How's It Going?

So every day gets a little better.  By that I mean that with every day we get a little more accustomed to life with Joshua and he seems to get a little more comfortable with us.  He's a few updates on random topics:

• Sleep: We're all back on Houston time and have a schedule pretty well worked out that works for the kids.  When we keep the schedule, things go pretty smooth.
• Eating: Joshua ate everything in site when we got him and when we brought him home.  He never made himself sick but he clearly had/has a concern that the food will run out at some point.  He's getting better about this every day.  It probably helps that at our house there's an abundance of food in plain sight at all times and I'm not really the type to let us go more than 4 hours without eating something.  We still have a ways to go in this department though.
• English:  He's starting to repeat a few english word and he clearly understands several others.  He's coming along, I'm sure he'll be up-to-speed before we know it.
• Chinese:  Got a few leads on folks that we might be able to use to speak chinese with Joshua so that he can continue to build on what he already has in the way of speaking/understanding chinese.  If you're out there and you know of a student (or anyone really) that is a native chinese speaker (mandarin, not cantonese) and has time to come visit with Joshua for about an hour a week let us know.  It would be good for him and for us.
• Health:  One round of blood-draws are behind us.  Still at least one more to go.  I think Heather will take him on the 26th for the second.  Some of the initial tests have revealed that he has an intestinal parasite.  Not really that uncommon for children in his situation.  Got the drugs and started treatment on that today.  We've also setup appointments to meet with several specialists, will let you know how all that turns out.
• Baths:  Joshua likes taking baths now (was totally scared of the bath at first, also didn't like for his hands to be wet).  He still doesn't like it when water runs over his face but hopefully he'll get over that in time too.
• Bugs and Leaves:  Joshua is petrified of bugs and leaves and sticks and anything that gets on him.  I think he's just never seen many of these things as there wasn't really any plant life around his orphanage and he spent most of his time inside where the bugs were limited.  I presume he'll get over this in time as well.
• Lora:  Joshua loves his sister and is usually kinda distressed about her whereabouts when she's not in view.  They play together well although Lora is a bit rough for him and she gets a little too wound up some times.  Generally he does whatever she does which is good and bad.

Tomorrow is Christmas.  It's not actually Jesus' birthday but it is the day we celebrate the birth of Christ.  I hope you have a wonderful day, more importantly I hope you know what it means that the God that created the universe came to us in the form of a child so that he could buy our eternal freedom with His own life.

Let Us Know if We Can Do Anything For You...

We've had a lot of folks make the statement above (or something similar to it).  I usually don't know how to respond in those situations primarily because I don't have the normal allotment of social skills which is part of why I'm an engineer.  Heather's also commented to me that she's not always sure how to respond to the invitation.  We're not actually in need of anything even though there are things people could do that would make our life easier or that would help us in some way.

So, for those out there that want to know what you can do for us I decided to just put it out there.  Here are some items on our Christmas list!

1. You can pray for Joshua.  He's only been out of the orphanage for 16 days.  He has many adjustments to make and praying that he comes to understand that we're his parents is important.  Also he has a few surgeries to come, many Dr's appointments, blood draws, and a new language to learn.  Thinking more long-term, he'll forever be the recipient of staring because of his hand.  And, he'll have to overcome certain physical limitations that many of us will never understand.  Further, some day he'll have to come to grips with the fact that his birth parents abandoned him, etc...  So you can pray for him.
2. You can do for us any of the things you would normally do for new parents to help them out or make their life easier as they adjust to a new family member.  We've already received many gifts for Joshua and a meal was brought to us the night we got home all of which was very much appreciated and sooooooo helpful.  It has been hard for us to get unpacked and put back together and ready for Christmas with the jet lag.  But it is getting smoother and our routine is getting back to something that resembles normal.
3. You can overlook the fact that we didn't get every one a Christmas card or even send you an email this Christmas.  We are really behind.  We just got the tree up and had the kids decorate it.

Let the Appointments Begin

Yesterday was our first in what will turn out to be many Dr. Appointments.  Met with our Dr. at the Texas Children's Hospital Retrovirology Clinic for International Adoption.  The doctor looks after his physical needs and is tuned-in to the nuances of adoption so she also looks after his behavioral needs.  All-around she said Joshua appeared to be attaching to us very well and his physical development was very good given his orphanage background.  No issues found that we didn't already know about.  Good news!

The Dr. there set Joshua up for a bunch of blood work, the usual specimens to check digestive function, and several referrals to specialists for his hearing, head, hand, hernia, etc...  So we're going to have a lot more Dr. appointments in the near future and a hernia surgery hopefully not too long in the future.  He and Heather are out to the lab right now to get some blood drawn

(The lab at TX Children's tried to draw blood yesterday, it was a disaster.  We were in a bit of a time crunch because we needed to go get Lora from School.  We told them about the time and they said it wouldn't be a problem that they would be done pretty fast.  They weren't fast.  Our Dr. ordered a topical cream to numb his arm a bit so it wouldn't hurt so bad, the lab said they wouldn't be applying that.?.  When they finally took us and tried to draw his blood the lady couldn't get into his vein.  She kept rooting around and finally called someone else in to help.  The other lady felt around and advised the first to root around some more.  The second lady then commented that she thought they had blown the vein and might need to start over.  Heather's blood pressure had been climbing the whole time we were there, Joshua was OK with the stick but the rooting around was not for him, once they commented that they thought they might've blown it we had to shut them down...  Thanks but no thanks.  So she's taking him to another lab today.)

I think we're about over the jet-lag as well.  Joshua has slept through the night twice in a row now and Lora only woke up once last night.  We seem to be settling in to something that resembles a schedule.

The social worker came by today as well.  We have to submit a post-adoption report within one month of receiving Joshua (January 3rd).  Not sure what they can know this early but whatever.  We'll have another visit from the social worker at 6 months and 12 months.  Then I think it's finally a done-deal.

Super Sunday

Yesterday we got up and got everyone dressed for church.  Managed to make it on time, small miracle.

Lora sang in the children's musical performance.  Her age group formed a live nativity, she was a donkey.  Many people came by to say "welcome home", "congratulations", and to see Joshua - all of which was expected and welcome.  Joshua was a little clingy but why wouldn't he be.

Lora did great.  Joshua sat with me the first hour so Heather could watch Lora.  He sat quietly and ate cheerios through the whole performance.  The second hour Heather and I switched and he fell asleep.  Lora did great again.

That evening we got the Christmas tree out and put it up (decided to stick with the artificial tree this year).  The kids hung most of the ornaments which means there are about 20 ornament hanging on the same branch and many ornament hanging from other ornaments.  I hung a few up higher at Lora's request.  The tree looks like it could fall over at any moment but it's a small tree so it won't hurt if it does.

Afterward we got everyone in their PJ's and were about to settle in to watch a movie when Joshua indicated that he needed to go to the bathroom for the 25th time (I didn't actually count but we average a bathroom trip every 20-30 minutes while at the house.  Our western 'cuisine' is a little hard on his gutt, if you know what I mean).  Anyways, his first bathroom trip of the day is usually pretty substantial but after that he usually has very little, if anything to offer when we go to the bathroom - so I wasn't in a rush.  As soon as I pulled his pants down he passed gas and effectively blew out his rear end all over the place  **Sigh**  Put him in the bath, cleaned up the mess, Heather cloroxed the bathroom, new pajamas and we were back in business.

Bedtime was rough.  They both fell asleep while watching the movie.  Rather than waste time we killed the movie early, put the kids in bed and went downstairs to get ourselves in bed.  We were in bed about 5 minutes when he started crying (He doesn't like for us to lay him in his crime and he gets upset if he wakes up and finds that we have layed him in it which is a little weird because he wasn't like that while we were in China).  Anyways, after several failed attempts to lay him in his crib, his bed, and the pack-n-play, we gave up and put him in bed with us.  Finally got him calmed down and asleep.  Lora started crying...  **Sigh**  Heather ended up "sleeping" with Lora and I slept with Joshua the sweaty bed hog.

Today we were a bit more anal-retentive when it came to watching the clock for wake-up time, nap time, eating time, etc...  We're gonna get this thing straightened out.  I'm tired.

A Few More Pics from China

Saw these signs near China's equivalent of the White House.  Apparently it's not allowed to have something on your car that explodes.  Makes sense.

We saw several signs along the way that seemed to either indicate things that we couldn't figure out or just indicated the obvious.  While touring the Summer Palace we saw a board full of signs near one of the entrances.  It included signs that indicated that firearms were prohibited, pets were prohibited, fishing was prohibited, etc...  There was also a sign that showed a building that was exploding at it's base, all with a line through it.  The only thing we could figure is that they were indicating that destroying the buildings with explosives was not allowed.  I would've thought that went without saying but why take a chance.

When we visited the Great Wall there was a map at the entrance that showed where things were at that particular location.  Of course it was written in chinese but with english subtitles.

In the closeup shot below you can see that if you are one with the universe, you can be everywhere at once...

Technical Details

I went back and re-upped all the pics and added a couple extras.  They should all be working now, if not then I give up.

Also, we both appreciate all the positive feedback we've gotten about the blog, the pics, and about Joshua in general.  Part of the reason we did this was so we could inform as many people as possible about our adoption process without having to re-answer the same questions 10,000 times.  It also serves as a historical reference for us and Joshua later in life.

Several folks have inquired if we'll keep posting updates.  My intention is to continue adding updates for some time until we reach some sort of status-quo around here.

Sleepyheads

After getting up in the middle of the night we all went back to bed at 6:00 yesterday for a "nap".  Got up from our naps at 2:00 pm.  Managed to keep the kids awake for the afternoon and even squeezed in a trip to the neighborhood park.  Had dinner out (see note on this below), came home and did our best to keep the kids awake for awhile.  Didn't want them to go to sleep too early in the hopes that is we kept them up a bit they might sleep until morning.

Lora developed a headache and laid down on the couch.  She started nodding off but didn't want to go to her bed (which is not necessarily normal).  By 12:00 we got Joshua laid down and Lora agreed to put her pajamas on and go to bed.  While changing her, she got sick and threw up on the carpet.  By the time we got her cleaned up, the carpet cleaned, and her back in bed it was 1:00ish.  Took a little while to get her settled as her headache had worsened and she was running a slight fever.  Heather and I finished cleaning everything up and got ourselves ready or bed by 2:00.  Joshua woke up about that time crying.  We tried to lay with him but he was inconsolable.  After about 30 minutes Lora woke up from the crying.  Lora and I went downstairs to try and sleep while Heather took Joshua-duty.  He cried and cried and she tried everything.  Lora and I went to sleep about 3:30.  Joshua finally calmed down and he and Heather went to sleep about 4:30.

So of my three goals for yesterday here's where we stand:

1. Get unpacked - We unpacked about 1 suitcase.  Baby steps.
2. Get the kids adjusted to the new time - I call an 8-hour nap an epic fail in this department.  Things are going better today though.
3. Eat at Angela's restaurant - Win!

Regarding eating out, it was so nice to eat dinner at a restaurant where:

• Napkins are provided.
• You get free refills on drinks.
• You can ask questions about the menu and get an answer that you understand.
• You can pay with a credit card.
• You don't feel like everyone's looking at you.
• There's an actual toilet if you need it, and they provide the TP, and a sink that works, and soap, and hand towels.

Today, we all got up at 8:30 to get Lora to her choir practice (the children's choir is singing in the church service tomorrow).  Right before we walked out the door she got sick again.  Reset everything.  Right now the three of them are napping.

It's hard to figure Joshua out sometimes.  As soon as we got home he was more willing to let me hold him, help him in the bathroom, etc...  It was like a switch was thrown.  Today he's wanted me more than Heather.  He also doesn't like for anyone to ever leave the room.  The only way for one of us to do something apart from him is to literally sneak out when he's not looking.  He also doesn't like to lay down when he sleeps.  I think it's really that he wants to be held b/c then he knows he's not been left.  I can't help but think that he's still so worried that we will leave him.  As far as he knows, everyone he's ever met in his life has left him (even though that's not necessarily the case).  I can't even imagine what kind of emotions and thoughts run through his little head.  So we just try to make sure he knows that we will always be here for him.

Getting Adjusted

Thanks again for dinner last night, it was good and Joshua in-particular ate his share.

We showed Joshua around the house and tried to get him to understand that his room is HIS room and that this is home for good.  We still can't speak chinese and I'm pretty sure he hasn't mastered english in the last 10 days so I think he's just confused.  Overall he seemed to be right at home as soon as we got here.  He played with Heather's parents and Lora and generally seemed content.

Couldn't get to bed fast enough.  Finally made it happen by about 8:30, everyone feel asleep almost instantly.  Joshua woke up crying about 1:00 and never really went back to sleep although we tried for a while.  He woke Lora up by 2:00 and we all just gave up shortly after and put a movie on.  So now it's 3:20 and we're all up playing and watching a Hallmark Christmas, it's a cheezy remake of The Christmas Carol.

Today we start unpacking and getting back into the swing of things.  My priorities include getting the luggage empty, eating at Angela's restaurant, and getting the kids to stay awake as much as possible so they will perhaps sleep tonight.

Going East To Get West

(app. 11:00 Japan time, 07:00 Houston time)  Started this morning a little earlier than normal.  Finished packing, ate breakfast and headed to the airport.  Sat on the plane for 1.5 hrs before we moved the first 6 feet.  Not sure what the delay was.  Got to Tokyo in time to walk from one plane straight to the other.  Layovers kill time but a little break from being crammed onto an airplane would've been nice.  At least we caught our flight.

About 6-7 hours into the second flight now and they're handing out snacks.  Some kind of pizza roll and ice cream, how American.

The kids have been fairly good although Joshua has been pretty fussy and hard-to-please all day.  I suppose the whole thing is a bit much for him, 11 days ago he was still in the orphanage. Lora's funny.  She's figured out how to operate her video monitor but she keeps turning up the volume by accident.  She tries to tell us that it's too loud but because it's so so loud to her she yells it at the top of her lungs.  So, the whole plane knows her earphones are too loud.  They're both sleeping now.

Will be glad to get home.  It'll be sunrise soon.  Will be the second time I've seen the sunrise today.  Actually we left Tokyo at 17:10 on Thursday and will likely be at our house by 15:30 on the same day.  Our flux capacitor is in working order (for those that are a little stumped, we cross the international date line in the way back, we don't actually travel back in time).

(app. 4:30 Houston time)  Made it home about 3:30 local time.  Immigration took a little longer than expected in processing Joshua's paperwork but it was otherwise uneventful.  Shortly after getting here a couple from church dropped off something for dinner (thank you very much).  The kids are playing in the back yard with mam-maw now.  I imagine that shortly after dinner we'll all go to bed.  Long day

Micah

An Update From Mom

I received a text from Heather at 7:03pm CST this evening which said:

"On our way home."

I received another at 7:41pm which said:

"We will be home this afternoon, tomorrow for all of you.  We have had a great time and have been protected by God every step of the way.  We have our babies and are coming home.  Bittersweet.  See you another time, China."


I ask you to join me in praying for a safe and uneventful trip home, and in asking God to help Joshua adjust to all the changes he will encounter once they get to Houston.  From an orphanage with a dozen roommates to a house with a room of his own - all in the span of less than two weeks - is a lot for a little guy to absorb! 

Our thanks to all of you who have supported and encouraged Micah and Heather throughout the adoption process.  God has been so faithful and I know He will continue to bless their precious family and that Joshua will be a huge blessing to our whole family.

May God bless all of you!! - Mom/Granny

Last Day In China

Today was a free day for us so we got up, had some breakfast and went to the zoo with another family in our adoption travel group. Chinese zoos allow you to get much closer to the animals (sometimes a little too close) and it's apparently more common for zoo patrons to feed the animals because the animals knew just what to do when people came around. Lora and I did get to feed the giraffes and now I've been licked by a giraffe. Chinese zoos are also not at stroller-friendly so getting around it was a bit more of a challenge. Got to see a panda bear though so the trip was a success.

Rode the subway to and from the zoo. That was a bit of a trip. Their system for getting tokens is very straight-forward after you've done it once but the first time was a bit rough for us. Not enough English speakers around. We figured it out and got where we needed to go. The return trip was much smoother.

Afterward we came back and lounged around the hotel room and started packing up to leave. Received Joshua's travel visa, which is nice, now he can actually enter the U.S. Met the same family for an early dinner. We ate at a Malaysian restaurant. (We were actually going to eat at a Cantonese restaurant but when we got there they were looked at us as if they thought we weren't going to like it there. I think the food would have been fine but we looked at the menu and decided it was a bit pricey for us. It was a much nicer restaurant so I'm thinking we would've been out of place with all the kids and they seemed content to let us walk away.) At the Malaysian restaurant the food was good, the price was right, what else can you ask for.

On the way home we stopped off at Starbucks and Heather got some hot chocolate. We're now 50% bathed and 80% packed up and just about ready for bed. Tomorrow will be a long day, 38 hours long to be exact....

 

Leaving China after being here this long is bitter-sweet so I thought I might summarize my emotions on the event:

• It'll be nice to go home and sleep in my own bed.
• I kinda like living in hotels, someone else always cleans up the mess.
• It'll be nice to get back to our normal diet (I'm not on any kind of "diet", I just mean it'll be nice to eat familiar foods again). Mostly looking forward to free drink refills, glasses that hold more than 6 ounces, and ice.
• It's been fun and rewarding to try some new flavors and use chopsticks all the time. I might start using chopsticks at home, Heather will think I'm crazy.
• It'll be nice to get back into our normal routines.
• It's been nice to be away from work for awhile, not necessarily looking forward to returning. (Don't get me wrong, I like my work and I love the folks I work with but playing is always more fun than working. That's why it's called playing.)
• It'll be nice to be back in a place where I can read the signs, read the menus, have a conversation with a stranger, and understand when someone is talking to me.
• It's going to be hard for me to learn more Chinese if I'm not in China. We're hoping to find a way for Joshua to continue learning Chinese and not lose what has already been gained in that department. However, the reality is that it'll be an uphill battle which means he won't likely come away as a fluent Chinese speaker, me neither.
• I'm excited for all of you to meet Joshua. I'm excited to see some of you again too.
• It's been nice to have him all to ourselves for a while (although, for his benefit we won't necessarily be social butterflies when we got home so we'll still have him to ourselves for a while, mostly). It's also been nice to be away and not have all the distractions of daily life.
• It'll be nice to stop spending so much money.
• Not looking forward to adding up all the bills...

 

On the eve of our departure I can honestly say this has been a grand adventure, one I'll remember forever. What a way to have a child. What a way to spend your vacation.

Menu Offering

One of the many offerings at the place we had dinner tonight.

Princess Lora In Her Castle

Seesaw

Lora and Joshua on seesaw. The ladies and child in the background are one of the other adoptive families traveling with us, waited 7 years for their child.

Posing and Playing Around

More Posing

Happy Family

Consulate Appointment Day

Just to catch up on a few things I forgot to mention in previous updates:

• Joshua tested negative for TB, in case you wondered.
• Both the chicken Cheetohs and the lobster-n-cheese Lays were delicious. Heather even liked the chicken Cheetohs.

This morning we did the usual and met our group to go to the US Consulate. The consulate was rather uneventful. They reviewed our paperwork and found it to be in order. One family in our group had an error on some of their notarized paperwork, our guide found it yesterday. The error was minor so he agreed that they should submit it as it was and if the consulate misses the error then nobody's the wiser. They apparently didn't catch the error so I'm sure that's a big relief to them (otherwise they would have to get all their paperwork re-issued from the Province).

We went back to the hotel, wandered around the hotel a bit and found their play area and then had lunch at Pizza Hut down the street. The pizza tasted surprisingly similar to Pizza Hut at home although everything else was a little different. After lunch we went back to the hotel for naps although Lora and I are the only ones that took naps. After naps, time to eat again...

For dinner we went around the block to a well-known Thai restaurant. They had a wide variety of food (sent a pic of one of the more notable menu items), most of what we tried was relatively conservative in the hopes that the kids would actually eat some of it (Heather too, she's not a big fan of eating things that still have the face or feet attached). What we did have was delicious and the service was great.

So back to hotel to get everyone ready for bed and for tomorrow. Impromptu bath for Joshua...and then he went right to sleep.

Tomorrow is our last full day in China. Gonna go to the zoo and see some pandas. Hope to get Joshua's travel visa tomorrow evening so that he can actually enter the US, that'll be handy.

Hope your Tuesday is as nice as ours has been!

Lora on Shamian Island

Lora on Shamian Island. We got her this fan and she was telling this lady all about it. No idea who this lady is but she was a sport. Lora talks to everyone she meets and spent a significant portion of the boat ride singing a song about Ariel the Mermaid that she made up. She’s got more personality than I’ve ever had.

The Guangzhou Tower

The Guangzhou Tower all lit up. It changes colors constantly.

Spoke Too Soon

This morning started a bit early.  Joshua woke us up earlier than usual with a full diaper.  It was worthy of a bath so we just got up, gave him a bath, and got us all settled back down.  Lora woke up in the midst of the action.  Despite our efforts we were up for the day.  As the morning wore on Joshua continued to be cranky and whiny and started to run a small fever.  Fortunately Heather has every drug in the pharmacy (from the pharmacy, very legit) so we hit him with a little tylenol and some antibiotic just in case.  Didn't really help although he slept off and on for most of the morning.

At 1:00 we met our group and we all went to Shamian Island.  Historically this island was a place where the French and British lived within Guangzhou, the fact that it is an island provided them with a certain amount of security.  Today it is a very scenic spot with a lot of old European styled buildings.  It appears that people primarily go there to get their picture taken (saw a ton of brides and newlyweds getting pics made) and/or shop for knick-knacks and souvenir-type stuff.  We did the latter.  Got a lot of our Christmas shopping out of the way...

Came back to the hotel briefly and then loaded the troops back up for our dinner cruise on the Pearl River.  The dinner wasn't the highlight of the cruise.  Our whole time in China, Heather and I have been impressed and sometimes surprised by the quality of service you receive.  If you ask for something, you get it immediately and with a smile.  The dinner service wasn't up to par.  The lights of New Guangzhou were impressive as well although personally once you've seen a few city skylines at night they all start to look the same.  The super huge Guangzhou tower was a unique sight.

Back to the hotel.  Joshua was apparently feeling better so we all played a bit, gave both the kids a bath, and then played some more.  They're all in bed now.

Tomorrow is our appointment at the consulate.  Should be a non-event but will be nice to have that part behind is.


Someone asked about the Christmas decorations here.  They're actually exactly like what we have in the US - Christmas trees, lights, garland, red bows, stars, snowflakes, Santa and reindeers, etc...  All things that have absolutely nothing to do with Christmas (I'll try not to get on a soapbox, it is pretty to look at).

Thoughts On China

I grew up in CornCob USA (AKA; Yale, IL). Although I've lived in/near major metro areas for the last 10 years I've found China be a different world altogether. So, I thought I'd summarize some of my thoughts about China and perhaps you can experience it at least a little bit the way I have the last several days.

 

Regarding our time in Northern China (Beijing, Zhengzhou, Hebi):

• People from the U.S. should never try to drive a car in China. The traffic lights and the lines on the road are really just there as a suggestion and drivers frequently ignore them. Pedestrians are everywhere, there's a constant river of electric bikes (see more on this below), people drive in 4 lanes at once, stop where they want, go when they want and use their horns and bright lights constantly. It's like chaos. The right-of-way is there for anyone willing to take it. Everybody here knows how it works so it all flows together like a fairly smooth operation. I've rode in taxis in NY City and I can still say with certainty that if an American tried to drive here it would be instant disaster.
• When you need some space, you just take it. We parked on the sidewalk numerous times, as did everyone else. We saw several tire shops and mechanics that turned the sidewalk in front of their shop into a ramp and were doing serious auto repair in the street in front of the shop, they just took it over. Saw several makeshift markets that just engulfed a particular street. People that used a few pieces of tin to make a lean-to shop that has become permanently parked on the sidewalk. It's weird to me. Like I said, if you need some space, you just take it.
• Electric bikes (electric mopeds) are everywhere. There's about 3 for every 1 car on the road. They ride on the sidewalk, in special side lanes on the road, down the main lanes of the road, basically everywhere. So many people live is such a small place that it's the perfect way for people to get around quickly and park anywhere. Some of them are two-seaters, some have small truck-beds, some have specialty cargo racks, some have enclosed cabins. Basically there's every kind of electric bike concoction you can imagine. I think they're awesome. I told Heather we should live here just so we can have an electric bike. I'll start an electric bike gang.
• People in China eat everything that can possibly be eaten. Deer antlers, beef tendon, chicken feet, fish heads, etc... Same for plants, there's not a plant on the planet they won't eat. The flavors are a little strange to me but I think their frugal spirit is something to be envied. Americans should be less up-tight about what part of what animal/plant they're eating and just be glad they have food on the table.
• People in China never give up on something because it's old, wore out, dirty, or otherwise in disrepair. I've seen more things that were wired together, taped together, or otherwise cobbled together. Bikes, motorcycles, cars, stores, homes, you name it. These people believe in making do with what you've got. Again, I think we Americans should consider the impact of our throw-away mentality.
• Split pants for kids. In case you don't know what this is, the kiddos wear pants that have no crotch in them, and they don't wear diapers. When nature calls, they squat, the pants open up, and they do their business. This is clearly a hold-over from a time when diapers didn't exist but think about how much money they save every years on diapers, wipes, diaper pails, etc... It's function over form for sure.
• As a follow-up to the previous bullet, it's acceptable for kids to pee or poop anywhere they want. On the floor in the jade shop, on a tree along the road in the middle of town, we saw two boys sharing a bathroom moments outside a tire shop, saw a kid poop on the ground at the zoo (the mother at least picked it up with a paper towel and threw it away).
• Squatty potties (it's a porcelain hole in the floor. You squat over it and do your business). If you grow up in split pants it makes perfect sense to move on to a squatty potty. I think it's brilliant too for a couple of reasons. First, it doesn't matter how dirty the "toilet" is because you won't be sitting on it. Second, add a shower head and your bathroom stall can double as a shower because there's already a drain in the floor (would be great for campers and RV's. Think about it). Third, anyone with eyes can see that Chinese people are more limber and flexible than us overweight westerners. Getting your daily "stretching" in helps with this I'm sure. Fourth, if you ever go camping, hiking, or have to do your business outdoors for some reason, you already have the right skill-set to make it work.
• Dust. Everywhere we went, it was dusty. Everything was covered in dust. Maybe there's been a bit of drought lately but I just felt like China needed a day-long rain to wash everything off.
• Construction. China is building, everywhere. On the drive to Joshua's hometown we went through a lot of rural areas and they were building 50-story apartment complexes out in the middle of nowhere. You can't look anywhere around here without seeing major construction going on.
• History. China has a history that goes back beyond recorded history, literally. I'm a sucker for nostalgia and China has tons of feedstock for it.
• Cigarettes. Many smokers in China. The taxis, our hotels, our vans, the restaurants, pretty much everything in northern China smelled like cigarette smoke. We're just not used to it...
• People. I've never been somewhere where I felt like there were so many people stacked into a particular geographical area. In general terms, Beijing and Zhengzhou have about 10 times the population density of Houston (Beijing is only 3% bigger than Houston in terms of square km, however it has 10x the population, Zhengzhou is less than half the size of Houston but has over 4x as many people). I thought I moved to "the city" when I went to college...this is something else entirely.
• I haven't yet found General Tso or his chicken...

Regarding our time in Southern China (Guangzhou):

• Much more westernized. Less cigarette smoke, hardly any electric bikes, less split-pants and less public peeing, traffic is more civilized. Still a lot of history and people.
• Cantonese food. Yum.
• Cantonese people. I don't know enough to really describe the difference, but the people in southern China are just different than the people in the north. I suppose it's kinda like putting someone from Mississippi alongside someone from Seattle, they're just different.
• Everything costs a little more here than it did in the north. Things in China are cheaper than they are in the US but it's especially cheaper in the north.

 

One thing China seems to be missing is Christ. Most of our hotels have decorated for Christmas and are preparing Christmas events. Most of them also seem to be completely devoid of the "Christ" part of Christmas. We discussed the status of the Christian church with one of the locals in Beijing and she explained that there are plenty of Christians but they have to meet in "underground" churches (she is such a person). There is an official state-sanctioned church in China but she said they don't necessarily preach the truth of the gospel. If you want the truth of Christ's gospel you must find one of these underground churches. It's also hard to miss the ever-presence of mystical religions (Taoism and Buddhism among other forms of idol worship) and most of the chinese people we spoke to about such things clearly come from a background of these ism's (the topic came up naturally since there are so many temples and holy spots around here). If you want to do something for China you should pray for the gospel to get more traction here and/or support existing efforts to achieve the same goal.

Overall I think China is awesome and would like to see more of it in the future. The people are friendly and hospitable, the country is beautiful and has a rich history, and it's just a neat place.

Local Flavor

Not sure if you can make it out but here you can see someone’s laundry hanging out to dry and their meat hanging right alongside (to the left of the hanging laundry).

Joshua and Lora "Posing"

Lora was “posing” for pics and Joshua felt he should too so here they both are striking a pose.

Lora and Joshua In Special Shirts

Lora and Joshua wearing their new shirts. A lady in Heather’s Bible study made these for them. I told Heather we should have had her make them using the appropriate chinese characters (which would be 姐姐 and 弟弟 respectively). Very much appreciated any ways and they looked cute as usual.

Free Day in GuangZhou

This morning we did the normal get up, get the troops dressed, get to breakfast, and meet our guide routine.  Today was a free day, more or less, so we all toured a local park (Yue Xiu Park) where we saw the statue of GuangZhou, part of the original city wall from 600 years ago, and more retired people dancing and playing hacky-sack with something that looks more like a lawn-dart (we bought one so you can see it for yourselves).  The park was beautiful.

Something I hadn't really paid attention to is the fact that at every metro area we've been to in China we haven't seen the first bird, cat, mouse, or dog other than a few random dogs that were clearly pets.  No critters at all.  Also haven't seen any cars, park benches, sidewalks or anything that's covered in bird poop.  I've never been in any town or city in the US where you don't see such things.  While at the park today our guide pointed out the lack of birds and he also reminded us that Chinese people eat everything that the land has to offer, all animals and all plants.  Ah ha!  I can dig it.

After the park we went to a local street market.  Actually most of it was inside but it was all small shops, most of which deal in wholesale merchandise from games to clothes to jewelry to arts-n-crafts type stuff.  It was like a small shopping mall but 6 floors tall.  We bought a few things for family and friends but can't tell you what, that would ruin the surprise.

Came back to the hotel and played with the kids a while.  I had to leave for a few hours to go get all our paperwork in order for our Consulate appointment.  Played with the kids some more and then we all went to dinner to a nearby Cantonese restaurant.  Heather actually didn't make it, her stomach was hurting.  So she and Joshua came back to the hotel and Lora and I had dinner.  She was feeling better by the time we got back.  We brought her some fried rice and she declared it the best fried rice ever.  Joshua was already sleeping when we got back from dinner, clearly wiped out.

Shortly after, the laundry guy dropped all our laundry off so we're back in clean clothes.  Lora is sitting on the couch watching Dora the Explorer in Chinese.  We have it on DVD so you can watch it in Chinese too when we get home.  We also have Bob the Builder in Chinese and an assortment of other Chinese cartoons.  Maybe she'll learn Chinese and then she can translate for Heather and I.

I must say that we have been especially blessed.  Nobody's been sick the whole time we've been here, every diaper blowout that Joshua's had has happened in the hotel room, our guides have been very helpful, we've enjoyed the people in our travel group, and we've had no problems with our paperwork.  Nevermind that Joshua is awesome!  I know it's not coincidence.  We've trusted God as much as we can through it all and we can feel all your prayers as well (thank you very much for that).

Our love to you all!

Funny pic I took of Lora while we were waiting to see the travel doctor.

Joshua and the ENT Dr. - Everything’s normal

Sightseeing

Tallest building in China, 3rd tallest free-standing object in the world. 600 meters tall (that’s over 1/3 of a mile). Right behind us (as this shot is taken) is the tallest office building in China and they’re building a second one just like it. They’re building everywhere over here.

Dr. Visit

Today we got up, took in the free breakfast buffet.  The buffet here is more western than our "western buffet" was before.  Heather finally got some scrambled eggs, Lora finally got a hot-dog that tastes like a hot-dog, and we all finally found some bacon that was cooked until crispy.  After breakfast we went to the outdoor dining area to see the fish pond.  The hotel has a very pretty garden out back and a big [artificial] waterfall.  We fed bread to the fish.

After breakfast we met our guide and the rest of our group (All the families adopting from our agency have met back up here for our final appointments.  Actually, all the families from EVERY agency have met back up here and have all the same appointments at the same times and same places that we do. Yaayyy....) and headed to the province's International Travel Medicine Clinic for basic checkups.  After a lot of waiting we finally saw the Dr.'s and got a TB test, they all said Joshua is just fine.  The orphanage said they had performed surgery in September to correct his hernia and you can clearly see the scar.  We weren't quite convinced that they fixed it entirely so we asked the Dr. here about it.  He confirmed that it was either unsuccessful or incomplete, either way we would probably have to redo it when we got home.  And here I just thought my son was the manliest man on the planet...

It was interesting seeing all the other families.  So many of the kids are clearly "special needs" children.  Others have had to wait a long, long time.  One lady in our group has finally gotten her daughter after waiting for 7 years.  The kids are adorable though and it is exciting to see so many people loving on their new children.  It's a real great atmosphere.

After the Dr. visits we toured New Guangzhou which is an area that was rice patties 14 years ago.  Apparently the powers-that-be decided to build a city where there wasn't one before which is strange because the whole area around here seems like one enormous city.  At home we have planned communities but they don't include 600m high towers and two identical office buildings over a quarter mile high, mega-stadiums, opera house, libraries, museums, 50-floor apartment buildings and a sub-way.  China takes its construction projects very seriously.

After the tour, we went to a local restaurant for some dumplings and Cantonese dishes.  Joshua decided that was a good time to go to the bathroom so Heather got to help him use the only squatty potty we've seen in Guangzhou.  When she washed his (and her) hands she found that the sink drain just dumps on the floor.

We went back to the hotel and played a bit.  We all had a good time together.  We had the rest of the day to ourselves but our guide said he would meet us in the lobby at 4:30 and take anyone that wanted to go to a nearby supermarket.  Instead of dragging the kids out again we decided that I would go by myself and get a few essentials.  As I was leaving Joshua started getting upset that I was leaving, kinda broke my heart a little.  We decided it wasn't wise for me to leave if he was going to be upset about it (hate to disrupt any positive progress) so we packed everyone up for a trip to the supermarket.

This market was big but it was as-if it was stashed away in all the leftover spaces in the basement of some big apartment high-rise.  A little bit of stuff here, go through a short hallway, a little more stuff there, down a ramp, more stuff, up a ramp, more stuff, through a corridor, more stuff, etc...  Bought some drinks and some chips.  Heather wanted some Sour-Cream Lays Potato chips.  Came home with chicken Cheetos, lobster-n-cheese flavored chips, chicken-flavored Lays, and we did find some plain "American Flavored" chips.  Sometimes I feel like the US is being kept in the dark about all the flavor options that are available in the world.  I'll let you know how the chicken Cheetos turn out.

Came home and had a good time with the kids playing some more.  Lora wanted some goldfish, which meant Joshua wanted goldfish (He's a food-aholic.  Any time he sees food anywhere, any time, he wants it.  That's typical of orphanage children to be that way for a little while).  I told him he had to kiss me to get a goldfish cracker and I demonstrated with Lora which actually works because she can understand what I'm saying when I say "no goldfish without a kiss".  He got the idea and gladly gave me a kiss to get a goldfish.  Repeated that a few times.  A little while later he dropped one, I picked it up, and without me asking he started trying to kiss me so that I would give it to him.  All through the day he has relaxed more and more about being not-glued to Heather and letting me play with him and be close to him.  We spent a lot of time together tonight.

Right before bedtime he fell off the end of the couch and bumped his head on the end table.  It turns out he broke the skin a bit and bled a little...made a bit of a knot on his head.  He cried a bit but was pretty good to shake it off and keep on trucking.  Everyone's in bed now and I'm on my way.  Been another good day!

As it turns out, my original impression of Guangzhou was about right.  As far as I'm concerned it's an East-meets-West kind of city.  Still not home but a lot more familiar.

Moving Right Along

This morning started like most others.  Got the gang downstairs before they closed the breakfast buffet.  Joshua did what he usually does and temporarily stopped disliking me as long as I brought him food (he's clearly a Shanks).  He and Lora had fun wrestling around on the floor a bit after we finished eating (I sent a pic of this earlier today and, if you can't see it on the blog, you can get a copy by emailing my mom).

After breakfast we toured around the hotel a bit as they have a connected convention center and a nicer restaurant that we did not eat at while there.  Outside the "nicer" restaurant we found several fish tanks with all manner of marine life in them with price tags on the tanks.  Fish, lobsters, oysters, crabs, and one tank had these huge salamander things in it and price of about 2,500 RMB (which is about $400 US).  These salamanders were about two feet long and I'm not sure which part you're supposed to eat or what it's like, but no thanks.  They also had several items displayed in cases that had little note cards explaining what these delicacies where good for in terms of physical, mental, and spiritual health.  This display included deer antler, deer tail, sea cucumber (which is not a vegetable), abalone, shark fins, and several weird little mushroom-type things.  Glad we didn't eat there, I'll stick with the quasi-western buffet, thank you.

Naps at noon and then we met our guide at about 2:00 and checked out at the same time.  We needed to pick up Joshua's passport so we could actually take him somewhere with us (for two days we've been the legal guardian of this child but we've had no authority to take him anywhere).  It normally takes at least a week to get a Chinese passport.  You can get an expedited one in 5 days.  Apparently they've made a special arrangement for adoptive families so they won't have to wait so long.  So, we went to the place where they make the passports and waited around a bit outside the gate.  After about 10 minutes some guy came to the fence and our guide met him, they exchanged some paperwork and she came back with Joshua's passport.  Pretty shady business to me but I don't care, we got his passport.

From there we went to the airport.  We had about 3 hours to kill so we found a Cafe.  While perusing the menu Heather saw an item labeled "spicy donkey meat".  I HAD to try that.  It was weird, don't know if was really donkey meat or not.  Everything else was fine.  Outside the cafe was a small play area so we let Lora wear herself out playing Kung-Fu with some little Chinese boys that were there.  It was a site.  After about 30 minutes Joshua couldn't stand it any more and mustered the courage to go play as well.  After a couple of trips down the slide he turned into Mr. Adventure and was all over the place.  Overall Joshua seems to get less glued to Heather every day and this was a time when he nearly forgot she existed.  In the last day or so he seems to have gotten more OK with Lora as well.  He's getting there.  I can't imagine what all this must be like for him, I'd be scared to death.

Our flight was a trip.  The plane had one aisle with three seats on one side, three on the other (think Southwest Airlines and you'll be pretty close).  Our agency booked all the tickets without our input and they put 3 of us on one side of the aisle and the fourth by themself on the other side.  Since Joshua won't sit by me, Heather sat with Lora and Joshua and I sat across the aisle.  Heather and the kids managed to spill everything that could be spilled, I served as the pit crew supplying napkins, wipes, holding trash, etc...  The plane was really hot too, couldn't land fast enough.

When we landed, we met our guide and came to the Garden Hotel in Guangzhou.  It doesn't take long to see that we're in a different part of China.  So far, Guangzhou looks like "China for Americans".  We'll see more of it tomorrow of course.  The Hotel is very nice and is clearly much more "western" down to the corny lounge singer in the lobby.  The best part is that it doesn't smell like stale cigarette smoke everywhere any more!

The kids are in their beds and we won't be far behind.

Lora and Joshua Playing After Breakfast

Eating Breakfast This Morning

At The Entrace To The Zoo Yesterday

A Few Thoughts

I haven't really seen Micah's posts so I am not sure what he is telling you guys.  So I thought I would share a few things.  I have been detail journaling our trip at night when everyone is asleep.  So for anyone who really wants the details I can email them to you some day. 

I am excited that Joshua is really warming back up to Micah.  In the beginning he was doing great with daddy, but after our visit to the orphanage it all changed.  He has been attached to my leg at all times, but today I actually went to the bathroom by myself.  And he knew he was in the room alone with Micah, they were even playing together.  I love my little shadow helper.  He does not like messes and is always cleaning things up.  He picked up all the towels on the bathroom floor this morning and handed them to me.  He has also been playing with Lora a bit more each day.  He talks to me now and tells me he wants things and calls for me, I just wished I knew what he was really saying.  I get the gist most of the time.  He is very shy, but loves to laugh.  And he knows Lora is his sister.  He calls for her when she walks away.  He also is starting to be a horder.  He just wants everything he sees and wants it all in his hands.  He can't share a thing.  He is getting more and more vocal when he sees something he wants and we tell him no.  This is fun when he is speaking it in Chinese and I am saying it in English.  As if we didn't already get enough eyes on us for being the huge Americans with a daughter with blondish hair and blue eyes and a little Chinese boy missing a hand.  We are quite a sight here.

I do believe there is one serious problem with him though.  He likes to suck the candy coating off M&Ms and then spits them out.  Who doesn't eat the chocolate??!?!?!

I am really enjoying everyone's texts and emails.  I just hope texting doesn't break the bank when the bill comes!  I wished I could email all of you personally.  Thank you so much for your prayers, we have appreciated them and know they are helping us everyday.

Heather

One More Day In Province

Today we slept in a bit, ate a nice breakfast, then took a walk down the street to wear the kids out a bit so they'd take naps.  We headed down the street to The Home Depot although we never actually made it that far.  Instead we wandered into a neighboring shop that turned out to be a lot like the Lotus (which is a lot like a Walmart, a little bit of everything).  Since Joshua is old enough to understand a fair bit of Chinese we wanted to buy him some cartoons or kid shows that were in Chinese so he could keep up his language skills.  Not sure if that'll be effective or not but we felt like it was worth a try.  Anyway, we found some Dora the Explorer, Diego, and Thomas the Train movies in Chinese so we picked those up.  Also got some books for him and some small oranges (like a satsuma, only sweeter).

After a brief stop at KFC for a Pepsi we went back to the hotel and took naps.  At 2:00 we met our guide and went to the local zoo.  Winter is apparently their low season as they were working on many of the exhibits.  The way they display animals is different than we were used to.  Most notably, you can get a lot closer to most of the animals, sometimes close enough to touch.  They have two different lion exhibits and the males were roaring back and forth for a bit.  It was pretty impressive.  The lions at the Houston Zoo generally lay around and do nothing because it's too hot.  We all rode the carousel at the zoo too.  Joshua liked it at first but I think it was a bit much for him.  Lora loved it of course.  Toward the end we let the kids play on a playground they had there.  Joshua was pretty upset when we left.  I think he occasionally remembers his friends or nannies from the orphanage and gets sad all over again.  I'm sure he'll forget in time.

After the zoo we ran by the notary office again to pick up our notarized documents.  Got notarized copies of Joshua's abandonment papers and birth certificate.  Was kinda sad all over again reading the report of his abandonment.  It's hard for me to imagine abandoning your child.  I'm sure those of you that have children can relate.

After that we had our guide drop us at a local coffee shop/restaurant.  She helped us order a couple small pizzas, some spaghetti noodles and juice for the kids.  It took forever to get our food.  Didn't really want to sit there that long but we had a good time playing with Joshua while we waited.  Joshua forgot for a while that he doesn't like me and we had a good time.  :)

Came back to the hotel, got everybody pottied, teeth brushed, in their pajamas and in bed.

Tomorrow our guide will pick up Joshua's passport and we'll fly to Guangzhou (not sure of the spelling) where we'll have appointments at the American Consulate.  Our flight is in the evening so will likely be a later-than-normal night for us.

Technical Difficulties - aka A Note From "Mom"

Greetings from Micah's Mom!  I'm so sorry that some of you are not able to see the pictures of our handsome new grandson, Joshua.  Our daughter has had the same problem (I thought she was doing something wrong, but don't tell her I said that).  When I went to the blog on her computer - not logging in, but just viewing - I could see the pictures.  I have tried deleting the pictures and adding them again, but she still can't see them.  She will be happy to know she's not the only one having this problem (and I probably owe her an apology). 

Micah did not tell me how many people would be viewing this blog, so I'm stepping out in faith here.  If you cannot view the pictures, please send me an e-mail, and I will forward the pictures to you.

Your e-mail will go to my junk folder, so if you will please put "Joshua" in the subject line, I will know why I am receiving an e-mail from a strange address and not immediately delete it.  I will start an e-mail group for this purpose and will forward all new pictures to the group, as well as adding the pictures to the blog.

We are very grateful to all of you who have been supporting Micah, Heather, and Lora throughout their adoption process and who are anxiously waiting to welcome Joshua to Houston so you can love on him!!  We are so excited about having Joshua in our family and we can't wait to love on him, too!! 

Drop me a line and I will send you the two pictures that have been posted already, and then I will forward future pictures as they arrive.  Our e-mail address if royndebbie@hotmail.com   

Mom

Another Day

Today we slept in, lounged around a bit, all took naps, and then met our guide.  Our guide (Cindy) took us shopping for a few traditional items from this region of China.  We bought some embroidery and some pottery.  After that our guide helped us take a taxi to the City Center where we were going to eat.  We asked that she take us to a restaurant where she would eat.  She helped us order and left us to our devices for a few hours.  Dinner was good and afterward we even found a DQ in the mall and shared a blizzard.  Joshua didn't know what to think of ice cream.  Our guide explained that Chinese children aren't given cold foods like that, especially not ice cream.  After he got past the coldness it was clear that he likes ice cream.  After that we took a taxi back to the hotel and that was our day.

While we were lounging in the hotel today, Joshua was playing with some trinkets the hotel staff gave him.  It was funny and we were laughing and he starting laughing as well.  He and Lora also enjoyed playing and laughing with each other while we were out this evening.  It was good to see him smiling and laughing.

Ever since we went to the orphanage yesterday, Joshua has been pretty well glued to Heather and doesn't really want much to do with me.  The only exception is that when we're all playing he lets me play with him as well.  Also, when we're eating he's more than happy to be my buddy if I have something he wants to eat.  I'm sure as time goes on he'll get over it.  In the meantime Heather gets to be the one that takes him to the bathroom all the time. :)  Right now he's laying in bed next to Lora and they're watching cartoons.


Some of you have commented about the pictures not appearing in the posts.  I can't access blogspot from China, it's blocked (many websites or internet services that westerners like are blocked, Facebook and Netflix to name a couple).  So I've been emailing my updates to my mom and she posts them on blogspot.  I've emailed her the pics as well.  So, I really don't know what you're getting on the blog and what you're not but I'm sure mom is working on it.

A Smile

A Good Day

Joshua slept great all night, we all did except Heather.  Had a little trouble waking Joshua up and when we did he tried to hide from us for a while.  He's never woken up anywhere except in his orphanage so I suppose it was a bit much to start the day with.  Successfully got him to use the toilet  this morning as well.  He was a bit scared of it at first but by the end of the day he was using it no problem (He's clearly potty-trained he just can't take himself to the bathroom.  Can't tell you what a blessing that is.)

Once we all got going we went down to breakfast.  At the orphanage the kids his age don't feed themselves and they've probably never even seen a fork and knife.  It took him about 3 seconds to figure out how to use a fork to shovel rice in his mouth.  He's an eater...

Met with our guide after breakfast and we headed back to the Civil Affairs Office where we first met him.  We are allowed 1 day with him before the adoption is finalized.  It's our last chance to change our minds (I can't imagine who would come this far and change their mind but I know it happens).  We of course did NOT change our minds so we got the paperwork and as far as the government of China is concerned, he now belongs to us.

Next stop was the Notary.  Uneventful.

After the notary, we went to a nearby tea shop and sampled some teas.  Found one we liked and bought some tea.  After this we went a little further down the street to a jade shop and bought a few small items.  Didn't realize how expensive jade is...  While at the jade shop Joshua indicated he needed to pee and our guide pointed to a tree out on the sidewalk and said "he can pee there".  We tried, I think he had stage-fright.  I certainly would have, there were only about 1,000 people watching us.  The owner of the jade shop was a middle-aged women who apparently had an infant daughter.  Grandma was there playing with the baby while the mother dealt with us.  The baby was in something like a snow-suit with split pants, which appears to be the winter-wear of choice for youngsters.  At one point, the grandmother spread some newspaper on the floor and helped the baby to squat in her split pants so she could pee and poop on the floor.  Bear in mind that the entire jade shop is about 8 feet wide by 12 feet deep so we're getting the full sensory experience.  Grandma then scooped up the paper and tossed it in the trash and then wiped the baby's bottom.  Moral of this story: In China, if you're under the age of 4 you are allowed to pee or poop anywhere you want.

After this we grabbed some McDonalds (which doesn't really taste like McDonald's in the US) and hit the road.  We drove about 2 hours North to the city where Joshua's orphanage is.  The ride was interesting to me.  We went through a lot of rural farmland which reminded me of where I grew up in some ways.  We also saw that a lot of people outside of the major cities live in pretty rough conditions by our standards.  Once in his city, we met up with his orphanage director and a few of the orphanage staff at the passport office.  Applied for his passport which we will receive on Friday.  Had the opportunity to help the passport office correct their English subtitles (some of their documents have the english translation on the document and they asked us to proofread and correct the English).  From there we went to visit his orphanage.

His orphanage has 138 children in it.  His "room" had about a dozen kids and about 5 or 6 ladies caring for them.  His "room" is really three rooms: a room where they all sleep, a bathroom/washroom, and a room that has some toys and a TV in it where they spend most of their waking hours.  His "room" is about the size of a 1 bedroom apartment in the US.  The kids in there were adorable and it was pretty evident that the ladies and orphanage staff cared for them with a lot of sincerity.  We were worried about how Joshua would react to seeing his friends and nannies again.  At first he clung pretty tight to Heather.  A couple different times he got pretty upset when he would see a particular friend or nanny.  Heather got him calmed back down and he hung pretty tight on her the rest of the day.  I can't imagine what must have been going through his head, thinking we might be returning him or knowing that he'll never see his nannies and friends again.  Regardless of what he was actually thinking it was encouraging to see that he found comfort with Heather and preferred her.  Good sign. 

I can't speak for Heather but seeing the orphanage was good for me and it also broke my heart a little.  I don't care how much money you invest or how much the caregivers love the children, an orphanage is not the ideal environment for a child to grow up in.  I wish I could've taken more of the children home with me...

Joshua on "Gotcha Day"

Got Him

We were supposed to go get Joshua at 9:00 this morning but we found out last night that the appointment was changed to 3:00 this afternoon. So, Lora and I slept in (7:00, latest morning we've had yet) and took our time going downstairs for breakfast. Breakfast at the "Western Buffet" was a trip. No cold milk for your cereal, only warm milk. Much of the buffet were things I wouldn't think of for breakfast such as sushi, fried rice, veggies in garlic sauce to name a few. Heather tried to get a scrambled egg - explained it to 6 different people and none of them could figure out what she wanted. No entiende... As we were finishing breakfast Lora got choked a bit and threw up all her breakfast in her plate. Awesome!

We spent the rest of the morning lounging around in our room. Met our guide at 1:00 and headed to the bank to change our dollars to RMB (part of the adoption is a donation to the orphanage, must be made in RMB). The bank took a while on account that they scrupulously examined every single bill to make sure it was the real thing. It was, we walked out with a pile of money that made me feel like I robbed the place ($1 is a little more than 6 RMB so our meager stack of bills grew 6x while we were in the bank).

From the bank we headed to the Civil Affairs Office. Joshua was already there when we walked in, waiting for us with his Nanny and a bag of Prawn Crackers (that's my boy). He wasn't too excited about us. They told him that we were his mommy and daddy, but that only made him cry (which because of his hernia we are not supposed to let him do for long). So we tried everything we had. He apparently doesn't like M&Ms, as he spit them all back out, and didn't take to the toys very quickly. They had a little play area, so his Nanny took him over to the play area where Lora and Heather were playing. She then stepped away and he started crying, but eventually calmed down. He had a tight grip on one of the stacking cups and seemed to have some security with it. Unfortunately, Heather had to sign some papers so we had to disturb the calm. He started to cry again, but Micah was able to calm him again. So he sat kind of stunned for awhile with Micah. His Nanny has cared for him his entire life so you can imagine that he is a little attached to her, rightfully so. Anyway, a bit of paperwork, the donation of our stack of RMB, some pictures, a little bit of visiting with his Nanny and it was all over. Score: Shanks +1.

 

Leaving the Civil Affairs office we went to the Lotus (the supermarket we visited yesterday) to buy some milk, a bottle, some new shoes, and more prawn crackers. Came back to the hotel and our guide helped us order KFC (I'll elaborate on KFC in a second). After dinner we had poop incident #1. Gave Joshua a bath, new clothes, and had poop incident #2 (he's clearly squatty-potty trained but is scared of the toilet). After that we all calmed down and Joshua played very well with his new stacking cups. About 30 minutes before bedtime we popped the movie Cars into the laptop. Not sure which he liked more, the laptop or the movie but he was excited and even smiled and laughed a bit. Both of the kids are in bed now and Heather and I aren't far behind.

 

Been a full day! We're very excited that we finally have Joshua with us. Thank you for all your prayers.

 

KFC in China:

• The KFC nearest us didn't have chicken legs. Seriously?
• They deliver. McDonald's delivers in China as well but Pizza Hut doesn't. Go figure.
• We ordered chicken pieces (was thinking it would be something like chicken fingers). Instead, we got McDonald's chicken nuggets with kernels of corn inside them.
• The food was delivered in 20 minutes which is faster than they said it would be over the phone.
• The delivery boy wouldn't accept a tip.
• The chicken burger, actually a chicken sandwich, comes with or without chili. Turns out they meant chili pepper sauce, not chili like I was thinking. Also, the chili pepper chicken is actually less spicy than the regular chicken sandwich.
• Joshua likes mashed potatoes and gravy which actually tasted a lot like the mashed taters and gravy from home.

 

Love the Shanks, party of 4

Heather and Lora on the Great Wall

On The Road Again

Yesterday (Saturday) we met up with the other adoptive families from our agency and we all toured together.  Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, and the Great Wall.  I'll spare you all the details about each as you can look them up yourself online.  Forbidden City and the Great Wall were most interesting to me but I'm a sucker for historic relics.  The part of the great wall we went to was a rather steep climb.  We went about half-way up the mountain before we decided we'd had enough.  I've included a pic of Heather and Lora as we started up the wall.  Lora was quite the celebrity once again, mostly people wanting pics of her, their pic with her, or a pic of their own child with Lora.  I don't get it, but whatever.

Today (Sunday) we got up early and headed to the airport.  We flew to the capital city of Joshua's province and met another guide.  We were at our hotel and settled in by lunchtime.  For lunch we went to the "Western Buffet".  I think the only part of it that is "Western" is the fact that it's a buffet.  I enjoyed it thoroughly but I think Heather is getting antsy for something more familiar.  The balance of today was a free day so we walked down the street to a local supermarket.   It was like a grocery store on the first floor and like a Walmart on the second floor.  The grocery store reminded me of a Fiesta, only Chinese.  You can get any animal part, a wide variety of spices and produce, and other grocery type items all under one roof.  We helped ourselves to some bottled water, a few pounds of candy, and some Prawn Fries (like a potato chip but made of shrimp, I think).

The city we're in now is much smaller than Beijing, only 10 million people.  In Beijing nearly every sign or important bit of information is written in Chinese with english subtitles.  The english subtitles are frequently misspelled or employ poor grammar but you can get the idea.  Here, the english subtitles have all but disappeared.  If/when there is something in english it's even more misspelled and improper.  Also in Beijing it wasn't too difficult to find someone that spoke english.  Not the case here.

Tomorrow we meet Joshua for the first time!!  All the sight-seeing and newness of being in China has kinda distracted me from what our primary purpose is for being here.  I have to keep reminding myself that we're soon going to be a family of four.  Our appointment is at 3:00 pm tomorrow (1:00 am for most of you).  I'm nervous, scared, and excited all at once.  We can barely function in China on our own, not sure what kinda mess we'll be once you add in a toddler that's just been taken from the only home he's ever known.  Looking forward to it nonetheless and trusting that God will see us through it all.  If you want to pray for something, you might pray that we make it through our first few days without any collateral damage.

American Tourists

Today, we were set to tour around Beijing compliments of one of my co-workers at Shell who arranged for a friend of hers to show us some of the sites.  As it turned out, the friend of my co-worker arranged for a professional driver and translator to personally take us wherever we wanted to go, take us to lunch and dinner, and pay for the whole thing!!  The cousin of the translator came along as well as he's new to Beijing and generally just wanted to come along.  We had a wonderful time seeing the sites and visiting with our new friends.  They had a lot of questions about the adoption and about life for our family in Houston in general.  They were great and seeing the sites was spectacular, all around  a great day.

Lora is practically a celebrity around here.  Between her blue eyes and long blonde hair she is quite the attraction.  More than once, people stopped us and wanted to a take a picture with her.  She was a good sport about it.

We're back at the hotel now (8:30 pm local time) and we're all quite ready to get in bed.  Tomorrow we do another whirlwind tour with the other families that have traveled here for adoptions.   One day closer...

In Beijing

We left our house at 7:30 am on Wednesday, made it to our hotel room in Beijing at 10:30 pm Thursday (local time which corresponds to 8:30 am Houston time) which means it took us 25 hours to get from point A to B.  It really wasn't that bad overall.  As Heather described, our first hour on the plane was a bit rough but otherwise we did good.  Lora traveled well and rode every alligator (aka escalator or elevator, Lora calls them both alligators) between Houston and Beijing.

Tomorrow, the friend of one of my co-workers is going to pick us up and show us around Beijing.  Should be interesting.

Steady As She Goes...

 

Finally made it on the plane.  We were definitely the loud ones.  We made it 45 minutes, just as the drink service started, before I was covered in apple juice.  I very smartly brought a sippy cup for Lora and filled it with apple juice at the United Club (thank you mileage plus card) so she would have something to drink on the plane.  After one million times of answering "what is happening now", we finally took off and I let her have it.  Well the drink service started and she had drank half of her juice so I opened the cup and set it on my tray since we were next.  Did I mention I was in the middle.  Well Micah decided to lean over me to get to Lora but failed to think about the cup on the tray and well...I was off to the bathroom to change my wet sticky clothes.  Thanks to never leaving on a plane without a change of clothes in my bag, I am dry again.  Just hope we don't have anymore accidents as I am out of pants.  Oh and did I mention that while I put my chapstick in my carryon, I can't find it.  Lips only getting dryer along with my eyes on this flight. 

Had a not too terrible BBQ chicken meal...well it was edible. Mostly. Watched a movie and well, 11 more hours to go. And go I am, been to the bathroom twice already and need to go again. Been drinking Oolong tea from Taiwan. Guess I am not helping the hydration problem.

As if we couldn't have more fun, we found turbulence, enough for the captain to turn on the fasten seat belt/return to your seat light. Well that, of course, means it's time for Lora to potty. So off I went with her to the very small bathroom for us coach riders, where she spent considerable time taking care of business while I braced myself in the corner of the bathroom for the bumps.

 

Then I returned to my seat to finish watching the second of two very sappy movies, one of which was about adoption at the end....so now I have puffy eyes and a runny nose.

 

And we have 7 1/2 hours more to go!

 

Well my lips couldn't make it to Tokyo, so now I am the proud owner of Clinque lip gloss minis in 10 shades, all at the low low price of $36! And they were duty free! Beat that....well, my $1 Chapstick would beat that if it made it in my bag.

 

So with very bloodshot eyes, because I didn't really sleep, we made it to Japan. Can you believe it? I am in Japan. Well I was told it was Japan. All I get to see is the airport and everything is in English?????