Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Recap of Our First Week Home!

This is a recap of our first week home in photos and snipits - Enjoy!

Visiting MaGraw and PaPa

We took MeiLin to visit her MaGraw and PaPa on Thursday and Saturday upon our return from China.  Amber, Walter, Lexi, and William joined us on Saturday for even more fun!  I didn't realize how far behind developmentally MeiLin was until I saw her next to Lexi - who is 5 months older.  It was like night and day...but Brandon and I will be working with her the next few years to get her caught up!  The cousins had a great time playing together!

I stayed with Mom last night (and cried having to leave MeiLin for the first time!)  Daughter-of-the-Year - I didn't wake up when Mom got sick last night.  I slept through it and then heard Dad already in her room - UGH!  But it was actually nice, because it was Mom at 3:45 in the morning and she was fully lucid!  She asked about MeiLin, we talked about the trip, but then the pills began to kick in and she drifted off to sleep.  When she woke up in the morning, she was back to her disconnected thoughts.  But I was grateful for getting to talk with her again, if only for a little while!

Lexi and MeiLin playing together

Aunt Amber playing with MeiLin

Walter lost his wedding ring while playing ball in the backyard.  We all heard it fly off, but we were never able to locate it.  He even bought a metal detector to help with the search!

First Blood

Daddy was on duty during the first two "spills" where she fell and bonked her head.  But of course, it was Mommy on duty when we drew First Blood.  We were playing with her adorable pink kitchen set where she kept opening and closing (or should I say slamming!) the doors.  Sure enough on like the 30th time (have I mentioned MeiLin loves repetition?), she slammed the microwave door but forgot to get her head out of the way.  So the corner of the door caught her just to the right of her nose.  She started wailing instantly and I saw blood.  :(  Luckily it didn't bleed very badly and my little institutional baby was back to playing in like two minutes.  But still - I felt terrible!  Guess I shouldn't be smiling in the picture...

See the red blood spot on the right of my nose?


 Our Daily Strolls

MeiLin loves the walks we take twice a day.  (Since we had to stroll everywhere in China, MeiLin thinks that is the primary mode of transportation!)  Holly, our dog, is really liking them, too.  


Bundled up from the cold!


Someone fell asleep mid-stroll!

My great view! Notice her shoes and socks are off; she is always pulling them off...

Where is All this Water Coming From?

MeiLin LOVES bathtime!  Apparently they were still bathing her in the sink at the orphanage so she had not yet experienced the greatness that is bathtime until we came along.  During the day, she will walk to the bathtub and point.  (As she is in the photo below.)  And sometimes we just let her play in there with it dry...she still has a blast with the toys!

Well the other night, Mommy was in the shower so Daddy was in charge of bathtime for MeiLin.  He got her undressed in her bedroom and then carried her into the bathroom.  I could see her cute little butt through the shower door - so cute!  She just couldn't wait for Brandon to get the tempature of the bathtub right so that she could get in.  That was when Brandon asked, "Where is all this water coming from?"  I knew instantly that MeiLin was peeing but Brandon was honestly perplexed - he he!  Apparently he wasn't aware that babies tend to pee when they get cold.  Well, now he knows to not take off her diaper until he is ready to put her in the tub!

Someone wants to take a bath!

Spoken Word

MeiLin has started repeating English words!  Her first word in China was "Mama"!  Then, Amber got her to say Water and Basket.  (All of Amber's speech therapy lessons with William sure came in handy!)  And has since said, Baba (Daddy), Doggy, Book, One, Two, and Duck.  The only words she has actually used are Mama and Water - we can't wait for her to start using more words!

Doctor's Appointment

MeiLin had her first doctor's appointment this week.  It was at the International Adoption wing of Children's Medical Center.  She passed with flying colors (assuming none of the worms, bugs, or diseases come back positive in the blood tests!)  They even told us she is ahead for her age in Fine Motor Skills - proud Mommy and Daddy!

We missed her snack time while we were in the hospital.  The International Adoption wing shared a waiting room with Infectious Diseases - yeah, I wasn't getting snacks out when I saw that sign!

Mommy didn't like the blood draw, though.  They poked in the needle, but then dug around for a vein - UGH!   Finally she got enough blood to fill the 5 vials.  Afterwards, I was able to get her to calm down and stop crying.  That was when I heard the lady say that she forgot about 3 more vials that she needed - REALLY?!?  So then she had to dig around in MeiLin's other arm!  Tough afternoon for MeiLin and Mommy!

On the way to her appointment

My future ballerina playing in the waiting room

Poor MeiLin did not like getting her blood drawn!  (This was just after round 1.)

Photos

MeiLin wanted to put on her hat from China while we were still in our pjs!

Playing in the living room before the SuperBowl!

Holly wants to sleep in MeiLin's room, too!

MeiLin's first Mac 'n Cheese - she loved it, of course!  And she is wearing her new shirt.  Thank you, Emley's!

Playing in her room with Daddy!

Mommy is helping me learn to walk!

MeiLin loves stacking herMega Blocks - Mommy helped, but she likes to stack them as high as possible!

MeiLin drinking from her new straw sippy cup; she likes to drink from Mommy and Daddy's straws!

Helping to "sort" the mail!

Monday, February 4, 2013

Our 1st Day Home

As a recap from the last post, we didn't make it to bed until 4:00am in the morning so our first day home with MeiLin was a very short day! We didn't get up until 11:30am in the morning. I was still fast asleep but somehow Brandon woke up and got the rest of us up to try and get acclimated to the new time zone. MeiLin was instantly awake and eager to explore her new surroundings in the day time. But after a quick carry around the house; it was time for breakfast. Hmmm...we had literally eaten ourselves out of house and home before we left so food wouldn't spoil. This now left us with the predicament of literally having NO food in the house for our hungry new addition. We scrounged around and found Chex Mix cereal (left over from a recipe Amber, my twin sister, made at the adoption shower) and cracked open a fruit squeeze we were given as a shower gift. No breakfast for Mommy or Daddy, though! A run to the grocery store was totally on our agenda for the day!

After breakfast, we took MeiLin to play with her new (and used!) toys in the new play area of the living room. (So much for my nice, neat house!). I hadn't realized how far behind she was developmentally until we started playing with the baby toys given to us by my sister, Amber. I had just assumed she had "out grown" them not realizing that these are learned behaviors she had never been exposed to. (As a reminder - she was only given blocks to play with in the orphanage). Case in point, I never could figure out why she never worked the buttons on the airplane. Well, one of the first toys we played with sang a song and lit up when you pressed the button. She didn't know how to press buttons! She would see that the area was raised and run her finger over it, but she didn't know that you had to apply pressure to make it work. We kept demonstrating for her...but she didn't get it. I would make a loud "hhuuhh" sound (like I was constipated!); no luck. I even did the Kung Fu move where I would whip out my finger and hit the button with her finger as she rubbed across it. (Brandon was rather impressed with my mad skills!). But no luck. Finally after 30 minutes, she figured it out on her own!

Point 1 - 30 minutes is a really long time when you are intently staring at a toy that just sings and lights up.
Point 2 - Why did I want her to press that button again?!? Now I have an annoying toy singing and lighting up five times a minute. :)

I left Brandon to play with MeiLin when I saw that I had two missed calls, two voicemails, and a "please call me" text from my sister, Amber. I knew this couldn't be a good sign.

For those of you who aren't aware, my mother has been battling Stage 4 Lung Cancer (Closed Cell) since July of 2011. She has been such a fighter and a true inspiration to family and friends. My father called me a few days before we left to pickup MeiLin and said, "I have a bad feeling. Please come visit your mother one last time before you leave for China." I feel like the worst person in the world saying this out loud, but I didn't want to go. They are a 45 minute drive there and then 45 minutes back. We had a list a mile long of stuff we had to get done that day (notarize our wills, find a tailor to fix my jacket that I ripped the weekend before, get a patch for my jeans - another story, copies of the wills, the list went on and on...). We both worked through Tuesday before the trip so Wednesday was our last day before our flight bright and early that Thursday morning.

But as the dutiful daughter, Brandon and I went to Mom and Dad's during lunch on that Wednesday. Mom was in really good spirits, but I could tell she was very tired. I helped her get dressed when we got there (it took a really long time as she needed frequent breaks) and then we headed to Cheddar's for lunch. We talked about the upcoming trip - she was so excited to meet her new little Granddaughter, and I shared how I was terrified of what China would be like and how traumatized MeiLin would be. Mom didn't want to use her walker to get into the restaurant but the walk to the front door was just too long, so she finally agreed to it. I told her I would help her "bedazzle" it when we got back! We got a great table right by the warm fireplace! Right after we ordered, though, Mom started feeling terrible. Dad took her home, we changed the food to go, and Dad came back and got us. We went home and ate where Mom could rest comfortably in her chair. She walked us to the door to say goodbye and then we left. What I never realized is that this was the last time I would ever speak with my "Mom" again. By the time I got home from China, the cancer had taken over.

I called Amber after I got her messages and text; I knew something was wrong. She told me about how Mom had stopped eating and drinking the day after we left. Amber drove down that next weekend and she and Dad took her to the hospital. After a bunch of runaround, they found a doctor, whom Amber swears was an angel from God, who explained what was happening to Mom. She said that the cancer has started to take over, so the body was trying to fight back. It was using all available resources to do so, so it starts systematically shutting down organs one by one from least vital to most vital. She was no longer eating or drinking because her stomach had already shut down. They gave her an IV while she was in the hospital and said they could sustain her life for longer, but it was only a matter of time. So they took Mom home. Amber said that when Mom wouldn't take her pills during the weeks I was away, they would call them the "MeiLin pills" and tell her she needed those to meet her (I cry when I think about this one!). Some nights I was so tired in China that I didn't want to type out the blog but little did I know what a lifeline that was for my Mom. Amber or Dad would read them to her first thing in the morning, show her the videos I sent, and then she would always ask when we were coming home.

By the time we arrived at Mom and Dad's house with MeiLin on Thursday afternoon ...it was too late. She recognized MeiLin in some moments but would then comment on Lexi (my niece) playing on the floor in the next. Mom would hear gun shots, ask who was standing behind her, and think random people were there visiting her. While we were there, she kept asking when we would be home. :( I want to reach back to that Wednesday just two weeks before and hold onto that memory, but I don't even remember much about it. It was the last time I would be with my mother as I remember her, but I didn't know to hold onto it and cherish it at the time. The sudden decent over a span of two weeks while I was away seems so unfair, so cruel, but I need to remember the blessings I did receive. We were blessed to get over one and a half years to cherish our time with Mom. The best memory being our trip with the Grandkids and Brenda Shawn to Disney World. Where Mom had a case of mistaken identity and tried to take another woman's stroller - with the baby in it! - and when poor William fell to his knees in exhaustion and exclaimed, "I'm done!," while still sucking on his lollipop. I know those are the memories that Mom wants us to remember her by.

Apologies, I know you expected a happy post about our first day home as a family (and is one of the reasons this post has been such a long time coming), but such conflicting emotions were hitting me at once. Dragging MeiLin around two different cities in two different hotel rooms, across two different continents, sleeping on a plane, going to a new home, experiencing a new time zone, and then going to another home the next day must be beyond confusing and very disorienting for a little toddler, but what do you do? I wanted to give Mom the opportunity to meet her newest Granddaughter, MeiLin. Who knows, maybe she can see MeiLin in her dreams and memories?

We stopped by McDonalds for lunch on the way to Mom and Dad's. (No judging! We still had no food and had to eat out everyday in China. What was one more day?). After eating, (I hadn't eaten in 24 hours at this point!) Dad woke up Mom so she could meet MeiLin. She is very shy with new people at first (which is good because a lot of institutionalized kids tend to think all adults are caregivers and don't know about boundaries). So she wouldn't let Mom hold her. But she played on the floor as Mom watched and slept. Aunt Amber was so good with her! She had her laughing and squealing in no time; MeiLin even let Amber pick her up. We found a game that Mom and MeiLin could play together. She thinks it is fun to move things from one place to another and then back again (boring!), but she loves it. (And it was a Godsend during our 3 plane flights home!). So MeiLin would take all of the items out of Moms cup holder and hand them to her one by one. Then Mom would hand them back and MeiLin would put them back in the cup holder. I didn't want to leave to go home...I was so grateful that I got to see them interact with one another and I didn't want that moment to end. But MeiLin didn't get a nap that day, it was the middle of the night in the time zone we just left, and MeiLin was beyond exhausted. Once we got home, it was leftover McDonalds (I know - but still no grocery store run!) and then off to sleep.

Not how I had pictured our first day back home, but blessed that MeiLin isn't more traumatized by all of the changes, and selfishly, that I have such a great memory of MeiLin and my mother to cherish for the rest of my lifetime...

Photos:
MeiLin's first time in her high chair (Thank you, Jessica and JLee!)
First car ride! (Thank you to my bosses and to my mother-in-law for the 2 car seats!)
There are more pictures and videos but they are on Dad's camera...



Friday, February 1, 2013

The End of our Journey!

Sorry for the long delay in blogging about the last leg of our journey, but as you will see, there is a lot to share. I must forewarn you, this bad boy is going to read like a novel. But I am going to do my best to keep you entertained with quite a story!

Our return home began as the alarm clock was sounding, or should I say vibrating (we didn't want to wake MeiLin!), at 4:30am China time - 2:30pm Dallas. We got dressed, finished packing the last of our items, woke MeiLin for her bottle, and headed down for breakfast right at 6:30. We were racing to get everything ready in time, because we selfishly wanted to sleep as long as possible! So we had breakfast, Brandon went back to the room to get the bags, he checked out of the hotel, and then we loaded into the van right at 7:00am China - 5:00pm Dallas for the airport . Please remember this departure time - 5:00pm Dallas time! Between us and our garage door was flying from Guangzhou, China to Shanghai, China, then heading to America via Chicago, and finally our home base of Dallas, Texas!

Off to the airport we went. As expected, we were in the middle of rush hour so there was quite a bit of traffic. Once we got to the airport, checked our bag, and walked to the gate.  We only had to kill time for thirty minutes before boarding the flight - not bad at all! By the time we took turns going to the bathroom and changing her diaper, it was time to board.

Flight #1

We flew China Southern for this return flight. They were great! We went to the back of the long boarding line, but since we had a kiddo, they pulled us to the front and let us board. (We just had regular coach tickets.). Didn't they use to do that in the good 'ole US of A back in the day?!?

MeiLin was fine in the plane until she heard the roar of the airplane engines firing up. We think she associated that sound with her first traumatic flight a few days before where she had the horrible pressure in her ears. As we were expecting, she began to wail! (It didn't bother me so much this time because I could tell that she wasn't in pain - she was just scared and anticipating the pain.) She cried while backing up the plane, taxing to the runway, during takeoff, and well into the decent. The stewardess came to check on us (while we were still climbing!) to see if we needed anything. We had her bottle ready, but by the time we got to the runway she was unconsolable again and wouldn't take the bottle, or the sippy cup, or the sucker, or anything else we tried. We were out of ideas. Then, from out of nowhere appeared a beautiful Asian girl. She was probably early twenties?!? She whisked MeiLin from us and took her to her seat a few rows back. Brandon was concerned and wanted to go after her, but I figured if she could calm her down I would certainly let her try! Sure enough - after just a few minutes, the cries were gone and we could only hear sounds of laughter. (How do those baby whisperers do that?!). The nice gentleman beside us from Australia said that maybe it was the comforting sounds of a native language? She brought her back after about twenty minutes and she was happy as a lark! The girl even came back mid-flight and took her back to play with her again. Yep, she is that cute! :)

So after a 2 hour flight, we landed safely in Shanghai, China.  Back to MeiLin's hometown for a long 7 hour layover. Oh my - how do you kill time with a busy toddler? First stop was baggage claim which we found rather easily - thank you for the signs in English! We don't realized how fortunate we are sometimes. After we got the bags, we followed the signs to International Transfer, but when we got there, it was a dead end with a bunch of locked doors. Luckily we found someone who spoke English. Nope, there was no transfer. You had to go out of security, check in to the flight, and then come back through security to get to your gate. Nice... So out we went. The airport was truly impressive. It was huge and had a large expansive ceiling that must have spanned two football fields! We found a directory of all the airlines and proceeded to check-in F for American Airlines. The strange thing is that all of the 20+ terminals were empty; no one was working them. We once again found someone who worked there that explained the American Airlines employees don't arrive until four hours before the check-in time since they have so few flights. So lovely, now we are stuck outside of Security and needed to kill two hours before check-in. My dreams of waiting in the first class lounge with free food, free drinks, and soft, comfy couches was going to have to wait a bit. (Not gonna lie...tears welled up in my eyes.). So we found an area that was made to look like a park with fake Magnolia trees, park benches, and wooden plank floors.  We staked our claim on a bench and settled in with our backs resting comfortably on the low granite planter. (I hope you picked up on my sarcasm there!)

Five hours had now passed since breakfast. Luckily there was a mini-mart in that area where I went to scavenge for food. Of course the only American brand name I found was Mentos. So it was a search and find based on pictures. I haven't actually stared intently at packaging before, but it is quite helpful. I found a round can of what looked like knockoff Pringles chips. There were like 5 colors to choose from so I knew they must be different favors. Sure enough, I found a spot on the can with a picture of a pizza - pizza flavored! The next one had a onion, a cheese block, and then a potato. Yeah - that must be plain! I got a Pepsi (same logo), chocolate (this one said milk chocolate on the packaging!), and then some chewy looking candy with a picture of a lemon. I know...not quite the well balance meal for the family that I was hoping for, but on a good note, everything turned out as I had expected.  I was most impressed with the off-brand Pringles. They took it to a whole different level. At first I couldn't figure out why there was a plastic stick in the can. Then I realized that it lifted the chips and had hooks on the back. As you ate the chips you could raise the chip holder and rest it on the side so you didn't have to reach your hand in the tube or dump them into your hand. Genius! I totally need to go to the Pringles manufacturer and try to sell them that idea!  On the downside, when I opened my Pepsi, it spewed all down the left pant leg of my jeans.  It was fitting really, as these were the same jeans that I had previously spilt apple juice down the right pant leg of my jeans.  At least they are a matching pair now - right?

After "lunch," Brandon strolled MeiLin around in the stroller and she fell asleep - yeah! He walked around for about 30 minutes. When we went to trade off, she woke up and I never could get her to fall back asleep when I strolled with her. So much for a refreshing nap! Finally our two hours were up, and just as promised, the American Airline employees were ready for check-in. As luck would have it, we got flagged for a bag search, so Brandon got to go into a room off to the side as they searched through our checked luggage. Then it was back through the security check (we get to keep our shoes on!), and off to the lounge - aka heaven! It was an upstairs loft that overlooked the expanse of the airport away from all of the noise below. There were bathrooms (with attendants!) where each restroom stall had its own sink inside. There was free snacks, appetizers, and meals, free beverages, wine, beer, and some liquor. Different seating areas were available, there were small offices for people who needed to work, open seating areas, and then my personal favorite, small, intimate seating areas. Ours had a long couch with two chairs flanking the sides, a low coffee table, and two side tables. It literally felt like we were sitting in a living room! We put a blanket on the coffee table to deaden the sound of the toys and then let MeiLin go to town. People were avoiding our area because of the kiddo, but she was great and didn't make a sound. Now that is not a bad way to pass 3 hours in an airport!

Flight #2

Off to the gate we went, arrived just as boarding was starting, and got right onto the plane. Ahhh...First Class International. I am still in awe...true luxury and worth all 330,000 miles we saved!  Not kidding, I said "Sorry..." to almost every person who came into First Class. They would say, "Why?" And then I would show them our little angel. They were all very nice about it and told me about their kids/grandkids - yeah!!

They announced that everyone boarded the plane quickly so we were able to take off early and we had to buckle our seats. Just like the first flight, MeiLin knew what was coming and started wailing again. About 5 minutes into her crying the "nice" flight attendant (I will explain later), told me that we weren't leaving for another hour. What?!? That there was too much air traffic and we couldn't leave. Great. At least when I put MeiLin down she stopped crying.  But now we were delaying an already 13 hour flight and we only had a two hour layover in Chicago - Ugh! We were so ready to be home. Once the "real" take off was commencing, we kept playing with MeiLin and singing her songs so she would be too distracted to notice. Not kidding. The "not nice" flight attendant came over to tell me that I was going to have a mutiny on the plane if we didn't stop singing the kids songs. I looked her straight in the eye and told her I didn't care. I am thinking, "Woman, they will think these songs are Heaven once they hear the wailing of my child!". And for the record, I got all of zero dirty looks from the other passengers, I think she was the one annoyed. So then she went the safety angle. "Well," she said, "They are all wearing headphones so they don't hear the singing and we may have important safety information we need to tell them." I politely responded with, "They are grown adults; if they choose to wear their headphones, then so be it." And that was the end of that. As planned, MeiLin was distracted and didn't make a peep!!

She did so well on the flight! That is a lot to expect from a 2 year old who didn't get a nap. When it was time to go to bed, I couldn't get her to sleep beside me in the chair she just kept crying. But I had the most genius idea - so proud of myself!  In the third seat we got for her, we made a palate on the floor. It was a 2x4 size area almost identical to a crib. There was the chair on one side which was solid because of the footrest that raises, a leather padded wall in the back, and then a "friend chair" as I called it on the other side where someone can come and chat mid-flight. (It even has its own seat belt!). We shoved two pillows under there to create a third wall and then it was open to the isle. Worked like a charm! Once we got her down, she slept like a baby for a solid 6 hours - Yeah! Wish I could say the same for Mommy. I kept one eye on her the whole time. I was afraid she would wake up and wonder around (really?). It's not like she could hurt herself but my new Mommy gene kicked in anyhow. After about 5 hours, I got up, changed out of my pjs, and played some much missed Bejeweled on my iPhone. Like a good Mommy, in between each 1 minute game, I would look over and check on her. About an hour later, one of the stewardess's came by. She said, "How is your baby doing?" I said, "Great, she is sleeping right over there." And she said, "No she isn't." Sure enough, she had woken up, crawled into the middle of the isle, and was looking up at me. How embarrassing! The rest of the flight was spent entertaining her with the "flight toys" we had packed just for the plane ride. (So she hadn't seen these yet.). Her favorite by far were the stickers. The poor baby had never seen a sticker before. It was amazing to watch her learn before my very eyes. First she saw that they were only sticky on one side. Then she noticed that they stick to stuff. She really struggled with adhering the sticker to the paper (it would stick to her finger) but after a while she succeeded! I have one smart cookie!

Throughout the trip, the "nice" flight attendant would stop by and tell me about her little 11 week old baby at home; I could tell she really missed her and enjoyed seeing our little girl.  I was shocked when the "not nice" flight attendant mentioned to me that she didn't have any children - I would never have guessed...  (Sarcasm again.)  Luckily the rest of the flight was uneventful, but the captain was not able to make up lost time and we arrived an hour and fifteen minutes late to Chicago - UGH! So much for our connecting flight to Dallas that takes off in 45 minutes! (And we still had to get through customs and immigration with our little immigrant :( ).

To help set the stage, it has been over 25 hours since we left the hotel in Guangzhou, China.  I had said to remember the time we left the hotel - 5:00pm Dallas time.  Well, it is now 6:30pm Dallas time the next day.  Brandon, MeiLin, and I are beyond exhausted running on maybe 6 hours of sleep.  As soon as we get off of the plane (First Class gets to deboard first!), we are given an Orange priority Express Pass and are told that our flight has been delayed due to bad wheather and we have 45 minutes to catch our flight.  We hustled over to Customs where we were the next people in line.  Once the guy in front was done, we went to walk up to the window, but a woman came out of no where and jumped in front of us in line!  I totally lost it at this point.  Brandon and I were both screaming at her and she was screaming something about how important she was and how important her connecting flight was - REALLY?!?  The customs officer yelled at all of us to calm down and then he helped her - are you kidding me?  When I worked in retail, I NEVER helped the person who cut in line until like 4 people later.  Beyond annoying.  When it was finally our turn, he looked at our boarding passes and laughed.  "I don't know why you are rushing.  There is no way you are going to make your flight."  Yeah, I was a big fan of this guy!  But the moment he took MeiLin's brown evelope marked "Customs" and opened it, she became a US Citizen!!  He congratulated her and sent us on to collect our luggage. 

On the way to the baggage claim, MeiLin spit up on herself (just like the first flight) and her shirt was soaking wet.  I sent Brandon ahead and I changed her into a little fleece jacket I had in my bag.  It looks funny to wear that without a shirt under it, but whatever, we were in a rush!  By the time I got to our luggage carosel, Brandon already had our checked bag but was waiting on the stroller.  We waited and waited...until all of the bags were on the conveyor belt - and no stroller.  He went to ask the attendant when he saw it sitting against a random wall.  Really?  Couldn't someone have mentioned that it was sitting there all of this time - we just wasted 30 minutes!  UGH!  So now we are off to Immigration.  Even though MeiLin was now a US Citizen we still had to go through Immigration with her.  They were all official and made us place our bags against the wall and stand back.  Really?  We were the only ones in this section with two officers - were we going to over power them with a baby?  At this point, I am annoyed at everything because of the exhaustion and the fact that we are NOT MISSING THIS PLANE!  He checked some stuff and then instead of letting us pass through the gates RIGHT THERE - we had to go stand in a different line that was rediculously long.  This is where we had to run our bags through another baggage check before entering the airport - seriously?  We just got off of the plane!

We finally got through that line and then had to board the tram to get from the International terminal to the Domestic terminal for our flight.  We arrive at the Domestic terminal and for the third time, checked our bag for the trip to Dallas.  Then it is off to the security check - for the third time.  Of course the line is rediculously long and at this point we have 10 minutes until our plane leaves - AHHH!  So we find an attendant and ask, is the Express Pass line or the Priority line faster through security?  He says Priority so off we go.  We start to enter the line, but a Chinese couple gets in front of us.  Their phone rings, they answer, and start having a conversation while just standing there.  Hello, we need to get through!  Brandon finally yelled at them and we squeezed by.  Luckily, there were only 4 people ahead of us in line.  Only 3 screening lines are open.  The far right is overtaken by a huge Chinese family of like 10 relatives.  They had left all of their items on the counter and didn't realize that they needed to be placed on the belt for screening.  I must say, American's sure are rude.  The TSA person tells them to move the items to the belt and then proceeds to yell at them the same instructions.  Look lady, I just came from a country where I didn't speak the native language.  Whether they told me something or screamed at me something - I still didn't understand the language!  And I totally saw this play out like 5 times in the US airports.  We didn't expereience anything like that when we were in China!  I degress...so basically only 2 of the screening lanes are getting any action.  Needless to say, people from the regular screening line were just walking over to the priority screening line once they got passed the officer because that one was moving so much faster.  UGH - the clock was ticking.

When we finally got up there, it was a mad dash.  Liquids out of the bag, coats off, shoes off, Brandon thought the iPad had to be out of the bag, pick up the baby, fold the stroller, stroller on the conveyor...Brandon goes through - T minus 5 minutes.  We are leaving out of gate K13 and of course we are at K1 (and it is a LONG way to K13).  I go through security and as luck would have it the alarm sets off - yeah, I am the random search for bomb making materials on the palms of my hands - really?  I tell Brandon to just go - I will catch up.  They take me (holding MeiLin) to an area off to the side where they rub my hands with a cloth and then put it in a machine - very CSI actually - and then we wait.  Do...Do...Do... De...De...De...Hm....Hm....Hm as others are speeding by me - results, I passed.  (Shocking!)  Now a different TSA lady is flagging me down.  Is this your sippy cup?  Why yes it is.  (At the other airports they just had me drink it.)  Nope - not in good 'ole US of A.  She yells at me to take off the cap.  (Why must they yell?)  When I did, she used some weird contraption to suck up the liquid.  And we wait.  Do...Do...Do... De...De...De...Hm....Hm....Hm - results, I passed.   You have GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!  At this point, I have like 3 minutes to go.  I just grabbed my shoes (didn't bother to put them on), grabbed the sippy cup (which she spilt down my arm when handing it back to me - nice), and started running.

I have seen those people running through the airport and never really understood why.  Now I was one of them.  It had been 26 hours and we still had another flight to catch before getting home.  I hadn't really worked out in 2 weeks, but I ran and ran and ran.  MeiLin thought it was fabulous - the wind was racing through her hair and she would hold her hands up with excitement.  I weaved in between people, around carts, and through random peoples' luggage.  I passed Brandon at around K8.  (In his defense, he had ALL of our luggage.  Two rolling bags, a carry on bag, the diaper bag, both of our winter coats, and his shoes in his hands, too.  As he says best , "I thought my left arm was going to fall off!)  And I kept running...  At around gate K10, I had to stop, I was sucking wind so bad that I could hardly breathe.  But then, I reminded myself of all the years I played tennis and how that had prepared me for this very moment and my final run home.  So I had a renewed burst of energy and sprinted the rest of the way to gate K14.  But of course I couldn't find it.  The end of the gate turned into a circle there was K13, K15 and, K16.  Where was gate K14?  So I found someone and could barely ask through my huffing and puffing.  This is when they informed me there was no K14 - in my sprint, I had forgotten the gate number!  As they were looking up the info (it was K13 by the way...), I saw Brandon run past and I yelled for him.  He looked really upset and yelled out to me, "They changed the flight to Gate K3!".  This could not possibly be happening.  Apparently, the gate had changed and when we checked in (all of 20 minutes before) either they weren't aware or they didn't bother to tell us about the gate change.  But I was spent; I was done.  I honestly couldn't sprint back almost the entire expanse that I had just run.  Our only saving grace was that the departure time had been pushed back another 10 minutes.  So Brandon trotted down ahead of me (with all of the bags still!) and he arrived at the doors literally as they were calling the final boarding that "all passengers should now be on the plane".  He said he ran up like a mad man yelling that he was coming.  I would have loved to have seen that, but I was still a few gates back.  He huffed and puffed that his wife and baby were right behind.  So after the fiasco that was the Chicago layover, I can't believe it, but we actually made our original flight to Dallas!  Praise the Lord!  I honestly would have physically lost it if we had to wait for the next flight home!

Flight #3

We rush onto the plane to take our seats.  (Shockingly another man boarded the plane right behind us - after all that, we weren't the last ones on the flight!)  All of the overhead space was already filled in first class, so Brandon had to head down the isles in coach to find room in one of their bins.  (The flight attendants had already closed them, so it was a search and find mission.  He ran back up, buckled up, and we were ready to go.  Flight attendants did the check and then....nothing.  Finally they announced on the speaker that they were waiting to de-ice the place.  Of course, did I really expect anything different?  Well, at least this gave us time to make a bottle for MeiLin who hasn't eaten in like 6 hours (she was such a trooper during the trip!).  Finally at 9:00pm (two hours late), our final flight departed for Dallas!  And it gave time for Brandon to find his inhaler; he was having a mild asthma attack from all of the running!

We made the mistake of letting MeiLin see her bottle before getting to the runway, so we had a little meltdown in the middle of the isle for everyone to enjoy.  Luckily, once we started to take off, we gave her the bottle, and she didn't make a peep - whew!  Either she got better each leg of the trip or we got smarter.  ;)

The flight home was rather uneventful.  Somehow her diaper leaked - that is #3 for the trip - so we just changed her into her footed pajamas for the rest of the trip home.  She was just adorable!  And as in the prior flight, when she walked around first classing, holding onto peoples' hands, shirts, and jackets everyone smilled and cooed!

Touch down - in Dallas at last!  We turn on our cell phone and see that Kurt Scaggs has parked our car right outside of Gate A17 where we landed.  (That worked out so well - so appreciative that they did that for us!)  But of course, our luggage claim was down at A28 - seriously?  So down we walked to collect our luggage and stroller.  As has played out in the other airports, our checked bag arrived first off but the stroller was no where to be found.  As we sat and waited, MeiLin was beyond exhausted.  We were at almost 30 hours of travel and she had only had 6 hours of sleep.  So she fell asleep in my arms - so cute - in her little pj's!  Finally, Brandon asked a worker who said, "Is it in a red bag?"  Why yes it was.  And they said, "Oh, they went ahead and dropped that off at Gate A17".  Once again, why does no one bother to tell you that after waiting for over 20 minutes - sigh!  So down to Gat A17 we walked again (which our car was there so we had to go anyways), we retrieved the stroller, and headed out the door.  The car was parked on Level A, but once we go across the street, we saw that we were up on Level C.  Brandon just took some of the luggage down the stairs to put it in the car.  I was surprised to see him walk back up with the luggage.  As luck would have it the stairs ended on Level B.  So back into the terminal we went, we found an elevator, headed down, walked back across the street, and were now on Level A and what were we staring at but - OUR CAR!!  Thank you, thank you, thank you.  I loaded MeiLin into the car seat for the first time.  She didn't like being strapped in and cried for a bit.  But as soon as we got on the road she was out.  Home we went and pulled into the garage.  I stopped and looked at the clock - 30 1/2 hours between our hotel in Guangzhou, China and our garage, but we had made it!

Brandon brought in MeiLin.  I changed her diaper, we threw bags in the dining room, put her in her crib, and crashed in bed.  But MeiLin kept crying and crying and crying.  She had been sleeping fine in the cribs back in the hotels in China.  After almost an hour, I went in there and she was still standing in the same position in the crib where I had left here almost and hour before.  I am beyond exhausted and started wailing!   So much so that it surprised MeiLin and she stopped crying.  We decided that she was still on the prior time zone and thought it was the middle of the day.  She wanted to explore all of the rooms in the house and play with her new toys.  At 4:00am (yes, the next morning - still no sleep), we had to do something.  So Brandon put her in the bed with him in her room, used the wall and pillows to make sure she couldn't roll out, and she fell fast asleep.  Finally - the last day of our journey had ended...

Stay tuned for a recap of our first day home!

Not many photos; MeiLin kept wanting to play with my phone when she saw it and would have a little meltdown.  :)



Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Day 11 - Our Last Day in Guangzhou!

We were able to sleep in for our last day in Guangzhou, China! It was the other families' turn to go to the US consulate to request their child's visa (kiddos under 2 do not require a TB test so we get to leave a day earlier!). MeiLin did so well and let us sleep until 7:00am! We took it easy in the morning and then went shopping at the Pearl Market. After all of our great finds yesterday, no one ended up buying anything today, so we just had a quick bite at McDonalds for lunch.

After nap time, we worked on walking with MeiLin in her new squeaky shoes and met with our guide who brought us MeiLin's visa to enter the US! Once the paperwork is handed to the immigration officer in Chicago, she will automatically shift from a Chinese citizen to a US citizen - Yeah!!!

Please pray for us tomorrow. They were not able to get a flight arranged for us to Shanghai tonight, so we face 25 hours of travel tomorrow - OMG! We are waking up at 4:30am in the morning tomorrow to finish packing and head to the airport. We depart at 7:20pm CST (9:20am China time) and will arrive back in Dallas the following evening at 9:45pm CST. Not sure how we are going to entertain a busy toddler for such a long time in a confined space. I guess we are about to find out!

We are exhausted and heading to bed. This will be our last entry from China as the travel will be crazy and we aren't sure if we will have WiFi connections. I hope everyone has enjoyed following our adventure of picking up our little girl in China and our first week as a new family!

More pictures: MeiLin with her new hair barrettes!, the girl's new shoes from China, a squatty potty (Yuck and I managed to avoid using one!), and Chinese soldiers walking down the street























Monday, January 28, 2013

Day 10 - US Consulate Visit

Today we had our appointment with the US Consulate. The appointment was scheduled for 10 am. So, we had to leave the hotel at 9 to make it there in time. We arrived plenty early only to discover that they had us down for an 8:30 am time. Our guide even confirmed the day before that we were at 10. Luckily, that was not an issue. They let us in and right at 10 they saw us. It was less formal than we would have expected. The whole process took place at what could be described at a bank teller like window behind a thick pane of glass. We took a quick oath on behalf of MeiLin since she is too young to take it herself. Then the consulate employee, an American named Allison, reviewed our paperwork to make sure everything was in order, which it was. And that was it! We were done by 10:10. Our guide will go back tomorrow to pick up MeiLin's passport with the visa and we will be all set to return home on Wednesday. The US consulate was on the 4th floor of a nondescript, normal looking office building. No flags flying or any American soldiers - I didn't even see a sign. It was manned by "consulate security guards" a.k.a. cheaper Chinese labor.

Since we were done so early and had nothing else till 3 pm, we planned to have an early lunch and then MeiLin down for a nap by noon for a couple of hours. (Mommy and Daddy needed the rest!) Naturally she did not cooperate and was up after only an hour. Rather than be cooped up in the hotel, we decided to go for a walk outside. It was another gorgeous January day in Guangzhou with temps around 70. Mommy bought some new shoes and MeiLin just loves being pushed in her stroller!

At 3:00, we headed to Shamian Island where all of the adoptions were previously centralized. it is home of the famous Swan Hotel (shut down while being gutted and renovated), the US Consulate, (moved 5 years ago to mainland) and the Medical Building (moved last year to the mainland). But the island is beautiful. The English settled there in the 1800's so the colonial architecture is truly stunning. And there is the most beautiful park! We did TONS of shopping - the prices were amazing. I got MeiLin some traditional Chinese dresses in various sizes and a lot of other souvenirs. MeiLin started to try and walk when we first got her but then she decided she prefers to ride in the stroller or be carried. We found the cutest "squeaky" shoes - so I am hoping those will encourage her to start walking again tomorrow!

We had dinner at Lucy's on the island. It was just as amazing as promised. We sat on the patio and ate our dinner with the other Gladney family and our guide, Jack. It was truly perfection. The weather was perfect, the food, the oldies but goodies on the radio, and our new little baby girl swinging her legs in her high chair. I truly think there are only a few of those moments in life and that was one of them for me. The music reminded me of my Mom...summers by the pool, cleaning house, songs playing on the jukebox. It made me a little sad, but then my little baby would look up at me and I would smile down at her with all of my love!

When getting MeiLin ready for bed tonight - I had the best Mommy moment. I swear she looked up at me, said Mama, and put up her little arms. I just shrieked with joy; another memory I hope to engrain forever! So a great day!

Sorry everyone, I did not take as many photos today as I should have!

Photos: MeiLin's first trip to McDonalds, Shamian Island, a photo shoot of a model, statue of an American family with their adopted child, the beautiful park, our guide, Jack, and Lucy's