Monday, June 13, 2011
HAPPY 1ST GOTCHA DAY PARKER!

One year ago today we met Parker in the conference room of the Lakeside Hotel in Fuzhou City! It was the most amazing day! Parker was not very happy to have these two strangers come into his life. He cried so hard we couldn't even get our family picture taken. Now, a year later, Parker is just the happiest little boy in the world. What a difference a year makes!! We are so blessed to call Parker our son! He has the biggest heart and kindest spirit! He lives in the moment! We love seeing the world through Parker's eyes! He lives life to the fullest! You are a very special little man and we love you very much! We know you will be the best big brother to Piper and your baby brother!! We love you more each day! We will celebrate you special day when we get home! Happy Gotcha day to Emma, Leah, and Mya from our travel group last year! Plus, a Happy Gotcha Day to Parker's best buddy Iris too!!!

Piper had a wonderful day! It is so amazing how much we love this little girl! One of the things that makes being a parent so wonderful is that every day you get to know you child a little bit better and fall in love with him/her all over again! Being so far away from Sophia, Graham, and Parker really makes you miss what makes each of them so special to us! We know she was chosen by God to be our daughter and we are so thankful! Piper had a pretty good night last night. I decided that I would be the one to wake up with Piper and let Erik get some sleep. Piper was fighting going to sleep last night! I rocked her twice, but she just didn't want to go to bed. I wondered what would happen if I put her in the crib and to my surprise she didn't cry. It took her a little while, but she fell asleep on her own and slept in the crib all night! She did wake up several times, but I was able to pat her back and she went right back to sleep! I hope that means we are making progress with bonding! We are hoping for another good night for Piper!

We talked with the children again this morning before we went to breakfast! We love being able to see them each morning, but it sure makes us miss being able to hug and kiss them goodnight! Blowing them kisses just isn't the same!!! Piper ate her usual watermelon and tater tots for breakfast. We still try to give her new foods at each meal to see if she will try something new! This morning Erik put a pear and some kind of melon on her plate, but she wouldn't try either of them! After breakfast I took Piper to the playroom while Erik went back to the room to write some e-mails for work! It was so nice to have the one on one time with Piper! We had so much fun playing together! We sang songs and danced to the music! She loves to play pat a cake with me! We played with the ball and blocks! She, of course, had to hug all of the stuffed animals in the room! She sure loves dolls and stuffed animals! I can see Sophia, Graham, and Piper playing with all the stuffed animals we have at home together! Parker doesn't really like stuffed animals. I think they scare him because he doesn't even like them to be in his room. He will occasionally hold them if Sophia and Graham are playing with them too! We had to walk to the medical exam building to have Piper's TB test read. It was fine just like we thought it would be, so we headed back to the hotel. We did stop at Jordan's shop. He writes the name of your child in Chinese for you to take home! He wrote both Sophia and Parker's names too! Piper spotted a doll and is now the proud owner of another doll!!!! It was so hot that I was getting very tired from walking in heat. We went back to the hotel. It was so nice to be in the air condition! I ended up falling asleep and Erik took Piper to the pool. See notes from Dad below for all the details! Daddy wore out our princess and she went right down for her afternoon nap! She is sleeping with her new doll and looks absolutely adorable!! We headed to dinner after Piper woke up from her nap. It was a little earlier than we have been eating dinner, but we were concerned that she didn't really eat very much today. She ate spaghetti and french fries for dinner. She didn't eat as much as she did yesterday, but she is at least eating something! We went shopping after dinner for her red couch outfit. Tomorrow we will have the children's picture taken on the red couch! We also bought Sophia, Graham, Parker, and Piper t-shirts! We spent the rest of the evening in the playroom and then it was time for Piper to go to for bed! We have to be up early tomorrow because we have our appointment at the consulate and have to be ready to leave by 7:10 AM!

Notes from Dad:
It is really, really hot here. Poor Tricia is really feeling it - after our walk to the medical center today, she took a 2 hour nap. Yeah, it's that hot - I'm Ok with it, but Tricia's getting pretty big and I think she feels it more. While Tricia was sleeping, I took Piper to the pool. I think Tricia was disappointed that I left her matching cover-up, hat and flip flops in the room, but at least I remembered the swim diaper. She loved the pool. It was hot, but the cool water felt good. We stayed for an hour and she enjoyed splashing about. She's so light that it was hard for her to keep her balance in the baby pool. As soon as we got back to the room she went to sleep. I think I might have overexerted her. I'm not sure, but she seemed tired the rest of the day. I'm not sure if that's a symptom of her heart condition or not, but I'll have to remember to take it easy until we understand her condition a little better.