But That Cat Sure Looks Juicy!

 
 
 
  

Available Again

Videos are now watchable, sorry for the interruption. As for more pictures, I will do my best. I think you-know-who is teething... maybe? Or maybe she just really likes to get her hands all juicy and put them on Mommy. (Mommy doesn't like drool.) Anyway, you-know-who is now temporarily known as Rashy Red Cheeks. Rashy Red Cheeks has told me that if her fans want more pictures, then more pictures it is... as soon as Mommy can find her camera. I think I put it somewhere with a bag of Cheerios...

Temporarily Unavailable

The storage site that we use to host our video links is currently unavailable while they "are hard at work" upgrading their site to provide us with "an even better service."

No worries, we should be online again soon.

Still Breathing

We have been home for just under 5 days now. Dan and I are still feeling a little jet-lagged, but Harper seems to be sleeping very well. We are very lucky that she is taking it easy on us.

I have to say that I can’t wait to feel normal again. I love Harper and she has been such a trooper with all of this upheaval, but I simply can’t wait until this different lifestyle we now have… feels normal. It is so weird to feel like I have to skulk around my own house so I don’t wake The Beast, like she as somehow usurped our power, in an instant, and made it her own. She also comes with a lot of… stuff. Now, I am not against stuff in general, but if it was calculated and made proportional to age or weight, I may understand it a bit better. Boy, has she got baggage.

Our trip home was a test of fortitude. Thursday morning in Guangzhou (Wednesday evening here on the east coast) we left via plane to head to Hong Kong, to then fly 13 and a half hours to LAX. I can’t sit still for that long, I also can’t sleep. When there was only four hours left of our flight I felt like turning cartwheels up and down the aisle. I couldn’t wait to get off the plane. No, really… I… Couldn’t… Wait. Lives were at stake.

We thought we were making a good decision by spending one night in Los Angeles before we flew back to Vermont the next day and it would have been if we were actually able to get on a plane. Due to a power outage at LAX and many cancelled flights previously to our arrival, we ended up in lines far too long to reach the check-in counter before our flight closed its doors. Very discouraging. Not only did we miss our flight that had a stand-by list of 40 to 50 people, we had to somehow get on a different flight. The best that anyone could do was a flight the next day with a lengthy layover at Dulles.

Since there was nothing we could do we went back to our hotel. Since we had checked out earlier, we ended up with a different room, a room with some weak air conditioning and some weird bugs that would occasionally show themselves. We were tired and disappointed that we would not be home that night. Then the water in the hotel was shut off and we were REALLY disappointed that we would not be home that night. After four hours and a few phone calls, we had water… brown, yucky water. It truly was a comedy of errors.

We flew out the next morning and made it safely to Dulles where we were greeted with the departure board listing our flight to Burlington as delayed until 11:19 pm. (We had arrived at 6.) There was a line of thunderstorms in between us and home. Our departure time was listed as the last flight leaving for the night and I have to say that I was scared $&%*less that we would have to overnight in Washington, too. Our flight actually left earlier than listed, but we had no idea that it would until they called us for boarding. The pilot rocketed us home and we finally arrived very early Sunday morning.

So, we are home and our laundry is finally clean, although still not put away. I know that we had left only 23 days ago, but if feels like three years.

Dan, Harper and I greatly appreciate all of your comments, emails, and phone calls. They were one of the few things that kept us going. We are very lucky.

Now, to anyone that I have not responded to yet… I will… I promise. Please bear with us. But it just may take another three years… in this weird, baby-esque space/time continuum.

We love you.
Dan, Janet and Harper

P.S. More pics and video for our die hard fans (Grandmas, et al.)

Homeward Bound

Good Grief

After a long couple of days, we are home. This is Harper getting strapped into her very first car seat. It was a very late night last night and by the time Harper went to sleep it was 3:15 in the morning.

She slept until 10:30 this morning and will get some good naps in today, too.

We have many more photos to post, but we didn't get to sleep until 4:30 so it may take a bit before they are posted. I hope these will hold you over while you wait for us to become human again.

We love you all and we are SO glad to be home!


 

Farewell, China

This will be our last post from China. We are excited to return home. It has been a long time away.

Thank you all for your kind and supportive words during our journey. Getting daily messages from everyone has certainly helped us not feel so far away.

We'll be home soon.

It Was A Good Day

Harper had a really good day today. Not a lot of crying, but there was a lot of laughing, smiling, and 'talking' with us.

We did a lot of things today including a Red Couch photo which every adoptive family does with their tour group when they stay at the White Swan. Harper did really well, didn't cry and was smiley most of the time down there. The following photos are right before we went down for the photo. She was chatting and laughing with us the whole time. The first three pictures are a series I'd like to call "Jolly Buddha in Pink" She was a real ham today.




 

King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden

Yesterday afternoon, we noticed small squads of the Chinese Army in the area around our hotel. It's China so we didn't think too much about it. Well now we know why...The King and Queen of Sweden arrived in our hotel yesterday for an official State visit. See the article below for more information.

A special Swedish chef has been flown in an is serving Swedish dishes all week long. I wonder if they will have my favorite dish...Swedish fish! We did miss the Royal Family at the breakfest buffet this morning, maybe we'll see them tomorrow.


The King and Queen of Sweden visit China – arriving on board the ship Götheborg
King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia will visit China July 17-22. On July 18, they will be on board Götheborg when the ship arrives at the outer harbour of Guangzhou. The arrival will symbolize the return of the ship to China after 262 years. On July 19-20, the King and Queen will visit Beijing as the guests of President Hu Jintao. On July 20 the President will receive the King and the Queen.


There was a spectacular light show all around the harbor last night that included lasers, music, and lots of neon lights. It was very much like a Disney World parade.

We are very happy to report that we will not be forced to leave the hotel because of the King's arrival. The hotel was emptied earlier this year when Kim Jung-il, the leader of North Korea, arrived at the White Swan Hotel. I can't imagine having to move, again.

End of 2nd Day in Guangzhou

I added additional pictures to the new photo link.
Today was a long day and we have a semi-sleeping beast so I have to be quiet. I will post more details tomorrow. 

Yes, We Are Still In China.

We are now into our second day in Guangzhou. I apologize for not posting anything yesterday. We have a simple adorable, charming and fussy baby right now who has a cough and has been sneezing a little bit and her usual naptimes have not been usual at all.

We love Harper. It makes us sad to see her not feel well and it also frustrates us to not be able to do very much for her. She likes to go out and enjoy the sites, but she gets really sleepy after a while and takes a nap in her carrier. Then when it is naptime she is a little discombobulated.

We have had a couple of really intense crying sessions that have to do with fear or not feeling well and we are not really sure which. During these times she is inconsolable and it is upsetting for us to watch her struggle. Although this is really hard at times, I think she is learning to trust us and is feeling safer day by day. Dan and I were really glad to be at the White Swan and out of Nanchang, but to Harper it was just another upheaval of her world that she didn’t understand. Other than her cold, she is doing a lot better today and we are getting more fun play time, smiles and giggles from her. Unfortunately, we still have a few more transitions to make before we finally get home.

I really miss home. Things are so foreign to us right now, (please excuse my pun.) Dan and I can’t remember what day of the week it is, what time it is, or that lunch is something that we need to eat. (No worries, Harper does get her lunch, though.) I have a hard time remembering details of Hong Kong already. It feels like it was years ago. Our weird new life consists of a hotel room, polluted water that has to be boiled, strange colorful money that I can never remember the exchange rate for, hot humid weather (although I think it is hotter in Vermont today than it is here.), daily schedules that NEVER meshes with Harper’s schedule, and tag-team maneuvers between Dan and myself around such tasks as feeding, appointments, and potty-time (ex-cell-ent!). I don’t think I quite remember who I am anymore.

To everyone that has had a child, you have my apologies and admiration. Now, I understand. The tears, crying and stress doesn’t seem so bad when you finally get a gummy, little smile and a goofy, happy chuckle in return.

… But I am still tired. : )

* Hopefully before our Monday is over and your Monday is starting, I will get some more pictures of Guangzhou and Harper. We uploaded some to the “New China Photos” link, but I forgot to put the memory card back in the camera when we went for our walk today. Oops.

Oh yeah, did I mention that Harper is growing a cute pot belly? Very Buddha. 

Exhausted.

We had a long day today even though our flight was a little over an hour. We had to have our bags packed at 11:30 and check out of our room. Then we had to wait in the lobby of our hotel in Nanchang until 1:00 when we were driven to the airport. Our guide was wonderful and personally checked us in and all of our luggage. (There are 19 families in our group. It was the largest group sent to Nanchang so far.) We stood in the airport while this was happening for over an hour. It was also very hot and humid in the airport. Very limited air conditioning.

We spent over an hour on the plane and Harper did very well. Only minor fussing and a surprise diaper change. Once we landed it was more waiting in the airport for our baggage, then waiting for all of our group to gather together, then more waiting to get on the bus to take us to the White Swan. The ride was 45 minutes long. While waiting in the airport Harper was very stoic. She didn't make any noise or have any real facial expressions. Once we were on the bus she was more fussy, but I think it was do to exhausting.

We didn't arrive to The White Swan until after 7:00. It is a gorgeous hotel and I haven't seen anything but the lobby, elevator and our room. Once in our room Harper came to life and was rolling around on the bed, smiling and laughing. She was like this for quite sometime.

Then of course it was time for bed and we set her in the crib. She howled and screamed like we were trying to light her on fire. It was exhausting. I think it was scary for her to be in another new place that she was expected to sleep in. The last time she had a different crib was the night she was handed to us and we knew that she was terrified then. After quite some time she was able to calm herself down, but we needed to stand over her crib. We tried to avoid eye contact as not to engage her, but to stand there long enough so that she knew it was safe and we weren't going anywhere. She is asleep now, but Dan and I are very, very tired.

I hope it isn't this bad tomorrow when it is time to take a nap.

I am sorry that there are no pictures now, we will make up for it when we wake up in the morning, evening for you all.

I hope I can sleep. I can't wait to try.

Love,
Janet

Teething

I think that Harper is teething. She just learned that she had hands yesterday and today she realized she can chew on them. She hasn't sucked her thumb, but she has gnawed on it a bit. She has also learned how to blow raspberries. She is very good at making the spit fly. Mommy doesn't like spit. She has also been a bit fussy at times, of course you won't see that because we don't take any pictures of 'the beast', it is strictly not allowed.

Today we received her Chinese passport so we can now take her out of the country. Tomorow we fly from Nanchang to Guangzhou. Our posting may take a bit later in the day tomorrow because I think it may take us some time to get to the White Swan and then settled in. Tomorrow is also Harper's first flight. I think it is only an hour so at least it is a short one to see how the beast takes to flying.

Raspberries

 

Misery Loves Company

Thank you to all of you who played the "It Could Be Worse" game. It does make me feel better knowing that a lot of you are miserable too. (Totally kidding... I know how much I hated yesterday so I have a deep empathy for those of you suffering.)

That being said... Jim, I think you win. Qatar is apparently the arm pit of world and then when you add a uniform and boots to the mix Qatar is the arm pit of the world, stuck in someone's gym locker. My deepest sympathies.

Slippery When Wet

Harper was feeling a lot better tonight. Her fever broke earlier and she was very sweaty so she had a quick bath. She has enjoyed every bath we have given her.





 

Two More Nights In Nanchang

We have tonight and tomorrow night to go before we head to Guangzhou. I can't wait. It is one step close to home.

We had a really quiet day today. Dan was miserable with a runny nose all day and Harper was fussy and had a low grade fever this afternoon. We went for a short walk this morning and then spend the rest of the day in our hotel room. Very boring. Not to mention that our room looks like a bomb went off in it. There is stuff everywhere.

Here is a short video taken this morning. It is unedited so don't expect much but a cute baby who is making a really good transition.

Drinking and Laughing

July In Nanchang = No Fun

Today was a long day. We went on a tour of Nanchang. The weather was about 100 degrees and it was pretty humid. Unfortunately it meant that I didn't pay a lot of attention to what I was really looking at. If it had been just Dan and myself it would have been bearable, but I was concerned about Harper getting overheated.

We did travel in an air conditioned bus which was great, but just to walk around for 30 minutes outside was a lesson in how much body fluid you can lose through your skin. It really was amazing how much we were sweating.

Harper did ok, but the heat wasn't great for her and once we got back to the hotel we tried to put her down for a nap, but she was over tired and wanted nothing to do with it. So I spend the afternoon trying to appease her which was also exhausting. On top of that Dan had some pretty intense allergies to something outside today and could not be with out tissues. He took some Benedryl and he did sleep when we got back to the hotel. That left me entertaining 'the beast'. (That is our affectionate name for Harper when she decides what ever we do is not the right thing.)

We had dinner in the hotel tonight and it was managable, came back and gave her a bath (which she does really well with) and put her to bed. She went down easily and is sleeping soundly now. I think we will let her sleep as long as possible. We have learned that waking The Beast when she could still use some sleep in not wise.

Here is a photo of how sly The Beast can be. One moment she is cute enough to munch on and then later becomes... cranky. But honestly after today we were all cranky so I hold nothing against her. Tomorrow will be much better.

There are some new pictures added to our 'China Photos' link on the side. There were a lot of pictures taken while we were out today, not as many of Harper. Tomorrow we will take more of her.

I have to sleep now. I am also not going to proofread right now so my apologies on any grammer, puncuation, or spelling mistakes.
I still can't wait to come home.

 

Movie

I hope blogger is working for you all to see. It is weird here, we can post to it, but we can't view our post once we are done so we are not sure if it all is going through. We are able to see the comments, so thank you all for them. We love it. It makes us feel not quite so far away. Although things are fine here, we still can't wait to get home.

In the sidebar under 'Movies' is the video that Dan shot when Harper was handed to us. He did a good job and it is something we are glad that we have. Of course if I was giving birth, I think I would be slightly more hesitant... :)

We did meet with a Chinese doctor today and through a translater we learned that Harper has some slight bronchitis, but we brought some antibiotics with us and Baby Tylenol and we hope it will do the trick. It doesn't seem very severe, but she was slightly more fussy today, but hopefully that will lessen as she feels better. She also gets fussy if she has to go to the bathroom, she doesn't like to go in her diaper. She has peed in it, but no poop. Although she did do a pretty good poop this morning on her little potty so no constipation as of now. She also has been eating a lot better today than yesterday, plus she has gotten in two naps which has been great.

I hope all is well with you, things are running smoothly here, but we miss our normal life at home. We can't wait to get back.

Parenthood...

We're so tired! I know, know it comes with the job.

It turns out that our two combined groups of 19 families is the largest group ever to adopt from the Jiangxi Provice. Therefore special accomodations have been made. First, the babies were brought to our hotel instead the Civil Affairs Office, which was great because we could head right back to our rooms instead of having to take a bus ride back to the Hotel. Second, the Official Regristar that interviews each family and processes the paperwork to legalize the adoption also came to our hotel. She also came on Sunday evening instead of the Monday which is the typical procedure. This meant a very long day on Sunday.

We started out in Hong Kong, took a 1.5 hour plane ride to Nanchange. Then it was a 45 minute bus ride to the hotel. After checking in we had a 2.5 hour long meeting. Immediately following the meeting we recieved the babies. Then we had 30 minutes with the babies in our rooms before we had to head back to the confrence room to meet with the regristar. We got back to the room around 8:30. Then around 9:00 of the agency assistants dropped off "medicine" for Harper. Unfortunately the directions were written in Chinese. So it was off to find the lead guide to translate the medicine and to get more information on Harper's condition. (She seems to be doing fine, with the exception of chest congestion. We are our meeting with doctor tomorrow morning).

Harper did well last night (Sunday). She woke up at 2am, had a bottle and went to the bathroom. The Chinese "potty train" their babies at a very young age. We were intructed to hold her over the toilet bowl and whistle to signify that it is time to pee. Well sure enough it worked! To get a BM going you say Ba BA! then HMMMM. That kind of worked as well. If you follow these instructions every few hours you may not have any dirty diapers to deal with.

Today was tiring. We woke Harper up at 7:00. However mom didn't make it back to sleep after the 2am feeding. We gave Harper a bottle, which she wasn't interested in, and a bath that she seemed to enjoy.

At 10:30 it was off to Walmart to pick up some water (you can't drink the tap water here), food, and other baby supplies. Inside Walmart Janet and Harper drew the attention of a Chinese family that rode the escaltor with us. They kept saying show mei mei which I think means litte girl and giving us the thumbs up sign. bWhile waiting for the bus our group drew the attention of the locals. They kept their distance but more and more lingered around to see the foreigners with the Chinese babies. Nanchang is not common place for foreigners so we really stood out. We were lined up under an overhang, as it was raining (it is monsoon seaons here) when a teenage girl approached me and said "excuse me, may I have my picture taken with you?". The photo was snapped and the and her photographer switched roles and the next photo was taken. Well the ice had been broken and the rest of the group started to move in, but our tour bus show up at the same time and we were all off back to the hotel.

The orphange director arrived a 1:00 to answer our questions. With such a large group and limited time, specific child related questions were not possible. The only real item of interest was that he said he would email us copies of any letters that were left with our babies when they were abandoned. Apparently Harper did have a letter with her, so we'll have to wait and see what comes of this.

There were a few stops, but nothing noteworthy other than to say it was a very long day. The babies didn't get naps, we not able to eat on time and as a result they were pretty unhappy. Mom and Dad missed both lunch and dinner. But its too late now. It's off to bed. Tomorrow our only committment is the doctor's appointment at 10. Hopefully we will get to catch up on rest and eating tomorrow.

(I am too tired to proof read now, so sorry for the typos and misspellings. I'll fix them tomorrow).

I did a few new photos that can be found under the China Photos link.

We Got Her!

We have had a very long day and Harper is sleeping in her crib right now as I type this. We had an excruciatingly long meeting and after that we had just enough time to go up to the room to put down some papers and then we were to head back down to the meeting room.

Harper was handed over and didn't cry right away. She looked very skeptically at Dan at first and then decided to cry. She cried quite a bit until she seemed to wear herself out. We took her back to our room and she settled down. We even got some giggles out of her.

I think that all three of us are very, very tired. We do have more pictures to upload and some video to post, but you are going to have to wait a bit on that.

Thank you, everybody for you support. It was a big day and I don't think it has quite hit us yet. For me right now we have some weird, cute creature sleeping in our room, but tomorrow when I have to lug her around from place to place, I am sure the reality will really set in.

Don't Have A Lot Of Time To Talk....

Right now it is 2:43 pm Sunday afternoon. We are in Nanchang. We have a long meeting to attend in less than an hour. There was a change in plans because our group was so large that the babies are going to be delivered to our hotel around 6:00. We will probably still be in the meeting so we won't be able to post anything until after we get the babies. Then we also have paperwork to do tonight so I am not sure when the next post will actually take place.

Please be patient with us, we have no idea how this is going to go...

Did I mention we have a crib in our room?

Hong Kong Again

We have added a new link for photos titled “NEW! China Photos” Our internet connection is very good here and we were able to quickly upload all of today’s photos. We will try to add additional photos from Nanchang, and Guangzhou, but we are unsure of quality of the internet connection there.

As you will see in the photos, we toured Hong Kong today. Some the highlights were a tour of Aberdeen Harbor, Stanley Market, and Victoria Peak. Oh yeah, we saw Jackie Chan’s office and house! We ended the tour with an authentic Dim Sum Lunch in downtown Kowloon, which was excellent. Janet even ate there.

We returned to our rooms around 4:00. Janet took a short 2 hour nap, from which she never fully awoke.

This will be our last post from Hong Kong. Tomorrow we fly to Nanchang, check into the hotel and then it is off to get the babies! So the next post should be what everyone is waiting for…pictures of Harper!

So long for now. 

The Interesting, The Annoying, and The Mundane

As you can see from our earlier post, we made it to Hong Kong. Did I mention the how long the flight was?

When we first got to the airport we had a string of 3 ‘not-quite-bad-luck,-but still-inconveniencing’ experiences.

The first was right after my parents drove off, leaving us to walk to the check-in counter. I was carrying a very small shopping bag with handles that had a travel blanket, pillow, earplugs, and additional items that we wanted to keep at hand while on the plane. Before I could even make it halfway to the check-in counter, the handle fell off. To be honest it seemed like it could be the first of many potential omens that were trying to tell me to go home and crawl under the covers. Luckily the MacGyver in me had put a roll of duct tape in the other carry-on suitcase I was bringing on board. Handle repaired.

Next, we walked up to the check-in counter and the woman behind it took our passports and tickets, looked at them, then went to a room in the back to “speak to someone.” Uh-oh. It took quite a long time for them to operate the computer and then tell us that our bags would be checked through to Hong Kong. Then she turned to her ‘helper’ and asked how to get Air Italia to come up on the screen. Huh?!? She then informed us that this was Delta’s second day of flights from Burlington to JFK and they were still learning the system. Uh-oh. She printed off our boarding passes and told us that we were all set. I had to ask her if our bags were really going to meet us in HONG KONG and she assured me that yes, they would. Still skeptical, we moved on to security…

When we got to the first person in the security gauntlet, he looked at our boarding passes, unhooked a section of his line maze and said go that way, you and your bags have been tagged to be randomly searched. Hooray! I never get randomly selected for anything and now that I am carrying a small pharmacy of prescription and over-the-counter medicines, I get to be pat down and my very intricately packed items sifted through. At least we got to the airport early. I remembered Rush Limbaugh had a rough go of bringing his Viagra back into the country, and although I was NOT carrying the ‘little blue pill’ I was mentally preparing myself for the discussion regarding various antibiotics, cold medicines, and my doctor prescribed ‘scabicidal agent’. (Not really mine, more of an insurance policy that Harper will hopefully not have scabies. Still it is not a fun topic of conversation with a TSA agent.)

That was our bad luck. However, I felt that bad things come in threes and now I was done. It actually worked out to be the case because as I was being pat-down, (by a lovely girl) I was told to watch my bags as they went through their screening. I had put a combination travel lock onto my bag as a place to carry it if we bought a piece of luggage in China that we wanted to check for the flight home. A TSA agent called me over to open it and said, “Wow, I haven’t seen you since Live Y’ers.” (Live Y’ers is a YMCA sponsored after-school program that I worked for in Richmond, like a hundred years ago.) This TSA agent was a dad of one of the boys in that program. We chatted for a bit, he lightly sniffed my bag and I was good to go. Not one question about scabies.

All of this occurred in Burlington. Stay tuned for future updates of our JFK and LAX experience if I am bored and have nothing else to talk about. However, I think in the next few days we might find ourselves with something else to discuss…

Sleepless in Seattle...um I Mean Hong Kong

We are here.
It was a looong flight.
We are tired.
We left our house at 4:30 in the morning.
It took us just under 30 hours before we arrived at our hotel.
Our hotel is nice.
Did I mention we are tired?

Sorry for the Dick and Jane style post.
Sleep Janet, sleep. See Janet sleep.

More details later…

Here are some pictures.

Us, before we knew exactly how tired we would be.




Notice there is no picture of us once we arrived. It would have been cruel and unusual punishment for everyone involved. 

Our Bags Are Packed, We're Ready To Go...

I would like to thank all of you for making us feel like we can actually do this. We are extremely nervous about so many things right now and your vote of confidence really means a lot.

Here are the 'just in case' links I promised you.

One Step At A Time Is Good Walking

Baby Jellybeans

(This one may need a password. The password is "yikes". Shhh!)

Here We Go!

This isn't a website, but it is here for your enjoyment.

It is up early for us tomorrow, breakfast in New York, lunch in Los Angeles and dinner in Hong Kong, well the following night anyway.

...but we still can't wait to come home.

Dan and Janet

To Blog Or Not To Blog, That Is The Question

The People's Republic of China has come a long way, baby. China's citizens are slowly gaining more personal freedoms than they have seen in quite some time. However, it seems that the blogging underworld proves to be a bit more sinister in their eyes.

The following is a recent news article.

China Cracks Down on Blogs, Search Engines

BEIJING (AP) - China's Internet regulators are stepping up controls on blogs and search engines to block material it considers unlawful or immoral, the government said Friday.

"As more and more illegal and unhealthy information spreads through the blog and search engine, we will take effective measures to put the BBS, blog and search engine under control," said Cai Wu, director of the Information Office of China's Cabinet, quoted by the official Xinhua News Agency. The government will step up research on monitoring technology and issue "admittance standards" for blogs, the report said, without providing any details.

China encourages Internet use for business and education but tries to block access to obscene or subversive material. It has the world's second-biggest population of Internet users after the United States, with 111 million people online.

China launched a campaign in February to "purify the environment" of the Internet and mobile communications, Xinhua said. China has 37 million Web logs, or blogs, Xinhua said, citing a study by Beijing's Tsinghua University. It said that number was expected to nearly double this year to 60 million.

The government has launched repeated crackdowns on online material considered pornographic.

O.k. Mom, I know what you are thinking... other than when you can hold Harper; "How will your journey (to my granddaughter) be able to be documented step-by step, or diaper-by-diaper if we can't read it on your illuminating yet slightly off kilter blog? I have pictures to print out (of my granddaughter) and people to show them to for goodness sake. Honey, we don't really care about your so-called-sense-of-humor or your need to type the word 'nipple' into your blog, we just really want to follow you on your 'trip of a lifetime' (to my granddaughter). You really should try to do something about this."

Never fear, faithful blogees! This slightly of kilter blogger has created some viable options in case our 'blog' has been deemed, "unlawful or immoral" while in China. There is chance that our blog may not work, but I would categorize our blog as being, let's say... immature or asinine, certainly not unlawful.

Nevertheless, I have created some additional web space for us and I will post links to that space shortly before we leave. And yes Mom, I understand that video and pictures are a must-have.

So on with the adventure! (and some funny pictures for those who don't read any of my words.)



 

Sorry! We Have Been...umm, Busy!

My sincere apologies for not posting in over a week, but we have had a few things to accomplish... like how to get to China and back!

July 6 we head to JFK, to LAX, and finally land in Hong Kong.

The following is the schedule that we follow once we are in China, as told to us by our adoption agency.

******************************
7/6 Leave the U.S. for Hong Kong.

7/7 Arrive in Hong Kong. A CCAI representative will meet you outside Customs & Immigration.

Go to the Royal Park Hotel, Shatin. Free time.

7/8 Prepaid tour in Hong Kong.

7/9 Leave Hong Kong for Nanchang on China Eastern flight MU5018 (11:25-13:00). Welcomed by CCAI Representative James Jin

Go to the JinFeng Hotel.

Have a group meeting to prepare paperwork.
Your CCAI rep will be giving you detailed instructions regarding your daily schedule and paperwork.

Receive your children at the Provincial Registration Office this afternoon! Congratulations! *(GULP!)*
The children will be delivered by the Orphanage Director and orphanage staff.

7/10 Adoption Registration, Notarization and apply for children’s passport today. Optional trip to the local department store for baby supplies.

7/11 CCAI’s contracted medical consultant will be available for your child’s medical needs while you are in Nanchang. She will be visiting your child, in your room, today.

7/12 Rest or optional city tours. Waiting for paperwork to be completed.

7/13 Receive notarized adoption documents this afternoon.

7/14 Receive your child’s passport and Registration Certificate in the afternoon.

7/15 Please be packed, checked out of the hotel and ready to leave for the airport at the requested time.

Leave NanChang for Guangzhou on China Southern flight CZ3536 (15:50-17:00). Welcomed by CCAI Representative Raymond, Jason & assistant.

Go to the White Swan Hotel.

7/16 Free time. Rest, shop, tour.

7/17 Have your child’s visa physical and visa photo taken today.

Group meeting today to prepare paperwork for the Consulate appointment.

7/18 Today is your Consulate appointment.
Raymond and Jason will deliver your visa packets to the U.S. Consulate Adoption Unit.

7/19 Go to the U.S. Consulate with Raymond to take the oath in the afternoon.

7/20 Please be packed, checked-out and ready to go at the designated time.

******************************

We leave Guangzhou, to Hong Kong, then spend the night in Los Angeles before we head the rest of the way home on July 21.

I am tired already.

Today Has Been Exciting!!!!!

We have updated pictures of Harper and I can't wait to smooch her cheeks! These pictures were taken on June 5th and then she weighed 14.7 lbs and was 25.7 inches long. I am hoping that this is her foster mom so if we don't get to meet her in China, we at least have a picture.

Harper will be 8 months old tomorrow.

Oh yeah... we need to be in Hong Kong by July 7th! I think my head is going to explode!!!

Isn't she cute?!! So much for old man hair, now she has bed head!



 

Bonus Video Friday

I had heard about this 'Mentos and Diet Coke Fountain' video that was circulating in cyber space, but had not seen it until today on someone's blog. It is pretty amazing, not to mention the breakfast of champions, and the music is GENIUS!

If I could choose a soundtrack for my life, this would be it.

When Turtles Attack

Yesterday while I was outside I noticed we had a visitor in our backyard. I grabbed my camera to document this strange event... after I called Dan to make sure that turtles don't move faster in warm weather. I didn't want to have a turtle chasing me while I was screaming and running away. That would have been embarrassing.

Yes, the footage is blurry and I apologize, but I have let people (Dan) know that I want one of those really good cameras that Garth and Kevin have.

Here is my movie:

When Turtles Attack


* I forgot to mention that this turtle was big, think larger than Wilson, a shell the diameter of a platter, medicine ball size, just really, really big. And I am not just saying that because I thought he could gnaw off my leg.

Split Focus

What a great weekend! Dan and I drove to Connecticut for the weekend to visit his parents, Karen and Kevin, and our soon-to-be-born niece, Mayson. We were also able to see the Tino family while we were there including Guido and Kris, Guy and Jill, Anna and Christopher, Garth and Steph, Amanda, Chris, and Heather.

Here is what I learned on this trip:

When dogs have gas it can smell pretty bad.

Both Kevin and Garth have new cameras that make me jealous.

The Red Sox still have the ability to make even their number one fans sick.

Setting up a Pack-N-Play or the generic brand Baby-Get-Use-To-Incarceration-Trainer can be challenging.

You can get amazing deals at the Dollar Store for just... one dollar!

Grandpa Tino is a genius.

There are many recipes for margaritas, but only ONE is truly the BEST.

Some would say that corn is not fit for human consumption since it comes out looking pretty much the same as it went in.

Garth wants a pair of split pants for Christmas.

What's Up With Docs?

It is possible that I am a bit iatrophobic. That means I have a fear of doctors. I understand the whole hippocratic oath and all, but do they really CARE about me or my many neurotic issues, imagined or otherwise?

(Please don’t confuse iatrophobia with catagelophobia, a fear of being ridiculed. I am totally fine with ridicule.)

Anyway, I guess when you become a parent or a soon-to-be-parent, you must look to the dark side for help, and not just for the annual-make-you-worry-they-will-give-you-bad-news-physical, which probably takes years off your life just due to the stress of it all.

Dan and I needed to find a pediatrician. I have to admit I put this off for quite a while. I wanted to find a pediatrician that I felt comfortable with. Duh. I understand this person will probably be speed dial #3 right after the grandmothers (or # 1, but I don’t want to incur the wrath of the G-Moms, so no telling…) but you have to understand. I am not too keen on the docs. I understand that they are not all Dr. Acula or anything, but there are a few bad apples out there who ruin the whole idea of an apple a day keeps Dr. Acula away.

We met with a prospective pediatrician today… and I love her. She was wonderful, kind, attentive, and she seemed to really care about us and the pictures of our soon to be daughter. She is like the un-doctor. She also told us to call with any question or concerns and that no question is too silly. (Although I wonder if she will still be saying that to families after Harper has grown up; I am sure I will provide her with some real whoppers.)

We found the right doctor. Check that one off the list.

*Thanks to the show Scrubs for the Dr. Acula reference and my apologies for the unfair stereotypes in my post. And to any doctors out there who may end up being a physician of mine, be forewarned… I don’t like needles either.

Would You Like To Buy A Rubber Nipple?

My apologies for the delay in our Blogger postings. It seems that we have become busy again with more paperwork.

We downloaded our 22 page “Travel Packet II” on Friday and spent the weekend and first part of this week filling out documents, getting them notarized, sending off a care package which will hopefully make it to China, sending off our passports and visa applications, and also spending 2 hours in a drug store trying to figure our what we are supposed to bring with us to China.

The drug store part was the most comical. Picture this, a 30+ year old couple standing in front of the bottle and nipple section of the store:

D: What kind of bottles are we supposed to get?

J: I don’t know, what kind ARE we supposed to get?

D: I thought you read something about bottles.

J: I read a little, but I don’t know what would work the best.

D: How many bottles are we supposed to bring with us?

J: I don’t know, how many bottles ARE we supposed to bring?

D: I don’t know, maybe three?

J: I didn’t know there are so many different nipples. Look, there are ‘comfort latch’ in a natural shape, silicone nipples with slow, medium, and fast flow options, but if you want the ‘brights’ they only come in medium flow.

D: I think we want fast flow.

J: (with forehead crinkled) But do we want a ‘three hole design’ or the ‘cross cut’ ones?

D: (ignoring J.) Why is this one an ‘orthodontic body’ nipple? Is that supposed to be ergonomically better like the mouse pads with the gel bump in them?

J: Do those have ‘anti-colic benefits’?

D: These over here have ‘natural action’. Who would win in a steel cage match, ‘natural action’ or ‘anti-colic’?

J: Huh. I don’t know.

D: But if you did know…

J: (exasperated) I don’t know. What do you want to do?

D: (frustrated) I thought you had read about this stuff.

J: (resigned to defeat) I think we should come back later.

D: (sighing with relief) O.k. That sounds good to me.

Tune in next week for part two of, “How To Build a Better Bottle” or the Canadian title, “The Bottle Deficiency Chronicles”