A little video...

One of my goals for the coming week is to document our first week home...there were good times, great times, and bad times. We ended our first week together having those great times (and the first round of vaccines is over finally, so the bad times are over for now!). In the meantime, here is a video of Mak on her second night at home...and the dogs that didn't know what to think!

Our First Week Home

Tonight marks our one-week anniversary of Makena's US citizenship. It's been a great and very long week.

Sunday was Father's Day - Makena and I splurged and got Charlie take-out food from PF Chang's! We also let him sleep all day, and in between naps, he also controlled the remote. I did all of the laundry from our trip. It is one thing to leave mail and items from a trip laying around, but I think that the clothes absolutely have to be washed! Monday was more of the same. A trip to Target and such. It's funny though...I really felt like people should be stopping me and asking what I was doing with a kid! I know that sounds funny, but everyone just assumed that I was her mom and for whatever reason, that felt very bizarre. That feeling will pass, but for right now, wow. Not what I expected.

We spent a couple of hours at Mak's new pediatrician on Tuesday. She got down to her diaper and ran (with help, of course) all over the office. Her squeals of joy could be heard throughout the building...as could her screams of terror when they measured her and gave her the required vaccines. Boy oh boy, was she showing off her lungs. Charlie had to go on an "emergency" business trip to Chicago that night, so he had left for the airport shortly before they administered her shots. I was on my own for 36 hours with Mak and the pups. While at the doctor, they also discovered that she had a nasty ear infection, so they prescribed her an antibiotic. She seemed fine as we headed home from the drug store, but she had me fooled! We took our baby Tylenol every four hours at the direction of the doctor...her fever started about 8pm and went up and down for the next 24 hours. She screamed for most of the night. My girlfriend, Kate, showed up for a new mom pep talk later in the evening and was AWESOME! She didn't even comment on the fact that we had simply spread all of our stuff all over our house...unpacking wouldn't happen for at least another day. I am so lucky to have her! It was no sleep for me on Tuesday night, but we still managed to get the dogs walked and a few naps in Mak on Wednesday.

Makena got to go visit Charlie's office on Thursday. She put on her Hollywood look and showed off for all of the folks...she walked around, played with toys, and smiled at the big semi-circle of people watching her. We are truly blessed with a wonderful little girl. We did get good news on Thursday - a negative TB test! Woohoo!

On Friday we went in for a hearing test and for bloodwork. Anyone with a child knows all about taking a kid for bloodwork, so I won't go into that trauma. The hearing test was very interesting...Makena wasn't thrilled about it, and did have some trouble. We are heading back in a few weeks to get retested and hoping that after her ear infection clears up that she will have better luck! To make up for the bloodwork (during which Charlie was the mean one that held her down...cheers to cool dads!), we took her to Toys R Us. Makena had a great time and ended up picking out a ball. A $1.79 ball, which really made her penny watching parents happy.

We relaxed over the weekend and went to the pool on Sunday. Mak LOVES the water and really thinks that she can swim (we really don't think she can), and after her ear infection is all cleared up, we will definitely let her try! Charlie heads back to work full time tomorrow...wish me luck!

The Ride HOME!

With few exceptions, the actual experience of being on an airplane for 16 hours is just as bad as anticipating being on an airplane for 16 hours. Then add a toddler. Good times...

Makena did great. After all, she's one and made it through the entire flight with no serious head trauma, no baby vomit, only about 15 minutes of screaming, and half a package of snacks strewn about in our seats (floor, foot space, seat backs, aisle, etc.). There were 350 movies to watch, and the only thing that I could get her interested in was the Clifford the Big Red Dog tv show...and she watched for a grand total of 15 minutes! Not that I condone children watching television, but come on! Only 15 minutes of the entire flight?!?

After the joy of the flight, we waited for our stroller on the jetway. To no avail...after the crew exited the plane, they finally called down and the guy said that he wasn't bringing them up (all two strollers on the plane) because it was raining, so we had to head inside sans stroller and stand at the end of the foreign visitors line. What an odd feeling...Mak was sound asleep on me as we waited in that line. When we got up to the "window", we handed over Makena's sealed brown envelope that we received from the American Consulate. The gentleman was very kind and got everything finished and stamped her passport. She was a citizen! Wow...it only took eight months of paperwork, three and a half years of waiting, two and a half weeks in China, and a whole lot of love to get our baby girl to the US. What a crazy feeling....our plane to home was delayed by a couple of hours, but it didn't matter. We were back in the US and Mak was official!

Day 14 (actually, 16): Hong Kong

We made it home on Saturday night, but before I forget all of the details, I wanted to record a bit about our time in Hong Kong. On our last day in Hong Kong, we started the day as a family of 3 at the breakfast buffet. We tasted the usual Chinese fare; the difference came when Charlie had to leave shortly after we got there and I was on my own (in a nice restaurant in a very nice hotel) with Mak. She is a great kid, but even a great kid is not really welcome in a nice restaurant in a very nice hotel! We made it through and headed to the room. That is the moment that Mak decided to really crawl! She got up on her knees and crawled across the room while we were looking at the map (she was very helpful as she concentrated on which subway to take)! It was great to catch that moment...then came the question...What to do with our time? Packing really wasn't an option with Mak looking on, so I picked her up and we headed to the mall at the bottom of the hotel. There was a toy store, so we picked out some fun toys for our airplane trip. Then it happened. She got hungry...ugh! What to do? I know that sounds like a silly question, but this was to be my first attempt at restaurant eating alone with her.

We picked a restaurant and after discussing the fact that I needed to sit next to my daughter instead of across from her (she's one!), they put us in the back booth in the back room. The waiter gave me a booster seat for her to use as well. Booster seat? Don't you have to be a little bigger than 20 pounds to sit in one of those things? Oh well. We made it through with only a few minor mishaps and had to ask everyone to move so that we could get her little umbrella stroller out of the restaurant. We were not the most popular. But we did it! Wow...the feeling of accomplishment from something so seemingly simple!

In the evening, Makena got to meet some of her American friends who were also in Hong Kong for work. She was a little show off, and even did a good job at dinner (coincidentally at the same restaurant we went to for lunch!). Packing took forever, but we had the international weight limit of 50 pounds per person. Yippee!

As we head home...

It's Friday night and I'm packing for our trip tomorrow. What a wild ride over the last two weeks! We have so many stories and so many pictures...and we can't wait to get home! Hugs and kisses to everyone!
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Day 13: Hong Kong

We made it! We almost missed our train, but caught it with minutes to spare. Makena got her first passport stamp and I realized just how long Saturday's flight would feel! After only 2 hours, Makena was completely stir crazy. Wish us luck!

Charlie headed into work following his McDonald's fiasco trip...once you decide that you need McDonald's, nothing else will do! Mak and I just hung out and then got ready for dinner with one of Charlie's work counterparts. They brought their two kids and it was great fun! Makena did great.

Tomorrow is totally open for Makena and me, so who knows what we'll end up deciding to do! Who knows...maybe Disney?
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Day 12: Guangzhou

Today we received Makena's US Visa, which means that once we land in a US airport, she will become a citizen! Yay! And she screamed through much of the oath that we had to take...it was a good day. We spent the morning walking through a traditional Chinese herbal market that is only about a five minute walk from our hotel. It was quite repulsive at times. I won't get into it, but if you are interested, Charlie has some photographs to prove that we aren't lying. I'll just say that they had snake wine, and that was at the upscale place!

 

It was so hot and humid today that we headed to the pool after our walk. What fun! Makena's friend, Sophia, went too and everyone had a great time. I took Mak back to the hotel room early so that I could get her a bath and get her fed before she fell asleep (we had our consulate appointment at 2:40), and when I got to our room we were locked out. So I got to head down to the front desk in a bathing suit complete with a wet and shivering child, all the while trying to explain that my key doesn't work to someone who doesn't speak  English.

 

We went through all of the steps at the consulate, and then it was time for our group to say good-bye. We split into two buses...one going back to the hotel (us) and one going straight to the airport. Even though we didn't know any of these folks two weeks ago, we've formed a tight bond. We became parents together. Our daughters all had similar first year experiences. We adventured through China together. We've got 11 families to add to our Christmas list and 11 families that we need to send notes to on a regular basis. It was sad to say good-bye, but it also meant that we were that much closer to going home ourselves. This whole experience has been quite surreal. We leave for Hong Kong tomorrow on the 9:50 train and I am on my own with Mak for the next two days. Charlie is working and has business dinners (although I think that Mak and I might get to at least eat with them) Thursday and Friday, then we head out on a direct flight from Hong Kong to Newark on Saturday at 10:25am. The flight is 15 hours and 35 minutes. I'm not concerned about the flight from Newark to Greensboro - I've done that a bunch of times. It's that long one that really frightens me! Then we will be back home. Wow...hard to believe it's already been two weeks! We're coming home Scout and Boo! We sure do miss you! 

Some random thoughts...

Over the  last two weeks, we've had some random things come up. For example, I started my day count a day off...it's actually day 13 today, not 11. When we landed in Beijing, they wouldn't let anyone stand until they came  through and scanned everyone's foreheads to make sure that no one was sick on the plane. The Great Wall is more like a giant, incredibly uneven, staircase that goes on forever! There hasn't been a single clock in any of our hotel rooms. We were touched by swine flu, but came out just fine. Each room we've had contained two twin beds for us. Our room looks like our suitcases exploded - time to pack again tomorrow. Makena sleeps with one of us since she'll knock herself out on the crib bars. We've been exposed to chicken pox, and are assuming that Makena is fine - no sign yet and a pediatrician appointment is already scheduled for next week. Makena was kind enough to share her cold with both of us...Charlie got the sniffles and I lost my voice. There haven't been very many vegetarian options at dinner lately - I'm pretty hungry! We wash dishes in a plastic shoebox that we brought filled with just-in-case medicine using the remaining boiling water each time we make Mak a bottle. Chinese formula smells like candy. Charlie changed his first diaper yesterday! We love American diapers...the Chinese ones, not so much! We bribed a friend who was traveling to Hong Kong this week to bring us some more American diapers -- he is our hero and we can't wait to see him! We have no idea how we are going to fare during our 15 hour 45 minute flight from Hong Kong to Newark (all we know is that we'll have enough diapers!)...it makes both of us nauseous just to think about it! We love China and could stay for a much longer time - I just wish that we had access to a dishwasher, a washer/dryer, and a diaper genie!

 

Nothing important, just some thoughts...I'm off to bed now and am looking forward to a fun last day in Guangzhou at the American Consulate and at the herbal medicine market!

Day 11: Guangzhou Photos

From our photo shoot...two pictures showing our two faces of Makena...

 

Back Row (L to R): Jade, Ava, Emily, Sophia Pei, and Lilly

Front Row (L to R): Makena, Sophia Grace, Brianna, and Harlow

Day 11: Guangzhou

Makena's paperwork went through today...yay! All of our paperwork was correct and she was approved for her US Visa. Tomorrow we go for her swearing-in ceremony (although there are no cameras allowed - boo!) at 2:40pm. We have a special little white sundress that we've been saving just for this occasion...it was a gift from her grandmama when Brenndah was out in NC for work a few years ago. It has been hanging in her closet since then just waiting for a little girl to wear it! Charlie will be sure to get some photos, but they will probably be in the hotel room!

 

We mostly hung out today. We tried to go swimming, but a rain storm came up just as we were walking outside - of course, we had lubed her up with sunscreen before we headed outside. So to the bath it was! We splurged on Papa John's pizza for lunch and went to DimSum for dinner with our group. The highlight of the day was the red couch photos. For anyone familiar with Chinese adoption, you know that this is a requirement! We are staying at the White Swan hotel and one of the big traditions is to take a photo of the babies on one of the red couches that they have in the 2nd floor lounge. It was a hoot! Veronica said that she would say, 1, 2, 3, and then we were to put the babies down and run away so that the photographer could catch them all. We did that, and 40 pictures on our camera later, we were finished! They stayed for a very long time...Makena cried though. She was exhausted and took a nap shortly thereafter. We were able to get her in her new traditional Chinese silk outfit though. She looked great! We purchased the outfit at one of the government stores, so at least we know that it is real silk. She'll probably never wear it again, but who knows?!

 

Tomorrow is our last day in Guangzhou. We are sad to leave and will definitely miss our group. Then it will be on to Hong Kong where Charlie will be working on Thursday and Friday - Mak and I will hit the malls!

Day 10: Guangzhou Photos

Day 10: Guangzhou

Well, we made it through the medical exam! We don't actually know any of the results, but if we receive Makena's Visa, then we know that everything was fine! This morning was quite an experience. After our now typical breakfast buffet, we headed to get all of the baby's Visa pictures taken. Of course, Makena fell asleep right before we got there, so I had to wake her to get her picture taken. Anyone who has woken a sleeping baby understands what a great picture that makes! It actually wasn't as bad as I expected though, as she puts on the Hollywood smile when she sees a camera. After we waited for them to be developed, we headed to the clinic. There is actually a room that says across the doorway: "Medical Examination Room for Adopted Children" (I think...I left the camera in the room on accident and wasn't able to get a picture!). There were three rooms and we circulated throughout them. We started with the temperature, height, and weight. Her temperature was normal and she weighed 20.9 pounds (which is lighter than they said she was!) - I was too busy trying to calm her down after they stretched her out to check her height to know what they said! Then it was onto the ENT; she didn't have any problem with that. The final check was with the physician. I had to hand her over and they checked her out...she was NOT a fan! To celebrate our medical exams being completed, we stopped by Subway with some other folks to have lunch.

 

Makena actually took a nap today too! We decided that "putting her down" for a nap was just not her style, so Charlie headed to the pool and I put Mak in her new wheels and we strolled around the island for a long time. She fell asleep and actually let me transfer her to the bed for a good solid hour nap...yay! Success is sweet! I went off with the group to a Buddhist temple and then to the pearl market, while Charlie spent some time bonding with his princess. Charlie and Makena had a great time together - he even fed her and changed her diaper! My hero! The temple was so interesting and the pearl market was crazy! It was a 5-story mall of nothing but jewelry vendors! I stuck to the store that Veronica recommended and bought myself two strands of pearls - one black and the other multi. I will pass the black pearls to Makena should she want them someday. After we finally got everyone checked out and the pearls were hand strung (they knot in between each pearl), we discovered that our bus had broken down. So we waited...and waited...and waited in the rain! It came back finally and we headed home. A traditional Cantonese dinner (not a lot of vegetarian choices at the restaurant we went to...all I'm going to say is that they served pigeon and snake...ugh) for us and now Makena is snoozing, Charlie headed downstairs, and I'm heading to bed!

 

Tomorrow we will wait for the call saying that our paperwork was accepted by the US government (!) and our traditional red couch photos! The other thing that I am most looking forward to is seeing the developed pictures from Makena's box. On Gotcha Day we received the box that her care package came in with a few items inside...there was the letter that we sent, the panda stuffed animal, a bag of her formula and rice cereal, and two disposable cameras! We thought that the birthday pictures that we received from Ann were from the camera that we sent! Charlie dropped the cameras off at the photo store today and we can pick them up tomorrow at noon....I hope that there are some good pictures on there!

Day 9: Guangzhou

It's 8:38pm on Sunday night and the rest of my little family has been sound asleep for about an hour. I thought I'd catch up on the last few days before I forgot everything! It's pouring outside, but it is still lovely. The lightning and thunder are incredible, if not a bit disheartening being in a high rise hotel! The Chinese lullabies are playing on the iPod for Makena, and CNN is on TV for Charlie...they are both completely out! It was a long day. We started with a tour of the Chen Family House, which would have been much more interesting had it not been one of the most hot and humid days in my experience! Mak was miserable, as you can probably tell from the photo! We also got to use our brand-new umbrella stroller today! Woohoo! What a great purchase - for a mere $25 US dollars, I was relieved of the incredible back pain that is carrying around a sleeping and/or squirming one-year-old. Awesome! Our other big outing was to a government store. There is a lot of counterfeiting in China, and it is recommended that you purchase things from government-sponsored stores to avoid problems. We wanted to get Mak a Chinese outfit for her red couch picture, as well as a jade rat pendant (for her birth year), and a jade bangle that I can pass down to her when she gets married (if she gets married...if she doesn't, I'll probably give it to her at 30). It was a fun experience and we could have spent a LOT of money in there! We did get out with only those three things though, so while Charlie wasn't thrilled with the price, at least I wasn't as much of a shopper as the other moms! Wow, did they get some great things (and pay the price too!).

 

We had Papa John's pizza for lunch and then headed to the pool. Makena loves the water. Plain and simple. She also loves the playroom, which is where we went after she screamed so long that we decided that a nap just wasn't in the cards today. On her lifestyle sheet it said "cries before sleep". How true - she screams bloody murder and will not stop if she doesn't want to do something, including sitting on a hotel bed when she is sleepy. Keep in mind that we are in a very small hotel room...the bed is pretty much the only place to sit! It was a very frustrating afternoon - so frustrating in fact, that we skipped the group dinner to the Thai restaurant (bummer....Thai food is my favorite!) and ate in the hotel instead.

 

All of our paperwork is in Veronica's capable hands. Tomorrow morning we get Mak's US Visa picture taken and then we go for her medical check-up. From what I hear, that is not fun, but this too shall pass!

Day 8: Guangzhou Photos

Before and After...

Day 8: Guangzhou

This was a big day. Mak's first plane ride. Yuck - we got ill just thinking about taking an airplane trip with a one-year old. It was another early morning, but we got our bags ready for pick up on time, managed a bit of breakfast, and caught the bus! We were both feeling a bit under the weather also, so that probably didn't make our fear of flying with her any better. Veronica got all of our tickets and we made it through security. It is very different than in the US. the conveyor belt of stuff is the same, but after you go through the metal detector, they wand you - even the baby! They also take the baby and passports away as they wand you. It was rather disconcerting, but we made it through! Our plane was delayed, so we got to spend even more time in the regional Chinese airport and then ride a stand-up only bus to the completely sold-out airplane. Good times...we were so desperate to entertain her at times that we tried out the sunglasses!

 

We made it in one piece and hopped on the bus to the White Swan Hotel; aka, the Baby Hotel (lots of foreigners travel through there because Guangzhou is where most of the major foreign consulates are located and there are lots of foreigners who adopt Chinese babies...not just Americans FYI). Our room might not be any better than the hotel in Nanchang, but the hotel is in a different class. Very nice and very busy! Veronica took us on a walking tour of the White Swan area of Shamian Island in Guangzhou - there is a Starbucks, 7-11, and a Subway within five minutes of the hotel! Please keep in mind that these are the Chinese versions, but it is still nice to see something familiar! We even went to the "American" restaurant on the island for dinner.

 

At the hotel, Mattel HK sponsors a Swan Room, which is a big playroom with lots of toys. Fantastic! You have to take off your shoes to play, and the carpet makes you glad that you did! It is wonderfully soft and not so hard when the newly walking babies take a tumble. Makena was a little overwhelmed, but seemed to have a great time. We did a lot of walking and crawling practice as well, and plan to go back every day! The other cool thing was the Barbie doll that we received. It is made specifically for people adopting from China and is very sweet...

Day 7: Makena's Many Moods

Day 7: Nanchang

We spent our morning touring the countryside. We hopped on our bus and took off out of the city. The small town that we went to was not too far from Nanchang, and according to Veronica, is much nicer than where Makena is from. One crazy thing that we've also become accustomed to is the bus driving (and all traffic in general). The bus was driving down the road and them proceeded to do a U-turn in the middle of a two-lane road...with traffic coming in each direction. We were completely sitting ducks...a bunch of Americans with their Chinese babies turning right in front of people just trying to do their jobs. It was pretty funny and people are generally nice to us. We started walking and got to see the pig carcases for sale, the toilets (small shack buildings with a hole in the ground), babies in split pants, people working in the fields, and retired persons playing mah jong. It was a beyond depressed area by American standards. Makena fell asleep about 35 minutes into the walk, so I was happy when we headed back for the bus. She sure can get heavy! Charlie stayed with the tour guide for another 30 or so minutes to see a bit more of the countryside. What an interesting morning - everyone was very accommodating, even if they looked at us like we were very strange!

 

Makena finally fell asleep right as I had to head out to complete some more paperwork. Charlie said that I would be the only mom to show up, since the last time we had to complete paperwork as a group (about two hours after gotcha!) it was all dads. This time it was all moms - it was also all of the complicated US paperwork. It took us about 2 hours to get everyone ready. The three of us made a lot of use out of the playroom that was right down the hall from our room. We ended our day with a group pizza party in the playroom - yum! We also got our girls' Chinese passports! Mak's has her picture from before we met her in it and is all ready for her US Visa!

 

That was to be our last day in Nanchang and also in Jiangxi province...Makena's home province for her first year of life! It was happy and sad for us. We grew accustomed to the area and the food (although the pollution was not very pleasant) - we were probably the only ones in our group who weren't thrilled to be heading to the next step! What I wasn't thrilled about, but did make it through, was packing. The day we arrived in Nanchang, I unpacked everything. And I mean, everything! So putting the puzzle back together and making sure that neither of our bags exceeded the 44 lb weight limit was great fun! We did it though! One more step closer to home!

What we know about Makena so far...

She is beautiful...she loves to talk and does it constantly...she loves to walk if you hold her arms...she doesn't know how to crawl, but just learned how to scoot on her belly...she is working on sitting up on her own...she loves steamed eggs, congee, noodles, rice, and watermelon...once we got her formula right, she loves it...she's seemingly not worn diapers before...she has a mean streak...she is extremely spoiled and it doesn't seem that anyone ever set her down before she arrived here on Sunday...she is wearing 6-12 month clothes, but not for long...she can use a straw...she drinks Evian straight from the bottle (she's a bit messy)...she's not too enamoured by regular toys, but loves the video camera, remote control, and watching herself in mirrors and in video...she giggles when she is happy...she is a dancer and sways when there is music...she loves Gerber puffs but not Cheerios...she LOVES money and she first went to Charlie when she realized that he had all of the money; now she loves him...she cries before she sleeps - always and for a long time (we knew this from her foster mom)...she smiles at everyone but only really talks to us and Veronica...she loves music...she is not capable of sitting still for more than a few seconds...she hates high chairs...she flops a lot in her sleep...she is a typical one-year-old and cannot be left alone for a second (and she craves attention)...she does not understand the word no (in Chinese or English)...she's in the middle of a big adjustment and we think that she is doing great!

 

We have a bunch of videos and photographs and will share more of them when we get back to the States and have blogspot access.  Right now, we are emailing the information to the server and hoping that it comes out alright! We are loving our time in China and are definitely meeting some wonderful people. I think we'll be back here sooner rather than later!

Day 6: Nanchang Photos

Charlie and Makena sharing a moment, and a pic of us California girls hanging out at the Pavilion! Becky and her family are great and we are planning to stay in touch and visit often! Her daughter is the one who lived close to Makena...

Day 6: Nanchang

Today was another good day (and it isn't nearly over yet!). We got up for good at 5:30am and played a bit after our bottle. Breakfast was great (as always...normally I am completely opposed to buffets, but for breakfast in a hotel, it is great!). We're expanding our feeding of Makena. I'm  sure that she already had all of these foods, but we're trying to add things slowly to make sure that she a) doesn't throw them in disgust, and b) they agree with her belly. At breakfast we added noodles and she slurped them up!

 

Our city tour was at one of the three most beautiful pavilions in China (according to our guide, not my limited experience!). It truly was lovely and we even got to see a show at the top of the pavilion! Makena really doesn't like to sit still, and after pulling on me and twirling around in my lap, she decided to flirt with the little boy sitting next to us. He was probably three, and him wanting nothing to do with her made her flirt that much harder! Very endearing! But our big adventure of the day was to the American Embassy...McDonald's! The entire bus cheered when Veronica asked if we wanted to get carry out...Charlie was first in line! He ate more from McDonald's than I've ever seen him eat in one sitting! He bought me a strawberry shake as a treat. On the bus ride back to the hotel I stole a sip and Mak looked at me as if to say, what about me? So we handed her the straw, and sure enough...slurp! She screamed when we took it away. Apparently she has more experience with different drinking containers than we gave her credit for! We came back to the room and Mak shared french fries with us while we chowed down! It was a long afternoon after that - she screamed (and no, I'm not exaggerating...it was screaming) for probably a solid hour. She's napping right now, but that sure was a fight. I talked to a couple of the other moms and they seemed to have the same problem.

 

Tonight we are eating at the local restaurant in the hotel. I am looking forward to getting some good food in her belly (and hopefully in ours too) so that we can have a good night's sleep. We just picked up all of our notarial paperwork, and now we know why it cost 4000 yuan. Wow...talk about a lot of paper! Overall the evening looks to be pretty typical for this week! Tomorrow we will be touring the countryside, which is similar to where Makena is from. Veronica will also go to the police station to get the baby passports. That will allow us to leave Jiangxi province come Saturday morning. That also means that tomorrow I need to start thinking  about packing all of our stuff back up. Wow..I never knew we could pack so much and only have it weigh 88 pounds total! Wish me luck!

Day 5: Nanchang Photos - evening

Mak LOVES to walk and when she is not happy, everyone knows about it!

Day 5: Nanchang Photos

Day 5: Nanchang

Okay. Now I am finally caught up. It is actually 9:44pm on Wednesday and we had a great day today. Charlie and Makena have been asleep for about an hour, but I decided that I had to at least get some photos posted!

 

Today was great. We woke up at 4am for a bottle and a diaper, then slept until 7am. Makena woke up happy, which made mama and baba very happy too! We played for a long time and then headed down to breakfast. She even let Charlie feed her! Yay! The group headed to a park and walked around for a few hours. It was lovely and we were able to go into a temple and got a history lesson. Makena fell asleep for a good part of the trip, but before she crashed, she let Charlie walk her around for a while. We are definitely making progress on that end! My mistake  was letting her come to me right before she fell asleep - an hour later and I was still holding her! I'm so glad that we brought that slingling!

 

A subset of our 11 families headed to lunch on the way home. Veronica ordered for us and we had a great time. Makena ate like a mad woman again; quite frankly, she eats more than Charlie and I combined at any one of these meals! Oh I almost forgot...she LOVES watermelon! All of the girls do. It is the messiest thing I've seen in a long time, but boy does it make them happy!

 

At 3pm, a calligrapher came to the hotel's playroom (which is just a few doors down from our room - our hotel caters to adoptive families) and offered to create a calligraphy on silk and rice paper for our children. We got one made for Makena - it has her Chinese name, her orphanage, and our wishes for her...health, happiness, and eternal love. It is simply beautiful (although we're not sure how we'll get it home!). Dinner tonight was at another local place. Makena did great again! We had so much fun!

 

Back at the pad we played with the beach ball for awhile and got a great video of Makena just laughing her little head  off. Then it was on to a bath - a real bath, complete with a hair washing. She did great! She didn't even cry before she fell asleep! Wow! We did a lot of walking practice today too, so we were happy to see her tired. and ready for bed. 

 

One thing that we've gotten accustomed to over the last couple of days is that the locals are very interested in Makena and in us. We get a lot of folks coming up to us (they are NOT shy) and speaking with us and talking to Makena. At first it seemed uncomfortable, but after speaking with Veronica, it seems that they are happy that we are taking the children out of orphanages and giving them  a proper home. They are so very nice and accommodating! Veronica even gave us a little sign that we are showing to the locals when they are pretty adamant about what's going on with the Chinese girl (and we are unable to communicate). It says Makena's Chinese name and birthdate, along with an explanation of who we are and that we are adopting the little Chinese girl. That we love Chinese culture and its people (which is very true), and that we will love Fu Yan E forever and  never neglect, abandon, or abuse her. That card is definitely a keepsake. Anyway, off to bed now! We've got another fun day at a different park tomorrow!

Day 4: Nanchang

Makena slept until 5:00am! Wow...that was awesome! We tried taking the rice cereal out of the bottle and adding a tad bit of sugar. Voila! We were still using the cut nipple, but we didn't care when it got all over. She actually took it (3 ounces - not the 6 we need, but definitely a step in the right direction). For the record, we haven't  had any trouble getting her to eat formula since that morning. We even were able to switch out a regular level four nipple for the one that we cut to mimic her old one. She's an eater!

 

Breakfast brought with it her first "baby chair". She did relatively well, although we could tell that she'd never been in one and wasn't real thrilled. We went with the same breakfast as Monday, but also threw in a banana and some rice pudding. Yum! She was very happy. We're finding that she is very strong-willed, and when she wanted out of that chair, well she was going to get out whether I liked it or not! Then we all hopped in the bus and went to the notary. We again had to pay the notary fee and get interviewed. Mak slept through the whole thing and man was my arm tired! After we left  the notary, our Chinese paperwork was complete. She was ours and no one could take her away! Now we just had to stay in Nanchang until her passport arrived, which we're hoping is still Friday. Then we headed to the Nanchang Super Wal-Mart. For the first time in my memory, I was very excited to see that sign! We bought diapers, formula, toys, water, etc...awesome! Charlie thinks that the best part of that trip was that we got to eat at KFC afterward. It was pretty disgusting, but boy did that fountain soda taste good (with no ice or course!).

 

In the afternoon we headed out on an optional shopping trip to the mall. Veronica put us in cabs, and as is typical for China, the ride there was very eventful. Why follow the rules of the road when driving down the wrong side of the road into oncoming traffic will get you there faster?!?! Oh, and just so you know, there are no car seats in China - Mak was in my lap (actually, she was standing on my lap) the entire time! The other families that went checked out the cute clothes and shoes...Charlie and me? We headed for the stereo section and bought a speaker for the iPod. The sheet said that Mak loved music, but we couldn't find any (there is no radio or clock in our room, and no music video TV station). I had preloaded lullabies on my iPod before we left, and thought that might be something good for her to listen to. That was the best $30 we've spent in a long time! We use them all of the time we are in the room. They are great and very tiny! We ended up back in the hotel playroom with Mak's beach ball. What fun!

 

That night a few of us headed back to the same restaurant as the night before. Makena had been cranky all afternoon; she woke up 30 minutes after she went down for her nap screaming bloody murder. She was NOT happy that we were there when she woke up either. After that, things were dicey.  She screamed most of the way through dinner and it took Veronica to speak Chinese to her and calm her down a bit. Again, let me reiterate how fantastic Veronica is!

Day 3: Nanchang Photos

Day 3: Nanchang

Monday was a wonderful and completely crazy day. We all got up and kind of looked at each other. We tried again with the bottle to no success, but no worries! There was a Western/Eastern breakfast buffet in the hotel. Mak was showing a bit of a preference for me at this point...daddy made her cry (although she got over it quickly when I disappeared). I put Makena in one  of my favorite little outfits and it was so fun to see if on her! We've (okay, I've) collected clothes over the last four years for her and it is wonderful to see them fit! At breakfast we tried eggs, congee, and bread. They were all big hits! Yay! We got food in her belly! The formula thing really caused us some concern and we also had issues with water. After  trying every combination under the sun...cutting the nipple hole bigger, trying a different bottle, trying a sippy cup, adding a bit of juice, adding a bit of sugar (very common here)...Ugh! We were going to dehydrate the girl in less than 24 hours! Help!

 

At 10am, the orphanage director, Mr. Zhong, sat down with us to speak and to  answer our questions. As it turns out, Makena has spent her first year with a foster family! She had a late-40s foster mom and four foster siblings. Her oldest foster brother worked construction, so they were  pretty high in the economy. Her foster mother loves baby girls and only takes a foster child once in a great while. We also discovered the daughter of our new friends, Becky and Alex, lived nearby to Makena and they knew each other. Mr. Zhong talked about foster care and about how much the mothers love the babies. There wasn't a dry eye in the house, including his!

 

We got take out from the hotel and ate in our room. Makena loved pizza crust and Gerber puffs...I know, not the healthiest, but we were just trying to bond! That afternoon we all headed on a bus to the civil affairs office. Muggy doesn't even begin to describe how hot and sweaty and humid the office was. The one win we had pretty quick was that we discovered that our girl simply didn't want to drink water from a baby bottle..she prefers drinking straight from the Evian bottle! A girl after our own hearts! We had three tasks at the office. First, we took a family photo (!). Second, we paid the fees.  Third, we  got interviewed. We had to promise not to abuse, neglect, or abandon our daughter and promise to love her forever. That wasn't hard! At the end of a very long three or so hours, we all received our adoption certificates. It was official! Makena was a Brown!

 

Then it was a bus ride to the police station to get passport pictures taken. That was actually really nice because there was air conditioning and it was quick! Who knows what her picture will look like, but we were proud that they didn't have to take it more than once! Monday evening we did a group dinner at a local Chinese restaurant. It was great...Veronica ordered steamed egg and vegetable congee for each baby. Turns out, Makena is an eater! She went to town! Mama didn't get to each hardly anything (she would only let me touch her at this point), but it didn't matter. She was eating! Yay! Back at the hotel it was time for another bath, another bottle (which she still wouldn't take), and bedtime. After that great meal, it only took a few minutes to get her  to sleep. One of the things that was on her lifestyle sheet was that she cried before sleep. They were not kidding! She screams and then collapses! Very endearing...Charllie and I also crashed...Tuesday was going to be long too!

Day 2: Gotcha Photos

Day 2: Gotcha Day

The wake-up came at 4:00am and the bell boy picked up our luggage at 4:30am. Breakfast (buns and coffee) was at 5:20am and the bus left for the airport at 5:50am. Everyone was punctual...all 9 families (we were to meet two more in Nanchang). While we were all going through the motions, there was an odd unspoken feeling amongst the crowd. It was our last moments without our children. Let me repeat that...our children! We were fortunate enough to fly out of the new Beijing airport terminal that was built for the 2008 Olympics. It was lovely and a true combination of the Hong Kong airport and the Seoul airport - very modern and full of glass. We hung out with all of our new friends in the terminal waiting for our flight. A trip to the airport convenience store yielded Pringles and soda. Yum! Not much else was recognizable and I was not about to buy fruit in an airport! Our flight to Nanchang was uneventful, if a bit dramatic. The pilot took us straight into the air and straight down to the ground for our take-off and landings. It was crazy and just enough humor for all of us.

 

The Nanchang airport was fine, although the bathroom was a typical Chinese water closet. Our luggage made it (yippee!) and we all boarded the bus to the Jin Feng Hotel in Nanchang, which is the capital of the Jiangxi province.  Our phenomenal guide, Veronica, gave us such a memorable talk on the way to the hotel. Charlie recorded it so that we could watch it again; what an amazing lady! It wasn't even anything that I can write down, just know that it lifted everyone's spirits and gave us such a sense of peace. Wow, just thinking about it now sends chills down my spine!

 

We unpacked and went to a local market to buy some water (tap water is not potable here) before we headed to lunch. Our last meal as a family of two! It was so eventful that the wedding reception that was being thrown on the floor above the restaurant accidentally dumped the good luck rice on me! Yes, all over me...it was in my hair, on my clothes, on the table, you name it, it was there! What a sign of good luck! Gotcha was supposed to be on the second floor of the hotel at 3:30pm, and all of the parents were anxiously waiting in the lobby...every time a baby came in the door everyone would gasp (what stalkers we were!). Veronica came down and said that they wouldn't be there until 4:30pm because the orphanage bus was stuck on the freeway because of a bus accident. Those poor babies (and those equally poor nannies) were stuck on that bus for over 5 hours! Ugh...

 

At about 4:30pm, there were a few babies getting out of a bus out front...they started to come in and we saw Makena! She was the second baby in the door and was being carried by a beautiful young nanny. We recognized her right away. The throng of adoptive parents was so funny! Everyone headed upstairs - babies first and then families. All of the babies sit with their nannies in a row of chairs and the families sat in a semi-circle around them. We had to have our passports, so when they called Makena's Chinese name (which took us a while to pronounce, but we've become quite proficient!) we had to take our passports to the orphanage director to verify that we were the right parents for Mak. Then the nanny handed her to me and made sure we knew that she had just started to walk! What a moment. It is impossible to put it into words and I won't even try. We watched everyone get their babies while Mak, Charlie, and I got a bit acquainted. It was pretty much mass chaos, but everyone waited their turn to meet their kids.

 

We brought Makena up to our room to get to know her. She was not happy, but was not crying. We played a bit and tried desperately to make her a bottle of formula. The orphanage director had given us a bag of formula and rice cereal that she ate, so we were trying to follow the Chinese directions. Ha! BTW, it is now actually Wednesday and we have it down to a science...and it turns out that she doesn't like rice cereal - go figure! Anyway, the clothes that she came in were way too tight for her and she had big marks on her legs from the bloomers and the socks. We will keep that outfit for her, but it definitely isn't going back on her. Veronica ordered pizza for us and brought it to our room while we had two hours of family time. At 7pm, Charlie went downstairs to fill out some more paperwork and then I headed down when he returned. We got Mak to sleep pretty easy that night; she was obviously grieving. Veronica recommended that we put her in one of our beds (it seems that almost all of the hotels only have two doubles...no kings) to sleep. That seemed to work. Talk about a bizarre feeling though. We just sat there and looked at her. What a little beauty! She was very quiet that day and didn't cry - boy were we in for a rude awakening in a couple of days! She did sleep for about four hours at a time that night and while we tried making her bottles at her prescribed times, she just wouldn't take them. Poor little thing...Monday was going to be a hectic day too!

All is Well...except Internet access!

All is great here. We've been with Makena for almost 48 hours now and are officially her parents! We have so much to write, but are having a lot of Internet issues. Am going to try something new and hoping that it works much better! The posts might not be perfect, but at least we'll get some info posted! We miss you all and can't wait for you to meet our little princess (more about that later...)!

Day 1: Beijing

We had a busy day. Jet lag got Charlie up early and he headed out for a walk around town at about 5am. Breakfast was at 6:30am and then the two of us walked around for about an hour before the tour started. It is so much fun to walk around the town. Very few of the dogs are on leashes and there are hundreds of bicycles on every street. We ran into a local market, which is always an education, and then saw a mini-parade going down the street. It was nice and cool even; it is always nice to not be sweaty before the day even starts!

Veronica had us on the bus at 8:30am and we headed to Tiananmen's Square and the Forbidden City. Then it started to rain...buckets! There were hundreds of street vendors that really wanted us to buy an umbrella. We did not and just hung in the rain for the next few hours. It really was a wonderful tour that walked us several miles from Tiananmen's Square to the South Entrance of the Forbidden City all the way through to the North Exit of the Forbidden City. Amazing...Charlie and I really wanted to go to the Chinese National Museum, but there wasn't time. Next trip! Let me reiterate at this point...we were soaking wet (if we get any pictures posted, you'll see what I mean!).

Once we made it back to the bus we headed to the Cloisonne factory where we had a wonderful lunch. Then it was onto the Great Wall of China - the Badaling entrance. The rain stopped, but it stayed very cool. That really helped everyone, as it was much steeper than anyone had anticipated! I went up to the first castle with Charlie, which was just about as far as most of the folks went. Charlie and our new friends Alex and his son, David, headed up to the next castle and ended up going all the way to number six! Their heads were in the clouds by then...I call them castles, but they were really guard towers (the kids all called them castles and it stuck!). It truly is a wonder of the world. Everyone was in awe.

We headed back to the hotel at 4pm, exhausted and still wet. Veronica went over the process for Gotcha Day tomorrow and we received our travel approval sheet with Mak's photo on it. Right before we got back to the Poly Plaza hotel, we passed by the Bird's Nest and other Olympic sites. Amazing!

Our orders are to have our luggage ready for the bell boy at 4:30am, breakfast is at 5:20am, and we leave for the Beijing airport at 5:50am. I've got to get packing...good night! Tomorrow is a big day.

Greetings from Beijing

Today, we are tourists! Complete with snacks, a roll of toilet paper (for the squat potties), sunscreen, bottled water and a digital SLR camera. For the record, at least we have them all in one bag! We're just heading down to the breakfast buffet and hope to enjoy some breakfast congee while we are there. Our guide is meeting us at 8:30am to take us on our only full day of tourist activities!

We have discovered a bit of a snag in our attempt to blog this trip though...it appears that Blogspot is blocked from our hotel in Beijing, but we are still able to use the BlackBerry. We're hoping that it is a temporary thing and we'll not have trouble in Nanchang. The only reason that we wanted to use it was for pictures; we'll deal with that when we get there though. We can get to Facebook though, so we'll be sure to post a bunch there once we get to Nanchang!

In Beijing...

We had a smooth and safe flight into Beijing. It's a full 12 hours ahead, so jet lag is kicking in a bit...we're troopers though! No sleep for us until tonight. We just showered and changed clothes so that we can go downstairs and enjoy the juice bar and the sites. Will go with our guide to the local grocery store so we can buy some snacks for our big day of touring tomorrow! We'll post pictures and other tidbits ASAP.

on our way!

We are in Newark awaiting our next leg. Beijing here we come! Our first plane was delayed (as to be expected into Newark), so we got breakfast vouchers. What a good start to the day! And for the record, I'm not being sarcastic. It really was a good start! We just finished a mango margarita and a beer...parenthood here we come. The countdown has begun! Wish us luck as we board an oversold flight direct to China. I pulled the short straw and will be starting out in the middle seat. Good times...

Blessed

We are blessed. Plain and simple. There are so many friends and family that have touched us by their good wishes and generosity. Thank you to each and every one of you! We truly appreciate all of our friends and family and look forward to introducing you all to Makena (in due time...jet lag from Asia is brutal!).

And we're off...

It's 12:19am and we're officially packed and ready to go...okay, okay...lesson learned. We should have started packing before 9pm tonight! It was easy to keep our checked bags under the 44lb weight limit for China, but it was a bit tough to squeeze everything in. Between the two of us, we have two 25" check bags and a few small carry-ons - for 17 days! Wish us luck...

I was just standing in my closet staring at my options and I realized that this is probably the last time for many years that I will have that luxury. I imagine that our daughter will not sit patiently while I try on four different outfits every morning or simply stare at the rack and think that I have nothing to wear.

Charlie and I are so excited to start this new chapter; I just got a message that our flight from home to Newark is two hours late tomorrow morning. Good thing we have a four-hour layover!