100 Wishes Quilt

Many of you have not seen Aixing's 100 Wishes Quilt.  Jane Morrison of DeRidder, Louisiana made it for her.  She is a prize winning quilter.  We think it's beautiful!  The only thing I would do differently is to make it a full size instead of a twin.  Bill and George had to hold it sideways so I could it al in the picture.

I'm rich!

We've been really working hard on pottying...she's doing great but we're on the go alot so that makes it kind of hard.  Anyway, Laolao sent her a few dollars for doing such a good job.  When Aixing opened the envelope and saw the dollars she yelled, "I'm rich...I'm filthy rich!".  She bought ice cream with the money.  That big bowl only cost $1.75!

She also had swim lessons this week.  Bill was able to come on Friday so that I could take pictures.  She loved her teacher and called her Mean Jean.  When we were in class we met a boy who lives in New Orleans.  His grandma has a place here and stays from May-October here and the rest of the time in NO.  Friday was free day so they basically just played.  She played like she was riding a whale and that she was "Bruce" from Nemo.  She's proud of her certificate that says she has exceptional speed!

We also met via phone the park superintendent here who also has a daughter from China.  This was really interesting because he used to work and live in Gatlinburg.  We are anxious to him and his family.

I've also posted a picture of her with her Mr. Clean doll.  She loooves Mr. Clean.  I found the doll on ebay.

Family pictures

About a month ago we had some family pictures made.  Aixing was not very happy to have her picture taken.  Her happiest time was in the garbage can.  Here a few of the photos.

doctor visits

We just got back from the ENT appointment.  He did a larynoscopy (?) in the office...which is painful to watch.  What this is is a tube that is inserted through the nose with a camera so the doctor can see the throat - I think I explained it correctly.  As expected, Aixing did not this, but was a trooper through it.  This revealed that Aixing has some redness and callouses on her vocal cords.  This is good news.  The doctor explained that she could have strained her voice (or not really used her voice either) or could have some acid reflux.  The hoarseness does come and go particularly if she is tired.  She has never spit up or anything with us.  He has prescribed some acid reflux medicine to see if that helps.  He is of the opinion that the hoarseness will eventually go away with time. Hopefully, this will take care of the problem.  However, I can't get her to take the medicine!  It does taste awful.  I've wasted several doses by trying it in different foods.  You can still taste it.  I called the doctor for some suggestions.  

Also, he said the chance of the cleft in the brain and heart is so very tiny that he feels we should not do an MRI at this but continue to follow her developmentally. 

Also, her eyes don't cross in, it just looks that way.  It's called pseudoesotropia and the eyes appear to cross. It's generally due to facial structures.  The wide bridge of the nose and small folds of eyelid skin on the nasal side of the eye contribute to this appearance by covering the "white" of the eye.  How to tell the difference is to shine a flashlight in the eyes and if the light is in the center of each pupil, the eyes are aligned.  The doctor said alot asians have this appearance.  I just knew she was going to have to have surgery!

Her hearing is perfectly normal.  So...I guess she's got selective hearing!  Developmentally, she's right where she should be for language and above average for her cognitive ability.  That's great news!

Two days of doctors have worn us out!  We're just going to rest this weekend.  

Kyuki-do photos/self portrait

Here are some photos of kyuki-do class when she got her yellow stripe.  I'm also posting a self-portrait she did (two weeks ago) as well as face for grass man that she had to copy.  She did the pink one...this was back in April.  I was impressed.

I also put on some new photos of her haircut.  Doesn't she look so much older?  It's getting really long and hits right at her chin.

We also got really good news that my niece is pregnant!  Yea!

Post Placement Visit

We had our one year post placement visit.  It went smoothly.  We submitted the paperwork for the readoption so we can get her American birth certificate.  We'll know about that in a couple of months.  Just so everyone will know... have decided to legally make her name:  Aixing Coral Rose Schmidt.  Bill and I decided together that since we always (99%) call her Aixing to make that her legal first name.  This will give her the option of using either Aixing or Coral.  I know some of you are probably saying I'll have to spell it all the time, but I had to spell Coral for people too.  You are free to call her Aixing (Eye-Sheeng) or Coral.  We will not be offended if you call her Coral. Basically, we're just flipping her name and putting the chinese name first.  Her nickname will still be XingXing.

XingXing's new favorite book

Aixing has a new favorite book:  Walter the Farting Dog.  She loves this book.  It is also available for her TAG reader so it will give sound effects.  We have to read to her every night before she goes to sleep.  My friend Michele in Hawaii loves these books and I remembered that she liked them.  Now, another friend in Tennessee, Di, wants to get one too.

She helped plant flowers this weekend and give Mimi a bath.  We found out the reason she's shedding so much is she never really developed her undercoat b/c we lived in warm areas.  She's off schedule for developing.  We were told by October she should be on schedule.  Then she will only shed (or blow out) two times a year!  

Xingxing also enjoyed playing hide and seek with Gable.  I don't think Gable was looking very hard for her though.

You'll also notice the fence that got us in trouble with Luck village.  It's too high, but we're cutting it down to 5 feet, so everything will be okay.  None of the neighbors complained as you can't see it from their houses b/c of the trees and the way the garage sits, but oh well.

Tomorrow is the day our Social Worker comes for our final post placement visit.  Yea.  We are also doing the readoption here in the US.  This is an optional step but we feel that it will make things easier to have a birth certificate in English.  Plus, it'll be cool to have her birth certificate to say Luck, Wisconsin.  She legally became our daughter on July 1, 2008 when we signed the papers.   

We go the ENT this week to see about her throat and see about scheduling the MRI and CT scan.  We'll let you know what the doctor says.

July 4th

We went to Eau Claire to see Bill's sister Anne and her husband Mike & their boys.  I just love Bren's curly hair.  Mike's parents have a cabin on the lake and were nice enough to invite us.  Xing wore her Kai-lan bathing suit.  It was really kind of big on her.  Of course, she had to have her Dora hat and her minnie mouse sunglasses.  She was styling!  She enjoyed the boat parade and playing wii with the boys. So, Aunt Becky she's ready to play you when she comes to visit.  Anne & Katie decorated the boat in red/white and blue and we all wore matching shirts.  A boat decorated like a pirate ship that shot off smoke bombs won.   She also loved throwing water balloons at the other boats.  They called her the "secret weapon".  Unfortunately, she fell asleep and missed alot of the action.  When we got back, the boys were nice enough to let her throw water balloons on them...several times. Of course, she just dropped them on the ground and then they broke.   She had a lot of fun with Mike's parents and sister and her son too. Katie's son even let her drop a balloon on his head!  She was ready to take the kayak out on her own.  Xing really loves the water.

On Sunday she tried out her skates with the neighbor kids.  She has been wanting to skate like Kai-lan.  The wheels lock so right now, she's really walking in them.

pictures from Gotcha Day anniversary