Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas! We have been so busy that I haven't had a chance to update the blog since before Thanksgiving...yikes! Thanksgiving was a success and the turkey turned out great. So now I never have to worry about cooking my first turkey ever again!

We have had so much fun this Christmas season...where do I start...hmmm. How about parties...I got the chance to go to our church's Christmas Cantata, a women's Christmas luncheon, a Christmas party for hubby's work, Julia's Christmas party at school, Jacob's Christmas party at school, the kids' Christmas musical at church and I still have 2 family parties, and Christmas Eve service where I get to ring handbells. Not to mention Christmas shopping, wrapping presents, baking cookies and gingerbread, decorating the house, and enjoying the season...whew!

Here's a quick Jenna update...she learned to walk and now almost runs. She is still "Grabby Abby" but has learned when mom and dad say "no" she stops grabbing...sometimes. Jenna can say a few words now. Her most recent is "up" (that sounds like "pup") when she wants to sit in our lap. She is a very happy baby. Life is very full with our third child!

Jacob and Julia are wonderful big brother and sister to Jenna. They still enjoy spending hours out in our backyard pretending all sorts of things and swinging their hearts out. Jacob is a bundle of energy and he hasn't learned how to control all of it...he has also begun to tell silly jokes...mostly they end with someone or something in the potty...he's six, what do you expect? Julia is a little mother to Jenna AND Jacob and has a lot of fun in gymnastics too. She was invited to join the gymnastics team at the YMCA, we declined this year. We just want her to have fun for a little longer before things get too serious. Julia and Jacob are soooooo excited about Christmas this year. Julia has finally grasped the idea of Santa through Jacob's leading. Christmas day should be exciting!

I will attach a few pictures soon of the kids, for now, here's one of "mom and dad" at a work party at the speedway. It was nice to have a break for a few hours and feel like a grown up!

Merry Christmas!

Two Months With Jenna

We have been a family of 5 for two months and I can't tell you how wonderfully full life is in the Krueger home! Jenna has become a member of the family and it feels like she's been with us forever.

Here's an update on Jenna for the past month: She's drinking out of a sippy-straw cup, she tries to say, "mama, dada, book, meow meow, and thank you", she has 3 more teeth coming in for a total of 8 teeth, she likes to help us dress her in the mornings, she wiggles and smiles like crazy when Jacob and Julia enter the room, she is still jealous of brother and sister when they are with mom and dad but not nearly as much as a month ago, she is feeding herself mostly, will sleep through the night in her crib and sometimes a nap in the pack 'n play, AND she has started to walk!! Everyone is so excited to see her take a few steps. She will take about 6 to 7 steps across the room and then take a dive to the person she is walking to...very cute! Jenna is very proud of her walking too, wish you could see her smile!

Thanksgiving is this week and we have so many things to be thankful for, the biggest one I think is that we finally have Jenna home. My family is coming over for Thanksgiving and I'm cooking my first turkey...oh boy...hope it comes out okay. My mom and sister have encouraged me so I think it will be okay...let's just say I'll be really thankful if the turkey tastes great!

Best wishes to you all this week. Happy Thanksgiving!

Family Pictures

We took the kids to a local photography place and had family portraits taken early in October. Of course, it's taken me awhile to get them out here! The kids did great and I was one proud Mama when the photographer (who photographs kids all day, 7 days a week) told me that I had really great kids. She emphasized it twice, "Really great kids. I mean it, REALLY great kids!" Wow! It's nice to hear that from people sometimes. Motherhood is a hard job and a comment like this can carry me through months of hard parenting times. This was great to hear!

We made sure to get dresses for Julia and Jenna that matched in China. I guessed at Julia's size and fortunately guessed right. The dress just fit her and probably won't fit in 6 months! The girls were beautiful if I say so myself! I'm so glad I thought of this before we left China. I've posted our pictures to the right for all to see.

Fall Fun

It's been a busy week full of Fall festivals, playgroup parties, school parties and more! This year the kids have worn their costumes at least 4 times before Halloween...we've gotten our money's worth out of them!

Jenna is more comfortable with us everyday and is opening up to everyone. She has truly become a part of the family in just a few short weeks. Thanksgiving and Christmas will be a lot of fun this year.

Here are a few pictures of the kids from the past few days.

Quotables

It's been awhile since I've posted, sorry. Things are quite busy around the house with 3 children and I'm just now finding a routine where I can actually get to the computer long enough to have a complete thought!

The kids have adjusted well to being in a family of 5 and we've had a few funny comments I'd like to share with you. All these have either been said directly to me or I have overheard them in the last 2 weeks:

"Jenna sure does scream a lot."
"Babies cry all the time, that's what Oma told me."
"Jenna, lay down! Some people are trying to sleep!"
"Please take her out, I can't take my nap with her."
"Jenna does not like her socks, she always takes them off!"

Most were said by Julia since she shares a room with Jenna. And Jenna is not screaming or crying as much as she did the first week. I think it just made an impression on Julia and now she's associating Jenna with crying. However, Jenna does have a very loud voice. She squeals with delight a lot and it's quite ear piercing. My third child is presenting new challenges! We have already started talking about inside voices...I can't wait until she actually understands what I'm telling her.

Julia's preschool class had Farm Day on Monday and Jenna and I had a great time with Julia. The kids had a petting zoo, did a craft, jumped on a moonbounce, picked a pumpkin, and played games. I've posted a funny picture of Julia with 2 of her friends and a happy Jenna. The Halloween parade is Friday and I'll post again then.

Falling Into a Routine

Well, now that we have been home for almost 2 weeks things seem to be starting to fall into a routine. Jacob and Julia's schedules have helped us stay on track and Jenna is adjusting well. I might add that Jacob and Julia are adjusting well too...they both love helping Jenna and playing with Jenna. It is very interesting to see the 3 of them interact.

Jenna doesn't seem to have any stranger anxiety as long as Daddy is near...yup, she's Daddy's little girl! The girls are sharing a room successfully now except at bedtime. We have to "stagger entry" Julia because it takes Jenna a bit to settle down for a full night's sleep. It seems like Jenna is just too cuddly to want to sleep on her own, but once we get her calm and under the covers she settles in...for a few hours, then she's up to complain about not sleeping in our bed with us! So our first few nights of sleeping "all the way through" are going to be short lived for a few more days or weeks. Only time will tell.

We took the kids to a pumpkin patch last Saturday and they had a great time picking out pumpkins. Jenna also had her first visit to church last Sunday and she did well there too. We attempted to have her sit with us in the pew, but she got a case of the wiggles which usually leads to a case of jabbering at the top of her lungs! So I took her outside for a bit and returned to listen to the remainder of the sermon in the Narthex where I could make a quick exit if necessary. I think we'll try the nursery for Jenna in a few weeks, as soon as she's a little more adjusted and attached to all of us.

Party of Five!

We are well on our way to forgetting about jet lag! I am happy to say that for the past 2 nights in a row, Jenna has slept 95% of the way through the night, waking only once to complain a little bit. She has taken 2 regular naps today in her own crib...happy, joy, happy, joy!

Here are a few pictures of our arrival at the airport. Once we get our camera batteries recharged we will start to take a few more pictures of the kids together and then post out here. That's all for today, love to you all!

A big bird is in our yard!

Jacob came in from soccer practice yesterday yelling, "Mom, a big bird is in our yard!" This is what he saw.




I believe our local FCC chapter blessed us with this sign...thank you!! What a nice welcome home!

Home Sweet Home!

37 hours, 3 planes, and 1 hotel later we are home! Sorry it has taken us a few days to post but jet lag has kicked our behinds! Jenna did well on our 13 hour flight home to Newark and actually slept 6 hours on the plane and only threw one temper tantrum. We were pleasantly surprised. When we arrived in Newark Jenna's visa paperwork was processed by a former US Marine, Immigration officer. He was very nice and welcomed our "new American citizen" home and wished us good luck. That was a great welcome home!

We stayed overnight in Newark on Saturday because there were no flights via Continental home the same day. Just as well because we would have arrived home too late to see Jacob and Julia at the airport. Jenna slept only 2 hours at a time that night and Daddy had to take her on a stroll around the lobby, the business center, the workout center, etc, to keep her entertained and quiet. So daddy unfortunately didn't get more than 6 to 8 hours of sleep in 2 days.

Our plane arrived home earlier than anticipated so we had to wait in baggage claim for our family to arrive. We were very happy to see our family. I especially was happy to see Jacob and Julia! Julia flew into my arms when she saw me...wonderful! I hadn't mentioned it before, but I had a problem knowing what to do with my hands in China. You see, my hands are usually holding Jacob's or Julia's hands and I missed holding their hands...I didn't have any little hands to hold in China. It was so nice to finally hold their hands again!

Jenna is still jet lagged but seems to be adjusting to USA time instead of China time. It's been a hard couple of days for her; she is not used to other children being around and is a bit jealous of all the time we spend with Jacob and Julia too, she is not the center of attention anymore. The next few weeks will be a struggle for her. Please pray for her little heart to be settled and for her to adjust to being the youngest in a family of 3 children.

I will try to post a few pictures in the next few weeks of the kids together. It's been interesting already to say the least. Jacob is turning out to be a great helper of a big brother and Julia is a little concerned with all the screaming and we think she isn't so sure about having a little sister around! Sharing mom and dad is proving to be difficult for both of our girls.

Jenna's Last Day in China

Well, it has been another quiet day and this will most likely be our last post before we board the plane home. Our bags are packed and everything looks pretty good so we shouldn’t have any troubles at the airport. We did not need to buy another bag, yea!

We took a 45 minute trip to the US Consulate to pick up Jenna’s passport and entrance visa this afternoon. It was pretty non-climatic. We passed through security and entered a large room with about 65 other families and had our passport copies checked to ensure that we were actually present that day. We were then informed that we should NOT open the visa packet, only US immigration should open it when we arrive in the airport. Then we raised our right hand and affirmed that we had given all the correct information to the US consulate and took responsibility for the children in our custody and we were done. We then received Jenna’s passport and visa packet.

Please pray for Jenna to have an uneventful 13 ½ hour flight to the USA. She still fights sleep so we are hoping she doesn’t have a meltdown on the plane ride home. Also pray for my back to hold out, I’ve been feeling a little pain because of the uncomfortable beds in China…they are a bit too firm for my back. I’m still prepared with icy hot patches and ThermaCare wraps so we hope all will be well. Next post will be from the USA, see you then!

PS - Daddy is singing Jenna to sleep tonight with "Hong Kong Fuey", like I said earlier, Daddy likes to sing to Jenna! :)

US Consulate Appointment Day

Today was a pretty quiet day. Our consulate appointment was this morning and Kelly needed one of the parents to be in the room in case she needed to contact us with paperwork questions. I decided to stay and Daddy took Jenna on a walk to QingPing Market right across the bridge from Shamian Island. We’ve put a few pictures of the interesting things they saw along the way in the slideshow…let’s just say I was glad I stayed in the room. Jenna took another dip in the pool with Daddy this afternoon while mommy finished her book “Snow Flower and the Secret Fan”. Then we watched a DVD we brought from home while Jenna took her afternoon nap and that’s about it. Like I said, not too much happened today. We will go to the US Consulate tomorrow to pick up Jenna’s passport with her entrance visa. Jenna will be a US citizen once we arrive in the USA. We are almost finished with Jenna’s adoption trip!

Tomorrow we start and finish our packing for our return trip. We are uncertain if we will need to purchase another bag, mainly because our last flight home is on a little commuter jet and the carry on luggage size restrictions (not weight this time) are a bit iffy with the bags we currently have…I guess we overlooked that small little detail before we left for China…oops! We’ve attached the video from the red couch yesterday. We were too tired to mess with the video clips last night, sorry.

Last Touring Day in Guangzhou

We had our last day of touring in Guangzhou today and it was another full and busy day. Our first tour today was at the Chen Family Temple which isn’t a temple. The Chen family in this area built this facility for educational and training purposes for their family. Today it is a cultural arts museum with rotating exhibits. We came here in 2004 and things are pretty much the same now. There were a lot of things to see but the one thing that sticks in my mind is the “god of door” on the front doors. The god of door is this painted general type of person on the very large doors; this god is there to protect the family from evil in the night time when the doors are closed. There are a lot of superstitious traditions in China and this one still just gets to me, how does a painted man on a door protect you? Anyway…

After the Chen Family Temple we headed off to the Six Banyan Temple, a real Buddhist temple. When we visited in 2004 the monks were congregated and singing…it was very peaceful. This time they were not singing, but it was still peaceful. The temple area was decorated with hanging lanterns and flags, it was really pretty. Many in our group took their children to be blessed by the monks, we opted out of that. Daddy took Jenna to the top of the pagoda and I watched the blessing ceremony from a distance. Overall, we enjoyed our visit to the temple; it is a very beautiful place.

Our next stop was to the local toy market. This was another huge building, much like the pearl market earlier this visit. There were 6 floors of mostly toys but it also included other household items and children’s clothing. Kelly gave us an hour to look around and shop if we wanted to and we needed an hour. Each floor took about 10 minutes to walk through and we didn’t even walk the entire floor. It was neat to visit and look around a bit.

We finished off our day with a trip to the pool and Jenna had a great time with Daddy. He knew it was time for nap when she climbed off the little step and put her head down on the side of the pool as if to sleep! We are glad she likes the water…all our kids like the water. After Jenna’s nap we met our group in the lobby for the red couch photos. It was chaos like I anticipated but mostly the girls did great. Jenna was a real trooper and just sat there and looked around…no tears. We were so proud! If you look closely at the final photo you will see at least 3 mommies hiding behind the couch. It’s a neat experience. Maybe we can get a bit of video on the blog today for you to see how crazy it is in person.

So it was a busy day today, but things are coming to a quick end for us here in China. Tomorrow is our consulate appointment and we pick up our visas with the swearing in ceremony on Friday. We fly back to the US on Saturday…Jenna will officially be an American citizen once we land in the USA. It was hard to choose only 10 pictures for today’s slideshow; we saw so many great things. Enjoy the pictures and blessings from China from us to you.

YunTai Garden

Today was another full day of activity. We started the day by touring YunTai Gardens. They were beautiful and, honestly, I didn’t quite expect the garden to be as beautiful as it turned out. Everything was nicely landscaped and very scenic; it will be hard to pick only a few pictures for the slideshow today. The only bad thing about the garden was that it was pretty humid today…the first really humid day of our entire trip to date. We have been very fortunate to have pretty mild weather with a lot of rain in Beijing and now Guangzhou. After we toured the gardens, Kelly arranged for another optional restaurant outing for lunch, but because it was pretty humid today everyone just wanted to go back to the hotel.

In the afternoon Kelly arranged for several of us to make an outing to the Official Beijing Olympics store in Guangzhou. We have seen many of these stores in China (even in the Forbidden City) but because of baggage restraints on intra-China flights, we haven’t bought anything yet. Today we could safely purchase items that we won’t be able to find back home in the good old USA. There were a lot of things to choose from and we purchased a nice bag, the set of mascots, and a magnet set. It’s pretty cool stuff if I say so myself. The most exciting part of this story, however, is the taxi ride back to the hotel. Kelly informed us that we needed to stand in line at the taxi stand to catch a return taxi. No big deal, right? Well, the line was pretty long, about ½ a city block. So 4 of us crossed the street and took our spot in line. I got honked at because apparently I was moving too slow – traffic was not moving, go figure. We wound up waiting an hour for a taxi…in the rain. In the process we watched many people try to skip in line and get yelled at by all the Chinese waiting in line with us AND the traffic cops would come and chase them off. Also, many taxis would just drive right past the taxi stop…I don’t get it, wouldn’t they want a fare? One older woman even tried to push in front by carrying her daughter’s baby and played the “I’m an old woman with a baby in the rain” card. Fortunately, the young man at the front didn’t buy it because the Americans with babies behind him had been standing in the rain with him for an hour and didn’t try to cut in line once. Ha! We were glad to get back to the hotel, and by the way, I don’t think Kelly thought it would take that long to get a taxi, she looked a bit shocked by how long it took.

We did not take the red couch photos today because Kelly (who is very wise) had guessed we would run out of time with the trip to the Olympics store. So hopefully we will take those tomorrow.

Only 3 more full days in China before we board a plane and head home. Time is starting to fly…we will be home soon with Jenna.

Medical Examination Day

Okay, it’s bedtime for Jenna and we are trying to pretend that we aren’t trying to put her to sleep. Unfortunately, Jenna is a smart cookie and she knows it is bedtime. I’m not sure what gave it away, her bath or her pajamas. We also gave her too much dinner tonight too and the small bottle is being rejected because she’s very full. Oops. I guess mommy and daddy need to be a little smarter next time around. She’s screaming like a banshee, I’ve put in my earplugs (not kidding), and we haven’t even tried to put her in the crib yet. Daddy is going to take her on a walk in the stroller now…maybe that will throw her a loop and put her to sleep. One can hope and pray!

Earlier today we took a nice long stroll around Shamain Island and found Michael’s Place and Jordan’s Place. Yea! They have both moved and still have nice clean stores at reasonable prices so we don’t have to bargain too much. We have found, however, that the other shops won’t bargain as much as they did 3 years ago, I guess they feel like someone on the island will buy it at their inflated price and they don’t need to lower it. That’s why we like Michael and Jordan, they are just trying to earn a living to support their families, not rip off Americans. We came back to their stores later in the afternoon and bought many things from them. We plan to return tomorrow and buy a few more things…we ran out of RMB and need to exchange more money…and the first trip allows us to “scope out” the stores and figure out what we would like to buy. We feel pretty uncomfortable just window shopping here, once you enter a store a shopkeeper follows you around and shows you all the pretty things and says things like, “this would be pretty for your daughter” or “if you buy more many things we’ll give YOU a good deal.” And they all say the same thing when you leave, “tell your friends where my shop is and I’ll give them good deals too.” Shameful, honestly! Ha Ha!

This morning, after our stroll, we took Jenna to get her visa photo taken and then off to her medical examination for the visa application. It was a madhouse at the medical examination; there were at least 3 groups of adoptive parents with their children. When we came in 2004 we were the first appointment so we missed the chaos in the waiting areas. This time our group was third, so we waited. Once it was our turn, things moved pretty quickly…only about 20 minutes. We first saw an ENT who looked in Jenna’s ears, nose and mouth…she didn’t complain at all and everything looked good. The next stop was the “surgical doctor” who measured her head, listened to her heart and lungs and checked out what her diaper was hiding…again, little complaining from Jenna and everything looked good. The third and final stop was to measure her temperature, weight, and height…no complaining from Jenna and she weighs 20 lbs, is 75cm long, and has a normal temperature. Our paperwork was filled out, we signed where we had to sign, returned the paperwork to Kelly and we were done. The rest of the day was ours to spend until dinner at a local Cantonese restaurant. Even though it was raining we spent most of our time outside the hotel today, shopping, walking, meeting up with friends we met in Beijing (also with Great Wall Adoption), and just relaxing. It has been a good day. Now if Jenna would only go to sleep…hmmm.

Tomorrow we are visiting a local park called YunTai Garden. Another Great Wall adoption group visited this park yesterday and said it was beautiful. We were told there are many flowers in bloom and there are great photo opportunities at the park. We are looking forward to going there and hope it doesn’t rain us out. Our group is also having the famous “red couch” photo taken tomorrow afternoon. For those that don’t know, the “red couch” photo is a tradition with adoptive families and the red couches are in the lobby at the White Swan hotel, where we are staying. All the girls (and boys) are placed on the couch and we snap as many pictures as we can until the girls are just so traumatized that we have to stop…the whole separation anxiety thing. I know, it’s horrible, but the pictures are beautiful and it will really be the only group photo of all the girls from Guangxi. Most families dress the girls in traditional silk outfits too…really, it’s a nice picture in spite of all the screaming children. If we do what we did last time, all the families will gather by the waterfall in the lobby (see yesterday’s pictures) and have a travel group photo too. It’s a nice way to remember the trip.

So, daddy has just returned with Jenna. Apparently she crashed within about 5 minutes of walking in the lobby. Yea! Hope all of you are doing well, we are doing great now that Jenna is asleep. Goodnight and blessings to you all.

First full day in Guangzhou

Time has moved pretty quickly and we only have 6 more days in China. We are enjoying our time here, but we are ready to come home soon. We miss our kids, family, pets, and brushing our teeth with tap water instead of bottled water.

Today we went on a shopping spree, much to the dismay of all the husbands! Kelly took us to a Jade and Porcelain store where we purchased many of the things we were waiting to purchase. Because we have traveled here before we knew to wait until Guangzhou. We then had the treat of going to a pearl market and let me say that without Kelly we would have been too overwhelmed to even attempt a purchase! The pearl market had so many floors we wouldn’t have known where to go. I would highly recommend you taking a guide to a pearl market if you want to buy pearls in China…someone who knows who sells good quality pearls and who won’t rip you off. We were able to finally buy the pearl present for both our girls on this trip with Kelly’s help…a matching pearl bracelet and necklace for their wedding day. I wanted to buy pearls in 2004 and didn’t have the opportunity until now.

The rest of the day was spent playing with Jenna and filling out her USA visa application. We also enjoyed another meal at the Cow and Bridge with our travel group tonight. It is raining in Guangzhou today so we couldn’t make too many trips out of the hotel without getting wet. Jenna is a stubborn little girl and wouldn’t wear her hat in the pouring rain!

Jenna is now laughing all the time, going to both of us freely and without complaint, playing, flirting, and having a great time. And everyone can stop praying for poop…she had 3 today! Yikes! Prayer works! We couldn’t be more pleased with how well she is adjusting. However, for the past 2 nights she is throwing temper tantrums at bedtime like nobody’s business. We are a little surprised by the tantrums and the only thing we can think of is that she may be grieving a bedtime routine that her foster mom had with her. She’s screaming at the top of her lungs, fighting, and getting so sweaty her hair gets wet. It’s frustrating to say the least. There doesn’t seem to be anything we can do for her to help her calm down. Daddy holds her, rocks her, talks to her, sings to her (yes, I said he is singing to her), and the only thing we can do is wait for her to scream herself off to sleep. We think we might try a small bottle tomorrow night, the warm milk may calm her down a bit…we hope.

Anyway, we are exhausted from all of Jenna’s screaming tonight and want to get some sleep ourselves. Enjoy the few pictures we took of Guangzhou and the pearl market today.

Two Posts in One Day?!?!

Two posts in one day! We tried to post from Nanning last night, but when we checked out early they cut off our internet connection. Oops. We didn’t think about that until it was too late to do anything about it. So, sorry, you went a day without anything.

We flew to Guangzhou today bright and early…that seems to be a trend for us this trip. Jenna’s first plane ride went well. She didn’t complain at all. We were talking on the plane, just before take off, about when Julia left a “present” in her pants for daddy on the ride to Guangzhou fromGuiyang in 2004 and he couldn’t get up to change it until we arrived in Guangzhou (3 hours later when we got to the hotel). Just then, Jenna made “the face” if you get my drift. She struggled for a bit, but it was a funny moment for us. She carried on the Krueger girl tradition with daddy without even knowing it! All we could do is laugh, it was a priceless moment. Then at the first possible moment, daddy got up to change Jenna’s diaper. (Please continue to pray for poop…she’s struggling with this a bit.)

There are more shops on Shaiman Island than in 2004. It’s amazing, even with the White Swan closing in November for 8 months for renovations, the shops are thriving. This must be an “it” spot with or without the White Swan. The funny thing is, some shop keepers claim they remember us from 3 years ago…yeah right. Their store wasn’t even here 3 years ago, they just want to sell us something. I am sad to say, however, that Michael’s Place no longer exists where it used to be and unless he has moved, it looks like his little shop is closed for good. So I guess most of our business will go somewhere else. The Ladybug Corner is still here so we will do a majority of our clothes shopping there. I think trinkets will come from Jennifer’s this time around…they are not as high pressured as some of the other joints around here.

We ate lunch at the Cow and Bridge, a local Thai restaurant, and it was as good as we remembered it. Jenna enjoyed the meal too. Jenna has come out of her shell here. She is toddling around and getting into everything just like a normal 1 year old should be doing. (Now if we could only get her to poop without a laxative.) In fact, all the kids from Nanning are very happy and have all come out of their shells. It’s great to see them all so happy now.

This afternoon, Kelly took a nine of us to a massage place for a foot massage. This was no ordinary foot massage. For $8 we got a massage that lasted for a little over an hour on our necks, shoulders, back, arms, hands, feet, toes, and calves. It was different but wonderful. These Chinese masseurs are experts at what they do. Each massage was different since we were all hurting in different places. These guys seemed to know just where we hurt and they took the hurt out with their hands, thumbs, forearms, and elbows. Sometimes it was a bit painful, but never more than you could handle. The best part for me was that I got an “adjustment.” I was the only one to get my back cracked! I feel so much better now. We might go back for another one before the week is out.

Tomorrow we are going shopping at a porcelain & jade store with a trip to the pearl market afterwards. It should be a fun trip and we hope to have pictures then. It’s been too busy to remember the cameras today! Bye for now.

Last Day in Nanning

September 21, 2007

This was our last day in Nanning, Guangxi Province…the province of Jenna’s birth. We hope that one day when Julia and Jenna are older we can come back to China on a heritage tour and visit both Guizhou and Guangxi. We have enjoyed our time here, outside of all the crying and screaming during the grieving period that is. The people are still warm and friendly like we remembered and we enjoy the culture a lot.

Today we stayed a little closer to the hotel and took a 10 minute taxi ride to the local bird and flower market. This is a flea market of sorts with a lot of plants, animals (for pets, not food), trinkets, and other odds and ends. We made quite a spectacle walking through taking pictures and playing with the puppies. It was a good time for all of us.

Jenna is very happy today. I think she has finally accepted the fact that she has new parents. Her demeanor is calm and she has a great sense of humor. She laughs a lot and has the cutest little grin with her 4 teeth showing. She still complains a lot, but I’m sure that will disappear after a lot of work at home about “practicing our waiting” and learning that screaming doesn’t get you what you want. Developmentally, she has shown us that she can bear walk, crawl, and take steps with help. She even did a little somersault off the bed into daddy’s arms earlier this morning! The floodgates will be open soon and we are very happy that she doesn’t need to be held all the time now.

Kelly brought us Jenna’s passport this afternoon and we are so happy that the Chinese portion of this trip is finally over. We will travel to Guangzhou bright and early tomorrow morning. The next step in our adoption is the US Consulate visit to get Jenna’s entrance visa for the USA. Once we get the visa we can return home. Before the consulate appointment we will take Jenna to a doctor for a medical report on her health. This report is needed to apply for the entrance visa. Our consulate appointment is on September 27th, next Thursday, and we pick up the visa on September 28th. So until then, we will tour Guangzhou and do some shopping! Yea! I can finally do some serious shopping for Jenna, Julia, Jacob, and me! The luggage weight requirements for intra-country travel in China has seriously put a cramp on the shopping sprees.

We hope everyone is doing well at home. To update you on the previous prayer requests: the blisters on my foot have healed completely, our “sickness” in Beijing is gone, my back is holding its own (a little sore, but manageable), Jenna is attaching well, and she has had 1 poop…so keep praying for poop! More from China tomorrow, good night!

Guangxi Countryside Visit

Today is Jenna’s birthday! I wish I could say that we did something special, but we didn’t do anything except eat mooncake. It was pretty good. She has turned another corner with us and has become much more comfortable. We had a good time playing with toys on the floor for awhile this afternoon. Her caretakers said that she cries easily so that will explain her constant complaining about things…she doesn’t always get what she wants with us, mostly because we do things differently than her foster mom, but she is adjusting well.

Our group went to a local country village and an ethnic minority display/show type thing out in the countryside of Guangxi. I learned something new today, Guangxi means “wild west.” Apparently Guangxi was so far away from Beijing the emperors had many “headaches” with trying to enforce order here in Guangxi, so they called it the wild west. Where we go on Saturday, Guangdong, is called the “wild east” for pretty much the same reason. So Jenna is a cowboy from the wild west! Ha. Ha.

The small village we saw today was pretty disturbing, resulting in us having a lot of compassion for these people. About 200 people live there and the roads are mostly made of dirt, the buildings look really run down, there are open sewage lines, they wash their laundry in the small pond that is home to the fish that they eat, and things are really dirty (trash was everywhere). But this is their home, what can I say. The view surrounding their village is breathtaking, it’s surrounded by limestone mountains that just poke right up in the middle of no where and a small rice paddy was in the middle of the village. It was beautiful. We took a lot of pictures and you can see a few in our slideshow today.

The ethnic village/show/museum thing was a tiny bit like the Miao (pronounced meow) village we visited with Julia in 2004, but on a much smaller scale and not nearly as authentic. We agreed that the Miao village was much more entertaining and fun. When we exited the village/show/museum thing there were 2 older women selling produce they grew themselves. “2 for 1 yuan.” (or 13 cents for 2) We can’t eat the produce here without peeling it and then it’s still sketchy on whether we will get sick, but I just wanted to give them money. So to keep their pride intact we purchased some produce. She then asked if we had empty bottles she could take to the recycling center…they pay money for the bottles. Right then and there I wanted to empty my wallet and just give her everything in it, but the Chinese are a proud people and this would have greatly offended her…dishonored her in fact and I can’t do that, but I wanted to deeply. Please pray for this woman and her family. Thank you.

We finished our day with a wonderful meal arranged by our guide Kelly. We crossed the street in rush hour, not nearly as terrifying as Beijing, but still a bit of a rush of adrenaline if you know what I mean. The restaurant featured Hunan style cooking. It was wonderful, we enjoyed every bite and Jenna did too. We left the restaurant with many green beans and rice left on the floor from Jenna’s feeding frenzy. It’s great to see her so much more comfortable now. BUT, we have not seen #2 from her yet. We gave her a small laxative this evening…I hesitate to ask, but please pray for poop. Thanks!

Well that’s all for now. We are off to Guangzhou in 2 days…time seems to be flying for us now. One last prayer request before I sign off and go to bed. Pray for Jacob, he is having a very difficult time dealing with the separation and seems to be acting out in anger towards his grandparents. Your prayers in this matter are greatly appreciated.

Love to you all!

Nanning Park Visit

Where do I start for today? It’s been such a full day today! We started the day with a trip to Qingxiushan Park where we had the opportunity to climb two pagodas and look out over Nanning. The first pagoda was an easy climb and the view was okay. The second pagoda, the dragon and elephant pagoda, was a tougher climb and the views were much better. A few interesting facts on the second pagoda: normally pagodas are built in Buddhist temples, there wasn’t one in sight today; it was built during the Ming Dynasty (1368 -1644) and torn down in because the Chinese were afraid invading Japanese forces would use it as a landmark while flying over China…they rebuilt it in 1986. At the bottom of the hill and pagoda was a serene lake setting with Koi fish. It was amazing how the Koi would fight each other to get to a small morsel of food. Jenna enjoyed watching the fish while eating her mid-morning meal.

After the park, Kelly took us to the Ethnic Minority Museum to learn about the Zhoung people from Guangxi. It is similar to the Miao people from Guizhou, where Julia was born. There were displays of the ethnic crafts, clothes, and other various traditional items. Among my favorite were the embroidered tapestries. Amazing handiwork! Below the minority displays were displays of large drums. Kelly told us that drums are important symbols of power in China…to me they just looked like old metal drums. Sorry. We made a few purchases in the gift shop because they sold some items that are native to this province. We purchased a “Love Ball”, these are embroidered balls with tassels hanging from them. Women would make these balls and give them to the man she loves and wants to marry. They are beautiful pieces of art.

Jenna has been doing well today. We are starting to get many smiles from her and I hope to hear laughter soon. It seems like she has chosen daddy to be her comfort and personal escort everywhere, but she will play with me and let me feed her. I will get to carry her occasionally, but she really prefers daddy when she’s tired or fussy. We think this has happened this time around because my back wouldn’t let me carry her constantly for 2 days. Oh well, I’ve gone through this before and Jenna is not nearly as exclusive as Julia was…I’ll get through it just fine. She played with me a lot at dinner and boy does she like to play hide-and-seek with a dinner napkin! There were a lot of smiles and soft giggles at dinner tonight between me and Jenna. I can’t wait to hear her belly laugh, I know it’s in there somewhere!

We’ve put a slideshow and a video clip of today’s activities. I hope you enjoy them. Tomorrow is Jenna’s birthday and we don’t know what to do yet. Tonight our guide brought a birthday cake for 3 in the group: a daddy, a travel friend, and Jenna all have a birthday this week. That was a wonderful surprise…and Jenna threw cake at me! Too bad I didn’t have a camera at dinner or you would get to see pictures of that too.

Thank you for all the wonderful comments, they have meant so much to us! We are looking forward to introducing Jenna to all of you when we return home. Blessings to you all from China.

Day One with Jenna

Jenna is still grieving the loss of her foster family. It’s heartbreaking to hear her cry for “ma” over and over again. She is also teething so she’s extra fussy…she really doesn’t like me putting my fingers in her mouth with oragel either. With that being said, Jenna still doesn’t like us to take her clothes off or change her diaper either…she’s a fighter like someone else we know! We are still strangers to her and we assume by the end of the trip she may actually begin to trust us more like mom and dad rather than mere caretakers. It’s going to take time on her part and patience on ours.

Today we finalized the adoption at the Civil Affairs office and once again, we were first to jump through all the hoops. We met with an official of the Civil Affairs office in Guangxi and she asked us many questions, “Do you agree to adopt this baby? Will you love this baby? Will you never abandon or abuse this baby? Why do you want to adopt from China?” Our guide, Kelly, translated for us and then we had to put our thumbprint on our signatures to make it official. Jenna had to put her footprint to say she agreed to be adopted too. J We paid our various fees and got our official adoption certificate (which we promptly returned to our guide who uses them to apply for passports) and everything was done…she’s officially our baby girl. The orphanage director gave us a local gift and the most precious gift of all, a copy of the note the first parents left with Jenna when she was found and the clothes she was found in. Words cannot adequately express how we feel about this gift.

Also today we received a CD of information from the foster care program that sponsored Jenna’s foster care, Grace and Hope for Children (GHC). There are many pictures and written reports from each of the visits GHC made to the foster family. Here’s a tidbit we are willing to share for now. Jenna was in the care of an older couple, almost a grandparent type of situation, and was doted upon by their adult children. So Jenna is used to being the center of attention and getting what she wants when she wants it. This may be an uphill battle for her to get used to being one of 3 young children in a family that doesn’t totally spoil their kids.

On a side note, Jenna just quietly woke up from her afternoon nap and is just staring at us. We see the wheels turning in her head…I wonder what she is thinking. She is a noisy sleeper, while she slept through the night I woke up many times to hear her talking (grunting) in her sleep. I wonder what she dreams about…

Other than the grieving and constant fussiness Jenna is doing well. We didn’t take many pictures today so we have only posted a few of her foster family. Enjoy. Tomorrow we are off to the countryside to see beautiful Guangxi and will have many pictures from our trip to share then. For now, good night.

Gotcha Day!

It’s official! My purse has turned into a diaper bag! If you want to see pictures and video of Jenna first check out the slide show and video clip at the bottom…I’ll wait to tell you more.

Okay, now that you are back. The day started out with a visit to the local Walmart…I’m not kidding. Walmart is in Nanning and they even have the Parent’s Choice brands here like at home. We purchased diapers, shoes, and various other odds and ends that we needed for Jenna’s arrival. We then went to the food section of Walmart and browsed through the food items…some of them were different some of them were the same. For example, live fish swimming in tanks and mounds of mooncakes in small packages. After shopping we met up with another couple from our group and picked up lunch at KFC (KFC and McDonalds are everywhere in China.) and then took a wild ten minute taxi ride back to the hotel. We thought our taxi driver was about to run over at least 2 to 3 people on the way back to the hotel.

We met up with our guide at 3:00 pm in the lobby of the hotel and piled on the bus. All the parents were full of nervous energy…myself included. We had waited the better part of 2 years for this moment and it was a bit surreal that it was happening now. On the bus our guide, Kelly, told us that the 2 babies from QinZhou orphanage would probably be given to us first…gulp…that’s me! THEN she said that they will start with Min Yong Wei…double gulp…that’s me again! I have to go first! The nerves started jumping then and I couldn’t sit still, then my hands got sweaty, it was a MAJOR pump of adrenaline. When we arrived at the Civil Affairs Office we entered a ceremonial room with a podium and a bunch of flags. There was also a sign that said, “No Video.” Uhm…everyone took video and we kinda’ ignored the sign. Oh well. All the babies were in the hallway right outside of the room and we could hear many of them crying. I saw Jenna in a woman’s arms (it turned out to be the Orphanage Director) and I about had a stroke on the spot. The babies in our group came from 2 different orphanages in this province and the Orphanage Directors were introduced. Then THE MOMENT came…”Min Yong Wei…who has Min Yong Wei?”…we numbly stepped forward and Jenna was handed to us. She didn’t cry at all. She just looked at me…stared in fact. I was so proud of how brave she was. We moved to the back of the room and she did alright for awhile until the other children were placed. All the crying eventually got to her and she started screaming too. The good thing was that we could distract her pretty easy and at one point I almost got her to go to sleep by rocking her and singing softly too her. But no, she panicked and screamed at the top of her lungs. We waited around to talk to the nannies, get important packages of formula and our cameras we sent (all 4 of them, long story, apparently both our packages arrived) and then piled back on the bus. Jenna fell asleep on the bus, like most babies the rocking motion of a moving vehicle did her in. She continued to sleep for at least 45 minutes. After her short nap we had to wake her up to get our official family photograph taken for the Civil Affairs Office. We tried to be first in line, because when we are around crying babies, she cries.

She is asleep for the night now...snoring like our Jacob and Julia did at this age. We were able to feed her a little bit of teething cookies, congee, and a small amount of formula before bed. She has been traumatized today so we are impressed with how she has handled it all. She’s a real trooper. Tomorrow is another day and we hope she will continue to improve…I’m sure she will. My arms hurt and I’m tired, it’s hard work remembering how to mother a 1 year old!

We have a long morning tomorrow at the Civil Affairs office with our court proceedings and the final Chinese adoption paperwork. More to follow later…