Gotta love technology

We live over 800 miles from our family. Since we got married, over 14 years ago, the closest we've lived to family is just under 800 miles and the farthest we've been was over 1400 miles. Being from the Midwest we are a bit of an anomaly. Midwesterners tend to stay in the Midwest and usually within a 40ish mile radius of family.
Obviously with BJ in the Air Force and almost no active duty bases in the Midwest living close to home has not been an option for us.
Over the years our families have not only accepted our absence but have actually enjoyed the opportunities to travel that come with us living far away.
They enjoyed that is until last month.
When we brought Sophie home it seems the game changed. The twice a year that we regularly head to Wisconsin is already not good enough. The once or twice a year that our families visit us just doesn't seem like it's gonna cut it any more. We have had more complaints about the distance in the last month then we have in 14 years.
Thankfully we live the age of not just Facebook and email, but Skpye and PS3 chat.
Since we stayed home for Christmas we video chatted with our families. It was almost like being there. We got to see them and they got to see Sophie. We set it up so they could watch her play, climb, and crawl while we talked. It was awesome.
Every couple of days one of the grandparents will call and see if we have time to Skype. They love making googlie faces as Sophie and watching her laugh, and smile. Granted it's not the same as being there, Sophie is awfully squeezable, but its a whole lot better then just email (or way back when there was only snail mail and a phone call).
Today Sophie got her Christmas presents from my brother and his wife. Instead of a call to thank them, we video chatted. Sophie's aunt and uncle were able to watch her play with the toys that they sent her, they could talk to her and since she could see them, she smiled and waved and giggled at them as though they were in the room.
I love video chatting!
BJ and I have at least 5.5 years left before moving back to the Midwest is really an option. We definitely plan to move back eventually but the Air Force has been good to us and we plan to make it to retirement (possibly a little further). In the mean time we are so thankful for the technology to stay close to the people we love and have them be an active part in Sophie's life. What a blessing.

Our Most Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas!

Its absolutely amazing to me that its Christmas today. These last few months have been such a whirl wind that I think in my mind I'm still waiting for Thanksgiving (though we did celebrate in China).

Yet for all the blur of the fall, today was a wonderful Christmas. Today we watched our daughter open a few presents, and though she was (as most young children) way more interested in the paper then the toys, her delight was awesome. We feel overwhelmingly blessed this year.

Over the past several years Christmas has been one of the more painful holidays. Sure, Mothers and Fathers day felt like salt on an open wound but Christmas had become a gaping hole in our hearts.

Don't get me wrong, BJ and I love Christmas. The love of our Savior coming to Earth as a baby, so that we might be adopted into God's family is absolutely reason to celebrate, but all the family activities were a glaring reminder of the absence of our hearts desire.

This year BJ and I didn't go to Wisconsin, we didn't buy each other presents, we didn't make any big plans (though some wonderful friends had us over for lunch which was delightful). We wanted Christmas to be about Sophie, our best present ever, and our gratefulness to the Giver of that gift.

We have no delusions, Sophie is a child, a completely normal (though utterly wonderful) little girl. She gets cranky, she pulls my hair, she wakes us up at night. She will be naughty, test our patience, and become sassy. Someday she might want to date a boy that will scare the poo out of us, dye her hair crazy colors (which will only be a struggle for her father), and she might even skip school. Its not that we think she is a perfect child, but we believe she is a perfect gift from our Loving Father.

Sophie is the answer to years of prayers, years of wanting, and years of waiting. Yet as we celebrate our Savior this Christmas we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God is good and His plan was absolutely the best plan. Sophie was worth waiting for.

So this Christmas we are rejoicing with full hearts, we hope you are too.

A Challenging Night

So my sweet Sophia has been sleeping through the night now for about a week. We had been told that for most children it takes about 1 day per hour of time difference, and China is about 14 hours. So right on schedule, after about 14 days home she started sleeping at night and napping during the day, it was awesome!
She's also been sleeping in her crib, in her own room. When we were in China the hotels had cribs in our room (very kind) but after the second night when Sophie would not let us put her down and was not confident that we would be there when she awoke, we put her in bed with us. BJ and I are not so keen on keeping her in our bed, but we always agreed that what was best for Sophie was what we would do. If we felt she needed to be in our bed we would allow it, but plan to transition her out as soon as we thought she was ready.
By the time we got back to the States she was sleeping soundly through the night (night in China, day in the U.S.) and not lifting her head 100 times a night to make sure BJ and I were still there, so we started putting her in her crib. She did fine, she slept more soundly and so did we ( I may have forgotten to mention that Sophie is a whirlly bird when she sleeps and when she is in bed with us neither BJ or I get much sleep).
Well last night Sophie was more fussy then usual going to bed, in fact while BJ was rocking her she was almost screaming. We did the usual, check the diaper, check her temp, give her a little gas medicine (her veggies don't always sit well) and finally she calmed down and went to sleep. I kinda thought that it wasn't the end though.
About 10pm, while BJ and I were turning off lights and heading up stairs she started to cry, it was NOT her normal fussy trying to relieve a little stress cry, not was it her angry cry. It was a cry I had never heard and it was full of sadness and fear (I may be reading too much into it but it seriously broke my heart). BJ and I both ran up the stairs to comfort her. I picked her up, but she was still sound asleep and crying her little heart out. It took a few moments to calm her and wake her, but by then BJ and I were both upset. All we could think was that she was dreaming about being alone, away from her family, maybe the orphanage (though I work very hard to trust that they did their very best to love her), maybe the other babies that used to sleep in cribs tucked up next to hers. I have no idea all I know is that my baby sounded hurt, not the scrapped knee kind but the wounded heart kind. She came to bed with us.
Sophie, however is more resilient that I give her credit for. As soon as we were up in our bed she started giggling, and playing. It was remarkable to me how just the reassurance of our presence was enough for her to have joy. I know someday our presence might not be enough, but today, having had very little sleep for all the kung fu my daughter does in her sleep, I am grateful beyond words that she finds comfort in BJ and I.

My First Official Day as a Stay at Home Mom

I've pretty much waited my whole life for today. Certainly for the last 13 years I've have dreamed of the day when BJ and I would have a child and my full time job would become Mommy. That's a lot of years of expectations...
BJ was already out the door when I first heard Sophie chattering in the monitor. I love that she wakes up in the mornings happy and will start babbling to her stuffed lamb that she has recently started to cuddle with at night. I am not a morning person, but its hard to be cranky when Sophie's sweet giggles are the sound that wakes me.
For 14 years Mondays have always been my cleaning day. I do the whole house, top to bottom, plus all the laundry, but today was the beginning of a new routine.
Play with Sophie
Clean the kitchen
Play with Sophie
Put a load in the washer
Play with Sophie
Load into the dryer, next load in washer
Play with Sophie
Put her down for a nap
Actually read my Bible and journaled a bit
Fold and put away laundry
Neighbor came over with coffee
Played with Sophie
Daddy came home
Played with Sophie
Made dinner
Played with Sophie
Gave Sophie a bath
Played with Sophie
Put Sophie to bed.
I'm guessing tomorrow I'll have to do some more laundry, eventually I'll need to vacuum again, but I'd much rather spend my day making Sophie laugh, reading to her and smooching on her then clean.
I'd say our first day home alone together went pretty well. I did accomplish a few things around the house. Sophie learned that she can now bite the spoon when I feed her, its our new little game. I learned that she laughs super hard when you put her in the laundry basket and swing her back and forth.
I'm sure not everyday will be so much fun, but I'm awefully thankful that on day 1 neither of us had a meltdown.

Let the Parenting Begin

So BJ and I have decided since we already have the blog set up, we will post our Sophie updates here and keep Facebook for the more social things. Having been the ones without kiddos for so long we are sensitive to those that care about us but don't really need to (or honestly want to) know every detail of Sophie's life.
However we also know that there are several of you (grandmas and grandpas) that wish they could be here to experience every single milestone, big and little. So we will post our Sophie stories and adventures in parenting here and spare the masses from our Sophie obsession.

And speaking of our darling daughter, now that we finally have her sleeping at night and napping during the day (14 hour time difference was brutal) she is thriving.
It's completely normal for children who have been in orphanages to have some developmental delays. Even under the best of circumstances a caregiver cannot be a mommy or daddy to 5-10 babies in one room. Add to that limited finances, so toys are scarce and playtime a challenge, and it's not surprising that babies often are a little behind in gross and fine motor skills.
When we received Sophie, for the 1st day she was pretty much immobile. I'm not sure if it was out of fear of her new surroundings or simply because she hadn't had the freedom to move about, but that first day she just laid where ever we put her.
By the next day she had already figured out how to roll over and could sit up on her own for a few seconds at a time. Now Sophie is doing the army low crawl all over the house, can sit up for as long as she wants and is just beginning to pull herself up on low things (like BJ or I when we are on the floor.
It is amazing to see how much progress she's already made. She's 10 1/2 months and though she isn't quite at that level, she is catching up quickly.
Our newest milestone is picking up cheerios and putting them in her mouth. She just started this two days ago, and she gets about 1 out of 4 in her mouth. Its so fun to see how proud she is of herself when she actually gets one.

Day 13

Well...we finally got the whirlybird to slow down enough to fall asleep. We are pretty sure that she has spent the last 10 months so wrapped up in clothes that she could barely move, much less roll around or crawl. Now that we are in a room with heat and we can take some of the layers of clothes off of her she has discovered how to roll and move. And let me tell you...it is non stop. Even while she is sleeping. I think I have a dislocated jaw from a heel strike and April might have a broken nose from a flailing kick. This kid doesn't stop moving...that should make for a fun 14 hour plane ride!

Today was very low key...as you can tell from the pictures we did a lot of napping in preparation for 20 hours of planes trains and automobiles tomorrow. April and I managed to get everything packed while Sophie was napping and surprisingly we do not have to buy a new suitcase. We have been using things, like diapers, and throwing things away so we have managed to make enough room in the suitcases to fit all of the things that we bought. Not bad if we do say so ourselves.

So...tomorrow is Day 14 in China, we have a 14 hour plane ride, and there are 14 letters in the phrase "Last Day in China"...coincidence? I think not. I am off to bed...we have to meet the van at 6 tomorrow morning and I have a night of getting kicked in the nose ahead of me...looking forward to a crib!!!

Talk to everyone when we are in the states!

BJ, April, and Sophie!

Day 12

Today we went to the folk art museum that we were supposed to go to on Sunday. Apparently it really does exist, however, there is shopping there too, so there is no winning for the guys on this trip...

After herding cats this morning in the lobby of the hotel to try and get some group photos taken, we headed out to the museum. With 13 families, ranging from two parents and a baby to two parents, a baby, three siblings and a cousin, there was quite a crowd trying to get organized for a photo shoot. Let's just say...we are lucky everyone was sitting on the same staircase, much less looking at the camera! I am sure between the 20 cameras that our guides were taking pictures with, we should be able to come up with a photo where everyone is looking in the right direction (yeah right...maybe with a little photo shop magic...).

Once the photo was taken, we piled into a bus and went to the museum. The building the museum is in is over 120 years old...young compared to many of the places in China, but still old enough that the building itself is impressive, much less the art inside of it. On the oustide are carvings, both within the brick walls as well as in sandstone and clay on the rooflines. The carvings on the wood within the building were quite impressive as well. We have plenty of pictures to show everyone when we get back. I had Sophie in the Baby Bjorn today and she was quite a hit. Several times she and I were cornered by upwards of 20 locals who were all giving us thumbs up and asking questions in Chinese. Many of the grandmas in the crowd touched her cheeks and gave us a thumbs up. Afterwards, our guides told us that fair skinned babies are treasured in China and are considered very beautiful, so it appears we have quite the hit on our hands. I am sure that will not go to anyone's head when she is a little older...bad enough she is going to be spoiled, but apparently an entire country thinks she is beautiful...

Anyways, some of the artwork within the museum was more than impressive. There were ivory carvings that were so intricate I cannot describe it. Picture the most detailed and intricate model of a boat that you have ever seen, now picture it more detailed and intricate. And these were carved from a single piece of ivory. There were actually some pieces that had 14 different layers of depth to them...and the details on the innermost layer were as precise as the outermost layer. April particularly liked the embroidery section. There were pieces of art that were so meticulously embroidered that they looked like they were painted with a brush, not stiched with thread. In all, it was a very cool experience...and April managed to get some more shopping in as well. This time we walked away with three handpainted pieces of art. And my handpainted, I mean the artist used his hands, not brushes...but you would never know it. Wait till you guys see it...very impressive.

After time at the museum we crashed for our afternoon naps and then went out to do some more...you guessed it...shopping. We also went to the White Swan hotel, which is famous in Chinese adoption lore as the place were all Americans used to stay while waiting their appointments at the consulate, which used to be right across the street. At the White Swan they have a red couch on which most, if not all, babies have their picture taken. Typically all the babies in a travel group are dressed in traditional Chinese clothes and then plopped onto the couch as parents frantically take photos. Unfortunately, our little princess was not interested in taking part in the tradition...she is so progressive. She started getting attitude when we put her in the traditional outfit and went downhill from there when we put her on the couch with the other kiddos. We aren't exactly sure what she got so worked up about...maybe she flashed back to the last time that she was sitting on a couch with all these kids, which was gotcha day when we were two hours late and all the babies were hungry and needed their diapers changed. No matter why, she was not very happy as you can see by the photos. It actually took us about an hour to get her calmed down enough to eat dinner and fall asleep!

Tomorrow is a free day with nothing planned. Several of the families are headed to Hong Kong tomorrow night because their flights leave early in the morning on Thursday. We leave "late enough" that we don't need to spend the night in Hong Kong tomorrow night. Instead we get to get up at the butt crack of dawn on Thursday and drive to Hong Kong for an 1130 flight. Oh well...at least we will be headed home. We have had fun in China for the last two weeks, but we are ready to get home and into a routine that doesn't include hotel rooms and room service...well the room service has been nice, but you guys know what I mean.

See everyone soon!

BJ

Day 11

Well...we didn't do any official shopping today...although we did manage to stop at a market to buy a certain little girl some rice crispies. She REALLY likes them. Whodathunkit, a Chinese kid that likes rice krispies...

Anyways...we did take the final step to making Sophie a full up US citizen. We took the oath today that stated that everything on her paperwork was true. With that complete we will get her Visa (the official document...not the credit card...that comes MUCH later) on Wednesday and once she sets foot in the US, she is a citizen of the best country in the world. Of course with multiple shopping trips and stops at Starbucks, she already acts like one...

We also hung out at a park this morning for an hour or two and wandered around a lake. Once again, many local citizens stopped to make baby noises at Sophie and to check and make sure she was dressed warm enough. It's like the whole country is cold all the time so they figure their little girls should always be bundled up. You should see the looks that I get as I wander around in shorts and a t-shirt!

After the oath ceremony we went to the new area of Guangzhou where they recently spent approximately 200 Billion Yuan (yes...that is billion with a b) on making the area look really fancy for the Asia Games which just ended Saturday. There were some pretty cool looking buildings in the downtown area and they have a tower that they call the twin towers. But there is only one tower...I am not sure where they got the twin part...but who is counting? We also saw the fancy new stadium that they built for the games...from what we saw it is a pretty impressive building in itself. Of course all of this was happening during the afternoon nap time...so we are currently battling with a stubborn little girl to get her to fall asleep. Apparently missing nap time makes someone a little cranky when it comes to bed time...and I do mean April...

Day 10

Today was a setup! The men are pretty sure that our wives are in cahoots with the guides. We were told that we were going to visit a folk art museum here in Guangzhou. Instead, it turns out that we went to a large shopping area instead. Seems a little strange to me. Not that the guys were exactly chomping at the bit to go to a museum, but hey...it would have been better than shopping!!! I might have to have a word with Lineker and Amy (our guides) about this...

ANYWAYS...we went shopping today and then had a nice relaxing afternoon and evening hanging out in the room and in the areas around the hotel. Guess what...there is shopping in the areas around the hotel...and yes, we did more shopping because apparently three hours of shopping around lunch wasn't quite enough! This time, though we did manage to find a book store and I found a Chinese encyclopedia of aircraft...very cool.

We also hung out at a park for a little while after shopping. Everywhere we turned there was a game of badminton or hackey sack going on. People of all ages were playing, from golden oldies to kids that were barely old enough to walk, much less swing a racket at a birdie. Apparently they love the sport over here!

Other than that, not a whole lot to talk about today. Tomorrow is the big day. Our guides are taking our paperwork to the US Consulate in the morning to make sure everything is in order. Then, we go back in the afternoon with Sophie and take the oath. For all intents and purposes she is a US citizen after that. The final step is for her to set foot in the US. Once that happens, it is official. There is a light at the end of this tunnel and as of right now, it isn't a train! Keep those prayers coming (if only for my bank accounts...because apparently there is more shopping on the horizon...). Only a couple more days until we head to Hong Kong to get on the airplane to come home.

Talk to everyone soon!!!

BJ

Days 8 and 9

Alright...I know we missed a day, but thankfully yesterday (Friday) was a fairly uneventful day. Considering the fact that Sophie had her first airplane ride, it is kind of nice to say that it was uneventful! We had a "leisurely" morning where we got to Skype with Grampas and Grandmas and a few aunts and uncles. There was even an almost auntie in there! After lunch we were off to the airport to leave for Guangdong province.

The flight was not too bad. We had some snacks for Sohpie to eat whlie we were taking off so her ears would pop and she didn't fuss at all. She was very entertained with the shopping magazine in the seat back in front of her (I am so toast...a wife AND a daughter that like to shop...I need to get another job). We also had a very nice Chinese national that sat next to April and Sophie who kept her entertained and told us a lot about Chinese culture. She is 20 and about to graduate from college...she was on her way to Guangzhou for a job interview. According to her there are over 250 applicants for each job in China...how do you like those odds?

Once we landed in Guangzhou, our new guide, Amy, took us to the hotel and let me tell you, we are paying for a nice one this time! 5 stars doesn't begin to describe it. Everything is fancy and new, the people are nice, and the (ugh) shops all carry very nice things (at least that is what April pointed out...did I mention I might need to get another job?)

On Saturday, we woke up early to go to the Doctor's office. Lets just call it an American Medicine appreciation tour. Our guides had us there early because apparently Saturday is a popular day at the Immigration medical branch thingy. When we got there we were the first families (10 of us)...within minutes there were probably 30 families waiting in line, trying to control, screaming kids, while trying to understand Chinese doctors...what a great experience! Pure chaos! Each of the kiddos had to be checked out to make sure they were healthy enough to immigrate to the US. The "check up" consisted of a measurement (27 inches) a weight (15.5 lbs) and a temperature (normal...whatever that means). We then had a "physical" where the doctor looked at her limbs and listened to her heart...apparently that is good too. Finally we had an ear, nose, and throat check up which went well I guess because they ushered us out.

After the doctors appointments we had another Chinese supermarket experience. The highlight of the trip was probably the snack aisle. Who doesn't want dried squid or shrimp to snack on. We managed to escape with some pistachios, oreos, and some noodle bowls. But let me tell you, it was hard passing on the seaweed flavored Pringles!!!

After the shopping trip we headed back to the hotel for naps and free time. Tomorrow is another low key day before the paperwork shuffle begins at the US consulate on Monday. Keep your prayers coming for smooth transitions as we work on the US side of the process and start to prepare for the 14 hour flight home with an infant...can you say fun?!?!?!

BJ and April

PS April found her happy place. She actually survived a week without Starbucks...now all is right in her world. That little girl had better get used to the insides of coffee shops. I imagine she will be a pro before we all know it!

Day 7

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

So, tonight ended with a Thanksgiving Dinner that our guide organized for us at the hotel's restaurant. We all expected the standard "Western" meal, which in China translates to pizza, steak, spaghetti, and other various things that are associated with American cuisine, but we were pleasantly suprised with TURKEY! One of the hotel hostesses is American and somehow she arranged for a turkey to be cooked for us. According to our Chinese guide, Lineker, there are no turkeys in China, and he has no idea how she found one or found someone who knew how to cook it. He had never had turkey before and we had to tell him how it would normally be served and what would be served with it. It was very cool and a great way for all of us to celebrate together. We aren't with our families, but our travel group has quickly become a family and we were all able to bond together and enjoy a fun evening with our new babies. It was a great way to end an excellent day. It seems that all the first time parents are getting the hang of things and all the families are definitely starting to fall into patterns with their new girls, it is very cool to see and experience.

This morning started with a trip to a porcelain dealer...which meant more spending for the boys and more shopping for the girls. I almost had to physically restrain April today...once she found a pattern that she liked, she wanted one of everything in that pattern. I managed to get out of there with only a little dent in our remaining spending money and a set of rice bowls that I get to somehow bring back to the states without breaking them...no pressure there.

After the shopping trip we drove to a village just outside of the city we are staying in (Nanchang). Our guide wanted us to experience a little bit of what life is really like in China. The hotels we stay in are five star hotels and he didn't want us to think that this is the way all of China lives. There are over a billion people in this country that live at or below the povery line and we got to see this first hand. Many of the houses in the village are nice, but they have no heat and no running water. The entire village works together to ensure that everyone has what they need and that they get all the work done that needs to be done. The village we saw is close to a city so they have some of the benefits that come from city life but it is still a very poor village. I can't imagine what some of the truly rural villages are like.

We then spent a little bit of the afternoon walking around the city. Ok, what we were really doing was walking to the closest McDonalds, but we saw some very interesting shops on the way. One whole block of shops appeared to be a Home Depot, just small shop style. Each storefront had a different aspect of home goods. One had plywood, another sold, hardwood floors, next to that was bathroom fixtures. It was like seeing the Twilight Zone version of Lowes. In front of the McDonalds was a large scooter parking area. While I was in ordering us some cheeseburgers, April saw someone knock over one scooter, which started a game of dominos as a bunch of them starting toppling into one another. What killed me is that some of them had car alarms on them. You know...the annoying car alarms that always seem to go off at 4 AM...well over here they put them on their mopeds! Very interesting.

As for the food at McDonalds...it is the same as what we get back in the states, they just have some added selections to their everyday value menu that you wouldn't see back in Wisconsin. I am not exactly sure what they were...but the pictures didn't look appetizing. I am finally over the rice and Coke diet so I wasn't feeling very adventuresome. I will leave that to the Food network stars...

Happy Turkey Day everyone! Find something to be thankful for today and enjoy your time with family and/or friends! We miss all of you and will see you soon.

BJ, April, and Sophie (Hey...that has a ring to it...I think I like it!)

Day 6

Not much to talk about today. We had no scheduled meetings. Everyone got to try to sleep in a little bit and we went to a palace for some sightseeing.

Apparently our little girl is a cute little girl. We are constantly stopped by locals who talk to us in Mandarin as though we can understand them and then they try to make Sophie smile. According to our guides, the people of China appreciate that we have come to adopt their little girls because they believe that we will give them great lives and treat them like princesses. For that they are thankful and they are very friendly to everyone.

The temple we visited is over 1300 years old...although it has been rebuilt a couple of times because it keeps getting destroyed in war. On the top floor we saw a quick 15 minute stage show of some local dancing and singing. April video taped some of the show so we can show everyone when we get back. There were also lots of old artifacts from the history of the region within the palace which was cool to see.

I know most of you aren't really reading this...you are just scanning it trying to get to the pictures so I will keep this one short. On to the photos!

Day 5

Sorry for the delay everyone...we are trying to figure out how to be parents while in a foreign country...no pressure there.

So here is Day Five...

Today was a pretty relaxed day. We went to the notary office which is like a municipal judge in the states. We had a quick interview which started with the question, "do you like your baby?" and ended with "Do you promise not to abuse or abandon her?" Really? Like we are going to go through all of this and then change our minds?!?!?!?!? So...we answered yes to both questions...duh...and then we were on our way to the Chinese Walmart Supercenter. Just like home...screaming kids, annoying people that don't know how to drive carts, people yelling...although the dead ducks hanging in the meat section were new to us...

After that we just worked on being a family. And I think we are doing a decent job of it thus far.

Stand by for heart breaking time...

We have a little girl here that doesn't want to fall asleep because she is afraid we will not be here when she wakes up. She battles to keep her eyes open and is constantly looking from one of us to the other to make sure we are still there. Several times in the night last night she woke up, whimpered, saw me, looked at April and then fell back asleep. She really does not like to be put down once she falls asleep. I think she has some sort of balance switch in her that once her body goes horizontal it zaps her and wakes her up. In all seriousness...for the past ten months, every time her body goes horizontal she loses contact with humans until it is time for the next bottle or diaper change. I know the orphanage workers do their best, but there is no way these little girls get the attention they need. They get the basics, food, diaper, maybe a cold bath. It is sad to see Sophie constantly checking to make sure we are still here...how do you convince a 10 month old baby that doesn't speak your language that it is okay to sleep...we will be here when she wakes up.

On a much more positive note, she has definitely relaxed and is a playful giggly baby...just like she should be. I will find the best pictures we have of her giggling and post them. And I might try to include a video if it isn't too large of a file to get out of the country!

BJ

WE HAVE HER!!!!

We have her! She is ours! And she is perfect!

Now, I am not saying my daughter is the smartest kid in the world, but how many of you can say that your baby said Mama and Baba (Chinese for Dada) on the first day that you met him or her? I wonder how old you have to be to win the Nobel Prize...

Just a short blog to go with a long day today...

We got up early today to get on a bus for the airport...of course I have been wide awake around 3 AM every day anyway so it wasn't early for me. We then got on a plane for Nanchang and promptly sat on the tarmac for an hour waiting for clearance to move. After we got that clearance we moved to the end of the taxi way and waited for another 30 minutes to take off. Let's just call it a little inefficient and frustrating. I wonder if the pilot knew that he had 9 mothers waiting to meet their daughters in the plane...he is lucky April didn't storm the cockpit and fly to Nanchang herself.

With the delay on the airfield, we were late to pick up our daughters by 90 minutes. The orphanage workers had them all in a conference room at the hotel we are staying at and by the time we arrived they were all hungry, wet, and cranky! Luckily we were able to go straight to our rooms to change diapers and figure out how to make a bottle...you laugh...but it was quite an adventure. After a quick bottle we went to the Civil Affairs and Adoption Services Office across the street. This was about 3 hours of chaos as we all tried to get our paperwork in order and our donations paid to the government. Sophie was perfect sitting in her sling on April's hip and I filled out as many forms as I did when we bought our house in Florida...the only difference is that I couldn't read any of the questions. I might have sold some of you off to work in Chinese factories for all I know...sorry about that...

After paperwork we got some dinner...Sophie is a good midwestern girl...she loves mashed potatoes and bread. I think she will fit in quite nicely with our families. After dinner we promptly crashed back at the hotel. Well...April and I tried, but Sophie was not interested in sleep just yet...she was still trying to figure out what the heck just happened. Apparently I have the "touch" as I was able to get her to fall asleep after about 45 minutes. She slept about 7 hours and we have just spent the last hour watching her wiggle and chatter in the crib. Not crying at all...just figuring out what is up with the world. She rolled onto her stomach and then eventually back onto her back, all the while babbling in baby chatter. She may have spent the last 10 months in an orphanage, but she is pretty mobile and just my luck will be walking down the mall with her mother soon, spending all my money.

Well...off to try and get some sleep before the next big event. Tomorrow is the court system to make things a little more official. We also get to visit the Chinese Walmart...woo hoo!

Day 3

Hello everyone, it is technically 3 AM on Day Four for us, but I was so tired last night that blogging was not within the range of my capabilities. It seems, Chinese Chinese food is a little different from American Chinese food and apparently our bodies didn't appreciate the difference. Not to worry though, we will just chalk it up to a new fad diet...maybe the Biggest Loser could use it during sweeps week or something...

ANYWAYS...back to the important stuff,,,like Great Walls, church in Beijing, and Chinese acrobats! Today started off with a church service at the Beijing International Christian Fellowship. I broke my rule of never going to a church without the word church in its name, but it was worth it this time. There were about 300 people in a theater all speaking English and singing songs we were familiar with. It was very cool. It is an international church service and you need to show a copy of your passport or your foreign ID to get in there. According to our guide Sherry it is a registered Christian church with the government and as long as they are registered, they are okay. More to discuss on that later...like after we get back to the states later...

April got to feed her shopping hunger once again after church. This time it was at the Jade factory, and let me tell you, it is more of a Jade dealership than a Jade factory. I think they train these sales ladies at American Used Auto dealers or something, because they are good...We managed to leave with most, but not all, of my checking account intact, but we did get some very nice (that translates to expensive in BJ language) jewelry for Sophie and April and I.

After shopping we had another traditional Chinese lunch...but, based on the earlier conversation, we stuck with the traditional rice and Coke lunch...I can see my target weight from here...



We then spent about an hour trying to kill ourselves by climbing the Great Wall. I am pretty sure they took us to the steepest part of the wall just to watch all of us exhausted Americans struggle to exert ourselves while taking part in the rice and Coke diet. It was all worth it though, when the Chinese Army showed up and they were struggling just as hard as we were to make it to the top. Anyways, we made it to the second guard tower and the views were pretty cool. As you can tell in the pictures, the Chinese "fog" (see Day one) let up a little bit because it was windy, but that also drove the temperature down to something low in Celsius...funny how much colder it feels when you see a thermometer that says 9 degrees in stead of 40 degrees...but I digress...

The night ended with a Chinese acrobat show. I will describe it as Cirque du Soleil without the safety features...These people are flexible and have some crazy senses of balance...and why wouldn't you want to put 10 people on the same bicycle? I am pretty sure that is the future of Chinese mass transportation...who needs to spend money on trains or busses, just give a bicycle to every tenth person and we are good to go...and it cuts back on "fog" too!

Well...I need to try and get some sleep. It may be Day three where you are, but technically it is Day four here and I get my daughter in about 6 hours! Talk to everyone later...

BJ

Day 2

Tienanmen Square

Day Two! (Two more days until we get her!!!)

Well...after laying in bed awake from 2AM until 4AM, we did finally get some sleep. We were up and moving by 7AM for breakfast with the rest of the group. Including our two guides, there are 39 of us wandering around looking lost (well...the guides aren't looking lost, but you know what I mean...). Several of the families are on their second trip so there are three adoptees that are in the 7-8 years old range that are on their first return trip. It is very cool to watch them see the country they were born in. They have also become fast friends which is cool too. As for us adults, we are all getting to know one another and it is obvious everyone is "patiently" waiting for Monday afternoon when we get our daughters.

Today's itinerary was Tienanmen Square, the Forbidden City, a pearl shop, traditional Chinese lunch, The Summer Palace, a silk museum, and a traditional dinner including Peking Duck (no...the head was not still attached, but we were expecting it to be!!)

Inside of Tienanmen Square we saw Chairman Mao's Memorial, the Great Hall of the People, and the People's Hero Monument. Very interesting. We then went into the Forbidden City and saw some of the 10,000 buildings. For those of you who are curious, it is called the Forbidden City because the royal family was Forbidden from leaving its confines, and the commoners were Forbidden from entering it. After some shopping, which made all the ladies happy and the men broke, we went to the Summer Palace which has a 300 acre man-made lake which was filled by hand using wooden barrels hauled by carriages from the Forbidden City. Amazing what you can get done with slave labor!

The food here is good so far. No crazy surprises...yet. I am not quite craving a pizza yet, but we are close...very very close! Everything is served "family" style around a big table with a lazy susan in the middle. Lots of rice and basic meats and veggies. Beef, chicken, and pork are the most common...and yes mom, I am eating the vegetables.

As for photos, we are taking lots of them. However, we are blogging by proxy (facebook and blogspot are blocked in China) so we have to e-mail them to (my super awesome brother) Isaac so he can post them in the blog from the states. This will limit the number of photos, so we will put the best one's up now and will follow them up when we get back with all the others. Bear with us. Once we get Sophie, her pictures will likely take priority and you might not see as many shots of landscapes...but I don't think any of you are going to mind too much!

Well, tomorrow is the Great Wall so we are off to try and get some sleep. T-minus two days and counting!

BJ and April

Summer Palace

Marco Polo Bridge


Golden Throne



Gardens

Marco Polo Bridge

Day 1

Hello everyone! We successfully completed the first leg of the trip! After locking ourselves into an aluminum tube for 14 hours, we are in Beijing and let me tell you, the "fog" is thick around here. I am pretty sure we call it smog back home, but hey if they want to call it fog, so be it, when in Rome...

Our route of flight took us up over the North Pole. We left Chicago and flew straight north, flying past Green Bay, across the Upper Peninsula, and then across the Hudson Bay in Canada. After crossing the pole, we traveled south through Siberia, across the eastern part of Mongolia and then into Beijing. In all, the flight was 6700 miles and mostly uneventful...other than the fact that as soon as the fasten seatbelt sign came on, inevitably the same old Chinese man would stand up and wander around the plane. The flight attendants would chase him down and get him to sit back down eventually. It was definitely amusing to watch two American women who do not speak Mandarin trying to convince an old Chinese man that speaks no English that he needs to stop wandering around when the fasten seatbelt sign is on...ahhh international travel, gotta love it.

So that is about it for the first day, not much other than an airplane ride and trying to convince my body that it isn't 1 o'clock in the afternoon and I shouldn't be wide awake at 3 AM. We took some pictures and promise there will be more tomorrow!

BJ and April