thank you and update

Hello family and friends, I wanted to thank you all for your prayers, well wishes, gifts, visits, meals and everything wonderful in between over these last few months. I am usually very organized and good at remembering and personally sending thank you notes. Regrettfully, I have not been able to set aside the time to do that right now so therefore I am writing you all via email. I am embarrassed to do this and please forgive me as I know it is not the proper way to say thank you. The shower that was given to Feiley and I a while back was so beautiful. I appreciate all the hard work that went into organizing it and for everyone who was able to come or send their good wishes. We love all gifts from the cute dresses to the wooden cart that Brian Kilgus spent hours putting together. She loves pushing that thing around! The gift cards were greatly appreciated and have been spent on more clothes and obviously diapers! Guess I shouldn't think about the potty training thing until she is walking better and her heart is stronger. The meals were so greatly appreciated also as everyone knows cooking is not my forteit, my kids are picky eaters, and trying to find to time to whip up a meal holding a 19 month old is not easy. We are doing very well over here. She is adjusting better than expected to have only been home almost 3 weeks now. She absolutely loves her brothers. And Macy, she actually likes her now too. Our greatest struggle is still this cough which she has had since we got back. We have been to the doctor I don't know how many times. We went back again today and they think the cough may be due to her heart and the fluid that is around it. They increased her two heart meds and the cardiologist is now going to see us on Monday instead of two weeks from now. They are not sure if it is a secondary cold she caught, or if this is her heart getting worst. The pediatrician said today that she is so glad Feiley is home now and that if it is her heart getting worst, that she got home just in time. While we are praying she will not need surgery, it looks as though she will. Continue to pray for her, for us and that all will be well. I hear the song "It is well, It is well with my soul" and it is. God has brought her this far and he will carry her through. Thank you all so much for your friendship and prayers. We love you all.   Cathie, Chris, Josh, Zach and Feiley

Finally pictures- enjoy

First Halloween

Mommy wouldn't quit taking my picture- She must think I look cute or something.

Home sweet home

Feiley loving her new brother Zack- aka "bubba"


It took a whole 10 days for Feiley to finally come close to our dog Macy. I have a feeling they are going to be best buds in a matter of days.

Hanging out on the front porch watching all the boys in the neighborhood play football. Got my cookie- all the kids love me - life is good.

Pretty outfit mommys friend Heidi have me.

I LOVE food! Tiny little thing can eat like a mad women- don't know where it all goes. Feiley is all of 17 pounds at 19 months old.

At the airport getting ready to leave China!

Another new friend Eden (and big sis) was adopted that week.

Out to dinner the last night at our favorite Italian restaurant Dolce Viva.

This is our hotel in Guangzhou- The White Swan. This is inside the Lobby area. Very beautimus.




These are our new friends who were also adopting this week and are with our agency- BAAS. We miss them already.

Mommy and Fei Fei.

Feiley loving the view from our hotel room.

Even us girls have to take a break from shopping- next, the pearl store where daddy bought mommy and Fei Fei pretty necklaces.

Finally more pictures of China and Feiley

So, its almost 10:00pm Monday evening and I am finally getting a chance to post some more pictures. We have had Feiley for 3 weeks today and it already feels like forever. Here we are on a river cruise in Guangzhou sightseeing in the pouring down rain.

The famous "red couch photo". Feiley obviously wanted nothing to do with that.

Our buddies at the White Swan- Sophia, Natalie, April, and our sweet Fei Fei.

Getting ready for dinner after a long day of roaming the town.

update on Feiley

Hello all - Wanted to update you on Feiley- She is adjusting wonderfully. The first 5 days or so were filled with crying, jet lag, insecurity, sleepless nights, and a very tired mommy. Now, she is as sweet as candy. She smiles on demand, loves her brothers and daddy, says mama mama ALL the time, plays independently (yes, mommy sometimes walks away for 5 minutes or so to do laundry, clean floors, ect.). She eats anything in sight and is sleeping 12 hours or so night. She still has a cold and cough and sometimes needs a breathing treatment. This has been going on for almost a week and we are ready for it to go away. Now, for the past two days, we have had doctors appointments to evaluate her development and heart condition. As for her development, she is delayed but they do not see any need for therapy right now. They want to give her a few months to catch up on her own. With her heart condition, the hole in her heart is small but is causing some leakage. There are also 2 other areas of her heart that are not working properly which may be caused from the hole. They have put her on two heart meds. for the next two weeks and then will evaluate her again. They did ekg's today but will redo in two weeks. The chances she will need open heart surgery are high at this point since there is some leakage. The cardiologist believes if he can close the hole, the other two areas in her heart that are not working properly will fix itself- they hope. This is not what we wanted to hear even though we suspected all along she would need surgery. We ask for your continued prayers that God would heal her heart well enough for NO SURGERY and if that is not the case, that she would be fine after her surgery. We are so glad she is finally home with us and we can help her get better. She is such a doll. We know everything is going to be alright and we have great confidence in our cardiologist and most of all our GOD.   Love to you Cathie and Chris and Fei Fei

We are home!

We have been home 3 days now and been very busy. Feiley is doing better and better each day. She still cries alot but that is understandable. If you think about all she has been through the past 18 months- having a birth mom, being abandoned, taken to police station, lived in orphanage, lived in foster care, back into orphanage, then these blonde haired people come and take her to two different hotels, airplane rides, car rides, into a new home with two blonde brothers, a huge blonde dog, new smells, food, climate- you can see why shes a little out of whack. She is so cute and loves music and to dance. Will post pictures as soon as I can. We are totally in love with her.

we are still here in china 3 more days

Hello all! We have been very busy and also we have not been able to access our email. Feiley is great. We love Guangzhou. I am eating Italian, Thai, American food and I'm not hungry anymore. Feiley eats anything we give her. She will walk now with assistance and smiles and laughs all the time. She can scream and cry but all 18 month olds do that. Today we tried the swimming pool and she would play in the water sitting on my lap. Yesterday we had our first tea party together at this fancy tea house and Feiley decided to whip cheerios all the over the fancy place. We also went to a Buddist Temple and they wanted us to dedicate her to the Budda that represents children. We said we would pass on that one. We are having a great time but ready to be home. Wish we could magically get there without travelling 30 hours. Signing off for now. Love, The Comforts

Day 4 - A little better

Let the bonding begin!

Day 1 - We Got Her

Unbelievable Day..had to go to Mickey D's when all was said and done!

Day 2 Doing Much Better - Thank You

She likes us...although we still look a little different...and you should see the look the locals give us. Went to the orphanage and met the workers that were dedicated to caring for her..they call her Fei Fei Also a unbelievable circumstance...decided to go to where she was abandoned. We needed to ask directions as to where a specific pavalion was where Fei Fei was abondend. Our guide asked a park police officer where the pavalion was...and then noticed that our guide and the officer were talking a million miles a minute...turns out SHE was the officer that found Fei Fei in the park! amazing

First day in China

Walked around all day in Kunming and saw lots of beautiful parks and people. The little children like to look at us and smile. So cute. The one picture of all the buildings is the view from the hotel. Tomorrow is Stone Forest. See ya then.

Backed up

Come on jfk...windshield view on the runway

We are outta here

We are in the trunk

Last US meal

Our last meal

Getting ready to Pick up Feiley

Well, its finally here. We are leaving this week to travel to China. Please continue to pray for our safe travels, for our Gotcha Day with Feiley- that it is a wonderful union of meeting one another for the first time - that she falls in love with us just like we are with her already and that any attachment issues would be minor and manageable. We thank all our family and friends for their support during this adoption process. Our love to you all and prayers that you also have a wonderful couple of weeks with lots of God given moments.

Love
The Comforts

TA!

We are TA! 3 weeks until "Gotcha Day" Cannot wait to get my hands on Feiley and we can officially become a family! Yea hoo!!

Feiley at 18 months

How cute is she! We finally got two new pictures of our daughter! Our other picture is a year old so we are so excited to get this update. We were worried we would not recognize her on "gotcha day". Now that I see her, we would have recognized her but it is wonderful to see her now! She is only 19 pounds and 29 inches long. Little squirt! Can't wait to make her smile!



A few more weeks and we will be in China to get you! (hope that dress and espadrilles come with you!)