It's been two years since our plane landed in Kunming, China and we anxiously awaited to board the bus to take us to the Civil Affairs Office where we would be united with Marnina. We noticed her right away as she entered the room carried by one of the orphanage nannies. What we remember most is smiles.....Marnina was smiling as she was being handed to Gretchen. When Marnina first saw Matt peak out from behind the camcorder, she lit up and her smile got even bigger. Our first family photo that day had three of the biggest grins from all three of us.

It's been a busy time for our family this year as we prepare to add to our family. That's right, we've started the adoption process again (domestic adoption, any race) and are anticipating that Marnina will be a big sister some time this year. We didn't have a chance to make a new video, so enjoy the one we made for last year's celebration.

We saw Marnina's face for the first time as we accepted our referral from China.

WOW!! Has it really been two years already? Marnina has really changed a lot,but remains a "cause of joy".

But you can see from the faces below that she still looks quite similar to her referral photo.

We are so glad that Marnina was matched with our family! But we also have some sadness as we have friends who have waited much longer than us and will continue to wait a LONG time for their little one from China.

So, here is Marnina - sending cuteness, attitude, and her new favorite word "o-tay" your way...

We got this dress for Marnina last fall, but she's just now getting to wear it. Everyone loved it this morning at church. Marnina liked it, too! If you want some neat outfits (for girls - sorry boys), check out Fly Away Home Clothing. The designer is a fellow China-adoptive mom.

This afternoon we got to spent a few hours playing outside in this beautiful weather! And Marnina is finally able to pedal the tricycle by herself!! Yeah!! She still gets stuck sometimes, but she's doing great and loves to ride it outside (vs. in our kitchen and breakfast nook). But then she was being true to herself and decided that she'd rather dig in the dirt.

[Matt will insert video here]

(yes - we know she's wearing a red and a blue sock, but it was our ingenious method of helping her which foot to push when learning to ride her tricycle.)

Then it was off to the backyard for more climbing fun.

Marnina loves to collect nuts, leaves, twigs and grass in her bucket. She recently discovered that putting a nut down the slide was fun to watch and made a neat noise. But today she decided to try a different tactic...

And lastly, here are a few more cute shots from today.

I (Gretchen) have noticed that since I joined Facebook, that I haven't been as faithful in updating this blog! Sorry folks.

We spent the day in Smithfield shopping and having a picnic at a local park. Marnina loves to go shopping because she wants to "push cart". Some stores have those small, kid-sized shopping carts. We tried that once, but Marnina drives like a mad woman, weaving all over while running.

Here are some pictures from our day:

We haven't been too faithful about updating the website as of late - sorry! Not too much is going on, which is nothing to complain about! It's nice to have some "normal" days/weeks/months in the grand scheme of this life.

We got about 1" of snow over night - enough of the heavy wet stuff to bend some of our smaller trees and smush the daffodils that were already in bloom. Marnina wanted to go out and play, but we got so much rain before the snow, the yard is a muddy soup with a thin layer of cream on top.

Marnina is really in to imitating anything and everything - from words to actions. This week, Gretchen was watching the musical "Singing in the Rain" and Marnina loved the song "Make Em Laugh". You can watch that part of the musical here. She would spin, dance, jump, and fall with every move made on the screen. It was hilarious and we didn't get a chance to get the camcorder out before it was over, but here are a couple of pictures of the event.

Marnina loves to dance and does so every day. She especially like it when you dance with her. Here is a picture of her holding onto Daddy's finger as she spins around.

And lastly, she's growing like a weed. Her 2T pants are getting short and the shirt sleeves are, too. She'll be ready to move out of the crib soon as there isn't much room left for her to stretch out. She'll also be ready for the next size car seat this summer. No longer a baby...

Nothing new to report. We haven't posted pictures lately because our subject is hard to get in focus - she's always on the move.

Here are a few more pictures from Valentine's Day. She finally stood still and gave us this face, then a smile.

Oh....she does have a bad case of Cradle Cap - never had it before either. Yucky stuff. Just add this to the list of all the skin issues this poor girl has had in her short life. At least the mosquito bites on her face are diverting her attention from scratching her head!

The weather has been a bit crazy here with snow one week and several days in the 70's the next. But we sure have enjoyed spending time outside playing! We finally got most of the leaves off the ground in the backyard and we've discovered a field of nuts - acorns, hickory nuts, and who knows what else. It's a squirrel's paradise out there!

Marnina loves to pick up nuts and sticks in the backyard. She was insistent that we each have a stick to dig in the dirt under the swing set - only we found that several of the nuts have started to take root. So we made a game out of uprooting them.

Marnina is also learning how to swing in the big-kid swing. She wasn't too sure about it, but the infant swings we have are getting a little small for this growing girl.

It's been such a beautiful weekend outside. We've been watching the full moon rise over the house for a few nights now. And in case you're wondering about the cats (and there are a few of you out there), the boys are doing just fine. They both had their annual check-up last week. Clarkson gained the weight that Jasper lost. Clarkson is going to be one BIG boy. He's now two years old and is very much the rambunctious kitten we met last year. He keeps Jasper running around, plays with Marnina (usually stealing her toys off the coffee table or pulling her magnet letters off the fridge), and staying underfoot Matt & Gretchen - a typical cat!  

Today was the last day Marnina had to take her TB medicine. Praise the Lord! She has been officially treated for tuberculosis exposure. (We're assuming the exposure was from her birth parents as none of her foster sisters had a positive PPD test.)

Our amazing daughter never once complained that she had to take medicine every day for the past nine months. And our God is even more amazing. He hand-picked this one little girl from all the children in China to be our daughter, made her TB test reaction latent long enough to allow her to be adopted internationally (children with positive TB tests are deemed "unadoptable" in China), and  kept her healthy until she could be treated. She is such a precious gift to us and we are thankful to God for her everyday.

(Marnina hugging her dolls and wearing a snuggie.)

We attended the Chinese New Year Festival at the fairgrounds this morning and had a lot of fun! When we entered there was a booth with red envelopes for all the kids. Marnina was quite excited to discover a lollipop inside of hers! She snatched up with glee every red envelope she was handed, too. We were glad to see her practicing her manners, saying "Xie Xie" ("Thank you" in Mandarin) for everything she was given or helped with - and we didn't have to tell her to (most of the time).

There were plenty of craft activities for Marnina, booths selling various items and food, and lots of information on area Chinese activities (churches, language schools, etc.). And, of course, there was tons of entertainment by local Chinese-Americans: fan dances, scarf dances, drumming, dragon dances, vocal soloists, children dancing (some girls from Marnina's OAKS playgroup), and musical instrument numbers.

The previous day, Marnina saw the brochure we had on the festival and she was really looking forward to meeting the dragon from the dragon dance photo. And she did! There was a two-person dragon dancing through the crowds and a much larger dragon for the stage dance.

The snow is melting away due to high temperatures today. But the outside isn't the only thing warming up. Marnina has been running a high fever for most of the day (103+). We're hoping it will pass soon, but she spent most of the laying on the sofa or on Mama. She kept complaining of abdominal pain, saying "hurt, hurt" and pointing to her tummy while crying. Gretchen spoke with the nurse and we're just waiting to see what develops of the next 24 hours. Right now fever and complaints of pain are her only symptoms; but if the fever is still high tomorrow, a visit to the doctor will be in order. Please pray that there is nothing serious going on. With her recent history of blood in the urine, the doctor's office wants to keep a close eye on her.

She had a brief moment this afternoon that lasted twenty minutes where she moved around and played. Here are a couple of pictures from that part of our day (don't forget to look at her feet - yep, she still wears "cup shoes"):

And below is a photo of our young artist, entitled "More Flowers" by Marnina (aka "More Tso" in Marnina-ese). This is the first time she's drawn something other than scribbles and circular patterns. She drew a line and scribbled at the top, pointed to it and said "Tso", and then sniffed it saying "Mmmmm".

That's right! We got six inches of the white stuff today!

Marnina was listening to the weather forecast on the radio last night in the car and every time the meteorologist said the word "snow", there would be a very loud "SNOW!" from the back seat. When she woke up this morning, she walked into the living room and could see the snow through the back door window. She when running to it and said "Snow!! Snow!! Need boots!! Need mittens!! Need jacket!!" and took off running to find all of those items.

We didn't have a sled, but Marnina walked and fell and played for about 30 minutes before needing to head back inside. The snow was up to her knees! The wind was really blowing and the snow kept falling until well after 2:00pm. Here are some pictures from our morning.

 The neighborhood kids really love "banana boat hill" on our street when it snows!

Marnina opened one final Christmas gift after we got home from Iowa. It was a Leap Frog ClickStart computer and she loves it! There is a wireless keyboard and mouse, and a base unit that plugs into your TV. It came with several games, but we bought some more at the Target 75% off toy clearance this week (score!!!). The games all focus on learning - colors, shapes, letters, numbers, phonics, sequencing, and many more things through the use of hand-eye coordination (mouse using) and keyboarding skills.

She gets so excited when she does what the game requires! And her computer skills are developing quite fast. Look at this proper mouse technique!

We flew back home yesterday. Marnina loved to look out the window, waving and saying "Bye" to all the houses, cars, and trees. It was a crystal clear day and Gretchen and Marnina enjoyed the views (sorry, Matt!). We had strung Froot Loops on a string prior to leaving home, thinking it would be a fun activity + snack while on the airplane for Marnina. Here she is trying to figure out how to eat one.

That cats are home now, too (we boarded them for the first time, which was hard). They are glad to be home, too.

** New entries back to December 21 were entered today.**

This is the best shot we got of Marnina in her Christmas dress Sunday morning. And here is one that Matt took of Marnina, still groggy,waiting for her breakfast.

We drove around Muscatine today, taking our usual tour of the Illinois side of the Mississippi by the lock & dam. This is the best place and time of year to see bald eagles. There were quite a few flying over the river where the water was coming out of the locks. Further downstream, the river is frozen.

While out and about today, we stopped in a "Super" Menards (shout out to Grant!). Where else could you by a 2x4 and a gallon of milk? Marnina discovered that she liked pushing a shopping cart today and went with Papa up and down every aisle of this store. Here is a cute video of her playing with a mirror at the store (watch for the cheesy grin).

Another day of playing in the snow! THe snow that had fallen on Christmas Eve was dry and powdery. But there was some freezing rain overnight and it made for some good packing snow today. Marnina helped Papa build a small snowman (which melted by evening).

Gram found some window clings for Marnina to play with. Papa gave her some horse rides.

Marnina helped everyone open their gifts today. She was a bit overwhelmed with the amount of gifts (even though they were small items), we ended up saving some to open later. She got another Snap-n-Style doll, which she wanted opened immediately to play with. She also loved playing with all the puzzles she got.

After we opened gifts, there was enough time to get out and enjoy the fresh-fallen snow before extended family arrived.  Papa pulled her around the backyard on his old sleigh and she had a blast!

The temperature was in the teens, so we didn't stay out too long. Marnina definitely thought it was not long enough as she slid out of Gretchen's arms and scooted on her bottom towards the back door.

Marnina got to meet her second cousin, Kameron, this afternoon. He's a real cutie and they played really well together (when Marnina wasn't stealing his toy truck). It was a full day and she finally crashed late in the afternoon.

Marnina did great on all the flights today. We brought plenty of things for her to do, eat, and watch since we had two plane rides and a 3.5 hour layover in Atlanta. Below you can see her praying while she slept at the airport and playing, too.

It's amazing how much room a two-year-old's stuff takes up in a suitcase for just being gone a week! We decided to have our first Christmas of 2008 this morning so that we didn't have our gifts take up any room in the luggage. Marnina just loved her Fisher Price Snap-n-Style dolls. We had an awful time finding them - no local stores carried them and most online stores were out of stock. She also enjoyed playing with her Mrs. Potato Head. You can see our young Picasso's first masterpiece below.

Marnina had her first hair cut today. Her hair had finally grown long enough to make it all one length without being too short. She did really well sitting in the chair. The blow dryer was another story, but as long as she held on to her lollipops (which she chose before the haircut) she was fine.

A few other random pictures from these past few days....

No, we haven't fallen off the face of the earth! We're still here and finally have some time to update the website.

First of all, Marnina is feeling fine. She growing and adding new words to her vocabulary right and left. She's finally speaking in 2 word phrases on a consistent basis, for which we are happy! It really helps us understand what in the world she's saying sometimes!

Marnina just loves her Little People nativity set! It's the one toy she plays with every day. She pushed the angel on top of the stable and it plays "Away in a Manger". Then Marnina says, "Sing, Mama". We sing the song at least ten times in a row and she's picking up most of the words as well as some motions that we added. It's too cute!

We told her that the hay was for the animals to eat, but she thought everyone (including baby Jesus) should eat!

Her second day of playing with it and, without any prompting on our part, she arranged all the pieces like this! Pretty good!

We celebrated Matt's birthday on the 10th. Marnina wanted to wear one of Daddy's presents. Then she wanted her Dora doll to go for a ride on Clarkson. It was one of those silly days!

On the 13th, we attended Pullen Park's Holiday Express. It was so much fun - yet much colder than we anticipated. We waited in line a long time for the train, but it was well worth it. Marnina had a blast. We also played on the playground (at night in 30 degree weather) and got to see Santa. It was too cold to ride the carousel (the pole to hold on to was ice cold). Marnina screamed when we put mittens or gloves on her, so her exposed fingers were not happy with being out in the cold as long as we were. (She was wearing several layers under her coat.)

Marnina was not too sure about Santa. She preferred the snowman next to him, but we just told her to tell him how much she likes Dora. Gretchen put her on his lap and she looked up at him and said "Doh" (her word for Dora), then she was ready to get off. Matt had just enough time to snap a photo.

Just in case we don't post again before the 25th, have a Merry Christmas!

Marnina is doing fine - we have seen no symptoms that the doctor told us to look for, so we're just going to trust the Lord and wait.

This past week has been very busy for us in many ways. Shout out to Dan & Leslie - Happy Anniversary!

On Saturday, we attended Joe & Rhonda's wedding. It was a beautiful ceremony and reception. Marnina did great throughout and we brought lots to keep her busy and content. Most of the other little ones were getting cranky and tired, but Marnina stayed up, partied and danced until almost 9:30pm. And she was wide awake the entire hour long car trip home - well, she conked out 5 minutes from home!

We had a quiet Thanksgiving at home this year. There are so many things to be thankful for, we don't have time to list them all. But the top of our list is being thankful for God who, in His mercy, adopted us into His family (Ephesians 1:5).

Lastly, below are a few miscellaneous pictures from this week:

Daddy-back riding, her new favorite game. The shirt says "Thankful for Mommy."

  "Happy Thanksgiving to all my friends and family!!!"

Finally go the pediatrician to call (from home on her day off). She said that the ultrasound was negative on all counts - no kidney stones, no tumors, no visual obstruction of the kidneys function. That's great news! But, now we're left with an unexplained reason for blood in her urine. This is what I was most worried about. But the doctor doesn't want to re-test her for another 6 months or later (when she's no longer in diapers). That seems like an awful long time to wait to see if this will resolve on it's own or if there is something that was missed. We're to keep an eye on her for any abdominal pain and vomiting. If that occurs, then she'll have a CT scan to see if she's passing a stone.

So, good news but we're still a bit uneasy about not having any answers for why it's happening. Pray that we'll either have peace with the pediatrician's advice to wait or that the Lord will lay it heavy on our hearts to seek a second opinion.

Thanks for praying!

The ultrasound went smoothly this afternoon. Marnina was a great patient and the radiology tech was very sweet with her. We're still waiting for the pediatrician to call us with the results and any next steps we will need to take.

In the meantime, we'll post some pictures from this past week.

Marnina walking in Mama's shoes.       We love the funky tights!

Marnina's cute sleep positions (notice the sock in the hair (L) and the behind in the air (R))

Climbing the big Lego steps at Marbles Kid's Museum.      Wearing her new favorite hat.

Being silly at dinner after the ultrasound.

BTW...We celebrated our 9^th wedding anniversary on the 13^th. Thanks to our neighbors and their girls for providing us with a child-free evening.

The pediatrician called this evening with Marnina's lab work. ALL of her urine and blood work came back normal, which is good. So, I asked what this ultrasound on Monday will be looking for. She said that we'll still be looking for the number, shape, size of the kidneys and ureters, but that she's primarily looking for the Wilm's tumor. She also mentioned that kidney stones may or may not show up on the ultrasound depending on their size. I asked if the tumor would have shown up in any of the lab work, and she said "no". The ultrasound results should be faxed to the pediatrician, so we could hear something by Monday evening or Wednesday at the latest.

So, it looks like we're looking at three possibilities: unexplained hematuria (blood in the urine), kidney stones (due to melamine exposure), or a Wilm's tumor. And now we wait...

Gretchen writing:

The background story (two weeks ago):

Due to the Chinese tainted milk scandal, I took Marnina in to be tested for melamine poisoning/exposure. The pediatrician was okay doing a urine analysis, but seemed to really not be interested in testing since Marnina wasn't having any problems. The urine analysis came back with "1+blood", a small amount of red blood cells in the urine. The pediatrician thought that the lab nurse probably just cleaned her too vigorously and wanted to do a repeat urine analysis in two weeks.

This morning:

Marnina had her repeat urine analysis this morning. We were all expecting it to come back clear, and it didn't. The pediatrician said there was a LOT of red blood cells (3+blood) in her urine and was now concerned because she has "Hematuria" (blood in the urine). So, on to testing for what is causing it. They took a few vials of blood this morning to test for a variety of things (BUN, creatine, calcium, electrolytes, and lupus). I'm waiting for the referral specialist to schedule a renal (kidney) ultrasound. The pediatrician said that the ultrasound was for finding out the shape and size of the kidneys, the number of kidneys (she said it's possible she only has one), to see if there are any stones present and how many, and to check the outside of the kidneys for a tumor. The pediatrician said that if it weren't for the melamine issue, she wouldn't even consider stones a possibility, but that she's more concerned about a possible malignant tumor that occurs in children age 2-5, which is very treatable if caught early enough.

Wow. That was a whole lot of information that I was unprepared to hear today. I just wanted to know if she had kidney stones! It's possible that there is no underlying cause for the blood in her urine. It's possible that it could be a complicated UTI. Or it's possible that things could be really bad inside of Marnina's little body.

The bloodwork won't be back until Friday at the earliest, but I'm hoping to hear something on Monday. And we're still waiting for the ultrasound appointment.

The pediatrician did say that if they couldn't find what was causing the blood in the urine that they would send us to see a Nephrologist at UNC for further study.

Philippians 4:6-7 - "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

Marnina woke up in the middle of the night with some nasty chest congestion and sniffles. Gretchen stayed up with her from about 1-2 this morning. So, Marnina was in a clingy mood this morning - but not for Mama. You can see from the photos that the Mama has been replaced.

This afternoon she did perk up when Chloe came over to play while the mom's (and Fran) had their weekly Bible Study. 

Tomorrow, we take Marnina in for a repeat urine analysis to test for the Chinese melamine poisoning issue. The first test came back "1+blood" (whatever that means). But obviously, it was enough to want to run the test again to see if everything is okay. Pray that the results would be clear this time - one way or the other - so that we now how to proceed.

Yeah - let's clap for Gram on her  **st  Birthday!! (number edited out)

Sending hugs to Iowa and we'll see you soon!

We've been super busy over the past couple of weeks and are looking forward to having some low-key days over the long Thanksgiving weekend (hopefully). In the meantime, here are a few short stories since our last entry:

Marnina is slowing discovering how to play with dolls. She usually has only tolerated giving a doll a hug and then hands it back to us holding the doll by the toes with two fingers and an "eewww" face saying, "Done." But now that we have a Dora doll, things are different. She brushes her hair, makes her walk on the floor, takes her for rides in a car, pretends to go night-night with her under a blanket and has tea. What a difference! She still prefers to play with puzzles, build with blocks, and dig in the dirt - so don't think she's too girly!

She still likes to wear hats. One night this week, she was in her pajamas and insisted on wearing a hat until bedtime. We captured some strange new faces, too.

On Friday, we went to a park in Cary with the OAKS group (Our Asian Kids). Marnina made fast friends with the other girls, especially Zoe (whose mom took the pictures below - thanks!). Marnina had some trouble with stealing other kid's toys; but, thankfully, there were only two meltdowns.

(Notice how wet and dirty Marnina's backside is? She was the first kid down a slide that was in a shady area of the park. It was full of water and she was soaked! She had a change of clothes in the diaper bad, but she was just going to get dirty again - so we changed her before we got back in the car later.)

Saturday evening we had dinner with the same OAKS group. Our socialite daughter was running wild all over the place! She pulled all of the sticks off the ring toss game and ran with them most of the night.

And lastly, this is a birthday outfit from Grandma. She kept pointing to her pocket saying "Kitty". 

Marnina looked real cute in her Mulan dress today.

Such a pretty dress for a pretty girl.

We went to our neighborhood's Fall Festival this afternoon and it was a flop (as most of the events are). We did get a pumpkin and Marnina had fun playing in a gravel driveway. There was supposed to be a pizza dinner, but the pizza never showed. At least it was a beautiful day and Marnina had fun (playing by herself).

Mama finally let Marnina eat one of her lollipops.

Marnina was dressed as Winnie the Pooh this year. We attended the Hallelujah Hootenanny at Highland Baptist Church....and WOW, did they put on a show! There were at least 50 games to play, several inflatable things (moon bounce, slides, etc.), free food, musical entertainment, hayrides, and family photos. We had a great time!! It took Marnina a few times, but she quickly caught on that when we said "next" that meant we were going to play another game and get more candy. Marnina doesn't really eat candy, but she loves lollipops for some reason. Just holding them is a treat for her!

Most of the games were geared for children older than two, but Marnina just did her own thing. When the game was to toss hula-hoops around a pumpkin, she did it in reverse (she retrieved the hula-hoops the previous kid had tossed and brought them back). When she was supposed to hit the edge of a lever to get the toy frog to fly, she wanted to hit the frog (and did - we have video to prove it).

Her favorite games were the water and sand games. She was quite upset when it was time to leave; but before we left, she took an inventory of all her winnings to make sure she still had all her lollipops.

(She said "Honey Pot" several times throughout the night to count her lollipops.)

We spent the entire day at the NC Zoo today and had a great time as a family observing all of God's creation. Marnina didn't go all crazy like she did at the aquarium, but she did recognize most of the animals and wore herself out by the afternoon.

It was so amazing that most of the animals were very close-up and active by the observation areas. We had been reading book, coloring pictures, and working puzzles of all the animals that we were going to see to help Marnina recognize them once we got to the Zoo. It took Marnina several seconds to actually put it all together when she saw the animals, but she did point and say their names. When pointing to the elephants, she add "Big!" When she would see two of a particular animal, she would say "Mama. Baby" How cute!

  Notice the sign?

She loved to climb on all the boulders and statues throughout the zoo (and there were many).

Marnina did a LOT of walking.             We asked if she was having fun.

We saw many other animals in the zoo, but Marnina just loved the monkeys. With each one she saw, she would put her hands under her armpits and say "Ooo-Ooo-Ah-Ah." When we left one exhibit of monkeys she would wave goodbye, blow kisses, and say "More me" (more monkeys in Marnina-ese).

    This is his nose.

And after all the walking, looking at animals, and playing...

...she fell asleep while we were waiting for the Zoo tram to take us to the Prairie exhibit. She was so out that you could lift her arm up the in the air and drop it (five times) and she wouldn't even flinch. (Yes, Matt did that.)

We were just looking through some pictures and noticed just how much Marnina has changed in the past year. Compare the photos below and see for yourself!

October 18, 2007                                     October 11, 2008

Well, we've been doing a lot of research and it looks like the recent news about the Chinese formula that was tainted with melamine is not just a recent issue. Children adopted from China back in 2005 are showing up with kidney stones, but clear blood work - all after have no symptoms of illness. This article explains best what is going on with the melamine issue. Marnina is scheduled for some lab work next week, so we'll let you know what our pediatrician says.

Marnina is doing great. Gretchen has a sinus infection. Matt is working a lot. 

Here are some pics from today:

Marnina calls the tent-shaped house her "snack house" because she ate her afternoon snack in it several weeks ago. The name stuck. Below are some pictures from tonight's playtime in the Snack House.

Marnina going in the tent through the side door. 

Clarkson was invited for a tea party.

Daddy shows up as an unexpected guest.

This Snack House is so much fun!!

"Ball-Ball" is Marnina-ese for 'football'. She's always a good sport about changing into 'appropriate' clothing after church for the games, although she can get a bit scared when Daddy plays his CD of panther growls and touchdown music.

Marnina took her daily spin on the tricycle this evening and is starting to get the hang of pushing the pedals, but still needs us to help. She loves to wave 'hi' to the parent not pushing her around the house (Gretchen, who took advantage of Daddy being home to push). 

And because yesterday's time in the box was so much fun, she had to do it again. We thought she wanted to play bowling. Ha! 

This time she kept some of the bowling stuff in the box with her.

  Ah....now she's relaxed!

What is it with kids and boxes? Marnina loves to stand and/or sit in any box or box-like thing she can find. All the containers for her toys are fair game. Once the toys have been dumped on the floor, the first thing she does is climb in. And sometimes, she doesn't remove the toys first! Below are some pictures from today's box choice.

See the bowling set scattered on the floor?  

She says "See" when she looks through this beach ball (a 50 cent clearance item at K-Mart). After the ball was blown up, she spent the first 15 minutes looking at things through the clear part of the ball. She was just fascinated by it.

These lacing beads have been the best quarter we ever spent. Now, the string that the beads go on has been played with by the cats one too many times, so now we have just beads until a replacement string is purchased. 

Marnina loves to play with these beads as play food. They are just the right size to fit in a spoon, fill a cooking pot, etc. And there have been so many activities we've come up with for these beads, too. We sort them by colors, count them out (all together or by color), move them one bead at a time via spoon from container to container, stir them in cups/pots/bowls/etc., and pour them in and out of any container we can find (empty wipes tub, laundry basket, empty kleenex box, ziploc bag, you name it - we've used it. And it's been a great way to practice colors and counting. We're amazed at how much she continues to grow and change daily.

She's saying, "Blue!" in this picture, as there is a blue bear bead in her spoon.

She loves it when we sit at the table with her and share in a "meal" or move the beads from our cup to hers one spoonful at a time. She also loves to play the matching game. We'll pull out a green bead and she'll find one in her cup and put it on the spoon and say "Match!"

Marnina had several comments today on her cat dress. Gretchen found it at a consignment sale back in January and it reminded her of Cheezit (the day after we put her down). Marnina loved her sparkly gold shoes and said "Ooooo! Shoe!" several times before we left for church.

And the dress is size 2T. See how short it already is on her just-turned-two body?

Do you remember Super Grover from Sesame Street? Well, Marnina loves to be Super Marnina. A hand towel is tucked into her shirt at the back of the neck. Then she raises her arms and says, "Su!" (aka Super). She runs around the room with her arms upraised. Then she wants us to lift her up and 'fly' her around the room.

Marnina just loves her Sit 'n Spin. She's able to twist around pretty good by herself now. But she especially likes it when Daddy spins the seat for her really fast. She falls off a lot, but laughs the entire ride. Below are a few pictures from this morning's spin-out.

We set up part of her tent & tunnel set from Gram & Grandpa tonight. Marnina had a blast playing in it and crawling through the tunnel. We forgot to set it up during today's neighborhood playgroup, but we're sure it will be a hit (as long as Marnina is in the mood to share). 

It wasn't too long before she pointed to the floor inside the tent and said "Mama. Seat." We each took a turn playing in the tent house with her.

Once we vacated the tent, Marnina got really upset and kept pulling on our hands while pointing to the tent. But in the end, she invented a game to play. She put one of her play kitchen items in a ziploc bag, said "Snack. House" and went inside the tent to 'eat'. She did this for about 20 minutes with all her kitchen items from a lettuce leaf to the pepper shaker. We're just excited that she's starting to say several two word combinations in one breath - aka a toddler sentence!

Marnina is still loving her kitty backpack from cousin Hannah (and her Aunt & Uncle). She likes to walk around the house saying "backpack". Thanks to Dora she knows several new words.

FOOTBALL!!!

We had fun this morning with Chloe & her Mama. The girls ran wild for a while and then settled into playing at the coffee table (which is more a play table than anything in our house). In this picture, the girls are taking one bead at a time on the spoon and transferring them from container to container. Toddler heaven!

For those who haven't spent much time with Marnina, she can be very loud. Her laugh is loud. Her crying is loud. Her screaming (of course) is ear piercing. And her "I'm having fun" scream/squeal/laugh is especially LOUD!!! We're trying to work on the volume with little success. You can't hear a picture, but just imagine what you'd hear when you see this...

But now, we're working on this...

"Shhhh"

Marnina got a bowling set for her birthday (in addition to many other things). She's playing with it every day.

(She decided that she wanted to be closer to the pins.)

And here is a cute picture from a few days ago...

...she's dancing in her hip outfit from Uncle Dan & Aunt Leslie.

Marnina had her 2-year check-up today and she was pronounced completely healthy for the first time! She hasn't been sick in a while, so we're very thankful for that! She is over half-way through her positive TB test medicine, so only four more months to go! Here are her two-year stats:

Height: 34.5"

Weight: 25lb 14oz

That puts her at the 90th percentile for height on the China growth charts and she fell to the 75th percentile on the American growth charts. For weight, she's at the 90th percentile on the China growth charts but only 45th percentile on the American growth charts. And for head circumference, she's at the 90th percentile on the China growth charts and 60th percentile onthe American growth charts. It's interesting to see the differences! Either way you look at it, she's growing and is staying tall and slim (with a small belly developing since she eats a LOT).

Oh, and since the old wives tale is that you'll grow up to be twice your two-year height, Marnina will be about 5' 9.5" tall when she stops growing. Yes.....Gretchen will be looking up to her one day. 

We took Gram & PaPa back to the airport this morning. Marnina was fussy all day because she knew something was up. She misses them already!

Our little girl is turning two years old today.

No longer a baby, but a fully independent toddler on the run!

Happy Birthday, Marnina!!

Love, 

MaMa & Daddy

Marnina has also learned how to open gifts. She was a little hesitant at first, but once she discovered there was stuff inside that she wanted (i.e. Dora, socks, etc.) she screamed - yes, screamed - with excitement and grabbed her gifts. Here are a few pictures from today's fun.

Gram & PaPa gave Marnina a kids camping set. There are two tents and a tunnel that connects them. Notice that the adults (Daddy & PaPa) are having fun in the tent before Marnina even gets there!

Gretchen's parents arrived today and we spent the afternoon at Pullen Park. Gram & PaPa (what Marnina calls her Grandpa) rode the train and the carousel after our picnic lunch and playground adventures.

Now, Marnina has preferred her PaPa over Gram for the past year; so when Marnina got into her pajamas and climbed up to snuggle with Gram, we were all pretty excited!

Marnina discovered Dora two weeks ago when we bought her a DVD. She had been recognizing the character's picture on commercials, in the stores, and on her yogurt cups for a while now. But since we don't have cable or satellite, we don't get Dora on TV. She will sit mesmerized for the entire 24 minute episodes and says "more" as the credits roll.

Gretchen took her to one of the many Toddler Times at the local library this week and it did not go well. Marnina used to be able to sit and read book for hours, but she's too active now. The 20 minutes of reading and finger plays were a bit much for her. She'd much rather jump for those 20 minutes at Stacy Clearman's Little Land at a local coffee house.

But we did manage to find some Dora books, so the entire morning wasn't wasted!

About 3 nights per week, we find tree frogs on our back door. The sheer curtain lets a lot of light outside, so there are many bugs there for the frogs to eat. This past week, Marnina discovered these frogs. Now, before we can put her down to sleep for the evening, she has to check the back door for frogs. But she won't go alone because she's scared. So, we've been taking turns walking her to the back door to look for frog friends. Here is a photo of her saying, "Night-Night" and giving kisses (yes, kisses) the one of the frogs.

Every once in a while, Marnina wakes up with a stuffy and runny nose. She sneezes throughout the day and has trouble breathing. Gretchen did dust the entire living room yesterday, so perhaps that stirred up something for Marnina. Anyway, when Marnina is like this, she just wants to be a snuggle-bunny.

In addition to being a snuggle-bunny most of the day, she just had to carry these baskets around with her everywhere she went - including the snuggle time.

And here are two more pictures of Marnina being silly today...

  "Oh" was what she said when she did this.

  Another good place for a basket is on your head. Don't you just love the pose?

Marnina still loves it when Daddy comes home from work. They wrestle, tickle, read, run, and have so much fun doing it all. Here is a picture of Marnina pretending to "go night-night" (or trying to) just like Daddy (who is pretending so that she can wake him up - another fun game).

The Carolina Panthers played their first regular season game this afternoon against the San Diego Chargers - and won!! Yahoo!! Here are some pictures from today:

Are you ready for some football??

Can this girl cop an attitude or what?!?! 

Kickin' it with Daddy during the big game

This past Monday, Marnina found this hat in her room and decided that she needed to wear it all day, everywhere - in the car, shopping at the outlet mall in 90+ degree heat, etc. And, as a result, she has a rash on her face from being so hot combined with the fabric being pulled over her face over and over (playing peek-a-book) most of the car ride home. Sigh...The hat says "Girls are cool", but the hat is not!

Today was a rainy day, so we had playtime inside. Daddy pushed Marnina around the house on her tricycle as her legs are still a bit too short to reach the pedals for the full rotation needed to propel the tricycle. She loves going for a ride. And yes....she found another hat to wear. At least this one is cotton!

We've been cooped up in the house most of the week, so it was nice to get out this weekend. We took Marnina to a local mall and let her walk the entire place. There was a play area for young kids as well as a carousel, which Marnina enjoyed. She's still not crazy about the horses (loves to look, just not ride - even a stationary horse), but liked to ride the coach seats that moved back and forth.

The play area was sponsored by the local NBC station. "And now in sports, the Carolina Panthers are headed to Super Bowl XLIII."

Gretchen bought Marnina some lacing beads for a quarter at a yard sale this weekend and it's her new favorite toy. She's played with everyday (75% of the day) for a week. We showed her how to lace them by herself the first night. The next day, she was able to do it all by herself. It's also nice to have another "toy" that she can play with by herself for a considerable amount of time so Gretchen can get a few things done around the house during the day!

Marnina has been enjoying the simple things today. No expensive toys or TV show. Just a box and a pair of shoes.

Yesterday, Marnina wanted to go outside and swing. When Matt took her outside, she decided that she'd rather just squat in the grass and pick up leaves and acorns. Well - she didn't have any bug spray on, so she's now covered from scalp to ankles in bug bites. And in typical Marnina fashion, she's scratched them until they have bled. She loves her 10 band-aids ("stee bing" in Marnina-ese, we think she's saying sticker and band-aid). 

Here are some pictures of Marnina dancing and just being herself before church this morning.

Gretchen saw this neat item on another blog and asked her Dad if he could build one. And he did!! Marnina just loves to help out in the kitchen now and is learning how to climb up into the Kitchen Helper by herself (but still needs some help). The oval steps in the side allow her to climb up to the platform. And the safety rails give her security and something to hold on to. Here are a few pictures of her making chocolate pudding yesterday.

If you want to know more about the Kitchen Helper, email us.

Thanks, Grandpa, for another great item for Marnina!!

In case you didn't know....Gretchen is feeling much better. Marnina ended up sick on Sunday and Matt was sick soon after that. Now that the stomach bug has run it's course through our family, we're glad to be rid of it!!

Here are some pictures today of Marnina in yet another new outfit. She waist is starting to fill out enough to actually wear 18M size bottoms without them falling off (with the help of her diaper). 

We had to buy a new pair of sandals for her since her toes were creeping over the edge of her size 5's. It will be warm enough to wear sandals here for at least 6-8 more weeks (plus, Gretchen found a $3 pair of Dora sandals that light up - which Marnina just loves!!). 

Here's one more picture from today - playing with a train. She loves to say "choo-choo"!

(For those of you who know Little People and trains, Marnina found an interesting place for Maggie to sit. Talk about hot cross buns!)

We're still trying to figure out which hand Marnina will end up using as her predominant one. She uses a spoon with her left much better than her right, but draws and colors with her right much better than her left. Hmmm...

Here she is hard at work to color every square inch of the magnadoodle.

Marnina has really enjoyed using a spoon like a big girl. Even when she's just eating finger foods, she'd rather put the food on the spoon to eat it. So, for dinner we had meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and green beans. She took a spoonful of mashed potatoes and placed a green bean (which she calls "bean bean") on top. Once the green bean is pushed into the potatoes, it sticks without falling off as she twists the spoon upside down before putting it in her mouth. Yummy?? Marnina seems to think so!

No, not Marnina....it's Gretchen who is sick today. But here is a photo of Marnina cheering her up. Marnina loves to wear hats; so, when one couldn't be found, her shorts did just fine.

We're still going through the anxiety stage with Marnina - crying, screaming, waking up at night. But here are a few pictures from today's time of cuteness:

Also, please pray for this sweet family who are a living testimony of praising God through suffering. Their first-born son came into this world on August 9th, but stayed only a few seconds before returning to the arms of Jesus.

It was such a beautiful day today so we spent the morning at Pullen Park. If you're in the Raleigh area and have kids, Pullen Park between downtown and NC State University is a great place!

(She still doesn't like to play on the play structures - just swing & slide right now)

There's a large area for the playground (separate ones for big and little kids), miles of walking trails, picnic areas, beautiful landscaping, and rides for only $1 each! It's a great way to find out if your kids will do well riding amusement park rides or rides at the State Fair. Marnina will not be riding those rides any time soon! Good thing about Pullen Park is that if your kid doesn't want to ride the ride after you've given your ticket to the attendant, you'll get it back if you get off. And the tickets never expire and are good on any ride.

Gretchen took Marnina on the carrousel back in March and she did NOT like it! This time, she tolerated being on the horse for the first few turns of the ride (while holding on to Daddy), but then Matt had to hold her the rest of the ride.

We tried the kiddie boats, too (six boats in a waist-high fountain that go in a circle). She FREAKED out when we put her in it (not a huge surprise).

The train is always a big hit because the adults can ride, too. The train goes all through the park and over the pond where the paddle boats are. There are a lot of flowers and ducks to look at along the way, too. All of the rides last for a decent amount of time so you get your dollar's worth out of them.

(Practicing her touchdown pose for the Carolina Panthers pre-season game tonight)

Marnina is in one of those phases (we're not ready to say it's an attachment regression yet - though it looks like it). She's whiny, clingy, and fussy throughout the day. We've ruled out fever, illness, too hot/cold, teeth, diapers, etc. She gets really upset when one of us leaves the room. She hates being in her crib and has cried and screamed enough over the past three weeks to become hoarse again. This is the third time since she's been home with us that she's losing her voice due to excessive screaming/crying. And we're so worn out that we can't remember what we did the last two times to "fix" it. She's fine as long as she is with us and being held. She still loves to play with other kids and had no problems in the church nursery today (with the exception of leaving her there). She wakes up several times a night, too. Please pray that we'll have wisdom and patience in dealing with Marnina during this phase she's going though.

Anyway, here are a couple of photos from today.

She really likes all of the wooden puzzles she has and is really good at them as well as naming the pieces and making the sounds.

She's been on this tricycle a few times, but won't keep her feet on the pedals unless we keep telling her to. But she really loves to ride it while we're pushing it.

Marnina just loved trying on her new dresses. When we were done, more clothes were brought out of the closet so the fashion show could continue. We ordered two dresses from Jen of FlyAwayHomeClothing.com and they are just BEAUTIFUL!!! Check out her website for more patterns - she is so talented and has the cutest things! (Please ignore the changing table in the background of the photos.)

On the way to dinner tonight, we drove through some of the Great Smokey Mountains National Park.

Dinner was supposed to be our last activity as a group, but no one wanted the weekend to end so soon. So, we all headed back to the hotel and hung out on the front porch so the girls could play again. We hung out well past 9:30p.m. and the girls were still not tired.

At dinner, we didn't have too much opportunity to visit with folks, but we did get some pictures of Marnina and Hannah together.

It was pouring rain all morning, so we went to the Ripley's Aquarium. Marnina just loves fish, so we knew she'd have a good time. We have TONS of pictures and video, so here are just a few photos from this morning:

We got to Pigeon Forge, TN about 3:30 this afternoon, but it took us over 45 minutes to go 3 miles due to the heavy traffic. It was six lanes of stop and crawl through traffic lights. Whew - it's crazy in this small town!

The conference room of the hotel was just the right size for all the girls to play and the parents to chit chat. Since Gretchen was sick for the entire stay in Beijing, she didn't really get a chance to get to know the folks in our travel group (especially those who traveled to a difference province than us to get our daughters), so it was a bit awkward at the beginning. We all had a great time - though, Marnina had the best time of all. She hit the ground running and never looked back! There were only a few issues with her teasing (offering a toy and not giving it, which is typical Marnina), but overall she did really well in sharing toys with the other kids! We were just amazed to watch her roam the room and play with every kid there throughout the evening. Debbie & Rick (and family) did a great job coordinating everything and we owe them many thanks!

Here are some pictures from the Friday night party:

This weekend we're in Pigeon Forge, TN for a reunion with some of the families that we traveled with to China last year.

One of the rest areas we stopped at along the way was right next to some pasture where cows were grazing. Marnina had a blast counting the cows, waving, saying "Hi", and moo-ing to them!

Marnina had her first real experience with stickers today. She just loved putting them on the paper, but soon discovered that it was pretty neat to wear them, too. They were on her arms, then face, then legs. She made Gretchen get all the stickers off the paper somehow so she could put them on, literally. Here are a few pictures:

Gretchen tried to take the crib bumper off of the crib today (as one of the ties came off), but Marnina just pitched a fit when it was bedtime. She usually sleeps curled up in the corner, so she could tell the difference (even in the dark) without it being there. She also lost her sock through the crib slats and it fell to the floor. So, Gretchen did a rush sewing job and Marnina was back in a bumper-ed crib by 9:00p.m. Whew!

We also had Holly & Joel over for dinner this evening. We met them back in 2006 when we were all thinking we were in the middle of our wait to adopt from China. Our wait is over, but Holly & Joel still have at least another year before holding their little one. So, when you think about it, offer up a prayer on their behalf that the wait will pass by quickly! Marnina just loved the bubble blowing dog that they brought her!! It's in the living room now (as Gretchen is a BAD manual bubble blower). Marnina is learning how to help blow the bubbles by pulling the trigger. She can't decide which she would rather do - help blow the bubbles or run after them!

Sarah Bee's Children's Wear (at 40/42) is going out of business and we stopped by for some bargains today. Our big find was an ice blue fish necklace. To say Marnina LOVED it would be an understatement!! She had the biggest grin on her face the entire ride home as she held the fish pendant in her hand. She asks to wear it everyday!

Marnina just loved the different newspaper hats her Daddy made for her today.

**Note: Several blog entries with pictures have been added going back to June 28, so be sure to scroll down and check them out.**

Marnina has been trying to climb onto the furniture for a while now, but everything is too high for her. She's gotten practice at friend's homes with stairs, but our lone step in and out of the living room is not very much fun for her.

So, we brought in a step stool and she can now climb where she wants to. She lugs the step stool around from sofa to the loveseat to the chair. She likes to sit on the sofa with a couple of books and read to herself. We've started pointing to the words on the page as we read and she's imitating us when she reads by herself, pointing and "reading" out loud. 

And now, we're trying to teach her not to walk on the furniture. Go figure...

We got Marnina a kitchen set this week (from Craigslist - a great resource). To say that she LOVES it would be an understatement! We set it up in the dining room as there are too many toys in the living room as it os. The dining room location also provides Marnina something to play with while Gretchen makes dinner or washes dishes. Since the kitchen is not available for her to play with all the time (aka in the living room), it makes it a special toy and her enjoyment of it is that much greater. She gets so excited when it's time to play with the kitchen.

What's especially neat is that when Marnina gets food on all the plates, she folds her hands and says "pray." She had to pray before eating each thing and it's so cute. And she likes it when Mama and Daddy join her for a 'meal' that she's prepared (usually just cookies).

Marnina looked so cute in her outfit today. She likes to wear jewelry, so here she is with a few bracelets and pig tails. Her hair is really getting long!

It's been one year since we first held Marnina, our cause of joy. Please celebrate with us and watch the video of our first year together.

Here are our favorite pictures from Marnina's Portrait Innovations summer photo collection. The dress is courtesy of Mr. & Mrs. Maher. Isn't she beautiful?

We spent the evening with our friends Kenneth & Tania and their daughter, Chloe, at their new house (closer to us - yeah!). Chloe & Marnina are now able to recognize each other right away when they meet and get excited, jumping and squealing with delight. The girls really like playing together and it's so cute to see them dance and hug.

They also had fun in the wading pool.

They both started out with dry hair, but each took a turn dumping water on the other when they weren't looking.

Marnina looks really good in brown, as we discovered today. The pictures don't do it justice, but Gretchen found a 5-pack of onesies at a Carter's outlet 70% off that had lots of brown colors on them. Here are a few pictures from today.

Here is one of Marnina "patting the Bible", as she's learned to do in Sunday School.  And one of Marnina and Clarkson checking out the backyard for something interesting to watch.

Nothing much new is going on here, so we're just posting a few tidbits and photos. Here is Marnina is an outfit that Angie P. sent from Iowa for Marnina's baby shower. She truly is "Heaven Sent", but I'm not too sure about the halo - especially with her mischievous behavior lately. It's also time to child proof the door knobs (she was scratching up her legs again, so we had to put pants on her).

She still loves to put strange things on her feet and walk around with them, but at least she's got one real shoe on this time.

My Daddy & Me

(Notice the shirt: "My Dad is the MAN") 

At 21 months old, Marnina is in that stage between being a baby and being an independent toddler. She still loves to sit in your lap and read books for 20 minutes, but she really likes to be able to do things without help. Her vocabulary is exploding and her physical abilities are growing, too.

Stats:
Height: 33"
Weight: 23lb.
Clothes: 18-24 months
Shoes: 5

Favorites

Book: Goodnight Moon. Coming in a close 2nd would be any of her other books (Eight Silly Monkeys, Curious George Goes Fishing, Toddlerobics, anything with music and lift-the-flap books - just to name a few).

Toy: Melissa & Doug's Girl Dress-Up Mix-n-Match wooden peg puzzle. She's able to put all the pieces in by herself in the right place in less than a minutes. Other daily played with items are stacking cups, Little People doll house, a spoon, a Tupperware container, a Ziploc bag, Dixie cups, and an empty toilet paper tube. (So, why do we continue to buy her toys??)

Song: Ring Around the Rosie. She recently discovered that she can spin around and does it throughout the day, falling down with laughter. She's not too particular about her music. She can even be seen dancing in the shopping cart to whatever music is playing at the grocery store!

Food: All things carbohydrates - potatoes, pasta, bread, oatmeal, fish crackers, graham crackers, etc. She is also a big meat eater - ham, turkey, chicken, and beef. Let's not forget yogurt, cottage cheese, green beans, pickles, and ALL fruits (grapes & bananas are her favorites).

TV Show: Curious George, Super Why, Word World, and Ni Hao, Kai-Lan. Yes, we let her watch TV (not all the shows, everyday). She's also a very imaginative and smart little girl!

Outdoor Activity: It's a toss up between (1) swinging, (2), sliding (the higher the slide the better), and (3) just running wild.

Indoor Activity: Reading books and blowing bubbles. If our lungs could take it, Marnina would be in heaven with us blowing bubbles 24/7. She squeals with delight as each set of bubbles fly through the air. She announces "Bubbles!" with a deep, loud voice and a very serious expression on her face. She likes to pop them between her hands, stomp them with her feet, and try to catch them in a bucket (only to look in the bucket and say "no", as in where'd they go?).

Bed Time

After taking her medicine (we're starting month 3 of 9), she says goodnight to the kitties and we brush her teeth. The LullaBible CD starts to play. She sleeps with the same pink blanket we took with us to China as well as a sock. And she still sucks her thumb.

Mental Development

Marnina can recognize the letters "O", "E", and "B" on sight. She can tell the difference between circles and triangles most of the time, too. She can stay focused for almost 30 minutes with a toy she really likes. To list all the words she can say now would take quite a while. But we're entering the phase of two-syllable words that are not the same sound. She's got "Daddy", "Bible", "Turtle", "Apple" and "Bubble" down pat. In just the past few days, her word for sock has changed from "Zho" to "Saw" and Elmo has changed from "Eh-O" to "Eh-mo". Today, she put two words together - "night-night bed". She's changing so much every day.

Personality

Marnina loves to laugh and is so silly with her facial expressions and the things she comes up with to do (like stand on her head and talk to us upside-down; or walk with Dixie cups on her feet).

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She loves to be around people - the park is one of her favorite places because she likes to see other kids. She walks up to them and says "Hi" in the sweet, little voice.

She's also very adventurous. She wants to try all the playground equipment, especially the tallest, steepest slide on the premises (6' high is the tallest she's been on). In a group of adults, she loves to be the center of attention and will warm up to a new face in just a few minutes. She loves both of our cats and terrorizes them non-stop. She likes to pet them, chase them, talk to them, hug them, try to give them her toys, and put shoes on their feet. She also likes dogs, birds and fish.

Then, there's her love of music. This girl has some pretty amusing dance steps that we've affectionately called "The Marnina Shuffle". The dance is comprised of three basic moves: (1) The Clap and Sway. she flings her arms from one side to the other really fast. Sometimes her head is also moving. When she does this in her car seat, she actually bounces off the sides - it's hilarious and yet to be captured on video. (2) The Spin. And our favorite, (3) The Sumo-Stomp. Think about how sumo wrestlers start their match. Marnina widens her stance and then lifts her left foot up a little and stomps it back down on the floor. Then she lifts her right foot WAY up in the air and stomps it back down. She repeats this (always with the right knee going up higher) and sways back and forth. Combine all three moves together and it makes for quite the show! This video doesn't show all her moves, but it's as close as we've come to getting them all in one shot.

Marnina is a mama's girl most of the time. But when Matt comes home, she's so excited and wide open until bedtime. It's like she saves up 50% of her energy to use during the last 90 minutes of her day with Daddy. This past week, she actually had a conversation with Daddy on the phone, which was a first for her.

The name Marnina is Hebrew for "cause of joy". And our Marnina is just that.

We're working on a long blog post which should be up by the end of the week. In the meantime, here are some pictures:

Marnina's Gram & Grandpa have been married for 40 years!!

Happy Anniversary!!

We've been having trouble with Marnina drinking enough milk. So, Matt finally pulled out a straw and the novelty of it all worked! She drank every last drop and wanted more. It's worked for a few days, too. Marnina loves it! So, good thinking, Daddy!

Marnina has discovered crayons. She found a box in her room and Gretchen found her some paper and showed her how they work. She has a blast and colored (scribbled and made dots) for about 20 minutes. She kept saying "More" and wanted all the crayons on her tray, not just the ones she was using. We're still trying to figure out if she's going to be right- or left-handed. Gretchen says that Marnina will be left-handed, but Matt is saying right. She feeds herself with her left and right, so who knows.

Matt's mom stopped by for a visit today. We played outside on the swing set and chased a butterfly from the front yard to the back. Marnina brought in some "flowers" (aka weeds that Gretchen is allergic to). After making everyone smell them a dozen times, Marnina proceeded to pick them apart. We had to break out the vacuum to get up all the pieces.

She had a great time reading books and playing with Grandma.

The sad story.

Steven Curtis Chapman and his wife shared the news of their youngest daughter's passing yesterday. One of their sons was driving down the driveway of their home, didn't see her, but struck Maria. She later died from her injuries at the hospital. She was 5 years old. Several children, including Maria's sisters, saw the accident. Please pray for this family. They have inspired many people to adopt both internationally and domestically, so this tragedy is being felt around the world. 

To view the Chapman family blog, click here.

Maria Sue Chapman tribute:


News coverage of memorial service:

Marnina still loves to walk around with "shoes" that she put on her feet all by herself.

She has always liked bubbles (except in her bath - which will have to be another post), but recently it's become a daily necessity for her to have bubbles. You can see the pure joy on her face when it's bubble time!

The bumps are finally starting to fade - praise the Lord!

Marnina escaped from us during a diaper change yesterday and just ran around in her diaper for 15 minutes before we could catch her.

Then, when we did catch her, all we got on her were the sleeves of her PJ's.

She was quite upset when we put her feet in the PJ's! And today, she decided that her Linkadoos made better bracelets than toys.

It's a PJ day for Marnina, simply because it keeps her from scratching most areas of her body. She has a bad case of Hand, Foot & Mouth disease (again) and we're hoping that today is the peak day for the number of spots we'll see. It will probably be another week before she's better and can mingle with other kiddos. With each week of church nursery she misses, it makes it that much more difficult when dropping her off the next time. She's such a Mama's girl and can belt out the screams when Gretchen leaves the nursery. We can usually hear her screaming for the first 5 minutes of Sunday School and our room is down the hall. Thankfully, she does do better, eats goldfish (Miss Ann's bribery), and takes a nap.

Today, Marnina got to help Mama make some banana bread. It was her first time "helping" with the cooking. She was able to turn the measuring cup over and dump flour into the pot all by herself - and insisted upon it being my herself! She had a hard time stirring, but loved trying. When Mama was doing the stirring, Marnina would use a teaspoon and a measuring cup to "pretend stir" just like Mama. We had a great time.

She loved to mash the bananas!

Stirring was a bit more of a challenge.

She called the flour "No" (that's her "snow"). 

Today has been another bad day for Marnina's scratching. There was blood on the sheets when Gretchen got her up and we finally located the source, the side of her neck - another new scratching spot.

Her scratching was bad when we brought her home in July, but it was the scabies. The winter months, with the dry air, have been bad. We're hoping that summer will be better, but so far we're not seeing any improvement. She will scratch at any area that is not covered by clothes. AND, Miss Houdini has found every conceivable way to get under her clothes to scratch, too. There are some times when it looks like she has broken out in hives all over her body, but it's just raised red areas from her scratching. It's so frustrating. 

The pediatrician had given us a Rx for some stronger cream to put on her 2-3 times per day to help. Let's see....that's cream in the morning, cream before afternoon nap, cream & PPD medicine before bed. Plus, the bad cold that keeps her sneezing, coughing, and....<sigh>. 

One bit of good news is that the boo-boo (covered by her Pooh tatoo) has healed. Yeah!

The day started with this...

Fussiness........................................................and leaking out of every facial orifice.

We're glad to report that things got better! Matt made breakfast for Gretchen and Marnina. He even washed dishes, for which Gretchen is grateful (it's her least favorite activity).

Marnina did entertain us, as usual, today. She tried to walk while keeping her eyes closed. She would take a few steps, open her eyes, and just laugh and giggle then do it all over again. Marnina also likes to step on things. While we're trying to teach her not to step on her toys, she does like to put her feet in things....below is just one of many examples.

You can pray for Marnina and Gretchen as they both have pretty nasty colds which kept them from church Sunday morning. Marnina was already dressed for church when we decided to keep her home, and Gretchen was too tired to change her. (Yes, it was cool enough for all the layers.) 

From Gretchen:

A Non-Mom. That's what I am, according to the "America’s Favorite Mom" competition that NBC's Today Show is hosting. Moms are nominated in five different categories - Military Mom, Working Mom, Single Mom, COE (Chairman of Everything) Mom, and Non-Mom (which includes adoptive moms). I try not to get too bent out of shape about things like this, but being labeled a Non-Mom just about put me through the roof. How many diapers do I need to change; how many 3am night terrors to comfort; how many loads of laundry washed, snotty noses wiped, or the same book ready 100 times a day before I'm considered a real Mom?  

I am pleased to report that NBC got enough flack from the adoption community that they changed the label on their website from Non-Mom to Adoptive-Mom. But if you watch the video of the three semi-finalists in the Adoptive-Mom category, you'll still see the "Non-Mom" title shown.  

There is still a lot of education needed about adoption. For instance, don't have the following conversation with adoptive parents:

"Is she adopted?"    "Yes."   "Well, don't you want children of your own?"   "We do have a child of our own, Marnina."   "I mean having a child. You know?"   "We do have a child. She's right here standing next to me."   "Yes, well, she's not your real child."

Not only is that conversation insulting to the adoptive parents, but what will the child think of themselves and their status in the family, let alone their own self-worth as an individual?

Just something for you to think about... 

(Gretchen....stepping off soapbox) 

Marnina loves her new sunglasses. She wants to wear all the time - inside and outdoors.

Here are a few pictures from today's game of "peeking from being the shades".

Gram & Grandpa will be leaving tomorrow and Marnina will be left with just MaMa and Daddy for company. She doesn't know how good she had it with all this attention, but the real world will be back tomorrow.

We tried several times to get some family pictures, but Marnina never wanted to cooperate when the camera was ready. Here are some of today's pictures that turned out okay:

(That's a spoon in her mouth. It's been her favorite teether now that the last of her molars are trying to come in. And if you're wondering why she's wearing tights AND socks in the pictures, we had to change her to the tights due to Marnina scratching her legs during church.)

Today was another full day, although we stayed in town. We went shopping and finished our day with a trip to a local Strawberry farm. There is nothing like the taste of a fresh-picked strawberry – so juicy and sweet! And the Grandparents babysat while Matt & Gretchen went on their first date since November of last year! Thanks Gram & Grandpa!! Click the picture below to see more pictures from our day.

Today was a full day for us. We drove to Wilmington and toured the Aquarium @ Fort Fischer, had a picnic lunch at the beach, played in the sand, toured the USS NC Battleship, and stopped by the outlet mall in Smithfield on the way home. Whew! We’re blessed that Marnina is such a great traveler! We had a great time, and recommend not taking an infant/toddler to the Battleship . She was in the Ergo carrier, but those steep and narrow stairs in the ship were a challenge to navigate by oneself let alone with a child strapped to you! She loved the Aquarium, so we’re excited about taking her to the zoo this Fall. Click the picture below to see more pictures from our day.

Marnina still loves her books. Gram & Grandpa brought her some more, so she's in book heaven. She'll sit in Gram's lap and read a book, then slide off and take that same book to Grandpa. She makes the rounds to everyone in the living room and starts over again.

Marnina has discovered how much fun it is to rip up paper. She loves to get a piece of scrap paper after Gretchen has finished clipping coupons from the Sunday paper. Marnina will take the paper and crumple it up into a ball and play with it like that for a while. Then she'll smooth it back out and crumple it up again. This second part will last for a few more minutes. But she's most enamored with ripping off a very small piece and collecting these small pieces in a container. She's done this a couple of times; but it will keep her completely quiet and occupied for at least an HOUR!!! She'll then dump all the pieces from one container to another. It's amazing with how concentrated she is on this one task, but she'll really developing those small motor skills and her pincer grasp has really improved, so we're glad about that!

The Grandparents are in town this week and Marnina is getting a custom-built swing set. Matt & Grandpa were busy at work all day today on the swing set. Meanwhile, Gram & Gretchen were inside with Marnina. The munchkin began her day with the usual activities, including putting "shoes" on her feet. These shoes can be anything that fits over her toes - stacking cups, dixie cups, actual shoes, a bucket, etc. This morning she decided to try and walk around with her "new shoes", Dixie cups. We were amazed at how fast she could walk in them without tripping up.

And......here is Marnina's new toy...

We don't have any photos (just video) of her enjoying her new swing (which she did immensely!!), but here is one of her on the rings. 

Things are pretty normal here for a change, for which we are thankful! We had a yard sale this past weekend and got rid of several boxes that were taking up too much space. We were wondering how we were going to get everything set up and man the sale with Marnina, but she decided to sleep in until 8:00 Saturday morning and everything just worked out great. She enjoyed being outside all morning and pointing to all the bird, trees and balloons, in addition to lots of "swing time".

Gram & Grandpa are coming for a visit this week, too, so we're getting the house cleaned up. Marnina will just eat up all the extra attention!

One bit of news, Marnina's 2nd TB skin test came back positive (again), so she'll be on nine months of INH drug therapy to treat the latent TB in her system. After this, she will be considered "treated for positive PPD reaction". We haven't started the medicine yet (and we're not looking forward to it), but it's better than the alternative. Please pray that Marnina will take the medicine without too much of a fight since it's a once a day thing for the next 9 months of her life.

The boys (Jasper & Clarkson) continue to be best of friends. We even caught them licking each other, so they've bonded and are inseparable.

And lastly, here is Marnina giving us one of those "I'm up to no good" looks.

Finally....all three of us are back to normal this week! Well, as normal as we ever were. Marnina had to get some more shots today, but she's caught up and won't need any more until she's 2. It's hard to even imagine her being 2 someday, but it will be here before we know it.

Today, Marnina took some time to smell the flowers (as best she could with a stuffy nose). She really concentrated hard on her Mama's favorite flower - closing the eyes, and getting the flower as close to her nose as possible.

She then preceeded to make...er...let everyone else in the house smell it, too.

"Smell this pretty flower, Mama."

She chased both cats around the house with the flower in hand. Then Miss Fran came to visit and she had to smell the flower every 10 seconds. Finally, the flower broke...or rather, Marnina broke the flower (if one can do such a thing). But it provided lots of entertainment for us today. 

We found out who God has chosen to be a part of our family. You can read all about the event of April 10, 2007 at our referral page. 

Here are photos from Marnina's finding ad (~2 weeks), referral (3 months), and today (18.5 months):

Marnina had her 18 month check up this week and is only 22 pounds (lost some weight due to the stomach bug) and is 32.5" long.  She's staying tall and slim, which makes sense since she's always on the move. 

We went out to eat at one of our favorite Chinese restaurants yesterday and were greeted with the usual "Oooo's" and "Ahhhh's" from the waitstaff. Most of them remember us and where in China Marnina was born and how old she is, commenting on how big she's getting. They talk to her in English and Mandarin and Marnina just smiles.

This visit was a bit more unusual. We quite used to the questions like "Where was she born?", "When did you get her?", "Did you like your time in China?", "What is her Chinese name?", etc. But this time we were asked questions like "Why did you choose to adopt a Chinese girl?", "When she grows up, will you take her back to China?", "Do you plan to teach her Chinese?", etc. The questions are getting deeper and we were not as prepared as we would have liked to be in answered them. We have talked with complete strangers about how Marnina came to be a part of our family with no problem, but to answer the questions from someone of Chinese descent is something a bit different. 

It really got us thinking about how we need to be prepared to a short and a longer version of our story, interweaving testimony of God's goodness and grace into it. The next time we visit this particular restaurant (or any other opportunity as it presents itself), we want to be prepared and not bumbling our words around.

On our vacation last week, we did get stopped (which is a normal, everyday occurrence for us) twice by complete strangers asking about Marnina. One lady shared her life story about failed in-vetro's, suroggates, and domestic adoption, while another man shared his testimony of adopting toddlers from Russia three years ago. We can rarely go anywhere without being stopped to answer questions or to hear about someone else's journey to parenthood. God has placed our family in a unique place to be a light and witness for him to many people and we want to be prepared to share Him at the drop of a hat, through our blessing of Marnina. 

(photos above from 12-07 at Portrait Innovations) 

Today, our little munchkin is sick. Fever and throwing up, not eating or drinking, and generally fussy. She's been in a "Mommy-only" phase for several days, but it's worse when she's not feeling well. Please pray for her and for Gretchen this week. 

One of the last times Marnina will fit into her 18M Carolina Panthers suit :)

Marnina is learning new things every day. She picked a car out of the toy bin and started crawling around the room with it saying "Vroom". Where did she learn this? We didn't teach it to her and she's never played with any of the cars or trucks let alone the dolls she has. She'll do about 3 laps of the living room with this one particular car. It's fun to watch!

Below, Marnina is pointing to the egg in her Counting Book. 1 egg, 2 fish, etc. This book helped her to know what eggs were so she was prepared for the Easter Egg hunt a few weeks ago!

Part of Marnina's bedtime routine is to say goodnight and give hugs & kisses to the cats. She gave a really long hug to Jasper this evening. When Gretchen said "That's so sweet," Marnina nodded her head in agreement then moved on to Clarkson. That's when we snapped this photo:

We just got back from a whirlwind family vacation. Marnina did great on her first long car trip! She loved being able to watch Boz and Curious George in the car as well as having a special tub of toys to play with. We stopped at lots of rest areas where she could get out and run around - and run she did! Below are a few photos from our trip:

Marnina watching Boz in the car.

Stopping to smell the flowers. She kept making a loud sniffing noise for about 10 seconds for each flower she smelled. It was really cute!

Matt's great photo from a local State Park on the trip.

Marnina's winning smile

Marnina just loves shoes. Her affinity with socks must have led her there!

She loves to say the word "shoes", wear them, put them on and take them off, carry them around, twirl them by the strings, and hold them in her lap. Shoes will literally keep her entertained for 30 minutes or more! We got some pictures of her today trying to put her shoes on. She gets so excited when they fit over her toes! She claps and then tries to get up and walk in them, which of course doesn't work. So she keeps on trying.

After she was done with her shoes, she moved on to the stacking cups to see if they would work. They fit, but she still couldn't walk in them.

Marnina just loves to play Peek-a-Boo. "Bu" in Chinese means "no", most children from China don't like the game. Since Marnina was adopted at such a young age, we haven't had any trouble with it. But she prefers to have "Where's Marnina?" and "There she is" said instead of any other phrases. When we say "Where's Marnina?", she will hide behind anything close. In the following pictures, she's hiding behind the shoes she was playing with.

"Where's Marnina?"

"There she is!"

This morning, Marnina participated in her first Easter Egg Hunt. She did really well and actually picked up more eggs than grass, mulch and weeds - which is amazing! There was some yard debris in the basket with the eggs, but she found 15 and got some candy (for Mama and Daddy).

Here are a few photos from today and a short video clip:

Get the Flash Player to see this video.

Here are a few video clips from the past several weeks. Enjoy.

Marnina turned 18 months old today. She's becoming more of a toddler and less of a baby every day. She's growing up so fast!

Marnina enjoyed the backyard today. She finally climber around in the Little Tikes Wave Climber that's been sitting in the backyard for several months.

We cleaned it out, but Marnina still found every little leaf bit and twig that we missed. Her favorite thing to do outside now is to pick up something (anything and everything) and had it to us while saying "No" (as in she's not supposed to have it or doesn't want it). That's what she's doing in the picture below.

Marnina also ran around the yard while Matt made dinner on the grill. Gretchen was camera happy (can you tell?).

We had a few onlookers, too, from inside the house.

Jasper and Clarkson continue to do well together. Although, Jasper has been elevated to the status of "Angel" (position previously held by Cheezit), and Clarkson is now known as the "Imp" (Jasper's former title). Clarkson can be found on the table, kitchen counters, climbing the dining room curtains, pulling up carpet in all doorways, and scampering about the house at all hours of the night. He is a true kitten (more like a puppy as he likes to chew on things). But he's part of the family and fits in just great. We forget at times how Jasper was the same way when he was 1-2 years old, so we continue to train Clarkson what is acceptable behavior and what isn't. At least he's no longer scratching the furniture.

Below is one of our last Christmas roses in full bloom. We have several of these bushes around the perimeter of the house and they bloom from November to February. It's great because there is always something in bloom in our yard. The daffodils and hyacinths are now in bloom around the yard and the cherry tree is full of buds. Spring is here! 

Marnina finally has enough hair to stay in pig tails (if we use barrettes) for about 30 minutes, provided she doesn't mess with them. Gretchen gave her a comb to play with and the pig tails lasted about an hour because she had something new in her hands. She was quite excited about it and equally upset when Gretchen eventually took the comb away. We're glad she's so easily entertained! 

And here's another scrapbook page...

Not too much is going on at our home, which is nice for a change. Marnina's two bottom 2-year molars are starting to come in. You can feel them pushing up the gums, but they haven't poked through yet. After these two, she'll only have two more and then she'll be done teething for a few years - yeah!!!

Here are a few pictures from today. Marnina just loves to sit on the step to the living room. She tries to sit on her pink chair and riding toy, too, but she doesn't have much luck. Typically, she'll sit on the armrest and topple over with the chair or just miss it completely.

Today, we received some gifts from Matt's sister & family. Both Marnina and Clarkson enjoyed the curling ribbon. They played and Marnina laughed for almost 20 minutes straight.

We took a day trip to Fayetteville today to visit some of Matt's family. When Matt was handed plate with pie & ice cream, Marnina said "Oooohhhh!" in a loud voice. She begged ice cream from Daddy until Matt's plate was empty and then made friends with anyone with food. She's not shy when she wants something - that's for sure! She now says "Ooohhh!" for lots of things and it's quite cute!

Gretchen picked up the unsold items from the consignment sale tonight and was amazed at how much stuff sold. She did some crunching of numbers and found out that she sold 99% of her items. Yeah!!! We emptied the closets and made some money (probably to spend at the next consignment sale for more things for Marnina)! 

Matt bought Gretchen digital scrapbooking software to see if she liked it. There's a bit of a learning curve with it, but here is a sample of her early work. (starting in the top left box and going counter-clockwise in date order from July-November2007)

We bought a new area rug to go in the space of the living room near the foyer where most of Marnina's toys are kept. Gretchen is attempting to train her to stay on the rug for small amounts of time during the day to help her learn to play by herself as well as develop her own imagination. Marnina can be quite clingy when she's playing, i.e. bringing all her toys to your lap to play with. This "rug time" also is enabling Gretchen to get some things done (primarily her Bible Study time), while being uninterrupted (yeah, right!) and knowing that Marnina is in a safe place while still being able to play. Marnina is slowly catching on the "rug time" and it's been going well. When Gretchen given Marnina the okay to come out, she comes running!

We decided to purge some of Marnina's toys and books to sell at a local consignment sale (as well as some of her clothes that she's outgrowing too fast!). With a few larger toys gone, we had room to bring out some new ones from her room that were starting to gather dust. She thought the shopping cart was fun to drive around for about the first 10 seconds. We thought that she'd love it, since she loved the Pooh push toy and the cart has a large area to put stuff in and out - another of her favorite activities. Gretchen showed her how to load up the cart with some of her small toys. She quickly learned that the hard plastic of the cart made a LOT of noise when she stuck in her hands and "mixed" her toys around. After a few minutes of not being able to hear ourselves talk, Gretchen found a small towel to put in the bottom of the cart to deaden the noise. We breathed a sigh of relief at the quiet, but now Marnina is no longer interested in the cart. Oh, well. It's also a bit big for her and difficult to turn around, so it will be there as she continued to grow.

Clarkson also likes hanging out and playing with Marnina's toys.

Marnina's nose is running and the cough and sneezing are back. She's not as active and wants to be held more; therefore, Gretchen isn't getting a lot done besides being Mama - which is the best (and hardest) job in the world!

She's still got the energy to walk around, but is falling more today. Doesn't this outfit make her look older and taller?? Thanks to Rachel B. for helping her Mom, Julie, send us the clothes she's outgrown! Marnina's using every piece you sent! 

Matt and Gretchen are feeling better, but Marnina is coming down with something again. It seems that over half the population here has bad colds or the flu, so you can pray for us that we just stick to colds and nothing worse! Here are a few shots of Marnina today:

Matt & Gretchen are both down with bad colds (basically flu with no fever), but Marnina is felling great. We took turns running around with Marnina and taking naps throughout the day since watching her is so draining when one is well! Here are a few pictures from today.

By the way, why didn't someone tell us how fast her feet would grow?? She was in a size 3 last week, in a size 4 this week, and all of a sudden she can no longer wear the sneakers she was in a few days ago that were a size 4!! The sneakers in these pictures are a size 4, but a little bigger than the others. There are some size 5 shoes that she can already wear. Whew!

And we were both just sitting in the living room watching Marnina walk around chasing a ball when we realized that we are no longer the parents of a baby, but a toddler. And when did that happen??!!?? We told her before bedtime that she was not allowed to grow up too fast! But is sure is neat to see all the things she's learning.

Today's weather was finally nice enough to swing outside. Marnina has been going up to the dining room bay window and pointing to Middleton Park every day since we went swinging last week. Gretchen took Marnina out this afternoon for a walk and a swing. And, as usual, Marnina fussed, kicked, and cried when taken out of the swing. The only thing that helps is for us all to say "bye-bye" to the swing. Marnina wave and pouts, but at least pouting is quiet!

Today's picture: Marnina carried this "purse" around the living room while she did laps around the coffee table. You just never know when a girl will need a stacking cup and a Little People person!

We didn't really do anything to mark the occassion today. But we did venture out to eat. Thinking that a pizza place wouldn't be busy on Valentine's Day was wrong thinking. It was a packed house, mostly kids, too; so it was quite noisy.

Marnina did get card from both Gram & Grandpa and her Grandma. Notice that Matt and Gretchen didn't get anything!

With the constant change from Winter to Spring to Winter and back to Spring again, Marnina and Gretchen are getting colds (or possibly allergies starting up). Marnina has liquid coming out of eyes, nose, and mouth as well as coughing and not sleeping well (again). Her activity level is still up and she does not have a fever, so this is all good!!

Here are some pictures from today. Marnina took this empty 2-liter bottle out of the recycle bin and carried it around for about 30 minutes today. And this is as close as the boys have come to snuggling.

One of Gretchen's college suitemates, Theresa, came to visit us for for a couple days. Marnina warmed up to her instantly and loved all the extra attention and play time! She's still playing with the pop-beads and remembers how to put them together now. Come again anytime, Miss Theresa!!

Thanks, Miss Julie, for the red dress!! We couldn't get her to stand still for a photo. She's really getting the hang of walking with her squeaky shoes on and we couldn't get her to stop moving in them!

Today was Marnina's debut walking in the grass by herself. Since our yard slopes, she fell down a lot and came up with handfuls of leaves and pinestraw. She didn't like it when the leaves would stick to her but had no problem digging in ther dirt with her hands.

She also had another great time swinging at Middleton Park.

Today's weather was just beautiful and the first of our spring flowers have started to appear!  

Looking back through the website, we don't see any pictures of things that we bought in China (other than the squeaky shoes). Here are a few of the special things that we purchased.

This is the embroidery from the Minority Museum in Kunming, Yunnan. It was stitched by a woman from the Yi minority and is of children playing various games.

Second is a painted leaf from the gallery of local artists on Shamian Island in Guangzhou, Guangdong.

Third, we saw a street vendor doing a name painting for another family by hand. She literally used one fingertip and fingernail to paint her entire name.

Next is the charcoal drawing we had maid of Marnina's "precious" photo, dated July 5, 2007. It's beautiful, but not as beautiful as the real thing!

And lastly, we had stone etchings made of Marnina and of our family. The stone is made out of black granite, just like the Vietnam Memorial; therefore, it was very difficult to get a good picture without a lot of glare and reflection. Here is the etching of Marnina and the photo the artist used to create it. Also pictured is our family etching being made in Guangzhou.

Oh - and here is a photo of Marnina in her silk dress back in October 2007. 

When Marnina sees Mama carry the full laundry basket into the living room, she puts down everything and head over to help. She hands things to Gretchen so fast, all she can do is sort them. It is cute when Marnina pulls out one of her socks because she'll say "No. No." as in she knows that those are not for her to keep right now. And when she gets a hold of something that's too heavy for her (i.e. a big towel), then she also says "No. No." because she can't pull it out without help. We're glad that she likes to help even though it takes longer to fold the laundry. Gretchen just hopes this eagerness to help will continue on for many years to come!

We captured a few pictures of how Marnina is walking. Her arms aren't out to the side, but are up in the air like Frankenstein.

This girl just loves to read!! She usually picks one favorite for the day that we end up reading approximately 1,000 times by the time Matt gets home from work. Gretchen can now read the story while facing the book out and can turn the pages at the right time. Or if Maranina turns two pages at once, she knows what info to skip. Marnina's favorite book today is Eight Silly Monkeys. Matt reads a more entertaining version of this book, so he got to read it a lot tonight. When the part of the book comes that says "one fell off and bumped his head", Marnina falls over. Below is a picture of that plus another one from today.

The cats have both sleeping in strange positions lately. Here are Jasper and Clarkson, respectively.

The boys continue to romp all through the house. Clarkson has discovered how to jump up on the ledge of the bay window in the dining room (Jasper's favorite place). They were both in the window when we came back in tonight after Marnina's evening swing at Middleton Park.  

Marnina has known how to walk for a month now, but still prefers to crawl. Today, her Daddy decided that she was going cold turkey with crawling. Every time he saw her on her hands and knees, he told her to stop, stand up and walk. And she did. They did laps up and down the hallway. She's now walking as her primary mode of transportation - yeah!!! She tires easily, but it's helping her nap better.

With all the spring-like weather we've had this week, Marnina was dressed for Spring today at church. The squeaky shoes are always a hit, too.

Folks at church liked Marnina's Minnie Mouse dress. She's such a cutie. We could dress her up in something different every few hours to go through all her outfits. You can imagine how difficult it is to decide on something to dress her in on Sunday morning. We are also trying different things to keep the hair out of her eyes. We're waiting for the short hairs at her hairline to grow in so that we can sweep her hair to the side with a barrette. Below are photos of her Minnie dress and today's hairstyle.

The boys continue to get along great - romping throughout the house all day. Jasper still tries to be a bully with the food, but he's getting better. Clarkson is getting used to the noises of the house and is no longer bolting from the kitchen when the dishwasher is going. He's also learning to tolerate having his claws clipped (3 at a time, anyway).

We finally got Clarkson his ID tag (the Krist heart). And he has discovered the window to the back yard and really enjoys watching all the birds and squirrels running around. 

Marnina can now saw "George." She will either see Curious George on the TV or hear the theme music and she says "George! George! George!" and points to the TV. Clarkson thought it was a pretty good show, too, and ran from his comfy spot on the sofa to get a closer look.

You might be thinking that with a new subject to photograph, that we haven't taken pictures of Marnina. Ha! We still have the camera out every day because she's doing something we just have to catch on "film". Here are a few from the past day or so of the munchkin:

The boys are still getting along great. They played all morning and slept all afternoon. Clarkson has been exploring the house more (during Marnina's nap time, of course). He was in the kitchen when all of a sudden he just took off running, did a Risky Business slide all the way across the breakfast nook, then took off through the living room to the back bedroom. We still have no idea what spooked him, but we made sure he was calmed down (and took a look through the kitchen, but didn't see anything out of place). 

The first night Clarkson was home, we turned the TV on and he didn't quite know what to think about it. He was skittish, scared, and curious. So, tonight, we put in our Cat Sitter DVD (scenes of squirrels, birds, fish, etc.) and he just LOVED it! He has some Cheezit in him :)

Jasper to Clarkson: "I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."

This afternoon, it was all about Jasper showing who was boss in this house.

It didn't take more than an hour or so of time together to begin chasing each other around the love seat and up and down the hallway. They both make this percolating noise when they see each other. It's like they're talking to one another - it's so cute! Then it's off to the races.

  (these are screen captures of them chasing each other - note Jasper's head behing the love seat on the left photo)

They did eventually settle down and rest - in the same room, too! There is still some hissing that goes on from both cats when they've had too much, but it's only been 48 hours since they first met.

Our hearts are warm and full of thankfulness that these two cats seem to be a great match! 

Clarkson

We went to Second Chance Pet Adoptions Saturday afternoon as well as S.A.F.E. Haven for Cats to look for a buddy for Jasper. After looking at several cats, we narrowed it down to two. Sunday after church we looked at them both again and decided to adopted Clarkson and brought him home.

What made us decide that Clarkson was the cat for us? He's a beautiful, brown tabby who's just over 1 year old. When he was frist brought into the playroom with us, Marnina was crawling around the room. He walked right up to her and bumped her so hard that she almost fell over, but she just smiled and kept going. He was so loving with each of us. He likes to play and knows when to back off, especially when Marnina is near. Those were all the qualities we were looking for in a cat that would be a buddy for Jasper and a companion for the rest of us. Also, when Matt spent some time with Clarkson in the room with other cats - another cat came up to Matt to sniff his fingers and Clarkson hissed at him. It appeared that Clarkson had chosen us as well.

Here are a few photos (especially for the Second Chance staff and Clarkson's foster mom) of his first night with us.

(He really liked bumping Matt's beard.)

(He's purring and making biscuits.)

He's met Jasper and they sniffed each other's noses a couple of times, but Jasper is going to need some more time to adjust to having another cat around. Clarkson appears to be ready to take on the whole house, including Jasper; but we're keeping him in our room/bathroom for a few more days while we increase the amount of time the two kitties see each other. We'll just take it one day at a time, but we're sure that they'll be playing and snuggling up together in no time.

Clarkson in no way replaces Cheezit. She was a very special cat. And in her memory, we sponsored the adoption of a cat we fell in love with at S.A.F.E. Haven. June is a very sweet, adorable, loving, grey cat that still needs a family. It took 2-3 months to completely acclimate Cheezit to our home and Jasper, and we knew that June would take that same amount of time due to her past circumstances. We just aren't in place right now with Marnina here that we could spend the time that June would need and deserves to be a part of a family. So, if you are in the area, looking for a small, beautiful, lap cat, and are willing to be patient - please consider adopting June. 

We posted an entry for January 1st, so be sure to scroll down and view it. It has photos from July 1 and January 1, six months from Gotcha Day.

We're going to look for another cat this weekend because Jasper really needs a buddy. It's been difficult to hold both Marnina and Jasper at the same time, let alone play with both, carry both, etc. Also, Marnina knows how to walk, but doesn't want to. When we ask her to walk, she just says the infamous "No." Thankfully, that's not the onlyword in her vocabulary.

I've been asked for more photos, so here is one from a week ago where Marnina is showcasing her winning smile.

It's hard to believe that 6 months ago we walked into our home as a family of three for the first time. On July 11, 2007 we arrived in the USA with this beauty:

Today, we watched that same girl, walking around the living room:

At her 15 month check-up this week, she weighed in at 21lb 9oz and is 32" long. When we brought her home in July, she only had 2 (going on 4) teeth. Today, the last of her 1st set of molars broke through the gum surface to make her tooth count = 15.

When we asked Marnina what she thought about being part of this family, she made the symbol for "touchdown" (aka "So, big!"or "Goal" (for you hockey fans)). We interpreting this to mean that she likes it here.

Psalm 111:4 - "He has caused His wonders to be remembered; the LORD is gracious and compassionate."

We made it through the past 24 hours by God's grace alone. He has begun to turn our memories from Cheezit's last days to the many years of enjoyment we had prior to her illness. He has also brought to our remembrance how He's been at work in this situation. Below is what He reminded us of:

In early December, we made the decision to take Cheezit to the NCSU vet hospital, but there were no appointments available until January 15th. After the holidays, the hospital called with a cancellation and they were able to see Cheezit on January 2nd. While at the hospital, the anesthesiologist had a last-minute cancellation and the CT scan was scheduled for same day instead of us having to wait another two weeks. We knew the results that afternoon and were able to make the best decision for Cheezit.

The way we see it, God granted us an extra month with Cheezit between when we decided to take her to the hospital and when her appointment was. We took special care of her every day and night - cleaning her and giving her medicine. She was with us for Christmas. After receiving the autopsy report today, we found out that the tumor would have entered her brain within a matter of days. The Lord knew that Cheezit wouldn't make it until January 15th, so He opened up time for everything to take place on January 2^nd. And, Marnina has officially started to walk today. She is such a joy and a bright light in our lives, especially today (even though she has an awful cold and is hardly sleeping).

Below are the video clips from today. Please share in our joy as you shared in our sadness and watch the videos, praising the Lord.

Proverbs 12:10 - "A righteous man cares for the needs of his animal..." We did all we could.

With much sadness, our family said goodbye to our beloved cat, Cheezit. We took her to the NCSU vet hospital at 10:00 this morning for an initial consultation. Dr. Murphy recommended a CT scan and there just happened to be a cancellation for a 2:00pm time slot. We left Cheezit there and waited for the phone to ring. At 2:30pm, Matt got the phone call at work that there was indeed a mass growing in her middle ear. After much prayer and discussion about the options, the whole family headed back to the hospital at 5:00pm. The CT scan showed that it was a massive and aggressive cancer that had spread past her ear into the surrounding tissue and it had even started to eat away at her skull. It was difficult to see the images and knowing what Cheezit has been going through for the past couple months. We made the heart-breaking decision to have her put to sleep. We got to hold her one last time before the doctors came back in and she purred and bumped us the entire time. Gretchen was petting her head as Cheezit passed away in Matt's arms. 

Thank you for these past 8 years of joy that you have brought into our lives. You will be missed by your PaPa, MaMa, brother (Jasper), and Marnina.

Cheezit Krist 

Born: 1997-1998

Joined our Family: February 3, 2000

Passed away, but forever in our hearts: January 2, 2008 

It's hard to believe that we held Marnina for the first time six months ago today. It seems like yesterday and at the same time we can't remember life without her. Here are the before and after photos:

This Pooh push toy is the first item we ever got off of the Wake Freecycle yahoogroup over 2 years ago. All Marnina has wanted to do with it is play with the Pooh bear and honey pot. We decided to bring the Pooh toy into the living room where she'd have more room to walk with it. It didn't take her too long to get the hang of it.

Since using this toy, she's already been initiating walking from chair to chair with a few steps. We may finally see her walking by herself soon!!!

On a side note, our cat Cheezit is still not doing well and the NCSU vet hospital is able to see her on Wednesday (1/3). We're glad that we're finally going to get her some help and we're hopeful that she'll be better soon.

Here is a photo of Marnina from December 29, 2006 (her referral photo) and a photo from December 29, 2007.

2006 2007

Wishing everyone a blessed Christmas!! Here are a few pictures from our day.

Marnina now has a complete BOZ collection. She has all the books, movies, CDs - even a stuffed animal and a BOZ hat. She jumps around and says "Baw" whenever she sees a picture of Boz. She dances to all the music and loves to point to his nose. She's been learning more body part names and loves to point to noses - especially on other kids (not sure who much the other kids like it though). 

She's been taking a few more steps today, too. We think she's finally realizing that she's walking. She looks at her feet and giggles as she takes three or four steps toward us as if saying "Look MaMa, no hands!" She has also been very vocal lately. Her favorite things to say are "Baby", "Daddy", "MaMa" and a bunch of other unintelligible things.

Matt is home for an extended vacation from work and Marnina is soaking up all the attention. She's been doing better with going down for naps/bedtime when Matt is the one putting her down. It's amazing!!  One of their Daddy-Daughter playtime events is surfing YouTube for videos of cats. Marnina just loves this particular video:

And here is Marnina's latest Christmas outfit (#3). We attempted to get a good picture for quite a while this morning before church, and this is the best of our many takes.

Well, it seems that Marnina has regressed in her attachment again. She's back to screaming for hours at a time and Gretchen can't even stand in her presense or she'll flip out - literally. She is most calm when we're both in the same room as her, sitting down. We've left her with a sitter for a couple of hours two times in the past 7 days, so we're sure that plays into this regression. We really like to have that one evening to ourselves every once in a while, but Gretchen sure ends up paying for it during the next several days (or weeks). Marnina has been like this for about 5 days now and so we're back to holding her a lot, using the Ergo carrier instead of the stroller, etc. 

She does have her moments of happiness in the midst of it all. We have this wooden bead maze that's been sitting by her kitchen playset ever since she's been with us, but she's ignored it until this past week. It look her less than a day to figure it all out and it's her new favorite toy. She lugs it around the room and has learned that MaMa doesn't like it when it drops on her foot!

Our cat, Cheezit, continues to have a bad ear infection. We're trying new antibiotics and a few other things to help clear it up, but we've got an appointment at the NCSU vet hospital in January. Hopefully, it's not cancer and it something that can be cleared up soon.

Below is Marnina's second Christmas outfit. We had the privilege of attending a service at Fairview Baptist Church this past Sunday morning for the ordination of our neighbor, Marty. He and his family have become dear friends to us and it was a joy to witness his call to serve made "official". 

Matt's birthday was today and Marnina was all too happy to help with the opening presents.

We went out to eat at a new Chinese restaurant and realized that it was the first time that we've taken Marnina to a sit-down Chinese restaurant since we've been home. Very quickly we felt like we were back in China as every single waitress made their way to our table and hovered the entire time talking with Marnina, trying to get her to smile, playing peek-a-boo, and giving her things to play with. Marnina is always looking for someone (or everyone) to pay attention to her and she can steal the show in a heartbeat (it WAS her Daddy's birthday after all). We've heard from many adoptive families that their children have varying reactions to seeing people of Asian descent. Some shy away from them, some are completely terrified, and others go the opposite direction - attaching to them and not wanting their parents. It all depends on the child and how they are attaching/bonding to the adoptive parents. Marnina was indifferent to ethnicity and flirted with anyone who looked at her tonight, but didn't want anyone to hold her but us. So, I guess we're doing ok!

Marnina is finally back to normal this week. Friday was her first full day without a fever, but her teeth are still hurting her a lot. After a week of being held, she's very clingy and staying in the nursery during church today didn't go as well as it usually does. But we're finally starting to see the smiles and hear the giggles as well as the whining that we're used to - and we're thankful for all the prayers from friends and family for God's healing!!

She has several Christmas outfits, most of them dressy, so we're having to wear a different Christmas dress every Sunday to church. Here's the first dress, holly & ivy:

Between Monday's immunization, at least two new teeth coming in, and a cold starting - we have a sick little girl on our hands. Saturday evening she started getting the watery eyes and runny nose. Her temperature was 103.3 this morning and it comes and goes with the help of Tylenol. It's been a two sock and a blanket kind of day (if you know anything about Marnina and socks, you'll understand what that means). She finally got some pep after her bath tonight. Thankfully, she still eating and drinking plenty of fluids and she still has a smile that will melt your heart. So, pray that the fever part of her cold will end quickly.

A few days ago, she started throwing things. Usually it's the socks she holding, but when it's one of her heavier toys, it's not so cute (especially when it lands on you). After she throws something, she just looks at us and gives us this "Where did it go?" look with both hands upturned and eyebrows raised. We're still trying to capture a picture of that one, so you'll just have to wait to see it.

Meanwhile, you can check our out family's elf dance.

First of all, we only have a brief video, but no pictures.

Marnina finally took her first steps tonight. She didn't fall towards Gretchen, but actually stood straight up and took a couple of wobbly steps, then fell into her. We tried it again and again. It was fun at first, but after falling a few times, Marnina had had enough and it was time to play again.

We'll see how interested she is in trying it again tomorrow. These next three days will be spent with other kids who are walking around, so maybe she'll get some motivation. We don't know whether to be excited or scared at this point. But we do know one thing, those baby gates we have hiding in the closet are about to be installed!! 

Marnina had her latest round of immunizations this week, including the MMR and chicken pox. She’s been getting two shots in each leg every time we visit the doctor for immunizations in order to get her caught up. Thankfully, Marnina isn’t scared of the doctor’s office yet. She loves to sit on the high table and talk to herself in the mirror.

She still isn’t walking. We tried to get her to practice taking a few steps, and that worked the first few times. Now, when we hold out our arms and say “Come to ___”, she just shakes her head ‘no’, sits down and crawls over. She’s in no hurry to walk. I guess she figures that she’s crawling fast and can scoot around the furniture well enough to get where she wants to be that there’s no need right now. She is starting to stand by herself without holding on and her balance is getting better, so I’m sure that walking is not too far off. But I said that a few months ago, too.

Marnina loves, loves, loves to read. Not an hour goes by that she’s not grabbing a book to look at herself or crawl with it over to MaMa or Daddy to read it to her. I’m so glad that she loves to read!!  She also likes to pretend to talk on the phone. It’s so cute. When she puts the phone to her ear, she says “MaMa” and nods a lot like she’s really having a conversation with someone.

She’s got quite the little personality, so here are a few photos that capture it.

Our cat, Cheezit, has had a lot of trouble these past several weeks. In late October, she showed signs of Vestibular Syndrome. It’s a neurological disorder. Her head would shake from right to left as her eyes shifted quickly back and forth. She’d lose her balance and fall over a lot. Then she started to turn in circles. We took her to the vet and it appeared to be a one day event. But we did notice that about once per week she would seem to lose her balance and walk funny. While we were gone over Thanksgiving, it would seem that she didn’t eat at all. She lost almost 2 pounds in six weeks time and has a nasty ear infection – which could be the cause of all her balance and neurological symptoms, as well as her loss of appetite. She’s cleaned up, eating and drinking again, but still on medicine for the next 9 days. We’re hoping and praying that the medicine clears up the infection and that there is no underlying cause. Our vet wants us to go to a Vet Hospital for a CT scan and endoscopy surgery for possible cancer, but it costs a couple thousand dollars. It’s so hard to know where to draw the line between being good stewards of our money and taking care of those animals God has placed us in charge of. Pray that the medicine takes care of the problems and that we don’t even need to consider the hospital.

We spent the Thanksgiving holidays in Kansas. It was a whirlwind trip, but filled with activity. My brother, Dan, got married and we’ve added Leslie and Ben to our family!

(left to right in photo: Ben, Leslie, Dan)

Marnina enjoyed spending time with her Gram & Grandpa as well as chasing after the other toddler in the house. We also got to see our first snow (and perhaps only snow) of the year. Marnina didn’t quite know what to think when these cold wet flakes would land on her face. She just blinked a lot and stared.

Matt has been spending time teaching Marnina to smile. Now this smile is not what you’d expect. She clenches her hands together and opens her mouth wide while her head vibrates (like she’s straining). Everyone got a kick out of asking her to smile. She has also finally learned how to “work” her squeaky shoes. There is a squeaker in the heel of her shoes and she loved to walk and bounce around while wearing them. 

There is a group from our agency who is in China now. They received their children on November 5th. Sandi and Dennis adopted a 17-month old girl that they named Hannah. Dennis wasn't feeling well for a few days and ended up going into a diabetic coma. He later died at a local hospital. Sandi's mom and brother are trying to get emergency visas to help Sandi out and other Bethany families are helping, too. Pray for this family.

 2 Corinthians 12:9 - "But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me."

Phillippians 4:13 - "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." 

Yes, I know, it's been a LONG time since we've updated the site. I'll be backlogging our entries for a while, so check back and scroll down as the blog posts appear the most recent first.

We went to a Fall Festival at a local church this evening. Instead of purchasing an outfit that she'd wear only once, we decided to just have Marnina dress up in something she already had as part of her wardrobe. Of course, it was something Carolina Panther-ish. Here she is....our very own Top Cat cheerleader. (She didn't know quite what to think about the pom-poms.)

A few weeks ago, my folks asked for a picture of Marnina looking at the camera, from about shoulders up. I scrolled through the thousands of photos we have of her and found nothing, nada, zilch! After several days of attempts, I'm proud to say that I have not just one, but three!! Here is my favorite:

Marnina went to her first concert this evening, too. We drove up with some folks from church to Southeastern Seminary where Keith & Kristyn Getty were performing. If you haven't heard of them, I suggest you check out their website at http://gettydirect.com. It was the second time we've worshipped with them and we come away blessed every time. Marnina wasn't too sure about how loud it was. Our church is small and there were a LOT of people there singing together, so it was a new experience for her. But she was her usual charming self prior to the concert - flirting with anyone who'd look at her.

Marnina got to meet and hang out with her Great-Uncle Bob and her Great-Aunt Cheryl today. They came through for a visit on their way to see my cousin's new baby boy in Massachusetts.

We ventured out to the Grand Opening of the new kids museum in downtown Raleigh - Marbles. I think Marnina will love it in a couple of years, but we wanted to check it out for future reference. There is a TON of stuff for the kids to do and I can see spending most of a day with a 3-5 year old. Marnina spent a little bit of time crawling around in the baby play area, but her favorite part of the museum was the main wall of marbles. Yes, the wall is made up of marbles. There is enough space in the wall for the marbles to spin around, so you can run your hand across the wall and it makes a lot of noise. Marnina could have spent hours in this one spot.

Marnina's Curious George Birthday Party was today and it was a blast! We're including a picture of the cake Gretchen made, as it was her first "real" cake decorating attempt. After making the monkey face, she was afraid that she'd mess the cake up by writing "Happy Birthday", so we cheated and used the pre-made icing kind.

We had 8 kiddos and their parents attend the party, in addition to Marnina's Gram & Grandpa and her Grandma. We were so busy having fun during the games that we didn't get many pictures of all the activity, but we included a couple of them. The kids had to feed the monkey (aka Mr. Matt) a banana and they ran a relay race with a stuffed Curious George. The parents and older kids helped the younger ones and had just as much fun as the little ones.

Marnina enjoyed her second cake of the week, but still didn't quite know what to think about the candle flame; so Daddy had to help her out.

We got to meet the Wusterbarth family for the first time at the party, too. You can read their family blog here. Brea is such a cutie and it was exciting to meet her after praying for her new heart earlier this year. Mary and Daddy adopted Brea from China last year and her older siblings, Brooke and Baker, are great with her. Here is a picture of Brea with her mom and siblings and a picture of Marnina with Chloe, a friend from our church.

We had lunch at the Farmer’s Market and spent the afternoon walking around, as it was Sweet Potato Day – yum! Later that night, we celebrated with Marnina’s #1 cake. It was Gretchen’s warm-up cake in preparation for Saturday’s birthday party cake which will be Curious George.

Marnina has just recently started to feed herself food that is solid (Cheerios, zwieback toast, goldfish crackers, etc.), but squishy items don’t usually make it to her mouth. So, needless to say, we didn’t know how her first cake eating experience was going to go. We put pieces of the cake on her tray and the squishing began. At first, she just squished one small piece of cake in each hand, but it got really gross when she interlaced her fingers together and squished again. We tried to get her to lick her fingers and eat, but she had more fun feeding everyone else. A couple of pictures are posted here, but we’ll put more in the Photos section later.

For the official opening of the NFL season, Marnina wore one of her many Carolina Panthers outfits. Dad and daughter were matching and Mom, as usual, was left to take pictures.

She has been perfecting her moves from lying down on her tummy to sitting up. No longer does she have an aversion to having her knees on the carpet, so crawling may be just around the corner. Here’s a picture from yesterday that hints at this:

After Gretchen finished doing laundry, Marnina saw a basket full of socks to be folded and thought – jackpot! She lunged for the laundry basket and proceeded to “help” Ma Ma fold socks. Since she liked the basket so much, we put her in it with a pair of her Daddy’s socks and she played for about 20 minutes.

…crash! She didn’t even blink – just kept playing with the socks.

With all the toys this child has, she had more fun with the laundry basket and a plastic cookie wrapper than anything else today. Here is a picture of her playing with the cookie wrapper and one of when we took it away from her:

Marnina had her first ride in a swing today and just loved it. She giggled and laughed as she swung, then screamed and kicked when we took her out. We have some video that we hope to put on here in a few days...

Well, our timeframe to finish baby-proofing the house is dwindling. She’s been rolling all over the room to get where she wants to go. Today, she’s learned how to get up on her hands and knees and scoot backwards. Here is a picture from when she scooted so far back that her legs were under the sofa with nowhere to go:

Marnina started to try pulling up on the furniture, too.

Gretchen had an appointment this morning, so Marnina spent a few hours with Miss Fran.  She did well, though we discovered that she’s not too crazy about big dogs, no matter how friendly.  Gretchen probably had a harder time being apart that Marnina!

Marnina had her second check-up today to see how she was “thriving”, as the doctor’s like to say. Well – she is definitely thriving! She was 17lb 11oz when we brought her home (20% on the growth charts). She is now 19lb 1oz, up to 35% on the growth charts. She was 28.5” long, which was at 75%. She is now 30” long, which is at 90%. This girl is TALL. When we stand her up next to all other kids we know under the age of two, she is the same height!! We wonder how long it will take until we both look up to her!

She also had her first experience with bubbles today. At first, she didn’t quite know what to think about these strange objects coming at her, but her curiosity got the best of her and she started to reach out for them. It is so neat to watch her discover new things!

We took some photos for her scrapbook of poses we see everyday. Here are two of our favorites:

 

Marnina loves to spend time with her Daddy. She misses him when he goes back to work, which makes Mondays difficult for both Gretchen and Marnina. Here is a picture from this playtime this weekend (during another Panther game).

The Carolina Panthers played their first NFL pre-season game tonight against the NY Giants. Matt (aka Jake Delhomme, Quarterback) had some practice throws with Marnina (aka Steve Smith, Wide Receiver). She just loves to play with her Da Da (yes, the “Ba Ba” sounds are gone and have been replaced with “Da Da”). Marnina had a bath and was already in her pj’s when the opening kick-off took place, but we were still able to put the jersey on top.

Yesterday, we had a cul-de-sac cook out at our neighbor’s home. Marnina got to play with Naomi for the first time since her scabies have cleared up. They entertained each other by blowing raspberries, playing the drum (an upside-down ark), and stacking rings. Marnina loved to watch the three toddlers running around and she will be joining them soon! She’s started to get up on her knees by herself, but then falls forward with her face in the carpet.

Gretchen’s parents just left to visit family in Tennessee. Gram and Grandpa were here for eight days and Marnina loved all the constant attention. They will be coming back for Marnina’s first birthday – which is in just six weeks!!! We’re hoping that she will wait a bit longer before starting to walk, but her legs are so strong. Once she starts moving on her own, there will be no stopping her! We’d better go ahead and install those baby gates!

Marnina now has six teeth. The next two upper teeth have finally broken through, although the drool is still non-stop! And she loves those little mesh bags with the teething handle. We put banana slices in there the first time and she loved it. BUT, we put apple slices in now and she just can’t get enough. She throws a fit when there is just a bit of pulp left. She loves to sink her teeth into it and the juice just goes everywhere.

 

Here are some pictures from the Grandparents’ visit:

 

Matt’s workplace threw us a shower today. We got so much stuff!!! Gretchen was so overwhelmed with the generosity from people she didn’t even know! Marnina just loves to play with her new toys. There is also so much cardboard in the house, we thought we’d open our own recycling center! And the cake had a picture of Marnina as well as her name in English and Chinese – very cool. We brought the leftovers home and did everything we could to eat around the picture of Marnina, but the cake was too good!

We’ll post pictures later.

Our church ladies threw us a shower tonight. Gretchen’s mom got to attend, which was special for us. Matt’s sister, Erin, and her new baby, Hannah, also got to come. We can just tell that these little girls will be trouble when they’re older! Pam L. did a great job on a beautiful butterfly cake for Marnina. With the temperatures in the 100’s and the heat index being near 120, we’re still waiting for an opportunity to use the stroller we received. But we’re really looking forward to taking family walks in the neighborhood!

We’ll post pictures later.

A few days ago, Gretchen got cabin fever since the girls had stayed home while Marnina’s scabies cleared up. Here is a picture of their outing - to the neighbor’s house:

Late this evening, Hannah entered the world weighing in at almost 9 pounds. Mom and baby are doing well (dad and grandma are, too). We hope to visit them later this week and get some pictures. So, Marnina has a baby cousin to play with!

Today was also the first time Marnina went to church. We tried to take a picture of her in her dress, but she was a moving target!

Marnina had her first doctor’s appointment today. Matt had guessed that Marnina weighed 22 pounds and Gretchen’s guess was 20. Marnina weighs ONLY 17 pounds! She’s at 25% on the growth charts for weight and 80% for height. We weren’t surprised about her height as this 10 month old (yes, 10 months today) is pushing the limits of her one-piece 12 month outfits! She was diagnosed with Scabies and we noticed a few red bumps starting to form yesterday. So, we’ll be washing a LOT over the next day or so. Otherwise, Marnina is perfectly healthy and doing great.

After the doctor, we headed out to the Kid’s Exchange sale at the State Fairgrounds. It’s amazing how much stuff was already gone when we got there! But we did find a few things that Marnina will like.

Marnina had her first experience with Triple Coupons this morning at Lowes Foods! She watched Ma Ma with a wad of coupons in her hand wouldn’t be silent until she had one (or a fistful) for herself! And we just heard that Harris Teeter will have Triple Coupons next week, so Marnina is getting a good dose of how to shop early in her life with us!

After riding in a shopping cart for the morning, Marnina needed to let loose some of her pent-up energy, so Matt put together the Jumperoo we bought off of Craigslist. What a hit!

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Now, the cats have been home since the 14th. Cheezit heard about Marnina’s hair pulling, so she makes a quick exit when she sees Marnina in the room. Jasper has started to warm up to Marnina. They even started to play together tonight.

  

To end the day, Marnina was just laying on the floor playing. She always like to hold something when she sucks her thumb in preparation for bed time. The only thing around her at the time was the outfit she wore during the day. We looked up and saw her holding a sock and sucking her thumb. When she fell asleep and her thumb fell out of her mouth, the sock stayed on her face. She is just too cute!

This morning, we were blessed with an opportunity to see our friends Bryan and Jennifer as they were on their way home to Alabama. Their daughter, Izzy, has grown so much!

Then we were off to Progress Energy, where Gretchen used to work. A group of folks formed just inside the elevator lobby. Martha – we wish we had a picture of you holding Marnina, as it was just precious! Here’s a pic of Marnina with “Aunt” Pat and one of a future Progress Energy employee (Marnina just loved typing on the keyboard):

  

After such a full day, Marnina was really sleepy. So, here is what you’d see in the car:
Step #1 of 2

We made the decision to go cold turkey on the time transition and keep Marnina up all day. She fell asleep at 8pm and slept straight through until 4:30am. At least we’re making progress! Let’s hope it continues!

Matt took some teens from church to the movies this afternoon. In the evening, we said farewell to a family from our church who is moving to Florida. It was the first time we’ve been with a large group of church family since we left for China and it felt like home. So, we’re praying for Paul & Mary and the boys to get settled in Florida and that their transition will go smoothly. We’ll miss them!

Here are some pics from today:

  

Early this morning, Marnina really started to babble a lot. We’ve been trying to get her to say “Ma Ma” since day one. We thought it would be pretty easy since she was already saying “Mmmm” and “Ahhh”. But, alas, she said something else today. “Ba Ba” is Chinese for Daddy.

We also made a couple of trips this morning to show people Marnina. We first went to Matt's work. Matt needed to go there soon after coming back from China to get Marnina's medical coverage started ( plus, who knows what would have happened if he showed up Marnina-less ?). Marnina first met Stacie, Matt's department's administrative assistant.  As soon as the baby talk started - we were greeted by many in the department. As usual, Marnina put on her show for everybody, giving smiles and giggles to all she saw.

Next we stopped at Commercial Software, Inc. ( Matt's first job out of college ). Before we got in the door, Janet & Betty (ComSoft's co-owner & manager respectively ) met us in the front parking lot, who then proceeded to give Marnina a tour of ComSoft. Janet thought it would be funny to have people see Marnina and guess who the daddy was - many said she looked like Matt. It was good to catch up with everybody again. Hopefully later this week, we'll be able to take Marnina to Progress Energy, where Gretchen used to work.

Marnina just loves her bath time! The mirror, counter and floors were covered in water, not to mention Gretchen’s clothes were soaked, too. Until she leans to sit up a little bit better, we’ll be using the infant tub, then we’ll graduate to the small inflatable tub.

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Matt’s mom met Marnina this afternoon. Marnina was happy for a while, but since we had to wake her up for their meeting, she soon started to fuss. Hopefully, their next meeting for be more pleasant.

    

Our cats also returned today. After scoping out the house to make sure everything was good, they quickly found their favorite napping spots and made sure to stay away from the baby. With arms and legs flailing and screaming cries, Marnina didn’t make a good first impression with the cats. Add to that her reputation for being a hair puller, and it may be a while before the cats trust her enough to be anywhere near her.

The transition from China time to EST, which is a 12-hour difference, has been very difficult on all of us. It seems we’re all eating and sleeping at different times. Marnina has consistently been getting up around 1:30am and taking a nap from 3-5 and skipping her second nap, falling asleep again around noon. It’s been a crazy schedule and we found ourselves at Wal-Mart at 6:30am since we were all awake.

Marnina has been slowly getting used to the things around our house. She loves the exersaucer that her Aunt Erin let us borrow. Just ignore the teething drool on her chin. :)

    

• Situated atop a plateau surrounded by mountains on three sides of the city, and Lake Dian to the south
• 6200 feet above sea level
• Called the "City of Eternal Spring" due to it's year-round temperate weather
• Over 3.7 million people live in the city and surrounding villages
  
• In the Yunnan province, home to 26 of China's 55 ethnic minority groups
• Has some of the freshest and cleanest air in China