Not easy getting home but we made it

    After we have had challenges on all of our flights this trip, we should have known that getting home would not be any easier.  Going to Beijing, we sat on the plane for over 3 hours before having to get off, switch planes and then finally begin our journey about 6 hours late.  Then our two in-China flights were delayed by several hours. SOOOO---when we took off on time from Hong Kong, I should have known things were too good to be true.  Lily Kate actually did fabulous all 16 hours on the plane, although she only slept for one hour.  There was too much to see and do.  She also kept anxiously waiting for her next meal to arrive.  She loves her food!!!!  We knew we had a 7 hour layover in Detroit but after 6 hours the Delta Representative said the plane was in the hangar and we would be delayed about an hour.  Remember--at this point none of us have slept in 25 hours.  The next announcement says it will be delayed an additional hour.  It is 9:00pm at this point (9:00 am China time) so our patience is shot.  Lily Kate is screaming because she wants to sleep.  We asked about a morning flight and found out a few seats were available on the morning flight.  We rushed to the "help" desk and got some of the last seats on the flight.  We then found a hotel and left the airport.  Thank goodness we did--the flight took off at 2:00AM and arrived in Tampa at 4:30AM.  Long story short, we got home yesterday afternoon and will spend today unwinding and unpacking.  Both sets of parents met us at the airport.  Thank you to those of you who left posters, signs and balloons for our homecoming.  We were SOOOOOO touched.  Now that we are home, I am finally able to read the blog.  China limits media greatly.  Thank you for so much support.   WE are extremely thankful to be home.  Please feel free to come and visit anytime.  We plan to be home a lot this week getting Lily into the swing of being home.  Also, she hates the carseat (stroller too) so we need to avoid it as much as possible right away.

Last China Post

Our journey to China is coming to a close.  We have felt so blessed--the six years of waiting have been so worth it.  We never would have dreamed that Abigail would be a teenager when we actually began our paperwork for this adoption in 2006.  A few years ago we somewhat nixed the idea because the wait was so long.  We now know that we were destined for Lily Kate!!!!!!  She is perfect for our family and we look forward to giving her a bright and happy future.  We do not look forward to the 15 hour plane ride from Hong Kong to Detroit though--yikes.........

      Yesterday, Lily Kate had all of her necessary paperwork in order for her US Consulate appointment (with a little help from mom and dad.)  Today we will get her visa and then she will have clearance to travel to the United States.  We took a group picture yesterday of all the children and their family members in the lobby of the hotel.  It was "great fun" trying to keep all the children focused while our reps tried to take pictures with 20 different cameras.  We then attempted a picture of just the children sitting on the step.  It was hysterical watching them.  Some (like Lily Kate) just sat on the step and watched all the screaming and commotion around them while others tried to run up and down the stairs.  It made for some great and memorable pictures. Several of us bought the authentic Chinese outfits and put them in for the pictures.  She will probably never wear it again but it was very cute.  

 

Last night we took Lily Kate swimming for the first time and she seemed to really enjoy it.  Last night after I brushed her teeth, I told Lily to show daddy her clean teeth.  Instead of walking to the bed where Dave was, she tried to open the hotel room door.  I opened it for her and she pressed the elevator button (we are right by the elevator.)  I laughed because we forget that as many times a day as we drill our names into her head, Chinese is still her language and most of what we say is jibberish to her.  Poor thing--she was pointing to her teeth and wanting to go down the elevator to go show someone her teeth.  She always smiles at us so we hope that  MAYBE she is understanding a word or two here or there.  LOL

  Tonight we take a van to Hong Kong.  It will take 3-5 hours, depending on traffic.  Then tomorrow we will begin our 24 hours of flying home.   Hong Kong is supposed

 to be an awesome city.  I am not sure how much of it we will get to see because we are only there for one night.  No biggie--we have been gone almost a month and are just ready to get home!!!!!!!!!!  Oh, this is funny.  We just checked into our flight and they changed Lily Kate's seat.  She is no longer sitting with the four of us but is several rows behind us.  She is traveling on her Chinese passport so her name is different.  The airline must have thought it was a person traveling alone because her name was different than the four of ours.  We will fix it at the airport but we thought it was funny.  Have a great day everyone!!!!!!!!!

In My Defense..........

According to Lily Kate's blog the other day, she told me to boil the water longer for the noodles.  That is not entirely true.  The pot actually whistled signaling that the water was boiled...apparently it went off prematurely.   I was SOOOOO sick for the past two and a half days but have returned to life now.  With a toddler--it is hard to be sick.  Probably half of those who come to China catch some type of stomach bug.  It is hard to avoid getting sick.

   

     It is really fun here in Guangzhou. Yesterday, we went shopping at a Pearl Market (yes-I just took lots of medicine) and went on a really fun dinner cruise down the Pearl River.  There was a man swimming in the river.  It reminded Dave and me of the Seinfeld episode where Kramer goes swimming in the East River.  All the buildings along the river are lit up in beautiful colors at night.   Today we went to the zoo and went shopping on a local island.  Lily Kate loved feeding the giraffes.  It was a great day.

    

  Lily Kate is slowly getting used to us.  She is definitely going to rule the roost.  She is very defiant when she wants to be and will not give in when she does not want to do something.   It is cute to see her throw her little fits.  It is so hard to establish routine while in hotels so we cannot wait to get home and get her on a normal schedule.

    

 

 Speaking of home--tomorrow we have our US Consulate appointment to apply for her visa.  We receive her visa on Thursday and then leave Thursday for Hong Kong.  As long as everything goes as planned, we should be home with our little China doll on Saturday.  

     

As I have said before, I am so sorry we cannot respond to blog comments while here in China due to media restrictions.  Thank you to all of you for keeping our family in your thoughts.  We are enjoying our journey here but are ready to get home.  We cannot wait to sleep in our own beds!!!!!!

 

Lily's Turn To Blog

July 15, 2012
Good morning USA. Today I (Lily) have to write the blog for my mommy. I told her to boil the water longer on the noodles, but she would not listen to me. So somebody has to keep this blog going because she is sick. Today I had to get out of bed (not as easy as it looks) and go to breakfast. After breakfast I found more of these round objects on the counter (m&m's). I put one in my mouth and I had to keep going. Why was my mommy not giving these to me earlier in the week?

After my completion of these round objects I decided these people needed a tour of the town Guangzhou. It was bright out side so I had to put my shades on (picture). 

We started off going to a buddhist temple, not my favorite place to go (as the picture shows). This temple, I was told was very old (about 1450 years old). After the temple, we went to the house of Chen. The house of Chen was very hot. I asked mommy why they spent so much money to build a house without ac? Mommy and Daddy said the house had lots of interesting architecture (like what does that mean?). So after the hot house we finally went to a place with ac. This place with ac had lots of things to buy, So mommy got these slips and gave them to daddy. These slips did not seem to make daddy so happy because he had to stand in line and get this card out that looks like the room key. 

After this place with ac we returned to the hotel were I got my 3 hour nap. When I got up from my nap, I did not see mommy (Daddy tells me she was under the covers). Daddy, Abby, and Drew took me to McD's. I got my second hamburger this week. I am sure going to miss this place when I go to the USA. It is about time for me to go to bed so I hope mommy feels better tomorrow so she can take  over this blog again.

Arrival in Guangzhou

 We have arrived in the beautiful city of Guangzhou-YIPPEE!!!!!  We are thrilled.  This city is much more touristy and we definitely fit in more here than in Lily's province.  The hotel is a Marriott and many employees speak English so it is easy to communicate.  There are also numerous things to do here as a family and group when we are not working on paperwork.  This is where we work on Lily Kate's U.S. paperwork so she can come into the United States and immediately become a citizen.

     Yesterday, the plane ride was EXCITING for all the passengers who got to listen to our 14 screaming babies as we sat on the runway for an hour and a half waiting to take off.  We could tell all the passengers were talking about us in Chinese (we were the only Americans on the plane.)  Our babies were NOT HAPPY. When we finally arrived in Guangzhou we were very relieved.  We will travel from bus to Hong Kong so our last flight will be home to the United States.  We have not had good luck with flights on our trip so far.

     Today Lily Kate was not happy.  Today all the babies went for their medical exams where they were poked and prodded.  She then got a TB test which upset her greatly.  We determined that she weighs almost 20 pounds and seems fairly healthy.  She has a little bit of a runny nose but most of the babies do simply because of all the changes going on in their world this past week (food, environment, etc.)  We went to the hotel playground this afternoon and realized that she does not like slides or swings.  We do not think she has ever been on either one before.  She also put her feet in the swimming pool.  Maybe tomorrow we will take her in.  She got a hold of Abby's M&M's tonight and decided that she could eat them all day. She kept making the "mmmm" sound and wanting more when the package was empty.  It will be so hard not to spoil this baby!!!!!!!!!!!

 

 

Wearing Shoes Is A Must......

 July 12 , 2012  and  July 12, 2012
We are learning that Lily Kate is all about routine.  Her shoes must be on from the moment she wakes up until the moment she goes to bed, yes even when wearing her pajamas.  If a shoe falls off, it must be put back on immediately.  Also, she has to have everything organized at all times.  Last night we went to the hotel play room and the balls from the ball pit were all over.  She could not go on any of the apparatus until she put every ball back in the pit.  Once her task was completed, she began playing.  She also got water on her pajama top before bed.  I changed her into another top but she would not let it stop there.  She knew the new top did not go with the bottoms so she insisted I change her into the matching bottoms, although they were too big for her.  She is so funny.

Yesterday, we spent the day playing with her new friends at the hotel.  A few families went with us to a local park where she went on a few rides and we went on the paddle boats.  No tears during her bath today--although she still will not sit down in the bathtub.  Our biggest challenge is changing her diaper.  She still gets hysterical and runs away when I go to change it.  We think there were consequences for accidents and she is still nervous.  We have to be careful when changing her because being used to "squat pots", she thinks she is supposed to squat and go when the diaper comes off.  We will keep working on this.  LOL

Today we fly to Guangzhou to begin all our US paperwork.  We will be there for about a week.  Have a great day!!!!

Two more pictures.