heading H-O-M-E

so it is Wed evening here and we are about packed. I have a couple of things to still pick up and so as soon as Richard the guide is here with Kim's paperwork from the consulate we are going to go out and eat supper and do our last minute purchases.

 

 This trip I am not - so far - buying an extra suitcase but am bringing home one that Littlefield's had brought donated items in. Maybe we will send the suitcase with them next summer when Ed (Morgan) goes there to work the Blueberry fields...

 

 

Today we went to the pearl market and then walked back thru the shopping alleys and Kate got to experience shopping for dried lizards or scorpions or whatever else those items were! She and I spoke about how we are glad she came but sorry she did not have a wonderful time.

 

 

Kim....well she is still struggling at different times. Not horribly, just that she wanted some make-up that was to "white" and when i said no she took an attitude. She even took the same attitude with Richard but hey..life can be mom's way sometime. He told her that she can get the right color at home when we get there. She finally got told back here at the hotel (i had Morgan translate) that she is allowed to be mad, but she IS NOT allowed to be rude. So it stopped pretty much.

 

 

So we are packed, except for the couple items i want to pick up. We have to be ready for the van at 6:20 a.m. and off we go! Our route is GZ to Souel, Souel to Detroit and then Detroit to Peoria. Pray for safe travels, and although we need the rain so bad please pray for the rain storms to stop during the time we need to leave Detroit to get to Peoria.

 

 

the picture that is labeled 808 is dried cats ears. Good Lord what would that cure?

 

 

 

well i did get to see Elvin the guide that keeps saying "Ah Ruthi I see you next year!" and so that was fun...

 

Again I stood next to a daughter and held her right hand as she and I swore all that we said on paper and verbally was correct. Then I again kissed a hand of our daughter. I am so grateful for this point in the adoption process...then we stood in front of the representative and answered the few questions and that is when Kim changed.

 

Start reality..last step before leaving. Last step before arriving. Turmoil all inside. Don;t touch me, don;t stand beside me, don't get on the same escalater step ...just leave me the alone. I was crying because of he change in her stance and her turmoil and because I realized that I was able to sign her papers on my moms birthday. What would my mom be doing right at these moments through all of these grand-daughters arrivals? My dad and mom Bev did not travel with me this time and their presence was missed the whole time but we have collected toothpicks from all areas of China to return home with for dad and i see lots of compasses that i know one will make it's way into my suitcase for Bev.

 

 I am grateful for Carrie's presence her as she gives Kim a chance to escape and she has been walking by her when out. Carrie is such a great travel companion! So the face of adoption today does not have one. She is not looking at me. The pictures reflect that .... but i know tomorrow is a new day, and that each minute it does get better. I had Richard explain to her that all the children go through these emotions and then i showed her that I will leave her alone, folding my hands in my lap and have left her alone as I do know in my heart that I will know when she is ready for me to touch her again.

 

 

 

Monday in Guangzhou

Thank God Amy Littlefield likes elephants! she and kate rode the elephant at the safari park today...

 

kate seems to use a mask when she is uncomfortable. i am wondering if it replaces her blanket? she did have on the mask off and on today, and i never smelled elephant poo so i assume it was for comfort?

 

while at the safari today it POURED rain. the girls afterwards said they could have used the leaves as umbrellas..more in a bit

 

kim stopped carrie and i throughout the safari to pose for her picture to be taken. kim seems to really care about kate and will always reach for her hand or help her.

 

it was hot today but there was so much shade that we were ok, although it was a LOT of walking!

 

We got back to the hotel and rested for about 20 minutes then went to lucy's for supper. gotta love french fries. kate had a fillet and fries while kim had steak and prawn again. morgan had the chicken something she likes and carrie had a fried rice dish while penny had fried noodle plate. we topped it off with starbucks. gotta love starbucks!

 

tuesday kim and i have to be ready to leave by 8:50 am as our consulate appt is at 10 am. the girls are staying here with carrie and then kim and i are coming back here. we will finish what island shopping we want to do then richard is coming wed to take us to the pearl market. he picks up kims passport with her visa on it wed and then ta da we leave for home on thursday a.m. bright and early.

 

yeah!!! kim is buying earrings, she has very nice taste....

 

 

 

sunday spaghetti and tears

today the Dexter family made the trek to the island and we went to church here with the chinese-english service and then got to experience a subway ride, mcdonalds then the bus to get to their apartment in GZ. we enjoyed their spaghetti dinner, lettuce salad topped off with homemade bread and chocolate cookie bars! all served with iced tea and ICE!

afterwards Joy and i and kim went off to a separate room and spoke with kim, asking if she had questions, she said she has not ever had hearing aids, and that she has been deaf since a small child.

She spent time crying as she misses her caretaker and we talked about how she could call her back at the hotel (she has called her and spoke to her and she did not have tears during the call) we spoke about how when we visit china that all of our daughters get to see the people that love them. and we talked of how Joy is our friend and is forever hers too.

 kim is worried about not being able to learn English and joy reassured her how smart she is and that she will learn fast. i told her that judy is a wonderful sister and will help her, i felt that judy was the last to have came and so has the most sympathy for the situation..i still say if it was us adults going thru this adoption trial that we would still have our heads under the pillow a year later. we told her how brave she is.i like how she watches for kate, holding her hand and kate willing accepts it.

we came back by taxi, the driver was a safe driver and i tipped him gratefully!! morgan, kate and i walked down and got our laundry, and some treats at the subway and back to the room. so far the tb test looks ok, a tiny pink but i think there is a circle that it has to stay within so we should be good. we get that checked in the am and then off to the safaria...should be a good hot day for that!!

More Guangzhou

kate was going to recreate a photo of her brother eric from when he sat on the fat ladies shoulders but unlike him she thought the lady was to hot to sit on so instead she perched on the dog....

penny has been great about the food but the occasional taste will throw her...so the use of a napkin takes place!

Leaving Changsha, hello Guangzhou

ok so yea i just had to do it!!!

 

 31 floors up and yes i let her sit on the window sill as i figured as soon as we got home claude would have her under lock and key and she would never get the opportunity to again experience the sense of wonder that heights offer you!!

 

we checked out on friday of the Dolton hotel in changsha...totally nothing to do that we found there except to try to stay cool in the awful heat. we got to the airport and the flight was delayed so again a very long evening of flight to GZ and then a 45 minute ride to the hotel...so was midnight by the time we got to the hotel.

 

the victory hotel on the island is nice. i just sincerely appreciate the slower pace of the island than having stayed off the island and am glad of the choice. morgan and penny reunited with Peter the shop owner and gave kate an introduction to bargaining. today, saturday kim and i went to the clinic and she passed with flying colors and good lord but she was even able to see the tiny print at the bottom of the chart. i am not sure that i can even see that line with my glasses on and but a few feet away. then of course the blasted vaccines. she had to have four of them and a tb test injected under the skin on her forearm. i hate that they have to have all of these at the same time. we are keeping tylenol in her and letting her rest. tonight we are taking it easy here in the room so kim can take it easy, then sunday am we meet the dexters and go to church her on the island and then back to their apartment for Spaghetti !!! last year it was great and i am sure it will be again. we are all looking forward to eating it.

right now penny and kim are sitting here learning the days of the week in sign language! good time spent together.

 

 

 

Adoption Day

today was the ceremony presenting us with the adoption certificate. the lady read our promise to not abandon, to always feed and educate and love our children and then proclaimed she is ours forever. after that we went to an embodriay factory and saw the area that they are creating the pictures. this long one you see is a winter scene and will take several years of 30 people working on it to complete.

 

 AFTER WE GOT BACK TO THE ROOM WITH NOTHING TO DO PENNY AND MORGAN WANTED TO SLEEP OR WATCH TV SO I TOOK KATE AND KIM TO THE POOL.

 

kate actually got her to go under water for a few seconds and otherwise she just played in the water. when we went to the mall she did find a pair of sandals that she liked. the only things she brought with her seems to be clothes that have tags on them that are more winter. she has nothing personal with her at all. that makes me sad. she seems to like the color pink! guess that won't be a problem at our house.

 

tomorrow we fly to GZ and i can tell you that we are all looking forward to getting out of changsha...and to the vacation part of the trip. pray for kim to do well witht he vaccines...

 

 

 

More Changsha

so yesterday penny and kate "did" kims hair. then put all the do-dads back in! love the braids. at first she was not to sure about it but then she did accept it. i had though several times thru the day i saw sad eyes and a tremble at the mouth so was not sure if she was going to accept them messing with her hair. later we were going to go out, walk to the book store and we had to wait for a bit for the guide so kate entertained all with getting them to do si do..even kim got into it. amy and bills little girl maddie is such a hoot! the girls have her doing the heart sign such as a taylor swift....

ok so the guy doing dishes along the street is not the food stand we ate at! can you imagine?? we have been very careful eating...this time i simply did not want to miss out on some of the fruit opportunities so this time my checked luggage contained two very sharp hunting knives :) and so we are having dragon fruit, pears, apples, etc here in the room along with the occasional instant noodles, mashed potato's and cereal. (kate still has one box of fruit loops she is keeping for a bad day) and of course the chicken feet. yuck...the lotus bloom gone to seed is something that kim has shown us has seeds inside sort of like a grape looking thing that you peel and eat. it really isn't to bad. you can buy those heads all around. when we finally got to the bookstore there were displays all around. this one looks like a ship. we bought a few books but learned a long time ago that the problem with books is the weight adds up really fast! and luggage weight is now so limited that it is hard to haul stuff back.

Wednesday

photo 1 is mama g holding onto kim, i took this picture because this lady to me has always shown such care for not only our daughters but even other children without parents. the next is of kate...we walked around a city block, or was it 6? and kate got very hot. so hot she finally asked me to carry her. scary? yes...as it is not as hot as at home but the humidity was very high...mama g dabbed several drops of a small bottle of greenish stuff between her thumb and fingers, then on the back of her neck in three spots...i kept the water in her and morgan gave her her battery powdered fan. kate admitted that after the mama g drops that she started feeling better right away. we now have 6 bottles of it as it is for headaches, getting to hot, a cold, etc...mama g said i needed this many bottles because we have so many girls. got kate back to hotel and put a cold towel on her feet and around her neck and she felt better fast. mama g came in about 45 minutes to check on her and kate showed she had performed a miracle by jumping on the bed and laughing. morgan has been a godsend this trip. her chinese understanding is so great. yes she stumbles over some of it but she has done so well. she actually posed for this photo!

I just love the dimples that kim has! she also showed huge interest at breakfast with two sign language books that amy brought to us. amy feels she can develop speech although will be nasally...kim really enjoyed amys interest in showing her the sign language alphabet. penny got her foster sister in-law sunglasses as her gift she had brought to her so they posed together. we are going to go to a book store tonight, waiting until about 5 pm to go though so not so hot. personally i am hoping for some ice cream. and get this, i have checked every store we have went by looking for diet soda...NONE

Mama G and Dimples

penny and mama g have really enjoyed each others company.

mama g's grandson chowed down on pizza and it was funny to see him eating it with chopsticks and penny with her hands...

morgan is so in her element and really likes mama g's daughter in-law. they decided what to order for all of us, kim requested one dish and it was a dish of chopped pig intestin's with lots of hot spicy stuff in it. but she really loved it.

we took photos of us afterwards...kim has greatly appreciated the i-pod and thank you to judy, vicky and whoever else loaded it with the music, etc. she has really taken to it plus likes the camera in it. i was so glad when we went to the civil affairs office today as the swi staff brought a back pack and a duffle bag of kims stuff.

yesterday she showed up with nothing! what a welcome sight to see those two bags, but now i am dying to know what is in them. kim is hoping to get her ears pierced.

 we will get that done in the u.s. thank you. this city there is nothing to do so far that we have found. we did go to awl mart today and then on thursday we are going to a silk factory.

birthday cake!!

can you tell from the hunched shoulders she was just shuddering in delight? Maddie turned five today and the hotel sent her a cake that Bill and Amy shared with all of us! and yes it was good! Maddie tried her hardest to get her mama Amy to stick her finger in the cake too! i think Maddie has settled into the family like a dream and boy are they in for a ride! She is just the cutest thing to watch and they are adjusting well.

 

 

 

i will send photos soon of mama g and her family that arrived today. this is penny's foster mama and her son and his family. when we last saw the grandson he was crawling and now he is five! he likes the matchbox cars we brought and mama g said he calls me his u.s. grandma.

kim, myself and kate took a ride to the police station with our guide this afternoon as kim is over 13 so she has to sign for her passport. kate walked the distance we had to with her sweatshirt sleeve over her nose. but she is starting to venture a little into the chinese food. she has also started enjoying her self a bit.

kim is still doing well, admitted that she does not like to ride in the cars and is not used to this city traffic. penny's tummy is feeling much better. morgan really is great with mama g and seems to enjoy talking to her. i value morgans ability to talk to her in chinese! so far we are counting down the days to leaving changsha so we can be at gz...who cannot like gz?

adopted, tears of goodbye

this is the chandler that welcomes you into the Dolton hotel. very grand. but don't worry there is nothing to do here...thursday we are going to a silk factory and today we did go to walmart. we bought water for the room oreo's and fruit. kate has been eating mashed potatoes that i brought to make, and we have ritz crackers that i brought peanut butter and nutella for.

 

 

today we did the adoption papers and put our finger print o our names. kim is officially ours! and we are officially hers. after doing all that i asked the guide to explain that the swi people were leaving to go back to loudi and that we would not see them again. that was when tears were shed. the ladies did so well with her and they cried also...i have this rule of let's move forward to keep moving into the future and so even though i felt i could also cry i kept all moving forward all the time telling them thank you for having cared for our daughter. a few bracelets and nail polish later at walmart and the tears have dried...they will be shed many times again we all know but for now we are good.

the photo of the guy in a red t shirt, kim and another lady are of our guide richard, and amy also a guide but both are employees of LWB and Amy has known kim for the time that she was at the swi as she got her sponsored at the school she attended. our family values LWB thru the years and again share that feeling.

 

 

in about an hour mama G and her family will be here. penny has not felt perfect today but soon will and so we are resting until the get here. we arranged to spend about 24 hours with them....right now i feel that things are going good...and pray they continue this way!

addie the blue nail polish was perfect that we bought you! gracie we are looking for sugar cane for you...vicky are you sure you don't want a dress from here? they are sooo cute! and judy, kim loves chicken feet. i have taught her the sign language sign for throw up and i keep telling her i am going to throw up if i eat them. so you and her now can share chicken feet!

What to do~

what else can you do in a hotel, no way to communicate in a good way, and it is 100 degrees outside? we went to the pool..so here are a few photos of that. swim caps were a new experience for all..for kim it was all new! she for sure cannot swim.

 

 

We got her!!

we have another accepting beautiful daughter. who likes chicken feet :) she has touched me ever since we met! and calls me mama! this is it for a bit on photos...need to pay attention to her! will send more, may have to one at a time. bear with me

 

this is after we left civil affairs office and went to a little store to get water and snacks. it is very hot out and she had had a +3 hour car ride and when we got her she was clammy and a bit shaky...got some water in her and a fan and watched her close. she got chicken feet, noodles, and a few other things. they said they new since friday that she was being adopted today but i do not know when they told her. they said she had qualified for the provincial honor of racing, she runs...maybe her and morgan and brandi can start a team?

 

 

kate has had a very hard time with the smells. we fixed her up with a mask that i dabbed a little of my perfume on the bottom so she can stand it this way.she is holding up very well given to her shaky start!

 

 

she really has not stopped smiling. she has chose different clothes to put on and is working with penny on the electronic translator. after she showered