Last Day in NYC

I realized looking back in my blog that I totally forgot about blogging the last day of our trip.  I'm blaming the heat.  It's gone to my head and fried my brain.

So here's a quick summary since we had a very laid back day.  The first thing we did Friday was we went down to the National Archives to find out some of my family history.  I wanted to know exact dates of when my mom and her family came into the US through New York.  I was able to find the ships manifest with the names of my mom's family that came to the US on that ship.  I also got photocopies of the manifest with all the typed up information showing my mom's age, passenger number, ethnicity, date of departure from Bremerhaven (Bremen, Germany) and date of arrival into NYC.  It was super cool.  This was a great addition to the family history my aunt had already gathered.

From there we took the subway to the Upper West Side to buy some H&H bagels to take home.  These are the best bagels in NYC.  They're always hot and fresh.  It was unusual to be handed a bag of fresh, warm bagels.  They're long gone now but they were oh so good.  We wandered around a little bit but knew we had to get back to Times Square.  We decided that we really wanted to see one more Broadway show while we were there.  After the awesomeness of La Cage Aux Folles, I was hungry for more.  Being big fans of Sean Hayes and Kristin Chenoweth and hearing the rave reviews about Promises, Promises, we decided that was how we were going to close out our NYC trip.

After a long afternoon of all of the above, we dragged ourselves back to the hotel for a few hours of R&R before heading to the theater.  The show was really good but La Cage was still way better.  Sorry.  I think that my reasoning for that is that I was laughing though about 90% of La Cage where it was only about 60% laughter through Promises, Promises.  I'm so ready to go back to NYC for another trip just to do more Broadway shows.  So here is the last bit of photos from our trip.

Admitting Life's Imperfections

I try to spend as much time focusing on the positive as I can but it's not always easy.  I think it's easier to try to bury the things in our lives we can't fix than deal with them head on.  This is one of my big personal flaws.  I take on more than I should.  I burden myself with things I cannot control.  I'm pretty sure it's genetic.

Where am I going with this you ask?  The purpose of my blogging when I started it was to talk about the journey of adoption.  International adoption to be specific and the ups and downs of getting to the goal - our daughter.  I knew there were going to be lots of unknowns - birth parents, birthdate (Emi's is a guesstimate), health history, etc.  What I failed to realize is that this isn't just an international adoption issue.  It's an issue even in domestic adoption.  We are finding that out first hand.

Eriks birthdate and birth parents are known.  What gets tricky is medical history.  Even his birth mother doesn't even know her full medical history even after trying to get help from her mother.

This is where the admitting imperfection comes in.  Let me start out by saying this - Eriks is a very bright, articulate, athletic, sensitive, caring and beautiful child.  I love him for him.  When Lane and I adopted him, we had no idea what to expect and we are dealing with that now.  Eriks has always had a tendency to be impulsive - doing things and saying things before thinking them through.  This has gotten him in A LOT of trouble.  But after his teacher at school said something to us a few weeks into the Spring semester, did we consult with our pediatrician who referred us to a behavioral specialist (Dr. L).  This is interesting because he had a great Fall semester without any issues.  We're not sure what changed over Christmas break, but something did.  The pediatrician did not believe he had ADHD based on her observations.  After having Eriks tested, she was right.  He does not have ADHD.  But, what Dr. L. is seeing is behavioral problems and is beginning to lean towards an impulsive behavioral disorder.  She wants to speak to our pediatrician before she makes any accurate diagnosis.  In addition to doing and saying things without thinking about it she notices that there are 'twitches' he has which are common among people who have impulsive behavioral issues.  Dr. L. asked us about the other children Eriks' birth mother is raising.  Lane and I both said that they have been diagnosed with ADHD but we don't know details.  Dr. L. believes that the children likely have the same issues Eriks does and have been misdiagnosed with ADHD.  This is where the medical history becomes tricky.  We have a relationship with Eriks birth mom but not much.  It's definitely not one where I can call her up and ask her questions about the other boys to give information back to Dr. L.  This is frustrating because I don't have the answers and I want to make sure Eriks gets exactly what he needs to help him. 

I also have to admit that this entire adventure has been emotionally and physically exhausting.  You can't reason with a child who doesn't emotionally connect to consequences.  Don't get me wrong, he has a cow when he loses privileges or has some consequences to his actions but 5 minutes later, he's forgotten and doesn't care.  There are times he even says he doesn't care.

With all this being said, I am glad not only for myself, but for Eriks that we are going to find a way to deal with this.  Dr. L. has said as parents, we are doing everything right and that we are putting Eriks first.  She has had patients whose parents aren't doing what they should be doing for their kids.

I'll likely be blogging about our progress in the future.  I decided to share this because I know that Lane and I are not alone.  There are other parents like us.  Not only to adopted children but biological children.  If I can just share with one parent what we are going through, then I'm happy.

Peace and love.

4th of July

This was Emi's very first 4th of July not only here in the U.S. but also as a citizen.  We laid low around the house most of the day and weren't really sure if we were going to go watch fireworks anywhere.  The prospect of finding parking and dealing with the crowds wasn't super appealing.  However, in the end, we decided what the heck.  This was going to be our final 4th of July here in GA.  This time next year, we'll be calling Indianapolis "Home Sweet Home." 

After having dinner at McDonald's (not our 1st choice but most of the places we wanted to eat decided they were going to be closed for the 4th), we drove over to Acworth and proceeded to walk from near downtown to Lake Acworth to watch the fireworks. 

There were a ton of people there but it wasn't as crazy as I thought.  They had a band playing some pretty good music so we were having fun on our blanket as we waited for the show to start.  Eriks and Emi did a bit of running around and playing.  The lady sitting behind us gave the kids small American flags to wave.  Pretty soon it got dark and they shot off one firework about 5 minutes until showtime.  What was funny about this is that a few blankets over from us this guy was laying down and had obviously dozed off.  Upon hearing the one ka-boom, we hear from the guy, "FIREWORKS!!!  Holy Sh*t!!"  When Lane heard the outburst he started laughing and continued laughing for about the next 2 minutes.  I don't really know why he thought the guys reaction was so dang funny but he did.  I started laughing at Lane. 

The show was pretty good.  Not the best fireworks I've seen but still entertaining and worth keeping the kids up late for.  We trekked back to the car and luckily dealt with no traffic because all the cars leaving were going the other direction!  Score!!  Put the kids to bed and had a beer.

Hope you all had a great 4th of July!!

One Year Ago Today...

Emilija was physically placed in Lane's arms and this day is known at Gotcha Day.  Emilija was no longer just a picture we had posted on the refrigerator and looked at a thousand times a day.  She was no longer the little girl that played in my dreams.  She was ours and safely in her daddy's arms.

I still can't believe that a year has gone by.  It went by oh so fast.  Emi has changed so much in that year and I still feel like she's always been here.  Her entire life.  I love her smile when she greets me every morning.  I love that when I leave her at home with her daddy she races to the garage door with her sweet little lips puckered to give me a goodbye kiss.  I love when she charges toward me arms wide open in anticipation of a great big hug.  I love her curiosity and love of animals (she has become obsessed with the cat and looks for him all the time).  I love how even though her language hasn't developed she in her own language will tell me a story.  I love her sweet feet that I kiss on every day.  I love how she giggles when I put lotion on her after bathtime (she's so ticklish).  There are so many more things I could say I love about this girl but it would take forever!  What I love most is that she's ours and will be for always.

I am so grateful her birth mother chose life for her even if she could not provide one for her.  I'm so grateful that the Peoples Republic of China allowed us the opportunity to adopt this wonderful and precious little being. 

Happy Gotcha Day, Emilija!

Gotcha Day 2009

Today 2010

New York City Day 4

This was our second to last full day in NYC and this was one of the hottest and busiest by far.  We got up a little earlier than usual so that we could head back down to Rockefeller Center and have a shot at seeing the Today show cast and the possible chance to be on national TV as the cameras panned the crowd.  I was a little afraid that it was going to be a zoo down there because both Crystal Bower.sox and Lee De.Wyze were going to be on the plaza performing.  It wasn't too bad.  Although there was a line already forming for the Today Show Concert Series Friday performance featuring Justin.Bieber.  I couldn't believe it. 

It was really cool to see them perform.  It was even cooler to get to see one of them up close in person.  Crystal went the other direction to greet the crowd but Lee wandered down to where we were and I got some pretty good photos of him.

This was a picture of Lee performing and me using my nice zoom lens.  

This was not taken using a zoom.  I could reach out and touch him if I wanted to.  He was really nice and humbled that there were so many people there supporting him. 

Unfortunately, we only got a brief glimpse of Meredith.Viera and Ann.Curry.  I think Al was off on assignment and not sure where Matt was.  Maybe he was there.  The bummer is that I didn't get any photos of the Today Show morning crew.  I was hoping.  The good news is that thanks to a group of girlfriends that were there and their sign, we made it on TV.  My mom and Eriks both saw us.  They didn't think it was going to happen.  The bad news is that Lane and I at the last minute the night before decided not to set our DVR via internet to record it so we could watch ourselves if we in fact made it on TV.  Still kicking ourselves for that move.  Oh well.  I guess it means we'll have to go back to NYC and try again!

After the concert was over, the crowd pretty much left because that was the end of any outside activity.  So we then headed to the American Girl flagship store and bought some stuff for Emi's Itty Bitty Baby Doll and then headed to drop it off at the room before going to the subway station and heading down to Battery Park to head out to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.

The subway has changed a lot since I last rode it 15 yrs ago.  The subway stations are cleaner and I felt safer.  Granted I'm sure there are areas where that isn't so but I had been in the same places as last time and I wasn't so scared.  It did help that I had a man with me too.

As I said, it was really hot in NYC that day.  I thought I was going to melt.  Once we got to Battery Park we saw a mounted police officer and I just had to be the typical tourist and take a photo.  I also got to pet the horse.  He was really sweet.

Both Liberty Island and Ellis Island were pretty cool places to walk around and thankfully there was shade!  One of the real reasons for heading to Ellis Island was to see if I could dig up family history.  My mom told me that when her family came to the US they came through New York City and possibly through Ellis Island but she wasn't sure since there was no documentation in any of the papers my grandparents held onto.  So my search was on.  The problem I ran into at Ellis was that their archives only documented arrivals up until the 1930's or 40's.  I forgot which.  The staff there pointed me in the direction of the National Archives in the city - which was on the agenda for Friday as it was nearing 5 pm when left Ellis Island.

After the very long and hot afternoon at the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island we headed to Star.bucks when we got to dry land.  We needed a cool air conditioned place, some water and a place where we could use WiFi to figure out how we were going to get to dinner.  

We decided to go for Chinese.  I had watched a show on Food.Network called "The Best Thing I Ever Ate..." and featured said Chinese restaurant.  So after several subway trains and a few blocks, we made it.  The trip was well worth it.  Everything we ate hit the spot.  I would like to return when we go back to NYC again.  Here are a few photos of Lane and I at dinner.

By the time we got done with dinner, the sun was starting to set as we walked back to the subway station.  And it was definitely dark by the time we got back to Times Square.  We hung around there for a few minutes but headed back to the room.  We were hot and tired and wanted some time to relax after spending the entire day on our feet. 

She's C-R-A-Z-Y, But I Love Her Anyway

Emilija is definitely sticking to the stereotypical spiciness of girls from Hunan Province, China.  With Emi, you never know what she's going to do next.  Hence the inspiration for the title of my blog.  There is very rarely a dull moment around here.  I've neglected posting photos of the kiddos.  So this is my update on them but more specifically about Emi because she's done some interesting things lately.

The first recent Emi craziness was nearly 2 weeks ago.  We went to dinner with our dear friend Liz.  That was the night Eriks got sick during dinner and slept in the booth almost the whole time.  The next day we found out he had strep throat.  Upon returning home, Eriks was immediately put to bed.  After Emi got dressed for bed way past her usual bedtime, she became wild!  She ran circles around her room.  Falling down several times on purpose and laughing every time she did.  Of course how could Lane and I not laugh either.  Then she pulled this:

She got into her American.Girl doll bed and tucked herself in for the night.  She thought it was hysterical.  It was funny.  We finally got her to settle down (sort of) and put her in her real bed.

A few days later she found Eriks karate gear and decided to play dress up.  Eriks took a hiatus from karate at the beginning of the year and hadn't done it since then.  Just this week he decided to give it a try again.  But what was amazing about all this was that she knew, without prompting what to do with it all.  She put the vest on, the foot protectors, the headgear and she even knew that the mouthpiece was meant to go in her mouth.  It was really cute and how could I not take photos of her in her martial art glory.  

In recent weeks Eriks has decided he no longer wants to sleep by himself.  Why?  We're not sure.  He doesn't think it's fair the dogs and cat sleep with us in our room.  So we try and encourage the dogs to sleep in his room but it doesn't always work.  And Sydney if he's not sleeping in our room will sleep in Emi's.  He's always been the protector.  Especially of the babies.  As soon as Emi came home from China, he was almost on a constant basis in her room when she was sleeping.  Whether it be at night or at naptime.  He was the same way with Eriks when he was really little.  I love that about this dog and will miss it when he's no longer with us.  The first night Eriks decided he wasn't going to sleep by himself I went into his room to put something away.  This was hours after his bedtime.  I looked into his bed and realized there was no one there.  So a frantic search of the house for our son was on.  This is where we found him:

This has happened several times since then.  He gets put back in his bed because Emi's crib is just not big enough for the both of them.  But it is sweet that he wants to be with his sister and not by himself.

And the last bit of recent craziness came from Emi last night.  We were finishing up coconut creme pie from Father's Day.  Emi decided that it wasn't only delicious, but made for a great facial.  We took out the video camera too.  Hopefully I can get some stuff uploaded and posted here.  I'm behind in video posting.  It was funny watching her smear it on her face and then lick her fingers.  Of course she was promptly given a bath afterward.

 We're just waiting to see what our kids will do next!

New York City Day 3

No excuse for the absence.  Just laziness.

So back to our wonderful trip.  On our 3rd day in NYC we headed down to Rockefeller Center after the Today show was over.  We were headed to the Top of the Rock for a view of the Manhattan skyline.  Had a bite to eat on our way there.  We chose to do the Top of the Rock for a few reasons.  First, the waits at the Empire State Building are notoriously long to get to the top for a view.  Second, I wanted to take photos of the Empire State Building from the top of somewhere else.  It was really nice!

We walked by Radio City Music Hall on the way there.  Conan O'Brien was doing his comedy tour there but it was sold out.  We had no idea but it would've been fun.  Oh well.  We also had too much other stuff we wanted to do instead.  We wandered around Rockefeller Plaza first.  Checking out where the ice rink is.  During the summer they cover it up and turn it into a cafe area.  Found the Latvian flag among all the flags on the plaza. 

There was absolutely no wait to get to the Top of the Rock and the observation deck was very quiet.  Sweet!  At first I was a little nervous.  I kind of have a fear of heights.  It takes me a few minutes to get over it and get comfortable.  The view was amazing!  We were able to take lots of great shots of the city and the Empire State Building. 

After we were done at Rockefeller Center we strolled over to the theater district.  We had tickets to the 2:30 performance of La Cage Aux Folles starring Kelsey Grammer and Douglas Hodge.  We had lunch at this little French Bistro before the show.  I had an onion tart which was to die for good.  Lane had this gross (in my opinion) club sandwich.  I thought it was gross because some of the toppings I just don't eat.  We hurried through lunch because we actually thought the show was at 2pm.  Should've checked our tickets sitting at the table.  Oh well. 

The show was FABULOUS!!!!  So far out of all the Broadway shows I've seen in my lifetime, it's the BEST!!  I want to see it again so badly.  If anyone is planning a trip to NYC soon this is a MUST SEE show.  If you live in the NYC area, ditto.  Lane and I laughed the whole way through.  I did not want it to end.  After the show we waited outside the theater door to see if any of the performers would come out and sure enough some of them did.  Including Kelsey Grammer.  He is a very, very nice person and I got some photos of him which you will see below. 

We then walked over to Junior's Cheesecakes and had a late afternoon snack of what else?...cheesecake!!!  Lane and I have had Junior's on several occasions.  In the past I have ordered them for desserts.  I figured if I had the cheesecake in my home, I had to have it in the restaurant.  Lane had the raspberry swirl and I had cherry.  They were so yummy and hit the spot.  We actually sat on the patio outside and people watched as we ate our cheesecake.  Once the cheesecake slices had been devoured we walked the approximate 5 blocks back to our hotel.  I had been on my feet all day and needed a bit of reprieve. 

Around 9pm we headed back out to find a bite to eat.  We found a great Irish bar called the Perfect Pint about 1/2 a block from the hotel.  I kind of wanted to go somewhere I could watch the Stanley Cup.  But I also wanted beer.  So it worked out.  I had an amazing dish of Shepherd's Pie.  Lane had some sort of Irish chicken dish which was a bit spicy but not bad.  After a few hours of eating, talking and watching TV we went back to our room to head to bed.  Tomorrow was going to be yet another busy day.

New York City Day 1 & 2

Lane and I took an adults only trip to New York City 2 weeks ago.  It was HEAVEN!!  We took it easy for most of the trip and didn't run ourselves ragged all over the city.  We'll just have to see other stuff the next time we go back which for me won't be soon enough.  I've always loved NYC.  I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Broadway.  I could sit in a theater there every single night of the week and not get bored.  There are shows I know I could see over and over again.  Unfortunately, my pocketbook would disagree with that since it is expensive!

So we flew into LaGuardia Monday the 31st of May in the afternoon.  We got to our hotel in Times Square and decided to spend at least an hour unwinding.  We then decided to walk around Times Square and get a bite to eat.  Ended up at  TGIFridays.  Nothing exciting but oh well.  It was food and at that point that's exactly what we needed.

We were out and about in Times Square until about 12:30 am.  We stopped again at around 9:30 to have dinner at the ESPN zone and watch the Chicago Blackhawks game (they won that game - yes!) 

Tuesday morning started out with a trip to the big Toys R Us store in Times Square to get some goodies for the kids.  The nice thing about it was that it was right next door to our hotel.  So after some shopping there Lane ran our purchases back up to our room and we set out again.  This time it was from our hotel down to Macy's at Herald Square.  It was about 10 blocks or so.  This is by far the biggest department store I've been in.  It's 7 stories tall and takes up an entire block.  It literally would have taken me hours and hours to cover every floor.  But I didn't do that.  I looked for shoes and found nothing.  Bummer.  I however did find Emi a very cute Guess outfit for next summer on clearance.  Unfortunately, Macy's was in the process of changing out their windows so the shades were drawn but in May they had cars borrowed from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum on display in the windows and in the stores.  You could see Indy 500 car tires below the shades in the windows and they still had cars parked inside the store.  It was kind of cool since only 2 days before we were at the Speedway watching the race.

After Macy's we found a deli to have lunch and had some great sandwiches.  Thus far, I have never had a bad deli sandwich in NYC.  You can walk into pretty much any deli and get a good sandwich.  So after finding some lunch, we continued on to the Empire State Building.  We went inside the lobby but did not go up to the top.  I had heard that especially in the summer it is extremely busy and crowded and the wait just to go up to the top can be very long.  Lane and I decided that if we wanted a view of NYC from somewhere high above, we were going to go somewhere else for the view.  On the way back to our hotel we stopped at the NYC Public Library.  Lane wanted to stop so he could see the big lions outside.  That was the only reason.  They were cool though so it was worth the stop. 

We got back late in the afternoon and after being out in the heat most of the day, I decided I need to kick my feet up for the night so Lane ran to a pizzeria and grabbed us some slices.  My ankles and feet were severely swollen and I just needed to get off them.  I'll cover day 3 & 4 in my next post!