Mina's third Birthday

New Picts from Half the Sky

Part of Mina's care in China was coordinated by a program here in the US. The organization is called Half the Sky. They go into orphanages in China as well as other countries and help set up foster care. They also help with financing to do improvements to the facilities. They are a great program that we feel really help in Mina's development. Of course without them she would not have had a foster mom who was so instrumental in her development.

We recently got some documents from her development reports and some new pictures.
Here they are...

My very own Hello Kitty

  

I love birthday cake

  

  

  

We are 2 now...

Hello everyone. I know its been a while since I posted last and I have heard it from everyone. Well Im posting now to give some updates on Mina.

First the exciting news... We are in paperchase for Mina's Mei Mei. Thats sister in chinese. We hope to have our paperwork done by August or September. The wait time between turning in your paperwork and getting a referal (child and picture assinged to you) has gone up form 6 months as it was with Mina to a year. That means we would not travel till fall or early winter of next year. Having Mina here will make the wait alot easier. We are asking for a girl between the ages of 18-30 months. So Mina and Mei Mei will be about a year apart. No final name yet but Sophia and Isabel are the two on at the top of the list right now.

Mina turned 2 a few weeks ago. We had a Hello Kitty party for her and it went off without too many hitches. Just a small fire and a lost card table. It was funny though.

Mina is talking more and more every day now. We are starting two word sentences. She loves the outside and jumping is a mode of travel. She is very healthy and is a great eater for the most part. Getting her to go to sleep is always an issue but what kid doenst have that problem.

We just finished up with Little Gym and she had a great time. She made great strides in here physical corrodination and social skills. We are tying the YMCA version but Suz isnt too impress with it so far. We will have to see.

Well thats about it for now. I will post some new pictures in the next day or so. Hope everyone is doing well and thanks for keeping up with Mina's Blog.

Me and my hat... 

HI...!!! 

Fun in the leaves 

This is my new chair. Looks comfy doesnt it? 

fun at the park... 

Im sure you missed me... Im back... 

Thats me and my friend Brielle. 

Me and Grandma JoAnn 

My first hair cut (with blankie) on the week of the new moon.  

p.s

The bear needed a kiss... P.S. Notice my new shoes. I'm a walker now. 

Week 5 pict 1 

Week 4 

Week 3 

Week 2 

Week 1 

Growth Progress

We are going to try to take a picture of Mina once a week to see how she changes with age. Everyone keep saying how much she changes everytime they see her. We dont notice these changes so much since we see her every day. So, we decided to do this project. We have week 1 and week 2 so far...

Were going to the zoo, zoo, zoo, how about you, you, you... 

The latest news...

Well its been a while since the last post. I know most of you have quit watching the blog but for the few that keep watching, here is an update.

Mina is doing great. She continues to develope and learn new things. She is almost walking. She actually can walk on her own but when she sees that she has walked a little, you can see the "oh shit" on her face and she sits down. She can give kisses and hugs but of course it is on her schedule.

Mina is a great eater. There are not too many things that she wont eat. Strawberrys are on thing for sure. She likes strawberry flavor, but not the real thing.

She usually goes down for bed between 8 and 8:30 and is up between 6 and 7am. Not too bad. We are down to one nap a day for a couple of hours in the early afternoon.

I have been taking her to the pool and she loves the water. She really likes the deep end. The kiddy pool sucks. I hold her and we move though the water. She loves to be thrown up and caught. Ill leave her drop till just her head is out. We are working on kicking alittle.

Suz is falling into motherhood quite well. As with all new jobs, the first week is rough and you always have to try different things to see what works and what doent but she is doing a great job. It is really tiring this parent thing.

Other than that its the usual kid stuff. We (Susan and I) go around singing the silly songs that all her toys play. You just cant get them out of your head. We are even starting to get some of her books memorized.

Thats all for now. I will keep updating the blog but please, if you are reading and viewing the pictures (Stacy), please post a comment from time to time so I know someone is out there reading.

Michael (Susan and Mina)

Photo 6 

Photo 5