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Originally uploaded by nik_donna.

Addison Claire is loving her new pink car! She likes to ride with her cell phone in one hand and her doll in the other. This is by far her favorite toy from Santa!

AC now insists on feeding herself. This was our first big meal by ourself, and it did not go too smoothly. Suction cup plates are great, until a determined little girl decides it needs to come up. 

We carved our first pumpkin today. We took the opportunity to get some pics of AC in her Halloween costume. We've been asked by the neighborhood not to let our baby be this cute, but we just can't help it! To see more Halloween pictures, go to our Flickr site.

We went and picked out a pumpkin today. AC has never seen one and was a little overwhelmed. She enjoyed it nevertheless. 

Trying to keep AC occupied on a Saturday while mom is at school getting ready to go back to work. 

We had put AC down for a nap, and about 15 minutes later, heard her screaming like a hyena. Donna went into her room, and then screamed for me to bring the camera. AC had gotten herself stuck on the bumper pad with her legs through the rails. She was not happy, and my picture taking just mocked her situation. I feel slightly guilty, but the picture is worth it. 

It's been awhile since we've blogged! Addison Claire keeps us hopping. She is a very busy little girl. Her personality is really starting to shine now. She turned 13 months old yesterday, August 25th. Some of her new words are achoo and uh-oh. She can also growl when she gets you. She can also play Peek-A-Boo and is starting to pat a cake. We were able to get her completely off her bottle a couple of weeks ago. After seeing a 6 month old at church drinking from a sippy cup, I knew we had to do something! Her favorite snack continues to be Cheerios. She has an excellent appetite and is on all table food now and loves it. We do grind it up a bit in our Magic Bullet. She is cutting four teeth on top and the two on the bottom are still coming in. She is not much of a napper though. Her one daily nap is only 30-45 minutes long. She does sleep 12 hours at night so we're not complaining! She will begin daycare after Labor Day. She will begin with mornings and work her way into full days. She loves to be around other children so we hope it will be an easy transition. I return to work on September 25th. My how the time does fly!

-Donna

Big #1

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Originally uploaded by nik_donna.

AC turned 1 Tuesday (7-25), and we celebrated Saturday. She's not a big fan of sweets, but she enjoyed all the family being around. Some more pictures are here.

cool in the pool

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Originally uploaded by nik_donna.

The pool is a hit. AC and I have been in it almost every evening since we got it. It seems to relax her. She just chills out and lets me pull her around in her float.

Redneck Pool

Redneck Pool
Originally uploaded by nik_donna.

We had to get one. You know, for the baby and all. Not pictured are the rafts and floating ice chest.

JetLag

JetLag
Originally uploaded by nik_donna.

We were SO not prepared for the first few days after returning from China. The jet lag was incredible, and took its toll on everyone.

Were Home! After 30 hours in flight, and a small delay in Memphis, we made it home. Thanks to everyone that came to see us home, and to everyone that was with us in their thoughts! We are at home, and adjusting well. AC keeps us busy trying to keep her stimulated.

Well it's our last day in China. Today we had our consulate appointment and received Addison Claire's visa. Once we go through customs in Detroit, she will be a U.S. citizen! We are done with everything now except the plane ride home. Although we've enjoyed our trip, we are ready to be home. We are so ready for some Starbuck's coffee! Coffee is what we have missed the most. We are also ready to have ice in our drinks and not have to use bottled water for everything. We depart early in the morning. We have to have our luggage in the hallway at 4:30 a.m. We will be trying to go to bed early tonight. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we make the flight home. We'll see everyone soon!
-Donna

Happy Hat

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Originally uploaded by nik_donna.

We made our first flight with A.C. She did well on the flight but did not sleep. We might be in for a loooong flight home! She continues to get stronger and shows us new things every day. Yesterday, we went to the clinic to have her medical done. She weighs 16.2 pounds and is 28 inches long. She is a healthy girl and a happy baby! We went shopping yesterday after naptime and bought several outfits and shoes. The pair of shoes she has on in this picture are the famous "squeaky shoes". The great thing is the squeakers are removable! Addison is now pulling up and can occasionally get a cheerio in her mouth. She continues to love her bath at night. She does not have the appetite that some of the other babies in our group have. Dinner seems to be her best meal. Conjee continues to be her favorite food with carrots coming in second place. She did eat some oatmeal this morning. We tried scrambled eggs but she didn't care for them. She continues to sleep through the night and wakes up happy each day! The weather in Guangzhou is very rainy so it has been difficult to get out. There is a typhoon nearby and we are getting the rain from it. Our zoo trip for this afternoon has been cancelled but we will be taking the babies to the Mattel play room called The Swan Room to play. We are loving parenthood and continue to thank God for our beautiful daughter each day!

Had some playtime this afternoon, as it's too darn hot to go out. 95+ degrees and 98% humidity with no breeze and lots of smog kept us indoors this afternoon.

I've finally found a few extra minutes to write while Addison Claire is napping. I cannot begin to express how much we love this beautiful little girl. She has bonded beautifully with us both. She is alot smaller than we expected. The outfit she was wearing the day we received her was a 3-6 month size. We mostly brought 12 month clothing so they are a little large. Her current shoe size is a size 3. The referral pictures made her look so much larger. She still has no teeth but is chewing on everything. She has a great personality and is rarely fussy. We have been blessed! She has spoken her first word which is da-da! Nik is so proud. I'm working hard on the mama word now......just kidding! She is not very mobile yet. She hasn't crawled but has scooted around some. Her legs seem a little weak but that was to be expected. We know she will catch up quickly. She is very observant of everything that is going on around her. She doesn't miss a beat! Oh, and when you get ready to change her diaper, she throws her legs over her head. It is so cute and funny! We haven't had the big diaper yet which Nik will be changing by the way. Today we've given her some peaches baby food and trying to get her to drink some pear juice. Another thing she does is sucks her index and middle finger while sleeping. She sounds alot like Maggie Simpson. She really is a great baby! Sometimes we just stare at her when she's sleeping and can't believe she is ours!
-Donna

Today we took the babies on a field trip to Mt. Qingxiu . This is a mountain in the Guangxi province that has a Buddhist Temple at the top. Of course there are pics. If you are not a Fertile Myrtyle, you are supposed to meditate and then rub Buddha's belly. There was quite a bit of belly rubbing going on while we were there from 20-something couples. The guy would rub Buddha, then rub his wife's face. She would reciprocate.

Compare the first video with this one, and you can see what a special little girl we have! She is a real joy! We are so blessed.

Some people are having trouble seeing the video. Here's the same video as below, but hosted on another service.

How cute is this?

Doing good.
Originally uploaded by nik_donna.

AC is a lot more energetic and happy today. We went to have our adoption officialized all good like. We put our thumbprints over our signatures, and AC's footprint made it all official. She's doing great. She slept all night, played by herself while we got ready, and ate like a pig at lunch. She even got to eat some of our noodles. The first toy we gave her yesterday was a pair of link-a-doos. She grabbed them and held them so tight her knuckles were white. She held them all night and had one in her hand this morning when we woke up.

Be sure to check the flickr photo pages even when there isn't a new blog post, as we upload pictures throuought the day, and since we are 13 hours ahead of the US, that is usually 2 am in the morning.

-Nik

We have video!

If you are refreshing this page every 10 minutes checking to see if we have gotten our new baby girl, your wait is over. We got to the place where we recieved her at around 4 p.m. We were there about an hour, and Addison Claire was asleep within 30 minutes. All the babies looked like they were dragged behind the train for the 8 hour ride. A.C. cried only once or twice, then sacked out. She's just a perfect little angel. Guess where the agency took us immediately after receiving them? Wal*Mart. You can't get away from that place. We were taken there to buy formula and strollers. Anyway, I didn't mean to go off on an tangent. I'm going to put some video up on YouTube in just a bit as well, so look for a new post in a few hours. We have to go down to do some paperwork in a bit. Mom is feeding A.C. some conjee at the moment.

Thanks for all your prayers and support! We finally made it!

-Nik

We're in Nanning now, staying at the Majestic Hotel. When we got off the plane, we were immediately assaulted by the smell of dog poo that's been hit by your lawn mower in 90 degree, 99% humidity weather. The bus ride from the airport to the hotel was quite an eye opening experience. There is some type of large scale, long term construction project going on, and the workers live right beside their current work site. So there are tin and wood shantys right beside the road, and a guy is just outside, welding on what looks like a powerline. He's barefooted, has no shirt on, and is about 12' in the air welding. It was overcast, and the bus was moving at such a pace that most of our pictures came out blurry. We'll post what we have, including a picture of the crib in our hotel room. The drive also shows us how much we take for granted. "Apartments" in this part of the country don't look like the ones in Guangzhou. Here, they are lined up on the street like self storage buildings. The garage doors are rolled up, and people are sitting around on the sidewalk in front. These are about 12' x 16' single rooms. Oh, and did I mention these are also their businesses? Moped repair shops, fruit stands, electricians, all with their shingles hung out on the stoop as well.

It's 4:00 a.m. and we're lying in bed wide awake. I was awakened by the sound of some poor soul in the room next door that did not heed the advice to not eat or drink something he obviously ate or drank. It sounds like he's in bad shape. We most certainly can't go back to sleep, since we'll have our little girl in less than 12 hours. Donna got up and starting packing the baby's diaper bag. It currently weighs 26 lbs. We're fully prepared. We will be meeting at the Civil Affairs office at 4:00 p.m. The babies are coming in on a 8 hour train ride from their orphanage. They should be in goooood shape by the time they get here.

-Nik

Greetings from Guangzhou! We arrived last night around 10:30 p.m. Wow, what a long flight! We were in the air for about 21 hours. The White Swan Hotel is beautiful. We are up and going this morning. We had an enormous breakfast and are now getting ready to fly to Nanning where we will be staying at The Majestic Hotel until Saturday. We will be getting Addison Claire late tomorrow afternoon. We can't wait. We have seen many American families with their precious children already. Today will be a day of rest and baby preparations!!

This will be our final post until we arrive in China which will be Saturday night. We are still packing but almost finished. We will be leaving in the morning bright and early! We can't believe this day is finally arriving. It has been such long wait, 22 months from start to finish. We know that when we meet our baby girl that the wait will be forgotten. We can't wait to hold her in our arms! We're almost there!

And the excitement continues to build! We are less than 48 hours until travel. We are still packing. Most of Addison Claire's things are packed. We can't even walk in our bedroom because of all the suitcases. We are also busily baby proofing our home with latches and locks. We're not sure how mobile she'll be so we're taking every precaution possible. After 15 years and no children, we have realized there are several things we have to change! Some of the latches are pretty tricky even for adults. Please keep our entire travel group in your prayers as we make this incredible journey to receive our daughters!

Today is packing day! We only have a few more things on our list to buy. Now the problem is getting it all divided between three suitcases in case of lost luggage. I had no idea how much room 90 diapers could take. We are trying to stay within the 50 lb. limit per suitcase. I really need a packing expert! The packing is really exciting though. It makes this real for us, yet nervous and a little stressed. One week from today we will be parents and a family of three!

We have finally finished Addison Claire's room and taken some photos. I had two friends create the paintings for her room. The acrylic on canvas painting is from the book Shaoey and Dot by Steven Curtis Chapman. The framed watercolor painting is based on characters from Beatrix Potter's books. Thanks Lori and Rhea!

It is officially eleven days until we travel! Words cannot express the excitement we feel. We are busily getting everything in order for our trip. I am so happy my profession allows me to be off in the summer. I couldn't imagine taking care of all these things and working all day too! Addison Claire's room is complete! Tonight, we get to go over to the director of our agency's house for pizza and visiting. Another couple that recently got back with their daughter is going to be there. I hope they are ready for all of our questions! Our agency director will be traveling with us to China. She is an absolutely wonderful person. We can't wait to make the trip with her.

Travel Approvals have arrived for us! We will be getting Addison Claire before her first birthday which is something we really wanted. We did get updated information on her. She is now 17 lbs. and 28 inches long. Her foot is 4.2 inches. Keep checking for updates as we get ready to travel. We are so excited and ready to go!

We have a baby girl! We received our referral call at 3:20 p.m. on Thursday, May 25th. We are so lucky to live close to our agency. We drove over and got the packet around 5:00 p.m. Her Chinese name is Long Mei Zhi. We have given her the name Addison Claire Meizhi Martin. Her birthdate is 7/25/05. She is 16 lbs. and 26 inches long. She is residing in an orphangae in the Guangxi province. She was abandoned at birth. She is listed as an active baby with a ready smile. She is fond of playing games, quick in reaction, laughs aloud, and impatient sometimes. Her favorite toys are the drum and jingle bells. She has zero teeth, is a moderate sleeper and sucks her fingers in her sleep .

We think she is aboslutely beautiful! We hope to travel at the end of June/early July. We have been floating since Thursday. It's the most amazing feeling in the world when you see that picture for the first time! We love her so much!

Just a little info on some things we are doing as a constant reminder of our daughter. I purchased a red thread bracelet that I wear daily. It has a tiny silver heart that represents Addison waiting for our hearts to be united. On the other hand, Nik is not wearing a bracelet. He has decided to grow a baby beard. Now I'm not much on the whole hairy face thing. This isn't your ordinary beard. This is a "I'm not shaving until we leave for China beard." Hurry up referral!!

We began our China adoption process in October of 2004. We were logged in with the CCAA on June 13, 2005. We are still waiting on a referral for Addison Claire. We will keep this blog updated with all the latest information and during our time in China which will hopefully be in July. We have truly learned the meaning of patience through this entire process. It looks like we missed the April referrals by just a few days so we're praying we will be in the next batch of referrals in May.