Remembering Jason and Kathy - CCAI Hosts

While in China, I kept meaning to write a short ode to Jason and Kathy, our CCAI hosts in Guangzhou.  So, this is a little late, but no less heartfelt. 

Kathy and Jason provide 24 hour a day support to the CCAI familes while in Guangzhou. Since we spent our entire trip in Guangzhou, they were with us for 12 days. They were constantly with us: helping us fill out necessary forms (line by line), gathering signatures, setting up appointments, taking us everywhere we needed to go, showing us the city, taking us shopping, arranging group dinners, checking on our babies, helping us up bus steps, and translating what we couldn't understand (uh, everything). When they weren't with us, they were working on our behalf, shuttling our paperwork around the city. From the moment we met these two special people, Brian and I knew we were in good hands. Our trip was so incredibly smooth and we know that we have CCAI (our wonderful agency) and especially Jason and Kathy to thank for that. They will never be forgotten.


Here is Emerson and I with Auntie Kathy at the zoo:

Finally in Texas...

time zone, that is!  We have been home now a full week with only one challenge but it's a big one. 

She's eating great - no trouble at all changing from the sugary sweet Chinese formula to our organic choice and we can even add vitamins to her bottle each morning. She loves all the food we've tried, although sweet potatoes are clearly the best.  Visitors are welcome and she's even getting used to her 100-mile-an-hour cousin who can't keep her hands off this baby.  Errands, no sweat. Inside, outside, restaurants, cars. You name it, she can handle it. 

But back to the challenge.  I like my sleep and so does Brian. I need a good solid 8 each night and Brian can handle even  more than that.  Yes, we are big sleepers.  And so is Emerson, only she's been sleeping with the Chinese.  At the beginning of the week, she was wide awake smiling and playing until about 5am. Then she crashed until noon. Now, I enjoyed those mornings - time to walk the dogs, have some breakfast, catch up on  my stuff but it was all done while sleep walking which wasn't going to last much longer.  Sleep arrived on Wednesday and Thursday around 1am and then 11pm on Friday.  Woohoo.  And then came Saturday night and we all slept soundly from 9:30 until 7am.  Big Woohoo! I think we have finally arrived Big Tex!

Homecoming

Ah, home sweet home! The trip home was long but just fine.  Emerson screamed for quite a while at the beginning of our flight from Hong Kong to SFO - the length of time she screamed is under debate but somewhere between 2 and 3 hours.  After 10 minutes, who can tell anymore? She was a dream from SFO to DFW and I even got a few minutes of sleep on that flight.

My sister and brother-in-law picked us up at the airport... she was so happy to meet her Aunt & Uncle so we just eased right into Dallas. No tears from Emerson - just a few from me and her A-ee.  My parents, Brian's dad, and my sister's daughters were all anxiously waiting at our house and did a great job staying calm as they saw Emerson for the first time.  She handled it all really well: everyone held her and she smiled a lot.  She scrutinized her new family and surroundings and is already very comfortable in her crib. 

And, for the big homecoming finale: Jimi and Murray (our combined 180 pounds of dog) and the 2 cats are of great interest to her and caused no fear at all. She immediately reached out for Abigail (the sociable loving cat) and Jimi (the old grandpa dog).  Murray is still a little much (as he is for most people - he's a big, in-your-face sort of guy) but she doesn't even twitch when he licks her head and feet.  Now, they are all still wondering when she's gonna leave but I think everyone will be fine.

The night was a little rough - she's on China time so from 2-4 she was wide awake and ready to play. Luckily she went back to sleep although it turns out that I'm on China time too.  We'll all do some adjusting in the next few days.

How does it feel to be home?  Pretty amazing.  We are glad we spent 11 days getting to know each other in China and she's definitely attached. So many people held their breath and waited with us for these 5 years and I'm overjoyed to say that it's time to breathe.  It was an incredibly difficult wait and there were many days that I didn't think it would ever end.  Well, here we are and Emerson could not be more perfect.  I know there are many challenges ahead and can not wait to take them on and enjoy every moment!

we could be in for a long night, before a long day.

We made it to Hong Kong and have no weather to speak of. (despite typhoon Megi).  And, we are in an airport hotel facing the South China sea where she is looming so it feels a little precarious.  As in, we can see the sea out the window of our room.  Looks like she's passing us by though and headed straight for the China Province we just left. We are optimistic about our flight tomorrow morning.

As for Emerson, she's a bit cranky and looking at her new surroundings intently.  Glad we only have to move her one more time.

Hopefully my next post will be from home!!

Red couch picture

It's a tradition in the White Swan to take a group baby photo on one of the famous red couches. The experience was pretty hilarious. Here is Emerson in one of her special dresses, after the crazy group photo:

"not another minute"

This is what I said when Emerson woke us up with her usual noises at 4am - "I can't sleep another minute in this bed".  The White Swan is lovely with everything you expect from a 5-star hotel, except a comfy bed.  So, here I sit in the lobby enjoying the quiet and ready to hit the road today.  We changed our travel plans slightly due to the typhoon headed straight for the southern coast of China and will take a bus to Hong Kong with three other families (chartered, not public).  We'll spent the night and hopefully get on our flight as scheduled on Saturday around noon.

Getting the Rangers – live!

We are enjoying the Ranger v Yankees Championship Series in our room early each morning.  Go Rangers!

Our visit to Yangxi

We all made the trip and while it was challenging in many ways, it was well worth it so that one day we can answer the many questions Emerson is likely to have.




We arrived in the city of Yangxi after a 4 hour bus ride from Guangzhou. The roads were scenic but hard to watch since we were all hanging on for dear life. The first 2 hours out of Guangzhou were definitely the bumpiest before stopping to stretch our legs at a rest stop with a KFC (yes, Kentucky Fried). The 2nd half of the trip was a bit less bumpy but hotter since the temperature outside was rising and the air inside the bus was limited.



We went directly to the orphanage (The Yangxi County Welfare Institute) and were received in a nice room with plates of bananas, tangerines, and bottles of water. The front wall was all windows looking out to the somewhat shabby garden and playground the back wall had some windows that faced directly onto another brick building. Another wall held pictures of what appeared to be the lineage of Orphanage Directors and the fourth wall was full of pictures of babies with their adopted families – called the wall of happiness and smiles (or something very close to that). We were joined by Mr. Wu, the Director, the Vice Director, and two of the nannies who we had met on Gotcha Day. When we stepped out of the bus, Emerson (riding in her carrier facing out) immediately saw the Nanny we had talked to on Gotcha Day and started smiling.



As we enjoyed the fruit and water, Mr. Wu answered all of our questions, very openly. There are about 70 babies/children currently living in the orphanage and they are the only orphanage in the county which about 500,000 people call home. There are usually 3-4 babies found each month but could be up to 10 in a busy month. Abandonments are going down in the area. There are about 40 nannies working there, most working day shifts with only a few there at night and they share care of all the babies. We captured the entire conversation on video.



Then we walked up 2 flights of stairs to the non-special needs baby room. There were about 15 cribs and most had babies, trying to nap as we were there during that time. They showed us which crib each of our babies had occupied and let us take pictures of the cribs. The cribs are quite small with metal bars and wood bottoms. No blankets or sheets because it’s summertime and too hot. There were some sad things about this visit, but I’ll keep them in my heart and slowly let them go. We walked back down the stairs to the bus all holding our babies a little tighter.



Overall, my belief is that this particular orphanage is doing the best they can with limited resources. The nannies all knew our babies by name and seemed happy to see them; the babies responded positively to them. They gave them a place to sleep, food, and all the love they could.



We took the two Nannies and the Vice Director to lunch at a local Chinese restaurant that they chose. They had ordered for the group in advance and were very worried that we would not like it. Everything was delicious and they made sure we all got plenty of servings: skewered barbequed oysters (which we watched get shelled on the corner outside), tomato and egg soup, fried noodles, lotus root, various meats that I didn’t eat, and my favorite, the local fried fish dish.



After lunch we visited each of the spots where our babies were found. It was a somber drive around Yangxi with each family stepping out to photograph and absorb the surroundings. Emerson was found in front of the city Credit Union on a very busy street. Our Agency has given us the newspaper “finding ad’ that ran on her behalf:



“Song Xiaohong, female, was found abandoned at the left side of the gate of the Rural Credit Cooperatives, Xihu Road, Yangxi County on February 5, 2010. about one day old.”



We were told that as we stood in front of the building, a man and his family in front of the shop next door watched us intently. Maybe they were the finders.



The ride back was even more fun than the journey there since Emerson had a few short fits. Overall though, she was easy and the day was an important part of this journey.

Emerson is small but she sure can scream!

This was discovered on Monday night – by us and everyone around us.  She woke up at 3 am and screamed at the top of her lungs for the better part of 2 hours.  We walked her around the room, rocked her, fed her, held her, sang to her, walked her through the hallways and nothing worked. Inconsolable. She finally slept for about an hour and then was up again at 6am and ready for the day. I’ve got plenty of theories about what was going on, but who really knows. 

A day without a nap and a pending decision (Monday, Oct 18)

Aside from 2 30-minute cat naps (one pictured below as we were leaving the zoo), Emerson has not had a good sleep since 6:30 this morning. She’s in her crib now, and I’m trying to ignore her but every time I turn around she’s peering through the bars just smiling at me. Everything else is fine today – she’s healthy, eating great, and perfectly happy; just not the least bit sleepy.



Tomorrow may be a very long day, 7am to 7pm. It’s the day we get to visit the orphanage and it’s a 3 hour bus ride each way. This is a unique opportunity and I am certain that all three of us should go. We’ll have the chance to see where she lived for her first 8 months and hopefully see the spot where she was found (we have the street corner and building name). Brian doesn’t think we should subject her to the long day and feels strongly that one of us should stay back with her. We are both right. Not sure how this will be resolved… stay tuned.

A day without a nap and a pending decision (Monday, Oct 18)

Aside from 2 30-minute cat naps (one pictured below as we were leaving the zoo), Emerson has not had a good sleep since 6:30 this morning. She’s in her crib now, and I’m trying to ignore her but every time I turn around she’s peering through the bars just smiling at me. Everything else is fine today – she’s healthy, eating great, and perfectly happy; just not the least bit sleepy.




Tomorrow may be a very long day, 7am to 7pm. It’s the day we get to visit the orphanage and it’s a 3 hour bus ride each way. This is a unique opportunity and I am certain that all three of us should go. We’ll have the chance to see where she lived for her first 8 months and hopefully see the spot where she was found (we have the street corner and building name). Brian doesn’t think we should subject her to the long day and feels strongly that one of us should stay back with her. We are both right. Not sure how this will be resolved… stay tuned.

A trip to the Guangzhou Zoo (Monday, Oct 18)

We spent this morning at the City Zoo – and it was quite nice. There were some sad things, like small cement cages for the lions, a limping cougar, skinny tigers, and a wolf with a sore on his side but also some great habitats and 2 Brown Bears who took a swim. Oh, and 2 Panda Bears! Emerson had a great time. She rode in her carrier facing out for the first time and watched everything. We think it’s good that she liked the animals – hopefully that bodes well for Jimi and Murray (our big boys waiting at home).

Hanging in the lobby (Sunday, Oct 17)

Not to bore everyone with a technical update, but I’ve been quite challenged since we left Hong Kong. The connection in the room doesn’t work for us so I have to sit in the lobby where wireless can be accessed. I only have 1 battery in my laptop and it’s not very strong, so we get about 45 minutes a pop. Between my e-mail and Brian’s fantasy football and baseball scores, that’s not much time. Usually I can’t access the blog (or Facebook) and e-mail has been spotty. When I get e-mail, I send blog entries to my sister who has been posting them. Yesterday, I somehow got into everything but not so lucky today.
Anyway, we enjoy our time here despite the technical frustrations. We sit by big windows overlooking the Pearl River on the famous red couches, listening to the birds and the waterfall. We pass Emerson back and forth and chat with the people who want to know all about our baby. (Well, I chat with them and Brian worries that they are trying to take advantage of us in some way… paranoid daddy.) Today I talked to Gloria who was enjoying an afternoon on the Island with her 5 year old daughter; she told me about how much she wanted to adopt a baby, but the culture in China wasn’t supportive. As I type now, a woman and her baby boy are sitting next to me and he is absolutely fascinated with my laptop and wants to type really badly. Soon we’ll go outside and join the crowds on Sunday afternoon.

Anna and other friends (Saturday, Oct 16)

So there are many gift shops on the island – filled with baby clothes, art, jewelry, trinkets, etc. They also do laundry. The people who work for the shop hand out cards and coupons as you walk around, enticing you to their shop. The other day, we were given a card for Jenny’s. We talked for a few minutes with the woman who gave it to us and it turned out she was Jenny. Today, as we passed Jenny’s, she was there handing out the cards – when we told her that we already had one, she said “Oh yes, I remember you – Wendy!” Pretty impressive.
Late this afternoon as we were taking our 2nd walk for the day, a young woman from Susan’s Place stopped us to talk (and to give us a card). She and I hit it off. We talked in the street and then walked together a bit. Then she asked if we’d like to go to the park. Sure! We walked with her to the park and found a bench where she and I chatted for a while. She was born in Thailand but moved to China when she was very young, is 18 with two older sisters, works and lives in Guangzhou, and she’s a freshman in college studying Business English. She had many questions about Texas and other countries where we’ve travelled. That was Anna. We exchanged e-mail addresses and I hope to keep in touch with this charming young woman.
During our time in the park with Anna, Emerson was photographed by several people. She really doesn’t smile much for the camera but she’s just darn cute.
All of the people who talk with us tell us how lucky Emerson is. They tell us that life here is very hard and they know she’ll have many opportunities that most people here do not. We just think we are lucky but know it goes both ways.

A lovely Saturday (Saturday, Oct 16)

The weather cooled here today and it was a much needed break from the heat and humidity. Not that I’m complaining, it’s just been a little on the warm side and I’m done with heat after the Dallas summer. After a little bit of a rough night (coughing every few hours – motrin did the trick this morning and she’s fine now), we decided to skip the group outing to the Pearl market and take it easy in the hotel. And the Ranger game was on, live 8am start time, and we thought it would be nice to enjoy the 1st ever Ranger League Championship game. Not. Damn Yankees.
Anyway, after the game, we decided to take a stroll around the island. We spent 2 hours walking around since Emerson fell asleep as soon as she got into the carrier and was in need of a nap. There was a nice breeze, people were enjoying their Saturday afternoon, and we took lots of video and pictures of the sights.

Health Check A-OK (Thursday, Oct 14)

All the babies when to the clinic today for a required health check. She passed – all good. She weighs 14 pounds which is only .5 more than the August report.  I am a little worried but our hosts tell me not to be – everyone loses weight during this time of year due to the humidity.  OK, I’m hoping to shed a few myself.

The reality of life in China (Thursday, Oct 14)

We dropped off our laundry at a little store next to the hotel today. While there a young girl was very friendly and happy to talk with Emerson.  She told us all about her 12 month old son. Eventually I asked enough questions to discover that her son lives with her in-laws in another Province.  She and her husband both travel to other cities to work and return to see their son (and presumably each other) about once a month, for 3 days.  She cried and got very embarrassed.  I can’t imagine a life where you travel for hours to work in a gift shop. With each passing moment, I feel more and more grateful for the life we have and the opportunities we are able to give Emerson.

Our surroundings (Thursday, Oct 14)

We are living on the tiny island of Shamian in Guangzhou, a city of 13 million. The smog is so thick you can taste it. I had a glimpse of the sun on the morning of Gotcha Day but haven’t seen it since. The big city of Guangzhou is hazy from every angle. The White Swan is very nice and a great home base: the lobby has a 3-story waterfall, lovely jade statutes, and a huge cage full of birds (green – love birds, I think). Our room is quite comfortable although we are all getting a little tired of it. Nearby the hotel we can wander through shops and talk with people who are very interested in Emerson – lots of questions and a simple thumbs-up from those who don’t speak English. The little streets are lined with trees and there are lots of butterflies. The architecture reminds us a little of New Orleans and there are many parks where we find people playing badminton. I hear they full of thai chi groups in the morning, but we haven’t been out early yet. A local Trade Convention (Trade Days) has started so the area is getting crowded.
The island is made by the Pearl River and another river (will get the name right later) and is easily walkable. The hotel is right on the water so we can watch boats pass by – some industrial and some flowery tourist boats (literally – decorated like flowers). Sometimes people swim by and every now and then we see a bather. It’s also very beautiful at night with lights that line the rivers and one bridge that changes colors, but we haven’t been out very late either.
The humidity is pretty rough. When we walk around, both Brian and Emerson sweat buckets.

Last night we had a group dinner at the Cow & Bridge (or Bridge and Cow), a delicious Thai restaurant. We’ve had many meals at Lucy’s because it’s close and familiar: lots of American choices.

a new picture - posting quick

Gotcha Day! Photo

A good night

We are feeling very lucky. After 1 full day and 1 full night, she’s got a great appetite (welcome to the family!), she sleeps well (welcome to the family!) and she seems very healthy with the exception of a few sneezes and a little runny nose. Knock on wood.

She had her first bath last night and she enjoyed it. Oh my, she is tiny. We haven’t weighed her yet but I’m guessing about 15 pounds. She can herself turn over and raise her front half up but hasn’t shown any signs of moving forward (or backward) yet. She’s really working on grabbing things and is fascinated with her fingers. She’s not very good at sitting on her own. She seems equally infatuated with me and with Brian and we are hoping that equals healthy attachment. Lots of development milestones ahead so we’ll just keep working on nourishing this tiny baby girl, with food and love.

A few things about Emerson

We are getting to know our daughter very quickly. She is very independent – I suspect she’s done a lot of self caring in the last 8 months. She wipes her nose and her mouth on her own and wraps herself up in her blanket. She kicks her right leg when she’s excited or unhappy and scratches her head when she is concerned. People are telling us she looks a little like Brian and I agree. Big brown eyes. She has the worried look that we saw in one of the first pictures – just like Uncle Marcus.

Yesterday she had a lot of red bumps on her head, mostly on her forehead and a little scab on the back of her head but those are almost 100% cleared up today. She’s got a bald stripe and a funny bump on the back of her head and her back is covered by Mongolian spots (which is very common). Oh, and she doesn’t like to have her head or her feet touched much, but she does like to be kissed on the mouth. That gets a smile every time.

It’s official!

We returned to the Civil Affairs Office today for some interviews with the Adoption Officials. They asked us how we felt about our daughter (LOVE LOVE LOVE) and whether we promised to be good to her. We signed on the dotted line and SHE IS OURS.

After the business, we headed to a store for supply shopping – formula, diapers, snacks, etc. It was a bit overwhelming for me; can’t imagine how it felt to Emerson and her Yangxi sisters. She rode in her snuggly and slept through most of it.

Our first night as parents (not including our 4-legged babies)

A little tough! We were busy (although today we can’t remember doing what – probably just staring at Emerson) until about 9 and so we started bedtime a bit late. She screamed from 10-11 (which really, was the first time she cried all day so not too bad) until finally falling asleep. Not in the crib – sleeping only came when one of us was walking with her and stuck only if we lay down on the bed very quietly and held her for a while. She screamed for a few minutes again at 1 but slept pretty well until 7. Neither Brian nor I got much sleep but that was just first night jitters we think. Tonight we are definitely using the crib – and she’s napping in it right now so it must not be too bad.

Gotcha Day!

The experience was a whirlwind. We rode a bus through the crazy crowded streets of Guangzhou and then walked about a block to the Provincial Civil Affairs Office. I think it’s a common sight – 20-30 Americans on their way to pick up a baby - but it felt pretty odd. Once inside, we went to the 8th floor and into a big room with couches around the outer walls and a big open floor in the middle. There was a playroom on one side and the babies were already there, shielded by a thin curtain. The other agency groups were already there and some were getting to know their babies already. When it was our group’s turn, we quickly planned to trade cameras and then chaos began. One baby was brought out at a time and the parents names were called out, alphabetical I think but we weren’t paying much attention to anything except each baby as they were carried into the room. One at a time, our new friends were handed their daughter and each moment was incredibly special to watch. We watched one little girl who is 6 and here with her parents cry when she saw her baby sister.

When Emerson was brought out, I couldn’t take my eyes off her. In fact, I didn’t move forward for a few seconds – Brian was the first to hold her and she smiled big smiles when he took her into his arms. He handed her to me pretty quickly and I got a smile too.

She looks very much like the pictures we got from August, of course totally adorable and perfect.

She was awake and very calm for about 30 minutes and then she and almost all the other babies crashed. They rode a bus for 3 hours that day from Yangxi to Guangzhou and were understandably a bit tired. She slept in my arms for another hour in the adoption center while we took care of some important business (namely, providing a donation to the orphanage) and then all the way back to the hotel on the bus.

We had about 10 minutes to talk to one of the Nannies from the Orphanage. We had some questions prepared but probably didn’t ask near enough. We know which of her Yangxi sisters she had been sleeping next to – Ava – and also confirmed that she has never seen a dog or a cat (uh oh, she’s in for a big surprise).

I can safely say that “gotcha moment” in the government building in Guangzhou China will be among the most memorable and best of my life.

A quick message from Jill

I am truly excited to share that Emerson Utley was handed to her parents at 2:30 pm 10/11/10.  When we spoke to them this morning, all sounded happy.  I hope they are all sleeping soundly right now.  Emerson was smiling when she saw her new parents. 

We love you, Wendy.Brian.Emerson!

Wendy will post more soon. 

Gotcha Day Morning

I woke up at 4am this morning and got busy staying calm. Finished a book – Mma Ramatswe, the #1 Lady Detective in Botswana is always very calming for me – took a bath, did some yoga, did some fire breathing, meditated (for about 2 minutes), and read our itinerary a few times. My morning connection has been a lot better so I’ve written a few e-mails too. My mind is racing, my tummy is turning, and my limbs are weak. We are hours away from Emerson; she may even be on the bus from Yangxi to Guangzhou right now.

In China!

Today was straightforward: we met our group at 11am, boarded a bus, passed through customs and immigration into China, and arrived in Guangzhou around 3pm. We met our hosts Jason and Kathy – two people who will be our best friends for the next 12 days. We checked into the White Swan hotel, took a short rest, toured the neighborhood (which is lovely) and then had dinner at Lucy’s around the corner. We are getting to know our group and loving every minute of this experience.

Since then it’s been nothing but trouble. I’ve spent a few hours trying to get connected –wire, wireless, blackberry, nada! I finally found a wireless connection, paid for temporary access and then struggled for several hours. From here on out, Jill (my sis) will be posting blog entries since the blog site is blocked in China (Google) and I’ll work on getting her pictures too.

We have an early morning with a trip to the bank and family meeting with our host. We go to meet the babies at 2pm. WE WILL HAVE OUR DAUGHTER IN OUR ARMS SHORTLY AFTER THAT! Stay tuned and I’ll do my best to stay connected.

Made it to China

Only one more day until they have her!  Wendy and Brian made it to China!  They have joined the other families, in which all have already adopted girls from China seven years ago.  I'm sure this puts Wendy/Brian at ease.  From Wendy's text "Everything exept connections in China is perfect!". 
More to come...
Message brought to you by Emerson's Aunt Jill

Hong Kong, Day 3 (redux)

Today we repeated our tour from Thursday except today we were joined by the other families in our travel group. Hooray! It makes this all feel so real and so close and it’s nice to be with other people who have shared this long painful wait. On Monday, we’ll share amazing moments as we meet our daughters for the first time.

We were guided by our CCAI host in Hong Kong (Matthew) who is wonderful. Today he shared many facts about Hong Kong with us; tomorrow he will chaperone us all the way to Guangzhou.

In the afternoon we visited the Temple of 10,000 Buddhas which is a Buddhist Monastery that houses at least 10,000 Buddhas. It is a beautiful place on the side of a mountain with glorious views of the city and well, at least 10,000 Buddhas. My favorite was at the very top over a waterfall. We climbed a lot of steps. I think someone told us 286 but Brian thinks someone told us 400, probably somewhere in between and it felt like 10,000.

On the way down, we passed a Monk. He stopped and bowed. We stopped and bowed back. He smiled and laughed and then put prayer beads on my wrist, blessed them and bowed. Then he took prayer beads off of his wrist, put them on Brian’s wrist, blessed them and shared a bow with Brian (their heads almost bumped). Then he asked for $100 donation (about $15 US – which is not bad for a set of blessed beads from a mountain top Monastery). We did not have enough cash so Brian gave him everything he had and I put my beads back in his hands. At the bottom of the stairs I remembered that I had some cash too but I’m letting that go and remembering the special blessing.

one picture (explanation)

I am having trouble loading pictures to this blog - looks like I can get 1 to load if I do it quickly!  Don't ask cause I don't understand.

So that is the giant Buddha that we visited at the Po Lin monastery yesterday - seen through a field of incense where 3 sticks are lit and burning for Emerson. Hard to see but if you have great eyes, they are the ones that are brown with red writing, not yellow like the others. 

one picture

Dreams

Until we arrived in Hong Kong 3 days ago, I had dreamed of Emerson one time during our five years of waiting. Once. Since we arrived in Hong Kong, I have dreamed of her every night. The first night was a very detailed “gotcha day” experience. I could see each baby as they were carried into the room and recognized Emerson immediately, even though she was very tiny and as soon as she was in my arms, looked like a hamster. For those of you who know me well, this won’t seem too strange: I dream of animals almost every night. My sister had a dream this week that I handed her Emerson in a lunchbox. Well, if she was the size I dreamed, she would fit into that lunchbox!


Last night I dreamed that we were already home and she could talk, although still only 8 months. We were working out how much and what to feed her. This is a direct reflection of my waking worries. There is a very good chance that she will be undernourished so we are anxious to get her into our arms and start her new diet. What and how much is still a question so I woke up very early and read some web sites. I’m really sure we’ll be ok and figure it out but that won’t stop me from thinking about it for the next 2 days (TWO DAYS!!!).

Hong Kong, Day 2

After a busy day in the city yesterday, today was a quiet visit to an undeveloped island: Lantau. We took the ferry and started on the longest beach in Hong Kong, Cheung Sha (which means long sands).  No one swims there on account of the sharks. From there we went to Tai O village a very old traditional fishing village with stilt houses, that we rode through on a boat, and a dried fish market. Then off to the Po Lin Monastery, overlooked by the largest outdoor sitting bronze Buddha. We then took the Ngong Ping skyrail (cable car) back to the other side of the island.  We had dinner tonight in the hotel buffet - SCORE: sushi!

Hong Kong, Day 1

Despite my case of jetlag, we had a great day.  We ended up booking a tour for today and tomorrow which is very unlike us.  We typically travel through new cities on the cheap - figuring out city transportation and wandering a lot.  We want zero stress during this trip and decided that tours would be a good way to see the city without any wrong turns. 

Sadly, we were the only people on the tour today so we were chauffered around in a bus.  I worried about our carbon footprint all day. On the upside, we had very personal time with the tour guide and got to ask all the questions we could think of. 

We toured Hong Kong Island which included visits to the Aberdeen fishing village with a ride on a sampan through the harbour, a jewelry factory, Stanley Market, and Victoria Peak, passing many different areas of the city on the way.  I would post some pictures but I'm too exhausted to do any downloading right now. Brian has been crashed since we walked in the hotel room around 7:30 and it's past time for me to follow.

Travel Travails and Big Talker Betty Crocker

We landed in Hong Kong around 6:30pm last night, just a little late, and got to our hotel around 9pm. Here is what happened on the way: almost took the shuttle to the wrong hotel (there are 5 Regal Hotels in the city), jumped on a city bus, missed our stop, had a very nice lady help us get to a taxi stand, and then in a moment of jetlag, we upgraded our room (just sounded good - still not sure it was worth it).


And that brings me to Betty Crocker. I have made a very loud and proud point to many people that I don't get jetlag. I've been on two international trips this year (Finland and India) and did not get jetlag on either leg of those trips. Today I spent the day feeling like I had the flu. Of course I totally expected Brian to suffer and he's fine.

happy in San Francisco

Five hours into our journey and Brian is already tired of my travel advice (drink water, walk, blah blah blah). But for the most part, we are having a great time - laughing a lot and feeling very happy.  Our layover here in San Francisco is 5 hours.  I've already blown my appetite on a bag of Oriental Mix crackers ("a treat in itself" the bag proclaims - I keep saying it in my best Don Draper imitation), deleted work related e-mail from my blackberry (ahhh, that was fun), and walked past all the shops.  Gonna have to find some other stuff to do.

For the real leg of this journey, I've got my i-pod full of my favorite podcasts and the latest The #1 Ladies Detective Agency book which sounds like a lovely time.  Too bad I'll probably sleep through most of it.

8 hours to departure

The next time I post will be from China, assuming all the technology works. Bon voyage!

New information about Emerson (when did this arrive?)

At work, I'm super organized.  At home, not so much. The basket where I stash mail to be dealt with later can get pretty full.  Yesterday it was a treasure chest. When the large unopened envelope from our agency appeared, I admit my first feeling was terror.  What did we miss?

Emerson's translated development report!  This was part of the paperwork sent from China as of June so it reflects information about her first 4 months. She arrived at the orphanage on the same day she was born - Feb 5, 2010 and is developing normally.  Here are my favorite highlights:

"she pulls on the blankets of neighboring kids"
"Currently, Xiao Hong is very lively."
"While doing outside activities, she seems especially invigorated."
"She is very interested in learning every new movement."
"Xiao Hong's personality is lively, amicable, and gregarious."
"When she sees people, she smiles."
"She likes for adults to hold her."
"When playing with her, she is extremely happy."

I also found an important letter from the USCIS.  Whoops.

So, for those of you who are panicked that we may have missed something else, do not worry. I am very thorough and will spend today double and triple and quadruple checking that we've got everything BEFORE WE LEAVE TOMORROW MORNING!!!!!