Our Last Days in Guangzhou and the Trip Home!

I know this is a long time in coming. It's going to be a long one!


We've had a hard week. We got home last Friday night on September 17th, but we got sick Saturday night.

I'll start where I left off before.

I was going to the Pearl Market with the women on Thursday morning in Guangzhou. That didn't happen. Bob woke up sick during the night on Wednesday night. It was pretty bad, so I decided to stay with him in the room for most of the day Thursday. He certainly wasn't able to watch Raeanna. He was going to have to go outside and walk with her to keep her from crying when I left, and he was too sick for that. We stayed in the room most of the day, but Cade and I decided we needed to go get some things at the store, and Bob said he was going too, so we took a cab to Carrefour. It's a store, similar to Walmart, but on several floors. It has escalators with an incline and you take the shopping cart up and down on it. We enjoyed it. Because it was just us this time, we weren't in a rush. We looked at the strange meat just hanging all over the meat department. There was chicken hanging with no refrigeration and then some really strange looking meats. There were different types of rice in bins, and you bought it by the kilo. We bought a few Chinese dvds for Raeanna. After the store, we went to a Kentucky Fried Chicken. The french fries are good. The chicken sandwich has dark meat, instead of the white meat and it looks pink, so I couldn't eat it. Bob wouldn't eat anything.

We rode the subway back to the hotel. That was interesting. I don't know what we would've done on this trip without Cade. Bob and Cade carried the stroller together down so many sets of stairs in China. I was standing and holding on to the pole in the subway car when I noticed this young girl staring at my wedding rings with her face just a few inches from them. She was looking over the details carefully. She leaned forward, and said "That Chinese baby?" I told her yes, and she asked me lots of questions about adoption and how I found out about Raeanna. I complimented her on her English speaking ability, and she told me that English was easy to learn. It was nice to talk to her. Most of the people, mostly older women, would come up to Raeanna and lean down and look her over. We don't know exactly what it was about, but wondered if they were trying to figure out if something was wrong with her. They seemed to admire her. Not long after we got back to the hotel, Susan, our wonderful guide, came back with Raeanna's visa and paperwork to travel to the USA. Yippee!!! She invited us to go with the group to eat at a Cantonese/Portuguese restaurant in a neighboring hotel, so we went. It was Cantonese style with the huge lazy susan in the middle. They ordered for the group, and we had some interesting food on the table. One of the dishes they ordered was fish soup. It had the whole fish in it. It's mouth was open, and it was looking at us. Raeanna threw a fit for it. I tried to give her some, but it was full of little fine fish bones, so she couldn't have it. We had a nice time visiting with the other families, and then we stopped at a little mall on the walk back to the hotel. After that, we went back to the room to pack up to go home!!! I wondered if she thought that hotel room was our home. It had to be confusing for her.

Our flight left Guangzhou at 6:00am Friday morning. The bellboys arrived to our room at 5:30am to take our luggage, and we met the guide in the hotel lobby. She brought little breakfast boxes for us from the hotel, since we left before they started serving. The bus took us to the airport. Raeanna didn't get happy until daylight broke, but she was fine after that. She started breaking into the breakfast boxes. By the time we got our luggage checked in and on through security, she had eaten 2 boiled eggs, 2 bananas, and several sweet rolls.

Bob and Cade were sitting behind Raeanna and me on the first flight, and she didn't like that at all! She screamed when I put the seat belt on her and again when we took off. She settled down after that, but couldn't wait to get to "Baba." He held her, and they let him use a baby lap seat belt for the landing on this flight. That helped very much. She didn''t get upset when we landed while she was in his lap.

When we got to Beijing, it was raining, and the plane didn't pull up to a gate. We got off in the parking lot, and onto a shuttle bus. We went to International Transfers, but our stroller didn't make it. Bob went to go get the stroller. Thankfully, he gave us our passports and boarding passes before he did, and took his with him. He couldn't get back to us. We sat there for about an hour. I finally went up to the desk to ask where he would've gone. I could just see him held up by security somewhere or something. She told me that he couldn't come back there from baggage claim, which is where he had to go to get it. I panicked at this point, since we had no cell phones or any way to communicate. She told me how to go to the gate and that we would probably meet up with him there. So, Cade and Raeanna and I made our way through security officers, lugging all the backpacks and an unconfined little girl, who wanted to go her own way. Then I heard Bob yell my name. I was really glad to hear that! He had been begging security to let him get to us, and they wouldn't budge. He had gotten them to finally call the international transfer desk, but we had already left. He was relieved to see us, too! He said he found the stroller in the Lost and Found. They asked him what we were wearing and when he tried to explain to them that Raeanna had on pink, they didn't know what pink was. So frustrating and scary to be separated at a foreign airport like that!! We rode a train to the right place and went through security. Security is very tight Beijing! They scanned us and scanned Raeanna. When they finished with her, she went back through the detector, and I had to go through to get her. By this time, I had my purse back, so I set everything off. Fortunately for me, they laughed. In our airports, you can buy water after you're on the other side of security, but not there. They took my expensive water bottles right at the gate of the plane. They searched our carryons AGAIN! Oh well, at least we knew we were safe! Raeanna was asleep before takeoff this time, and slept all but about 30 minutes of the 12 hour flight. During that 30 minutes, she was sick and throwing up, so we were very thankful that she slept. She had a little fever, too. Cade's seat was down the aisle from us. She didn't like that. She motioned for him to come when she woke up and saw that he wasn't with us. Sooo cute! She's well aware that we're a unit, and we belong together!

We got to Chicago, and Raeanna became an American citizen! We went through immigration and customs with hundreds of others. We were sent through special lines, so it didn't take as long as it could've taken. We had to take our luggage through to go to Louisville. One of the airport officers showing everyone where to put their luggage leaned over to look at her, then looked up at me, and said "Guard her with your life." Kind of scared me a bit!

After all of that, we found our gate and changed clothes and freshened up as best we could. We found a restaurant. It was probably the best cheeseburger in the world, and we could have ice in our drink!!!! I love America!!!! Everyone in the restaurant had a good time talking to Raeanna, and then we were off again. Only one short 45 minute plane trip and we would be back in Louisville! They wouldn't let us have a baby lap belt on this plane or on the one from Beijing because she's over 2. It didn't matter how small she is. Once again, she fell asleep before take off and slept through it. She woke up when they started talking right before landing and screamed until we came to a stop.

Brett flew in from Jackson, MS, so he was at the airport waiting for us, along with Katey and Kathi Henri. It was soooo good to see them! Raeanna smiled for them, and she knew they were ge ge(big brother) and jie jie(big sister). She HATED the carseat and cried all the way home. Once we got there, she was so happy! She walked in, looked around, and then it was as though she realized, "Hey!, This is my home!" She started happily feeding everyone her Cheerios, and I was too tired to realize what I was letting happen. BIG MISTAKE! I'm quite certain that is how Katey, Brett, and I ingested the virus. We all got sick at the same hour about 14 hours later.

Since this post is already so long, I'll post again in the next couple of days about our first week at home. I want to document it for her, as well as let you all know how things are going, so I promise, I will post about it.

We are home from China!

I know it seems like we've fallen off the face of the earth, but we've been really sick since we got home.  As my dear friend Beverly called it,  it's like Montezuma's Revenge or would it be Mao Zedong's Revenge?   I'll give a more detailed update tomorrow of the last few days in China and of Raeanna's homecoming.

The Oath at the American Consulate

Today, we took an oath at the American Consulate that basically said that everything we've done to reach this point was true, and that the information on our child was true, etc. etc.  The room was filled with American families adopting children of all ages.  There was a boy who was being adopted that had just turned 14 this week.  When a child in China turns 14,  he or she is no longer eligble for adoption, so he got a forever family just in time.  Praise the Lord for that!  I think they said there were 45 families taking the oath today. Our consulate appointment was yesterday, but all we did was stay in the room in case the guide needed any information.  She went to it, and she took care of everything.

Yesterday, we went to a museum called Chen Lineage Hall.  The weather turned really bad suddenly, so we didn't get to stay long, but it was very interesting to see the alley ways leading to it, and the art they were creating in the museum.

We went to McDonald's a couple of nights ago, and Bob and I both ordered chicken mcnuggets, and we got Raeanna a happy meal.  She decided, as she usually does, that she wanted all three meals. She ate about 9 nuggets plus french fries.  Bob and I snuck a few, or she would've eaten more.  She doesn't finish everything in front of her, but she wants ALL the food placed in front of her. 

We went out to Shamian Island tonight.  Raeanna was so tired already.  When she gets tired, she does a little pitiful moan. We walked around the White Swan hotel.  The lobby is beautiful there. We shopped at Jordan's, which is a little store owned by a Christian Chinese man who sells souvernirs and such. We then went to eat supper at the Thai Restaurant,  the Cow and Bridge, which we had eaten lunch at on Monday. It was the first time I went to a public restroom since I've been here, and yes, they had a squatty potty, and no, I decided not to go in there.  I did take a picture, though.  When Raeanna was ready to go,  I took her out of the high chair.  She walked over to Bob and motioned for him to get up and go and snapped an order to him in Chinese. She motioned a couple of times for him to get and go. I don't know what she said exactly, but she made it clear what she wanted him to do!

We got a taxi to go back to our hotel tonight, and I suppose it's Raeanna's first time in a car at night.  She started screaming her little head off. Everytime the driver would stop at a light, she would stop crying. As soon as he took off,  so did she.  I don't know what's going through her little head, but I really don't think she's going to like the carseat at all!  They don't have seatbelts here, and especially not car seats. She wants us to hold her on the bus, so she's really not going to like a car in the US.

We are finished with everything now. We just have to wait here for Raeanna's visa.  Our guide will pick it up tomorrow, and we'll get it tomorrow evening.  Then,  we are free to come home!  We are so ready!!!! 

I'm going to the pearl market in the morning with the women in our group.  We'll see how Baba does  changing a diaper. :) 

We're leaving very early in the morning on Friday.  We sleep tonight and tomorrow night, and then we are on our way home!!!!

Here are a few pictures from the last few days:

Praising God!

We went to a church service on Sunday at the Shamian Island Christ Church. I can't even put into words how awesome it was to see Chinese people praising our Lord and Savior.  It was a Chinese/English service.  We sang a Chinese praise song, and then an English one, and back and forth. One Chinese man had his hands raised and tears streaming during the music. It was such a heartwarming experience.  We are 7000 miles away from home, yet we sang the same songs we sing in our church.

YOU ARE MY ALL AND ALL
You are my strength when I am weak

You are the treasure that I seek
You are my all in all
Seeking You as a precious jewel
Lord, to give up I'd be a fool
You are my all in all

You know the rest of the song.

The other English song we sang was:

 Knowing You, Jesus

All I once held dear built my life upon

All this world reveres, and wars to own
All I once thought gain I have counted loss
Spent and worthless now, compared to this

Knowing you, Jesus knowing you
There is no greater thing
You're my all you're the best
You're my joy, my righteousness
And I love you  ,Lord.

Other than getting our daughter, that was one of the most memorable things we've experienced so far.

We would like to thank all who prayed for Raeanna's TB test results.  We found out today that they were negative. The guide thought she might be having a positive reaction due to the fact that she has had a TB vaccination, so she would have antibodies to it. We are praising God that it was negative.

Raeanna is so precious to us. She's amazingly sweet and sassy, as Cade says,  all at the same time. She still wants her food and all of ours too in her plate.  She is doing a little better with the food issue.  I really don't know how she eats so much.  She's such a tiny little girl, but she can out eat all of us. I tried to post a video we took today of her eating noodles with chopsticks, but my VPN keeps on disconnecting. I'll try again in the morning. The Chinese people in the restaurant thought she was so hilarious.

Our Consulate appointment is tomorrow. In just a few more days, we can head home!

Hello from Guangzhou!

We arrived in Guangzhou last night. We didn't get to do a lot in Shanghai; partially due to the fact that our hotel wasn't located conveniently to the nice shopping and museum areas, but also because it was too hard on Raeanna. She did well when we were out, but when she gets really sleepy, she melts down. She still seems afraid to go to sleep. We did some interesting things, such as go up to the 88th floor of the Jin Mal Tower, where you could see most of Shanghai. I've never been to a city that large. It's overwhelming. We went to a silk factory, and that was interesting. We bought Raeanna several of the traditional Chinese silk dresses for now and later. We tried to go shopping in Nanjing Road, but she was really tired, so we rode the subway back to the hotel. Yesterday morning, Raeanna and I stayed at the hotel, while Cade and Bob went to ride the Maglev train. It was the first time that any of us left without her to go somewhere, and she got a little sad. She and I got ready to go to breakfast. I made a critical mistake in not bringing her stroller. The breakfast is a buffet style, and usually, Bob sits with her while I fix her food. She goes nuts for any food, but I get it to her and feed her. This time, I had to hold her to keep her from pulling food down, and she could actually see how much food there was on the counters. She went ballistic! She wanted it all! She pitched and screamed and grabbed, while I tried to fix her plate with all the Chinese people either staring or laughing at her or trying to talk to her. When we sat down, she was still screaming and pointing back at the buffet. I asked the waiter to tell her that we were leaving if she didn't stop. He did, and she settled down, but insisted on feeding herself. She's really a clean eater, especially considering how fast she eats and the state she is in when she's eating. The waiter said, "She is independent girl. Let her feed herself."  I did, and she ate for a while. We went back to the room and skyped for a while with family. We packed up and headed to the airport in a bus. She HATES busses, especially bumpy ones, so she cried all the way to the airport. Once we got there, she was her happy, sweet little self again. She was laughing and issuing orders to "BABA." She loves to say Baba, and tell him to do things or give him candy. She tells Cade "bu-ya!" all the time. I'm pretty sure it means no and she says it just to pick on him. She's quite hilarious!

 She's gotten a lot stronger already. We started letting her walk more and more, and she's sooooooo cute when she walks around! She's also filled out a little bit, it seems. I still can't keep pants or skirts on her without lapping them over and pinning them. The clothes I brought for her fit okay at the top, but fall off of the bottom. I brought mostly 24 months size and some 18 months size.

She was fine when we got on the airplane, but she got really upset on take-off. I gave her skittles and that made her happy after we were in the air. Before we left for the airport, and after her big breakfast, she discovered a rather large container of Chinese noodles that I was throwing away so I wouldn't have to pack it. She demanded to eat it. She ate half of it, and it was a family size, so there was no way she could be hungry on that flight. When the stewardess brought these little boxes with lunches with sandwiches, she started screaming and reaching, so Bob only got 2 for all 3 of us, because he had her in his arms. When we got them open, she grabbed both sandwiches and ate them both really fast. She was so afraid we would take them away from her. She tried to eat everything else in the box, too, but we managed to hide some of it. Then, it was time to land. Oh my! It was a rough landing, but it scared her very much! We got her settled down, and she laughed all the way through the terminal, until we got on the bus to go to the hotel. She screamed the whole way to the hotel. I think it was made worse by the darkness. We have no idea what she is thinking, but it seems to us, and the guide thought so too, that even though she was only 13 months when she was abandoned, it was on a train car, and it could explain why busses and rough planes frighten her so much. The guide says that she clearly remembers a traumatic experience herself from when she was a year old.

 We're staying at the China Hotel(Marriott) in Guangzhou. It's a very nice hotel
.
The guide talked to Raeanna at breakfast, and told her that Mama and Baba would always make sure she has enough to eat, and she seemed to settle down and slow down. I knew we would most likely have food issues, but I never dreamed it could be this severe.

Today, we had the medical exam on Shamian Island. Raeanna got 4 shots, plus the tb skin test. She has a little fever this afternoon, even after giving her Motrin. She had gained 1kg, which is about 2lbs, since I got the update in June. She looks healthy, but just very tiny. Shamian Island is beautiful, and Guangzhou doesn't seem nearly as overwhelming as Shanghai. It's a big city, but not as big as Shanghai. All of the adoptive families come here to finalize their adoptions because the American Consulate is here, so the people here cater to adoptive families.

 I'm trying to get a video to upload, but it takes me forever just to upload pictures, so if I don't now, I'll put some up when I get home.

I had to leave her with Cade and Bob today to go take care of some paperwork.  She stood at the door and cried the entire 30 minutes I was gone, and she loves them dearly.  It's going to be sad when she realizes Daddy has to go to work, and Cade must go to school.

Tomorrow, we go to a church service on Shamian Island.

Leaving Shanghai Today

When we first got to the hotel with Raeanna

PJs and collection on 3rd day

On a boat on the Huangpu(sp) River

Cade on the boat with the Chinese flag behind him

Feeding Baba on the boat

Raeanna and Cade when we first got to the hotel

She loves those sunglasses, even at night

 

I'm sorry it takes me so long to update. The internet doesn't always cooperate, and with the exhaustion from the extreme heat and humidity and the time change, and the bedtime troubles, it hasn't been easy.

Raeanna is doing very well, except for bedtime or naptime. She is happy and silly, laughing most of the time. She's very content riding in her stroller, except for once when she was really sleepy. Of course, that happened when we were in the People's Square. It wasn't a good place for her to start crying inconsolably, so we headed back to the hotel on the subway. We never made it to Nanjing Road or Underground Children's Market shopping. I was hoping to get her some shoes, since we only have the one pair we found at Carrefour.(She loves them and wants to wear them ALL the time.) She loves to play with food and water. She collects water bottles and food, and she likes to go from one of us, to the next, and give us whatever she is eating, especially Daddy. Sometimes she teases Cade and won't give him the food, but she ALWAYS puts it in Daddy's mouth ,and laughs. When Mama tells her no, she hands over whatever or stops, but she laughs at the boys and doesn't take them seriously for some reason. She's really a trooper most of the time, because the heat and humidity is terrible, and she happily goes wherever we go. Sleepytime is the only time she's not happy, and it's a sad, mournful cry. She twists her hair on top of her head, and nothing will console her, until she falls asleep. I even tried to give her the bottle, since they say she has two a day, but she didn't want it.

She says "woa" a lot, which means mine, to Cade. He showed her a picture we took at the Jin Mal Tower of all us, and she pointed everyone out, and said, "Mama, Baba, GeGe, and Jixiao." GeGe means "big brother." Cade was telling her this morning, "Wo ai ni, Jixiao," which means I love you. She giggled at said, "Boo ya," which means no, but then she started telling him "wo ai ni," when he said it.

Raeanna loves pretty hair bands and clothes. She wears a hair band all the time. I bought a set of three, and she alternates them. She wants to go to bed with one on her head. She puts it on her head like a tiara, and then admires herself in the mirror. When I first dress her in the morning, she goes to the mirror and smiles. It's so cute.

The Chinese people really admire her. Many speak English, and they comment about her to me, but many of them say things, and I have no clue what they're saying, but it seems positive. Our guide, Ada, says that people tell her that Raeanna is very pretty, in Chinese, of course. We think she is beautiful!

Raeanna is definately feeling more secure. She still has a few moments, but she can be quite demanding and bossy to Cade. It's cute, but we'll have to address it when we get home.

We went to a silk factory, and we bought her a few of the little silk, traditional Chinese dresses, in sizes for now and when she's a little older.

As my sister-in-law said, she seems very much like a smart 18 month old, in size and behavior.

As I said before, we feel very blessed.
Thank you all for the comments. I plan to print all of this for her for later.

She is officially ours!

It's been a whirlwind since we got here, with jet lag and activites, but it's beginning to get a little easier.  The VPN I have to use to get on blogger wasn't working for a while and it's blocked without it, but I was able to get it to work tonight.

Raeanna has been laughing and happy tonight. There were about 12 other families getting their children at the orphanage at the same time, and it was a little chaotic.  The last two children brought out were ours and the baby of another couple traveling with us.  They weren't crying at all.  They handed Raeanna to me and she said, "Hi Mama," and the woman told her to give me a kiss, and she kissed me on the cheek.  I gave her toys, but she latched on to a bottle of Strawberry flavored Gerber graduate puffs and a sippy cup of lemonade.  She had no interest in the toys, until I gave her a little pink plastic toy cell phone. She loves to eat and will do so until she's sick if we let her.  She didn't really cry until nighttime came.  Bedtime was really hard.  I don't know if she was scared or grieving, but she didn't want me to put her down and she didn't want the lights out at all. 

Today, we went to the Civil Affairs office and the adoption became official.  We took an oath, promising never to mistreat or abandon her and to treat her as our own child. It was in front of the Chinese flag. It was a nice ceremony, and they took a picture of us together. When we went to get on the bus to go there, she started shaking her head no really fast and screaming.  She didn't want to get on the bus.  We don't know if she thought we were taking her back or if she was afraid of the bus.  She cried loudly for a while, until we gave her another bottle of the gerber puffs.  She ate half of it before we got there.

She loves her little umbrella stroller.  We bought it at Carrefour, which is kind of like Walmart.  It's on several levels, and the shopping cart rides on the escalator with you.  It doesn't have steps; just an incline.
People there would stare at us and nudge the person they were with to look at us. It felt strange.

The only food she has turned down so far has been yogurt and pepsi. She LOVES everything else edible.

They gave us a can of powdered formula and told us she takes two bottles a day.  The bottle seemed to upset her stomach last night, so I didn't give it to her today, and she has been fine without it.  I'm surprised they give a bottle to a 4.5 year old, and I'm surprised her teeth aren't rotten because of it!  I would let her have it if she seemed to want it, but she loves the sippy cup, so we went today without the formula.
I just layed her in the bed, and she is now sound asleep. That's the first time she's gone to sleep without tears or needing me to hold her. I think she's beginning to feel secure with us. We feel so blessed!

Finally!

Baba, Ge Ge, and Raeanna Claire Jixiao B

Our First Family Picture, but we're missing Katey and Brett. We'll get one soon with all of us!

Ge Ge Cade and Raeanna playing in the hotel room on Forever Family Day.

Baba and Mama promising to never mistreat or abandon Raeanna.  This is where she was declared our child.

We're in China!

We got here yesterday.  We were so exhausted!  I didn't go to sleep on Friday night because we had to leave for the airport at 3:30am, and I had so much to do that I couldn't sleep anyway. We slept on and off on the plane. It's 3:30am here now, and you'd think I could sleep, but no.  It's supposed to be 3:30pm. We leave to get Raeanna in 5 hours, so I'm a little excited about that too.

The internet is very expensive here.  Last night, we couldn't get anything to work, but I finally figured out this VPN thing this morning. I tried to call to let family know we made it, but it wouldn't work.  I hope you got my email. We're staying on the North Bund, which isn't convenient to tourist areas or shopping, but with the World Expo, the prices are really steep.  It's a nice hotel, and many speak English, but not so good, so it's really hard to figure things out.

I'll update as soon as I can tonight. We didn't get to go buy a stroller or anything, just water yesterday, so we'll be doing all of that this afternoon. Stay tuned....

Travel Itinerary!

I can't believe in a little over 30 hours we'll be on our way to China!  In just 3 days, we'll be holding Raeanna in our arms!  Thank you so much for the prayers.  I've seen God's power displayed throughout this entire process from the beginning, and it feels so amazing to know He is orchestrating it all.  Please continue to pray for us as we travel. Our whole family will be flying in one direction or another over the next 2 weeks. Katey is flying tonight to California.  She'll be back here on Monday, September 6th.  Brett will be flying to meet us at the airport on the 17th and going back to Mississippi College on Sunday.  Also, please pray with us for Raeanna, as her world is about to completely change.

Travel Itinerary
04 September (Sat) 6:00am Leave Louisville
05 Sep (Sun) 1:55pm Arrive by UA835. Arrive in Shanghai
06 Sep (Mon) Forever Family Day or Gotcha Day
08 Sep (Wed) 9:30am Visit Tian Zi Fang and a silk factory.
09 Sep (Thu) 9:30am Visit Shanghai provincial museum and a jade shop;
10 Sep (Fri) Fly to Guangzhou (15:30pm-17:40pm).
11 Sep (Sat) Medical Checkup for US Consulate
12 Sep (Sun) Bus to Shamian Island for Sunday sermon;
13 Sep (Mon) City tour.
14 Sep (Tue) 10:30am Consulate Appointment
15 Sep (Wed) 2:30pm Bus to US consulate to take the oath
16 Sep (Thu) Pick up Raeanna's Visa package
17 Sep (Fri) Fly back to Beijing by  8:00am-11:00am)
Leave Beijing at 4:10pm
Arrive in Chicago at 4:15pm, where Raeanna becomes a US citizen.
Leave Chicago at 7:40, arrive in Louisville at 9:53pm on Friday, September 17!
Brett will be flying in from Mississippi College about an hour before we arrive, so he'll be waiting at the airport.  Katey will be there too!