Happy Fall!

Sleepyheads

Angry Vampire

Much Happier Now

Crazy Ninja

1st Grade Music Program

Sorry it has been so long since the last post.  I have sat down to blog several times and never completed an entry.  It is impossible to get any computer time before the kids go to sleep, then Andrew and I compete for the computer.  The idea of sleep makes it easy for him to win.  Tyler is doing great.  He is saying and understanding more words.  He is RUNNING everywhere and is into everything, quicker than lightening.  He is using the potty already, very consistently at daycare and sometimes at home, poop and pee.  I thought Mama Linda was exaggerating when she told me last week, but he asked to go several times this weekend and he made it happen almost every time.  He also can almost entirely dress himself.  He eats very neatly with a spoon and wipes his mouth with a napkin.  He is extremely anxious to be independent.  At this rate, he may expect to move out when he is eight! 

Quinn is doing great, too.  She is finishing her season of soccer this weekend and will start basketball in a few weeks.  She is not as jealous as before and loves to teach Ty new things, most of them not naughty.  Her birthday is next month and she is ready to turn seven. 

Ty has been accepted as a patient at Shriner's Hospital in Houston and will have his cleft palate surgery this Thursday, the 11th.  We are truly blessed to have him in the Shriner's program.  He has a surgeon with an impeccable reputation and will remain under the care of the program until he is 18.  All of his treatments and future surgery will be covered through Shriner's.  My mom is flying in tomorrow to make the trip with me and Andrew will stay home with Quinn.  Keep our sweet boy in your prayers for a quick recovery!  I will post next week to update on the results.

Settling In

New Toy- Thanks Christel!

AC/DC Shirt

Beautiful Quinn playing in the rain

Loves PopPop

Doesn't like to share PopPop

Requisite "Messy Baby" photo

First taste of juice box

We are both back at work.  Quinn is staying with Ty at Mama Linda's until she starts school next week.  The new job is great, although I miss my Ridgeview friends very much.  Last night Ty slept from 8:30pm until almost 6am without waking in the night.  It is amazing how great it feels to have slept through a night and I could tell he felt great, too.  I am hoping for a trend.  He is adapting well to his in home daycare.  He is using sign language for a couple of words and is trying to say hello with his hand on his ear like a phone.  He also takes our phones and pretends to text with his thumbs.  I think his daddy talks on the phone way too much!  He is still using the m words most of the time;  mama, mine, more.  These words or a loud grunt or growl can get him just about anything he needs.

Home

We are finally getting a "normal" schedule and learning to manage two kids.  Wow!  I had forgotten how vigilant you must be with a one year old.  I took both kids to a kiddie waterpark yesterday for a birthday party, by myself.  My son has no fear.  I walked around for two hours bent over with my hands out because he didn't want any help.  He is still in a love/hate relationship with Quinn which I suspect will last through the teen years.  Nights are getting better.  He slept from 10 until 4:30 without waking and crying.  At 4:30 he took a bottle and cried for about 30 minutes, then went back to sleep until 6:30.  It is still not ideal, but much easier than before.  We took Ty for his 15 month well baby visit on Friday.  He has an ear infection in one ear and fluid behind his eardrums.  Other than that he is doing great!  We will take him back in three weeks to check his development.  Andrew's parents are coming this afternoon to spend the week since I start training for my new job.  I can't believe summer vacation is over!

Stranded in San Francisco

I am exhausted, but apparently it is playtime at 3am in San Francisco.  Our Guangzhou to Beijing flight was perfect, but the Beijing to San Francisco flight was delayed four hours, causing us to spend seven hours at the airport and miss our connection to Austin in San Francisco.  Air China SUCKS.  The flight was too warm, there was no in flight entertainment except for a flickering screen ten rows up, and the food was awful.  The kids were fantastic. 

Quinn slept about 10 hours of the trip and Ty had his best sleep yet, on my lap for about five hours.  When we got to San Francisco, Air China couldn't imagine why so many people were upset.  We got a hotel and meal voucher for the hotel restaurant.  All we want is HOME!  I cried at the ticket counter when the lady said we couldn't make it to Austin until Wednesday, but somehow she managed to make 24 hours late sound like a dream.  We arrive at Austin at 6:45 today, Sunday.  Ty's sleep was very restless here at the hotel.  He woke up for good about 2:30 so we are just watching TV and killing time until we can take the airport shuttle at 6am.  We fly to Los Angeles, then Austin. 

Somehow my amazing daughter manages to entertain herself wherever we go.  She hooked right in with a group of teenagers on a missionary trip and had them all wrapped around her fingers during our layover in Beijing.  The other pic is from the bus ride to the airport in Guangzhou.

Farewell China- Parting is Bittersweet

We are finally getting ready to leave!  We have to set our bags out at 6am and leave the hotel at 7:20.  We leave Guangzhou at 10am and arrive at Beijing at 1pm, then leave Beijing at 4pm for our 11hr50min. flight to San Francisco.  Ty will become an citizen of the USA when we pass through immigration in SF.
 
On one hand I am super happy to come home, but I know we will most likely never return to adopt.  I have been trying to soak it all in the last couple of days so that I can always remember the country that made me a parent.  Maybe someday we can come back with the kids for a heritage trip. 
 
Ty had a rough night last night.  He is teething, so I gave him tylenol, but he cried on and off pretty much all night.  We were not able to calm him down until about 5am, then he woke up at 6:30 with fever and diarrhea.  At nap time I gave him more tylenol.  He slept about 15 min. and woke up screaming again.  He was not just sad, but angry.  After about an hour and a half of screaming we decided to take him to the dr.  The dr. gave us some strange and smelly herbal concoctions that seem to have made him feel better.  His mood was good, anyway.  He has been asleep about thirty minutes now, so we will see.  I am very nervous about the 18 hours in the air tomorrow.  I hope he feels much better.
 
We ate at the Thai restaurant with several other families to say our goodbyes.  I have included a picture of Quinn and the other sisters.  The girl in the wheelchair has spinal bifida and was just adopted on this trip.  She is such a beautiful and kind girl and her parents are amazing.  They met her best friend at the orphanage and called our agency to start paperwork to bring her home as soon as possible.  They hope to travel back in the Spring.  Every family in our group adopted a special needs child.  I am humbled by the giving hearts of the parents in our group.  One family is here for their fourth and another for their fifth adoption. We made plans to keep in contact with everyone so we can see the changes in these little guys lives over the years.
 
The last picture is of Quinn and Amy.  Amy owns a shop near the hotel.  She and Quinn have become friends.  She has fixed Quinn's hair in pigtails for her three times and she has a dog with puppies in her shop which makes her even more exciting.  In fact, several of the shop owners know Quinn when she walks by.  I love my funny girl!  This is my last post from China, but I will add more pictures in a few days after we have recovered from the jet lag. 

Red Couch Photos

Red Couch Photos

It is a tradition in the Chinese adoptive community to take a picture of the babies on the red couches in the lobby of the White Swan Hotel.  Today, all 15 families in our group brought our children to the lobby in traditional clothing for our photos.  After our morning photo session, the families took a bus about 45 minutes to the U.S. Consulate in downtown Guangzhou to finalize the immigration paperwork for our children.  We are clear to bring Ty home, but cannot pick up his passport with visa until tomorrow.  Tomorrow morning Quinn and I and her friend Shari and Shari's mom will walk a few blocks over to a pet and medicine street market.  I have been trying for an hour to get my pictures to attach, but it will not work tonight.  I will try again in the morning, your evening.

Rained in

It rained most of the day today.  Quinn and I made a 7-11 trip and that was the highlight of the day.  We played in the playroom a couple of times and ordered in pizza again.  Our guides took our paperwork to the consulate for preview and we will go to the consulate ourselves in the morning to swear our oath.  We should have Ty's visa Friday afternoon and fly out early Saturday morning.  That is Friday night to you guys. 
 
Ty kinda said "up" and "move"(to Quinn) today.  He is becoming more affectionate.  His head butts are delivered with love.  He is even leaning in to ask for kisses.  Ty's appetite is good, but he is getting very picky with his choices.  I hope he doesn't expect a buffet to choose from when we get home!  He picks out what he wants and throws the rest on the floor.  He went through an egg phase, then yogurt, this morning it was only ham that he wanted.  He will not even put congee(breakfast porridge) in his mouth anymore.  He still wakes up several times in the night, but goes back to sleep with a little comfort.  He takes a bottle around 1-2am.  Well, the family is asleep again so I will join them!

Zoo trip

Andrew was feeling better today so we went together to the Guangzhou Zoo.  It was great!  We were there about 2 1/2 hours and were not able to even see half of it.  We paid 10 yuan, which is about a dollar and a half, for her to feed the giraffes.  She had a great time and I even got a couple of giraffe nibbles while helping her.  After returning we went swimming in the pool and ate an early dinner at Lucy's, the hamburger place next to the hotel.  We walked the shops and bought Ty a pair of squeaky shoes. 

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My Cutie

Quinn spent most of the afternoon playing with her friends, so I had lots of time to fall more in love with my guy's cute little face.  We played and played together.  He has so many expressions, even a pretty good little stink eye look that he makes when aggravated.  He started giving kisses today and told the other mom's in the playroom that this is my ma ma.  Andrew's stomach is sick again.  Everyone else is fine.  We ordered in Papa John's tonight and it was so good, almost the same as pizza at home.  Quinn and I visited a mall today.  It was huge, five stories and not at all the same as home.  Tomorrow we go with the big group to the zoo.  If Andrew isn't feeling better it will be just Q and I again. 

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more pictures

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Easy Day

Today we did exactly what we wanted to do.  Ty slept better last night, waking at the same times but accepting comfort instead of bottles to fall back asleep.  After our wonderful breakfast downstairs, we explored the island that we are staying on and bought diapers and snacks.  We went swimming at the hotel pool and Ty LOVED it.  He splashed and even ducked his head under a couple of times.  After playing for about 30 minutes he was so tired that he was falling asleep in the water.  I took him back to the room for a nap.  Quinn played with three of her sister friends that are travelling with our group.  They are all six.  We let them run up and down the hall to each other's rooms with the doors open.  This evening we ate a Thai restaurant with all 15 families that we were with in Beijing at the beginning of our trip.  It was incredible to see the changes in the children since the first day.  Some of the families had left for different provinces and we had not met their little ones yet.  Ty is blowing kisses today and still continues his love/hate relationship with his sister.  She is being super sweet and understanding.  I included a picture of his typical reaction when she is near.  He sat on top of me earlier and yelled at her, "My MaMa!"  It is not nine yet and my entire family sleeps.  I can't wait to join them!

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Goodbye Zhengzhou, Hello Guangzhou

Yesterday I took Quinn and a sister friend to the park near our hotel.  There were some carnival rides and lots of trails.  Quinn and Katrina rode the merry go round and were allowed to stay on for about 15 minutes.  Actually, they wanted off much earlier but were expected to jump off when ready so they started getting panicky before I realized that they weren't having fun any more.  I was busy being oogled by the locals.  We left at three to go through two hours of processing at the airport.  We got to the gate only a few minutes before boarding and our plane was delayed on the ground at Zhengzhou.  We knew it was a bad sign when they began serving the in-flight meal on the ground thirty minutes after we were supposed to take off.  The flight full of anxious babies must have caused our pilot to fly extra fast because he made it past two thunderstorms and got us to Guangzhou only an hour late.  By the time we made it back to the hotel it was near 11 and our luggage was delayed another hour in traffic.  Needless to say, everyone was super tired and on edge.  Quinn cried more than Tyler.

We woke up much happier and went to breakfast at our very Westerner friendly hotel restaurant downstairs.  We saw no tentacles or animals with heads.  They even welcomed us with pizza and baked beans.  What Americans don't eat these for breakfast?  There is a waterfall with a huge coy pond in the lobby beside the restaurant and the tables are a sea of couples with babies.  This city is the home of the US Consulate and all adoptive families must pass through here for five business days to be processed by our government before leaving the country.  Today we had Ty's medical exam in the morning and I filled out more paperwork in the afternoon.  The medical exam is a ten minute walk from the hotel.  The office was crowded and very warm, but Ty was a trooper and got a clean bill of health to travel.  This evening we ate at the American restaurant next to our hotel, the White Swan.  We ate burgers and fries, and even ordered a coors light.  It was heaven to eat something familiar. 

Ty is such a joy in the daytime hours.  He is showing more affection, although he still loves a good head butt and hair tug now and then, especially to Quinn.  He pulled a little girl's hair in the play room this evening and looked a little sorry when he realized it wasn't his sister.  He is starting to get jealous of her and any other kid that comes near us.  At the playroom, I noticed that he was studying the learning table and the little musical toy like Quinn used to study her toys.  I had the camera ready, thinking that he was about to do something intellectually profound, when he raised the music machine over his head and smashed it into the top of the table, laughing loudly at the noise and attention he got from it.  He is such a boy. He is very ticklish laughs out loud when tickled and when Andrew, me, or Quinn walk in the room after being out for a minute.  He is super cute and we love him, so we forgive the 11pm, 2am, and 4am wake ups every night.  He is cutting three jaw teeth and a canine tooth, so I am not sure if this is part of his sleep issue or if it is the point that he allows himself to grieve his lost life.  We try to comfort him, but it seems only a bottle will do the trick.  We had the crib removed from this room since he will only sleep with Andrew.  Laugh if you will dear friends, but we have decided to wait to work these things out when we get home and Ty is more secure with us.  It not only makes life easier for us, but also spares the poor guys in the neighboring rooms in our hotel. 

Tomorrow we have a down day.  We plan to eat breakfast, check out the area around the hotel and maybe go to the pool.  Tomorrow evening we will eat with the other families in our group at a nearby Thai restaurant.  We miss our family and friends VERY much and cannot wait to get back to our soft bed.  More tomorrow!

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Last Zhengzhou Pictures

This is the park, and sidewalk traffic to get to the park.  Quinn and her friend are probably trying to figure out how to get off of the thing.

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Last Zhengzhou Pictures

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Shaolin Temple

We visited the Shaolin Temple today.  It is the birthplace of Kung Fu.  It is a two hour drive each way and traffic is indescribable here.  There are lanes, but no one seems to care.  There are mopeds, trucks, and little car like vehicles that I don't know the name of all mixed together.  People lay on the horn when they pass to prevent the cars next to them from swinging over and sometimes it works.  Our bus driver was very skilled, but I still preferred to look out of the side window.  While looking out of the side window I saw that as we made our way into some mountains that people actually live in caves.  They build doors onto them and hang lanterns as porch lights.  I couldn't get a picture because we were moving so fast.  I added several pictures from the temple. 
My stomach is not sick anymore, it just hurts sometimes.  Ty's rash is gone, we ate a good meal for lunch at the Temple, and life is good again.  Oh, and Ty called me MaMa several times clear as day, although he stills prefers to be held by Andrew.  It is nine and the kids have been asleep for an hour.  Tomorrow we leave for Guangzhou at around 6pm, so I will probably skip a day of blogging.  We miss everybody and are ready to come home.  Eight more days, ugh.  I posted more pictures in a separate entry beneath this one.

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