The Countdown Begins - 5 Days to Ruttgers

Tues. 6/30/09

This morning, we had a play date at the park with five families from our church. The temperature was barely 60 degrees with a stiff wind blowing. Luckily, we were dressed in long pants, long sleeves, and jackets. I was still cold!! It’s the end of June! What happened to our warm weather? The kids didn’t care about the cold. They played well together for over 2 hours. We took a short time out for lunch and then the kids played some more.

Sarah fell asleep on the way home from the park. I carried her into the house and put her on the sofa. She slept for an hour and a half. Jenna fell asleep, too. It’s so nice to have quiet time in the middle of the afternoon!

The vacation countdown begins - 5 days to Ruttgers! Aunt Cheri sent Jenna and Sarah gifts to help them countdown to Ruttgers. Today they received candy and "magic growing" socks.

Finally Bought Flowers

Mon. 6/29/09

Jenna, Sarah, and I went to Dundee Nursery to buy flowers today. I bought red geraniums, white alyssum, and some purple flowers (the name is escaping me). I’m only filling one planter, a hanging basket, and the whiskey barrel this summer. I never seem to find the time to spend outside with the flowers. The tomatoes have already been neglected. They’ve been crying for Miracle Gro since we got back from China.

My patience with the kids was shot about an hour after lunch. Sarah needed attention about every 5 minutes. Jenna was in a “naughty” mood. She didn’t want to listen to anything I had to say.

I got the flowers planted this afternoon. Thankfully, Tim came home to help with the kids. They keep us constantly on the go.

We’ve been working on Sarah’s table manners. Every meal is a constant repetition: small bites, chew with your side teeth, chew with your mouth closed, use your spoon and fork. We have to keep reminding ourselves that Sarah is only 2 ½ and it takes time for her to learn new skills and change old habits.

Finally Worked in the Yard

Sun. 6/28/09

Sarah had a mini tantrum getting dressed for church today. She didn’t like the outfit I picked out for her to wear. I got it in Guangzhou, China. It’s really cute – red and white gingham checked top with matching pantaloons. It has ladybug buttons and pockets. I don’t think Sarah liked the pantaloons. During her tantrum, she ripped off two ladybug buttons, so she had to wear a different outfit.

Tim and I finally got a chance to work in the yard. The kids enjoyed playing outside. Tim dug up some barberry bushes that weren't doing well. We were glad to get rid of them because of the thorns. We hope to transplant potentilla bushes that need more sun. I started pulling weeds without my gloves. Got a hold of a stinging nettle plant and got tiny blisters on my fingers. Ouch!

Jenna and Sarah quarrel every day. We can’t wait until they can get along better. The big question is HOW LONG will it take??

Jenna seems to be acclimating to her big sister role a little better the last couple of days. She’s been helping Sarah tie her shoes (when Sarah will let her), wash her hands (when Sarah will let her), and hold her hand going down the stairs (when Sarah will let her!). It sure takes time to change behaviors!

Ice Cream Social

Sat. 6/27/09

We went to the Burwell House Festival in Minnetonka with Uncle Bill, Aunt Tami, Aunt Cheri, and Grandma Linda. Jenna had fun blowing bubbles and making a spin art picture. Sarah enjoyed looking at the bubbles, but had trouble blowing her own. The best part was eating ice cream. Jenna got a chocolate cone, Tim got a vanilla cone, and Margaret got a dish of strawberry. Sarah got a dish of vanilla, but enjoyed sampling all three flavors. Everyone enjoyed listening to band music while we ate our ice cream.

After the festival, we drove to Uncle Bill and Aunt Tami’s house. Sarah was very excited to meet their 2 cats. She followed them all over the house and kept saying, “Meow, Meow”. Needless to say, Lily and Phoebe were not as excited to meet Sarah. We feasted on grilled chicken, pasta salad, corn on the cob, and angel food cake with strawberries and whipped cream. YUM! After supper, Jenna and Sarah amused us. We sang some kid’s songs. Sarah was very quick to catch on to the main lyrics. She enjoys being goofy and making people laugh.

A Beautiful Day

Fri. 6/26/09

It’s another beautiful day today. We go outside to play. The girls ride their bikes and I pull weeds. My flower gardens are a total disaster. I haven’t spent any time outside and it shows. Yikes!

After lunch, we need to head to the clinic to get Sarah’s mantoux test “read”. At the clinic, the nurse tells us that Sarah’s arm is fine. We visit Jeannie, one of our favorite nurses, so she can meet Sarah. Sarah and Jenna give her some high fives.

By the time we get home, Tim’s home early from work. The girls get their swimming suits on and waste no time getting in the pool. Tim and I sit in the shade and actually get to talk and relax. It’s a beautiful day. Sarah is still tentative in the pool. She mostly stands in one spot and plays. She doesn’t like to stray too far from the edge of the pool. Tim takes her hand and walks her around in the pool. After awhile, she gets a little braver and ventures around the pool on her own for a little bit.

Tim’s Birthday

Thurs. 6/25/09

I finally slept well last night. The alarm clock woke me up. Sarah doesn’t get up until 7:30 a.m. What a surprise! Jenna gets up at 7:45 a.m. They’re both sleepy heads today.

After an early lunch, we head out to the grocery store. This is my first time grocery shopping with both of them by myself. Things go pretty smoothly. The girls get to sample a cheese stuffed pasta noodle. They both love it and want more.

After the groceries are put away. it’s time to go outside to play. The girls ride their bikes around the cul-de-sac. After playing for awhile, they want a snack. We go inside to cool off. I wrap Tim’s birthday presents. Jenna makes a card for her dad. She signs her name and Sarah’s name to the card I bought. We’re all ready for Tim to get home.

Tim comes home from work with 2 cakes! Good thing we didn’t make him one. He opens his cards and presents. We go out for supper at Culvers. For dessert, Tim and the girls get vanilla custard with hot fudge sauce. YUMMY!!

Lunch with Daddy at UHG

Wed. 6/24/09

After breakfast, Jenna wants to help me make brownies. She puts on her apron and finds her favorite whisk. She asks if she can crack the eggs. This will be her first experience. She does a great job and only gets a tiny bit of shell mixed in with the eggs. She fishes it out with a spoon. She’s very proud of herself.

Today, we’re going to UHG to eat lunch with Tim. We’ll bring the brownies as an early birthday surprise for Tim. Jenna wants to dress up for her lunch with dad. She puts on her new dress from China, a necklace, a bracelet and a barrette in her hair. I find a cute dress for Sarah to wear. She also wants a necklace, bracelet, and barrette in her hair. I put a lunch together for the three of us and we’re off to UHG.

Tim greets us. The girls are excited to see him. They run and skip down the wide hallway to the cafeteria. We meet Karis in the lunchroom. She adopted a little girl from China last November. Her daughter is 7 weeks older than Sarah. We surprise Tim with the brownies. They’re delicious! After lunch, we go upstairs to Tim’s work area. Sarah is very curious and runs into offices and cubicles. She doesn’t have any fear of the people or surroundings. Tim introduces Sarah to his co-workers. We visit with people until Jenna and Sarah get too wound up. It’s time to go home. Tim needs to get back to work. Sarah falls asleep on the way home.

Sarah Goes to the Pediatrician

Tues. 6/23/09

Sarah has her first pediatrician visit today. Hope it goes smoothly. I brought along a couple packages of rice crackers in case they’re needed as bribes. Snacks usually come in handy during times of stress. Jenna has a play date with Andy during Sarah’s doctor appointment. She’s excited to go to his house to play with him and Willow, the family dog.

The first hurdle during Sarah’s exam was getting her to take off her shirt, shorts, and shoes so she could get weighed. She wasn’t keen about it at all. Out came the rice crackers as a bribe. We walk down the hall and Sarah gets weighed on the baby scale. Back to the exam room to get measured for height. Sarah balks at stretching out on the table. Back down the hall to the height measuring station. Mommy shows her how to stand with her feet up against the wall. Sarah decides it’s O.K. to get measured. Back to the exam room again. Sarah balks at getting her head measured with a tape measure, so daddy gets his head measured first. Sarah decides it’s O.K. to put the tape measure around her head. Sarah gets her rice crackers and munches contentedly while we wait for Dr. Green.

Dr. Green greets Sarah with a smile. Sarah is a little wary. She’s wondering what’s going to happen next. Sarah doesn’t like getting examined. She wants to put her clothes back on, especially her shoes. Everything checks out O.K. While Dr. Green talks with us, Sarah dresses herself and then explores the room. She wants anther cup of water (she’s already had 2) and has fun scrunching up the cup.

The nurse comes in to give Sarah a mantoux (PPD) test. Remember those “shots”? It’s not really a shot, but the needle goes in just under the skin. Sarah doesn’t like it one bit and cries. She gets a band-aid to cover the puncture mark. I’ll need to bring Sarah back into the doctor’s office on Friday, so it can be “read”. The last stop is the lab. This is the hard part. They need to get samples of her blood – lots of it. The phlebotomist has trouble getting the needle in her vein. Sarah doesn’t like this strange lady poking her arm. She screams long and hard as 5 vials of blood are filled. It seems to take forever. I’ve got Sarah on my lap and have to hold her arms, legs, and shoulders still. It’s not easy. Sarah is a strong kid. Finally, it’s all over. Sarah gets another band-aid and 3 stickers. I hand Sarah another packet of rice crackers to eat.

Are We Back In Guangzhou, China?

Mon. 6/22/09

The weather today reminds me of Guangzhou, China – very hot and steamy! Made the mistake of telling the kids I'd take them to Greenwood Elementary School playground this morning before I realized how hot is was outside. Feels like we're in a sauna. It was hard work pulling both kids in the little green wagon. We were all sweating by the time we got to the playground. Found a little shade tree to park the wagon under so the kids could have a snack of goldfish crackers and water. They don't look super excited in the photo, do they? Kind of looks like they're thinking, "Our crazy mom dragged us to the playground in this miserable heat. We wanted to stay in the house where it's cool." We stayed at the playground long enough to swing, go on the teeter totter, and take a couple of photos. The slides were too hot to slide down. Took the neighborhood path back to our house because there’s more shade. Jenna walked most of the way home, so I didn’t have to work as hard just pulling Sarah. We spent the rest of the day inside the house . . . . . ahhh, gotta love air conditioning. Jenna put in a Winnie the Pooh video after lunch and Sarah fell asleep in about 2 minutes.

Tim pumped up the new green swimming pool and filled it with water. The outside air temperature should be hot enough to warm the water up by Tuesday afternoon. The girls were very excited to see the pool getting filled up. Jenna can’t wait to splash around. Don’t know if Sarah has ever been in a pool. Guess we’ll see how she likes it tomorrow.

I’m tired. Seems to be a constant theme. Wish I could sleep more than a couple of hours at a stretch. I’ve been getting up around 5:00 a.m. every morning. Sarah is also an early riser. She’s usually up between 5:30 – 6:00 a.m. Makes for a very long day.

St. Barnabas Church Welcomes Sarah / Happy Father’s Day!

Sun. 6/21/09

This morning, Jenna and Sarah posed for pictures in the front yard before we left for church. At church, everyone welcomed us back with great enthusiasm. We’re very blessed to have such a warm and caring church community. Sarah wasn’t fazed one bit by all the people and new surroundings. She took it all in stride. She greeted people with “Ni Hao” and both kids did some “hi fives” with David Helgen. The snack after the service was more of a meal today. The kids were in heaven munching on fresh fruit, cookies, and sandwiches. Sarah had 3 bowls of fruit! Hope she doesn’t think we eat like that every Sunday!

Sarah rebelled against a nap today. She cried and refused to settle down after lunch. Tim and I should have given up after 30 minutes, but we persevered until all three of us were worn out and upset.

Happy Father’s Day! We celebrated “dad” with homemade and store bought cards and presents. I traced Sarah’s handprints on a colored piece of paper and folded it into a card. Jenna created a “book” for her dad. She drew pictures of all the things they enjoy doing together. She spent a couple of hours putting it together. Jenna is getting to be quite a good artist.

Running Errands

Sat. 6/20/09

We ran a couple of errands this morning. Took back a couple of things I bought for our trip that I didn’t use – ear planes and motion sickness wristbands. I’ve been unfortunate to suffer from motion sickness my entire life. It’s mostly triggered from riding in the car, but I wanted to have something for the plane just in case . . . .

Our neighbors, who are Chinese, told us about a Chinese grocery store in St. Louis Park. We were hoping to find some of the snacks that Sarah and Jenna liked while we were in China. We found the store after a couple of wrong turns. We stocked up on rice crackers and cookies. Should last us for a couple of weeks.

Took the kids to Greenwood School playground after supper. Jenna and Sarah had fun swinging and playing on the slides and teeter totter. It’s a great place for them to burn off some energy. Makes them sleep better, too.

Musical Beds!

Fri. 6/19/09

You guessed it . . . none of us got a good night's sleep last night. Sarah woke up at 1:30 in the morning. She woke up Jenna, too, since they’re sleeping in the same bed. Tim and I decided to put Sarah in her OWN BED for the first time. She initially resisted, but we took turns rocking her until she fell back asleep. She slept the rest of the “night” in her bed. Tim slept on the floor in her room in case she woke up. I slept with Jenna in her bed.

The four of us went back to the rummage sale at Holy Name Church on Thurs. evening. I had to twist Tim’s arm a little bit to get him to go. We were lucky enough to buy a Little Tikes big slide. We happened to be walking in just as a family was dropping the slide off as a donation. We also got a kid's bike (don’t know the proper name for it) that attaches onto the back of an adult’s bike. Tim can attach the extension to his bike to carry Jenna. I can pull Sarah in the burley with my bike. Tim pulled both kids in the burley on Wed. and said they’re VERY heavy. A couple of days ago, Jenna weighed 36 lbs. and Sarah weighed 27 lbs. Wouldn’t doubt that Sarah weighs more now since she eats more than I do at every meal!

Sarah loves to sing. We’ve been singing songs to her and she’ll sing back part of the song. We’re amazed that she can pick up the tune so fast. Sarah also likes to play the little kid’s keyboard.

Sarah Goes To Her First Garage Sale / Nap Time Fiasco

Thurs. 6/18/09

After breakfast, the girls and I drive to the rummage sale at Holy Name Church. It starts to sprinkle on the way there. It’s raining pretty hard as I get the stroller out of the car. I’m having second thoughts now, but we’ve gotten this far, so might as well get a little wet.

Once inside the church, we head for the toys and kid’s clothes. Jenna finds a large stuffed giraffe. I find a couple of dolls for Sarah to look at. She picks a baby doll with the pacifier in its mouth. She won’t let go of it so I can put it in our bag. Have I mentioned she can be very stubborn and strong willed? I let her carry the doll around the room and hope she doesn’t set it down. A couple minutes later, the baby doll is missing its pacifier. I locate it under one of the tables. Sarah still doesn’t want to give it to me to hold. Both girls find a pair of sunglasses that they want to get. I trade the baby doll for the sunglasses.

I look through the kid’s clothes and find a couple of cute things to buy. We head over to the book room next, even though we have enough books to start our own library. I can’t resist . . . the books call to me. I want to expose the kids to as many books as possible. My wish is that the girls grow up to love books as much as I do.

We head for home. It’s getting hot outside. It’s almost time for lunch. Lunch goes smoothly. I feel like I'm running around the kitchen trying to keep up with food demands. It's a good weight loss method because it's hard to eat while standing up.

The day was going fairly smoothly until nap time. It pays to NEVER MAKE ASSUMPTIONS when things are going well! Since I want to establish a daily routine, I was very firm about both of them taking a nap. If you’re a parent, you understand how tough it is to be consistent in the face of adversity - namely 2 small children :)

Neither Jenna nor Sarah wanted to settle down for a nap. Sarah had a major meltdown. Have I mentioned that she’s a champion at throwing tantrums? She goes into the classis tantrum mode of screaming, crying, kicking her legs, waving her arms, and throwing her head back. Jenna went into the other bedroom to get away from all the noise. After screaming for over an hour, Sarah finally started to get tired. It was kind of comical to watch her eyes slowly drift shut as she’s screaming her head off. She starts to fall asleep and lists sideways, but then jerks herself awake. She’s very determined not to fall asleep. The next thing I know, Sarah and I are both waking up from a short nap. I feel exhausted. Wonder how Sarah feels?

I’m so glad to see Tim when he gets home from work. He’s tired, too. It’s hard work establishing a new routine. For supper, Tim grills hotdogs. It’s quick and easy. We eat chicken noodle salad with grapes and mandarin oranges courtesy of a neighbor - Thanks Wendy!

The kids are in bed by 9:00 p.m. They should be tired. We’ve got our fingers crossed that they’ll sleep through the night. Heaven knows, Tim and I are tired and we need to get a good night’s sleep.

Friday: A good night’s sleep was not in the cards!

Tim Goes Back to Work – HELP!

Wed. 6/17/09

Today is Tim’s first day back at work in 3 weeks. Got up early to have coffee with him. Girls got up by 6 a.m. Tim left for work at 6:45 am. It’s going to be a busy day with the girls all by myself.

The day goes by in a blur of activity: Jenna watches a video . . Sarah plays with the kitchen dishes . . . we eat breakfast . . . Jenna draws and colors pictures . . . Sarah plays with the Aquadoodle . . . we eat lunch . . . the girls nap . . . I work on the blog . . . the girls get up from their nap . . . we play outside.

I’M TIRED! Wasn’t smart enough to rest while the girls were sleeping. Feeling pretty grubby, too. I forgot to shower while Tim was still at home this morning. Don’t want to leave Sarah alone with Jenna while I’m in the shower. No telling what could happen.

It’s 4:15 p.m. and Tim is home! I’m excited there’s another adult to help amuse and supervise the kids. He takes them for a ride in the burley. We eat supper. It's chicken noodle soup, buttered noodles, salad, bread, orange slices and monster cupcakes. Thanks, Mary! The girls love the oranges! After supper, Tim sits down in a chair and falls fast asleep. I take the girls to Greenwood Elementary School playground in the burley. If I felt grubby this morning, now I’m way beyond grubby – YUK! When we get home from the playground, Tim is just waking up.

It’s been a long day. It’s tough adjusting to a new routine. Tomorrow will hopefully be easier.

I’ve been remiss in thanking two of our neighbors who were invaluable to our family while we were in China. A SUPER BIG THANKS to Don for kitty sitting. He came over twice a day for two weeks to feed Lucy and Abby and keep them company. Another BIG THANKS to Bing for mowing our grass and watering the plants. It’s great to know we can leave the country and not worry about our kitties or the house and yard.

Thursday morning, I want to take the girls to the Holy Name Church Rummage Sale.

No Car Seat Tantrums Today!

Tues. 6/16/09

We went for a car ride this morning. There were no tantrums with the car seat! Sarah did have a mini meltdown when daddy took the goldfish crackers away from her as we were getting ready to leave. Her mouth was full of crackers and she started to howl. She wanted to finish them off!

Drove to Kohls to return some shirts and shorts that I got for Sarah. Guessed wrong on the sizes - too small! Also wanted to look at a couple of things for Father’s Day and Tim’s birthday. Both kids were good in the store to start, but got antsy the longer we were there. Jenna started to run in circles and Sarah was quick to imitate her. Got a couple of smiles from other people shopping when they saw the 2 girls.

Abandoned the idea of going to another store. Had initially thought about going to Walmart, too, but decided not to push our luck with the kids. Got home in time to prepare an early lunch.

Put the kids down for an early nap. They had other ideas. Napping wasn’t one of them. Took about an hour for them to wind down and fall asleep. Once asleep, they didn’t want to wake up. Tim woke them after 2 hours. Sarah kept falling back asleep and wasn’t happy that her dad kept waking her up.

Tim gave them both a bath. First time they were in the tub together. They had a blast playing with all of the tub toys! Thought we’d save time and just put them in their pajamas even though it was only 5:00 p.m. Jenna decided she wanted to blow dry her hair for the first time. She’s getting to be an independent girl (sometimes).

Ate leftovers tonight. Several families from our church have been generous about preparing us meals for supper. We’re very grateful for everyone’s help as we slowly transition back to “normal”.

Everyone is tired tonight. It’s a combination of jet lag and the weather. We’re hoping to get a good night’s sleep without an early morning wake up call from the kids.

When Will We Sleep Through the Night? / First Play Date for Sarah

Mon. 6/15/09

Sarah woke up in the wee hours of the morning today (1:15 a.m.), which meant mommy got up, too. We went downstairs for a little milk and banana bread. Sarah wasn’t planning to go back to bed, but I persuaded her to head back upstairs. After much tossing and turning, she fell asleep again an hour later. Since I wasn’t sleepy, I worked on the blog. Both kids were wide awake at 4:00 a.m. I lay down with them to curtail all the giggling, tickling, and goofing around. After much pantomiming to “go to sleep”, they both nodded off around 4:30 a.m. I fell asleep with them. We woke up 2 hours later.

Trying to adjust our body clocks backwards 13 hours to Minnesota time has been hard. Our bodies tell us to sleep in the afternoon and stay awake during the night. The kids nap after lunch for an hour or two. They’d sleep much longer if we’d let them. It’s hard to wake them up from a deep sleep. Sarah kept dozing off again. Same thing happened after supper. Tim had to keep waking her up. Both kids went to bed at 9:00 p.m. without much protest or goofing around. We’ll see what time they wake up tonight/tomorrow.

A friend came over with her 2 kids for a play date this morning. Her boys are the same ages as Jenna and Sarah. They brought a cake to celebrate Sarah’s arrival. The play date was a success. Everyone had fun running around in the back yard and playing in the sand box. Not sure if Sarah ever played with sand before. She liked getting the sand washed off her feet when she was done playing.


We enjoyed Sarah’s cake after lunch - Thanks Wendy! Sarah couldn’t keep her fingers out of the frosting while I was taking photos. She’d stick her fingers in her mouth to lick it off and go back for more. Sarah likes to keep her hands and face clean while she’s eating. She uses her napkin a lot at every meal. Must be something she’s been taught by her foster family.

It’s hard to believe we’ve only been home for 3 days. It seems much longer. Sarah is more animated every day. She chatters and sings constantly in Chinese. She likes to play with the doctor kit, draw on paper and the Magna Doodle, play the kid’s piano, dance, reorganize the refrigerator magnets, and play with the kid’s food and dishes. We really need to watch her when she’s got a pencil or pen in her hand. She likes to draw on things she shouldn’t be drawing on - like books, arms, and legs. She’s curious about how things work. She isn’t interested in watching videos or T.V.

Tuesday, we plan to take Sarah in the car seat again. Can’t wait to see what she does. Any guesses?

Learning Experiences: Sharing and Adjusting to the Car Seat!

Sun. 6/14/09

Remember yesterday’s blog where we were hoping the kids would sleep later? Well, it didn’t happen. They were up at 3:30 a.m. Tim got up with them while I slept longer.

We thought of going to church today, but quickly abandoned that idea. Didn’t think it would be a good idea. We're still sleep deprived and Sarah hasn’t been in the car seat since her ride home from the airport. She didn’t like it then and we figured she wouldn’t like it now. Maybe next week would be better for church . . . .

After breakfast, I took Jenna and Sarah in the back yard while Tim slept. I managed to wash the patio table and pull some weeds while the girls played. I spent most of my time “helping” the girls learn how to take turns using the slide. Of course, that was the only toy (in a yard full of toys) they both wanted to play with.

I’m amazed at how quickly Sarah is picking up English. She seems to understand most of the things we say to her now. I’ve been pantomiming to help her understand my words. She talks a lot in Chinese and is now speaking some English. These are the English words she speaks: more, please, thank you, Jenna, mommy, daddy, meow, bye bye.

To help Sarah adjust to being restrained in the dreaded car seat, our goal is to take her for a ride every day. So, after a short one hour nap, we decide to go to the grocery store. As we’re carrying Sarah to the car, she begins to struggle and cry. It took both of us to get her strapped in. I felt like we were abusing her. She can squirm and arch her back like a pro. We quickly abandoned the idea of going to the grocery store and decided to drive around our neighborhood. She wailed and kicked for 15 minutes (seemed like an hour). In that space of time, she managed to put a couple of good scratches on her face and legs. As she’s screaming and crying, she announces that she needs to go potty. Since Baker Park was close by, we pulled in and used their facilities. We took the kids to the play area. Sarah slowly calmed down with the help of goldfish crackers and water. She was very interested in watching all of the kids play. We spent the rest of the afternoon at the park. Jenna learned how to use the zip line and had a blast. Poor Tim was running with her every time she “zipped”, since she isn’t tall enough to get off the bar herself. Sarah was very cooperative getting back into the car seat and fell asleep on the ride home.

In three weeks, we’re going up north on vacation. The car ride is 2 ½ hrs. We’re hoping Sarah will be adjusted to the car seat by then. We don’t relish the idea of a screaming child the entire ride. Hopefully, today “cured” her of her car seat phobia.

The kids were tired when we got home from Baker Park. Jenna and Tim fell asleep before supper. Sarah almost fell asleep at the dinner table. By 7:45 p.m., both kids were fast asleep. We’ve got our fingers crossed that they sleep until 7:00 a.m. Tim and I want to get to sleep “early” to catch up on our beauty sleep.

I’m trying not to fall asleep while I’m writing this blog entry. Time for bed. It’s almost 9:15 p.m.

Margaret

Our First Two Days at Home

Fri. 6/12/09 & Sat. 6/13/09

Forgot to mention Sarah’s reaction to our cats on Thurs. night. Shortly after we got home, Abby & Lucy came to greet us. Sarah took one look at them and started to slowly back up. Not sure if she’d ever seen a cat before. She’s fascinated by them and follows them around the house pointing and calling out “meow, meow”.

One of Sarah’s favorite activities is playing with the kid’s dishes and play food. The first thing she played with was the tea cups and saucers. Sarah likes to put the food on plates or into the play refrigerator. She talks and sings to herself in Chinese as she plays. Tim recorded her as she was talking and singing. We want to get it down on video in case she forgets her Chinese language.

We’ve taken the kids on a couple of walks around our neighborhood in the burley. They both love it. It’s been fun to take an evening stroll and introduce Sarah to our neighbors.

On Saturday, we spent the afternoon outside so the kids could play in the back yard. We have lots of big plastic toys – a climber with a slide, a small slide, 2 teeter totters, and 2 kid’s play houses. Sarah loves going down the slide and climbing back up it. She’s a very active kid, just like Jenna.

We made pancakes tonight for supper. Jenna loves them. Judging from the photos, Sarah seemed to enjoy them, too. We’ve been working on her table manners. She’s used to stuffing her mouth so full of food that she can’t even chew it. She ends up spitting it back out. Same thing when she’s drinking beverages. She likes to gulp down the whole glass in one big swallow. It’s been a battle to get her to slow down and eat one bite at a time or take a small sip of liquid. She’s getting better at it every day.

It was bath night at our house. Sarah is still adjusting to sitting in a tub full of water. She fusses getting her hair washed. We know she’s used to giving herself a sponge bath with a wash cloth. After the bath, the kids had a dish of ice cream. Don’t know if Sarah has had much ice cream. Dairy products aren’t a big part of the Chinese diet.

For our bedtime routine, we’ve been reading 2 books downstairs and then going upstairs to bed. We sing a song and then give hugs and kisses all around. Tonight, Jenna decided to take her shoes upstairs. Of course, Sarah had to do likewise and then decided she wanted to wear her shoes to bed. We told her “no” and she had a major tantrum. Tim tried his best to soothe her, but she worked herself up into quite a state. After crying for 15 minutes, she threw up ice cream on herself, Tim, and the bed sheets. There was a silver lining to it though, because the two of us were able to bond a lot more. Sarah let me clean her up and rock her while Tim put clean sheets on the bed. The rocking seemed to soothe her and she fell asleep in my arms. I tried twice to transfer her to bed with no success. She woke up both times, took my hand, and pulled me back to the rocker for more rocking. The third time was the charm. Hopefully, she’s down for the night. It’s now 12:30 am.

Tim and I haven’t been getting enough sleep. I think we’ve been averaging about 2-3 hours each night. We put the kids to bed and stay up to get things done around the house and have some quiet time to ourselves. The kids are still waking up around 2:00-3:00 am every morning. Tomorrow, we’re planning to let them nap for an hour in the early afternoon so they sleep longer at night.

A BIG THANKS to everyone that’s provided meals or will provide meals for us. It’s so great to have supper without the meal preparation as we’re adjusting to our new family dynamics and trying to get settled into a daily routine.

I also want to give a super big “THANKS” to my brother for updating our blog and posting photos while we were in China. There would have been no trip entries without his help. We were able to send him our blog info and photos via e-mail. We were so bummed out that we couldn’t access our own blog during the trip. While we were in Beijing, Tim talked to someone from the U.S. about our blog. He was told that China’s government had curtailed access to all blog sites.

Margaret

P.S. We’re hoping to put additional photos on our blog. Check back to the earlier entries in a couple of days for new photos.

Our Long Journey Home to MN!

Thurs. 6/11/09

It’s our last morning at the Victory Hotel in Guangzhou, China. Woke up at 4:15 a.m. Called the front desk to cancel the 5:00 a.m. wake up call. Still got the call at 5 a.m. while I was in the shower. Luckily, Tim was up to grab the phone before it could wake up Jenna and Sarah. We pick up our boxed breakfasts from the front desk when we check out. Had time to sit down in the dining room for 15 minutes to eat a little of it. No one is very hungry. We take the rest of it with us on the bus. It’s raining on the way to the airport and starts to pour once we got inside the terminal. The rain hammers down on the glass ceiling and makes lots of noise. Tim and I remember it rained 4 years ago when we left Guangzhou, too.

Our plane leaves Guangzhou at 10:00 a.m. The flight to Beijing takes 3 hours. The Barths and Anderson's are on the same flight. We check 3 suitcases and carry on 5 backpacks (Jenna & Sarah each have one) and 3 bags! We go through a security check with our luggage. There's no temperature scanning that we're aware of at the airport. We sit and wait for our flight. All of the kids have a snack.

Jenna and I have window seats. Tim and Sarah are across the aisle. When Tim puts the seat belt on Sarah, she screams bloody murder. She’s probably never been restrained before. Two flight attendants run over to see what’s going on. They offer her a dinner roll and she willingly takes it off their hands and stuffs it in her mouth. Once done with the roll, Tim attempts to seat belt her in again. More screaming!! Sarah ends up on Tim’s lap during take off and landing. During the flight, she manages to kick a full glass of orange juice off her tray table. Luckily, the juice lands in the magazine holder and Tim ends up unscathed! Good thing, too, because he doesn’t have a change of clothes in his carry on bag.

We pick up our luggage and transfer it from the Domestic to the International terminal. We ride the tram between terminals. A couple of guys give up their seats so I can sit down with the girls. Good thing because the tram is not a smooth ride. At the check in counter, we find out that we have 3 seats together and one across the aisle and up one row. Our pleading to change it falls on deaf ears. Same thing happened on the flight over. Tim had to sit behind us. It didn’t work out very well.

They’re scanning for temperatures at the Beijing airport, but we walk by with no problems – or so we thought. As we’re heading for the end of the security check-in line, a security person motions for us to follow her. I look at Jenna and she’s hot and sweaty. My first thought is, “Oh my God, Jenna’s got a temp and we’re going to be quarantined in Beijing!” Lo and behold, it had nothing to do with our temperatures. We were shown to an empty VIP security line and were through the checkpoint in no time flat! Not sure why we got the special treatment. Maybe it was because of the kids or maybe we looked like something the cat dragged in. Whatever it was, we were grateful.

We have a long walk to get to our gate. The kids are good about carrying their backpacks. Tim checks on seat assignments again and manages to get a seat across the aisle from ours. Once on the plane, he’s able to change his seat so we can all sit together. Our seats are in the middle of the plane in the second to the last row. Not the greatest seats, but at least now we’re all sitting together. The plane is packed full and leaves Beijing around 4:00 p.m. We’re finally on our way to the U.S.A. by way of Chicago, IL. The plane is very cramped. There’s no legroom to stretch out and get comfortable. The people in the row ahead of us have their seats tilted back before we even sit down - definitely not Minnesota nice!! Jenna and Sarah have to climb over the seats to get in and out. The food they serve during the flight is definitely not worth mentioning. The longer we’re on the plane, the more we can’t stand the smell of the food. Sarah was the only one that could stomach eating the last meal that was served.

We were all sluggish and tired when we finally touch down in Chicago. Jenna and Sarah were able to sleep pretty well on the 12 hr. flight. Tim and I caught lots of short naps. The Chicago airport is very busy. People are moving quickly in every direction dragging their luggage behind them. We have to keep our eyes on the kids so nobody mows them over.

We go through Customs first and then U.S. Immigration. Tim presents Sarah’s sealed U.S. Consulate documents to the Immigration official. After a quick review of her passport and documentation, she becomes a U.S. citizen!! We catch the tram to get to our connecting flight to Minneapolis. Another Security checkpoint is ahead. They aren’t real picky about our luggage and we’re through in a flash.

We’re all tired. The gate for our flight is at end of the concourse again!! By this time, the kids need help carrying their backpacks. They can’t walk in a straight line anymore. They’re bobbing and weaving through the terminal. Tim picks up Sarah. Of course, Jenna wants to be carried, too, but that isn’t going to happen. We have our hands full with all the carry on stuff. The last security checkpoint is very thorough. One of our bags is given extra scrutiny. It’s full of things we purchased in China. They finally decide we aren’t trying to bring in anything lethal and we’re waved through. We pick up food from McDonalds on the way to the gate. Our layover in Chicago is 4 hours. We could have tried to catch an earlier flight, but we weren’t sure how long it would take us to get through Customs and Immigration. As it happens, the earlier flight was delayed 40 minutes. We could have made it, but we’re grateful to have some time to regroup and take our time eating.

The flight from Chicago to Minneapolis leaves around 8:30 p.m. and takes an hour. I happen to sit next to a young woman that was adopted in Hong Kong 22 years ago. We have fun talking about her experience and ours. We enjoy two sunsets tonight- one in Chicago and one in Minneapolis. The flight is over before we know it. The Mpls. airport is virtually deserted at 9:30 p.m. The quiet is nice after the mayhem in Chicago. We’re met at the luggage carousel by our family. It’s Uncle Bill, Aunt Tami, and “Grandma” Linda! It’s really great to see familiar faces. We’ve been traveling for over 24 hours. We’re tired, but exhilarated to be home with Sarah! We get home at 10:30 p.m. When we walk into the house, it looks different to me. I guess we’ve been living in a hotel room for too long.

Hope you enjoyed reading this long winded entry. Finally had time to sit and write while the kids are asleep. It’s 1:30 a.m., but Tim and I aren’t quite sleepy enough to go to bed yet. We’d like to thank everyone for all your good wishes and prayers on our journey to adopt Sarah.

Stay tuned for more info and photos!

Margaret

Our Last Full Day in China!!

Wed. 6/10/09

Today we started packing our suitcases. Wow, I don’t remember buying all this stuff. After an hour or so of shuffling things around we had to go and finalize Sarah’s Visa at the U.S. Consulate office. The area around the U.S. Consulate has some very modern looking buildings with new skyscraper construction. There was a lot of security. No cameras, no water, no cell phones, etc. After a few signatures and a swearing in ceremony, we were finished. The last hurdle is to go through Immigration at the Chicago Airport Immigration office. Then Sarah will be a U.S. citizen.Our group met for our last supper at La Dolce Vita (Italian restaurant). It’s comforting to have pizza and pasta after all the Chinese food. We thought it would be easy on our stomachs before leaving for home. We look forward to seeing everyone when we get back to the Minnesota!

Power Shopping & “Red Couch” Photos

Tues. 6/9/09

We took our time at breakfast today. Margaret and Jenna did some power shopping while Sarah and I went to Starbucks to hang out and have coffee. Can’t wait to make my own mocha at home! We met up at Subway to get a couple of BMT sandwiches for lunch. They tasted great!!

In the afternoon, everyone in our travel group met at the White Swan Hotel for the traditional “Red Couch” group photos. Sarah was the only kid that wasn’t dressed in traditional Chinese clothes. It wasn’t for lack of trying. We tried to put a Chinese dress on her. She put up a fuss and started to cry. Then we tried a Chinese pajama outfit. That didn’t work either. We went to the hotel early so Molly, our guide, could talk to her about putting on a Chinese outfit. Molly talked to her for 15 minutes, but wasn’t successful either. Sarah ended up wearing her favorite orange panda t-shirt from the Great Wall of China. We took lots of group and family photos on the couches and by the indoor waterfall. Don’t know if we got any photos where all of us were looking at the camera at the same time. Oh well!!

On Wednesday, we go to the U.S. Consulate office to finalize Sarah’s Visa and get her passport. It'll be our last full day in China.

Jenna & Sarah Tell All

Mon. 6/8/09

Jenna's thoughts:

The thing I liked the most about our China trip was meeting my little sister, Sarah. I love her a lot. It’s fun to play with her. We like to run around the hotel room & up and down the hallway. We like to tickle each other on the bed and have pillow fights.

It’s hard to share my mom and dad with a sister. I know she’s smaller than me and needs their help a lot, but I’m not used to sharing their attention. I feel mad and jealous a lot!

I liked walking on the Great Wall of China. It’s a neat place. It was really hard walking up all of the steps. I got tired. We had to stop and rest a couple of times before we got to the top. I was kind of scared climbing back down. It’s really steep and the steps are all different sizes. I’m glad mom and dad held my hand on the way down.

A couple of nights ago, we went to a Thai restaurant for supper. It was taking them a long time to bring out our food. I was playing with my chopsticks and put one of them in my mouth. I found out it’s not a good idea to put a chopstick too far down my throat. I spit up. Boy, was I embarrassed!

I like visiting China, but I’m ready to go home. I can’t wait to see my friends. I miss Lucy and Abby, too. It’ll be fun to show Sarah around our house. I wonder if she’ll want to sleep with me in my bed. Hmmm . . . guess I’ll have to wait and see about that.

Sarah's thoughts:

I’m not sure what happened to me a week ago. One day, I was living with my foster family and the next day I went home with some people I didn’t know. I’m still mad about it. Sometimes I’m scared, too. Why did my foster Ma-Ma and Ba-Ba send me away? Everything is different now. The new people are pretty nice, but I don’t understand a word they say and they don’t understand me. It makes it hard to tell them what I want and need. I’ve been kind of naughty when I don’t get my way. I cry and throw tantrums. My foster family spoiled me and gave me everything I wanted. My new family doesn’t understand that. They don’t spoil me. It’s really frustrating! I hope I can get them to change. I’m going to keep on trying. We’ll see what happens.

I like Jenna, my Jie-Jie (sister). My daddy is nice, too. I like it when he feeds me and takes care of me. I’m not too sure about my mommy yet. She seems O.K. My sister and daddy seem to think she’s nice. I haven’t decided yet.

I really like to eat. I have kind of a big tummy. Most of the clothes that my new family brought for me are kind of small. What’s up with that? When it comes to clothes, I’m particular about what I wear. My mommy and daddy try to get me to put on clothes that I don’t like. Boy, I cry and wrestle around with them to stop. I have a couple of t-shirts that I like and that’s about it. They bought some Chinese outfits for me, but I don’t want to wear them. Molly went shopping with us, so she could talk to me and ask me what I liked. I told her I didn’t like any of the dresses or outfits in the stores.

I really miss my foster family, especially when I wake up from naps and go to bed at night. It makes me cry. Once I start crying, it’s hard to stop. My daddy tries to make me feel better. My mommy tries, too, but I don’t like her touching me when I’m upset.

P.S. Our group went to the Yuntai Gardens to sightsee this morning. It’s a beautiful place. They have a big waterfall, a small lake with fish, a conservatory with beautiful plants, and manicured gardens. We liked the huge clock made out of flowers by Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck. There are lots of life sized cartoon characters for the kids to see. There were many gardeners working diligently to maintain the lawn and gardens.

It was pretty hot and steamy when we first got to the gardens. Chinese people bring umbrellas to keep the sun off them. An hour later, it started to sprinkle. The rain felt kind of nice, but made it more humid. Good thing we brought our umbrellas, too.

Finally a Day of Rest!!

Sun. 6/7/09

No big plans for today. After breakfast, we headed to the playroom at the hotel. Jenna and Sarah had fun playing on the slide, rocking on the horses, and kicking balls around the room. We had the place to ourselves. Sarah loves to imitate her big sister. When she saw Jenna slide headfirst down the slide, she couldn’t wait to try it out for herself. She’s a daredevil.

We took a leisurely walk around Shamian Island later morning. We see people of all ages playing badminton every day. Some of the small parks have play areas for kids, some have benches, and some have exercise equipment. We’ve noticed that most of the people exercise in the evenings when it’s cooler.

At night, many of the buildings are lit up with neon colors. One of the buildings near our hotel projects advertisements on the entire building. It’s got to be 20 stories high!!

Late this afternoon, one member of each family met with Molly to finish up the last of the adoption paperwork. Hallelujah!! Margaret is the paperwork person in our family.

Five families met for supper tonight at Lucy’s. Tim and I split an order of sweet & sour chicken and you guessed it - french fries! Jenna ate spaghetti. Sarah ate two ears of corn on the cob and egg & noodle soup. After supper, the kids enjoyed running around the park by Lucy’s. There’s a large open area with trees, shrubbery, and planters full of flowers. One of the older kids picked off a flower petal for her mom and pretty soon all of the kids were plucking off flower petals. One of the planters got a little bare looking . . . . oops!

We picked up our laundry on the way back to the hotel. Many of the small shops take in laundry for the tourists. We’ve been told it all ends up at the same place to be washed. When we get back to the room, we see that two of Margaret’s shirts and her pajama bottoms have yellow stains on them. What’s going on?? Guess we’ll have to complain tomorrow. Good thing it’s almost time to head home! We didn't bring that many clothes on the trip.

Everyone in our group is counting down the days left in China. On Monday, our group plans to go sightseeing at Yuntai Gardens. It’s a 20 minute bus ride from Shamian Island.

PLEASE POST COMMENTS TO OUR SITE. We absolutely LOVE reading them. It makes us feel like we’re not so far away from home. Thanks to those that have already posted. Hoping to hear from everyone soon!

Visa Photos & Medical Exam Day

Sat. 6/6/09

Loaded up on food at the breakfast buffet again. The kids eat their weight in watermelon and noodles every day. Jenna prefers to eat her food with chopsticks most of the time. I can’t seem to get the hang of using them. Sarah isn’t picky. Whatever can get the food to her mouth the fastest is her preferred method.

The dreaded medical exam day has finally arrived! Jenna and Samantha stay at the hotel with Peggy, Diane’s sister. There’s no need for them to come with us. They’ll be much happier watching a video. Four families meet Molly in the lobby at 9:15 am. A new family flew into Guangzhou yesterday afternoon. This is their second adoption, too. Their older daughter is 4 yrs. old and is from Hunan province. This is the same province that Jenna and Samantha are from.

We all walk 2 blocks to get the kids’ photos taken for their visas. We’re done in 5 minutes. We walk one more block and we’re at the Medical Exam Building. It’s 9:30 am. We seem to be the first group here this morning. Hopefully, we’ll get done quickly. Oh, I forgot . . . we’re in China!! Nothing gets done quickly here. Surprise – no temperature checks today. What’s up with that? We sit and wait. We pass the time talking with the other families and swatting mosquitoes. Another group of 6 families come in and they get to go first. Bummer! Finally, it’s our turn. There are 3 stations to go to: Ear/Nose/Throat; height/weight/temperature check; and checking out internal organs and listening to the heart & lungs. Sarah passes all of them with no problem. Next come the dreaded shots. We sit and wait and wait and wait some more. Finally, our turn comes. Molly talks to the nurses about the shots. Sarah understands what they’re talking about and tells Molly “no shots” and starts to cry. It’s really hard to watch her getting stuck 6 times. She gets two shots in each leg and one shot in each arm. She cries for a couple of minutes. We distract her with candy and goldfish crackers. She stops crying and starts to chow down on the snacks. Sarah is one tough kid!! We have to wait 30 minutes to see if she has a reaction to any of the shots. Thirty minutes later, we leave the clinic. It’s 11:45 am. We were at the clinic for 2 1/2 hrs!

Back at the hotel, we hang out in the hallway with the Barths. The kids are running around. Jenna is practicing her sommersaults on the hard hallway floor. Sarah imitates her and tries a sommersault, too. She tries to tuck her head and rolls sideways. It’s pretty comical. Jenna watches Samantha doing back ward flips with her dad. She holds onto her dad’s hands and walks up his legs and does a backward flip. Jenna soon masters that skill with Tim. Sarah sees big sis doing something new and wants to try it, too. She doesn’t have much luck walking up Tim’s legs. She's too wobbly. Tim helps her out. Remember, this kid had 6 shots about an hour ago. She’s a trooper!!

After lunch, Jenna and Sarah are chasing each other from one bedroom to the other bedroom. All of a sudden, we hear Sarah screaming. She put her hand in the hinge side of the door when Jenna was shutting it. Four fingers have crease marks on them. I grab a cold beverage out of the mini refrigerator to ice it down. We don’t think any fingers are broken because she can move them. She cries for a really long time. It’s hard to comfort her with words because she doesn’t understand us and we don’t understand her. We call Molly to see if she can stop by and she calls the front desk to send us up some ice. We take Sarah out for a walk to distract her. It seems to work. She plays with the ice bag and calms down. This has been a really hard day for Sarah. Hopefully, tomorrow will be a calmer day for all of us. The rest of the afternoon passes uneventfully, thank goodness.

We meet up with 3 families for supper at La Dolce Vita (Italian place). They have great pizza and spaghetti. We order the vegetable soup for Sarah. She likes it a lot. Jenna eats most of the spaghetti (Sarah got a little bit) and then wants to eat our Margherita pizza, too. Both kids are bottomless pits. Maybe if we quit feeding them they wouldn’t have so much energy. It’s worth thinking about . . . .

The kids are finally in bed around 8:15 p.m. They fall asleep almost as soon as their heads hit the pillow. Tim and I haven’t quite figure out why the hotel has thick comforters with no sheets on every bed. Remember it's very hot and humid here. We're guessing it’s because people keep their rooms very cool with the air conditioning. Just another of life’s mysteries.

Gotta get to bed and catch up on my sleep. It’s almost 10:30 pm. More paperwork is scheduled for Sunday afternoon. Finally, the two I-800 families catch a little break. We have less paperwork to do here since we did more in the U.S. We’ll get to meet the other two families that flew into Guangzhou today.

Shopping for Jade and Pearls

Fri. 6/5/09

Got on the bus at 8:30 am for our sightseeing and shopping excursion. The first stop is at the Six Banyan Pagoda (Liurong Temple) to have the children blessed. We were here four yrs. ago with Jenna. It’s a beautiful place. The temple was founded in the Song Dynasty (AD 420-479). The main attraction is the Flowery Pagoda, which stands in the center of the temple. The Octagonal Pagoda is 57 meters tall. There are half a dozen very large, tall gold Buddhas scattered around in different “halls”.

Our second stop is at a store that specializes in jade. We bought a jade necklace for all of the “girls” in our family as a keepsake. Decided to buy the traditional round circle of jade with a hole in the center on a red thread. Sarah got the smallest circle (nickel size), Jenna got a little bigger circle, and Margaret got the biggest circle (quarter size).

Our third stop is shopping at the Pearl Market in the basement of a mall. Oh my gosh, what a rabbit warren of small shops! There are pearls of every size and color imaginable. Each shop seems to specialize in different colors of pearls or style of pearl jewelry. The people in each shop are busy stringing necklaces and making earrings. Luckily, we had Molly along to help us talk to the shopkeepers. None of them spoke English. Tim bought a small smiling Buddha carved out of jade. We managed to leave the mall without buying any pearls.

The weather is hot and sticky again today. We bring bottled water with us every time we leave the hotel. We love the new backpack because it has two pouches to hold our water bottles. We spend time every day boiling water and refilling the bottles. We have a small refrigerator in our room to keep the water cold.

Supper tonight was at Lucy’s again. I think this is the third time we’ve eaten there in 5 days! We ordered noodles and rice for the kids and french fries, garlic bread, beer and coke zero for the adults. Not the most nutritious supper, but it tastes good! We love sitting outside on Lucy’s back patio. Tonight, we sat in front of a couple of large fans. It felt great to have cool air blow on us and keep the mosquitoes away. Jenna and Sarah have lots of mosquito bites. They seem to prey on the kids more than the adults. Unfortunately, we didn’t think to bring mosquito repellent with us.

Jenna and Sarah are bonding more each day. They were laughing and giggling getting ready for bed. It’s great to see Sarah smile and hear her laugh. Whatever Jenna does, Sarah imitates it. It’s pretty comical to watch. We’re guessing that Sarah will want to sleep with Jenna in her bed once we get home.

Saturday morning is the medical exam for Sarah. We’ve been dreading this visit. Due to our I-800 paperwork status, Sarah is not exempt from receiving vaccinations. The rules changed a couple months before we started our paperwork. Don’t understand the reasoning behind the rule change. Obviously, the people making the rules don’t have adopted children. We were really hoping Sarah wouldn’t need as many shots since she’s almost 2 ½ yrs. old. Molly told us three days ago that she would need 4 shots!! Then yesterday, Molly found out Sarah would need 2 additional shots!! We thought about splitting them up (3 and 3), but if Sarah develops a temperature after the first 3, she won’t be able to get the last 3 until her temperature is normal. Timing is critical, so we’ve opted to get all 6 shots at once. It’s going to be a really tough day for our little girl!! Hopefully, she won’t develop a temperature from any of the shots. If she does, we won’t be able to leave for home on Thurs. 6/11.

Please keep us in your prayers.

Margaret

More Exploring and Shopping on Shamian Island

Thurs. 6/4/09

We wandered around Shamian Island again today. It’s a beautiful place – very lush and tropical with lots of trees and greenery. We head west in the morning to cover some new territory. Found a few shops we’d never been in before. The Island is very interesting. There are large whimsical bronze statues on many of the street corners. Every day, we see beautiful girls dressed in bridal gowns getting their photos taken. Don’t know if it’s for commercial purposes or if they’re really getting married.

Sarah’s meltdowns are now shorter and not as intense as before. We think she’s becoming more comfortable with us. We’ll see how today goes. We’re so glad that Molly can talk to her. Sarah is very verbal in Mandarin Chinese and understands everything that Molly says to her. Sarah loves to sing and dance. We videotaped her singing to herself the other day. We hope to get more songs videotaped in the coming days.

Mom and Jenna enjoyed some time together this afternoon. Mom had promised that she would take Jenna shopping for new sunglasses. Jenna has a dozen pairs at home, but none of them were packed. They went shopping with Diane, Samantha & Peggy. Meanwhile, Dad tried to get Sarah to take a nap. She had other ideas, so I decided to give her a bath. Judging by her reaction, it appeared to be her first bath in a tub. She just stood in the tub and looked at the water. After a few minutes, she started to splash a bit. We rinsed and she was ready to get out. Entire bath took less than 5 minutes. The two of us went on a walk with the stroller and within 5 minutes Sarah was fast asleep, head bobbing as we walked along the cobblestone sidewalk and streets.

We enjoyed supper at a Thai restaurant called the Cow and Bridge. Food was great, but a bit more expensive than the other restaurants on the Island. They didn’t provide regular napkins, but gave us wet wipes instead. We were charged for each one! Next time, we’ll know better and bring our own.

On Friday morning, we’re going sightseeing and shopping.

Tim

P.S. Hope you enjoy the photos of Jenna & Samantha with their new Panda sunglasses!