Our First Week Home...

Mia's adjustment continues to amaze us.  Everyday she is doing better and better.  Food still continues to be a challenge for her.  I sympathize with her because I really do remember what it was like in China when I just did not like anything that was put in front of me.  We did find out she liked ice cream cones although she did not know how to eat the cone.  Once I showed her, she had it down and the amazing thing is she did not drip a drop on her.  She is so particular and neat!  WHOOOOOOOOO!  I really hope we do not ruin her.  ;)

She is still sleeping in our room (on a toddler bed) and "waking up" several times in the middle of the night but she just tosses and turns, whines a bit, and goes back to sleep really quick.  I cannot help but wonder what she is dreaming about.  You can tell by her face she is really processing some heavy things.  She also talks in her sleep sometimes and it sounds pretty intense.  Sometimes she sounds like she is telling someone off.  I can only imagine what is going through her head right now.

Logan and Mia are also continuing to do great!  Logan is so nurturing and loving toward Mia.  I am so proud of him I could burst.  That said, Logan did tell me yesterday that he felt like Mia was getting all the attention.  I knew that day was going to come.  I am kinda bummed because I have been trying so hard to make him feel special.  I am sure it is tough going from being the only child to "insta" brother to a 4 year old little girl who speaks Mandarin.  And, the truth is, she IS getting a lot of attention but so is he.  Logan and I sat down and talked about it and he seems to totally understand, I just think he is going to have some tough moments.  I was a middle child (and Logan is so much like me) so I totally understand how he is feeling.

Separation is something we are continuing to work on with Mia.  When Logan went to play at a friends for an hour the other day, she absolutely lost it.  She cried, and cried Logan's name while standing at the window and looking for him.  She did not want to be comforted or distracted (although we tried).  After about 40 minutes we called Logan and when she heard his voice she stopped crying...until we hung up of course.  Logan being the great big brother came home for her.  I cannot blame her.  She has had so many people she loved just walk out the door and never come back.  It was not just her parents, it was also her nannies (who she loved dearly) and many friends who were adopted.  She is okay if she leaves with Mike or myself and telling the other one bye, but if she is the one being left it is not a good thing.  My parents stopped by yesterday to pick her up for a quick hour play date at their house and she had no problems telling us goodbye and going with them.  Apparently she was an angel so that is a relief.  Yesterday, I got my coat and shoes on and told her bye-bye.  She said, no, no, no.  I told her I needed to go bye-bye and that I would be right back.  I was only going to the mail box but wanted her to know that I will leave and come back.  Getting the mail seemed to be a good place to start with that lesson.  While she watched me leave and looked like she was going to cry, she did not.  Small baby steps!  We are getting there.

We have not had to use the time out chair for 2 days!  She is so agreeable and should she start to have a moment with attitude or telling us how it is going to be we just ask her if she wants to go to time out.  She shakes her head no and does whatever it is we need her to do.  I (and Mike) have always been a big believer in kids having boundaries.  We believe kids are much happier when they know what is expected of them and can predict the consequence should they make a bad choice.  I knew we would use time out with her but I did not know we would introduce it so soon.  I also did not know if she would respond to it the way Logan did.  We do use it different with her because she is adopted.  When we would put Logan in time out we would walk away and ignore him until the time out was over.  With Mia, and because being abandoned again is such a fear of hers (the nannies said that the only thing that scared Mia was being alone) we sit next to her but still do not talk or look at her.  Anyway, time out is definitely the thing that works for Mia.  Again, WHOOOOO for the time out chair.

She continues to be SUCH a joy playing with all her girly things and us experiencing all of her "firsts".  She cracks me up all the time.  She also warms my heart with her kisses and hugs and is now saying "I love you too Mama".  MELT!!!  Hearing her little footsteps as she runs here and there is so sweet.  The way she says "hello kitty" to our cat Alexi is too cute.  I just love, love, love this little girl.  

Mike and I are still a bit tired but nothing too major.  I am SO grateful for not getting sick either while we were in China or when we came home.  SO MANY people that I have followed over the years during their trips to China make coming home and getting on a new schedule as well as the adjustment period for the kids sound like a total nightmare.  I am happy to report it has been pretty good for us!  :)  Now it is time to start to introduce Mia to all our friends!  :)

That's all for now.

Happy New Year to all of you and God Bless!

We are home and completely in love!

We are home!  We left China on Christmas Eve (China time) and got home on the morning of Christmas Eve (America time).  The travel schedule home was brutal.  We flew from Guangzhou to Beijing in the evening and with a slight delay did not get into our hotel until 12 midnight.   That gave us 3 hours to sleep before we had to be up and get to the airport.  With all of our luggage (we had to add a couple of pieces with all our shopping) and a 4 year old who wanted to be carried non-stop, it was no small task.  Add that on to a little one (and 2 parents) who had not had any sleep....

I was totally dreading our 13 hour flight home with Mia.  I was so afraid that she was going to have melt downs about having to sit down and being bored.  To my delight and surprise (and I am sure because of the non-stop prayers going up) she did FANTASTIC!  Only one very small and short melt down.  She only slept for 3 hours and of course I would have loved her to sleep a bit more, but as long as she was not crying or upset, I will take it.

We thought the car seat and strapping her in was going to be the next HUGE mountain to climb (they do not use car seats in China and do not use seat belts often either).  Again, to our surprise, she did not mind at all.  After her sugar-free vanilla steamer from Starbucks, she fell asleep for the rest of the drive from Indy to Fort Wayne.  

Once we got home, she met Logan and my parents.  She instantly fell in love with Logan and they have been best friends ever since.  I am sure the newness will wear off, but my heart totally melts to see them together.  

So, as I had previously written, in China we had some pretty horrible melt downs (probably about 5 noteworthy ones) which resulted in her throwing herself on the ground, tearing off her clothes, arching her back (while we were trying to carry her up the elevator) and kicking and screaming at the top of her lungs and saying who knows what to us in Mandarin.  It was great.  Especially when we were in public (which was the case most of the time) when everyone was looking at the only Americans with a Chinese child and wondering if we were kidnapping or abusing the poor child.  I told you she has a very strong will.  :)  Anyway, after being home and forcing her to take a bath (which she absolutely loved) and then trying to get her to brush her teeth (also, not something we had any issue with in China) Mike busted out the time out chair.  She was so upset about being sat in a chair and not allowed to get up.  It appears that is exactly what she needed.  Now, any time we are having issues with her telling us how it is going to be, we simply ask her if she wants to go to time out and voila...instant princess, at least most of the time!  WHOOOOOOO!  So happy for the time out chair.  It has made a world of difference for her (and us).  

Getting back on a normal sleep schedule has been a bit difficult.  By 5-6pm, Mike, Mia and I are completely exhausted and want to do nothing but go to bed.  Of course that is not an option so we are doing our best to push ourselves to stay awake.  Mia is having a bit of a tough time in the middle of the night waking up several times.  For me it is much like having an infant although after helping her eat, potty or whatever, she goes back to sleep pretty quickly.  That said, she also is waking up around 5am - UGH!  She did NOT do that in China.  She really liked to sleep in.  I cannot wait for that to come back.  :)

Communication has been really easy.  We know a few words in Mandarin (enough to raise a four year old) and she can understand most of what we say to her.  It is AMAZING!!!

Food has been a challenge for Mia.  The first couple of days, she hardly ate anything and is reluctant to try new things.  On Christmas we even ordered Chinese and got her dumplings because she loved them in China.  She hated EVERYTHING we ordered and did not eat anything including the dumplings (I guess they were made different in China).   Poor thing had to be hungry.  By the 3rd day she ate her Ramen noodles and some fruit.  The Child LOVES her noodles.  Today she has already had two packs.   She even eats then with chopsticks which is pretty incredible to watch. 

Christmas was super fun.  It was very sweet.  She did not even know what do with the presents.  We had to show her how to open them.  It did not take her long to figure it out though.  She really loved all her girly princess things.  My house looks like a pink flamingo has blown up in it...and I LOVE IT!  :)

She was doing so well adjusting, we took her to the in-laws and although it took her about 15 minutes to warm up, she seemed to have a pretty good time.  

The next day, we went to my parents and she had a great time there as well.  

We could not ask for a better adjustment than we have been given with this sweet girl!

We are so truly blessed and cannot wait for you all to meet our wonderful little Christmas present.

Hot Chocolate on Christmas Morning!

Logan and Mia - First Christmas as a family of 4!

 

The 3 of us

My excited boy!

A mountain of presents!

Loving her princess things!

Relaxing with my little ones

Mike making the peace sign he learned from the hotties in China

Mia and her noodles

Check out all those noodles!

Helping Mom bake while eating

Day 9

Her TB result was good! So she is being sworn in as a US citizen tomorrow (Tuesday 12/20/2010) at 1:30pm. All of the legalities are complete. We start heading back home on Wednesday. We leave late afternoon for Beijing, and after a quick overnight stay we start the 13+ hour flight home. 

We've had a good day today, no real fits or anything. She's been pretty happy all day. She likes riding in a stroller around the island. She's a little too big for it, but we couldn't carry her anymore, she's too big and heavy. Lots of people stop and talk to her. Lots of people ask us what provence she is from because they say she is very beautiful. She has dimples when she smiles and it looks like she has two lines on each of her cheeks. She has a birth mark on her back as well. All of the shop workers like talking to her. An older woman, we are guessing 90 or so, came up to her and Debbie and was telling JingJing how lucky she is and how good Debbie was for taking care of her. At least that is what we are guessing. We've been told a lot of the older generation think the little girls are very lucky for going to America. Some of the younger generation doesn't really agree with Westerners coming over for the girls. But overall people have been really nice to us.

We figured out last night that she has used chopsticks, she understands how they work, but she is not the most efficient with them. We're guessing the orphanage just used spoons for everything.

Mike just uploaded some pictures but apparently China is not happy because we're now being blocked. We are unable to see them or add captions. Mike's guessing he's blocked because he has been tagging the previous photos with "China". It may be a fluke, but he's thinking not because we were able to access Flickr yesterday but not today. Many popular sites are blocked here. I can't edit my blog directly, we have to email in the updates. Hopefully everyone can see see the pics here, we'll add captions when we can:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mkrisher/sets/72157625510583409/

Mike woke up this morning not feeling the best and thought for sure he was going to be sick for 24 hours, but it quickly passed. A number of people, including all of the males in our travel group have been sick, including vomiting. We've been lucky so far. We're getting tired though, it's been a long two weeks. Today was back to Shamian Island to get her TB results and then about 4 hours of shopping. The weather was great. Maybe 70 degrees and sunny. We picked up a lot. Prices are pretty good. Hopefully we can get it all back in our luggage. We learned some more about Shamian Island. All of the buildings are protected by the government. Most of the buildings are occupied by Europeans for their consulate offices and businesses. It's really pretty amazing. We've both said numerous times we could move here. The weather is nice, the people are nice. The currency exchange is in our favor. We didn't expect to really like China, but our vision of it was completely wrong. We have a lot more photos and videos that we haven't posted. We'll do more when we get back to the States and have a faster connection.

Tonight we think we are going to just get McDonalds and stay in, we are pretty tired. Hopefully JingJing will be as well, she didn't sleep well last night she kept having dreams and screaming no and yelling at someone (it was probably us). We can't take pictures at the swearing in ceremony unfortunately, but we may have more pics to post tomorrow depending on what we do afterwards.

She has learned some more english. She now says "no" maybe a quarter of the time and still uses the Mandarin word 75 percent of the time. She says "uh oh" now when something spills. She says "ketchup" all the time. She understands what "take a bath" means. She says "hota hota" when something is hot. She adds an a to a lot of words. She says "carry please" when she wants carried. She asks for "help". She says "open". She's working on "on" and "off". She's working on "no thank you". She says "I love you" but doesn't really know what it means. She understands "sit down". She understands what "all done" means, but still says the Mandarin version. She says "hello" and "bye bye" a lot. We expect she will probably speak mostly english within 4 months. She's picking up things pretty quickly.

I have to tell you this...I am completely amazed by this little girl.  She has been through so much in her short little life and at times it shows.  We have had some terrible drag down battles of will a couple of times but they are getting shorter and shorter each time.  She is realizing that we are the boss and that we love her without all the drama.  She is testing us for sure.  That aside, we are so completely in love with this little girl.  When I think of everything she has been through and is still willing to trust and love, it blows my mind.  I simply adore her and am so honored to be her mother.  This truly is the child I have been waiting and praying for.  She is so funny and cracks me up all the time.  She is also VERY STUBBORN and definitely has an opinion.  I can respect that!  :)  Ugh....words simply cannot describe how I feel.  Blessed...I guess blessed is the right thing.  I also feel completed.  I did not realize that I was not completed without her until I met her and that was it.  I cannot imagine breathing without her in my life.  Okay, starting to get all gushy.  I will post again when I can.  Miss you all but LOVING China and this special time with my incredibly amazing, strong, funny, loving, cute, girl.  Mike has also been such a loving and wonderful dad.  So proud of him.  I cannot describe how it feels to see him so smitten with his little girl.

Day 7 & 8

We left Nanjing yesterday and made our way to Ghuangzhou. The morning started out OK, but JingJing decided she didn't really want to pack, she just wanted to go and ended up throwing a fit and crying herself to sleep on the floor. After finally getting around, we took off for the airport hoping she wouldn't be car sick. We got lucky and she fell asleep in the car. Once at the airport we got checked in and said good bye to our guide Michael. He has spoken english for 20 years. He was really good at it. But he can't come to the States for more than 2 weeks, because China won't approve it. They are nervous that anyone over 30 will simply leave the country and never return if they leave for more than 2 weeks, so Visas are only granted for 2 weeks max. Nanjing was nice but we were looking forward to being with the other families in Ghuangzhou.

JingJing seemed pretty excited to see the planes. And was excited to get on ours. Unfortunately we sat there for a half hour after boarding. She grew tired of being strapped in during that time. Once we were moving she settled down some, but started looking like she wasn't feeling good. Luckily, she feel asleep again. After a quick 2 hour flight we landed in Ghuangzhou where it was 57 degrees. We were welcoming the warm up. It was as cold in Nanjing as it is in Fort Wayne. Ghuangzhou became Mike's favorite city to fly into at nighttime. It is a large city and everything is lit up. There is a river running through the middle and the bridges are lined with neon lights. The buildings are lit up like the casinos in Vegas. It was really amazing.

Once we reunited with our guide from Beijing, Allison, we were off to the hotel. JingJing did the car ride like a champ. She talked to us and played games on the iPad. She saw a picture of Logan on Mike's shoulders and decided she wanted to try that as soon as we got to the hotel. And the hotel is really really nice. 5 stars! A number of Americans work here as well. This is probably one of the nicest hotels Mike and I have ever stayed at. It is huge. The Paralympics are here right now as well, so the hotel is full. You have to put your bags through an airport scanner when you get here. That was a little strange. There are 4 restaurants and some shopping. There is a Starbucks downstairs and the McDonalds down the street delivers we've been told. Tomorrow we are doing some local Thai restaurant for lunch with the group and it is supposed to be really good.

Today was her medical exam. All seemed to go well, except at the end when she got her TB test. She was not happy about getting a shot in her forearm. She cried for a good twenty minutes. For some reason she has been all about Mike today. She wanted him to carry her all day. Wanted to sit with him all day. Had to go downstairs with him to get bottled water and soda. Today has been the first day she has chosen Mike over me. We're thinking it is because I woke her up and got her dressed. She can hold a grudge.

After the medical we walked around Shamian Island. It was amazing. Mike and I both feel like we could see ourselves moving to Ghuangzhou. The city is really nice. Shamian Island is really cool. Lots of parks and old english style buildings. Mike posted pictures of people doing Tai Chi in the park. We ate outside. It was mid sixties and completely sunny, that was nice. After getting back to the hotel we did our final set of paperwork and paid our last fee. We should be getting her Visa on Tuesday or Wednesday so we can leave. She threw a fit while we were doing the paperwork. Mike took her back to the room with him to retrieve some papers he had left. She screamed and cried the whole way up to the room. She has some lungs, everyone looks at us, it is quite embarrassing. Once up in the room she learned how dad say no very sternly. Up to this point we've kind of spoiled her but she's testing us now that she realizes we are her parents, so it's time to start correcting her. She's not happy about it. So we've had a couple of meltdowns like we've anticipated with adopting a toddler. She doesn't like being told no, but the screaming afterwards is getting shorter already.

It's been a long two days and we are beat. She hasn't had a nap today at all so we are hoping she'll pass out early and we can get some sleep. Tomorrow should be relatively easy. We have a group photo and then some shopping and leisure. We are learning more and more Mandarin every day. We can't understand every single sentence or understand the songs she sings, but we are able to communicate much better every single day. And this girl loves watermelon. I think she ate a whole melon last night at dinner. That and about three things of Strawberry mousse. And everything she wears has to be pink. Talk about particular!

Unless her TB test comes back bad on Monday (which it looks fine, so we should be fine), we are in the final stretch and should be taking the oath to make her a US citizen, Tuesday at 1:30.

Pics from yesterday: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mkrisher/sets/72157625495917105/

Pics from today: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mkrisher/sets/72157625622228054/

First post from China

First I am so sorry for the delay in getting this first post up.  

Day 1 -  December 11th - The Great Wall

The flights went pretty good.  Amazingly I slept a good portion of it.  That was a feet in and of itself as I never sleep on planes.  Apparently the mix of a couple of glasses of wine before the flight and a couple of sleeping pills is all you need.  Who knew?  :)  Mike slept some but not as much as me.  Our flight leaving Chicago was delayed so we did not get in until 2:30am.  Our poor guide Alison had to pick us up so late.  We felt really bad.  We got into our room and to bed around 3:30am.  The hotel was clean and nice but the room was SUPER HOT and no air conditioner to cool it down (and the windows did not open)  It also had a pungent smell like roses meets cloves.  CRAZY and not so pleasant.  As I was warned several times, the board, I mean the bed was as hard as it could be.  Temperpedic has some serious work to do over here in China!  :)  

We slept for 3 hours and had to get up to meet our group for breakfast and then we were off to see The Great Wall, Tiananmen Square, The Forbidden City and Olympic Park.  Despite the lack of sleep, the day was amazing!  Our guide Alison is THE BEST!!!!  We really scored with her.  Learning about Beijing, all the history and where they are today is fascinating.  It is so interesting to me that we have come half way around the world, but yet they people are the same.  They go to work, they have children to care for, they feel the pressures of the economy and providing.  They are also kind, giving, caring and love to talk on their cell phones just like we do!  Beijing is much like Manhattan although we did not see as many people.  The city has 17 million people living in it today so I kept wondering where everyone was.  

My favorite part of the day was climbing and I do indeed mean climbing the Great Wall.  The climb was very steep and at times very difficult but the view from the top was amazing!  I could not help but reflect that this adoption process has been much like climbing the Great Wall.  At times it has been very difficult and I wondered if I could go on, but one step at a time we kept going and now we are just moments from reaching the top.  

Because I cannot post pictures (my blog is blocked in China) here is a link to Mike's Flickr account where you can see pictures!  

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mkrisher/sets/72157625580239828/

More than anything, I want to thank all of our amazing friends and family who have sent us countless good wishes and have sincerely held us up in prayer.  Your encouragement and kind words have given me so much strength.

Day 2 - December 12th - Fly to Nanjing

Today we flew to Nanjing.  This is where we will meet Mia tomorrow.  We got up and had breakfast, and got off to the airport pretty quickly.  2 other families in our group got to meet their children today!  Our flight was only a couple of hours long completely uneventful...just the way I like them.  We met our new guide Georgina.  She does not hold a candle to Alison (Georgina is young and pretty quiet and shy) but is very nice.  She took us to the hotel and we checked in and unpacked for the next 5 days.  It is crazy to think that tomorrow by this time, we are going to have our little girl with us!  Anyway, there is a fantastic western mall connected to the hotel.  There is also a small chinese grocery store which is super helpful for picking up water, soda etc.  

The restaurants are pretty cool, but I am having a tough time with the food.  I am such a steak and potatoes (yes I know I do not eat potatoes but I really do love them) kinda girl.  Mike is findig the local cuizine to be more appetizing than myself.  That said, I am trying to be a good sport and am trying lots of new stuff.  At dinner I told mike I was a little frustrated because I was so hungry and nothing tasted good.  It was at that moment when I really realized this is how Mia is probably going to feel about our food.  I need to remember this and how it feels for her.  

I am perplexed by a trend I see here.  Apparently when a little boy needs to go potty, they do not go the the bathroom, they just simply pull their pants all the way down, whip out their little parts and go.  If they are on the street, no problem they just go right there.  If they are indoors, their mom holds a bag for them to go in.  I seriously almost died when I saw this happening, knowing there was a public, nice, clean western restroom right down the hall (we were in the mall).  

The women here are simply stunning.  Not only are they beautiful, they have a wicked sense of style that I could only dream of.  Their petite little bodies rock the fashion with incredible ease.  I LOVE to people watch and here is absolutely no exception.

The little kids are so fun here.  They see us and they just stare and smile.  Some of them wave.  When I say hello to them in English they get all excited and giggle.  It is great.  We found that it seems like saying hello to us in english is fun to the Chinese people.  Many times people just walk up and say hello.  They seem to get a kick out of it.  It is so funny to me.  I cannot imagine going up to someone just because of how they look and speaking to them in another language, but here it is not a melting pot like the US so we definitly stand out.  That said, the chinese people have been so wonderful and nice.  We really love it here.  I honestly did not know what to expect, but the people have far exceeded my expectations.

Tomorrow is the big day!  We FINALLY get to meet our sweet Mia.  We were told today that she is very excited and has been telling anyone who comes to the orphanage that her mommy and daddy are coming for her.  I am SOOOOOO happy to hear that.  I really hope the information is accurate and she indeed is excited for this new adventure.

Day 3 - December 13th - Gottcha Day

Okay, so it is 1am in the morning and I cannot sleep.  I am so excited to get our sweet Mia!  I know I need to sleep but instead I thought I would write a few thoughts.  

1.  I pray that Mia has been prepared as much as she could be.

2.  I pray that God gives me the wisdom to know what do do and say to her to make her comforitable and happy that I am going to be her new mom.

3.  I pray that I have patience and understanding at all times since Mia is going to be going through such change.

4.  I pray for her birth mother and family

5.  I pray that we can be the family she needs and deserves

6.  I pray that I do not do the ugly cry when I meet her :)

Day 3 - December 13th - Gottcha Day Part 2

WOW!  What an experience....

It took about 20 minutes by car to get to the Civil Affair Office where we would meet and take Mia home from.  When we arrived, we immediately saw her nannies and saw our beautiful little girl.  I have played this moment a gaziilion times over the last 5 and a half years and what it would be like.  It was NOTHING like I expected and hoped for.  Mia took one look at me and started crying REALLY HARD!  She would not go near Mike.  Her nannies told us she gets car sick really bad (because she is never in cars) and had gotten pretty sick multiple times on the way to the Civil Affairs Office.  That coupled with the fact that she was scared out of her mind was really tough to go through.  She did not want to come to us but once we busted out the Skittles, we had her...or at least I thought.  When it was time to go, she did not want to get in the car and cried herself to sleep on me on the way back to the hotel.  Once we got up into the room....um....OH MY GOODNESS!  My dear sweet girl has a set of lungs on her.  She was crying for her nannies and telling our guide that she wanted to go back and that she did not like me.  Of course I was CRUSHED but I totally understood and had honestly prepared for the worst.  This was the worst for me.  She told them she was scared of Mike and did not like me.  They told us not to worry and this sometimes happens and just to stay calm and she will come around in a day or two.  I honestly never thought it would happen that soon.  The good news is that when she would cry, she would let me hold her and comfort her.  She told our guide that she wanted to get some dumplings.  I was happy to hear she wanted to eat!  At the restaurant she wanted me to feed her.  Remember, this little girl has been doing EVERYTHING for herself and is completely capable of feeding herself.  Of course I did not pass up this perfect opportunity to bond with her.  WIthin minutes she was smiling and then laughing!  WHOOOOOO!  We continued to laugh and play all afternoon (she loves ALL things girly and her favorite color is pink).  It was WONDERFUL and I could not believe that she could come so far in a matter of hours.  She LOVED her bath and the stickers I put on her nails.  She was also giving us hugs and kisses and telling us she loved us.  SOOOOOO sweet!  It then came time that she should be going to bed.  She was adorable in her new jammies and all of the sudden, her smiles turned to a very serious face.  She cried just a little bit and I held her until she went to sleep.  I then tried to take off her coat (which she would not take off all day) and that was it.  She woke up and SCREAMED a gut wrenching scream for another 10 minutes or so.  Needless to say, I did not fight the coat battle and let her sleep in it.  She woke up off and on all night crying in her sleep but never completely woke up.

The pictures from today are uploaded to Flickr here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mkrisher/sets/72157625595597876/

Day 4 - ADOPTION DAY!

It is official. She is ours!  When we woke up she was great.  We skyped with Mom, Dad and Logan, and then we were off to make the adoption legal here in China.  Poor Mia got sick again in the car (wondering how we are going to get through the 14 hour flight home but we will figure that out when we get there). We did not realize her nannies were going to be there and I was really worried about how she would react to seeing them again.  She REALLY loves them.  She ran up and talked and talked to them.  We signed our paperwork, took group pictures.  To our surprise when we were getting ready to leave, she waved to them and said bye, bye and was ready to go.  No tears, nothing!  On the way home she told our guide that she loved her mama and båba but love her mama just a little more than båba (båba is daddy in Chinese).  Success!  Not that she said she loved me a little more than Michael but because she said she loved BOTH of us!  :)  It is truly amazing what can happen in 24 hours.

Once we got home, we went and had lunch at McDonalds and then it was off to get Mia some new clothes and shoes!  She is so funny. She decided to put on a show putting her jacket on backwards and wearing her headband over her eyes. The girl loves her french fries and ketchup. She doesn't like cheeseburgers so much. Chicken nuggets seemed to work though. She loves dipping things. The night before she ate a full bowl of noodles. Just kept eating and eating and eating. Mike couldn't have finished that bowl. And that was after a full day of eating sweets.

After eating her and båba went to play at the indoor playground while Georgina and I went to shop for some clothes for her. She needed a new jacket. We thought it might be a battle switching to a new jacket, but surprisingly she loved her new pink jacket. She is always so cold, so we need to find her some more pants. We were able to find her some Ugg boots. She seems to like them so far. After shopping and playing our guide left and we spent the night do some more shopping and Skyping with Logan back home. We took her out to buy some toys to play with in the hotel room. She wil tell us yes or no if she likes something. More times than not though, she tells us no. She is so innocent and doesn't understand what it means to take something home to keep.

The first half of pics from today are here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mkrisher/sets/72157625595814818/

There are a few things we have definitely learned about our dear sweet girl in 48 hours.

1) She gets cold. She has to have her hood up when outside.

2) Her things from the orphanage are very important to her

3) She likes sweets!!!!!!!

4) She likes to be out walking around

5) She likes pink and pretty things

6) She can seriously eat

7) She is very self sufficient, she takes care of herself a lot, very mature

8) She is particular, big time, her sleeves have to be done, her sweater buttoned up, her jacket can't be on without being zipped

More to come later, we have to get out and get some breakfast and fill ourselves up. Finding food hasn't been too bad, but a lot of things can't be eaten because of the water. They have a Starbucks here, we may get brave and try that today as well. Americans certainly make their lives hard living how we live and it comes out when traveling abroad.

Our Hotels in China....THEY SO ROCK! WHOOOOOOO!

For all of you who know me, you know that I am a TOTAL hotel snot!  It is precisely that reason why I  am so delighted to see the places they picked out for us.  I only had to have them change one hotel (we requested to change to the Holiday Inn below - the one they picked was not so good).  Anyway, I thought you all might enjoy seeing where we are staying.  It is crazy, they are all so big and have at least 4-5 restaurants in them.  The Holiday Inn one is connected to a mall which will be great since that is the hotel we first get Mia in.  :)

Our first two nights are at Renaissance (a Marriott Hotel) Beijing Hotel.  Below are some pictures:




The 3-7th night is at the Holiday Inn in Nanjing Aqua City.  It looks more like a Westin than a Holiday Inn.  Pictures below:

The 8-13th night is at China Hotel (a Marriott Hotel) in Guangzhou.  Pictures below:

The last night is at Langham Place in Beijing.  Pretty swanky!  Too bad we will only be here for 5 hours.  Pictures below:

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Mia is coming, Mia is coming, Mia is coming - THIS YEAR!!!!

It is with ecstatic joy that I am sitting down to write this blog post.  We have received word from China that we are to be in China December 9-24 to FINALLY be united with our sweet Mia.  The schedule is as follows:

Date	Time	Activities
10 Dec  (Fri)	11:30pm	Arrive by AA187.
11 Dec (Sat)	8:00am	Visit Tian An Men Square, Forbidden City, take pictures of Olympic Park and climb Ju Yong Guan Great Wall.
12 Dec (Sun)		Fly to Nanjing by MU2802 (10:30am-12:10pm);
13 Dec (Mon)		Meet adoptive child.
14 Dec ( Tue)		Bus to civil affairs office to do paperwork;
15 Dec (Wed)	9:30am	Visit Mausoleum of Dr. Sun Yet-Sen’s & Museum of Silk Embroidery.
16 Dec (Thu)	9:30am	Visit Xuan Wu Lake.
17 Dec (Fri)		Fly to Guangzhou by ZH9678 (16:15pm-18:35pm).
18 Dec (Sat)		Have a medical checkup and fill the forms for the consulate (all paperwork got in States & China needed).
19 Dec (Sun)		Bus to Shamian Island for Sunday sermon;
20 Dec  (Mon)		Bus to clinic to check on TB test results and go shopping at pearl wholesale market.
21 Dec  (Tue)	9:00am	Guide will go to US consulate to submit paperwork.
22 Dec (Wed)		Bus to US consulate to take the oath.
23 Dec (Thu)	2:30pm	(1)   Guide will pick up visa package from the consulate; (2)   Fly to Beijing by CZ3111 (19:00pm-22:10pm).
24 Dec  (Fri)		Fly back to States by AA186  at 6:55am.

As you can see we get home on Christmas Eve.  That means Mia's first morning here will be Christmas morning!  I am pretty sure she will think she hit the jackpot!  :)  Hopefully she will not expect presents everyday.  That said, she will always be our gift.

So super excited!  I cannot wait for everyone to meet our sweet girl but most of all I cannot wait to FINALLY hold her in my arms.  It is crazy to think that after 5 and a half years of waiting we leave in 2 weeks and in 2 weeks and 3 days we will have our little girl!

So, this Thanksgiving, there is much to be thankful for!