Thank you!

I heard that I am getting lots of kind comments and suggestions on my blog!  I really appreciate everyone's support ~ it is so amazing to me!  I cannot see my blog from China (I am writing on it via an email address).  I look forward to reading it when I get home on Saturday!

Day 8 ~ Shopping on Shamian

Today was a low-key and fairly uneventful day.  We returned to the medical office this morning for the kids to get their TB tests read and they were all fine.  Then we had some free time for shopping on Shamian Island.  We first went to an herbal market.  There were lots of little open air shops with bulk items for sale to use for cooking and medical remedies.  There were various garden grown items, dried sea creatures (seahorses, snakes, starfish, shark fins, turtles, shellfish) and live scorpions!!  I watched a woman sitting at her large open basket of big black scorpions as she casually picked them up individually (by their tails) to place them in plastic bags to sell!  Creepy!  Many of the shops had a cat or two sitting out front, all tied to leashes.  Pets?  Not sure.
We then hit the tourist shops where we checked out lots of fun trinkets.  There are no price tags however.  We had to "negotiate" for bargains. Those smiling little Chinese saleswomen were not to be underestimated!  They were bound and determined to make a sale!  They would ask if you liked something, and if you dared say yes, they would start writing you a receipt and wrap it up!  I kept telling them that my husband had the money and they would set off to find him!  In the end, Don was not eager to negotiate on my behalf and I had to fend for myself.  I haggled a gift for Kellen down about $10 and was pretty proud.  I'm sure that saleswoman laughed all the way to the bank. :)  Wu Yi was pretty bored by the shopping and had started pulling on my hand to leave.  She also provided me a good excuse to get out of the stores.
This afternoon, we hung out in the hotel.  Don wanted to go out and explore, but Wu Yi gets tired and bored of walking around so we girls hung out.  I redressed and combed the hair of the Barbies and Polly Pockets, colored in the Ni Hao Kai Lan sticker book, and played some preschool computer games while she watched from the edge of her seat.  She refused to join in the "fun", but at least she didn't ignore me while I played. We are getting SO CLOSE! :)  She mostly watches videos in the room.  She likes the Tinkerbell movie.  We weren't able to get our computer to Skype home today, but we were able to QQ the orphanage.  Wu Yi chatted with one of the nannies for awhile and then wasn't even interested in making her usual phone calls.  If its true that these kids usually bond with one parent first, then Wu Yi has chosen me.  Today she definitely always reached for my hand first when we were out, and she tries to sit near me when we are at a table.  She tolerates me hugging and touching her as much as I want.  She still doesn't want me messing with her clothes and she doesn't want to be picked up. 
Last night, when she was asleep, I took off her zip up sweatshirt, put it away, and put a clean one on her bed.  This morning she got up and quickly put on the new one.  I feel a little guilty about doing this, but at least we avoid tears. Tomorrow we have her appt to swear her in as a US citizen.  I really want to completely change her clothes. (Purple sweats and red snow boots especially).  I am torn between letting her have control in dirty clothes, or forcing the issue.  What do I do??  She also needs a bath. I am grateful that she is easy about most things, but I guess we have to face these issues eventually and I might as well do it here, where I have no other distractions.  Wish me luck . . .

Day 7 ~ Sightseeing, Dim sum, and McDonalds

Today was a free day to sightsee, and our guide, Elsie, took us, the McCains, and the Chens out for the morning.  Our new friends are truly great people and we are enjoying our time with them.  We went to the Dr Sun Yat-sen memorial hall (he is China's "first father" who attempted to bring democracy to China in the early 1900's ~ a cross between George Washington and Martin Luther King Jr), then to a famous Guangzhou park (we always notice the active senior citizens in the parks here ~ dancing, playing badmitton, doing calisthenics, and playing some pretty impressive hacky sack!), and then to a 1400 year old Buddist Temple ~ the 6 Banyan temple.  We then went out for some authentic Chinese dim sum ("snack food").  We probably wouldn't have had the nerve to try and order anything from this restaurant ourselves, but the Chen's are self professed "foodies" and they speak Chinese and know the cuisine pretty well, so they ordered for all of us!  We tried lots of wonderful new food, including pigs ear!  Wu Yi doesn't usually eat a whole lot, but she really chowed down today!  It was fun to see how skilled she is eating slippery food with chop sticks!  We had an amazing spread of food, and it only cost $45 US for all 3 families to eat.
We then did some shopping to see if Wu Yi wanted to pick out some new shoes.  I brought her 2 pair from home, but she is determined to keep her red snowboots.  Despite looking at lots of shoes, she firmly refused to show interest in any of them.  We then looked at some toys, and she was pretty excited to buy a new Barbie.  She has picked out a few new toys (dolls) while here, but she then refuses to play with them.
We returned to the hotel and were thrilled to finally be able to get through to home on Skype!  It sounds like there is a flu bug at our house, but despite that, the boys put on a great show for their new sister!  She didn't really want to be on camera, and she mostly pretended not to look at them, but their antics made her ALMOST actually smile!  She seemed to be in a better mood after that ~ good job boys!!
Don and I have physically felt really good this trip, but this afternoon, my stomach started to act up a bit.  I wanted to eat something normal for dinner, so we decided to check out McDonalds (even though I don't think I have been there for a couple of years).  I got some fries and an ice cream cone and we ate with a Missouri family from our hotel.  What will always be memorable to me about this McD's was an interaction we had with a gruff looking middle Eastern man who stood in front of us in line.  I noticed him looking at us while we were showing Wu Yi the menu and after he finished ordering, he turned around and started talking to us in very broken English.  He asked if Wu Yi was from China (we told him yes) and then asked if Don and I were from England (we told him America) and then he struggled to ask us another question which we didn't quite understand. I thought I heard the word "orphan", so I told him she had been an orphan and that she had been with us for 6 days.  He stared long and hard at the three of us, looking for the right words, and then he patted his heart, got a little teary eyed, gently patted Wu Yi's face, and then kissed the top of her head.  He was wiping the tears from his eyes as he quickly walked away.  I was so touched by this.  Especially because he was from a completely different part of the world from us.  It made the world seem so small to me.
Wu Yi made her usual daily phone calls to the orphanage, and today, for the first time, she did not cry.  Not once. :)

Day 6 ~ Halfway home

Today we had an appointment for Wu Yi to have her medical exam.  We were told to dress her so that she can be "easily examined".  For those of you keeping up with the blog, you already know that Wu Yi will not let us remove her clothes!  She is very agreeable to most things we ask ~ brushing her teeth, going to bed, going potty, eating, holding our hands and following us where ever we lead her.  With the exception of swapping her sweater (which had gotten dirty) for a new sweatshirt, she had not changed her clothes.  She did take a bath with Wendy's help, but demanded to put back on her original layers.  She is dressed for 20 degree weather and it is in the 70's here!  Poor little thing sweated all day yesterday and she sweats all night.  So, this morning, I decided I needed to be firm with her (for the first time).  I knew how to tell her that we were going to the Dr and that we needed to change her clothes.  She shook her head at me and backed up.  I playfully tried to tug her sleeve ~ she shook her head and backed up.  I said "please", I said "you do it", I offered her choices, I offered her candy, I left the room for privacy ~ when I returned she shook her head and backed up.  I made a serious attempt to just pull her shirt off and she hugged her arms tight and started to cry.  It became apparent to me that the only way to make her change her clothes was by force, and I did the brave thing and decided to let the Drs and nurses do it :).
We met our guide in the lobby, along with our friends the McCains, and our new friends (also from Seattle and WACAP) the Chens and their new baby boy.  We all piled into a van together and headed for the adoption medical office.  The office was small and crowded with dozens of other families from all over the world and their newly adopted kids.  We checked Wu Yi's height and weight, blood pressure, pulse, and temp, head and chest measurement, ears, mouth, and eyes (she had another "scowling" day and refused to cooperate with the vision tests), did a TB test (she cried a bit when she saw the needle, but held her arm still for it), and finally on to the full body inspection.  We had a 2nd pair of clothes at the ready (the loosest, most comfy things I brought) and I asked our guide to explain to the Dr that we needed to get her clothes off.  The Dr was a really sweet guy, and when he saw that Wu Yi didn't want to have her clothes off, he decided to just work around them!  I begged and plead to the guide to make him understand that she was starting to smell bad from sweat and needed new clothes, and together, the 3 of us (me, Dr, and guide Elsie) stripped her down and redressed her.  I'm not a totally horrible mom though~  I let her keep her snowboots on top of clean socks!  One of the other families there saw the trouble we were having and told us that their 4 year old son had done the same thing at first, but that once he had "let go" of the Chinese clothes it wasn't an issue again.  Keep your fingers crossed ~ she will need a bath again in the next day or two.
The rest of the day went smoothly as we explored the area around the hotel with the McCains.  Shelly broke her leg last month and is on crutches ~ what a trooper she is to be on this trip!  The hotel rented her a wheelchair but you have to use pedestrian bridges to cross every street around her!  Don did some wheelchair pushing while I held Wu Yi's hand and Brad carried their new daughter in a snugly.
By late afternoon when we returned to the hotel, Wu Yi was ready to make some phone calls.  She cried a bit on the phone, but less than in days past.  I'm glad no one hung up on her today, but Don did eventually have to secretly unplug the phone when it was getting to be time for bed.  She ignored his "last call" instructions. 
All in all, today was a better day.  She held my hand pretty tightly when we were out and her scowl is starting to turn into an expression of acceptance.  Don and I find her completely adorable!!  We can't wait to get her home.

Day 5 ~ Guangzhou

Today we left the city of Guiyang and flew a little over an hour to the city of Guangzhou.  For such a short flight, we feel like we landed on another planet!  In Guiyang we were confined to our hotel unless our guide was with us ~ and then it was just to go a very short walk away.  Our hotel was in the midst of crumbling tenements, horrible traffic and pollution, street vendors, and beggars (which Wu Yi always noticed and always asked us to give money to them!).  Guangzhou is a modern, clean, and tourist friendly city.  Our hotel (The Garden) is beautiful! We are in a two room suite with a view of a waterfall and gardens below us, as well as new skyscrapers with flashy light shows all around us.  Our new guide, Elsie, met us at the airport, took us to our hotel, and gave us a map of the area surrounding the hotel to explore as we wish.  We walked around in the warm weather (70 degrees) and admired the flowers, trees, and upscale shopping centers and restaurants all by ourselves!  What a change!  I was dreading staying another week in China, but now I am feeling a little more enthusiastic (still wish we could come home though!)
It was another stressful day for Wu Yi.  She was quiet this morning, even when Wendy came to take us to the airport.  Wendy got us checked in and walked us to the security checkpoint and then quietly said goodbye to us.  We will miss her ~ she was so much more than a tour guide ~ she was an important transitional person for the 3 of us in this process.  After we went through the scanners, Wu Yi looked back a few times ~ I'm sure she wondered where Wendy went.  We sat at our gate for 20 minutes and when we got up to walk to the plane, Wu Yi started to cry.  She kept looking back and as we got onboard, the crying got louder.  As we buckled her into her seat, we, for the first time as parents, became THOSE people on the plane who can't shut their crying kid up.  :)  The flight attendants came to help us and asked us why she was screaming to let her use the phone!  Once again, I am so greatful to the nice Chinese people who come to our rescue with Wu Yi.  In addition to the flight attendants, we had a couple of other young women trying to help us comfort Wu Yi.  Fortunately, by the time we took off, she slumped against me in exhaustion and fell asleep.
After getting to our hotel room, she immediately went to the phone and started making phone calls.  Because the orphanage didn't recongnize the new number, they picked up and talked to her for awhile.  Eventually, someone hung up on her, and Don discreetly unplugged our hotel phone, so she didn't have to endure that again.
Nice news for us ~ we have American neighbors in the room right next door to us!  The McCains, another WACAP family from the Seattle area, arrived shortly after we did with their new daughter Ella.  We spent some time in our room getting to know each other and it was so great to have that extra support and companionship!  Ella is much younger than Wu Yi, but we are looking forward to sightseeing and spending time with them while in Guangzhou.
Sorry for no new photos today!  Wu Yi doesn't like us taking her picture and she has pretty much been scowling all day anyway.  I am sure we will make some bonding progress while here, as we don't have a Chinese "constant companion" guide for her to bond with.  Sorry, my sweet girl ~ you're stuck with us.  :)

Day 4 ~ Painful goodbyes

We have settled into a routine, here in Guizhou.  Don and I up early and reading in the bathroom, Wu Yi waking up around 8, breakfast at the hotel buffet, Wendy joining us for an attempt to QQ (Skype) with the orphanage (problems with this everyday!), and a trip to the "monkey park".  Wu Yi loves to feed the monkeys and they are very entertaining for all of us to watch.  Today, we hiked 1/2 mile uphill in the park to the zoo.  Wu Yi is not a big fan of hiking, but it was warm today and she is still wearing lots of layers, so I'm sure she was hot.  (Still can't mess with her clothes!)  We saw a tiger in labor, which should have been exciting, except the conditions of and smell of the zoo were very bad. We also had to experience the zoo bathroom, which was the most disgusting experience of my life! (And I am a North Idaho camping girl!) Poor Wu Yi had to manuver around her layers of clothing to use a filthy "squattie potty", and had to stay there awhile with some unfortunate diarrhea.  Its a good thing she knew what she was doing, as I was pretty clueless. (Wendy volunteered to stay outside!)  Wu Yi enjoyed feeding the deer through the fence with leaves we picked, and we left BaBa outside while the two of us ventured into the "snake and reptile house".  Then, back to feed the fish, eat "spicy meat on a stick", and return through the crowded city streets to our hotel.  Today, the sidewalk to our hotel was under construction, so we had to walk in the street. People and vehicles move together as one through these streets ~ no rules, lots of honking, cars driving within inches of pedestrians, yet nobody seems bothered or mad at all.
Wendy left us to go pick up Wu Yi's passport so we returned to the room to watch Chinese cartoons.  Wu Yi still looks at us like we are the bad guys and was, once again, not interested in playing with me.  After a couple of hours of this, she picked up the phone to start making her daily phone calls.  She broke down and started crying to "grandma" and after about 1/2 hour, "grandma" hung up.  When Wu Yi tried calling her back (about 1/2 dozen times), there was never an answer.  About this time, Wendy returned to the room and bribed WuYi to take a bath (she would get one more phone call if she did).  Wu Yi agreed to the bath (her first one this week) only if I left the bathroom.  She happily played in the bath and brushed her teeth with Wendy's assistance and then firmly refused to put on clean clothes.  She seems to detest anything we brought her today.  She eagerly emerged from the bathroom to make her call, and as she tried calling every number in her phone book, she was put through to voice mail.  Wendy explained to me that the orphanage is "cutting her off" from phone calls and QQ in an effort to encourage her to bond with us, and they do not wish to speak to her again until she is firmly rooted in our home.  I was, once again, reduced to tears watching WuYi dialing number after number and not understanding what was happening!  I trust that the nannies know what is best, but this seems so cruel.  Wu Yi then chose to cling to Wendy and asked her to write her number in the phone book.  She knows we are going on the plane tomorrow (to Guangzhou, but Wu Yi believes she is going to the US) and asked Wendy if she was coming too.  Wendy told her "yes" that she was coming and said she would break the bad news at the airport.  I hate all the lies, but just have to trust that these people are experienced and know what is best.
Its my 44th birthday today and Don found time to sneak away and have a special cake and bouquet of flowers delivered to our room while we were out!  What a wonderful surprise!  I am lucky to have such a great guy!  Thanks to everyone for the birthday wishes and I love and miss you all!  Be safe in that blizzard I hear is going on back home! Save some snow for me!  :)

Happy Birthday Kellen!

Today Kellen is turning 12 years old!  I like to tell him how he was the size of a loaf of bread when he was born!  (Actually 5lb, 7oz, 19 inches long, and 6 weeks early).  We love you and miss you Kelly Bear!  (Sorry ~ had to say it!). Thanks for being such a great kid and have a great day! Love, Mom and Dad

Day 3 ~ Making progress!

We had another peaceful night, with Wu Yi collapsing in exhaustion as soon as we told her it was time for bed, and then she slept for 11 hours!  (Don and I have our morning "quiet time" sitting on the bathroom floor reading).  She has steadily refused to change her clothes ~ we are lucky to coax her snowboots off at bedtime.  We asked Wendy about pajamas in China and were told that the "base layer" she wears under her clothes are her PJ's and that kids in China only change their clothes every 3 days or when they get dirty.  So, I guess it is normal, and I understand that she needs to have control of something.  (So much for all those new clothes I packed for her ~ she is not interested in them at all!)
She woke up this morning having had a bloody nose during the night (no surprise with all the crying she has been doing!)  She got blood all over her sweater, so I figured that this was my opportunity!  When Wendy came, she told Wu Yi that her sweater needed to be sent to the laundry and it was time to change her shirt.  We took her to the suitcase and offered her some choices of sweatshirts (something that could fit over the PJ's ~ baby steps, you know) and she selected the purple hoodie that Grandma Janice bought her!  Maybe tomorrow we can change her pants! :)  She also has been brushing her teeth in the orphanage (I didn't expect that!) but Wendy isn't here in the morning or at night, and she doesn't want to brush with Don and I coaxing her.  Hopefully we can try giving her a bath and brushing her teeth with Wendy's help sometime before we leave Guizhou in 2 days.
Wu Yi did well with Don and I this morning ~ going to the hotel buffet for breakfast, where she loves the watermelon.  She didn't cry, held our hand, and pointed to the food she wanted ~ she just tries to avoid much eye contact with us and is very quiet.  Wendy came over after breakfast and we got the QQ (Chinese Skype) going!  Wu Yi had a great time seeing and talking to her friends.  (Check out the happy photos where she is wearing the headset).  We enjoyed seeing inside the orphanage this way, and it was great to see lots of excited people there lining up to talk to Wu Yi!  We got to "meet" Wu Yi's friend Eva, who was quite a character, lifting up her shirt to show off her belly button and laughing hysterically!
After that, Wu Yi asked to go back to the "monkey park" and we spent several hours there, feeding the monkeys, feeding the giant goldfish (she LOVES fish ~ she wanted to pet one or catch one!), and going on some rides.  Yesterday she was a little nervous on the rides.  Today she was a little braver.  She requested lunch at the "hotdog on a stick" stand and rolled her meat in some spices that were offered.  Don decided to try one the same way.  Soon after, Don was complaining of how the spices had totally burned his mouth!  Wu Yi didn't mind at all!  Then she asked to go in the mini motor boats ~ we climbed in and Wu Yi quickly asked to change places with me so she could drive!  She had a great time pretending that she was going to crash the boat into the banks of the pond and watching Don and I look scared and then turning the boat at the last minute.  I loved seeing her being a tiny bit playful with us ~ Wendy watched and took pictures from the shore.  During the ride, she also started to spit something out of her mouth, and it turned out to be a baby tooth!  I held it for her and she seemed very proud to show me the empty space in her mouth.  I have been carrying that tooth all day and she seems pleased about that too! (I guess I'm officially a mom again!!)
We, again, had lots of people staring at us (especially at Don and his beard).  Don took the initiative to grin and make a big wave and say "hello" to the kids who stared ~ they all LOVED it and laughed and tried to say "hello ~ how are you" in thier broken English!  Some of them followed us for awhile and kept yelling "hello".  Such cute kids here!  I took some pictures of a group of teenage boys and they thought that was something special too.
When we came back to the hotel and it was time for Wendy to go, I could tell that Wu Yi was going to start to cry again.  We let her make a call to her "grandma" and as soon as she heard her voice, she began sobbing (first time all day!)  However, despite the crying, she refused to talk to her "grandma".  It seems she is maybe a little mad at her now.  There was no begging to go home.  When Wendy left, Wu Yi cried for a minute or two and then seemed content to watch TV.
When its just the 3 of us in the hotel, Wu Yi usually focuses on the TV (from the floor between the beds) and ignores Don and I.  For the past 2 days, I have stayed out of her way and given her some space.  When Don decided to go for a walk outside of the hotel, I decided to try and play with her.  I sat next to her and blew bubbles, played with Barbies, put together a puzzle, colored, did stickers, bounced a ball and jumped rope.  By myself.  :)  During that time, she focused pretty hard on the TV ("Kim Possible"), but every once in a while I caught her looking at me and MAYBE thinking about joining in.  She didn't, but I'm gonna try again tomorrow.  :) 
It was a pretty good day!!  Thanks to everyone for the supportive emails!  We miss you!

Day 2 in China

After Wu Yi's tearful morning call to her "grandma", we headed to the Civil Affairs Office to finalize the adoption.  When we arrived, the office was crowded with 3 families who had just received their toddlers!  It was a happy occasion for all of them!  Not so for us.  Because of the tearful phone calls, Wu Yi's "grandma" decided it would be best if she didn't come to the office for the ceremony.  The other woman from the orphanage (who Wu Yi is also close to) was there and told her that "grandma" had to go back to the orphanage to help with the kids.  Wu Yi was completely distraught over this and it was very hard for me to not start crying as well.  A few minutes after we arrived, we were ushered in for a presentation of gifts to us and had to pose for 3 different photographers as we were formally offered Wu Yi as our daughter.  The photos show Wu Yi and me with tears of sadness streaming down our faces. The other American families looked on with sympathy and I was grateful as one of them patted me on the back as we quickly left.  As Wu Yi tried to cling to the other orphange woman, she was told that if she stopped crying, all of her friends and nannies would come to America to visit her.  With this news, Wu Yi reluctantly left with Wendy and us.
Wendy then took us to do some local sightseeing.  She encouraged Wu Yi to hold my hand although she was reluctant to do so and looked at me like I was the enemy.  She would only hold my hand if Wendy could hold her other hand.  We went to a local park, about a 10 minute walk from our hotel, called Qianling Mountain Park.  Guiyang is surrounded by mountainous jungle, and this park is at the base of it.  Although only a short walk away, the air pollution makes it difficult to impossible to see these mountains from our 20th floor hotel room.  The park was very fun with carnival rides and lots of beautiful ponds and trees.  Its close proximity to the jungle means it also has alot of monkeys running wild through it!  It was fun to watch them running around and climbing on the rides and eating food being offered to them.  They also know how to take food from people, which our guide Wendy found out the hard way when one particularly big monkey attacked her to take Wu Yi's juice bottle out of her hand!  This brazen creature promptly unscrewed the cap and downed the strawberry drink before throwing it down to go after other food.  Wu Yi enjoyed watching the monkeys until her juice was stolen, and then she was just tearful again.
We returned to the hotel and Wu Yi asked to use the phone.  She came with a mini phone book full of phone numbers of all the nannies ~ most of which she had memorized.  WACAP told us to expect this with the older kids and suggested we let her make as many phone calls as she wanted.  She spent the next 3 hours on the phone, calling every one of them.  Wendy sat near her during the calls and intermittently translated for us.  She happily laughed and chatted with her friends (including Eva).  There are a total of 24 kids at the orphanage, most of them special needs.  When she called her "grandma" she immediately started sobbing and yelling "take me home" over and over.  She is being told that she has a new home and that she will be flying on a plane to her new home in 5 days.  (Actually, we are just flying to another city in 5 days, but little white lies seem to be the norm right now).  She was also told again, that if she stopped crying, she would be visited in the US by Eva and the nannies.  Wendy helped us download the China version of Skype which is called "QQ".  We are hoping to be able to "QQ" with the orphanage starting tomorrow.  I hope that works!  It will be fun to see her friends and will save us the cost of phone calls! 
We were hoping to visit the orphanage while here and asked Wendy if she could arrange it for us.  When she asked the Civil Affairs Office, they told her we couldn't, but the orphanage ladies overheard and whispered to her that we were welcome to come visit and that they could help arrange the 4 hour round trip travel.  We were planning to go on Thursday, but considering the depth of Wu Yi's grief, I now think it is not a good idea.  Wendy told us that one of us could go alone, but that seems too long for either of us to be gone.  Don and I are really relying on each other to get through each day.  Plus, the orphanage ladies provided us with some nice photos and returned the disposable cameras we sent with pictures they had taken.  With phone numbers, email addresses and QQ, we should get any information about the orphanage that we want.  My impression of the orphanage is that it is a very happy and loving place and I am so grateful!

Wu Yi grieves

After Wendy left yesterday and Wu Yi was left alone in the hotel room with just Don and I, she was silent for about 10 minutes, then ran to the hotel room door and began sobbing hysterically.  She refused to let us pick her up so we sat by the door with her for awhile and tried our best to comfort her.  We knew she was tired from the long drive from the orphanage and she is also used to taking a nap, so Don finally picked her up and carried her to the bed.  She laid still on the bed and sobbed while I stroked her hair and wiped her tears.   Every half hour or so she would fall asleep for a few minutes, then wake up and start again.  She laid so still with her fists in a ball while she loudly sobbed.  What a brave girl.  It was so obvious that she missed the orphanage ladies (one of whom she calls grandma).  After several hours of this, we called Wendy and she promptly had "grandma" call our room to talk to her on the phone.  After they talked, Wu Yi was better.  We found a Chinese childrens program on TV and she sat very still on the bed, watching TV and refusing to look at us.  Finally, at bedtime, we asked her if she wanted to put on pajamas ~ she didn't ~ so we told her it was time for bed (she seems to understand our Chinese, although we find it hard to understand her).  She pulled the covers up to her chin in all of her layers of clothes and laid very still, staring at the ceiling.  Then, thankfully, she slept all night.  Don and I are still not on "Chinese time" and we took turns sitting quietly on the bathroom floor reading and trying not to wake her up.
This morning she woke up, called me "Mama" and told me she needed to go potty.  Off she went to the bathroom and Don and I breathed a sigh of relief that she seemed ok.  We went down to the dining room for breakfast (she is still in her same clothes ~ not interested in anything new to wear)  and she ate watermelon and drank apple juice.  We got alot of stares from people around us ~ they mostly looked sympathetically at Wu Yi.  The staring doesn't bother me ~ I think the Chinese people seem very kind and well intentioned.
Then we had to come back to the room to kill an hour untl we meet Wendy to go back to the Civil Affairs Office to finalize the adoption.  Wu Yi asked to call her "grandma" and quicky dialed the number which she knew by heart.  As soon as "grandma" answered the phone Wu Yi broke down and started loudly sobbing again!  We can't understand what she is saying, but Don and I know she is pleading "please take me home".  This is so heartbreaking, but it is obvious that Wu Yi was loved and well cared for at the orphanage.
It is now time to go finalied the adoption!  The ladies from the orphanage will be there and I dread watching them say goodbye again.  I think we will be going to the orphanage tomorrow, so maybe it is good to let this process take its time.  Thanks so much to everyone for their well wishes!  I am getting my email, but not facebook or access to comments on the blog.  We miss you all!

Meeting Wu Yi (formerly Yu Ping!)

What a day!  We met our guide, Wendy, downstairs in the hotel lobby this morning and walked 5 minutes down a busy, traffic congested street to a non-descript building, took the elevator as high as it would go (13th floor), then walked up a dark stairwell to the next floor where the Civil Affairs Office was.  It was a small unheated office and no other families were waiting.  We posed for a photo outside the office, walked in, and there she was!  Dressed in a pink rabbit sweater and lots of layers, our beautiful daughter sat waiting for us to arrive. She was accompanied by two ladies from the orphanage, one of whom I would later learn, she was very attached to.  The orphanage ladies were chatting happily to her and encouraging her to come to us and call us Mama and Baba, which she did.  She allowed me to give her a quick hug and then eagerly looked into the backpack of treats we brought for her.  She immediately fished out a doll that her Mema bought for her!  She then colored with crayons for a bit, and enjoyed blowing some bubbles.  I then got out some photos of her and her friends at the orphanage (thanks April!!) which she was very excited to see!  One of her friends, Libby, left for the US last fall and our daughter was happy to see her again.  She also got out the photo album we sent her (which she carried around everyday for the past 6 weeks and bragged to all of her friends about her new family!) and opened the page to Daniel's photo and carefully pronounced his name to us, and then did the same for the photos of Kellen and Evan!  She was so proud to have memorized their names and faces!!  During the two hours we spent as this office, we signed and fingerprinted many forms and asked questions to the orphanage ladies.  We found out some surprising new information! We found out that Yu Ping has never been called Yu Ping or any other version of that name.  She was nicknamed Wu Yi many years ago and has only known that name!  It means May 1 which she was told was the day she was found (interestingly enough, all of our paperwork says she was found in July??)  She was given that name as a toddler by her foster mother, with whom she lived for almost 5 years!  We did not know this either!  We had understood that she had lived 5 years in one orphanage and then moved to her current orphanage.  She actually was placed in a foster home immediately after being found, but was under the official custody of the first orphanage we were told about.  2 years ago, a desire was made to place her for adoption, and she was tranferred to the 2nd orphanage because they were more successful at placing children in permanent homes.  It was because of this transfer that she was removed from foster care.  She has remained in touch with her foster mom and we have her phone number. We had to bring up the subject of a name change right away, as that information was requested for her official Chinese birth certificate.  I hated to have to bring that subject up so soon, but we just decided that we would let her choose what she wanted to do, and if she changed her mind later, then we would officially change it then.  When we asked what she wanted to be called she emphatically replied "Wu Yi" and nothing else.  So her official birth certificate simply says "Wu Yi Walters".  We dropped Yu Ping completely as she had never really known that name.  (Even though it is on all of her original paperwork).  After 2 hours, and reassurance that she would see her nannies again tomorrow, Wu Yi seemed happy to leave with Wendy and us.  We went to the grocery store and she raced up and down the aisles, picking all of her favorite foods, drinks, and candies from the shelves.  Then she asked for a Barbie and we got her that too.  (She contemplated a toy sword for a minute or so and then changed her mind).  We returned to the hotel with Wendy, had lunch and played in the room for another 2 hours.  Wu Yi stayed close to Wendy (even though she didn't know her) because she speaks Chinese, but she seemed comfortable playing with Don and I too.  She allowed us to pick her up and she held our hands while we were outside of the hotel.  Then it was time for Wendy to leave . . . . And the tears began. :(

We have arrived!

After 25 hours of travel, we are in Guiyang, Guizhou, population 6 million!  We had a spectacular flight from Seattle to Beijing ~ sunny and clear the whole way.  I had thought we would be over the ocean most of the time, but instead we flew up the coast of British Columbia, over Ketchican, Juneau, and Anchorage, and were treated to an incredible view of Denali!  Then we flew over the desolate and snowy coast of Eastern Russian, and finally down into Beijing.  The air polution here is pretty severe, so we couldn't actually see much of China.  The air smells faintly smokey, even indoors. It was a fairly smooth trip, as the people on the airlines and in the airports speak English.  We were met at our final destination by our lovely guide, Wendy, and she got us to our hotel at about midnite local time. It is now Monday morning (we are 16 hours ahead of Coeur D'Alene) and we are to meet our precious daughter in one hour!!  Wendy is meeting us in our hotel lobby in 15 minutes and then we walk about 5 minutes to the Civil Affairs Office with lots of documents and a few gifts for the orphange workers. (Plus a backpack full of fun stuff to encourage Yu Ping to like us!!)  We are VERY EXCITED!  More later . . . .

Leaving tomorrow!

We are ready!  Mema has arrived, the suitcases are completely packed, Don and the boys headed off for one last night-skiing trip, and I am just about to sit down and relax.  Then . . . the adoption agency calls and tells us that China has shortened the mandatory time stay and we can come home two days early if we want.  WHAT????  What to do?  Of course I want to return home to the boys ASAP, but, I also want to enjoy our visit to China and see as much as we can!  It was a stressful couple of hours of phone calls to the travel agent and our adoption coordinator, but in the end, there were no flights.  So, we are back on for a full two weeks.  Now I can sit down and try to relax! (I'm starting to feel a bit jumpy now . . .)

See you in China!

2 Days to China

My coworkers were so sweet to do my work for me today and send me home early.  So, I'm home in a quiet, empty house with very little left to do for the trip.  It is snowing outside and being home alone is very rare for me!  What a treat!  Time to just feel happy and anticipate becoming a mother again!  AGAIN!  AT 43!  4 KIDS!  How great is that?  :)

For those of you who haven't met my kids, let me introduce them!

Daniel is 13 and a "mini me" in terms of personality.  Very easy going, a perfectionist, rule follower, talented distance runner, fisherman, lego lover, brainiac, black diamond skiier, Boy Scout.  My first born who has never given me a single days worth of stress.  I suppose, now that he is a teenager, those days are numbered.  :) (You can get a learners permit to drive at 14 in Idaho!!)

Kellen is almost 12 (Happy Birthday from China next week!). Tenderhearted animal lover, energetic, determined, athletic, skateboarder, snowboarder, BMX rider, musician, dragon artist, expert texter, with a unique sense of style!  Keeping up with Kellen requires lots of energy and its never a dull moment!

Evan is 9 and my most affectionate boy.  He loves to give hugs and kisses and knows how to charm with compliments!  He is a pleaser who is very responsible, friendly, outgoing, independent, into Star Wars, Harry Potter, Percy Jackson and Captain Underpants.  His nose is in a book up to 3 hours a day.  (Hmm ~ wonder who he got that from?)  Evan has been the youngest in the house for 9 years and he is eager to pass that positon onto his new sister!

Yu Ping is 7.  She was anonymously relinquished in a public place in China at the estimated age of 15 months and has been living in an orphanage ever since. She was born with cleft lip and palate and her lip was repaired when she was a toddler.  We first saw her picture on an adoption website one year ago, and have been working hard to bring her home since then.  We have not met her yet and she has only known about us for a month. She is described as being smart, outgoing, independent, feisty, and she likes to sing and dance.

My kids! Am I a lucky mom or what?

3 Days to China

Wow!  I can't believe after all this waiting that the time has finally come.  My suitcase is packed (AND zipped), Don's suitcase is empty (but he did get it out and open it today), Yu Ping's suitcase has been packed for a month (95% pink stuff), my house is mostly clean, my pantry mostly stocked, and my cold mostly gone.  I'm not feeling nervous ~ in fact I feel strangely calm.  I promised myself that if I started to worry about me, that I would instead focus on HER.  Can you imagine how her life is about to change?  Her home, her friends, her nannies, her world as she knows it is about to be taken from her.  So many people tell me that she is a lucky girl.  I don't think she is going to feel that way for awhile.  There is little doubt in my mind that this is going to be a difficult process.    I hope she likes us.  I hope she trusts that we will take good care of her.  I hope she has been loved and well cared for.  I hope that she is ready to finally have a family of her own.  We are on our way to you sweet girl!  Wo ai ni!

One week to China

Its finally getting to be time to go!  After a year of waiting, we are packing, Mema is coming to stay with the boys, I've got Skype set up on my computer, the last big check was mailed to the adoption agency, and all of our documents and medicines are gathered.  (Guizhou is a province which has malaria, so we have to be prepared).  A group of my wonderful surgery girlfriends have made Yu Ping a beautiful quilt, and some of my best North Idaho girlfriends threw me a shower.  My neighbors, friends, and family are pitching in to help while we are gone and my boss isn't working me very hard this week (although I have to work Friday and we leave on Saturday!!).  A new friend that I met online through an adoption chat group sent me new photos of Yu Ping (her daughter was in the orphanage with her and she had pictures of them together ~ small world!).  It was such a wonderful gift to see my daughter playing with her friends in China (she is the one in the back of the photo posted above)!  We have also been put in touch with 3 other NW families who will be traveling around the same time as us, and who will be staying in the same hotel with us the 2nd week of the trip.  Its so nice to be creating a social network with other adoptive families.  It would be wonderful for Yu Ping to have relationships with other adopted Chinese kids after she arrives in the US. I keep waiting for the nerves to kick in, but so far I am only feeling excitement!  I am hoping to post to this blog everyday while we are in China.  Not only will it be a great way to communicate with folks back home, but it will be a nice keepsake for our daughter.  One word of warning ~ I am not very computer saavy.  Posting to the blog in China is different than posting in the US.  If you are following along, and aren't seeing any new posts, its only because I couldn't figure it out!  I won't be able to email or facebook and phone calls are very expensive, so keep your fingers crossed!!

Happy Birthday Evan!

Today our youngest son turned 9 years old! He was born in Seoul, South Korea on Feb 1, 2002. About a year ago Evan, being the incredibly bright boy that he is, noticed something on a globe called the "International Date Line".   When he learned that line means that Korea is a full day ahead of us, he promptly notified us that we were celebrating his birthday a day too late.   So now we stretch his birthday celebration out over a full two days ~ Jan 31 (cause its Feb 1 in Korea), and again on Feb 1 here.  Evan was a mere 4 months old when he joined our family and every year at this time, I am especially thankful to his birth mother and to the foster mom who took such good care of him in Korea.