We are HOME!!!

Home Sweet Home!!! It feels so good to be back on American soil!!!! We are so tired today!! Hopefully we will catch up on our sleep this weekend and can start seeing people next week. Thank you to everyone who came to the airport!! It was nice to see everyone's smiling American faces!!! I am sorry that Sophie Nuan was not very happy. She really did well on the trip. No crying until we started landing in Dothan. I guess the smaller plane made her ears pop more than the bigger planes plus we were on our 28th hour of traveling!!! That could have a little bit to do with it!!!! She did not go to sleep until 1am and then woke up cyring around 4am. Needless to say I am very tired!!!! We look forward to seeing everyone soon. Please continue to pray for her adjustment and her relationship with Josh. She still only wants Justin and that is hard for Joshua to understand. I am still waiting my turn as well. I was so glad that she let me carry her into the airport. That was a first but I think she didn't realize what she was doing. Please send me any pictures that anyone took. Thanks Friends, I can't wait to see all of you!!!!

Last post from China

Hi Everyone!!! This is my last post from China, PTL!!! Sophie Nuan is running a low grade fever and has a runny nose. She has slept the day away so I am nervous about wether she will sleep tonight. That will not be fun!!!!! Please pray for her to feel better and for her not to scream on the airplane. We will fly to Shanghai with our travel friends from NC and then we will go our separate ways. We have had a really fun time with the Brannon family . They have made the days in GZ go by quickly!!! We will miss them!!! So long from China. The Princess will start her new life with all her family and friends. I am so excited for her when she realizes what a special life she will have!!!

Silly Sophie

This girl is a mess!!! She is so rotten and so full of herself sometimes. She is warming up to me better but still has many moments where she doesn't want me near. She is beginning to hold my hand and tell me to "Qwa la" however that is spelled!! LOL which means "come go with me" She will say Mama Qwa la and grab my hand but she just wants to make sure I am in the group not just with her alone. So this is a start. She has a temper and if very smart and know how to get her way by screaming and grunting. She will stomp one of her little foot when she is mad and doesn't want to do what you tell her to do. So we have a lot to learn when we get back home. It is going to be like breaking a wild horse!!! LOL!!! We have to work on using the potty and behaving before we go to preschool. I have my work cut out for me. But this will all be much easier to do at home when I don't have chinese people staring me down and yes they will stop and stare. some even try to help and that makes it even worse. So I am ready to get back to my turf!!!

We have taken a real bath!!!!

Sophie Nuan took a real bath today and washed her hair or should I say my sweet friend Greyson "Gracie" gave Sophie Nuan a bath and washed her hair. She had a great time in the tub. We are trying to adopt Gracie too but her parents are not giving in.I am so excited my sweet girl is clean!!!!

Medical Clinic

Sophie did so good at the medical clinic. She never cried until the last station when they made her lay down and take her diaper off. According to their measurements, sheis 36 inches tall and weighs 31 pounds.

Kisses

Princess Sophie gave her mama two kisses tonight, one on each cheek. I almost passed out. We were eating with our friends the Brannons and Sophie was being silly and I leaned over and made kissing sounds and said give me a kiss. She took my face in her hands and kissed one cheek and turned my head for the other cheek. This was the most precious moment of my life with her. Now before you all get too excited she was back frustrated with me before we left the restaurant and only wanted Greyson our 11- year- old friend from NC. We brought her back to the room and I ran some bath water. Me, Ricky, Justin and Greyson put Sophie in the tub. She stood up the whole time screaming but she got a bath. No hair washing just a very quick bath. I feel so much better but I want to get her hair washed so bad. Each day brings new changes with our princess. She still shuts down very quickly but having more and more fun moments. She is now sound asleep and tomorrow we celebrate one week as a family.

Guangzhou and the Red Couch

Hi everyone!! Sorry I have not posted. We have been busy visiting with our American friends and shopping here in Guangzhou. The plane ride was a horrible experience. It started off really well. Sophie Nuan fell asleep before we took off but when she woke up she was very mad. Everyone was looking at us and the stewards were trying to help calm her down and then other Chinese women were trying to talk to her and she would just get madder and madder. There is no telling what she was telling them. She was so mad that she would not come back to her seat unless I moved. So I had to move to another section to sit. Now what in the world do you think all of those Chinese people thinking. We were the only Americans on the flight with a Chinese baby. It was horrible. I now now how it feels to be a minority and humiliated. She did calm down after I found another seat but then she started screaming again when it was time to buckle up and land the plane. I was so glad to be off that plane. I am dreading the 16 hour flight on Thursday. Let's hope the Benadryl works!!!!

Here are some pictures from the red couch. As you can see none of the babies were too thrilled to be doing this. I hope to take her back when it is just us and take some better pictures. We leave for our medical appointment tomorrow at 7:45 am. This will be another horrible experience I am sure. We are all so ready to get home. We have a long way to go before Sophie Nuan trust us more completely. I am hoping that being home will help us all to be more relaxed.

Tianjin Airport

Hi everyone!! We made it safely to the Tianjin airport. Not sure how we made it without wrecking but we are here. As I have said before, there really are not rules to driving over here. I have grabbed my seat many time. No car seat for Sophie Nuan. Very scary! Our 12:25 flight was cancelled but we are scheduled to leave at 2pm

Sophie Nuan is going back and forth between Daddy and Brother today. Mama is allowed to watch and laugh but still no touching!!! Our departure from Angela was so hard. I believe she really is an undercover angel. She is so patient, kind, and gentle. I have enjoyed getting to know her and I miss her so much. It was very hard to tell her bye.

Some of you have asked what size she is. Her 3T dresses are fitting but her 3T shorts do not fit over her Buddha Belly. Hopefully 4T shorts will not be too big.

Thanks for all the love and prayers.

Last day in Tianjin

This was our last full day in Tianjin. Sophie Nuan has changed her mind about who can be in her space...today it was Daddy or "BaBa" in Chinese!!!! Justin got a break from the stroller today and only Daddy could push the stroller. Mama is still at the bottom of the food chain!!!! She spent less time in the stroller and made a lot of movement around the room today being very silly most of the time. She has figured out that it doesn't take much to get us to laugh. She has shut down only a few times today. She will actually bring me things when Daddy tells her to most of the time but not always. She walked across the entire room today to bring me something. I was thrilled. She also let me show her pictures of herself on the computer. She would not let me feed her breakfast this morning but we all just ignored her until she finally picked up the food I laid down in front of her and then she let me feed her some "congee" soup with rice. We spent most of the day in the room playing. She did not want to leave the room today and did not take a nap. We ate Chinese food again tonight. It is Friday night here and the traffic is worse than ever.

Angela and I went to the Children's Hospital today so I could take pictures for Sophie. This is where she was abandoned. I don't know any specifics other than she had already had her intestinal surgery and her scars were healed at the time she was left at the hospital at 9 months old. The orphanage said that she was very weak the first year she was there. I have ran several scenarios through my mind as to what might have happened but I really have no clue. Maybe she wasn't eating very well, maybe she cried alot with gas pains, maybe the parents thought she needed more surgery and they could not afford it. I don't know but I do know they cared enough to bring her back to the hospital so she would receive the proper medical attention. I can only imagine how hard it was for her mother to leave her after caring for her for 9 months. The 4th floor wing where she was when the authorities were notified to come and get her was filled with people in the hallway. People most likely from the county side that can not afford a place to stay. The hallway smelled horrible and the people looked so tired and sad. We were not allowed to walk down where the patient's room were because it was not visiting hours. Angela assured me that the rooms were sterile and clean. I would not want to take my child here for medical attention. I was very sad that I even went inside. We are a blessed country and have so much to be thankful for.

We leave in the morning flying to Guangzhou. I can't wait to meet up with the "Super 6" formally known as the "Fab 5" we have picked up a family a long the way!!!! So long Tianjin, the birth place of my daughter.

Dum Dums and spaghetti

This girl is a mess! Just to let you know it is still NO MAMA!!! She got very silly in the room this morning. I have a bag of dum dums that I was suppose to take to the orphanage and forgot!!! I was planning on her passing them out so I guess that is why I didn't think about taking them. So I opened the bag to give her one and we ended up playing a game with her grabbing a sucker out of the bag and hiding it behind her back saying "Kay boo Kay" translated by Angela "you don't see anymore" She got so tickled and was so proud of herself. Then she took her dum dums to the coffee table and proceeded to open up 20 dum dums not letting us have any of them. She was a sticky mess but this kept her very happy for at least 30 minutes!!! We then went to Pizza Hut for lunch. Sorry I forgot to take my camera. But this girl can tear up some spaghetti. She fees her self and get every bite off of her plate. She sorta puts her mouth on the edge of the plate and then shovels it in. I was so mad at myself for not having the camera. She is beginning to let Ricky into her space more and seems to be getting more relaxed. She still has moment of shutting down and getting very quiet and still. We are just going to keep loving her through!!!!

Visiting the past and tears

First of all I want to say thank you again for all the encouraging comments and thanks to all the new people who care enough to post. I so appreciate your words of encouragement. The Bible say to encourage one another and I am thankful to receive the blessings of encouragement especially being 8000 miles away from my comfort zone.

Today has been and emotional day and a day of moving forward. I did not take Sophie Nuan with me to the orphanage and I feel confident that it was the right decision. The director and the staff doctor agreed with me that it was the right decision. The doctor sat with me very patiently and answered all my questions. She told me that Sophie Nuan's demeanor had changed drastically over the past week. She quit going to her and others at the orphanage once they told her that her family would be coming to get her soon. She would not want to leave her room for fear of being taken away. There is no doubt in my mind that our daughter was loved dearly by her nannies and the staff at POP. I was able to hug her nannies and thank them with tears rolling down all of our faces and assured them that I would take care of her and that she had many people waiting to love her at home! I apologized for not bringing her back and they also agreed that she could not have handled it. I video her nannies talking to her so one day I will be able to show her how much they loved her. I told her that I would keep in contact and send pictures of her as much as possible. They told me she was very shy and she does not like things to change too much. They said she was like the big sister in her room, helping the other children. Their hearts are broken and so is mine. This is hard. You can never be prepared for the emotions that swell up inside of you and I cannot accurately type the words to express my emotions.

I was able to meet Mr. Yeung and is a very delightful, kind man. He made me feel like I was the most important person in the world and thanked me so much for being willing to adopt one of China's orphans!! I am the one who is honored to be a part of Sophie Nuan's life!!!! I was also able to visit with another child whose family will be coming to pick him up the end of October. The orphanage was extremely clean and all the staff were very friendly. It was hard to walk out knowing there are many Americans waiting.

When I returned back from POP, my princess was sleeping soundly in her stroller taking a nap. When she woke up we had to take her back to the Tianjin orphanage to pay our donation fee and we were required to bring her with us. I was very nervous but she did not even seem to recognize the building. She was crying so hard on Monday, I don't think that she even loked around. All of us and 2 other families toured this orphanage. No pictures allowed. It is so sad to see these children sitting at their tables. Their faces just light up when you walk into the room. This orphanage has several older children and that was hard to see.

We took our little princess to a dumpling restaurant and you can see these pictures over on picasaweb. She was so funny stuffing her mouth full. She actually played with me under the table kicking my leg and then laughing. She actually let me tickle her leg for a few short minutes. I will take every second that I can get. She gets so silly at night and her laugh is just precious. I forgot my cord to the video camara so I am unable to post any video...sorry! She does not have one of her front teeth. We have been told that she has never had a tooth there so not sure what that is all about. Hopefully the permanent tooth is there, if not we can get that fixed.

Thank you all for the prayers!!! They are working and she is slowly coming around...she still has moments where she reverts in to her shell but not as bad today...mostly when she gets tired. We have to put her in her stroller and she feels secure.

Good night from Tianjin.

Evenings with Sophie

My dear sweet friends I do not know what I would do without your words of encouragement. I want to fall to pieces but your words and prayers are keeping me strong. Sophie is a mess. She comes alive at night. She spent all day telling mama NO when I would look at her. She sat all day in the stroller except to get out at McDonalds. We went to eat Chinese with our guide, Angela, tonight and her personality came shining through. We got back to the room and she actually played and laughed. Still real hesitant with me but I keep my distance even when she is laughing...she can turn it off very quickly if I get too close. I find comfort in knowing that she does feel comfortable with Justin and starting to warm up to Ricky but I am jealous and scared about how things will go when we get home and Justin goes back to school.

I will go an visit the orphanage tomorrow. I am not taking Sophie. It breaks my heart that I am not able to take her back and let her nannies see her one more time but she has had such a horrible transition as far as I am concerned and I think she would just hate me that much more if I took her away again. I can't tell you for sure this is the right decision not to take her back but it is my gut feeling that her heart would just break in to pieces again. She seems to be doing well with Justin and some with Ricky...I just don't want her to regress. I can't stand to see her sad. I know that we have many more sad days ahead but I am hoping that the love that she will receive from us and everyone else will help her through the hurt.

Enjoy the pictures!! The laughter is short lived and only at night. We will take whatever we can get.

Not so happy today

Nuan Nuan woke up this morning and her ge ge was in the shower. She was not a happy girl!!!!! This has set the tone for the day. She does not want her mama to touch her, talk to her, or feed her!!!!!! I have come to the conclusion that she is very mad at anyone who claims to be her "mama" I am sure that she is angry at her "mama" aunties for forcing her to leave her place of comfort. I think that she realizes that we are not going to hurt her and she is very comfortable sitting in her stoller and has even had some spontaneous moments of happiness. We walked today and found a McDonald's she ate a few bites of Justin's cheeseburger, a few bites of a chicken nugget and of course french fries. She gave us a couple of smiles and played on the very small area with a toddler size slide. She seems to be more upset right after she wakes up in the morning and after waking up from a nap. We have to regain her trust everytime or should I say Ricky and I do. Justin may have to quit school and do homeschool!!!! She is not going to like him being gone all day!!!! Pray for continued progress and trust. All of the comments are so comforting and keeping me uplifted. I am having a hard time but I know that Nuan is having an even harder time.

Making progress

Tonight I was feeding Sophie noodles. I grabbed one that was hanging out of her mouth and she busted out laughing. We were in shock. Ricky took the pictures and did not zoom in so you get to see me and yes I have shorts on underneath my sleep shirt but the pictures are too priceless of her laughing so here they are

It's Official..She's ours!!

We went to the Civil Affairs Office and the Notary and signed all the paperwork that makes Sophie officially ours. She is still not happy with BaBa and MaMa. She will only let Justin pick her up. He had to pick her up stand her on the bench and then squat down so we could take the picture at the Civil Affairs Office. She cries whenever he has to go to the bathroom. She does not want him out of her sight!!! He is the only one who can push her in the stroller unless you go up behind him and take the stroller where she can't see. She is very determined and will shake her head no or yes....More no than yes!!!!!! We go to the police station today to pick up her passport. She has had an okay day as long as she can see her GeGe. She sits in her stroller most of the time while we are in the room. She doesn't want to get out of the stroller. What ever works!!!!

Big Day!!

This has been a very sad day for Nuan. She started her day by traveling from POPCH to Tianjin Children's Home about 45 min drive. We got there a few minutes before her. The director pretty much dropped her off...handed her to one of the workers
where we were and left. WE were in an office with the window open signing some paperwork and we heard a child screaming!!!! Justin looked out the window and said I think that it is her. She was crying for the director to come back. they walked us out, walked her in, handed her over and we left. This took all of about 10 minutes from the time we got there. She screamed the entire time on the 10 min ride back to the hotel. She would rare her back and hit my leg. She was saying I want my mama and my ayi.....this is what she calls the women at the orphanage. So she was not too impressed that I was saying I was her MaMa. Needless to say it has been a long day trying to entertain the princess. OUr guide talked to the director and she said that Nuan was very spoiled by her nannies. She is spoiled! Scared and spoiled!! She does not like me. she will let me change her diaper...Yes I said diaper!! Not potty trained..yikes..was not prepared for that. She tells you when she needs to be changed so she is ready but her nannies obviously spoiled her like I said. She lets me wipe her nose and that is about it. Justin is the man!!! She only wants him and will only hold his hand. He had to lay down with her to take a nap. He has strolled her around the 15 floor at least 100 times or more. She cries when he goes to the bathroom or gets out of her sight!! She looks at me like I have totally lost my mind!!! Pray we all sleep and she wakes up in a much better mood.

GOTCHA DAY!!!

It feels so good to finally type that! Well it is 3am in the morning. I am wide awake. Ricky and Justin are sleeping soundly!!! I am hoping to dose back off in a little bit. Be sure to click on my other waiting families that I will meet up with in Guangzhou. Feel free to leave them a comment. They are a great group of women that have been so supportive during these last few months!!! I can't wait to meet them.

Sweet little Joshua I miss you so much and I can't wait to talk to you on the phone tomorrow!!!!

Happy Birthday to my brother Ryan!!! You will have a new "little bit" for your birthday gift!!!!

Counting down until 10am!!!!!!!

We are in Tianjin

Hey everybody we made it. We are settled into our room here at the Golden Ocean. I will post pictures later. We are just resting and waiting for our guide to come back and pick us up. OUr room is very nice. Much bigger and nicer than our room in Beijing. Our room there was nice and clean but just small.

Our ride to the hotel was very interesting. First of all our driver picked us up in a small compact car. Thank goodness we did not have a lot of luggage because it would not have fit and I just don't know what he would have done. We held our backpacks in our laps!! The traffic in Tianjin is much worse than Beijing...more cars. We just got through talking to our guide about the traffic and how crazy it is and how everyone seems to remain very calm and patient even when they are tooting their horns and weaving in and out of each other. There are really no lanes just a lot of people merging. Our guide said that the traffic lights were just their for a suggestion. LOL!! We were sitting in traffic one time and a guy from behind us got our of his van and walked up to the car in front of us and started smacking the driver in the head and then opened his door up and smacked him some more and then he slowly walked back to his van. Talk about road rage!!! LOL!! So much for patience.

Our guide is getting us another driver for the rest of our stay here. So long for now from China!!!!

Train to Tianjin

Good morning or should I say Good Evening, We leave Beijing today and travel by train to Tianjin. We get a new guide named "Angela" again not her real name. I can't wait to meet her. I have heard she is great. Joe was good but I am looking forward to having a female. My boys are getting a little grumpy. Ricky still does not feel good. Head congestion and coughing. Dr. M if you are reading the blog, Ricky is getting on my nerves because he won't take his medicine because he says it makes his head feel funny. I am not being very patient with him. He is going to take all of our antibiotics and me and justin will be left with nothing! LOL!!!!

As you can see from the pictures I posted on Picasaweb, we went down to the food market. All I can say about that is NO justin did not try anything. He was done in from lunch and YUCK!!!!! It did not smell good at all and I just will not go in to detail about what exactly was there to eat. Enjoy the pictures...uggh!!! The Olympic statues are located inside a mall close to our Hotel. The sun is shining today..Yea!!! No more rain!

We are off to Tianjin!! Joshua I love you and miss you so much!!!!!!

Great Wall and Summer Palace

First of all I want to say thanks to all my friends who have taken the time and effort to sign up with blogger so that you can send comments. I love to read them...it makes me feel connected to home and to my friends who are already bloggers I love your comments to. You can never know how much it means to be 8000 miles away and be able to read your precious comments. I am so blessed!!!

Okay as you can tell from the pictures it is cloudy and rainy here today. Not a good hair day at all!!! Yesterday was Hot, Humid and Sticky!!!! Today is much cooler and wet!!! We went to a Jade factory and a pearl factory today as well as the Great Wall and Summer Palace. These guides really know how to pack it in. Our guides name is "Joe" not his real name...isn't that funny that they think they need American names to help us be able to remember their names better.

The Great Wall was an experience. Mighty Justin climbed all 3000 steps to the top as far as you were able to go. Ricky didn't make it all the way and I made about 200 steps...LOL!!!!!! Y'all this wall was not designed by an architect. The steps ranged in height from as little as 6 inches to over 12 inches (just an estimate) So when you step up you never step the same plus it goes straight up in most places. I marched myself right back down in the rain, met some more Americans that are adopting and enjoyed some regular English conversation. This was Justin's big event and he is so proud that he was able to make it!!!

The Summer Palace was beautiful. The water lilies that you see are huge. They are called Lotus. The SP is where the Emperors went on vacation...this was not for the public to enjoy.

We drove by the Bird's nest and Water Cube today. We wanted to get closer but our guide said no one is allowed near there because they are getting ready for the Special Olympics.

The people here are so laid back. They ride their bikes in and out of traffic like it is no big deal. I just know that we were going to run over somebody any minute. No one gets upset. The vehicles just push through the traffic, beep their horns and stop within inches of each other. If you want to change lanes around here you just do it. It is really crazy I don't know how to explain it.

We ate authentic Chinese food again today and all of our stomachs are just a little upset and confused!!!! We leave tomorrow, Sunday, by train to Tianjin. We pick Sophie up on Monday. Please pray that she won't be sad and that she will feel safe and secure with us.