Update time!!!

Update time! My goodness we are seriously failing at these updates since we’ve been back. We will try and get better. What’s new you ask??? Ummmmm, not much really. Ha!!! Megan is doing very well. She is so frickin funny and has enough sass for about 1,000 other 2yr olds (this may be a low ball figure). We are still trying to stick to the same schedule that we set up since being home. The more consistent Megan is right now the better she is. She eats like a champ but still struggles with wanting to eat all the time. When we tell her that it isn’t eating time, she throws a fit. The fits are getting better but we’d like them to be gone. Since it hasn’t even been a month that she’s been in the US, we’ll cut her a break or two. ; ) She has a great time playing with all her toys, playing outside, helping with the laundry, teasing the dog, playing in the pool, playing and tooting in the tub, reading books, helping Papa to make his lunch each day and she has just started to watch an Elmo DVD… Oh my, she’s stuck on Elmo. They boys keep trying to get her to watch something else but she keeps picking the same Elmo movie. It’s just the start of this, right?

Megan has met a lot of people so far. She does very well in small groups of people & will interact well but she tends to really clam up in larger groups. She loves when the neighbor girls (Gracie and Sophie) stop by every now and again to play; however, those girls put up a lot of “doing whatever Megan wants to do attitude”. Ha! She especially loves to sit and put on their shoes. Go figure, the girl loves shoes!!! We know there are still many people who haven’t met her and we can’t wait for you to see her. This just may take a bit longer that we were initially thinking.

We are extremely anxious for Megan’s cardiologist appointment next Tuesday. We can’t wait to ask so many questions about her heart when she was born, what it is like now, future tests, possible surgeries, how they are going to fix her protruding breast bone and stuff like that. We won’t know a lot at that appointment but after the tests come back we will all know what the Dr. has in store for her in the upcoming years.

How are the rest of the Hawley’s doing since Megan’s arrival home? Amazingly great! It is truly wonderful how well we have all jelled into a family. God is good!!! He knew the perfect chestnut for our family when he chose Megan for us. I wish I could describe in words how well she has fit into our family and house. It is like she has been here for so long, yet it’s only been a month. Jacob and Alex are two amazing kids and we are so blessed. They absolutely love their sister and she adores them. She has them like putty in her hands… ; )

We’ve had many people ask us if we miss China. Well… noooooooooo! There are so many things that were so great to see like the Great Wall (my knee is still showing me how great that wall is), the Summer Palace, the Forbidden City, Olympic City and being a part of the cities and culture BUT, we do not miss the hustle and bustle, the constant staring from the Chinese when we walk down the street with Megan (I am not kidding you when I say constant! People would stop in their tracks, stare and give dirty looks when they saw us), the craziness of what the Chinese call traffic, being able to brush our teeth using faucet water, and doing our laundry far cheaper than $180 (US $) for 1 very small load. We do very much miss the families we traveled with. We all have kept in contact via email and all are doing well.

We visited Megan’s new daycare today. Happy and sad for her Momma. We both think that it is critical for Megan to be in a institution learning environment. We have chosen Apple Tree Christian Leaning Center. They are close to home and is exactly what we know Megan needs. Being an orphan she is behind in her motor skills, her English and normal things a 2yr old in the US knows. We know that she will learn all these things in time but it will help in a constant learning environment. I will continue to be a part timer when I go back to work in September.

Thank you for your love and support!!















New blanket and shades!!




"Helping" momma make caramel corn.




Laundry time!!





Megan walking Lily via her stroller! Ha!









Bahahahahaaha! Something's wrong with this picture!




After the 100th version of Night, Night Megan song... And back scratching...