Some quick pic's

We ( or I) made it through the first week home! We are crazy busy here so I have not had time to finish posting about the trip, our homecoming, or anything for that matter. We successfully made it to soccer x 2 boys, baseball x 1 boy, karate x 3 boys, 1st doctor's appointment x 1 girl, 3rd grade open house, 4th grade open house, 1st parent teacher conference, school pictures x 3 boys and class elections x 2 boys. I think this week was a little more packed than the average week, so that is good news. Next week should feel relatively calm after this (ha, ha).

A big shout out to Josh and Matt who decided to run for class representative in the school council this week. They made posters, wrote speeches and helped design fliers. I was holding my breathe at pick up and was met by 2 smiling and excited boys. Both Josh and Matt were elected as class reps!!!!! Way to go boys. I am so proud of them just for running and very excited for them to have won.

Here is a picture of Lauren with a beautiful hat that was made for her by my fellow yahoo buddy Heather. It is he cutest hat and she looks adorable in it. Thanks Heather!
Here is Lauren hanging out in her room. I Love this outfit:)

This is not the best picture but it does capture big brother Matt taking good care of Lauren while helping her pet the cat.

I never got a chance to post this picture before I left for Taiwan. Fellow gift swap buddy/yahoo group friend Joanna painted this for Lauren. I just love it! Thanks Joanna!

This picture is for Auntie Shannon. Thanks for the super cute outfit! She looks good in purple:)

I hope to have more time to post pictures and fun trip notes next week...

We are Home

We are home and we are doing really good. I apologize for the lack of posts. I was so tired at the end of my days in Taiwan that I was falling asleep before I got a chance to download pictures or blog. We arrived home on Wednesday night after our layover/stay over in San Fransisco. Lauren did great with the flights. We were all hit with jet lag as we were flying home from CA and have been recovering as much as possible the last couple of days. The boys just love their baby sister. It is really amazing to watch them care for and play with her. I will try and post more about our trip and many more pictures this weekend.
Thank you to everyone who commented here and sent emails. It really made the trip even more fun to share the journey and be cheered on by you.
Robin

Wulu Village

I tried to blog last night but was sooooo tired and blogger would NOT let me upload any pictures. Here are some quick photo's of our day at Wulu Village. At the Wulu village we got to see many dances, artifacts and woven tapestry that is part of the aboriginal culture. This was really a very interesting field trip for us. It was especially meaningful for us as Lauren is 1/2 aboriginal herself. Lauren's heritage comes from the Amis tribe. Every where we went the other aboriginal people would stop and say Amis and comment on how beautiful she was. Here is Lauren trying on a traditional baby headdress. Too cute!



Here is Lauren with Mr. Yeh and Alex. They are the most amazing med. They love babies and love sharing their culture. They make this trip so fun.

Here we are at the top of the mountain heading into the Wulu village. So beautiful!

Miss Lauren sleeping and sucking her thumb.

Here is a photo from my mom's camera. This is me being given Lauren for the 1st time as I walked into the foster mothers house. Amazing.

Off for the day with Mr. Yeh and Alex:)

Gotcha!

At long last Lauren is in my arms. I first held her at about 2:00 today and she has not been out of my arms since.
We went to the foster mother's house and as we pulled up I could see Mrs Tung, through the open door, sitting down holding Lauren. I could hardly wait for Mr. Yeh to park the car so I could go to her. She took a few minutes to warm up. so I played and talked to her and asked Mrs. Tung questions until she was ready to come to me. She was was very brave. Mrs. Tung told me that Lauren is a very easy going baby, loves to eat, loves to play and is very intelligent. She is also sweet, fun and busy.
Once we left Mrs. Tung's house we went to the baby store and bought all kinds of good supplies for Lauren. We are set with diaper, wipes, formula and baby food for our stay here,
We headed back to the agency to sign 1 more paper, Lauren's birth mother was there to meet us. We talked and I gave her the gifts that I had brought for her. We both have the same charm on a bracelet representing Lauren. This meeting is such a gift for Lauren and I am so grateful to have had the opportunity.
We headed back to Taipei and ran into some rush hour traffic. The ride home was very long. Lauren was very calm, hung out a bit and was able to nap.
Once we got back to the hotel room we were able to do a quick sk!pe session with Phil and the boys. Lauren loved watching and listening to Phil. Josh was so sweet talking to her. After the call Lauren started to feel the loss of her foster mother. She was quite sad and cried for over an hour. She has calmed down but will not let me put her down for any reason. She is sitting in my lap right now as I type.
Today was an amazing day. I feel blessed to be Lauren's mother. She is so tired and has had such a big day. I am going to try and get her to sleep.

Walking out the door to get Lauren

I am walking out the door right now. i am so nervous. i have butterflies in my stomach and my hands are shaking. i can't wait!

It's today, it's today, it's today!!!!!!

It is 6:30 am here in Taiwan and I just woke up. My first thought was: It's today, it's today, it's today. I could actually here voice from Stuart Little chanting it in my head:). It is today! The sun is rising over the mountain outside my window. It is a beautiful day. I slept good last night and I am feeling happy, excited and ready. At 11:00 I will be leaving the hotel for a 2 1/2 hour ride to go meet Lauren.

The night before Lauren is in my arms

Here I am in Taiwan on the eve of meeting my daughter. This is so amazing and almost unbelievable. I feel as if I have just run a marathon over the course of the last few weeks just to get to her. I was feeling a little scared earlier. The same scared I felt right before having my boys but with a twist. Will she be sad tomorrow? When will her little heart realize that her foster mother is not coming to get her. Will she let me soothe her and let her heart believe that she is safe and loved and that I am never leaving. Will she have smiles for me? Is she crawling?

This is big. This is so big! I was strolling down the streets of Taipei looking up at Taipei 101 and thinking how fun it was. Then I thought, tomorrow I will be walking down this same street with my daughter. Tomorrow I meet my daughter. Tomorrow changes my life. Tomorrow changes my boys lives. How lucky we all are.

Lauren's bed is made. Her pink kitty is waiting for her to snuggle with and my arms are waiting to snuggle her.

The gifts for all ready for the wonderful people in Taiwan who have had a hand in bringing Lauren home to us,. We are all set to go.

Below are photos from yesterdays travel and today's adventures. This was our first outing in the city by our selves. My mom and I had lunch at a little walk in restaurant. Here I am using chopsticks for the 1st time. I actually did pretty good! The food is very yummy here.

Here is a picture of myself and my mom Elle just about to board the flight for San Fransisco. We were soooo excited to finally get on that plane and head toward Lauren

We arrived in Taipei at 5:30 am local time after flying for 13 1/2 hours.

Mr. Yeh and his son Alex met us at the airport this morning. Here is a\Alex holding their sign for us. It is so funny to see my first and middle name being used to identify me. I like that this signs says Robin Elizabeth and Elisabeth as we are here to get Lauren Elisabeth. Alex got up super early to accompany his dad to the airport to great us. After dropping us off at the hotel he was heading off to school for the day.

Okay- It is time for me to go to bed so I am ready for our girl tomorrow.

On our way to Taipei!

We are en route to Taiwan. My Mom and I left Boston at 6:00 this evening and are now in San Fransisco awaiting out 1:00am check in. We had a great flight from Boston. We watched The Proposal. and enjoyed some refreshments:) we were full of energy in the first leg of this trip. Now I am sooooo tired. I can't wait to get on the flight so I can finally sleep. It will be 4;30 am ( New England time) when we finally get ready for take off.
Things have been CRAZY trying to get ready for this trip and school. Although Phil seems to think I am the CRAZY one. I actually tought I was handling things well. I was not sleeping much getting things done late into the night. I actualy reaarranged the guest room/Matt's room with him sleeping in his bed. I never would have guessed that nesting is just as strong no matter how your baby comes to you. So maybe I was a little crazy:)
Phil has everything all set for the boys and I am sure they will have a great "boys' weeek with Daddy. I am so excited to finally be on my way to Lauren. Just 2 days and she will be in my arms
I never got a chance to post the boys first day of school or check in with my favorite blogging buddies.
Thank you to all my friends and family who have called and emailed and even texted well wishes for our trip. Sorry iIwas not able to get back to everyone. It is so nice to know we have a great cheering section as we come down the home strectch

Stay tuned for the next post when we arrive in Taipei!