An American Girl

We're home!! So sorry again for the posting blackout. I'm still learning the art of Mommy-Multi-tasking. For instance, it is now 3:45am and Sadie and I are having a mid-night time- change party. I'm typing with one hand and playing blocks with the other! Sadie sends her love! :)

I'm thrilled to say that the long plane flight home went amazingly well. Sadie only fussed a couple of times and spent the rest of our 16 hour total journey sleeping or playing with toys and exclaiming her enthusiasm to the entire plane. (We have an amazingly big voice for such a little girl! :) ) Our entry into the U.S. was a tearful one for Mama. As we passed successfully through immigration in San Francisco - I couldn't help but cry of tears of joy for the new American citizen I held in my arms mingled with tears of sadness for the Chinese citizenship that simultaneously slipped away. She's an American girl now but her heart will always be Chinese and now, a little piece of mine will always be too.

We're now at Grandma and Grandpa's enjoying the extra attention and getting to know our new surroundings. I myself am pleased to be re-acquainting myself with the simple pleasures - like Starbucks!

By the way, Sadie wasted no time in acquiring a new best friend in Grandpa Pete! Give the girl a big tub of water and she's yours for life!

The other thing I've enjoyed since being back home is being able to finally read the blog comments that everyone posted while we were gone. I am so touched by all the support and love that you all sent and even though I couldn't access them in the moment, I'm quite sure I felt the sentiment of each and every message just the same. Sadie is truly a delight and everyday she is revealing a new and wonderful side of herself. I am so blessed to be her Mommy. I can't wait for everyone to be able to meet her. Well - we're off to try that sleeping thing again! Talk to you soon!

Going Gangbusters in Guangzhou

Hi From Guangzhou!!!

We made our first plane trip and we survived! Shamain Island is a lovely place and the White Swan Hotel is fabulous! Yesterday we went for a medical check and took Sadie's visa photo and she did great!!! You might be pleased to know that she is 16.4 pounds of cuteness. Today we walked into Guangzhou proper to the markets and we'll take a river cruise tonight. It's really HOT here so we'll also be taking advantage of the beautiful pool soon. Sadie LOVES baths so I hope it translates to the pool too!! We're still waiting for our appointment at the U.S. Consulate this week and as much as we've enjoyed China - we're ready to come home on Thursday!! I may or may not make it back to the computer before we go - plus we accidentally got the camera wet (yikes!). So - the next installment might be from Oakland. Here's a couple of pictures of our last few days. See you all soon!

She Sleeps!!

Who knew how much enjoyment I could get out of those two little words! I'm pleased to say that Sadie slept through the night last night! Actually - even better than that - she woke up once - talked to herself for awhile and went back to sleep! Ahhhhh! Of course, today we are a bit out of sorts so - I guess we accept the rollercoaster, count our successes and do the best we can. Our adventures today included a trip to the Embroidery Museum. Hunan is famous for this particular craft and it was truly an amazing thing to see and to watch the craftswomen in action. Off course we also walked away with a little of this and a little of that - what else could we do?? :) :) We also took a short trip to the countryside to visit a local farming family. One wouldn't know they were farmers by looking at their tile sided home that looked more like a small apartment building - but the giant pigs living inside just off their kitchen confirmed that our guides knew what they were talking about. We could tell that they had dressed up for the occasion and they were proud to share tea with us and some fresh cucumbers from the garden. My camera battery died on one that part of the trip but here are some pics from the embroidery museum.

(P.S. - I also posted some pics of adoption day in the last post if you want to go back and check them out.)

I'm enjoying getting a little more familiar with Sadie each day. I'm beginning to recognize mannerisms and I couldn't be happier with what seems to be a good start to her attachment to me - the seeking of eye contact, the crying when I leave the room, etc. Once in awhile I remember that we are still so much strangers to one another and I can more easily now than ever reflect on what bonds people to each other - the development of common histories and that familiarity that is growing. Tonight is our last in Changsha. Tomorrow we are Guangzhou bound! Our first test plane trip. I'm terrified! :) Wish us luck!

Pictures!

Finally - I have been able to load pictures! Here are a few of our first day! And what a couple of days it has been. I'm sorry for the communication blackout but we've had a bit of a rough go of it as Sadie grieves the loss of everything familiar to her. Just as she is learning about us - we are trying to learn about her. There is not much sleeping on anyone's part and I had no idea how utterly exhausting it can be to listen to your child cry and not be able to do anything to comfort her. There were a few tears for me as well and every moment that I was not engaged in caring for Sadie - I was trying to catch a few precious moments of sleep so I could keep those to a minimum. There were some smiles as well and here are a couple of the best!



Yesterday was adoption day where everything was made official. There was much less formality to it all than I expected and being smack dab in the middle of grief central, my mind was only marginally on the huge significance of the event. I'm sure it will all sink in in time.

We also made a trip out to Wal-Mart - China style and I've enjoyed the feeling of being somewhere so completely new. The food here is wonderful and the guides and hotel staff are amazing.

After being up for four hours straight with a crying child in the middle of the night last night, I decided it was too early in this parenting thing to be defeated so soon! So - after a rousing self pep talk that would make any Superbowl coach proud, I decided today would be different. Silly Mommy knows however that I am not necessarily calling all of the shots. Nonetheless, Sadie played along and we had a wonderful morning. While Mom caught up on some much needed relaxation time (she has been an incredible help to me in so many ways) - Sadie and I got dressed, made it down to breakfast with our group and boarded a bus to the Yan Lue Academy - a breathtakingly beautiful old Chinese landmark and gardens. (Picture Portland's Chinese garden only on a massive scale and with the permeating sense of history that can only come from thousands of years of scholars roaming the paths and hallways). Sadie took it all in with a combination of intelligent study and blowing raspberries (I have to wonder who taught her to do that!)

I'll post again when I can!

Gotcha Sadie!!

Hi Everyone!

What a day! Sadie is fast asleep in the other room and I am about the collapse from the whirlwind that was my first day of motherhood! Everything went well. Our first meeting was without tears and she stuck to me like glue from the moment I took her in my arms. We had some pretty intense grieving (compounded by a cold she's fighting) once we got back to the hotel but we have made steady improvement all day. By tonight, our girl was able to sit on the bed with me for almost two hours playing with toys and talking and smiling. I think there are still some hard times to come for Sadie but she's very brave and doing wonderfully under the circumstances (I hope I can say the same for her mama after our first night! :) ) Unfortunately, several attempts to post the pics have failed for some reason tonight. Very disapponting because I want you all to see what we were up to today. I promise to try again as soon as I can tomorrow. We are to be out the door at 8:30a for our adoption appointments and a trip to the local Wal-Mart. Woo hoo!! Goodnight and good morning! :)

Ni Hao From China!

Hi Everyone!

What an adventure we're having already and we don't even get Sadie until tomorrow! The big event is scheduled for 10:00am. It's late tonight and much has been happening so I'll try to just hit the highlights! It all started with a smooth lift off from San Francisco! Eleven hours (and countless games of video solataire later) we touched down in Narita/Tokyo, Japan. Woo hoo!!

In Narita, after making our way to the gate for our next leg to Guangzhou, we were thrilled to meet up with another family from our group who had arrived separately. There were lots of hugs and "can you believe it's" and a quick boarding of the plane to China...... followed by a quick DE-boarding of the same. We knew something was up when - looking out the window of the airplane while still at the gate - I noticed the pilot taking pictures of the outside of the plane and then various airport personnel stopping by and pointing - many laughing all the while. We never did find out what was ultimately wrong with the aircraft but that was one joke I was glad not be in on!! With no plane, an airport curfew on the horizon and nearly 24 hours without sleep, the plan to bus the whole planeload of passengers to a local Radisson for the night was fine by us!! The next morning found us back at the Narita airport. Little adoption agency eleves - having received our panicked messages - had set about while we slept - to re-book new tickets from Gunagzhou to Changsha for the next day. And then the earthquake hit. Not a figure of speech - this was the real deal! And we're only 1 day into our trip. What a ride! While the ground stopped moving - we didn't! On to Guangzhou and then a final plane trip several hours later to Changsha. Our guide Kathy met us at the gate with big hugs and smiles and we collapsed into a heap of sleep at the Dolton Hotel - our home away from home for the next week. (I have pictures but they are taking too long to load! I promise to post the ones that you REALLY want to see tomorrow!!)

Final chapter in pre-mommyhood involves shopping for last minute baby supplies, paperwork, laughing with the other families, a "relaxing" Chinese massage (ouch!) - food that shouldn't be :) - readying the hotel crib, packing a baby bag and finally . . . taking time out to let all of you in on our excitement thus far.

And so I go to bed one last night before I become someone's mother. I still can't quite comprehend the enormity of what will be happening to both of us in just a few short hours. Someone will actually hand me a child - a person - and say to me that she is mine and I am hers. They will let me simply walk out the door with her and into the only future that exists for she and I. I'm still not terribly nervous but I have been close to tears of raw emotion all day long - so I know the time is close at hand. I look forward to sharing more of our tale soon. Goodnight!

Whew!

Well - the first leg of our adventure to Sadie is complete! I made it to the Bay Area with all of my stuff!! Now I have some serious re-packing to do tomorrow before we leave Thursday!! My next post will be from China!!!! Hold on Sade - I'm on my way!! (Ok - is there a record for the number of exclamation points used in one post?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :) )