Its Official!

On Friday 28 August 2009, we received Tari's change of name certificate... she is now "officially"

TARI MEI

Another chapter, in our tiny, precious, 23 month old's life.

Digi Scrap Freebie kit

I thought I'd just let you know, I've just made a "China" digi scrap kit - its free, and available on my scrapbooking blog

www.scrappy-bug.blogspot.com

....just in case you are interested!

I will be making an adoption kit, in the future... that one's still in planning stages, in my head for now!

CONGRATULATIONS CATHERINE!!!

Oh my!!! I'm all teary!!!

FINALLY, a sweet Canadian friend, Catherine - has the details of her long awaited, and much prayed for YOUNG daughter! No photo yet... but on its way! Can't wait to see Hannah's sweet little face!

Catherine, I'm so so happy for you!

CONGRATULATIONS, GIRLFRIEND!

6 months... already?!!

**You'd better get a cuppa... this post turned out alot longer than first anticipated!!! Oh yeah, some toilet talk in there too**

This year has gone so incredibly fast, I can't believe we're into August already!!! So... what's changed in 6 months?

*Tari is trying to talk all the time! She still doesn't say alot, (that actually makes sense!) but she's verbalising, and thats good!
*Tari does a wee on the toilet before every bath, and has done 3 poos too! I'll wait til the weather warms up a bit, before I really start trying the toilet training.
*Tari is INTO EVERYTHING! I've been sick, for about 3 months now - first with whooping cough, and last week, I got a virus that was like gastro & a head cold, in one. It was disgusting. (I was swabbed for swine flu - but was negative... that's something to be thankful for!!!) Anyway, being so sick, and trying to look after a toddler.... is REALLY REALLY hard. I could barely stay awake for more than about 10 mins at a time, Tari would whack me, to wake me up!! Poor kid, she just wanted to play - I just couldn't keep my eyes open! At one point, I'd shut the toilet door, to chuck, Tari pulled ALL the tissues out of the tissue box. Another time, she raided the kitchen cupboard, and pulled all the musli bars out, and all the ziplock bags out of the box (of 100!). I did the vaccuuming yesterday (we have ducted vac. so it has a really long, 18m hose) - Tari follows along after me - either treading on, or tripping on the cord, so was crying every 2 minutes, and when she wasn't doing that, she'd go into the rooms, I'd just cleaned, and pull everything out of the cupboards! (she LOVES the bathroom cupboard, and my shoes... so annoying!!!). OH, and she's pulled all the toilet paper off the roll... but then tears it up into tiny pieces.
SO, as much as I adore this child beyond comprehension... she frustrates me so much, sometimes!!!
*Everything takes 5 times longer. Running into the post office to get stamps. Popping into the pharmacy to pick up a script. The Bank. Food shopping (coz she'll kick off a shoe, and I need to retrace my steps - she's lost her left shoe from two pairs, in the last week alone!) Grrr!!! AND they were really cute China shoes. Double Grrrr!!!!
*She's got lots more teeth, even getting back teeth now! But I think I'll need to take her to a paediatric dentist. Her teeth are growing behind each other, and her bottom jaw still overlaps her top jaw, and her bottom teeth rub on her top front teeth, and have made a groove in her tooth! (she had that when we first met, but I think its getting worse)
*Tari has become a food conissuer, and can be really fussy about what she eats. She will ALWAYS want something of what you're eating.
*There is no doubt, she understand everything we say to her. I poured a lemonade yesterday, she stood at my feet squawking like a seagull, I said "Get your cup" - and pointed to it on the coffee table. She wandered into the lounge room, but I didn't think she knew what I'd said. A few seconds later, she appeared at my feet with her cup!!! (BTW, I do one quarter lemonade the rest water... just in case you wanted to harrass me for giving a one year old soft drink!!!)
*Tari LOVES the phone. She's obsessed with it. She'll even hold a biscuit to her head, and start babbling!!! I think she's going to be in communications?!!
*She is the absolute champion of sleeping. Tari sleeps a good 12-13 hours at night, and another 2-3 hours during the day..... maybe that's way she's so busy when she's awake?!!!
*Tari is STILL petrified of our dogs. She isn't so worried about Chewy (coz he's a little terrier), but is TERRIFIED of Milo (a large spoodle). Milo is still a pup, and has no common sense at all - he'll just go bounding over to her, and has licked her on her face before - she shook with fear, and screamed... but no sound came out... she was that scared! We take her outside with the dogs, everyday. I guess she's marginally better. But most of the time, she just screams. I used to stand her at the laundry door (its a glass door) so she could see me, and see the dogs, but not have them near her.... but now she's developed a fear for the washing machine as well!!!! So she screams in there, too!!!
*Tari is starting to sing! Its so cute! We sing Twinkle twinkle little star, row row row your boat, if you're happy and you know it, mostly. As soon as we start singing, she'll do the actions. Yesterday, she was in her high chair and started "Row row row row row row"... so its not perfect! But its so cute!
*Tari has HAIR! But now that she has hair, I have to decide what to do with it!!! Fringe, or no fringe?!! Side part? Its really hard, coz her hair grows from the back of her head, forward. I think I'll ask my hairdresser, what will be best!
*H-man was having a bath with Tari the other night, and asked what the purple spots were on her bottom. (mongolian spots) - I think thats funny! She's been home 6 months, and he's only just asking that now?!! Maybe he thought it was a bruise... but they never went away?!!

*Tari loves to scream. Like, peel the wallpaper off the walls, kinda pitch. Its unreal! She particularly likes to do it in the car. Maybe she likes the acoustics? Or maybe its just that I've just picked up the older two, and am talking to them... she feels the need to be heard? Whatever the reason, its incredibly annoying!!! Sometimes its so loud, my ears hurt, and I can't concentrate on driving!!! (its not usually a short scream either... it usually goes on for a good minute or so!!!)
*The kids all get on so well. Miss M, is a godsend. She is such a great big sister. The only time we have any issues, is in the car! Tari doesn't like anyone to touch her carseat!!! (and she's in the middle) - so if H-man leans on it - she freaks out! But she gets him back... when he's playing his DS, she'll pull his hair, or put her fingers on the screen... then he starts screaming!!!

Life is good. I'm sick of being sick. And I have days where I'm totally "over" the toodlerhood stage. But hey... that is life, right?!!

Tari-licious Film

Here's a wee movie of Miss Tiny today! (sorry its on its side, i did the movie on my still camera, not movie camera!!) ** Beware: crazy bedhead in picutre ** (sorry I sound like I'm talking through my nose... I have a shocking head cold. Yeah, first whooping cough, now cold.... I'm on a roll)

Other big news... Tiny is finally into Size One!! Hooray!!! She's still only barely tipping the scales at 8.4kgs - but she's def. gotten taller!

Its been FIVE months!!!

Hooley Dooley this year has FLOWN! We're in JULY already?!!!

Well, Sunday came and went, and I even forgot the significance of the day!!! It marked 5 months, exactly since we first laid eyes and hands on our sweet baby girl. Geez - FIVE months?! It seriously feels like an eternity ago (even though, I just said, this year is flying!!!) Little Miss Tari Mei is a pea in our pod. We had an interview with a head master the other day, we introduced our children, oldest to youngest. With great enthusiasm, he knelt in front of Tari and said "this little one is obviously adopted, which country is she from?" (turns out, his youngest child was adopted from Taiwan) - but I had to stop and think "Is it REALLY that obvious, that she's adopted?"!!!!!! I know, I laugh about - because apparently she looks very asian?!!! I CAN'T SEE IT!!! I keep looking at her, trying to see how chinese she is - but all I see is my funny girl laughing back at me!!!


Its like people telling you (when you're waiting for your precious child of your dreams) - "she'll be worth the wait". When she's not in your arms - that statement is no comfort and makes no sense. People told me, that our daughter wouldn't be "our adopted daughter" - she'd just be Tari, your third child. I couldn't possibly realise the magnitude of this statement, until our daughter was living in our house... BEING our third child.


Life is good. Unbelievably good. Tari is more than the child of my dreams - I could never have dreamed how wonderful this little girl is. And how fulfilled I could be. Oh yeah... VERY important news... Tari finally has enough hair for it to sit down flat!!!! And what does a Mummy do, when her daughter's hair is long enough to sit flat? Put it up in a tiny pony tail of course!!! (you can just see it in the 12 July photo!)

I'm sorry I don't get to "pop in" to as many blogs (and certainly not as often), as I'd like - but I think of you all often. Are the Salsa twins baking cookies? Wondering how Harlow is? I bet Bri is such a grown up little lady now. Hope Emma's health is on the improve. I wonder how many words Claire is saying now? Is Ava sleeping well? Is Abby at the park? Is Alice enjoying winter holidays with her siblings? I wonder how Delilah's toilet training is going? Is Oliver crawling faster than ever? Is Hannah at School? How long has Alyzabeth An's hair gotten? What are Naomi & Zoe up to? Is Eme loving her new family and home? Is Olivia visiting her farm? I wonder how Maisie's gymnastics is going? What's Elena up to? Is Maddie watching football? Are Aly & Lili singing? Has Tate had a haircut yet?!! Bet Adam & Jeane are doing something crazy with their brothers and sisters!! Lordie! I bet Gracie is just huge now?! I think of Tess everytime Tari wears one of her gooorgeous outfits. Is Julia in school yet? Bet Lana is blitzing her class (or is she still on holidays?!)

Then my thoughts turn to my beloved cyber-friends, who are yet to see their beautiful children. To Doris, Catherine, Krista, Stacey, Heather, Kim, Tonginnator's Mum, Fliss (geeeez... I shouldn't name names... I'm sure to have forgotten someone?!!) Ladies - I'm thinking of you all. Keep the faith... even if by a thread... one that thread will bind you so tight - to someone beyond your wildest expectations.


To Emily's family - YAY!!! You finally meet!!! (in China now)


And lastly, to those special families, who are in that "limbo" stage - of holding that precious photo... yet waiting to actually reach out and touch their blessing. To the Bouton Brood, Kris & Garth, Debbie & Shane, Amalia's family... hugs to you - I am thinking of you!


And Finally (yes... I'm practicing to be a Preacher?!!!), in closing...


Here's a snapshot (or 10!) of the last couple of months

Look who rules the roost?!!!

WEE LITTLE GIRLS!!!

TWO OF EM!!!

Gotta go visit Deb at Sugar & Spice

and

Kris at Tell Her This

(I did say, I'd come back for very special occasions?!!)

CONGRATULATIONS to both lovely ladies and their families! So So GOOD!

Its been four months!

Time's flown, yet on the other hand, it feels like Tiny has been with us forever. Its been a truly remarkable four months. We've seen Tiny really blossom, and show us who she really is (including her incredibly stubborn side!) As with any toddler, there is the good, the bad and the ugly - although for the most part, its definitely pretty good! :) And look! her hair is growing!!! Our little peanut, is also getting a little taller, she's actually wearing some size ones (or 12 mth size) now!! WooHoo!! She's almost 21 months old, and is talking alot more too! She's also decided as of last weekend... sleeping isn't her thing - which is really starting to tick me off! Especially when she lulled me into a false sense of security, by sleeping 12 hours straight every night (for the last 4 months!) - so what's with this screaming half the night, now?!!!

Just wanted to shout out to two incredibly precious families, who've travelled along with me on my journey, and I with them. Huge hugs to BellaLuna & to PugMama - I am just so so happy for you - I could burst!

We're all well (except, my hacking cough), happy and well adjusted. Life is good.

The time has come?

I guess you've been waiting for it? I've been thinking it for a long while. Its time to close this chapter.

I had great intentions of journaling / blogging our new life as a family of five. But I just don't seem to have the time, and everything seems so mundane! We live a very busy life, of just doing life. I can't seem to keep up with reading all my fav. adoption blogs. Or even surf the net.

Tari isn't a figment of our imagination anymore. Our long awaited and dreamed about child in China. She is living and breathing in our family. She IS us. Our journey is no longer about "adoption", rather living and enjoy life.

I was told, before Tari came home, that its not really about "adoption", its about your son or daughter. I heard it - but it didn't feel like it, because she wasn't in my arms. It WAS about adopting a child from China. I knew that child was my son or daughter... but it was about waiting, process and Ch!na Ad0ption Affairs.

Now, she's Tari. She's our daughter and our sister. She was born in China - but long long before, she was born in our hearts and our dreams.

My newest hobby is to digital scrapbook, and it's pretty much all I've been posting anyway - so I've created a new blog, for my pages. There won't be chit-chat - just pictures that tell a thousand words. So, if you want to still see us - we'll be at
www.scrappy-bug.blogspot.com

I may post here, at Aust2China every now and then - so keep me bloglined, (or not!) ~ I just don't want to feel like I must post something, at regular intervals!

Lastly, THANK YOU, to my regular readers, and an incredible network of friends that I've met through blogland. Your comments certainly pulled me out of some pretty dark moments over the last four years. They've made me laugh, smile, and feel loved.

THANK YOU.

Couldn't stop!!!

Some days, I got 'nudda'. Now creativity at all.

And then other days... I just can't stop!!! I downloaded that latest two freebie kits (see last post for links) - that lead me to Enchanted Studio Scraps - where I picked up 3 more kits for only $1 each!

I just realised, I have done two "birthday" pages, of Miss M, in a row (by accident!) This one is on her first birthday...
This one is her birthday last year...

3 months

... since our dreams came true.










So how did we celebrate our "3 months together" anniversary... we went to the hospital and had blood drawn (well Tiny, did anyway!) Poor darling. Screamed like a banchee. Thankfully, the nurse was awesome, and hit the vein first go, and the blood flowed. Took about a minute!

Just a quick note, to visit Stacey for her new freebie kit "Space Cadet" and then head on over to Mel's Lightbulb Moments or Color with Caryn or Scrappyweiss for their new collaborative kit, "Make Believe". Awesome stuff, girls!

Tiny speaks

Tiny has just started saying "Chewy"... and it sounds so cute! You also get bonus footage of my son, picking his seat!

Hope you all had a Happy Mothers Day! I was pampered all day, got special handmade gifts, cards and poems and Miss M asked Mr T to buy me a couple of "Will0w Tree" Statues. I got the Mother & Son one, and the Mother & Daughter one. A beautiful addition to my growing collection!

I entered this page into a competition, I'm not that keen on the layout, but love the photos! Tiny was fully checking out Miss M... I mean, EVERY orifice!!!

And I made this one, just for fun! Tiny LOVES to rip up tissues or pieces of paper into a thousand pieces... usually just after I've vaccuumed?!!

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!

The last few Mother's Days, there was something missing. THIS Mother's Day, I couldn't feel more complete! We are all doing very well, albeit ultra busy. Prioritising has become the key, to getting through each day. Slowly but surely, things are getting done.

Here's a little montage of pages, reflecting my "motherhood". My hearts are with those of you, who are celebrating their first Mother's Day with their child/children and especially to my dear friends, holding onto their dreams, of their waiting child/children. Blessings to you ALL.

And to my wonderful Mum... I love you, wish you were here.

Sw!ne Flu

Here in Adelaide, my home City, we have lots of brass statues and "arty" sculputures up our main shopping street... apparently Adelaide is also home to a few comedians?!!

Cracked me up!!! We are very serious about flu prevention here!!!

Tonight, I snuck into Tiny's room, while she slept, and snapped this gorgeous photo, of my angel, snuggling her "Tuli Cat". So sweet... I've never seen her cuddle anything before!

I also whipped up a couple of pages for the newest Digi Chicks Challenge. I couldn't decide if I wanted to do Grunge or Shabby Chic, so I did one of each!

My Shabby Chic page, features my niece (who took the "Captivated" photo of Tiny, below) - I love this photo of her.

Also, Stacey has a new freebie kit out! Love Pink & Navy!

All I do is scrapbook?

Quick update on family news: We are so busy!!! I'm slowly getting my head around, all that needs to be done each day, and prioritising certain days, to get certain things done. I guess its a start?! I've got so much bookwork to do, but I'm getting there. This week I started a "one sleep" a day routine, with Tiny. The first couple of days, she only slept just over an hour. She's getting better, I think the longest she slept was 2.5 hrs. (thats more like it!) Tiny has had a few tough days, this last week. She truly is an amazing little girl. Not sure what brought on the little tantrums, maybe it was the kids going back to school, after 2 weeks of holidays? I'm finally taking Tiny to the Paediatrician this week. That'll be fun, I'm sure!

Miss M had her sports day, on Friday. She did really well - didn't come first or anything, but did a great job anyway! It rained (again - it rains at her sports day, every year).

Before the kids go to sleep, I say prayers with them. H-man tends to have bad dreams, so he's taken to asking God for particular dreams! (ie. "Dear God, I pray that I dream about playing soccer and playing with my friends etc). Well the other night he prays "Dear God, I pray that I dream about my friends having a sleepover, and Miss H* (Hman's teacher), can sleep in that bed over there"!!!! (he has 2 beds in his room!) Oh gosh, took everything within me, not to pee my pants laughing.

OK, so you're probably thinking, all I do all day, is sit around scrapbooking?!!! Its not true!!! I do spend about an hour or so a day (more, if Mr T is out late) putting together special pages for my kids. I love the challenge of a blank page (and a new kit)!! Sometimes when I take a photo - I already know, what kit I'm going to use, to present that photo!!! Oooo - I got it bad, don't I?!!!

Well the juices most have been flowing on Thursday night (while Mr T was out late!) and I whipped up a few more pages!