Ruby's 2nd Birthday

I know it has been a ridiculously long time since I last blogged but here it is....

Ruby turned 2 on December 29. We celebrated with Jenny's family at a western steakhouse, Pinnacle Peak Patio, in Scottsdale, AZ. Because my brother Byron and his family were here we celebrated his two daughters' birthdays as well. Tiffany's birthday is December 27 and Alyssa's is January 11. We all had a wonderful time eating steak, chicken, burgers, etc. Ruby still smiles when it is pleasing to her. So many of the pictures are of a solemn Ruby! :)










Daddy loves to play with the kids. Here he had made 'mummies' out of them!

Ruby's New Words

Yesterday I was sitting on the couch and I heard this soft voice say, "Hi!" I looked over and there was Ruby looking at me and then repeating 'hi' over and over. Today Uly and I were playing with her on the bed and she wanted a toy Uly had. She said, "I want that." We were pretty shocked, to say the least!

Uh oh.....

She has finally learned the word 'no'. I'll continue posting new words Ruby learns as time goes on.

Jackson's Artwork

Jackson brought home some drawings of people today. I was totally impressed! Check out his art! I would say this is pretty good for a not-quite-4 year old! This picture is of Ruby, complete with an arm and feet!

Ruby Pucker!!

Ruby's favorite thing to do is pucker REALLY big. She has big beautiful lips and she will pucker and lean towards you to kiss you. She will pucker, take a bite of food, then pucker again, wanting me to kiss her in between every bite of food she is eating.

Easter!

We had a wonderful Easter this year. On Saturday we visited Ya-Ya and Yen-Yen and Uncle James in Tucson. Jackson and Ruby hunted for Easter eggs out in the backyard. We had a wonderful lunch of Corned Beef and Cabbage. Yum Yum!! On Sunday morning we went to church. On the way there I asked Jackson, do you like your Sunday school (we just recently changed churches and I wanted to know what he thought of the new church). He told me "It is a wonderful place." I am so happy he loves it. Ruby's class loves her too. They take such good care of them and they have a lot of new friends there too. The church service had the second episode of the Trilogy of Easter. The performances and message were very good! After church we went to Aunt Rene's and Uncle Bob's house. We had a fantastic lunch and time together. We had a lot of yummy food. Rene, Bob, Devin, Mom, Dad, Lisa, Stephen, Olivia, Andy, Gene, Pat, Joann, Bryan, Clayton, and of course all of us, were there today. The kids all got gifts and had an Easter egg hunt with around 10 dozen eggs!! Everyone had a great time finding eggs, even Ruby! Ruby especially loved the Step 2 Roller Coaster. She went on it over and over again. 

Ruby Walking

Ruby has begun walking more and more. She walks maybe 25% of the time but I'm sure within a few days she should be walking like crazy. She also has the top four teeth coming in. This week the teeth to the right and left of the front two have cut through and she is looking more and more adorable with the beautiful smile with more teeth!

First Word

Well today was Ruby's 'Little Snappers' swim lesson. She learned how to do the 'Humpty Dumpty', which is when I coax her to 'jump' (but really fall into) the pool and I catch her. By the end of the lesson she loved it and would readily jump in the water to me. When we got into the car to go home I was repeating some of the commands we use in class. I said, "one, two, three, under!" I was looking at her in the rear view mirror and saw her mouth form 'under'. I was so excited. So I kept trying to get her to say 'under' the whole way home. She said it several times and I even got it on video! She now says it most of the time when asked. How odd one of her first words would be 'under'!

Tooth Peeking out...

A top tooth has started coming through! I am anxious to see what our little girl looks like with more teeth!

More Developments

Today Ruby was dancing to a toy we bought her in China. The toy is very loud and Jackson turned it on to see and hear it. Ruby would hold on to the edge of the bed, let go and bounce up and down then, of course, she would plop down on the ground. It is a start, though! The other development is that Ruby can wave now. She has had the 'jist' of waving but would wave with her hand towards her mouth. Now it is a deliberate wave towards a person. She watches as her wrist moves back and forth.

She's Standing!!

Ruby has been trying hard for the past three days to stand on her own. Finally tonight she would pull herself up on the side of the bed and purposely let go of the bed and actually stand for a few seconds. She would be very pleased with herself and smile and laugh!

Last Day

Today is our last full day in Guangzhou. We are ready to leave!! We were ready to leave a week ago! We had a late breakfast, came to the 'free Internet' store and will pack today. We got to talk to our little Jackson this morning which we always look forward to. We are anxious to see everyone at home and get home just in time to celebrate Christmas with our families. :)

Sobering Moment

Today we went to the US Consulate. We went to a waiting room with about 75 other people. An American worker came out and told us what we are supposed to do when we get to the states and had us take the oath. What a long haul, but well worth the work and effort. With tears in our eyes we finally had come to the end of our journey. She just needs to plant those precious little feet on US soil and it truly will be over. :) This evening we went on a Pearl River Cruise. It was nice. It was the perfect event to give us time to relax and have an enjoyable evening. When we returned to our room we ordered out Papa John's! :) We have ordered that a few times when we were tired and didn't feel like going anywhere.

Visa Paperwork

Today we completed the paperwork necessary for Ruby to get her Visa to come to the USA. We filled out the form that allows her to become a citizen as soon as she lands on US soil. Thank God we are almost there!! That night we went to the Thai restaurant. Yummmy Green Curry with chicken. :)

Shopping, Shopping, and more Shopping

Today we decided to go back to the department store, GrandBuy. We went with some friends, Sarah, Jay, Jordan, and Lillie. Near that street we also found some nice purses and hair accessories. I went back in to the GrandBuy store and found a toy for Ruby I was looking for a few days before that they did not have and they had it today. I was so happy. After this we met Jay and Sarah at McDonalds for lunch. Only the SECOND time we've been at a McDonald's since we got here. Not bad. :) Since neither of us thought we could communicate with the taxi drivers to get us to the Pearl Market we opted to go back to the hotel and then have our guide ask the taxi driver to take us to the Pearl Market. We got there and shopped for about an hour. It is amazing at how many stores there are selling beads. Something everyone should experience. Mom and I have always wondered who strings all those thousands of beads we buy. Now I know!

Church

This morning the group went to the Zoo but we opted to stay at the hotel. A few yards from the hotel is a Christian Church that we attended the service this morning. The service was great and we met many people there. Again, we 'layed low' today to try and rest.

Pearl Market

Today we went to the Pearl Market. When we went here 2.5 years ago the prices were VERY reasonable. This time they were OUTRAGEOUS!!! One sterling silver and stone bracelet cost $800 AMERICAN DOLLARS! I thought do these people think we are that gullible??? Oh well, needless to day I didn't buy anything there!! We walked to the market through the famous Qing Ping market. This was about a 30 minute walk from our hotel. It was very interesting to see the way the locals live and the businesses they have. They were selling everything from pets to Chinese herbs. On the way back one person (Kim Malsom, that works in the CCAI Dossier department) wanted to get some Chinese herbs for her boyfriend. He likes to cook and he wanted her to get some herbs for him. We went to a local vegetable and meat store. They had tons and tons of fresh vegetables and chickens in cages that had only a few hours left of daylight. ;) After this trip I was wiped out. It took the rest of the afternoon to recover from all the walking. I pulled a muscle in my side so I was trying to recuperate and get back in shape for the rest of the trip.

Sightseeing

Today we went on a half day sightseeing tour. We visited a Buddhist temple and if you wanted you could get a 'blessing' from the monks. We opted out on that one! Then we went to the Old Chen House. It is a house that belonged to the Chen family 1500 years ago. FYI they have 'western' toilets there! ;) That was a relief! We walked around and took pictures there. Finally we went to a Provincial Arts & Crafts center aka tourist trap. It was OK and we did manage to buy a few things there. That afternoon we just spent around the hotel.

Day 4 with Ruby

Today is day 4 with Ruby. She has, as of last night opened up to us tremendously. She is smiling, laughing, crawling, and holding on to the edge of the crib and walking around it. She typically likes her crib because she can play in it and we like it so she isn't so mobile! We will be taking her to the Swan Room today to let her crawl around and play. It is kind of hard having her in our room with so many things to get in to. Yesterday we went to the Passport office and applied for her Chinese passport so she can come home. Only one more step of paperwork until we can travel now, her American Visa. Of course we have to say the oath at the US Consulate on the 20th too. It has been nearly impossible to get my email here. So if you have emailed me directly I will most likely email you back when we return.

We Got Her!!

Wow, what an amazing time it was getting our Ruby. She is not yet completely happy with the 'switch over' but I know in about a day or two she will be happy and content. Here is a video of our precious little princess. If for some weird reason this embeded video does not work go to youtube.com and user phoenixjen. That is where the video resides.

When we arrived at the Civil Affairs Office we were all in such anticipation of receiving our babies. Our guide said that the Xuwen children had not arrived yet. I was wondering how many hours it would be until they would get there as the orphenage is a 9 hour drive from Guangzhou. But our guide, Grace said that they were at the hotel and would be there momentarily. While we were waiting I saw three Chinese women get off the elevator and walk past us holding babies. That's when I realized our beautiful Ruby had walked right past her new mommy and daddy!! Uly frantically began taking pictures of the nannies that were now walking into the playroom. It was our turn to get our baby and the nanny came out and handed Ruby to us. She immediately turned her body so I would be holding her 'front-facing'. She still loves to be front-facing and look at everything that is going on around her. She loves books and toys. She is content sitting in her crib or on our bed looking around the room. So far she has been pretty quiet except for the occasional Drama Queen outburst (which only lasts a few seconds). :) Uly and I are ready to come home! I know we still have 10 days but it would be so nice to come home and get settled in our routine. Today we OFFICALLY became Ruby's parents. We were interviewed by two officials at the Civil Affairs Office. They want to know how old you are, income, why you want to adopt, that you promise to never abuse or abandon the baby, etc. It is really a sobering event. When we got back to the hotel the floor attendant handed us our 'Going Home' Barbie. This Barbie is given to all adoptive parents. It is a Barbie doll holding a Chinese baby doll. Something for the children to keep as a gift from Mattel.

Today I showed Ruby pictures of her brother her aunts and uncles and grandparents. She loved looking at all the pictures. (Thank you Aunt Lisa for making the photo album.) I noticed Ruby loves books. We took her down to the Swan Room, the playroom for children.