update

I didn't get the blog updated before we left China. We left on Thursday morning Apirl 19. We met our guide in the hotel lobby at 5:45...a little early in the day for my liking...but yeah we're coming home! Our flights were fairly uneventful. Cora did amazing on all the flights. I think she did better than her Mama. Other than a couple emergency poop explosions (by Cora...not TJ or I) everything went great. We didn't bring enough clothes to account for the pooping issues on the plane....so by the time we landed in Chicago...Cora and I both had poop on our clothes....(those tiny airplane bathrooms are not the most ideal place to deal with a extremely messy diaper)

We have been home for 5 days now. We are jet lagged and really struggling to get Cora to sleep well. She slept well for us in China but, now she has developed an aversion to being laid down to sleep. She slept all night last night and it was magical! It's amazing what a little sleep will do to improve your outlook on life! TJ and I neither one are very good at sleeping in a recliner...so we are hopeful the full night of sleep is a trend that will continue. I wouldn't even care if it was my bed she was sleeping in....just so I didn't have to hold her in an upright position all night. She has still been on "China time" and was waking up between 2:00 and 3:00am everyday since we got home, and she would not go back to sleep after that. I don't think we were either one prepared for how exhuasted we would feel.

On a much more positive note....we finally have all our babies under one roof! Cora is doing well adjusting to being home. She is such an easy going girl. (except at night) Her sister and brothers have been so excited to have her home, and Cora really seems to enjoy playtime with them. I let the kids stay home from school last Friday so they could spend time with us and their new sister...they loved that! Owen has been proudly telling everyone that he is a "big brother" now. So cute! We were so ready to be home...we were REALLY missing the kids at home. I will leave you with a picture of all my babies TOGETHER!

Happy Tuesday everyone!

-katie

Tuesday, April 17

Today was the consulate appointment day. It was really very low key...not necessarily what I had been picturing in my mind. Now we are just waiting on the visa for Miss Cora. Next step is....HOME! Our little girl will officially become a US citizen on Thursday, April 19 when we land in Chicago!

After our Consulate appointment, we did more shopping....bought a few more pair of shoes...HA! We bought the kids some souvenirs, and we bought Cora some special items that we hope she will always treasure as reminders of where she was born and spent the first year of her life. Hopefully when we get home I won't wish that I had bought more.

We went on a dinner river cruise Tuesday night on the Pearl River. It was only a "dinner" cruise because we had all ordered pizza and brought it with us on board. We ordered Papa Johns pizza, and it tasted just like back home. We rode on the Dragon boat. It was fun to see Guangzhou all lit up at night...very pretty.

Cora is all ready to go on the river cruise.

Cora and her Daddy.

Enjoying the sights on the river cruise.

We will be home soon!

-katie

Monday, April 16

Today was really a fun day. We went to the safari park...which is a big zoo here in Guangzhou. It was really the best zoo I have ever been to. It really would have been lots of fun to have the other 3 kiddos with us today, but we took lots of pictures to show them. I would definitely recommend the safari park to anyone going to Guangzhou. Cora slept through the first half of the zoo, and she was really not that impressed with the rest of it. TJ and I thought it was great though! My favorite part...we got to see lots of Pandas!

Cora was really impressed with the Panda's!

After we got back to the hotel, we headed over to Shamian Island again. We ate at a little Italian restaurant. It was really pretty good. I really enjoy the atmosphere on the island. There is much less people and it is much more relaxed over there. This Iowa girl was definitely not prepared for how crowded it is here in China!

Cora has been a little off today. She is not feeling the greatest again...poor girl is a bit constipated. (Anyone that is preparing to come pick up their little ones....remember something for constipation.) We didn't bring any meds to help with constipation problems....but gotta love these adoptive families...someone helped us out by giving us some meds to help her. Thanks again Tamra and Chris! (I am sure when she gets older...she will love that I shared that with everyone!)

Our Consulate appointment is Tuesday morning. We will get her visa sometime on Wednesday, and then we will leave for home on Thursday morning. So our flights are Guangzhou to Tokyo, Tokyo to Chicago, and Chicago to DesMoines. I am praying for no delays and easy travel back home. We thought it was a little rough coming here...now we get to do it with a 17 month old...(I am not complaining...this is an answered prayer)  We are praying that she sleeps much of the 12-13 hour flight from Tokyo to Chicago.

I am getting so anxious to get home to my the other kiddos. I am really missing them. I am so excited to introduce them to their new sister! Cora is not going to know what to do when we get home and have more of a schedule...we have been dragging her all over the place here and keeping her very busy. It will be so nice to get home and establish a routine. I am really looking forward to a home cooked meal!

I will leave you with a cute Cora picture. She is SO FLEXIBLE! She can sit with her legs out straight and lay her head on the floor between her feet! She is such a joy!

-katie

Sunday, April 15

We had a great day today. We got to go to a church service that was held at a nice little church on the island. It was an amazing experience to see a room full of Asian believers. It was a Chinese/English service so we did understand most of it, although I don't think it translated quite the same. I am so happy that we were able to do this. I can only assume it was Cora's first church service she has ever attended.

After the church service we did more shopping. We went to Sherry's place...she had tons of squeaky shoes! Miss Cora got LOTS of new shoes! I bought I think 15 pairs....and yes TJ she NEEDED them all ;-) I bought 2 or 3 pairs in each size up to a 9 (I think.) The shoes are very nice quality and were all in the $5-$10 range! I bought her a pair of Zebra print boots that I seriously can't wait till she can wear them....ADORABLE! Any ways...enough about shoes....

We got back to the hotel and took a cab over to the jade and pearl markets. (We missed the tour bus our group took....me late???...never) We got there fine by taxi, and we eventually found our group. The pearl market was 6 floors of shops that all sold basically the same thing. At the jade market was tons of beautiful things....we han't found our tour guide yet, and it was difficult to shop without of Chinese speaking guide. TJ and I didn't buy anything, but it was fun to go see and experience more of China.

We were able to take the tour bus back to the hotel with our group....we were very happy that we were able to find our group in such a busy, crowded place. There definitely is comfort in numbers. (and a guide that speaks Chinese)  ;-)

We went to dinner with our group that night. I thought the food was pretty good. I didn't ask what it was, but most of it looked pretty safe. We were told that if you like the food, just enjoy...and don't ask what is in it! Ha! Ha!. Everyone in our group is so so nice, and it was so great to get to know some of the other families a little better.  It really is wonderful to connect with all these adoptive families.

After dinner we walked next door to another restaurant. They had tanks of fish, turtles, crab and many other unrecognizable things right in the front of the restaurant. These tanks of animals/sea food were not for decorations...but it was actually the things they would be cooking for your dinner....yuck!

We think the bucket on the right was chicken hearts. (maybe...we really have no idea)

Some sort of snake that yes...will be eaten (not by me!)

This is alligator tail...sounds yummy doesn't it?!?!

Turtle anyone??? Another thing I have never dreamed of eating.

It was a great day here in China. Cora is feeling better today, and we continue to see more and more of her personality. She really is AMAZING!

-katie

Saturday, April 14

Saturday was our medical check day. We left the hotel at 9am. Our guide told us to expect a crowd, as there would be about 60+ families that all needed their children seen, and the clinic was only open in the morning.

They were right....it was very crowded in the clinic. It was very hot and stuffy inside and all the warm bodies in there didn't really help with that, but whatever we have to do to get her home....we will do. The amazing thing about the clinic being that crowded is....it was crowded with adoptive families! Which means there are that many more kids that now have families...God is good!

Saturday evening we went over to Shamian Island and went sight seeing with another couple that has been to China before for an adoption a couple years ago. They helped us find our way on the subway. It was definitely an interesting experience...very crowded. I am not sure we would have been brave enough to try the subway to get over to the island without them.

I wanted to show you how crowded the subway was. People just push their way in and you end up packed in there like sardines. I have noticed while out and about that the buses are like that also.

We ate at Lucy's while we were on the island. Lucy's has always been a popular restaurant for adoptive families. It was kind-of like an American diner type of restaurant. TJ and I both had cheeseburgers and fries. It was different than home...but actually was pretty good.

We also did a little shopping while we were over at the island. We finally found some cute things to take home for the kids. There are lots of cute little stores on the island that cater to adoptive families. I really enjoyed Shamian Island. It is not very crowded, and it really is very beautiful. (Thanks Chris and Tamra for showing us around!)

Cora is still refusing to eat anything. She actually cried for about 5 minutes because I put a cheerio in her mouth. The orphanage said she was eating "soft" food. I have tried so many things, and she just pinches her little mouth shut. She spits things out if I actually get a bite in her mouth. I have just decided we'll keep trying but she may just live on formula and rice cereal (I am mixing in the bottle) while we are in China, and we'll fight the food issue later when we get home. She is doing fine on the bottle...so that will work for now.

On a happier note....she is really starting to warm up to us. We are seeing her cheerful little personality lots more today. Also she slept all night for us! That was her first night that she really slept well....yeah for more sleep!

-katie

Day 1 and 2 with Cora

Cora is definitely warming up to us. The first day with her we would see glimpses of her personality, but mostly she was very quiet.I feel like the first 24 hours especially...she was simply just tolerating us....poor girl. I am looking forward to getting to know her personality more with each passing day. She definitely prefers me over TJ, but she does go to him willingly.

On Thursday, which was our first full day together we had a pretty low key day. Cora has a cold and wasn't feeling the greatest plus....she wasn't sure she really liked us yet...so we hung out in the hotel room quite a bit.

We did venture out to the mall and a market that was close to our hotel.The mall had lots of floors. I think there was 6 floors, and the market was under the mall in the "basement." We bought Cora a couple toys to play with, but we didn't really buy anything else at the mall. Pretty much everything there was things I could also buy at home...and it was for a similar price.

The market we went to was a little more interesting. It was kind of like a Wal-Mart, it had a little bit of everything. It was interesting to say the least. The meat department was probably the most foreign to us. The meat was all in refrigerated cases, but it was all open. So imagine the meat department at your local grocery store...except it is all open and you can just scoop out whatever amount you want all by yourself. (Just imagine if someone sneezed....yuck) We saw pigs feet and chickens with feathers all plucked but their heads were still there...yuck! There was also a big tank with live fish for you to buy, and lots of foreign looking fish and seafood.

 By evening on Thursday (1st full day with her)...she was definitely not feeling well. Poor girl has what I assume is a cold, runny nose and cough. We gave her a bath...that she did NOT enjoy. We also gave her some Motrin (which she also did not appreciate us giving her), and that made a huge difference. She was much happier and smelled much better after that.

We have not been able to get her to eat any food. She does take a bottle well, so she is living on formula and some rice cereal that I have been mixing in her bottle. She absolutely refuses to take a bite of anything...oh well. We will push the issue with food at a later date. Hopefully she will just decide on her own to start eating. She was obviously fed well at her orphanage...Miss Thing has got some pretty chubby little "thunder thighs" going on!

On Friday we traveled to Guangzhou...we were delayed and spent lots of hours on a plane sitting on the tarmac waiting for take off. I will not whine about it.....but imagine a hot plane, lots of Asian people staring at you, and a sweaty, kind of fussy baby that you have known for 2 days that is not so happy to be stuck on a plane. I'll let you imagine that and come to your own conclusions...

The good news is....we are now in Guangzhou on the last leg of our trip. Just need to get baby girl's visa, and then we can go home. Guangzhou climate feels a little like Florida (hot and very humid) so any future pictures with me in it....will most likely not be my best hair days...just thought I would warn you ;-)

-katie

Introducing Cora Marie

Well the day has finally arrived that we have been waiting for since September...Cora Marie has officially joined our family! Us and the lovely couple that is with us in Hebei province left at 9 am for the civil affairs office to meet our kiddos. It was a very small building, with a VERY small waiting room. Not exactly what I had been picturing all these months, but I'll take it!

TJ and I were asked to come to the next room to start our paperwork. We hadn't even gotten our names both wrote down on the first piece of paper, and the orphanage staff walked in with the kids. The other couples little boy started crying, and I turned around and there was Cora right behind me! The orphanage staff handed her over immediately. She did not cry at all. She had fallen asleep on the 2 hour drive from the orphanage....so she looked a little bewildered.

She has been very quiet. The staff told us that DongYu (Cora) does not really ever cry. She is very "mild tempered." I am hoping that when she wakes up from her nap she will warm up to us more. She is making good eye contact, snuggles with us, and we have even gotten her to giggle a few times... but she seems a little indifferent about the whole situation. Please pray that this transition will be relatively easy for her.

She is small. I would say more the size of a 1 year old or younger not a 17 month old, of course I am comparing her to kids in the US. Developmentally she is behind her age also...but we were expecting that. Her lip repair looks pretty good, but does have a noticeable scar. I have not really been able to look at her palate...didn't want to push her to much.  None of that really matters to us though....we think she is absolutely perfect!

And without further ado....here she is, Cora Marie!

-katie

Day 4 - long van ride...

Today we explored a little around our hotel in Beijing. We walked around a mall, that was pretty upscale...lots of things that we would find in the USA, and everything was about the same price. We didn't buy anything, but it was interesting. They had SO MANY employees at this mall. I think every 10 feet there was another employee. In the malls we go to...we are often searching for employees to help...not the case in China.We were almost smashed between a car and a bus....pedestrians DO NOT have the right of way in China. It was way to close for comfort for us....apparently to close for comfort by Chinese standards also because the Chinese man walking in front of us (that was also almost smashed) chased after the man in the car yelling at him.

I had my first Squatty potty experience....if I wasn't aware of being far from home before that....I am definitely aware now. Wow...not much else to say about that ;-)

I found snickers while we were out and about!

We ate here last night...do you recognize it? If you said Pizza Hut....you are correct! Pizza tasted very similar to home. The menu was very different though. It was interesting watching our Holt representative (China native) try to eat with a fork....he didn't quite get it. That's fine...because I totally do not have chopstick skills!

This is our hotel all lit up last night.

We left for Hebei Province around 12:30. It was a 4.5 hour van ride. We are that much closer to our Cora...in fact as I type this....we are leaving in 2 hours to go get her!

-katie

Day 3 - More touring

Today we met the other family that is adopting from Hebei....they are so lovely. I feel lucky to get to share this experience with them and their sweet 8 year old daughter. Their daughter is about a month younger than Grace....she is very sweet and doing quite well it seems in this very foreign place. We are all getting anxious for gotcha day!

Today we toured Tienanmen Square, a silk factory, and The forbidden City. China really is an amazing place. It amazes me how old and steeped with tradition many of these places are in China. There is so much new construction in Beijing, everywhere you go there are new high rises being built, but then there are also places like The Forbidden City that are SO SO OLD. We have learned quite a bit from our guide Forst, so thankful that we took the time to tour these places.

Here is a picture from the silk factory, these women were stretching out silk fibers that will be made into a silk quilt insert.

Tienanmen Square. Picture of Chairman Mao, the Chinese still hold a deep respect for him. There is also a Mausoleum on the other side of Tienanmen Square where his body is kept. Our guide said on days they have that open to the public, you would wait several hours in line to get in. 

Another picture of Tienanmen Square, I believe that is the parliament building behind us, and I forget the name of the monument...I'll have to look that up later.

Picture of the military men guarding the Forbidden City. TJ got 2 pictures before we were told no pictures. These military "men" really look like just boys. Our guide said that they start in the military at age 18. I guess that just shows I am getting old...because I thought they just looked like babies yet.



Picture with our guide Forst at the Forbidden City. We REALLY enjoyed him. If you can see his shirt...he is a big Eagles fan.

Picture in front of the "love tree"

This is a picture of our Coke and diet Coke cans. They actually don't have diet coke here...it is Coca Cola light....but it will work!

Picture of the street outside our hotel (Novotel Peace in Beijing) at night. It is really very neat here. It's a very upscale area like Michigan Ave in Chicago. There are a lot of very upscale shops here. There is a Louis Vuitton shop right across the street, and many car dealerships like Ferrari, Lamborghini, Aston Martin, and many more. I don't think this area is reality to many Chinese people though...

Had a great day. We survived another day of Chinese traffic and smog! We ate at an Irish restaurant...had a cheese burger and fries. It tasted different than home, but was nice to have something more familiar looking on my plate.

It's getting so close now to "Cora time." I am so anxious to get my hand on her. Please pray that this is not to traumatic for her and she is able to attach to us quickly.

-katie

Day 2

Today we visited the Great Wall, toured a jade factory, and rode in a rickshaw and toured an area of "old Beijing" called Hutong. Our guide Forst was with us the whole time. He has really been lovely. He insists on opening all doors for me, and when I opened the car door myself one time....he was almost offended.

We left the hotel and, first went to the Great Wall it really was amazing, especially considering the terrain and that it was all built by hand. It was definitely an aerobic workout too! The steps are not at all even. Sometimes you are stepping up about 2 feet and the next step might be 3 inches.....and it is SO STEEP! I didn't really enjoy going down the steps, but certainly my heart wasn't racing as much as when we were heading up the stairs. Here are just a few of the pictures from the Great Wall.

After we were done touring the Great Wall, we toured a Jade factory. We had lunch there, which was actually pretty good. Our guide ordered all the food for us. There was a couple things that I didn't care for, but overall pretty good.

This is a carving out of Jade....they told us this took 3 years for 2 men to carve this ship. You could buy this for the bargain price of $62,000! Not all things in China are cheap!

 Another Jade carving.

TJ being....well, TJ. If you can't tell, this is a bull showing TJ who is boss.

Here is a picture of us in the rickshaw for our tour of Hutong..."old Beijing"

It was really a great day. The weather here is beautiful right now. The guide told us the best time to visit Beijing is in April or October....so I guess we lucked out!

We are now headed to our adoption orientation, we also have several more tours planned today. We will have another family joining us today.

-katie

The trip over to China

Our trip into China was fairly uneventful. We had just a couple hiccups on the way, but on the whole, the flights we good and almost all the people we have come in contact with have just been so lovely

I'll tell you about the only little hiccups that we had (which were all really very minor)....starting in the DesMoines airport. They weighed our bag and it was over 50lbs...so we had to go buy a small bag at the airport gift shop to carry on with us and pack a few things in that. (TJ got to carry a "purse" with him on the plane) So there we were in the hallway of the  DesMoines airport with our luggage open and repacking things....nice. But it got us under the 50lbs, and we didn't have to pay the $200 fee for having an overweight bag. The lady helping us was very nice and patient which we really appreciated.

Another hiccup, we had our flight delayed by about 3.5 hours in Chicago....so our 5 hour layover became an 8.5 hour layover. Oh well, not a big deal, and it made for interesting people watching.

The most annoying little hiccup on the journey so far......was the very rude man that sat next to TJ on our 13 hour flight. We initially had a very nice man sitting next to us. Then they moved him because there were extra seats. The stewardess was lovely and said that way we could all stretch out a little better....well 10 minutes later, she comes over and says..."There's a man several rows ahead that has a broken entertainment screen and he want to be in an aisle seat so she is going to move him next to us" Well...so much for stretching out right!? From the moment that he sat down next to us he was so rude, complained about almost everything...and then slept almost the entire time and didn't even watch anything on the monitor screen that was the whole reason he moved beside us.....NICE. I might have whispered to TJ a couple times that I wanted to punch him in the nose.....but not to worry....I restrained myself ;-) ....kill them with kindness right?!?!

Anyways.....we are here to get our precious little girl, and none of those silly little "hiccups" matter at all!

Today we are off to the Great Wall. Our guide is very nice...he asked us to call him "Forst." He said "You know Forst from the movie Forest Gump." Better go so we can meet "Forst" in the lobby!

-katie

Almost time

We leave for the airport in approximately 5 hours....I should really be sleeping right now, but obviously I am not. I am so excited to go get our Cora, but tonight I am really struggling with the idea of leaving the other 3 for 2 weeks. Just typing that has brought tears to my eyes.

I have never left my kiddos for more than a couple days prior to this. I have no doubt that my Mom and Dad can handle them....it just makes me sad right now that I will not be the one taking care of them every day. (Mom, if your reading this....I do not doubt for a minute that you will do a great job in my absence, just missing them already)

I am also thinking of Cora tonight. I am wondering at 17 months old....if they have prepared her at all for what is about to happen, and how do you really prepare a child for their entire world to be completely turned upside down. Now I know in the long run, having a family that loves her is the most important thing, but please pray that God is preparing her heart to join our (crazy) family. I am so happy that the time has finally come to go get her, yet I am feeling sad about what she is going to have to go through to become part of our family. Does that make sense???

Anyways....better go rinse my hair color out....yes I am coloring my hair at 11pm, and I have to be at the airport by 4:30am. Don't want my gray hairs to scare our sweet girl....lol! I am totally rambling....the next time I update will probably be from Beijing.

-katie

Countdown...

We are down to 36 hours now, and we will be on a plane heading for Chicago. Then from Chicago to Beijing....I can hardly wait! I am so excited, but at the same time dreading leaving the 3 kiddos at home. I know they will be well cared for...I have just never left them for more than a couple days.

My baby girl is going to be in my arms in 6 days! Just thinking about it makes my heart do little flip flops in my chest! We're coming Cora....I pray that God is preparing your heart for all the changes that you will have to experience to become part of our family. We love you little one!

-katie