Quick update-Day 2 with Chloe

Day one ended with a scared and timid Chloe asking us to put all of her clothes (including the shoes and coat) back on her to go to bed, but then not letting us put her in bed. She stood at the end of the bed leaning her head on the bed until she fell asleep. It was at this point we took off her coat and shoes (which was a tactical mistake) but later when she woke up she wanted everything back on and made a beeline for the door, but fell asleep on the coauch with Kendall sleeping on the floor in case she fell off the couch.

When she woke up the next morning she was back in the bed (a good sleeper, she slept until almost 7-Avery is still waking up around 5ish here in China). We finally started to get some smiles and laughter as we played some silly games with the water bottles and mimicked her movements-she has quite a little personality and is going to be a wild child...or as the locals say "spicy". She has taken very well to Kendall so far, and thinks BaBa is "silly" but also a "smelly rooster" (through our translator)-we are not sure what presence a father figure has had in her life, but she is still a little leary of dad (anyone who knows me is nodding their head that this is probably the right move). She is a little more likely to hit and we have repeatedly had to remind her to be gentle. She is a very good eater, and tried nearly everything at breakfast, lunch and dinner (chicken, toast-she ate with a fork, eggs, rice, banana, pork, congee-rice soup, cheerios, turnips-our guide had her try that, ice cream-shocker, and several other chinese type foods that our guide threw her way). She is also very meticulous about cleaning up after herself, and keeps all of her things in a little corner of the room. We also discovered that she had a little "walking money" in her pockets and keeps her berets in them at all times when not in her hair. She knows how to brush her teeth, chew gum (found that one out accidentally-she came across a pack of Avery's gum and helped herself), and took a bath very well-even let us lotion her. She was obviously taken very good care of, and taught very well. Off to breakfast-more in a bit

Gotcha Day for Chloe

Well, after 3+ years of waiting, dreaming, hoping, paperwork, and more waiting we were finally blessed with Chloe Xue Shan (pronounced Sway Sun much to our surprise), who arrived a little late at the government office, but aparently fully briefed about what was about to happen as she was very sad and scared and didn't no what to make of the situation. We had the opportunity to spend probably 30 minutes with her at the government office (adoption service in the afternoon, foreign marriages in the morning), where she sat quietly but cried most of the time, and was also battling a runny nose (wiping a 2 year olds nose constantly is no way to make friends with said two year old). We asked the foster representatives a little about her likes, dislikes, etc. and found out her schedule (still naps, good sleeper), likes rice and pork, a little about her history (she was with the foster family for nearly 2 years which is why this is so hard on her), she is a big fan of TV so she and I will get along fine...Avery has also been super about her new baby sister, and immediately handed Chloe her dog-the first sign of life we had from Chloe was playing with her puppy with Avery. We then took her to McDonald's to try and get her a treat and she was a big fan of the ice cream we had (and if you thought we drew stares with one Chinese daughter, you should see the stares with two and one scared out of her wits).

She arrived at the office wearing the pajamas we had sent her, a sweater and flannel pants and a ski jacket...and it was 60 degrees out today (this is apparently commonm with the chinese and their children)-what is even funnier is when we got her back to the hotel room and started to take off the jacket, sweater, pants and shoes, she kept fidgeting with her pajamas until she finally told our interpreter she was cold, and proceeded to put everything back one by one and then announce to us that she would like to go outside (probably the best way in her mond to find her foster family...all pipes lead to the ocean). She also staryed to cry and finally told our guide that she had to go potty and no one was doing anything about it. Our guide could not have been more helpful (this being roughly her 400th adoption or so) and took us to some chinese fast food and proceeded to mix rice, eggs, pork ad corn much to Chloe's liking-fantastic eater (Avery made me run down the street to get her fried chicken for dinner, and is still waiting for our first trip to subway in the Chongqing province). After dinner we came back and tried to get everyone ready for bed, but Chloe had other ideas-she didn't want to remove any of her clothes, but did an excellent job of brushing her teeth (Avery showed her like a good big sister) and she took to it very well (excellent spitter, if that is something you can compliment a 2 year old on). As we tried to focus her attention on bed, she would get as close as putting her head on the bed while standing beside it, but would not climb in-she finally passed out in Kendall's arms (with everything on) and we were finally able to get her down to her PJs and sweater (don't want to freak her out too much). I'm attaching photos so hopefully they will show some of the good and bad...my mom was excellent about getting all sorts of the camera work done today.

 

Testing Blog from China!

Hello!  We are just testing to make sure this is going to work!  once we know it did or did not, we will post an update!

 

We go get Chloe in 4 1/2 hours!!!  :)

 

 

Packing Fun

Its nearly impossible to think of the overwhelming task of trying to pack for every conceivable situation in a country half a world away for four people, expecting different climates, keeping track of all sorts of paperwork, bridge two cultures and somehow maintain our sanity...which is why I have left this almost entirely to Kendall. Its part of the basic unspoken understanding we have, she does all of the planning, paperwork, packing, and worrying and I carry everything-simple right? As long as my role is limited to big, dumb manual labor, we have a chance...As I type this Kendall is packing her luggage, having taken care of Avery and Chloe's bag, somehow managing to figure out how to pack clothes, toys, activities, food (snacks and staples to hold us over after some "interesting" meals). My one job in all of this is to take the manly route and pack all things electronic (somewhere Tim Allen is smiling and doing that Gorilla laugh that made him famous), and the list is both quite impressive and somewhat daunting. I read somewhere that the first spaceship to the moon used less technology than a current cell phone-if thats true than we could send a shuttle to the moon several times over (especially with the GPS on Kendall's phone). The list of "essentials" is designed to kill 24 hours on a plane for 3 of us (both ways), while also capturing every waking moment while we are in China and includes (but is not limited to) the following:

DVD player and dvds for Avery
headphones for all
Netbook (how else to continue to tantalize our following with regular posts)-also loaded with kids shows and movies for mom and dad
dvd "sidecar" for the netbook
2 iphones
1 itouch
2 cameras (yes two) and memory cards
video camera
handheld flip video camera
adapter/converter
leapster game for Avery
books (I know, old fashioned but who knows)

Somehow all of thaat will fit in my backpack. Given all the wires and chargers, I can only guess TSA's reaction...please be gentle with the rubber glove and strip search boys...

Alright, I have dodged packing for long enough-I put the over/under at my total packing time at 7 minutes...somewhere Kendall just cursed me even though she doesn't know why yet...she will soon enough.

The Weather in China

As we approach the 96 hour countdown until our departure, we are starting to figure out what to pack, and more importantly what not to bring. The biggest determinant of that will be the weather, as well as the restrictions set upon us by the airlines (suitcases can only be 50 pounds heading into China, but only 40 pounds intra-China...go figure). Our first trip to China was during the summer, where despite being from Hotlanta we spent the better part of two weeks drenched in our own sweat and complaining about the heat and humidity. This latest trip has been scheduled during the winter, and we have watched over the past two months as the temperature in Beijing, Chongqing and Guangzho has been close to zero. Over the past two months I have watched as Kendall has tried on, ordered and taken back almost every coat aand fleece in the Atlanta area, as well as scoured the web for the perfect coat to withstand the cold. My own search was fortunate enough to be limited to one stop in the Virginia Highlands, and to find a NorthFace jacket on sale. Despite our concerns about the cold, we at least had the luxury of only having ot pack for one season...until now. As we are getting closer, we are seeing the temperatures rise in the various provinces, and our arrival will now coincide with 70+ degree weather in both Chongqing and Guangzho, although Beijing and the nighttime will still dip into the 40's. The rise in the temperature is only adding to the panic of what we can and can't bring, and now having to pack for various climates with only 40 pounds available to us seems even more difficult.

On the bright side, Avery has been practicing her Chinese songs for her sister that she has learned in her China dumpling classes, and insists on listening to the CD that teaches us roughly 25 or so Chinese phrases that will be important for communicating with Chloe. I have managed to commit one to memory, brush teeth which sounds something like "Shry La"-obviously he most important one to get down (for the dad at least).

China & Chloe Xueshan, here we come!

We have created this blog in the hopes that we will be able to update from China so you can follow our family's journey to bring home our second daughter and Avery Suqiu's mei mei (little sister), Chloe Xueshan.
It has been almost 5 years since we followed our first "red thread" to China and brought home the absolute joy and love of our lives, our daughter Avery Suqiu. Avery was 10 months and two days old when we first met her on her "gotcha day" on June 7, 2005. Time has flown by and she is now in kindergarten, makes us laugh and keeps us on our toes and is very excited to be a jie jie (big sister) very soon!

Chloe's "gotcha day" is in less than two weeks and we cannot wait for her to be part of our Forever Family! She will be three years old on April 15th, so this will be a totally different experience for all of us and we hope and pray she will feel safe and know in her heart we are her family! Chloe was born with a cleft lip that has been repaired, a cleft palate that will need to be repaired when we get home at some point, and a diagnosis of epilepsy which is currently controlled with daily medication. We are so thankful that once we get her home, she will have excellent care at our amazing children's hospital here! They have a whole "center" that is devoted to the care and continuing care and therapy for cleft lip/cleft palate. We also look forward to having her diagnosis of epilepsy evaluated by their specialists to find out what "next steps" are in her ongoing care.

Over the coming weeks we will keep you up to speed on our progress in these pages and share our amazing journey to add one more member to our family.