We're Home

Sorry for the long silence on the blog.  Now to catch you up on the last few days...

We took the train from Guangzhou to Hong Kong on Friday and spent the night in Hong Kong.  It was sad saying good bye to Aron our guide   We really enjoyed our time with her and even invited her to come visit us in the States.  We're hoping she'll take us up on the offer.

Saturday morning we made the long flight from Hong Kong to Detroit and then a short flight from Detroit to Charlotte.  From doorstep to doorstep we were awake for 26 hours and Lily only slept 3 hours.  She is an ever ready bunny for sure!  I wasn't sitting next to Torie and Michaela during the 15 hour flight from Hong Kong to Detroit, but in God's providence we sat next to the most patient business man.  When Lily insisted on pushing her foot against his leg he just said, "Don't worry that probably makes her feel more secure."  When she screamed for 20 minutes at a time because she was exhausted he just said, "This must be such a hard transition for her."  When I had to crawl over him to go change her diaper and take her for walks, he patiently got up and let us out.  I wanted to give that stranger a hug by the time we landed in Detroit.  The Lord knew who we needed as a travel companion on that long flight home.

For the last five days I've been battling a sinus infection/bronchitis.  I took my Z-Pac at the end of the time in China...it did no good.  We headed to our pediatrician/internist on Monday for Lily's appointment.  As soon as he heard me speak he wrote a prescription for a stronger antibiotic.  Now I'm wishing it would kick-in.  Jet lag and being sick too is NOT a fun combination.

On a brighter note, Lily is adapting to the family like she has been here her whole life.  She putters around the house and as long as the cats or dog are not in sight (she is not a fan of furry critters yet), she is happy as a clam.  This child is VERY easy going.  However, I have discovered that my house is not child proofed.  Isabelle is not one to explore and get into things.  Lily, on the other hand, is a scavenger.  She has unpacked my CD's, my DVD's, found tools that were left on low shelves, tried to open every drawer, cabinet door and regular door in the house.  It is reminiscent of our first...Torie...however, I'm twenty-one years older.  The Lord has a sense of humor for sure:)

Lily's Dr.'s appointments have gone well.  The pediatrician thinks she may have some neuro-muscular issues with her legs which we suspected in China.  They weren't listed in her file, but she has quite an unusual gait.  It's hard to tell if it's just because she was not allowed to walk due to her heart defect or if there is more involved.  We have an appointment scheduled with a pediatric neurologist that specializes in neuro-muscular issues, next Wednesday, and we'll find out more then.

Lily's pediatric cardiologist appointment also confirmed what I suspected...her O2 levels were MUCH lower than reported.  The last reading that we received was that her SAT's were at 81.  Isabelle's O2 levels run around 82, so I'm pretty used to seeing that level of "blue".  Lily looked much bluer to me, but I kept trying to rationalize it away...maybe it's just a difference in complexion, maybe it's because she doesn't have a tan, etc.  When we stuck the pulse ox on her finger yesterday, her O2 read 56 and that was when she was laying down.  When she stood up and moved around much it dropped as low as 48.  No wonder she looked blue.  That's a lower reading than Isabelle when we brought her home.  It's amazing how the Lord has prepared us for each of our children.  If I had a child this blue four years ago, I would have had a panic attack.  Now it's just "normal" for me.

Needless to say we need to find out why her O2 levels are so low considering she already had her Glenn surgery in China at 8 months old.  She is double outlet right ventricle, has a VSD, ASD and has pulmonary stenosis.  Our cardiologist believes she's either developed so many collateral vessels that they are bypassing the oxygenated blood or her stenosis is so severe it's not getting the oxygenated blood out to her body.  The good news is she has two good pumping ventricles which will give her a better long term prognosis.  We are trying to get her heart cath scheduled ASAP, in Charleston, and are hoping it will be August 7th. 

The other girls LOVE having Lily home and the most common refrain around here is "She is SOOOO cute!!"  She is much smaller than Isabelle.  Lily wears only a 18-24 mo. size despite the fact that she is 6 months older than Isabelle.  She is just a little peanut.  Sarah Mei loves it because she can actually carry Lily around. 

And she is quickly becoming a daddy's girl which is thrilling Phil too.  Life is good, and I'm enjoying doing absolutely NOTHING...no cooking, no house cleaning, just sitting and holding my girls most of the day as we all learn to live as a family of eight.  God is good and we are TRULY blessed!

XiangJiang Safari Park

Today we made the trip to the Consulate to turn in the last batch of paperwork and to process Lily Rose's visa. We forgot to put the memory card back in the camera, so we just took a picture when we got back to the hotel room.

One of our most exciting days so far was yesterday when we made a trip to the XiangJiang Safari Park in Guangzhou. Last time we were in China we visited the Guangzhou Zoo, and it was a bit depressing. The enclosures were small and the animals look depressed. In stark contrast to the zoo, the safari park had huge natural enclosures and large plains for the animals to graze in natural habitats. It was better than the San Diego Zoo which is the best U.S. zoo I've ever visited.
The visit started out with a tram ride called "safari on wheels" through the Asia and African plains. After the tram ride, we walked through the zoo area. The weather was perfect for the first two hours. It was an overcast day, so it wasn't so hot. Then the rain began, but our guide came armed with umbrellas, so it didn't slow us down too much.

Lily Rose made up for all of her lack of crying in one day, crying and screaming through much of the park. She screamed what sounded like "Ah - Me - Ah" which is Shanghainese for "That Way" every time I stopped walking. The Chinese DO NOT like their children to cry, much less scream, in public. It was really quite humorous as everyone looked on. They had no idea what she was saying say they speak Cantonese and Mandarin in this province, and she was screaming in Shanghainese (her dialect). We tried everything to soothe her...letting her walk, feeding her, giving her bottled water, even buying her ice cream...we had no idea what was making her so upset. She wasn't acting afraid, just mad. As long as I walked in the direction that she deemed was toward exit, she was slightly happier, but if I stopped to look at an animal or retracked my steps, we were all in big trouble. We finally just ended our trip early and called it a day. Needless to say she collapsed in her crib upon returning to the hotel and took a nice long nap! The day was still amazing as we got to see white tigers and pandas...two of China's magnificent animals. One of the interesting shows at the zoo was at the tiger enclosure. They had three different types of tigers in one enclosure. Evidently tigers love swimming (a fact I didn't know until reading the signs and facts about tigers.). During the show they held raw meat above the water. The tigers jumped up and got the meat, fell into the water and then happily swam and played in the water. It was quite a show to see how high they could jump and then to see them paddling around the water.The zoo also had an amazing breeding program. We got too see a plethora of baby animals including tigers, leopards, meerkats, monkeys, chimpanzees, bear, etc. If you are ever traveling to Guangzhou, I would put this safari park on the must see list!!

Tomorrow we leave 2:30 p.m. to pick up Lily's visa and then make our way to the train station. We board the train at 5:30 p.m. to head to Hong Kong. We will spend the night in Hong Kong and then fly out Friday a.m. for the States. We've had a great trip despite my cold turned to sinus infection. (I'm sure glad I brought cold meds and an antibiotic.) Our guide, Aron, has been wonderful which always makes the trip more enjoyable. It's been the perfect blend of sightseeing and free time. It will be sad to say "good-bye" to China but I'm ready to see my girls and Phil!! Just 3 more days:)

A Visit to Liuhua Lake Park

 

Today we spent the morning at the Liuhua Lake Park. Guangzhou built the park and dug a large man-made lake in the center. It has beautiful landscaping, numerous sitting areas, places for exercise, children's' play areas including little carnival type rides and paddle boat rentals. Since it was Sunday it was a busy day at the park. We enjoyed seeing some of the older generation practicing their exercising. It was also interesting because individuals brought their own music charts and lead group singing sessions for anyone that wanted to participate. We were also invited to participate in a ballroom dancing lesson but declined since we had Lily Rose with us.
Michaela took Lily Rose on her first carousel ride and she WASN'T impressed. She began screaming. It's the first time we've actually seen her really cry hard. Thankfully she was the only child on the little ride, and we were able to ask them to stop it. Needless to say that was the end of the rides for the day.  Next we went to the playground, and she discovered the slide. I think she would have stayed there all day. She loved it!
The park is a popular site for wedding photos. During our time walking around we saw three different bride and grooms having their photos made. They were beautiful, but we felt sorry for the brides since it was 95+ and high humidity. I can only imagine being in a wedding dress in that weather.  We also got to see the lotus flowers in bloom. They only bloom in July and early August, so we were excited we here at the right time of the year.  We spent the rest of the day inside in the AC. The heat wore us all out, but we really enjoyed our time in the park.

We're in Guangzhou!

 

Friday our guide was able to get a late check-out for us, so we just relaxed in our hotel until 2:00 p.m. Of course we did make a quick trip out at lunch time to grab some bread and desserts from our favorite French Cafe. Lily Rose entertained herself by playing with her stacking cups and the Cheerio container all morning.

In the afternoon we picked up Lily Rose's paperwork and checked it for accuracy and then headed to the airport. The Shanghai airport is a beautiful, modern airport. It was a great place to spend a few hours. It even had a Starbucks, so we enjoyed some sustenance while we waited for our flight.

We boarded our flight right on time - 6:25 p.m. Once on the plane, the pilot announced that we were going to be delayed due to bad weather in Guangzhou. We ended up sitting on the tarmac, in the plane, for an hour and a half. Thankfully Lily Rose continued to display her good temperament and entertained herself with various items out of our backpack. We finally took-off about the time we should have been landing. Lily Rose cried for about 5 minutes on the trip and that was when I told her "no" to getting out of my lap and down on the ground. Fortunately she liked the fact that she got her own seat on take-off and thankfully they allowed me to hold her on landing because by that time she had fallen asleep.

Lily Rose woke up when we landed and was her usual cheerful self. The child is amazing. She wakes up cheerful and stays that way all day! She has literally only cried 3 or 4 times in the entire time she has been with us.

Once we landed we headed to the Victory Hotel - West (the new part of the Victory) and enjoyed a restful night sleep.) Our room is amazing and large and includes free Internet...yippee!

Today Lily Rose got her requisite medical exam and TB test. Of our four Chinese daughters, they have all screamed for this part of their adoption. Of course...not Lily Rose. She actually giggled when they took her weight and height. The same Dr. has examined all four girls, and I've never seen the man smile. Lily Rose was grinning ear to ear and even lifted up her shirt for him to listen to her heart. She was so cheerful she even illicited a smile from him! She didn't even cry when they stuck her for her TB test. She got a very surprised look on her face and then just went back to playing with the little toy they gave her.

To go along with her cheerful disposition, she also has a spunky side. If one of the girls does something she doesn't like, she will cock her head and cut her eyes at them. Torie caught her "look" in one of the pictures. It makes us laugh every time she does it, but as we call it in our house, I'm sure she will need to attend "baby boot camp" at some point in time for her little attitude.

Continue to pray for Phil who is holding down the fort at home and for Isabelle and the other girls. Poor Isabelle had to have oral surgery on Wednesday. Due to Isabelle's heart condition the oral surgery had to be done in the OR of the hospital under general anesthesia. I got to talk to her via Skype the morning after surgery. She is doing great, but it's hard to be an ocean away!

Orphanage Visit

Today we had the wonderful privilege of visiting Lily Rose's orphanage. We were SO impressed with the Shanghai Children's Home. The orphanage is home to over 600 children, and it is clear that each one is well-loved.

Lily was in a room with 18 other children and had four nannies that cared for her and her "classmates." The grounds and rooms were immaculate and more importantly the children were well-fed and well loved. It was evident in every room we visited!

While we were in Lily Rose's room the nannies asked her to show us her crib. She pointed to her crib and was quite proud when they told her she got it right. She wanted to get in her crib but as soon as I put her in she started to cry and wanted me to pick her up again. That was the one and only time she wanted out of my arms the whole trip. Our guide said that when one of the nannies asked Lily Rose to come to her, Lily Rose said "no", I was her mama now. Of course that thrilled me!!

The woman who showed us around is in charge of all adoptions. It was evident she knew the children and cared about them as much as their individual nannies. I had a package to deliver to one friend's daughter, and I asked about several other little girls waiting to be adopted. She took the time to pull each child out of their classroom so I could meet them and take photos.

While at the orphanage Torie and Michaela got to present 15 fleece tie blankets that they made. We gave them to Lily Rose's room and told the orphanage they could use them wherever they are needed. We pray they will be a blessing.

It was a great day, and I'm so thankful we got to visit and can share with Lily Rose how loved she was. Every time a new care giver would walk by us in the hallway they would say oh it's "Jinli" (her Chinese name) and come up and talk to her. What a blessing for us that she was in a place where she was so loved for her first 3 1/2 years!

She's Officially Our Daughter!

Today was a day of more paperwork, and they presented me with Lily Rose's red book (adoption families will understand this) at the Shanghai Marriage and Adoption Bureau. Then they stood me behind a podium and pronounced me Lily Rose's official parent. This was a new procedure from any of our previous adoptions. It was quite nice!

We came back to the hotel at noon and just ordered room service. I have a nasty cold and am feeling quite under the weather. This afternoon the girls and I were going to go for a walk and bit of shopping on Nanjing Rd. - a pedi-road (no cars allowed), but we decided to postpone it a day or two until I'm feeling better. Instead we've spent the afternoon watching DVD's on Torie's computer and the girls went to the hotel gym and worked out.

Lily Rose has entertained herself all afternoon with a few plastic spoons and stacking cups. I've brought the same stacking cups on all four adoption trips and those and the Cheerios have been mainstays for us! Lily Rose is also thrilled with the freedom to walk around the room in bare feet. Her walking is already getting steadier.

Lily Rose definitely has an opinion and a strong-will which she displays if one of her big sisters sits in the wrong spot or moves away one of her toys. She squeals and says something in the Shanghai dialect. Although we can't understand the words, the meaning is crystal clear. It makes us all laugh although we try to stifle our giggles since clearly it's not something we want to encourage!

Apart from her little strong-will, she smiles all the time. She has an amazingly good disposition.

Tomorrow we are doing some more sightseeing. We are going to the Shanghai Museum and the Yu Gardens and Old Shanghai. It should be a good day!

Thanks for all your prayers. We are truly blessed.