Chen Chronicles

New English words our daughter says: "Bye, Bye, stinky, mama, dada (looks at pics of her Daddy), eat, la la lu...(sings all the time), Katie (her name when prompted), baby, beep beep...it seems like she learns a new English word each day. I have a feeling she will not be behind in her speech development for long! She's also attaching to me as mommy quite well and will not go to anyone else, so I don't think we have to worry about . Please continue with the prayers...as we still have a little over a week before we get to go home to Ohio! :-)   We can't wait to introduce her to all our family and friends...and let her see her new room full of toys.  I get all giddy inside when I think of her reaction when she sees a room that is ALL hers and toys she does NOT have to share!  :-)  Though, sharing is a great quality and she learned those skills at the orphanage so they will come in handy at church.  We are just SO glad that she is as smart as she is.  God couldn't h

So, Daddy (Papa) as Katie calls him (Aaron) had to come back to the States one week ago today.  Wow, I have been SO busy with our little princess that I have had very little time to write this, hence why I am writing it now at 2am.  I am tired, but her adjustment to me is getting faster.  She is an amazing little princess and we both just love her so much!  There aren't enough words to explain that.  In just about ten days, we will be home in Ohio and will be able to show Katie her new bedroom and she can meet her (Quisas)....Russian for Cats.  We have two. It will be interesting to see how they act around her.  I am thinking Nala will just run away and Skye will think she's a toy to play with.  At any rate, they will have to learn that they are no longer number one!  This adjustment period with Katie and without Aaron has been very hard, but the bonding time between her and I has just gotten stronger. She LOVES taking a bath!!!  This is amazing to me because she never got to e

So, court was not nearly as bad as we expected.  Aaron got most of the questions and they actually picked on him about not being a "handy man."  Because in Russia, it is expected that the men fix things, do plumbing etc. and the prosecutor asked Aaron the silliest question...and I paraphrase: "So, if you, your wife and your child were on a desert island and you're not a handy man, how would you build a house?"  I forget how he answered it, but it was ridiculously silly to ask such a thing.  We were told that in Russia renting an apartment means that you can't afford a house and that you are not stable.  So, they don't understand that when you rent in a luxury apartment in the U.S. that all the maintenance is included.  Aaron explained it best by saying yes he does help me around the house with chores and left it at that.  I got asked why I stopped working since I had SO much education and on my toes, I said.." Well, having more education makes you a

The day has finally come that we must prove to the judge with answering questions and with our photos that we are the best parents for this precious gift from God.  All I know is Aaron and I will be doing what we were told by Oksana and that is to speak from the heart and be genuine.  The hardest part about this is being almost lumped together with those recent cases where Russian orphans were adopted and abused.  There are two recent cases to note.  I mentioned before on our blog about the child who, last year, was sent back with a one way ticket.  Our coordinator, Oksana, stated that he came from Vladivostok and is still in an orphanage outside Moscow.  It's really, super sad that we have to be judged by what one lunatic does.  Also, here's a recent case that we are very likely to receive questioning about: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/02/04/russian-uproar-adopted-boys-punishment/ I must comment on this and say that I believe that this woman's expectations for her

I know I keep on saying this....but Aaron and I feel so blessed that this little girl was handpicked, we believe by God to be our daughter.   We are still a bit jet lagged and tired, but that all goes away when we walk into the room and see our princess.  Court is Friday and Oksana is preparing us during our 1hr and 30min drive to the orphanage each day.  She says our judge is open to listening, but thinks we are young first time parents to be adopting.  I predict there will be quite a few questions about our infertility and so Aaron and I are making sure we are on the same page about what we want to say about that.  In the preliminary hearing last week, the judge did ask Oksana why we did not try IVF and other procedures beyond just a trial period of Clomid.  I know enough about the health risks that large doses of those hormonal medications can do to you to intelligently answer her question and Aaron and I will review that tonight since she will probably ask those quest

This morning Aaron and I had a wonderful visit with Katie!  She remembered us and we were told that after we left from our first trip last September, she was asking about her parents.  That made me so sad as her mother.  Yes, even though court is not until this Friday, the 11th..I do consider myself her mother and Aaron considers himself her father.  Here are some photos from today's visit. Katie definitely loves to be cuddled!!!  Today she was so so sweet!! Daddy's Little Princess; AKA: Daddy's little girl!!! Also, the medical exams were not nearly as bad as we had heard because it was so cold in the building.  So, we did not have to strip or take off our clothes at all except for the doctor to listen to our hearts.  I think they got a hoot out of my cleavage or something because I raised my shirt in that exam more times than I ever have in an American one.  We found them quite interesting....and some of the questions from the "Narcologist," wer

So, we are in Vladivostok after an exhausting 36 hour travel schedule.  I tested my theory as I wondered if -11 degrees would feel much different than +12 degrees and it doesn't...at least to me.  It feels COLD!!!  :-)  We have begun the process of adopting our little princess, Katie Allison, and bringing her home.  Aaron will be here for 10 days, through February 14th.  I couldn't let my sweetie leave before Valentine's Day!  <3   Our court hearing for Katie is here in Vladivostok on Friday, February 11th.  We had an amazing breakfast a few minutes ago and spoke to our family via Skype to let them know we made it here all in one piece.  Thank God Delta did not lose any of our luggage since the last four times we flew with them, they did.  In Moscow, we had a six hour layover and I got to have Italian food!  Yummy Lasagna.  The plane food on Aeroflot is okay, but not our tastes.  It was enough to sustain us until we got to the Vlad Motor Inn.  By the way, if I didn'