Home Sweet Home

It's great to be home! I have been meaning to post something sooner, but the adjustment from one to two children has been a little more than what I anticipated. Not to mention the fact that our living room carpet was not visible due to unpacking, toys and the miscelaneous JUNK that covered the floor for most of the week. Alina is doing great apart from recovering from multiple illnesses. We took her to the doctor on Tuesday and found out that she had Roseola and a sinus infection on top of that. Her lymps nodes in her head (I didn't even know we HAD lymph nodes in our head. Neck, yeah, but I'm talking about above the ears and at the base of the skull...wierd) are swollen due to her body fighting infection from the bug bites she got at the orphanage. She's now on the second course of antibiotics and is starting to feel better. We have an appointment at Riley on July 13th to have blood tests and the whole work up to check on immunizations, anemia and other stuff. Until then we're keeping her on formula to help her catch up a little nutritionally. She seems small to me but is still on the charts with her weight (19 lbs.) I still have a hard time finding 'bottoms' to fit because her legs are so short and her waist small...the 9 month pants seem to fit ok. Later we'll have a consultation with the craniofacial team at Riley. She does have one small hole in her palate that we know of so far. She'll also need a lot of work on her mouth/ teeth as some of them are decayed or have come throuh in strange places. The bonding is going suprisingly well...lots of cuddling and eye contact on her part and she definitely is showing stranger anxiety. She doesn't yet know what to think of sharing mommy and daddy with Meagan...and let's just say the feeling is mutual for Meagan. It has been a HUGE adjustment for her. The other day she said, "Mom, I don't just FEEL left out. I AM left out!" I have no idea where she learned to be so melodramatic (Well, she is learning from one of the pros). It sounds like Alina is done with sleeping for now. Here are some pictures from this week.

Farewell China

Today is our last day in Guangzhou and boy are we ready to go home. Chris and I both have cabin fever (yes, I mean we're getting on eachother's last nerve), I am sick and Alina is sicker. We're looking forward to a memorable plane ride. She woke up yesterday morning with another fever. There do not seem to be any western medicine doctors around here and all of the Chinese advise we've been getting is "Make soup for baby". Hmmmm... green runny nose, barky cough and a temp of 103. Something tells me that she needs more than Chinese soup. Call me crazy, but I am going for the Zythromax that we smuggled into the country. Don't get me wrong, Eastern medicine and herbal remedies have their place, I'm sure, but we're not feeling up to exploring those options right now. My thoughts are drifting to more important matters, like what I'm going to order for dinner when we get back in the states. Hmmm.... a steak? No, maybe a big salad (we have not eaten any fresh veggies in 2 weeks) How about some water straight from the tap with no worries of repercussions in the bathroom an hour later! All joking aside, we are so thrilled to have completed all of the paperwork and appointments and to know that Alina is officially ours! As soon as we walk through the immigration line with her at the airport in LA, she immediately becomes a US citizen. Pretty cool, huh. We can't wait for all of you to meet her. We'll be seeing you soon!

Making Progress

Sorry for the delinquency in blogging. The past few days have been so busy it's hard to know where to begin. You should be able to view two separate slide shows...one of misc. shots of us and the other from the orphanage visit. First of all, Alina is doing great and is totally coming out of her shell. We are getting smiles and giggles all the time now. She actually seems to have a pretty strong will as we have witnessed some fit throwing (looking at that sweet face, it's hard to believe, I know) On Sunday we suprised Chris with a Father's Day t-shirt with both of the girls' hand prints on it. We also visited a Christian church on the island. Many of the young people in China are interested in Christianity and it was very encouraging to see standing room only for the church service. On Monday we flew to Shantou city to visit Alina's orphanage. It was an exhausting day for all of us with the travel to and from in the same day, but very much worth it. Her orphanage is not really an orphanage, but a welfare institute that houses about 400 residents including homeless elderly and children ranging in age from 0-24 (95% of them with special needs) The staff were very loving and seem to do the best with what they have which isn't much. It was so heartbreaking for see the kids. There was one little boy that struck me so much...if we had another $20,000 at our disposal I would adopt him in a heartbeat. Quite a few of them grow up in the institution and then become caretakers for the babies. Chris said a silent prayer for all of the kids that they would find loving families. For some reason, this orphanage only sees about 20-30 adoptions each year. More later... I'm having trouble again with the picture thing so I may have to try to post again later.

The jig is up

Ok, so you know our silent, stoic, don't-look-at-me little girl. Well, last night Alina woke up in the middle of the night and apparently thought she was back in her familiar environment. Chris and I awoke to sounds of her playing, talking, and even giggling in her crib. She let me play the 'gotcha' game with her for a few minutes (maybe I look Chinese in the dark!). This morning she gave us that familiar "Oh, great you're STILL here" look and back to the same "don't look at me and I won't look at you" routine. But hey, now the secret is out! I'm trying again to post pictures of the past few days

Oh, our aching backs...

Alina seems to be feeling better, although it's hard to tell for sure. No fever, at least. The past few days have been exhausting as our little angel will tolerate nothing less than a full-body embrace at all times. The baby Bjorn has been an absolute life saver (thanks Sara!). I feel like my biceps and lower back muscles are going to be totally buff by the time we get home! Today she did sit in a high chair for a few minutes and feed herself, which is definitely progress. At first she would not look at our faces and would try to cover her face when we looked at her. Now she is making some eye contact and even reaching out to touch our face sometimes! Apart from all of the adjusting to eachother, we are thoroughly enjoying the baby/toddler stage again and trying to totally indulge her (and us!) before we have to get back to a normal schedule. We can't wait for everyone to meet her. Hopefully we will fly to visit her orphanage next Tuesday. Today we did some sightseeing and visited 2 temples...absolutely beautiful. It has been raining here everyday. And when it's not raining (well, all of the time) it is hot and HUMID (think sauna). Chris is tolerating the food. There are a quite a few Western style restaurants and the island and the food is sort of close to the real thing. Shopping is on the adgenda for tomorrow. More later.

A Sick Alina

We are absolutely thrilled to finally have Alina in our arms! Hopefully you can view the slide show...sorry for the few pictures but the computer here is so slow and expensive to use. We went to the civil affairs office Monday afternoon where they handed her to us the for the first time...with a 102 degree fever! Needless to say our first 24 hours together have been a little strained with Alina feeling miserable, dazed and confused. She also has the mother of all bug bites on her head...I guess where she is from the kids get pretty eaten up. So, most of the pictures she looks pathetically sad and has been sleeping a lot. Chris thinks he might have eeked out a smile just a minute ago... that would be a first! The rest of the week will be a few more appointments and some shopping!

We're Here!

Just wanted to let everyone know that we arrived in Guangzhou safely this morning (no plane crash) We have to wait until tomorrow to pick up Alina... apparently the Civil Affairs Office is closed today (a minor detail overlooked) We're trying to get used to 'rolling with the punches' here where the language barrier is an issue all the time. I guess it is just as well since we are totally pooped. We're doing our best to stay up until it is night-time here. I know all you really want to see are pictures of Alina, but I'll try to post a few from today. Hopefully more tomorrow of Alina!

Itinerary

Hard to believe that we are leaving for China in just over 3 days! You should see our living room right now. I feel like a girl scout...we are prepared for anything. Pedialyte, prune juice (for the opposite but equally unpleasant problem), tiny little sewing kit, we've got it all. I went to the bank after work today to withdraw what we affectionately refer to as our "wad-o-cash". Chris thinks that the cash should be distributed between the two of us in amounts proportional to our body weight. I guess he thinks that I would be an easy target for a take-down if we're mugged. Gee, it's not like we will be conspicuous tourists or anything... a very caucasion-looking couple traveling with a Chinese baby. Seriously, I'm sure everything will be fine. We just can't wait to get our hands on her! Here is our itinerary as far as we know:

Friday, June 8th Depart Indpls 7:00AM, Arrive LA 8:17 AM
Spend the day in LA doing some sightseeing and killing time
Depart LA 11:50 PM

Sunday, June 10th Arrive Guangzhou 6:20 AM. Someone from the
orphanage will bring Alina to us at the hotel that evening

Monday, June 11th Adoption Day (AKA appointments and paperwork)
Sightseeing and other stuff yet to be determined for the rest
of the week

Thursday, June 21st Consulate Appointment

Friday, June 22nd Depart Guangzhou 9PM, arrive LA 6:50 PM (on the same day)

June 22nd-June 23rd Staying at Four Points Sheraton (LA Airport)
Chris' dad and Lisa meeting us at the airport

Saturday June 23rd Depart LA 9:30 AM, arrive Indpls 4:34 PM