Home Sweet Home

We made it! How sweet to walk the streets of Park Hill and smell fresh cut grass and see a blue sky, eat sandwiches with fresh veggies and drinks full of wonderful ice!

We are THRILLED to be home! The ride home went so well. Sunder and Riley were both great and slept most the flight. We had an 8 hour layover in LA, so we got a hotel room to just relax and take showers. We went to the restaurant downstairs and ate carrot cake, hamburgers and fries. Everything tasted so wonderful. The girls slept more in the room.

By the time we flew into Denver from LA, Sunder was completely shut down. She was all limp, lethargic and had just had enough. BUT... the moment we walked into our house, her face lit up, she got down and started running around the house. I swear she knew this was her home. She proceeded to give Corin a huge hug, then gave one to me as well, smiling radiantly the whole time, as if to say, "We are home and this is my home."

My plan was to stay awake until 4pm before crashing out. But at 1:30, my speech was slurring and I couldn't see straight. I told Corin, "Just a short nap." My my gosh, my BED FELT SO GOOD. I don't even remember falling asleep! I woke up 5 hours later, ooopsy!

We strolled the girls to the park. Then had a late dinner. Sunder loves the bath! She had a nice long one. We weren't sure what to expect for sleep time. but we just put both girls down for the night. She screamed her head off. I went in a few minutes later to comfort her and about 2 minutes after that... silence. We'll see how the rest of the night goes!

Sorry, no pictures yet. Everything is in a shambles and the jet lag is tremendous right now. I have many more stories to share, so I will be posting here a lot the next few weeks I'm sure.

Farewell, China

We are just minutes before checking out of the hotel. We still have a long afternoon ahead. We have a long ride to the US Consulate where we take the oath. This is the final step of this adoption here in China. But are we done? NO! When we get back home guess what? MORE PAPERWORK!

We are thrilled to be heading out today and can't wait to get back to Denver. We will be home in the morning on Wednesday. We look forward to reconnecting with each of you.

We are so thankful for everyone's thoughts, prayers, messages, and support during our journey. We are blessed to have such wonderful people in our lives and we love you! See you in The States!

Poolside

Sister Love
Move Over, Gene Kelly!!

We've enjoyed the pool these last few hot days. Yesterday was Sunder's first trip to the pool. She was so darn cute in her little swim suit, clutching her towl and marching off to the pool!
At first she was leary of the water, but once she got used to it she loved it. She laughed and splashed and had a great time.

We leave for the States tomorrow night! I can't believe this chapter is almost over after so long. We are so ready to get back home and reassimilated as a family of four. There is much work to do. We need to learn how to better handle the tantrums. We also need to learn some techniques to help this little one bond with daddy, which just isn't happening. It is hard to realize that they aren't bonding, but we will be able to get some good professional advice about this at home and we realize it may take a long long time.

We feel so blessed to have this little girl in our family. Her personality is so fun and when I see her and Riley playing and laughing together, it fills my heart with joy.

We will try to send one more post before we leave. Corin just brought Sunder into me because she needs mommy, so I gotta go for now!

Long Days

We are in the final stages of our time here. All we are doing now is waiting. Waiting on Sunder's visa and passport, and our consulate appointment. Time is moving very slowly now. The other night even Riley asked "Is this still the same day?" and "How come days and nights in China are longer than in Denver?" Ha Ha!(Remember the movie Groundhog Day? That's what we're feeling now)

The last days have been rough. Both kids have had multiple meltdowns. Two days ago I made the mistake of having a drink with ice in it. Three hours later and thru the night I was terribly sick. I had no urge for food all yesterday and today I am finally nibbling again. Yesterday Corin got fever/chills and body aches and slept most the day. Don't we sound like a fun bunch? Luckily, my parents have stayed healthy.

The weather has turned unruly hot and it's near impossible to be out during the day. The streets are vacant and it looks something like a ghost-town during the daylight hours. So that leaves us confined to the hotel and we are going a bit stir-crazy.

Last night I went to Lucy's Restraunt alone with both kids and it went well :) We are looking forward to coming home now. We have planned a celebration when we get to LA. We will have glasses filled with iced beverages and fresh veggie salads and fritos and a real hamburgers...and singing in the shower!

Orphanage Visit

with main nanny.

happy baby (pre-car sickness)

We debated long and hard about brining Sunder back to the orphanage where she spent a big chunk of her life. We finally decided to go as we felt it was important to see as much of her history as possible.

When we were about 5 minutes from the orphange, Sunder became car sick. Of course we didn't bring a change of clothes for her and I was soaked with baby vomit! We stripped her down to her onsie and loaded her up in he baby carrier. I can't imagine what the orphange director must have thought of us as we approached him with wet pants, and a baby in her underwear!

The facility is very large. Our first daughter's orphanage only had 50 babies. This one has 700 children on site and another 700 in foster care. 90% of the children are special needs. The children who are healthy are quickly adopted out domestically.

We got to meet Sunder's main caretaker and we got to see where she slept those many nights before we met her. She was very subdued during the visit. I don't know if it's because she wasn't feeling well, or what, we'll never know. The nanny's were all touching Riley's face and hair and exclaiming, "Jie Jie!" (big sister). Riley was a bit taken back by it but she handeled it well.

I am glad we decided to go, but I was glad when it was over and we returned to the hotel and Sunder was back to herself once we got back. On the ride back, Riley said, "Sunder is the cutest baby. Don't you think?"

I am feeling much better now. And the rest of our party has stayed healthy. Sunder's cough is much better.

Today we will visit the Pearl Market.

She Comes to Life!

The last 2 days have been amazing. We are really seeing this little girls personality, and boy, does she have one! Kyla, you were right! She is very mischievious, silly and little bit naughty. She is such a ham. She makes funny faces and likes to mimic and play games.

Yesterday, she and I were leaving the hotel room and she looked at Riley and said, "Bye bye." And blew her a kiss. She is interacting with Riley more and I'm afraid Riley will need to toughen up a bit. Sunder shows that she wants to play by hitting her sister. (we'll need to work on being gentle!) Later that day, she touched my face (not gently) and said "Mommy." That was the best! She also understands the words "toilet" and "flush". I don't think I mentioned that she is potty trained!!! We Americans have something to learn from the Chinese about potty training. I can't even imagine how they do it since she is barely 2 years old.

She is still skittish with Corin but she will go to him when she has no other options. Last night I took some much needed mommy/daughter time with Riley. Sunder had daddy time and she did fine. She still perferrs me, but she isn't freaking out with him as much, which is soooo great.

She still throws multiple tantrums each day. But we are learning how to handle them. She does NOT want to be comforted when she's upset. If you try to stroke her back, or talk to her she gets even more livid. But if you let her be, she will calm down much quicker. So the tantrums continue but the duration is much shorter now!

I am feeling very weak today. My immune system is working overtime, so I'm trying to take it easy. My back muscles are totally strained from these beds and from holding a two-year old all the time. Luckily we bought a stroller for her yesterday and she loves it, so that is very liberating for us!

We have an outing to the temple and a family museum today. I am looking forward to getting away from the hotel for a while.

"with Papa's hat"

Small Victories

Today is my birthday and the last 24 hours have seen some small victories with our new little one. I won't sugarcoat it- this has been tough. She throws the most holy moly tantrums, mulitple times a day. But here's what's happened in the last 24 hours:

- We got her bathed! Yippee! She screamed the whole time but at the end we had a fairly clean baby!

- She will allow her shoes to be removed at night. Again, a big step for her and us.

- She let Corin hold her in snuggly pack!! She threw intermitent fits, but she seemed to finally accept it and I think she liked being in the pack a lot.

- Later that day, Corin walked into the room and she didn't freak out- YEAH!

- We took her to the doctor because she has a raspy cough and she has bronchitis. The doctor prescribed an interesting concotion of things for her and she has had one of two nebulizer treatments. Of course, she hates and the medicines and nebulizers, so more tanturms are the result, but we are happy to be working towards getting her healthy. (She has the second nebulizer today).

- She let Corin feed her too. I think she is realizing that he is not going away :)

- I got a 2 hour nap yesterday. That was awesome!!

We went to the Chinese version of Walmart yesterday and got loaded up with supplies. That was fun. We went to the play area and I got to see a bit of Sunder's personality come out there, so that was special.

sleepy girl.

bonding with daddy.

Then There Were Four

Sorry for the delayed post. I must confess I feel annoyed when people don't update their site soon after receiving their child, and here I am doing the very same thing! The last two days have been so emotionally draining. I spent my last ounce of energy taking a shower last night before falling into bed.

Anyway, we have her! She came to me easily and seemed pretty fascinated with us and everything going on around her. She didn't cry and was in love with the Cheerios we fed her. I was actually thinking, "Wow, this is easy." Of course this phase only lasted about 20 minutes. Something happend to upset her, I don't even know what it was, but she proceeded to full out tantrum. Laying on the floor with her little limbs thrashing everywhere. She would not let us comfort her. So we just sat beside her and tried to calm her with our voices. She eventually calmed a little bit, but had an even worse meltdown on the busride back to the hotel. Her little back was arching and I couldn't even hold her down.

She eventually calmed down and seemed happy to let me hold her. She got agitated when we tried to take her shoes or clothes off, so she ended up falling asleep in her original clothes, shoes and all!

We are near the end of the second day. She will have nothing to do with Corin. We know all these behaviors are quite normal for adopted children, so we were prepared. Still, nothing prepares you for the mental fatigue.

Riley is doing very well. Yesterday she said, "I will need to stay up all night in case there is an emergency with Sunder." Then this morning she said, "I like having a sister." She has had her share of meltdowns since she's not getting near as much mommy time as she's used to but she has been a trooper.

Having my parents here has been a godsend. They have been so helpful running errands, bringing in food, taking care of Riley. I am sooo glad they are here with us.

We appreciate all your thoughts and prayers. We are doing well. The first 4 days are always the hardest. If I had not been through this before I won't believe that this phase will ever end. But I know that it will.

We all slept great last night and I can't wait to do it again tonight :) OK, here's what you really want, the pictures!

On our way to meet our new little one.

After 2.5 years we meet at last.

"I miss my foster family."

With one of the caretakers.

We Made It

hanging out in the LA airport

We arrived in Guangzhou in the wee hours of the morning yesterday. We'd like to send a very special CHINA HELLO to Grandpa S. who will soon have great-grandchild #16! We Love you!

Our flight from Denver to LA was a comic disaster. We got stuck in a traffic jam, then no one at the United ticket counter seemed to know what to do with our paper tickets. By the time we got to the gate, the plane was half borded already and we weren't able to all sit together. Luckily once we got to LA everything was smooth sailing.

Riley was awareded a new nickname, "Taz", as in Tasmanian Devil. Remember that cartoon? The more tired Riley gets, the more hyper she gets. So when she was still awake at 1:00AM Denver time, Taz was a suitable name. My goodness, she was out of control! Luckily once we got on the plane she crashed out and we all slept for 7 or 8 hours. The flight was easy and seemed to fly by (no pun intended).

We spent yesterday roaming the streets of Shamain Island and the beautiful White Swan Hotel. We met up with a fellow-adopting friend for dinner, and we totally exhausted by 9:00pm.

We are enjoying ourselves and the heat is not as bad as we expected. It is super humid, but not overly hot.

We meet Sunder in 27 hours!!

See You on the Other Side

Guangzhou or bust

Waiting 2.5 years.
Leaving now.
Speechless.

I'm not Superstitious (well maybe a little)

Everyone in the China adoption community is familiar with the idea of the "RED THREAD". For those of you not familiar with it, the Red Thread is a Chinese idea that:

"An invisible red thread connects those who are destined to meet, regardless of time, place, or circumstance.The thread may stretch or tangle, but will never break."

so this idea is very popular with adoptive families.

Anyway, yesterday I was taking the girls' carseats to our friends house who is going to be picking us up from the airport when we return from China. On the way, Riley announced, "Hey mom, I found something on Sunder's carseat." Lo and behold is was a long Red Thread, literally! It gave me a little shiver for sure!

Our travelmates (aka My Parents) are arriving today and we leave TOMORROW. Wooo Hooo! I still feel totally calm for some reason. Typically I get nervous about even the stupidest thing, but for some reason I feel peaceful for now.

Riley is very excited. All yesterday she kept saying, "I am so excited for tomorrow and REALLY excited for the day after that!" Many have asked if Riley is coming with us. Yes, she is. Riley is a great traveler. In fact, I expect her to do better on the flight than me. I asked her if she is excited about the 16 hour flight and she said YES! We'll see if she's still saying that in the 9th hour or so.

Defying Time

My dad and I have this ongoing conversation about time theory. Is time travel possible? Does time really pass faster as you get older? Can time be defied? Well friends, I finally have the answer.

If you want to defy time, take a plane from China back to Los Angeles. You will arrived 2 hours before you ever left! I'm glad we'll have 16 hours on the plane ride over to figure that one out.

Have I mentioned that one week from this moment Sunder will be with us? I woke today with a feeling of calmness covering me. It's the first time I've felt calm in several months. We're at T-3 now.

Birthday Reflections

Well, today was Sunder's birthday. I am mostly beyond emotions at this point. There is a constant nervousness in my stomach and I'm working to keep my immune system up. Time is crawling now and we just want to get on with it. However, there is still much to do- buying gifts for the Chinese officials, a couple runs to the bank, final laundry loads, and finishing one last project for my business.

I can't begin to understand how next year at this time will be. She'll be turning 3 and nearly a year will have passed since she joined us. We'll have spent holidays and countless experiences together. We will know her personality well by then and will finally understand in hindsight the miracle of how/why things worked out the way they did. The wait and nerves will be a distant memory and I'll be drowning in day-to-day life once again. Knowing me, my spirit will be stirring and I will once again be looking for life's next adventure (and, NO, it won't be another adoption :) )

Happy Birthday Qiao Yang/Sunder!

Hello! I'm glad to help out if you need it. I'm so happy for you and your family!

Here's a special Happy Birthday message for Sunder:

祝 你 生 日 快 乐！
Happy Birthday to You!

No Longer a Baby

Our baby turns two today. Of course it's bittersweet not being able to celebrate this special day with her. On the other hand, we'll be with her in 8 days, and that's pretty great! Happy Birthday, Little One. We're coming!

In other news, our airline tickets came. There is even a ticket for Qiao Yang, it's so fun to see that :)
The mind is a very strange thing. Sometimes I think about this journey we're about to embark on and I feel confident. Other times I feel full of butterflies. All I know is that both Corin and I just want to be on that plane NOW. We know the trip may not be overly fun. The weather will be awful and we'll be in the same city for a long 16 days. I remember last time about half way through, we wanted to go home so badly. It can be a long 2+ weeks. But we just want to be on our way. And in 5 more days, we will be.

I have added my dear friend, Hilarie, as an author on this blog. She will be our emergency poster in case we aren't able to post from China for whatever reason. Welcome, Hilarie!

Last Full Weekend in America

We had a wonderful 4th of July. We spent the day with friends. The kids ran through fountains, played in jumpy castles, and watched fireworks. The rest of our long weekend was spent running errands for the trip. I don't think I've ever done so many errands! But we are now totally ready to go.

One week from now we'll be on our first plane. I figured with layovers and flight times, we will be traveling for 27 hours straight.

The Final Countdown

T-minus 10 and counting. Airline tickets are booked. Hotel is booked. Ride to airport is booked (still working on the ride home). House-watcher is booked. It's really happening. It's quite bizarre to wait so long for something and finally realize it's just around the corner. I love entertaining these weird thoughts like, "One month from now we'll have just gotten back!" or "One week from now we'll be leaving in 3 days!" The preparations are coming along great.

Bedroom is mostly ready. Still need something for the bare walls though.


Packing is well underway

I also want to mention that I am a cleaning mad-woman. It is one of the greatest side effects of nesting. Scrub-brush in hand... I cannot be stopped. Too bad I'll be on the other side of the planet, and not able to actually enjoy the clean house. I know once we return it will last about 8 seconds.

Travel Dates are Set!

We received news of our consulate appointment today, which is the last piece we were waiting for to determine our final travel dates. We leave in 12 days! We will meet Sunder on the 17th. And both Corin and I will spend our birthdays in China this year- how cool is that?!

I am nearly done packing already. (yes, I'm that weird). Tonight we will put together the crib and hang curtains, then her room is done. We are READY READY READY. Bring on the long flight!