Is it time yet?!?!?!

Ok, we couldn't wait for October to get here:) The kids have picked out their costumes for this year. Anna Li will be a skeleton, Bethany will be Supergirl, and Colin will be Batman. We had our decorating party a couple of weeks ago (I told you we couldn't wait!). We decorated the inside of the house and had a spooky dinner. We will wait and decorate the outside a little closer to Halloween:) We always end the night with "It's a Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!"


Colin's buddy Luke showed up for dinner:)

Mummies for dinner and a glass of blood (ok, it's Kool-Aide)!!!!

More to come!!!!!!

Medical Update

This week has been full of doctor's appointments, dentist appointments, and we still have a meeting at the school to go.

Monday we visited Dr. Cogen at the Eye Foundation in Birmingham. We found that Anna Li has very little vision in her right eye and will be corrected to 20/100- 20/200 with glasses. Her left eye has a myopic astigmatism but with glasses it should be corrected to 20/20. As time passes her right eye will start to stray due to her left eye being stronger. When this happens she will have to have surgery but that will hopefully be a long time from now:) Anna Li was so excited to get her glasses. Her face looked like a child's on Christmas morning. It was precious!

Tuesday we went to our family dentist, Dr. Adams, for her second visit to have her teeth filled. He filled 5 cavities bringing the total to around 10 and we have one more visit to go. She does a very good job but bless her heart she hates going. We have decided to put off getting braces until the summer.

Wednesday we went to UAB at 10:00 to have a hearing test. She passed with flying colors! At 11:00 we went to the International Adoption Clinic. We seen Dr. Richards and she gave us the results to all of Anna Li's blood work. Everything came back great! Next she seen Leigh Anne Harrington who is a family therapist for adoption. We had an interpreter to help with the language barrier. She thought Anna Li was doing wonderful and adjusting well. Last we saw the Occupational Therapist. She finished giving Anna Li her IQ test. We felt like we got the short end of the stick because the lady that started the test 3 weeks ago quit and the lady that finished the test didn't seem too knowledgeable about the test. So, we were told what we already knew. She is on the level of a 1st to 3rd grader. Good news is everyone seems to think she will eventually catch up and do fine. Last appointment of the day was at Birmingham Pediatrics to see Dr. Hale. Colin had his well visit and had to get 3 shots, Bethany and Anna Li got the flu mist (instead of the shot), and Anna Li got a TB skin test.

After all of that, we took Anna Li to an Asian Market that our translator told us about. We bought her $60 worth of food!! In the back of the market they had a little restaurant with real authentic Chinese food!! It felt like we walked back into China. (I will let you decide if that is a god thing or not!!) We let Anna Li pick something off the menu for her dinner. She chose some meal with shrimp in it and a big bowl of rice. She told the people that worked there that we were buying her too much. I hope she didn't think she was going to eat it all in one day:)

Friday we will have our meeting with the school to discuss Anna Li's IEP. It has been a very busy week!!! Looking forward to the weekend:)

Moon Festival- Athen's FCC

Saturday night we went to Athen's to celebrate The Moon Festival with the Athen's FCC (Families with Children from China). Max and Kathy Norman hosted the festival and we had a wonderful time.
Russ and Lisa invited a lady from work named Min. She was born and raised in Northern China. She now lives in the US and is married with two boys. She was able to translate so we were able to have conversations with Anna Li all night:) Anna Li was so excited to be able to talk in her native language. Min and one of her son's is in the picture below with Anna Li, Colin, Bethany (hiding behind Colin),and myself. Picture of the Gray's arriving at the party. Check out those girl's in their Auburn gear!!
Auburn 3 Mississippi State 2 War Eagle!!!

Anna Li decorating a lantern with Min and her son. Colin picked up TWO girlfriends!! Lily and Emma. This is Colin with Lily:) He had so much fun!

One last story....

I had told Colin we were going to Athen's for a party. When we arrived at the Norman's house Colin asked, "Are we at Afen's?" We said, "Yes, we are in Athen's." After the party, we got in the car and headed home. From the back of the car Colin says, "I like Afen's. She's my girl friend!" He was referring to Emma (the daughter of Max and Kathy). We had to explain that Athen's was the town not the name of the girl!! Kids are so funny:)

Anna Li's First Day of School

Anna Li has been going to school for 2.5 weeks. She absolutely loves it!! Her friends are Sophia, Emily, Casey, Kristy, and Kailey. All the girls just love her and do a good job to make sure she fits in.

1 Month Home

Just a post to let everyone know we are alive and well:) I have misplaced the piece of equipment that lets me put my pictures on the computer. Maybe I will find it this weekend and post some pictures.

Anna Li is doing great. She started school last week and loves it!! She is in the sixth grade and will soon be tested so that she can receive special education services. There are several girls in her 6th grade class that also goes to church with us. She has lots of friends:)

The girls started choir and GA's (girls in action) last night and had a wonderful time. Anna Li likes to sing and does a good job picking up words as she sings. I thought this might help her with her English. When we walked into the church 5-6 girls all started waving at Anna Li. She quickly forgot about mom and went with her friends.

The girls also went skating with a group of girls from Northbrook last Wednesday. It was reported that Anna Li said, "Will you skate with me?" in ENGLISH!! Wow!!

Anna Li is learning at a very slow pace. Chad communicates with her the most through what little Mandarin he knows and with the help of the Internet and our handy Chinese Dictionary. She has learned how to spell at, cat, hat, and sat. She knows most of her colors but, still struggles with a few. She can count to 20 with a little help. She always forgets 11, 12, and 20. She is good at adding and subtracting but starts to feel overwhelmed when doing double digits that require borrowing. We practice everyday and she is learning more and more English words. Some words she learns on the first try and other word she just can't remember!

We are so proud of her for all that she has accomplished! She is such a sweet girl! I can honestly say having her in our lives has made us better people. She has taught us more in one month than we could ever teach her in a lifetime. To wake up to her smiling face each day is a reminder of God's wonderful blessings.