Home for 1 week!

So, it's been a little over a week since Kaiya has been home, and Phewww, I know now why people don't update their blogs very often, it's been a very busy household! :) All good busy of course! Kaiya has settled in nicely. Her sister and brother were so excited to finally meet her! The jetlag took a weekend to get over-it was rough, but have now settled into a good sleeping pattern. My dear friends from my neighborhood threw me a surprise 1st Birthday Party for Kaiya at our scheduled playgroup date. It was soooo nice-Kaiya got some nice things and was excited to meet her new friends.

I have attached a few extra photos from Taiwan below. Signing the infamous wall at the TWCA in Taiwan (Adoption Agency)
Another Gotcha Moment!!

Meeting Daddy at the airport for the FIRST TIME! She took to Brett immediately! Resting her head on his shoulder, it was great! Pictures are a little blurry as Susan was so excited too! :)

I love this picture, she looks so sad, but really, she's not-just hanging outside!

Daddy & Kaiya

MMMMMmmm-she LOVES to eat!!!!

She loves to peek upside down!

Playing w/ new brother Graham & new sister Olivia

A day at the pumpkin patch w/ Aunt Becky & Uncle John and Cousin Maddie & Emma
The cousins licking their lollipops!

Her first taffy apple-yummmy! She LOVED it!

For her Birthday, I sent her this flower toy and she loves it, as you can see!

Our Last Day . . .

Taipei 101-Tallest building in the world! We also took the faster elevator in the world-101 stories in less than 33 seconds! We could see for miles and miles-pretty amazing! As we were up there, I all of a sudden heard a loud BOOM! It felt like something had crashed a few floors beneath us b/c the floor shook . . . well . . . it was AN EARTHQUAKE!!! O.k., I'm starting to panic now . . .the employees all started running to look at the Damper Baby, which is an ENORMOUS ball in the center of the building hanging by a pendulum helps to keep the building balanced for earthquakes and typhoons probably was moving a little bit to keep the buidling from falling!!!
Basically, we took the fastest elevator down immediately and went back to the hotel! Phhewww, never been in an earthquake before, and especially not 100 stories up!

This was the changing of the guards at the Martyrs Shrine. They change once every hour, it's very formal-you'd have to see it on video to get the "full effect." The guards stand on their post for one hour w/out moving. Keep in mind it's usually very hot and humid and these guards are fully clothed-phewww, hot!!!

These are our last few photos in Taiwan on the way to the airport, we stopped at the Grand Hotel, a very old, famous hotel in Taiwan located on the outskirts of Taipei overlooking the city.


Flying home was a lonnnnnnggg trip. Kaiya mostly slept the whole way which was great, but she slept on me, which kept me up! haha! On our flight from LAX to Chicago, we flew with John Cusack which, being a celebrity junkie, thought was pretty cool! :) We landed around 11:30 p.m. Thursday night and when Kaiya saw Brett for the first time she had the biggest smile!! We said, "BaBa" (daddy in Chinese) and she leaned to him and he held her! It was wonderful! She laid her little head on him and hasn't let go! She has adjusted so nicely, we couldn't have been any luckier.

Tonight, she meets her brother and sister and grandparents . . .so we're all looking foward to that! Finally, a family of 5!

The past few busy and wondrous days!

It's been an amazing past few days. We've been so busy doing so many things! Tuesday, Fion and I went to the AIT office to apply for Kaiya's visa. We pick it up tomorrow! While waiting at the office, I ran into another JOH family from Seattle! They were picking up their 6 month little girl.

After that, Kaiya came back and took a long nap. That night we met out with Anson and Fu Fleeting, our friends that we met recently through our close friends in Aurora! Thanks Mark for the introduction! Anson and Fleeting took us out to dinner then on to the Shilin Night Market. This was an experience! It was jam packed with people, tons of vendors selling clothes and accessories. Susan wanted to buy Bubble Tea, so we stopped at a vendor and she was in heaven. I, on the otherhand did not like it . . . unless you like tapioca.

Today, we visited the National Palace Museum. The grounds were gorgeous-a beautiful park w/ Koi fish and bridges. After that we headed over to the Handicraft Market which is 4 floors of authentic Taiwanese gifts. It's GREAT! I highly recommend going there when travelling to Taiwan, you can find anything and everything Taiwanese! I was able to find beautiful Chinese dresses for Olivia and Kaiya and a Chinese outfit for Graham-too cute!

I met another couple from Sweden that was adopting their 5 month old baby girl. They were very nice and the two babies were fascinated w/ each other.

This trip has been an amazing experience, from the food to the people to the sights to Kaiya!!! Everyone here is so respectful and courteous. Many speak English so there was never an issue w/ the language barrier. It is so clean from the airports to the streets. Our guide, Fion has been wonderful-couldn't have done it without her.

Kaiya is just opening up more and more. Very chatty, giggly and happy little girl. She will fall asleep anywhere, preferably on me. :) We're so looking forward to coming home tomorrow to meet her new brother, sister and daddy! As you can see we've been wearing her out! Sleep little girl!


Sleepy head!

We love the little GREEN MAN! He is at all the crosswalks and starts out really, really slow, then at about 17 seconds, he gets faster and faster and FASTER! Fion, our guide said she's even seen the little green man fall over at the end! TOO CUTE! We love our little green man!

Wednesday, October 10th is Taiwan's National Holiday. It is the equivalent of the 4th of July in the USA

Taipei 101

Susan was CRAVING Bubble Tea, and you can tell she LOVED IT!

My face after trying the bubble tea-NO THANK YOU!!!

Scooters everywhere! Even little children ride on them!

Shopping at the Shilin Night Market


Dessert in Taiwan: Shaved Ice! It has tofu, beans and ice. The food here has been wonderful! Very tasty, and very healthy. Even the dessert is healthy!!!

The Gardens at the National Palace Museum

Ginormous Koi Fish!

Kaiya making friends already!



National Palace Museum