Home 2 weeks....

It's hard to believe that its been two weeks since we've been home. The time has just flown by and China is just a memory now.

Every day, we see bits and pieces of Susanna's personality emerge. She is a happy, funny little thing and we are so grateful that she is a part of our family. She is really happy most of the time. She wakes up for a bottle in the morning, plays for a few hours, then takes a late morning nap. Then she'll be up for a few more hours and take a late afternoon nap. She's generally ready for bed between 8:30 and 9:00 and sleeps all night long. Yes! We have a sleeper!

She has quickly found out that big brothers are a great thing to have. They play with you, they fetch toys that have somehow managed to fall (or be thrown) to the floor and they will hold your hands and walk you wherever you want to go. Since we've been home, she's gotten a bit of a cold and is getting in 3 new teeth (she already has 4). She went for her first doctor's visit and weighs 18 lbs and is 28 inches long. She had 3 shots and is healthy. She's so close to walking, she'll at times take as many as 10 steps by herself before getting on her hands and knees to go explore whatever it is that had her attention. When she does crawl, it's usually with one foot straight out to the side, pushing herself along, kind of a combination of crawling and walking. She loves her baths that she takes in her rubber duckie blow-up bathtub and she's learning to put up with dogs being in her way occasionally. The dogs are learning that if they pay attention, she will occasionally drop food. She still isn't too thrilled with food other than her bottle. We did find out last night that she does like chex mix, for some strange reason. She's a little monkey who loves to be wrestled by Jimmy and the boys. She still has some times when she gets nervous or stressed with new things, which she'll show by pulling on her ears or scratching the back of her neck. There are times when she's had a lot of activity out of the house, where we have to just step back and stay home for awhile until we feel she's ready to go again, but for the most part it is amazing at how well she is adjusting and how she is embracing our family. She's a very busy, curious little girl who is just taking in the new world around her. And she is the biggest blessing to us.

Catherine

Our travel group 

Getting ready for the consulate appointment 

Daddies and daughters 

mamas and daughters 

The girls in our group 

Susanna 

April 10

We weren't sure how we'd feel this morning, so didn't know if we'd go to church......although I did get a cryptic message on my answering machine about Sherri working in the church nursery this morning...hint, hint. We got up feeling pretty good, so decided to go. It took awhile to get ready for church, since our stuff is half in suitcases and half put away and I'm not exactly used to getting a baby ready for church. But we dressed her in her chinese silks and headed in anyway. Joe was finally able to hold her this morning as we took her out to the car to go to church. She's really warming up to both boys. It was so nice to see everyone and be able to show her off to her new church family. John was out of town, but Jesse called us up front and introduced Susanna, then prayed for her. I was very touched. She loved the music and was dancing in my arms as they were singing, but got a bit restless for the sermon, so we went back to the nursery. As soon as she saw those toys, she forgot I existed, I think. She really enjoyed being in there and we stayed there until the final singing. After church I went to Walmart to find a bottle for her. She has one bottle nipple that she'll use. It's shaped like a sippy cup would be but is soft and flexible. I bought it on a whim before we left for China and it ended up being the only one she liked, so I needed to buy some more. Unfortunately, neither walmart carried them anymore, so it could get interesting. After that we came home and had some lunch. In my jetlag induced state I managed to forget I had a pizza in the oven and I burned it, but managed to cook 2 more ok. Then Lisa, Noah and Amanda Chandler came for a visit. After they left, Susanna had a short nap and I continued to try to unpack. I had run out of rice cereal, so went again to walmart and when I got back John and Sharlyn came to visit, then Lisa came back over so MaKenzie could see the baby. It was a very nice evening. It is so nice to be home and to sleep in my own bed, but in a way I miss China. It was the trip of a lifetime.

April 9th

It was so nice to wake up this morning and know that we were home......well, not quite home, but home anyway. We went upstairs and fixed a bottle. Sanna was starting to warm up to her gran and papa. She had met the dogs the night before and wasn't scared of them, just very curious. Her big brother tried to hold her today but she started crying, so we decided we wouldn't push that for awhile. We had a fun time visiting and sharing our photos (I will get some up on this site soon). Then Wade, Allison, Ben, Patrick and Jerry and Greta came to visit. Her first visitors! It went well, although again, she only wanted Jimmy or I to hold her. It was good to see everyone and while we wished that we could stay longer, we also were wanting to get home and get back into a routine. We left Jim and Micki's at about 1 and stopped by Aunt Daisy's before we left the island. It was good to visit with her too and we loved being able to share our little girl with family. Finally we got on the road. We were still a little jet-lagged and while we were disappointed to just miss a ferry, we had a nice little nap while waiting for the next one and that made all the difference for the trip home to Moses Lake. We stopped in North Bend for a bite to eat, then headed home. It was wonderful to drive up to the house and see that the Chandler's had left a welcome home Susanna banner on the porch hand rail. It was just getting dark, so we took in the big suitcases and got settled in for the night. It was then that we realized we had no bread or milk, so I got back in the car and went to get some. It probably could have waited until morning, but I had suddenly realized that I'd not had any milk the entire time I was gone and just was craving it. By the time we got a bite to eat, it was getting pretty late, then we realized that the time change was last weekend and it was even later than we thought, so we hurried off to bed. Just as we got to bed, Susanna got fussy and as we were dozing off, she threw up all over me. So we got to get up and have a bath, which made for an even later night. So far though, that has been the only evidence of jet lag that I've seen in her. She has done wonderfully well.

Catherine

April 8

Once again, I'm a little bit behind, so we'll see what I can remember through my jet lag. The consulate appt. went well. We walked to the consulate and went through security, showing them our passports. Once we got upstairs, a guy came out and said that they knew we'd already been through a lot to get to this point and we'd now reached the easiest part of the process. They asked us to raise our right hand and swear that everything we'd given them was true and then said congratulations, you are now officially done. Now we could go back to the hotel and Wendy would pick up our babies visas in the afternoon. After that, Wendy took the first few families of our group to the airport. Three of them were flying out that afternoon. The rest of us met at Lucy's for drinks and appetisers and then walked to the hotel to eat. At supper, Wendy found us and gave us the last of the paperwork we'd need for entering the US, stressing that we were not to open the brown envelope or else we'd have to fly back to china and start the process all over again. She said that the corner of the envelope had been cut, so if we had to peek at the paperwork, to do it from there and to make sure NOT TO OPEN IT. It's kind of funny to listen to our guides talk to us. I'm sure they think they're dealing with a bunch of kindergartners. At first I thought it was just how Wendy talked, but then I overheard another guide telling their families that they were to meet downstairs at 9:30.....that 9:30 at the 1st floor lobby.....and don't forget its 9:30......that's 9....3.....0...in the first floor lobby. It got so that at the end we couldn't help but tease poor wendy about it. Hey, Wendy, what time was that again? 10:30? in the second floor lobby? As we were leaving for the consulate, after many warnings to bring only the baby and our passports, Cindy couldn't help herself and said hey, Wendy, hang on a minute, we've got to go get our passport! Wendy just turned around and said no I'm sorry, we're going anyway. I think she's on to us. So we had one last supper with everyone who was left and it was a little sad to say goodbye to these wonderful people who went through this experience with us.

Anyway, that brings us up to April 8. We got up this morning and had breakfast one last time at the breakfast buffet. Sitting by the Pearl River, watching the boats come in. We has a few people who were early risers and we'd see them and visit with them most mornings while eating our breakfast. As we were finishing breakfast, Matt, Cindy and Abbie came down to eat, as they'd just checked out (they had an earlier flight than we did). So we got to say goodbye to them one last time, although it won't be goodbye because we'll still e-mail and we hope to see them again someday. Then we went up to finish our last minute packing. We had to set our suitcases by the door at 10 for the bellboy to come get and be downstairs to check out at 10:50. We spent the last few hours playing with Susanna in the room. Downstairs, I checked out and paid our final bill. Then Wendy got us in the van and we headed to the airport. We were the last of our group to leave and from there Wendy was going to take the train back to her province (a 7 hour trip). She has done a phenominal job for us and we really appreciate all that she's done. Since this is an international flight, Wendy can only walk us in so far to the airport. But as I look over my shoulder at the last checkpoint, I see that she's still there looking around the corner to make sure we are heading in the right direction. I know she won't leave that spot until we are out of sight. We find the China southern desk and check in our luggage. I was getting nervous because the two people ahead of me were being charged for having overweight luggage, but then at the last minute, a new counter opened up and the new girl didn't say a thing about our luggage. Then we found our gate and waited and waited. I'm not sure that China Southern is ever on time. We were a bit late getting out of the gate. It was a short flight to HongKong, only 35 minutes. Susanna slept the whole way. When we landed, we had to find the Cathay Pacific desk to get boarding passes. We were met there by someone who had a list of people and our name was on it. It seems that we were getting down to the wire on boarding the plane and they were worried we wouldn't make it. Most of the seats at this time were booked and we ended up getting seats 30 rows apart from each other. But they assured me that one of them was an aisle seat so it would be easier for me to get up with the baby. They sent us in the direction of the gate, which was a little confusing to find, but at every checkpoint, there seemed to be a person there to tell us where to go and they seemed to know who we were and exactly where we were going, which was good because we sure didn't. Finally got to the gate, just as they were boarding the flight. As we got on, we found out they'd given Jimmy the aisle seat and the baby and I got the one in the middle of the row. So we quickly traded and a stewardess showed us to our seats. I asked her if it'd be possible to get seats together and she said she'd do everything she could to make it happen. The person in the aisle seat next to Jimmy hadn't showed up yet and if he didn't make it, I could have that seat. It ended up that he did show up, but didn't mind changing with me. All of our flights except China Southern were completely full. So we started off on our long leg of the flight. Coming over this flight was 14 hours, but going back only 11. We were a little late starting out because we were waiting for a few more passengers who had late connections and then the pilot was satisfied with the fuel distribution of the plane and had to wait a few minutes while he got it to his liking. But we were finally in the air and on our way home. We hadn't bought Susanna her own seat, so it was a little crowded and fun eating with a baby on my lap. She found out that she liked to play with food, even if she won't allow any of it to be put in her mouth. After supper, I took her back to the bathroom to change her. The bathroom I got didn't have a changing table, so I ended up holding her on my lap and diapering her upside down. Whew! I didn't want to do that again. I had intended to change her in Hong Kong, but we just didn't have time to stop since our flight was late. While I was changing her, I also gave her a dose of benadryl to help her sleep. Coming out of the bathroom, I stopped to chat with an asian couple from Hong Kong who were walking the aisles with their 8 month old daughter. They asked how old Susanna was, thinking she was about 4 months old, since she's so tiny and their daughter was rather huge. They were shocked to learn she was a year. We had 2 older asian grandmas sitting a seat ahead of us and to the left who were keeping tabs on Susanna during the trip. I have to say she did great and slept almost all of the flight. Jimmy and I watched a couple of movies and kept track of where we were on the in-flight monitors and did manage to get a little sleep in. Finally they turned the lights back on and served breakfast. Only 2 hours left until we touched down in San Francisco. When we landed it took a while to get off the plane, but finally we were on solid ground and got to go find the immigration line. We had to go through the line for new immigrants because of Susanna who was traveling on a chinese passport. They were great at getting us right through, although I was a little disconcerted to find them tearing into that brown envelope that I was told specifically not to open. They searched through the papers and found what they wanted, then put a stamp on the paper and said congratulations, she's now a US citizen, you should get a cerificate of citizenship within 45 days and with that we walked through the checkpoint and we had a brand new US citizen on our hands. For what it's worth, she seemed unimpressed. At this point we had to go get our luggage and put it on a cart and then find the Alaska airlines desk and recheck it. Going through customs with our luggage was pretty much a non-issue. I wasn't even really sure when we'd gone through because no one stopped us. We checked in for our Alaska flight about 2 1/2 hours early, then went to the gate and waited. While there, Susanna got a little fussy so I tried to make her a bottle. The bathrooms in the airport don't have hot water in the sinks, so the bottle I made her was cold and she would have nothing to do with it. I finally ended up just walking with her while we waited. Finally right before we boarded the plane, I went to a little espresso shop and asked them if they could put some hot water in her bottle, but by that time it was too late and she didn't want it. So we boarded that last flight. It was the only flight we'd had that was all american and it was a little weird to finally be able to converse with people without the language barrier. Everyone was very curious about her and thought she was just the cutest thing. We got out of the gate late on this flight also because they were having a problem with the bathroom on the plane. They got that fixed but we still couldn't go until they finished the paperwork, saying the problem was fixed. We finally took off on our last 2 hour flight. It was great to finally know our trip was coming to an end and we could get off the plane. Towards the end of the flight, Susanna started to lose it, so I got up and put her in the sling and walked with her. The flight attendant offered to go get her bottle from Jimmy and heat it up for her, which she didn't want at that point. Finally after walking in the rear of the plane and visiting with other passengers who for some reason liked to hang out back there, she fell asleep and I was able to sit down just as they turned on the fasten the seat belt sign to land. I think she did pretty well considering that she had gotten on her first plane for the day 20 hours before. It was great to see Seattle out the window of the plane as we landed. Once we'd landed we again had to wait. Since we'd taken off late, they'd given away our gate to someone else and the pilot said we'd have to wait until the gate was cleared. Finally they just assigned us another gate, but again we had to wait for a towing crew to come out and tow us to the gate. The towing crew never showed up and the pilot got tired of waiting so he taxied the plane into the gate. It was great to get off. As soon as we got off the plane I called Jim on my cell phone to tell him we were finally there and that we would collect our luggage and call him back as soon as we had it. So we headed to baggage claim where we weren't sure where we'd find our luggage, since they didn't know which carousel we'd be using. Unfortunately we got assigned the one that kept getting jammed and they had to keep fixing. At this point, it was all just a comedy of errors. We were finally able to collect all of our luggage, get it on a cart and out to the curb. I called Jim and he said they were just leaving the highway and would be there momentarily. As he pulled up, Joe jumped out of the car and helped Jimmy load the bags in the back while I got Susanna in the car, since it was so much colder than she was used to and I just couldn't find her coat in the diaper bag at that point. I did have her silk blanket to wrap her in and that helped but she was just shivering. Poor thing, we take her from a sub-tropical zone to WA state in April and she didn't know what to think. After we got her in the car, she was really studying her brothers and her nana and papa. It takes her awhile to warm up to people at first. We tried to let gran hold her while we were waiting for the mukilteo ferry but she wasn't ready for that yet. She didn't like her brother trying to hold her yet either. It was 12:00 or so by the time we got back to Micki's house. We visited a short while, then went to bed. She slept in between Jimmy and I and was a little restless, but did sleep all night.

Catherine

April 6 & 7

It's hard to believe that today is our last full day in China. This trip has gone so fast and has been wonderful. Susanna's personality is emerging more each day. She is a boisterous, funny little girl.....who also has quite a temper when she doesn't get what she wants. The other night she finished her bottle and seemed to want more, so I went to make one and bythe time I got back, she had decided that she didn't want it anymore. Jimmy decided that he was going to try to give it to her anyway and she proceeded to tell him (by screaming loudly for half an hour) that she didn't want it. He could barely look at her the rest of the night without ticking her off.

Yesterday was fun. Jimmy went exploring in the city. There is a big difference between Shamian Island and the actual city of Guangzhou. Both are very pleasant but very different. Susanna and I did a bit of shopping in the morning, but she was reaching melt-down point by the time we got back to the room. So we got her down for a nap. For lunch (which we usually skip because we have such a bit breakfast buffet) Jimmy wanted fish and chips from Lucy's but since Sanna was sleeping, I decided to order room service. I got a cheeseburger and fries which came on a tray with a rose and a note from the management wishing me a nice day.

We were joined by 2 new families today. One was a family with a 15 month old (I think) who has cleft palate and the other was a family adopting a 14 year old boy who was about to age out of the adoption program.

We met Wendy at 2:30 to do some touring of Guangzhou. We went to a budhist temple, where some of the people elected to get their babies blessed. Jimmy and I decided to forgo that and stayed out in the courtyard and looked at the architecture. The temple is called the Six Banyan temple and is 9 stories high on the outside and 17 on the inside. The others who did the blessing said that they could hear a cell phone ringing while the blessing was going on. They were a bit surprised when the blessing was ended shortly so the monk could answer his cell phone.

After that, we went to a school that was started by the family Chen for their children. It was a beautiful building and is now being used as an arts and crafts museum. It was really nice.

On the way back to the hotel, we dropped Wendy and two of the guys off at a sporting goods store because the guys wanted to buy swords. (It turned out that they didn't get any-I never did hear the complete story on that). We were supposed to meet for one last group supper at 6, since 3 families leave today. So we went to the Thai place that we went to on our first night in GZ. Only this time Jimmy and I were much more coherant since we weren't suffering from jet lag. It was good. I had stopped on the way at the deli outside of our hotel and gotten a birthday cake to celebrate the girls birthdays since most of them will turn 1 year old within a month and a half of each other. Patty: we used your candle that you gave me. It was fun. Wendy had us first sing happy birthday in Chinese. She had taught it to us on the bus the other day, but most of us had forgotten the words so she was laughing at us stumbling through the song. Then we sang it in English and the whole restaurant joined in. Yes, it was mostly filled with other adoptive parents. Jimmy had to leave a bit early because Susanna was losing it. So he walked back to the hotel while I paid. We had 10 families that ate and it only cost us 146 yuan each which is about 15 dollars each. Pretty reasonable for the huge amount of food that Wendy ordered for us.

Today we have our ceremony at the US Consulate where raise our hand and swear that everything we've told them is true. I've heard that it takes longer to walk there than to do the actual ceremony. But it will be a fun part of the process. We can't take any pictures because they don't allow anything but us, the baby and our passports into the consulate. Then this afternoon, I will probably start packing. We don't fly out until 2 pm tomorrow, so it will be nice to have part of the day to relax before leaving. I don't know if I'll get time to post again before I leave, but Í'm looking forward to getting home and sharing our new little girl with all of you.

Catherine

April 5

Today was our free day, so after breakfast Jimmy decided that he wanted to go walk through the section of market that we walked through with Wendy on the way to the jade and pearl market. So we set off with Matt Hemry and Abbie. It was just as interesting this time and I tried to get some video footage of it. Eventually we ended up in the newer part of town and decided not to go on to the jade and pearl market but to branch off to another street. The markets in this town are all grouped together, so the first street we walked down were all beauty products stores. We went down 2 streets like this, then evidentally we hit the hardware aisle because the next 2 streets were all hardware type stores. Every once in awhile there was an odd store mixed in. We found one store that we determined must be the dollar store. It was kind of fun and the ladies working at the store had to hold our babies and even though there was a language barrier, we understood that they were asking if they were twins and we were able to let them know that Abbie belonged to Matt and Susanna to Jimmy and I. Before we left, they had given the girls a toy, which were these balloon type toys on a string that were filled with water. Jimmy took susanna's away as soon as we left the store, because she's teething and we weren't sure that it wouldn't break. We found out about 10 steps later that yes, it would break when Abbie managed to break hers. Then a few blocks down, we ran into another such store and went in. The lady there immediately gave the girls a few toys. So we looked through the store and got a few things. As we were checking out, we found out the the "gifts" weren't really gifts because this lady was determined to charge us for them. They only cost less than a buck so we bought them and had a good laugh at ourselves. Then we decided to just start walking toward the hotel and to see things along the way. Finally it occured to us that things weren't looking as familiar as they had been and walked up a ramp to a bridge that crossed a busy road to kind of get our bearings. Nothing looked familiar. So we flagged down a chinese man and gave him a card that the hotel gives us (luckily Matt had his, because Jimmy and I didn't). The card basically says in chinese I'm lost, send me back to the White Swan hotel. Well, it seems we'd walked at least 20 blocks in the wrong direction. So he sends us in the right direction. Now I'd left my tennis shoes at home by the bed, waiting to be packed. All I had was my flat soled shoes and I was feeling like I might as well have gone barefoot that morning. We stopped and asked a police-type guy and he also pointed us in the same direction, so we figured we must be going the right way. Finally we saw the bridge across the Pearl river to Shamian Island. As we were crossing the bridge, you could see a guard sitting in a guard booth, laughing. I said to Jimmy yes, he probably recognizes that look of relief on our faces. He probably sees it many times a day from lost americans.

After that, Jimmy decided that he wanted to go back to the first part of the first market and look at the fish section of the pet aisle, that we'd rushed him through the first time (for those of you who have been to the Seattle aquarium with Jimmy, you'll understand). So sanna and I stayed at the hotel. They were cleaning our room so we went down to the Swan room, which is a play room that Mattel has built in the hotel for the babies to play in. She had a great time there. There was a toy there that played music and she just danced to it. She REALLY enjoys music. We went back up to our room, but they were still cleaning it, so I decided to go out and see if I could find a cd of children's lullaby's to buy for her. The first place (Jordan's) didn't have it but Jordan wrote down what I was looking for in Chinese so that I could tell the other shop owner's what I wanted. As i was standing in a shop purchasing a bamboo fan and some baby puzzles, I looked up and there was Jimmy. He'd come back to the hotel and they were still cleaning the room, so he decided to come find us. We went back to the room for a short nap, then met the Hemry's for dinner at Lucy's. Another walk on the waterfront and we went back to the hotel for the night, after stopping to pick up our laundry.

Catherine.

Orphanage visit April 4

First of all, Lisa C.: we'll be in Seattle on Friday, April 8, at 7:45 pm on Alaska flight 235. It would be great to see you there, if it works out. We'll go on to Whidbey from there to pick up the boys.

It's really hard to describe the visit to the orphanage because it brings so many emotions with it that I haven't totally worked out yet. Many emotions, sadness for the kids left behind, thankfulness that Susanna is no longer there, relief because you can see that the workers truly do care for the little ones in there charge.....and many more.

We started out the day with the usual breakfast buffet in our hotel. Then met at the 1st floor lobby to get on the bus. It was kind of funny because once we got to the bus parking lot, we headed for the nice big bus with the reclining seats that we've been taking all around town here. And then Wendy said no, no...this one. And directed us to the tiny bus about half its size which was parked in front of it. So we ride the giant bus in town but the bus that Jimmy and I can barely fit both our butts on one seat for 3 hours one way. This was gonna be interesting. It was very interesting driving through the city, taking roads that were'nt quite finished yet and doing a big u-turn in the middle of a four lane highway to get the exit we wanted to take. Then we rode out to the country-side. Very pretty going through the mountains a bit. It was hard to see them because there was a lot of polution in the air, but still really pretty. We saw farmers out planting rice and working with their water buffalo. A few had odd little tractors. I wish i could have gotten video footage of that, but the bus was going too fast to get a decent picture. About half way there, we had to stop for a restroom break and were faced with our first squatty-potty. Then we got back on the bus and went on our way.

As we pulled into Yangjiang,(there are 3 million people here) the director met us with the orphanage's van and we followed him to a restaurant where they treated us all to a meal. It was very, very good and he ordered tons of food. There was no way we could eat it all. During the meal, he made sure that we knew once again that they would love for us to someday bring our daughter's back to visit them and that they would always be welcome. Then the nannies made sure we knew that we didn't have enough clothes on our kids (I had forgotten Susanna's jacket in the bus). Even in the heat, the babies are very bundled up. 2-3 layers of clothes and then a sweater on top of that. They also let us know that we shouldn't be feeding our babies cheerios because the chinese consider it a "hot" food and babies should not be given hot foods. Luckily we have that one covered, because Susanna will not allow any food into her mouth. She gets very mad if we try it, so that is a battle we're saving for home. She did eat 3 bottles yesterday, we were relieved.

Then the director had us follow him to the orphanage. It was a bit smaller than I expected. But very nice. There were a few of the older kids waiting on the front steps when we got there. They showed us in the courtyard where they were in the process of making their own rice cereal for the babies. They had some stuff drying in baskets. It seems that part of the reason Sanna wasn't eating was that the cereal and formula they told us wasn't what she was used to. They make the cereal and the formula that they told us, wasn't the same either, it was just one that they knew we could also purchase in the US. They took us up to the babies room right away. They had music going and the babies were dancing in their cribs. It was hard looking some of their eyes and I just pray that they will have families soon. They then showed us which crib had been Susanna's. She was near the end of a row, with the Steve and Shaun's daughter Sara Grace on one side of her and a baby that has just gone home to Canada (Mei Miao) on the other side. Then they took showed us this huge board on the wall that had the babies daily schedule printed on it. Then they took us out into the back play area. It was very pleasant there, with lots of palm trees and brick paths. We started video taping some of the older kids and they just clammered to see themselves in the video screens . Then they took us to see the commercial laundry units that other adoptive parents had purchased for them and from there we were taken to a conference room where the director told us how glad he was that we had adopted these girls. At this point we had asked what we could do for the orphanage and he told us that they really needed formula. So we all chipped in some money to purchase some formula. At this point I gave him the onsies that Sara and Lisa B. had sent and two other friends had given me some money before I left and I gave a portion of that for formula also. The director said he would go out and purchase it and that while he was doing that, we would be taken to the locations where our daughters were found. Three of us had daughters who were found at the gates of the orphanage. So we walked down and they showed us the spot. We had a chance to take pictures for her for later and also to film the surrounding area. While we were doing that Wendy and the others went to see their spots. I was surprised how much traffic went through that little alley out in front of the orphanage. We sat on the steps of the orphanage and I got some great pictures of Jimmy playing with the older children. When everyone else got back, the director had returned with the formula and we got to take pictures of our donation to the orphanage. I'm sure it won't be the last donation, we'll send there, as they are a large part of Susanna's life so far.

Then back on the bus for another three hours. Susanna had looked a little worried the whole time we were in the orphanage and was very clingy to Jimmy. Now, she was much more relaxed and we noticed for the first time that when she was held, it didn't have to be facing in to us and with her holding on to our shirts for dear life. She sat on our laps facing out and playing for at least half of the trip. And after we got back to the hotel room, we were able to sit her on the floor and she played by herself for half an hour with her toys. So while it was hard, I think it was a good thing for Susanna to go back to the orphanage.

After we got back, we took stuff up to our room and then decided to order in to Danny's Bagels for a pizza. We went out for a walk on the waterfront before heading to bed early.

April 3

Today we got up early and went to breakfast at 6. At about 8 I went to see if the internet cafe was open, which it wasn't but I knew another store offered it for free so I went to see if they were open. They weren't but on the way, I saw another store with ethnic type handicrafts in it, so I stopped and got Susanna some lion slippers and matching hat. The lady in the store said they had free internet if you purchased something, so I used the internet and managed to get some pictures to John Roberts to show in church that morning. He also sent them to Lisa B. and I'm hoping she'll be able to get them on the internet for you all. I can post from China, but can't view the actual blog. Kind of weird. After that we went back to the hotel and met Wendy at 10 to go to the zoo. First we went to a park where they have a statue of 5 rams. This represents the name of the town. Lots of people go there to have their picture taken in front of the statue. While we were there, a 17 year old girl asked us if she could practice her English with us. We had a nice little conversation, then she introduced us to her parents and asked if we had e-mail and would we mind if she e-mailed us to continue practicing. We said yes and gave her our address. Next we went to the zoo. The animals aren't in habitats like the Seattle zoo, they're in cages. We saw monkeys, elephants, dogs, wolves, rhinos and more. It was very interesting. Finally about 1 we headed back to the hotel. We dropped Jimmy and Susanna and Matt and Abbie off at the hotel and Cindy Hemry and I hit the shops. We got some silks for the girls as they grow up and I ordered etchings. We had to be back at the hotel at 3 for another hour of filling out paperwork. This is for the baby's visa, which is the last thing we should have to apply (and pay) for. After that, we went back to our room, agreeing to meet downstairs at 5 to go to Lucy's for supper. We met the Hemry's and Moubasher's there. It was good food but cut short by Susanna having a tummy ache. We've yet to have that magic dirty diaper and after 3 days it was getting worrysome and also uncomfortable for her. So we walked back to the hotel. I had to run out and get our laundry and when I got back, her tummy ache was over, so Jimmy got the first dirty diaper too, but luckily for him, mama got back just in time to change it. Funny how that works, isn't it? After that, the happy, funny girl who likes to sing and dance was back and we decided to take a walk on the water front. Jimmy got to observe the fishing from the bridge and I got to stop in one last shop and get a few things. Shhh.......don't tell Jimmy I told you, but I caught him dancing with Sanna and singing the Barney song. LOL :-D He's a good daddy.

Well that finally gets us caught up today, April 4. I'll have to type about it tomorrow because we leave on a bus in 45 minutes to go visit Susanna's orphanage. It's a 3 hour trip one way. We will go there, spend an hour or two and then come back. I'm sure it will be tiring and emotionally hard on all of us, but we feel that it's something we need to do. So I'll update you tomorrow.

Catherine

April 2 continued

Before we left for the trip to the pearl and jade market, I stopped by to drop off a disposable camera that I had sent to the orphanage at the one hour photo place. When I picked it up again, I had some great pictures of Susanna from the last few weeks that she was in the orphanage. Cindy in Spokane, if you are reading this, I think I have one of her with Fu Bi. I'll mail it to you when I get home. We left the hotel at 2:30 to walk across the bridge, leaving Shamian Island and going into the city. To get to the pearl and jade markets, we had to f irst walk through another market. The first part of it was an herb market. It was kind of a giant flee market. They had all manner of dried herbs for cooking and medicinal purposes. They had snakes that were dried, all coiled up, and also snakes that were stretched out and dried. There were pans full of live scorpions. Wendy said that they use them for medicinal purposes and also eat them deep fried. I asked her if she ate them and she shook her head and said oh, no, no. Then we had to cross another street. I think I mentioned before maybe that crossing the street in China is a bit like playing the computer game frogger. You have to pick your place to go and just move slowly but surely. Either that or wait until there is a traffic backup. The other thing you can do is wait until you find a chinese person and cross when they do. I don't envy Wendy's job of getting us all through these little tiny alleys and busy streets, all the while counting heads to make sure she hasn't lost someone who stopped to take a picture of something. Then we went down the section of market where they sell pets. And yes, they were pets. We asked Wendy. They sold gerbils in the little wheels, dogs and cats, pet beds and kitty litter. They had tubs of tropical fish and fish tanks for sale. We saw people out walking there pets and getting supplies. After we left this section, we got to a more commercial market, where everyone had actual stores instead of just setting their stuff out in the street. At one point, someone had to use the restroom, so Wendy took them into a store. While they were gone, we just hung out outside the store. After a few minutes, people started coming up to those of us who had brought babies with them. Eventually we started attracting more of a crowd and by the time Wendy got back we were hemmed in on all side with tons of people staring at us. Wendy said something to them and then said they are curious as to why you have chinese babies. She told us if this happens to tell them show-ya which means adoption in chinese. Finally we moved on to the jade market. We went into a building with lots of vendors and made our way through narrow aisles, stopping to bargain here and there. It was a little tiresome because she had kind of asked up before we went in what we wanted and we told her, but I figured that she would find one who had a good price and bargain for a bunch. Instead she went to different vendors and bargained for one piece at a time. Finally she did take us to a store that had jade pendants that we could just pick out one we liked and tell her how many we wanted, then she would inspect them all and pick out the best ones and then when they were all done, she bargained for the price. Next we walked to the pearl market. The first place we stopped it sounded like the lady was arguing with her and we thought they were refusing to sell us stuff, but she later explained that they said they didn't have the right things to sell us and the lady walked us over to another shop that had more items. There we looked through the pearls and picked out what we wanted. Some of the stuff was already made into necklaces and bracelets, but the really good pearls we picked out, they had to restring and double knot them and put a clasp on, so they said they would bring them to the hotel when they were done. After that we were all exhausted and were supposed to be going out to supper at 6:00. It was already 6 then, so she put us in cabs and sent us back to the hotel. Riding in traffic in China is very, very interesting. I don't know why there aren't more accidents here. So far we've only seen one. Back at the hotel, we decided to not go to the Thai restaurant for supper with everyone else. Susanna has really been having a hard time and I just thought she needed some time to herself. So we stayed in and had an early night. We stopped by a store to pick up our laundry and it came all pressed, ironed and packed in plastic. Are we spoiled or what? Later that night, Susanna seemed to turn a corner. She was getting back to the happy little girl we'd seen that first day. She even had a second bottle that night and we went out and walked around the Island a bit later in the evening.

April 2, 2005

Still waking up at 3 am, but it's ok because it gives me time to write down my thoughts from the busy days. We meet Wendy today to 10 am to do Susanna's medical exam. This is for getting a visa to bring her into the united states. I am glad we get to do this today because I'm a little worried that she has an ear infection. When she woke up this morning, she took a bottle which was great since she hadn't had one since yesterday morning at 6. I think part of it is that she is grieving in her own way and part of it is she doesn't feel well and her whole routine is upset. After breakfast I left her with Jimmy while I took the laundry out to be done. Then Jimmy said that he'd like to take the morning to just wander around and since only one parent needed to go to the exam, that worked out. So he took off for the morning and I borrowed a stroller from another couple in our travel group. Sanna has been really fussy, so I didn't know how she'd do. She was ok as long as we stayed moving. Mostly she's just wanted to lay on my chest and rock. We walked to a place where we had to set the kids down on a high chair and have their picture taken for their visa. She wasn't having none of that. They finally let me hold her and we did get a decent picture. Then we went to the medical exam. The place was crawling with adoptive parents. It was so busy. Wendy split us up into 2 and 3's and sent us each to one of the three stations. At the first one they checked her heart and lungs. She had fallen asleep by this time, which was good, because they can't hear her heart if she's screaming. Then the had me undress her and they checked to make sure she had feet, hands, arms, head and neck. Yup, she had them. Then they took us to the next station and took her temp and weighed her. By this time, she was screaming, so I have no idea what the results were. They would have been in metric anyway. Then we moved to the last station, where they looked in her eyes, ears and throat. The doctor said she maybe had a little ear infection, but mainly just a cold and sore throat and to give her tylenol. After that I went out and found our guide, who said if I was done and could remember my way back, I could go to the hotel. So I put her in the stroller and drove her screaming at the top of her lungs back to the hotel. Once I got her back she took some tylenol and we rocked to sleep. Jimmy had gotten back at that point so we went to Lucy's for lunch. Afterwards we went back to the hotel and Wendy called to say that we were going to walk to the Jade and pearl market after lunch. Jimmy had walked all morning and Susanna was a basket case, so I left her with him and went with the group. It was a great trip, but I'll have to write about it later because we are leaving for the zoo in half an hour. Tomorrow we are visiting the orphanage for the day.

Catherine

April 1

Couldn't sleep from 1-3 the night we got sanna (jet lag) so I got up and called Micki, the ladies bible study and various friends and family. It was so good to talk to them. Went back to sleep until 5:30. Finally at 6, Jimmy couldn't stand it anymore and he woke the baby up so he could play with her. We went to breakfast and met some people that I'd met on one of my yahoo groups. Warren and Yi-ching's daughter came from Susanna's orphanage and they were on their way to visit it. After breakfast we headed back upstairs to get our cameras, passports, diaper bags and 2 gifts. We headed back to the civil affairs office by bus, this time, the atmosphere was so much lighter. The traffic here is amazing. Imagine taking 5 lanes of traffic fit on a two lane road. Lanes here are really more like guidelines.....well, maybe not even that. At the civil affairs office they put us in the same room that we'd been in the day before. First we went to get a family picture taken. That's when we found out our daughter is a ham. She has been so happy and outgoing and everytime I try to get a picture of that, she is at the end of a smile by the time the camera clicks and it looks like she is grimacing. So we sat down and the minute they snapt the picture, she gives them this big ole grin. It's our first happy picture. Then we waited one by one as we were called in by family and asked to present our passports. They asked us our name, age and when we got married, whether we had biological children and if we had adopted before. Then they asked us why we wanted to adopt from China and if we were satisfied with the baby we were given. We said yes, of course. Then we gave the lady one of our gifts and went to another room and repeated the process all over again. The lady commented about how curious Susanna is and she is right, everyone has noticed that. They said congratulations, she is yours. So as far as China is concerned, the adoption is final. While we were waiting for them to process our paperwork, we took the babies to a playroom. Sanna was getting pretty wound up by this point (we've found out that the more tired she is, the faster she goes). We put her in a walker and it was like watching bumper cars with these girls. Sanna is good with a walker, she was the only one to make it off the vinyl and out the door. Then they took us back into the first offices and had us pay our fees. People in this country take their money seriously. (Ask the guys who stand outside the bank while the money truck unloads with guns almost bigger than they are). They counted the money at least three times, then carefully examined both back and front, feeling each one to make sure it wasn't counterfeit. Luckily none of ours was rejected. Next we were off to the police station where we applied for Sanna's passport. We all took seats, while Wendy took a number and waited in line (another thing that happens a lot here). When it was our turn, she called us up one by one and a lady took our paperwork, entered it into the computer, took a picture of Sanna and that was it. It should be ready in a few days. Then back to the hotel. We decided to meet the Hemry's at Lucy's for lunch after going to the bank to exchange money. But when I got back to our room, Susanna was having a melt down. I think she's teething and is also tugging at her ears. She also wouldn't take a bottle, only one first thing this morning. I think she's entering the grieving process a bit. So we stayed in the hotel and cuddled and held her, handing her back and forth. Finally I gave her some fishy crackers. Susanna will not eat solid food. She gags if it gets in her mouth, but good luck getting it that close. But she did want to hold them. She would pick them up with her thumb and forefinger, and then when she had one in each hand, she'd want another one but couldn't figure out how to get it without dropping the other ones. She was thinking hard on it but never got it accomplished. At 3:00, I left her with Jimmy and went with Wendy and others in our group to a wholesale clothing market. The place was crowded and stifling hot. Our guide is amazing at bargaining though. I got her 2 toys for 60 cents a piece, a few outfits for $2.50 (yes, I know, I know, the girl does not need clothes but this was for $2.50!) Got some great socks a hat and finally we got squeaky shoes. (I got 10 pair. :-D) The bad news is when I got home, she doesn't weigh enough to make them squeak when she walks. (Joe will be relieved, since he gave me orders NOT to buy them LOL) We closed the market down and then went back to the hotel.When I got back 3 hours later, Jimmy was snoring away and Sanna was leaned against him clutching his shirt, just looking at me. I think she'd been asleep but when I opened the door had just woken up. When she falls asleep, she does it with a death grip on your shirt, and has to be laying on your chest. She was still having a bit of a hard time, very clingy. She did like her new toys though. We ordered Pizza from Danny's Bagels because it delivered to the hotel. It was pretty good to. Afterwards we gave her a bath. She wanted nothing to do with it at first, but by the end she was splashing and having a good time (Jimmy gave her her first bath too, John. We've got a daddy's girl on our hands.) So far, she's only taking one bottle a day, in the morning, which has me worried a bit, but she still does have one each day, so I'm hoping its just because of the big changes in her life and that it will get better soon. More soon.

Catherine

Gotcha Day

I don't really even know where to begin to describe this day. We left our hotel at 2:30 pm on a bus for the civil affairs office. We were a bus full of nervous, excited people. On the way to the civil affairs office, I decided to try to video tape some of the city as we were driving. After a bit, I realized that most of it would just be a blur, so I started just taping at stoplights. We got to one stoplight and I saw a man getting a chinese baby out of a van. Since our focus was on chinese babies at the moment, I started taping it, then Jimmy commented that they had a whole van full of chinese babies and I responded wouldn't it be funny if those were our babies. At that time the bus started again, and turned the corner into the same parking lot and Jimmy and I realized that they WERE our babies. By the time we got parked, the babies were out of site. We went into the building, and up to the fifth floor, where they put us in a room with 4-5 brown couches. We all sat down and dug out the cameras. I tried to set mine up on a tri-pod, but either it or my hands weren't cooperating, so I just decided to hold the camera. We watched the first 2 babies being given to their families and then it was our turn. I handed the camera to Cindy Hemry and Jimmy and I walked toward the door where the caretaker handed the most beautiful baby to Jimmy (sorry all of you who already have daughters from China, but they really did save the best for us. :oD) She looked at Jimmy very curiously but didn't cry. I gave him his few minutes (ok maybe only seconds, who's counting) and then I took her. She never did cry. We watched all the others get their babies and took a bunch of video footage, the Wendy, our guide said we needed to get back in the bus and go back to the hotel. The orphanage officials would meet us in her room and we could ask any questions we wanted. As we were leaving the room, Susanna, or LanLan as the caretakers call her, started making noises and we thought, oh no, she's heard all the other babies crying and now it's our turn. Then we realized that she was laughing. It was incredible. She really did well with that initial period, looking us in the eyes, smiling, looking around. We got on the bus and I just had to video tape the back of her little head as she sat on Jimmy's lap. It was just going back and forth with wonder as she watched the traffic and people we were passing by. At the hotel, we got to ask our questions, and we gave the orphanage workers some gifts that we had brought for them. In return they gave us back the package that we'd sent to Susanna with a disposable camera (all the pictures were used, so now we need to get them developed) and a picture book of Susanna, some pictures of the orphanage, a cd of the town she lived in and a map of the town with the location of the orphanage circled. After that we went back up to our room and practiced making a chinese bottle (7 scoops of formula, 13-14 scoops of rice cereal and a little water to make it moist-I like to refer to it as swill). Jimmy made the first one pretty well (yes, you heard right, Jimmy made the first bottle). Then I left her with Jimmy so I could go back down to our guide's room and fill out paperwork. When I came back to the room Jimmy had her laughing by giving her a little toss in the air. This girl is amazing. When I was doing the paperwork, we found our our baggage had arrived. Yay! Finally a change of clothes. We met the Chen's and Hemry's for a very expensive supper (tip: always ask how much the buffet costs before you order it and never do the supper buffet at the white swan unless you want to drop $60 US dollars). Halfway through the meal, Susanna reached over for me from her high chair and when I picked her up, she laid her head down on my shoulder and after a little bit of rocking fell asleep. We went back upstairs and she woke up on the way. I started unpacking and at one point I looked over to see Jimmy snoring away with Susanna on his chest, wide awake. So she and I had a little dress up session to see what fit (Lisa C.- the outfit fit her and she wore it to her official adoption day the next day. Lisa B. -ditto on the little pink sheep sweater). Also she loves hats and headbands.! Finally at 9:00 I laid her down on my chest and she fell asleep for the night. I transferred her to her crib and she slept through the night.

Catherine