A Day of New Discoveries!!

Today was our first full day together.  We learned many new things!

• Maran is very ticklish
• Maran LOVES her sandals (the ones we sent for her birthday) very much.  She has an extremely wide foot so it has been hard to find shoes here. Also with the way she walks on the side of her feet not all shoes will work.  Right now some Rainbow flip flops will not work for her... but we will get all that worked out very soon. 
• Maran's first experience with a flashlight was funny.
• Maran heard a hairdryer for the first time today.
• She has never seen anyone brushing their teeth.
• Chinese Noodles ROCK!
• She loves snacking.
• She is a people watcher and therefore MaMA would have really connected with her. (David's grandmother on his mother's side... oh she was such a wonderful lady).
• She loves to be cuddled, hugged and kissed.  Kissing Daddy is the best.
• She is an organizer....things need to be lined up and in a row. 
• She is very serious (Luke was too at first but a few months around me made that go away as I have not a serious bone in my body). 
• She loves the computer and the cell phone.  Pushing buttons is the best.
• She can cross her eyes and it is so cute.  OK will they really get stuck?  HA HA.
• Not sure if she has ever been in a stroller before but she loves it.
• She also loves the SQUEAKY shoes.  They are so annoying  but at least her other shoes are off her feet. (they really smell and LYSOL has done nothing on them).
• Hair Bows -- she would prefer them to be on the floor.
• Watching Daddy shave was funny. 
• Two rolls of toilet paper down...many more to go.
• Bar soap is amazing... and smelling my hands is even better.
• At times she will tear up and need some serious hugs...then she is better! I can only imagine what is going on in her head.  She probably feels at times like she has been kidnapped.

I have thought of my mother often since we have been here.  I thought of her when Maran was walking out to us and I know she was smiling and crying with me.  Oh how beautiful she would think Maran is although my mom was  blind.  I often think of what she would think of Luke too.  She would love them as much as she loved all her children and grandchildren.  She has had the best seat in the house for six years now and I need to remember that.  You can never have too many angels in heaven looking out for you. (I meant to post this last night before we went to bed but I fell asleep).  Sorry it is a little late.  Internet has also been acting up a little.... maybe they are finding us out!  HA HA... Hugs and lots of Love from China. 

Incredible First Night... AN ALL NIGHT SLEEPER!

I woke up many times last night to make sure that Maran "Ivay" was still breathing.  She was.  She hardly moved all night.  She would not let us take her shoes off so after a few tries I finally succeeded without her waking up.  David got her into her bed and she slept till 6 am.  So from 10 pm to 6 am... I will take that.  She woke up and immediately walked to the potty.  No accidents from overnight either although we were prepared.  She then decided it was time for some mommy cuddle time.   I held her, rubbed her back and rocked her for about an hour.  She then decided it was time to eat.  SHE PUT ON THE FEED BAG!  She loves eggs and tomatoes.  David carried her through the buffet and she chose what she wanted.  It was an interesting mix.  She will try about anything.  We are told she has no allergies.  She had never seen anyone brushing their teeth so she found it interesting.  As well the hairdryer was a new adventure for her as well.  Later today we will brush her teeth. Let's hope she takes to it! We went to our appointment where they asked us a lot of questions.  They were easy questions.  She was a perfect angel.  She potties often and LOVES washing her hands now.  She wants to wash them before she goes and after and I let her.  She is not used to the toilet paper and giggles when she pulls it off the roll (She clearly had never used it before yesterday).  What a loving little angel we have.  We are now trying to nap.  She seems to be following me around today.  That's my girl... getting both mommy and daddy tied around your finger (that's what I did when I was little).  The apple clearly is not too far from the tree!  She loves being kissed now and loves touching your nose.  She grins a lot but very few giggles so far.  She now says Ut-Oh.  After she washes her hands she smells them and says "UHM".  What a cutie we have.  We can not wait till she and Luke are together.  They will conquer the world!!! 

With a mouth full of food.  The food on the plate she chose! 

Love and Hugs from China!  Thank you again for all your messages... they have  been such a help. We are severely homesick and love the connections!  We will try to keep posting as long as we can keep a connection (always subject to change). 

Gotcha Day -- It's A Girl & A Daddy's Girl at That!

Oh, where to start.  Very emotional day for all of us including the wonderful ladies from the orphanage who came here to give Maran to us.  She is BEAUTIFUL.  She looks just like a doll and has the most beautiful eyes and skin.  She is all girl from what we can tell and she has had a day of firsts. Come to find out we are the first AMERICANS that have adopted from the orphanage that she is from.  Interesting.  We will go to the orphanage on Thursday to visit with her other caretakers and to say good bye to her friends.  Especially her  BFF, Alice. 

When we went into the ADOPTION AFFAIRS OFFICE they wanted us to sign papers first before we saw her.  David and I both spotted her immediately sitting in a room to the left.  We were ecstatic.  We signed the documents and then they brought her out to us.  OH MY GOODNESS.  It was the most incredible moment ever ---it ranks number 1 along with the first time we saw our son Luke.  She was walking out to us and she immediately went for the BEAR that has made this journey with us. So Aunt Carolyn and Aunt Nancy you did a great job!  She took to David and when she was told that he was her Daddy she rubbed his face.  He crumbled and I did as well.  Through the tears we had many smiles from her.  She loved the sucker that we brought to her.  We gave her a camera and she took many pictures.  Many of them quite good.  She became extremely upset when her caretakers left.  I am not sure who was crying harder she or I.  Her name in China is SI HUI... pronounced as it is written but they call her Avay (like IVY but IVAY).  It is absolutely beautiful and it suites her perfectly.  So we had been pronouncing her name wrong the entire time.  We thought about changing her name to her name as it is pronounced now and decided that it can be her nickname.  She looks like a Maran and an Ivay.  She is very mild tempered and loves pretty things so I think I got me a girlie girl.  Let's hope my tom boy ways can be set aside for ribbons and bows.  Her eyes are deep and have so much meaning in them.  She loved the picture book that we had made of her.  She loved seeing herself inside the book.  She pointed to Luke an awful lot.  There was also a group photo of she and her buddies and she pointed to Alice quite a bit too.  It made me sad.  I hate separating them but we will get to see Alice on Thursday we hope.  I never had any doubt that she was not loved and cared for at the orphanage but if there was any doubt it was erased today.  Those ladies adore her and care for her greatly.  Even the men who came had a lot of love for her.  She, in turn, had equally as much love for them.  I know in my heart that she was loved as much as they could love her and still do their jobs.  What a wonderful group of people whom we will always be forever grateful to. 

 I love the Bear.....

 I am a Daddy's Girl....and I have his numbers already. 

 My eyes tell a lot of stories.

 I keep looking at the picture of my Brother Luke. 

 Had to have some Mommy time.... just so I can say I did it. 

 Uhm.... KFC Ice Cream!  (we never knew what we were missing did we)?

 I am so tired.  I have had a big day and my Goat is tired too.

The Chocolate Lollipop was the best.  I like chocolate so my brother and I will get along fine. 

We went to the store to pick up some things and she had a great time telling us what she wanted.  First stop was KENTUCKY FRIED CHICKEN (Yes KFC) so that she could have a cone of  ice cream.  She loved it. It was interesting.  She has the right family to LOVE ice cream I can tell you that. 

She wanted LESS things than we could imagine.  She does not have a serious case of the "WANTS".   We were told that she had probably never been in a store the size of the one we were in today andthat she was continuing to be overwhelmed.   We simply held something up and she would shake her head yes or no.  She really enjoyed the candy aisle.  She loves suckers.  She kind of fell asleep on the way back to the hotel.  We opted for a Papa John's Pizza (yes in China) and I went to get her some Rice and Soup.  She wouldn't eat either nor would she try the Pizza which may be a good thing as she really needs to have some pizza from home as I am sure she will like it.  I then gave her some potato chips.  She had never had them before and she ate the whole bag.  There's a girl after my heart!  She tells us when she needs to go potty and she loved bath time.  (Will that continue?)  She picked out a huge stuffed Goat at the store which she has carried around since she got it (see picture above).  It is a cartoon here that we are told is loved by all the Chinese children.  Her eyes lit up the moment she saw it. 

She has skyped already with her brother, her Nammy and Pop Pop  and her Aunt Peggy and she is very interested in the computer and pounding the keys.  We have yet to get her to say Hello or Hi but she will tell us Thank you in Chinese.  She loves water and went crazy over the Mickey cup we took with us to get her.  She can't make the sippy part work but that's OK because she drinks better from a cup than we do.  David is now walking around with her as she grabbed her shoes and told him something and pointed to the door.  I guess it meant "Hey, this sister needs a break from this room".  She is very quiet and very into whatever toy she is playing with at the moment.  She loved her Minnie Mouse suitcase full of toys.  Her favorite thing so far has been her hairbrush (I don't know that she has ever had one or seen one) and a bar of soap.  (Not sure about her knowledge of soap either).  We have had a few firsts today and they will be remembered.  (more on that later).    Thank you everyone!   Your comments have helped to keep us sane and have helped our morale for sure!  We go to the CIVIL AFFAIRS office again tomorrow for a ton of paperwork.  Thankfully so far the paperwork has been the easy part.  Traveling..well, not so much!

Skyping with Snickerdoodle Luke

It was SO SWEET seeing our Snickerdoodle Luke on Skype.  David and I were both loving it.  Of course Luke didn't totally understand it and I am not sure that it helped him but it did help us. He whined a little because he does not like seeing daddy and not touching him.  He will probably play hooky from school today so that he can be home to SKYPE and see his new sister.  I hope he will get used to it.  WE MISS HIM INCREDIBLY however know that it is better that he is at home in the loving arms of his grandparents,  his Aunt Peggy and Cousins.  After our traveling festivities we KNOW that it would have been even more of a nightmare had he been with us. So, I think we did make the right choice to not bring him although it is SO HARD to be away.  He is getting all the love he could ever want though and all the attention too.  Life is Good when you are Snickerdoodle Luke.  Getting ready to change clothes and go to GOTCHA.  We will be traveling to the CIVIL AFFAIRS OFFICE to get her.  We are a little anxious but seeing all the children in the hotel has been such a blessing.  Hope to post pictures soon and more information!  Gotta run... I am almost in labor!  Thank you again for all your comments.  They have been so appreciated and have helped us through our trying times and home sickness. 

Plane diverted BACK TO BEIJING -- Almost Missed Gotcha Day -- ST CHRISTOPHER PROTECT US!

The day started out so well.  We were early for meeting our driver this am and we go to the airport early.  When we got on the plane David was in my seat and I was in his.  The flight attendant came up to him and thanked him for being a Chairman's Star Alliance partner.  She then presented him with a pillow and a nice First Class blanket.  Everyone was staring and kind of getting angry that he is getting this pillow and blanket and they were not.  David is NOT ABOUT POMP AND CIRCUMSTANCE.  I was laughing and he was turning redder by the minute.  He kept trying to tell the lady that it was me but she wouldn't listen to him and just thanked him for being so wonderful.  It was quite humorous.  (If you know David you are laughing pretty hard right now).

So we thought we had all the fun we could with travel since getting to Beijing was such an ordeal.... absolutely NOT!  After getting up at 3:30 am to get to the airport we were in flight  and ALMOST TO GUANGZHOU when they decided to divert the plane back to Beijing because of the fire protection system.  We were FAR closer to our destination than Beijing but we went all the way back anyway.  The man beside me on the plane (not my husband man the man on the other side) became EXTREMELY belligerent and began yelling at the top of his lungs.  The two men behind us did the same.  They then proceeded to get in the flight attendants face.  After an hour of this things settled down.  We landed Beijing with fire trucks on the run way (were they for us? who knows but they were there and this made the situation even more unsettling).  I do not scare very easily but the upheaval on the plane absolutely scared me.  I told David when the riot broke out to go in the bathroom.  It was a mess.  After being stuck on the ground for 5 hours we finally get back on the plane.  This is only after they refuse to make announcements in English and refuse to tell anyone anything of relevance.  Thankfully a WONDERFUL Japanese man from Tokyo told me what was going on.  He was our Angel today.  He took our tickets, went to the counter and came back with 300 for each of us.  He said it was for our 'hassle'.  We had been told we may or may not get to Guangzhou.  Therefore meaning missing GOTCHA DAY.  This was NOT going to happen.  We were prepared to take a train and ride all night long to get here if we had to.  By this time David is furious (and he DOESN'T GET MAD -- he is as laid back as they come).  OK so things worked out and we are here.  I could say a lot more about the complete and total rudeness we encountered but I won't go there.  I still have to get my daughter.  (yes, rudeness is everywhere we just seemed to have more than our share today I guess).  I have been pushed, stepped on, kneed, bumped and many other things.  If you are in someones way then an "EXCUSE ME" doesn't work  they just simply push you aside.  I will end the story at that as it goes back to that "SPACE" thing that many have commented about in the past and I am sure will continue to do in the future. 

A few things we have learned while here:

•  Pedestrians do NOT have the right of way.  You will get honked at, grazed, clipped and flat out run over all with a policeman looking on and a "WALK" sign telling you to go.
•  I have never seen so many people spit in my entire life.  It is interesting.  Some take their foot and then rub it into the ground....hum, remind me not to carry their shoes for them.
• Toothpicks and dinner tables are a great match.
• The goal when a door opens is to get YOURSELF out first even if you are at the very back.  Same for the plane.. don't let anyone in the aisle ahead of you unload first. (yes this happens in many places I know).
• Diet Coke is impossible to find except for at the airport.
• If we ate as much rice and noodles in the US then we would look like what?
• No car seat laws here so it is weird to see babies being held in the front seat.  I still want to shake my finger at them. 

We are having fun.... I promise.  We are excited about GOTCHA DAY tomorrow and are so thankful that we made it here.  ST. CHRISTOPHER PROTECT US was mumbled on that plane ride a number of times today.  I guess when your overall adoption process goes so well something has to botch up so we are getting paid back with the travel part.  That's OK though... we can handle it. We have enjoyed the things we have gotten to see...just some of the extras have been surprising. 

Since the FAIR is going on and the Asian games are going to start things are crazier around here.  The dinner buffet at our hotel is $60.00 per person.  Mind you, we normally do not do buffets but we have encountered many of them since our arrival.  We have not eaten a lot on average anyway and we normally aren't 'cheap' people.  I AM NOT saying $60.00 is cheap! We went behind the hotel and ate at LUCY'S.... the place we were supposed to meet a group for dinner earlier but we missed that... thanks to the flight delays.  Helen, our guide, sent another car to the airport to get us.  She was waiting on us when we got to the hotel. We are NOW at the WHITE SWAN but have to change because it is booked for the trade show.  Moving is no big deal.  When it is all said and done we will have been on 6 flights one train and 5 hotels.  THANKFULLY we do not get on another plane for a number of days. 

I must go now and prepare for my labor and delivery tomorrow.  It will occur at 2:30 pm which will be 2:30 am East Coast USA time.  So if you wake in the middle of the night and hear some crazy person screaming..it is me.  Delivering a Toddler is something I am not used to.  We appreciate all of your comments.  They keep us going and we can not thank you enough for them.  I can see the FACEBOOK messages but can not reply to them.  Thanks for them as well.  We will do our best to keep posting... as long as it works we will do it.  When we are blocked out we will have a friend or my sister-in-law post for us.  So far though we have had very little computer troubles. All of our troubles have been air craft and airport related.

Thank you for your prayers too.  We pray tonight for extra strength.  David and I are both very teary and about lost it when we SKYPED with Luke earlier today. Please also say a prayer for David's parents who are caring for him. They are such a GOD SEND!!!  Gotta go to Sleep!  GOTCHA DAY is almost here!  

Again my disclaimer, sorry for typos and grammar errors... you never know when you may get booted out of this thing!  Ut-oh Braxton Hicks... someone boil some water... this baby's a coming.....

We Conquered the Great Wall

 

 Close to Forbidden City.  Tiananmen Square...sorry can't spell that or check it.. not enough time!

 In honor of our Duckie... Happy Birthday Beautiful !!

 Great Wall Western View... yes our legs are sore...well mine are.  David is in shape!

 Mr. David on the Wall.  He was great at climbing.  My camera took a dive.

 Bird's Nest. David was in ARCHITECTURE HEAVEN.  It was cool.  BEIJING Olympics 2008

The Water Cube.  (looked like a huge blister to me..David did not appreciate my description).

HA HA!  It was incredible.  We did A LOT of it.. both Eastern and Western side. We liked the Eastern Side better.  It was WAY STEEPER but prettier.  Some steps were so steep you had to literally pull your leg up.  It was FAR WORSE coming down.  I stopped and looked at David and said "You know we have to be able to carry our daughter or at least walk to get her".  It was an amazing experience.  One that was not on my bucket list but I entered it on the list "after the fact".  You can do that right?  We went to bed at 7:30 pm and up at 3:30 am.  Amazing what sleep can do for you.  We are waiting on our driver to take us to the airport.  We are flying into Guangzhou.  CLOSER TO OUR MARAN!  We have to be there by noon today... not sure why.  We meet other travelers tonight at Lucy's for dinner.  We are excited.  Toured yesterday with the Jenson's.  BEAUTIFUL family. It was helpful being with their lovely children... and they are truly lovely.  Very well behaved and as adorable as ever.  The blonde daughters get photographed everywhere.  OK here are  some pics.  Will try to blog more later...and Jennifer if you read this e mail me at my e mail address please.  (again sorry for typos and grammatical errors).  Off to Airport!!