SHE INSPIRES ME

What can I asy , she inspires me.....I look at my daughter and my boys and I just want to be a better person.... I want to make them proud of their mother...I want to teach them to help others....and to always appreciate what they have....I look at Jianna , and I am thankful, for having her in my life.....she teaches me so much....she inspires me....and because of her, I want to do more for other children in need.....so what I was thinking the other day, was......so many of us came back from China with Extra Yuans (chinese money) that we will never use....so what if we put ALL of our Yuans together and helped some BEAUTIFUL Children in desperate need of surgeries in China....There are so many little ones who need heart surgeries, cleft surgeries....etc...so if you are interested in joining me .....please let me know.....

AND For those who have not adopted, but who would like to help....I would love to hear from you......Just think of what we can do....if we " just try"..........

Carmen Pagano

Jianna Talked to Her Mr. Liu

The other night , I was reading Mr. Liu's letter and I kept looking at his phone #.....and before I knew it I was on the phone dialing his number....Did not know what I was going to say ( because I don't know much Mandarin) but At the time I did not care...I just wanted him to hear Jia's voice....Jianna was in the bath and she talks ALOT when she is in the tub....Okay ,, now the phone began to ring and then I heard his sweet voice....he said hello in Chinese and I froze for one second and then I just said NE-HAO LIU......JIA JIA MAMA.....JIA JIA MAMA.......Then I put Jia on the phone and she too said Ne-hao BABA(father) JIA JIA....and thats it....he started laughing , and crying and saying JIA JIA....JIA ...JIA......AHHHH JIA JIA and then he cried some more.....jia was talking up a storm....and than I realize something, even though I was worried that I could not tell him very much, it did not matter....you see all he wanted to hear was the voice of his sweet Jianna....and lets face it half the time I don't understand what she's saying....but it does not matter....because in the end just hearing her voice and hearing her laughter is more than enough...to not only me , but to Mr. lui as well......just think , a few words went a loooonnnnnng way...

The following day, my Guide Glen who helped us while in china, said that Mr. Liu called him and told him of how happy our phone call to him made him....he told Glen that he cried tears of Joy when he heard my voice and Jia's voice......He said jia sounds happy....and that now he's happy.....

WE LOVE YOU MR. LIU
Carmen (MAMA) and your Jia Jia

YESTERDAY I RECEIVED MR. LIU'S LETTER!!!!

For those who are not familiar with Sweet Mr. Liu, Mr Liu is a very old man who lived in the same building as the Orphanage..You see upstairs from the Orphange, there is a place where homeless old folks lived....and Mr. Liu for 21 months of my Jia's life would go downstairs , to play with her all of the time.....I believe, that its because of the LOVE THAT MR. LIU Gave Jia, that she is as affectionate as she is. Any way the day Jia was taken out of the Orphange , Mr. Liu cried for 4 days....reason being, he was told by the locals, that westerners adopt their babies so that we can sell their body parts ( HOW HORRIBLE) but believe it or not this is what many countries believe.....anyway once I heard of this and I was told that he had been crying , I asked my Guide ( GLEN) if he could take me and Jianna to see Mr. Liu before we left for the states......Long story short...I did meet him, so happy I did, I promised him that I would never harm our little jia, and all he wanted was pictures and letters sent to him once n a while....I promised him that I would,,,,,and I have..... Mr. Lliu has since rec'd my letters and photos....and guess what! yesterday My guide had e-mailed me a letter that Mr. Liu had sent him to translate for me......THE FOLLOWING IS THE LETTER:

Dear Dante and Carmen,

Hello! I was very delighted to receive your letter, I had to look for someone to help me write back to you since I did not receive much education. Please forgive me!

Dante and Carmen , I was really sad when my JIA JIA left me. She would go to America such a far away place. I could not hold her up and visit her anymore. I often cried for this. I am old now. I can't work and have a hard life. I could not provide a warm home for her. I was so gratified and satified that Jia Jia could have You, such kind people who would make her have a happy life, growing up happily and provide a nice environment for her and take care of her and love her. I knew it from your letter that you Loved Jia Jia so much, you let her learn Chinese and she could play with other Chinese adoptive girls, you show her my photos and let her Love Me. I was very appreciated for it. I also hope that you will mail some more photos of Jia Jias Life in America to me. Meanwhile, Thank you for your Love to Jia Jia and for you to write a letter to me. Please tell Jia Jia : grandpa love her and miss her forever...Thank you for your Kindness! Best wishes to all your family members!

Best Regards

Granpa of Zheng Jia ( JIA JIA): Liu, Huan

August 26, 2007

Attach : Grandpas Cell phone Number ############### ( I have the number : )
And he also Gave me his Address


ONCE IN A GREAT WHILE, I HAVE TO ADMIT ...I AM VERY PROUD OF MYSELF..... I kept my word....and to the Chinese, your word means EVERYTHING....I may have change one mans view of us as parent who adopt .....For so long he believed that we harm their children....Now I know I will never change the way the " WORLD" thinks of us......but I can sure try......one Mr. Liu at a time......and now perhaps My Mr. Liu will tell others in his village...and so on and so on....... and for that I can smile at myself when I little ole me ....carmen looks in the mirror today......My Grandma would be proud.......her name was Rose.....

Carmen Pagano
Proud Mother of Jianna "ROSE" Pagano

OUR 5 MONTH GOTCHA ANNIVERSARY!

Today is our 5 month Gothca anniversary!!!!! What can I say ......Having Jia in our lives....has been SO WONDERFUL..I still have to pinch myself.......how did I ever get so lucky....Having Mike, Steve and Jia in our lives just makes everyday a wonderful one...

Carmen and Dante
Proud Parents to some amazing Kids.....

JIS HAS BANGS!

OKAY SO TODAY I GOT THE COURAGE TO CUT JIANNA'S BANGS MYSELF....I THINK THEY CAME OUT OKAY, WHAT DO YOU THINK?????

CARMEN

LAST DAY BEING 40 : O

Okay so, today is my last day being 40 : O Come tomorrow I will be "41" OUCH! It hurts to even type it : )
anyway...I remember when I was a teenager ( many moons ago) when I heard that someone was 30 I thought " boy their old" But not anymore oh no ...30 is the new 20, and 40 is also the new 20 : ) " sorry my rules" : ) so with that said, I just want to begin my fourty something years with my head held up high, after all, these days thats the only thing that I can still keep held up...gravity stinks : ) ...so fourty something here I come, and fifty stay far, far , far AWAY!!!!!!


HAVE A GREAT HOLIDAY WEEKEND EVERYONE!!!!!!
Carmen Pagano AND HER OLD MAN dANTE AND KIDS....

summer coming to an end : (

Well as our summer comes closer to its end, I think back at all the wonderful things we got to do as a complete family....Having Jia with us just made our family even more wonderful than what it already was....She has shown us to see things differently...we now appreciate things more, and realize that family is the most important thing in the world....We are greatful for our 3 beautiful children...and we are proud that we have been together for 25 years...you see our biggest accomplishments, should not be measured by our jobs, how much money we have in the bank, how many shoes are in our closets, but by our family...and our commitments to eachother...I am proud that I have been able to grow from a teenager to a now 41 year old women with Dante, I am proud of the family we have built together...It has not always been easy....Sometime it was down right difficult...we have shared the most joyous experiences together to the most difficult of times together. But we have remained constant in one thing, we have always remained by eachothers side. This blog has been a gift to me...because of this blog , I took the time and sat down every week and shared with you my little life...and as I did that I realize how lucky I am to be able to write such wonderful things that are going on in my life...I never use to take the time to reflect on what was going on around me and now I do...And you know what , pretty happy about many things that I have been able to experience and write about...What can I say " NOT TO BAD CARMEN, NOT TO BAD"

CARMEN PAGANO