last day pictures and my crazy boys in new jackets at home

Last day in China (famous "red couch" pictures)

We're home!!!

Wow! I added it up and Keith and I haven't slept in 41 hours, with the exception of a few half hour snoozes on the plane from China to LA. (I'm counting from when we woke up that morning until now.) We got on the plane and Emma and Ellie were doing great. But it was 9pm in China and it was the girls' bedtime. Emma usually sits on the bed and then falls over to go to sleep at night. There was no bed and only a small couch (4 coach seats in a row with the armrests pulled up). When we took off, Emma got out of my lap and began a tantrum. Keith and I looked at each other and panic set in. We've learned that when she does this and we try to sooth her or calm her down, she just gets more agitated and out of control. If we don't feed it, it dies down pretty soon. We sort of talk to each other as though she's not there. And she gets bored and it doesn't get her her way, so she stops and comes to me and looks at me with puppy dog eyes and points to her tears for me to wipe her eyes. It's hard when you are in another country and haven't had time to bond, much less teach and train your child and you are constantly in public places where your child is trying to figure out her boundaries and just plain scared and confused. Don't know what ole Dr Dob would say, but after trying a number of things, that seemed to work the best for us. Anyway, about 15 min. of stares and whispers, my little angel looked up at me with her puppy dog eyes for me to wipe her tears and was out in 2 minutes. Two minutes after that, my other little Chinese angel was out. They stretched across the 4 seats. Keith and I decided rather than risk waking them, we'd take turns, one pacing up and down the isles while the other sat on the tiny spot left on the couch / seat, then we'd trade. We were scared that Emma would roll off the seats. She's fallen off the bed at the hotel a couple of times so far. She's like a gymnast doing a floor routine, as she sleeps she feels the need to touch all 4 corners of the mat(tress). Whoever sat on the half seat couldn't sleep because they had to make sure she didn't fall. She only fell twice... since I'm the one writing this I'll say it was on Keith's watch. Finally I sat on the floor in front of our seats. The seats in front of us were all reclined and I barley had enough room to squeeze in, but it was pretty comfy or I was pretty tired. I laid my head on a tiny pillow across Ellie's legs, one arm stretched out to catch Emma, just in case. But hey, they slept all but the last 2 1/2 hours and woke up happy! After a 3 hour layover in LA, we got back on a plane for a 4 hour trip to Atl. Ellie slept the first 2 hours and Emma the second two, Keith and I not at all. Our flight arrived at 5am, my sister Dawn and her husband Tom picked us at 6am and we got home at around 7:30am. Emma loved Grandmama and Grandaddy and her three brothers immediately, but screamed when she saw our dog. It's quarter til 3:00 in the afternoon and she is now tossing pizza and Easter candy to our dog already. She still squeals when he barks though. She loves her room and is walking around the house like she's always lived here. She seems to feel very safe. She will come and look for me every once in a while to make sure I don't leave her, but really she is doing great. Ellie was soooooo happy to see her brothers!!! We are all gonna try to stay up today and go to bed early. I can't believe how awake I feel. We all seem to be pretty awake and feeling good. Yawn, oops, well maybe a little woozy, but for how long we've been up, I think we're all doing pretty good. We gave the boys their gifts. They each got a Northface jacket. The kind we got apparently go for $200.00, we got them for $33.00 in Guangzhou. It's got the inner jacket that zips away from the outer jacket. So it's like a jacket and a coat. They look great in them! I'm not too up on that stuff, but the boys were stoked. I'll post pictures! Thank you all for following our blog and posting, emailing, praying, and encouraging us all the way through our journey. You mean the world to us!!! Farewell China...

I know, I know, I'm a photo nut! But they're so cute!

Still more pictures...

more pictures

Tomorrow night we head home

Well tomorrow we leave. I know it sounds weird, but I have mixed feelings. I love Guangzhou and will probably never be back here. It makes me sad... But I miss my crew at home!!! We met Jophy at 11:30. She took us off the island. That means we walk across the bridge to the other side. This is where the locals live in Guangzhou. You see scorpians and snakes and cats for sale to eat. The buildings are over 100 years old. We went to eat at the mall and the table beside us was full of Chinese men smoking cigarettes. Emma looked at them and immediately put her chopstick in her mouth and started smoking it. Jophy said... "What is she doing?" We said, "She smokes chopsticks, straws, spoons, and toothbrushes" Lunch was great! Emma ate more than all of us. I was able to talk to Jophy about maybe hiring Sarah as a frelance guide in Henan and bypassing the travel agency so that she gets paid for Henan and can pay her driver. That way the ones who do the work actually get paid for it. She said she would definatley do it differently and not use that agency again and she has Sarah's number. Jophy is so wonderful! I will really miss her!!! When we got back, Keith went for a massage and Ellie watched movies. Emma got naked and ran around the room giggling. Keith got back and said, "Why's she naked?" She just took them off and didn't want them back on. What a change from the first day we got her when she screamed when we tried to take off her clothes.
We're gonna take the girls to the park and maybe the White Swan playroom again before dinner. We need to get the "RED COUCH" pictures of the girls in their traditional silk outfits before we leave. We also have to pick up the boy's gifts we ordered and drop off some film. It's cheaper to develop here. If I don't get to blog tomorrow... We'll see you soon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

More pictures the day before we leave

pictures of the day before we leave China

Having fun in Guangzhou...

This morning after breakfast we headed straight for Starbucks again, gotta have a good cup of coffee! They have soft comfy chairs and couches inside and out. You feel like you're in some kind of resort as you sit on the veranda and look at palm trees and a park across the walk with the locals playing hacky sac and doing their stretching and excercises. We walked around in and out of a few shops. Emma is so routine that if someone does something once, that's their assigned task from now on. Ellie's in charge of putting on and taking off her shoes. Daddy gives her water. Mommy holds her or pushes the stroller. No one better touch the stroller or she begins a tantrum. As we bond and get on our on turf we will begin to teach and train her. For now, since her world has been turned upside down with so many new experiences in only 8-9 days (car rides, 2 different hotels, new languange, new food, new family...) she needs as much routine as possible to feel secure. So we are going with the flow. The local shop keepers try to help and I have to tell them, she will scream if you touch her stroller or throw her dropped cherios in the trash. They immediately back off. I think they're used to the tempermental newly adopted children. After adopting from China, all Americans must spend their 2nd week in Guangzhou before returning home. The deal with her food and sippy cup is... she must hold them at all times (even while going neow neow). They must be immediately replenished when empty. If her cherios or goldfish fall on the floor, you must be an excellent illusionist and pretend to put them back in her cup and not in the trash.
After shopping we headed for the playground outside. Everything is within 5-10 minutes walking distance on this island. The playground was awesome. The weather was georgeous. We stayed there about an hour and a half. Then back to Lucy's for lunch. After lunch we strolled along the Yangzee river right across from Lucy's. Then we met Jophy back at the hotel but decided Emma was too tired for the zoo so she offered to take Ellie. We were nervous about Emma getting upset if Ellie left, but we distracted her and she seems ok as long as she doesn't see you leave. She asked for her a few times but we said, "right back" and quickly distracted her with something else. Keith, me and Emma played ball and hung out in the room. When she dosed off and Ellie got back, Keith got in a quick workout. We ordered pizza again and are gonna watch movies tonight. We got some dvd's for $2.00 each at Susan's.
Dawn and Tom, could you email me privately so I know you got this message... Our flight arrives at 5am Wed. morning. Could you be at the airport at around 6am with your car and ours as we discussed? Don't forget the 2 carseats, but do forget the pack and play Natalie was gonna loan us... she will not get in a crib, but may sleep on a pallet in our room if she won't sleep in hers with Ellie at first. Miss you and see you in a few days. Gotta go my pizza's getting cold.

Chinese Princess photo session

Pictures of 1st full day in Guangzhou

Last days pictures in Henan

We're in Guangzhou!!!

Sorry it's taken so long to blog! Our flight got in at 7:30pm last night. One last dip in the trip before we left Henan... we went to check out of the hotel and were surprised to get a phone bill for over $200.00. Yikes, not exactly in the budget. Our phone card didn't work. It was domestic not international. I didn't bother to check, my bad. Anyway, dear family, we won't be calling unless there's an emergency. We'll only be here a few more days. But we'll keep blogging and checking our email. If you have an emergency just call Hope for Children 770-391-1511 and they can contact our guide who will contact us immediately.
Now, about the plane ride to Guangzhou... There was a play area in the airport that the girls loved! Ellie prayed for Emma to have a great flight. She should have prayed for Keith, poor thing came close to having a panic attack he was so anxious about how she'd do. She did great! It helped that she had a great nap that afternoon. She was a little clostraphobic boarding, but after take off she loved it. People around us... not so much; mainly because the girls got a little giggly and bumped the seats. Emma kept trying to touch the man's hair in front of us. The seats were so close, she actually got a few tugs in before I could grab her little hands. Before we landed the girls had to go potty of coarse, and there was a line. I took them both in to get it over with. Airplane bathrooms are horribly tiny and definately not built for 3, that's all I have to say about that.
We got to Guangzhou and exhaled, phew! We met our guide Jophy. We had her last time and we just love her. She said "Hows it been so far?" and that's when tears came streaming down my face and I began to blubber. Don't know what that was all about, I think I was more tired and saddened by the situation in Henan than I realized. The thing I've learned about a great marriage is that you are like ying and yang, when one feels weak the other defaults to strong and vice versa, you take turns leaning on each other. (Keith had a hard time the first week in China and now it's my turn). I think going to the orphanage was really sad especially hearing the children will probably never receive the gifts we brought. Then before we left, we learned that our guide didn't get paid her half of the thousand dollar interpreter fee we prepaid, the travel agency kept it and she only worked for tips, same for our driver. We also prepaid the travel agency for tours that were arranged for us that we never went on because it was too much for Emma the first week. Anyway on the van ride back, my tears were interupted by "naked baby". I was so absorbed in talking to Jophy that I didn't realize Emma was stripping. (DO NOT READ THE NEXT PART IF YOU HAVE A WEAK STOMACH) Anyway once naked, she started saying NEOW NEOW (potty) and it was urgent. She started to escalate to the point Jophy told the driver to pull over and we jumped out of the van on a major highway and there she blew. Oh my gosh, I won't go into detail, but I think she has giardia. We finally made it to the hotel and told Jophy we were ordering room service and would see her tomorrow.
This morning we had breakfast in the hotel and it was great! We had heard that it wasn't too good, but we liked it. Maybe the buffet wasn't that great, but we just got some fruit and ordered omlets. The coffee was way too strong so we went around the corner to Starbucks. It's been raining pretty heavily all day, but the temperatire is just perfect! I love Guangzhou! I love it, I love it, I love it!!! It's beautiful and quiet and small and there are so many Americans adopting Chinese children here. I can't believe how many older children, children with special needs, and boys are being adopted now. God seems to be stirring the hearts of people to place these precious children in families. We went to get Emma's passport photos and all was well. Then we went to get her physical. I don't remember it being such an ordeal with Ellie, but then she didn't have a special need and wasn't afraid of doctors yet. Emma has been exposed to them and guess what? She totally freaked out. Wait, let me say that again, SHE TOTALLY FREAKED OUT!!!(Jenny, you know who that reminds me of... when Ali was little she had the exact same reaction to doctors). We walked in and the smell of a doctor's office and the white coats sent her into a frenzy. She went balistic to say the least. The girl is tiny but she is strong! It was so crowded, I mean really crowded, and we were in there an hour. Not exagerating, an hour, and she cried all but the last 5-10 minutes. Everything on my body hurt and then, uh oh... no, no no, please no, Noooooo, too late... here come my tears. I was at the end of my rope. Then a man came across the room and said, "poor little thing is scared" then he put his hand on her and prayed. Within 2 minutes she was not crying. Did you get that? The Faucet just stopped, just like that! And she didn't cry the rest of the time, even when they gagged her with the popcycle stick to check her throat. Thankyou God!!!! Never more than we can bear.
We left there and went to the famous Lucy's for lunch and it was so yummy. That's a favorite for Americans. Then we walked over to the White Swan and looked at the giant gold fish and the waterfall and played in the playroom. After that we came back and Emma took a nap, so Ellie and I went on a quick little shopping spree. And I mean quick so Emma wouldn't wake up and we all weren't there. When we got back, Ellie tried on one of her Chinese silk dresses that I baught her and fanned herself with the chinese fan and I took pictures. Keith went and dropped off our laundry and paid for the hotel umbrella he broke when he forced it closed, oops! Tonight we ate at the Cow and Bridge. We heard it was really good, but when we looked at the menu, we thought, yuk. Then we asked some other Americans in there what we should order and they said, chicken fried rice for the kids to share and some kind of spicy beef for Keith and I to share. Oh my gosh, it was so delicious. Tomorrow should be pretty relaxing. Nothing traumatic scheduled, only the park or the zoo if it's not too rainy. Well, you guys are waking up and I'm going to bed. Everyone around me is snoring. Love to you all from China!

Today we fly to Guangzhou

Well, we are packing up to leave. Guangzhou, here we come!!! I just weighed Emma and she's a whole wopping 17lb. Her report several months ago said she was 22 lb. She is making up for it though. She is constantly eating, afraid it won't always be available I guess. We have to cut her off or she eats til her tummy aches. Yesterday while Keith worked out the girls and I played in the workout room on the situp balls and Ellie walked on the treadmill. Then we went to do some paperwork and stopped to get Ellie's nails done on the way back. She got flowers painted on her nails and it only cost us $1.50. We wanted to give her a treat for being such a great big sister! I'll blog more when we get to Guangzhou!!!
Oh, by the way, Ellie wants to give a shout out to her great friends Alison, Madison, and Hannah!!!! She will bring you back a treat from China!!!

Orphanage day yesterday!

I can't check out my blog from here for some reason, so forgive me if I repeat myself. It kind of all blurs together and I can't remember what I've shared. Keith left for the orphanage yesterday morning at 8am and got back at 5:30pm. I was nervous because Emma hates it when she sees one of us leave. She doesn't want us to separate, afraid we won't come back I guess. It was OK though because Keith slipped out while she was still sleeping. We decided it would be too much for all of us to go. I gave Keith a list of things to do that I promised the adoptive parents we'd take care of for them. He was amazing and did it all! First I'll tell you about our day, then Keith's. I dressed the girls in matching sweaters, jeans, and tennis shoes... so cute. All Emma's clothes are too big. I brought size 2, but she wears 18 months. The size 6 shoes stay on good though. We walked down 4 flights of stairs because now I've developed a phobia of elevators. When we got down to the restaurant, Emma insisted that we sit down immediately. She didn't want me to fix a plate; everything has to follow the same routine or our little volcano erupts. She's used to us sitting down while Ellie and Keith fix our plates. The waitress was kind and helped Ellie fix our plates from the buffet. We will accommodate Emma while we're in China, but official training camp starts when we get back home. I still have nightmares of congy flying, so I'm playing it safe for now. After breakfast we tromped back up 4 flights of stairs with no fits and no tears. We hung out in the room most of the afternoon which was fine with me. The girls have a ball playing together. Emma tore up the newspaper into little pieces while Ellie watched Curious George. Thankfully, we have HBO. Emma flushed the toilet all day long and punched buttons on the telephone. What else are we gonna do in a hotel room for a week. Oh, by the way, she sits on the toilet front ways now!!! She holds onto me for dear life, but wants to sit like Ellie. Yesterday I discovered 2 new things about our Emma: she loves to fold washcloths... perfectly, and she smokes. She took her Dora chap stick and put it between her fingers like a cigarette and began to take puffs off of it. I shouldn't be surprised, everyone in China seems to smoke, even in the elevators. She brushes her hair with a spoon and brushes her teeth with a comb. The girls played hide and seek, peek-a-boo, and jumped on the bed. Ellie jumped from one bed to the other and before I could catch her, brave little Emma jumped across and didn't quite make it. We made a tent with a crib and a blanket. That was a big hit. We decided to venture out to the park and before we left we asked the front desk what the temperature was and they said, "9214." I said, "in Fahrenheit", they said, 9214. Our walk was interesting. We are used to getting boldly stared at and many ask us if we're from New Zealand or Australia, but never the US. But this time we were waiting at the crosswalk, which by the way, absolutely no one pays attention to, and this man on a bike stopped right in front of us and stared. I glanced his way and gave a polite smile, then looked away. He continued to stare with a blank expression on his face. The wait was soooooooooooo long at the intersection. Finally I decided to blankly stare back just to see what would happen... He won, too uncomfortable, can't do it. When we got to the park, Ellie was so disappointed. It was nothing more than sidewalks, benches, and grass. She wanted a playground. We went back and ate lunch at the hotel. So far every day, except for once, we've eaten western food at the hotel. When we were in China getting Ellie, our guide took us to great restaurants every day and ordered safe foods for us. This time we're on our own and we are so afraid of eating something that will make us sick. On the way back from the park we did try to go to a place near the hotel that Sarah told us about, but they only sold coffee, in bags. Anyway, Keith and Sarah got back from the ophanage. Sarah took Ellie with her to run an errand and Emma began to fall apart. Partly because no nap and partly because she can't bear to see us seperate. When they got back she hugged on Ellie and Sarah left. Not too bad, that was the only meltdown that day. When all was calm, Keith told me about his day at the orphanage. There are somethings I won't share with you on the blog, it will have to wait til we get home... But what I can share is, Keith took the suitcase full of clothes, toys, socks, shoes... mostly donated by our Athens Area Chinese group to the orphans. He was able to give out candy and a toy to each of the children. Hopefully the rest will be saved for the children there. The things we mailed over for Emma were unfortunately nowhere to be found. Only one photo album was returned I will email privately each of you that have children at the Nanyang orphanage tonight and give you more info and pictures of your children. Keith said the orphanage looked like a 3 car garage. Walls and floors were cement and it was cold. Garage #1, steel beds all lined up in rows. Garage #2, children's play area with a few toys and the only room with part of the floor covered with rubber matts. Garage #3, little tables and chairs. I didn't realize Keith had rewound the camcorder to show me the orphanage film and I picked it up to tape the girls and taped right over it. I wanted to cry. Emma's only link to the past and I erased it. Last night Emma didn't sleep well, she had an upset tummy (diareah) and her head was all stuffed up. She woke up several times through the night and fell off the bed once. She moves so much in her sleep. By morning she has done a full 360 degrees turn. Ellie gets squished and kicked, so she slips down to the pad on the floor after Emma falls asleep. Ellie misses her brothers so much and cried after she got off the phone with them yesterday. I know Emma will fall in love with them as well. Ellie told me she was feeling a little jealous. Poor thing, she said, you hold Emma all the time mommy. She has been so good about not complaining about us giving Emma so much attention. I made sure I held her and gave her some extra attention... it seemed to help. We have to go do more paperwork today and then I'll send out the private emails to the adoptive parents. I'm sorry, I know you are on pins and needles. The wait will be worth it. Thankyou so much for all the prayers and encouraging posts... they are a lifeline. Chris, I can't believe you will be here in a week!!!!! You will finally get to hold your sweet LULU!!! Hugs to all. We miss you so much boys and thankyou grandmommy and grandaddy for holding down the fort while we're away.

Orphanage pictures