So it's 5:30am here which is the latest I've slept yet. Keeghan's still out cold. She did wake once last night but I just changed her and settled her back down and we both went right back to sleep. From what her Nannies said she is going to be up in the next half hour or so. I figured I'd get up and check e-mail and have a few minutes to myself before we start our day.
I also thought I'd share some interesting China observations I've had since being here...
1. Christmas is pretty popular here. There were Christmas carols playing all over and decorations galore. Tons of people are wearing Santa hats and there were two men dressed as Santa in the mall we went to in Beijing.
2. The buffet at dinner last night included snake, turtle, octopus...and plenty of other things that we would never think to include in a buffet. We all know I'm a picky eater so I didn't try any of it, but I did venture out of the box the other day at lunch and try a dish that none of us could identify...it seemed to be some kind of egg/custard thing with gravy on it.
3. People really do spit everywhere.
4. Blond/tall westerners are quite an attraction...especially when they've got a little Chinese girl in their arms.
5. Personal space is defined very differently (kind of like a my space is your space attitude).
6. The beds here are HARD. The one at the hotel in Beijing (one of the "Choice Hotels"...ie Quality Inn etc) wasn't as bad as the one here in Changsha, but neither was as bad as I expected.
7. They have Walmart and it looks just like ours expect the signs are in symbols as well as English...and well the grocery store has some different stuff : ) BUT they had snickers and diet pepsi which made me really happy. I also saw pringles, lays, and oreos so I guess Kennedy would have had something to eat.
8. I encountered the clothing police yesterday. After all the crying and with all the layers...Keeghan was soaked in sweat. Once I calmed her down I wanted to see what her arm and leg looked like (and she needed to be changed) so I took her pants off and quickly threw some other pants on her. I waited a bit before switching shirts and ended up putting short sleeves on her as that was the shirt that went with the pants I'd grabbed. Well I put a jacket on her before we left to go do paperwork, but took it off in the office and one of the woman there told me she needed more layers!
9. And along those same notes...buildings aren't so much heated. We discovered this upon check in at the Beijing hotel where the lobby was freezing and all the girls at the desk were in winter jackets! Thankfully, our rooms are very well climate controlled : )
10. Oh...and doors...to public buildings seem to be those plastic curtain things despite the fact that there are real doors behind them. They prop the real doors open and use the curtains as doors. Interesting.
Those are just some of the things that have stuck out to me over the past few days. We are going to a local park this afternoon which will be nice. I hope to get some good "local" photos since this in the province Keeghan is from. The city she was in is about an hour or an hour and a half from here so not too far. I guess YiYang is a big city with about 4 million people and is the only city in Hunan with not one but two orphanages. Wednesday we are visiting a museum (with a really old well preserved mummy) and an embroidery factory.
Thursday we have been given the opportunity to go to the girls' orphanages (the other little girl is from the other orphanage in YiYang). We debated whether or not we should do this with our girls (especially after all the trama yesterday) but I think I owe it to Keeghan to have every piece of her past that I can. I also found out that Keeghan's orphanage is moving to a new location so if I don't go now, I may never get the chance which sealed it for me. We had to make this request at the Civil Affairs Office yesterday and we also need to write a letter requesting this visit. I'm very thankful that I'll have photos and stories to share with my daughter.
Friday is our last day here in Changsha and we have the day free. We do have to wait to get the girls' passports and then we fly to Guangzhou late on Friday to begin the American paperwork we have to do.
Monday, December 8, 2008
NOW I'm a Mommy of 4 : )
So today was "gotcha day". Not sure what we will call it...gotcha day, forever family day, the day that Keeghan screamed for hours on end...we'll see. We left the hotel around 9 this morning for a quick drive to the civil affairs office here in Changsha. We got to the office a bundle of nerves and they put us into a back room to do some paperwork. A few minutes later there was a wailing baby in the outer room. Our guide (Jackie...male fyi) tells us it's not one of our daughter's but my gut said otherwise. We had to finish up our paperwork and have it checked but by the time we were done we knew our daughter's were in the next room. They brought Keeghan to me first and the other family I am here with was amazing enough to take tons of pictures and video knowing their daughter was only feet away. I'm so lucky to have them here! Anway, Keeghan had calmed down a bit by the time they went to hand her to me but that was all over once I took her. She was crying so hard and trying ANYTHING to get away from me that I didn't even get to cry. At one point I set her down to try and grab some snacks and toys out of my backpack which is when I discovered she can walk. Yeah, I got myself a toddler and she is going to be into EVERYTHING at home (Doug read that as put up the gate and babyproof). She was clutching two cookies when I got her and bundled in about four layers of clothes. The wailing continued pretty much for the next hour and a half or so. Once the other family had their daughter we came back to the hotel for a bit.
It took me a good 15 minutes to finally get through to Doug and the other kids to let them know I had Keeghan and all was well. I know both Doug and I had been worried about the swelling in her hand and leg. Although her hand is very very swollen she is using it well. She was picking up grains of rice and playing with silverware at lunch.
Anyway, there was plenty of crying until I decided I should feed monster baby...yeah, she likes to eat too. The nannies had said she is a good eater and likes almost anything and boy were they right! This child can EAT. She chowed on pretty much everything I offered her...watermelon, cantelope, fried rice, congee (it's a Chinese thing...pretty much a watery rice mixture), oranges, noodles, all the different snack foods I brought...but she doesn't like ice cream.
After lunch we made our way back to the room and I could tell Keeghan was tired so I put her in the crib and she whined herself to sleep while I sat and rubbed her leg. Of course she woke a half hour later crying again but I settled her down on my chest and we cuddled for twenty minutes before having to leave to go do paperwork. I dug out the sling to carry Keeghan in and it works ok. I think once I get better at tying it on me it will work better, but Keeghan is big so that may be part of my problem.
We had to go back to the Civil Affairs Office for paperwork. We took a "family photo" that goes on some of the documents and were then quizzed. We were asked about our families, marriage dates, why we wanted to adopted a baby from China, if we'd promise to take care of her, etc. I guess I answered ok because I had to hand over a ton of money and I still have monster/screaming baby (who is now sideways in her crib with all her blankets kicked off). We were only there for an hour or two and then came back to the hotel and we all had dinner together. Keeghan got pretty fussy by the time she was done eating and I was sure she was tired so we came back to the room to go to bed. I tried the same approach I took earlier of putting her down in the crib and letting her cry/whine for a bit but that wasn't working so well. SOOOO I gave in and picked her up and rocked her to sleep in my arms. Thankfully, she stayed asleep when I put her down.
That meant I could get my pj's on and get ready for bed. After doing that I decided I'd try the outlet voltage things this hotel has to see if I could get the laptop to work and was successful!!! So, now I have internet access in my room which ROCKS. So, I got to IM with Doug and Val for a bit (and Carson too) which was great. I got to tell Doug all about Keeghan and some of the crazy things I've seen here. I'll post more about that later, but right now I'm beat and need some sleep.
It took me a good 15 minutes to finally get through to Doug and the other kids to let them know I had Keeghan and all was well. I know both Doug and I had been worried about the swelling in her hand and leg. Although her hand is very very swollen she is using it well. She was picking up grains of rice and playing with silverware at lunch.
Anyway, there was plenty of crying until I decided I should feed monster baby...yeah, she likes to eat too. The nannies had said she is a good eater and likes almost anything and boy were they right! This child can EAT. She chowed on pretty much everything I offered her...watermelon, cantelope, fried rice, congee (it's a Chinese thing...pretty much a watery rice mixture), oranges, noodles, all the different snack foods I brought...but she doesn't like ice cream.
After lunch we made our way back to the room and I could tell Keeghan was tired so I put her in the crib and she whined herself to sleep while I sat and rubbed her leg. Of course she woke a half hour later crying again but I settled her down on my chest and we cuddled for twenty minutes before having to leave to go do paperwork. I dug out the sling to carry Keeghan in and it works ok. I think once I get better at tying it on me it will work better, but Keeghan is big so that may be part of my problem.
We had to go back to the Civil Affairs Office for paperwork. We took a "family photo" that goes on some of the documents and were then quizzed. We were asked about our families, marriage dates, why we wanted to adopted a baby from China, if we'd promise to take care of her, etc. I guess I answered ok because I had to hand over a ton of money and I still have monster/screaming baby (who is now sideways in her crib with all her blankets kicked off). We were only there for an hour or two and then came back to the hotel and we all had dinner together. Keeghan got pretty fussy by the time she was done eating and I was sure she was tired so we came back to the room to go to bed. I tried the same approach I took earlier of putting her down in the crib and letting her cry/whine for a bit but that wasn't working so well. SOOOO I gave in and picked her up and rocked her to sleep in my arms. Thankfully, she stayed asleep when I put her down.
That meant I could get my pj's on and get ready for bed. After doing that I decided I'd try the outlet voltage things this hotel has to see if I could get the laptop to work and was successful!!! So, now I have internet access in my room which ROCKS. So, I got to IM with Doug and Val for a bit (and Carson too) which was great. I got to tell Doug all about Keeghan and some of the crazy things I've seen here. I'll post more about that later, but right now I'm beat and need some sleep.
Sunday, December 7, 2008
I Made it to China!
Ok, really I made it to China two days ago...or something like that. I left home at 8:40am Thursday 12/4...with crying kids and me crying...and then a boading pass that only had me going to Tokyo. BUT all of that worked out and we got to the gate just in time for boarding. The flight to Detroit was all but empty and I talked almost the whole way with Teri who is one of my travel-mates. In Detroit we had a bit of a layover and had lunch at Chilis before boarding a PACKED (read as totally full) 13 1/2 hour flight to Tokyo. But oh it gets better because those 13 1/2 hours quickly turned into 14 hours thanks to rain and delays. We barely made our connection to Beijing. By the time we landed in Beijing (after another 4 hours on a plane) it was 10pm 12/5 which was 9am 12/5 at home so I had literally been traveling for 24 hours. Thankfully our hotel wasn't far from the airport.
I slept ok that night (ie four hours) and was in for a day of touring. We went to the Great Wall of China and climbed. I know TOTALLY get what people mean when they say they climbed the Great Wall. Some of the steps are a good foot high and they are steep! The view, however, was amazing and it was a good workout : ) We climbed for about an hour and everytime you thought you were going to be at the "last or top" guard house...there was more. Getting down was tough on those steep stairs but we all made it. I can proudly say I was one of the three of us who climbed the whole time. I took a ton of pictures that hopefully I'll get a chance to post at some point. After the Great Wall we had a late lunch. We had some extra time after lunch so our guide took us to a tea house (Dr. Tea to be exact) and then headed back to our hotel. I walked with another couple to a nearby "mall" to look around. This "mall" was five or six stories high with all different stores, but they aren't divided the way stores would be in an American mall. They all just kind of blend together and when you want to purchase something someone writes you a slip, you take the slip to a cashier to pay, and then have to go back to pick up your items...it was different. From there it was back to the hotel for dinner (the food is...ummm, interesting) and off to bed. I slept pretty well last night (8-midnight and then 2-5ish) which was nice.
Today we spent at the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square. HOLY COW ARE THEY HUGE!!! They were also pack with visitors and street vendors who are a bit on the pushy side. Oh, and we were total celebraties...people grabbed us for photos. One of the other families in our group has a 16 year old son who is very tall so a bunch of people wanted pictures with him and his Mom and I are blond enough to be novel so we got a photo as well. It was amazing to see all these sights in person! After that two families opted to do another (added expense) tour of part of Beijing while the other family and I hung out on the bus. Then we were off to the airport...again.
Our flight from Beijing to Changsha was only 2 1/2 hours but a bit bumpy. We landed here about 7:30 and came to the hotel. I knew it was going to happen...but walking into my room where there's a crib made me tear up. We're off at 9 tomorrow morning to get our daughters' (I'm lucky enough to be here in Hunan with another family while the other two families in our group are in their provinces by themselves). Hopefully all will go well and we'll sign paperwork tomorrow afternoon making us bigger families : )
I slept ok that night (ie four hours) and was in for a day of touring. We went to the Great Wall of China and climbed. I know TOTALLY get what people mean when they say they climbed the Great Wall. Some of the steps are a good foot high and they are steep! The view, however, was amazing and it was a good workout : ) We climbed for about an hour and everytime you thought you were going to be at the "last or top" guard house...there was more. Getting down was tough on those steep stairs but we all made it. I can proudly say I was one of the three of us who climbed the whole time. I took a ton of pictures that hopefully I'll get a chance to post at some point. After the Great Wall we had a late lunch. We had some extra time after lunch so our guide took us to a tea house (Dr. Tea to be exact) and then headed back to our hotel. I walked with another couple to a nearby "mall" to look around. This "mall" was five or six stories high with all different stores, but they aren't divided the way stores would be in an American mall. They all just kind of blend together and when you want to purchase something someone writes you a slip, you take the slip to a cashier to pay, and then have to go back to pick up your items...it was different. From there it was back to the hotel for dinner (the food is...ummm, interesting) and off to bed. I slept pretty well last night (8-midnight and then 2-5ish) which was nice.
Today we spent at the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square. HOLY COW ARE THEY HUGE!!! They were also pack with visitors and street vendors who are a bit on the pushy side. Oh, and we were total celebraties...people grabbed us for photos. One of the other families in our group has a 16 year old son who is very tall so a bunch of people wanted pictures with him and his Mom and I are blond enough to be novel so we got a photo as well. It was amazing to see all these sights in person! After that two families opted to do another (added expense) tour of part of Beijing while the other family and I hung out on the bus. Then we were off to the airport...again.
Our flight from Beijing to Changsha was only 2 1/2 hours but a bit bumpy. We landed here about 7:30 and came to the hotel. I knew it was going to happen...but walking into my room where there's a crib made me tear up. We're off at 9 tomorrow morning to get our daughters' (I'm lucky enough to be here in Hunan with another family while the other two families in our group are in their provinces by themselves). Hopefully all will go well and we'll sign paperwork tomorrow afternoon making us bigger families : )
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Thank you...
to everyone who has taken the time to wish me well. I'm sorry if I haven't responded personally, but I'm a bit frazzled at this point. I'm off to a chorus concert (where Carson has a solo) and then hopefully to check over my stuff one last time and into bed. I'm pretty sure I won't do much sleeping tonight but I can hope. Thanks again!!
Just one more day
I leave tomorrow on what I imagine will be the trip of a lifetime. I've gone on some amazing vacations with my family, but this won't so much be a vacation...more of a journey. I'm packed, though I'm sure I will AGAIN open my suitcase to shift things around and make sure I really have everything. I have my paperwork as together as I can all in a binder with page protectors and clear envelopes that hook into the binder...everything with post-its so I can find it quickly. My camera battery is charged and the memory cards are cleared. I have another load or two of laundry to get done and some vacuuming to do but other than that I'm just going to spend some time with the kids this afternoon. They have a half day of school which is good. Last night we went out for dinner to save the hastle of cooking and cleanup and get some time together. I think I'm ready, but it remains to be seen if I really am.
And in true fashion of our family, Kennedy had an issue last night involving a dog chasing a cat. The dog decided she was going to chase the cat who decided he was having none of that and "flew" (Kennedy's word) onto Kennedy's head for protection. Of course he had his claws out and as a result Kennedy's ear is torn up pretty badly. It took me a good fifteen or twenty minutes to get the bleeding to stop and then I taped it up with gauze so she could go to bed. I got that off this morning and her ear hurts, but I think she'll live. Such fun at 9:30pm in our house!
And in true fashion of our family, Kennedy had an issue last night involving a dog chasing a cat. The dog decided she was going to chase the cat who decided he was having none of that and "flew" (Kennedy's word) onto Kennedy's head for protection. Of course he had his claws out and as a result Kennedy's ear is torn up pretty badly. It took me a good fifteen or twenty minutes to get the bleeding to stop and then I taped it up with gauze so she could go to bed. I got that off this morning and her ear hurts, but I think she'll live. Such fun at 9:30pm in our house!
Saturday, November 29, 2008
4 Days and a Wakeup
And I'm off to China. These past two weeks have flown by. I know I'm working and trying to get everything done before I leave, but it still seems like time is going by quickly. Funny now that we're this close to Keeghan being home the wait is much more tolerable : ) I'm packed. The house is mostly clean. I still need to stock up on groceries for Doug and the kids while I'm gone, but that's on my list for Monday. I did finally get my passport back yesterday with my visa in it so I'll be allowed into China which is a good thing! I was getting a bit worried when I was trying to track it and the number was coming up not found. It came yesterday while I was at work, though so I'm good. I'm certainly getting anxious about the whole trip and all that could go wrong, but I'm hoping it all goes ok and Keeghan and I make it home safe. Here's hoping I get some sleep before I go and it doesn't snow on Thursday!
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Thankful
I am so thankful for all that I have. Yes, there are days we all wish we had more, but the "things" don't matter. What matters is my family and friends. I'm a very lucky Mom to have a husband who loves me enough to send me to China to bring home a daughter and a son who still hugs me goodbye in the morning even though he's 13, and a daughter who is so much the 11 year old version of me it's scary, and a 9 year old daughter who makes me smile everyday and soon a 16 month old daughter who will bring us much joy. I'm thankful for the wonderful friends that will be here to get me through the next few months which will be tough. Happy Thanksgiving!
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