What We've Been Up To...

Well, I certainly thought I'd be jumping back into the swing of things faster than I have.  I'm not sure why it's taken me so long to get back into my schedule?  If it's adjusting to a third child or the fact that as soon as we came home it was Ava and Amelia starting school, and ballet classes, and Awana, etc.?  It was a lot to jump back into just a few days after we returned home!

Regardless, there I days I feel I'm hanging in there okay, and other days I feel completely overwhelmed!  I have a friend (you know who you are ;-) who thinks I'm supermom!  She can't fathom how I get all the things done in my day that I do.  Honestly though, this is how I feel most days:

Each day gets a little bit better and now that I don't have to sit in the room with Audrey anymore while she falls asleep, I have freed up an extra 2 hours in my day!  It's been a slow progression, but we started off sleeping in the same bed (in China).  Once we were home, she was sleeping in her toddler bed and I was on a twin mattress on the floor next to her.  After a month or so of that, I moved to sitting in a chair in her room and now, I close the door almost all the way and sit on the floor outside her room.  She can't see me, but if she cries out or gets up, I'm right there to talk to her.  But most of the time, I only sit there about 10-15 minutes and then go downstairs.

The other thing that very recently has gotten better is how many times a night she wakes up.  She used to wake up several times a night and cry when she realized I wasn't there.  I had a monitor in her room so I'd wake up from my bed and go up and usually spend the rest of the night in her room.  We have slowly moved to me just putting her right back to bed and sitting there for a few minutes until she fell back to sleep, to now I walk right back out and go back to my bed!  And now, I'd say she only wakes up one time maybe 3 nights out of the week.  

The other activity that has been taking up so much of our time is the numerous doctors' appointments Audrey has been to.  We've seen our pediatrician, pediatric neurosurgeon, pediatric urologist, physical therapists, the Spina Bifida clinic at Scottish Rite and now hopefully, we'll be seeing the Pediatric Orthopedic Surgeon at Scottish Rite in March.  Except for the pediatrician and the physical therapist (who comes to our house) all those other appointments have been in Dallas!  So one appointment is an all day affair.

Audrey has had numerous vaccinations, blood tests, an MRI of her spine, a VCUG to check for bladder problems, ultrasounds, x-rays and multiple physical exams.  And I am very thankful for our medical insurance!

What does all this mean?  Well, Audrey has a more complicated form of spina bifida and will most certainly need surgery at some point in the future to address the issues in her back.  But for right now, we are waiting.  Why wait?  Because Audrey is doing fabulous!  And there are no guarantees that surgery at this point would help her walk any better than she does now.  While she was pretty much potty trained in China, she has regressed since coming home (which is normal and expected).  I'm trying to find a few weeks or even a long weekend that we will be home where I can get her out of diapers again.  I'm not sure she's ready but it will confirm to reveal if she has any bladder issues.  

Audrey is definitely a ham.  She's outgoing, gregarious and has the best personality!  I know!  I am just as surprised that I am typing that as you are to read it, based on what our experiences were in China.  She has ingratiated herself so deeply and quickly into our hearts since we have returned home that I've regretted some of the things I wrote.  I would hate for her to read them someday.  So, I'll shield her from that for awhile, but I've decided to let my comments stand as they were honestly what we were feeling and going through and I want other adoptive parents who haven't traveled yet or been through this experience know and understand what it can be like. 

Not everyone has a happy ending - I know several families that continue to have bonding, attachment and discipline problems now that they are home.  However, ours is turning out much better than we expected.  We thought it would be a rough transition but she has acclimated well to our life and home.  

And not that I was worried, but oh my, this girl LOVES her sisters!  And they love her right back.  She copies everything they do and say, what they wear, what they eat...everything!  She understands they go to school during the day, but she usually asks me where they are, mostly for her own confirmation, I think.  And when she spies them from the carpool line waiting for the doors to the school, it's like a rock star was walking out.  Oh the screaming and excited yells at their sight!

Her English improves daily as well.  I knew shortly after returning home that she could understand probably 90% of what I was saying to her but now she picks up new words and phrases every day.  Her favorite things to say are, "What are you doing?" "Where are we going?" "Where's Ava?" "Where's Amelia?" "What is that?" (while pointing to something).  She also said today, very plainly, "My foot fell down!" when her boot slipped off her foot while I was carrying her out to the arena.

Speaking of the arena and the barn and the animals...well, let's just say THAT transition was a little more bumpy!  Her reaction to our docile, loving animals was one of sheer terror!  Like someone was ripping her arm off!  It made doing barn chores very difficult.  But slowly she has come around...

She likes to help me with chores now (in the picture above she was combing Aeriel's nose ;-) but on cold days she is fine to stay in the house with her sisters.  

So we've been up to mundane, yet very good things over the last few months...though I'm still trying to get caught up on laundry, balancing the checkbook, and I still need to get my Christmas cards out!  

Until next time (which hopefully will be sooner than later!)....

Goodbye 2012 - Hello 2013

Wow.  It's like a ghost town around here!  I know!  Adjusting to life with a third child (who is 2 years old) has seemed to throw me for quite a loop!  I do have an update post I'm working on but I wanted to be sure and do a post within the first few days of 2013.

And this devotional I read from Charles Spurgeon this morning seemed so fitting...so much of what I want to focus on this year...(if you're friends with me on Facebook, I posted some of this already today...)

"Continue steadfastly in prayer."  Colossians 4:2

It is interesting to consider how large a portion of the Bible is occupied with the subject of prayer, either in furnishing examples, enforcing precepts, or pronouncing promises.  We scarcely open the Bible before we read, "People began to call upon the name of the LORD;" and just as we are about to close the volume, the "Amen" of an earnest supplication meets our ear.  Instances are plentiful.  Here we find a wrestling Jacob - there a Daniel who prayed three times a day - and a David who with all his heart called upon his God.  On the mountain we see Elijah; in the dungeon Paul and Silas.  We have multitudes of commands, and myriads of promises.  What does this teach us, but the sacred importance and necessity of prayer?

We may be certain that whatever God has made prominent in His word, He intended to be conspicuous in our lives.

If He has said much about prayer, it is because He knows we have much need of it.  So deep are our necessities that until we are in heaven we must not cease to pray.

Do you need nothing?  Then I fear you do not know your poverty.

Have you no mercy to ask of God?  Then may the Lord's mercy show you your misery!

A prayerless soul is a Christless soul.  Prayer is the lisping of the believing infant, the shout of the fighting believer, the requiem of the dying saint falling asleep in Jesus.  

It is the breath, the watchword, the comfort, the strength, the honor of a Christian.

If you are a child of God, you will seek your Father's face and live in your Father's love.  Pray that this year you may be holy, humble, zealous, and patient; have closer communion with Christ, and enter more often into the banqueting-house of His love.  Pray that you may be an example and a blessing to others, and that you may live more to the glory of your Master.  

The motto for this year must be, "Continue...in prayer."

- Taken from Morning and Evening: A New Edition of the Classic Devotional - Charles Spurgeon

And what more can I say to that except AMEN!  And AMEN again!

Re-entry

Well, this post is long overdue, I know!  We've been home for almost a month and I still don't feel like we're completely "back in the groove." Overall, things are going much better than we had anticipated.

So let me bring you up to speed...

We left our hotel in Guangzhou around 7:00 am.  We arrived at the airport with plenty of time to check luggage and wait for our now delayed flight. :-)  It was a short flight to Shanghai, about 2 hours, and Audrey did fairly well.  There were a few moments where she was crabby and crying but it was short lived.

Once we got to Shanghai, we collected our bags, checked into our international flight, then made our way to the first class lounge to waste away several hours until our flight left.  This actually wasn't so bad.  The lounge is nice.  I had several cucumber sandwiches for free.  There were drinks, food, a chef making some kind of noodle dish, candy, etc.  All for free!  So we loaded up and let Audrey run around and stretch her legs, burn off some steam for the big flight.

 

We had been praying about her being calm and quiet on the ride home.  And I feel the Lord answered that prayer by moving our hearts to decide to use some pharmaceutical supplement after all!  Ha ha ha!  So we got that on board, and then boarded the plane!

And can I just say - international first class is N I C E!!  Wow.  I'm not sure I can go back to coach.  Ever.  I am so glad we decided to cash in all our miles for this luxury.

This was Jason and Audrey right before we took off.  That whole area is just for Jason!  Each area took up about 4 airplane windows.  It was huge.  Tons of leg room, arm room, head room.  Lots of room.  Shortly after I snapped this picture, Audrey started throwing a fit because she didn't want to sit in Jason's lap anymore, she wanted to sit on my lap.  We had already started taxiing but we quickly switched her.  She then fell asleep in my arms as we took off.

She stayed asleep through dinner (appetizer, salad, steak with a bernaise sauce - the nice flight attendants pulled out my huge lap tray for me, laid napkins out so it was like a tablecloth, served me my food and even cut my steak for me since one arm was holding Audrey ;-)  Not kidding.  Great service.  

After dinner, I laid out my chair and slept a little with Audrey next to me.  The chairs lay flat and they provide a pad to be a pseudo mattress, two blankets, an eye mask, even pajamas!  Oh it's heavenly.  At first I thought it was a shame we had to buy an extra seat because she's over 2, but we ended up putting her in her own seat for parts of the flight.

We had these two middle seats next to each other and the seat along the window.  In the picture above, Jason is relaxing watching his own personal video monitor using his Bose noise canceling headphones (also provided by the airline).  And Audrey is stretched out, in dream land ;-)

She slept for about five hours.  She woke up at that point cranky.  And I was cranky.  I was very tired and really wanted to sleep.  Everyone else was asleep.  So, I took her in the bathroom for about 15 minutes for a diaper change, some warm milk in a bottle and then when she still wasn't satisfied, I let her scream and cry for a bit because there was nothing I could do.  When she was done, she went back to sleep and slept for another six hours. 

This photo was snapped about ten minutes before she woke up.  She slept so well I was able to sleep almost the same amount of time.  When she awoke, she had a little breakfast and then we were landing in Chicago!  I think I could have kissed each and every crew member as we walked off and walked on American soil!! (Or American carpet ;-)  At this moment, Audrey officially became a United States citizen.  We breezed through customs, picked up our luggage and re-checked it, then made our way to the Admirals' Club to wait the few hours until our connection to DFW left.

Again the flight to DFW was fairly uneventful.  Audrey fell asleep on take off and woke up a few minutes before we landed.  Oh my goodness.  Were we glad to land and get off that plane!!  Here is a video my Dad took of our reunion with the girls and their first meeting of Audrey face to face.  We're looking a little haggard but we were oh so happy to be H O M E!!!

Day 14 with Audrey

Well, this will probably be my last post before we are HOME! We cannot wait to get on that American Airlines flight, much less touch down on American soil! Please please pray with us that God would supernaturally calm Audrey for our long trip tomorrow and would even make her sleepy most of the day! We have tried various drugs to encourage the sleepiness and they all seem to backfire so we are going without anything. Yikes!

This morning we met up with our other family at breakfast and then headed next door to a hotel that has several shops with reasonable prices. We bought a third suitcase for a good deal in order to spread out our purchases and weight for the trip home!

We were still feeling a bit ambitious though and grabbed a taxi to head for Shamian Island I order to exchange a few things and get some more photos of the area since Jason and I feel, at this point, that this will be our last adoption trip! :-)

There are many large sculptures sprinkled throughout the island and Audrey was in a good enough mood to cooperate with posing on some.

This is usually what Audrey wants to do with the stroller ;-) I'd be happy to let het do this as it provides stability for her as she walks.

However, she doesn't steer very well (maybe because she can't see over the top?) and she goes slower so we are trying to encourage her to relax IN the stroller!

More sculptures to investigate.

 

Another example of the western influence seen in this Chinese cowgirl posing for what is probably a magazine shoot.

This is a girl on the move! You can detect the humidity level and influence by the sweaty head :-)

Happy to let baba hold her for awhile as she was finally starting to tire out! I didn't catch it on camera but she exclaimed "Baba!" right before this, gave him a big hug and kissed him on the side of his neck! Super sweet...

 

Another bride and groom headed to a photo shoot for a magazine. I'm guessing this due to the large size of the suit on the groom and the nonchalance of the bride as she swaggers down the street checking her phone :-)

We happened upon this Catholic chapel (again the British influence) where, as you can see, was a popular spot for photos. Modern brides in China do not want the traditional Chinese wedding gowns but prefer the big, white Western gowns.

Antique gated entrance. I would love to bring those iron gates home and use them somewhere...maybe up at the barn...

Last shot of one of the beautiful streets...

 

I'm ending this post early, before the day is over because as I said, I don't think I'll have time to post later before we leave. Again, we covet your prayers for a smooth travel marathon day!

Philippians 4:Rejoice in the Lord always ; again I will say , rejoice ! 5 Let your gentle spirit be known to all men . The Lord is near . 6   Be anxious for nothing , but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God . 7 And the peace of God , which surpasses all comprehension , will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus . 8 Finally , brethren , whatever is true , whatever is honorable , whatever is right , whatever is pure , whatever is lovely , whatever is of good repute , if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise , dwell on these things . 9 The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things , and the God of peace will be with you.

Day 13 with Audrey

This morning we were up and out the door early to make our stringent Consulate appointment! There are no cameras or cell phones allowed so we left them in the car and didn't get any photos. It is a quick appointment, you just take an oath that all the information you submitted is true as far as you know. Then you meet with an individual agent who quickly reviews your submitted paperwork, you sign a few more things then you're done!

After our appointment, our guide took us to Shamian Island, once the hub for all adoption families with the famous White Swan and Victory hotels, it used to be teeming with people and shops. However, I don't know if it's due to the slowdown in adoptions or that the White Swan is going through a major renovation and so is all torn up, but many of the shops are gone and it's a much quieter place. Which is nice in some ways.

 

All of the buildings here on Shamian were built by the British when they had a presence here at one point in time. So there is a definite English influence seen here.

 

The streets and sidewalks are wide and the trees are tall and plentiful, providing much shade during the hot afternoons and days.

It's also a VERY popular spot for bridal photos for real brides and grooms and those who are hired models for magazine shoots.

Of course, it wouldn't be a complete day without a meltdown from Audrey over something ;-)

We did get her a pair of squeaky shoes and she was extremely happy about that. So we let her out of her stroller to stretch her legs a bit.

And that makes us a bit happier too!

Our shopping was fast and furious and it was getting hot so soon we were headed back to the hotel.

 

We took afternoon naps then met up with the other AWAA family for Papa Johns pizza out by Kiddy Land. The. It was another dip in the pool to tire Audrey out before bedtime. We did Face Time with the girls and then hit the hay!

Tomorrow is mostly a free day as we wait for the consulate to issue Audrey's visa. We may do some more shopping and then it's packing as we leave early the next morning for home! Yea!

Day 12 with Audrey

Today was another free day. No appointments, no place to be, nothing to do. But we talked Amy, our guide, into taking us to the wholesale market in downtown Guangdong for some shopping! So we slept in a bit, had a leisurely breakfast, the met Amy and the Flowers at 10am to go shopping!

This was one of the colorful streets in. The wholesale market area. Normally, you must buy in bulk here, but Amy spoke with some of the shop owners and we were able to find and buy some good deals!

This is Stephanie and Jamie bargaining hard with the little shop keeper :-). Their baby's name is Kayleen, and she's very sweet. That's Amy, our guide, in the bottom left corner.

This is the entrance to a Buddhist temple there on the street.

Normally I wouldn't stop to snap any pictures, but it was interesting to look inside...

 

And the smell from the incense burning was actually quite good...after shopping we stopped at a new local favorite restaurant for Westerners called "Tekila". It is authentic Mexican food and it is GOOD! The owner is a native Mexican and he has done a fabulous job of teaching his staff to cook incredible food.

After that, we returned to the hotel for naps and the we took Audrey to a play area for kids on the 4th floor. I'm guessing it must be new because we never knew or heard about when we were here 3 years ago.

I'm guessing because more and more adoptive families are staying here, and not Shamien Island, the hotel has wisely set this area up.

As you can see, Amelia had a lot of fun playing on the equipment. I'm sure we'll be back here.