Home again, home again, jiggedy jig!

Tim here with the coming-home-blog.  (Lots of exhaustion, so no guarantees that this will make any sense!).

Random, Daddy moment shot:

THE FINAL HONG KONG DAYS

Saturday we moved from the Disneyland Hotel to the Sky City Marriott near the airport, the same hotel that we had stayed at two weeks ago during our overnight layover, and also the same hotel we had stays at when we were getting ready to fly home with Jaden last year.

We had a great last couple of days in Hong Kong and got to meet up with some special folks  ... a friend had arranged for us to meet with some of his friends in Hong Kong.

On Saturday we got to go into Hong Kong itself via the subway system to meet with an American who came to Hong Kong for 6 months about 30 years ago and has not managed to leave yet.  He took us down to Stanley, which is south of Hong Kong ... It used to be a quiet fishing village, but not any more.  He took us out for lunch and then we did some shopping at the local market and also at a mall, and then he took us on a tour of the MaryKnoll House which is where the Hong Kong Walk to Emmaus weekends are held.  It was very special to be able to connect with the Hong Kong Emmaus experience in that way.

On Sunday Jaden and I got to have a great 2+ hour Dim Sum meal with several families who live in Hong Kong.  I had never had a meal like that ... Basically there were lots and lots of Chinese dishes brought out and placed in the center if the table, and each person chose what they wanted to have.  (We had a meal similar to that after we toured Jaden's orphanage last year but that one had lots of entrees set in the middle if the table ... This was more like a large variety if snack sized foods and was much much much better.)   We got to try small portions of lots of different dishes.  Combining great food with great conversation made for a very special brunch.

We went to the hotel pool the last two nights we were in Hong Kong, and Katie showed that she continues to want to emulate her brother by trying it jump into the pool after he did the first time and by splashing wildly after he splashed.  Both kids had a great time, and Sunday night Jaden jumped into Tracy's arms about 30 times, each time delighting Katie.

Jaden and Katie spent a lot of time playing together in the hotel room, playing chase and tickling each other with squeals and giggles.

(Jaden has still been trying to work out what being the big brother for Katie will look like ... He also wants to be our baby, and has taken to telling us often that we have "two babies" now.  Tracy explained that we actually have four since Laura and Mitch will always be our babies, too, that no matter how old our children get they will always be our babies.)

Then it was time to pack up and prepare for the marathon day of 24+ hours of travel time.

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THE LONG TRIP HOME ...

9:00 AM Monday (Hong Kong time) = 8:00 PM Sunday (Tulsa time)
Heading out the door to go to the airport.

9:20 AM Monday (Hong Kong time) = 8:20 PM Sunday (Tulsa time)
Wow, what an amazing sense of déjà vu I had when we walked into the airport terminal this morning ... Our flight out of Hong Kong two weeks ago was a domestic flight on Dragonair, so we went to a different entry than we went through today. the door we came through today  is the same one we used when we were coming home with Jaden, and once inside we walked down the same long ramp into the terminal.   I was totally taken back to 15 months ago.  :-)

12:40 PM Monday (Hong Kong time) = 11:40 PM Sunday (Tulsa time)
And we're off!  We took off 15 minutes ago on the way back to the good ole USA.  The flight time will be 14 hours for this leg, then we will have the processing of Katie's paperwork at Customs and Immigration in Chicago where she will become a US citizen, then a layover in Chicago, a flight to Tulsa, a short drive to okmulgee and we will be home!  It will be a very very long day.

There is definitely a part of me that is not wanting to leave yet, but another part of me is ready to get this trip behind us so we can find a new "normal" and also so Katie can meet the rest of her family.

Jaden has starting talking more about going home in the past two days or so.  He is definitely ready!  He has missed his other siblings and he likes to tell Katie (and lots of total strangers, too) about his "sister Walrus" and his "big brother Gege Mitch" ... He says those names like they are titles.

7:00 PM Monday (Tulsa time) = 8:00 AM Tuesday (Hong Kong time)
We are so exhausted, but everything has gone well.  We are on the plane to Tulsa and should be there in an hour.  We did not get as much sleep on the long flight as we had hoped.  Katie slept a total of about 5-6 hours, 3 1/2 of which were in the bassinet that was mounted on the bulkhead wall.  She is such a wallower when she sleeps that she kept waking up because there was not enough room to roll around.  Jaden did not sleep nearly as well on the flight back as he did on the flight over.  And the parents grabbed a few hours total.  It's a bad sign when you are trying to keep up with your sleep time and you keep adding 8-10 minute naps to your total.

And you know it's a long flight when you look at your watch and feel very thankful that you "only" have 4 1/2 hours left in the flight.

For whatever reason, Katie has decided in the past two days that I am ok to be around, and she has let me hold her lots!  I think that maybe Tracy bribed her, because Katie ended up sitting with me for a lot of the long flight over from Hong Kong.  No complaints, here ... That will always be a very special time and memory for me.

Like I said, though, everything has gone well.  The flights have been on time and the kids have traveled very very well.   I just wish that there had been more sleeping.

However, we have had MUCH more sleep than we had when we brought Jaden home ... He had a TOTAL of about 90 minutes or so as I recall during the entire travel from Hong Kong t the Tulsa airport, and most of that was on the last flight ... so that when we got to tulsa he was in his wake up weird and freaked out zone that he has when he has to wake up before he is ready.

Katie is being restless in this flight and Tracy has been singing to her most of the way to keep her calm and settled.  Having a 13 hour time zone change does weird stuff to you.

We are looking forward to getting to the airport and seeing friends and family.  And we are looking forward to sleeping in our own beds, too!  Then comes the challenge of settling into a new routine.  There is no way to know how long that will take.

We will plan to limit Katie's exposure to other folks until she is settled in, so please be patient folks.  We will share her with you once we feel she is ready. :-)

Thanks everyone for your support and prayers.  Please keep 'em coming as we enter his next phase.  (Tracy here, I'm proofing this for Tim before adding to it and posting.  I'm leaving the last typo.  I assume Tim meant "this" next phase but "as we enter His next phrase" is also accurate!)

ARRIVAL AND THE TRIP HOME

Tim is now asleep as it is 1:30 am and he handed me the baton, so to speak.  We got to Tulsa just a few minutes late and I had to wake Katie as we stood to gather our stuff. So glad that she doesn't wake crazy like someone else we know.  :). We had a really cute outfit to change her into but I assumed that anyone waiting would rather a rumpled outfit with a smile.   It was so wonderful walking down the terminal and seeing people and balloons awaiting our arrival!

Katie got to see family and friends and didn't even cry.  She stayed tucked under my chin but didn't seem too panicked at the excitement.  She didn't exactly show her bubbly side but for her to be able to look back later and see the homecoming,,,priceless.  Our worry was that the would let the entire county hear about her displeasure at having to be put in a car seat and that just didn't happen.  She was fine with it and actually, before we were even out of Tulsa, she was charming her sister with peek a boo and giggles!  Jaden was so, so excited seeing so many of the people he has missed.  (On the way home though, he did say he missed the airport.).   Another worry we had was our pets.  The cats look fat and happy (Thanks, Gael!) and Katie did just great with them.  She offered to share her toy with Xiaomiao the cat.  We still have yet to see if she likes 140 lbs of slobbery dog, we'll work on that this week.  :)

Tim and I can't thank everyone enough for the many ways everyone helped out.  The prayers were felt and answered every step of the way.  Coming home to the mail checked, animals happy and bread and milk available...just wonderful.  I told Tim on the last leg of the journey that we were finishing up the easy part...I'm ready to start this new leg of the journey though.  Please continue to pray for us and to be patient with us.  My prayer requests center on the changes in all 4  (whoa, 4?!) of my kids' lives.  Laura is about to enter the last finals week of med school, Mitch is about to enter his last set of undergrad finals, Jaden is working hard learning this new birth-order position and Katelyn Ann Sanford is going to have to learn a whole lot in the coming weeks and months.

If you still have prayer time left, please think of the kids we had to leave behind.  There are so many just waiting on their family to show up.  And if you've felt a little tug somewhere along the line during our adoption journey, stop and really pray over whether or not your child may be one of those waiting.  We'd love to help you find him or her.
Blessings!

Getting ready to head home!

We are having a rare slow day here in HK.  We are leaving tomorrow morning for home. :)

To catch up over the last few days, we have spent 2 full days at Disney and a full day walking around HK with an American Emmaus connection that has lives here for about 20 years.

Jaden wanted a picture of "the naked man". :)

At Disney, the kids both did really well.  We didn't do many rides but they enjoyed the ones we did ride.  Dumbo, the Carousel, Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, and It's A Small World were all big hits with both kids.  They both really LOVED the 3 shows that we saw (Mickey's Philharmonic, the Golden Mickeys, and The Lion King).  Katie was again, most fascinated with the Zebras and tracked them the entire show but she really lit up when she saw Belle.  We have learned that she enjoys pretty costumes.  Every time she saw Belle in her splendor or saw a Belle costume, she would just squeal  in delight and point.  (We tried to get her one but they don't carry them small enough.  I can see that our clothing budget may need to be adjusted.) Tim got some of his best snuggles of the trip at Disney, smart girl, training daddy to want to go there!

For the most part, she is still attached to my hip if we leave the hotel room but is now very comfortable making eye contact with the (formerly) Big Scary Guy.  In fact, she is currently sitting in his lap eating Graham crackers.  I wish I had a scale.  She feels much heavier; if I had to guess I'd say she has already gained another pound or two.

She is still demanding lots if kisses.  She is so funny!  She holds up her hands and then her feet and demands a kiss on each finger and toe.  She'll sometimes do this for 5 or 6 cycles of all 9 fingers and 10 toes.  We figure we've given several thousand kisses over the last 14 days but still have many thousand to give to catch her up.  She is still very shy around others and in fact strangers really drive her into my arms.  Yesterday, she literally never my arms while we were in Hong Kong all day.  All those who want to love on her in Oklahoma, please be patient.  It may yet be a while.  :(

Jay is still doing a great job as big brother.  He has told her several times to just wait until she gets home, that she has a great GeGe and JieJie there to kiss her.  When he saw the Walrus at Disney, he looked a little sad and told Katie "we have a Walrus at home."  Laura, he is missing his Walrus and has gotten some confused looks when he has told people that his big sister is a Walrus.  He keeps telling people, including ransom strangers in the elevator, that he WAS from China but he and Katie are now from Oklahoma.   Quite adorable.

I don't mind saying that I can't wait to get home to my own bed.  I am not, however,  looking forward to having to do day to day things, ie: cooking, right away.  Last time jet lag was a booger.  Prayers please for travel mercies.  So far, the kids have really been awesome with the various planes, trains and automobiles that we have used but tomorrow may test that.  It is 24 full hours from the time we get to the first airport until the time we touch down in Tulsa.  We leave HK on Sunday evening at 11 pm US time and get in at 8pm Monday to Tulsa.

Thanks so much for all the prayers and support, the prayers have definitely been felt.

Goodbye Guangzhou, hello HK Disney!

Tim here with two partial entries from the past two days ...

11:00 AM Wednesday

We are in the van on the way from Guangzhou to Hong Kong.  We are about 45 minutes into a 4 hour drive, and our prayer that Katie be a good traveller like our other three children (whoa!  Did I just say our OTHER three?!! ... That sounds really really cool!) ... Anyway, sorry, got distracted there ... Our prayer that she would be a good traveler has been answered.  She is sleeping (in her mama's arms, of course) quite peacefully, and our experiences with her in short cab rides and the prior short van rides have all been good.

As we pulled away from The Garden hotel I couldn't help but to feel wistful, since we stayed there with Jaden's adoption and now with Katie's.  I was cheered up by the thought that the Nichols family will be there in a few month when they come to get their beautiful daughter Naomi.

Katie started the day in a bit if an unusual mood, being more fussy and demanding than normal, but she has settled down a lot.  Tracy said it seemed like maybe Katie had bad dreams last night, based on her crying out more than normal and being restless (she normally rolls around in bed a lot and does her adorable leg kick that I mentioned in a prior blog, but sleeps soundly nonetheless).  Last night seemed different, though.  Perhaps there is no cause, but we wonder if seeing us pack up again in preparation for leaving the hotel might not have been the cause.  Or maybe a bit of bad potato ... who ever knows about our dreams?

As the morning went by she settled back down, though.

She and Jaden had a good time playing in the hotel lobby while we checked out.  Also, this morning we got the last bit of paperwork that we needed to get her home .. her Visa to enter the USA.  We didn't expect any problems, but you never know, and there was the issue of her abandonment decree having the incorrect date on it ... But it's all good now, and we are done with that part, so we are on the van now heading to Hong Kong for some blessedly non-paperwork-vacation time.  We are glad we had these days at the back end of the trip, though, because if there had been a more substantial problem with the finding date being wrong on the paperwork then it would have involved getting corrected paperwork from Chengdu and then getting it to Guangzhou, which would have taken a few days.

As we are riding in the van, Jaden is "filling out our forms" to get us into Hong Kong ... Fortunately I had a set filled out also!  He got quite a kick out of signing his name in the form we have it submit when we leave China, too.  He is getting into this paperwork thing!  I expect that this has something to do with the fact that the answer to his question "why" for several of our trips to government offices in the past two weeks has been "We have to get some more paperwork done so we can being Meimei home."  I guess he has decided to start helping with the paperwork to be sure she comes home.  (Gael, if you guys need help with the paperwork we can send Jaden over to help you)

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Thursday night ...

That's all I got typed out on the van trip because Katie suddenly decided that maybe I'm not such a scary guy and she has decided to interact with me more, even letting me hold her and give her some of her bottle in the van.  Prior to that I had been able to give her some food via spoon but never to hold her to give her a bottle.  What a very special time!

Then when we got to the hotel it was time to unpack in our fifth hotel of this trip, go swimming at both of the pools here, get settled in, off to bed, then up and around Disney for 9 1/2 hours on Thursday!  We had planned to just go for a few hours and then come back to the hotel for a nap and swimming, but everyone was doing so well and the weather was perfect and the crowd was light for most of the day, so we just kept on going.

We really had a blast and will add pics and details when we can, but right now I am exhausted and need to get rested up to do it again tomorrow.

Almost everywhere that we went at Disneyland led to memories from last January when we were here with Jaden ... It is amazing how detailed a lot of those memories are, including where we were sitting during the shows, what order we did the rides in last year, memories within each ride, etc.

And adding to the specialness is that Katie let me hold her several times today!  Disney is always a special place, but more so this time.  :-)

I hope to put up more later, but I don't know when!

Goodnight all!

Tim

CA and Tim's one-week thoughts

 Tracy's thoughts about today first and then Tim will share his thoughts.  :)

Today we went to the American consulate and suffice to say that all went well.  I had a bit of a scare when the guy at the consulate wasn't sure he was happy with Katie's paperwork.  I could tell something wasn't pleasing him by his expression and then he finally looked up and said, "Wait on Mama."  To which I replied, "I am Mama."  He gave me a weird look and just said, "stay!"  Oh, okay.  I can wait a moment.  Oops.  I heard him saying that he wasn't sure the abandonment date was correct to the supervisor.  Luckily, her opinion was that as long as it was clearly an abandonment, the date didn't really matter.  Whew!  We stood up, right hand raised, and swore we hadn't lied on her immigration paperwork.  You know the one that asked if she had ever been a prostitute or terrorist?  Really, that's what they wanted to know.  Good news, I could honestly say "No." to both.  Now Katie will have her visa to enter the US and when her foot (or head in Jaden's case) touches US soil, she will be a US citizen!  Whoot!

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Tim's Reflections on GOTCHA DAY ... ONE WEEK LATER

One week ago today was Katie's Gotcha.  How can it only have been one week?  She is such a part of my heart and life that I cannot imagine it has only been seven days!

Gotcha day is one if those days that you know you will remember for the rest of your life, where images get burned into your memory.  But it is really hard to describe what the day is like.

At 5:45 AM Jaden wanted to go ahead and get up after lying in bed unable to sleep for a while.  He and I went ahead and ate breakfast ... The table was full of the things we had laid out the night before to make sure we took with us to the orphanage (gifts for the orphanage director and Katie's nanny / diapers / wipes / disposable changing pad / bottles/ paperwork / etc), and having to scoot that stuff over in order to have table space was a cool way to start the day!

After breakfast Jaden played with his new shark car ... This was the toy that he wanted to get from the gift shop as we left the Chengdu Ocean Park ... Think transformer type toy.  If I had been picking toys it would probably have been the last one in the whole store that I would have picked, but he has gotten a lot of joy and play time out if it.  The back if the packaging had six other toys of different animals that transform into cars also, and he assigned my hands and feet characters and then directed them around the play area so I got my morning stretches in that way, going from the couch to the windowsill etc.  It was like a version of Twister. :-)

How can I describe the emotions of that morning?  It's so difficult to do.  I never have been able to describe the way I felt the morning we went to go get Jaden.  I never have been able to find the words.  With Katie, I serendipitously found a way that kinda gives an idea of how I felt, which I will describe below.

As we did with Jaden, I have been playing the music of the Hillsong Global Project Mandarin Praise and Worship music.  It is a collection of twelve praise and worship songs done in Mandarin, and I have played it on low for most of the time we have been in China with Jaden and with Katie.  With Jaden we would play it in the room as we went to sleep, and it seemed to calm him.  I hoped that he would understand something about some of the words of the songs and maybe get some of the message of love from them.

Anyway, somehow the music app on the iPad got taken off of repeat mode and got put on random shuffle.  Well, the song that came in as Jaden and I were talking on the morning of Katie's Gotcha was a song that I had meant to remove from my iPad after Christmas  ... It is a great song called "Almost Christmas" by Josh Wilson.  I got up to change the song, but then I started listening to the lyrics ... It is a song about the excitement and anticipation of a child getting ready for Christmas ... It captures the sheer joy and anticipation of an upcoming Christmas that is so unique to a child's perspective, that sense of upcoming wonder that most of us have forgotten amidst our busy lives and worries  ...

    I feel like I'm 8 years old again
    Waiting for December 25th
    It's almost Christmas
    I'll be home soon, making memories
    So excited I can hardly sleep
    It's almost Christmas time!

    There's something new in the air everywhere
    Making me take the time, time to stop, time to share
    'Til the people I love the most really know
    'Cause it's almost Christmas

I found that it really fit the mood and excitement of the day if I just replaced the word "Christmas" with "Gotcha" ... But only if you stop to really remember what Christmas feels like to a child.

    I feel like I'm 8 years old again
    Waiting for April 14th
    It's almost Gotcha
    I'll be home soon making memories
    So excited I can hardly sleep
    It's almost Gotcha time!

    There's something new in the air everywhere
    Making me take the time, time to stop, time to share
    'Til the people I love the most really know
    'Cause it's almost Gotcha

I don't know of there is any way to really put the anticipation and excitement and joy and absolute wonder of Gotcha morning into words, the realization that your child has spent their last night in an orphans bed, that soon they will be set free, but that's about as close as I can get.

Tracy did a lot of singing to Katie to try to sooth her at and right after Gotcha, and one that seemed to work well was Amazing Grace / My Chains Are Gone, and those lyrics can help point you in the direction if the emotions of a Gotcha day also ...

    My chains are gone
    I've been set free
    My God, my Savior
    Has rescued me
    And like a flood
    His mercy reigns
    Unending love
    Amazing grace

That works pretty well, also, especially since our path to both of our Gotcha days can be DIRECTLY tied to God's love and grace and our experience with Emmaus.  I will try to put a bit of that story into a future blog, but I will tell you that a Gotcha day is a special gift from God, a time when God's presence is keenly felt, a Sacred Moment.  (And I have to give a big shout-out to Mark Whitley who recently led me to the revelation that Jaden's Gotcha day was clearly a Sacred Moment ... and as such also allowed me to realize it during Katie's Gotcha as well.)

The Gotcha itself went fairly smoothly, considering that Katie surely had no idea what was going on ... She was awakened from a nap and she was brought into a room and handed to total strangers.

With Jaden's adoption he was 3 1/2, so at least it could be explained to him what was happening (not that at such a young age he could really truly understand what it meant).  But surely it had to help that he could be told that he was getting a Mama and a Baba who would be his family forever.  Katie is really too young to have any concept of such things.

She cried at first, of course,  but settled down quickly with her Mama holding her and singing to her, and she stayed calm once she settled down.

Her nanny came in after a while and we got to visit with her and to thank her for taking care of Katie.  It was clear that she cared about Katie, and we were pleased to see that she wore a cross necklace (a very uncommon thing in my admittedly limited experiences in China thus far), perhaps indicating some beautiful Prevenient Grace for Katie and hopefully for some of the other children that she cares for as well.

After some of the paperwork was taken care of I got a chance to tour the orphanage.  Jaden went with me, but Tracy and Katie stayed in the meeting room to avoid taking Katie back into the orphanage itself.

I wanted to see the orphanage, to see where my baby has spent her entire life, but I was also dreading it in a way.  I am still haunted by our visit to Jaden's orphanage, by the sterile institutional environment where he spent so long, and I have especially been haunted by the children we had to leave behind, most of whom will never know the love of parents.

I am pleased to say that Katie's orphanage was so much brighter.  Each room and almost all of the hallways were brightly lit with colorful murals or pictures on the walls.  The environment was clean but you could tell that the play areas were used and not just there for show.  (Jaden's orphanage had no play area and zero toys.)

Katie's orphanage is a Half the Sky orphanage ... Perhaps we can put some more information about that on a future blog as well.

But I have to admit that even though I was praying for the children that I saw as we walked through the orphanage, I have to admit that I could not look into their eyes.  I just couldn't take that again.  Call it cowardice, but I carry the weight of the children from Jaden's orphanage with me and I just couldn't add to it, at least not on that day.

Jaden did really well for most of the tour through the orphanage until we came to a hallway that was a little more bland than the others and was not as well lit.  He suddenly began to grunt a strange guttural grunt, but he calmed quickly when I reassured him.  Fortunately, that was near the end and we were able to get out of the orphanage just a few minutes later.

One of the things that we were worried about prior to coming back yo China was that Jaden may have some regression of behavior or possible even some post-traumatic type reaction, but he has done amazingly well.

We have made it a point to talk to him in the past few months about what we will all be doing when we come back from China together with Katie.  He was excited as we did the house renovation to build a play room for he and Katie to play in, so we were fairly sure that he would not have concerns about being left in China, but we really did not know how he would react to being back in China with the sights and sounds and smells of China, and being surrounded by Asian people again.  He has done great, though.  He is very comfortable in himself and his family, and he has continued to tell folks all week that he has a Meimei and that he is a big brother!

With the consulate appointment done, we are basically done with the paperwork part of the trip.  The visa should be issued tomorrow  for Katie to enter the USA, and once that is done we are on vacation, spending some time in Hong Kong.  We intentionally built a few days into the back of the trip in case something went wrong with the paperwork process, but if all continues to go well then it is off to Hong Kong on Wednesday for a few days at Disney and then we will have some time with some of our brothers and sisters in Christ that are part of the Hong Kong Emmaus community.  We are especially looking forward to that, since Emmaus is directly responsible for our realization that we have two children who are part of our family, children who happened to have been born in China.

The medical appointment or, "ABS, SFA and VSD, oh, my!"

It's 3 am Easter Sunday and we're at the Garden Hotel in Guangzhou.  Happy Easter, everyone!

Yesterday was our medical appointment for Katie and everything went really well.  I haven't talked a lot about Katie's physical differences because they don't real matter much to us.  Typically, in the international adoption world, parents get a referral and then have 72 hours to have the file evaluated by an physician to see if they are willing to accept whatever physical issues the child has.  Tim and I pretty well ignored that tradition.  Of course it helps that the medical information isn't Greek to us but the bigger issue is that by identifying our kids first, it didn't really matter to us what the health issues were, they were already, in our hearts, our kids.  All that being said, Katie's health issues are potentially the most involved.

At the medical appointment, the doctor told us that she has 3 issues:

Katie has ABS (amniotic band syndrome) affecting both her hands and her feet.  ABS is a condition when a pregnant woman almost loses a pregnancy and her body creates long, tough string-like fibers in the amniotic fluid.  These strings wrap around little parts in utero and can amputate any body part.  In Katie's case, it caused her right fingers some problems.  She will never 10 finger type or play flute but other than that, there is very little that she will not be able to do. There is an organization called the Lucky Fin Project (as in Nemo, the lucky fin fish) and their catch phrase is "ten fingers are overrated."  When you watch Katie, you believe it.  She may need some additional surgery but we'll deal with that when the time comes.

Katie is small for her age (SFA) Umm, really?  I hadn't noticed.  Actually, he said, "She is small for her age, don't you think?"  She is 6 weeks shy of her 2nd birthday and weighed 18 lbs when we got her.  Yep, that's a little small.  She has already gained a full pound!  Whoot, whoot!  I admit to feeding her frequently but I think that kisses have calories.  :) Ok, maybe not, but I think the kisses are helping to fatten her up somehow. :)

Katie also has a heart condition.  That is much harder for me to type.  Had you asked me before Katie, I would have told you that heart babies were about the only files I tried not to look at when I was looking at children without parents.  With Katie, it didn't matter.  Although Jaden knew before we did, once we saw her and knew that she was ours, her file didn't matter anymore.  She has a ventricular septal defect or VSD.  It means that she has an opening in the muscular wall between the two big chambers of the heart.  It may need surgery at some point to be corrected but as long as she is doing well, we will delay to let her get bigger.  The kind she has rarely closes on its own but sometimes is not enough of an issue that it has to be repaired.

We didn't bring any medical equipment with us and so we have not listened to her heart or lungs.  When we were at the medical appointment the doctor listened and listened and listened to her heart.  Wow, what a way to stop MY heart.  Then he got up and said he needed another doc to come in and listen to her heart.  Then another doctor came in and listened (forever) to Katie's heart.  She shook her head no, said something on Chinese and left.  Ugh, parents here, could you include us please?  The first doctor explained through our guide, that Katie didn't have a murmur and with her file, he expected one and that was why he got the second opinion.  Her "no" was that she didn't hear a murmur either!  Again, Whoot, whoot!

So, what does all of that mean, ABS, SFA, VSD?  Nothing.  Just a bunch of letters and God is so much bigger than our alphabet.  On this day, of all days, we know that He rose from the grave.  He can heal my Katie.  I know that it doesn't always happen the way we want or when we want.  If we get home and find out that these doctors just have bad hearing and she still has an awful murmur, I won't have less faith.  God doesn't choose to heal (in my opinion) based on the amount of faith that we have.  He doesn't promise us "easy."  He promises us He will be with us through whatever we have to deal with.  I can definitely say that He loves my child and only wants the best for her.  That is enough.

Random thoughts / "You know you're a newly adoptive dad when" / Jaden quotes

Tim here with a few comments during our last full day in Chengdu.  Today was a fairly quiet day for us.  We did some paperwork stuff today and then went to an older section of town for some sightseeing.  Tomorrow we pack up and in the late afternoon we will fly from Chengdu to Guangzhou.

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Ok, first the list of random thoughts

#1 ... People like to honk their horns in Chengdu ... all day and night ... I wake up in the middle of the night and I'm like, "hey, it's 3 AM ... WHO ARE YOU HONKING AT???"

#2 ... Katie loves her Mama

#3 ... Katie is adventurous ... As an example, she liked going right down the slide on her belly in the playroom ... over and over again

#4 ... Katie likes splashing in the pool (as long as she is in Mama's lap) and does not mind getting splashed in the face.

#5 ... Katie is watching her big brother and learning from him

#6 ... Katie loves her Mama

#7 ... Katie rolls around in the bed a lot at night ... And when she is on her belly she will bend her leg at the knee and kick her leg down 3-4 times in a row, then pause for about 15 seconds, then do it again and again and again ... and it's really really cute.

#8 ... People really really really like to honk their horns in Chengdu.  GIVE IT A REST, WOULD YA!!
#9 ... Riding a scooter in crazy traffic in the rain without a helmet while holding an umbrella seems totally normal in Chengdu.
#10 ... Katie loves her Mama!

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You know you're a newly adoptive dad when

1.  Getting kicked in the face at night ... over and over again ... brings you unspeakable joy ... true story

2.  You wake up because in your dream you have a bright, pulsing beacon of light to your right ... And when you wake up that is exactly where your daughter is sleeping ... true story

3.  You'd rather rub your sleeping child's back than sleep, no matter how tired you are ... true story

4.  You wish you'd get kicked in the face by your (younger) daughter some more ... true story (Hey Laura, notice I did specify the younger daughter)

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A  FEW OF JADEN'S QUOTES over the past few days:

After I called him Jaden on GOTCHA day ... I'm not 'Jaden', I'm 'big brother' "

He's been a little confused about what Katie can and cannot eat.  And I'm not sure he trusts us to feed her right.  He was looking at the box of baby rice cereal which had a picture of a baby giraffe on it ... "I think that is food for a baby giraffe!"

Tuesday ... The morning after GOTCHA ... 

5:45 AM ... "Shhh, my baby's sleeping"

6:15 AM ... "Why is my baby gonna sleep all day?"

6:30 AM ... His prayer while Katie was still sleeping  (he had scraped his cheek with a toy the day before) ...

"Father, thank you for making Baba's knee better 

and Jaden's cheek better 

and let Mama feel love 

and let my baby sister know we love her.

Amen."  (Insert sounds of Dad sniffing back tears here)

Mama's girl!!

Tim here with more input, since Tracy has had a baby in her arms all day.

Twelve hours into today I think it is official ... We have a Mama's girl.  Katie hasn't wanted Mama out of her sight all day (no, I mean literally all day), and has only been willing to be out Mama's arms when we are in our hotel room (and most of the time not even then).  Right now she is giving Mama a little break, but comes around every 45 seconds or so to make sure that Mama is still here and is watching her!


Today we went to the Panda Research and Breeding Grounds and got to see several pandas, including some young pandas playing outside.  It was a beautiful day and Katie enjoyed it all ... strapped to Mama in the child carrier, that is!  She got a little stuffed panda and has had fun putting it into a plastic cup over and over again.



After we got back to the hotel we went down to the pool and ... yep, she sat in Mama's lap the whole time. :-)



When she does walk around the room she especially likes to look at the pretty girl in the mirror that is in the living area.  She has started making faces at herself and has also started making more facial expressions towards us, even giving Mama some smiles.



One of the things that we said whenever we looked at her pictures before we came to China was that it looked like she was in need of lots of hugs and kisses, and we have started trying to fill that need.  Yesterday when Tracy was kissing her forehead, Katie pushed forward into  the kiss and wouldn't let go for about 15 seconds, and later was making kissy-lips at Tracy.  Too cute!

Tomorrow we go back to do more paperwork and get her passport, and then we will do some more sightseeing, and then Friday we will fly to Guangzhou to take care of lots of details from the U.S. side of things.

Time to wind up another day and get some sleep.  Goodnight from China, y'all.

"In the eyes of China she is officially yours."

Tim's input ...

Today we finalized Katie's adoption in the eyes of the Chinese government and heard the beautiful words "In the eyes of China she is officially yours."  It is just a combination of letters / sounds / syllables, but they sound so wonderful when they are put together in that order!!!!

Katie and Jaden have continued to get to know each other, with Jaden working through such a major life change very well as he tries to figure out what it means to suddenly be a big brother and yet also still be four years old.

If Katie gets unhappy (which usually happens when she is getting a diaper change) he wants to go get her a bottle.  Also, when it is time for a diaper change he goes and gets everything she needs.  He also goes and gets her shoes when we are going to leave the room, and he puts them away for her when we get back to the room.  And he has been great sharing his toys.  Only once there was something he did not want her to play with and you could tell he was torn about it.  Mom stepped in and showed him how to distract her with another toy ... Problem averted.  All in all he has been absolutely awesome!

He was looking at the photo pillow that we had sent to Katie and said, "I want to see Jiejie and Gege." (unfortunately it looks like the pillow was never given to her ... I guess they just put it away to give to us when we got her ... Umm, thanks, we've seen our faces ... Oh well.). Anyway, Jaden is having lots of fun here, but he is wanting all of his family to be together too.  His favorite times at home are when we are all there together, even if we are all off doing separate things.

Katie has started coming out if her shell more, looking less and less shell-shocked.  She has been exploring the hotel room and likes to gather all of the toys that she can and carry them around with her, or carry them to Mama for her to hold for her.

She is a Mama's baby right now, and for the most part isn't too comfortable with Daddy.  I totally understand that, as it is a very common in the adoption world where the orphans have had no time around males at all.  I know that in time love will take care of this, so I can wait and understand.  She has been willing to walk to me a couple of time when I asked her to, and she used her big eyes on me for the first time at nap time ...  She looked at me with those beautiful eyes and willed me to get her out if her crib when it was nap time today.  After that she let me hold her for quite a while ... Hey, don't judge me ... it looked to me like she was scared! :-) anyway, it was a very special time for me to be able to comfort her.

She has been a very good sleeper.  Her nanny at the orphanage said she is a good sleeper and sleeps well at night and at nap time (which should make her big sister very happy).  She slept about 12 hours the first night and we had to wake her up from her nap this afternoon.  I remember the first couple of nights with Jaden when he slept so long at a time and also so deeply ... Some of it just has to be emotional exhaustion.  I cannot imagine what she is going through right now, but she has been an absolute joy and treasure and has been a trooper.

As every hour goes by she has been getting more and more adventurous in the room and has started to play with Jaden more, seeking him out to take toys to him and trying to get his attention when he is doing other things.

Even as I have been typing this, she and Jaden are interacting more and more.  There is a drawer that Jaden has been keeping all of his toys in, and she has been having him open it then she takes a toy and puts it in the drawer then closes it and then she has him open it again so she can repeat ... Etc, etc, etc.  Very cute.

When we go out of the room Tracy usually has her in one of the baby carriers and Katie just snuggles into her chest and stays there like she doesn't have a care in the world.  She did that today for the 3 hours or so that we went around town today to the various government offices to finalize her adoption in the Chinese court system, and Katie (and Mama) were very content!

That's all for tonight ... Time to get the kiddos down for the night (and the parents, too!)

Thanks everyone for the prayers, support, and love.





















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