Though not by my creation, my child by God's design.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
USA, Baby!
We're home! Here is a picture of Mia before taking off while waiting in Korea and just after landing in Chicago, where she became an American citizen. I have to say that going through immigration and customs was much easier than I thought it was going to be. We just asked "Where do we go for international adoptions?" And they whisked us to the front of a line and gave us the special treatment from there on, including not even going through the baggage xray machine line! It was very nice! :)
Mia did very well on all the flights, including the 13 hour one from Korea to Chicago. She was a little fussy but nothing to bad! We finally pulled into home and got situated around 2 am. She is making somewhat of a rough transition to a new surrounding and time zone! She has been a really good baby but getting her to sleep is rough on both of us! She fights it every step of the way. She will fall asleep in your arms and stay asleep for a long time but the second you lay her in her crib or on a bed of any kind, she starts crying. Last night we went to bed at about 2:30 and she woke up every 45 minutes until about 5:15 and I gave her some Motrin because she is teething and she was crying like she didn't feel good. She has one little tooth on the top that just popped out within the last two days. Her first tooth! So after getting that Motrin she then slept until about 8:00 this morning. She has been up almost all day since then except for about a 2 hour nap.
Today we went to the doctor. We scheduled an appt before we left for tomorrow but the doctor had to change so we saw a different doctor today. The doctor's dad actually lives in China! She was very nice. We took an oath at the US consulate that we would have her vaccinated within 30 days of having her and because we don't know the validity of her shot record they gave us, she got another dose today. She was not very happy with those two mean ladies!!!!! (I would not have their job for nothing... making babies cry!) She weighed 14.9 lbs. Which is funny because her growth report from January said she weighed 16.5 lbs then. Guess that wasn't right! And she is 26.5 inches long. She is wearing 3-6 month clothes right now, except for those sleepers with the feet in them, she is wearing 6-9 month in those but she is almost too long for them. They are baggy on her but her little toes scrunch a little bit at the bottom!
She is developing more and more each day. When we first got her she couldn't sit up on her own but now she can sit alone for a while and then falls over after a while or when she gets too excited! She isn't pushing up to crawl yet but she is getting closer to pushing up to hands and knees. She isn't yet holding her own bottle but will put her hands on it when feeding. She hasn't learned how to put things in her mouth, other than her little fingers or her shirt or my shirt but we are working on it. I have been encouraging her to pick up Gerber puffs and then I move her hand to her mouth. She's getting the hang of it. I have been doing the same with her little teething toys. One day I will regret I taught her to put things in her mouth I am sure!!!!!
We are so very in love with this little girl and still can't believe she is all ours! She is such a sweet little thing and we couldn't be happier!!!!
This post is dedicated to Julia who called to say everyone was freaked out that I hadn't posted since Monday!!!!! Glad everyone is worried about us! We are fine! Just extremely busy being Mom and Dad!!!
Life is good!
| posted by SARA at 9:08 PM
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Happy St Patrick's Day!
Today Mia wore her green for St Patrick's Day. Thanks to Heather for her beautiful shamrock bow to top it all off! Packing today to leave tomorrow morning. It will be a looooong way home! We'll be traveling for 24 hours!
| posted by SARA at 8:55 PM
Monday, March 16, 2009
Consulate Appointment
Monday was our US consulate appt. We went in and swore to a bunch of stuff that I can't even remember because I was trying to suck in my tears. There were 8 families total swearing in that day. This appointment made our adoption final in the eyes of the USA. We couldn't take pictures or video of the event. But here are some pics of Mia on the red couch. The red couch. The red couch is in the White Swan Hotel. Most adoptive groups that stay at the White Swan Hotel get their pictures taken on one of the red couches. She's so cute. She is wearing her first pair of squeaky shoes. These are shoes with a squeaker in the heel that encourages little kids to walk! I couldn't decide on one pic so you are getting a bunch. I am sure you won't be disappointed in me! LOL
| posted by SARA at 8:16 PM
Lessons on Attachment
Today we learned a hard lesson. I went with a new friend to get a 90 minute foot and back massage ($10!!! a the Chinese Medical Science Massage place -- down the street --west-- from the old Victory hotel at the Northwest corner of Shamian Island the name is in blue neon lights over the door with red chinese lanterns around the door -- you gotta try it!!!) and left Mia with Brian. I really really enjoyed my time away for a bit. When I got back Brian told me that Mia had majorly cried her little head off the whole time. He was trying to get a hold of me, trying to comfort her, nothing was working. He said she was crying so hard her whole little body was red. I felt absolutely horrible. I guess she is more attached to me than I thought already. Good to know but I felt really bad for Brian. I know it is normal for them to attach to one parent more quickly than the other but I really feel badly for him right now. When I got back to the room he had just gotten her to sleep. She woke up shortly after and was definitely glad to see her MaMa. I love that she has attached to me already but I wish Brian could feel the same. She does go to him and is fine and laughs with him but not when she is tired or hungry!Attachment is definitely a learning process. Even if you have read every book on it you never know how your child is going to respond until you are in the midst of it. You just do the best you can in the situation you are in to comfort them and make them feel safe. Mia has started not wanting to go to sleep. She fights it every step of the way. She will fall asleep on my shoulder and then when I place her ever so gently in her crib she starts crying. I can't just leave her there to cry herself to sleep because I want her to know there is someone there for her when she is sad or scared. But after a while it really starts to wear on you! She will eventually fall deeply enough asleep that you can lay her down but it has been taking a while. She is also self soothing by sucking on her shirt or my shirt for comfort.
This little girl has me wrapped around her little finger already. Her little one sided smile and soft giggles melt my heart a thousand times over. She truly is a sweet sweet baby. If waiting three years gets me this I would do it again in a heartbeat. She is truly a gift from heaven!
Here are some pictures from today. The first one is actually the "fireworks" (incense) stores I was telling you about in the last post. Don't they look like fireworks?
The 2nd one is Mia rubbing the Buddha belly at the porcelain factory.
3rd is Mia playing in the White Swan Room (Mattel play room)
4th is Mia looking at the koi at the White Swan Hotel.
| posted by SARA at 8:16 AM
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Lotus Mountain
Today we went to see Lotus (Lianhua) Mountain in the Panyu District of Guangzhou. It was absolutely breathtaking! There were lots of people there today because the 1st and 15th of the month are days to worship the goddess of Mercy. On the way there we saw several stores that looked to be selling huge bright gold fireworks. But our guide said they were incense to burn at the temple. Buddhists burn incense so the smoke will carry their wishes to the gods with the wind. Any offerings (money, fruit, etc.) that are left before the buddha statues are also burned to send up to those in heaven so they will have them with them in heaven.People named the hill Lianhua (lotus) because a stone on top of Pofu Peak looks like Lianhua (lotus). Lianhua Mountain is well-known for its annual lotus festival, when over 100,000 lotuses are in full bloom. Here are the pictures from today's tour.
In ancient times, Lianhua Hill was a stone mine. The ancient quarry site dating back to more than 2000 years is renowned for its rock spectacle celebrated as an "accidental man-made wonder from the nature's creation". These were awesome! Very tall!
The Lianhua Pagoda constructed in the time of Ming Dynasty, around 1612.
This is the blessing tree. People write their wishes on the red ribbons and throw them up into the tree so they will come true.
This is the goddess of Mercy
Fertility statue.
Statue of Mother Buddha facing the sea. She was HUGE!
These are the big gold "fireworks" (incense) we saw for sale!
Look how huge those incense sticks are!!!
| posted by SARA at 8:39 AM
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Medical Exam and Barbie!
Today was Mia's medical exam. They said she was healthy! We don't know how much she weighs because we were too busy taking pics and videos! LOL. After we got done and had left I thought "I wonder how much she weighed!" too bad I didn't think of it while we were there!!! duh! (but after looking through the pictures I saw it on the scale in the picture!!! 6.9 kg. That's 15.2 lbs.)Before we went there we had to get a picture taken of her and the guy with the camera came at her like 'kung fu camera'! She had just woken up and he totally freaked her out. She started screaming bloody murder! So her picture is just cute as can be, tears and all! I included some pics from the day!
There are two pictures of wedding photo shoots. Two different brides, two different dress styles! They were both gorgeous!!! There are also some pictures of a park we walked through on the way back to the hotel from the medical exam. There were tons of people doing tai chi, karate, mah jong, hackey sack :), singing, playing musical instruments, etc. It was really neat! AND a picture of our Coming Home Barbie!!!! She is only given out to adoptive couples staying at the White Swan Hotel. I was so excited to come back to the hotel room today and find her sitting on the counter!!!!!!!
| posted by SARA at 12:57 AM
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Mia's friend Sophie
The couple we are traveling with adopted a little girl whom they named Sophie. Mia and Sophie were in the same orphanage in Dao Xian and are only 20 days apart in age. They are so sweet together and just feed off each other when they are together. This family is from Michigan and have been great to travel with through this wonderful journey!! Hopefully they will be lifelong friends!We went to Wal-Mart today and did some shopping. Wasn't too much of a shocker. We had already been to several markets so we knew what we were in for there. It was fun to look through the baby clothes. We bought Mia a little shirt and some pj's. Other than that trip we were just lazy today. We are ready to go back to Guangzhou. Not much to do here in Changsha and it has been cold and rainy. It is sunny and warm in Guangzhou right now and there is more to do there. Should be a fun adventure flying with a baby tomorrow!
| posted by SARA at 8:47 AM
Lazy day
Today was a very lazy day! Not much going on! Just sitting around having fun with Mia! Friday we fly out of here at 8pm for Guangzhou. Saturday is Mia's medical exam and Monday is our consulate appointment then we fly out on Wednesday! We hope to do some shopping when we get back to Guangzhou. We tried to venture out today but as soon as we walked out the door of the hotel we realized it was really cold and rainy. so we turned around and came back in! Hopefully tomorrow before we leave we can venture out some more.
| posted by SARA at 2:29 AM
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
My baby
I know this is all you really come here for so I will start with this! Look how long her eyelashes are in the one picture. She's so amazing!
Today we went to an embroidery shop. Changsha is known for its embroidery. It was quite amazing to watch these women stitching away with their needle and thread. All the items here were handmade in this shop. We bought an awesome black and white cherry blossom wall hanging. We will have to get it framed when we get home. We had to have them remove the frame for us so we could travel with it.. boy was that a chore for them to remove the frame. I wish we could have kept the frame as it was really neat but it wouldn't travel! It's awesome! We also bought a little circular one on a stand that you can view from either side. They are pretty neat!
| posted by SARA at 2:38 AM
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Perfection
Is it necessary for me to tell you that this little girl is simply perfect?
She is such a good baby. She has hardly cried, except when getting her face wiped down real good one time and when mom and dad were trying to figure out how to bathe a slippery baby... She goes freely to both Brian and I and loves to be tickled on her neck. That brings out the giggles that don't stop!
We have talked with all the grandparents and most of the aunts/uncles on skype and she loves the computer... especially the little blinking lights on the keyboard. Sometimes all they see is the top of her head because she is looking down at the lights!
She has already captured our hearts. There is so much that lies ahead of us with this little girl and I feel so blessed to be a part of her little life. I can already tell she is going to bring us so much joy!
Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing
| posted by SARA at 12:13 AM
Monday, March 09, 2009
We're back! No baby!
The babies are delayed on the highway due to a traffic jam.We came back to the hotel room and are awaiting their arrival.
They will probably be pretty grouchy when they get here I would imagine!
The drive without traffic is 4 hours so as of now they will have been on the road for 6-7 hours or so by the time they get here. poor babies!!!!
We'll update when we get her and get settled.
| posted by SARA at 3:47 PM
mia's Here!
Here is our beautiful girl. She hasn't cried once, except for about 15 seconds during a bath.... We are learning how to do many things as new parents and she has been very patient with us! LOLShe is very tiny and absolutely adorable! I am in total awe of her. She has melted our hearts already! These are the pics of our day including one from dinner where she has food in her mouth laughing! It was so great to hear her giggle! The last picture is the other couple we are here with and their daughter Sophie. The Chinese woman in the one picture is the Orpanage director. She was so sweet.
| posted by SARA at 9:17 AM
1 hour
There is a 1-1/2 year old baby down the hall that was just placed with her mom and dad (who are from Canada). They just got back to the hotel. The little girl has been crying for 20 minutes straight now. It's just breaking my heart.Please pray this goes smoothly for Mia and keep us in your thoughts as she goes through this separation from all she has known in her short life so far.
I can't believe we are down to an hour.... the tears are coming now!
I will post when we get back and have settled in, gotten situated with Mia and called all our family on skype so they can see her.
Off to pack more tissues!!!!
| posted by SARA at 12:32 AM
Sunday, March 08, 2009
7 hours to Mia
Things have been good so far in China, traveling around the country has gone smoothly, the food is certainly different. We are in Changsha now and staying at the Dolton, which is a beautiful hotel.The buffet last night was interesting...I included below a listing of some of the items on the buffet. I didn't include the desserts, which there were about 20 different items and six different kinds of ice cream. I took about a tablespoon of each kind. I they were chocolate, strawberry, green tea w/ leaves in it (which the girl from the other family traveling with us called "grass" LOL), rum ice cream w/ raisins, and a custard type and purple ice cream that I couldn't figure out. Canned soda, tea, juice, beer and mixed drinks were also included in the buffet
All the food was cooked and presented beautifully in dishes, many in different sauces and spices.
Here is a list of some items on the buffet:
clam sashimi
live mini eels
shrimp
prawns
cuddlefish
(5 other kind of fish)
different sushi rolls
lamb kabob
lamb chop
mini ribeye
prawn dumpling
pork dumplings
noodles four different kinds
bamboo salad
pig's ear with red oil
kelp salad
beef stomach salad
marinated duck neck
bbq goose
braised snails
braised snake
sauteed clams
cod fillet in a curry sauce (this was good!)
sauteed turtle w/ ox penis (we didn't try this!)
braised chicken kidney (or this)
stir fry duck tongue (or this - it actually looked like walking sticks fried)
salami pizza
bbq chicken leg
pumpkin orange soup
fried rice
braised meatball
steamed lake crab (but they didn't have the crab cracker tools.. the Chinese people were cracking them open with their teeth!)
winter melon soup with pig's bone
rice congee
deep fried squid
steamed forest frog with papaya
four different kinds of soup
a service area for boiled and steamed shell fish
oysters
7 Hours to Mia!!!!!!!!!!!!
| posted by SARA at 6:58 PM
Grocery shopping
We went shopping today for Diapers, wipes, formula, soda, etc.Boy was that an experience. Here are some pictures of the store and the items we bought. Not sure how I am going to mix this formula since it is in Chinese and we were pretty stressed out when in the store and couldn't really understand our guide. I think he said 25% rice cereal, 25% formula and 50% water?? Gonna have to clarify that. Doesn't seem right to me, but maybe it is. And I don't have a measuring scoop!!!!!
There are also pics of the street scene on the way to the grocery store.
3 hours to Mia!!!!
| posted by SARA at 3:58 PM
Changsha!
We made it to Changsha! Tomorrow we get Mia! I can't believe it! Changsha is a very different city than Guangzhou. It certainly isn't as clean! We drove by some very poor areas on the way to our hotel which is in the heart of the city. The Dolton hotel is amazing! Wow! When we got here the first thing I noticed (that gave me chills) was the baby crib in the room!!!! We are on the 30th floor. There are 42 altogether. Quite scary to look out the window! and the window really opens! and there is NO screen on it! Mia wont be going near that! Brian just went down to check out the massage place. 70 minutes for about $10. Not quite like Riversong that I go to at home! LOL.Here are some of the first pictures we took of Changsha. Some are from the van we took from the airport to our hotel so there is a glare from the dirty windows! The first two are the view from our hotel window. The last three are of the main lobby to the hotel! Marble everywhere!
Video from the Porcelain factory yesterday (scroll down to March 3rd date to pause music to listen to the video. Although it is just me entertaining the lady's questions in the store! a lot of "mmm-hmmm" and "wow!" comments!!! LOL)
Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing
I wanted to say a special Hello to Mrs. Maples' class at Blair Oaks who are following along on our journey!!!!
And HELLO to all the students and staff at New Bloomfield Schools!!!!
| posted by SARA at 1:42 AM
Saturday, March 07, 2009
Guangzhou China!
Porcelain painting
Painting on the inside of a little bottle. We got a similar one of these and the lady painted Mia's Chinese name inside it.
Memorial to Dr. Sun Yat-Sen. We were told he is the George Washington of China.
Huge Buddha statues at the Six Banyan Tree Temple. No one knows how these Buddha statues got here since they are so heavy. They were amazingly beautiful!
Waterfall inside the hotel.
View outside our hotel window overlooking the river at night.
This is us with our guide Peter at the 6 Banyan Tree Temple.
Tomorrow morning we are off to Changsha Hunan and Monday at 3 pm we get Mia! Hopefully we will get internet set up tomorrow night and I will post pictures from Changsha as soon as we can! I know you all just want to see baby pics!!! ME TOO!!!!!
| posted by SARA at 12:43 AM
Thursday, March 05, 2009
Korea!
We made it to Korea! Waiting to fly to Guangzhou! Whew was that 14 hour flight a doozie!!!!We'll update when we can!!!
Sitting here with another couple we met online! How fun is this???? Can't wait to get to China!
| posted by SARA at 4:39 PM
Wednesday, March 04, 2009
2 hours
We are outta here in two hours!I can't believe the time has come to fly to China! We are excited, nervous, scared, happy, elated, overjoyed.... all in one!
Thank you to our friend James who will be staying at our house to take care of our dogs while we are gone!!! We truly appreciate your help! That took a huge worry off our shoulders! :)
We'll let you know when we get there!!!!!
| posted by SARA at 10:18 AM
Monday, February 06, 2006
Our trip to China
I know our trip is a long way off, but I wanted to get this page ready. This is where we will post pictures and updates when we are in China. I needed to make a different page for this since the main blog page is getting so big it takes longer for it to upload.Can't wait until we can add pictures from China to this page.....Don't get too excited! It will be a while!
| posted by SARA at 9:56 AM
