New Photos (new post below)

Six weeks

I cannot believe that Michael has been with me for 6 weeks and home with the entire family for 4 weeks!! I am sorry that I haven't posted many updates, I have just been busy with 4 kids under the age of 6!! I know, I asked for it, and I am glad that I did!! Michael is doing amazingly well. He seems to have attached well to me and is getting closer to his daddy every day. If given the choice, Michael still prefers me, but that is understandable considering I have been with him longer and I am home with him all day. Okay, some specifics...he still eats well. He will try anything that I make and I can't think of a single thing that he has rejected. He loves fruits and vegetables and really is a healthy eater. He is getting better with having his teeth brushed (dentist appt. is scheduled), but still doesn't like it (thus, the bad teeth). He loves baths and still likes to go swimming. He will play (aka steals toys) with his sisters. They really get along quite well - he even enjoys coloring with them. Oh, sometimes he has been known to put on one of his sisters' dresses, which stresses out Daddy!! I have been given permission to go shopping for boys' dress up clothes!! He still sleeps in our bedroom, but in his own bed. He does continue to have some night terrors occasionally, but is actually going to sleep without me in the room! If he wakes up and I am not there he will cry, but otherwise he is doing well. Every once in a while he will even crawl into bed with me to cuddle, which is totally sweet!!

We have spent most of our time bonding as a family so I haven't even started homeschooling yet. I am planning on starting "school" after Labor Day...or soon thereafter. Right now we are trying to get into some routines and get into somewhat of a schedule. I am able to take all 4 kids on errands - they are very well behaved and I have been able to keep track of them all. Stephanie, Liz and Danielle have started taking swimming lessons on Tuesday afternoons which they love, and Michael and I get some alone time (while watching the lessons). A friend of ours is a photographer and he took us out to a local park on Sunday and took our first family photos together - it was great!! I will post some pictures when I get them. Now, I must tell a funny story about our pictures...on Sat. night I trimmed all the girls' bangs and they looked good! After baths, Steve came out and asked how much hair I cut of Danielle. Well, it turned out that she crawled up onto the counter in my bathroom, grabbed my SHARP scissors and cut off her bangs!! All the way to the scalp!! UGH!! I about died!! After church on Sunday, I ran out and bought some hairbows to help to disguise the jagged edges. What a story that makes for our first family photo! Oh well, the pictures did turn out well!!

Since I have been home, Danielle had a birthday! On August 18 she turned 3!! We had a big party for her on the 15th with about 30 children!! It was crazy but fun. We used the pavillion at our church which has restrooms, a playground, and a sand volleyball pit (good for using sand toys). She was so encouraged. She still keeps talking about her party - I think that she is ready for another one!! She had a hard time deciding about her "theme". When I asked her what kind of cake she wanted, she kept changing her mind...Nemo, Mulan, Care Bear, Pony, Ariel, Monsters, Inc., Tinkerbell...she kept going back and forth! So, I decided just to make a sheet cake and add ALL of the characters that she wanted. She loved it and it was easy!! The only characters that I couldn't find were Monsters, Inc! Bummer! Oh well, the party was a success. I just can't believe that this sweet baby is now 3! She is having a hard week, though. I don't know if she is jumping into the troubled 3s with both feet, struggling with having a new sibling or if she is struggling because it is her birthday week (often times, adopted children struggle with loss around their birthday) or a combination of these. Anyway, I am trying to love up on her a lot and give her the love, security and attention that she needs. In fact, I am trying to do that with all of the kids - which is probably why my house is trashed!! I tell ya, I just can't keep up! The kids are doing well with cleaning up their toys most days, but it is constant! Not to mention the dishes and laundry! Unbelieveable!! THAT is why I can't blog very often!! I am busy, but I am truly loving the life, children and husband that God has given me!! Praise to Him!!

New Photos

Our Trip Home

Okay, now that we are home and getting into some sort of routine...oh, and now that jet lag is finished, I thought that I would post about our trip home. Friday night in Guangzhou, Jessica and Adam and Michael and I all went to La Dolce Vita for a wonderful Italian meal. Let's just say, it was great!! Nothing like authentic Italian food in China!! It was funny, they even were having a wedding reception at the restaurant. In the middle of our meal, a small wedding party came in...and guess what...they were Italian!! It was actually kind of weird. About 20 or so people came in (including the bride and groom), and all but 1 of them were not Chinese. In fact, a couple of the men looked like they were Mob - truly not trying to be stereotypical, I am telling the truth!!

So after our last dinner in China, I went back to our room to pack. Let's just say, I bought a little more than I was planning on. My suitcases started bulging and I was wondering if I needed to go and buy another suitcase before the shops closed!! But, I didn't. In the middle of the night I had a revelation as to how to re-organize my suitcases to try and keep them under weight. I know, I should have been sleeping, but stress won. I woke up at 5 am, showered and re-packed. According to my hotel room scale, the weight on both suitcases was going to be tight. I called the bellboy, woke up Michael and checked out of the White Swan. We ran into Adam and Jessica in the restaurant (we were the only 4 in there at 6 am), and grabbed our last breakfast buffet (sigh - they have been good). We left the hotel at about 6:30 am and drove to the airport. While I was waiting in line to check in, I prayed about my luggage - that they would not be over weight and that they would not bust apart in transit - both prayers were answered!! Each suitcase needed to be 23 kg or under...they were both 22+!! WHEW!! When we landed in Atlanta, they were both intact and nothing got broken - praise God!!

We had no trouble with any of our flights. Everything left on time and we even arrived early. We had a 4 hour layover in Tokyo, but it actually worked out fine. We had to take a bus from the terminal that we landed in to the main terminal. It wasn't hard, just kind of a pain. Keep in mind that I am carrying a heavy backpack, laptop, 2 year-old and stroller - alone. Ugh. And we have to go through security in Tokyo. Oh well, at least we don't have to take off our shoes. Well, we managed to get to the correct terminal and grabbed McDonalds. Luckily they take USD, but the change is in Yen. So, my bill was $10 and I received $10 in yen. What to do? Spend it!! We went into a gift shop and bought a water and some magnets (Steve collects a magnet at every place he has gone) for about 840 yen. I have no idea how much that equals, but I still had a little change left, so I was good.

Both flights were full, so we had someone else in our row with us - not ideal. On the way to Tokyo, I sat in the middle and Michael was in the window seat. This worked well, until he fell asleep so I did too. I think that I may have leaned against some poor Chinese man sitting next to me. So, on the flight from Tokyo to Atlanta, I put Michael in the middle. I thought that that would give me somewhere to lean and give the girl on the end a little more room. It worked great, until Michael fell asleep. He slept a good bit of this flight, but he was restless. He likes to roll over, and since his space was limited, he got frustrated and kicked his feet - right on the girl next to him. Sigh. I tried to minimize this, but I am sure that he nailed her a couple of times. I kept apologizing, and she was so sweet about it, but I bet she complained about us to her friends when she landed!! All in all, Michael did great. He complained briefly about his seat belt, but over all was resigned to wearing it. He ate great, and we went through a lot of stickers....there may even be some still stuck on his seat. We arrived in Atlanta 30 minutes early (YEA!), but ended up sitting on the tarmac for 45 minutes until a gate opened up for us to deplane. Sigh. We then had to go through immigration. Our first officer was great and I was glad to get done quickly...until he told me to take the paperwork into another office. Ugh. I get there and there are only 2 people in front of me and 3 officers working - good. Not good. When one officer finished his case, he decided to "go and check things out". The 2nd officer finished and decided to take a potty break. Meanwhile more and more people come in. It was killing me!! I know that people have to go potty, but I just wanted to get out of there!! They really were in no particular hurry. They finally looked over my paper work, stamped Michael's visa with his temporary"green card" and sent me on my way. I had to get my luggage and then get in line with my luggage cart and stroller (not an easy task). I went through customs without any trouble, and then had to "re-check" my bags so that I could pick them up at the main terminal. Okay, done. On my way out, we had to go through security again!! NO!!! This place is killing me!! Everytime we go through security, Michael has a tantrum. Apparently he doesn't like to be yanked out of his stroller in the chaos - who can blame him!! So, I take my laptop out (again), put my backpack through the scanner (again), take off our shoes (only in the US), fold down the stroller (again), pick up cranky 2 year old (again) and walk through another scanner. Oh, and have his water bottle tested. Little Man had been carrying his water bottle since Guangzhou and wasn't ready to part with it. The officer said that I would have to toss it. I guess that 29 hours of traveling was showing when I told him that he has to be kidding me. I told him that I just want to get home!! He had pity on me and told me that he would have to test it. Great - do it. We passed and he got to keep his bottle - another tantrum averted. We finally got on the train to go and see the rest of our family!

When we got off the elevator, I immediately saw Steve and the girls. They came running over and we were finally united - our family of 6. I cried when I held them all - it was SO good to see them!! Our friends Ellen and Frannie came out to welcome us home, too - that was so great!! They are next - hopefully they will be traveling in the next month to bring home Gracie. It is so good to be home!! Everyone is adjusting quite well. We are even sleeping at the right times! We were both tired on Sunday, but I have been fine since Monday morning - seriously, no jet lag!! Thank God!! Michael is smiling, laughing and trying to repeat English words. He has even begun to spontaneously hug and kiss me and Steve. He really seems to be happy here, and I can only hope that he continues to feel loved. He slept great his first night home (despite sleeping a lot on the plane) and we even made it to church together on Sunday morning. We may have been crazy, but I was craving fellowship with my church family. They were so vigiliant in their prayers (so were many others), that I just wanted to go and praise God with them!! It was awesome - singing and praising the Lord with my son in my arms - I had been envisioning this for months!! I am so grateful that God has completed our family.

WE ARE HOME!

Just wanted to let you know that we are indeed home!! After 30 hours of door to door travel, my family is finally united!! Michael is getting along well with his sisters and is already bonding to his daddy. I will post more about our trip later, now I need coffee!!! It sure is good to be home!! Thank God!

Shopping and visas!!

I am LOVING being back on Shamian Island - it feels like an old friend!! Originally my adoption agency wanted to put us in a hotel off the Island - and I fought that!! I don't care if the rates were better, by the time we reached Guangzhou, I was ready for some "westernized" culture!! I honestly don't know why my agency wanted to put us up elsewhere - this really is the best place to be!! I am just grateful that the other families in my group wanted to stay here as well - we are all united in this is the best place to stay. Especially after the last hotel our agency picked - again, nice hotel, terrible location!! I must say, that the other 2 families that have been with me have been great. It is going to be so weird not to see them everyday. We all got along great, and as far as I could tell, there were no disagreements!! In fact, everyone was great with helping me carry my stroller up and down stairs as needed. China is not very stroller accessible. Despite the fact that Steve couldn't come and that I missed my family terribly, this has been a great trip. There were so many potential problems that I was expecting when I left the States, but all in all, we made it through as scheduled!! I can only attribute that to God answering all of our prayers!! Praise to Him!!!

So, what have I been doing the last 2 days? SHOPPING!! I came here thinking that I didn't need to buy that much stuff, since I stocked up a year and a half ago, but guess what? I was wrong!! I am hoping to stuff everything into my 2 suitcases, or else I will have to buy another small one - YIKES!! I just returned from shopping with Ann from Red Thread - man, is she the best!! She gets us such great deals that it is so hard to pass up. She said that her shopping guide business has been slow...what are you people thinking??? If any of you are coming to China soon, you need to hook up with Ann!! She can get amazing prices on pearls, jade and traditional clothing, just to name a few! You can save at least 50% of what you would pay on the Island. Call her - she is awesome!!!

Oh, the good news. We had our consulate appt. scheduled for Thurs. the 23rd. Our guide, Helen, took all of our paperwork to the appt and said that she would call us by noon to tell us how it went. Well, Adam's phone rang at 10:30 (he was the contact person with the cell phone - we all shopped together while we waited for Helen's call). So Maria and I were nervous, thinking that there was a problem, but no!!! Everything was great!! In fact, since only 6 families had their appt on the 23rd, they decided to mover our oath ceremony to Thurs. afternoon (instead of Fri). This is huge!! So, at 2:45 we boarded the bus and went to the US Consulate for our swearing in ceremony and to receive our US immigration paperwork (including Michael's visa that had created such a problem before I left). It was great!! After our oath, Maria and I looked at each other and we both had been crying. Everything was done, we were free to go home - PRAISE GOD!! So we all celebrated by having dinner at Lucy's, and then we spent Friday shopping and packing. We are all ready to go home and start our lives with our family!! This afternoon I am going to take Michael to the pool, grab some Italian dinner, pack and go to bed...I leave early in the morning for the airport!! I will be arriving in Atlanta around 7 pm - I can't wait to see my wonderful husband and beautiful girls. This has been a long journey in so many ways, I am glad that it is coming to an end and we can begin our life as a family of 6!! Oh, and I guess that I have to start cooking and cleaning again - not looking forward to that!! Thank you all for your prayers and encouragement, I couldn't have done it without any of you. Next post - from home!! PRAISE THE LORD!!!!

We made it to Guangzhou!!! (6 pictures below)

Sorry that I dropped the ball a little - we have been busy!! Monday morning was a free day. Michael and I slept in, enjoyed a leisurely breakfast and then strolled around the hotel to take pictures of the neighborhood. We are still not sure why our agency picked this hotel. It is nice and all and has a great breakfast buffet, but the neighborhood stinks!! I mean, there is absolutely nothing within walking distance for us to do. Very annoying. We are all a little frustrated with this choice of hotel. Anyway, we ate lunch with Maria, Patty and Brayden at our favorite restaurant around the corner. It is great food, but I was kind of glad that it was our last meal there - it's getting a little old. Michael took a great nap and then we went to the Summer Palace. This was one of my favorite spots! It was absolutely beautiful!! It was super hot, but at least there was a nice breeze coming off of the lake. We are so glad that we made it to this spot - it was great. While we were there, I gave Michael his first ice cream bar - see if you can tell from the picture if he liked it!! I was scolded by a couple of older Chinese women - they kept telling me that his face was dirty. Well, duh! Can't you see he is eating ice cream while it is 90+ degrees!! They wanted me to clean him up, well I just kept walking. What is the point of cleaning him after every bite, he is only going to get dirty again!? Don't worry, I cleaned him up after he finished!!

Oh, this is sad. When we got back to the bus to go back to our hotel, Michael told me (in his own way) that he had to go potty. I tried to tell him just to go in his pull-ups, but I guess he didn't understand me. He did okay for a while, and then he got really vocal about his need to go. I asked our guide to tell him that it was okay to go in his diaper, but my guide ignored me. Nice. So, a little while later he started crying and was REALLY upset. Our guide finally tried to tell him to go, but that didn't work. Our bus driver pulled over, I took the little guy in a grassy knoll and stripped his pants and pull ups off (we already tried to have him pee outside without taking the clothes off, and well, that didn't work). So I have a half naked kid in the middle of Beijing during rush hour - screaming...and not peeing. He refused to go. Well, I thought that maybe he had peed in his pull up - it seemed a little wet. So, I tried to put his clothes back on, but he just screamed louder. What now? Pick up half naked crying boy and put him on the bus!! Luckily he didn't pee on me!! I got him dressed and he was fine...for about 10 minutes. Then he said he had to go potty!!! UGH!!! Luckily we were close to the hotel. As soon as we got there, I ran into the lobby and to the public restrooms - he smiled when he saw the ladies room sign. He was very relieved to to be able to finally relieve himself!! What a nightmare!! I felt so sorry for him, but on a positive note - he does have great bladder control!!

After Michael was better, we walked to Pizza Hut - the first time I had pizza since I came to Beijing. Jessica (one of the 7 year-olds) picked a curry chicken pizza. Curry is not my favorite, but I was willing to try anything - and it tasted great!! Michael enjoyed a slice of veggie pizza - at least he will fit in with our family!!

So Tuesday morning was also free - our last day in Beijing!! Unfortunately, Michael didn't sleep in....he woke up at 6. And that was after a night of at least 2 nightmares or terrors - I don't know which. So needless to say I was tired. We ate and then worked on packing. It was nice getting rid of gifts so that cut down on the weight of each suitcase...I have LOTS of room to go shopping in Guangzou!! We finished up just as Meg arrived and the 3 of us went out to lunch at a french bistro...it was yummy!! We got back to the hotel and checked out. I said a tearful goodbye to Meg, and got on the bus for one last time. It was hard to say goodbye, Meg is just so awesome!! I am so grateful that she was there - I would not have been able to do as well as I did without her. She was a Godsend!!

We arrive at the south Beijing terminal. It is it's own separate airport, and let's just say, we were SCARED!!! It is this tiny hole in the wall building with planes sitting in a weed-infested lot. It was even smaller than the Rochester MN airport!! We really were nervous!! Our guide checked us in and we went through security (after thanking our guide, Michael - he really was great). So, then we were the only Americans in the airport and all of the messages were in Chinese. I was so glad to be here with a group - we had visions of missing our flight! It was an experience!! So we finally board the plane and then we sit - for an hour!!! UGH!! There are messages (in Chinese), so none of us could understand anything!! Well, we did okay, but my son HATED his seat belt. It wasn't even on tight!! It just stressed him out to no end!! He cried!!! I finally got him distracted and he forgot about it for a while, but whenever he remembered that it was on, he had a fit!! Not looking forward to 14 hours of this!!! Oh! And wait until he has to sit in his car seat!! NICE!! Other than 3 or 4 fits of rage over his seat belt, he did great. He even fell asleep - about 30 minutes out of Guangzhou! I thought for sure that he would have fallen asleep sooner since he didn't get a nap - which made him even crankier!! Well, we landed in Guangzhou and found our guide, Helen. She is very sweet and good with the kids. We got checked into the White Swan Hotel and I feel like I am almost home!! We stayed on Shamian Island when we were here with Danielle so this is familiar territory! I am so glad to be here!! On Wed morning, Helen took us to the Chen Clan something...can't remember it's name. It was pretty neat - but it is SUPER humid here - UGH!! I really feel like I am melting!! We did a little shopping, but I am waiting to hook up with Ann to get some better deals (you are welcome, Honey). We even ate lunch at McDonald's - first time on this trip. I am not a huge McDonald's fan, but it never tasted so good!!! We are back in our room and Michael is sleeping peacefully. I am waiting for Helen to come and work on my paperwork for our consulate appointment in the morning. If all goes well with that, I can come home!!! Please pray that there are no hiccups tomorrow morning - I want to come home!!