Hello cyber world!

I wanted to post some pictures from the trip that I hadn't been able to post yet. Also, I wanted to give an update now that we've been home just over a week.

Update first, pictures second. Go ahead and scroll down if you just can't stand it...

We have... one smart little girl! I know, I know... everyone says that. But do you have a two year old who can already sing part of the ABC song, can count out three things and say "One, two, three," can ask for a "drinka," can ask to go "Pah-tee," can find your shoes, her shoes, brother's shoes, baba's shoes, can take things upon request to the garbage can, her room, brother's room or mama's room? How about repeat four word sentances? How about go grab her coat and shoes when you ask her if she wants to go bye-bye? Can find a tissue if her nose is running? How many two year olds do you know who can go all night without any potty mistakes? Go to bed without crying? Sleep through the night? Chase you around the kitchen asking for a "bee-nan-uh! bee-nan-uh!"

We've been home 10 full days... WOW!

She can/will say just about any word you ask her to say. She doesn't know what most of them mean but we're working on it. I am amazed though at just how much she does understand!

Our relationship (mom & daughter) is getting better each day. It was pretty rough at the beginning. I'm not exactly the world's nicest person when I haven't received my fair share of sleep. Although I was expecting it, the lack of sleep/jet lag the first couple of days pushed me close to the brink. I was SO tired and SO frusterated. I was having a lot of trouble (see last post) getting Charleigh to go to bed. If we even went in her room and I started toward the bed she let loose. And the cry she would let loose was just the closest thing to a "bloody murder" scream I have heard in my life.
Tired, frusterated mom + bloody murder screaming in ear = }:(

Fortunately, we were able to get past that through trial and error. In the end, she likes the lights very VERY low (a night light is TOO bright. I end up leaving a bathroom light on and closing her door all the way. The little bit of light that comes through the door cracks is enough. She also likes me to lay on the twin bed, (she sleeps in a toddler bed) but I have to make a lot of noise for a few minutes or she thinks I've left. So I lay down flamboyantly, sing a little nighty-nite song, yawn loudly, toss and turn a few times and then lay quietly and still. She falls asleep pretty quickly. Tonight was less than 10 minutes.

The only dark spot in everything is that Clyde has had to work a lot lately (two reasons, one being we were out for such a long time he's trying to make up the hours, and two is that the nature of the propane business is that as the weather gets cooler, the propane business gets hotter!). As such, he's been gone from the house a lot, often leaving before the kids get up and getting home near to or after bedtime. Charleigh has become less attached/responsive to Clyde as she becomes more attached to me. I think once she realizes that we're a team and we're BOTH her parents all the time their relationship will rebound quickly. I wouldn't say she's attached in the technical sense of the word, to any of us yet. I think she likes us a LOT, but it's not "attachment" yet. And I'm not surprised, just mentioning it because I think it's important not to expect these children to love us on sight, or even shortly thereafter. It's going to take some time, and PROOF in her mind that we will not abandon her or send her away.

Bubba jr. is doing pretty well. He went back to school for a couple of days last week. I think the routine of school was good for him. Charleigh will go to the sameplace Bubba attends pre-k once I go back to work (late January). I think it's really good for Charleigh to see Bubba Jr get dropped off there everyday and picked up every afternoon. We visited her room, but she wasn't very interested in it... yet. I think she'll do well once it's time for her to go. Everyone there was excited to see her. They had seen pictures of her here on the blog so by the time we got home she was already famous ;) In fact I had a woman I swear I've never seen in my life stop me at church and says, "So this is Charleigh! I saw that cute picture with all the hair bows!" Woah, so hello all you people I don't know!! :)

I left Charleigh with a babysitter for the first time. The sitter was my sister, who was excited to be the first to babysit. I left both the kids, I'm sure it helped Charleigh that Bubba Jr. was there, too. I left strict instructions for my sister to call me if Charleigh got upset. My sister said that Charleigh cried quietly for less than 5 minutes right after I left. After that she had a great time with the other kids (My sister had three of her four with her as well as my two!) When I got back Charleigh kind of looked at me like "Oh. It's you. Nice of you to come back, but don't expect applause or anything." But I squatted down and put out my arms and she ran over... Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh :) :) :)

Today we went to the local county park. She had a good time and is definately not shy about playing on the bigger equipment. None of the sissy slides for this girl! In contrast, Bubba Jr is quite the "caution-ist." I think he was four before he would consider going down the biggest slide. The big slide was all Charleigh did today! She also wanted to do this curving ladder thing. I had to draw the line on that one... though I bet by the summer she'll have it mastered.


Well my picture file uploader thing a mah bob is being we-todd-did, so looks like the only picture that's going up tonight is from Adoption Day (11-7). The day after Gotcha we travelled to the civil affairs office to finalize the adoption. It's pretty significant as at the time of gotcha you are just the temporary guardians. After the civil affairs meeting you are PARENTS! This is the entrance to the offices (we're actually on our way out at this point). You go through that elaborate metal door (via a secret passcode your guide knows) and up one level to the offices. First we were led to a holding room, then our guide goes through the paperwork one last time. After that we went to have a "family" photo and a new child's passport photo made. Both of these photos are absolutely hideous... but I guess it's the thought that counts. After the pictures is a brief interview. Why do you want to adopt? Do you like this child? Do you wish to adopt her? After the interview it's time to dole out all that cash I worked so hard to attain. I was frankly happy to be rid of it! And then we're done:

WOOHOO!

B

We're Home!

Yes, we're home! I know it's been a while since I posted, but please forgive me :) it's been crazy!

We got home very early on Thursday, about 1:30am. Thanks to a three hour delay leaving Newark... the weather was quite bad (windy and rainy). In fact, coming into Newark there was quite a bit of turbulence and both the kids puked at just about the same time.

Nice.

The flight from Newark to Atlanta was crappy for me. I had the misfortune to move suddlenly in my seat and the movement disrupted the drink on the tray table attached to my seat. The woman behind me went bezerk. She started pushing my chair and yelling at me to put my seat up, and that I should have asked her before I moved my chair in case she had a drink that might spill. (Puh-lease!) Oh, and that she was going to pour a drink over my head. After nearly 30 hours of travelling I was in no mood for these childish antics and immediately hit the button to summon the flight attendant. She said that was a great idea. Apparently she thought they were going to tell me to put my seat up. Too bad for her! They told her they would get her another drink, but that I had the right to recline my seat if I wanted to. This, of course, set her off again and as soon as the flight attendant left she begin kicking my seat. To tell the truth, it felt kind of like a massage chair so I leaned back and payed no attention to her. People like that feed off your reactions, so my lack of further reaction was upsetting to her and finally she stopped.

We spent 16 days away from home and met the rudest people just around the corner. The folks working in Homeland Security in Newark also have a serious power trip going on...

So now that we're home, things are slowly improving. Charleigh's language skills are improving leaps and bounds. Just last night she said Bubba's name, drink, Mamaw, Grams, and Charleigh. One area that's suffered greatly is sleeping. In China she was wonderful about sleeping. Would go down with no problem, sleep all night and get up smiling. Now she screams going to sleep (nap or bedtime) and wakes up several times throughout the night screaming. We're still working to find the right combination of naps/bedtime/potty times etc. She also gets up in a fairly lousy mood. The times in between are great. She and Bubba are getting along pretty well, unless she knocks down his train... then he gets kinda put out.

She clearly still favors dad. I'm good for snot wiping and potty time, but if dad's around I'm obviously second best. Hopefully she'll start liking me better soon, or it's going to be a long 3 months till I go back to work!

I haven't gotten our pictures developed from the trip, still trying to sort out my mail and laundry.

Gotta give a shout out to my best most favorite sister in the world. She drove an hour and a half up to our house on the 16th and stocked my refridgerator and pantry with food. She's the best!!!! She left us sub sandwiches which we scarfed down at 2am on Thursday... :) It was SO nice not to have to worry about what to make for dinner the first couple of nights after we got home. SO THANK YOU SISTER!!! YOU'RE THE BEST!!!

Hope to put up more pictures soon!

B

In Guangzhou

We've made it to Guangzhou, actually we got here a couple of days ago, but I've not had time to post. Also, I tried to post before leaving Nanchang and the d@ng post wouldn't go and every time I tried to load a picture it errored out....

Anyway.....

I'll try and load some pictures... but no promises :(

Some things about Charleigh:

• Mom is okay when it's time to eat.
• Dad is best for everything else, especially bed time.
• Charleigh is a southpaw! She will sometimes eat with her right hand, but if you hand her a crayon or marker she will always draw left handed.
• Charleigh is also very tickelish. She loves it when her dad gets her with the "tickle bug."
• She is still loving her hair bows. Although she's ok when I only put in one or two, but she still pulls them out a couple of times a day and makes me redo them (after furiously scratching her head)

We went to the pool today, her first time I believe. She really enjoyed it!

Yesterday she had her medical exam. She passed and weighs 13.5kg (29.75 pounds) and is 98 centimeters tall (which I think is about 39 inches.) She is MUCH taller than I thought she would be. She comes to Brandon's nose!

Bye for now! I will TRY to post again soon!

B

Day 2 & 3

Sorry I didn't get a chance to post yesterday, I hope you can understand!

On Tuesday we got up early (Thanks to Bubba Jr. begging to play with his remote controlled car he bought at WALMART Monday night.) Let me tell you, Walmart in Gainesville doesn't hold a candle to Walmart in Nanchang. We went Monday at about 3pm and the place was packed. Our guide, Shirley was with us, so we were able to find the things we needed otherwise we would have been totally lost. We tried in earnest to find a fan. I think Chinese people are allergic to cool air because there are these things that look like fans, but when you look closely they are actually heaters. We attempted then to buy short sleeved clothing, but since it is Winter (the season is determined solely by the date on the calendar, not the outside temperature) they have loads and loads of sweaters for sale. No thanks.

Walmart lived up to all our expectation based on others' adventures there. With one exception... I didn't see any goat for sale. I did see a lot of chickens with their heads still on and other various creatures of unknown species. Since this Walmart is three stories, there is a magnetized escalator that takes you and your buggy down at the same time. You sort of roll your cart on it and the magnets take hold. Once you're on it there is NO moving the cart. It doesn't budge, even if you try :)

I forgot to mention that before we went to Walmart we ate at KFC. We're getting a little tired of hotel food. Clyde is having dreams about ice, and I'd get my left big toe for an iceberg salad...

Tuesday we went to the Teng Wang pavilion. It's been destroyed and rebuilt 28 times. The last was in 1989. Interestingly enough, there was a fire drill going on while we were there...

Big Brother on the stone horse.

DAD! Why do you keep taking my picture? I'm trying to enjoy this historic monument!

Maybe you can see in the picture the kids are wearing outfits I painted before I left. Charleigh's outfit has the Chinese characters for "Mei Mei" or little sister. Bubba's of course has "Ge Ge" or Big Brother. The back has "I (heart) my " and then either Mei Mei on Bubba Jr's or Ge Ge on Charleigh's. I can not TELL you how many people pointed, stared, came over or took pictures. On one floor of the Pavilion we only made it about two steps in because we were over taken my a gaggle of Chinese ladies who ooed and ahhd over the kids. It was pretty cute, though Bubba Jr gets pretty shy so he won't answer their questions even when they ask in English.

After the Teng Wang pavilion we went to a local restaurant. When you walked in you were asked to choose your entree among the many presented at the display case. Among the choices were ducks feet, soft shelled crabs still gurggling at you, and four legged creatures who chase sticks in our country.

We had rice and noodles.

This morning (day 3 with the little princess) we went a visited the orphanage. It's raining buckets here today and we took a maniacal bus ride 1 hour north of Nanchang to the city of Yongxiu. To try and paint a picture using words of the poverty of this small city is absurd. It is just something you have to see. We wound down a small road, used more for foot traffic than automobiles. At the very end, through a small brass colored gate is the Yongxiu Social Welfare Institute. Going through the gate I couldn't hold back a few tears. This is my daughters home. The only one she knows, the only home she has ever known. She has a home waiting for her, but she doesn't know that. All she knows is that she received food and care here, and definitely love. That alone makes a home, no matter if it's loaded with toys, or contains one small cherished backpack.

Charleigh cried very hard when we went into the orphanage, even though our guide had explained to her repeatedly that we were going to say goodbye to her auntie and she was not staying there. Even now I can't really explain why she cried. The first logical reason would be that she was afraid we were taking her back. But when we left, she cried very hard as well. While we were there we were treated very nicely by the staff. They gave us fresh fruit and tea. Charleigh just loves fruit! After we got to the director's office she was an angel. Just as sweet as could be and NO crying. She sat happily on my lap and gave me many smiles. Then we went to the the foster mother. Yongxiu is not set up like any other orphanage in Jiangxi province. I actually don't think it's like in other ANYwhere, but I can't confirm that. Some orphanages are able to foster children out to families in the area. It's very similar to the foster care program in the United States. However, in Yongxiu the foster families live IN the orphanage. Basically you have a mom and a dad and they live in the orphanage in their own rooms and have children in their care. I don't believe they have any biological children, but again I can only confirm that Charleigh's foster my does not have any bio children. The family that Charleigh was in (Family #8) consisted of the mom and dad, Charleigh and four other girls. Three older than Charleigh and one younger. When we visited, the three older girls were all at school and the dad was at work. So we met the foster mom, who clearly loved Charleigh, and the baby. Finding out there was a baby in the family was really no surprise. Whenever Charleigh hears a baby crying she gets a very worried look on her face. She has a lot of empathy, and always notices babies when we're out.

Charleigh's foster mom did us a great service. She got down on Charleigh's level and told her that Clyde and I were her mom and dad, and she was to go with us and be a good girl. The foster mom told Charleigh that we were good and that we would take good care of her and let her go to school. She also told Charleigh that we would probably get her new pens if she was good. At the end she told Charleigh not to cry and to be a good girl. They whole time Charleigh was shaking her head "yes," but looking very sad. Then she (Charleigh) took my hand and we went back to the directors office. At that point we should have left. However, we had gifts to give the director and needed to gather our belonging. Had I know what scene would shortly ensue I would have kept walking and told Clyde to go get our stuff.

Charleigh's foster mom gave her a little Pokemon backpack while we were there. They had so few belongings that I felt guilty taking it. However, it seemed to provide a lot of comfort for Charleigh, so we thanked the foster mom and let Charleigh take it. Now, back to the director's office. After we met the foster mom we went back to Director Cai's office and Charleigh proceeded to pack her bag full with the remaining fruit. She then about faced and hauled you know what back to the foster moms apartment with myself and another lady in hot pursuit. She got back to her foster mom and started taking the fruit out and giving it to her foster mom. When I held out my hand to Charleigh and asked her to take it.... She blew a gasket. I whisked her up and quickly said goodbye. We left amid a torrent of tears and rain.

Since we got back to the hotel, Charleigh's been a different person. She is definitely happier. I think even though it was very emotional going back to the orphanage, it was the right thing to do. She needed that chance to say goodbye. Most of us can relate to a time we had to say goodbye. We had to. We weren't given a choice, and neither was she. But she said goodbye, she was told goodbye and I think she's better off emotionally for it. She's been a lot freer with her smiles, especially to me. Beforehand she would smile beautifully for Bubba Jr and Hannah, but would not open herself up to me that way. She's still not fully convinced we won't leave her, but she's starting to like us now. Things are definitely changing for the better.

Except for going to sleep, and when I can't get it through my big head that she needs to use the potty, she doesn't cry. She will allow me to hold her when she's crying (going to be or nap), which is a good thing. It would be harder if she pushed me away when she was upset.

I'VE CREATED A MONSTER!

I've totally created a hair-bow monster. She insists on wearing all the hair bows I brought.

At the same time:

I actually have a lot more pictures of the hairbows, but for whatever reason the blogger upload isn't working anymore...

Thank you so much to everyone who has sent well wishes to us!! I can't respond to everyone, but thank you so much! It's such a thrill to open up the e-mail and see all the new messages. For those of you who are still waiting to board that plane, you'll be amazed how fast the time goes!

On a funny note, we met a family this morning at breakfast who is from Roswell, GA. That's about an hour from us. Only in this day in age can you travel 8000+ miles and meet your neighbor at breakfast...

In the paperwork arena, we met with the notary today. Tomorrow is a free day with the anticipation of sleeping in and doing some porcelain shopping in the afternoon. :)

Bye for now!!

B

Adoption Day

Charleigh slept from about 7:30 pm last night until about 6:30 am this morning. We were really shocked she slept so long!

This morning we took it nice and easy waking her up. She never cried this morning. She looked at us a little like, "yeah, I figured you'd still be here. Ok then."
We let her sleep in her clothes. I figured she would have a fit if I tired to take them off so I left them on. Plus, the outfit is really cute! This morning we left her outfit on, but added little white bows & pigtails. I was very glad I left her in her Gotcha outfit because the orphanage director (Chinese man in the brown shirt in the picture above) was there and I think he was happy to see her in her outfit.

She's definitely taken to Clyde more than me. That's ok. I know it's going to take time for us all to get adjusted. Honestly it's going a lot better than I anticipated. She's done wonderfully today, laughing smiling and having a lot of fun with her big brother.

The pictures are in no particular order, sorry for that.

Oh! She is ABSOLUTELY potty trained. She does a little pee-pee dance and pulls on my clothes when she's ready to go.

In the pictures with the new clothes, they're 3t's. She fits them almost perfectly, though she won't be 3 for a few more weeks.

Off to the infamous Nanchang Walmart!

B

Family of Four!!!!!!!!!

Well after waiting 570 days, we finally had our GOTCHA day today!

We flew in to Nanchang today, arriving at about 4 pm. We took about a 30 minute bus ride from the airport to the hotel. We found out on the bus ride that they were bringing the children to the hotel rather than having us going to the Civil affairs office.

I don't have a ton of time to write, so please forgive the brevity...

We waited outside the elevator doors while our guide went to the lobby to bring up the orphanage director, the nanny, and of course sweet Ms. Charleigh. Every time the elevator dinged my heart lept into my throat. Finally, the doors slide open and amid a gaggle of adults stood the sweetest little girl I've ever seen. She was wearing a bright yellow couderoy top and pants, a pretty little turtleneck and adorable white Mary Janes. They brought her out to us and Clyde and I tried to approach her smoothly so she wouldn't be too upset. She was very reserved with all these adults swarming around her. I tried some of my Chinese out, she looked at me like she halfway understood, but was wondering if I was really talking to her. The director and nannies definitely understood me!

They gave me a red scarf with handwritten information about Charleigh on it. They also gave her a small present (we haven't opened yet) and a red silk bundle I was told continued earth from outside her orphanage. We did get our camera and photo book back.

When the director and the nanny left they waved goodbye and Charleigh waved back. I'm sure she didn't realize the were actually leaving because when they stepped on the elevator without her she went BEZERK. I was expecting it, so I was ready. I walked her around, talked to her and finally in our room she was pushing me so hard I set her down to see what she would do. She ran right over to the door and was moaning for her "ayi" auntie (nanny). We all sat by the door with her while she wept for the people she missed. She allowed us to touch her, stroke her arms, back and head. After a while she took her shoes off and laid down on the floor. We laid down too and talked quietly to her and I sang the "Mama Hao" song.

And then we did some other stuff which you really don't want to read, I know you would rather I stuck a sock in it and posted the dang pictures already. So here goes:

Bubba Jr. and Charleigh konked out watching Mulan. Charleigh cried for a good 30-45 minutes, pretty hard. No wonder she was tired! In her left hand you can see her shoes she refuses to let anyone else touch, and in her left hand is a green sucker she won't eat, but held on to it.

Closeup - My baby has "Mamaw" hair!

BYE! I'm off to get some SLEEP!

B :)

Beijing, Day 2

The Great Wall!

Actually, it's day 3 but the first day we spent in a jet-lagged induced stupor so it doesn't really count...

Today we went to the Great Wall, and to quote Big Bird (from Big Bird Goes to China) it's not great, it's Tremendous!

Going up was not too bad, it was coming down that had my legs quivering! The view was fantastic, the pictures don't do it justice.

After the Great Wall we went to a Cloisonne factory. We watched as the workers glued copper wire on copper vases, bowls and other items. Then the entire area is painted several times and fired. The it is sanded twice. Let me just say for the record there is NO OSHA in China...

Tonight we're going to the Hard Rock Cafe for dinner. (Clyde's choice. I guess he's already tired to strange fish deep fried and containing bones. Or it could have been the turkey with peanut butter sauce...) I've been enjoying the food. For example, I didn't know I liked steamed spinach for breakfast. I also really like Jasmine tea and eating with chopsticks is getting easier with each meal.

So long from Beijing!

We're in Beijing!!

At long last!!! Take me to Beijing!

Bubba Jr. finding the nearest exit on the 777, keeping in mind the nearest exit may be behind him.

Seeing the Marble Boat at the Summer Palace

View from Hotel room. This is during the day. It is SMOGGY here!


I can't believe we're finally here! This post is a little late as we actually arrived yesterday, but with the time change/jet lag we were too tired to do anything let alone try and figure out how to get on the Internet.

Today we went to the Summer Palace. It was really nice as the weather here is GREAT! Highs in the mid 60's. Of course all the Chinese babies we saw were totally covered up. Bubba Jr. had his picture taken numerous times. As soon as we would stop somewhere someone would come over and tug on his shirt so they could have their picture taken with him. The baby in the picture below was just as cute as a button and wearing split pants... if I could have taken a picture I surely would have!

At the Summer Palace I had my first experience with....

The Squatty Potty! EW! Make sure you bring your own TP!

After the Summer Palace we had a traditional Chinese lunch. We ate some meat that was tasty, though I'm not quite sure what it was. Then we had sweet and sour "fish." Which I really think was squid, but that's a fish right? After that came lotus slices marinated in orange juice. I passed on that. Then some spicy chicken (pretty good!) and some Rice (killer) and last egg drop soup. They sure don't make egg drop soup like this in the states!

Bubba Jr drinking Jasmine Tea at lunch. He really liked it! I think he was rolling his eyes at me because every 5 seconds I'm hollering for him to smile for the picture...

After lunch we had a foot massage. Now for those of you who know Clyde, you know foot massages "aint his thang" but he got one too, and I have proof!

(Sorry I don't know how to flip the pictures. Just turn your monitor on its side!)

This is from the Acrobat show. I'm telling you, if you get the chance to see this, DO it's great!

A couple of things about this picture. First off, he IS wearing gold trunks. I know the picture doesn't exactly look "family friendly," but trust me, he's got shorts on. Second, he "jumped" all the way down those little stairs on one hand. When he got to the bottom, he went all the way back up! It was really amazing to see the skills these people had!

Here's H with our guide, Water. He's cute as a button and just about the nicest person I've ever met. He's always saying "We do this, I think it is more better for you!" I never understood why people posted pictures of their guides. Well now I know. When you're 8000+ miles from home, your guide is your new best friend.

Ok, I guess that's all for today. Tomorrow we're going to the Great Wall, shopping and then to have famous Peking Duck for dinner.

B

Oh, here are some random pictures, from Halloween and such..

This is a blanket & an elephant one of my co-workers MADE for Charleigh. Aren't they beautiful?? The Chinese character on the blanket is "Fu," which means blessing and good fortune.

Hey! There's something in Charleigh's new hamper... only she's not even home yet! What could it be???

Happy Halloween from Batman and Guinevere.