A Potential Olympian

Our Starr leads a very active life. She has swimming class 3 times a week, takes a music class and a play and share class at a local family center and takes a gymnastics class once a week. Since Marc and I are both fortunate enough to be able to share child care duties due to our flexible work schedules we try to enrich Katie's life with some fun activities during the week.

Katie is very active and super athletic and loves her gymnastics class very much. The directors tell us that she has a great deal of natural athletic ability but most of all she just plain ol' loves it!! Today was show day so family and friends could come watch. The children were able to show off their newly honed skills. Katie had a ball and then received a medal. Boy did she love that. When she received her medal she jumped up on the podium and yelled TaaaaaaDaaaaaa and threw up her hands!! What a ham bone..LOL Here are a few cute pics from her class; enjoy!

I have to post these two gems for posterity

I often think as I am sure many of you do that I have to write down the cute things that Katie Starr is doing and saying before they escape my memory forever. Tonight I will share a couple of funny anecdotes with you and for posterity.

This evening we went to our favorite Pizzeria to get a Pie. While we were waiting for our food to be brought out Katie colored. I took one of the crayons and drew a line. I asked her if she could draw a line as well. She drew a line and then roared. We looked at her completely puzzled and asked her why she was roaring. She said "Lion". I started laughing and said "No, Katie; mommy said Line. She kept roaring and saying Lion. I never thought of Lion and Line as homonyms.

After that bit of cuteness our pizza was brought out as well as Katie's spaghetti. Katie always ends up looking like she went through a spaghetti fight by the time that she is finished as there is so much sauce all over her. While we were enjoying our food Katie looks at me and says Mom; Uh oh!! and points to a tiny spot of sauce on my pinkie. We laughed so hard at the thought of her thinking that my tiny spot was worthy of an Uh oh!! when she was painted in red.

We have so many of these moments every day and they totally make me want to freeze our daughter at this age as she is so adorable right now; just too cute for words :) Thanks for listening to this rambling mom; I just had to get it down before it was gone forever.

Today is the day......

......that we are DTC for Ethan!!!!! That means that our dossier is winging it's way to China. Now we pray for a quick Log in date and then the wait begins. It is taking about 90 - 120 days from the time that your dossier is sent to China to receive your LOA (Letter of Acceptance) and then another 3-4 weeks for TA (Travel Approval). We hope to travel in the fall.

We are very happy to be one step closer to our son.

A Fun Adult Weekend

I had an fun and relaxing weekend and there were no children involved; that is where the relaxing part came in.

My sister was in Florida for business so on Friday I took the 3 hour drive to where she was staying to spend the night with her. My doll of a husband took care of our girl. My sister Jane who is awesome fun was at a convention and many of her co workers and associates who are also friends joined us for the evening. They also know how to have a good time so needless to say we had a blast!! I came home the following day and regrouped as Marc and I were going away to a resort in Marco Island on Sunday morning. This was a birthday gift from Marc and Justin as Justin said he would take two days off of work to watch Katie Starr for us and Marc made all of the plans at the resort for us and scheduled a spa day for me. We had so much fun just being a couple which we have not done in the year that we have been back from China. We ate, drank, went to the beach, went to the spa and slept...heaven!! Katie did beautifully with her big brother and saw her Nana and Papa as well so she hardly missed us. When we got home though she was beyond thrilled and we had a wonderful reunion with her.

A huge thank you to the men in my life for providing such a wonderful weekend. I love you both so very much!

Here is a fun video from just before we left. It is Katie's impersonation of a lion. She kinda looks like the cowardly lion from the Wizard of Oz...too funny!!

May 14, 2006 and May 14, 2007 ~ What a Difference a Year Makes

Last year on this day we received a sleeping Katie Starr. We could not wake her up in the meeting room where she was handed to us and she would not wake up until much later in our hotel room. At first she was bewildered, then terrified and finally despondent. It is no secret that our first months with Katie were quite challenging indeed. It took a long time to win our sweet girl's trust as she had been in a very loving foster home for most of her first year of life. The first picture was the only one that we got of her awake that day.

Now, one year later take a look at the joy in our Starr's face in the second picture as she celebrates with her Papa (Grandfather) at our one year "forever in our arms day" celebration this evening.

We have come so far and we are so thankful for our Katie Starr!!

Happy Mother's Day and One Year with Katie Starr

Mother's Day has always been a very special day in our family as I know it is in each of yours but Mother's Day 2006 was made that much more special in our family by the addition of Katie Starr into our lives. When we celebrate the holiday this year we will also be marking one year since our "forever in our arms day." I will never forget that day. It is just as indelibly etched into my memory as the birth of my son.

I have been a mom for over 22 years and quite simply it is the role in life that I love the most. I love being a mom to my adult son Justin who I now call friend and I love being a mom to my very 2 year old Katie who has quite simply rocked all of our worlds to the core in the best way possible. I long to mother my son to be, Ethan, who needs my mothering so very much.

Happy Mother's day from our home to yours and of course a huge happy Mother's Day to the waiting mommies; your child is out there and destiny will ultimately unite you. You are already mommies and it is just a matter of time before your child is in your arms. We cannot wait to celebrate that day with you.

With love and gratitude,

Lori - Mommy to Justin Bennett, Katie Starr Hongshan and Ethan Frederick Zhiqing; still in China - we love you Ethan!!

P.S. The troops are feeling much better. Justin was hit the hardest and is still a little under the weather but all are much improved. Thanks for your well wishes XXOO

Update - Our 24 pound daughter's germs pack a powerful punch

Miss Katie is on the mend and is doing much better than she was 2 days ago. The men in her life on the other hand cannot say the same. Last evening after falling asleep I was awakened by the sound of Marc getting out of bed and walking to the bathroom. Marc never leaves our bed to go to the bathroom (I cannot say the same for myself :) so I knew that something was wrong. I got up after a few minutes and knocked on the door and did not hear anything. I walked in and found him laying on the floor. He was so sick that he could not even make it back to the bed. I helped him up and as we were walking back to the bed I heard the sound of retching from the other bathroom down the hall. Both of my guys were sick as dogs :( This went on all night and I mean all night. I was back and forth between them and checking on Katie the entire night. It was horrible!!!

Now it is 10:00 PM almost 24 hours later and Marc is on the mend but Justin is still very sick. Please send out all of your good thoughts and energy if you will so that we have a calmer evening than last night and that he gets some rest.

All they could say today was that they could not believe that little girl could make them sick enough to bring them to their knees.

Something is rotten in Denmark if the Starr does not want to eat :(

The following post might be TMI for people with queasy stomachs...

After having raised the world's pickiest eater; my son Justin (sorry J it is the truth!) it has been absolutely wonderful to have a child that totally enjoys eating. Katie loves to eat a wide variety of things and will at least try everything that we give her. I knew immediately when she would not eat breakfast (not even a bite) that something was wrong. Mommy is always right!

She had woken up early this morning and Marc took her out of her crib and took her straight into our bed. After turning down breakfast Marc took her out of her highchair and took her in her room to undress her for her bath. That is when he smelled something BAD. He looked over and saw that she had vomited in her crib - EVERYWHERE :(

We cleaned it all up and I went to work. Later in the morning Marc called me up and said in a totally serious voice "you must come home now" I asked why and he proceeded to tell me that she had had a "man size case of diarrhea". He had heard a noise and by the time he got to her it was all the way up to her belly button and up her back inside her diaper. He of course said that he was kidding about me coming home and that he could handle everything quite fine. By the time that I came home she had been having a-- blast all afternoon and the crib had been changed once again and she had been bathed three times. Marc looked worn out and so did Katie.

Katie Starr still will not eat and is running a temp but thankfully she is drinking like a champ. We called the doctor and she told us that this tummy bug is very prevalent right now. I am sure it is in the same bug family that made our friend Lily so sick this past weekend. She said it should run it's course in a 24-48 hour period.

Told you something was rotten in Denmark or should I say South Florida.

I will keep you posted.

Cinderella ain't got nothing on our Starr!!

Katie is our little helper. She loves to help whether you want her to or not. Last night she decided that she wanted to sweep the front walk and the driveway and of course was cute as a button doing it.

Q and A

Q) You check in on your daughter and you find her in this position; do you dare move her for fear of waking her?

A) No, you run to get your camera so that you can take a picture to post on your blog and get outta there asap!!

Ethan, we are thinking of you baby......

Today I stayed home from work as I am still ill. The Dr. diagnosed a bad throat infection and I am on antibiotics and trying desperately to get back up to speed.

While I was home today we received Ethan's finding ad that I ordered from Research China. For those that do not know what a finding ad is; it is an ad placed in the newspaper of the province where the baby lives describing the baby and giving their date of birth as well as abandonment date. It is usually the first photo of the child that the parent will have and is usually taken close to their birth. Ethan was a bit older when he was left at the orphanage and he was quite ill so I do have a picture that predates this newest one that was given to me by the woman who sponsored Ethan's surgery. The pic from this ad seems to be when he was about 9 months old and after his surgery. He is so beautiful is described in the ad as having a rectangular face, black hair and light skin. His eyes are enormous and very dark. He is so slight in the picture; just a little peanut. His latest growth report shows he has come along way since that picture was taken. From all reports the orphanage that he is in is taking very good care of him. My heart broke when I saw that he was among approximately 175-200 children posted in the paper that week as I also ordered a copy of the entire newspaper. It is so mind boggling when you look at all of the precious faces of these babies that do not have a family to love and nurture them as they deserve.

Ethan, we are working so hard to finish all of the paperwork up and get you home where you belong. We love you and think about you all the time.

**The picture above was taken the other day when I was out with my two children. I cannot wait for the day when we can complete this picture with Ethan.

Ramblings of a 46 year old Mommy with a fever

I am sure that you are a bit curious about the title of this post as it is a bit strange.

Tuesday, I turned 46 years old and became sick to my stomach and not because I turned 46 years old ~smirk~ I actually had some bug working on me that had me holding my tummy. Unfortunately, I also had to emcee a luncheon/meeting for about 80 people that day and it was a moment by moment exercise in mind over matter. The wonderful perk to butching up and not asking someone else to cover it were the beautiful flowers that my husband sent to the luncheon to be delivered to my table and the cake that my father brought in and then lead the room in a boisterous rendition of the birthday song while tears welled up in my eyes.

I left the meeting and crawled into bed; subsequently calling off a birthday dinner that we were to have that evening. Now anyone that knows me at all knows that I had to be mighty sick to do that since 1.) I am the ultimate birthday girl who loves everything birthday; most especially my own and 2.) I never miss a meal. I had obviously seen better days.

The crazy thing about the virus is that it has swept through our happy home as well as my place of business like the plague and that it has moved through my body in fits and starts. It started 2 weeks ago with a dizzy spell and a general feeling of malaise, then I thought I was doing better until the congestion set in, then I dried up and my ears started hurting, then came the stomach issues and now I sit here in a Saturday evening with a fever, sore throat and chills. OK, enough already, I am going to will this bad boy bug from my body and banish it into exile.

On another note; Last evening after the rescheduled birthday dinner we stopped at the grocery store to pick up a few things that turned into a SUV full of things when I had the most melancholy moment concerning a sullen teenager and our Starr. While we were checking out the grumpy young woman began loading our cart. Katie turned to her and said "hi" and gave her best 2 year old huge smile and wave. The girl grunted at her; barely acknowledging her. Katie of course did not know the difference and continued to stare at the girl in wonder and amazement as she packed and loaded groceries as if she was the best thing since sliced bread. I looked at my daughter's beautiful and innocent face and felt such love and gratitude for the stage that she is currently in with all of it's purity and wide eyed wonder. Then I felt sadness that she will lose that to a certain extent as we all do. Of course, I realize that she will never be that sullen teenage (I will not allow it..LOL) but she will not be the uncensored and innocent being that she is now in a couple of years. Another happier wave of emotion washed over as it occurred to me that having children allows us to enter that unspoiled territory again and see the joy and wonder of life through their eyes during the baby and toddler years. Now that I am writing this it seems a bit odd that this all happened while we were walking to the car with our groceries; but it did.

This morning I woke up and took Katie to a scheduled FCC Play group as I had already made the commitment to do so even though I felt like death warmed over and then drug my body home where I curled up in the fetal position and let Katie vegetate through hours of mindless kiddie television next to me on the bed (which I never do) because I felt so crummy and the menfolk were both at work. Justin then came home and provided reinforcement to his dear ol' mum (man I love that kid O' mine) and hopefully tomorrow this bad boy bug will bid me a final adieu and be banished into exile to never rear it's ugly head again.

Oh, and before I go; a special thank you goes out to my good friend Dawn who nominated my blog for the "Thinking Bloggers Award". I personally feel that Dawn has surpassed me greatly in the blogging category and you can judge for yourself by checking out www.eggrollsandchopsticks.blogspot.com Dawn blogs almost daily about her life as mother to the beautiful Lily and wife to Jacob as they bear the wait (very gracefully, I might add) for their yet unnamed daughter, affectionately known to us as Chopsticks. You will enjoy her very witty and quite British writing style. I feel honored to have her as my friend. Huge hugs my friend - and just be glad that they are cyber since I am probably contagious.

Goodnight all as I slip into fevered delirium ;-)

There is no place like home :)

Thanks to our friends Shannon and Alan who gave us this cozy cottage for Miss Starr. Of course being the goofballs that we are we had to get in there with Katie. Even our Chihuahua, Gabby tried to get into the act.

This is actually how our real home is beginning to feel and with Ethan coming we may be feeling a little too "cozy" for our own good. I hate the thought of moving and having to do a home study addendum...ugh! I guess we will wait until our son comes home before we decide if the Katie's cozy cottage is roomier than our present digs.

Doing the "Golden Ticket" Happy Dance Tonight!!

I called my friend Shannon to wish her a Happy Birthday and as we spoke she told me that today was a lucky number day for her as she and Mia were both born on the 18th. She felt strongly that our I-171h would be here today!! As I drove down my street I saw Marc at the mailbox pulling out the mail and he busted out with the thumbs up!! Whoooohooooo, on day 75 we received our GOLDEN TICKET to Ethan.
It may take us a little longer than most to go DTC as our agency in Hawaii is very small. They handle the certifying in Hawaii and authenticating out of LA. They will not expedite a thing and estimate approx a month to 6 weeks before DTC. Oh well, at least this battle was won today. I will relish this victory today and then go back to driving myself crazy about what is out of our control tomorrow..LOL.

Waiting while holding a picture of your son for approx 10 months will definitely be the hardest thing I have ever done.

On another note; here are Katie Starr's two year old portraits. They make me melt every time I look at them. It is a good thing too because she has been a whiny mess while she has been ill. We do not know where 2 year old whiny begins and sick whiny ends...sheesh! Please click on the pictures to make them bigger.

Katie Starr's 2nd Birthday Pictures

Katie Starr had a wonderful birthday celebration that lasted two days. That is the norm in our house. I am all about birthdays :)

What a difference a year makes; at this time last year we were celebrating her birthday while she was still in China. We were a month away from going to China and were so sad to be away from her on such a big day. We really tried to make her birthday special and may have gone a "bit overboard" this year but it was all good. One of our goals was to raise money for a child that needs surgery in China and donate the money through Love Without Boundaries. If you remember from a previous post our Ethan was given his life saving operation in exactly this same way. A wonderful woman by the name of Kelly Doctor and her family had a two year old birthday party for their daughter and then donated the money for his surgery as well as one of his orphanage mates. We decided to do the same thing, so our party goers were kind enough to honor our wishes and we raised over 600.00 towards the 2000.00 needed for a very special little girls surgery. If you would like to know more about Wu Hong Cai and would consider donating for her surgery please click here She was in the same orphanage as Katie was at about the same time. One of our travel mates is even considering adopting this sweet child. We were more than thrilled to be able to connect this red thread and help in any way possible.

Katie seemed a little out of sorts at the party. I chalked it up to waaaay to many people and being over stimulated but I think the problem was that she was getting sick. When we got home she started with a low grade fever and by today she was full blown ill with a temp that spiked up to 104 degrees in the late afternoon. I hope that she is feeling a bit better in the morning.

Here are some pics from the two days. On her birthday we had a quiet day and cut a cake for her and then Saturday was the big shindig...enjoy!!

I love my Elmo Medical Kit

Justin and I are checking out Daddy's throat...say aaaaaah daddy!!

No, this is not the peace sign or "V" for victory...Katie is 2 today!!!

My parents birthday gift to Katie - She liked it but can't peddle it yet. Don't ya love the Elmo helmet??!!

Happy Birthday Sweet Girl!!

I made her birthday cake and the Cookie Monster cupcakes for her party on the following day.

Cookie Monster took one for the team

Getting ready to pull the strings on the toddler Pinata

The big dive for Candy (katie is in the Elmo Shirt) She was satisfied with one lollipop :)

Katie was less than thrilled about Elmo

My dad, Elmo, Katie Starr and me

Katie's friends Hansen and Amiee liked Elmo

Katie was less than thrilled

Yeah dad, I know you like him but I will just stay here in Mama's arms!!

and the cakes kept coming.....

Just after Katie Starr's birthday comes my fathers and then mine so the cakes kep coming. We surprised my dad with one and then Marc surprised me with one. Following that we sang several renditions of Happy Birthday as there were other April Birthdays in the house.

A very happy and tired birthday girl on the ride home

Our Sweet Girl Turned Two Years Old Today!!

Katie Starr is two years old today and we can hardly believe it. She is every bit the two year old now and officially ushered this lovely stage into our lives last evening with a huge tantrum. We enjoyed every minute of it! It just proves to us yet again that she is happily ensconced into our lives and is secure as our daughter. She lets us know that whenever it is appropriate. Anyway, our hearts are full of joy today that we are the parents to this wonderful child who has surpassed every expectation that we ever held about her. We have waited a long time to share a birthday with her. We spent the day as a family, had some cake and then welcomed home her China sister Rachel this evening at the airport. I could not think of a better way to spend the this day.

Tomorrow will be her birthday party in the park. I will post pictures and commentary from her birthday after the party.

Happy Birthday Katie Starr!! We love and adore you and always will.