Long Overdue!

OK - I just was looking over our blog and realized that Ron has done the last three posts! I definitely have some catching up to do. At the risk of feeling the wrath of some...I'm going to have to do this one quickly and without photos. Know that I will try my best to catch up more soon.

Since I've been back to work I've again found myself with a lack of blogging time. I LOVE LOVE LOVE that people like to check in with us and see what is new in Hope's world and I always enjoy following the journeys of other families so I know that I have some work to do here.

Work is going well. What can I say? I am one of the lucky people who really likes her job. I work with some incredible people and am blessed by someone I work with every day. HOWEVER (and this is a BIG one), I really have a hard time leaving in the morning. My little angel has only been a part of our family for three short months and I just want to be with her all the time. I want to see and experience all of her new daily discoveries. I want to teach her new songs. I want to watch her sleep during her naps. I want to take her for walks. I want to hear her sweet voice as she tries out all her new sounds. I want to keep teaching her signs and watch her little hands and fingers as she tries to use them. I just miss her so much and I would be telling a complete lie if I said that I left for work in the morning without tears most days. All the Moms out there reading this... when does it get easier to say "goodbye" in the morning?

As far as other things in life keeping me busy, I've taken a temporary break from almost all of them. I'm not interpreting often outside of the school day, and I'm not nearly as involved in church activities as I've been. I am trying very hard to keep our evenings and weekends reserved for family time. That doesn't mean that we're always home, but whatever we're doing, we try to do it together. Now that Hope is home, I'm definitely getting better at the "n" word. I don't know if I kept myself so busy before (and I mean pretty much every night) so I wouldn't think about how badly we wanted a child, but now that she's here, "no" rolls off my tongue so much more easily than it ever has in the past. Remarkable things happen when you become a Mom. :)

And - Hope update:
* She is now in a pretty solid 12m. size. She still has a few 9 mo. onsies that fit and she's actually worn two 18 mo. things, but for the most part 12 mo. it is.

* I felt her 10th tooth this afternoon. When I picked up Hope after work and Grandma said only one messy diaper today (we've been having multiple delightful diapers recently), I thought OH!, maybe that tooth came through. Sure enough, hello #10. To backtrack...6 when we met her on June 4th and 8 by the time we got home from China on the 14th. #9 came in a couple weeks ago, a molar on the bottom right. #10 today, a molar on the top right. I can also feel #11 and #12, molars on the left to come in shortly I'm sure.

* Growing Feet! - Grandma and Grandpa just picked up new shoes for Hope, SIZE 4! I know that doesn't seem very big, but her sandals when we got home from China were a 2! She has such cute little toes. ;)

* Signing - Hope's newest signs are THANK YOU and BOOK. She's doing great! I really want to get her on video showing off her signs, but it is sort of hit or miss when you ask her to perform. Sometimes she'll do her whole vocabulary, and sometimes she just doesn't want to sit/stand still long enough to sign two things.

* Speaking of sitting/standing still...YEAH - she doesn't do that much!

* Ron mentioned sleeping through the night...isn't it glorious?! ;) She chose to sleep through the night for the first time since China right before I went back to work! AWESOME timing!

Any other questions about Hope?

Finally - I know I said this post would be sans photos, but I just got this one and I know it is one of Grandpa's favorites. Here's a smile on us...PIGTAILS!!!

What's New

Just in, the latest report at the heutmaker residence is: Beth and I have been trying to get Hope to go to bed with out having to be rocked to sleep every night. Although we miss the snuggle time with her, we know that this is what is best for a family with two working parents. It has been working well and most nights after bath, story time, prayers and hugs and kisses; Hope lays down holds her blanket and signs ILY (I love You). The hand shape isn’t quite right yet, but there is no mistaking what she means.

Better yet is the news that Ms. Hope has slept through the night for three nights in a row. This has happened just in time for Beth to start back to work, she is interpreting at a High School in the cities again this year.

We have been having lots of fun family time and even made a trip to the Minnesota State Fair with Brian and Tami. Hope was a real trooper, we had a long day with lots of walking and tasting many different fried foods on a stick.

Hope even enjoys helping out around the house. Monday she learned about the vacuum cleaner. She was a little scared of it at first, so I took some time and showed her that it is ok. This will be very important in a few years when she gets the opportunity to run the fun machine.

All in all things are going well. the toughest adjustment has been the limited amount of time we have to spend with Hope in the evening. What makes it a little easier is how well she is cared for during the day. Thank you Grandpa and Grandma.

Day Care

Well, It's time to go back to school. It has been pretty rough for Beth the past couple of days. As far as attachment goes I'd say Mommy is hooked. Seeing pictures like these makes it a little easier. Hope sure is lucky to have Grandparents that take such good care of her. Play hard, Nap hard.

Group 91 Picinic

We sure had fun at the picnic yesterday.  Most of the families we traveled with were able to make it.  Fun stories and many common adventures with our new additions.  Hope had a fun time playing with the other children.  There were also two weddings in the park while we were at the park.

Baptism Blessings

As promised...PHOTOS! Hope was baptised on Aug. 5. We couldn't be more proud. We'd had a bit of a rough night of sleep, so Hope was very tired and slept during most of the church service. In fact, she didn't wake up until I tipped her back for the water. She wasn't very happy, but she quickly calmed down and took it all in with grace. Hope's dress was also a bit frustrating since the buttons wouldn't stay closed. Oh well. I'm thinking I might work on that a bit and take some more pictures of her with the dress before she outgrows it. She looked so pretty, open collar and all. :) Her silver bracelet is one we'll cherish forever. It was a gift from her orphanage and has the name of the SWI engraved on the front and her Chinese name engraved on the inside. What a special gift they gave her. So, without further ado, here is Hope's baptism weekend in pictures...

Hope's Uncle Mark and Aunt Andria (and their puppy, too) stayed with us for the weekend. We started out our Saturday with a little geocaching. Here are some fun shots:

Sunday - Photos from church:

Sunday Afternoon - Reception/Picnic in Hope's honor:

Meeting More Friends & Family

We always seem to be busy! I wanted to share a couple of photos here of special friends and family who have come to meet Hope since my last post. Hope's big event from last weekend (baptism) will ge the subject of my next post. I'm just waiting for some pictures from others. Enjoy these shots for now.

In his previous entry, Ron included a picture of geocaching with Tony. Here is the whole clan. Debbie and Tony came to spend the day with us last weekend. It has been a long time since we've been together, but we always have such a good time when we are. Thanks for making the trip over guys!

And, here we are with my cousin Craig. He was on his way through to visit some friends in MN, but came a day early to do some riding with my dad and to meet Hope. We miss our family to the south! It meant so much that you came Craig. We love you!

Hope was invited to her first party...a 2nd birthday party for the other little Hope in our lives. We had a wonderful afternoon, but had to find creative ways to compromise when our little swiper decided to try out the newest birthday toy. It all worked out eventually. Sharing is so hard!



On this day, we headed up to Grandma & Grandpa's house to meet Hope's Great-Great Aunts, Vi & Liz. I don't know why we don't have any photos of them. I feel terrible about it. But we will remember this day and know that it was very special for Hope to spend the afternoon showing off for them.
Here she is with her Grandpa.

A couple of close-ups



Uncle Rick and Hope are having a few words here. What is Hope saying/thinking? Please leave comments to caption these photos!


We'll end this post with these two pics. Hope and Daddy got caught in the sudden storm - BUT, then thought it would be fun to run back and forth outside to play a bit. Our little girl loves the water!

She is a natural

We kind of knew just a few days after we met her that Hope would like Geocaching. You can tell from this earily picture.









Seems like Hope is really coming into her prime with the official start of her Geocaching.






Yesterday Hope and I went out to show our friend Tony a little bit about the sport and using a GPS(that is an ABC to you Mitchell. Love you!)

This is officially Hopes first find, Tony’s too. This makes 255 for daddy.








This girl sure knows how to travel in style.










Today we went out caching with our friends the Mariks. Hope was really on the ball and quickly located the cache.


Hope and Hannah our Goddaughter are becoming fast friends.










It was a little warm, but a great day to be out trekking around.