At Home With Our New American

Hallelujah, we're HOME!! It took me this long, almost a week, to find time blog but it is starting to settle down a little around here, so I think I can get this done. I'll have to do it without airport pictures, which are wonderful but not in my possession. If I wait for those I may not have a chance.

Our trip home was long and tiring which isn't surprising is it? Ailah doesn't like to sit still in our laps on an airplane any more than she did in a taxi or bus. Despite the Benedryl we gave her to make her sleepy, she struggled to sleep because she kept coughing. In fact, she coughed so hard that two times she gagged and vomited, all over herself, me and, unfortunately, our seat mate. (Not Jeff!) Thanks to a similar experience with Mara three years ago, we had a change of clothes for each of us in our carry-on. But not two changes for me, so I spent the last hour of the flight rather damp and smelly. At LAX, where we had to pull our luggage to go through customs, we snuck it over to a corner and frantically dug through for a "clean" pair of jeans for me. (At this point clean just meant it didn't have baby vomit on it.)

We were extremely blessed on the way home to be given bulkhead seats from Hong Kong to LA. Wow, what a great difference that made from our last trip home. We could move! Since we had the aisle seat and seat next to it, we were able to get up and change, prepare bottles, etc. Plus Jeff was able to stretch his legs, all the way out. Along with the bulkhead seating came the most gracious and friendly gentleman I've ever met in the window seat next to me. He was an American who travels to China 3 or 4 times a year and he couldn't have been nicer about all the bruhaha caused by a 17-month-old fussy baby coughing nonstop and vomiting on his arm halfway through the flight. Every time I apologized he told us what a joy it was to watch her or that she had a very quiet cry or that he as a father understood completely. I'm sure he was lying through his teeth but it made the trip so much more comfortable for us. God really answered our prayers for good travel.

Once we reached LAX it was smooth sailing. Because we were fairly close to the front of the plane we were able to get off early and Jeff practically ran to the immigration lines with Ailah and I moving as fast as we could to keep up. We were only second in the "visitor" line we'd been told to wait in for Ailah's sake. Turned out we could have waited in the citizen line but that is NOT what they told us at the Consulate the day before. But I think we got through faster this way since many Americans beat us to the line. We ended up first in line after that for the officer to go through Ailah's immigration packet and it only took about 10 minutes for her to be declared a citizen and leave that room. Whew!

Next step, moving our suitcases through customs and onto the domestic flight. I'd been dreading this the entire trip because my memory was that at San Francisco last time we had to hand carry/pull them. (But had 4 people to do it.) Thankfully, LAX provided carts to transport our 4 suitcases and 3 carry ons through the hallways. Once the luggage was back on track and I had the chance to change my clothes, we still had time for some American food in an overpriced airport restaurant.

Final leg was easy by comparison. Ailah slept for the entire flight from LA to Denver with only a moment's waking when the pilot LOUDLY announced we'd been cleared for take off. (A full 25 minutes before we actually quit taxiing and took off.) Despite a delayed departure, the tail winds were apparently in our favor and we arrived in Denver only a few minutes after our originally scheduled landing.

Our welcoming entourage consisted of our three "big" girls and the Collins family. What a wonderful homecoming! Mara ran to me for a giant hug and didn't want to let go the entire evening. It seems all was forgiven as soon as she laid eyes on me and that was such a blessing to me. Jeff and I also got lots of hugs and love from Katy and Nikki though Ailah was the star of the show and, of course, everyone wanted to love on her. She was having very little of it though she terribly curious about Trevor's head (who isn't?) and touched it several times trying to figure it out.

After we collected our luggage we said goodbye to the Collins and headed to Katy's for some fast food and fellowship. We had a great time chatting about the trip and their new sister but Jeff and I were a little tired. We didn't make it much past 8:00 before we had to head home. We were both so weary we had to have Nikki play chauffeur.

We are so thankful to be safely on this side of the adoption trip to China. It was a great experience but I love being home without that lingering dread about flights to and from that we've had for the last 2.5 years. And just for the record, the Hong Kong airport was the least hospitable, most confiscatory, rude and obnoxious of our stops this go around. Both directions. They even come close to beating out LAX on our first China trip.

I'll post later about our adjustments since getting home. Both girls are resting now and I just hate to miss an opportunity to rest for a few minutes. And I think I'll have pictures to add very soon.

Leaving in the Morning

No pictures today because cameras aren't allowed at the consulate and not much time to write because I should be in bed right now. But all went well at the US Consulate for the oath taking today and we have now been sanctioned by both governments to take our babies and ourselves home. There was a bit of a scare since two babies in this giant group of Guangdong babies who have been traveling to each appointment en masse, contracted Chicken Pox over the last week. Those two families were being held up and their entire travel group was threatened with having to stay until February 9 to avoid bringing Chicken Pox into the US. Yeah, like we've never seen it there. Anyway, if it had shown up in our group, there was the threat of not being allowed to take the oath. But it didn't, we took the oath and we're cleared for travel VERY early tomorrow morning. Our bags have to be in the hall at 5 a.m. and we have to be on the bus to the airport at 5:50.

So this is my last post from China which is happy and sad. I can't wait to get home with Ailah so we can settle in and I'm SO anxious to see our other three girls again. But it is a bit sad saying goodbye to China for the last time. Or at least the last time for many years to come if we're able to someday bring the girls back to see the land of their birth. While I have many issues with the cultural ideals and politics of China, it holds a treasured place in my heart as the birth place of my two beautiful Chinese daughters.

I don't know when I'll be posting again. I expect to be very tired, jet-lagged and busy when I get home but I will do a few updates on Ailah's progress as soon as we get settled and rested up. Thanks for all your support and prayers during our very long journey to Ailah. We can't wait for everyone to meet her. Talk to you all soon!

Red Couch Day

Yep, it was that day both dreaded and loved by every parent who adopts from China. (Hate the day, love the pictures.) The day we attempt to take a group picture of all the babies in the travel group on one of the "red" couches at The White Swan. As expected, it was pandemonium. It was as well organized as possible by our very able CCAI reps but still extremely chaotic. With 16 families it was practically impossible to get all of the "babies" to sit still on the couch long enough to snap a picture. Jeff came close but managed to cut off the two babies perched on top of the couch. I'm sure somebody got a usable one we can snag. Meanwhile we got a very nice family picture, a good large group picture and a great picture of Ailah with Jason and Cathy. (Well, Jason and Cathy look great, Ailah was doing well to not cry.)

This evening we enjoyed our last group dinner at the Thai restaurant. (You know the one.) What a different group we are than at that first meal together way back in Hong Kong on January 12. We now have that bond and camaraderie that comes from sharing a life changing experience with one another and supporting each other through the first difficult days. It's so fun to see the new confidence of first-time parents and watch the joy of long-time parents adding a new child to their family. All those manly men have been wrapped around their new daughters little fingers and even the fathers of little boys show unabashed pride. All the women have that contented and confident look on their faces that says, "this is my child, isn't she great?" It is an experience unique to an adoption travel group and one I treasure with two different groups of "forever friends" as I heard one mom refer to us when talking to her 3-year-old the other day. We thank God for this group of friends and this time together.

The Red Couch Photo

As close as we got to all the kids sitting still. Our apologies to Hannah and Addisyn sitting up there on top.

Cai decides to make her escape.

She pleads with the rest to join her.

All hell breaks loose.

Miscellaneous Red Couch Photos

Just us. This looked better on the camera. Ailah does not have a fat lip as the odd shadow would make you think.

The BIG group of 16 families! Almost couldn't get us all in the picture.

Ailah with Cathy and Jason our wonderful CCAI reps.


This has nothing to do with the red couch. I just love that smile.

Laurie's Favorite Shot of the Day

Ailah after a long, long day. She fell asleep in the cab on the way home.

The Insane Tourists

We always have to do everything the hard way. Since we missed the "city tour" with our group last week, due to our exhaustion, we decided to recreate that trip on our own but with a few added attractions. Some of the added attractions were not intentional, like the argument over the price of formula with the entire management team at Carrefour and the 45-minute battle for a taxi at rush hour. But I'm getting ahead of myself, let me start at the beginning.

A few days ago the concierge at the White Swan gave Jeff a list of interesting things to see with his own personal spin added. He said, "you must see Er Sha Island, it has many interesting things to do." Well, I'm sure that depends on what a person finds interesting. We didn't find it at all interesting with the exception of a very dramatic and strangely dressed bunch of foreigners (middle eastern?) filming what looked like a commercial. Tom, you would have had more fun, there was an art museum there but we opted to not try that with a baby and a long list of other places to go.

Next stop: the Chen Clan Ancestral Temple, which isn't really a temple at all but really an "Academy" and the Provincial Folk Art Museum. It was a nice building with lots of cool frieze sculpture adorning the roof and some beautiful examples of Guangdong's specialties in the world of folk art. Of course, we were welcome to buy examples of each.

In search of the Six Banyan Temple, since we've never seen a Buddhist temple, we asked at the Visitor Information Center next to the Chen Clan Temple/Academy/Museum. They were very nice and wanted to help us despite their limited English. They gave us a map and pointed us in the right direction for the temple, telling us that we could walk there. Well, technically that is true and we proved it. You can walk to the temple from the Temple/Academy/Museum. But should we have walked there? Probably not. I don't know how far it was for sure but with a baby and a huge backpack on crowded Guangzhou streets it felt like six miles. But we made it and enjoyed seeing just what a Buddhist temple and grounds looks like. Wow, those Buddhas are BIG. We really enjoyed the break from the unpleasant smells on the streets thanks to the thousands of sticks of burning incense all over the grounds. We found that they had sold us not only entrance tickets to the temple but tickets to climb the 9-story Pagoda so, hey, why not. This was very interesting since the doorways and stair wells were obviously not built for Americans of Jeff's build, especially not with a baby strapped on. We made it to the 7th level before my fear of heights got the better of me and I made us all go back down, an event even more interesting for Jeff and Ailah.

So back outside the temple we discussed catching a cab there or walking back to the Carrefour we'd spotted on our way to pick up some baby formula for Ailah before catching a cab back to the hotel. We chose the latter--a huge mistake. It was a pretty good hike back to the Carrefour, almost as far as the trek to the temple. Once inside we quickly made our way to the baby formula aisle where we ran into some of our travel group members on the same mission. Bad news, no formula on the shelves. Loc and Kelly, having arrived before us and being unwilling to leave without formula located a box on a top shelf and pulled out several bags. So far so good, until they tried to check out. We're still only surmising what the exact problem was, but the best we could figure out was that this box of formula had been stockpiled up on the top because the bags were supposed to be a freebie with another purchase. Unfortunately, the item it was to go with remained a mystery. Even to the staff, apparently. This is where we came in. The bags had no barcode and so couldn't be rung up. How about just keying in the price? Apparently an impossibility. How about scanning in the same size bag of a different level of the same brand. Couldn't be done. How about we buy the original item and get the bag free? Nobody knows what the item is. So after arguing with the Le's for a good long while, they gave them a bag of the formula free and sent them on their way. Then we were in line right behind them. We hoped for the same result, but nope. Several members of management came to the register and a very heated debate ensued. I believe the cashier was on our side and was trying to get them to at least give us one bag like our predessesors. But apparenty the management wasn't going to budge. Didn't want to start a trend, I guess. You know, we might head back to the hotel and send every family in our travel group for a cab ride to the Carrefour just to get their free bag. Okay, so we agree to just buy the other very important items we'd picked up as we walked through the store, (baby wipes, Snickers bars, peanut M & M's and a few cans of Coke,) and move on our way. I don't know what the problem was here, but it took us a good round of charades to convince them we were still willing to buy our snacks and wipes even if they were willing to send us away with a hungry baby. Several minutes later we finally emerged from the store with our meager purchases wishing we'd just caught a cab from the temple.

But we're not done yet! We stopped in next door for dinner at KFC, since by this time we were all ravenous and tired. This part was great. The chicken tasted almost like home, Ailah enjoyed a bottle and a container of mashed potatoes and we looked forward to a quick ride "home." Yeah, right. At 6:15 p.m. in front of the Carrefour. In China. The few cabs we convinced to stop were quickly snatched right out from under us by rude locals who came out of the woodwork as the cab came to a stop and couldn't care less that we were standing in the cold and dark with a fussing baby. (Up until now Ailah had been a real trooper, but now she was cold and tired.) Finally, after changing sides of the street and getting pretty rude himself, Jeff managed to snag a cab for us. We arrived back at the hotel almost an hour after we left the KFC.

So what we could have done with our travel group in three hours, took us about seven and we arrived back at the White Swan exhausted, irritable and without formula. Definitely without formula. But we conquered and had a great adventure. Maybe next time we'll try doing things the easy way. Nah, what fun would that be?

The good news is, Ailah can keep up with us on our zany adventures, as if she was born to it. She was happy and friendly all day, catching a few naps in her carrier and eating whenever and wherever we happened to sit down for a meal. She is a great kid and keeps us laughing. She was ready to stretch her muscles when we got back to the room and spent about 45 minutes crawling or "walking" around the room holding onto beds, desks, drawer pulls, whatever came within hand's reach. She seems anxious to get going on this walking thing.

Lori, fortunately I don't think we have the same stroller though it certainly does look grubby enough to have been here since August of 2006! It does go its own direction but so far hasn't collapsed on us. You must have had a great time with that one!! Unlike Shan Shan, Ailah hates it. I think I can get the squeaky shoes. I have to make a trip back to Jennifer's for Ailah's quilt anyway.

Other than a quest for formula, I think we'll hang around the hotel tomorrow and avoid any more harrowing adventures. Unfortunately, just today the little grocery store here on Shamian closed its doors permanantly, so we will have to venture to the Guangzhou Department Store for more. We'll go early in the day and make no other stops!

Tourist Shots

We did find this intersting sign outside a parking garage on Er Sha. Apparently French Horn players are poor customers.

Outside the Temple/Academy/Museum

Catch those cat naps when you can, I always say.

More Tourist Shots

A fun sight along our very long walk.

These guys are huge!

The pagoda from below.

A view of Guangzhou from the top of the pagoda. (Or as close to the top as we made it.)

Our Beautiful Girl

If I knew how to type that noise you girls do for cute, that would be the caption.

No News is Good News

We've had such a peaceful quiet few days here that I decided to take a blog break yesterday. Other than a stack of Visa paperwork for Ailah today, the only activity has been shopping; yesterday at Li Wan Mall and today around Shamian. The trip to Li Wan was, for me, to buy pearls, for Jeff, to buy DVD's.

I spent much too much on pearls, but I filled your request Katelynn and it's all your fault I was even there. I'll put it on your tab. We spent a great deal less at the DVD store and all but one worked on our DVD player. Today Jeff went back with our portable player to try a few more and after explaining what it was, he was the envy of everyone in the store. Apparently these little DVD players aren't common here. And, of course, the DVD's are legit, we'd never buy anything untoward. We also have some swampland in Florida on which we will give you "very best, good friend price."

Last night we went to Michael's Tea Shop for the third time for some more good conversation and good tea. This is our favorite place on Shamian. He always welcomes us in, makes us wonderful tea and answers our many, many questions about his family and life, China's customs and Guangdong province. This time we didn't leave without making some purchases so we are set to have tea with any one that wants to join us when we get home. I doubt it will be as much fun as at Michael's. Or at least not as informative. Again, Katelynn, I hold you responsible for the tab but we got you a very nice teapot.

Ailah continues to amaze us as she comes out of her shell. Lisa, we were right the first time. I'm still waiting to see a laid back Chinese baby. She never stops moving and her hands are almost as fast as Mara's were. And I know many of you will find this unbelievable, but she has Mara beat hand's down on the drama queen routine when we say no. I didn't know a kid could be so dramatic for so long about a simple request to stop dropping unwanted food on the floor rather than putting it back on the plate.

She is a charming girl, smiling and laughing often, though still shy with strangers. Not fearful, just reserved. She is becoming very mobile, pulling up in her crib and on the beds and walking all around. We haven't pushed it any more than what she does for herself in case her bones are soft enough to cause problems with becoming bowlegged. We're happy to see her sucking down a carton of yogurt two or three times a day with great delight. We figure the more calcium the better. She's not terribly impressed with fruit or vegetables, but she'll eat a few bites here and there. Hopefully she'll get used to that when we get home. She loves the potatoes, in any form, but especially mashed, so Lucy's is her favorite place to eat. Mara and Nikki you'll be glad to hear she is "singing." She has started making a few word-like sounds in a sing-song rhythm, changing tones every now and again. But you two will have your work cut out teaching her to match pitch when she gets home.

Tomorrow we're off for more sight seeing on our own. The group is scheduled for the zoo which we saw last time and decided we don't care to try again. Wonder what we'll discover tomorrow? The warmer weather we've enjoyed the last three days is not slated to last and indeed it was quite cool again this evening. Maybe some indoor venues.

Shopping and Making Friends

It took three people to make my order at the pearl market. Yipes!


The Stuff on a Stick food stand on Li Wan Plaza. Mostly okay, but check out those "tentacles on a stick." Eeeewwww!

Our new friend Michael explains it to Jeff, one more time.


Ailah's new friend, at 11 months, has it a lot more together on the walking thing.

Just Because

This one's for you Lisa. I've never seen a reflecting ball this size at Hobby Lobby.

I just love this face!!

An elegant Christmas display at the gate of Yun Tai Garden. Should I have mentioned to them the season is over?

This one is a little hard to see but cracked me up. Ailah spent about 10 minutes grunting and straining to push all of her stacking cups about a foot under the bed. Jeff says she is a good candidate for a government job--she works very hard at a pointless task and gets no appreciation. (I pulled them back out as soon as she went to bed.)

Yun Tai Garden

The very cool looking greenhouse.

Another cool looking thing.

Jeff and the Friendlies. I think China is excited about the Olympics. These guys are everywhere!

A charming brook babbling down the hillside.

Baiyun Mountain

The name of this contraption, "the ropeway" didn't give me a lot of comfort.

The view from the top.

Ailah was singularly unimpressed with chocolate ice cream. Or maybe it was the elegant spoon.

Many, many photo ops on top of the hill.

Tourists in Guangzhou

We were disappointed that our reps had not planned one of the tours that the Collins had gone on when they were in Guangzhou. They had told us how great it was and we thought we might get to since we were here for the entire time. Jason said they have too many new people coming in this weekend to take us. So since we had warmish weather and most of the day free, we took matters into our own hands and took a taxi to Baiyun Mountain and Yuntai Garden.

While it was overcast, today was much warmer than the past week, so we really enjoyed wandering the park-like area on top of the mountian, doing some major people watching and catching a trained bird show. The view was hazy due to pollution or mist or both, but the air smelled clean. Of course, we took the "ropeway" (gondola ride) up and down, opting out of the long hike either way. And I handled it very well Nikki and Katy, I only fussed once when Dad stood up to take a picture and made the car tilt. (Those who know me well, are familiar with my deep-seated fear of gondola rides and ferris wheels.) We were on top of the mountain at lunch time and there were many "snack bars" but not a word of English on any of the menus. We ate ice cream. Ailah was NOT impressed.

After we came back down the mountain, we spent about 90 minutes wandering Yuntai Garden a beautiful botanic garden at the base at the base of the mountain. Besides a really cool looking greenhouse with strange, exotic plants like cactus, there were several acres of gardens, waterfalls, fountains and statuary. It was a very peaceful day of touring, I highly recommend it to all adopting families.

We ended our day with a group dinner at "the Thai restaurant." This place does have a name, but nobody seems to know it or use it. It is something like The Cow and Bridge. (No, I can't explain that. At least not the cow part. Maybe the bridge part because it is right across the street from the bridge between Guangzhou and Shamian.) Again, I think Jeff enjoyed it more than me. And Ailah again enjoyed her steamed bean curd. This stuff just looks nasty whether you call it bean curd or tofu. I repeat, yuck. It was a fun time with our group.

Ailah had a good day. She seemed to enjoy the peaceful nature of the mountain and the garden. Not so much the crazy scene in the restaurant at the end. It seems she is very uncomfortable with noise and chaos. Seems to really overstimulate her and she gets cranky. As soon as we left there she was her cheerful, smiling self again. Until Jeff tried to put her to bed. She is getting worse and worse about letting Jeff do things for her. It's hard to not give in and take her, but I really don't want her to be that dependent on me. I get plenty of snuggle time. She was in the sling the entire time we were at the mountain and the gardens and she really liked that. I am finding it really hard when I can't set her down to let her walk for a few minutes. I've never had a child this old and this heavy that couldn't walk so it is a learning experience. I should be in great shape by the time she is self-ambulatory.

A Few Landmarks and a Lot of Cute

We finally caught that smile on the camera. She's so cute!

She's standing!

No landmark here, she is just so cute. And check out the toes.

A Relaxed Day

Today we had zero scheduled paperwork and chose not to go on a tour with the group. Until today we hadn't had a chance to take a breather so we were all three exhausted. Ailah's cough was better last night but she still woke us up a few times. Then she was wide awake at her usual SWI time, a little before 6 a.m. Not much refreshed, we opted to stay on the island and do a little casual shopping and a lot of down time.

Ailah was crabby this afternoon, especially after we borrowed a stroller and put her in it. She did NOT like it. After a short while she fell asleep and slept for a few hours as we wandered. When she woke up she seemed a little happier but still wanted out of that stroller.

When we returned to the room Ailah let loose and really started to show her personality. She had us both laughing with her silliness. Whew! We were beginning to worry about this side of her, as we'd not seen it yet. We can't imagine a child in this family that isn't silly. And during the course of her play, she pulled herself up and stood under her own power. Just for a second or two each time but the plopping down on her behind was part of the game so I still don't know how long she can stand. She isn't super steady, so I'm guessing not long. But she'll be walking before we know it. I think she'll want to keep up with Mara as soon as we get home.

Baby Bird

Ailah enjoying her mashed potatoes. She reminded us of a baby bird.

Shenanigans

Don't ask.

McDonald's fries work their magic on another Stoll kid.

Her passport picture looks almost just like this. I was surprised they allow them to be crying in the passport photo.

Jeff just wondered if she was ready for riding on his shoulders yet. Pretty close!