Our First Week Home!

So many people have asked us to post more pictures - so here they are! This has been a great week - lots of fun moments and less trauma than I anticipated. Jaden has hit the ground running - it helped that this week was Christmas extravaganza at school. They made gift bags for rarely recognized school employees, had a sing-along, dressed in pajamas and watched the Polar Express, had Christmas centers and party and a book gift exchange. All that in her 3 days before vacation!

Rylee is doing great also - she is a great big sister... most of the time:) She likes to help Reese and bring the diaper when we change her. They play sweet together, then are crying and screaming... true siblings! We had a list of things we wanted to get at Toys R Us - so we decided to test the double stroller and go. The two girls pretty much screamed all the way through the store. Reese would pinch Rylee - Rylee was in hysterics - Rylee crying made Reese start screaming - Rylee saw Pacifiers for sale and started crying that she wanted a "passe" - it was almost comical and I realized I have come a long way because instead of wanting to leave I was more interested in finding out how long they could keep it up.

We took Reese to her first doctor's appointment which didn't give us any new information but started the process of all the things we need to do. We had blood work done - all standard tests for everything under the sun. After that was over ( I took her) Reese has grown a new affinity for Jeff. She now likes to snuggle with him and initiates wanting his attention... He's going to need to take her to the immunization appointment or I won't stand a chance! Next week we have an appointment with the pediatric cardiologist - we don't anticipate any further issues but it will be good to hear that from a doctor here. Even today I told a doctor she had a VSD repair and he said "is that all?" He said it was very common and very easy to fix - and agreed that she should not have any more problems - so we'll find out for sure next week!

It has been a week of firsts - first dress up, first nativity set... she likes throwing the angel like a missile... first trampoline... and tonight... the first cupcake. She is taking everything in stride and continues to eat and eat and eat. We have had wonderful meals brought to us by friends from church... it is almost enough to make you want to do it again just for the food!

We got an email newsletter from our adoption agency today and in one story a man was asked why they decided to adopt two sisters from Ethiopia. His answer was,“You only get one shot at life. Why wouldn’t we do something that will bless our family in ways we can’t even imagine?”

And with that I say... Amen!

We're Home!!!

This is our first post we are actually doing ourselves! In China, blog sites are blocked by the government so we e-mailed our pictures and posts to Jeff's sister in Kansas... THANKS JILL!!!

Taking the train to Hong Kong was much easier than we anticipated and Jeff sat next to an Italian woman who lives in China on a Christmas quest. Her daughter wanted a baby doll with eyes that shut for Christmas - so she was taking the 2 hour train ride to Hong Kong and then a taxi to Toys R Us! It has been a little ironic that there were not really any baby dolls to be found on our trip. I couldn't find many Asian dolls in the stores here so I thought I would find some in China. Instead, what little we found were mostly Caucasian... with the addition of a few African dolls and Dora. I think American Girl holds the market and my mom was able to order another one on line - a very cute baby doll that she gave Reese last night.

In Hong Kong we had planned to meet up with one of the groomsmen in our wedding who now works and lives there. Unfortunately, he was sick so we were on our own. We took a very scenic cable car ride up a mountain to see the Tian Tan Buddha statue - a landmark in Hong Kong. While we were there we were stopped by a group of school kids who were on a scavenger hunt for foreigners. They took a picture with us and wrote down where we were from and we took a picture of them with Flat Jeremy - a school project for our nephew in Kansas.

The 14 hour flight to Chicago went as expected - Reese in my lap except for the 10 total minutes she screamed with Jeff while I had my alone time in the bathroom:) We arrived with little sleep - realizing almost as soon as we landed we would miss our connecting flight 30 minutes later. Reese became a US Citizen when she went through customs - and then United told us that the next flight we could get on would leave SEVEN hours later. I first started to cry - and then got very grumpy... or more accurately, word that rhymes with kissey! Then Jeff won out in a marital moment where I wanted to go immediately and check into the airport Hilton so we could spend 6 hours in containment. Jeff promised that he would do the chasing all day and I very skeptically dragged my feet. We found a play area and camped there for the next 5 or so hours.

I do have to say, if you must get stuck with kids Chicago is the airport to be! I was expecting a dirty open area with a couple of toys - instead there was a large CONTAINED area sponsored by the Chicago Children's Museum. There were all kinds of things to climb on and crawl through. You could weigh luggage, pretend to fly the plane and learn all about how the airport works... and there were other kids with less grumpy parents... perfect!

After being one of those people who lay on benches and pretend to sleep - I changed clothes and was willing to sacrifice my dream of a warm shower. The girls were happy - and the best part was they slept the whole way home when we eventually did get on the plane!

When we got to the airport at 11pm we were greeted by some wonderful friends from church... some of them were at the airport at 4:00... the first arrival time. It was a great reception for the end of a journey - and the beginning of another! When we arrived home Rylee woke up and came out to see her new sister. She gave her a hug and then had her sit in her lap - then we ended staying up with everyone until about 1:30 as the new family checked each other out. This morning we are a family of 5 - the girls are coloring at the table and we are about to pull out the Christmas tree ornaments. We are exhausted, but so thankful to be home and all together! THANK YOU EVERYONE!!! We even had friends mow our grass and patch a hole in the lawn... what a gift!!!

The day we headed for home we heard that 100 new adoptive families were arriving at our hotel in Guangzhou. Almost all of these families will have children with some type of medical issue that is labeled special needs. We were amazed all during our time there the openess of families to adopting children with all kinds of needs - we saw many cleft lip and palate issues, heart issues - like Reese, children with corrected club feet, smaller in size, or missing fingers or limbs. Many had already been corrected or would be upon returning home. Before leaving, a friend posted a link on Facebook to this You Tube video - it is not from our agency - but a good picture of current China adoptions.
http://www.youtube.com/v/xx-6t4vwDDA&hl=en&fs=1&%22%3E%3C/param%3E%3Cparam

At some point after our referral, I was driving to work and realized that I would have been labeled a special needs child in China. I had scoloisis and wore a brace for many years before having a final surgery in the 8th grade. If I would have been born somewhere else, I could have been one of those kids that parents were forced to make hard decisions about - pretty overwhelming!

Before leaving for China we knew that Reese had 4 living transitions and caregivers. While there we discovered more about how the orphanage works and can now count at least 14 in the past 2 years - what we know as the most critical time to form attachment, trust, and the time that shapes how we relate the the world for the rest of our lives. We know that while her body is healed from surgery, there are many more losses that she has expereinced and cannot express. This is our lifetime prayer for our daughter - that God will pour healing salve over her life that will allow her know that this time it's forever - and that she will grow to believe God's purpose and plan for her. This is the beginning of a new journey and story for all of us - and we will continue to trust our lives to an all powerful God who loves us and puts our families together and promises to be with us in all the twists and turns and joys that lie ahead!

Friday night!!! Yesterday we had our oath ceremony at the US Consolate which was really us promising that all the information we have submitted on behalf of our daughter is true. They ended up handing us Reese's Visa right then - instead of making us return today - and so for a number of hours we were hopeful that we could leaved earlier... then our travel agency called and told us it would cost $2400 to change the tickets and we could not get our hotels refunded for the 2 nights... bummer!!! So we spent one last day in Guangzhou - and will take a train to Hong Kong tomorrow. This will be our last posting because we won't have internet again until we are home!!!

Our time in China has been absolutely amazing and we realize that it will be quite some time before we return again. At dinner tonight - Italian restaurant close to the hotel - we each reflected on our highs and lows for the trip:

Jeff - Highs - Stone Forest, Great Wall

Lows - Getting a cold

Jaden - Highs - Reese and Owen (one of the babies in our Kunming group)

Lows - Missing Rylee

Jenn - Highs - Getting Reese, Stone Forest, and the families we met in our Kunming group

Lows - Missing Rylee, computer problems!

Our last Kunming family left today - as well as the last Holt family from our larger group - so it was a lonely walk to dinner tonight. As we get ready to leave there are 19 new familes arriving tonight from our agency alone. They have just spent their week in the provinces getting their children and are on their way here for their week at the Consolate. As one group leaves, another arrives - and more children are given new lives and families they would not find here.

Today we took a taxi to Carefore - a Walmart type store - and I smiled as I realized that I wasn't even nervous about no seatbelts and the fact that we were weaving in and out of traffic - missing cars on both sides by inches. In just a few days Reese will be introduced to her carseat... another new experience I don't anticipate her liking!

In these few short weeks Reese has gone from not wanting any of her multiple layers of clothing off to protesting to have clothes put on. She has gone from being afraid and crying in elevators to running inside on her own and trying to push the buttons. She now loves the bath and does not want to get out - very different from the first 2 days of screaming to get near the tub. Protesting getting into the stroller - to loving the ride. Making faces at soda, ice cream and chocolate - to throwing a fit if she thinks she is not getting any... She hated her first plane flight - so with this track record we are hoping for a turnaround on the 2nd and 3rd!!!

There is much to process from our trip - but we are so thankful God has given this precious gift of a daughter and we can't wait to bring her home! Thank you everyone for your prayers - keep them coming for these long plane flights! We are in economy and Reese is a lap infant... We'll need them!!!

And we're back... last night our Yahoo went down. We couldn't access anything on Yahoo including our e-mail. Today after trying to figure it out all day, I called the hotel business center - they went to try it on their computer and told me the government had shut it down. We had no idea how long this would be for - but it's back and running after 24 hours. We take our freedoms for granted don't we! We're just glad to have our communications back!

Today was our Visa appointment - a representative from our agency acutally made the trip to the Consolate for us and it went through with no problem. We were a little anxious because today is the day our fingerprints expire - so we're through! Tomorrow we go back for an oath ceremony where we have to promise to be good parents - then on Friday we pick up Reese's Visa... Saturday we go to Hong Kong and Sunday we fly home!

Reese is continuing to sparkle - she learned how to climb into a chair today and was proud to do it again and again. She must not have had much to climb on in her foster village because she doesn't really know how to get herself up onto chairs, the bed etc... She had her first ice cream cone today and as soon as we got back into the hotel she dropped it and the stroller ran over the cone smashing ice cream onto the carpet of our 5 star hotel. Luckily there are loads of adoptive families here which equals many many messes! Jeff was watching the restaurant staff clean up tables today and decided that there aren't many people who can clean up a table after children with quite as much skill and speed.

Tonight we had dinner with our Kunming group for the last time... sniff, sniff. It is with mixed sadness and excitement that we are saying goodbye. Tomorrow the first family will leave for home - we were there when each of them met their children for the first time - and have watched them all evolve over the last 2 weeks. I think that means we will be expecting Christmas cards for quite some time! While our journey together is ending - we all are eager to get home and settled in! After dinner the dads competed in some stroller racing - and the kids laughed and laughed. I don't think that was happening in the foster villages! It is amazing to see how each of these precious children have gone from crying, scared, and very expressionless - to kids full of life and smiles! What a gift this whole experience has been!

Monday - December 7

This morning were the medical checks and shots - there were 20 families in the adoption part of the clinic and we rotated through stations. The great news for us was that when the doctor listened to Reese's heart she told us that there was not a murmur anymore. So it looks like the surgery was successful! Reese ended up having to get 6 shots - she was not a happy camper but it's over now!

This afternoon was the "red couch photo", a tradition for all chinese adoptions at the White Swan Hotel. Families dress their children in traditional outfits, set them all on the red couch and then take photos like crazy as the kids all cry and try to crawl off. If you google red couch photo you'll see a bunch of them from groups through the years! So we have the shots, we have the red couch photo - our checklist is getting shorter

It's Sunday - we've lost count of how many days we have been here... but we know we come home in a week! This morning we went to a Christian church down the street from our hotel - the service was in Chinese and in English. They sang two praise songs in English and then the sermon was translated. To be honest, it felt just like our visiting church routine back home... we all start out sitting in a pew... the kids start getting really wiggly, making noise, start to get glances from people around... Jeff sits through rest of service while I chase noisy kids around the courtyard outside waiting for it to end. Am I ever thankful that we have a church with a fabulous children's ministry!

After church we walked around the streets surrounding our hotel. Most of the afternoon was spent lamenting the things we didn't buy in Beijing and Kunming - we held off on a few things thinking we would find them later. None of them are here in Guangzou - and this is much more of a tourist cheap souvenier spot. The good thing about that is we have a Papa Johns, Starbucks, and Subway - we are slowly making our re-entry!

This afternoon Reese took a pen and began drawing all over her legs - then she came over to Jaden lying on the floor and began bouncing on her tummy. I had to laugh - I cannot count the times Rylee has drawn all over herself with pens left out. Some things must be universal to the 2 year old.

Tomorrow is our medical check and because of Hague Convention rules Reese will have to have 3-7 shots in order to come into the US. Another parent told us today it is absolute chaos with 30ish families all trying to get that many exams and shots. They also said the needles are much wider than at home and that they didn't do them very quickly. We are not looking forward to this - but it will get us one step closer to home!

As we talk to more families here we continue to feel very blessed for our experience and that we have used Holt as our agency. Things have been very smooth - our agency even has an office in our hotel here. Thanks everyone for your continued prayers - and please keep praying for our final week here in China and all the Visa/Consulate/Medical appointments we have left so we can bring our Reesey home!

It is now Saturday morning and we have safely made it to Guangzhou. Yesterday morning we were able to go to Reese's finding spot. Our guide could not find a taxi that was willing to travel the 1 1/2 hours there - so she called her cousin's fiance' who lives in Kunming and he was kind enough to drive us himself. Reese was found in a new construction site. It is business area that is still being built - so 2 years ago it would have just been starting. She told us that there would have been lots of workers around to find her - and ironically, it is right across the way from the government office in charge of inforcing the one child policy.

So without any fanfare - we found the corner and took some pictures as workers walked around us. Reese slept through the whole thing - but we are glad that we went - one more missing piece of a puzzle.

Last night we flew to Guangzhou - after the kids basically rolled around the floors of the airport and I tried not to think about how many germs they swept off the ground - we made the 1 1/2 hour flight here. Reese had her first major meltdown as we were descending. She apparantly does not like it when she doesn't get her way - and I insisted that she sit down for the landing. She will fit right in at our house! I can't wait to see how she takes to a carseat! In China there are no carseats - and you can see babies held on motorcycles weaving through traffic.

This morning we met up with a large group of Holt families and walked down the street to get Visa photos. There is a street of shops eager for shoppers - so we found some shoes for Reese - the ones she came to us wearing are too small. So for $10 we found two pair of shoes - one set are squeeky shoes - that she loves walking in!

This afternoon we have a big paperwork meeting to make sure everything is in order for our Visa appointments. All adoptive families in China have to exit the country through Guangzhou so our hotel is full of other families like us. It was a beautiful picture to look around the giant breakfast room this morning and see how many children of all ages were with their new forever families. A tapestry of all kinds of families - some first time parents, some adding their 4th or 5th children, all with hearts open to embrace these boys and girls who do not yet understand how their lives will be changed.

In a store this morning, we met a couple from Clearwater who are adopting a little 1 year old boy. They have a daughter in her 20s and one grandchild. Last year their church did a presentation on orphans and they felt God telling them to start the parenting process all over again. How exciting to be with people putting faith into action - ordinary people with ordinary jobs and lives - taking on some extraordinary things.