg which is just under 20 pounds. She also has a 16" chest circumference. I was actually kinda curious because this week, I started to knit her a little brown and blue dress. It's gonna be so cute! I was trying to decide what size to make the dress since I wanted it to fit this fall and winter. I decided on the 18-24 month size. It turns out that for the 6-12 month size, the chest circumference is 20.5 inches. Our Huan Qin is a little peanut! Hopefully when we get her home she'll be able to put on weight and catch up a little bit.

My small group came over last night for bible study. We prayed for Huan Qin. We prayed hard. God answers prayer. One of my biggest prayers was that she wouldn't be stuck in the hospital for the next month for observation. I prayed that she'd be able to go back to the orphanage and while still getting excellent care, be able to be with her friends...her care givers...be able to smile and laugh and enjoy her last month in China.

Plus, Sabrina was able to get us 5 pictures of our little peanut. She is in the hospital in these pictures. You can see her care giver trying to tickle her at the end...trying to get her to smile. I'm not quite sure why they put a stuffed toy around the pony tail in her hair...

OK. So this is what you've all been waiting on...the eye candy. Enjoy!


She has such a sweet expression. Stephen and I were trying to figure out what she has in her hands?!?

We almost got a little smile here...I can't wait to be able to make her smile!

There is a mischievous look here, don't you think?

When Stephen was looking at these pictures, it was about 8:30. He said, "So she's gone home today? That means we could leave today for China! That gives us 2 hours to pack, one hour to get to the airport and buy our tickets and check in. We could still have gone!" It's fun to see him just as excited to add another child to our family as I am...

That's it. I'm sure I'll be annoying Sabrina before too long asking for more pictures and further updates. We'll keep you all informed as we get closer to our trip to China. But...before then, I'll be in Minnesota for our family reunion. See you all on Thursday night!

There is a delay!

Well...it turns out that with international adoption, things can turn on a dime.

It turns out that our daughter is sick in China and the orphanage wants her to be healthy before they allow her to be released from their care. It makes a lot of sense. The trip will be physically demanding for Stephen and I, not to mention our little one. They have asked us to wait until mid-September before we come to China to bring her home.

Again, we see God's provision in all of this. Our plane ticket is completely refundable and we don't have to pay any penalties. On top of that, it looks as if we can get our tickets a little bit cheaper when we travel in September. That's great news. Also, I still have my ticket to Minnesota and I'll be able to travel with the kids to MN next week for our family reunion. I'll be able to be with family and friends for a couple of weeks as we wait again to make our plans for our China trip.

And then there is Aaselia. God is providing for her as well. Huan Qin has a full time (24 hr) nurse that is taking care of her. She is walking and happy...but weak. Please pray for her strength to return so we can bring her home.

It looks as if we'll be in MN until the 22nd of August. We'll miss Stephen a whole bunch, but he's saving his time off for China. Then, when we get back, we'll have another 2.5 weeks of summer before school starts. After school starts, Stephen and I will go to China and be home in time for the cooler weather in the fall.

I'm bringing my new netbook with me to MN, so I'll be able to post pictures of the kids swimming in the lake and hanging out with my grandparents. We'll also be able to Skype with Stephen in the evenings.

So it's not 6 more days to China...more like 46...but those days will fly by and soon we'll be packing!

We're getting closer!

6 More Days and there is so much left to do! I've gotta pack for the three kids' trip to Minnesota and pack for Stephen and I to go to China. It's a good thing that Stephen and I are both a little organized...otherwise, who knows what we would end up with in our suitcases!

A discussion about jobs...

We were driving home from a girlfriends house last Friday morning. Twerp #1 had earned $1 from my girlfriend because he kept her sons lego creations safe while we were having our bible study downstairs. Twerp #3 soon said that he wanted $1 too. I told him that when we got home, he could clean around the house and he could earn $1. This is the conversation that followed:

Twerp #3: I don't want to have to work to earn a dollar. I just want to get the dollar.

Me: You can't just get money. Even daddy has to go to work every day and he earns money. But, you can find a job that you love, like Daddy does. When he goes to work, because he loves working with computers so much, it doesn't feel like a job to him. He gets paid to do something that he loves. So, you can find a job that you love too...like being a fireman, or a pastor, or a teacher...and then you can get paid for doing something that you love!

Twerp #3: (He was quiet for a little bit.) Mom, can I get paid to watch TV?

Sometimes, when I talk, it's just wasted breath. :)

7

Days left, that is!

8 More Days!

There are only 8 days left before we fly to China! 8 days! I can't believe it. We made our flight arrangements today and we're leaving for Beijing at 1:40 in the morning on August 4th. We'll get into Beijing on the 5th of August at 5:20 a.m. That means we'll have to sleep A LOT on the plane so we're ready to go when we hit the ground.

We're coming home with Aaselia on the 20th of August. We'll have a couple of days to get used to the time zone change before our kids arrive home from MN. What a reunion that will be! I can't wait to pick up my kids from the airport and have Auntie Maren meet the newest member of our family! It'll be so much fun!

All right, much to do and many things to pack. Gotta get to some laundry!

We Got Travel Approval!

Whoever said that adoption isn't anything like childbirth was completely wrong! With each step of the way these last couple of months, I have felt both like laughing aloud and crying at the same time. It's the same as when I was in labor in the hospital.


Today, after 3 1/2 years of waiting, we have received approval to travel to China to bring home Aaselia. FINALLY! At one point this week, we thought that we wouldn't get it in time and we'd have to wait another month to bring her home. Another month without hugs from us...another month without seeing her smile...another month away from her parents. But that wont' have to happen any longer.















We're planning on leaving on August 4th just before midnight so we can sleep on the plane there (yeah, right!) and then getting to Beijing sometime in the afternoon on the 6th. Our Gotcha Day is still planned for August 10th. We're coming Aaselia! We can't wait to hold you and be your forever family!Love,