tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-41208853878932319182024-03-13T17:16:08.620-05:00In a Land Far, Far Away...Allisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05679218812399118487noreply@blogger.comBlogger194125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4120885387893231918.post-84336382093781310342012-09-19T14:52:00.000-05:002012-09-19T14:58:31.411-05:00The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
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I have the beginnings of three posts written; just can't seem to find the time to finish and post them (gee, I wonder why?!?!). <br />Quick catch up: Guangzhou was wonderful. Had a fantastic travel group with some amazing kids. Beautiful weather, lots of swimming/eating/sight-seeing. <br />Flight home was actually reall great too, other than the fact that our multi-hour layover at each stop (in Seoul and Atlanta) turned into us running through the terminal to catch our next plane. Roo was awesome...I pulled out a new Ultraman figure during our first flight and that kept him occupied for the first 3-4 hours. He slept for about 9 hours of our 14 hour flight and then played quietly for the rest of the time. Monkey also ended up sleeping for most of the flights. It was seriously a piece of cake. Easiest transatlantic flights ever (and that includes the many times it was just Stu and me traveling without kids). <br />One of my favorite moments is when we are walking off the plane on our final leg. The relief at knowing the 24+ hours of non-stop travel is over, plus the knowledge that our family is waiting for us, is THE best feeling in the world. It was almost midnight when we landed so I was a little unsure of how our children would react. But when we walked out of the secured area, we were literally tackled by children. I'm not sure who was happier...them or us! Hugs and kisses and laughter and giggles. Pudding kept rubbing my face as if he couldn't believe I was actually there. So sweet! After catching up for a few minutes, Stu headed off to file a baggage claim, as none of our bags made the trip with us. Between being up late, the excitement of seeing us again, and some sugary treats, our children were running around like a bunch of hooligans. At this point, Roo completely shut down; he wanted to be held and buried his face in my shoulder. Very unlike him. Poor thing was completely overwhelmed. There is no telling what he thought was happening; I'm sure he was completely terrified of this new place with all of this strange new people. Heck, even I was a little overwhelmed by all of my wild things!
It was after 1:00 a.m. by the time we arrived home so I was hoping everybody would settle down quickly and go to bed. No such luck. Roo explored the house with all of his new siblings anxious to show him every single item in the entire house. Finally, around 2:00, we were able to get everyone tucked away. We have a toddler bed next to ours in our bedroom and Roo climbed right into it and was quickly asleep.
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The next week passed in a blur as we all settled into our new family dynamics. Roo had no problems with jet lag (other than waking up several times each night to go to the restroom); Monkey, Stu and I were another story. Actually, it was just Monkey that had an issue. Unfortunately he continued to wake up every morning at 3:00 a.m., thereby waking us up in the process (and, in many cases, his other brothers and sisters too).
Other than that, the transition has been fairly easy. Roo seems to like his new siblings but still plays independently. The other three Littles spend most of the day playing imaginary games so it's hard for him to join in with them. He is still obsessed with Ultraman - thank goodness there is a big supply of new episodes on the internet. His gregarious personality hasn't quite emerged since we've been home either. He was wild and crazy in China; here he is quiet and tends to follow the rest of the kids. I'm sure his gregarious personality will come out eventually and I will be longing for these quiet days:) Poor thing is completely overwhelmed anytime we go anywhere outside of the house. I can't even imagine what must be going through his head; I'm sure he is terrified of what other changes we are going to spring on him. I so wish I could talk to him and reassure him that he is staying with us forever; this is the only time the communication barrier has been an issue at all. Poor little guy. We've been hibernating with him at home since we've returned and will continue to do so for at least a few more weeks until he feels more settled.
Pudding and HD seem to be the most uninterested in the new addition. Sprout and Roo have forged quite the friendship though. I think Sprout is happy to have someone that will play with her (Pudding and HD tend to leave her out of their "twin" world they inhabit); Roo likes to be the boss and Sprout will go along with whatever he wants to do. I find it amazing that since Roo has joined our family, Sprout has started using Chinese words again. She dropped her Chinese quickly once she came home 10 months ago; now she is saying the Chinese words for all kinds of things. I know that Sprout and Roo were together at the same orphanage when they were younger but I'm sure they don't recognize each other; she probably finds the familiar words comforting. Chipmunk, of course, is an awesome big brother and works so hard to get Roo to like him. I thought Monkey and Roo might share a really close connection (like Chipmunk and Sprout do) since they were together for two weeks in China but it doesn't look like that is going to happen. Monkey is my kid that is most likely to be found playing by himself in his room and tends to get irritated when any of the little kids bother him. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I'm still trying to get used to our new normal. I felt like I was just really starting to truly bond with Roo when we arrived home and now I've taken a few steps backwards. I do honestly love him, but I find myself overwhelmed that he is my constant shadow and always one step behind me. We had such a good dynamic in our family prior to leaving and the three Littles played so well together, enabling me to get some laundry/cooking/cleaning accomplished during the day. With Roo needing constant attention, I have virtually no down-time during my day. When I'm not busy with Roo, I have five other children that are begging for my attention. It is exhausting. Stu is doing his best to help out: doing the bedtime routine with all of the kiddos, letting me escape to my friends' houses for a drink (or five). I had just forgotten how incredibly hard these first few months with a new child can be. I know this too shall pass and in a few months I'll be remembering these early days as "no big deal."
Now, onto the ugly...
When we picked Roo up, we were thrilled that his special need was a non-issue, as it had already been surgically corrected. Yay! He had his first pediatrician's appointment a few days after arriving home and was given a clean bill of health. Another yay! A few days later he started letting us know that one of his back teeth was hurting. I wasn't surprised as when we had picked him up we found that his back molars were completely rotted. Poor guy had never even had his teeth brushed. I took him to a pediatric dentist, figuring they would have to sedate him to work on his poor mouth. She took one look at him and said there was no way she was touching him; he had an absess in the back of his mouth that was threatening to infect his jaw bone. The bottom two molars are the worst she has ever seen and just about every other tooth in his mouth has a cavity. Sigh... So poor Roo will have to go to the hospital for dental surgery in mid-October where we can hopefully take care of all of his mouth issues at one time while he's asleep. Looks like he'll have to get a couple of implants along with a couple of root canals and crowns, not to mention all of the fillings. Thank goodness for dental insurance! In the meantime his eardrum has ruptured and both ears look horrible. A heavy-duty antibiotic is helping that but it looks like an appointment with the ENT is in his near future. He is such the trooper though. Still has his bright smile all day and is constantly giggling and being silly. I can't imagine how much better he will feel will when we get all of these problems taken care of.
So, that's our first two weeks home. Can't wait to see what the next two weeks hold. Hard to believe that it has almost been one month since we first held him in our arms. It seems like so long ago but also feels like just yesterday.
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</a></div>Allisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05679218812399118487noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4120885387893231918.post-43166089065053959832012-08-26T07:22:00.002-05:002012-08-26T08:17:34.205-05:00What a Difference a Day Makes<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUdlUUFZMaH2fkbibuITbzKxKu-D07XApaa_727qeWjvM8b4z0AQ_PrtKs6BwcCixYMbL4WZCpdKRdlkj-UQdKLrZAEotrmFtGHbjtONbZLhIblVbgR1DTaTUWiS2siWgsG4xvTZNl4BE/s1600/055.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 254px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUdlUUFZMaH2fkbibuITbzKxKu-D07XApaa_727qeWjvM8b4z0AQ_PrtKs6BwcCixYMbL4WZCpdKRdlkj-UQdKLrZAEotrmFtGHbjtONbZLhIblVbgR1DTaTUWiS2siWgsG4xvTZNl4BE/s320/055.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5780962069838817618" /></a><br /><br />(A quick shout out of thanks to Stu for doing the quick blog post once we landed in Guangzhou. I know most of you figured out that it was his eloquent writing voicing the last post.)<br />When I last posted, I was still having a bit of a struggle with my attachment to Kangaroo. In the two days since then, it seems as though a cloud has lifted. While we were dreading the two hour flight from Shanghai to GZ with him, he was a total rock star. Our guide in Shanghai had given us a DVD of a popular Chinese children's program (Pleasant Goat) right before we left and that was a lifesaver. He watched the entire DVD on the flight and didn't make a peep. Between the sunshine in GZ, being surrounded with an amazing travel group of other adoptive families, and just finding our groove with each other, my mood has completely changed; I am finding myself more and more head-over-heels in love with our little boy. He continues to be so happy and friendly. At first I was a little worried about his indiscriminate affection (often a big red flag for possible attachment issues); as time has passed I am realizing that is just his personality. He definitely recognizes Stu and me as Mama and Baba and is just really enthusiastic about meeting new people. He loves to snuggle and give us hugs and kisses. I even got my first "wo ai ni" (I love you in Mandarin) at bedtime last night...talk about turning my heart into a big ole gushy pile of mush! He is still throwing a few fits when he doesn't get his way but even those don't last as long now that he realizes we aren't going to give in. His personality is emerging more and more each day too. He is quite the charmer and loves to wink at pretty girls. He has even picked up his first English phrase, "One minute, otay?"<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs_LQl56W4kDVPLnCtO1JMLLPVe4om_RtXob8Uvt13h1GSUmaZhPw65j9VBdKltUVQO-yiopXIaV-tex4LNclOQ9QC46utoUglVgAz5i2pUyXRX6GpEwQMHCrCNAn64lx37q7Sul95em4/s1600/130.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs_LQl56W4kDVPLnCtO1JMLLPVe4om_RtXob8Uvt13h1GSUmaZhPw65j9VBdKltUVQO-yiopXIaV-tex4LNclOQ9QC46utoUglVgAz5i2pUyXRX6GpEwQMHCrCNAn64lx37q7Sul95em4/s320/130.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5780969766986425762" /></a><br />We've been having lots of fun in Guangzhou. It is so nice to be at a hotel filled with other adoptive families. To be surrounded by so many other families that are going through the same struggles as us has been a lifesaver. We all help one another as much as possible and nobody pass judgment if a child has a fit in the middle of the lobby or lobs a piece of food at their head (sorry to the families sitting nearby at breakfast yesterday!). The support has been amazing. We've had lots of fun activities too. From swimming on the rooftop pool at the hotel (which Roo loved!) to visiting Safari Park, we've rarely had any time to be stuck in the hotel. I'm sure big adjustments are in store as we travel back home on Thursday and introduce Roo to all of his brothers and sisters. For now we are making the most of our time with our newest little love.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqIrngzLTQrFN2eQUfUCp-2jcI36kCyBkn8jYofFzown-aWndFa4uV0FFopIvk_QUyUubY6Q-vh9VcTikaHnI07NsV8sLg5W9mRLtwzHtX3TgqL7djPTJER84j6Shn55Lnac51gmaztTM/s1600/094.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqIrngzLTQrFN2eQUfUCp-2jcI36kCyBkn8jYofFzown-aWndFa4uV0FFopIvk_QUyUubY6Q-vh9VcTikaHnI07NsV8sLg5W9mRLtwzHtX3TgqL7djPTJER84j6Shn55Lnac51gmaztTM/s320/094.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5780963382395260514" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB2JYpn-UDdw88xNJpIuXcQLtRmyocPk_MfjL4Iu0TbDHSxwoLyPE4DoJzHMUAlPNywHI7plgYzH4tkF1RJM3vRu-uZaO_5iF-blOYkmseI732ZD2KqlVh1cn0inFxWUm_7td9HWyT0jQ/s1600/060.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB2JYpn-UDdw88xNJpIuXcQLtRmyocPk_MfjL4Iu0TbDHSxwoLyPE4DoJzHMUAlPNywHI7plgYzH4tkF1RJM3vRu-uZaO_5iF-blOYkmseI732ZD2KqlVh1cn0inFxWUm_7td9HWyT0jQ/s320/060.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5780963376734006962" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipVq2JaQcT0JvEM07lA67J9_rFWXd2uIlKwYzWCTxGTfJ34U4Ee0Ylw5BoERn1rFpFOuRxzm2tsYNUnbhTwsC0OnicS7CGnWcyn9ue_iEzV4SMR0aza8-qNeaph-CvikNchzTm-nTwra0/s1600/027.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 242px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipVq2JaQcT0JvEM07lA67J9_rFWXd2uIlKwYzWCTxGTfJ34U4Ee0Ylw5BoERn1rFpFOuRxzm2tsYNUnbhTwsC0OnicS7CGnWcyn9ue_iEzV4SMR0aza8-qNeaph-CvikNchzTm-nTwra0/s320/027.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5780962091485135346" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB2QlMr_-UWdyrdF7x3JwV-ezwMIqHXB2FRORRrB-Z1QwtLj28kAb6NvbUCYSv7ro7ttLoRnoVuErc5jo3k8bMhAE-1O6mqS8YdTgbqY_ZaLWMb6Ib53n5rs_CQHBJycSDhjlSSwCGtBA/s1600/046.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 211px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB2QlMr_-UWdyrdF7x3JwV-ezwMIqHXB2FRORRrB-Z1QwtLj28kAb6NvbUCYSv7ro7ttLoRnoVuErc5jo3k8bMhAE-1O6mqS8YdTgbqY_ZaLWMb6Ib53n5rs_CQHBJycSDhjlSSwCGtBA/s320/046.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5780962078695574434" /></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://www.bloglines.com/sub/http://www.journeytohotdog.blospot.com">
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</a></div>Allisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05679218812399118487noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4120885387893231918.post-59948759879104403642012-08-24T07:42:00.002-05:002012-08-24T08:03:37.774-05:00GuangzhouSo just a quick post tonight to let everyone know we've landed in GZ and everybody is doing fine. Its going to be an early night tonight as we were all up at 6am. <br /><br />The trip through the airports went very smooth. Roo did very well on the flight. It was only 2 hours but he handled it great. He spent half of the time watching a dvd that our guide gave us. <br /><br />The Monkey fell asleep tonight half way through his 2nd piece of pizza tonight. He put it down and said "I'll be right back". He then walked to his bed and was asleep instantly. <br /><br />Tomorrow is the medical exams which can always be eventful. Hopefully it will just be a formality but you never know.<br /><br />By the way, I have the greatest husband ever. I had a craving for pizza and he went out and actually found good pizza. It hit the spot perfectly.<br /><br />See ya tomorrow.....<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://www.bloglines.com/sub/http://www.journeytohotdog.blospot.com">
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</a></div>Allisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05679218812399118487noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4120885387893231918.post-14707601957138974722012-08-23T08:46:00.002-05:002012-08-23T08:55:37.967-05:00A Better Day<br />Thank you all so much for the kind words. Things are going great but I want to be honest about some of the realities that we are experiencing. Adoption is a wonderful thing but it's not all rainbows and unicorns. It is hard work. Things might be a little bit rough right now but they get better every single day. Today it seemed like we all had new attitudes. Maybe it's because I let go of all of my expectations and decided to just enjoy being with our new little boy. Maybe it's because we are finally starting to feel comfortable with each and got a good night's sleep. Maybe it's because we borrowed a stroller from the hotel and Roo couldn't run off in a different direction. I have no idea what it was, but we had a really good day. <br /><br /><br />It started off with a visit to Roo's orphanage (which is also Sprout's former orphanage). I was a little hesitant taking him back here so soon but I couldn't pass up a chance to get a small glimpse into his life before us. I'm still trying to wrap my mind around the whole idea of a giant compound of buildings housing over 600 special needs children that are waiting for families. Without going into too many details, it gives a nice image but behind the pretty facade it is still an orphanage, not much different than the Russian and Kyrgyz orphanages we have also visited. We were allowed to see the rooms where Roo spent the past two weeks (prior to that he was with a foster family) and he was even able to say goodbye to a few friends. We didn't stay long as Roo seemed a little anxious and held Stu's hand the whole time. He was quite excited to leave and yelled "Bye bye!!" to everyone we passed. I'm glad we were able to visit and I'm glad we will never have to go back there. <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq72ssOakQxHIw9ZfYaNTei6jfD1yFDfaGLPBl8DpNJeCwiWIBoUwSMv2L5-u2MnIbsYXjT7qAOQFkDSRFTx17Td_ZuNiN3Spjugu9sDNVP6gW3oQmA9rXyUgP3BiaI2GgXBBKQWhzgUw/s1600/046.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq72ssOakQxHIw9ZfYaNTei6jfD1yFDfaGLPBl8DpNJeCwiWIBoUwSMv2L5-u2MnIbsYXjT7qAOQFkDSRFTx17Td_ZuNiN3Spjugu9sDNVP6gW3oQmA9rXyUgP3BiaI2GgXBBKQWhzgUw/s320/046.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5779865667414192082" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgKkguHdsRVLoLMqrNxuWfksZMSr8hXY1SOD4ldCZ693Mfz9Dz9W2MNYWkz_mDe7fbIX-w0Ka1FSH4NIWhnYNR_vFcOA5wNdgyuHERotIpvxpqqMbc7hiGt6wErAO66VJEvW4vGRnksGc/s1600/037.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 213px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgKkguHdsRVLoLMqrNxuWfksZMSr8hXY1SOD4ldCZ693Mfz9Dz9W2MNYWkz_mDe7fbIX-w0Ka1FSH4NIWhnYNR_vFcOA5wNdgyuHERotIpvxpqqMbc7hiGt6wErAO66VJEvW4vGRnksGc/s320/037.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5779865654548885186" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEOjM096CKSSAB-rvWmIxqxft0AbiXIAVkN_rpSQob6aYFCSjSNrnOh7xmBE23EP5hpVmYrJgHGz86Zp18BxbP4y_vehdhkw-Sk3BwC8lIrnzdZDmboR1Mr0qwcYqIIrT2_VYYfwHn_fw/s1600/040.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 213px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEOjM096CKSSAB-rvWmIxqxft0AbiXIAVkN_rpSQob6aYFCSjSNrnOh7xmBE23EP5hpVmYrJgHGz86Zp18BxbP4y_vehdhkw-Sk3BwC8lIrnzdZDmboR1Mr0qwcYqIIrT2_VYYfwHn_fw/s320/040.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5779865644391538450" /></a><br /><br /><br />Later this afternoon we visited Yuyuan Garden and the Old Shanghai area for awhile. It was rainy and it was so crowded with people. I'm so glad we visited though; it was Monkey's first view into China's amazing history. He couldn't even wrap his head around the fact that some of the sights were so old (but then again, neither can I). Monkey said he felt like a celebrity because so many people were coming up to take pictures with him. The younger people don't seem to pay any attention to us at all. The older people, however, have no problem walking right up to us and just staring/touching/grabbing. We just smile and try to talk with them and I'm so proud of Monkey for being such a good sport about it. Many people seem so confused as to how we can have a Chinese child. Adoption is relatively unheard of in this area...especially the adoption of a young boy. We've had several people that have seemed angry we are taking one of their treasures, but most people think it is wonderful and tell Roo what a lucky little boy he is. I think they are wrong though...we are the lucky ones!<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOtJ8EJjVoNql6Dzu0sxBqgU4p0dpwzmVfcaatV9aTFJHbph9cMjWqg0kPZjhpE7PCTIZd7sLEv77AsXeiGR4uIxmw9fI8nNmAxzDD79UjeCqb-MLwyw75Af9vU-XZ9QDcieYVcGMLaz8/s1600/069.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 213px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOtJ8EJjVoNql6Dzu0sxBqgU4p0dpwzmVfcaatV9aTFJHbph9cMjWqg0kPZjhpE7PCTIZd7sLEv77AsXeiGR4uIxmw9fI8nNmAxzDD79UjeCqb-MLwyw75Af9vU-XZ9QDcieYVcGMLaz8/s320/069.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5779866777177303170" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5rE3Si3ItyKJQxj7KdSrqhOvZBGC10r-gL6PFZlYzdWZjNConyYuV5xQojlawPd7vWfnIjj5Aluk64ngfS1zx9T77J-Pgq9MStalN3bSQfodKlZNDDjZXHisZ-f9HT3m-KqaZmAc9-m4/s1600/094.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5rE3Si3ItyKJQxj7KdSrqhOvZBGC10r-gL6PFZlYzdWZjNConyYuV5xQojlawPd7vWfnIjj5Aluk64ngfS1zx9T77J-Pgq9MStalN3bSQfodKlZNDDjZXHisZ-f9HT3m-KqaZmAc9-m4/s320/094.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5779866767303848466" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgcyhi0C7Ib0CPSil59BJ_tZS8CFmIOUc5E7NqVhmFfRrvN66ygywY6lMkbqCjptJXwfUSfleEcn1PLiOe-bOusPoHg-ueO7RMut6fPWL0SyQ5UdMV7G2BsXJz36eHBFGdpgsf4VdV1LQ/s1600/081.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 213px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgcyhi0C7Ib0CPSil59BJ_tZS8CFmIOUc5E7NqVhmFfRrvN66ygywY6lMkbqCjptJXwfUSfleEcn1PLiOe-bOusPoHg-ueO7RMut6fPWL0SyQ5UdMV7G2BsXJz36eHBFGdpgsf4VdV1LQ/s320/081.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5779866756349068866" /></a><br /><br />Time to say goodnight on our last night in Shanghai. Tomorrow we leave for the last leg of our trip in Guangzhou. I like Shanghai but am looking forward to meeting up with so many other adoptive families in GZ. To have support from families that are in the exact same situation really helps us power through the last week of our trip. <div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://www.bloglines.com/sub/http://www.journeytohotdog.blospot.com">
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</a></div>Allisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05679218812399118487noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4120885387893231918.post-85821878170872742842012-08-22T07:20:00.008-05:002012-08-22T08:09:07.155-05:00Reality Hits<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHM4z0UklnLR2gkKEJlvBClHf41HBmAB0rkaxzN1TSpeuH_l9HHoSel7KF9F2_pqxrqzdpyHFsXXnUQsR4afTOFZB3sS_x9R_i2okDfpOvVXwNiy9uA3YTlGzske596toN8ByV0f6hYW8/s1600/025.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 312px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHM4z0UklnLR2gkKEJlvBClHf41HBmAB0rkaxzN1TSpeuH_l9HHoSel7KF9F2_pqxrqzdpyHFsXXnUQsR4afTOFZB3sS_x9R_i2okDfpOvVXwNiy9uA3YTlGzske596toN8ByV0f6hYW8/s320/025.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5779479748727389458" /></a><br />Roo remains the happy little boy that we met a mere two days ago. He is full of smiles and is starting to give spontaneous kisses and hugs. Yesterday was spent finalizing the adoption; in the eyes of China, he is officially a member of our family! Today we visited the Pearl TV Tower and the Shanghai Aquarium. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLdcM7ciuJrm8t-4BRVjIi4j65vHRYwpkhW4gkipm0z7xKRzBN_2hY9wdWGooGqksWBhLyoWBAXFkVdJfjeZkT1S2RIRcbIcfAacPUEsJ-EdYiRAcOGJNCFXNHZR46zc8F4fxPYBZy4do/s1600/011.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLdcM7ciuJrm8t-4BRVjIi4j65vHRYwpkhW4gkipm0z7xKRzBN_2hY9wdWGooGqksWBhLyoWBAXFkVdJfjeZkT1S2RIRcbIcfAacPUEsJ-EdYiRAcOGJNCFXNHZR46zc8F4fxPYBZy4do/s320/011.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5779472818546946402" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVRi8ACuMGi1M9SBr9De9Gi74P3LUgjXdxFft6v0A_f9zS3G2-_tBdB1Hw1pWBGr_oloi9DShf9rMin0kz3ZUXHo5Mnh0w_pLRcbrzjJAwDvPOwa5KOhqkaGq4nsHoUg9Xv6HPVpXKdNg/s1600/061.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 213px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVRi8ACuMGi1M9SBr9De9Gi74P3LUgjXdxFft6v0A_f9zS3G2-_tBdB1Hw1pWBGr_oloi9DShf9rMin0kz3ZUXHo5Mnh0w_pLRcbrzjJAwDvPOwa5KOhqkaGq4nsHoUg9Xv6HPVpXKdNg/s320/061.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5779472802425932642" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhILAu8HKYZbodYUqBl4P1NsUB1rvH4pOI4BvrXVx9ljjTwYc9rnZdJ5aImufs44v3i5hg5DO08zBWryxjBuXw_af-Yzz8eMxPvVOGzdiEeOquQiURdg6LnWW5OOd_p7nCR47dVIda3Vbc/s1600/049.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 262px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhILAu8HKYZbodYUqBl4P1NsUB1rvH4pOI4BvrXVx9ljjTwYc9rnZdJ5aImufs44v3i5hg5DO08zBWryxjBuXw_af-Yzz8eMxPvVOGzdiEeOquQiURdg6LnWW5OOd_p7nCR47dVIda3Vbc/s320/049.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5779480387687359042" /></a><br /><br />Both days were full of fun but Roo is out of control the second we step out of our hotel room. He takes off in the opposite direction and Stu and I are spending the majority of our time trying to catch him or carry/drag him to where we need to be. I'm sure it is a variety of factors. He is very overstimulated, going from a rather-sheltered life to being constantly in and out of vans/offices/meetings. We can see that he has never experienced many ordinary aspects of life so he is experiencing many "firsts" with us. We are seeing that he was very spoiled by his foster family; I'm not sure if I shared that he was living with a foster family for the past two years. Such a blessing in that he was obviously adored by them and learned what it is like to live in a family; however, we can easily tell that he was given most anything that he wanted and expects us to follow the same. I am beyond thrilled that he was fostered... he had the warmth of a family life and loves to snuggle. However, trying to establish boundaries where there have been none is challenging, to say the least. He laughs in our face if we tell him "no" and will not allow us to redirect him to a new activity. We saw our first temper tantrum today (all 30 seconds of it) and he lashed out at Monkey a few times over sharing toys. We know this is completely healthy and a great step forward that he is letting down his walls and figuring out that we will be here for him no matter what. But it is hard to deal with this when we are stuck in a small hotel room for hours. And we can't attempt too much discipline at this point as all eyes are on us the second we walk out of this room. I know this is just the beginning and things will get easier once we get home but for now it's hard on him and us. <br />On the other side of this story is our adjustment to Roo. It goes without saying that we adore him and think he is one of the cutest kids ever. When he looks at us with his big smile and dimples our hearts completely melt. Hearing his big belly laugh is like music to our ears. But the reality is that he is a five-year-old little boy. He is a preschooler that has a fully formed personality and is full of opinions of what he likes and doesn't like. We can't expect a child to erase the first five years of his life and come to us with a blank slate. We just need to figure out a way to incorporate those first five years into the new relationship he is building with us. At this point we are still more like strangers than family and we are all struggling to figure out what to expect from each other. I suppose right now it seems like we are babysitting for a really cute kid. I know that in time the deep feelings of love and bonding will come but right now we have are slowly getting to know each other and are having a good time. And that's enough for now. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGfbgX9dHHQXdnSMmm-8bTZwH2T1FHMdP7BG7yLs6-LnL538BxgTS7ic2SLztAJtM8wDn_6Dv_qV9zWZ0V7hxZ2w7N3mr8O11QSfW2MiJigQpxP1V365n0D01OzWfk5RuBr6P0R-beYNU/s1600/010.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 213px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGfbgX9dHHQXdnSMmm-8bTZwH2T1FHMdP7BG7yLs6-LnL538BxgTS7ic2SLztAJtM8wDn_6Dv_qV9zWZ0V7hxZ2w7N3mr8O11QSfW2MiJigQpxP1V365n0D01OzWfk5RuBr6P0R-beYNU/s320/010.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5779480090799018034" /></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://www.bloglines.com/sub/http://www.journeytohotdog.blospot.com">
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</a></div>Allisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05679218812399118487noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4120885387893231918.post-89956795215059092212012-08-21T06:02:00.006-05:002012-08-21T07:42:44.055-05:00We Have Our Kangaroo!<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU_ejNlt_gtwVKomx0m333VtG-AfDQwtnpUrOf28zDGVfm5F5XSpIuYfZ6G2ebj8Wvj27rl0Zdlk648oRGV6wNhocs9lT5oNwfcgtU_dCz9-CYeub3TPh57DECVpcQSYNW19BTJDDEdmc/s1600/065.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU_ejNlt_gtwVKomx0m333VtG-AfDQwtnpUrOf28zDGVfm5F5XSpIuYfZ6G2ebj8Wvj27rl0Zdlk648oRGV6wNhocs9lT5oNwfcgtU_dCz9-CYeub3TPh57DECVpcQSYNW19BTJDDEdmc/s320/065.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5779082049884989186" /></a><br />We arrived in Shanghai late Saturday night. We had a lazy day on Sunday, wandering Nanjing Road and up to the Bund. We didn't stay out long as it was HOT! We are used to hot and humid but this was a completely different level. It probably didn't help that we were surrounded by thousands of Chinese people who don't believe in personal space or cold bottles of water. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUToBcswiKm5jwuudJhxg72AHn-PgnyjLEat1lZ_LCViFm-ZeI8ZJByeduXhFy0T3kCg54QbElyl_5guJASNA9jhD_cQcaX_j_gPhQpqEidGetxszFd3P-KRQ1TebRJ9rSyJj9mjxr6mI/s1600/001.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 213px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUToBcswiKm5jwuudJhxg72AHn-PgnyjLEat1lZ_LCViFm-ZeI8ZJByeduXhFy0T3kCg54QbElyl_5guJASNA9jhD_cQcaX_j_gPhQpqEidGetxszFd3P-KRQ1TebRJ9rSyJj9mjxr6mI/s320/001.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5779085308663625650" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs4zpnVijcQUyZFEXCPOlSF5JjqJwLCLiMrEi99gcLT_X6Uby7EhZeecWr78M9fNBeehKFjPY73a-MDUjaifcDda_T5v1J4cLiaou8pB20eKx2yQU63Idn09FEJ4XjR0siteuhQ-8MaH8/s1600/012.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs4zpnVijcQUyZFEXCPOlSF5JjqJwLCLiMrEi99gcLT_X6Uby7EhZeecWr78M9fNBeehKFjPY73a-MDUjaifcDda_T5v1J4cLiaou8pB20eKx2yQU63Idn09FEJ4XjR0siteuhQ-8MaH8/s320/012.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5779085300817562578" /></a><br /><br />We spent the rest of the night getting settled and getting prepared to meet Roo. After going through this five previous times, I was surprised at how nervous I was feeling. So many thoughts were racing through my head: how to deal with the language barrier, if he would still be grieving for his foster family (with whom he spent two years), how a 5-year-old would deal with such a major transition. Even Stu, who had been the driving force in this adoption, was beginning to feel overwhelmed. I'm pretty sure he hadn't even thought about the fact that this little guy would be speaking fluent Mandarin. We actually slept great and grabbed a quick breakfast before we headed to the Children's Welfare Office to meet Roo. We were greeted by the same woman we met last year during Sprout's adoption; she was quite surprised to see us again. After catching up with her, we began signing the endless pieces of paper necessary to begin the adoption proceedings. In the meantime our translator MingMing was able to sneak a peek at Roo, who was waiting in the next room. She said he was very friendly and was eating chips. A few minutes later, Roo walked into the room. He was a bit hesitant but walked right up to us and said, "Baba (daddy in Chinese). Mama." He then proceeded to empty a backpack full of toys that we had previously sent him. He was quite proud of the pictures of himself that were given to us. We could tell he was still a little bit nervous but Monkey pulled out a sucker for him and we were rewarded with our first smile! We saw his big dimples and his eyes perked up. That was all it took. He led Monkey over to a nearby table and they proceeded to play with some plastic soldiers while I finished up the paperwork.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFG3FtUJEbKjOv4t_ZmHTcO0GQurfQHWPL00OPUPFEUBeB27OlT8JJRx4SJAsQOWPsOoobu0piSQf6PM3co8_Sr_nqXlKZ-kiVlI5R44nje57HyggpaMl6O0nAdY-Ik6QF3XYbADel8HM/s1600/034.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFG3FtUJEbKjOv4t_ZmHTcO0GQurfQHWPL00OPUPFEUBeB27OlT8JJRx4SJAsQOWPsOoobu0piSQf6PM3co8_Sr_nqXlKZ-kiVlI5R44nje57HyggpaMl6O0nAdY-Ik6QF3XYbADel8HM/s320/034.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5779082028289648530" /></a><br /><br />Maybe ten minutes after meeting him it was time to leave. We loaded up his backpack of "treasures" and decided to hit the grocery store before returning to our hotel. We wanted to let Roo pick out a few foods so we knew we had something he would eat. He grabbed cookies, chips, candy, noodles...we ended up with a cart full of junk food. Our translator dropped us off at the front of our hotel and we were on our own. I'm always so surprised at how different the China adoption process is from the Russian/Kyrgyz programs which include a week of bonding before transfer. Within an hour of meeting us, Roo was left with virtual strangers that didn't even speak his language. I'm sure he was scared but he didn't show it. Monkey and he immediately emptied the suitcase of toys we brought and quickly began to have a swordfight. Looks like this boy will be a perfect fit for our wild crew at home. After a Nerf gun shootout, he fed Roo a quick lunch of instant noodles and tried to lay him down for a nap (per his schedule we received from the orphanage). That was a big failure, though he did manage to rest for awhile watching our Tom and Jerry DVD.<br /> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLLGk96svOfKGDzsPX1vsVx6G92qPF8yuMZtoohPn_x-9MdXR56LVYsbheZ_EAy8yFo_ECHbwDloZaPPt37zzraHjqh5Am0__QaPPrAf4DMfp7swiutBfFWFsruFVuPq8Aobvj9dVc4mk/s1600/069.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLLGk96svOfKGDzsPX1vsVx6G92qPF8yuMZtoohPn_x-9MdXR56LVYsbheZ_EAy8yFo_ECHbwDloZaPPt37zzraHjqh5Am0__QaPPrAf4DMfp7swiutBfFWFsruFVuPq8Aobvj9dVc4mk/s320/069.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5779082062444815026" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMCthKaoLjht7CxaWppYIgT2B_qY0T0oYPNSp8Pxo4d2p-UwwtjuqtSPDZQyEVs2QnCM5kKJ6d6voc2FRSXJ5sEfOZzMTqgl4veuvD_bfr9UOLIXZsmDeei6yn7C3zHJ9geUoTXUJfyl8/s1600/051.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 213px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMCthKaoLjht7CxaWppYIgT2B_qY0T0oYPNSp8Pxo4d2p-UwwtjuqtSPDZQyEVs2QnCM5kKJ6d6voc2FRSXJ5sEfOZzMTqgl4veuvD_bfr9UOLIXZsmDeei6yn7C3zHJ9geUoTXUJfyl8/s320/051.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5779082040571207138" /></a><br />He laughed and giggled his way through the afternoon and jabbered non-stop in Mandarin. It didn't seem to bother him at all that we couldn't understand each other. I even got my first hug and quick kiss! We decided to grab dinner at the Chinese restaurant in the hotel - not brave enough to wander out with him yet. He liked the noodles and broccoli we ordered and was an expert with chopsticks. He went crazy when they brought out watermelon and cherry tomatoes for dessert. I'm pretty sure that between Roo and Pudding, we will be going through a watermelon a day when we get back home. <br />Back at the room, we gave Roo a quick bath. He is not a fan of that, though I'm sure that will change when we get home. His schedule indicated that bedtime was usually at 8:00. Not quite. He was so wound up and ready to play. We finally managed to get him to lay down at 10:00 and he quickly went to sleep...and slept through the night!!<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLuutqu4ywONigFfsJxZbKnF-8QQORkb6QtKZLLl9JTD-V1aXP2qTJ9-n26nB46I7b2ZH7SvBCEtfISaubppLQTw2_4ZuR2UnpKEfCbqXE9-YHoS1-B18cwkKMnvp0XZSum1iEX1vi7Tg/s1600/009.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLuutqu4ywONigFfsJxZbKnF-8QQORkb6QtKZLLl9JTD-V1aXP2qTJ9-n26nB46I7b2ZH7SvBCEtfISaubppLQTw2_4ZuR2UnpKEfCbqXE9-YHoS1-B18cwkKMnvp0XZSum1iEX1vi7Tg/s320/009.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5779096989993101554" /></a><br /><br />Stu and I could not have envisioned a more picture perfect first day with Kangaroo. I'm sure we will have more challenges as the days pass, but if today was any indication, we just added one more ray of sunshine to our family!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://www.bloglines.com/sub/http://www.journeytohotdog.blospot.com">
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</a></div>Allisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05679218812399118487noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4120885387893231918.post-75817521322675451502012-08-17T09:36:00.012-05:002012-08-17T10:51:00.667-05:00There was an old lady who lived in a shoe......she has so many children, she didn't know what to do. <br />So she decided to adopt another child. While we were initially hesitant to share this news with our family and friends, most of them were not the least bit surprised to hear that we would be adding to our family. Honestly, I think Stu and I were probably more shocked than everyone else. Even Sprout's adoption caught as by surprise, as much as is possible with adoption. So the idea that we would add a sixth child, so soon after Sprout's adoption, was utterly ridiculous. Our plates were full, our calendars were full, our energy pushed beyond its bounds, as was our patience. But one look at the sweet face of a special little boy changed that in an instant. To be honest, this all began prior to Sprout's adoption. While perusing a yahoo group for families adopting from Shanghai, I saw that someone was advocating for a little boy in Sprout's orphanage. Of course, I had to look and the picture completely took my breath away. I have no idea what it was about it but it felt so familiar, like I had known him forever. I pushed the thoughts aside, as we were knee-deep in Sprout's adoption and looking at any more children Needing families was more than my heart could bear. A few days later I was unable to get his face out of my mind and showed stu the picture. He agreed he was cute and there was something special about him. He was also quick to add that our family was full. I agreed and that was that. Unable to stop thinking about him, I asked an agency if they could get updated information about him so maybe I could advocate for him. We didn't hear anything but Stu and I kept bringing him up. It was completely the opposite of what our family needed: another boy, a mere 7 months older than Pudding, while another adoption was going on. Bit no matter what our heads thought, our hearts told us he was our son. We were thrown for a huge loop; we had always pursued an adoption because we wanted to add a child to our family. We had never felt pulled to adopt a specific child. But as much as we tried to fight it, the pull to this dimple-cheeked little boy was irresistible. One day while checking the shared list I found that he was gone. That could only mean one thing: that he had found a family. While I was thrilled for that little boy would have parents to love him, I was heartbroken that it wouldn't be us. A few nights later, Stu and I took the kids out to a baseball game. Stu asked about adopting another little boy and I told him that I had NO desire to adopt child unless it was that certain little boy. I had also finally started to feel at peace that our family would be complete when Sprout got home and we could begin to plan our future without worrying about adoption travel, etc. it was literally less than 20 minutes later when I checked my email and found a message from the agency with an update and new pictures of the little guy. I was flabbergasted. I asked about him being off of the shared list and found out that whatever family had pulled his file had returned it and he was still available. Tha was all we needed to hear. We contacted our social worker the next day to get a homestudy update and get the paperwork started. We also had to apply for a waiver from China to allow us to begin a new adoption before our current one was complete. Once we got that approval, we sent in our LOI (asking china to allow us to adopt him) and received PA (preapproval) on August 16, 2012. Around this time, things started to progress with Sprout's adoption. Things were absolute chaos for the rest of August and September as we prepared to travel for Sprout and put together out dossier for our little Kangaroo. As we began to get closer to travel for Sprout, I began to have serious questions about whether we were doing the right thing with adding two new children to our family, so close in age to our preschoolers at home. My doubts grew heavier and heavier until right before travel I had pretty much made up my mind that I didn't want to pursue the second adoption. I was completely overwhelmed by the very thought of it. Stu made me keep an open mind as we traveled to Shanghai for Sprout. And I will admit that it was really hard to be in the same city as the little guy and not be able to check in on him. After arriving home, having 5 children that were all trying to deal with the multiple transitions going on within our home, breaking my foot during the holiday season, not to mention adjusting to Sprout's gregarious behavior and her inability to sleep...I was done. I was in over my head and didn't know if I would ever be able to come up for breath. There was no way I could handle another child. So we made the difficult decision to pull our dossier and stop the adoption. It was so very hard to do but brought me immediate relief. Our family slowly adjusted to our new normal and we survived the holidays. My guilt about Kangaroo's adoption was still strong so I decided to try to find a family for him. I was able to find two different families that were interested in pursuing him, but for a variety of reasons China turned them both down. At the end of January, when our little Roo was celebrating his 5th birthday, I woke up one morning with a horrible feeling that we were making the wrong decision. I sat with this for a few days, hoping it would go away, but the feeling grew. On a whim, I contacted our agency and asked if China Would ever let us resubmit our dossier for Roo. She said she would check but she wasnt sure. She called me later and asked if I was serious. I said I needed to talk to Stu but I needed to know if it was even a possibility before I approached him with this. As it turns out, they had never pulled our dossier!!! So as far as China was concerned we were still in process for him. I honestly couldn't believe it. Stu and I discussed it and then discussed it some more and then prayed and then prayed some more. We finally decided to go out for dinner and make a final decision. By the end of the night, we still couldn't decide. As we were leaving, we mentioned to our waitress that we had 5 kids at home and she proceeded to ell us that she was the youngest of 6 kids and she loved growing up in a house full of siblings. Stu and I looked at each other and we knew we had made our decision. We were going to bring Kangaroo home. Everything went full steam ahead which has led us to where we are today...sitting in the Chicago airport, waiting to board our plane to Seoul and eventually Shanghai. In just 2.5 more days, we will finally be united with our Roo!!!<br />It has been quite the journey to our little boy but I can't wait for the adventure to begin. We bright Monkey wit us this time and if you are interested, you can follow along on his personal blog too: www.millerschinaadventures.blogspot.com.<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://www.bloglines.com/sub/http://www.journeytohotdog.blospot.com">
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</a></div>Allisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05679218812399118487noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4120885387893231918.post-6420556828776106932012-07-31T22:32:00.001-05:002012-07-31T22:32:55.199-05:00Eight Months of "Firsts"
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There is absolutely no excuse for my lack of blogging. According to my 8-year-old, "it's not like you work or anything. You just hang around the house all day." At this point, I think working outside of the home might seem like a vacation to me.
Honestly, having five kids is exhausting. And the last thing I want to do during the ten minutes of quiet I get each day is get on the computer. But I feel so guilty that I haven't been updating on Sprout's transition and development. I can't update on a lot of details of the last eight months but I will try to highlight some of her big "first" milestones.
Sprout is wonderful. Exhausting, but wonderful. She is still tiny - wearing 18-24 months at 3 1/2-years-old. But what she lacks in size, she makes up for in personality. She is so very happy almost every minute of every day. She is so very loud. She is so very busy. She is like our own little Tasmanian devil. You can always tell where she has been because she leaves a path of destruction behind. For example, today she emptied half of the box of detergent on the laundry room floor; as we were cleaning that up, she squeezed half a box of toothpaste into the sink; after that she managed to get an ink pen and scribble all over herself and the couch. All of this happened within a five minute span. With both Stu and me home.
She is like this all day, every day. But then she looks up to you with her mile-wide smile and her goofy little laugh and you forget all about the mischief she has caused. We call her our little pint-sized tornado.
Her transition was pretty seamless. She acted as though she had lived with us all of her life. Her siblings acted like she had been here forever. It was really easy...except for the fact that I was trying to juggle five kids, three of which were toddlers. For the first three months, I would crawl into bed minutes after we had the kids down for the night. After that, we seemed to find our rhythm and haven't looked back since. Everyone seems amazed that we have five children, but honestly our house was already crazy and chaotic and one more child didn't make too much of a difference (other than one more LOUD voice to the crowd).
Enough words...time for pictures.
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<b>First Birthday with her Family</b> (can you tell she has a sweet tooth?!?)
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<b>First Christmas</b>
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<b>First Chinese New Year celebration</b>
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<b>First experience in snow </b> (no fear at all in this girl)
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<b>First haircut </b>(courtesy of her big sister)
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<b>First time in a pool
</b>
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<b>First time on the beach</b>
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<b>First Easter</b>
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<b>First trip to the zoo
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<b><b>Second trip to the beach but the first time swimming by herself without a lifejacket</b> (and now she is a little fish)</b>
A few more "firsts" will happen tomorrow as I send two of the Littles off to preschool. With just Sprout and me at home, who knows what kind of trouble we can create.
I promise to try to update again soon...with some exciting news about Sprout's newest big brother!!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://www.bloglines.com/sub/http://www.journeytohotdog.blospot.com">
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</a></div>Allisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05679218812399118487noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4120885387893231918.post-14464214272232520242011-11-15T19:30:00.009-05:002011-11-15T20:34:31.559-05:00Planes, Trains and Automobiles<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih3xCwSDEmAtKemJ9qmVTUNhE4mFGuBwe3Va7vQAsdo8h3jeoaujlONUnrkCUQFK17sk1pFoTzS7lQK0t_auwJT7PoojXGMR1phsZYGSpPtOo0RVbWrnfqNegSnEbH-yUIEf-p6Nqx9Us/s1600/IMG_7729.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih3xCwSDEmAtKemJ9qmVTUNhE4mFGuBwe3Va7vQAsdo8h3jeoaujlONUnrkCUQFK17sk1pFoTzS7lQK0t_auwJT7PoojXGMR1phsZYGSpPtOo0RVbWrnfqNegSnEbH-yUIEf-p6Nqx9Us/s320/IMG_7729.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5675392835362495826" /></a><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwcfHrNQP7dE2S04azm-lEe_OEACO_XDa4m-Mk-fJhVakebjg9MDRChLj4gSgmF0ieNYL19Ky0-sH5V7YTnwBwJtqKWd0DwGE526in0_597jp0NlFPCjoEwxEjLelbphTieR3f1pQSIAo/s1600/IMG_7745.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwcfHrNQP7dE2S04azm-lEe_OEACO_XDa4m-Mk-fJhVakebjg9MDRChLj4gSgmF0ieNYL19Ky0-sH5V7YTnwBwJtqKWd0DwGE526in0_597jp0NlFPCjoEwxEjLelbphTieR3f1pQSIAo/s320/IMG_7745.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5675392845607473666" /></a><br />Between jet lag and the virus the Littles shared with me I don't have much energy, but I wanted to post that we made it home safely and are settling into our new normal.<br />The journey was looooong but uneventful. After picking up Sprout's visa on Thursday afternoon we said our goodbyes to Guangzhou and headed to the the train station. We took the early evening train to Hong Kong which was actually quite nice. We were seated with several other adoptive families so the two hours passed quickly. The next morning we woke up bright and early and headed to the airport. Anxiety started to quick in as we made it to our terminal. Sprout is a happy little girl and pretty easy to please, but she is in a constant state of motion. Even when she is sleeping her body is moving non-stop. So the thought of trying to keep her calm and happy on a 14 hour flight started to make my heart race. I was relieved to see three other adoptive families were on our flight. It helps just a little bit to know that there would be others that would understand what we were going through. Stu, Sprout and I had the three seats in the middle and Chipmunk had the entire three seats in the aisle across from us. Lucky boy! As we were waiting to push from the gate I was feeling pretty confident that it would be okay. We were in the back with lots of empty seats around us and Sprout was tired so surely she would sleep for some of the flight. Within minutes she started throwing her Cheerios and when I told her no, she started whining. Immediately the old guy in seated in front of us stands up and very loudly says, "Oh God! It's starting already. I can't believe I have to sit through this for the entire plane ride...." He ranted for a full minute but I was in shock to hear much of what he said. Stu and I sat there with our mouths wide open. I mean I know it's not idea for anybody to have a toddler on a 14-hour flight, but it's not like we had any choice. I don't even remember what I said to him. I think it was something like "I'm sorry but we have to get her home and this is the only option." What I really wanted to tell him wouldn't be appropriate for Chipmunk's ears. I could feel my blood boiling as the guy stalked away. Thankfully, the guy sitting behind us jumped up and was incredulous about what the old man said. The girl sitting across from us also said not to worry about it. This was going to be a long flight. <br />Chipmunk quickly zoned out, watching movies on tv in his seat. He could choose from about 50 movies and he took full advantage of that. He watched movies nonstop for 12 hours; didn't even sleep until the last hour of the flight.<br />Sprout wasn't so easy. She actually did remarkably well but would not sleep. At all. We could tell she was getting tired about four hours in but she fought it with every ounce of her body. We tried to lay her down in the middle seat and she would have none of that. We walked the aisles a lot. She had an embarrassing amount of suckers. The flight attendants fell in love with her and brought her crackers and bread. A young Chinese woman came and picked her up out of my arms and took her to her seat several rows back (while I'm used to the fact that random people off the street would pick up my child, I was a little freaked out to watch this woman and her husband play with my child like she was theirs - I made Stu go rescue her after a few minutes). We let her destroy most of the magazines in her seat. My favorite game was to let her "accidentally" kick old man's seat in front of us (yes, I am that evil). She finally slept for the last three hours of the flight.<br />The minutes ticked by slowly but looking back on it she did really good. Only cried maybe 20 minutes total of the flight. And many of the people around us actually complimented her on their way out. <br />By the time we landed in Detroit, we were all exhausted and wanted to be home. By the time we passed through customs and immigration we only had a couple of hours to wait for our final flight. Stu and Chipmunk made lots of laps with Sprout in her stroller while I caught a little catnap. <br />The next flight was only about 50 minutes and was a piece of cake. I wanted to cry tears of joy when we arrived and were greeted by so many of our friends and family. Monkey, HD and Pudding ran and almost tackled me to the ground. It was such a relief to finally have all five of my children in my arms! Sprout immediately showed off her goofball personality and was soon laughing and running with all of the kiddos. I'm sure we looked like a three-ring circus but I couldn't wipe the smile off my face. <br />The car ride home wasn't fun as Sprout was not a fan of the carseat and screamed for most of the 45 minutes home - to which HD proclaimed, "She is NOT my sister." Ha! <br />Everyone seems to be settling into our new roles. Sprout and HD managed to overcome jetlag within a day. It is taking Stu and me a bit longer. Monkey is in love with his new sister; HD is indifferent; Pudding seems to be having the most trouble, which I expected. He is my shadow and is always in my lap, holding my hand, etc. He is trying to share me with Sprout but it's hard. Sprout is doing great. She thinks her new siblings are hilarious and is slowly warming up to her dad. I thought she would be rather clingy to me for the first few days but she is pretty independent and has explored most of the house. We are still working on some sleep issues and right now she is sleeping in bed with me. It is also going to take her awhile to get used to the way the kiddos "share" their food (as in, the second your head is turned, they grab whatever is available off your plate). Honestly though, this has been the easiest transition so far. I'm sure we will have many more bumps to cross but so far, so good. As I was snuggling with all of my children on the couch tonight, I just kept thinking that I might just be the luckiest mom in the world.<br /><br /><br />One last snack<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvwe3uFH85kCnssq1PAAUYWCpnjuxngiaZD2LR4o5Jvc7Y6Ar98hhSb0gExuH-LoyjiVUhyvVrI4oCc_SQxOs1eXzofCog5qH_9GD4eIqZzUubKTqa7APe2-sQ5LpYIjhP4OxDy1ZScyw/s1600/IMG_7701.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvwe3uFH85kCnssq1PAAUYWCpnjuxngiaZD2LR4o5Jvc7Y6Ar98hhSb0gExuH-LoyjiVUhyvVrI4oCc_SQxOs1eXzofCog5qH_9GD4eIqZzUubKTqa7APe2-sQ5LpYIjhP4OxDy1ZScyw/s320/IMG_7701.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5675391096939966946" /></a><br /><br />My little packing helper <br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1q3qR_yE6gLd_PCA5HluVKJSrtnanxbChotByiD2NEG7ldKYZonhCdshhp8FVdTPaKY24ZcpVYDxYbjZPc1WWwzSufgxi452KFAXu5XmtDA-HUuMQ0I47waw5hndQfmU-HMjItkcXBUg/s1600/IMG_7705.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1q3qR_yE6gLd_PCA5HluVKJSrtnanxbChotByiD2NEG7ldKYZonhCdshhp8FVdTPaKY24ZcpVYDxYbjZPc1WWwzSufgxi452KFAXu5XmtDA-HUuMQ0I47waw5hndQfmU-HMjItkcXBUg/s320/IMG_7705.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5675388066062324850" /></a><br /><br /><br />Saying goodbye to our guide/friend, Aron<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhEEnsRdwbQGzln3QPRaBHeneX_t9YSt1_-pKC4GkbLkYB79hK2lVWMdZ0lfAHg-bkvSJ6L96R4V0ep2WOYAdZbmE2sUbp_b8F7Rjai1qKbDBpIQRapezn4qtLYBSoKW5bQm6FkDyQAyU/s1600/IMG_7710.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhEEnsRdwbQGzln3QPRaBHeneX_t9YSt1_-pKC4GkbLkYB79hK2lVWMdZ0lfAHg-bkvSJ6L96R4V0ep2WOYAdZbmE2sUbp_b8F7Rjai1qKbDBpIQRapezn4qtLYBSoKW5bQm6FkDyQAyU/s320/IMG_7710.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5675391093148101554" /></a><br /><br /><br />Ready to jump on the plane<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiptEMe3QUnehhy5nxA-C1VYE1Fn1u9j1D9Rq1ne1h8saEqXs1WxqGwnmqbuaiy4y-_YMWUXvvlJ-7UjakPJHjljiXOtAT-NEaG5tToWQBdgscTsWzcokBWeeUa5WsJbC1hHVkcpWsD5xs/s1600/IMG_7716.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiptEMe3QUnehhy5nxA-C1VYE1Fn1u9j1D9Rq1ne1h8saEqXs1WxqGwnmqbuaiy4y-_YMWUXvvlJ-7UjakPJHjljiXOtAT-NEaG5tToWQBdgscTsWzcokBWeeUa5WsJbC1hHVkcpWsD5xs/s320/IMG_7716.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5675388062234602370" /></a><br /><br />A very tired mommy and Sprout<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWFzp2RHUV1cSJAbee5G0WelZ9UrQ-iRAvf-gi9b0Qcc2Ikmq8CVErmYbRlceaf82Xa0XbjXOM488mEuV_uCmJejYswHvZfEw4ouHMxzC370F6BRpqdTemaDPz7WMpUGnpTEyQx7CT8Kw/s1600/DSC00407.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWFzp2RHUV1cSJAbee5G0WelZ9UrQ-iRAvf-gi9b0Qcc2Ikmq8CVErmYbRlceaf82Xa0XbjXOM488mEuV_uCmJejYswHvZfEw4ouHMxzC370F6BRpqdTemaDPz7WMpUGnpTEyQx7CT8Kw/s320/DSC00407.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5675386391285446146" /></a><br /><br /><br />Happy to be home!<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1yGz7tKBrTKEHDjfAFBDGb1oc4oyLatxo9yQ6qI3tN-S-gsZbOc8U0KI5L1-WnafLF2xztI7h56u36__co5JKItBqKaujrIym3DFkY5GsZc6FlG6bby4KGxMi8YdV8jYdGOxvJJfO-lg/s1600/IMG_7748.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1yGz7tKBrTKEHDjfAFBDGb1oc4oyLatxo9yQ6qI3tN-S-gsZbOc8U0KI5L1-WnafLF2xztI7h56u36__co5JKItBqKaujrIym3DFkY5GsZc6FlG6bby4KGxMi8YdV8jYdGOxvJJfO-lg/s320/IMG_7748.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5675400765703912578" /></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://www.bloglines.com/sub/http://www.journeytohotdog.blospot.com">
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</a></div>Allisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05679218812399118487noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4120885387893231918.post-86900842685790743442011-11-08T09:37:00.006-05:002011-11-08T10:16:34.227-05:00Happy Days<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4m-xEuL9jd7o6EevPECjLFNJ2dNiA_Pe_3uIoK8irYXCvbvnAhm5H1Jv4ej-ruoDI-yI6BT5Jp2K6PUYBrq-9hHTPlsjJZI2xmD4s6ioVBxFaz91iM1XDRbjghjXrmxSzY87ojBddRCU/s1600/Shanghai+trip+164.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4m-xEuL9jd7o6EevPECjLFNJ2dNiA_Pe_3uIoK8irYXCvbvnAhm5H1Jv4ej-ruoDI-yI6BT5Jp2K6PUYBrq-9hHTPlsjJZI2xmD4s6ioVBxFaz91iM1XDRbjghjXrmxSzY87ojBddRCU/s320/Shanghai+trip+164.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5672636527893556754" /></a><br /><br /><br />Not much to say, instead I will fill this post with pictures. We are enjoying these last few relaxing days in Guangzhou. Yesterday we went back to Shamian Island to check Sprout's TB test (she had a reaction but it was under the limit thank goodness). Then we took advantage of our time on the island and went shopping! I bought small gifts for people back home and stocked up on traditional silk dresses for Sprout and HotDog. Sprout definitely enjoyed the beautiful day. She loves being pushed in the stroller by Chipmunk and had fun playing amongst the statutes. The rest of the day was spent lounging around the hotel. <br />Today it was rainy so we stayed close to the hotel. Stu and kiddos visited a local temple while I stayed back at the hotel with a sinus headache. Tonight we enjoyed a dinner cruise on the Pearl River. Sprout devoured corn on the cob and Chipmunk had a great time looking at the lights on the shore. <br />Tomorrow is our consulate appointment where we will apply for Sprout's visa. That should be issued on Thursday afternoon and we will take the train to Hong Kong right after that. Friday morning we head home! We have so enjoyed our time in China but are more than ready to come home. Skyping with the kids at home tonight was fantastic but made us realize how much we miss our whole family being together. I can't wait to snuggle with all <em><strong>five</strong></em> of my children together.<br /><br />A few random notes:<br />-I have been waking up much earlier than everyone else. I am up by 5:30 (while everybody else sleeps until 8:30ish). I have found that I love to slip over to Starbucks and grab a coffee and then walk the streets of Guangzhou by myself. It is so quiet (relatively speaking) at that time while the city is waking up. The shopkeepers are just opening their doors, schoolchildren are walking to school, older people practicing tai chi in the park. It is such a peaceful way to begin my day.<br />-Many people have commented on Sprout smiling in every picture. I am telling the truth when I say she is absolutely joyous. She reminds us so much of Pudding in that she always has a smile on her face. As a matter of fact, she said her first unprompted word tonight..."Happy!" <br />-Little girl also loves to dance. The instant she hears music, she starts shaking her booty. It's absolutely adorable.<br />-She is becoming quite vocal. Last night she sang cute little tunes for 30 minutes. Tonight she was speaking many Chinese words to our guide Aron. <br />-Her laugh is hilarious. I'm going to have to post some video of it. It sounds like the Cowardly Lion's laugh in Wizard of Oz. This hoarse, breathy kind of laugh, followed by snorting. <br />-Chipmunk has amazed me on this trip. I always knew he was a fantastic big brother but he has gone above and beyond during the past week and a half. He is constantly entertaining Sprout, walking the hallways with her, basically being her slave. Whatever she wants he is there to provide in a second. She adores him. He's also been great about our daily scheduleand has really rolled with the punches. He has eaten anything placed in front of him and has willingly tried so many new foods. I seriously couldn't be any prouder of him. <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOKyCq-7JoaEF3zgLmPKXJPQa8mYCF3ycG5-MUBXVXxDNE5i5YJr_7zu_m7Ee4veyfkx5GAsox8fEaI_Ps8aq8oDyCKQkwSadkC0pliEPQrIyiM8vpkBgVCRJ8c97TyOdcX88-L0uWXSw/s1600/Shanghai+trip+166.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOKyCq-7JoaEF3zgLmPKXJPQa8mYCF3ycG5-MUBXVXxDNE5i5YJr_7zu_m7Ee4veyfkx5GAsox8fEaI_Ps8aq8oDyCKQkwSadkC0pliEPQrIyiM8vpkBgVCRJ8c97TyOdcX88-L0uWXSw/s320/Shanghai+trip+166.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5672636526265508082" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghQE0WyvpIqttEcWZDeZEM4XQr4Z8dSqMCQU900L-JpkERckE8BajTBw-OE0ew7Spx1KEjxgYqroEyXei7XVNEynLWZt-oNtHX0qh7aXdAsrFRYg0U0l8bb0CHBudD-n_bklYr7bSI_ic/s1600/Shanghai+trip+167.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghQE0WyvpIqttEcWZDeZEM4XQr4Z8dSqMCQU900L-JpkERckE8BajTBw-OE0ew7Spx1KEjxgYqroEyXei7XVNEynLWZt-oNtHX0qh7aXdAsrFRYg0U0l8bb0CHBudD-n_bklYr7bSI_ic/s320/Shanghai+trip+167.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5672635262539254018" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUo_poZB9tjH4KQq9O_iOy2WkAhUIbui70hbw6PARS6ZKvuHuz_JNGRIH9gCQ0OcCybWhxdbfvAw20noOGXCd-5pUI1A9F5rJFQRPdO79Xk62xCRleqS0fU2j7WIFxtWJA2-QjkBYsEyY/s1600/Shanghai+trip+172.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUo_poZB9tjH4KQq9O_iOy2WkAhUIbui70hbw6PARS6ZKvuHuz_JNGRIH9gCQ0OcCybWhxdbfvAw20noOGXCd-5pUI1A9F5rJFQRPdO79Xk62xCRleqS0fU2j7WIFxtWJA2-QjkBYsEyY/s320/Shanghai+trip+172.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5672635252829896690" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI2jho3CF0dh1wrBOuUfk5FSagw8AVisY-JszDLtf1wii8ZrhLBpdPMUzifxPOb5ThmQZB5FJujjdi-NmAVqnh7yEUVzNtkT1Gaq0J-E_Ab8tAlwV5o46XTBI6rpohHPEMF0sRLE-mjac/s1600/Shanghai+trip+162.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI2jho3CF0dh1wrBOuUfk5FSagw8AVisY-JszDLtf1wii8ZrhLBpdPMUzifxPOb5ThmQZB5FJujjdi-NmAVqnh7yEUVzNtkT1Gaq0J-E_Ab8tAlwV5o46XTBI6rpohHPEMF0sRLE-mjac/s320/Shanghai+trip+162.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5672638637166397634" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPPR1M6Fzu2B5wbD7YyUsC9iQFBctAOKdOkI_PVXcjOGp2x6ezTrLcZsRUhNfenrfe9fcMGUJdTq2gEerMgbja8UDtJKVOI-x7Bb4lcuGTsiZWAMDG0vW3O4QIAC5S0hRJQ8MKmVa1L-Q/s1600/Shanghai+trip+160.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPPR1M6Fzu2B5wbD7YyUsC9iQFBctAOKdOkI_PVXcjOGp2x6ezTrLcZsRUhNfenrfe9fcMGUJdTq2gEerMgbja8UDtJKVOI-x7Bb4lcuGTsiZWAMDG0vW3O4QIAC5S0hRJQ8MKmVa1L-Q/s320/Shanghai+trip+160.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5672641248411744050" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX32DxZ9iqEYrvSuR_815KcwPNLAzJ74qFj0Nlr8ugfX-vrEFMezN0Gl7jArNPCRW2CuaReUQG70a8OZoHSlMA5EZPCjPmt3JfdmD6_3rycdPNXCUC_txwanVRAg9kUTjBgfWkYMWTUbc/s1600/Shanghai+trip+173.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX32DxZ9iqEYrvSuR_815KcwPNLAzJ74qFj0Nlr8ugfX-vrEFMezN0Gl7jArNPCRW2CuaReUQG70a8OZoHSlMA5EZPCjPmt3JfdmD6_3rycdPNXCUC_txwanVRAg9kUTjBgfWkYMWTUbc/s320/Shanghai+trip+173.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5672638643324580402" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2b3HzA1MfaPWawDRkOXaHiFDarMWJEAKdc_20loKoD2360bXMmtbaNqve_nbCK45uPbJTFkUkINmNqcszkB_nTZ34YjOiI-yKA5hlMJZzPXFjAls33MfZXaWA2Xc6M0u2rxj2ngHO1oM/s1600/Shanghai+trip+165.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2b3HzA1MfaPWawDRkOXaHiFDarMWJEAKdc_20loKoD2360bXMmtbaNqve_nbCK45uPbJTFkUkINmNqcszkB_nTZ34YjOiI-yKA5hlMJZzPXFjAls33MfZXaWA2Xc6M0u2rxj2ngHO1oM/s320/Shanghai+trip+165.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5672641254825888050" /></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://www.bloglines.com/sub/http://www.journeytohotdog.blospot.com">
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</a></div>Allisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05679218812399118487noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4120885387893231918.post-77212032278322321082011-11-06T07:48:00.004-05:002011-11-06T08:49:01.773-05:00Safari ParkToday we spent the morning at Safari Park, on the outskirts of Guangzhou. It was fantastic. Initially we planned this excursion as a fun treat for Chipmunk. As it turned out, I think Stu and I had as much fun as him! We were able to take a tram ride through a big section of the park where many varieties of animals are allowed to roam free. We were within feet of giraffes, zebras, lions, tigers, and bears (oh my!). Ostrich walked right up to us on the tram. We were able to see hippos fighting in water that was about 10 feet away. Crazy! <br />Sprout was a bit unsure at first but she soon got into the spirit of the park and was shouting Meow! at every animal we saw. Evidently the only animal she has ever been exposed to before is cats. She was quite entertaining. <br />After that we were able to walk along a pedestrian trail where we were up close and personal with the animals. This is one of the biggest breeding centers for tigers in the world so we were able to see many different varieties of tigers: Bengal, Siberian, South China tigers, white tigers. They had more than fifty tigers on display. For 10 yuan (about $1.50), Chipmunk was able to purchase a bag full of raw meat and feed the white tigers...an experience that I don't think he will ever forget. <br />There was a big exhibit of various monkeys. Chipmunk wasn't as fascinated with this, as our local zoo has a good gorilla exhibit that we visit quite often. There was one baby orangutan that they had dressed in baby clothes and a diaper. He seemed fascinated by Chipmunk and mimicked every move he made. He didn't take his eyes of of him the entire time Chipmunk stood there.<br />Another highlight of the day was the giraffe area. So many giraffe wandering around. Chipmunk purchased a giant limb full of leaves for 15 yuan (about $2.50) and was able to feed a couple of giraffes. He stood by the wall and shook the branch and they walked right over to us. Sprout and I were able to rub the giraffe's nose while Chipmunk was feeding them which she thought was hilarious! <br />Of course, the highlight of the trip was a visit to the panda bear sanctuary. They had more than twenty pandas on view in a variety of different habitats. They only have a plastic divider about four feet high so we were able to get within feet of many of the baby pandas. They were so cute! We didn't spend much time with them though because Sprout was scared of them (as was Pudding last year). <br />Even though it was almost 90 degrees today we ended up spending almost 5 hours wandering around the park. It was seriously an experience we will never forget. <br />The only downside was the fact that I left my memory card for my camera in the laptop at our hotel room. I didn't think this would be a big problem as Chipmunk always has his camera with him. Not today! I almost cried when I realized I wouldn't be able to take any pictures of our special day. However our trusty guide Aron I(have I mentioned how much we love her!!) came to our rescue and was able to take many pictures for us on her phone. I'll post the pictures as soon as she sends them. We were able to get many good ones. And I did remember to bring our video camera so we should have lots of good footage to watch. <br />Chipmunk went swimming again in the pool this afternoon while Sprout was "trying" to take a nap. It's been so nice to have an activity for him to do each afternoon so we can keep our hotel room nice and quiet for our sleeping beauty. <br />Tonight for dinner we went to an awesome restaurant with authentic Chinese food. Many of the restaurants around this area cater to foreigners and make their food to suit a more international palate. We have been craving good authentic Chinese food since we arrived so we asked Aron to give us a few suggestions. We went to a restaurant a block or so from our hotel. We knew we were in the right place when we walked in and the place with packed with Chinese families. We were the only Caucasian faces in the entire place. The menu didn't have any English so we pointed to a few dishes and crossed our fingers. We ended up with barbecue pork, shrimp and vegetables, sweet and sour pork, and chicken feet. Every single dish was delicious. I will admit while I liked the flavor of the chicken feet, I couldn't get over the texture or shape of them in my mouth. You could feel every single little joint of the foot in your mouth. Yuck. Sprout loved every dish and even started to use chopsticks. While she needed a little bit of help picking the food up she managed to get most of it into her mouth. And Chipmunk is an expert at chopsticks now. I have to say that he is even better than Stu and me! <br />I need to add that I think we are over the worst (for now) with Sprout. She is completely blossoming each day and is full of joy. She wakes up with a smile on her face and it stays there all day. She is attached to me like velcro and adores her big brother. Daddy...not so much. We even received our first kisses from her tonight. So sweet! <br />Such a fun day full of making memories. Tomorrow we head back to Shamian Island to get Sprout's TB test results and to do a little shopping. I've held back on shopping so far but tomorrow all bets are off!<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQoBEw19YLo7DWbEUfvw-R-kILk8iVYc4E3Wkj0Tbfe5SOMTedNs8ErrsXRyVpZD95PpK5Ld0cb56j-LahcGS2ao1S3-oTRXv-uGTCcdvU-oU-ssGm0gXfc7C30_AQR-1ai6n0pzaqiO8/s1600/Shanghai+trip+158.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQoBEw19YLo7DWbEUfvw-R-kILk8iVYc4E3Wkj0Tbfe5SOMTedNs8ErrsXRyVpZD95PpK5Ld0cb56j-LahcGS2ao1S3-oTRXv-uGTCcdvU-oU-ssGm0gXfc7C30_AQR-1ai6n0pzaqiO8/s320/Shanghai+trip+158.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5671879159778786498" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1Lcd6JeyFeFzvowPAGjKyCzimRHjQqhA8HSBZ1EXjE9lEZwALghEhv2_VuNASVdR-21v7paqJdd7Yza9HbovwI61ewf2o3zZ12hNcnUfiVd7K-gZ4x59xANx75o1uGRSzM8PNopHtIIM/s1600/Shanghai+trip+157.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1Lcd6JeyFeFzvowPAGjKyCzimRHjQqhA8HSBZ1EXjE9lEZwALghEhv2_VuNASVdR-21v7paqJdd7Yza9HbovwI61ewf2o3zZ12hNcnUfiVd7K-gZ4x59xANx75o1uGRSzM8PNopHtIIM/s320/Shanghai+trip+157.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5671878240529354322" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnK1zSltkb3kmCqPeEHZCbRaPDtS4ooWLiTWw_ai-z5k7lc9Q8D8_ZWK5lKztp6vuPhIRnho4MFJCX-EC_xe4WFnkEhpCjsXIkrHFK0o3EAV42ckJVCQmZb8euUxrrh50pPXlKDvsLn5o/s1600/Shanghai+trip+155.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnK1zSltkb3kmCqPeEHZCbRaPDtS4ooWLiTWw_ai-z5k7lc9Q8D8_ZWK5lKztp6vuPhIRnho4MFJCX-EC_xe4WFnkEhpCjsXIkrHFK0o3EAV42ckJVCQmZb8euUxrrh50pPXlKDvsLn5o/s320/Shanghai+trip+155.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5671877503139469634" /></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://www.bloglines.com/sub/http://www.journeytohotdog.blospot.com">
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</a></div>Allisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05679218812399118487noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4120885387893231918.post-16491600459160419422011-11-05T07:41:00.011-05:002011-11-05T10:38:46.712-05:00Switching Cities<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnMsyDoJHamFou6jg2EXl8-S0PRWvDSjXEQ0L87wwvGHitHKQewZROlulU0MNBqO2vbZwwwaACU9tHn1ErXNSVoC2XZcJrPPSgQE39KuSaDqCxYjDjnBgDniIcbc5J0SNSk5MKHisu_uo/s1600/Shanghai+trip+143.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnMsyDoJHamFou6jg2EXl8-S0PRWvDSjXEQ0L87wwvGHitHKQewZROlulU0MNBqO2vbZwwwaACU9tHn1ErXNSVoC2XZcJrPPSgQE39KuSaDqCxYjDjnBgDniIcbc5J0SNSk5MKHisu_uo/s320/Shanghai+trip+143.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5671493994858451250" /></a><br />Yesterday was a long day. We started out by doing most of our packing in preparation for our flight at 6:30. We then took a taxi to the Bazaar to do some souvenir shopping. Sitting in front of a taxi in Shanghai is like a ride at Disney World......you think your going to crash or run into a pedestrian about every three seconds only to swerve at the last moment. Very thrilling.<br />As soon as we got to the Bazaar we ran into a couple from Washington DC who were adopting their second daughter. We discovered they they actually know one of the couples we traveled with to adopt our daughter 3 years ago that live in the DC area. Amazingly small world sometimes.<br />We picked up our final paperwork and headed for the airport. Due to the timing Sprout skipped her nap. On the plane ride she was very good. Toward the end the lack of a nap kicked in and she got slap happy. Much better than the potential opposite reaction. We got a very pleasant surprise on our way to GZ. We found out our guide this week is the same one we had last year when we adopted Pudding. It is certainly nice having somebody you already know and trust during this adventure.<br />We also met three of the other families we'll be spending time with this week. Its always fun comparing stories and meeting the other kids. <br />This morning we all slept until after 8:00! Of course, it is also the morning that we have to meet our guide promptly at 9:00 so we made a mad dash through breakfast. Sprout was not too pleased that we didn't have the usual hour to make our way through the entire breakfast buffet, especially when she discovered they had shrimp dumplings. <br />We met up with the rest of our group and made our way to Shamian Island for the standard medical exam for the children. We stayed on the island last year so it was nice to go back for a visit. It is so relaxed and laid back (not to mention a great place to shop). When we arrived, the waiting room was empty so we were quickly escorted back to each of the areas (general checkup, ENT, cardiology). It's a good thing too because soon after we got there the waiting room filled with more thirty other families. It was a madhouse full of newly adopted children and their families. One funny tidbit: The doctor doing Sprout's checkup kept looking at her and looking at her chart. He even asked for the Chinese version of her medical files we have. He took them and made copies and studies them intently. I was beginning to worry when our translator came to the room and he quickly asked her a question. He was concerned because her lips were so blue and she doesn't have a heart condition that would do that. Ummm, guess who gave her a blue sucker right before we walked into the appointment?!?! Thank goodness he found that to be funny and we were quickly on our way. <br />The rest of the day was open so Stu and Sawyer went to the pool while I stayed in the room with Sprout who took a great nap! After that we went exploring in the area around our hotel and bought a new stroller. Sprout does NOT like the baby carrier I brought for her and loves, loves, loves to be in a stroller. I think she would sit in their all day if we let her. Stu is a master bargainer and was able to get a pretty good deal on a nice stroller so we have one happy little girl. <br />It's amazing how much Sprout is continuing to come out of her shell. We have had a few more brief spells of grief but for the most part she is a very happy little girl. She laughs constantly and finds the most random things absolutely hysterical. She is really starting to mimic words we say and is using "mama" and "papa" regularly. We've started using sign language with her and she has already picked up the signs for "more" and "all finished". I'm quite sure that "food" and "drink" aren't too far behind. We are seeing a lot of typical 2-year-old behavior and a few temper tantrums when she doesn't get her way, but this is reassuring as she feels comfortable enough with to show us her true colors. <br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDRS-PsVSqUcCXdPuOE98xRsb5L466PBmsJGHuGkV_b4_eS52rByk466D2thGqoZcDodoX47G4ngavFjFRsk-jUne09Q95V9ApeGo-dB9z0Yp0irs4JI9HWOsfuXo5VP4rX2rcQ6n0N9A/s1600/Shanghai+trip+144.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDRS-PsVSqUcCXdPuOE98xRsb5L466PBmsJGHuGkV_b4_eS52rByk466D2thGqoZcDodoX47G4ngavFjFRsk-jUne09Q95V9ApeGo-dB9z0Yp0irs4JI9HWOsfuXo5VP4rX2rcQ6n0N9A/s320/Shanghai+trip+144.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5671496938615521266" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiry5mnJQw8o1T1GHnKSVops_q8_igVbiB5Y6R_8ujfi8AdNRumQA3vKTvI8GHOswj8dN8_Bs6j-EfO92PfhxVvDWmAYVzJrmfOlRzikWwcTa716P7m8_G4N2SkvEU8W6KRZ51Jdm7ZR7w/s1600/Shanghai+trip+150.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiry5mnJQw8o1T1GHnKSVops_q8_igVbiB5Y6R_8ujfi8AdNRumQA3vKTvI8GHOswj8dN8_Bs6j-EfO92PfhxVvDWmAYVzJrmfOlRzikWwcTa716P7m8_G4N2SkvEU8W6KRZ51Jdm7ZR7w/s320/Shanghai+trip+150.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5671495677145201634" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrLL7bdADDBEeT8FK9JPfvP5OfJBzK1YH3vVt8j8DsEaQXLoFGc6YGhLxyesH7bDeI2QiegnsKYvb6HzSYgHfZ2IuIX0rosfoKji3k1Q-7zmwjf_9r2aLu_Kn7Al-4WQ5eGMZkIs49jME/s1600/Shanghai+trip+147.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrLL7bdADDBEeT8FK9JPfvP5OfJBzK1YH3vVt8j8DsEaQXLoFGc6YGhLxyesH7bDeI2QiegnsKYvb6HzSYgHfZ2IuIX0rosfoKji3k1Q-7zmwjf_9r2aLu_Kn7Al-4WQ5eGMZkIs49jME/s320/Shanghai+trip+147.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5671497909910085602" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjofiuGtM1HU4DFKpXg0b8PY6UngX0dHLhU_D57IuiFxK0nCUellMiLfUcLdOXlzoux1Ht9RSReeUn3wqDB9fGI6GtJW_LiVFAj1f8eJDshAiJDrqGJyx1TypaDyvrodjJRibaf4S2leEU/s1600/Shanghai+trip+145.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjofiuGtM1HU4DFKpXg0b8PY6UngX0dHLhU_D57IuiFxK0nCUellMiLfUcLdOXlzoux1Ht9RSReeUn3wqDB9fGI6GtJW_LiVFAj1f8eJDshAiJDrqGJyx1TypaDyvrodjJRibaf4S2leEU/s320/Shanghai+trip+145.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5671494735093614738" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu7en4LPT0LCkxQaGVGO3ZGKzu6IPj7Kq2TLM6SqZSFG9EkwHkVjWFtrUFJe06Th1mdSlpPHJe0BN8BLCljITftORte5fIXMhE4SxL44J93cz1hyphenhyphennRLJdT1jFA3H4U-ptS77Xsg68JWSw/s1600/Shanghai+trip+149.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu7en4LPT0LCkxQaGVGO3ZGKzu6IPj7Kq2TLM6SqZSFG9EkwHkVjWFtrUFJe06Th1mdSlpPHJe0BN8BLCljITftORte5fIXMhE4SxL44J93cz1hyphenhyphennRLJdT1jFA3H4U-ptS77Xsg68JWSw/s320/Shanghai+trip+149.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5671498895653933186" /></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://www.bloglines.com/sub/http://www.journeytohotdog.blospot.com">
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</a></div>Allisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05679218812399118487noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4120885387893231918.post-52917410767964680522011-11-03T05:27:00.008-05:002011-11-03T07:33:41.707-05:00Grins and Grief<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3I9H1MwuUgi86AhQgKxU8cWdJJpAdFMWT6aaLmoh3rxFcl6TlCbC5tG52SxDY8bvhgJs0Pn1o-_SpODWi_SKWnBv1xuX1fThqdiUTvDKRBONRx5t7K-Vf4PBQUQQal16nHJGDVuuyYv8/s1600/Shanghai+trip+128.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3I9H1MwuUgi86AhQgKxU8cWdJJpAdFMWT6aaLmoh3rxFcl6TlCbC5tG52SxDY8bvhgJs0Pn1o-_SpODWi_SKWnBv1xuX1fThqdiUTvDKRBONRx5t7K-Vf4PBQUQQal16nHJGDVuuyYv8/s320/Shanghai+trip+128.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5670743558990769890" /></a><br />Sorry for the lack of blogging yesterday. We made a brief trip to the Shanghai museum and then were stuck inside our tiny hotel room for the rest of the day as it was raining outside. While we weren't very active yesterday, Sprout's personality definitely started to emerge. She woke with a big smile on her face and it stayed there for most of the day. However, as the hours go by we are starting to see quite a bit of "naughty" behavior from her. (I use the term "naughty" as that is how the orphanage described some of her behavior.) It started with her throwing various toys across the hotel room and then laughing hysterically. While we didn't want to encourage that, it was hard to tell her to stop because she was enjoying it so much. Then came the screaming at the top of her lungs for no reason other than it was funny. It's one thing to do that at home, quite another to do it in the middle of a museum. Then came the pinching and pushing of her big brother. Again, she thought it was hilarious and it was hard to convince Chipmunk not to allow her to do that. He was willing to take one for the team if it would make her happy. The final straw came when she was once again screaming in the museum and a security guard came up and tried to tell her to be quiet. She slapped his hand away and then tried to slap his face. I removed her from the situation and tried to apologize but am having a hard time trying to discipline her at this point. In China, I think they allow their toddlers to get away with most anything. You should see the looks I get from many of the older Chinese people when I try to tell her not to do something she so obviously wants to do. Ugh. Not fun. <br />Other than that, the day was great. She is such a happy girl and seems equally attached to Chipmunk and me (with Stu coming in a close third). Her favorite activity is being pushed in the hallway by her brother. I think she would sit in the stroller for hours if we let her. Looks like we will definitely be purchasing a triple stroller in the near future. <br />Today has been a much harder day. She woke up early this morning at 6:00 a.m. and was happy through breakfast. On our way to the Jade Buddha Temple she started to get cranky and it went downhill from there. We couldn't bring the stroller in and she didn't want to be held but we couldn't let her walk because there was such a big crowd. She fought with us the through the whole tour. After a brief visit to the French Quarter (where we randomly ran into a group of people from our small college...what a small world!!) we decided to go to the Shanghai Aquarium. Chipmunk has been such a trooper through many of the activities that we wanted to do an activity that he would love. Sprout had a complete and total meltdown while we were standing in line because I wouldn't give her a third sucker (this girl loves her candy). She screamed and wailed and kicked and fought. We had quite the crowd of concerned adults around us, all giving me dirty looks for not giving in to what she wanted. We made it into the aquarium (which was absolutely fantastic...probably the highlight of Chipmunk's trip) but Sprout just seemed really out of sorts. I know she was tired but it was more than that. We arrived back at the hotel and the boys went out for some sight-seeing while I tried to put her down for a nap. All of a sudden the tears just started pouring down her face. Poor girl was grieving hard. She just sobbed non-stop for about 10 minutes. It breaks my heart to see her like this and know there isn't much I can do to make it better. She did let me rock her and give her a bottle but you could just see the sadness in her eyes. Quite the reminder that adoption isn't always the happily-ever-after fairy tale that it might seem. Adoption is hard and it requires work. We took this little girl away from the only world she has ever known and while she seems to be adjusting and bonding with us, she is still missing the life she had. I so wish I could do more for her. Sigh...<br />She did wake up in a better mood after a short nap and we are starting to hear a few giggles again. Hoping tonight is a little easier for her. Tomorrow evening we are heading to Guangzhou for our last leg of the trip and I'm a little nervous how Sprout is going to do on the flight. <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqNF_T15R8qTQo2RlQZmqemNxJ3FWNZ0Ar0lDT1I9ZfOENp_eeRJlC1PwmLSPcysNRrkMePe-TiPPy7UqmFf64VEbfqJxFOi6Ll2qem2xDSpmQI4bMvs3G-Ih6aRPeMpPTNk_c4EOErGY/s1600/Shanghai+trip+127.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqNF_T15R8qTQo2RlQZmqemNxJ3FWNZ0Ar0lDT1I9ZfOENp_eeRJlC1PwmLSPcysNRrkMePe-TiPPy7UqmFf64VEbfqJxFOi6Ll2qem2xDSpmQI4bMvs3G-Ih6aRPeMpPTNk_c4EOErGY/s320/Shanghai+trip+127.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5670746107207445442" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsKejgCVSskqFpnqRf1fSZUBBW0UWq1iKQCaQ4Q31x5b25A9JzmOXyThXaThlo760dGCZOVIvQnWsLw_1xi9hdPn3ZyTrDAPWBfo4SlXOp5f1Xhh_x9DA6JyjETAWeyVMHdRRP-mJ2lF4/s1600/Shanghai+trip+138.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsKejgCVSskqFpnqRf1fSZUBBW0UWq1iKQCaQ4Q31x5b25A9JzmOXyThXaThlo760dGCZOVIvQnWsLw_1xi9hdPn3ZyTrDAPWBfo4SlXOp5f1Xhh_x9DA6JyjETAWeyVMHdRRP-mJ2lF4/s320/Shanghai+trip+138.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5670745406720314962" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyIvIeM-sp32NmSI7RIe1CJkVqn2WtHHi1QfrkvbHWqgSHHdOVX26qTvGFZiqtuahCBWttb_G4R3nyqwwJUNnXfCGgCIHMdwvZqMPKwVqEVPofClCAsNC0ON67DF0bPmalOYE_DIunp5Q/s1600/Shanghai+trip+136.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyIvIeM-sp32NmSI7RIe1CJkVqn2WtHHi1QfrkvbHWqgSHHdOVX26qTvGFZiqtuahCBWttb_G4R3nyqwwJUNnXfCGgCIHMdwvZqMPKwVqEVPofClCAsNC0ON67DF0bPmalOYE_DIunp5Q/s320/Shanghai+trip+136.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5670744798098961314" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcI6Rgxuml67rKf5C7AXy75sMS8JFEZ5yYzXS6KbYx3SK7D1ejtMShl4wQoXvJjvNrDtTBKPhlRwxQLubna2LOMDoI7G_Kia0CXvy4-rz75qWQgkODN3FhCg3OaaL9XArN8RJd6XDZb5A/s1600/Shanghai+trip+131.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcI6Rgxuml67rKf5C7AXy75sMS8JFEZ5yYzXS6KbYx3SK7D1ejtMShl4wQoXvJjvNrDtTBKPhlRwxQLubna2LOMDoI7G_Kia0CXvy4-rz75qWQgkODN3FhCg3OaaL9XArN8RJd6XDZb5A/s320/Shanghai+trip+131.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5670744105189586354" /></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://www.bloglines.com/sub/http://www.journeytohotdog.blospot.com">
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</a></div>Allisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05679218812399118487noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4120885387893231918.post-36386406152239482872011-11-01T09:09:00.006-05:002011-11-01T10:28:44.204-05:00Day TwoWe had a long night last night so Allison is already in bed and left the nightly blogging to her wonderful husband. <br /><br />So last night we found out Sprout has a bit of a sensitive stomach. I guess we may have overdone it a bit with the first couple meals as she had an upset belly all night so we took turns walking, rocking and changing diapers. She finally passed out and got a couple hours sleep. But she woke up very happy this morning and was in a great mood all day so no harm done.<br /><br />Luckily today was pretty light on official duties as we took about 2 hours this morning to finalize some documents and get everything notarized and some photos taken. We then came back to the hotel had a quick lunch and then my favorite time of every trip....Family nap time. It was awesome. We made up for the bad night by taking a three hour nap. Well everyone did except Sawyer who did homework and played on the computer while he listened to the three of us snore.<br /><br />After our nap we took a long walk down to the pedestrian street. It was packed with people and full of energy. We walked down to the Bund to take in the skyline at nighttime (see photo below). We ended up with a late dinner at the noodle restaurant across from our hotel. It is much more of a locals place and needless to say we don't exactly fit in. But I still wasn't expecting the cook to come out and sit down with us. They were all very impressed with Chipmunk's chopstick ability and watching us with Sprout. We were very careful with what we feed her tonight so hopefully we won't have a repeat of last night.<br /><br />Overall we had a great day with Sprout. She is certainly feeling more comfortable around us. I think I'm starting to regret bringing Chipmunk with us. I am coming in as the third favorite behind Allison and him. They play great together and he certainly is a natural with her. Tomorrow is a sightseeing day so it should be nice and relaxed.<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGWtmFgdUlvCyaAbLnYCIKoYupZ8F8WodDUMYMQW4aa1oG5SinMj7jmCysZASYBvbVDLGZ-572UuNlMatCre_3HZStB_5fMjuX_zy-Di8cW3bF0B9plAtOAFJ4-RGnCF0p935Wfrsf2_s/s1600/Shanghai+trip+112.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGWtmFgdUlvCyaAbLnYCIKoYupZ8F8WodDUMYMQW4aa1oG5SinMj7jmCysZASYBvbVDLGZ-572UuNlMatCre_3HZStB_5fMjuX_zy-Di8cW3bF0B9plAtOAFJ4-RGnCF0p935Wfrsf2_s/s320/Shanghai+trip+112.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5670035417430961730" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwtRevoUtL2xt00v-RQ3fnAEe5ELmgyG2jtbbysopXXiXiYsY87S-NvqoGf6ZA3VX6jhWbX_Dg43ZE7HVW7KD6ZVnfGq-34oHCT04jVZjpgEnYEOOtFjtY9Caxn7AAn5jnbs2GTkeV0_8/s1600/Shanghai+trip+107.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwtRevoUtL2xt00v-RQ3fnAEe5ELmgyG2jtbbysopXXiXiYsY87S-NvqoGf6ZA3VX6jhWbX_Dg43ZE7HVW7KD6ZVnfGq-34oHCT04jVZjpgEnYEOOtFjtY9Caxn7AAn5jnbs2GTkeV0_8/s320/Shanghai+trip+107.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5670034234103658354" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsO6Cb-C7rds74I1A0Vnxgngeo_akXVbXrOjLWftOQq9PoJS4jnG9Ct9ZW00T4IlWZeciDHV2CMQehJMbgDhKxNfJFdF7Y8pORo9U5PQJ_Gk2_EauKMu37cS1zL47NcKsEfAsf9fj2E1E/s1600/Shanghai+trip+117.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsO6Cb-C7rds74I1A0Vnxgngeo_akXVbXrOjLWftOQq9PoJS4jnG9Ct9ZW00T4IlWZeciDHV2CMQehJMbgDhKxNfJFdF7Y8pORo9U5PQJ_Gk2_EauKMu37cS1zL47NcKsEfAsf9fj2E1E/s320/Shanghai+trip+117.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5670032594649172066" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbxWY5pNGzxYlHGJR5OoWTCcfdBaKvYgx2LUdoYiJB1cnZb5HaKNu4_-QFh4RfKhrni_G0PIhQYUwS2CSmLC9b3yUhO9d9mh69RZqEqlehkVSZNanALsJrw5e2ab1_9I88PpudQbtTmqM/s1600/Shanghai+trip+108.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbxWY5pNGzxYlHGJR5OoWTCcfdBaKvYgx2LUdoYiJB1cnZb5HaKNu4_-QFh4RfKhrni_G0PIhQYUwS2CSmLC9b3yUhO9d9mh69RZqEqlehkVSZNanALsJrw5e2ab1_9I88PpudQbtTmqM/s320/Shanghai+trip+108.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5670031507906143858" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfa7KOrqkSUKxaabi5V3HLeRHfITxrZK3rsem5_p0T3z5r1vDijzu6jXFAsmbSdIn8qh0ng8y_xmYXpLEuLQcN0Lqv_GHPrk0LngOxuTZOGW0KUHwCdONHxuOZExFM6ptqoPbxxRROOsg/s1600/Shanghai+trip+105.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfa7KOrqkSUKxaabi5V3HLeRHfITxrZK3rsem5_p0T3z5r1vDijzu6jXFAsmbSdIn8qh0ng8y_xmYXpLEuLQcN0Lqv_GHPrk0LngOxuTZOGW0KUHwCdONHxuOZExFM6ptqoPbxxRROOsg/s320/Shanghai+trip+105.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5670030326293605490" /></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://www.bloglines.com/sub/http://www.journeytohotdog.blospot.com">
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</a></div>Allisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05679218812399118487noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4120885387893231918.post-75431954257151248412011-10-31T07:25:00.011-05:002011-10-31T08:28:06.266-05:00Sprout Day!My day began early this morning at 2:00 a.m. I woke up and couldn't go back to sleep...my mind was racing with thoughts about our upcoming day. I was surprisingly calm (I suppose going through this five times does have its advantages); I was trying to envision every possible scenario, from the best to the worst. Soon enough, it was time to meet our guide and head to the office where we would meet our newest daughter! We were led to a tiny conference room where another adoptive couple was preparing to meet their new child. We filled out last minute paperwork and double-checked documents as we waited for the caregivers to bring the children. The other couple's daughter was led into the room; she was about 4 years old and terrified. As the other couple tried to make friends with their new daughter, I felt my anxiety rise as I knew we would be in that position soon. A few minutes later I looked up into the doorway as a young woman brought in the cutest little girl...our Sprout! She quickly handed her to me and then backed away. For a moment Sprout looked stunned and then the grief started. She tried so hard not to cry but the tears poured down her face. I held her close and rocked her but felt so helpless as I was unable to comfort her. But it was Chipmunk to the rescue! He grabbed a sucker out of the diaper bag and brought it to her. She knew exactly what to do with that. She seemed a bit more content with that little piece of candy and we were able to ask her caregiver some details about our new daughter. <br />A few minutes later we were led out of the office and about thirty minutes later we were dropped off at our hotel. That was it. She was ours! <br />In our hotel room, I continued to hold her and let her get used to us before I attempted to take off her shoes or coat. She needed a diaper change but as soon as I attempted it, the sobs began again so I quickly stopped. We pulled out a few toys and played quietly on the floor for about an hour or so. I was encouraged because she was making good eye contact with all of us and would get upset the minute any of us was out of her eyesight.<br />We went out for a quick lunch of shrimp, rice and dumplings. We found out that baby girl likes to eat! She was eating everything as quickly as I could put it in her mouth (which was wasn't too fast considering I was using chopsticks). <br />Upon returning to the hotel we attempted to put her down for a nap. She would have nothing to do with that. The terrified look came back into her eyes anytime we tried to lay her down. You could feel her little body shake in fear. I felt so bad. We decided to let her play quietly on the floor for awhile, thinking that would calm her down a bit. Wrong! She must have gotten her second wind because after just a little while she was giggling and interacting with us. I guess she thought we were okay people since we let her skip her nap. We've played for the rest of the evening and her personality is really starting to shine through. I think she was a little slap happy for awhile because she would throw all of her toys and laugh hysterically...big belly laughs that would make her roll on the ground! Sawyer would build towers out of stacking cups and silly girl would knock them down immediately. So funny! I think she is going to be quite the character. She's already starting to vocalize a lot and loves to have all eyes in the room on her at all times which, of course, they are.<br />We are now attempting to lay her down for the night. We've given her a bottle (did I mention that she only drinks out of a bottle?? and is still on formula??) and it seems quiet for now. I'm keeping my finger crossed that everyone gets a good night's sleep as tomorrow we go and officially register her adoption!<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif2j0trvVd-DVp4lFef4Ar0Dm0edtVPR796TIMWN4djyJ8PkNF_8RWgKz8mxUzczYoLsMQ11XXWEiD4ajyQjJ54j91dsq3bwg23OU8yC8WFa7_0HRFMbi2ZV4RWZqyiHg69OEfddviljA/s1600/Shanghai+trip+069.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif2j0trvVd-DVp4lFef4Ar0Dm0edtVPR796TIMWN4djyJ8PkNF_8RWgKz8mxUzczYoLsMQ11XXWEiD4ajyQjJ54j91dsq3bwg23OU8yC8WFa7_0HRFMbi2ZV4RWZqyiHg69OEfddviljA/s320/Shanghai+trip+069.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5669640263300706018" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuGYLsznJr8MOFDkaQXx8-wytAzyL6R9Qi3DWLmNnQ7-TfLHwRTINYeTHZhqcoOGutWj00UprJmucw9oPK75QwSjIjYY-hI8NYpdKfeHmyWYWOFgRv6hZObh9YD_yYji8kL5ps8BOocGY/s1600/Shanghai+trip+072.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuGYLsznJr8MOFDkaQXx8-wytAzyL6R9Qi3DWLmNnQ7-TfLHwRTINYeTHZhqcoOGutWj00UprJmucw9oPK75QwSjIjYY-hI8NYpdKfeHmyWYWOFgRv6hZObh9YD_yYji8kL5ps8BOocGY/s320/Shanghai+trip+072.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5669640272621609138" /></a><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCFOm1d4jOkRMpjjZJyNnLv4Z6vB9V_Un6uJ6MsWcTguPEagYQ-bJimwiM6PrwQLw0MH2RN6VlJxaYuKPaA2mgSADrDoaJLq6aoKQ-El9uyPnoBYnrLF-csVhqlf7KkcFlp46ApxQ-WY8/s1600/Shanghai+trip+094.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCFOm1d4jOkRMpjjZJyNnLv4Z6vB9V_Un6uJ6MsWcTguPEagYQ-bJimwiM6PrwQLw0MH2RN6VlJxaYuKPaA2mgSADrDoaJLq6aoKQ-El9uyPnoBYnrLF-csVhqlf7KkcFlp46ApxQ-WY8/s320/Shanghai+trip+094.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5669646052233088722" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzLKSM9h5mzz83eOeHMToONbiPjkb1X3cmH0r4kXKCvlbETP6PCi6fyRIDev8tKQrBzvOMLWPGogUbecAPROflfLCHtQjX-l3hqMgyvo-tvuDDpJHe1bBXrAKZpcOjRbvn80KfxzeMCCk/s1600/Shanghai+trip+097.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzLKSM9h5mzz83eOeHMToONbiPjkb1X3cmH0r4kXKCvlbETP6PCi6fyRIDev8tKQrBzvOMLWPGogUbecAPROflfLCHtQjX-l3hqMgyvo-tvuDDpJHe1bBXrAKZpcOjRbvn80KfxzeMCCk/s320/Shanghai+trip+097.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5669644775231863330" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWQnfEkiabywJVCfgSo4-NR4TtivLdq6u0S6l6ePqWp5SLg3IPFoU2HSpVrShr3BC78iTTBrEgniyxxoUPMCIkAc8X-NZuqjMAd9fO6vhfeYtbxac5kynGP1VQb4jx5gB_tht9OSOrvpY/s1600/Shanghai+trip+098.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWQnfEkiabywJVCfgSo4-NR4TtivLdq6u0S6l6ePqWp5SLg3IPFoU2HSpVrShr3BC78iTTBrEgniyxxoUPMCIkAc8X-NZuqjMAd9fO6vhfeYtbxac5kynGP1VQb4jx5gB_tht9OSOrvpY/s320/Shanghai+trip+098.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5669643701863403938" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI4NheCqf1b7p-ZK41vQiRgivS9BQu6fyojFEMx7TW0Mj5bGvG6Spl8nvrW8sN2q3Zhg-VgBP8JA9AxJVMfIT4XDNBUrnOiSlTAoZHiJ-sJ7vhI6JxXRZN1ll3Nn1skpr8UPao4HBwpWw/s1600/Shanghai+trip+095.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI4NheCqf1b7p-ZK41vQiRgivS9BQu6fyojFEMx7TW0Mj5bGvG6Spl8nvrW8sN2q3Zhg-VgBP8JA9AxJVMfIT4XDNBUrnOiSlTAoZHiJ-sJ7vhI6JxXRZN1ll3Nn1skpr8UPao4HBwpWw/s320/Shanghai+trip+095.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5669642858422174562" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnzdbaYvYsr4ZziHX95iZM52BxrQS9HTb9onBz2lhQ9VkguitNbS26B1MIMfQXRqUcrRZoaKH80jNEPm_xNkFmr6b6RlXN2RNT0lwgl6o3AyHgjIOUB6mFG5ooUU4bMGwcWv1POExfH1w/s1600/Shanghai+trip+075.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnzdbaYvYsr4ZziHX95iZM52BxrQS9HTb9onBz2lhQ9VkguitNbS26B1MIMfQXRqUcrRZoaKH80jNEPm_xNkFmr6b6RlXN2RNT0lwgl6o3AyHgjIOUB6mFG5ooUU4bMGwcWv1POExfH1w/s320/Shanghai+trip+075.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5669642068254998146" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqLw85tztMWWTohvbLNHly2_mXySpM4NohAKmRsBX6dAksU0lTf-NnP-YAEnnTQvcOUvG5gWTTmFPtBpw4F_-b5VSh8y0En56Zn6ORodhS94M691xTY4gKwbeFlnvXFWMBMDro9xiljfs/s1600/Shanghai+trip+103.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqLw85tztMWWTohvbLNHly2_mXySpM4NohAKmRsBX6dAksU0lTf-NnP-YAEnnTQvcOUvG5gWTTmFPtBpw4F_-b5VSh8y0En56Zn6ORodhS94M691xTY4gKwbeFlnvXFWMBMDro9xiljfs/s320/Shanghai+trip+103.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5669646723848929762" /></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://www.bloglines.com/sub/http://www.journeytohotdog.blospot.com">
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</a></div>Allisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05679218812399118487noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4120885387893231918.post-48491322398531760152011-10-30T06:10:00.007-05:002011-10-30T08:41:51.328-05:00Shanghai Sights<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO2ASoKjXVPfXTpbbqqChOqQaJbuenzdNjA3QslSnxsPw0c_iE0IjOse57rWb0b1eYHtIdM8fHCvjlrYtoTzmLUJtvPgRMflYIskcCaPdp2JgbXg21RXapjCVZvEYVbIkG3UwlmNN5WdQ/s1600/Shanghai+trip+006.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO2ASoKjXVPfXTpbbqqChOqQaJbuenzdNjA3QslSnxsPw0c_iE0IjOse57rWb0b1eYHtIdM8fHCvjlrYtoTzmLUJtvPgRMflYIskcCaPdp2JgbXg21RXapjCVZvEYVbIkG3UwlmNN5WdQ/s320/Shanghai+trip+006.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5669263046931308242" /></a><br />Today we had a fun day of seeing some sights around Shanghai. We began at the Yuyan Gardens, a garden area right in the middle of the city. The sun was out so it was a perfect day to stroll around this beautiful garden for awhile. After that we took advantage of some free time and strolled around the shopping area that surrounds the garden. It was quite busy and took Chipmunk a little while to get used to all of the pushy salespeople following us and trying to get us to buy everything that we glanced at. <br />We also were able to take a quick trip to the Bund, one of the famous areas of Shanghai. Our walk down on the waterfront nice and relaxing; I can't wait to visit that area at night and view the lights that are on all of the buildings. I've heard it's amazing. <br />Tonight we strolled down to Nanjing Road, the pedestrian street that is full of shopping and restaurants. It reminded us so much of our time in Beijing and our many walks down the pedestrian street there. <br />I can't believe in just a little over twelve hours we will finally meet the little girl that captured our hearts almost a year ago! Nervousness is starting to creep in as I'm sure Sprout is not going to be as happy to see us...I can't even begin to imagine how scared and bewildered she is going to be tomorrow. We are taking her from every single thing she has ever known; we look different, sound different, smell different. She is 2 1/2 years old and has lived in the orphanage for her entire life. There is no way that we can explain to her that we will be her family forever and that we will love and cherish her. She has no concept of what a family means. There is a very good chance that our sweet girl will be VERY sad to be placed in our arms and will grieve heavily for awhile. Whatever her reaction, we will deal with it and help her as much as possible. I'm hoping it won't be too long before we see that big smile of hers that we've seen in so many pictures.<br />Next post will be with Sprout in our arms!!<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOtKfFI8sDBhOXrtXClk9-pzfW3lMmZ_OFNODNeJaLX79BiSFV4pWGlykebzDskYWWBMSWgiImrK3dwZ6MrgIi3vt-o6JkNxKJhs4gWGq4dGLUulpFyqzMq1IkXo0kR-fSSscpsJFyW68/s1600/Shanghai+trip+060.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOtKfFI8sDBhOXrtXClk9-pzfW3lMmZ_OFNODNeJaLX79BiSFV4pWGlykebzDskYWWBMSWgiImrK3dwZ6MrgIi3vt-o6JkNxKJhs4gWGq4dGLUulpFyqzMq1IkXo0kR-fSSscpsJFyW68/s320/Shanghai+trip+060.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5669275628859618706" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUzXQebkaeIjnUwO23qmUpgNOTLP2r5SWTYUr-F8rVZ1n15tV9-wrv9M2Z8_V3l4UcL_9y1zQhJsDbDc32jdmKlLTin88Bjomai1-5Bnt63KfnEeieURyVjOqqMdDx9yR8mUZbKbiEk-w/s1600/Shanghai+trip+024.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUzXQebkaeIjnUwO23qmUpgNOTLP2r5SWTYUr-F8rVZ1n15tV9-wrv9M2Z8_V3l4UcL_9y1zQhJsDbDc32jdmKlLTin88Bjomai1-5Bnt63KfnEeieURyVjOqqMdDx9yR8mUZbKbiEk-w/s320/Shanghai+trip+024.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5669276955689463874" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvctYH1dDlwJe5BjvfpEF3ekctt-WtEiywlHMh8yAI2m8RgL3fr2yRTUt_d_RjbPOvkm6qaP95FSqZy8VlPcljVSHa_E72nEecGF1mM7KIvxyk4R4pc8wGxiFa1ffeBuS2sog87BegT0c/s1600/Shanghai+trip+065.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvctYH1dDlwJe5BjvfpEF3ekctt-WtEiywlHMh8yAI2m8RgL3fr2yRTUt_d_RjbPOvkm6qaP95FSqZy8VlPcljVSHa_E72nEecGF1mM7KIvxyk4R4pc8wGxiFa1ffeBuS2sog87BegT0c/s320/Shanghai+trip+065.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5669277792115529218" /></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://www.bloglines.com/sub/http://www.journeytohotdog.blospot.com">
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</a></div>Allisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05679218812399118487noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4120885387893231918.post-74272515680218863122011-10-29T08:59:00.003-05:002011-10-29T09:07:37.738-05:00We're Here!Just a quick note to say that we have arrived in Shanghai! We had a quick flight to Detroit and then a direct flight from Detroit to Shanghai. The fourteen hour flight was uneventful (just the way I like them) and quite smooth. Chipmunk was a champion traveler...barely got his nose out of his Nintendo DS (an early 9th birthday present). He slept very little (as opposed to Stu and me) so I'm hoping that means he'll sleep great tonight and get on "China time" easily.<br />Tomorrow we are doing a little sightseeing around the area and then Monday is Sprout day!! It's a little surreal to know that we are finally in the same city as her after thinking about her being half way around the world for the past ten months. <br />Only 36 more hours!!<br />By the way, Chipmunk is keeping his own blog during our travels. He would love it if you read it and leave him comments:<br />www.sawyersadventuresinchina.blogspot.com<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://www.bloglines.com/sub/http://www.journeytohotdog.blospot.com">
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</a></div>Allisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05679218812399118487noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4120885387893231918.post-89084527300554044452011-10-22T06:57:00.000-05:002011-10-22T06:57:10.921-05:00Traveling and NestingIt looks like our Halloween will be filled with plenty of treats this year, as that is the day we meet our Sprout! Everything in this adoption has felt like it has moved in slow motion; but now it seems as though time is racing by at the speed of light. We received word last Monday that our travel approval (TA) had arrived...2 to 3 weeks ahead of schedule. Fantastic! We asked for a consulate appointment (when we pick up her visa from the US consulate in China) as soon as possible, keeping our fingers crossed that one would be available before the end of November. Imagine my shock when I woke up on Tuesday morning (at 5:00 a.m.) to an email from our coordinator that our CA had been confirmed for November 9th! I quickly did the math (in my still sleep-hazy mind) - the CA appointment is the last thing we do in China; you usually pick-up the child on the Monday of the week before...putting us as meeting Sprout on Halloween. I couldn't believe it. We would be leaving for China in 10 days!! I was so overcome with excitement I jumped out of bed and did a little happy dance. But then it hit me. We would be leaving for China in 10 days!! Oh my! So much to do. Not only would I have to pack for Stu, myself, Chipmunk and Sprout, I would also have to get our childcare lined up for the 3 kiddos that are staying; arrange plane tickets; talk with Chipmunk's school about his homework during his trip; prepare all Halloween costumes/festivities for Monkey, HotDog and Pudding during our absence; buy birthday presents for Chipmunk, whose 9th birthday is the day we will be flying back home. Did I mention that a few weeks ago I decided to switch all of the children's rooms around? I thought "the girls" (how I do love saying that!!) could be moved to our big playroom thereby moving Pudding from his tiny room to HD's current room and finally moving the playroom into Pudding's former room. Easy enough, right? Of course not. In order for the girls to move to the playroom I've had to strip wallpaper and repaint every square inch of the room. We also have to pull up the old carpet and we have the new carept scheduled to come next week...as in two days before we leave. At this point I'm just hoping that we can get the beds set up and most of the furniture moved back into place before we leave. All of my dreams of spending a quiet few weeks putting the final touches on the room are going to have to wait until things calm down (I'm figuring 2018 or so). My awesome sister-in-law has offered to come over and pull things together as much as possible. We are also getting two of our bathrooms re-tiled while we are away. I'm starting to feel like this is groundhog day. Remember when we moved houses the week before we left to bring Pudding home just last year?? How I vowed <b>never ever <i></i></b>to do that to myself again? Ha!
Stu is in charge of the kiddos today so I can do all of the shopping for our trip. It is probably the last kid-free day I'll have for a very long time! I'll update with travel details soon.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://www.bloglines.com/sub/http://www.journeytohotdog.blospot.com">
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</a></div>Allisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05679218812399118487noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4120885387893231918.post-72285775024103143352011-10-17T19:57:00.003-05:002011-10-17T20:00:18.102-05:00TA!I know I've neglected this blog lately, but I've been doing some major nesting. However I wanted to share that we heard from our coordinator that we received our TA today!! I am completely shocked, as we weren't expecting it for another week or two. Still not sure when we will travel but it should be in mid-November. Hang on baby girl....we'll be there soon!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6rfQvnjursPn4kPshPLnF8qbFXKBcZX8fIDpA3aE-TE4rAgOyaqYQp83xulfAKpYtYCiBczw0BXW7QcBpnPWuH0iVgCcM_N51NFj5iCADb_09BSd2llhUoSekNC1_4zEYDqFvcELwHuQ/s1600/Mollie+-+October2jpg.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6rfQvnjursPn4kPshPLnF8qbFXKBcZX8fIDpA3aE-TE4rAgOyaqYQp83xulfAKpYtYCiBczw0BXW7QcBpnPWuH0iVgCcM_N51NFj5iCADb_09BSd2llhUoSekNC1_4zEYDqFvcELwHuQ/s320/Mollie+-+October2jpg.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5664630544552354466" /></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://www.bloglines.com/sub/http://www.journeytohotdog.blospot.com">
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</a></div>Allisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05679218812399118487noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4120885387893231918.post-50287994544560007122011-09-01T07:10:00.009-05:002011-09-01T07:55:04.650-05:00A Birthday for Pudding<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWu7Qk1WroowiRNL-LQP5ZRT__AP3bIlOq2lesgbrkUPNE1hufEPBX7hyAdL8g7cWAUaVN04zVwOV2yUenpn2dqNlkfnyKJ8cdmPeKgTaaIZ73Wi50WRgxVRfdH3whkHNn4h76VBfUJzI/s1600/IMG_6944.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWu7Qk1WroowiRNL-LQP5ZRT__AP3bIlOq2lesgbrkUPNE1hufEPBX7hyAdL8g7cWAUaVN04zVwOV2yUenpn2dqNlkfnyKJ8cdmPeKgTaaIZ73Wi50WRgxVRfdH3whkHNn4h76VBfUJzI/s320/IMG_6944.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5647370739162053474" /></a>
<br />In all of the LOA excitement, I failed to mention that Pudding's birthday was last week too. It was quite a week for celebration at our house! We had a big party for him last year on his 3rd birthday (the first birthday he celebrated with us), so we kept it low-key this year...well, as low-key as things get around here.
<br />We started the day at a local gymnastics facility for some bouncy fun. HD isn't all that fond of bouncy houses (nor is she a fan of other kids in general) so she stuck close to the ball pit for much of the morning. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijiLCby9tW2XAvTebEIHzugo3DFFh_UptG35cdvvj0cl9Lpsbk06iXTISVBbLH3PEfV4xkOKjlN5xKDgERAQpmrVPpt7geGYGIP5vmiZU83H9mZ4620GhU7EX-A0bkDoYe2iWdVWierR8/s1600/DSC00082.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijiLCby9tW2XAvTebEIHzugo3DFFh_UptG35cdvvj0cl9Lpsbk06iXTISVBbLH3PEfV4xkOKjlN5xKDgERAQpmrVPpt7geGYGIP5vmiZU83H9mZ4620GhU7EX-A0bkDoYe2iWdVWierR8/s320/DSC00082.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5647365321944697842" /></a>
<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYr6N_BGYPwd6V15-y3o54e_BauzFUgAlgHSd3zensG0zTRlKQdmiAFS6LuqScdcbBZ02G5oqvDe9Scf6KES20NXI0TRz2kNRKLia6fhoUQ8eipYU5pDJ3xzA30vGBileqzP_1CI4YUbk/s1600/DSC00089.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYr6N_BGYPwd6V15-y3o54e_BauzFUgAlgHSd3zensG0zTRlKQdmiAFS6LuqScdcbBZ02G5oqvDe9Scf6KES20NXI0TRz2kNRKLia6fhoUQ8eipYU5pDJ3xzA30vGBileqzP_1CI4YUbk/s320/DSC00089.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5647364899578801458" /></a>
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<br />They pretended to "swim" in the balls for more than an hour; I pretended not to think about what kind of germs covered those hundreds of plastic balls. We followed that up with a yummy lunch of PB&J before heading home for a quick nap in preparation for their first soccer practice/game of the season.
<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbIeesjQNNiSvc3ewFHlLr95rsZ1Y5apMXFF9hm0LJPZseWAgCVtJExWtqT-4XpXRMA9SBZgnbE66HzWp3NFiRQ4MPvU0Q1fQjtzMKppvwUIzuJm8b7ROT4HJwgkHBwbIdTgz54O3IKZs/s1600/DSC00098.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbIeesjQNNiSvc3ewFHlLr95rsZ1Y5apMXFF9hm0LJPZseWAgCVtJExWtqT-4XpXRMA9SBZgnbE66HzWp3NFiRQ4MPvU0Q1fQjtzMKppvwUIzuJm8b7ROT4HJwgkHBwbIdTgz54O3IKZs/s320/DSC00098.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5647366213476497906" /></a>
<br />Yes, Stu signed up the Littles for soccer in the U4 league this fall. I was a little hesitant at first; after all, they are just three- (and a brand new) four-years-old. But the league is all about getting the kids on the field and letting them have fun. Considering they have to sit through their brothers' practices/games, this might be the perfect introduction to the (very) basic fundamentals of the game.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ1MLAvt9eaSiT7ZtYG7IM3qyDjUHMj_H3ffX2CYqnglnPLOTtl4ahnyqkxHgbKRW4t0P5JhQ5juGiNdolVp_Ri8U_FmvDYahcesNlE3tOSOA13-5-QJgBI9FeTuIAJPthefXKgSaSnpA/s1600/IMG_6920.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 213px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ1MLAvt9eaSiT7ZtYG7IM3qyDjUHMj_H3ffX2CYqnglnPLOTtl4ahnyqkxHgbKRW4t0P5JhQ5juGiNdolVp_Ri8U_FmvDYahcesNlE3tOSOA13-5-QJgBI9FeTuIAJPthefXKgSaSnpA/s320/IMG_6920.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5647368575339670882" /></a>
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<br />They were both very excited about playing soccer...HD was particularly excited about her pink soccer gear! Their excitement last approximately six minutes. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVFo9QYwtNLvBtzNCzVr2t0J_iYgUoh4syXf1uk1QyxSUq5AU-26v6AJhgI5k_9sxeYSMwAFo0dU32PYOws8ZBYVgN07qBT_XO8eYCkBVbqp1LPMaEPzAYPTgdGAZ26LW_NVkmavUkTdg/s1600/IMG_6930.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVFo9QYwtNLvBtzNCzVr2t0J_iYgUoh4syXf1uk1QyxSUq5AU-26v6AJhgI5k_9sxeYSMwAFo0dU32PYOws8ZBYVgN07qBT_XO8eYCkBVbqp1LPMaEPzAYPTgdGAZ26LW_NVkmavUkTdg/s320/IMG_6930.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5647368583350993538" /></a>
<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghGHvmfIBqFxCGSuxYiU4jauk2Wo0rY2uxT7rELCh2T5ENR1gZYvs76rCBhxyORtgWgkQk1NrARTo8rYsscn_nx4XZ72RHTBgwhM4f0ItWUUftowqh_tx129JlPUL4zpcaEM0lRdbVpEE/s1600/IMG_6936.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 259px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghGHvmfIBqFxCGSuxYiU4jauk2Wo0rY2uxT7rELCh2T5ENR1gZYvs76rCBhxyORtgWgkQk1NrARTo8rYsscn_nx4XZ72RHTBgwhM4f0ItWUUftowqh_tx129JlPUL4zpcaEM0lRdbVpEE/s320/IMG_6936.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5647368592569122402" /></a>
<br />It started with Pudding getting upset because he had to take turns (very unusual for this kid...I think the long morning was starting to catch up with him). Then HD declared that she was finished because, "It is so very hot." The girl does not like hot weather. And the idea that we wanted her to run in hot weather...ha! She had a meltdown, Pudding had a meltdown; we were quite the spectacle! I learned my lesson though - no busy mornings on the day of soccer for those two. I'm hoping next week's practice/game will be better...otherwise it is going to be a looong six weeks.
<br />Tears were exchanged for big smiles at the suggestion of going home for a little birthday cake. Seriously, does this boy not radiate happiness?!?!
<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNXr38azaxH8CjO4fuh6oP-wc9OzU-xjOIWWsSD_Z3q4757fZKzDmeas70w0OYH11oD3BD4fOO_kqKZYU35QYcQju5EKHG4AHa-Zz9bpgxVFlzD2UDjU2v0xoqrn8zmP2QI8kKec2SoXk/s1600/IMG_6946.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNXr38azaxH8CjO4fuh6oP-wc9OzU-xjOIWWsSD_Z3q4757fZKzDmeas70w0OYH11oD3BD4fOO_kqKZYU35QYcQju5EKHG4AHa-Zz9bpgxVFlzD2UDjU2v0xoqrn8zmP2QI8kKec2SoXk/s320/IMG_6946.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5647370748258988642" /></a
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<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwe-7cZ3-v-krXy_g7Ik-bmcF_aEOyxIBBwWz4t2x5XezUJI9g5q-vO6B-HBzPMmGIDGeKrJuHjqhoTK_Vc4dQHEfT1fTxDFoTe2F2X0bLEtUz1GsbtZKMnQQnb0iDxYV8EXG7pQ98SNE/s1600/IMG_6949.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwe-7cZ3-v-krXy_g7Ik-bmcF_aEOyxIBBwWz4t2x5XezUJI9g5q-vO6B-HBzPMmGIDGeKrJuHjqhoTK_Vc4dQHEfT1fTxDFoTe2F2X0bLEtUz1GsbtZKMnQQnb0iDxYV8EXG7pQ98SNE/s320/IMG_6949.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5647370754137178034" /></a>
<br />The birthday celebrations didn't end there. We followed that up with a small swim party with Stu's family. I think Pudding was more excited about his dinosaur cake (his newest obsession) than anything else that weekend!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipxHnAjpgTrilfosYOZTsG8kkhCF31ILYpmsYhvhaNPFhOSRltwf20hyjDsJfDKWwtFXJhpC0Z8Z6QDVEsjNZNWEJRoi7SWDk_EJ8YR0x1_1swQAr5r53oe2PwUyYRTxb9XZoBMe6B2DI/s1600/IMG_6965.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipxHnAjpgTrilfosYOZTsG8kkhCF31ILYpmsYhvhaNPFhOSRltwf20hyjDsJfDKWwtFXJhpC0Z8Z6QDVEsjNZNWEJRoi7SWDk_EJ8YR0x1_1swQAr5r53oe2PwUyYRTxb9XZoBMe6B2DI/s320/IMG_6965.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5647373264306517522" /></a>
<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioXjpJJjjbsqMjO8WCBhCxs9sCCFfuNBSqXMsirdok-otpw8WLO8oxjY7q2O2QGomXmkG3fj0ceN1zlhfjK9cMizqJ1UGjlXwPiutvcD6C_oTT4GCsloR5_RdgNpuWf_fkKigzARfQLKc/s1600/IMG_6970.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioXjpJJjjbsqMjO8WCBhCxs9sCCFfuNBSqXMsirdok-otpw8WLO8oxjY7q2O2QGomXmkG3fj0ceN1zlhfjK9cMizqJ1UGjlXwPiutvcD6C_oTT4GCsloR5_RdgNpuWf_fkKigzARfQLKc/s320/IMG_6970.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5647373276294570498" /></a>
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<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD3QsboDZkBvXJ5jqZKopAPH_ZOmsagRYLRP54Kouqkpxp2B66w0Z3X7VW1qMVU5fnBKEvA_ddqwbJHOzw_2kS5HELH3PGTNOfdQbt6o-Qx71j0qPnDThM_8hSYekytf7cngbjop2oD1c/s1600/IMG_6974.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD3QsboDZkBvXJ5jqZKopAPH_ZOmsagRYLRP54Kouqkpxp2B66w0Z3X7VW1qMVU5fnBKEvA_ddqwbJHOzw_2kS5HELH3PGTNOfdQbt6o-Qx71j0qPnDThM_8hSYekytf7cngbjop2oD1c/s320/IMG_6974.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5647373277583737826" /></a>
<br />Another birthday in the books. Based on the smiles, I think it was a success.
<br />Happy Fourth Birthday to the Happiest Little Kid I know! <div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://www.bloglines.com/sub/http://www.journeytohotdog.blospot.com">
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</a></div>Allisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05679218812399118487noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4120885387893231918.post-52717644983390276652011-08-22T06:50:00.011-05:002011-08-22T18:07:51.990-05:00LOA!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJl55e9SdFoskJExgZ5gZfiNT0jrVZiYG_b3zoM8yiDMMPdAoY6POO-xGQ997_kD665vMFHUMdyPVuvYKLfmaMytgVQi1LSSieFOjQvDiD3ik3VQY4ZddywCZbiu5xiAqNh-JQiizBouI/s1600/L.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 199px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJl55e9SdFoskJExgZ5gZfiNT0jrVZiYG_b3zoM8yiDMMPdAoY6POO-xGQ997_kD665vMFHUMdyPVuvYKLfmaMytgVQi1LSSieFOjQvDiD3ik3VQY4ZddywCZbiu5xiAqNh-JQiizBouI/s200/L.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5643648801402949058" /></a>
<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUxAw9OJvTEIZiPnD-2HLgmjXMJMfYcdExhQBvYCm8mcQgQ2Gnf_urIeK6n_oNSXq9FZMWjrYe59nN_J2Tv4-_bdxqQbxEhaL11fMroZ9d5nLwu_fBkl2-N1dV0G85qmkmsZuFL9ntp_g/s1600/O.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUxAw9OJvTEIZiPnD-2HLgmjXMJMfYcdExhQBvYCm8mcQgQ2Gnf_urIeK6n_oNSXq9FZMWjrYe59nN_J2Tv4-_bdxqQbxEhaL11fMroZ9d5nLwu_fBkl2-N1dV0G85qmkmsZuFL9ntp_g/s200/O.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5643648708945724706" /></a>
<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT31-YIgEG8SE1lPYaWAo_pr3nLQQwlmGQSveaiNqcjep1WA8dJ3PkxcaGfYEKs95siyfPxhvv472yc0enoqrNJiHu6Rz61ntpPNBboFVdMPahjPgYf7CBVSirteXLrjCQ8aYhgewACw4/s1600/A.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT31-YIgEG8SE1lPYaWAo_pr3nLQQwlmGQSveaiNqcjep1WA8dJ3PkxcaGfYEKs95siyfPxhvv472yc0enoqrNJiHu6Rz61ntpPNBboFVdMPahjPgYf7CBVSirteXLrjCQ8aYhgewACw4/s200/A.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5643648592157624418" /></a>
<br />After waiting for 76 days, I am thrilled to say we have received our LOA from China! After being so discouraged about the adoption process last week, today I am positively giddy with excitement. While we still have a few more steps to go before we can travel to pick up our little Sprout, it is such a relief to have this part finished. The LOA is the great mystery of the process; some people receive theirs in 30 days while others wait over 100. The rest of the process is much more streamlined and regimented. If the current averages continue, it looks like we may be in China in mid-November. Chipmunk is beyond excited at the prospect of spending his 9th birthday in China with his new sister. I am just happy that she will be home with her family for the holidays. Not too much longer sweet baby girl!
<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUToxHD9T7wF3Q2COA9DpPtyiD0iCnK96y3z_Qwgq29sMIHwz4uSDdx4ylVHKm0IW_JPNCGIohPbObM7fKGx_FZLLILKhYj156kTARMPyjbj1DIkYNJCMjc5ZLjkbzUl4fsVfMuhzceOU/s1600/Mollie-August8.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUToxHD9T7wF3Q2COA9DpPtyiD0iCnK96y3z_Qwgq29sMIHwz4uSDdx4ylVHKm0IW_JPNCGIohPbObM7fKGx_FZLLILKhYj156kTARMPyjbj1DIkYNJCMjc5ZLjkbzUl4fsVfMuhzceOU/s320/Mollie-August8.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5643703275647168626" /></a>
<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://www.bloglines.com/sub/http://www.journeytohotdog.blospot.com">
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</a></div>Allisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05679218812399118487noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4120885387893231918.post-78578890801615730532011-08-15T07:16:00.001-05:002011-08-15T07:16:30.423-05:00Life in the Slow LaneWe have enjoyed a lazy summer. No big and exciting trips; just a lot of lounging by the pool and time spent with family and friends. It was so nice not having to wake to an alarm clock each morning (besides Pudding's early morning shouts from his bedroom) and being able to eat supper together each night without having to race to this practice or that meeting.
<br />But all good things must come to an end and, truth be told, I think we were all ready for school to begin. Chipmunk and Monkey are usually best friends; by the last week of July, they were at each other's throats all day...a sure-fire indicator that it is back-to-school time. Now that school has been back in session for a couple of weeks, I have our peaceful household back. We also decided that Pudding needed to go to preschool a few day a week. We know that he is still quite delayed socially/emotionally, but I didn't realize quite how delayed until I watched him interact with other children his age this summer at our library's summer program. He has made such amazing strides in the 16 months he has been home; never in my wildest dreams did I think he would be at the point where he is now. That being said, he needs a little extra push in learning how to follow rules and play in a group setting (with other children besides his siblings). So last week, he started at the same preschool that Monkey attended. I love this preschool and think it will be a perfect fit for Pudding. The class size is very small and the teachers are amazing. I am sure that he will thrive there.
<br />That leaves HotDog and me with three afternoons all to ourselves!! I'm not sure who is more excited about that...her or me?!? Granted, she takes a nap so her time as the only child at home is limited; still, she is thrilled that we get "girl time" together! If you ask her what we need to do during our girl time, she'll answer "Go shopping. Do our toenails. Eat ice cream." I think I'm going to be in trouble during her teenage years!
<br />HD is excited that Sprout will be able to share in our girl time too. We are still not sure when that will be though. We continue to wait for our much-anticipated LOA (China's official acceptance of our adoption). Most come within 30-60 days; we are at day 68 (I think) and still waiting. We did hear that our dossier made it out of translation and is in the review room, which means it should just be a few more weeks. Initially we had hoped to travel in August; now I'll be thrilled to have her home for Thanksgiving. I find it amazing what we though would be our quickest adoption will now become our longest adoption (almost a year from the time we committed to her). I have no right to complain as there are many other families that have waited a much longer time than us. It's just hard knowing these children are waiting in orphanages while they have families that are so anxious to bring them home. Adoption is definitely not for the faint-hearted.
<br />The one thing that does make this loooong wait a little easier is new pictures of our little Sprout!! We have been so blessed throughout this adoption in getting pictures of our newest little love. It had been a few months since we had gotten a new update on Sprout so I decided it was time to send her a care package and remind her that her family can't wait to bring her home. We also sent a photo book to show her pictures of her new family. I was hoping to get one or two new pictures. Imagine my delight when I received 9 new pictures of her with the photo album we sent. I love, love, love seeing her study the pictures of us...every little connection to her helps.
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<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT_L8sTPfi5g5sMSOIn8zxyxetfBB8BsOxHExRCODfl16XhP93XmXGSmV2-7PkKtdo2wKQ74v8-zvzKcBzphUTQkY19kVrGLOL2d7Q9NeC90CL-ESJMQ865avj9KzIVeRov9ziNSqv5p4/s1600/Mollie-August5.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT_L8sTPfi5g5sMSOIn8zxyxetfBB8BsOxHExRCODfl16XhP93XmXGSmV2-7PkKtdo2wKQ74v8-zvzKcBzphUTQkY19kVrGLOL2d7Q9NeC90CL-ESJMQ865avj9KzIVeRov9ziNSqv5p4/s320/Mollie-August5.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5641049807375698978" /></a>
<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo7V0KFa4GHtG4b4BO8G54G1_fApoykuxUG2ALpPGLyNKWA_iAUdjRjSw-SRgYoCbvCk61DHUeBdtJhc1TUoIPncy5AFHrZXgw8PrdskRQ24tUCHN_ETq0xqit43L6mk749ni2uuoy4yQ/s1600/Mollie-August6.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo7V0KFa4GHtG4b4BO8G54G1_fApoykuxUG2ALpPGLyNKWA_iAUdjRjSw-SRgYoCbvCk61DHUeBdtJhc1TUoIPncy5AFHrZXgw8PrdskRQ24tUCHN_ETq0xqit43L6mk749ni2uuoy4yQ/s320/Mollie-August6.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5641049802759416370" /></a>
<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcPA7Xs51UqBqoc2z2VeFKCpnC4-sGVCFbhm3tt4_6JyTRudkb3GTmJiOYheI_K39aIsdC5g-aLWu-pDtALlCtox2pA3ttKlgdDy3_1yJ30lPeL3-jD9zogQq9_xRHaZWJYcORZDkTBoA/s1600/Mollie-August9.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcPA7Xs51UqBqoc2z2VeFKCpnC4-sGVCFbhm3tt4_6JyTRudkb3GTmJiOYheI_K39aIsdC5g-aLWu-pDtALlCtox2pA3ttKlgdDy3_1yJ30lPeL3-jD9zogQq9_xRHaZWJYcORZDkTBoA/s320/Mollie-August9.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5641049809806671906" /></a>
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</a></div>Allisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05679218812399118487noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4120885387893231918.post-90433380320926749272011-06-07T14:54:00.002-05:002011-06-07T15:07:14.955-05:00LIDI was so happy to wake up with an email from our coordinator informing us that we <em>finally</em> have an LID of 6/7/11. This is about a month later than I expected it, but at this point I'm just happy to be logged into the system. We now wait for our LOA, which is the official paperwork from China saying they have approved us to be Sprout's parents. The average wait for LOA right now is 30-60 days. The program allowing us to reuse our dossier seems like a total mess at this point so I'm going to go ahead and expect a 60+ day wait. I was praying for September travel, but now I'll be happy to have her home by Thanksgiving. No worries though; it is what it is and it is out of our hands. We will be thrilled whenever it is she joins our family. In the meantime, tomorrow is the last day of school for Chipmunk and Monkey so our summer fun can officially begin!!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://www.bloglines.com/sub/http://www.journeytohotdog.blospot.com">
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</a></div>Allisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05679218812399118487noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4120885387893231918.post-83616059436478956112011-06-04T09:54:00.005-05:002011-06-04T10:18:40.803-05:00A Bittersweet SurpriseWhile the wait for LID is still dragging on, I was thrilled to see a new message in my inbox. There is a family in Shanghai this week that is adopting a little boy from Sprout's orphanage. They were able to visit the orphanage and check on some of the children with families that are waiting. Sprout is in a different room than their new son, so I was just hoping that they were able to catch a quick glimpse of her and let me know how she looks. Imagine my surprise when I found four new pictures of our little sweetheart, along with two quick video clips!! I always love getting updated pictures of our little girl but the video brought an entirely new level of happiness. Seeing her waving at the camera and saying Mama brought tears to my eyes. After struggling during this looooong wait for an LID, the video was a great reminder that there is a beautiful little girl waiting for her mom and dad. However, it is a little bittersweet to receive new updates on her, as we can see her growing up without us there. Everyday we miss new milestones; everyday she becomes more of toddler and less of a baby; everyday she misses the love and attention that her family is anxious to share with her. The wait is so hard but so worth it. <A href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSbJVtH0ME5r9NeqlaX61fU7B0z24R5au11gGGi0lL_JYgG2nBvfKQAwkPn6hWlM74XTBMQhjvgQ_oRXIeBHN4Xoz0tdh7f1joQw1IrVB-aGPtIPxMwqtfT4bmagCbAFb1BpRTggwu9kc/s1600/Mollie+-+June2.JPG"><IMG style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 306px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id=BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5614382037958471650 border=0 alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSbJVtH0ME5r9NeqlaX61fU7B0z24R5au11gGGi0lL_JYgG2nBvfKQAwkPn6hWlM74XTBMQhjvgQ_oRXIeBHN4Xoz0tdh7f1joQw1IrVB-aGPtIPxMwqtfT4bmagCbAFb1BpRTggwu9kc/s320/Mollie+-+June2.JPG"></A> <A href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfhVWCpR1oM0SlBKW1QrG2WiIDT8ZYno84lrCx2GsNJ1hAKl8ckYvlJfz2Xzuoh7IIoCYS6iHLWHk51_-xVcRLbh7tSbxpZD8zcypiy905OGAji7_2bIAM8jYONBHjoj9kAsf7opsjsho/s1600/Mollie-June.JPG"><IMG style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 180px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id=BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5614382050582289954 border=0 alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfhVWCpR1oM0SlBKW1QrG2WiIDT8ZYno84lrCx2GsNJ1hAKl8ckYvlJfz2Xzuoh7IIoCYS6iHLWHk51_-xVcRLbh7tSbxpZD8zcypiy905OGAji7_2bIAM8jYONBHjoj9kAsf7opsjsho/s320/Mollie-June.JPG"></A> <A href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih8sTtD4F-P4Oz86XS1mylrTpHPgKPsFFkdPzcpMn1wkbWtACCOtLSV3_t9VAw5co4R04CnySUj2gt98EW961oAlNYch9IwrK_KW_uSPCh9C0dl0B1U9NG5Qw0RcSvca5zkFDaK3Sj1vQ/s1600/Mollie+-+June3.JPG"><IMG style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id=BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5614382041827607874 border=0 alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih8sTtD4F-P4Oz86XS1mylrTpHPgKPsFFkdPzcpMn1wkbWtACCOtLSV3_t9VAw5co4R04CnySUj2gt98EW961oAlNYch9IwrK_KW_uSPCh9C0dl0B1U9NG5Qw0RcSvca5zkFDaK3Sj1vQ/s320/Mollie+-+June3.JPG"></A><br /><OBJECT id=BLOG_video-FAILED class=BLOG_video_class width=320 height=266 contentId="FAILED"></OBJECT><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://www.bloglines.com/sub/http://www.journeytohotdog.blospot.com">
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</a></div>Allisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05679218812399118487noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4120885387893231918.post-50935982111823631492011-05-23T19:01:00.002-05:002011-05-23T19:17:57.155-05:00Pity PartyI just heard from our coordinator that we still haven't been assigned an LID (our documents logged into the system). We were DTC (the date we sent all of our documents to China) on 4/29 and it usually takes about two weeks to get an LID. Not in our case. Evidently it is taking longer since they have to copy all of the documents from our previous dossier. Sigh...<br />This isn't a huge deal but it is disappointing. It seems as though everything in this adoption is taking a few weeks longer than it should. This is the part of the adoption process that drives me crazy. We have done everything required and now we have to wait for the various governments to do their part. I can't stand the fact that Sprout is halfway across the world waiting for us and there isn't a single thing we can do to make it go any quicker. <br />We still have no idea when we'll be traveling; that is all dependent on how longs it takes to get our LOA. I'm still keeping my fingers crossed for September travel but it might be late September at this point. My head knows that would be great as we are leaning towards taking Chipmunk with us and that timeframe would fall during his fall break. But my heart just wants to hop on the next plane and hold Sprout in my arms as soon as possible. <br />And the adoption roller-coaster continues...<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://www.bloglines.com/sub/http://www.journeytohotdog.blospot.com">
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