Home!

Sorry I didn't post after the marathon flight. I think it actually went as well as it possibly could have. I had this super genius plan to help her avoid getting overly worked up by pushing her in her stroller around the airport until it was time for our flight to leave. She, of course, did not go to sleep in the stroller but walking in circles for two hours made me tired!  Our flight left at 9:45...way past any princess' bedtime...so Emmy was pretty tired when we got on the flight. But I think her nervousness and excitement won out because she didn't fall asleep until after 11:00. She really was a trooper, though. Sure, we had some three year old tantrums over the picture going off the iPad while it was playing. Sure, we went to the bathroom more times than anyone else on the plane. But I think any three year old would have struggled with that long of a flight.
We were thrilled to land in Los Angeles!  When we went through immigrations, Emmy became a U.S. citizen. I cried. It's my job.
When we arrived at the hotel last night it was nap time in China and night time in LA.  Emmy's body decided China won and we spent most of the night doing puzzles, coloring and eating and spitting out food. She finally fell asleep again around 3:30 am and we had to wake her at 5:30 to go back to the airport. We thought for sure she'd fall asleep on the plane to Denver but, nope, wide awake and joking!  Then she used her considerable charms on all of the awesome people who met us at the airport.  Even tired that girl is pretty awesome.  Her siblings adore her and she is particularly a big fan of Grace so I was able to do a few things by myself today!  We went to chickfila for lunch and she played and held hands with her twin cousin, Abby.  So much cuteness I can hardly stand it.
My favorite part of the day (and it was an awesome day!) was when we all had dinner at our own table together as a family. We've prayed and dreamed of this day for a long time. When we were talking about where we saw God at work in the last week, Noah just pointed at Emmy.  That about sums it up.  Emmy, by the way, responded with calling Steve "Yeye" again and getting her big siblings to, too.  Love.
I'll try to get photos from folks of today...too busy living it to take a picture. :)

Update #11

So a little glimpse into the humor of Emmy. Tonight as she was doing her 45 minutes of talking and singing before she goes to sleep, she got a little gleam in her eye and said, "Ni shi Mama.  Wo shi Lu Xin.  Ta shi Yeye." (Meaning "you are mama.  I am Lu Xin.  He is grandpa.")  And then she giggled uncontrollably as Steve told her she was a banana.  

Today we saw a totally new Emmy. She smiled and laughed a lot more.  She did not attempt to give herself to anyone. She was fun and funny and delightful. I think she's finally feeling mostly better, which helps.  We went to the safari park today. While Emmy does not overly like animals, it was such a nice day and it was fun to be outside. For Steve and I, who do like animals, it was a really cool experience. The animals are right there.  We saw a baby orangutan who was within three feet of us. He wasn't caged and was just playing on ropes over our heads and eating bread a trainer threw to him. He was all sorts of cuteness. Emmy wasn't enamored with him but she wasn't afraid either. She was afraid, however, of the giant panda suit man who insisted on touching her even though she was clearly saying, "Bu yao!"   But, Grace, we saw lots of pandas and there were even baby panda triplets there (but we didn't see them).  

We got back from the park in time for a late (and long!) nap for Emmy. Her passport and visa arrived so we are set for tomorrow.  After her nap we walked in the park (lovely, full of people, graffiti free, safe, wonderful!), got Emmy a milk (I understood when she asked for it!) and came back for some curry from room service.

 We're talking about heading to Shamian Island (where the White Swan is) tomorrow morning to play and shop a little.  Then we'll have little miss take a late nap, check out at 5:00 and head to the airport around 5:30 for our 9:45 flight. Woo hoo!  I can't say I'm looking forward to 15 hours in the plane but it's totally worth it to get home!

Thanks for your continued prayers and thoughtful emails. I can't tell you how much it means to us to have your support!

Love,

Mandy and Yeye (hee hee)

Little Miss Hollywood

Not so sure about the safari train

What a difference a day makes!

Update #10

Today was our long-awaited consulate appointment.  Emmy took her last dose of antibiotics and we were off with Grace, the other Hand in Hand guide (who is also awesome).  Emmy's tuberculosis test came back negative so we are good to go on that, too.  Yay!  The consulate appointment went very quickly.  There were only four families there at the time. We all did the oath and then fingerprinting.  Tomorrow we will receive Emmy's passport and visa and we will have everything we need to go home Tuesday. 

After the consulate, we went to the jade market and bought each of the girls a jade pendant. Then we got some lunch and came back with a very tired, very crabby Emmy who was more than ready for a nap. 

This afternoon the sun came out again (!) and we were able to take a walk.  It was nice to be outside.  I love watching all of the kids heading home from school.  The little ones walk with their grandparents eating a snack and talking animatedly.  The middle schoolers walk with their friends, joking around and eating food they bought at the 7-11 or from a street vendor.  We bought hotdogs in rolls from a bakery (a kind lady talked with Emmy which threw her into a bit of a frenzy) and took them back to the hotel. Then we watched some soccer together and ate hot dogs and felt bummed for Noah that Ronaldo beat Messi for the Ballon D'Or.  Emmy seems much more interested in playing with Steve now!  Yay!  She was more teary today but also seemed more connected, too. And now there is one little princess who now answers most of the time to the name "Emmy" and says "please," and "more, please" and "no, no, no" who is sleeping in the pack-and-play next to me.  I think I will sleep too.  Have a great Tuesday, friends.  It was a good one here.

Pictures!!!

Update #9

First, sorry about the lack of posts.  I guess my emails weren't going through to Linds (who is posting for us). Hopefully this works. Emmy struggled to sleep last night...difficult to breathe I think...so we greeted the day at 5:00 am again.  Her cough had worsened so there was more vomiting...this time as we were walking through the very full and very fancy restaurant to our table.  I had to ask the hostess to wait a minutes while I pulled napkins off the empty table near us and cleaned it up.  Emmy just rolls with it, though.  She's all about yogurt for breakfast. We know about 10 complete three year old sentences in Chinese and "I want more yogurt!" is definitely one that we can understand.  

We were supposed to go to the safari park today but because of Emmy's cold and the significant rain we are staying in. Things were going pretty well...we colored, took the paper off the crayons from Caden, watched a little Frozen and played a bit. Cordelia, the gal from Hand in Hand, called to check on Emmy and came by.  We've discovered that being around some Chinese women can be confusing to Emmy.  She gets very agitated when they are around, gets snappy and fit throwy with me and angry acting. I think she's still not sure about this attachment and wonders if someone might take her home to see her nannies.  Please pray for a solid attachment with us. Anyway, Steve went with Cordelia to get an expectorant for Emmy from the pharmacy.  Emmy and I stayed in and she continued to be agitated and unsettled until Steve returned. So there!  She is attaching to Steve.  Speaking of Steve, can I just say how grateful I am to have him as a partner in this?  He keeps a sense of humor (for example: Emmy uses the term "jigga-jigga" indiscriminately for anything she wants or doesn't want...we aren't sure it's a real word but Steve has added it into his own vocabulary and it's hilarious!), she consistently is loving toward her and patient, even when she is not so loving toward him and he is supportive and helpful to me, too. He rocks!  

Emmy's napping now...here's hoping the expectorant does the trick. We are worried about her little premie lungs. 

Love you all!

Mandy 

Update #8

Last night it was difficult for Emmy to fall asleep.  She was grumpy and restless and I'm sure not feeling great. This morning she woke up full of it and ready to party.  Steve and I, on the other hand, have caught her cold and were tired and praying for the energy we needed to be the parents we wanted to be today. 

We went to breakfast and were seated at a table next to another American family adopting a six year old boy.  What a gift that was to hear their story and meet their precious little guy!  It was energizing to be around people having a similar experience. And it was interesting to watch Emmy watch the other American families. You could almost see her processing those western faces in families with the Chinese faces. Talking with the family and hearing their story made me tear up and I spent much of the morning crying at various things like the kind boy at the park who gave Emmy a little fish toy, the groups of people doing tai chi and playing basketball and table tennis and hacky-sack, the huge amphitheater of people doing aerobics together that Emmy and I joined, the small groups playing music with interesting instruments, the beauty of the park and how being human on a Sunday looks the same wherever you are...spending time with people you love doing things you like to do.  I wish you all could have been there.  We miss you.  

We then discovered a new tiny restaurant and ate some delicious noodles and rice and mutton. Then we were back to the hotel for a nap, a snack, playing with the new toys from the park, some swinging and playing with a new friend (playing is a stretch...mostly Emmy told him the swings and slide were hers...stinker!).  Dinner was chicken curry (yum!) from room service.  We stayed in because Emmy's cough is getting worse and is causing her to vomit a lot.  We are supposed to go to the safari park tomorrow but I think we won't because she's just not feeling well (and, as you know, animals aren't her favorite anyway). We can stay here and maybe walk to the park and keep working on using "please" and "thank you" and play with instruments and snuggle.  Counting down the days until we're home...5!

Update #7

Last night Emmy slept much better...though we didn't get in until 11:00 so we went to bed late.  Her cough has still been pretty nasty, especially when she gets excited or is really active (and being three that is pretty much all of the time). Today we had Emmy's medical appointment for the consulate. Our guide was Cordelia who was very good -- kind but no-nonsense and professional -- perfect for her job. (An aside, I've been thinking about how tricky Anna and Cordelia's jobs are and how well suited they are for them. The in province guide has to be a counselor/translator/tour guide for both parents and child without creating an attachment with the child that will be confusing.  She has to encourage and guide parents who are equal parts thrilled and terrified. And she has to know and understand the Chinese aspect of the adoption. The Guangzhou guide has a similar role but also must understand the US aspect of adoption.  Today Lu Xin told Cordelia that Cordelia was "Mama." Before her, Anna was "Mama" and "Jie Jie."  And a lot of the time, I am "Jie Jie."  It's nice to be on the side of having adopted before and knowing that Lu Xin will be fine...great even...and that we will all be fine. But if Anna and Cordelia weren't so great at their jobs, it would be more confusing and painful for the children and the families. But Anna and Cordelia just reminded her who the mama and baba are and moved on. Because the reality is that Emmy will not understand what it means to be in a family for a while.)

So...medical appointment...Cordelia took us to the appointment.  She explained to Emmy what would happen at the appointment and Emmy was fine until the baby before her cried through her ear and eye check. But once the doctor did my ears and eyes, she was okay with hers. The next part was a body check and then the dreaded TB blood test.  They will not allow parents in for that one. Apparently, it was difficult to find Emmy's veins so it took awhile and was scary for her.  But she was brave (as she is) and earned two lollipops. The doctor there prescribed some antibiotics for her cold.  Hopefully she will feel better tomorrow. After lunch, she took a two hour nap and then we mostly stayed in the room. During that time I had the brilliant idea of blowing up a balloon to play with.  Um...yeah.  Emmy?  Terrified of balloons. The offending balloon is hidden safely in the closet now so Emmy can once again wander freely around the room without fear of it jumping out at her.  We also drew with crayons (Steve and I) and a pen (Emmy) and made necklaces out of beads (Steve and I) and took them apart (Emmy again).  We are working toward bonding with Baba so he did bath time tonight with me safely in sight. He's way more fun than I am. I would totally bond with him!  Then we went adventuring in the hotel and found a playground on the 4th floor. Emmy did the slide a couple of times but her cough came back with a vengeance so we came back to the room for dinner. Maybe more slide tomorrow if she's doing better.
I remember last time we came to China we were ready to be home and do life together in a more...regular (non-hotel, kitchen-to-cook-in, whole family together) way by the second day in Guangzhou. We are definitely in that space. Many of you have mentioned experiencing something similar. We are trying hard to live in this moment and in each as they come...even while we are on hour two of waiting for a darling little voice to stop taking and go to sleep!