It is all in the Name

As you can see I have changed our blog name as we are no longer waiting for Anela to come home...she is already here and fits right into the Scisciani routine! So I had the whole family throw out a couple ideas for a title and I got some very creative responses. We decided upon "Chinese Spaghetti" kudos to my hubby who thought it was the perfect description for our beautifully blended family (can you tell we might be foodies??) Actually we have been using the phrase rather loosly now and quite often as it seems to describe our life right now to a tee - sweet, salty, and a bit spicy!

Oh the memories that have been created these past few weeks. I'll try to give you a short run down...

1. Teaching Nellie new words. The kids love getting Nellie to repeat them. She now has a new favorite word that she says in her tiny sweet voice that pops up at very funny times; "AWESOME!!"

2. Early mornings with Nellie. These mornings are early, but oh so sweet. We get some

great bonding time and some extra cuddles.

3. Stranded with a flat tire. Thankfully I was in an area where I could get help easily, but

quite an experience with little ones in the car. Spending two hours in Costco to get a new tire put on proved to be challenging, but fun. We came up with some pretty great ideas to pass the time (see attached picture!)

4. Watching Nellie take her first steps without us holding her hand. We were cheering like

it was the Superbowl! Gigi is still getting use to lossing her title as "the baby" of the family and was caught in our video rolling her eyes as we were cheering. On the flip side, though,

she was the first one to tell Grandma that she walked.

5. Soccer practices with 5 kiddos (I take a friends child too). Crazy, fun chaos! The little ones love playing in the sand while watching big brother practice.

6. Singing at the top of our lungs, the itsy, bitsy spider. Love having a toddler in the house again!

I am sure many more memories are in the working. I love this life the Lord has blessed us with. There are good days, great days, and days that I flop into my bed at night glad that we made it through. So here you have it: Chinese Spaghetti.

HAS IT ALREADY BEEN TWO WEEKS??!!

I have SO much to catch up on! It is all a bit of a blur due to some major jet lag, so I will try my best to describe our trip home and a little of what life looks like now. I guess I can sum it up in one word...SURREAL! I can not believe we were in China two weeks ago, and are now home with our precious little girl who we waited for ten months for. She is amazing! I have already told handfuls of people that it is nothing short of miraculous of how well see is doing. Both Mike and I prepared ourselves for a challenging transition, but honestly, it has been so smooth and enjoyable. The trip was great, I fell in love with China and my little girl right from the beginning, and we are pretty much back to a normal Scisciani routine only with one more adorable face! The worst part was the thirty hour trip home, but I can not complain too much because Nellie slept during the longest flight and was a very pleasant traveler for the most part! She makes everyone smile and we are so BLESSED to have her as part of our family.

My other children were so thrilled to have us all home. Nellie has a very special bond with her oldest brother, Fred. I think it was because he came to China with us and was so good with her the whole time. Charely and Georgia also think she is very special and are proud to tell others that she is their sister. Georgia asked if she could bring Nellie in her backpack to Show and Share at school...when we said she couldn't put her in her backpack, she said, "well, I'll just put her in a bigger bag."

Both girls got haircuts last week which was a fun afternoon. Then we went to the grocery store to get some soup and a cookie. Nellie has enjoyed all of our outings and just is a joy to be around. She is sweet and spicy all wrapped up in one. She has the sweetest little voice , but can get all wound up with her siblings and get very silly. She at first was very sensitive to the word, "no" and would cry immediately. Now she is testing a bit more and will give us a sly little look. It is hard not to laugh...

Nellie loves her meal times and really takes her time enjoying it all. Actually, she is so slow eating sometimes, that if it is close to her nap time she will just fall asleep. She eats wonderfully, had a great check up at the doctors, and it full of life. We love her to pieces and would have made the trip to China a million times infinity to do it again!

Getting Close!

Nap time! The boys are out perfecting their ping pong skills (big sport in China) so I have a little time to gather my thoughts. It has been an exciting day as we had our US Consulate Appointment. It went smoothly and now all the "officaial" stuff is over and we have one more day to wait before her visa is delivered. Then, we are on our way home! I miss Georgia and Charley so much it almost aches! I can not wait for them to meet their sister. We have sent video footage daily, so hopefully they will feel part of this journey.

Nellie continues to do very well with this giant transition. She is so pleasant and easy going...she just loves going along for the ride! We were out all day with her yesterday and she simply just patiently sat in her stroller, took a couple naps in my arms, and LOVED eating out! That petite little thing can really eat! She doesn't seem to fuss, like her Mom, when she is hungry. But, when the food comes, WATCH OUT! She is all over it! She is very good at pointing to what she wants, but then takes her time, enjoying her food up to the last bite. This morning, she held a waffle in her hand for about an hour, slowly pulling pieces off and into her mouth. I think she is so busy taking in her surroundings, she doesn't rush.

I love watching her experience new things. I know I say it all the time, but we are so blessed by her. I remind her every night before we put her to bed that the Lord, who knew her before she was even born, has a wonderful plan for her life. I am so glad that He chose us to watch her experience it.

Second Half of the Trip

We are in Guanzhou now and have met up with some wonderful adoptive families from around the country. It is hard to believe that half of the trip is now over. It was extremely bittersweet leaving Changsha...I left part of my heart there. The people, sounds, smells, and spicy Hunan food will be something I never forget. I hope to be back someday...

We had a busy first morning in Guanzhou after a long night yesterday. We got to the hotel around ten at night and got settled into our room. Then, I was determined to find some food...I was a hungry momma (both Fred and Mike know what that means)! After finding a place to eat, we headed up to the room. Nellie was ready to go! After a long nap on the plane, out came her silly side. Funny is an understatement...she was pulling out all the tricks! She even got daring with her walking, cruising all over the hotel room. What a good time...I wish I had video taped it all for you to see! She went down about an hour later with out a peep, and guess what? She slept through the night! I think she wore herself out with all her silliness! Then, this morning we went for her medical exam. A zoo would be the best way to describe it. It was a good time, however, to catch up with other families. It is amazing to meet so many people with the heart for adoption. We have been so blessed by this child. If your heart is tugging at you to take this step, LISTEN! The Lord smiles when He sees one of His children with a family.

Our Meeting

I have so much to say and do not even know where to begin. We have not been able to gain Internet access in Changsha until we found a little loop hole. Okay, back track to Sunday night...we got into Changsha and settled in to our room. It was nice to unpack and get a little more settled knowing we were going to be in the area for a week. We went to bed after getting organized. Morning could not have come sooner. My heart was racing with anticipation and I couldn't wait to meet our little girl. After breakfast, we met our guide in the lobby at 10 am. The registar's office was only about twenty minutes away, although the ride seemed like it took forever. We got to the office and took the elevator upstairs. When I looked into the waiting room I saw her right away and my knees felt weak. From that point it happened all so quickly. Her nanny started waving to us, and when given permission they brought her over to Mike and I. She looked very confused, but did not cry. The room was not crowded or overwhelming, so I am thankful for that. She went right to us and babbled a few words. After many pictures and some time to bond, she pushed my hands away and just snuggled into me to sleep. That was when we knew everything was going to be just fine for her. We had been expecting the worst, so we were very surprised that she took to us so well. It was almost as if she knew us. We are so thankful for the Butterfly Home because we know that they worked very hard preparing her for us. we also are thankful for everyone's prayers as we know this helped her too. Alright, we are going to run to breakfast, so I will post more later. For some reason we can not post pictures taken on the iPad, so we are going to try to find a cable to connect our camera. Hopefully that will work! Love to you all!

Last Day in Beijing

We have had an amazing past couple days and have seen The Great Wall, The Temple of Heaven, and The Summer Palace. Even while we were at all of the historical sights, it was hard to fathom that we were REALLY on the other side of the world. I am finding that I am falling in love with the country our daughter is from. It is so exciting to learn about her culture and so much of its history. It has been very good for Fred to see what life is like outside the US. He is having a great time. I am quite surprised that he made it to the top of the section of the Great Wall we climbed. We are preparing to leave Beijing today and head to Nellie's province. I can not get there fast enough. Please pray for this transition for her as it will be difficult for her to leave all the people who have poured their lives into caring for her. We can tell we have been covered in prayer and we thank you so much for that. I can not post pictures from our iPad, so I will post them as soon as I can.

The Long Trip

We made it to Beijing! It was quite an adventure and a wonderful reminder that the Lords timing is perfect. We were discouraged that we had such a long layover in Chicago but it turned out to be a blessing because the plane we were on had to divert and make an emergency landing in Cincinatti, Ohio. Although it was a bit nerve racking, we felt so happy to be safe and sound on the ground after we landed. We, unbelievably, we're able to get to Chicago (with all our luggage) and make our connecting flight to Beijing. Fred was amazed at how big our plane was! The time did go by quicker than we had anticipated. When we landed in China, we felt like cheering. We are so much closer now to Nellie and this is all starting to seem real. I will enjoy sightseeing here in Beijing, but my heart is with going to get our sweet little girl. I am missing my little ones at home, but it sounds like they are having fun with their Grandparents which is comforting.