Slacker...

Wow...didn't even make it one day. I have lots of stuff to tell you all, but we are short for time this morning. We have to leave the hotel at 10:00 am and don't know for sure when we will be back. So, we have to eat breakfast this morning!!!

I will give you the short version and try to fill in all those little details that my husband just loves about my story telling (sarcasm, sarcasm) later.

We again were very busy yesterday. Last night we were all 3 exhausted. Anna had a hard time falling asleep. I don't know if she was overly tired, or if she was just feeling some anxiety. But once asleep, she slept like a rock. It poured rain all night, so hopefully it will not be so humid today. We are doing good and I PROMISE I will give the low down tonight :-)

But, not to leave you all hanging....this is really what you want to see anyway....

Boys,

Hope you all are doing good. We love you very much. We are going to the electronics market, a department store, and a wholesale clothing market today...watch out daddy!!! I am going to keep my eyes open for some awesome stuff! Love you three so much it just makes my chest hurt. Airport security will have to pull me off you guys when we land in Nashville. I can't wait to have hugs and kisses :-)

Getting ready for another CRAZY day and sending love to my Parker, Jacob and Carter

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.

She Just Walked Right In To Our Lives...

We sat nervously, at least for me, in a small, hot room in the Civil Affairs Building. The babies had not yet arrived. Finally, our guide came in and told us that the first baby was here and she would be brought in. Olivia came in, walked around, looked at me as I was snapping her picture and went right to her mother. She was very quiet but seemed content. Rodney and I watched in amazement at how well she seemed to be doing. Smiling, happy and ready to play with her mommy. Then we were told that Hai Zhi Yi was here and they would be bringing her in soon. We prepared ourselves, our cameras and I tried to keep it together.

I first saw a nanny turning the corner holding a little hand. They turned the corner into the room and she just walked right into the room. I bent down on my knees to say hello and get close to her. She put her hands in mine and was studying my face, all while taking in the others in the room. She was a little overwhelmed by all the people and the commotions. I gradually moved closer to her, holding her hands and then I picked her up.

She is tiny. Her hands, feet, body, all about the size of a 6 month old baby, at least my boys at 6 months. She was very attentive and watched everything that was close to her or had the possibility of getting close to her. She had her hand on my shoulder, clutching my shirt in her hand and the other hand was on my chest. I kissed her forehead and she felt a little feverish. She turned around, looking back towards the door and I assume she realized that the nannies that brought her were gone. She began to tear up and started a small whine. She then took her hand to cover her mouth, almost spit on her palm and then ran her hand up on her cheek to her ear. She did this on both sides of her face and then would take her fingertips and rub her cheeks. I didn't know if her ears or jaw teeth were hurting her or if this is just a way that she consoles herself.

I tried to console her the only way I knew. I offered her a toy, which she did not want and then I began to bounce. We bounced for some time and it seemed to work okay. Rodney started approaching her and trying to interact. She was very hesitant and pulled her arm away from his touch.

One of the nannies returned to the room to answer some questions about Anna. She is on formula and congee. She wakes around 6 am, naps between 12 and 2 and then she said that 9 was bed. I can't imagine her staying awake that long, but maybe? Her favorite toys are things that make music...she said that she loves to follow and bounce to the beat. I asked about consoling her, what worked? She said they didn't know. I asked about illnesses, especially ear infections. She said she had never had an infection. I can't imagine her not ever having an ear infection, but again, I don't know.

Rodney again approached her and she went to him. She immediately was checking out his face and especially his facial hair. It was incredibly sweet. She would take her forearm and put it to his chin, he would rub the hair on her arm and then she would jerk it away. After about 3 times, she began to smile, then about 3 times later, she started laughing. Daddy will keep facial hair :-) Rodney kept her while I did the paperwork for day. He said that they were playing and he kissed her cheek. She came back and kissed his. Then they were rubbing foreheads together and she kissed him in the mouth. He is quite proud of the fact that he received the first Anna sugars...all while mommy was working - isn't that the way it goes! She did really good until about 2 minutes before I was finished with the paperwork and then she started getting upset again.

When I took her from Rodney he told me that she was hot, and she was. She was sweating, her hair was wet and she was coughing and had a little rattle in her chest. I took her to the window in the room and started the bouncing again. I began to hum and sing Amazing Grace, and her leg started moving back and forth and she was consoled. Finally it was time to leave.

As we were walking out of the room, we entered a larger room where there was about 15 families who had just received their babies. It was loud and chaotic. Anna began to get upset again and started the cheek rubbing. I began to massage her jaw, just in front of her ear and she liked that a lot. Again, I don't know if it is ears, teeth or just feels good to her.

We got back into the van and she again got upset. After about 2 minutes she was taking in the passing scenery. We arrived back at the hotel and went to our room. She did very, very well. We then decided to venture back out for her formula. She was excellent. No crying, just totally absorbing everything. She would look over my shoulder and then jerk it around to see in front of us, then jerk it back over my shoulder. She was really in awe of everything. We made our purchase and came back to the hotel, ordered room service congee and began to let her see things in the room. She walked around holding my hand (she is still very unbalanced, but really wants to try). She laid on the floor and let out a sigh. We were both pretty confident that she was just totally exhausted.

I laid her on our bed and changed her diaper. I bought size 3, but she needs size 2 and maybe 1s. She is very small. We didn't even attempt to wash her. That will be an adventure for tomorrow. Finally our congee arrived and I began to make her bottle. We gave her some Tylenol in case her ears or gums were hurting her. She ate about 3 ounces of her bottle and again began to cry. It was all she could do to hold her eyes open. She was rubbing her cheeks and holding her ears. I felt so badly for her. But, we just kept trying different things. I know it was probably her being sleepy and not being in a familiar place. 2 total strangers have taken her to an odd place and now are trying to get her to fall asleep. I would have been scared too.

She finally gave it up and fell asleep on my chest. I sat for about 30 minutes holding her and then stood up. She woke up, looked around, rubbed her cheeks and then laid her head back on my chest and went back to sleep. I walked into the bedroom and laid her on the bed, our bed, and laid beside her. She looked around the room, played with the edges of the pillowcases, looked at me a few times and then fell back asleep. She has been sleeping for about 4 hours now and is just precious.

She doesn't like covers on her legs. She has kicked it off multiple times when I tried to cover her up. She will seem to rouse a little, rub her cheek and she is back off again.

Tomorrow we will go back to the Civil Affairs to do the official adoption paperwork and pay the Chinese adoption fees. We will be leaving our hotel around 10:45 am. Our guide said that we will be gone for about 1 hour.

She is so sweet and amazing. I cannot express how I feel, and Rodney can't either. This has been an awesome experience and a true miracle of love. We love this little girl, even though we know she doesn't love us right now. But it will all come. We are so happy and couldn't imagine not doing what we are doing. She is ours.

Boys,

Anna is so very cute. You all are just going to love her so much. I think that she will like to play and can totally see her being a tom boy! She doesn't want to have anything to do with the "girly" toys that we brought. Instead, she has played with a wipes container...go figure! I can't wait until you all get to see her for yourselves. We love you all very much.

Watching my daughter sleep in her mommy and daddy's bed and sending love to my Parker, Jacob and Carter

This Is Really Happening...

It is about 30 minutes before we leave the hotel for the Civil Affairs Building to meet Anna. It is so hard to believe that this is actually happening, NOW! We are thrilled beyond words, mixed with a little nervousness.

My main concern is that she is not scared and she "likes" us. I am not worried about the "taking care" of her aspect, but rather her being afraid of me. I have loved her for a long, long time, but she has no idea that I even exist...but she will very shortly :-)

We are praying that God continues to be with us and will help us and Anna bond appropriately. We are so blessed to be where we are.

Boys,

It is almost time to get your sister. We can't wait to see her and can't wait for you to see her too. Talk to you in the morning! Much love, hugs and kisses.

Thanking God for bringing us this far and sending love to my Anna, Parker, Jacob and Carter

Our First Day in China...

Our first day in Guangzhou was quite an experience. We tried to sleep when we got in last night, thinking that we would sleep about all day...but we didn't. We were only able to sleep a few hours and was up at 5:30 am for the day.


We went to the hotel breakfast where I ate fried rice, fried noodles, fruit and a danish. I also had orange/mango juice and a coffee which was super strong, even for me. It was more like an espresso, but not. Rodney had fruit, cucumbers, danish, fried onion cake and orange juice.

We then tried to exchange some money for our adoption fees. Our hotel would only exchange $300 a day/room. So we had to find a bank. We found the Guangdong Development Bank and decided to give it a try. Thankfully everyone tries to be helpful. The guard got us our ticket for the window service and the teller at the window was more than helpful. We really are at their mercy right now. We don't know where we are, the proper processes and are just winging it. We got our needed fees exchanged and some spending money for the day.

We started walking around looking at some area shops. They are really wanting to sell their goods, but no one is rude, just persistent. We met a couple of shop owners that we especially nice and helpful. We saw one of the ladies later on in the day and she was excited to see us and waved. And no, we didn't buy anything from her, but she just seemed to have a sweetness about her.

If you know Rodney, this was just funny to me.

The weather here is thick! The temperature is not really that hot, but the air is so heavy and thick. The humidity has to be like 250% !!! By the time we walked around half the island and returned to the room, my shirt was sticking to my back. When you walk outside it is like walking into a sauna room. We started getting hungry, so we ventured back out for some food.

After walking around looking at several menus, we ended up back at the hotel in the restaurant. I had a club sandwich, which consisted of ham, lettuce, pickles and tomatoes, and fries. Rodney had a ham and cheese sandwich and fries. I know, it wasn't very adventurous but we just couldn't find anything that really appealed to us. Tomorrow we will have more guidance and hopefully find something that we like.

We went to Beatrices and a 7/11 store. We purchased total 3 bottles of water, a huge 2 gallon of water bottle, 2 - 2ltr Sodas (Coca-Cola and Sprite), bread, cheetos, snickers, cup of noodles all for about $6. We came back to the room and took a nap. I can't see blogger here, so I just hope things are formatting okay.

This is the scene from outside our bedroom window. We hear birds throughout the day. We call the birds "monster" pigeons. They are huge.

Tomorrow is the day. About 13 hours until we meet Anna. We are to meet Connie, our guide, in the hotel lobby at 2:00 and head for the Civil Affairs Building. She said that we would be there about 3 hours. It will be a long afternoon I am sure, but we are praying that God has prepared her for us and us for her. She has no idea what is in store for her tomorrow. Leaving everything that she has ever known, placed in the arms of complete strangers.

Carter, Jacob and Parker

We only have a couple channels here and the movie channel has shown Star Wars all day long. We haven't found the McDonald's or Pizza Hut yet, much to your daddy's disappointment. I hope that you all are having a good time. We posted some pictures of our day. We love you three very much and will talk to you soon!

Waiting for tomorrow and sending love to my Anna, Parker, Jacob and Carter

We Are Here...

We are finally in China!!!!

It was a long, long, long flight, but we finally made it to Guangzhou. We arrived about 10:00 pm (which was about 11 am for us). We zoomed right through customs and were taken to the Victory Hotel.

We are extremely tired and feeling a little out of sorts. My ears are not back to normal yet and my head is a little "swimmy". Rodney didn't sleep much on the plane, so he is really tired. Thankfully I was able to nap - a lot :-)

Tomorrow is a free day, which we will need I am sure to catch up on sleep, get somewhat used to the time change and familiarize ourselves with the area. We are so thankful to have arrived safely and only 37 hours until we have our baby girl, Anna Mei Yi.

We called home and the boys are doing great. They actually were more thrilled talking on the computer (skype is great) than they were talking to us...but nonetheless, I got to talk to my boys. I have a couple funny stories about the flight I will try to tell about later, right now I am going to wash my face, brush my teeth and go to bed.

Boys,

We didn't see Spiderman in Tokyo...sorry. We talked about you all a lot on the flight and are missing you like crazy already. We love you bunches, bunches, and bunches more.

Thankful to be in China and sending love to my Anna, Parker, Jacob and Carter.

Packed and Ready to Go...

It is about 2:00 am, all bags are packed, kids are asleep, including Rodney, and I am checking and double checking everything. I feel like I could pass out from exhaustion, but I am so nervously excited, I don't think I could fall asleep. We are packed and ready to go.

We spent the whole morning finishing up all the business we needed to attend before leaving for 2 weeks. The rest of the day was with the boys. We ate a combo of McDonald's and Los Mariachis. We have a burger, fry boy and a chicken fajita nacho boy. Parker, he will eat just about anything, tacos, burgers - today, was McDonald's. For the food? No. For the chance of getting another "Shrek baby". He is obsessed.

Then we were off to see Spiderman 3. Not to impressed with this one. It wasn't as kid-friendly and lots more violence. Didn't care for it. Kids - loved it, of course.

Now, I am just trying to finish up all loose ends that can be tied at this point. Thankfully, we have great friends and a wonderful family. They have all been so supportive and helpful. Willing to do whatever, but most importantly offering prayers while we are gone for us, Anna and the boys.

God is so good to us. We are so undeserving of any of the blessings that He has showered upon us. We have been given a wonderful life, filled with love, happiness, joy, and the laughter of children. And now, we are going to be blessed again.

I am so humbled that God is allowing me to experience the miracle of adoption. Many times, I feel so "unimportant". I am just a stay-at-home mom, nothing special. And yet, God has chosen me for this awesome experience and blessing. We have seen many miracles throughout this process and we are praying for many more to come. We are praying that everything goes smoothly with our travel, that Anna's transition is easy and that bonding begins to occur instantly, that we are protected and stay healthy, that our boys are safe while we are gone, and that we will return home safely and become a family of 6.

I will post again as soon as we get settled in our hotel. Love you guys!

Trying to believe this is finally happening and sending love to my Anna.