Thank Heaven for Home Sweet Home

Heading Home!! Of course we are being videotaped at this moment!

Audie and Sister Bears first meeting!

Three cuties dressed up at the White Swan.

Our travel group "red couch" picture.

Our red couch picture. Can we saw little Emperor??

Giving Jie Jie a kiss!

Getting a kiss from Jie Jie.

The reaction of having to sit AND wear a seat belt. What is this woman thinking??

My little Prince.

We have made it back home and there really are no words to describe how wonderful it is to be home again!! We had a very busy last couple of days in China with the medical exam, consulate appt, shopping on the island and off, the swearing in ceremony and packing to come back home. The medical appt went fine until they wanted to look in his mouth at his cleft and then when they were verifying that his testes had descended. He did gain all of the male understanding from our travel group men. Then we went to the park, dinner at Lucy's and a little shopping. The next day we basically repeated the eating at Lucy's and playground and then took a taxi back to the hotel. We had one day left to shop, so we borrowed a stroller and hit the stores. I was buying a present for each one of Audie's birthdays until he turns 18. This way he receives a special present from China each year. I was also doing a little shopping for me and friends and the rest was for the LWB Art Auction. I spent my last Yuan and called it a day. The next day we had the swearing in ceremony at the US Consulates office. Audie was not happy to be having to be still, but as soon as it was over he was great. The sad part was they said that they did 3,590 Chinese Adoptions last year. It was 6100 2 years ago when we adopted Anna. To tell me that there are less children to adopt is true, but definitely there are more than plenty to be adopted. Most of the adoptions we saw were SN kids, which was great. Our favorite part of the last part of the trip was playing at the playground, seeing the older, SN kids play with their American parents sitting with them. It was truly beautiful.

We did finally try and have Anna use the Chinese tolilets. I figured she really had to go, she is Chinese and sits in that squatted position often. We go and she immeditaly wets her dress, socks, shoes and underware. We throw the underware and socks away and put on one of Audie's pullup on him. Great problem solved. Then we are ate Subway as the kids were not very intersted in many of the interesting dinner choices tonight and Avery tells me she really has to go potty. There is no "western" toilet in sight, I have no more pull ups as Audie hasn't had any accidents, so what do you do???? Why you remove Anna's pull up and tell her she is now in Comando and to be very careful with her dress, pull Avery's dress up, panites down and apply pullup and then pull her underware back up. All in the middle of Subway!! Thank you very much, we are now almost a traditional Chinese family.

Back to the hotel to pack all our luggage, make sure I have each child's suitcase and back pack filled with endless toys, snacks, and changes of clothes. I went to bed at about 1045 pm and the was up at 0415 am for the 38 hr day!!!! The kids were not happy to be waking up so early, but to hear we were going home to Kansas made their frowns turn into smiles. Audie of course was oblivious to what was going on. We made it to the lobby on time, had breakfast on the bus and made it to our first flight flying Japan Airlines. They were very nice and helped escort this mother of three to the express boarding line and the wonderful flight attendants helped everyone get situated. Anna sat across the aisle from me where we could still hold hands and I could help her as needed. Which was fine and then a very tall Asian man had the seat next to her and the first and only tears of the trip went off. And it was a big one, of course the flight attendants came and offered her everything under the sun to make her happy. Eventually a Handy Mandy episode did the trick. The flight went well for everyone. Audie and I had our expected battle of having to stay sitting down with a seat belt on, but he was perfect aside from that. Next, Tokyo to Atlanta. The plane was nice, big, spacious and thank goodness it had individual TVs for each seat with many different choices. Anna and Avery quickly figured this out, but Audie was not interested. They had the option of Cantonese or English, neither which he understands. I did give him Benadryl and had a very restless nap trying to sleep on me. This is just another small reminder of what orphanage kids go through, they are not held while they sleep. Never!! My bio kids would just melt right into me, as well as other kids who have love and nurture from day one. Avery woke up and I laid Audie down in his and Avery's seat for a stretched out nap and he did that for about 3 hrs which was nice. He did enjoy the classical music we were listening to with shared headphones. Anna on the other hand had the seat next to her empty and she sprawled out and slept 8 hrs!!! Boy if I could bottle that and sell it, we'd be rich! I unfortunately cannot sleep in airplanes! How people do that is amazing to me. I try every time I fly and the longest I make it is 2-3 minutes top. Needless to say when we got off our last flight from Atl to Wichita, KS I was almost euphoric. I hadn't slept in 31 hrs and there was my husband and daughters Allison and Alenia waiting on me. Audie met everyone with a hug and kiss, Sister Bear was no longer mad at me for being gone and even Allison was happy to see me and meet her brother. We went home and had Taco Bell and then everyone crashed. Audie and Alenie slept in their beds in their shared room and it was precious. The next morning, Allison begged to take Audie to her school in his Chinese Outfit to show him off and he completely ate it up!!! Then he happily went back to Daddy! This kid is amazing!

All the kids took a nap that day while Daddy and I tried to unpack my mess and wash 10 loads of laundry. We had Chipotle for dinner and it was fabulous! No cumin or chipotle seasoning for over 2 weeks! Then I took my sleeping pills and went to bed. Audie woke up at 1230 and I gave him some Bendaryl and then slept until 7 am. We are all still out of schedule on our sleep schedules. That day we took all four kids to get their hair cut, to target-2 baskets and then back home. This evening Audie was up from 1230 to 4 am, I benadryled him again and he finally went back to sleep at 4 am. I am one tired Mama. This evening everyone was benadyrled about an hour before bedtime. Audie cried immediately when he figured out it was time for bed. I told him firmly in English and ESL that it was bedtime and not to cry. He stopped for about a minute and then did it again, I repeated myself and he's been asleep since then. We'll see what tonight brings.

Enjoy the last couple of days of pictures and hopefully my next post will be about me sleeping like log (and my children)!

Becky

A beautiful day!!

A very happy boy!

Cute Panda!!

Ice Cream!

More banana's please!

Two goof balls!

Today was the second best day we've had in China!! The first being Audie day of course!! We woke up this morning and we're able to talk to daddy and all of the grandparents! The kids were very excited to talk with everyone and the grandparents we're very happy to talk to Audie for the first time. We then went to the Safari park with our travel group. We took a 45 minute train ride through a safari like setting seeing everything from camels to zebra's and everything in between. The kids LOVED it. Of course Avery attracted some more attention. We then divided up and the kids and I went exploring on our own. We feed elephants! You buy banana's and toss them a small distance and then the elephants eat them. Once they realize you have banana's to feed they stand there with their trunks up and mouths open!! It was so much fun, and elephants are Avery's favorite animal. We then went and saw the Panda Bears!!!! They were just so cute. Anna and I agrees that we should take them home!!! The kids got panda bear hats. Needless to say a Caucasian women pushing a stroller (best decision made all day was to rent a stroller) with one blond child and two Chinese children all holding pinwheels and wearing panda bear hats attracts a lot of attention. We then went to the safari's nursery and saw baby white tigers, baby black bears and baby chimpanzee's. Too cute for words. Then we joined the Chinese tradition of using the bathroom. We just sat down on a bench and Audie starts to cry (his signal he needs to go to the bathroom when he doesn't know where one is). I have two choices, gather everyone and everything up and look for a bathroom or have him pee into the bushes!!!! Just as I tell him to go and I look away so it looks like I don't know what he's doing, our guide walks up. She just laughed and said it was fine. I think we did better than the one woman I saw today who took her daughter JUST outside of the eating pavilion to have her pee on the sidewalk. Whatever it takes to make me feel better!!

We then went to island and ate cheeseburgers again at Lucy's. FYI, NEVER order the "beef stroganoff " at Lucy's. I have the cutest video of Avery and Audie. Wow, can we say "Little Emperor"!!??!! Then it was off to the play ground. The kids had a blast. They definitely needed some time to run wild and burn off some energy. There were also many other adoptive families with their newly adoptive children which is always so nice to see. Audie was a little tentative at first, but he quickly followed the lead of his sisters. Avery made new friends, most of which did not speak English. We then did a little souvenir shopping for our family and some for LWB's art auction. Then we went and a had dessert next to the White Swan, we had a wonderful strawberry tart and a not so wonderful chocolate dessert. The chocolate dessert had a unique taste to it and even Avery didn't like it and if she didn't like it, it must have bad. However, Audie had no problem finishing it off!! We picked up our laundry which was wonderful to know we had clean clothes for the rest of the trip. The girls at the shop helped me get a taxi and the girls took a bath first with the new duckies we acquired and then Audie followed. All three are now in the bed watching The Little Mermaid. I truly could not have asked for a better day. Of course if my entire family was here that would've been better.

Enjoy the pictures!

Becky

Guangzhou

He LOVES chocolate ice cream!

Cotton Candy!!

Three cuties!!

How many "Victory" signs do you see?

One tired boy!! The first night with us!

First bath with us!

We left our hotel early this morning and headed for the airport. I finally got our luggage down to 5 bags and didn't have to pay the excess fee for being over weight. Yeah!! The kids looked really cute all pulling their suitcases through the airport, of course we attracted a lot of attention once again. Audie was not impressed with the fact that he had to leave his seat belt on for the flight, but other than that he did really well. We arrived at the Holiday Inn and got situated in our room and then took a taxi to Shaiman Island and dropped off laundry then headed to Lucy's!! If anyone has ever been there, then you understand. The cheeseburger was great, but the Ketchup was very sweet and had a unique flavor. I would guess maybe all spice or cloves??? The kids were happy, it was a beautiful night so we ate outside. It was so nice seeing so many other adoptive families. Not to be the only one was very nice!!

Audie continues to do very well, he did get mad at me twice on the airplane and once in the hotel room. I timed him on the second cry on the airplane~20 seconds and he was over it!! He will completely ignore you if you have just made him mad. ;) It's kinda funny. He still hits anytime something doesn't go his way. We have a little work cut out for us!!

Tomorrow we are going to the Safari Park, which I'm sure will be interesting. I'll try to post again tomorrow night. Until then, enjoy the pictures.

Becky

Finally pictures!!

Today was our last day in Hangzhou and it was a perfect day. We went out to the lake and for lunch with the Vedder family, Benjamin's family. The lake was beautiful and the temperature was wonderful. Of course once again we attracted many, many people's interest. Most over Avery's hair. I was told over and over again how beautiful she is, "like TV star" one person told me. Another said she looked like Barbie. The Vedder family said that they have attracted a little attention when they have been out this week, but nothing compared to what we had today with Avery. I felt like an animal at the zoo, where everyone stands, stares, takes pictures, points and then starts talking in a language that I don't understand. I promise next time we're bringing a card board cage and a sign that says 10 RMB per picture!! ;) I have several pictures of many people taking her picture. One police man actually came up and started touching her hair without asking!! Needless to say Avery is DONE having her picture taken. Forget about a pose, esp with the Victory hand sign.

Audie has been simply amazing. He is very easy going, has modeled his sister's behavior and is very happy. This is one of the main reasons I brought the girls, to help Audie adjust and it has worked out better than I could've hoped for. He did get mad at me twice today, once for me insisting that he wear his hat and mittens and another for making him sit down when we went to watch the light show at the lake. Mean mommy!!! ;-) He does have some orphanage behavior, but nothing I didn't expect. I can also see these starting to get better. He has a lot of energy, loves to take a bath, to push every button he can find, turn the lights on and off endlessly, eat chocolate ice cream and just about anything else, esp sweets and pork. It will be interesting to see how much he grows this first year home. The boy can eat!!

Tomorrow morning we leave for Guangzhou and I am ready. This means I am step closer to being home. We were able to talk to daddy, Allison and Sister Bear today using Skype and it was wonderful and sad at the same time. They got to talk to Audie and the girls which was great but I miss my Allison and Sister Bear!!! I cannot wait to be home just enjoying things together as family~all SEVEN of us. Of course, please keep me in your thoughts to get over the jet lag as fast as possible. Last time it took me a month!

Here are many pictures, enjoy and I will post more once we get to Guangzhou.

Becky

He's ours!!!!

We met Audie Monday morning and he was sweet as pie. He ran around, played with his sisters and talked to me occasionally calling me Mama. When all the paperwork was done and his Director left, he cried for about 2 minutes. I was shocked at how quickly he turned stopped and went with the flow. He was letting me hold him, smiling and playing with his sisters immediately. He was very attached to his Director, so I was amazed and happy at the same time.

His personality is very sweet, laid back and happy. He does of course have some orphanage behaviors that need assistance, like pinching and hitting, but over all I am shocked at how well is doing. We just returned from visiting his SWI and that was a long day. It was wonderful and sad at the same time, seeing the kids that do not qualify for adoption due to their special needs.

We have never been so happy to have Pizza Hut for dinner!!! Once again, I am not an adventurous eater and neither is Avery. She ate 4 pieces of pizza and Anna ate 3!! Audie ate 2 pieces and seemed impressed! He then ate 10 small oranges, faster than I could peel them. He is sleeping and eating well, he travels well, and loves his sisters. We have amazed everyone that I CAN handle three kids! They all hold hands going down the hall and it is precious!!

My battery is about to die, I will try to post pictures when I can find a way to charge this thing!!

Becky who is very ready to go home!!

We're here!!!

Well after a rather adventurous trip consisting of 3 flights, an extra 4 hours in a lay over and about 1.5 hrs of sleep the first night here; we're all doing great!!! I have to brag on the girls, they were EXCELLENT on all three flights, the extended layover, a brief nap the first morning here and sleeping upright in the airplane. I couldn't asked for better behaviour, cooperation and mood. Anna cried once when she woke up suddenly and needed to go to the bathroom. They really are angels!!

We arrived at our hotel in Guangzhou at 4 am. I was pretty wired knowing we had to leave our hotel at 10 am the same morning. I rearranged our suitcases, took a much needed bath and slept 1.5 hrs. Then we got ready, ate a very quick breakfast and we're in the lobby ready to go when the beautiful Connie arrived to take us to the airport. We paid a small fortune for our luggage weight and we were off to Anna's SWI. We arrived and then there was a small problem with Audie's adoption...the SWI didn't know it was happening on Monday!! Who else does this kind of stuff happen to??? We must have a sign on our forehead!! ;) Luckily everything got resolved about 3 pm China time with 2 hours to spare! We dropped everything off at the hotel, gathered my donations for the SWI and a special gift for a special girl and we were off. I dropped off all of the donations at the office and we we're taken on a very special tour of Anna's second SWI. All of the teachers and teenagers remembered her. They were sooooo happy to see her. It was amazing they all remembered her, one of her Ayi's noticed a small scar Anna has on her face that she got over a year ago. It was very, very clear that she was well loved. They try to get as many kids as possible the wonderful gift of adoption. I tell you, you will NEVER be the same person once you visit an orphanage. There were several new arrivals, not more than a week old crying. Oh, how I would love to have spent hours in there rocking, feeding and singing those sweet babies. The toddler room, where Anna spent a lot of time in was wonderful. The kids were soo cute and very eager to check us out. Anna and Avery were very interested in all of the kids. It was eye opening, saddening, and wonderful all at the same time. It was very clear that all of the kids were very well loved and cared for, yet that can never replace parents and a home. The wonderful lady who guided us told me that they want all of the kids to have wonderful parents who love their kids like we love Anna. It brings a tear to my eye just thinking about it. The donations and gifts for the Ayi's were very well received. All in time for the CNY. We gave some money for the older kids to get KFC~their favorite and some money that we we're told would be used to help buy CNY outfits for the kids. It is very important to receive new clothes at the CNY. I cannot wait to see pictures. Then I had the honor of meeting a very special young girl who will soon be adopted to give her special present from her family. It was beautiful!!! Wendy, I have video and pictures I will give you when I get home!! :)

Then we went to McDonald's for the girls and back to the hotel as we we're all EXHAUSTED!!! I think I had had about 4 hrs of sleep over the last 48 hrs in broken pieces. We we're all asleep by 7 pm!!

The next day we traveled to the original SWI where Anna lived. She was blessed to have been brought to her (second) SWI that did her adoption. It was heart breaking. We finally found the orphanage (SWI) and were told we cannot go in. We brought some small gifts for the Ayi's and cleft bottles. First, we were told that she was even more beautiful than before, then it has been a very long time and they didn't remember her and then they came after she left. This was all from the same person. This is a very small SWI and I know there were few, if more than Anna who was taken to another SWI for adoption as this SWI does not do adoptions. I don't have anything else to say about this. We then went and did a little sight seeing and ate at a very traditional Chinese restaurant. I am NOT an adventurous eater. I don't even eat meat off of a bone. All kinds of interesting things were served, not sure what everything was but I do know that chicken feet was one of them. I tried my best to eat a little(dumpling, rice and noodles) and make it look like I ate more than I did. Whew, then there the sound of heaven rang in my ear as I ordered a pepperoni pizza for dinner at Pizza Hut!!!! Back at the hotel we had a pj and pizza party. The way I look at is I liked American Chinese (PF Changs) and I know most Chinese would not like American Chinese. It is just different. But, I tried and didn't gag (that was noticeable)!!!

To say that we have received a lot of attention is an understatement. Everyone stares and some comment. No one can understand how an American woman has a child with blond hair AND a Chinese child. Some will keep staring as if you are not there until you say Nihao, which usually reminds them that you are real. ;0 Avery has been a HUGE celebrity here with her blond hair and "big eyes". Many smile, want to touch her hair and take her picture. Including our driver who took a picture of her trying to eat noodles with one chop stick!! Our guide has answered many questions, I just try to smile and to keep going.

Today we are going to go do some shopping and then we fly to Hangzhou. Tomorrow is Family Day for Audie. The girls and I are so excited to meet him. They keep telling me all they want to do is go get Audie and are we going back to Kansas today??!! We are less then 24 hrs away to meeting Audie!!!

Hopefully I can get the laptop working in Hangzhou, apparently I am not equipped properly to do this myself. ;) I will post when I can, depending on how hard Audie grieves and the mercy of some poor unsuspecting victim who can "help" me with the computer. Then I can post pictures.

Becky

Arrival in China!!!

Becky, Anna and Avery are safely in China! After a 4 hour unscheduled delay in Tokyo, they finally made it into Guangzhou at 2:30 am. They should currently be asleep in a hotel in Shan Tou, but I'm waiting to hear from her again on that one.

This is Becky's husband Steve, as Becky hasn't yet gotten the laptop to connect to a WiFi location. Rest assured that she will be more verbose than I once she is back on-line!

We're going on an airplane!!!

It is unbelievable to me that in 12 hrs I will be on my way to China. This adoption has taken so much longer than Anna's due to having to wait until May to submit our Dossier to China (5 year marriage rule) and then the slow down at the CCAA. This adoption has taught me patience, persistence and to have faith in God. I cannot wait to met my son!! Oh, how I LOVE saying that.

Tonight Steve has the amazing job of getting all of my luggage to weigh less than 50 lbs each and to hold all of our orphanage donations and clothing. I am a little anxious about the flights to and from China as I CANNOT sleep on the plane. How do people do that??? I am incredible envious. This was one more thing I knew I could manage bringing the little ones with me. I know everyone thinks I am VERY BRAVE. I know it will be hard at times, but I know it is a trip of a life time and they will help Audie's adjustment greatly.

So here we come China and Audie!! Like Steve said we're ready for Audie, but is Audie ready for us????

Becky

The Binky Fairy

Our youngest daughter, Alenia has been a Binky girl from day one. She was sucking her fingers in utero and about 30 seconds after delivery. She has always been a very particular girl. The rules were: the Binky must be in at all times (unless there is a bottle in her mouth of course), she must be swaddled with just the right tension and to be held while sleeping or if you were lucky rotated at 27 degrees. Let me just say this made for one very tired Mama!! Once Alenia turned one, I only allowed the Binky's when sleeping. My pedi told me not to try and take them away until she at least 2 1/2. Once she turned 2 1/2 I tried to get her to throw them in the trash-NO, I tried to get her to give them to the little babies-NO, and I even tried the Binky Fairy idea before-NO again! Did I mention her nickname is PITA?????? Well, she just finished up her potty training and did amazingly well. She hasn't had an accident in several days. :) I am very close to traveling to China to bring home her "baby brother Audie" (who is an inch taller and 12 days younger) so I knew we had to get the Binky's gone before Audie came home, or she would be taking them on her honeymoon. I told her the Binky Fairy was coming tonight and she would have to find all of her Binky's and put them into the basket. If she did a good job and slept all night without them, the Binky Fairy would bring her a present. Alenia informed me that yes, she would surrender the Binky's to the Binky Fairy so she could give them to the little babies who needed them. When the time came she cried, no MY BINKY'S!!! I let her know that she was now a big girl and it was time for her to leave them for the Binky Fairy. She eventually helped collect them and into the basket they went. She went to be and then cried at her door for about 20 minutes before surrendering to her bed. The next morning, she woke up and yelled that she was a big girl and slept without the Binky's and there was a present waiting for her. We went out into the living room and sure enough there was a present just for her and the Binky's were gone. The Binky Fairy had left her a nice letter, a Tinker Bell doll that you brush and style her hair and "Fairy Dust"!!! She was so tickled with the fairy dust, she kept showing everyone, even after I vacuumed.

We have conquered the potty, the Binky's and next is the PITA!!!!! We have made it a week without the Binky's and she hasn't asked for them in last several days.

On Wednesday I leave for China, I cannot begin to express how excited I am. I wonder if I will be able to sleep the next several days. We have waited over a year since seeing Audie's face and now with it being so close, I just am soooo happy and thankful to God for connecting me with my son!!

Becky

p.s. The picture of the three girls was Alenia's due date and is Audie's birthday. How awesome and meant to be is that?????