Home at Last

Now that things have calmed down a little here at home. I need to post about our travel home and how we're doing.

The girls traveled remarkably well on the 18 hours of plane flights. We had bought Abigail her own seat on the plane, mostly just to give us extra room. We never dreamed she'd actually use it. We held Natalie the whole way home from China last time.

But there Abigail sat upright in her chair playing with her toys, the airline magazine, her feet and shoes contently. When she wasn't sitting, she'd stretch out across the chair to sleep. She never really cried, only fussed a little when hungry. We held her for short times. We were so lucky.

Natalie also handled the flight well. We sat her by the business man who was lucky enough to get the 5th seat in the row we almost totally occupied. But Natalie either watched plane's kid movie Monsters, Inc. or slept. She slept alot which she is paying for now.

While the girls were grand, their parents were ill. Who would have known that it would be the Italian restaurant that we ate at with our travel group as our last meal together that would do us in? Really, after chicken heads and feet, pigeon, etc., it was ravioli that made us incredibly sick, particularly me (Allison).

When I ordered ravioli with eggplant, the waitress indicated that I should not get eggplant, but spinach. I said okay, but then she brought out eggplant. It tasted kind of funny, but alot of foods in China taste different. Doug took a few bites of my meal. Back at the hotel the night before we left, let's just say I regretted eating it time and time again in between trying to finish packing. Doug took a few bites of my meal and later started to feel ill on the plane and spent more time in the tiny bathroom than anyone would want.

We did have a couple of close calls on making our flights. The closest being our flight from Beijing to Chicago. We had to run to make sure we wouldn't miss it. We were slowed down by an air-conditioner malfunction that delayed our first flight, then we had to find our stroller that they checked and put in the over-sized baggage area and we also had to get boarding passes for Abigail because they wouldn't get hers for the whole way through while checking in at Guangzhou. So after running to get in line to board, we were sweaty, exhausted and still feeling ill.

Another close call came in Chicago, when the immigration officer said, "You might not have time to make your next flight, but it's okay they'll get you another one." Oh no, we weren't going to let that happen. We rushed through customs, rechecked our bags and made it to our next gate in time. Only thing is when we got home one of our bags was not so lucky and arrived home 2 days after we did.

We arrived home to Welcome banners and messages on our garage windows written by Natalie's friends, Lily and Leah who were also adopted from China. Their mothers, Beth and Carol, had even brought basic foods like eggs and milk, and some not so basic like brownies and doughnuts!! Mom had spruced up the place including new curtains for Abigail's and Natalie's rooms!!

Our first night home was also unbelievably well. I thought we'd be up all night. Abigail and us parents were in bed by midnight and slept until 6 a.m. -- more sleep than I anticipated. Though Natalie, who slept more than any of us on the plane, stayed up until 6 a.m. and slept until 1 p.m. when her cousin arrived. Abigail fit in 2 three-hour naps that day, so we got more sleep too.

Mother's Day was spent with Abigail getting to know Grandmom, Grandpa, Uncle Jimmie, Aunt Jessica and Danielle. She greeted each person with a smile and was okay with letting them hold her if Natalie or I were nearby. It was a perfect Mother's Day now home with our second darling daughter.

Abigail never seemed surprised or taken back by our 15-year-old lab/greyhound mix Lucy. She even reached her hand out to pet her. But when she got a feel of her nose she did startle. Neither one seems to mind the other being in the room.

The sleep has been off for all of us since that first night when we were exhausted. The girls are waking up about 2 a.m. thinking it is morning and then crashing again about 5 a.m. But then I have to turn around and send Natalie to school.

Abigail seems to be getting caught up on her sleep today. She's been waking at 7 or 8 a.m. every morning even while home. But this morning at 11 a.m. she was still asleep and I had to wake her. I guess she's making up for lost sleep.

Abigail becomes more alert every day. She's waving at all of us. Last night at Mom and Dad's she discovered that she had squeaky shoes on and would stomp her feet to make them squeak. I did have to hold her up. She has also started clapping her hands.

Her newest word is repeating over and over again "Ma Ma Ma". She got to using it the most when Mom came over to watch her so I could take a nap. But now she's saying it constantly. She spurts out an occasional "BaBa" (Dad in Chinese) and one time said "Na" for Natalie. But mostly it's an ongoing chain of "Ma"s.

So we're adjusting to being home. The bags are all unpacked except for the keepsakes. The baby items have all been retrieved, and I've almost figured out how to use most of them again.

Abigail still seems to take everything in stride. She is curious, looks around to see where everyone is going, etc. But mostly she smiles, babbles, plays, eats and sleeps. She still seems very content even though she's in new surroundings.

We are very blessed and lucky to be at home with two wonderful daughters!

Things Looking Up

***I found a second post that did not make it from China. I couldn't see Blogspot to check my posts. China had social networking sites blocked. So I thought I had shared our first sign of good news about our paperwork when really it didn't make it to you at all. Sometimes I'd figure out I had trouble posting and e-mail my dear friend Beth who would tell me if it showed up on the blog or not. But toward the end I was too busy to do that and thought I had fixed the problem which was obviously not the case.

So this post is from Monday, May 5th after we stayed up half the night because it was Monday morning at home, and we had to make phone calls to get our paperwork crisis resolved. Here I tell you how we attempted to do that. I also love the first photo of Abigail, so I had to share.



Monday, May 5th

Our paperwork issue seems to be taking a positive spin. The National Visa Center replied to an e-mail saying they had cabled our approval to the U.S. Consulate. But now we have to wait until morning here in China to make sure they got it. Getting it from place to place seems to be the issue.

After repeated efforts to contact somebody at Louisville CIS, we kept hitting a dead end and couldn't talk to a human being.

So, after being fingerprinted in Louisville four times, we know from experience that Mitch McConnell's Louisville office is three doors down from the Louisville CIS office.

For backup, tonight we got hold of Mitch's office staff and a very dry but nice guy named Matthew Brotzge said he would check into the situation today and get back to us before he leaves for the day (which will be about 5 a.m. our time).

Anyway, so for the moment, we are counting on Matthew to go next door and "rattle some cages".

Hope we hear something good in the morning. We are one business day away from our consulate appointment here.

Doug sure was rubbing on the make-a-wish ball in the mouth of the lion statue at the Folk Art Museum (a former temple) today. He said, "Oh, I know what I'm going to wish." I probably do not have to explain that it was to go home on time!

Meanwhile, the other adoption preparations, appointments, go on. Tomorrow morning, Tuesday a.m., we take the babies for their medical exams.

Abigail is doing great! Everyone comments on how happy she is and how much she smiles. Tonight Allison put a big flower in her hair, and she was causing lots of oohs and aahs and smiles.

She is grunting in between spoonfuls of food and between bottles. I accidentally only packed 4 oz. bottle liners and must stop in the middle of her feeding to prepare the next bottle much to her chagrin. She wants food, and she wants it now!

Natalie loves hanging out with the other big sisters. She and five-year-old Kaylee, spent much of the evening jumping on the hotel beds, which was big fun!

The girls have a common thread, we learned tonight. Both Natalie and Kaylee were born in Guangdong Province where we are now. We are back together with the other two families we traveled with in Beijing also.

In just about every picture I have of Nat from today she's holding up a peace sign. She's picked it up here in China. When we see the Chinese taking pictures of each other, they flash this sign. We asked our guide about it. Evidently they don't think of it as a peace sign, but 'V' for victory. We asked the meaning of that, and she said it's just popular. I got the idea it was a fad, but we're still trying to figure out what victory they are referring to.

We love Guangzhou, but we were here today for the hottest day of 2010 (most humid too, I'd say). I can't tell you the exact temperature because I still can't convert Celsius. But I can tell you that all of us were dripping with sweat. We only have a couple of shorts packed for each of us, but we'll make do.

Well, we're hoping for a middle of the night phone call or e-mail with good news. I'll post when we find out if we're all clear to go home on time.

It's Official!

***I just realized that one of my last posts did not get sent from China. I wrote this the two days before we left -- Thursday night, May 6th. It has the long-awaited red couch photos that everyone has been asking me about.

We've had some questions about the other babies, too. In the red couch photo from left to right are very outgoing and active Josie, 9 months, who always kicks her legs and waves her arms (her birthday is four days after Abigail's); very happy and social Porter, 18 months who always liked wave at us and visit Abigail (his cleft lip will be repaired in the United States); Abigail, 9 months and smart Erin, 22 months, who had already learned to say please and shook her finger 'no' in China (wearing the traditional outfit from her province in Inner Mongolia). One of the hardest parts of the trip is leaving families and their babies with whom you've formed a bond.

We are home now and things are going pretty well. I'll have to post more about that and our flights which Abigail and Natalie handled really well later -- still unpacking and trying to get organized tonight. (Delayed from planned organization by Abigail, who woke at midnight and thought it was daytime. She's back to sleep now.)





Thursday, May 6th

After loading 3 tour buses of American adoptive families from the White Swan Hotel, we arrived at the U.S. Consulate to sign papers and take the group oath. The appointment we feared we would miss has now come and gone without any more snags.

All efforts are on finishing shopping and packing as we leave out at 7 a.m. Saturday morning. Somehow we gain a day and arrive in Louisville 8:30 p.m. Saturday night.

Yesterday morning we took our red couch photos, another sign that it is almost time to go home. Every travel group who stays at the White Swan gets their children together on the red couch for a group photograph which is not as easy as it seems. Abigail was all smiles in the beginning (of course, this is the photo I posted) but by the end she was wailing and in tears -- no morning nap and too many camera flashes! With Natalie's travel group, we had to get 13 babies to sit still on the couch -- no easy feat!

Natalie loved getting all dolled up like her sister. Jack, a very outgoing salesperson in a local shop, set us up with matching outfits and even dug and dug in a bag of shoes until he found some big enough for Natalie. The shops specialize in baby sizes.

Later that afternoon we visited the Six Banyan Temple where a chanting monk blessed the babies as all the families kneeled. Abigail was big-eyed watching with curiousity.

Natalie was eager to light incense and bowed three times for what the Chinese consider their three lives -- the past, the present and the future. She also tried and tried to throw a coin into the urn so she could make a wish. She got a little boost by getting on her dad's shoulders.

I just tried to get a decent picture of Flat Stanley in front of the temple, because I knew the kindergarten at my school was depending on me. The bad news is that I forgot to take Flat Stanley with me for the optimum photo shoot -- the Great Wall. Well, at least I got a photo in China.

We stopped by the government store which we were told would have quality souvenirs, but didn't see anything very different from what's in the souvenir stores outside our hotel. Abigail who used to just keeping to herself is getting very alert and was reaching out toward the shelves in this store. She did get a hold of a box of chopsticks which were wood, thank goodness.

We told our guide that the girls (the big sisters) love noodles so she drove us way across the city to a Noodle Factory. The girls got to watch them make long noodles, dumplings, etc.

The bad news was that we had to dish out and then eat the long, slippery noodles with chopsticks -- no forks. They did help us dish them out as soon as they saw how inept we were at this. Near the end of our meal they finally brought us a ladle for dipping out noodles. The noodles were very thick and doughy, but tasty.

But what made the biggest impression was the heat. By the end of the meal, we were all sweating profusely and even noticed Chinese people fanning themselves. When we got there the restaurant was empty, but by the end of our meal it was full. Helen explained that on the first few hot days of the season, the air conditioning is not working well yet. We all left overheated and with whiny, sweaty babies. Of course, Abigail did eat her whole bowl of steamed egg.

Tonight Helen called in an order to Papa John's for us and pizza never tasted so good.

Now we are preparing for the trip home. When we brought Natalie home, she slept on all the flights except the one from Cincinnati to Evansville, which was so short it didn't matter. But we think Abigail is going to be a different story. On our hour-long flight to Guangzhou from Nanchang, she wanted to be on her feet with me holding her up and looking around. She did not even want to sit down. She is much the same way on the buses -- very alert, wants to stand or reach for things. If she does get tired, she can't get comfortable and arches her back and cries.

We're working on strategies for the flight home. We hear the 7-Eleven across the street has goldfish crackers and meltaways, baby snacks. I'm going to pick up a few new baby toys at the shops. We'll need a few more ideas. We'll only be on the planes for a total of 18 hours!!

Ready for takeoff?

Well, not really. But we've got to get there. Cause we are about to exit China!!

Easier said than done, though. Once we leave the hotel at 7 a.m., we will spend about 25 hours in airports or on planes before we arrive in Louisville.

First we fly Guangzhou to Beijing, which will take about three hours flying time. Then the big hop, Beijing to Chicago, will take 13 hours. Then Chicago to Louisville will take about an hour.

Add in the couple of hours early we have to arrive at the first airport, plus layovers and we will spend more than full day acting like a much less cool version of George Clooney in "Up in the Air." (with a seven-year-old and a baby).

We take off on our first leg at 10 a.m. Saturday, but because we cross back over the international date line, we arrive Louisville at about 8:30 Saturday night

Oh well, we can't wait. Not for all that time in the planes, but to be home! It will be heaven to see our family, our dog, our home -- with Abigail no less. Woohoo!

Not to mention how wonderful it will be to have drinks with ice!

In the meantime, we had one last group meal with our 4-family travel group tonight. One of those families will be on the plane with us tomorrow. The other two are flying a different route on a different airline.

Oh well, I need to go help Allison pack. It is getting late and there's still much to do.

Looking forward to seeing you all back in the U.S.A.

Girls, Pearls, Malls and Markets

 

Today was a pretty neat day. As you may have already read, we have been assured that our missing Visa 37 -- I still don't even know what that is, to be honest -- is now waiting for us at the Consulate here in Guangzhou.

Hooray! We can proceed on our journey back home to the U.S. as a family of four with big sister (jie jie) and little sister (mei mei)!!

And yep, the four babies in our travel group all did well at the medical examination that is required for their entrance into the U.S.

After coming "home" from the medical exam and taking a nap, we headed out to a huge shopping mall. Unlike malls in American, this one doesn't spread out, it goes up. I think somebody said it had eight floors. We visited a couple of stores there: pearls, CDs and luggage. The women in the group REALLY liked the pearl store. Natalie stood by at a counter full of sparkly beads where she got the workers to string her a little bracelet.

We then walked back to the hotel, probably about a mile's distance, and went through the heart of the Qing Ping market, which is famous as the place in China you can buy just about any kind of exotic natural product, be it animal or plant, alive or dead.

In the market you can buy dogs, cats, birds, fish, roots, herbs, spices and even a few pretty crazy things. Helen repeated several times that the animals for sale were for pets. The dogs were dolled up with bows and fancy collars.

Our last trip to China we were highly discouraged from visiting the Qing Ping market due to a couple of SARS cases still lingering in Guangzhou. According to an old saying, the Cantonese will eat anything that flies, except airplanes and anything with four legs, as long as it's not a table. Protein is hard to come by here.

We saw two different guys with what they claimed were tiger paws for sale. They didn't look fake. As a matter of fact, they looked pretty gross. Who knows.

Also for sale, live scorpions for scorpion soup (is supposed to be very good as a way to get "heat out of the body," according to our guide) as well as snake skins, rare worm roots (good for the lungs, says Helen) and just about anything else you can think of. Ginseng by the bale. Dried sea horses as far as the eye can see.

Abigail sat upright in her stroller taking it all in as we went through the bustling market. Natalie asked our guide Helen very specific questions about which of the foods for sale she liked to eat. She was really working hard at figuring it all out.

We got back to the hotel, cleaned up a bit and all went out to eat at a Thai place on the island called the Cow and Bridge with the other families in our group. Very good food, and young Abigail devoured an entire bowl of chicken congee even after slurping down a whole bottle. We chose to use chopsticks for the entire meal even when forks were sitting right there on the table.

Natalie and Abigail were both angels today. Even through all the shopping, walking and the waiting at the medical exam, they were real troopers -- no baby tears or whining. People continue to comment on how constantly happy and content young Abigail is. Allison and I just keep knocking on wood.

Tomorrow we take the infamous red couch pictures with all the babies in our group. Then in the afternoon it's off to the Six Banyan Temple and the government store for "authentic" souvenirs.

Thanks to everyone at home who offered to help us with our paperwork ordeal. All of our efforts paid off! We'll be coming home soon!!

The Eagle has landed!

Very good news!! Helen got a phone call about a half hour ago from the U.S. Consulate here in Guangzhou, and they report that they have possession of our "Visa 37" approval! (I still want to see it to believe it, but I feel relieved enough to have hugged Helen - doug)

This wonderful news came on our return trip from the medical clinic, where all the babies in our group passed their exams wth flying colors.
Getting there was a small adventure as we had to walk to the other side of the island, which is completely torn up with construction. At one point, we had to walk over a thin board that was covering a trench, and I honestly didn't think the board would hold us. I heard it crack when I walked over it.

Anyway, we are on lunch/nap break before more activities this afternoon.
Just wanted to share the wondeful news. Thank you everyone for your offers of assistance and prayers. We were truly worried that we weren't going to get to head home on time.

Now, Lord willing as my mother used to say, we are just days away from a big trip home.

Tomorrow we go the Consulate. If we don't post before then, we will let you all know how that goes.

Better in Guangzhou

Our paperwork problem has not been solved as it is still the weekend in the U.S. But we arrived in the paradise of Guangzhou this afternoon where our new coordinator who also goes by the name Helen reassures us that our problem has happened to families before and gotten fixed in time to go home as planned. She reassured us that our adoption agency will be able to fix it.

She should know she deals with the Consulate all the time. She even went to one of the Consulate member's houses in the middle of the night to get a family out of the country for a family emergency. We are starting to feel better.

We still plan to make lots of phone calls tomorrow night (Mon. a.m. in U.S.) to make sure this gets settled. We'll call the Louisville CIS, National Visa Center, USCIS Customer Service line and even Mitch McConnell and Ed Whitfield if we need to do so.

Shamian Island is Guangzhou really does feel like paradise compared to where we've been. It's like Florida with its weather and palm trees. The island was built when the European Consulate was located there. All the buildings have an European influence. The island is calm and peaceful even though there is some construction going on to prepare for the Asian Games in November. Best thing yet, motorcycles and motorbikes have been forbidden to prepare for the games. There are very few cars on the island. We can walk around the island's park, stores and restaurants safely.

Also comforting is the large number of families here at our hotel adopting from China also. Everyone wants to stop and look at each other's babies and compare stories.

We even ate an the American restaurant tonight called Lucy's. As soon as Natalie sat down, she said, "I'm eating some meat!" She ordered a hamburger which was rather large and ate every single bite.

Natalie seems very at home here. She wants to know what we did here when we adopted here. It is good for her to be in the province where she was born.

So we're happy to be back here, but still on pins and needles about this visa revision that needs to be sent from Louisville. We're hoping for the best.

We'll send more photos tomorrow.

Stuck in China?

We got a call from our adoption agency's China office tonight (Saturday) at 8 p.m. that the U.S. Consulate does not have our revised visa approval from the Louisville Citizenship and Immigration Services office that was approved 3-30-10.

This means that if Louisville does not send this paperwork by May 5th in China that we will not get to go to our consulate appointment or leave China as planned on May 8th.

Seeing how it is Saturday morning back home that leaves very few days to get this worked out. The other problem is that the Louisville CIS is one of those offices where they can contact you, but you are not supposed to contact them.

FTIA did get the name of a contact person with the Louisville CIS. Her name is Jennifer Hendrix. The agency and I have already left voice mails and e-mails for her, but she won't be in until Monday probably.

I have used whitepages.com to try to get a home phone number. Only one Jennifer Hendrix appears, but when I call her number it says it is disconnected.

So if anyone out there, especially our journalism friends and Louisville friends, know of a Jennifer Hendrix or anyone else who works for the Louisville CIS, contact numbers, etc. Any help would greatly be appreciated. She appears to be the only way we are leaving China on time.

We will continue e-mailing and calling all appropriate parties, but thought that there might be someone out there reading this who could help.

Pray that we get this resolved and get to come home on time.

14 Things That Remind You That You are Definitely in China

Doug says, "How many posed pictures are people going to want to see?" -- which has made me venture off in a new direction.

14 Things That Remind Us That We are Definitely In China

1. Toddlers in split pants squatting on the sidewalks. Shoes off at the door has a whole new meaning.

2. When inquiring about a restroom you make sure to ask, "Western toilet or squatty potty?" See photo above. (Natalie and I performed a balancing act one afternoon as I helped her master the squat over the hole in the ground. The theatre had only squatty potties. The line of 20 women using multiple stalls had disappeared in the time it took us to master this one use.)

3. In the restroom the guide checks, "Did you bring your own paper?" (Yes, we remembered to do this. Thank goodness, she only offered one tiny square to those who forgot.)

4. Every time you order a drink, you make sure to ask for no ice. (The water in China is not safe for us to drink.)

5. You throw away multiple toothbrushes that you accidentally stick under the faucet because it's a habit, and you momentarily forgot that the water in China is not safe. (Luckily, the hotels supply new toothbrushes, and bottled water, daily.)

6. You long for a seatbelt, a car seat, some sort of safety device as you whizz around through traffic in the semi-rundown van in which the driver constantly swerves and hits the horn. If there is a blockage in the traffic, it is OK. He will quickly pull into oncoming traffic to get around it.

7. Cars never stop as they pull out into traffic. They only blast their horn as some sort of warning of "Watch out, here I come". We saw an old man riding a bike with no horn. He had a metal pot in a basket and he was beating on it with a stick.)

8. Elevators/small spaces seem to encourage some kind of game -- "How many people can fit?"

9. You think it is foggy, but then notice that the sky is not hazy after a rain. The rainfall clears the pollution for awhile. The sun finally appears to be shining.

10. You remind yourself that you are playing life or death Frogger every time you cross the street.

11. Firecrackers. The folks here love their firecrackers. The other day at a nice restaurant the wedding party set off a brick of firecrackers outside the restaurant to scare away evil spirits and bad luck. Today is May Day, or Chinese Labour Day, and it sounds like a war zone even from the 15th floor. Not popping ... roaring explosions. Lots of them.

12. You go to check Facebook, or Google, or some other favorite Web site ... and you get nothing. "This site not available."

13. Double dipping is OK, even encouraged. We still aren't used to this,and we try to avoid it. But when you eat in China, everybody serves themselves out of the same dishes and pots , using the chopsticks that they are eating with. And you have to do it a lot, cause the plates they give you to eat on are tiny. Even when you know the people you are eating with, it just isn't something that comes naturally to germ-phobe Americans.

14. Next time you order chicken or any meat, you learn to ask if the head and feet are included.

Near Normal in Nanchang

I can't believe I'm going to say this, but I think we are getting used to Nanchang just as it is almost time to leave. We have had a good two days touring Longevity Temple, the Tang We Pavilion, Elephant Lake Park and eating at a couple of nice Chinese restaurants.

Things don't seem as shocking to us -- the traffic, the stares, the food... Natalie takes pleasure in being the big sister who pushes the stroller. The baby takes everything in stride.

Abigail really is a good baby. She is generally happy -- smiling at us often. She's eating better now. She goes to sleep easily which was always a stumbling point with Natalie. Well, as I say this, tonight is the first night Abigail's having trouble. But we just returned late from watching a water fountain light and music show which may have her out of sync.

She is finally taking whole bottles in addition to all of her congee and steamed eggs. After I got her to take a whole one, I rechecked her report to find that it said they added sugar to her bottle. I am proud to report I never added the sugar packets that I did bring. I had read that it was a possibility that I might need them. And she has downed several full bottles sans sugar.

Our guide Helen is worried about us because she hears us sneezing or coughing occasionally. The pollution is very bad here -- always a thick haze in the sky. Everyone in our group has been taking sinus or allergy medicine. Helen thinks the problem is that we need to wear more clothing, even when we're dripping with sweat from the humidity. She tell us we need to cover our arms. We get very warm while out and about yet everyone seems to be dressed in winter clothes -- kids in sweaters, thick tights and adults in coats. I don't quite get it.

Here's another irony. When both of our families and our guide and the sometimes the bus driver eat dinner together, it costs a little less than 200 yuan, which is about 30 American dollars for 8 people and 2 babies to have more than enough food. But the Hagen-Daaz chocolate ice cream in the freezer downstairs that I want so badly costs 56 yuan which is about 8 dollars!! Chinese food has always made me crave chocolate, but no Hagen-Daaz for me!

Besides touring, we have also been catching up on our sleep. All the activity seems to have caught up with us.

Tomorrow is a holiday here -- May Day, something like Labor Day from what I understand. Helen offered to take us to People's Park. She said everyone would be off from work and school. But something triggered our memory of our Summer Palace experience. I asked Helen if the park would be crowded, and she said something like Disneyland. Oh no, things already seem very crowded to us. Can't imagine how the Chinese might think a Disneyland crowd would be.

So we passed on People's Park on a holiday. We are choosing the quiet, relaxing hotel pool and packing and repacking until each bag weighs under 44 lbs. The problem being that we have accumulated more keepsakes along the way.

And maybe we'll fit in a trip to McDonalds, of course. I think their milkshakes may be the only calcium we're getting. A milkshake has never tasted so good!

The day after tomorrow (Sunday morning) we leave for Guangzhou, the city where we became a family with Natalie and where we spent the entire 17 days on our last trip to China. I'm thinking it should bring back many happy memories and feel a little more like home. It's also our last stop before returning home. And as Doug just said, "There's no place like home."

Lions and Tigers and Dogs, Oh My!

With the babies in strollers, it was off to the zoo today. We thought we were going to a tomb because that's what it sounded like everytime our guide Helen told us. But today in the van on the way to our destination, we asked, "Whose tomb?" We found out we weren't going to a tomb at all, but to the zoo. She explained that she often puts the 'm' sound at the end of words. That's good to know.

The zoo was filled with lines and lines of schoolchildren. Everyone in one class all holding hands while following each other in line. (If only we did field trips that way back home.) The children would practice their English as they passed by saying "Hello", "Nice to meet you", "See you later" and "Goodbye".

Many families would stop to admire our babies, Abigail and the other baby in our group Josie whose birthday is just a few days away from Abigail's. They would talk to the babies, show their children the babies, etc. Helen said they were interested in Abigail's bow, which was handmade by the mother of one of the boys in my class.

Natalie enjoyed the animals especially feeding the coy which would literally swim on top of each other in one big mound to get the food. Natalie saw children taking smaller fish home. She really wished she could take one home to add to her pets Fin and Gill.

We saw the usual zoo animals -- an elephant with humongous tusks, a lion, lots of cranes, etc. Abigail was awake the whole time. But we were taken back when we got to the dog exhibit -- larger dogs like Golden Retrievers. Evidently the Chinese are only allowed to have smaller dogs as pets, so these dogs were rare to them.

Natalie said her favorite part of the zoo was the animal show which I will call Animal Acrobats. They had a goat walking a tightrope with a monkey balancing on one hand on its back. Next a bear did flips in rings suspended in the air, but when they started pushing the bear around in circles so it looked like it was flying, I'd had enough.

Many of the school children had the same cartoon character on their hats and clothes. We recognized that it was the character that was on Abigail's pajamas the day we got her. So I asked Helen who said he was Happy Goat from a very popular cartoon in China.

Jiangxi Province is known for the porcelain they make so we stopped at a porcelain store and got a little teaset for one of Abigail's keepsakes, and Natalie chose a trinket box. We got Natalie a teaset on our first trip to China.

Since we've started offering to pay for our guide's meals, she took us to lunch before returning us to the hotel. This time to a nice Chinese restaurant -- not a shock to the system in regards to cleanliness like the last one.

She asks us what foods we like then she orders the dishes which we eat the traditional Chinese way -- what I'd call family dining where large dishes are put out and everyone gets their servings from these.

She ordered us chicken among many other dishes. The whole chicken came out in a deep pot. Helen served us from the pot -- chicken legs for the girls, white meat for us, etc. Then she plopped a chicken foot on her plate, which she later ate, I hear. I didn't look. Doug joked, "Hey Helen, I wanted that foot." The chicken was very tender and tasty. Later when standing up to get Abigail some steamed egg, I looked in the pot and noticed not only another foot, but the chicken head. I knew the Chinese kept the head on the fish for good luck. But I am glad that I didn't look in there earlier and see that head.

We asked for vegetables and here's our first one. They brought green stems and we asked Helen what is it. She said it's grass from the local manmade river. We all tried it, but couldn't eat it because of the hot peppers which had given it flavor.

We tried the Peking Duck but this must not have been the place to get it. Because instead of getting duck meat, we got duck skin with a little fat on it to roll up with sauce in our wrappers. I passed.

We have discovered that Abigail and Josie have a love for steamed eggs, a pudding-like egg dish. Abigail downed 3 bowls, which is great since I still cannot get a bottle that she will consistently eat. Some days she likes rice cereal in her bottle. Other days not so much.
Looking at her, I wouldn't think she'd be a picky eater, but she is about her bottle. I still can not make a bottle that suits her every time. I'll figure it out. Until then rice congee and steamed egg will have to hold her over.

Abigail is laughing and giggling more now, especially if you hold her in the air or if she is in the pool.

So it was a good day. We ventured out on our own to McDonalds again for dinner and enjoyed shakes and ice cream with our meal, and never had to cross a busy street. We're getting the hang of things.

We still have a few days here. We leave Nanchang on Sunday. Evidently we are here so long because it takes awhile for our visa paperwork to process.

Tomorrow we're off to Tang We Pavillion, a temple here, and Helen said, another Chinese restaurant if we'd like!

More Mama Time

Great news! Abigail has been cuddling with her mama.

Doug woke with a bad headache so I took over. Before long Abigail was giggling and smiling and laughing with me. She even downed a bottle for the first time with me!

We strapped her in my hip carrier before our big trip to the Chinese Walmart. She somehow slept through the whole experience right there in that carrier.

We needed to go to Walmart because the luggage limits didn't allow us to bring the quantities of items we'd need for a 17 day stay -- 14 of those days with a baby.

But American brands were abundant Pampers, Johnson's baby shampoo, Nestle rice cereal. Then we got some snacks to make us feel more at home -- Lay's potato chips, Bugles, Oreos and Pringles, which come in flavors such as kiwi or shrimp. We stuck with what we knew. We have had enough adventure lately.

Our group gets alot of attention in these types of situations. People admiring the babies. They try to figure out if Natalie can speak Chinese. Lots of stares -- it's hard not knowing what they are saying. Every once and awhile if we ask her to our guide will translate.

Walmart was on the second and third floor with a magnetized escalator that you stand on with your shopping cart. The layout and the colors of the signs made it seem familiar, but the blaring heavy metal music did not -- nor the workers at certain areas yelling for customers to buy their items. It was very loud, but we got what we needed.

We convinced our guide to stop at McDonald's for lunch on the way home. I have never eaten so much McDonald's, but it so comforting because it is so much like home. Outside its doors are another story. Bicycles and motorized vehicles lined up as far as you can see.

The main reason we went out today was to go to the notary's office. God answered my prayers. We did not have to cross the street.

As soon as we sat before the notary, she said, "You adopt fat baby." Big sister Natalie stepped into protective mode and was worried that the comment wasn't very nice. I later tried to explain that maybe the woman didn't know the translation for a better choice of words.

Abigail took her first dip in the pool. At first she was okay if I was holding her close, but by the end she let me help her extend her legs in the water. Soon she might enjoy the water as much as our little mermaid/fish Natalie. Dad was supposed to come take photos of Abigail's first swim but he feel asleep waiting for our laundry to be delivered.

Now everyone's taking a nap. It looks like I might be able to catch up on some sleep too. Nothing is planned for the rest of the day. Well, Natalie has plans to revisit the pool!

Daddy's Girl

Well, it's official. Abigail is definitely a Daddy's girl.
What should be the last photo is from yesterday, I forgot to post it. I was going to write about how many people say the baby looks like Doug. No wonder she is going to him first.

We were told by one of our guides that when you receive the babies that there are typically these personalities -- happy baby (Abigail yesterday, not today), serious baby (very much Natalie's disposition when we got her), crying baby, and the baby that attaches to one parent first (this is where Abigail stands now).

She had her head on his shoulder rubbing his stubble on his cheek tonight. She cries when Doug leaves her side. She's taking the bottle better from him, but still not great yet. (She is gumming some soft solid foods with her 2 1/2 teeth). She cries until he holds her. Part of me thinks, "Wow, now he knows what is was like. Natalie clung to me like that. But then I get more realistic and realize that he's going to be going back to work. She's gotta attach to me soon, too.

The guide did give advice for clingy baby. Doug will need to be out of the room some so that she is forced to depend on me. She'll come around soon. She'll see that her mama loves her.

She's been kind of fussy today. She's tugging on her ears, started coughing a little and her nose started running a little thicker. So I went ahead and started her on the antibiotic I brought because I suspect an ear infection.

We also did the prune feeding thing which reared its ugly head literally when we bravely ventured out to a let's just say very authentic (Let me just say that we inquired about a fork, and they brought one with only two prongs instead of four) Chinese restaurant across the street.
We were all just about finished eating when 'Walla' Doug informed me that the diaper was full. We asked our guide Helen (who we offered to take out to dinner to get away from our 3 times a day tasteless hotel buffet) about the restroom. She said, "Oh, you don't want to go there."

So I pulled two chairs together there at the table only to find a diaper explosion that had found its way through layers of clothing. Doug and Natalie gathered around. I tried what the surgeons do, you know 'Scapel.." but they were too in shock to respond quickly. It was our first change of this sort. So we bagged everything up, wrapped a blanket around poor half-clothed Abigail (I know always bring extra clothes, I had a memory lapse here) and headed back to the hotel.

The six-lane highway in front of the hotel has no crosswalk, stop lights or stop signs. The strategy seems to be to step out in front of mopeds and bikes because they have room in the lane to dodge you. But the tour buses, trucks and cars that are coming whizzing toward you at this point are not as willing to slow down or much less stop.

Our guide Helen tells us to stay close to her and follow but there is never really an opening in the traffic. We are literally dodging all these vehicles on foot with babies and our daughters in hand. We have had to cross the road twice now to get to the Civil Affairs Office.

Once Helen took Doug and Chris (the other dad with us) to get us water bottles. They dodged the traffic with a case of water. (The tap water in the hotels in China is not drinkable.) Evidently Doug assumed a car would stop for him (this was early in our stay here), but that nearly wasn't the case, Chris explained. Doug said they both almost got hit.

Today I had tears in my eyes as I stood by Helen with Abigail in our carrier on the way back from our government interview. I thought we were going to be standing between two moving cars, but thank goodness the second car did stop.

Tonight when we left the restaurant early I thought we were going to have to cross by ourselves, but Helen magically appeared and guided us across much more easily than before. Did I mention that the hotel buffet is looking much better?

Pray for us as tomorrow we must cross again for the notary appointment. Sitting here now there is a constant honking that we hear in our 15th floor hotel room, but it's starting to sound like background music.

Natalie has been in her element today, well except after that restaurant experience. She has been asking to go swimming the whole trip and finally got the chance today. She and Genna had a much deserved swim. Being a big sister is hard at first.

We also finally got the drive hooked to the netbook so Natalie can watch her DVDs which gives us more time to tend to the baby.

That sums up our day. I did learn that the foster mother lives at a 'resting home for officials'. I'm wondering if she was allowed to bring that baby to us because she is married to someone important. China's foster mothers do tend to be older women.

Besides honking, I hear everyone here snoring. I must get some sleep.

The Belated Great Wall Post

 

That day seems like a blur now. The day before we got Abigail. But there are moments that I won't forget.

**Our guide gave us two choices at the Great Wall -- go to the right where looking up I saw a thick line of endless people climbing up a very steep incline (the challenging route, she called it -- evidently what the locals choose) or to the left -- much less crowded and less challenging. I don't have to tell you which one we chose.

**Because you see, the rise of the steps of the GW are very uneven -- one might rise an inch, the next a half a foot. And they are very worn and parts are missing in some places. As we went through the first tunnel, "Somebody needs to replace these steps!" Natalie yelled --which of course was followed by a history lesson by us.

**I didn't expect all of the steps going down in the dark tunnels before we ever started our ascent. My legs were already Jell-o before even going up.

**Needless to say, Natalie charged ahead on a mission, a couple of the other dads and one of their daughters with her. We stopped about halfway with several others in our group, okay maybe we stopped a third of the way up to the first tower only to hear Natalie at the top shouting, "Come on you, slowpokes." That was exactly not what I expected to hear at the GW.
**She tried to coax us up there with "I'm not coming down until you come up here." But we were definitely out of gas.

**As the few others in our group came down, so did Natalie. You'd think I would have many photos of Natalie's climb from my prime spot but as my luck goes that's when the batteries went dead. She climbed the wall to that first tower in the same amount of time it took me to change the batteries.

**Afterward we visited a Cloissoine Factory and ate a Chinese lunch next to it. Then off to a Jade Factory. We are buying keepsakes for Abigail like we did for Natalie.

**Our last stop at the emperor's Summer Palace was like nothing I have ever experienced. At first I tried to explain it to Natalie as like a busy day at Disney World. But you could multiply that times the largest number you could think of and not be close. I have never been squeezed through crowds like I was there while vendors blew loud whistles they tried to sell. It was all very surreal and hard to explain. And as Natalie put it, it 'freaked us out".

**To leave the last gate, we were pushed and shoved through only to find two street vendors on each side of the opening with blazing hot barrels selling sweet potatoes sitting on top. It's amazing that someone did not get burned. These are my memories of the Summer Palace.

**The other family who had been there before said, "It's not supposed to be like this." The guide explained that the tourist spots were busy because of the upcoming holiday May Day. Busy was definitely an understatement.

**Between all the sights, we sat in never-ending traffic an hour to two hours at each interval. The cars, bikes, tour buses here don't believe in using lanes and just cut each other off every minute or two with just inches between them. It's really heart stopping to watch.

**So we were worn out at the end of that day. Therefore, that's why this post was belated. We had to go back and prepare to fly out and receive our baby the next morning. We were drained and exhausted.

**But as you see we made it here to Nanchang and Abigail was placed happily in our arms!

All is Well with Abigail!

 

Meet our happy baby Abigail!

An hour after arriving at our hotel in Nanchang, it was time to go get Abigail! The foster mother had made a special trip to bring her to the Civil Affairs Office herself, which means Abigail didn't go back to the orphanage before meeting the adoptive parents like most fostered babies. The foster mother even tucked a special note in Abigail's pocket so that we may contact her later. (I'd like to get some pictures from her of Abigail's first nine months of life.)

She had Abigail dressed in brand new clothes and had her hair pulled back in a barrette. It was obvious that Abigail was very well cared for and loved.

Abigail has been very content. She's already flashing a smile. She sat in a high chair at dinner without a cry. She was busy moving around Cheerios and Puffs and a napkin with which she seemed to try to wipe her mouth. She ate several bites of congee (thick rice soup), but is just sipping her bottle right now. She went to sleep in just a few minutes of me putting her down. The foster mother left information in a report that she liked the crib to be rocked or shaked a little when going to sleep. It worked like a charm!

The only time she fusses is when someone walks around the corner of our hotel room to the bathroom. At first it was just when Doug was out of sight. But now it appears that she wants all of us in the same room together, because she cries when Natalie and I leave the room, too. But then again, she never cried once when we got up to get our food at the dinner buffet.

Natalie likes making faces at the baby and trying to make her laugh. She is already adjusting to sisterhood. But after about 15 minutes after sitting around and admiring the baby, she said, "What are we going to do now?" We explained that this is kind of what you do with babies. She said she was already bored.

Bless her heart! Natalie has gotten used to a lot of activity here in China. Yesterday we toured the Great Wall, a Cloissone Factory, Summer Palace and a Jade Factory. We were sightseeing from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. We were slowed down literally by unbelievably huge crowds and horrendous traffic. I'll go into more detail later. Evidently lots of people are in Beijing for an upcoming holiday, May Day. Then we had to come home and repack for the next day.

I'll have to post our Great Wall pictures and experience in another post. Hopefully, tomorrow.

We are all over the moon with Abigail. We feel so blessed that she is so healthy -- did I mention her Michelin Man legs? Oh, and that I should have lifted weights before I came. She is a super chunk, or at least that's what Doug calls her.

My legs were already shaky from my limited climb up the Great Wall. Now my arms are, too, in just a few minutes of carrying her. She'll give me a daily workout!

Really, we couldn't be more lucky!

I want to say thank you to everyone who has e-mailed with support. It makes all the difference. I also need to explain that we can't see the blog or its comments from here in China because it is blocked. We e-mail our posts and pictures to the United States and they are added to the blog there. But we can read our home e-mail.

Once again, thank you to everyone. For now, you'll have to enjoy only pictures. But one day real soon, we'd like for you to meet her, too!!