Trails of Cheerios

Hello, from Rainy Guangzhou.

Yesterday, we wandered around the People's Park in Nanning one last time and had the nicest experience. A man came up to us as we were walking through the park and talked to us in Chinese. When he realized we couldn't understand, he simply took his fingers and made the shape of a heart on his chest, pointed to us and gave us the thumbs up sign. He said, "Warm Heart." This was precious to us especially as most of the time, people look at us with curiosity and then their smile fades away QUICKLY when they see Hattie has a cleft lip. It was really starting to get on my last nerve, to be honest. I do not want to be critical of Chinese culture but I would just like to point out a difference. I think, for the most part, in the USA, people would be curious but would be more discreet. Here in China, people start slapping each other on the arm frantically and talking louder and don't seem to realize it seems rude to us. My tact, has been to look at people directly and smile. We are not ashamed and we think she is beautiful. We also know her lip has nothing to do with WHO she is- anyway, sorry for the rant!

After our last walk through the park, we went back to the hotel for photos with the other two kids from Hattie's SWI, Bo Bai County. One family is from Canada and one is from Australia. Each family can tell the wonderful level of care their kids have received.

We met Mary at 5:20 for an hour long drive to the airport. She is such a kind and warm person, we truly feel our time in Nanning was extra rich due to Mary. When we went through the check in at the airport, we were fine weight wise with our luggage, but Mary told us they like to see the adoptive families and don't worry about the weight of their luggage in Nanning. We felt sad to say goodbye to Mary and to know that we were taking Hattie one step further from all that she has known her her first year of life. We also couldn't help but feel a sense of accomplishment for lack of a better word, as we are always aware of the very long process and wait to just get to China. To realize we are free to take this baby out of her Province and all the little steps along the way to get here really overwhelms us.

We went downstairs to wait for our shuttle to the plane. (It is like in European travel, where you board a shuttle which takes you to the plane. You then board from outside.) I decided it would be wise to use the restroom before getting on the plane. Guess what? I used my first Squatty Potty-really was no big deal. Thank goodness! Now, I can really say I have been in China, right?

We boarded the shuttle and it was so crowded, I honestly wasn't sure there was room for us and I was thinking how am I going to hold on to the baby, my bag and that strap that hangs for you to hold on to. As soon as We got on, people were gesturing to me and pointing; they gave me a seat. It was so nice of them. When we got off the bus, a man came up to me and said, "this is no problem" as he pointed at Hattie's lip. "I am a surgeon and I can fix this" we had a nice conversation with him and he told us the government "supports the fees" for the operation for lip and palate. We had found this out earlier in the week from Mary.

Anyway, we boarded the plane. Hattie quite enjoyed herself and we truly do feel we left a trail of Cheerios from Nanning all the way to Guangzhou:) She has begun to really make noise and we laugh every time as she sounds like an exotic bird. So now, we call her little bird. The flight was bumpy and rough. We had descended and were ready to land, but then they told us due to bad weather we could need to go back up and circle for a bit. Finally, we were able to land. smooth landing, but from the rain we were sliding around, we did finally stop and breath a sigh of relief and thanksgiving!

We were able to get our luggage and we were met by staff from the White Swan hotel. They looked like nurses, as they were wearing a white dress. She led us to a van and we couldn't even see the rain was coming down so heavy and fast. We picked up one more man, and then one other couple. As soon as they came near, we recognized them from our travel group. It was nice to see each other and talk a bit. We were all very tired (it was almost midnight) and so we all just took in the sights on the hour ride to the hotel. The rain was unreal. Cars were all driving with their hazard lights. We finally got to the hotel and got checked in. We were starving but it was just too late to even bother with room service, we all just went to bed.

This morning we had to meet at 8am to walk to have the kids have their visa photos. It was so nice to see our group and all the beautiful babies and kids. We then came back for breakfast and then left again at 9 for our medical appointments. There were three areas, Ear, Nose, Throat and Weight and Height as well as one other. The doctor in this area was wearing a white coat, but had on shorts underneath and sandals. He asked me if I was this child's mother, I said yes. He then gave me a pen and had me answer 4 questions on a sheet of paper, yet he told me what to answer. I wanted to read it and think for myself. I wanted to mark NO under illness, but he indicated it was Yes, due to her lip. So I guess she is ill.....:0

We then left there and headed right to Starbucks on way back. I have been fine without coffee, but I was quite happy to see Starbucks. (I think all the families were heading there after their appointments!) Today, I am dragging and tired. I think due to travel and pace of yesterday.

We will write more later, you know we like to fill you all in on every detail!! We are meeting for diner at Lucy's at 5pm.

Boys, we will try and call tonight (which would be 8am at home) we are wanting to talk with you and see how you are doing. We miss you and can't wait for you to meet Little Bird! She is really coming out of her shell and playing and busy. She was feeding us Cheerios all the way from Nanning to Guangzhou, she even has been feeding Daddy! Culley she is going to give you a run for your money. Hayden, she reminds us of you in the way that she carefully studies everything and loves to read. Culley, I just know you and Hattie will be climbing and running and laughing and causing all kinds of fun and chaos together.

We love you!!!!!!

Last day in Nanning, China

Hello!

We thought we would write now because it may be a late night.

We all slept pretty well and headed down for breakfast. Do you see the pattern here? Today, Hattie went down to breakfast and enjoyed sitting in her highchair. Our guide told us to have her try dragon fruit. So we sliced that up with watermelon and she pounded it, as my brother would say. She also ate some congee, but seems to be less interested in that each day. Mary tells us this happens once the babies taste Cheerios they aren't so fond of congee. Dragon fruit comes from Vietnam (three hours by train from Nanning) and is pinkish purple. Once peeled, it is white with black seeds. I am a bit egged out, so today had a healthy breakfast of pastry. Surprisingly, the pastries here are wonderful.

We have enjoyed meeting the other families here. Some are from Norway and one couple is from Canada. They adopted a little (ADORABLE!!!!) boy from Bo Bai County also. There was one other girl from Bo Bai, a five year old girl. We are going to try and meet today to take photos of the kids together.

After breakfast, our laundry was delivered by the most smiling and friendly man. We couldn't believe our eyes at how tiny our clean stack of laundry was-everything was just perfect. I told Kory his khaki shorts have never looked better! I think they must iron everything.

We then met Mary at 9 to go to a Minority Museum. The culture here is very diverse and beautiful yet very complicated. We would like to buy some books at home to better understand the various minority groups here. It was very difficult to concentrate on the museum because we kept getting swarmed by people wanting to take our picture. The first time it was kind of cute, but we seriously couldn't make a move without being asked to pose. One guy asked me my name and I told him Angelina Jolie and he just nodded....I don't think he understood my
joke:) But from then on we were Brad Pitt and Angelina. It is such a strange feeling to think people want to take a picture with us because we are white. The way they were acting, you really would have thought we were celebrities. We ended our time in the museum by picking out love balls to hang in Hattie's room. We will post pictures of that later.

We left the museum and went back to the Pearl Store. We picked up a few gifts. We could spend all day in there, the pearls are gorgeous and the prices are unbelievable; black pearls, pink pearls, purple pearls and of course white. Kory was in his glory shopping in there-it was fun to just hold Hattie and take it all in. A woman walked up and just took Hattie right out of my arms and was talking with her. She was ok, but my mind starting racing, like "what if this woman just took of running with her?" and crazy thoughts....I was so unsettled until I had her back. I am told this is very common here in China.

Now, Hattie is sleeping. Kory is doing some work and we will be checking out of our hotel later this afternoon and heading for Guangzhou. It should be only an hour flight and then we will be settling in to the White Swan hotel. We are so looking forward to meeting up with the rest of the group to see their babies/children and hear all about their times in their province.

This trip has been out of this world. We are so grateful we have had this opportunity and experience. Hattie is wonderful and feeling better each day. Today, she has been babbling and reaching for things, climbing, throwing her sippy cup, engaging us in play and feeling more comfortable with Kory, too. We already love her and can't imagine not having her in our family. We will be excited to see her with her big brothers.

Thanks again for all the nice emails, we look forward to checking email and hearing from all of you.

More from Nanning

Hello Again,

We forgot to post the pictures of Hattie trying on pearls from yesterday, enjoy!

Also, a few more pictures from our stroll through the park today.

Our guide came to our room today at 5 p.m. She brought us gifts and also our Chinese adoption papers. There was also a picture from when the photographers came to our hotel room; see the last picture to see some of the paperwork including the picture and our red thumbprints.

Last, a random comment. The elevators here are dangerous. They start to close almost as soon as the door opens. Our first day here, I assumed it was like home and stuck my arm in to have it reopen, but instead it closed on my arm. I now have a three inch by 1 inch bruise on my arm and a fear of the elevators! I run in and out of them now!

Also, for those of you who have watched the show Monk, that is what we feel like as we walk around China. When we leave a place we are looking for our hand wipes:)

Good Night from China on our last night here in Nanning.

Pearls, Green Hill Park

Hello from Nanning, China.

We are savoring this time together here in Nanning. Last night, we did a little pearl shopping followed by a walk near the hotel to a little park.Hattie sure seemed to like trying on pearls. We wanted to wait until today though to buy pearls incase the place our guide took us was better. She what you think in the pictures!

We also went to Walmart to see if we could find a bottle that would work better for Hattie. We found one that we could squeeze as well as a longer Chinese bottle top that she can drink from much better. So, now she has a sippy cup and a bottle that she seems to be able to drink from. I do look forward to getting home and getting on top of the food/formula issue. We have decided that as long as she is drinking anything and eating well, we won''t worry about how much formula she is drinking. She isn't a newborn and she is certainly sturdy enough that we will be fine.

Last night, Kory headed out with my request for spring rolls and dumplings. I would do it myself but Hattie is always on me, so it is not as easy for me to explore. While Kory is understanding and patient with Hattie, I think he feels a bit left out as she won't even really look at him. I keep telling her she doesn't know what she is missing, he is lots of fun to play with and she may as well take advantage of her time alone with him. Once, we get home the boys will be all over him!!!

But back to the spring rolls and dumplings. Kory came back with three plastic bags, like we would put produce in at home. One had dumplings, one had spring rolls and one had sauce. It is so weird to see people walking down the street carrying clear bags of liquids. At home, it seems liquids are in containers of some sort. The spring rolls were wonderful. They were Vietnemese Spring rolls and came fried (I was craving fresh but these were certainly yummy!) with the little rice noodles inside and I am not sure what else was in them but they were delicious. Also, the dumplings were good but the sauce was the best I have ever had. Some kind of sauce with garlic and chilies and lots of spice. If only I knew how to make that at home! Hattie had room service Congee. Kory ordered it for her and was given chicken, beef or fish flavored Congee. He choose chicken. It was like chicken noodle soup in flavor and was very good. Both Kory and I liked it, but Hattie went to town on that-she was leaning in for more.

We all had the Chinese cake for dessert and it was more beautiful to look at then eat, but all these experiences are so much fun.

This morning, we had breakfast and then met Mary for a tour of Green Hill Park. We enjoyed seeing the Buddhist Temple and walking through, we were able to apply what we learned in Beijing. Although, we do not believe in Buddha we were still able to appreciate their way of thinking and found it interesting. We went into the temple for Gods Of Mercy of Babies. While in there, there was a display on the alter of fruits and candy. They believe that they offer this to Buddha and he will fill the fruit/candy with happiness and protection and then you may take the item back and eat it to receive protection and happiness. While we were in there,a woman walked up to us and said that the baby was very beautiful even "with her cleft" and she said a prayer(to herself) and then took a package of candy and gave it to Hattie. A few moments later another woman walked up and said, our baby is very beautiful and has very nice eyes and then she took an apple off the alter and gave it to Hattie. Later, Mary told us that in four years of taking families here she has never seen anyone give the babies anything from the alter. She said, we are "very, very lucky."

We went to the top of a Pagoda and were able to see the red dirt where they are digging to make more of the city along Yong River. Also, we were able to see the newly completed bridge that is the only bridge in China that looks like the wings of a butterfly. We then walked down lots of steps to an area where we could buy food to feed the fish. We all enjoyed this very much. Hattie is coming a bit out of her shell and even got in on throwing the fish food. We left there after awhile and went to buy South Sea Pearls for Hattie. We bought her a bracelet for now and a strand of pearls for her 18th birthday. This seems to be the tradition of the families who adopt girls from China. The women all wore yellow gowns and were very helpful. Once, we choose the pearls they boxed them up with a certificate of quality in each box, as the shop is connected with the Chinese Government and their study of authentic sea pearls.

After this, Hattie fell asleep and we went back to the hotel for naptime. More adventures to come later..... Stay tuned!

Exploring Nanning

Hello from China.

We are so enjoying our time here in China. It is truly a very special time. Kory and I have talked about how when you take a vacation you feel in a yank to make sure to see and do everything in a short amount of time. But with this trip, 17 days in China to adopt a baby means we have had a nice slow pace and have felt more like we are able to savor this time.

Some of you have asked how Hattie is sleeping. Well, she is sleeping very well. She seems to go from fine to tired quickly and she just wants me to hold her. She falls right to sleep and then I can lay her down and she doesn't wake up. Each of the nights she has slept all night. She has had two naps a day and seems to need them. It will be interesting to see how she sleeps when we get home.

This morning, she woke up and seemed sad, as to be expected. We can't imagine how she must feel to go from a foster care where the family really loved her and took great care of her to abruptly going on a long ride to meet some strange white people who don't speak her language. She got tearful this morning at breakfast (she doesn't make a noise, but her face crumples and the tears fill her sweet brown eyes...it just kills us) and then there I sat during breakfast crying myself. Talking with others we all feel the same way, all the kids seem to be quiet and very sad. Some seem to be searching for the foster families, lots of them aren't drinking their bottles. They are all very sober.

We decided to get out on the town for a bit. And it was the best morning. We walked about five minutes from the hotel to a beautiful and large park. Their were tons of mopeds parked. There were many people all out walking, babies in split pants, grandfathers pushing strollers, ladies playing cards at round tables around the park, and dance classes gathered around the water in the park. There are Banyan trees here that are just gorgeous. We learned there are two kinds "those with hair hanging down" and those without. We will take pictures to share with you. We wandered the park for the morning. One woman with a small baby moved to a table near where Hattie and I were watching a Tai Chi class (wow, now we want to learn that!) and started talking to us in Chinese. The baby was all happy and wiggling to see Hattie, but she ignored them. I so wished I could understand this woman and have a conversation with her.

Later, on our walk, watching yet another Tai Chi class, a woman came up to us and said, "Hello, do you speak Chinese? " We said, "no" and she then said, "I studied English at the University of Nanning and I want to welcome you to People's Park in Nanning" She also told us she(points at Hattie) will be happy and is very beautiful. I told her she was kind, she told me I was beautiful and pointed at Kory and said "you are cool" We laughed. She said she walks to the park for her dance class and she hopes to meet us again. "Enjoy your time in Nanning"

We walked back to the grocery store near our hotel to see if we could find sunscreen for Hattie. ( we found Johnson and Johnson now makes a baby lotion with spf 15 suncreen, do we have that at home?? ) and we bought some more baby snacks and our new favorite, Sunkist Orange Pop. I think it is the heat/humidity that makes this so tasty to us. We never drink that at home and we are both craving it.

We plan to go out for dinner tonight and then another walk to our favorite park. I think we will be spending lots of time there this week. We would like take one of their pedal boats out on the water and go around the park that way with Hattie. The boats are so cute, some have swans and other looks like dragons.

I wish you all could see how beautiful it is here. It really is like another world. We are loving every minute.

We are about out of clothing so tomorrow we are having a man pick up our laundry. It is supposed to be less expensive then the hotel. keep your fingers crossed our stuff stays the same size:)