Sunday, December 22, 2013

home again home again

 I LOVE that we are home! We've been home for a week now and all is well! We went to church today and as I sat in my congregation surrounded by people that I love I remembered the last time that I was at church was just before we left for China. I cried through everything, knowing the difficulty that we were about to enter. Knowing how much I would miss my girls at home. Knowing that this was going to be a hard trip. Today I sat in pure peace and absolute joy with all of my kids around me. Emily running crazy, Tate right behind her, and my older girls taking charge like the awesome kids they are. I am very happy.
                              
I was the worst blogger in China. I was sleep deprived, badly, and I felt like groundhog day sort of. I felt as though it were a continuation of Emily's trip of sorts, and I had nothing new to share.  I have been thinking back on our trip, and how great it really was, so I want to write some of the great parts.
When we arrived in Tate's province, our hotel room only had 1 crib in it. I called down to the front desk and told them we needed another baby bed. They came up immediately, took the 1 bed away and brought in another one. No questions asked, made it up and left. I was laughing to myself, nothing that I could say or act out could make them leave both beds. So I called again and told them we had two babies and needed two beds and they finally brought up another bed. Baby beds in China are a board, with a sheet on it, and a little blanket on top. Emily was not going to go for that. I asked for another blanket. I showed them the blanket on my bed and asked for one. They nodded, smiled, and left the room.  A minute later, a guy showed up to my room with white gloves on and a silver tray, with a little sewing kit on it. I smiled and laughed, and showed him the blanket on my bed and asked for two please. He smiled and nodded, and a minute later a whole crew came into my room and changed ALL of the bedding. I gave up at that point and just smiled. They are SO NICE!!! I love China.
Another time, Gary called down and asked for a bath mat. They said yes ok, and hung up the phone. We were chatting when they called back and said they were on their way up with a "new mattress." Again, no questions asked, yes sir, we'll bring you a new mattress right away! So hospitable, so kind, so service oriented. We love China.
I spent every night in China walking with Tate in the stroller up and down the halls. I would text my friends, catch up on blogs and pintrest, read the news, sit on the floor and cry, all of those things. Gary would spell me if Emily slept which wasn't often, and sometimes I would sneak back into the room and prop Tate up on the bed, and try to sleep for a little bit. He would fall for that trick for about 30 minutes at a time, and we would be back out walking. One night as we were pacing, a young Chinese guy popped his head out the door and watched us walk for a while. There are no rules against boldly staring someone down in China. I was waaaaaay too tired to care anyway. He finally spoke after several minutes, and I think he was telling me that Tate was cold. I kid you not, the hotel kept the halls and lobby at a comfy 80 degrees. Miserably warm. I smiled, and told him he was fine. He kept staring for a long time more, then disappeared into his room. He came out 20 minutes later with a hand towel that smelled very very strongly of incense. He stopped my stroller, moved Tate's blanket, put the towel on his belly and replaced the blanket. Then he smiled and disappeared into his room. I loved it. I loved that he cared about and loved my little boy. I loved that he wanted to help, and did his best. I love that he imparted his wisdom on behalf of my scared, confused, sad, tired son. I really really really love China.
We have been home now for a week. It's been great. Tate still has sleeping issues, but I feel like we are learning, growing, and making baby steps toward healthier sleeping for all of us. He is soooo cute I can't stand it! He makes me laugh and makes me crazy all day. He is LOVING the big girls so very much. He calls them by name, and bosses them around. He loves Emily more than anyone. She is the object of his affection constantly.
I will write more soon, and post pics of being home. I am so happy to be home. Life is so good. Adoption is such an amazing adventure, full of miracles and blessings. I very highly recommend it. There are so many many many orphans who have NO FUTURE without a family. You are their answer, and only hope.

Friday, December 13, 2013

Coming Home!

We are on our way home! Almost. We have left Guangzhou, and are spending a night in Beijing. Our flight leaves tomorrow afternoon.
 Our CCAI guides are the best in the industry. I was so sad to say goodbye to each of them in each city.
 Our really fun travel group. We are forever bonded together by this amazing experience.

 We spent lots of time in our park that we love. We got caught in a rain storm, but it was still amazing and beautiful. I have had so much nostalgia the past few days. There is no way to photograph, or video, or write about how cool China is. It is such a really neat place. I know we will come back, I just don't know when. It will be a while.
This trip has been hard. Super hard. The babies don't sleep. Tate requires being pushed in the stroller all night long. Emily wakes up in the middle of the night screaming, and cannot be soothed back to sleep. We have had no sleep for two and a half weeks, and it is wearing on us. Having two busy babies, that are not interested in doing what adults do, two strollers, and just being so tired we can't stand it, we just barely get through our days. Our nights are long and hard, and we do it all over again the next day. It's been a hard trip.

Tate is our little boy. We love him so much. To say that we are not used to an active little boy would be a gross understatement. He is making us totally nuts, but it's a happy nuts. It feels just exactly right. Sometimes you're around someone else's crazy kids and you can't wait to get away from them. Tate doesn't feel that way. He's crazy, but he's ours. We are still learning about him. Every day. He has lived his entire life in one room, with access to whatever he wanted it seems. We don't think he was ever told "no". ever.  He is so curious, and excited and into every single thing that there is. twice. But,  like I said, it feels just right. He is ours. We love him so much and we are so thankful that we came for him. I absolutely love the miracle of adoption. It is my favorite thing.

We are finished having children. We are finished adopting children. Our family is complete. It is as it was meant to be. In 24 hours, my little family will be all together, and I'm keeping it that way! As long as I can, I'm going to soak them all up!

Monday, December 9, 2013

Shamian Island

If I were to live in China, I would want to live here, on Shamian Island. The landscaping is amazing! Sculptures everywhere! The architecture is beautiful. It is a favorite place of mine for sure.





Guangzhou

Guangzhou is such cool city. It is beautiful, and it has this park in it. I love this park so much. It's massive, immaculate, and the landscaping is just amazing.

 We have done some touring, and seen really impressive things.
 The babies make everything a step more difficult. They both love to run everywhere, so we each take a baby and we chase! It's so fun.
 My boys!
 Contained!!
 Love! Maybe slightly one sided.

 On monday, Tate turned 2! From the day that we were matched, I wanted to have him by his birthday. So, yay that we were together, but it was also the day of the most traumatic event of adoption, the medical exam. Tate was no fan of the medical exam. It is just a routine screening but whoa betty, he was unimpressed. Because he is two, he had to have a TB blood draw screening. Bummer. He cried soooooo hard!! It was very sad. He totally let me comfort him though which was awesome, and he came home and slept for nearly three hours!
 When he woke up, we opened presents, which he loved, the hotel sent this awesome mango cake up to our room for him. Darling. I don't have photos of it on this camera though.
 Then it was tubs all around, and bed. Tate had his best night sleep ever tonight!!! He climbed into bed around 8:30, was out by 9 and slept until 4! I was elated! It is seriously the longest stretch of sleep that I've had since we arrived in China. Most orphans sleep amazingly well. My kids do not.

This is what I get 99% of the time that I try and photograph these two monkeys together. Chaos! We love them to death.

A few people have asked about Tate, so I will answer those questions.  He calls me half of the time mama, and half of the time aiya (auntie or nanny). He calls Gary baba (daddy) all of the time. He speaks Chinese all of the time. He talks a ton and sings lots of songs. It's adorable. When he talks to me and I repeat back to him what he just said in Chinese, he totally cracks up.  He uses more and more english every day. He routinely says "all done", "more", "Emily! No! No! No!" and "uh-oh!" although that one is probably universal.  He is napping right now, a great sign in trust and bonding, he loves to hold hands. He loves doing things for Gary. When Gary comes in from running, Tate will grab his flip flops for him and get him a diet coke out of the fridge. It's darling. He smiles like it's his job, all the time. He thinks everything naughty is awesome and hilarious. He is the sweetest most wonderful guy that there is. We are in love with him!!

Thursday, December 5, 2013

Shao Lin Temple

We took a field trip today to one of my favorite things that I have seen so far in China. We went to the Shao Lin Temple. It is the original home of Kung-Fu. The compound is massive. Originally built in 452AD. It goes up a mountain side and has building after building going all the way up. It was a monastery and the monks developed and taught Kung-Fu. Now, there is a school there where boys can be sent to live and learn. We got to watch the students practicing in the yard and whoa! We also got to see a show where very young boys were breaking boards and metal bars. One guy poked a pin through a sheet of glass and popped a ballon on the other side and only poked a tiny hole in the glass.
 It was a long drive to get there. The babies got much needed naps as they do not sleep at night. The parents did not get much needed naps.
 The entrance.
 Original from 452 AD. Just amazing!
 Tate in front of the second son of the Dragon. Not the first son, the second son.
 My favorite thing here was the pagoda forest. It's a cemetery for famous monks. It was a whole forest of these beautiful pagodas. It's hard to describe the feeling there, and just how cool it was. 
 A very ornate one that had carvings of Kung-Fu all the way around it. I cannot even begin to wrap my head around the discipline of the Kung-Fu masters and monks that are buried here.
It was an awesome outing. 

Over all, the babies are doing well. They like each other, and interact. Tate is happy with us. He is responding to his American name that we now use about half the time. He calls Gary baba, Chinese for daddy. He mostly calls me aiya, Chinese for auntie or nanny. He sometimes calls me mama. He likes to keep Em in line. If she does anything that he deems out of line we get a "Mama!! Emily! No! No! No!" If I don't react fast enough, he'll take matters into his own hands, and take away what she has, shove her over and sit on her. It's so funny. Em doesn't seem to mind most of the time. Neither of the babies sleep at night. We each take one, and either try to keep them calm in the room or wander the halls. It's getting old. They also don't nap. We are tired. We absolutely LOVE this kid. We are so happy to finally have him and we can't wait to get home and love on our girls with him!

He is so happy and so smily and funny and so cute you could eat him!! One week from tomorrow!!

Zhengzhou

Zhengzhou is the capital of Tate's province. We have to spend the week here while we wait for his passport to be expedited. There is a lovely park where we spent a lot of time during Emily's adoption. We were thrilled to return there.  Tate liked the stroller, but was nervous about getting out. He really hasn't spent any time out of doors.

 Emily is a fantastic gatherer of leaves. She loves the leaves all around and gathers up her favorites.
 We are pretty certain that Tate was given his hearts desire at the orphanage. He is so cute and charming and his smile just melts you. This cute lady was jump roping and Tate asked her something in Chinese, and she stopped and gave him her jump rope. I love LOVE LOVE!!!!! This about the Chinese people that we have come into contact with. They are quiet, kind, have amazing manners, and are so peaceful and sweet. She talked to Tate for a while. She tried to help him jump rope. She sang him a little song and practiced her English on him. It was precious. I love China so much.
 I can't end this post without showing my favorite Walmart finds. Heinz baby food, in three delicious varieties. Pork Liver and Vegetable Cereal.
 Fish and Vegetables Cereal. Yummmmmm
Cod Fish and Apple Cereal. Taaaaaaasty. We bought rice. BORING!

Maria's

We were able to visit the charity where Tate has lived his entire life. We were able to meet his nannies, the doctor and nurse that cared for him, his friends that he shared a room with, and some of the staff. They are absolutely amazing people. I have so much admiration and respect for their selfless service all for the love of orphans. I was asked not to post pictures of the children, so I will only show these.
 
 Maria's Big House of Hope
 When we got to his floor, we got off the elevator and his nanny yelled his name from down the hall. He dove out of my arms and ran to her. It was soooo sweet. He was so loved and cared for. He immediately started bossing her around in Chinese, and she complied. He knew his way around the room obviously, and took charge right away. We were told that he lived in that room all day every day, year round, and probably only left on very rare occasions. That would explain his business. He is just now experiencing life. He is afraid of grass, and doesn't like to walk on anything but pavement. He is a tidier, and keeps things in their place. Lots of answers.
Here is his bed. His sweet little bed where he spent his first two years. We are forever thankful to everyone at Maria's for their love and affection of Tate until we could get him. The nannies were very sweet when it was time to go to explain that I was mama, and it was time to go with me. He struggled and went right back to his nanny, she told him again that I was mama and he needed to go with me, and he did. happily. We love Tate so much and are so blessed that he was able to spend his first years in such an amazing, loving place.

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Tate Harrison

On Sunday morning we flew from Beijing to Zhengzhou. We had a few hours to shop for the babies that we would get tomorrow. We met our travel group for the first time. There are a lot of great families here. Most are getting toddlers and several are getting older kids. Tate is the second youngest in the group.

They call this day gotcha day. It's a dumb name. It's an amazing day, but it's hard. The emotion is so thick, it's tangible, and it's exciting, and scary as all get out, and the happiest ever, and on and on. It's a hard day. We had to wait a while for Tate to get there. He came in the last group. He looked exactly like his pictures. He was reluctant to come to us at first, but came and was happy. He is ONE BUSY GUY! We thought we had a busy baby, but whoa!

He feels just exactly right. We are so in love with him.
We came home and had tubs. Tate was not a fan at all!!
twinsies.
New clothes and so happy!! He smiles and laughs a ton! He talks non stop. He sings, cleans up, and repeats everything I say. he tattles on Em and does his best to keep her in line.  He hugs her often and with force.  It's so funny but she is not a fan.

Bedtime was rough.  It was  actually non existent  We wandered the halls all night long.
The next morning we finalized, Tate is our baby and we're so thrilled.  He's awesome! 

 We love him so much!
We had the best treat on gotcha day. Emily's orphanage officers came and found us.  They were so sweet and so excited to see Em and how far far far she has come. They cried and held her and gave her a bag of chips.  It was so cool!