Kindergarten Rocks

Lauren just finished her 3rd week of kindergarten. She loves going to school. She tells me all about it each day. Her school uses a lot of songs to teach different concepts. She is always singing about the months of year or days of week or the sounds that each letter makes.

Everyday she is so excited to tell me about her day. She tells me about her classmates and which ones she played with that day. She tells me about her classroom job (calendar this week) and about their reward system. She tells me about what they learned in school and the activities they did. She tells me about how the lunches were and about her bus ride home. Yesterday there was a fire drill and I got to hear all about that.

I am glad that she is excited to go to school and that she thinks that Kindergarten Rocks!!!

Children's Museum

This summer the Children's Museum in our city opened. This museum has been in the planning and building stages for the past few years. Although it opened they are still adding to it. It is a fun place to go and we are looking forward to the new activities that they are adding. The children's museum in Chicago was so wonderful and hoped that the Phoenix one would be also.

So today we went there to check it out. Lauren had a great time. There is a store, a pizza place, a bike area, a book area and so much more. We spent a few hours there and will be going back soon. It was not that busy so Lauren got to do a bunch of stuff.

Princess

Lauren was invited to a princess birthday party. The party was at a girl's day spa. Lauren was so excited to go, she loves to get her hair done and to play with makeup. Lauren looked so pretty before we left and I got a few pictures of her dancing around.

At the party she got to pick out the color eye shadow that she wanted. I was hoping that maybe she would go with something that at least matched the dress. Oh, no, not Lauren. She went for the brightest blue that she could. It was an interesting look. But she was so proud and she had a great time.

At the end of the party the girls sang and danced and they all had a great time.

Goal Accomplished

At the beginning of the summer I had the goal of getting Lauren to swim on her own by the end of the summer. After a summer of lessons and many many days of swim she accomplished the goal! She now swims without any type of inner tube or floaty. It is great. Not only does she swim by herself, she is now jumping into the pool and loving it. We have about another month of swimming and I know that she is enjoying swimming so much more now that she can swim on her own.

These are some pictures from this afternoon. I had some better ones of her jumping into the pool however, this swimsuit top did not stay down that well and a few of the pictures showed a little more then it should.

Fun Summer Nights

There is a shopping center by us that is a wonderful place to spend the evening. It is a shopping center that has a few "stages" that have music performances on the weekend evenings. There is also a fountain area that is set up so the kids can play. It is nice to sit there and watch the children playing in the water while someone is performing a small concert.

It is still pretty hot here during the day but once the sun goes down it is not that bad and sitting by the fountains makes for a nice summer evening. Lauren and I have gone there a few times this summer and we went back again tonight. This time Lauren's cousin, Sammie, and her parents joined us. The girls had a great time. We had a hard time getting them to leave.

Spirit Day

Lauren's new school has designated every Wednesday as spirit day. On spirit day you are to wear the school colors (black and red) and/or a school shirt. During our Meet and Greet day I purchased Lauren a school shirt and skort. Lauren was so excited to wear them today. This morning she got out the pom poms from high school musical and was playing with them before we left for school. It looked so cute I had to get a few pictures.

I take Lauren to school every day and when I drop her off she walks to her classroom. For the past two days I have been watching her do this and it makes me a bit sad. She looks so small walking to her room with her backpack on and her ponytail bouncing up and down. It seems that there are a lot of older, bigger, kids around and she looks so tiny by them. But at the same time she seems so confident as she walks to her room. She knows where to go and has never asked me to walk with her (I told her I would if she wanted me to). I am so proud of her

First Day of School

Lauren started kindergarten today. She had been so excited last night that she did not go to bed that early, so this morning she was a bit tired. She kept saying I am so tired but I could tell there was a bit of being unsure of what was going to happen today. She dressed and we went outside to get some pictures. She was not in the mood and kept asking why I had to take pictures of her. I explained that is what mommies do on important days like today.

While we drove to school, Lauren was talking nonstop. I think she was a bit scared but didn’t know what to ask or say. We drove by a few other schools and I pointed out that all the schools were starting today. I kept telling her how she will meet new friends and that she was going to be fine and do great!

It was pretty packed at school with so many parents walking their children to classes. We went to Lauren’s class and her teacher greeted her and explained some of the things they are to do each day (put pack back in cubby, mark if she is brought her lunch or is buying her lunch and etc.). She then sat down and started to color. She had no problems and I think she was ready for the new experience.

After school she told me all about her day, the rules, what she had for lunch, who were the other kids in her class, how the bus ride was, who she sat by, and so much more. She likes school. She is going to be fine and she will have fun.

She goes to school with her cousin Grant. Before school started I had ask Grant to make sure she got on the bus to go home. He kept telling me that her teachers will take care of that and that he did not need to help. Today he told me that he stopped by her class on the way to the bus to check on her but she was already on the bus. It was so cute and so big cousin of him to look out for her.

I asked Lauren if her teacher seemed nice and Grant told me “I heard her teacher is really, really nice”. He was so cute about being the big cousin and knowing the ropes at the school.

I think it will be a good year!

Gotcha Day plus 4 years!!

I can't believe that it has been 4 years since Lauren and I became a family. At times it feels like just yesterday I was in China and then when I look at her and see how she has grown it seems like we have been a family forever.

I thought I would give my recollection of the day I received Lauren.

My sister and I left LA for Guangzhou on Aug. 8, 2004 at 11:59pm. On that flight there were a few other families that were also adopting. I had gotten to know a few of these families during the wait through a few of the yahoo chat lines. It was nice to finally put a face with some the names. On the flight we were in the business section so we had a bit more leg room but it was still a long flight. We did get some sleep but didn't eat much. We landed in China at about 6:00 am on August 10. It was a bit strange to think it was Tuesday and we had been on the plane for all of Monday. Our guides met us at the airport and took us to the White Swan Hotel located on the Shamian Island. I had heard so much about the White Swan and all the shops around it during my wait. It was neat to finally see it in person.

There were 35 families getting children in Guangzhou from the agency I used. They divided us into 3 groups based on the SWIs the children were from. This was also a way for us to know what bus to get on while we were in China. The group I was in was the children were from 4 or 5 different SWIs. Again, this was the group we would travel with when we went out on outings and to different appointments. Most of the SWIs were quite far from where we were staying so going to the SWIs were not part of the plan. Someday I do hope to travel there with Lauren.

We arrived at the White Swan at about 7:30am. Our rooms were not ready yet so we meet briefly and that was just to let us know the schedule for the day. We were then free to go and eat breakfast and then we were going to meet again in about a few hours. Janine and I decided to and eat breakfast at the buffet. This is where we would eat breakfast for the next two weeks. It was a great buffet with a good mix of western and Chinese foods. It was very good and the coffee was also really good.

After our breakfast we went back and meet with our groups. Our meeting was in the Mattel playroom. It was fun to see the room again since I had heard so much about it before getting there. At the meeting they gave some of us updated information on our little girls. I was one of the lucky ones and got some updated information. She had gotten bigger and I was a bit worried that the clothes I brought her would not fit. We were told to meet back at 2:00 pm to go to the Civil Affairs Office to receive the babies.

Our rooms were ready and we went up there to unpack and rest. We got to the room and there in the room was a little crib. It was starting to become very real that I was about to be a mother. Something that I thought would never happen was about to happen. I took a shower and tried to rest but I was way to anxious. So I decide to go out and walk around Shamian Island where the White Swan is located. I walked out of the hotel and about died. I had never been in such heat and humid except in a sauna. I kid you not, I thought something was wrong, it was so miserable. I decided to go and look at the stores that I had heard so much about. My mind was not on shopping but on what was going to happen in a few hours. I am not sure what I did for the next few hours but I know that I was there at 2:00pm with the diaper backpack and the gifts ready.

We got back on our buses and headed for the Civil Affairs Office. This was a short bus ride and our guide explained that when we get there to go to the 4th floor. We were told that the girls were not use to the cold air conditioning and that we should keep then in warm clothes in the hotel. We were also told that we would be given some formula that the SWI was using. We got to the building and we were waiting for the elevator and I was so scared and excited and nervous and happy and etc. I did have a moment of panic and thought what am I doing? I remember thinking I can walk out this door right now and go home but I knew I would never do that, I had a daughter waiting for me a few floors up.

We got off the elevator and there was a bunch of nannies sitting with little girls on their laps. I saw Lauren at the end of the bench and I told Janine, that is her right there. Janine was not such but I was. She looked a bit sad and a bit scared. We went in a room and they started to call our names. I am not sure if I was the 3rd or 4th called but soon she was in my arms. She did not cry and she seemed a bit in shock. We had a chance to talk very briefly with the nannies and get our family picture taken. Lauren kept falling asleep and I had to wake her up. Later during the week we noticed that during stressful times she would fall asleep. We realized that this was the way she dealt with stress.

A few hours later we went back to the hotel and ordered room service for dinner and got out some toys for her play. I feed her a bottle and some rice cereal which she seemed to like. She was so scared and didn't seem to know what to do with the toys. We played with her for a while and then I had to go and fill out some paperwork for the next day. Lauren stayed with Janine. I had noticed some sores on her head and after I finished the paperwork I took her to the clinic. The doctor cleaned out the sores and I put Lauren in some new pjs and she was ready for bed. She didn't cry that much that night and pretty much went right to sleep. I think that she was stressed, frightened and didn't know what to think. That night she slept for a long time. I sleeped with her in my bed for part of the night and put her in the crib during the night. She didn't wake up until after 7:00am the next morning, I on the other hand was awake a lot of the night making sure she was ok.

What a wonderful day Aug 10, 2004 was. I love to think back on that day and remember it in my mind. If I could have one wish, I would wish for the chance to live that day again. I would enjoyed the moment so much more but I was so scared and in control that I didn't take the time to just relax and have fun that day. I can't wait to take Lauren back to China someday and show her the places that mean so much to me.

Today we celebrated the day by going to church and then going out to lunch. I gave Lauren a locket with a picture of her when she was a baby and one of us together. This was also a joint present for her first day of kindergarten which is tomorrow.

Dear Lauren:

I wish I could put in words how much I love you and how much you mean to me. You are the first thing I think about when I wake up and the last thing I think about when I go to sleep. My life revolves around you and I love that. You are the best thing that every happened to me.

I have told you so many times that God matched us perfectly. You and I both agree that we make a great family. I love that you are my daughter and I love being your mom. When I think back on the pictures that I received on June 7, 2004 and then when you were placed in my arms I would never have thought that I could love you with the depth of the love I have for you.

There are times during the day that I have to pull out a picture of you just to get my Lauren fix.

I love you.

Mommy

Meet and Greet

Lauren starts school on Monday and today the school held the annual Meet and Greet day.

This event is to allow the parents and students to sign up for different clubs and activities, to set up the lunch account, to buy school shirts and take a tour of the school. But most important, it was a time to meet the teacher and tour the classroom. Lauren was so excited for this day to come. This whole week she was asking me when she gets to go and meet her teacher.

We did the sign up stuff and bought a school shirt and short. We also took a tour of the school, which was really cute. It was lead by the 5th graders (this school goes from K to 5) and they were so funny. What they think is important for us to know is really funny.

It was then time to go to the classroom and Lauren got so shy when her teacher came up to her. She would barely speak. The teacher would ask her questions and she would answer in a whisper. Boy will the teacher be surprised when her true self comes out. The teacher kept saying "oh, she is so cute".

Lauren's teacher is a second year teacher. I go back and forth on this and whether or not I want a more experienced teacher. But I keep reminding myself that I was an inexperienced teacher and I would have hated if a parent didn't give me a chance.

There are currently 18 students in Lauren's class. Wow, my first year teaching I had 30 students, the next year I had 24 students and it was so much easier. I wonder what it would have been like to have only 18 students. There are 5 Kindergarten classes this year. I heard that there was only going to be 4 and then because there were more students then they thought they added a class. I glad about that.


Lauren's teacher seems very nice. It was good to see all her old students coming in the class and wanting to say hi. It was really cute. It also gave me comfort because you could tell that these kids really loved her.

After we left, Lauren was so happy. You could just see it in her face. She told me later "I wish that tomorrow was Monday." It makes me so happy that she is excited to go to school.

She saw a few of her friends from preschool and a few friends from dance and gymnastics. She would just go up to them and say hi. I love that because I was so painfully shy when I was young and I would never had done that. It was a fun day.

I still can't believe that she is going to be kindergartener on Monday!!