China time vs. USA time

Jet lag is tough. I'm not sure what technically 'jet lag' is...but the time change is tough. When we flew to Beijing, it was just Roy and I, and we had a free day before anything started. We were running on adrenaline, and had no problems with sleep deprivation whatsoever. We were tired, but so excited. It's not so much like that this time around. I think we have gotten our body clocks straight, but Jillian has absolutely not. Our first night home was pretty bad, as I mentioned before. Last night, she slept fairly well through until about 4:30, and then was up for the day. Because of the early start, she seemed fairly grumpy for most of the day. We have our doctor appt. tomorrow morning with our pediatrician. I'm hoping to get all kinds of information from her. Although, truthfully, I'm not sure what. I guess I've thought this entire time that she has had an ear infection, but the Chinese doctors didn't acknowledge that. It will be interesting to see what our Dr. says.

The other kids are still pretty much in fairy tale world with Jillian right now. If I've heard her name once, I've heard it a million times. Honestly, they won't let her breathe without someone being in her face. I told them we can do this for a day or two, but then we would have to settle it down a little bit. I'm afraid we could create a monster if we aren't careful. I really, really could not have asked for the transition to go better with them.

Well, we are off to bed. My goal for tonight is to sleep until 5:30. I'd be pleasantly surprised if we slept until 6:30, but my goal is 5:30!! I think we can, I think we can.....

Home at Last!!!

I can honestly say, I've never been so excited to see my house in my entire life!!! The travel was brutal, but when it got too much, I would just look at Jillian, and remember that the Lord had not gotten us this far to leave me now!! We definitely had His hand on us for all the flights. Every single flight was on time, and in fact, 2 of our flights landed early. Total, we shaved about 45 minutes off of our flights with early arrivals. The flight from Guangzhou to Tokyo was fine. Jillian slept for 2 out of the 4 hours. The next flight was fairly difficult. Jillian did as well as could be expected, but 11 hours on a plane just isn't easy. For anyone, especially a 17 month old. But, we made it through, and the final flight she slept all the way through. I dozed off for much of it as well.

That flight landed a little bit early, so mom and the kids weren't quite there yet. When I finally did see them, I thought I was going to lose it!! And I did, but just for a minute. Jillian instantly loved everyone, and we hit the road for home. I guess all the pressure, stress, etc. was finally lifted. I finally felt such a peace. So much so, that I could hardly stay awake heading home from Jackson to Monroe. Literally. I think I had been SO tense for SO long, that I was finally free. Once we got home though, I perked back up. When we pulled up in our driveway, some friends had hung a banner across the front of our house that said "Welcome Home Jillian!!". It was so amazing! We have been blessed with such amazing friends!! Roy's parent's came by to meet Jillian, and she "performed" nicely for them!! She really is such a funny baby!!!

After they left, I started feeling exhausted again. I bathed Jillian, and hit the bed. She went right to sleep, but unfortunately woke up at 1:00 am. She cried off and on, mostly on, until about 4:00 am. I got up, gave her a little advil in case she wasn't feeling good, and gave her a little bottle. She finally fell back asleep, but not for long. She really slept good from about 6:00 am until about 11:00 am when I got her up. Hopefully, we will be able to get into a routine soon. We knew it would be difficult, but it sure doesn't make it any easier I'll tell you that!!

She absolutely LOVES the kids!! In fact, last night, she wanted Madison to hold her more than me. That was a first. And she will crack up laughing at Chandler. Collin is feeling a touch left out, but I'm trying to tell him, it's not even been 24 hours yet. She will come around to him. In the mean time, say a little prayer for him. His feelings are a little hurt.

I will post more later, but for now, I just want to thank everyone that has been a part of this journey!! From the garage sale donations, raffle tickets help, financial help, encouraging talks, my baby shower, my clean house, etc. Everything you all have done is SO appreciated!! I can't imagine not having the prayer support that I've had!! I would have never made it through.

After I actually get dressed for the day, I will post some pictures of Jillian at home!! What a blessing to even be able to say that!! Praise the Lord!!!

Homecoming

Sister here: Jillian has officially set foot on American soil! I just checked their flight status and as I type, they are sitting in the plane on the runway in Detroit waiting to take off for Jackson. Their family will be reunited in two short hours!

Below is Leslie's last post from China. I had intended to post it first thing this morning, but the day got away from me...I apologize.

I thought I would post a few final tidbits about China before I leave this country. It really is a fascinating country, with a fascinating culture. Roy and I came to this country for the sole purpose of adopting our daughter. Nothing more. We looked forward to going to the Great Wall, but really just from a historical perspective. I didn’t appreciate China for what it is. Don’t get me wrong. There are still some policies and traditions in China that I find horrific. But I have a much better appreciation for what the average China citizen has to go through. And for the most part….their life is unbelievably hard. These are a few things I have learned. Some are interesting, and some are just funny facts…..

• There really seems to be no middle class here. I’m sure there is, but it is certainly NOT our middle class. The apartment buildings here are either shack like, or high rises. And even the nice apartments aren’t very nice. One of our guides told us that the average apartment in China is about 900 square feet. That holds 4 adults and 1 baby. The mom, dad, dad’s parents, and the one baby. I really can’t even imagine!!
• Only the RICH people have dryers to dry their clothes. We noticed that EVERYWHERE you look, there are clothes hanging to dry outside of the apartment windows. We had sent our clothes out to be laundered a couple of times, and realized we had the little puffs in our shirt shoulders where they were hung to dry. So, even the launders don’t have dryers. What a convenience that we take for granted!!!
• Funny fact: There is NO Dr. Pepper in China. The Chinese think it tastes like medicine, and don’t want it here. But, they think fried ostrich intestine with a side of fried chicken feet is just fine.
• This country is where so many of the high tech products are born, but the everyday advances here are so backwards. We passed several buildings that had bamboo scaffolding. Literally. And then in several shops, they pulled out bamboo ladders to get up into the loft of the store. I may have mentioned before the brooms that they ladies sweep the streets with. A bamboo stick, with limbs of dead leaves duct taped to the bottom. There is their broom. There are older ladies sweeping everywhere!! Why not just get a street sweeper?? Backbreaking labor!!
• I have only seen 2 wild animals since I’ve been here. They were 2 birds at the park today. The first two I’ve seen. I heard them at the Great Wall, but haven’t seen any. Our guide laughed when I asked about it, and he said that there were no wild animals in China. If anyone found them, they would catch them, and eat them. I’m not sure how much of that was a joke.
• The poverty in this country is overwhelming. Poor, poor people…working for pennies to the dollar. Women riding bicycles stacked HIGH with boxes….or people walking the streets with so much fruit hanging around their shoulders to sell. Men walking the street pulling a primitive wheel barrow filled with hand carved buddha’s. Such hard work.
• I haven’t seen the lack of girl’s that everyone predicted I would. I see girl’s everywhere. Clearly, there is a gap….but I’ve been thankful to see lots of girl’s Chandler’s age, and younger around. I look at them and imagine Jillian in a few years. Honestly though, I look at Madison, and think of Jillian in a few years.
• Funny fact – Karate Kid has come on HBO about a million times. Is tv here regulated?? We think so, but we can’t guarantee it. We think that the Asian influence in Karate Kid is positive, so they play it constantly. Interestingly enough though…while we have been here, the National Geographic Channel, and the Discovery Channel have both had many, many specials, several times a day on China. I mean lots. I don’t even know if it’s possible to regulate that…but it is a funny coincidence if not. On the opposite note of that…the first few days we were in Beijing…we saw specials on Katrina victims. And then a special on the Great Wall. I thought that was a funny coincidence too.
• Strange fact – when I walked down to Starbucks this morning to send this to my sister in law…there was a Chinese Santa greeting me. The whole place is totally decorated for Christmas. I didn’t think the Chinese celebrated Christmas….clearly I am wrong. There is even a “countdown to Christmas”!!
  

Well, that’s all I can think of for now. Say a prayer for us. This will probably be my last post before we leave!! Blessings!!!

a man working on bamboo scaffolding

Roy and me on the Great Wall

A view of the Great Wall

the beautiful fall color on the mountains right off of the great wall...it was breathtaking!!

A few pictures

Jillian and me by the pool

Jillian playing peep eye with Roy under her legs, backwards....silly girl

an even fatter lady statue on Shamian Island

the Starbucks on Shamian Island....was so pretty!!!

Feeling surreal

After such a melancholy day yesterday, my mood picked up a bit today. Today was our consulate appointment. This meant we had to sit in our room from 10:00 – 11:30 am waiting for the call that we had no problems with our paperwork. Well, 11:30 came and went without a phone call, so finally at 11:45, I called our guide, and he gave us the all clear. He wasn’t sure why our other guide hadn’t called, but there were no problems with our paperwork. Thank the Lord for that, as over the last 2 years, and 6 months especially, paperwork has been all consuming. If you are not an adoptive parent, or friends with an adoptive parent, you have no comprehension how much paperwork is inv olved. We have traveled to New Orleans, Ruston, and Jackson, MS. just to gather paperwork. And now that part is over!! Woohoo!! Now, we are required to wait 24 hours from our consulate appt. before we can leave the country. We pick up Jillian’s visa tomorrow afternoon at 3:00. (Tomorrow is Thursday afternoon. I’m not sure when I will actually get this emailed, and posted….so it might even be today...Thursday afternoon). We then are ready to fly out first thing Friday morning. We leave at 8:30 am China time, and after 24 hours of travel, we will arrive at our home about 6:45 on Friday evening. I was so overwhelmingly joyful when I arrived in Beijing, I can only imagine how excited I will be when we land in Jackson, and I see my babies waiting for me!!!! The anxiety about the flights is definitely still there. Actually, it’s not necessarily anxiety, it is full blown fear, but that’s ok. I knew once I got here, I was only half way done, and that I had to get on that plane to get back home. I just can’t believe it’s already here!! These 2 ½ weeks have gone by much faster than I ever expected them to!

After we got the all clear from the consulate appointment, we headed back to Shamian Island for the afternoon and evening. We ate again at Lucy’s, (didn’t run into any high school friends this time!), and then went shopping. I really wanted to get a few more items from China before we left. I know I’m going to regret not getting more, but frankly, we don’t have the luggage space for anything else. The weight limits on the flights have been very restrictive in terms of our shopping!! LOL!!! Thankfully, we have no more in country flights, only international, so the 44 pound rule shouldn’t apply any longer.

We did try a new Thai place tonight that I had read about on Becky’s blog. It was very good, but we found them to be a little sneaky. They offered you things like chips, or even a hand wipe. Of course, we thought they were complimentary, but they weren’t!! They instantly pick up a ticket and mark what you accepted. They gave NO napkins, and then charged us for a wipe to wipe our hands on. We were very surprised. At one point, the 6 year old of the couple we were with spilled his drink. We asked for a napkin, and they picked up the ticket to write down how many napkins we needed to c lean up the spill. The mom said forget it, and we were about to push it onto the floor when they came with “complimentary” napkins. A very interesting experience indeed. Unfortunately, because of that, I don’t think we will be going back, and the food was very good!!!

We started getting things packed up today while we were sitting in the room. I know I said it yesterday, but it is really just so surreal. This whole experience is. We have a new daughter that my children haven’t even met yet. We are about to travel all the way around the world to get home. And in just a few days, I will be back in my own home. Wow, what a whirlwind couple of days we have ahead.

Keep praying!! I’ll try to post pics in the morning!!

A little anxiety is creeping back in

Well today was exhausting. Wait, I think I’ve said that before from China!! LOL!! Fascinating, but exhausting. Roy did have to go the consulate this morning to correct the piece of paperwork I messed up. Thankfully, he wasn’t the only one. While he was gone, I took Jillian to breakfast, changed out our last bit of money, and then headed to 7-11. It is so nice to have one next door to our hotel that has Coke Light.& nbsp; There is no Diet Coke here, but there is Coke Light. There is a definite difference, but I can’t really explain what it is. My fountain Diet Coke from Exxon with .53 refills is SO calling my name. I really can’t believe we are almost to the end of our journey. I personally have been researching this trip to China for 2 years now. And Friday it will be over. I must say, I have radically mixed feelings about it. I miss my children at home desperately, and I am SO ready to see them. I think the reality of the flight with a baby is scari ng me….ALOT. (Of course, the flight without a baby scares me A LOT….but now I won’t be able to take an ambien!! L) And taking Jillian out of her birth country gives me a little bit of sadness. But the joy Jillian has already added to our lives is immeasurable. I truly feel like she has always been mine. I know I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again, she fits our family perfectly. The Lord has had His hand on this in so many clear ways. We are so very blessed.

Sorry, I have gotten off of the subject…..this afternoon, Jillian and I headed out with a local guide to take us shopping with several other ladies in the group. It was such an experience. The shopping wasn’t as good as I had hoped, but the experience was amazing. She took us on backways, and alleys to get the best deals. Jillian unfortunately decided to pick today to get a little diarrhea, so she got the honor of being laid on the floor of all these tiny little huts that were selling jade, silk, etc. She was such a trooper through the entire process though. In fact, our guide kept saying how happy she was and what big eyes she had, and how cute her curly hair is. In one of the ‘shops’, she evidently told the vendor that I had just adopted Jillian. The vendor absolutely didn’t believe her. The vendor said, “NO…biological….big eyes like mom, curly hair like mom….biological”. I have just been blown away with how many people REFUSE to believe she is Chinese. Not that I really care honestly, but it does surprise me. Whether she looks like it or not, my baby girl was in fact born in China. Regardless of who says what. And thankfully, once we get home to the US, we just might not have as many weird looks as I expected. I probably should take this time to mention again….how perfectly she fits in our family!!! Everybody already thinks it too!!!

Please keep us in your prayers over the next few days. The anxiety is building as we prepare to begin our journey home. I think we are all (the other families as well) going through the same anxieties. I think we are all worried about the flight with our babies. Ready to get back to our normal lives. But yet, a little saddened that this amazing journey of our life is ending. Not really a little even, quite a lot. I know so many others that have been around me for the last 6 months are probably thrilled that it’s over!! LOL!!! Howeve r, I must warn you, I doubt the emotional roller coasters are going to stop here……

I’m sending a few pictures as well. My dear sister in law is back at work for me now. Blogger is not accessible here in this hotel at all. Thanks Laura for all you’re doing, all you’ve done, and will do over the next few days!!!!

I hope you enjoy!!

Jillian and I are playing patty cake

Jillian at the folk art museum

the prawn at the Japanese restaurant....(giant shrimp)

Jillian crawling from under a table

Jillian and me at the physical exam

Jillian and a nurse at the physical exam

Playing with her new shoes

A statue on Shamian Island of adoptive parents with their new chinese baby

The last couple of days have certainly been a whirlwind.

We had to get up at the crack of dawn Saturday morning to head into Guangzhou. The flight was only 45 minutes or so, and Jillian fell asleep before take off, and only woke up when I was standing up to get off the plane. I SO hope that's an indication of how well she will sleep on our journey home at the end of the week. When we got to Guangzhou, we came straight to our hotel. Normally, all adoptive parents stay on Shamian Island. I must say, I was rather disappointed we were not, but our hotel makes up for it a little bit I suppose. We are at the China Hotel, a Marriott Hotel. They just went through a renovation, and we are the first people to stay in the renovated rooms. It's probably the nicest hotel room I have, and ever will stay in, in my life. It's an amazingly beautiful hotel. However, the tradition of the White Swan Hotel for China adoptive parents, is one I'm really disappointed to miss out on. There is, as my sister in law has posted, a starbucks in the hotel, which is nice. But even nicer, McDonald's is right next door. Since we are not eating with our guides any more, Roy and I are just too nervous to branch out to some of the Chinese restaurants. And for some reason, the granola bars that we packed are just not calling our name. I guess it's that 'we're on vacation' mentality or something.

Yesterday, we got up and headed to a local Folk Art museum. Roy and I aren't huge on Chinese history, but several of these attractions have really been fascinating. I really enjoyed it, and did a little bit of shopping in the gift shops. So much here is SO cheap. But, then again, so many of the vendors see that we are caucasian, and the prices instantly go up. I guess it all evens out. After that, we headed to a department store, much like Dillard's. Of course, everything here is multi story. That was another adventure. You went to each department, they gave you a ticket for the items you wanted to purchase, and then you went to one central place to pay, and then you had to take your tickets that you had paid, back to each department to show that you had paid for it, and then they would give the products to you. Sound confusing enough?? We wondered if our guides might get a commission off of some of thes e things. While it is fascinating learning how this culture does things, it isn't very practical when there is a group of 18 families trying to do it. We then came back to the hotel to have our 'paperwork party'. This is the last bit of paperwork, hopefully, for our trip. It was about 2 1/2 hours of paperwork with our guide. Of course, the pressure of it all got to me, and I made a mistake on one of the 'crucial' pieces of paperwork. I couldn't believe it. I really do cave under pressure, and I wrote Jillian's name wrong. I have NEVER done it before, and I doubt I will do it again, but we are in a wait and see stage to see if I have to go to the American consulate myself to correct it on this ever so important document. Hopefully, our guides were just trying to put the fear of God in me, and another member of our group, and it will be just fine. Regardless, we are leaving Friday to come home, with Jillian, we just might ha ve a few extra steps on Thursday. We then headed to a Japanese restaurant which was very overrated, but again, it was part of the experience.

Today, we got up and went to the medical exam. This is part of Jillian's visa application process. We had to go to 3 different rooms to have her poked and prodded. She did amazingly well. Most babies scream through the entire experience, but she only cried when they put the tongue depressor in her mouth. I was so very impressed, and you could tell the nurses were too. They kept saying, "happy baby!!!". And I said yes she absolutely is!! She was said to have weighed 16.5 pounds in August, and I had been told to expect her to weigh the same now. That generally, they are weighed with crazy amounts of layers on, and then they exaggerate the weights sometimes. I am proud to say my little girl weighed 18.4 pounds today!! Woohoo!!!! I felt so accomplished, after all, she has been eating like a horse the last week!!!

The medical exam office is actually on Shamian Island. It is an absolutely beautiful place. It is evidently designed in a European fashion. There are LOTS of shops, and you do lots of bargaining. It was an experience to say the least. There is also an American style cafe...Lucy's. Almost all adoptive parents have been there a time or two during their stay. We went today, and got a cheeseburger and french fries. It was just like back home. Delicious!!! While we were sitting there eating, Roy leaned over and said, "Leslie, is that xxx". I thought he was kidding, but walking towards us, was a guy that we went to high school with. He has moved to Baton Rouge, but was in China now adopting their first child. What on earth are the chances of that?????? So, we sat with them for a little while talking about West Monroe. His in laws, who were with him, still live there, and it was just surreal. ; We are in China, and sat down at the same restaurant with someone else who lives in our little town. I still just can't believe it!!! After that, we did more shopping, and then headed to the starbucks on the island to use the restroom. I can't describe how pretty this place is, and pictures really don't do it justice. But, it was so pleasant, that we decided to get a coffee and just sit on the porch. I felt like i was in the British Isles or something. I really, really, really wish we were staying on the Island. But, the White Swan is being renovated, and there aren't enough hotel rooms any longer for the amount of adoptive parents that are coming through. We have no plans for tonight, but tomorrow afternoon is our power shopping trip. We actually have a guide taking us around to the wholesalers where she does the bargaining for us. We pay her $7.50 per hour, but will save TONS of money. And, we don't have to barga in....thank goodness. I really don't enjoy that part. I know that's the game, but I feel bad trying to get people to come down.

I will come back later to download more pictures. When we got back to our hotel, Jillian had already fallen asleep, and I SO wanted to get a post in. I will try to do another later too, with just some tidbits about China that I am finding fascinating. With maybe some pics of China, and not just Jillian. It really is a fascinating country, and I can really see how world travelers do it. I am just so surprised how easy it is, for the most part, to maintain our normal lives. The world wide web has sure made a difference in everyone's lives!!!

I'll be back later with pics!!