Quick Post from HOME!!!

Hi all - thanks for following our journey in China. We made it home around midnight on Friday. It was a LONG day of traveling, but Miss Lia did amazingly well through all four plane rides!  We had a few fussy moments, but they were short-lived. We consider ourselves very lucky to have such an easy-going child when it comes to travel!

I need to share this photo of my first (unsolicited) hug from Lia. It happened at the Hong Kong airport on Friday. We were at the EVA Air desk getting our boarding passes for our int'l flight, and I set her down for a moment on the desk to rest, when she reach out around my neck and pulled me in for a tight squeeze - it was awesome - thankfully Steve had his iPhone out and was able to capture the moment:

Needless to say, our girl was somewhat overstimulated by the time we arrived home at 1 am Saturday morning. The size of our house overwhelmed her I think, as well as the dogs barking and jumping to greet us, and the grandparents wanting a look at her...she went into full meltdown mode, so we quickly escaped to the master bedroom for some quiet time and a bottle. The first night was a constant up and down mode for all of us, not sure we slept much. However, Saturday morning we slept til 11 am and Lia slept til 1 pm. Again she started out the day with crying and fear, but ended the day tolerating having her grandparents in the room (but not the dogs).

Last night we only had one real wake-up at 2 am for about an hour, and then we all slept until 9 am. This morning, she sat in her high chair and had breakfast with the family and did well. In the afternoon I just HAD to take a nap, and this turned out well, because she ended up opening up more to grandma and grandpa, letting them engage her with toys, and even holding her for short periods of time! (but still crying at the sight of the dogs)...

Right now as I write this, she is in the living room with Steve, my parents, and Luna (our mini schauzer) - in the same room - PROGRESS!!!  But she still can't tolerate Killer (our little Yorkie). Killer has a loud bark for a little guy, and unfortunately when she cries, he barks, which makes her cry more...etc. So that relationship may take awhile to blossom. But overall, we have made amazing progress in just the past two days, so I am hopeful!   :)

Tonight we went to dinner at our favorite Mexican restaurant. On the way to the restaurant, she was less than thrilled with the car seat - but on the way home, I handed her a bottle, and she was completely passed out in the 5 minutes it took to get to our house:

 

Thanks again for everyone's great comments and well wishes. More when we have caught up on sleep! 

Guangzhou - Day 15 - We're Going Home!!!

Well - we made it! All the paperwork is complete. Lia's passport and visa are in hand, and we can return to the States. We are now packing up to leave the hotel around 1 pm today. We have four flights to get us home...Guangzhou to Hong Kong, Hong Kong to Taipei, Tapei to Seattle (where Lia will "officially" become an American citizen once she puts her foot on the ground!) and finally Seattle to Spokane...whew! It's going to be a loooooong day/night of traveling...

We're *hoping* that because we are traveling the longest leg of the journey (Taipei to Seattle) overnight, Lia will be ready to sleep (fingers crossed!). We are scheduled to get home around midnight Friday (west coast time). Of course, to us, it will seem like morning - so I'm sure it will take awhile for us to get over the jet lag and screwed up body clocks. Fortunately, the nature of this trip doesn't really allow for getting your child on any type of "routine" - so by now she is used to every day being different. It will be nice to get home and settle into some kind of routine.

Overall, we've had an amazing time exploring China and getting to know our daughter. We've taken TONS of pictures which we will bore you all with the next time we see you! The Forbidden City, the Great Wall, the Terra Cotta Warriors...the beauty of Shaiman Island in Guangzhou...but there are definitely some things we are NOT going to miss:  living in hotel rooms, brushing our teeth with bottled water, smokers (everywhere!), warm canned soda w/no ice, having to get showered and dressed to get to the breakfast buffet day after day after day...the bed that is like sleeping on the floor...and every meal tasting just a little bit like Chinese food...  ;)

Here are some pics from our last day:

Are we done yet?

Chopstick wars with mama!

YUM...how I love this disgusting orange jello drink in a bag!!!

Ready to go to the airport!

Guangzhou - Day 14 - Consulate Day

Today we went to the US Consulate office in Guangzhou to complete Lia's Visa/Immigration paperwork and to take the "Oath" for her to become an American citizen. All adoptive families from the US are required to come thru Guangzhou to complete this final step in the process. The Consulate office used to be located right next to the White Swan hotel, which was very convenient...now it is located on the other side of the city, so we had to take a tour bus to get there.

The office itself reminded me a bit of any DMV office...a bunch of chairs on one side of the room in the waiting area, and several numbered "windows" on the other side. Basically, we just had to wait for them to call "the family of (child's Chinese name)...which sounds easier than it is, when you have 30 families with small children in the waiting room. The microphones sounded like Peppermint Patty's teacher on Charlie Brown "wha, wha, wha, whaaaah"... Anyway we finally heard what sounded like us and got the papers signed. After every family had been called, the Officer came out and issued the Oath to us as a big group. She acknowledged all the kids who had recent birthdays, the families adopting twins, the family adopting a 13 yr old girl (one week before her 14th b-day, when she would become ineligible for adoption!) and all the single moms who had waited their turns to make it thru the process...I have to admit I got teary-eyed several times during her speech.

There were no phones or cameras allowed at the Consulate, so we don't have any pictures of that, but here are a few photos of Lia from earlier in the morning:

Guangzhou - Day 13 - Visa Appt. & Red Couch Photos

Mon-Tues. Lia had a tough 24 hours. Hard to tell exactly what's going on. She is going thru so much right now...all the shots she's had, teething, all the new sights and sounds and people...and the fact that - well - she is an almost 2 year old...there's more than a bit of overstimulation going on right now. There was a Pearl Riverboat Cruise on the docket for last night, but between Steve's stuffy head, my queasy stomach, and Lia being overtired, we decided to bow out of that excursion and try some quite time in our room instead.

We had a three-hour meltdown in the middle of the night last (Mon.) night. We tried just about everything and finally got her to fall asleep in bed with us for a few hours.

After breakfast, our guides attended our appointments at the US Consulate on our behalves. During this time, we could not leave the hotel room in case there were any problems or questions regarding our paperwork. At 11 am, we received a call letting us know that our appt. had been a success and Lia's Visa is officially being processed (HOORAY!)  This means our final steps will be going to take the "Oath" at the US Consulate this afternoon, and then pick up her Visa on tomorrow (Thurs.) - and then...TA-DA...we can finally head home on Friday!

Around Noon, we met in the lobby of the White Swan for the traditional "red couch" photos of our travel group. This is something adoption groups in China have been doing for years. Our group is so large, it was hard to get decent photos of everybody, and the one with the babies-only is just comical, but Lia loved her new fancy dress, which is a little big and should still fit her for Chinese New Year.

Click on any of the photos to make them larger...

Our entire travel group

All the babies...(Lia is the one standing in the back - not happy!)

Family photo

Okay...can we take this dress off now?

OFF! Now!!!

Doing the tulle skirt "hula"

At this point, we are really READY to come home. There are only so many ways to keep a toddler entertained in a hotel room. So far, she is scared of the swimming pool and completely overwhelmed by the hotel playroom...we did however, get her into the bathtub last night (with mama) and had a fun time playing with cups and shaving cream for awhile...and were able to get her hair washed (finally)...so baby steps...(literally!)

Guangzhou - Day 12 - More shots, the Orient Express...and shopping!

I'm a bit behind on the blogging...we've been busy and little Miss has been giving us a run for our money the last couple of days...

So yesterday was a good day for the most part. Lia was up and ready to go to breakfast at 6:30 am, so we started a bit earlier than usual. The huge rainstorm the night before had cooled things off a little bit, so we decided to take a walk around the area, pick up our laundry, and do a little shopping. Many of the clothes I brought for Lia are not fitting...She's a little top heavy...LOL. Her head and shoulders are definitely 18 mos. size, but her tiny little waist and booty are more on a 12 mos. scale. I've been able to make most stuff work, but rather than have our laundry done (again!), we decided with clothes and shoes as cheap as they are here...to just get a her a few new things to wear over the next few days until we fly home. By a few things I mean seven pairs of shoes (including bigger sizes to grow into) and five outfits...but by cheap, I mean CHEAP. I don't think any of the shoes were over $5/pr and the outfits were anywear from $2-$8/each. We did buy her several pairs of "squeaky shoes", but I'm happy to report the squeaker easily pulls out, which will save our sanity, and keep the dogs from chewing them to bits!

Enjoying her morning snack

Showing off her new shoes and hat at the hotel

After shopping, lunch, and a nap, Miss Lia had to go back to the medical clinic for her final three shots. There was a momentary panic where they measured her temp and it was just a tiny bit high (meaning they wouldn't be able to administer the shots), but our awesome guide Grace seated us in the waiting area next to a window A/C unit and literally told us to blow on her and cool her off - while she explained to the nurse that we had walked a long way in the heat of the day and Lia was probably just overheated...so they came back a tried it again a few minutes later - and it worked!  I've never been so happy to get a "yes" to shots - but we need them in order to leave the country... This time they did one in each arm, and one in a thigh. Again she wailed, but I was quick to pull out the Gerber Yogurt Melts and let her have at 'em...it seemed to do the trick.

Contemplating what she'll get into next...

We stopped by Starbuck's on the way home from the clinic for a couple of iced teas (and a mango-passion fruit blended frapp for Lia). She LOVED that!

For dinner we decided to try the French place we had heard about. It's at the other end of Shaiman Island, so it's a good 15 min. walk, but it's worth it. It's call "The Orient Express" and part of it is in an actual train car.

Photo taken by our waiter

More please...

What do you mean, "all gone"???

The place is gorgeous - very trendy. Steve and I both thought that if the same exact place were in LA, it would be a place where the Hollywood stars would hang out. But just like every other restaurant here, they were very welcoming to adoptive families with small children (although we were quick to have the remove the extra wine glasses from the table!)  It ended up being probably one of the best meals we've had since we've been in China. I highly recommend it for families travelling soon! One more shot to close out the day:

Asleep with her friend Kai-Lan

Guangzhou - Day 11 - Buddhist Temple, Chen House

Today our group had an optional tour to the Six Banyan Tree Buddhist Temple, as well as the Chen House.

The temple was gorgeous and Steve took all sorts of photos (more than I can post here), but we were lucky that a monk was available to give (for the families that wanted one) a Buddhist blessing of their children. I'm guessing it was close to 800 degrees inside the temple, but it was worth it - the beautiful chanting, the Joss stick incense, and amazing artwork and statues surrounding us. We kneeled on the floor and Lia stayed reasonably quiet and motionless in my lap for the duration of the blessing. At the end, the monk came by and sprinkled water over all the babies' heads - similar to a Christian baptismal ceremony. It was lovely and we were so glad we did it!

Six Banyan Tree Temple

Inside the temple, three Buddhas represent your past, present and future lives

The monk chanting the blessing on our kids

Lia getting her Buddhist blessing

After the temple, we visited the "Chen House".  Chen is the biggest family surname in Guangzhou (similar to Smith or Anderson in the U.S.). This historic building is now home to displays of many types of Chinese folk arts - paper cutting, enamel, tapestry, jade, etc.  The detail of the building itself was an intricate combination of carved woodwork, marble, and jade - just amazing!

The courtyard at the Chen House

The entrance at the Chen House...

the giant doors have Generals painted on them to ward off evil spirits and enemies

Lia and her new friend Sophie (Amy's daughter)

It seems they were wondering WHY these people keep dragging us

out to these boring places in this hot weather.

As mentioned, it was so hot today it was like walking on the sun...so when we came back to the hotel around 12:30 pm, Steve ran out and got us takeout burgers from Lucy's while I got Lia fed and down for her nap.

At 4 pm I had to go finish up some immigration paperwork with the other parents. Then at 5:30 we all met up to go the Thai restaurant in town - The Cow and Bridge. The food (and the company) were terrific! We ordered Lia some bean curd off the "baby menu", but she ended up preferring our pan-fried noodle dish more. We're figuring out quickly that we don't need to order special food for her - she is happier sharing whatever we are eating.

During dinner, a huge rainstorm blew into town. Lightening, thunder, and basically a torrential downpour...thankfully our guides brought umbrellas from the hotel, so we were all able to run three blocks in ankle-deep water with the strollers - but were all still completely soaked by the time we got back to the hotel. Luckily it was time for jammies and bed anyway, so we peeled off the wet clothes and got snuggled in for the night.

For folks wondering how I have the time to blog every day - we tend to do this while Lia is napping or after she has gone to bed. Honestly - there's not much else to do! The television options are VERY limited in the rooms. Most of the stations are in Chinese, and then there are news networks (CNN, BBC, etc.), a cartoon/kids network, and HBO (but it's not like HBO at home, the movies are very limited and tend to be very violent). So thank god for laptops and the internet! 

Tomorrow afternoon Lia goes back for her final three immunizations. Wish us luck. We saved the last of her favorite snacks for this trip, so that she will have a treat afterwards. Poor kid. Other than that - we have no other appointments or tours tomorrow, so depending on how she feels (and how hot it is) we may just do some shopping in the area around the hotel. We heard about a great French restaurant nearby, so we may try that for dinner tomorrow night. It's nice to have more food options now. We both like Asian food, but 10 days in a row it gets pretty old... Goodnight from Guangzhou.

Guangzhou - Day 10 - More pictures (cont'd)...

Here are some additional photos from today:

Getting her temp taken at the clinic (under her arm)

Getting her height and weight taken - like a big girl!

Being checked out by the doctor - what a good girl she was!

Lunch at Lucy's Restaurant

Look who was waiting in our hotel room!

Can't you see the resemblance? (LOL)

Back of the Barbie box

Never so happy to see a Starbuck's in my life...

and love the random statue of an old caucasion hillbilly playing the fiddle out front!

Another day with our sweet baby girl!

Guangzhou - Day 10 - The White Swan...Long Post

We are having problems connecting to Facebook here, and photos are VERY slow to upload as our internet connection isn't the best, so if we post less over the next week, that is why!

So as previously mentioned, we had a long day yesterday. We left the Sheraton in Xi'an at Noon in order to pick up the babies' passports, and get to the airport in time for our 3 pm flight to Guangzhou. Now, I'm pretty sure that on a good day, it would take the average single business person some extra time to figure out the chaotic airport system in China - and families travelling with toddlers take more time to get through any airport anyway, but when you've got 15 Americans, (5 of them being age 4 & under), five strollers and at least 15-20 suitcases - you can bet that EVERYTHING you do takes at least twice the time! Our guide got us as far as security, and from there we were on our own to find the gate and get boarded. The problem is, you have no idea when they are calling your group to board, because everything they are announcing is in Chinese. Finally, it seemed like the time was getting close that we board, so Steve told me to find someone to ask. I lucked out, and the second airport person I found spoke some English. I showed her my ticket and she said "yes, NOW - stand here" - so I ran and got the rest of our group. The airline folks were actually very kind and let our group through a special line to the bus (yes, you board a tram that takes you out to your plane!) Once out at the plane in the middle of the airfield, we had to check all the strollers and climb the steps to the plane. But we made it! The seats on Chinese airlines are TINY (tinier than regular coach American seats if you can believe that!) and Lia just had a lap ticket, so I sat in the middle and Steve sat on the aisle with Lia on his lap. At first she was fussy because she couldn't move around much, but overall she did great on the flight. The cupholders and tray tables held much fascination for her. Once the attendants served us drinks in paper cups, she played with the empty cups and pretended to "serve" us drinks. We looked at the in-flight magazines and the books I had brought along for her. It was a two-hour flight.

Trying out her new sunglasses

Once we arrived in Guangzhou, another tram met us at the plane and transferred us to the terminal. The guys waited for our bags and strollers, while the moms did potty & diaper breaks with all the kids. It was HOT in the baggage area. I think I've experienced some humidity it my lifetime...living in Iowa, visiting Florida and Texas (and most recently, Beijing and Xi'an)...but nothing prepares you for this kind of humidity. The air is so thick you can literally SEE it. It had been raining before we arrived, so the dampness hung heavy around us.

Looking at her "family book"

So we finally got all our bags and headed out of baggage to find our guides, Maggie and Grace, waiting for us - hooray! We made it. Another 20 minutes goes by as we load luggage, strollers, and people onto our (thankfully air-conditioned) bus. The bus ride into town is about 45 min. since we arriving on Friday night at rush hour. At 7 pm, Maggie says if any of us want to order Papa John's pizza, she has menus on the bus, and she will call in the order from her cellphone and have it waiting for us at the hotel. Neither Steve nor I are big fan of Papa John's, but in this case, we are so starved and exhausted - what the heck? Bring it on! Finally we arrived at the hotel, got checked in, unpacked and set up in the room, feed Lia and feed ourselves. Then it was time to get Lia in pajamas and into her crib (where she went willingly - tired as we were!) Our bed is almost as hard as sleeping on the floor, but at that point I just didn't care.

Peace, man...

This morning we hit the breakfast buffet and really got to see the lobby of the hotel for the first time. It's beautiful, with a waterfall and ponds with lots of Koi.

Sunrise in Guangzhou...our view from the 19th floor...6:30 am

We got to meet up again with all the families we'd seperated from in Beijing, plus additional families from our agency who had flown in thru Hong Kong. In total there are 16 CCAI families here now. This morning I finally got to meet one of my "blog world" friends Amy too. Amy and I were logged in as singles at the same time back in 2007 and have followed each other's blogs for three years. She is here with her mom and her daughter, Sophie, is just precious.

Getting ready for our first flight

After breakfast, we headed out as a group to get the kids' Visa photos taken, and then on to the medical clinic to have their required check-ups and vaccinations. Lia was a trooper! She didn't cry at all as the nurses checked her height and weight, or during the general medical check, or even when the ENT was checking her ears and mouth. The vaccination area was rough. According to the officials, Lia needs six shots (ugh) - and they recommended doing three today, and coming back Monday or Tuesday to do the other three (or we could choose to do all six at once). We decided to just do the first three. The first one was in the arm, and she didn't cry! But then they stuck her once in each thigh, and the crying started - poor thing - I almost cried just watching. Steve was an awesome daddy and held her still on his lap while the doctors did their thing and she wailed into his shoulder. Needless to say, we're not looking forward to going back for the other three, but we didn't want to overload her little system with too much at once today. She actually recovered quite quickly (thanks to Gerber yogurt melts - they are lifesavers - I may purchase stock in Gerber after this trip!)  After 20 minutes we were allowed to leave the clinic and walk back to the hotel. We decided to stop at Lucy's (a western-style restaurant) for lunch. After a cheeseburger, enchiladas, and some apple pie ala mode - we were ALL feeling much better!  :)

Playing with daddy near the waterfall

Now it is naptime and we have the rest of the afternoon free. We may visit the hotel playroom or the pool later on depending on how things go. More tomorrow!

Guangzhou - Day 9 - We're here...

Made it to the White Swan Hotel in Guangzhou. LONG DAY!!!

We have to take Lia for her intercountry-adoption-required vaccinations tomorrow morning. Please send prayers and positive vibes that she only has to receive the minimum number of shots...some kids end up getting up to to eight in one day...NOT COOL. Fingers crossed...

Will post more tomorrow - xoxo from Guangzhou!

Xi'an - Day 8 - Finally...Sleep!

Hooray!  All three of us slept thru the night, you can't imagine how much better we feel. Lia willingly went to her crib at 7:30 last night, and Steve and I were in bed by 8:30 ourselves... At 7 am we were up and off to the breakfast buffet and now we are back in our room enjoying some free time and packing up our things to leave for Guangzhou in a few hours...but back to yesterday...here are some of our favorite pics:

Daddy's got some big shoes to fill!

Hey...this guy looks like my daddy!

Lia is like a rockstar wherever she goes...drawing a crowd!

Steve's head was perfectly proportioned for "The General"

2,000 unearthed soldiers in this room alone...an amazing sight...
the 8th Wonder of the World! (Steve says "Lia is the Ninth!!!)

Taken by our guide...the "pit" behind us is the size of eight football fields.

Lia even let mama hold her for awhile at the Museum.

This is what she was pointing at. Her favorite part of the tour.
She said "baby" (which is what we call her doll). I think she thought this was a giant doll.