We Made It!

We are in Taiwan! We spent 8-1/2 hours flying to Tokyo. We were impressed with China Airlines. It was a full flight, but the seats were roomy and there was leg room to stretch. We had 2 meals. The first was roasted chicken and pasta, shrimp salad and guava chiffon cake. For the 2nd meal, Eric had breaded chicken with spaghetti and I had pork and vegggie stir fry noodles. We had a one hour stop in Tokyo and then on to the plane. The weird part was that we had to get off the plane go to a security check and we went in a circle and came back to the same plane.


Then we had a 3 hour plane ride to Taipei, where we were served meal #3. Eric had unagi and rice. I had sweet & sour pork.

We were picked up at the airport by our guide, Gina and her children, Tina and Vincent. We talked for a little while about her itinerary for the week. It was crazy driving from the airport to our hotel. Lots of scooters and people just cut into lanes with no warning.



We are staying at the Agora Garden. It's right in the middle of the commercial district. We have a suite with a kitchen. We also are looking at Taipei 101 (the world's tallest building)from our balcony.

Well, just wanted to let everyone know that we made it safely to Taiwan. Happy Halloween since it's actually Saturday at 8:00pm for us. We have a busy day tomorrow, so we better get some sleep. We love you, Maxx and Gohan, and we're going to meet your little sis really soon!

Getting Ready for the Airport

We stayed up pretty late last night doing some last minute stuff. I finally got to bed at 1:00am and I know Eric slept later than that. It's almost 5:00am now and we're getting ready to leave for the airport. We're going to spend a little quality time with our boys. We're going to miss them a lot, but we know they'll be well taken care of. Thanks Corey, Rylan and Mikki for looking after them. Give them lots of treats and they'll be eating out of your hands, literally!!!

I just got our confirmation for our tour. We're going to Yehliu Park and driving around the northern coast on Sunday. Hopefully the weather is nice and it doesn't rain. That will be our last outing as a couple.

Thanks Mom & Les for waking up early to take us to the airport. We'll be by your house in a little bit.

We still can't believe we're on our way. Thanks everyone for the love and support. The next time I write, we'll be in Taiwan!!!

The Climb

We are packed and ready to go! Eric and I were talking at dinner about how it still doesn't seem real that we're going to Taiwan tomorrow. It has been such a long journey (over 8 years) of frustration and disappointment that we try not to get too excited because every time we got our hopes up, there's usually some obstacle that we have to overcome. Who knew that wanting to have a family would take this long or be this hard?

It began with 2 years of listening to our doctor tell us that it'll just take a little time and there was nothing to be worried about. Then another 3 years of being poked and prodded and always being told that if we did some type of procedure, we would get pregnant. Finally, we had to just take a year to reflect on whether we could be happy without children. When we finally decided on adopting, we didn't know it would be another 2 years before we would get our baby and we would still be waiting if we didn't get accepted in the Taiwan program.

We are relieved to finally be close to having our dream come true, but we aren't going to celebrate yet until Lexie is safe and sound here in Hawaii.

Have you heard the song, "The Climb?" Everytime I hear this song, it just reminds me of everything that we've been through. That sometimes it's not about the end result, but the journey of how you get there. The fact that it took us so long to have a family gave us time to build on our relationship and make sure that we were ready to be parents. We definitely won't take anything for granted and know that our life will only be better with Lexie. How funny that Miley Cyrus can explain the meaning of life!

"I can almost see it, that dream I'm dreaming but, there's a voice inside my head saying you'll never reach it.
Every step I'm taking, every move I make feels lost with no direction.
My faith is shaking, but I gotta keep trying, I gotta keep my head held high.

There's always gonna be another mountain.
I'm always gonna wanna make it move, always gonna be an uphill battle and sometimes I'm gonna have to lose.
It ain't about how fast I get there, ain't about what's waiting on the other side.
It's the climb."

Last Update

We just got our October update for Lexie. She weighed 13.6 pounds, so she'll probably be a little over 14 pounds when we pick her up. Eric and I were laughing at her pictures because she has one double eye, just like Eric and it's on her left eye too! She is definitely his daughter.

I can't wait to dress her up in some girly clothes because without much hair, she looks like a boy. I'm glad they are getting her used to hats because she will be wearing a lot of them once we're in Taiwan.

The house is clean, all of Lexie's things are washed, and we have everything ready for when we return. We still can't believe we'll be leaving in 2 days. It still feels like a dream! If it is, please don't wake us up!

Taking Care of Our Other Kids

We're leaving in 3 days and there's still so much to do. We just dropped off Tweek (our turtle) at my cousin's house. I guess Tweek knows somethings going on because she doesn't want to eat her food. When we first got her, we tried to give her different types of veggies and the only thing she liked was tomatoes. Then this past week, she doesn't want to eat it. At least, we found that she likes romaine lettuce, so she's eating that. Thanks, Taryn for turtle watching and hopefully she cooperates and eats her food.

Today, Maxx goes in for a haircut and Eric has to give Gohan a bath. We have a few more things to buy and hopefully we can take the boys for a nice long walk. We're trying to spend as much time with them as possible because once Lexie comes, they're not going to get all of the attention that they're used to.

Pray for Good Weather

I just checked the weather and there's supposed to be thunderstorms when we arrive in Taiwan and pretty much for the entire week we're there. We are going to Keelung on Sunday. This will be the last time it'll just be me and Eric, so we hope the weather cooperates because it won't be much fun hiking in the rain on wet sand. I hate sand to begin with and then when it's wet, I don't even want to think about it!!

Please pray for the weather to clear up so that we can spend some quality time with Lexie and enjoy the sights in her home city. We don't want to spend the week cooped up in our hotel room. Rain, rain go away, come again when we leave!! PLEASE!!

Almost Packed!

We have been very busy this weekend getting ready for our trip. Yesterday we went to the airport to register Eric's camera gear. We went to the new Babies R Us store to buy some bowls and bottles to feed Lexie in Taiwan. It's a huge store and so much nicer than Toys R Us. I could have stayed there all day.

Lexie's suitcase weighs 40 pounds. That's almost 3 Lexie's. I think we packed everything but the kitchen sink! My suitcase is filled with gifts that we're bringing up with us. I'm washing my last load of laundry and we can finally finish packing Eric's suitcase.

We just got Lexie's quilted sheets for her pack 'n play. They fit perfectly and now it won't be so hard when she has to sleep in it. Today we've been cleaning our cars so that we can finally install our car seats. Eric mowed our yard so that Maxx and Gogo have somewhere to do their business while the Morihara's are watching them.

There's still quite a few more things we need to do. Hopefully we'll find the time to do everything we need to because once this weekend is over, the days are going to go by pretty fast!

Friday is Still On!

We will be getting on that plane in 8 days and there's still so much to be done. I've been really stressed today because I thought I would have to work tomorrow and then all of the plans that I made would be out the window. We have to still buy a few more things for Lexie and get some odds and ends for us. We also need to make some decisions on light fixtures and countertops and tomorrow is the only time we can go and look at things. So I was crossing my fingers that we would still have our furlough Friday.

As an educator, taking off 17 days from the school year is crazy. I have to now teach everything in 4 days and just hope my students get it and I don't have to do a lot of reviewing. It also means we have to give up a lot, such as field trips, possibly May Day, and most of the fun stuff. But as a parent, I kind of selfishly like the idea of a shorter week because now I'll get to spend more time with Lexie. Hawaii is one of the worst states because they only allow us to take 20 days of family leave. Anything after that is unpaid even though I have so much sick leave, I can't use it and staying home and not being paid is totally out of the question. I hope that Lexie and I are able to bond in the short time that I'll be home since I have to go back the first week of December. And if that judge rules in favor of the lawsuit, it might actually be the end of November since I can't use those furlough fridays as days off.

2 More Weeks

We are going to be picking up Lexie in 14 days (or actually 13 days since Taiwan is a day ahead of us). I've finally finished packing Lexie's suitcase. She ended up getting the biggest suitcase and she's the smallest of the 3 of us. How did that happen? This will be the first time ever that I'm not bringing a million changes of clothes. I guess that's the price to pay for being a mom. My baby has to look cuter than me!

Today I got asked a weird question. Someone asked me why I'm not more excited. I guess to her excitement means bouncing off the walls like when a kid gets a sugar rush. We are definitely excited to be going, but honestly, life still goes on and it's not like I can rush to Taiwan to get Lexie right this very minute. We are just trying to get through these 2 weeks with as much of our sanity in tact. I'm in the middle of conferences, trying to get my lessons ready for my sub, and trying to plan my lessons for when I return in December. Eric is trying to finish all of his editing jobs before we leave. We're trying to clean our house so that it's ready for Lexie when we arrive home. Plus, we have lots of decisions to still make on our house plans.

It has been a long wait for us since we filled out our application for adoption back in January 2007. We have jumped through many hoops to get to this point and we're exhausted. So, I'm sorry if we're not always grinning from ear to ear 24/7, but until we have Lexie safe and sound in Hawaii, we're going to take things one day at a time.

Showered Italian Style

Today we had a shower for Lexie at Buca di Beppo. Thanks so much to my mom and Yvette for planning this beautiful shower for us. Thank you for all of the wonderful gifts, especially the pack & play that will be Lexie's temporary crib until we can move to our new house. We loved the picture board with all of the special notes for Lexie. We were so full from eating so much and that cake was something else. It was huge and then to have to blow out those giant candles! Even though it was strange to see the colors of Italy inside of the cake, it sure tasted yummy! Eric & I were truly touched by all of the love that everyone had for a little baby they have never met. We are so excited to bring Lexie home so that she can meet everyone and start her life with our family!

Enjoy the slide show (turn off the ipod music before you play).

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Lexie Will Be in Good Hands

Today we met with Dr. Sumida to discuss what our treatment for Lexie will be when we bring her home. Poor thing, she's going to arrive in Hawaii on Saturday and has an appointment first thing, Monday morning. They're going to run blood tests and give her shots. She's going to have to visit a cardiologist to check on her heart. There was a small hole and a heart murmur at birth, but she's been without problems since then, so we hope that's a good sign and it's developing correctly on its own. We will have to fatten Lexie up a bit. She's in the 5th percentile for weight. She's a tiny little thing! Dr. Sumida was pleased with the medical reports that we got from Taiwan because it seems like she's been well taken care of and there haven't been any health issues, so he feels confident that she is a healthy baby.

We feel so much better having talked to Dr. Sumida because he helped us to troubleshoot things that might happen in Taiwan and what we may need to bring with us. Hopefully now we won't have so many anxieties about being first time parents. At least with a newborn, they're kind of learning things along with you. We'll have an 8-month old who is used to things being a certain way and will probably think we're idiots if we're not doing things right!! Wish us luck, we'll need it!!

20 More Days

In 20 days, we'll be meeting Lexie for the first time. We've finally washed all of her clothes and she probably has more clothes than Eric and I put together. Her suit case is filled and we still have a few more things that need to be bought and packed. Hopefully it doesn't go over the 50 pounds!!

The good news is we just got our agenda for our Gotcha Day:

10:30am Meet with social worker to go over documents
10:45am Discuss Lexie's feeding & sleeping schedule
11:20am Meet Lexie!!!
11:40am Picture Taking
11:50am Leave for the hotel as a family of 3

The not so good news is that Lexie will be getting her flu shot right before we pick her up. Hopefully she's in a good mood when we meet her. We also need the birthmom to sign one more document before we can pick up Lexie's visa, so keep your fingers crossed that it's done quickly. We're almost to the end of this journey, but there's still a few obstacles that we need to overcome. We hope and pray that everything falls into place because we truly believe that Lexie was meant to be our daughter.

Showers in Kailua

It rained in Kailua today, which made it a perfect day for a baby shower. Thank you so much to my wonderful friends at Kailua El. They have shown such love and support through this whole adoption process. Thank you Debbie for planning my shower. You are truly generous and one of a kind! I loved the diaper cake and all of the baby necessities that will come in handy when we're in Taiwan. Thanks so much Paul for making all of the arrangements at Assagios (my favorite place to go) and for ordering your first cake, you are the best!! Thank you Raylene for the cute favors and decorations.

Lexie is so lucky to be joining our little family at Kailua. She may be even going to school there in a few years where I know she'll learn a lot and be well taken care of. I'm so blessed to work with such an amazing group of people. It was a great day of good friends, yummy food, and lots of fun times! Lexie will be the best dressed baby on 2 continents!




Don't forget to press pause on the itouch to hear the music on slide show. Enjoy!

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Ladybugs & Bumblebees

Thank you Lorna (and the rest of the Heller clan) for the cute pillows and booties. As you can see, Gohan is testing them out for Lexie. He seems to find them very comfortable. He actually grabbed the bee and ran away with it. It's bigger than he is. I loved how they can roll up into pillows or lay flat. Remember how we used to dress the doggies up as ladybugs and bees. Now we can do the same for Alia and Lexie.

Thanks for the clothes also. Lexie can never have enough clothes, especially since I still don't know what her exact size will be when we get her. I can't wait to bring her home, so she can have a play date with Alia.

Our Little Cherry

Only 25 more days and we will be meeting Lexie for the first time. We had our meeting with our social worker today. Just thinking about all of the paperwork that I need to do while I'm in Taiwan gave me a headache. I know in the end when we're looking into Lexie's sweet little eyes, it will have all been worth it.

Our social worker tried to translate her name for us. Hsiao (xiao) means "little" and Ying means "cherry", so she's a little cherry. Isn't that cute? The funniest part is all of the furniture we've chosen for her room is cherry colored. What a coincidence!!

Now that we have everything settled with our flights and hotel, we're trying to plan our itinerary. There's so much to do in Taiwan, but we only have a few days and now I have to consider what will be baby friendly. I have to remember we're a family now and it's not just me and Eric, so hiking through a gorge might be out of the question!

Typhoons Have Weakened

We're happy to hear that the typhoons have weakened and Taiwan only had some rainy weather. Right now, it's cloudy with some wind, so Lexie should be safe and sound.

We just found out that we got a bassinet for our flight back. At least we'll have a little more space with bulkhead seats. Hopefully Lexie is a good traveller and when she falls asleep, we can put her in the bassinet and not have to carry her the entire flight. If anyone has any good tips for traveling with babies, please let us know. We're only going to be with her a few days before we board that plane and any suggestions anyone has on calming babies would be nice to know.

I know that Eric & I always look at people with babies and hope that we're not sitting next to them on the plane. Now, we're going to be one of "those people" that everyone will give the stink eye to if Lexie starts crying.

Taiwan is a Go!

We just got our airline tickets in the mail. It was really neat to open the envelope and see a return ticket with Lexie's name on it. It made us finally believe that this is actually happening, we're going to be bringing home our baby.

We got our confirmations for our hotel. We're staying at the Agora Garden. We have a suite reserved. It's one bedroom plus a living room. We also get a buffet breakfast everyday and it's only $127 per night. What a deal! We're going to be living in style while we're there. The hotel has some beautiful gardens surrounding it, so Eric will be busy taking pictures of his newest model.

We Miss You

A year ago today my grandma passed away. It was very sudden and unexpected. Even though she's gone, she has given us so much. We now have a beautiful house to live in. I'm just sad that she won't be able to meet Lexie, but I know she's been looking over her. It seems like everytime we've visited my grandma, good things have happened for us, so I know she's still taking care of me even though she's not here.

I miss you, grandma, but I'm so happy that Lexie will be able to live in your house since I spent most of my childhood there. I have such wonderful memories of my time with you and I plan to share those experiences with Lexie. We're going to take her to feed the fishes at Valley of the Temple. We'll plant a garden with some of your favorite flowers. We'll make sure she grows up to be an animal lover! And she's already developing a sweet tooth so she's definitely your great grandbaby! In your honor, we gave Lexie your name "Emi" (short for Emiko).

Thank you for looking out for us and our baby. We love you, grandma.

Please Keep Lexie Safe

Please keep Lexie in your thoughts. There are 2 typhoons (Parma and Melor) that are heading towards Taiwan in the next few days. I'm hoping that they weaken, but there will definitely be thunderstorms and strong winds. We just hope and pray that Lexie stays safe. It's an awful feeling not being able to keep our daughter out of harm's way. We'll be tracking the typhoons and we hope that our worrying is for nothing.

Happy 7 months!

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4 Weeks and Counting

We're down to one month. We are still in the excited stages as things seem to be falling into place. I know as the date gets closer, we're going to start getting nervous because we'll now be responsible for a little person for the rest of our lives.

Our transportation plans are set. Thank you mom and Les for taking us to the airport. Thanks Jodi for being able to pick us up early Saturday morning. Tell Mikki to come to the airport too, so she can start bonding with Lexie!!!