Week Two....

It is odd to think we have been home only two weeks.  It seems like China was another lifetime...not sure why, and I am way too tired to try and figure it out!  

Regardless, we have had a great second week.  Our biggest news this week is that Abby started first grade this past Monday.  She got up Monday morning and asked if she was going to Anita's house.  I told her no, that was she was going to school.  She was so excited that she jumped up, ran to her room, got dressed, and then grabbed her backpack and stood by the door.  Wow...if only the boys could show a fraction of that enthusiasm!

She did a half day on Monday - I picked her up around 11:30.  We did not even make it to the car before she had opened her backpack to show me her papers.  She was so excited!  She chattered all the way home...I hate that I couldn't understand every detail (or any detail for that matter) of her first day at school.  I finally had her call our friend May who speaks Mandarin.  Abby told her that she liked school alot and that her teacher and new friends were really nice to her.  She also said that she was not scared at all. (I didn't think she was judging by how quickly she said goodbye to me, but it was nice to know for sure!)

The staff at the school and Abby's teachers have been WONDERFUL!   They are all so excited to see her every morning and are stopping me in the hall almost daily to share details of Abby's day.  I love it! It just thrills me to know that Abby has been so welcomed and cared for at school!

Also this week, we visited our pediatrician for Abby's first appointment.  She weighed in at 44 pounds and was 42 inches tall.  She had her hemoglobin checked (not a fan of the finger prick), an initial urinalysis (much easier for the boys!), and two shots (ouch!).  By the time we left, she had definitely had enough and cried most of the way home.  Overall, the doctor was pleased with her mobility and said she looked healthy.  He will be calling in a referral to Shriner's in Tampa so we can begin addressing some of Abby's medical needs.  She will also need to go in a few days and have more blood work done, but we will worry about that next week.  For now, we are back to the fun....

First Week Home

It has been a busy week!  Despite my best intentions to keep things quiet and calm for Abby, it has not worked out that way.  Lucky for all of us, she has taken it all in stride!

After arriving home at 2:00 am on Friday, September 13, I managed to get everyone bathed and in bed by 3:30 am.  We had all slept quite a bit on the plane, so I really wasn't sure what to expect.  I got some laundry going and got myself into bed.  I set the alarm for seven, thinking it'd be better to go ahead and try to get up at a normal time.  Josh ended up sleeping until eight and Abby and Will slept until 10:00.  Once everyone was up, we ventured out to pick up Ella, our goldendoodle.

As expected, Abby was TERRIFIED of Ella.  She shrieked and screamed every time Ella so much as looked at her.  Luckily, Ella was pretty tired from her visit at the vet, so she was content to sleep in her crate for most of the day.  

Our neighbor came over around lunch and sat and chatted with me for a while.  It was so nice....she had done lots of reading on attachment and bonding while we were gone and knew all of the recommendations.  I didn't have to explain to her that Abby needed hugs, kisses, and holding only from her family for a while....she knew that already and I was kind of relieved....that is always kind of an odd thing to try and explain to people!

On Saturday, we had a visit from DeeAnna (and Levi, Ethan, and Andrew) and another visit from Holly and her family.  Oh, and we made just a bit of progress with Abby and Ella....

On Sunday, we decided to skip church, fearing it would be too much, too soon.  We did meet our FireHouse buddies for lunch.  It was great to see to see some of our friends and tell them all about our trip to China!  

Sunday afternoon, we visited our friends May and Li, who are from China.  They both speak Mandarin, so they were able to talk with Abby.  Abby's face just lit up when she realized that she could communicate with them!  They were able to talk with Abby about the upcoming week....how Will and Josh would be heading back to school, how I would be returning to work for just a few hours, and how she would be staying with Anita.  They also talked with her about our dog, emphasizing how sweet the dog is (and she is, at least sometimes!)

On Monday, Abby and I saw Will and Josh off to school.  She happily waved goodbye to them both as they boarded the school bus.  I dropped her off at Anita's house and she happily waved goodbye to me as well.  I hope it is normal that I was both happy and sad that there were no tears as I left her.  I headed to work and managed to clear my jet-lag filled brain long enough to teach my two classes.   Monday night began the meal service, thanks to my friend Sherry.  Sherry coordinated meals to be brought to us several times a week for the first month.  I am so happy to not have the worry about dinner for a while!  Our friends Jodi, Staci, and Molly brought the first meal.....lasagna, salad, bread, and chocolate pie!  

Tuesday brought a minor set back in the Abby/Ella relationship....Ella got a little too excited and scratched Abby's arm.  It was a tiny little scratch but with it came tons of tears and what I am sure was some not-so-nice Chinese words!  I was finally able to cheer Abby up with some noodles from the Rice Bowl.  Tuesday night, our friends Laura, Emma, and Allison brought dinner, but more importantly brought some great girl toys!  Abby had so much fun with the costume jewelry!

Wednesday, Abby went back to see Anita while I went to work.  I picked her up at 11:30 and found her fast asleep!  I guess all the excitement is wearing her out!  I got her home for some lunch and she climbed right back into bed and slept until 4:30. I woke her up and we headed to church. I know, I know....we are supposed to be cocooning, but she seems to be doing so well and I feel like getting the boys back into our normal routine will help with the adjustment, so off we went! She really did amazing! She sat down and ate her dinner like it was nothing new. She went outside and played on the playground and then happily headed in with the other kids for the children's program. She was definately a bit of a star as all of the other little girls wanted to sit by her. She smiled the ENTIRE time....this child just loves life! I have a feeling that we will all learn alot from her...I can't wait to see!

We are HOME!

What a journey!  We arrived home tonight (this morning) at 2:00 am.

I am so thankful to be home!  I am so grateful for all of the support from family and friends!  We love each and every one of you and are so appreciative that we could share this journey with you. 

A big thank you goes to Anita for traveling to China with us.  She now knows more about our family than she ever wanted to and she assures me that she still loves us...whew!   She was a huge help and I could not have done it without her!  

Also, big thanks to everyone who pitched in to help me cover my classes so that I could be gone for two weeks.  Thanks to Barbara, Brad, and Mike for teaching trig and thanks to Holly for "ghost teaching" my online statistics courses.  

Thanks to DeeAnna and Sherry for buying groceries and stocking our fridge with food and thanks to the Everett's for keeping an eye on our house.  Thanks to Tina and Chad for cutting our grass while we were gone.  And thanks to Jodi and all of the staff for taking care of Ella at Magnolia!

And most of all, thanks to everyone who prayed us through this journey from start to finish!  Abby is such an amazing little girl....I cannot wait for everyone to meet her and I cannot wait to see what plans God has for her life!

Heading home!

Our bags are packed and we are off!

We checked out of the hotel this morning at 9:00 am and boarded a bus for the airport.  Our guide helped us check in at the airport.  We are excited that several new friends are on our same flight.  It should make the layovers a little more fun!

The flight to Seoul turned out to be pretty bad.  We sat on the runway (with no air) for over an hour.  By the time we took off, Will had a headache and was running a pretty high fever.  I gave him an Advil and a Tylenol a little bit later, but neither seemed to bring the fever down.  Once we landed, I knew we would have to walk through temperature sensors.  I was so afraid that we were going to be quarantined, but somehow we made it through without raising any red flags.  Our flight was late landing so we really had to hurry to make it to our gate.  Abby walks well, but not quickly and we needed to move fast.  I finally found a luggage cart and put her in it.  She loved the ride and we made it to the gate with a few minutes to spare.

I found a pharmacy (surprisingly) and bought a thermometer.  I paid 10000 somethings for it....hope that is not expensive...I really have no idea.  Will's temperature was 38 degrees...CELSIUS, of course....what is that conversion formula again??  We got on the plane and he went right to sleep.  He slept for HOURS, which was good, but I hated that he felt so bad.

We ate dinner on the plane...the highlight for Abby was the seaweed soup.  Everyone was in a sharing mood this afternoon, so she was able to have three bowls!  

After dinner, everyone went to sleep and seemed to sleep well.  When Will woke up, he felt better, which was a relief.  All in all, the 13 hour flight really didn't even seem that bad, although I was still very thankful when we landed!

Once we got off the plane, we went though passport control, immigration, and customs.  It all went very smoothly and very quickly!  Then we all got to congratulate the newest U.S. CITIZEN!!!

The Visa has arrived!

Today was our first day with nothing on the schedule!  We slept in a bit, went to breakfast, and then thought we would head to the park.  As soon as we stepped out of the air conditioned hotel into the steamy heat, Abby let us know very quickly that she was not interested in the park.  She made a very unpleasant face, fanned her face with her hand, and planted her feet.  She whined for a bit, enough that we finally turned around and went back into the hotel.  We stopped at Starbucks to get some lunch and took it back to the room to eat.  After lunch, we headed to the pool.  Abby seems to really enjoy the water.  Josh has taught her to blow bubbles and today Will tried to teach her to kick her legs.

We found this sign by the pool and also by the jacuzzi.  A picture is worth a thousand words, right?

After swimming, we went to the lobby to meet our guide and to receive our visas and famous brown envelope.  We need the visa so Abby can enter the United States and the brown envelope is needed for us to go through immigration.  Having these two items in our possession means that we can leave China and head home!  We have LOVED our time in China and learned so much, but we are ready to head back to America!  We said goodbye to the Holt China staff...we will miss them!

We ran into McDonalds once more for dinner and then walked to our favorite bakery.  This place has wonderful pastries!

On the way back, we saw the biggest cucumber (maybe?) ever.  Josh just had to have a picture!

Then back to the hotel to start PACKING!

Pearl River Dinner Cruise

Tonight, our guide took us on a dragon boat cruise up the Pearl River.  We ordered pizza ahead of time and took it on the boat for dinner.  The do serve food on the boat, but our guide said the food was "special" and that we would not like it.  I think I will take her word for it!

The cruise was really fun...everyone enjoyed it.  Here is a picture of our boat....

The city lights were beautiful!  I am so glad we did this...we all loved it!

U.S. Consulate

Today, all of the Holt families met in the lobby of the hotel at 7:40 am.  We boarded a bus that took us to the U.S. Consulate.  It was here that we all took an oath on behalf of our children and officially applied for their immigrant visa.  It was an easy process at this point and took all of five minutes once our number was called.  

I wish I had pictures to post, but no cameras (or watches or pens or any type of electronic or toys) are allowed.  This rule produced our first temper tantrum this morning.  Abby was intent on taking her stuffed animal with her to the appointment and got quite upset with me when I wouldn't allow it.  I finally had to have the guide explain to her that toys were not allowed.  She accepted that, but remained upset at me most of the morning.  She even refused to sit by me on the bus...I see a stubborn streak coming!

Regardless, Abby looked so cute in her red, white, and blue dress, but was not extremely cooperative for the camera once we returned for the hotel.  I tried to take a few pictures anyway, but never got a great shot.  Now that our consulate appointment is over, all we have to do is wait for the visa to be delivered tomorrow and then we will be on our way home!

Safari Park

Today we headed for Safari Park.  We were a little nervous but felt we were ready for some adventure....so we decided to take the subway to get there.  We decided it would be much cheaper than renting a bus or taxi.  Plus, we had some great directions from another adoptive mom's blog, so why not???

We easily found the machine that dispensed the subway tokens.  We had a little trouble figuring out exactly what to do, but were finally able to select our final destination and enter the number of people.  We put about $5 in the machine and out came five subway tokens.  Yay!  We were pretty proud of our success so far!

Figuring out the subway way not too hard.  We had to change lines three times.  It took about an hour to get to the park.  When we came out of the subway terminal, we were surprised at how hot it was!  I assumed we were prepared for anything after living in South Georgia, but I think Guangzhou has us beat.  It was seriously hot and very, very humid!  

Once we were in the park, we were so glad we had made the effort to go.  We saw lots of very cool animals and got to do some pretty neat things.  

We happened to catch the pandas during play time and then got to stay for snack time as well!  They put on quite a show!

After watching the pandas for a while, we headed over to visit the giraffes.  They were hungry, too.

Abby did not want to feed the giraffes.  She might have had the right idea!

We then headed to the elephants, where Josh spent his own money for a chance to ride an elephant.  I thought he might be scared, but I think he loved every minute of it!

On our way out of the park, we saw this, which we just thought was a bit odd.  Turns out it was a trash can, which is way better than what we thought it was :-)

All in all, we had a great time at Safari Park.  We only saw a fraction of the exhibits because we were a little short on time and it was so HOT!  But what we saw was SUPER!

Sunday, part 2

After church, we walked around and explored Shamian Island for a bit.  We dropped some laundry off at Michael's and then tried to take advantage of some photo opportunities.  Right in the middle of the island, we found exactly what I was looking for!   There is a set of statues that almost every adoptive parent takes a picture of with their child...these statues are nearly famous for China adoptive families....I could not wait to find these statues and take my pictures!

This one is not as famous, but Abby thought she was being so funny.  She just laughed and laughed at herself so I had to snap a picture!

Next, we met up with Ann from Red Thread China and did some shopping.  She took us to the toy market, which was AMAZING!  The place was enormous with floor after floor of merchandise.  I could have spent all day there!

Abby got several silk dresses and Will and Josh both got Kung Fu outfits.  I think this was the highlight of the trip for Josh!

We also got chopsticks, a tea set, small jade animal figurines, fans, silk umbrellas, and, of course, a few toys!

We left the toy market and caught a cab to the pearl market.  This, too, was quite impressive!  Will bought 50 pairs of pearl earrings with plans to resell them on eBay...quite the entrepreneur!  I bought a very nice strand of pearls to give to Abby when she gets older and several smaller strands that she can wear now.  

All together, we shopped for over four hours...it seemed like much longer even though we had so much fun!  Ann helped us get a cab, we said goodbye, and headed back to the hotel.

It's Sunday!

It's Sunday and we are off to church!  

We took a taxi this morning to Shamian Island.  Shamian Island is almost famous in the Chinese adoption community.  Years ago, the US Embassy was located there along with the White Swan Hotel.  Because so many families would stay on the island, it became very adoption-friendly.  It became known for its beautiful scenery, great shopping, and restaurants.  However, a few years ago, the US Embassy moved off of the island and the White Swan Hotel closed for renovations.  Today, most adoptive families visit the island to shop and sightsee.

We arrived on the island a few minutes before 11:00 and attempted to find the Christian Church.  The island was bigger than I had anticipated and we had a difficult time finding the church.  We walked for a while, trying to find someone who spoke English, and trying not to roast in the heat and humidity.  We finally managed to find the church.  We walked in and found it to be packed with people.  It did not appear that there was an empty seat anywhere.  Nevertheless, people slid down their pews to make room for us.  Josh, Abby, and I sat on one pew and Anita and Will sat behind us.  As soon as I sat down, I felt such peace.  How amazing that God is God, whether we are sitting at First Methodist in Albany or whether we are sitting in a church on the other side of the world in China.  And as I watched Abby listen to the prayers and music, I was overcome with emotion to realize that she may be hearing about God and Jesus for the first time in her life.  (Of course, my state of awe and amazement was quickly cut short as Josh poked me in the side and said, "MOM, this is in CHINESE....when can we GO???"). We stayed though the prayers and music and a bit of the sermon and then scooted out into the courtyard of the church to wait for Will and Anita.  All in all, this was an amazing experience....I am so glad we went!