Random thoughts

Its almost 7am on Saturday 11/30 (5pm cst on Friday).  I slept until 6am which is the latest I have slept in china.  I wake everyday at 4am.  Everyday here is kind of a blur and it's as if time doesn't exist.  It's really strange.  We get up at 4am, have morning cuddles with Emma Kate, get dressed, go to the breakfast buffet which is awesome here, then meet our guide in the lobby for some necessary appointment each day.  We are exhausted when we finally get back to our room and wanting to go to sleep between 3-5pm.  Yesterday was different.  I forced myself to sleep in a little longer and after our daily event we got back to our room and let EK rest for a while.  Robert and Carter usually walk somewhere and grab  some dinner and we eat and go to bed around 8-9 each night.  We weren't so sleepy as we usually are so we went to Haagen daaz (did I spell that correctly?) and we had icecream for dinner!  None of us were very hungry after our big lunch so it was perfect.  Then we walked to trust mart which is their walmart.  They even carry great value.  I captured some video and people were looking at me like I was crazy.  It was so funny!  Imagine that crazy foreigner walking around wih a video camera in walmart and on the street just videoing normal life.  I didn't care though, it's just very different here and I want to remember it.  There are so many people everywhere.  People selling stuff on the sidewalks and people begging.  We passed a lady with her two children sitting there begging for money, then an old lady walking around with her little silver bowl begging and she was very short.  She followed us for a minute saying something in Chinese holding her bowl out.  It was very weird, like we were in a movie. Then we passed another lady with an infant sitting on the ground begging and then one more lady with an infant and a child maybe 5 or 6 years old and the child was laying on the ground to sleep.  It was very sad.  There are disabled people sitting or laying in the middle of the sidewalks just begging.  It was heartbreaking.  Poor Carter, I just love his heart.  He wanted to give money to everyone.  It is also very noisy on the streets.  I will never forget the things I have seen, really makes you appreciate all that you have.

Today we have a completely free day and we will go to a local park, I think it's about a 20 minute walk.  No pics but I'll post some later.  We seem to have adjusted to the 14 hour time difference now.  Thanks for following our journey and for the prayers.

Day 6 - Orphanage Visit

Today, Friday 11/29 we went to visit the orphanage where Emma Kate is from.  I was concerned this would be a hard day for her but it went much better than anticipated and we learned some new things.  We knew that EK was in foster care but unsure of when.  She was sent to her foster family in June of this year and stayed there until two weeks before gotcha day when they brought her back to the orphanage to wait for us.  We got to see the baby room where she stayed and meet the nannies.  There was really no reaction from EK.  Then they went to get her favorite nanny and when EK saw her she smiled immediately.  The nanny reached out for EK and she went right to her.  I was a little concerned at first that she would not come back to me without a meltdown but when I reached for her she came  back with no tears.  We then got to see the sleeping room and see her crib which is assigned to a new baby now.  As we were leaving, we passed the baby room again and there was her nanny again.  Well she quickly grabbed her from my arms and before I could do anything she was walking away so I followed her to get EK back but she grabbed a bowl of congee and sat EK down to feed her lunch.  EK ate what I thought was way too much but they said she eats almost the entire bowl each day and then they poured some water into the almost empty bowl and spoon fed her the water until she pushed it away.  Now I know why she won't take the water from a bottle or cup.  We left the orphanage and got to go see her fiinding spot which is where she was abandoned.  This was a special moment for me.  We then went out to lunch with our guide and the other family that had a child from the same orphanage.  We went to a local noodle place and our guide ordered for us since we couldn't recognize anything on the menu.  We paid 90 RBM ($14.75) which was for our family and we split the cost of our guide's meal with the other family.  Very cheap compared to what we are use to paying to eat out and there was plenty of food plus some left over.  As we fininshed our meal I noticed EK had a diaper blow out and let me tell you that after four kids this is the worst diaper explosion I have ever seen!  The bathrooms in China are very different and there are no diaper changing areas or paper towels or anything.  After grossing everyone out that saw us headed to the bathroom, some nice young Chinese lady helped me clean EK up which I never expected as people just wanted to get away from us.  This was definately an experience I will never forget.  So all seemed well with EK after our orphanage visit and lunch until we got to the hotel.  She played for a while and then started to whine a little and just couldn't be satisfied. She cried for what seemed like forever and she would want down, then just look at me while crying and reach for me, lay on my shoulder then want down.  She never stopped crying until she fell asleep.  I guess she is really grieving her nanny hard now.  So sad.  I hope she will wake up happier and not feel so sad.

Here we are in front of the orphanage with our No Longer shirts on (just for you Melissa)

EK with her nanny.  She just had to zip her jacket up, they are so funny with bundling the kids up!

The crib she "No Longer" has to sleep in again.  

Walking out of the gate where she will never return again.  The man in the red jacket is our guide Simon.

Day 5 - Chen Ancestral Hall

On Thursday, 11/28 we met our group and guide in the lobby and headed out to the Chen Ancestral Hall, also know as Chen Clan Academy.  This is a temple that was built by many families with the last name Chen and they use this as a place to send messages to their ancestors.   It is a very beautiful place with lots of detail in the wood work.  After a short history lesson from our guide, we were able to do a little shopping in the art museum.  Once we left, our guide took us to a dumpling restaurant where we had a nice Thanksgiving lunch with our "China Family".  This was an interesting meal, each dish is brought out one at a time and they would put it on the center of the table that spins around so everyone takes food from the same dish with your chopsticks.  Our family and another family from our group sat at one big round table.  It's different from what I am use to but it was like we were all just one big family.  Our guide ordered the meal and then all families just pay the same amount, 120RBM for big families or 100 RBM for small families.  We paid 100 RBM or $16.39 for all four of us to eat and drink.  After lunch we went to the local Aeon which is like a walmart but it has five floors.  It is very loud and crazy in this store.  It's like a grocery store, then you go up escalators and each floor has something different like clothing, then housewares, etc.  We finally found a sippy cup for EK because the one we brought was too messy but she won't drink from the one we bought.  Anyway, it was different and fun. We have to walk to get everywhere unless we are with our guide and group for one of our appointments or tours.  Definitely not convenient like we are use to but we have gotten use to it.  

   This is the top of the Chen building.

This is one of the Door Gods painted on that huge door to keep the evil spirits out.  Hmmm......

An ivory hand carved sculpture.

   Our Thanksgiving meal

   Dumplings

   Happy Thanksgiving in China!

Days 3 and 4

It's about 7pm on Wednesday and I'm exhausted but I need to blog in order to remember these days later.  Yesterday, Tuesday 11/26 we had to go back to the civil affairs office to complete our adoption and make Emma Kate part of our family.  She is No Longer an orphan!  This was an exciting day but also hard.  We had to return to the same place where we received her on Gotcha Day just the day before.  Emma Kate seemed to be fine, but she was definately not letting me put her down.  We had to take a pic of the three of us which required sitting her down which she was not happy about.  Then we were waiting on other families in our group to finish and our guide reached for Emma Kate and this scared her.  She cried and clung to me.  Later after we got back to the hotel, Robert and Carter went to get something to eat and Emma Kate really opened up.  She played and laughed as I tickled her and chased her on the bed.  While we were playing, the guide came to the room to help me with something and Emma Kate was stuck to me again, she wouldn't get down and she kept whining until the guide left.  She then just layed on me for about 20 minutes before she would relax again.  She is very attached to me and limits how much she will interact with Robert and Carter.  After lunch, we all fell asleep and then woke up to Emma Kate running a fever of 102.  Having a sick baby that you barely know in a country where you feel alone is very scary.  The first night we had her she slept through the night, but the second night she woke up more times than I can remember and she would whine just a little so I would rub her arm and she would stop whining and go back to sleep.  I think she has started grieving.  

Today we had a busy day.  We had to leave early for Emma Kate's medical appointment which all adoptive families must do.  She had a fever of 103.7 when we left but it had dropped by the time we got to the clinic.  We had three different stations to take her to and she hated them all.  After we finished with her exam, we had to wait for what seemed like forever before we could go back to the hotel as the older children had to have a tb test and our entire group had to ride together on a bus to the appointment and back to the hotel.  We started her on an antibiotic today so I'm praying her fever will be gone soon.  She was diagnosed with an acute upper respiratory infection or something like that (I'm just too tired to get the paper to see).  We had lunch when we got back to the hotel and rested for a few minutes before we had to leave again to go to the police station to apply for her passport.  Another event she didn't enjoy as she really clings to me when we are around strangers.  We did see a little progress though, as we were leaving to go to the police station I was able to get her to hold my hand and walk out of our room and all the way to the elevator.  She was fine until someone else got on and she started screaming and wanted me to hold her.  This is the first time I have been able to get her to walk anywhere.  She stays right with me and wants me to carry her everywhere, including through our hotel room.  She even played with Carter just before we left and laughed as she ran from him.  She is having such a hard time right now, not sure how much of it is grieving and how much is from being sick but I feel so bad for her.  It is making me so sad to watch her and wonder what she is thinking.  It's like I'm grieving something as well just knowing she is going through this.  I'm ready to take her home and get past this difficult part of the journey and I just want to be home with my boys.  I want to enjoy this trip as we may never be here again and I want to be able to tell her about China when she is older but I'm exhausted.  I know this post is all over the place and I'm too tired to proof read so please excuse the craziness.  I'm going to bed and sorry no pictures, maybe I'll add some tomorrow.

Gotcha Day

We have Emma Kate!  Yesterday was gotcha day and it went very well.  We arrived at the civil affairs office and we were all taken to a big room.  There were nine families in our group and other families there as well that we didn't know.  The children were in a room behind a curtin and we could hear some of them crying.  Here is a pic of the curtain separating us from Emma Kate (way behind Carter).

Once they brought Emma Kate out she was crying and they just handed her over to me.  She cried for just a few seconds and then just calmed down.  She didn't fight me but she did resist just a little.

She was very content in my arms but she didn't want anyone to touch her or get too close, including Robert and Carter. After a little while she wanted her bottle and Robert was able to capture this precious pic with Carter hugging his sister.

She was very sweaty due to the thick layers of clothing so when our guide came to check on us she told me to take one of the layers off.  After a while Emma Kate started to look around and let carter show her toys but she still didn't want to be touched.  She even started smiling as Carter tried to play with her!

I am so happy to finally have her in my arms and to finally see a smile!  She loved these stacking cups and she is very smart. She knew exactly what to do with the cups and if they didn't fit together she would quickly rearrange them so they would fit.  We don't see any developmental delay at this point.  

Robert finally got to hold her at bed time and give her a bottle.  It was tough for him to wait all day but we didn't want to upset her and she would cry if anyone touched her besides me.

Safe in Guangzhou

We arrived in Guangzhou Sunday at 12:05pm after 28 hours of travel.  The flights were must easier than I anticipated and Carter traveled better than I ever would have expected. He didn't complain at all!  Our guide Simon picked us up from the airport and took us to the hotel.  Once we got settled in, we met up with another adoptive family and ate dinner at a mexican restaurant called Tekilas.  The walk to the restaurant was interesting.  This is a very busy city and cars do not yield to pedestrians at all!  When you cross the street, you better hurry!  It is very loud and crazy.  We were all exhausted and went to sleep at 8:30 so we woke up around 3:30 am this morning.  It is now about 5am on Monday 11/25 and we are about to go to the breakfast buffet, then we have a group meeting (there are 16 families in our adoption travel group) and we head to the civil affairs office at 2pm to get Emma Kate!!!  It will be midnight on Sunday for my local Alabama folks when we are headed to meet her.  I will post pics as soon as I am able.  Please pray for Emma Kate as her life is about to change forever. She will not understand what is going on and will most likely be terrified.  Leaving in less than 9 hours!!!!

 

Leaving for China!!

We have been so busy since we found out our CA and I haven't had a chance to update.  We are leaving today!!!  That is crazy!  Here is our schedule:

Friday
Depart Bham 6:30 pm
Arrive Atl 8:30 pm

Saturday - This is a 15 hour 15 minute flight.  Sigh...
Depart Atl 1:00 am
Arrive Seoul, Korea 6:15 am Sunday (3:15 pm Saturday cst) 

Sunday
Depart Seoul 9:00 am (6:00 pm cst Saturday)
Arrive Guangzhou, China 12:05 pm (10:00 pm Saturday cst)

Coming home:
Wednesday, December 4th
Depart GZ, China 9:25 am (7:25 pm Tuesday cst)
Arrive Seoul 1:35 pm (10:35 pm Tuesday cst)

Depart Seoul 7:15 pm (4:15 am Wednesday cst)
Arrive Atl 6:50 pm

Depart Atl 9:57 pm
Arrive Bham 9:53 pm 

I think I have converted the times correctly but didn't double check it so it's close enough.  Once we arrive in China and receive our itinerary, I will update with details about Gotcha Day.  We get Emma Kate on Monday 11/25!!  It will be late Sunday night for you all.  Thank you all so much for the support!  Please keep us in your prayers.

We have CA!!!!

Our CA (Consulate Appointment) is scheduled for December 2.  This means we leave next week for China!!!  I will post more details soon.  Woohoo!!!!!

Ipod and gift card giveaway

We have two giveaways and 100% of proceeds benefit our adoption!

 

First is a brand new Ipod touch 4th Gen.  Still in sealed package.  Great Christmas Gift! 

$10 - 1 chance

$15 - 3 chances

$20 - 5 chances

 

 

Second - Amazon $75 Gift Card and Bloomingdales $50 Gift Card 

 

$5 - 1 chance

$10 - 3 chances

 

 

These are two separate giveaways.  Please indicate which giveaway your donation is for.  The winner of the gift cards will receive both cards.  You may donate through paypal by clicking the link on this blog or if you are local you can pay me in person to avoid paypal fees.  This giveaway will only run for three days and we will draw for a winner Tuesday 11/12.  I will take entries now through Monday night at midnight.