Wow One Year Later!

Jailyn on her Gotcha Day New Minnie Mouse Tricycle June 12, 2012.

Making Butterfly Crafts at the Butterfly Show.

Father's Day with Mike and his beautiful daughters.

Our baby girl is so happy and growing up fast and now a little girl going on 2.   We can't believe it has been a whole year since we were in China.  It feels so good!  We had a great week last week!  Our last post placement report for China was complete on Monday!  Woohoooooo!!!!  So thrilled no more paperwork after 6 1/2 years of adoption paperwork.    It is over!!!!!!  The only thing left for us is to re-adopted her in Hamilton County which will give us a birth certificate from Hamilton County which will make it so much easier when she goes to school.  Her Chinese Birth certificate will do however is vague and looks nothing like our birth certificates in the US.  We had a great Gotcha Day!   It was a happy day together with a trip to Toysrus!  Jailyn got her first "Bite" she calls her new Minnie Mouse Tricycle Bike!   It is so darling and still a bit big for her little legs.  She loves being pushed around and has a Dora helmet she loves too.  I will post her picture on the bike.   Our summer is in full force.    She has her kiddie pool on the deck and loves playing in the water.  We goto the pool usually on Saturdays.   We tried Gymboree Art class and it was just not active enough for her and now we have moved up one level since she is 23 months old to a more fun Gym class at Gymboree.  Betty, Mom and Dad still help me out each week.  Grandma Joan usually goes to Gymboree with us on Thursday and Colleen has Jailyn on Tuesday and Thursdays while I work.  We are so blessed as Jailyn has so many people who love her and she is thriving.  We are going on our first weeks vacation with Jailyn in a few weeks and Mom and Dad are excited!  We are going to Lakeside on Lake Erie for a week and have a cottage rented.  Our friends and their little girls will be there too.   It will be our first adventure away from home that long.  Mom and Dad are soooooooooooo happy to be getting away from work and the norm.  July will be action packed for us with Mike's Birthday July 1 and Jailyn's and Mommy's Birthday July 11!   We will have her Birthday party July 14 with the grandparents and lots of other activities in July.  Family picnic and our all day/night date night while Katie and Billy watch Jailyn.  That will be a first for us however we will be home when she wakes up the next morning.  Mike and I are getting back to once a month date nights which are so needed.   Mike is busy working with our builder on our new home and making plans for the River House in Indiana.  We have picked most of the exterior colors and they are getting ready to survey and get permits.  It is exciting and a year process for us to build as we are not in a hurry to move.  We had a nice Father's Day at the zoo.  Katie and Jailyn and I spent the morning at the zoo with Mike.  He was a lucky man to have all his best girls with him on his special day.  Jailyn road the train at the zoo and had fun and was more into it the second time at the zoo and being a little older.   We also went to the Butterfly event this year at Krohn and she made butterfly crafts.    Well I must say there is something about having a year to get our lives back after this whirlwind year.  We survived the first six months and have pushed through lots of changes.  We are on a good schedule that has finally settled in these past 6 months.  Many changes and challenges have taken place over the year and if we can get good sleep and stay healthy (have had lots of colds all of us) we can do anything.  On a personal note I have lost 36 1/2 lbs in 18 weeks on my weight loss program and feel great.   I have been working out with a personal trainer and Jailyn goes with me.  She loves my trainer and does many exercises with me.  It is too cute.   I am adapting back to food and will add more exercise (cardio) to get more weight off as I am 12 lbs from goal weight.    The low calorie diet kept my blood pressure down and now I feel with more food I can exercise at a higher level and still lose.   It has been a great experience for me with the Jewish Hospital Weight Loss program.   I recommend it to anyone who needs to break the emotional eating cycle.  It has been so good for me to get Linette back after all the years of waiting for our baby girl and eating the disappointment, grief and pain of our journey.   Heck I look at it as I just needed to get my baby weight off as any mother has to work at it after having a child.  Same concept just different circumstances.    It is a life long journey to stay fit and healthy but one that is priority NOW.   I am a MOM who has been called to do many things in this life and I must be healthy because most importantly I am a wife to Mike , MOM  I dreamed so long of being to Jailyn and bonus MOM to Katie, Billy and Scott and have my business too.    I would not change a thing NOW!  I love my family so much.   Jailyn was the gift from GOD meant for us.  We are blessed and most importantly are a happy family.  We know the best is yet to come.
One year as a family and life is good!
With love and appreciation for your support in following our journey as it continues on .......
Linette