4 days to go!

Well, it is Monday evening here in Guangzhou. We have 4 nights to go before we begin our long journey home. I cannot wait to begin a routine. I wonder if Nina thinks this is how we live and that there is a giant breakfast buffet available every morning.

Today went well and not so well. Clinic Day. And the actual exams went well, no problem. Then there was a long pause. Nina-Li is allergic to eggs and she needed 5 shots. Well, when I mentioned this, they were (as I was) concerned because some shots are in egg solution. So, they had to do research to find out exactly what the allergy was and if she can take two of them. So, we waited, and waited. She didn't like that wait. She was sad because Dawson and Grumpers went to go somewhere & they are who she is attaching to the strongest right now. Which triggered her wanting her nanny, which triggered...you got it....the tears. So, we went ahead and got 3 shots and they said she may have to return for the other two. Lovely. After she successfully finished the shots (with a lot of tears) I had a plan. Barbie. We got an adoption Barbie with a white mommy and an Asian baby. Unfortunately I don't resemble this Barbie, and would like to know what mom would wear the outfit she's wearing. However, I was able to negotiate with her when she stopped crying she got Barbie. Score one for mom.

So, we left and returned to the hotel and all was well. We played and went shopping. I let her choose her Chinese dress to purchase, which included a little skirt that has tulle on it. She was pretty happy for the rest of the day. She's a normal 7 year old. It is fun watch her just be a sweet little girl. She plays with all of us a little through out the day. When we tell her no and she will whine, but no is no. Like no you may not run through the restaurant or no you may not run in the street. But, she'll get it.

We realize that with almost every experience we give her, it is probably her first. First restaurant dinners, park visits, tomorrows zoo visit, Wednesday's river boat ride, etc. So, that is fun. It must be a lot for her to take in.

Tomorrow we are going to the zoo/safari in Guangzhou and then from there going to the US Consulate for our oath appointment. We cannot take anything in except our passports. No cameras, purses, etc.

Then Wednesday we go on on the river boat cruise on the Pearl River.

Thursday is mostly a free day and packing day.

Nina is getting closer to Bill. She doesn't want tickles, hugs or kisses. Who can blame her, she has only known us for 8 days. But, she interacts and plays with everyone now. She is responding well to Nina as her name. Mornings are not her best time of the day. She becomes a cute giggly girl after 11 or 12. And is pretty good for the rest of the day. At the orphanage she had a two hour nap supposedly everyday. at 12:30. Since joining the McNay's she's had two naps. Which she seems to be handling fine. A daily nap would be difficult with our schedule, but if I find she needs one once we get in routine, that is what we will do.

Love to you all.

Good Morning!

Well, while I am waiting for my girly girl to wake-up from her beauty sleep I thought I would write you again.

Yesterday went sooooo smooth, yeah God!

After lunch Nina and I watched Dawson & Dakota play in the cold pool. She tossed the beach ball to them and laughed. She kept putting her sunglasses on upside down. And she kept yelling at me to stop taking pictures. Great, a 3rd child who doesn't want their picture taken! However, I can accept that. So, now I am back to sneaking pictures.

We spent the rest of the evening in our hotel room coloring, playing dolls, etc. I don't know how many rubberbands she put in her pretend Barbie's hair that I had to pull out. This doll didn't have much hair to begin with, and now there's even less. Bill bought her a Beauty in the Beast book written in Chinese. Then we got her a rubber doll set, (still don't know what to call them!) at Wal-Mart that was Beauty in the Beast. So we matched the clothes we had to those in the book.
We are communicating pretty good, between my broken Mandarin (which I have needed so much!) and pointing, repeating, etc. She's getting it and saying words in English pretty well.

We've now had Nina for one week. I have an incredible family. Everything that I have talked about that we have experienced, my dad and the boys have been right there. Patient and strong. I am so proud of the boys for everything they have done. I told Dawson at one point if I could give him the world I would at that point.

Today is clinic day. Ready to get it over with.

No pics for now.

Love to you all.

Guangzhou continued...

Heh, the early bird gets the worm! Michelle is still sleeping, so I'm going to send an update now, muhahaha!!!

Yesterday was a very good day. Things started off with breakfast and a little girl in a bit of a sour mood.Things started picking up late in the morning while we were out on our walk. I've found out that she knows (already) how to work the eyes. I'm in big trouble. She did it to me first at the 7-11 (yeah, they have 7-11 here) when she wanted some gum. There is no use resisting such a force, ha!

Most of the afternoon was spent hanging out and playing in the room. Nina let me have alot of her time and seems to be tempering things alot better. We looked at books, she helped me eat a couple pears (she loves pears), did a little coloring, and practiced our conversation (her primary word right now is 'aaa', but if that fails, she starts chattering in chinese).

Lee and I went to go check out the local shopping area. There is a massive shopping district that is about a mile from here. 5 minutes on the hotel transfer service and we were there. Traffic here is still...well...chinese traffic, humorous as it is. When we got out we were amazed at the density of the area. Not only population-wise, but also with respect to their storefronts. The area greatly resembled about a half-scale Times Square. If your in Guangzhou and have a hankering for American fast food, this is where to go. There were 2 McDonald's, a Pizza Hut, Papa Johns, KFC, and probably a couple others that I didn't see. Also, as Guangzhou is primarily Cantonese, there is a street that showcases different items of food from noodles to scorpions (self-professed, the Cantonese eat anything but the table). Keep in mind your shoulder-to-shoulder with about 5 other people while walking amidst the stores (or eating your scorpions for that matter).

Stepping inside one of the shopping areas, your presented with a labyrinthian maze of incredible proportions. From the entry floor, there are escalators that go down and up. The storefronts are very much akin to slots in a swap-n-shop, as they are about 5-10 feet square and are rented out to people selling their wares. This adds to the whole density confusion. And if that isn't confusing enough, each of their escalators covers two floors, they are paneled with mirrors, and have mezzanine levels between the floors, so your left with a feeling of "how did I miss that area?".

So, after we gathered our bearings, and with a great appreciation for how tight you can pack things together, Lee and I grabbed McDonald's and walked back to the hotel (about a 15 minute mile). Nina wasn't that thrilled with the hamburgers, but she was totally into the wings that I picked up. Oh yeah, she is definitely a fry girl, but is kinda finicky about ketchup.

The night ended with looking at some books some more. She then let me put a bandaid on a papercut she got from the book...ha! Small things are big and you have to make the most of what you got. All to sleep, no crying, and this morning is starting out pretty good too.

Thank you all for your support!

Bill

Guangzhou is Beautiful

Greetings from Beautiful Guangzhou. (Gwonjoe)

We are off of the Pearl River on a tiny island called Shamien Island. From what I understand at one time the British (& French) I think once had something to do here. (Sorry, I've just had so much information poured into me I am losing details). For this reason that I cannot explain well, many of the buildings and architecture on British and French inspired, not Chinese. Speaking of the Pearl River, there are lots of celebrations due to the Asian Games and last night they had a boat parade you will see in a photo. We had a room change fortunately, so we have beautiful views of the river and the cityscape behind it.

Another of the photos is of Nina-Li curled up in her tiny bed. We decided to get her, her own bed to separate her a bit from the boys. It is a tiny little foam bed with sides and it was just her size. She loved it.

It was a lovely morning to walk around. There is a beautiful park along the Pearl river in which many people exercise and practice their Tai Chi, ladies do Chinese Line Dancing, and all ages play a version of hackey sack. There is a section of stair that go down into the Pearl River that locals use to swim in the river. The same river in which several cargo ships go up and down. This river is very similar to the Missouri River. Not sure it would be my top choice of exercise.
There are several bronze sculptures through out the island. I would love to get out one morning alone & just snap photos of them.

Today we walked through the park, Nina played at the playground, unsure of some of the playground equipment including the small tornado slide. But, she liked it. We did some shopping and got her a pretend Barbie and some sunglasses. We picked up our laundry. Yeah! Clean clothes. For 6 people we got laundry done for about $26. Not bad. It's been a good day for Nina so far. We can tell that mornings are her low point. She is very quiet. So after breakfast we quickly went outside for a change of scenery.

One of the most refreshing things for me today was breakfast at the White Swan. Several families are here adopting. And instead of the quiet tonations of the Chinese speaking, you hear the loud voices of Americans talking. I never noticed that sound before, because it has always been quite normal. Voices talking over a meal. However, we haven't heard that noise for almost two weeks and for some strange reason it was quite comforting.

Oh, and DENISE LOVELL, there is a sushi place in which you choose your flavor, from a TANK! And I never saw the sight at Wal-Mart we discussed, nor had our guide heard of such a thing.

Enjoy the photos.

Love to you all.

Now in Guangzhou

Ni Hao from Guangzhou. This is a very busy place, for this is the second night of the Asian Games. We were supposed to come last night, however our hotel was overbooked. I found out earlier that the President of Pakistan was at the same hotel last night that we are staying. I'm kind of glad we weren't here for all of that. I thought I saw some secret service looking people here earlier. I told Bill they had ear pieces and everything. Now I know why.

I apologize if I miss-communicated. Some of you may have thought that we were heading home, no, just here to Guangzhou. In Fuzhou, Fujian we had to address all the legalities for Nina to leave China according to the China govt. Here in Guangzhou is where the U.S. Consulate is. Now we have to address all the legalities of her coming home according to US law. I will try to give you the cliff note version. Every hour things change, progress, two steps forward, one step back. I love sharing these things with you. I hope I am not putting anyone to sleep.

O.K., so we're in Guangzhou. Our morning in Fuzhou wasn't smooth sailing. First of all, I had to wake Nina up at 5:30 AM. Not easy for any kid. But, especially for a kid who doesn't understand why she's being woken up and by someone who is claiming to be her mom after 7 days. So, understandable. However, once she saw our guide, you know it, she cried. She cried the hour long ride to the airport, at the airport and on the plane. This difficulty was two-fold. One, I could do nothing to ease her pain and reassure her. Two, the Chinese are very loving and very concerned. The stand and watch and stare for long periods of time. While Bill and my dad were checking in at the airport I was encircled by these sweet caring people staring at us wondering what was wrong. Fortunately, at our gate, two young moms knew enough to understand the problem and helped me reassure her. Then, on the plane the helped. The flight attendants helped and the lady behind us helped. God sent many helpers my way (God is meeting our needs, thank you for the prayers). On the plane she would have been fine other than the seat belt. Didn't like it. (That's going to be a challenge in the van!) 1/3 into the flight she was fine.

Once we arrived in Guangzhou, Nina was quiet and mad but not crying. We had to go to the medical clinic first thing for a TB test. This test is where the inject something under the skin layers to see if there is a TB reaction. I was certain we were going to hear screams. The orphanage reported she cannot stand going to the doctor. However, it was smooth sailing, piece of cake.

The week in a nutshell:

Monday we go get Nina's picture taken for her travel Visa.
Go to Medical Clinic for exam (yeah! what fun!)

Tuesday is our US consulate Oath-taking Ceremony. Official family day. However, no pictures, allowed.

Thursday we pick up her Visa and we are free to go.

Which we will on Friday. We fly from here to Shanghai, then to Chicago and then home. We will finally hit our door step around 1:00 AM on Saturday. After 30 hours total of travel time. Oh begin praying for that one. I just calculated those numbers for the first time.

So, may I bore you more and tell you about my daughter. She is incredibly meticulous. She takes at least 4 minutes to brush her teeth, with a very strict routine of brushing and rinsing. Then she washes her little sweet face. She can wring every drop of water out of a wash cloth. She doesn't like anything on her, at all, and wants her socks & tights very straight and even with her toes. She giggles so adorably. And runs and skips like any other little girl. However, this little girl has had her world rocked, and she can still find moments to giggle, skip and hop. Yeah! She adores my dad and doesn't want to leave him behind when we go places.

I look forward to when she can call me mama and say a few words other than a! (short a). But, we understand that, and some of her Mandarin and have our own little charade interaction going on.

Nina is warming up to the name Nina and responding when we call her that. She also is warming up to Bill. He taught her 'give me 5'! So, thank you thank you for your prayers. They are being answered and giving me strength.

Sorry no pics right now. We will get some tomorrow.

Love to you all!

P.S. Stay tuned, Bill is going to send an update.

One more update from Fujian

It is our last evening in Fujian and your prayers are working. We went through the entire day with no tears, at least for her Ayi. So, thank you to all of you who are praying for us. We had a wonderful day as I mentioned with the amusement park. However, we had a meeting to get Nina's passport. It was in the same room we got her from, so we were fearful she would cry. When she saw our guide Tracee, she asked if she was going to see her Ayi. I recognize the word now. I said no, and she kind of moaned, whined, wanting to cry, but didn't. Then we thought she might cry when we left, thinking that she would want to go with Tracee, but all was well.
We are packed. Which also carries good news, because Nina-Li allowed me to pack some of her things she has been cramming in her backpack into her suitcase we bought her here. Another huge accomplishment. It is common for kids to cling to their belongings when going through this. So, she showed a lot of trust. And she is seeing all of us pack our things. So, we will see how tomorrow morning goes. Our guide will explain to her we are going to the airport and going to fly where other children are that she can play with.

So, today we have had a lot of giggles and skipping and sweetness.

Love to you all

Thank God it's Friday!

Thank God It's Friday! For more reasons than Friday. We have had a great day today. So far....

Nina-Li woke up and ignored us a bit, but she does that everyday. Once she is ready, she warms up to us. Fortunately, it didn't begin in tears. I allowed her to choose from two outfits to wear today and helped her get dressed, we went to breakfast, and then finished getting ready for the day. She is very meticulous. She brushes her teeth for at least 4 minutes, and has a specific routine. She then washes her face and hands. She doesn't like anything on her.

I should back up to last night. When we returned to dinner, she saw Dawson's socks, and gave them to him, telling him to put them away. He said, "Great, now I have two moms!" I went to bed early exhausted. However, I guess the three kids had a peek-a-boo event with lots of giggles.

Back to this morning. After getting ready the kids played hide-and-go-seek. Lots of fun and laughter. We then hit the boardwalk and went to the small children's amusement park. There were 100's of kids there for field trips. Many of them in uniforms for school. Many of them noticed us and tried out their English on us by saying 'hello'. One little girl came up, said hello, asked me my name, told me hers and then asked if I spoke Chinese. It was a conversation she was very proud she had in English.

We had room service lunch and Nina-Li even took food from Bill. So, although she doesn't want him to touch or by close to her, we are taking baby steps.
Our guide just visited with us and gave us a big clue to Nina's behavior. She thought that it was odd that a child from an orphanage was so angry, so she has called the orphanage daily trying to figure out what the deal is. (Tracee has been doing this for 15 years). Well, today, she found out that the caretaker that Nina was closest to attempted to adopt Nina-Li. However, it was rejected probably due to our paperwork already processed.) This caretaker called Ayi not EI like I thought, treated Nina-Li as her own daughter and wanted her very badly. And we speculate that she probably told Nina that too. Now we understand why this is harder. It is as if she was a foster child instead of an orphanage child. And it confirms that Nina-Li has the ability to love and attach to us as a new family and to future relationships. All good news. Just a painful process for her to experience.
So please enjoy these pictures, a delightful day brought to us by God. We leave early in the morning and expect tears as we head to airport, as she will want to return to the orphanage. However, your prayers are sustaining us and being answered. We will be leaving the hotel at 6:00 AM our time, 8 PM your time on Friday. Please, pray for a good drive and flight for Nina.

Thanks for the emails. And I am getting Facebook posts via the email system.

Love to you all.