Where Do I Start....

Okay, first I apologize for not updating...I know I have had some disappointed followers :-) Yesterday was very tiring. I think the excitement, time adjustment, stress levels and new baby duties hit hard yesterday afternoon. Rodney and I were just exhausted, so when Anna napped, so did we. When Anna fell asleep for the night, so did we. But we did a lot more yesterday than nap!

I got up around 5:00 am and took my shower. The lovely "monster pigeons" and peacock was singing "Rise and Shine". I needed to get in and out before Anna woke up anyway. We were told that she woke up at 6 am. I checked on her around 6 and she was just moving in her crib, but was still asleep. Yes, I did move her from our bed to the crib...she was getting restless between us and rolling all over the place. She had her feet right in Rodney's face and was kicking him in the chin...found that pretty amusing, but I did move her so she could rest better.

I came back to the bedroom to check on her about 6:15 and she was sitting up in the crib with her feet dangling between the bars...just looking around. Her little right foot was kicking one of the bars. I walked in and sat in the floor in front of her and began to talk and rub her unmoving foot. She just looked at me with a wondering expression on her face. I talked and moved from her foot to her leg and then her hand that was placed on the top rail of the bed. She moved it quickly and began to hit the bars with her hand 3 times. I patted the bar 3 times. She looked at me and repeated. We began to play.

Rodney came into the room and sat beside me talking to her. He began to rub her feet and she was getting excited. She stood up in her crib and I stood and put my hands out for her. She didn't really act like she wanted to come to me, but had this questioning expression, like "what are you doing?" I picked her up and she lunged towards me. She put one hand on the back of my neck, holding my hair and the other hand was on my cheek. She laid her head on my face and I began to kiss her forehead. She still felt a little warm.

We talked and bounced and walked and she was looking at the surroundings, I guess making sure nothing had changed since the night before. She didn't seem too scared, but her heart was pounding pretty hard. We stayed in the bedroom until she seemed calmer and then I ventured to the sitting room. Again, same process, she was checking everything out. Rodney took her and I began to fix her bottle.

We worked on the bottle for about 45 minutes and she only drank about 2 ounces. She began to push the bottle away and just wanted to play with it. She liked to scratch the ring that holds the nipple and make a clicking sound.

She was feeling pretty secure, so I decided to wash her. I took off her shirt as we had not removed it from the day before. I wanted her to have the familiar smell the first night...anything to help. She let me take it off fine. I was just going to wash her off as I didn't want to scare her with a real bath. You just don't know what they are used to. I caught a sink full of water, put a towel next to the sink and sat her on the towel. I put her feet in the water and she didn't mind it at all. I then started taking off her diaper and she stood up and just plopped right in the water. Very shocked, but knowing I needed to take advantage of this, I started taking water and pouring over her back. She started sliding down in the sink trying to recline. I put my hand on her back as I didn't know what she was trying to do. She put her head on the towel next to the sink and threw her hands up over her head. Like she was in a jacuzzi or something. YEAH!!! We like baths!

This is the outfit that Anna was wearing on "Gotcha Day"

I gave her a bath, being very careful not to "over do" anything. But she let me wash her face, body and hair. We have some places that will take a few baths to clean good...but we will do that in stages. I took her to the sitting room to dress, only to discover that everything that we brought was too big. I brought size 12 months and a couple of 6/9 month outfits. I got the smaller of the 2 and put that on her. She shorts were held up only by her diaper. They did not touch her waist. The shirt was 12 months, which was okay, but too big. The shoes I brought were size 3, again too big. When I tried them on her, she screamed. I don't know that she has ever had on shoes. I put on a pair of socks and she got upset over that as well. Finally, she started pulling on the socks and seemed okay.

We had to leave the hotel at 10:45 to finish the adoption process on the Chinese end. We went back to the Civil affairs building. Anna does not like getting into vehicles. We are fine once inside, but the transition from outside to inside, she gets upset. We first went to have our "family photo" made for the CCAA. Then we had our CCAA interview. Very easy and laid back. Not as "official" or "ceremonial" as I had anticipated. We went next to the notary interview. Again, very easy. We paid all of our Chinese fees and were done. Anna is officially our daughter!

Anna was feeling warmer by the end of our outing. Her eating was minimal. We took her to the medical clinic in the White Swan Hotel. The doctor spoke Chinese and our guide translated for us. It was all pretty scary. Not knowing what they were going to do and Anna was horribly frightened. We were told that her ears were fine, only wax buildup in one. But she had a "throat infection". Not sure if they thought it was strep, which I don't think. They said that there was some infection in her throat and her phlegm was thick. They gave us a 2-day dosing of an antibiotic, Cefixime and 2 small bottles, unlabeled, of an "antiviral" and something for her phlegm. We were told to mix 1 ml of each bottle with one granule packet. As well we are to give her Tylenol and Benedryl. The cost for the office visit and the medication was about $20.

She was so upset she just passed out after the exam. She slept until we were about 1 block from the Hotel. She woke up very attentive, looking around and in a good mood. We got back to the room, gave her medicine, fixed her a bottle and she ate vigorously. She ate 4 x as much yesterday afternoon in 2 feedings than she had in the prior feedings. Huge milestone. She and her daddy played and she feel asleep.

She napped for about 3 hours and woke up ready to go. Rodney and I were starved as we had not eaten all day. We fixed her a bottle and went out for dinner. We walked about 5 blocks to Lucy's Diner. It is an American style restaurant which is a favorite of adoptive parents that travel to Guangzhou. Anna was frightened with the loud music and the neon lights inside. Too much stimulation in very close quarters. Thankfully we sat in the corner and she settled down and ate her entire 8 ounce bottle and then I filled with water and she drank maybe 2 ounces of that. She did well.

I ordered American Fried Chicken that came with fries and onion rings. The fries were sooooo awesome! Close to McDonalds. The chicken was like strips of sweet and sour chicken and the onion rings were with the similar batter. It was pretty good. Rodney had a Hamburger Fried Steak with fries. He liked it and we were pleased with Lucy's.

It was dark when we left Lucy's and was just drizzling rain. We walked to a clothing store to try to get Anna some clothing and shoes she could wear. There was only about 4 outfits that was small enough to fit her. It took 3 stores, but we got her a traditional Chinese outfit with a "princess" flair, 3 dresses and 3 pairs of shoes. It was all under $30. Rodney is soooo bad. He is so wrapped. I was going to get A PAIR of shoes. Rodney was asking me how many do you want? Do you like those, those, those? He is so bad. I am thinking I need to take advantage of his mental lapse right now, because I know this will surely not last long...but I can hope!

We got back to the room and Anna was so tired. When she gets hot, which it was hot last night, she gets so grumpy. I am sure it makes her feel worse and she sweats like Parker! We got into the room, I fixed her another bottle and she began to have a grieving session. I tried to console her to no avail. I finally just changed her diaper through her screams, put on her pjs, gave her medicine and then we rocked, sang, and cried. It just broke my heart to see her so upset. I tried to sing to her and I would start crying with her. I prayed that God would heal her little heart and mind and help us to just melt together as mother and daughter.

She started to calm down and began playing with her Daddy. I washed her new dresses and bottles while they played. She was so tired and so were we. I laid on the bed with her and her daddy and we rubbed her belly, tickled her chin and laughed at every sweet thing she done.

I have some bragging rights myself. Rodney got the first Anna sugars, but I got the first Lovin' Session! She was lying on the bed between us and got up on all fours. She crawled over to me, put her hands on my face and gave me a big kiss on the mouth. She then laid her cheek on my mouth, I kissed her and she raised back up to kiss me 3 more times. The last time, she put her lips on mine and shook her head to give me a "BIG" kiss. Such a sweetheart.

She laid back down and it wasn't long until she was asleep. She slept the whole night with us. Didn't toss and turn, didn't whine or cry out.

I woke up this morning around 5 am. Anna woke up around 6 am. She was crying, but was easily consoled. She ate an 8 ounce bottle of formula and cereal and then ate another 5 ounces of formula. Big belly this morning! She took her medicine through tears, but then again, was easily consoled. She is lying on the bed now playing with her Daddy's necklace that he faithfully wears made by Carter. She is loving the beads and the clicking sounds it makes when she shakes it.

She makes these sweet cooing sounds and is much more willing to show affection towards us. She is eating better and is just a sweetie all the way around. She is still doing the spit on the palm thing, but not as much. Mainly when she gets nervous or upset. She also is not hitting her head as much. Again, when she gets upset or nervous. We know that if that hand goes to her mouth or if she hits her head something is going on that makes her nervous. But it is improving, gradually, but improving. It kills Rodney for her to hit her head. You can just see it on his face when she does it, his heart just breaks.

She loves playing with her daddy. Daddy loves playing with Anna. They are very sweet together. She wants to play with him and be consoled by me...which is about right. We are ate up with her and just excitedly wait for the next display of affection she shows us. The past 24 hours she has shown so much improvement. We are approaching the 72 hour mark and are thrilled that she has done as well as she has.

Carter, Jacob and Parker,

We hope you all are having a good time. We miss you three very much and think about you ALL THE TIME! We see things that we remind us of you and cannot wait to see you again. Anna is such a trooper and is doing so good. She is going to love you guys. She loves to cuddle and play. But she also has a very sweet small cry and coo. Can't wait to talk to you soon! Hugs, hugs, hugs, kisses, kisses, kisses!

Watching my husband becoming a HUGE softy and fashion nut and sending love to my Parker, Jacob and Carter.