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