It's been a year!!!

One year ago today we were in Nanchang, Jiangxi, China and Megan began part of our family. Some days it feels that long and other days not. It's certainly been an adventure! She is now 19 months old and quite the monkey. She climbs up her sister's bunkbed, moves chairs around to get what she wants and last week figured out how to get out of the house via the screen door. The below update is about 1 month old, so hopefully I can get another one on soon. Hi All, July 2011 We were able to spend Easter with my parents and my grandma Hofer. 3 weeks later my parents came up again for Miranda’s band concert and the girls’ ballet recital. Then for Memorial Day weekend, we went to Brian’s parents. Brookings has a new children’s museum that just opened last fall. It is in a renovated middle school. I’d have to say it was the best children’s museum we’ve been to. All the girls enjoyed it. Megan’s favorite part was the water works area. Good thing she had an apron on or she would have been soaked! Miranda and Mikayla had the most fun in the grocery store and post office. It’s definitely worth visiting if you get a chance. Of course we had to do a little geocaching too. Even though both Brian and I graduated from SDSU, we had never climbed to the top of the college landmark, the campanile. Well, now there is a geocache at the top of the campanile, so it was worth the climb. After getting a key from the police station, we climbed all 180 steps and signed the log. Back at grandma’s house, the girls had fun playing with their cousins. Thankfully the weather in SD was pretty cooperative. However, when we got back to Grand Forks Monday night, the weather went downhill. Shortly after we got everything unloaded and the kids in bed, there was a tornado warning. No damage here though. June was a busy month for activities. Actually, more busy than I would have liked. Both girls did a fun summer school class M-F from 10am-12pm. The bummer was that they were at different schools. Mikayla played golf through mid-July and Miranda played volleyball for 2 weeks in the afternoon in June. Miranda also goes to Sylvan for 4 hrs. per week. Mikayla was old enough to go to Bible camp at Crystal Springs this year, so both the girls went to that on separate weeks in July. We all went camping at Turtle River (about 20 miles from Grand Forks) the Friday before Father’s Day. It was an interesting time. First, a rain storm moved through. Thankfully Megan slept through the whole thing and the tent basically stayed dry. Megan was up at 5:45am. She doesn’t understand the definition of sleeping in!  Brian and the girls got up, but I stayed in the sleeping bag a little longer. Before I was up for the morning, Megan managed to fall into the corner of the fire pit. Off we went to the ER for Megan to get 3 stitches. Certainly was a memorable 1st camping trip with Megan. I think we finally have the boat fixed up, so we’ll probably try and take that out and go camping again. The last week in June, the girls and I went to Lincoln, NE to visit my sister. We were also able to visit some friends in Iowa who recently moved from Grand Forks. The highlight was spending a late afternoon at a water park with the cousins. It had a zero depth entry pool for the little ones and waterslides for the older ones. Megan had a blast and even went down one of the small slides. Megan continues to be a busy body. She loves being outside and is just thrilled when someone takes her. She is saying a few animal sounds, uh-oh, hi, mum, daddy, and bye. She also knows a few body parts. In June we took her to the petting zoo at the county fair and she loved it! She especially liked the goats because they would come out and nuzzle her. Other favorite things are wearing other people’s shoes and pushing around the toy vacuum. I accepted a half time preadmission/care coordinator position at the rehab in June. I’m not doing anything different than I have been, but now I’m part time instead of flex time. Because of this job change, I will not be going back to teaching clinicals at Northland in the fall. I will stay on to sub though if they occasionally need me. Brian is still busy with work at AE2S. The company moved into a much larger office building in May. It’s amazing how they all fit in the old building. Brian has more office space and a large window overlooking a small golf course (much better than just a sky light). Maybe we will finally get some decorations on his office walls. In early July, he was able to travel to Las Vegas for a professional engineer’s conference. The highlight of the trip was a tour of Hoover Dam.

I cool little lady!

It's Spring...maybe.

I used to try to mail/email a family update about 4 times a year to our family and friends. Now that we have a blog, I thought this would work, especially since I can attach pictures.

It was great to read about and/or see pictures of so many people at Christmas. I admit that I love email, but it’s still fun to receive cards via snail mail.

We spent Thanksgiving at my parents with my sister’s family. It was a nice time and we were able to stay in their new house. There are 3 bedrooms in the basement, so we all got our own rooms. Megan did well sleeping in the pack n’ play considering this was her first trip since China. We were also able to see my grandparents, uncle and aunt and cousin Brittnay. Christmas was busy with baking, decorating, wrapping, and school and church programs. It always goes so fast.

Snow came early to ND. Since we’ve lived here, we usually don’t get snow that sticks until after Thanksgiving, but this year was different. We had plenty since then too, but not compared to Fargo. I’m sure many of you experienced the New Year’s storm. Now the flooding is starting, especially in the south. We’ll be fine though since our dikes are completed, but Fargo is still figuring out to what kind of flood protection they want and so theirs are not done yet.

We spent Christmas with Brian’s family. It’s always good to be together with all the cousins. The girls had a blast (and got very little sleep). Megan surprised us by sleeping all night for 3 nights in a row. Too bad we can’t transfer Grandma Marsha’s crib and bedroom wherever we need it. After 3 days at home to do laundry and regroup, we headed back to SD on Wed. to avoid the storm. We actually spent New Year’s in Sioux Falls with my parents and sister’s family. The girls had lots of fun swimming. This was Megan’s first experience with swimming and she loved it! Next year will be even better when she can actually stand by herself in a baby pool. We headed back to ND on Sunday as soon as I-29 opened after the storm. I really would have liked another couple days off.

Unfortunately, we have lost a couple of grandparents since Christmas. Grandma Weiss died the week after Thanksgiving and Grandpa Hofer died the last week of March. Thankfully we were also able to see both of them over Thanksgiving to introduce them to Megan. It was good to see extended family again.

We figured that Megan would be practically running by the time she was 1 yr. old since she was crawling and pulling up on things at 8 months, but she was in no hurry to walk. However, climbing is another thing. We’ve found her on top of the dining room table and the 3rd rung of Miranda’s bunk bed ladder. She also flipped herself out of the crib. I think this summer play grounds will be her best friend. Unfortunately, I’m nervous about how many trips to the doctor we will be making. On Jan. 11, she took a few steps by herself and has slowly kept going. At mealtime she can sign please and more and is working on eating with a spoon. She knows what the cow, dog, and sheep say and goes to her coat when I tell her “get your coat, we’re going bye-bye”.

On Feb. 13, we had Megan dedicated. Megan wore a qipao (traditional Chinese dress). It was a very cute on her. We bought it when we were in China. It’s a good thing we had her dedicated now because she will outgrow it soon. When we were on the stage, she was more interested in “talking” to the audience, looking at the other babies, walking around and trying to walk down the steps. Oh well. That’s what happens when you have a 1 yr. old on stage vs. a 6 month old. Our parents came up and we had a few friends eat lunch with us at the church.

Riverside did not have a band teacher this fall, but they were able to find one for the spring semester. Miranda has decided to play percussion. She is learning to play the snare drum and bells (like a small xylophone). Band and lessons are once a week and sectionals are once every 3 weeks. She really seems to be enjoying it. At least we didn’t have to endure the squeaks of a woodwind or brass instrument. In March, she was named “Band Student of the Month”.

I took Miranda and Mikayla to their first music concert on Feb. 17. We saw Anthem Lights, the Afters, Matt Maher, Thousand Foot Krutch, Jars of Clay, and Mercy Me. I forgot how loud concerts are! The girls didn’t like the “loud” either, but they said they enjoyed the concert. Mikayla took ice skating lessons again this winter, but unfortunately she was sick for the ice show and wasn’t able to perform. All 3 girls actually got sick with a fever and headache. Just when we thought everyone was well again, Megan got the stomach flu. Then she passed it on to Brian. Somehow I managed to miss all the illnesses (thank goodness!). One advantage to Megan getting sick was that we weaned the bottle without any difficulty.

Speaking of Brian, he travelled to Montana again in mid-March. The school board keeps him busy and he is also going to Bible study on Wednesday night. He also took Miranda and Mikayla to “Knight for a Princess” again this year. I am still co-AWANA secretary at church and working 1-2 days/week at the rehab. Keeping track of the girls keeps me plenty busy. Well, that’s what has been keeping us busy.

Hope you all have a happy spring!

Addendum: I think the river has crested at 49.9ft. This is the highest we've seen it since we've lived here. Gotta love the dikes! However, they predict 3-6" of snow by Sat.!

Six months since "Gotcha Day"

Today it has been 6 months since Megan joined our family.  The last 6 months have definitely gone faster than the 6 months before we met Megan.  Life has definitely settled into a routine.  Megan is walking all over now trying to do what her big sisters are doing.  She generally is a good sleeper (except for about a week in Feb.  We now think the molar she was cutting was the problem).  However, she does not know the definition of a good nap (unless she is at the babysitter where she will sleep up to 2 hrs. at a crack) and thinks that 1/2 hr. 1-2 times per day are enough.  She does like sleeping in the car.  We are working on transitioning to a sippy cup and eating with silverware.  She has pretty much decided she needs to feed herself.  When she was dedicated at church, she kept herself busy by looking at the other babies, walking around on the stage, trying to go down the steps and "talking" to the audience. 

Next week we will be meeting with our social worker for our 6 month visit and hopefully we will soon have her US birth certificate.

Spring is in no hurry to get to ND as it has been plenty cold, but spring will also bring major flooding this year, so hopefully it will warm up soon, but slowly.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Dear Family and Friends, December 2010


Before I write our Christmas letter each year, I like to read our letters from previous years. It’s a good reminder of the past and all our blessings. Five years ago we started telling you that we were adopting a baby from China. In some of our letters, I tried to predict when this might happen (and we were WAY off). Finally in 2007 we just said, “We don’t know, but we’re still waiting.” God’s timing is always perfect and September 5, 2010 was the perfect time for us to meet Tong MinXian. Megan Mei MinXian was officially adopted into her forever family in China on September 6, 2010. She was born January 27, 2010 near Tonggu Co., Jiangxi, China. We were very blessed that Megan is developmentally on target and is growing more and more accustom to our family. If you would like to learn more about our trip, you can visit our blog at www.weissfamily-update.blogspot.com.

Since we’ve been home, Megan has continued to blossom. She is crawling all over and even does a gorilla crawl sometimes. Right before Thanksgiving, she started standing by herself for a few seconds. We’re pretty sure she will be walking before her 1st birthday. After the 1st two awful weeks of getting over jet lag, sleep at night started to fall into a regular pattern. She still lets us know that she is in the house at least once or twice during the night, but she doesn’t need to be rescued and just goes back to sleep. She is not a fan of napping and only needs ½ hr. in the AM and PM. We have not found any food yet that she won’t eat including table foods.

Miranda is a 5th grader at RCS. Over the past year she has kept busy with ballet, ice skating, tennis, swimming lessons, and Summer Arts Stages. She also attended church camp for the 2nd year. In Oct., we discovered that she needed reading glasses. Mikayla is a 3rd grader at RCS. She has been busy with Children’s Music Academy, ballet, ice skating, tennis, swimming lessons, and golf. Right after Christmas last year, she got her first pair of glasses.

I am still working at Altru in the rehab and I taught LPN clinicals in the spring. I took a leave of absence from clinicals for this fall and coming spring and 12 weeks off from Altru when we adopted Megan. I went back to work at Altru right before Thanksgiving. Having time off from work was great, but keeping up with 2 school-age children and a baby have kept me plenty busy. One forgets how your schedule changes with a baby. I am still co-secretary of AWANA and co-leader of a serving ministry group at church. I also still enjoy sewing various projects.

Brian is in his 12th year at AE2S. Due to the increase in employees in the Grand Forks office, they are building a new office building which should be completed in spring 2011. He has been very busy with projects in Bismarck, Mandan, Minot, Williston, and Great Falls, MT. He has travelled to Great Falls a couple times this year and will be going back again next year. This spring he was selected to be president-elect of the ND chapter of the National Society of Professional Engineers. The school board also keeps him busy.

In March we were able to go to Branson, MO with my sister’s family and my parents. We spent 5 days doing tourist stuff during the day and going to various shows in the evening. One of the days we drove up to Mansfield, MO to visit Laura Ingalls Wilder’s home. In May we went to the air force base to see the Thunderbirds. We were able to get some camping in this summer. Brian and the girls went to Turtle River and as a family we went to Icelandic, Old Mill, and Bemidji State Park. After staying overnight in Bemidji, we drove to Itasca. It was the first time Brian and I had seen the headwaters of the Mississippi River. The girls, my mom, and I also went to Lincoln, NE to visit my sister in June.

Well, that’s our news for the year. We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year as you celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ.



Brian, Richel, Miranda, Mikayla, and MEGAN!

It's been awhile

Figured I had better put some new info. on our blog since it's been almost 2 months!  Life sure is different than it was 2 1/2 months ago!  Most notably is that Megan is sleeping through the night.  She generally lets us know that she is in her bedroom at least once during the night, but doesn't need us to visit her.  Naps are not her favorite.  It's no big deal if she's in her carseat, but she doesn't like naps in her bed.  She is crawling all over the place and pulls up on everything.  She even stood alone for a couple seconds.  She can cruise around furniture a little.  She is also a great eater and we really haven't found anything she won't eat.

I went back to work on Nov. 18.  Thankfully I had a good day and Megan also did well at daycare.  The girls are continuing to adjust.  Both of them have been very helpful.  We finally figured out where everyone was going to sleep permanently (after Megan spent over 1 month with her crib in the playroom). 

We will be traveling to SD for Thanksgiving.  Hopefully that goes well.

Video of Megan (Crawling)

Click here to download:

20101001_0006.AVI (46284 KB)

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