We're Home!

We pulled into the driveway at 3am - so the journey was exactly 30 hours from hotel to driveway. Jordyn really did very good considering - one blessing is that she did not get sick! I did help her out a bit there though. The only bad time we had was on the flight from Beijing to Washington. When she got sleepy and was ready for "bed' around 8:30, she couldn't get comfortable. Normally she is very active and moves around a lot in the bed before falling asleep. She was trying but then started getting fussy - fussy led to upset and upset led to out of control screeming for 2 1/2hours. Finally, they moved the man next to me up to business and we had 3 seats. I had to hold her down but she finally fell asleep and slept for 8 hours. She woke up happy! We were so excited to make it to Washington where she became a US citizen when the plane touched down. We went through customs and immigrations (all the paperwork necessary for her) and then rushed to the plane afraid that we would miss it - only to find out that it was delayed! - until 1 am!!!!! This poor child had to spend several more long hours in an airport with only fast food to eat. Aunt Sherry and Nana met us at the airport at 2am and Lao Lao and Lao Ye were waiting at home. I've gone so many hours now without sleep that I'm ok - even went and walked the dogs. I'm going to try to keep Jordyn up for a while and get her on our time by the end of the week. Right now it's 8pm to her and she's ready for bed! I want to thank all of you so much for your calls, e-mails and comments on the blog - but especially for your prayers. I would not have made it without them! I cannot wait for everyone to meet Jordyn! I'm planning to have an open house sometime in late August so I hope you all can stop by. Much love - k

On Our Way Home!

Rosa and Maggie - our wonderful guides


Good morning! I couldn't get online for some reason last night. Thankfully I can before we leave - I need you guys to pray! We are leaving for the airport at 6am - our flight to Beijing is at 8 and we will arrive around 11. Then our international flight is not until 6:30p!!!! That is over 7 hours in the airport! Please pray for calm litle spirits! Jordyn has been car/air sick 5 times now. I'm going to give her meclizine but please pray about that as well. I've only had 4 hours of sleep (and it wasn't good sleep) and will probably be up now until we are home - please pray for my strength. Thank you all! We had a great day yesterday - but long and tiring. I went back to Shamian Island with friends for shopping and lunch (via taxi no less). We rushed back for all the photo shoots - and then to the consulate for the swearing in. After that - packing! I ran down to pay the bill and get a pepsi while my friend Sharon watched Jordyn - and I got stuck in the elevator. Very small elevator and something about the Chinese is that they try to cram as many people as possible into one elevator. Thankfully, there was one other person in our group on there too - so one other person who didn't speak Chinese. For those of you who know me well, you know I don't do too well in elevators - much less stuck elevators! Finally they got the doors opened and I was prepared to walk the 37 flights but they wouldn't let me! I had to get back on! Hopefully I'll get down this morning! Thank you all for following our journey and for praying. I cannot wait to see everyone! Much love - k

2 More Sleeps

Hi all - it's Monday night in Guangzhou. As your day is beginning, ours is winding down. My dossier passed the consulate with no questions this morning. I got the all clear call around 11am. We went to a museum today but Jordyn fell asleep right as we drove in so we stayed on the bus - which was fine. We went back to Shamian Island for only 1 hour - not nearly long enough. We went to only one shop - Jordons. Owned by a Chinese Christian - he said he named it after the Jordan River. For every adopted child who comes through his shop, he does a drawing of their names in Chinese - free of charge. He told me the Chinese name for Jordyn is Ming - boy or girl (he is just getting used to girls with this name). I bought a few things but I still wish there was more time for shopping. I could go back on my on - in a taxi - and I probably would if it was just me. We went to dinner at The Banana Leaf - Thai food and it was excellent. Lots of atmosphere! We were told it was very pricey - I wasn't sure what that meant exactly. The guides ordered for us - family style - and it comes around on a lazy susan. I've never seen so much food - and my bill was 80 yuan or about $12. I had one tired little girl when we got back! We are free tomorrow until 1:30 - we are having a group picture here at the hotel and then another one at the White Swan Hotel on Shamian Island. They have the famous red couch where adoptive families take the famous "red couch" photo of the children. Everyone is dressing the children in Chinese clothing - silk - if they have it. I bought Jordyn several outfits in various sizes so I guess we will dress up. Hopefully, I'll have a picture for you tomorrow night! After the photos, we go to the consulate for the "swearing in ceremony". I'm not sure what time we leave Wed but I imagine it will be early. The flight from Guangzhou to Beijing is 3-4 hours and our flight from Beijing to Washington leaves at 6:30 pm. Because of the games, security is extremely tight at the airports - you must be there 2 hours ahead for any flight. They even had dogs in Beijing sniffing all the luggage. There is one family leaving tomorrow evening and several going back through Tokyo leaving at 5:30 Wed morning. I'm asking everyone to please pray that Jordyn will be very sleepy on the long flight and will be able to sleep (it will be her nighttime although it will not get dark). Please pray too that she will not get sick this time. Pray that she will not get too stir crazy - she is a very active young lady! Thank you!

Sunday

Good evening - or morning. I probably will not know the difference for a while - and I have no idea what the date is. The funniest thing - I went to post on the blog and the page kept coming up in Chinese. The headings on the blog page have been in Chinese for several days but the page opened in English - but not tonight. I finally figured out how to change it back to English. I think that means I've been here too long! Today has been a fun, relaxing day. We went to Shamian Island to shop. I bought Jordyn a stroller and she loves it! It helped me tremendously and I'm going to see if I can hang on to it at least until Washington. Not sure if you have to check strollers or if they are carry on - anyone know? I didn't buy much today but we are going back tomorrow. I'm trying to get the bargaining thing down - I'm told you should try for half the price they tell you - well, that didn't work too well for me. The rest of the day we just messed around the hotel. Jordyn is beginning now to show likes and dislikes with food. The first few days she ate everything - and as much as she could get in her mouth (at one time even). Now she is refusing a lot of things she ate this week. The experienced adoptive parents say the kids eat this way because they don't know when or how much the next meal will be. When they realize there is plenty of food, they slow down and show preferences. Her preference now is Chinese food of course. Congee and rice and noodles. I ordered from room service yesterday at lunch fried vegetables - I expected rice and fried vegetables - well it was a vegetable - I just don't know what it was - it was green and long. No rice. Jordyn went to town with it. Oh well - tomorrow we have to stay in our rooms from 9-12 - this in case the consulate people have questions as they review our dossier and Visa applications. They will call us (or I guess our guide will call us) if there are questions. At 2:30, we are going to some museum and then shopping again on Shamian Island. Then we are going out for a group dinner - The Banana Leaf - supposed to be very good. Tuesday is our swearing in ceremony and we receive the Visas for the kids. Wed we leave for Beijing. Cannot wait to see everyone! By the way, if you notice that Jordyn has on the same clothes all the time you are right! All my clothes were way too big! I thought I took more pictures today - will do better tomorrow. I'm kinda in a daze I think. Love to all.

Our Hotel in Guangzhou

Guess what Karen - miss Jordyn is brushing her own teeth now!

Guangzhou!

Hi all from Guangzhou! We arrived late last night and my dear daughter has motion sickness like her mom so we had lots of clean up to do when we got to the hotel. She did great on the flight other than that! So, I'm wondering about the 17 hours of flying time on Wed!!!! Guangzhou is huge - 10 million people but very international. Almost everyone speaks English it seems. The hotel is awesome - we have a suite! There is a McDonald's, KFC and Pizza Hut next door. All the families are back from the provinces where they received their children so we are all here together now - 13families and about 40 people total. There is another 4 year old and several two and three year olds along with the babies. We all went to an Italian restaurant tonight that was very good - finally something that tastes good! It is a safer place to be out walking - although the driving is just as bad, the sidewalks are much better! We took the kids for their medical exams today - well, lets just call it a formality. Jordyn did great - they spoke to her in Chinese and she obeyed them. The kids also had their pictures taken for the Visa. Then we went to a shopping center - much like Walmart. I was amazed at the rice - they have huge wooden bins filled with it and the people were filling up sacks of it to buy. I spent an hour looking at all the products trying to figure out what they were. I did manage to find the diet Pepsi and Pringles. The milk is not refrigerated here - you buy it off the shelve. Jordyn loves milk - and I did put hers in the fridge at the hotel! This afternoon we had our paperwork party. It was almost 2 hours of filling out the remaining forms in order to bring the kids back to the US. One of the families has 2 teenage daughters with them and one of them came to our room to babysit Jordyn. She even took Jordyn back to her room to play with her new little sister. I forgot to mention that another family's teenage son took care of all of my luggage at the airport yesterday - would not let me touch a bag - even my carryon. I also found out that a family I'm especially fond of is seated right behind us on the flight back to Washington! They have adopted a 2 year old son and he is enchanted with Jordyn. We've decided to let the kids have one row and we'll sit on the other :) They have told me that they will help will my luggage in Washington going through customs. All this to say that the Lord is faithful and has taken care of every detail - every little concern that has crossed my mind. Thank you all for praying and following our journey! Four more sleeps and we'll be on our way home. The remainder of our time is free - we are going shopping on Shaiman Island tomorrow and Tuesday (I think). We do have a swearing in ceremony - I think it's Tuesday as well. This time is while we wait for the Visas for the kids to enter the US. The adoption was final on July 22, by the way. "I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them." Isaiah 42:16

Teeth brushing - for Karen

Just want to let you know that this child goes wild when you try to put a tooth brush in her mouth. So, I'm just going to wait and let you clean them! :) Thanks for the verse!

Thursday in Nanchang

Today is our last full day in Nanchang. We are waiting for the children's passports -in China this is done at the police station. On Tuesday, we went to the Civil Affairs Office, the Notary Office, and the the police station in order to complete the adoption and do the paperwork for the passport. The rest of the time we've just been waiting for the passport. We will fly out to Guangzhou tomorrow. This is where the children will obtain their visas to come to the USA. When we come home, the moment the plane touches US soil, the children will all be American citizens! A few of us ventured out for a walk this morning. Crossing the street here is like crossing hwy 40 at 5pm. It was terrifying - cars, buses, bikes and scooters all coming in different directions. I don't think they obey traffic signals and they definitely don't give pedestrians the right of way! We are going to a porcelain factory at 5pm (should be a fun time for Jordyn!) - then to dinner, and then to a fountain show. I'll try to get some pictures. It's hard because Jordyn wants to be carried all the time so the camera stays in the bag! I must say I'm looking forward to Guangzhou. There is a breeze off the water I'm told so not quite so hot. I met a young man who works in housekeeping at the hotel. He speaks very good English - said he learned it in primary school. He is in college now working on a hospitality degree. He has lots of questions about the US and he filled me in on things around here. My dear daughter is sleeping. She likes a 2 hour nap during the day and 10 hours at night - she must be mine, right??!! Things are going very well today and I realize now that the behavior is out of fear. We were on the elevator this morning and several Chinese men got on. She immediately started pulling my hair. Others in the group think she is afraid she will be given away again when we go out - I think they are right. More later - thanks everyone for staying in touch!!!!!

Pictures

Pictures

Hi everyone! Thank you so much for the comments and Scripture. It is really keeping me going! I finally got the laptop to charge - I took off the converter and it's working fine now. Started off a little rough this morning - very homesick for beginners - and Jordyn is testing me big time. We went "sight seeing" this morning. She decided it was a good time to have a tantrum - hundreds of Chinese people looking at me. She is fine when we are alone. I think it is probably all about attention. Developmentally she is about at 2 years - so I guess I get to experience the terrible twos after all :) When I consider her development level, the language barrier, the emotional trauma, and all the things she is experiencing for the first time, I'd say she is doing great. I just need to keep it in perspective. I can't wait to get home! She is very active and needs to be outside running and playing. There is an area in the hotel where we go and throw the ball and she can run - but not quite the same as being outside on a playground. A bit about China - it's the most crowded place I've ever been - and the noise is incredible. Not very pretty - it makes me so very thankful for America - the beauty and the freedom. And the traffic - makes Raleigh at 5pm look like being on a deserted island. There are lots of buses and bikes and scooters - not to mention cars. Everyone just goes where they want - no signals, no nothing. Jordyn and I sat in the front seat of the bus only once - it scared me to death. I told Sherry it was like Barbados plus 4 million people. Thanks again everyone for all the support. Jeanel and the ASC folks - thanks - you guys are awesome and I miss you.

Tuesday In China _ I think

Wow- I just read the comments and they have once again lifted me up! Thank you! Anna Ruth, God is answering your prayer. Thank you all for praying. I met Jordyn at 5pm Monday night at my hotel room. We all went to the Civil Affairs office and the other families received their babies but Jordyn wasn't there. First they said she was coming, then they said she would come to the hotel. I was ok with it because it would have frightened her there. All the babies were screaming! Anyway - she wanted nothing to do with me - we immediately had to go and do paperwork and she wouldn't let me touch her. Later, we came back to the room and I ordered room service. Something changed about that time and now she wants me to carry her all the time. She has definitely bonded already! She saw the orphanage workers again today and she wanted nothing to do with them! I'm sure she misses her foster family - they did not come. We do have some behavioral issues however - so please pray that I will know how to respond. The guide said she was "playing me"! An offical spoke to her in Chinese today at the Notary Office and she straightened up fast! I don't know what he said but I need to learn it! She is sleeping right now - the morning was busy. She eats everything! And she slept about 10 hours last night. She is very sweet when in the room - but out in public she gets going! I will post pictures later tonight. I need to find an adapter to charge the laptop. By the way, the hotels are all very nice - everything you need and usually someone around who speaks some English. Thanks everyone for following our journey and praying for us. Love to all.

Prayer Requests

Good Morning! Amazing what a few hours of sleep can do! Seven families will be flying to Jiangxi at around 9am - we will go straight from the airport to meet our kids. Please pray for Jordyn to feel loved and secure when she is with me; pray for her not to be afraid; pray that I will know how to meet her needs; pray that God will ease her grieving as she leaves her foster family. Thank you!

I'm Here!

Hi everyone! I'm in Beijing! It was quite a flight and this is an incredible city. There was another couple from my agency on the flight but I didn't know it until we got here. We are next door to each other in the hotel. The rest of the group is at the Great Wall. I will leave tomorrow (Monday) morning for Jiangxi to meet Jordyn. There are 7 other families going to Jiangxi so I'm thrilled - thought I would be there alone. Hope to be able to update tomorrow night - with pictures! Thank you so much for the comments, e-mails and phone calls! I didn't get a chance to talk with anyone Friday - things got really crazy as my painter finished up Thursday night at 8pm and I had to clean the grout glaze before I could start putting things back together. Needless to say, very little sleep happened thurs or fri! My neighbor and stepmother did all my packing! I haven't had a chance to go through e-mails yet, but I will. I did read the comments here and it was just what I needed when I got here! I think now I may go to sleep for about 12 hours - at least.