Sunday Ramblings

Teagin threw up 3 times in 10 minutes yesterday.  So we asked the other parents what they were giving and they were told 6 ounces.  The orphanage gave us an information sheet telling us Teagin was taking 9 ounces in her bottle!  I feel horrible now!  I’ve been gorging my child on formula and rice!  We’re cutting back on the amount.  We were supposed to go out with the travel group to a Japanese restaurant tonight, but decided to stay in, considering Teagin’s tummy was erupting in the lobby.  Probably a wise idea.  I know I don’t like going anywhere on an upset tummy so I’m assuming she doesn’t either.  It seems to have worked because she’s a happier baby this morning.  I’ve also noticed that she’s throwing up her formula when she’s working on her number twos.

Traveling to Guangzhou was a traumatic experience for her.  She screamed for almost the entire flight.  I got a dirty look from the guy in front of me, but what do you do?  The plane was packed and cramped quarters which didn’t make any of us happy.  I’m very glad that we’ve upgraded to Economy Plus for the ride back.  Hopefully the seat next to us is still open.  Then we’ll have the whole row to ourselves again.

Yesterday was the doctors’ appointments that are required for us to get her US Visa.  She weighed 7.6 kilograms which translates to 16 pounds and 12.8 ounces.  For those of you wondering, that’s a size 3-6 months but she’ll probably not be in them much longer.  All of her weight is in her thighs!  She also checked out OK with the ENT and surgical checks.  I’m still wondering how she got past the ENT doctor with flying colors.  I’ve noticed that she has this heart shaped tip to her tongue and that she can’t stick her tongue out of her mouth.  I think she’s a bit tongue tied so I’m making an appointment to have my doctor look at it.  I hate to say it, but she’s not going to be a very happy baby in the near future if I’m right.  She’ll have to have a minor surgery to correct.  I sure hope I’m wrong….

Today we did a bit of sightseeing.  We went to the Chen Clan Academy.  The architecture was simply amazing.  I thought the Forbidden City was awesome; it has NOTHING on this place.  Unfortunately, I didn’t get half the pictures I wanted…my camera died.  

Jason didn’t come along with the sightseeing.  He’s still not feeling well.  He started running a fever and is now coughing.  Poor Teagin doesn’t quite know what to think when he coughs.   It’s like a gunshot or cannon going off…so loud!  She just sits and stares at him.

Tomorrow is the appointment at the US Consulate.  We’ll get Teagin’s visa to come to the US and then we can’t leave China for 48 hours.  After the appointment, we’re heading to Shamian Island to do some shopping!  On Tuesday afternoon, we travel to Hong Kong in preparation for our trip back to the US.  So our time here in China is nearly over.  It’s going to feel so good to get home and get settled back into some semblance of normalcy. 

It's Friday

We’re spending a quiet day in the room.  Jason’s not feeling so hot and we have to pack to fly to Guangzhou.  I can’t believe that we have less than a week left here.  On one hand, I’d love to stay and see more of the country.  On the other hand, I’m so ready to go home.  I’m tired of having to remember to not rinse my toothbrush in the sink, the cigarette smoke, inferior cheeseburgers, the stinky tofu….  

Stinky tofu…smells like a hog confinement in the summer on steroids.  I’m not quite sure HOW people can find that tasty.  The smell alone makes me want to vomit.  I was gagging every time we passed the vendor.  Hopefully, we aren’t exposed to that “delicacy” when we’re in Guangzhou.  

Tomorrow we have the required doctor’s appointment and then on Monday is the meeting at the consulate where we take the last steps required to make Teagin a US citizen.  As soon as we touch down in Chicago, she’ll be official!  

I’m posting a video for Grandma and Papa Kraai, since they can’t get their video chat to work. 

I can’t wait to go home and eat normal food…a few places I’m going to hit are Famous Dave’s for the Cajun Chicken sandwich, Red Robin for any burger, and Chicago Speakeasy for prime rib.  I like to recognize my food before I eat it and some of the dishes I’ve seen here are, well, disturbing to look at.  

I am simply amazed at how much Teagin has developed since she was placed with us.  She can now sit up for about 3 minutes before toppling over and she scoots herself all over the bed, going after the things she wants.  I don't think it will be much longer and she'll be crawling!  I also don't think we're going to have too much of an issue flipping the sleep schedule.  Our little girl never wants to go to sleep so we'll just let her stay up as long as she wants!

I need to get going.  A little girl has just woken from her nap and is demanding attention.

Blueberry Lays

It’s Thursday in China.  We spent the morning walking around one of the parks here in Nanchang and then went to a porcelain store.  We bought a beautiful porcelain tea set to give to Teagin when she’s older.  This province is famous for its porcelain.  

 Sleepy baby!

Yesterday, we went to the Pavilion of Prince Tang.  Unfortunately, we left the memory card and video camera at the room, so we got no pictures.  It was so hot there!  Tons and tons of people and no air-conditioning!  We were the celebrities there.  People were following us around wanting to look at the babies, fawning all over them.  It was a bit unsettling for the adults, but the babies didn’t seem to mind.  We went to a really good restaurant after we were through and it was, so far, the best meal of the trip.  I loved the eggplant!  

We spent the rest of the afternoon trying to get Teagin to relax and take a nap.  She does NOT want to sleep…ever.  She cried for about 4 hours and I was finally able to get her to fall asleep.  Daddy took a nap with Teagin, while I watched the last half of Toy Story 3.  Why did no one tell me that movie was a tear jerker?!?  Teagin seemed to be going through her grieving process.  She would not look at Jason at all, wouldn’t even respond to him, but, if he left her line of sight, she would scream.  It was the same with me, but she made the eye contact with me.  And during the night, she would not go in her crib, so she was in bed with us.  If one of us kept a hand on her, then she’d sleep.  She still woke up quite often, but it could have been worse…she could have made one of us walk her instead…

Right now, we’re having a quiet afternoon in our room.  Teagin’s hanging out with Daddy and she finally let him feed her a bottle.   She looks like she’s about ready to pass out.  She’s all smiles today…after having quite a long nap.  

Tomorrow evening, we fly to Guangzhou for the last part of our trip.  That leg will have the citizenship paperwork for the US.  We have one week left here in China.  It will be so good to get home and get settled.  I know we’re in for a few rough nights…OK, more than a few…

My new addiction is Blueberry flavored potato chips.  You can’t get them in the US.  That’s very very unfortunate. 

I'm a MOMMY!

We spent our second full day, which was also our last in Beijing by going to an International Church service.  They made us show our passports to prove that we were not Chinese citizens (or nationals…whatever they’re called…).  It was a pretty good service.  The pastor had a good message about choosing the narrow path or the wide path to travel through life.  They had quite a bit of praise and worship time, so lots of singing.

After that we went to a jade museum…they had some incredible carved pieces!  We purchased a tiger pendant for Teagin since she was born in the year of the tiger.  We also purchased a bracelet for me!  I love it!

After that, we went to lunch at another restaurant and then some more shopping at the Friendship store.  They had a huge selection of Cloisonné.  We bought some souvenirs there.  So sorry, folks, not telling what we got….don’t want to ruin the surprise!

Once we were done there, we headed to the Great Wall.  

I didn’t do much climbing since I have a really bad knee, but Jason got about halfway up, but then he turned around…too many people for his comfort.  It was onto another restaurant for a light dinner.  I had to leave for a bit while they were serving the meal.  They had put a fish dish on the table.  I’m so allergic to that food that had I stayed and everyone else had eaten it, I would have had a rash from head to toe!  Luckily, Sherry, our guide was there to save the day!  She had that dish removed and they replaced it with Kung Pao Chicken.  Everyone else seemed to enjoy that dish anyway.  A couple of people had said that they saw the fish and that was enough for them.  It didn’t look very appetizing to me either.

We went back to the motel and were able to briefly freshen up and then it was on to the Chinese acrobats.  Wow!  Those people are TALENTED!  The most impressive thing for me was watching a man climb a pole with JUST HIS HANDS!  I was a bit uncomfortable there.  I was seated next to a REALLY rude brit!  He had his legs spread out halfway into my seat AND he kept elbowing me in the side.  I’m surprised I didn’t bruise!  After the show, we went back to the Carrefor (a large international department store) to get some extra luggage.  The overweight fees here are $3 US/pound over the 44 lb weight limit.  

We had to be down in the lobby at 5:10 am to travel to the airport, so it was a very early day for us.  Our flight to Nanchang boarded at 7:20 am.  They fly differently over here.  They take off a lot faster and they land faster too!  I was a bit terrified of the landing.  It’s usually the worst part of flying for me, but that was downright awful!  I thought for sure we were going to run right off the other end of the runway…AND, if we’d not had our seatbelts on, our kiddos would have been flying.  I’m going to be hanging onto Teagin for dear life when we fly to Guangzhou.

We were met at the airport by our next guide, Mary.  She told us a bit about the province, but mostly about the babies.  She said that there was a chance that we’d get them right away once we got to the hotel.  She wasn’t kidding.  We got there, got our luggage to our room and were called and told that the babies were there.  We got down there as fast as possible and FINALLY got to hold our Teagin.  After such a long wait, I’m surprised I wasn’t a blubbering mess.  But I did pretty good.  I tried very hard not to cry because I didn’t want to scare her.  She came straight to us, wasn’t fussy at all.  She was very calm…until we got her up to the room.  It was there we found a very wet diaper.  Then the waterworks started.  She had to be absolutely terrified.  Here were these two complete strangers changing her diaper.  She wouldn’t calm down, so we fixed her a bottle.  She sucked down four ounces, even though they said she’d just had a bottle.  It was a bit of comfort for her.  We got her to sleep and then had to go across the street for our first appointment.  They had us walk across a VERY busy highway.  I don’t know HOW to describe what the traffic is like.  I was scared enough in Beijing, riding in a car, but here in Nanchang, it’s much much worse.  There are 5 lines of vehicles trying to squeeze in 3 lanes…and pedestrians do NOT have the right of way.  

We were filling out all of the adoption paperwork in a very hot room with no air-conditioning.  There were so many people there that it raised the temperature even higher!  It was awful!  The babies were cranky and once one cried, that would set the whole room off!  Our group of babies, however, was very calm and would just stare at the other babies.  We met with the official who then sent us to the notary (their version of our judges).    After that, it was on to another building to start the processing of her passport.  After that was over, we were told that ALL of the paperwork for this portion of the adoption was done!   We took a VERY exhausted Teagin (and Kristi) back to the room.  We ordered rooms service for dinner, made her a bottle, put her in a sleeper and she was out like a light (and so was mommy).  

She slept through the night and woke up this morning all smiles.  She got to play with Daddy a bit and loved it!

She is a very happy baby.  She smiles a lot, has the cutest giggles, she never lets either of us out of her sight.  She’s attaching nicely to the both of us.  I can already tell that she’s going to be a Daddy’s girl.  I’m going to teach her how to say Target, Gap, and Gymboree!!!  She is a little behind on her development, but she’ll catch up quickly.  She can’t up sit up on her own yet, but within one day, she’s staying upright longer and longer.  

They told us she likes congee (a very bland rice soup) which she wouldn’t eat at breakfast until I added some banana bread to it.  Then she ate up a storm!  I tried the congee.  I can see why she wouldn’t eat it.  Yuck!

I love her hair!  Sticks up all over the place!  And she has dimples in her cheeks!  I was especially excited to see that!  She’ll fit right in with my side of the family!!

We’ve spent the morning bonding with her.  I can’t even describe the emotions that we’re feeling right now.  It still feels like a dream, but to see that smile???  

We are so blessed.