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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Just Pictures

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Ty Day #3

Today I stayed in the hotel all day.  Quinn and I woke up at 4:30am with a bad stomach ache.  We managed breakfast as a family.  Quinn felt much better and I felt a little better so we went to the playroom in the hotel.  Ty and I came back to the room to nap and Andrew and Quinn went to a nearby park.  Ty has developed an itchy allergic rash to something, probably lotion or new clothing.  We gave him benadryl and watched him walk around drunk for a few hours.  Quinn and I want to visit the Shaolin Temple tomorrow if my stomach is better. 
 
Ty is waving hi and bye and running, although a bit unsteadily.  He is a super happy guy doing developmentally appropriate milestones for a 14 month old.  He high fives, waves, and pitches a little tantrum when redirected.  He is also very quick to smile and laugh.  He makes his own games and gets us to play along.  Thank you to the Hope Foundation and Show Hope for caring for him so beautifully.  He still woke up a couple of times last night with his sad cry, but was able to be soothed back to sleep with a bottle.  He will not have anything to do with the baby crib and is a very light sleeper so he is sleeping in one bed with Andrew and I sleep with Quinn.  She is only a little jealous of Ty's attention and is a fantastic sister.#

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It's Official

Today began with paperwork at the registration office.  We stood outside for about 30 minutes,where Ty got his first tan.  After getting our adoption certificate we took another bus ride to the notary office where we took an oath to care for, protect, and never abandon our baby.  We came back, took a short nap and visited a local department store to get baby supplies and snacks.  This city is not as accomodating to Westerners as Beijing. The breakfast buffet is okay if you like dumplings with mystery meat, animals with tentacles, and slimy green vegetables.  We stuck to the eggs, yogurt, and watermelon. 
 
The department store was a strange experience.  We brought a lot of attention on ourselves.  A woman approached Quinn and asked her a question in Mandarine.  Quinn quickly answered, "six" and held up her fingers.  Quinn told me, "she asked me how old I am" and looked as astonished as I felt.  The woman seemed satisfied with her answer and moved on.  Another woman with three daughters pretended to give me her youngest while the older two had a good laugh. 
 
We ordered pizza from the hotel restaurant for dinner and it was pretty good.  Tommorow we finally have a free day and we will probably walk to a nearby park.  We didn't take many pictures, but we will do better tomorrow. 
 
Last night was rough.  Ty slept for about an hour and a half and woke up grieving.  He cried for about fifteen minutes and fell asleep in my arms.  I put him back in the crib and he immediately began crying again.  I held him to sleep about four more times, but he threw a fit each time I put him down.  After about three hours, Andrew was finally annoyed enough to have a go at it.  Ty fell asleep in his arms and Andrew just rolled him over beside him on the bed.  He finally slept until 6:30.  He was happy on and off today.  He really likes Quinn and lets Andrew and I care for him equally.  I have added what we have learned about Ty so far.
 
Favorite Passtimes:  being held, eating, throwing things, and head butting(in that order)
Favorite Food:  watermelon
Favorite Toy:  anything to throw and plastic water bottles
Words:  he says "Ma" when he wants more and I want to believe he said "MaMa" earlier this evening, but its a stretch. 
Games:  he high fives and claps his hands when he is happy.  I saw him rolling the dough like patty cake or dancing like John Travolta on Saturday Night Fever, which he must have learned somewhere else because we haven't taught him either.....yet.
Dislikes:  shoes, socks, and the word no. 

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Ty Day!

It rained heavily all night long, so the babies were late to arrive. Everyone was anticipating meeting their little ones and our baby arrived first. It was great! Ty cried for about a minute. I soothed him by whispering, "It's okay David" in his ear. We have been calling him Ty David. He held on to only me for the first thirty minutes, but gave Andrew his smiles. In the pictures you can see that he is facinated Andrew's facial hair like Quinn was. He loves Quinn and she has been a big help. She is a good big sister. He had a twinkie when he was handed over and hung onto it for about 45 minutes before relaxing enough to eat. He knows how to push the food with his finger so he can swallow around his cleft palate. After a few hours we came back to the hotel. He can drink from the soft top sippy cup, but either he doesn't likethe bottles I brought, or I have his formula recipe or temperature wrong. Regardless, he was happy eating rice cereal and gerber snacks. It sounds like he says "mo" when he wants more. He also points and says "Da" when he wants something, just like Quinn did. His favorite game is to throw anything he can get his hands on. He laughs hysterically. He and Quinn played catch with a beach ball and had a great time. They were head butting the ball back and forth. When he was ready to nap he snuggled up in my arms and shut his eyes. He a sweetie.  I posted twice today so I could include more pictures.#

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more pics from today

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one more picture

Blogger is blocked in China, so I must email my entries with the pictures attached.  I am only allowed three or four.  My blog for today is below this one(I think..) but I couldn't resist adding this one more picture.  I also cannot see my blog or read any comments so please forgive any formatting or spelling errors.  Facebook is outlawed, too :  (

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Zhengzhou

We are here and we hit the ground running!  We left our hotel this morning around eight and arrived in Zhengzhou around one.  We did not make it back to the hotel until two.  Andrew went to the bank and Quinn and I explored the hotel.  Our hotel is the Crowne Plaza.  It is fantastic!  We found a pool and a little playroom that Quinn and a few of the other brothers and sisters enjoyed until the guys got back to the hotel.  We ate dinner and had to go to Walmart(yes it is here, too) to buy baby supplies.  Quinn fell asleep in the cart and we had to carry her for about a mile to get back to the hotel. Thankfully, after today our schedule will slow down.  By the way, this city is VERY interesting.  I have seen some crazy things in the hours we have been here.  I will devote a whole post to it soon.
 
We received an update from the orphanage with details about Ty's diet and "habits".  He is fed with a spoon and eats noodles and porridge as his main diet.  He has bread and cookies for snacks and drinks plain water from bottles(doesn't say what type).  He goes to bed at 8pm and wakes at 5:30am.  He also wakes for a bottle at 2am.  He needs to be held to fall asleep.  He takes a bath each day and likes it.  He gets along well with others and is a lively and active boy.  He can walk now.
 
When he is fussy or cries, they hold him, play with him, or give him some toys.  Ok, I don't really understand this next part but I will let you know how it works out.  "He is afraid of nobody holding him or leaving him alone."  Does this mean he is afraid of not being held and being alone, or he doesn't mind it?  Hmmm. 
 
I attached a picture of Quinn and our guide for Beijing, Sarah.  Sarah reminded me so much of our tour guide, Helen, in Hefei city when we adopted Quinn in 2005.  One the second day, Sarah mentioned that she was from Anhui.  I asked if she had used the name Helen and sure enough, it was her!  She remembered taking us to the orphanage in Bengbu.  She and Quinn forged a special bond.  She even sang Quinn songs that are specifically from their province over the speaker on the bus.  Quinn was in awe of her.  Today Sarah brought Quinn a friendship bracelet and told her that fate brought them together and she hopes to meet her again one day.  I swear this cute little woman has made me cry about six times!  I truly believe that pregnancy hormones are not biological.
 
We meet downstairs around nine or ten to meet our children.  After we meet our Ty, Andrew will come back to the room and I will complete some paperwork.  I will try to post as soon as I can, although it will be the middle of the night for our Texas friends.  When you wake up on your Monday morning there should be pictures waiting.#

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Day 2 in Beijing

What a day!  We are so tired.  Today was a lot of fun.  Quinn was rested and able to enjoy learning about her culture.  We went to a jade factory this morning and learned about the process of cutting and polishing jade.  We then went to the Great Wall.  There was a huge traffic jam and we had to walk about thirty minutes uphill to get to the gate.  Quinn and I were tired by the time we got to the first tower of the wall so we went back down and visited an old village with a temple at the base of the wall.  Andrew and another couple had a two hour hike of the entire pass of the wall that we visited while we spent time in the air conditioned souvenir shop and ate a popsicle.  After the wall, we walked another 30 minutes to the bus, and then went to the Friendship Store for lunch.  When we pulled in, Andrew and I realized that we had visited this same place when we travelled for Quinn.  The food was great and it was good to sit in a cool building and rest.   Afterwards, we went to a Chinese Acrobat Show.  It was amazing!  We were not allowed to take photographs during the show, but I have included other pictures from our day.  On our way back to the hotel we stopped at the Olympic Village.  It was almost eight when we arrived back and we are too tired to even venture out to eat.  Tomorrow we meet in the lobby early to fly out to Zhengzhou in Henan Province where we will meet Ty on Monday.  More tomorrow!#

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What happened to Thursday?

We left Austin at 12pm on Wednesday and arrived in China at 11:30pm on Thursday.  When we crossed the international date line we jumped thirteen hours into the future.  By the time we got settled in at the hotel it was 2am.  Quinn could not sleep at the hotel because she slept eight hours on the plane.  We were up at 6am to get ready for our big day of touring.  We started at Tiananmen Square, then the Emperor's Palace.  It was very  interesting and informative, and loooooooong.  There are 15 families in our group and most are traveling with their other children and even some aunts, uncles, and grandparents.  Our guides are fantastic but it was a chore for them to keep us together in such a crowded and large space.  We had to stop every ten minutes and number off. 

We went to lunch at a very eclectic restaurant where I saw my first Chinese tranny.  The restaurant has a stage and periodically servers get up and do an act.  We saw a gourd flute player, some traditional Chinese dancers, and a group of hip hop belly dancers, which included our guy.  After the restaurant we visited a silk factory.  The tour was about ten minutes long and very interesting, then we had an hour or two in the store. 

Afterwards, we took a rickshaw ride through Hutong, which is an old part of Beijing with narrow streets.  We were able to visit the home of one of our guide's friends.  It was so cool.  This home was built with a courtyard in the middle and looked like the home from the new Karate Kid movie.  Our rickshaw driver was a bit insane.  He felt that he had to be first in a line that had no end.  It was fun, but disturbing.  He would swerve at pedestrians to make them back off so that we could pass.  He also rammed into the side of another rickshaw.  We got back to the hotel around six and walked to McDonalds. 

It is 7:15 and Quinn and Andrew are already asleep.  Tomorrow, we leave the hotel at 8:20 to visit the Great Wall, Olympic City, and somewhere that I can't remember right now.  Tomorrow night we will see an acrobatic show.  I am going to join Andrew and Quinn now and will post more tomorrow evening! #

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More pictures

Here is some more entertainment as we count down to Ty day- 2 1/2 days!  I included a pic of our crazy rickshaw driver.#

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Leaving in 35 hours!

I am almost in panic mode between packing and cleaning house to get ready to leave day after tomorrow.  We are only taking two suitcases.  It is too hard to manage any more than that with all of the plane hopping we will do over the next two and a half weeks.  Ty's orphanage sent a new picture with measurements.  He is about 50th percentile for height and weight.  So, he is an average sized 14 month old boy.  It is very hard to judge from pictures and the last measurements we had were from when he was 6 months old.  He now weighs 24lbs. and is a little over 30 inches tall.
As we travel, I will post pictures and a little summary of what we did each day if possible. China is 13 hours ahead, so we will be living the next day while you guys are sleeping. We will miss everyone!!

We finally received our travel itinerary:
July 15-17- arrive in Beijing- rest and tour
July 18- Fly to Zhengzhou
July 19-  Ty Day!!!!!! 
July 20-  Mountains of Paperwork
July 21-22-  Rest, Free Time, Tour(maybe)- waiting for passport to be processed
July 23- Fly to Guangzhou to process visa at US Consulate
July 24- Ty's physical and immunizations, if necessary and more paperwork
July 25-26 Free time
July 27- more medical examinations if govt. deems necessary
July 28- Consulate appointment
July 29- Take oath at Consulate
July 30- Pick up Ty's visa from consulate and pack
July 31- Leave China for HOME!!!

New picture!

We finally have our travel dates!  We will leave Austin at 12:05 on July 14th and arrive home on July 31st at 9:30pm.  We are still waiting for our travel itinerary that will tell us exactly how long we will be in each city in China and most importantly, which day we will finally meet our son.  A very kind woman let me know that this new picture had been posted to http://blog.showhope.org/ .  Ty has been transferred from Maria's Big House of Hope to his orphanage to wait for us.  We think he will be in our arms on the 17th or 18th.  Please pray for him as he waits with strangers in a strange place to be picked up by more strangers and taken to an even stranger place.  I will post more this weekend as the packing permits.  My challenge is to pack for four people to stay 16 days into three suitcases not weighing more than 44 lbs. each.  Wish me luck!

Travel Approval is Here!!!!

Our agency emailed today to tell us that our travel approval has arrived and they have requested our consulate appointment at the embassy in Guangzhou.  Our travel itinerary will be built with this appointment at the end.  We will visit Beijing, then travel to Zhengzhou, the capital of Henan province where Ty lives, then to Guangzhou to the embassy to finish Ty's immigration paperwork.  Our agency says we will travel on July 7th or 14th, depending on the appointment date.  We will know for sure by next Wednesday!!  In the meantime, Andrew and I have completed the baby's room and started buying travel supplies.  Quinn and I have been staying busy swimming, playing, and organizing the house to get ready for our new addition.

The one to two year wait for number two turned into three and we have finally been matched with our precious son. We had a paperwork update in March and included a paragraph about being open to certain special needs. We intended to wait until summer to search the waiting child lists for our next baby and our agency called a week later offering to let us review a file on an 11 month old boy with a cleft lip and palate from their agency only list. We reviewed his file and fell in love. We will be able to travel near the end of this summer!

Currently, Tian Yi is being taken care of in Maria's Big House of Hope in Henan Province. This is a foster facility for medical needs children funded by Stephen Curtis Chapman's charity called Show Hope and another amazing organaziation called the New Hope Foundation. He is experiencing a spa resort of care compared to government run orphanages. We have found his picture on two websites. The foster home has many English speaking volunteers and they call him David. We haven't completely decided on his full name yet, but Quinn decided that we will name him Ty. So....Tyler David? David TianYi? Ty David? You can see his pictures here http://www.hopefosterhome.com/babies/david.htm and see more pictures and read a profile about him here http://blog.showhope.org/2010/04/07/david/  .

We are thrilled that we have been chosen to parent this beautiful little person and cannot wait to finally hold him in our arms. We are waiting for Travel Approval(TA) from China, which is our OK to get our tickets and go. We will keep everyone updated with our travel plans.