Merry Christmas from China!

This definitely goes down I the records as the most unique Christmas ever. We had a wonderful day in China, it was warm here and we actually visited the Botinacal Gardens in the AM along with some shopping on the way home. Definitely not like I would usually spend Christmas. Later in the afternoon, we did have the traditional reading of the Christmas story and Miles opened his present from Santa. Althought Miles had no idea what we were reading, next year he will. I knew my kids were reading the Christmas story back home too and that made it even more special. My heart is overflowing today with a mess of emotions. I am so happy , blessed and thankful to be here at this time with our precious child, but at the same time my heart is literally stretched across two continents as I miss my kiddos back home and think about them celebrating without us. But really when I think about it, there is no better time to be bringing Miles home than during the season in which we celebrate what it is all about. So thankful we have a reason to celebrate!! 

Guangzhou Zoo

HToday we went to the zoo in Guangzhou. After 5 days of rain last week the weather has been great this week. The zoo was quite nice and we all had a really good time. As we started to the zoo I began to wonder if Miles had ever been to a zoo? I realized that this is only the beginning of many unanswered questions I will have about Miles past. I catch myself longing to know the answers about the past, maybe i could parent him better or make things easier if I knew his past. Sadly I realize that there are some things about Miles that I will never know. Then just as quickly I am reminded and comforted by the realization that I don't have to know Miles past. The God of all creation knows my Miles, He has known him since He created Him and He is the Great Comforter!! What a joy to know that all those things I wonder about, worry about, the years I missed, my God has been right there and He knows every detail! Thank you Father that you have known my son from the beginning. Every day, every hour, every minute of his life you have been with him. What a promise to cling to!!!!

One Week With Miles

This time last week we were waiting to get our son, one week later I can't imagine life without this sweet boy! Sunday was our first day of shopping and sight seeing in GZ. We went to a wholesale pearl and jade market and then some famous historic house in GZ. There is a proper name for this place but at this point everything seems to be running together.  If you know me too well, you know that I am not much of a shopper.  Despite that, the pearl and jade markets were pretty impressive. These markets are wholesale markets and people around the world come here to buy pearl and jade. I have never seen so many gemstones in one place in all my life.  Pearl, jade, crystal, silver and other random stones were packed in every store and there must have been 500 stores there. To say the least we were pretty overwhelmed!! I think we did manage to make 2 purchases while we were there. Miles particularly like these strange elevators that were in the market. We spent a lot of time riding elevators...what else do you do with an almost 4 year old at a Pearl and Jade market???

Our next adventure was the Chen Family Temple (I found the official name). There we were able to see artwork and fingerpainting that the Chinese were creating. I had no idea what they meant when they talked about fingerpainting, but I soon found out that they beautiful, detailed paintings were created exclusively by artist using their fingers to create the design. They actually used their whole hands, to create detailed paintings. We were able to watch someone working on this and it was amazing to watch. We were also able to order something called "chops" there. These are stones that are made into stamps . You can customize these stones to say whatever you wish. We ordered a stone that has Miles American name and the characters of Miles Chinese name. This will be made into a stamp that we can keep for Miles. 

Day 7 Clinic Day!

After getting in at MN on Friday we were up bright and early Saturday morning for Miles medical exam. We loaded on a bus with 8 other families and their little ones and drove to the medical clinic in Guanzhou. I was glad to be going to the clinic to have another set of eyes look at my little man and make sure he had not gotten too dehydrated while being sick. The clinic was this huge building with people everywhere. Children and their parents from all over GZ were there. After getting VISA pictures we headed to the 5th floor for medical exams. We had vital sign checks, ENT checks, General Physical checks, and lastly blood drawn for a TB test. All went relatively smooth and the Dr confirmed what I already knew. Miles had a virus and I just needed to continue to watch him and make sure he was drinking. The TB test was traumatic, Miles cried just like any kiddo would, but we were able to comfort him easily and a sucker made everything better. After about 2 hours everyone was finished with their exams, we loaded up and headed back to the hotel. One step closer to bringing Miles home.  Now for a nap to make up for all that missed sleep from yesterday! Saturday night we found a Mexican restaurant and went there with several other families to eat. I set the bar low, after all this was Mexican food in China? Maybe because all we had the week before was noodles and Mcdonalds, ok I'm sure that's probably what is was, but we definitely enjoyed our meal and may have to make another trip for Chinese Mexican before we leave! 

Day 6 with Miles

This picture is kind of dark, but it is Miles looking out the window as we leave the capital city. He was so excited about the plane ride, and I was glad he was feeling good enough to enjoy it. Our flight got delayed but it was just HIS perfect timing. We had a rough day with Miles and finally by the time we left his fever was down and his diarrhea was better. 

Day 5 with Miles

Wednesday morning after we got home from seeing the Historic District we noticed Miles was not acting himself. Shortly thereafter he started running fever. His fever got quite high making this mama a nervous wreck!!! I probably don't express it much to anyone except my mom :-), but I am such a worrier when my kids are sick. As a nurse I don't get overwhelmed in caring for my my kids when they are sick, I can do diarrhea, throw up, and fevers no problem, but I have seen enough extreme cases and worst cases scenerios to completely blow the least little illness in to some potential life threatening situation. Other medical mamas can definitely relate, I think we all "go there" a little bit in our brains when our kids are sick.  Add to that a little fellow I haven't taken care of very long, limited communication to find out his symptoms, and quality medical care being nowhere around. Not to mention that my almost 4 year old is only 29lbs and already anemic. We had 3 rough days of fever and diaerrhea and Mama doing everything I could to keep my little man eating and drinking so he would not get dehydrated. All the worry of the rain or not having much entertainment went away, all I wanted was for Miles to get better. Finally Friday night came and we began to see real progress. His little spunky personality started to come back and he even got excited about the plane ride. I am so thankful he is feeling better and totally feel it was an answer to prayer!!!!

Day 4 With Miles

Today we went to a historic district that has been restored and turned into an outdoor shopping area. It was a beautiful area of the city that you would not see in just your normal drive in the city. Our guide had told us we were going to Panda World, so we were not prepared for shopping...oh well, we are learning to go with the flow. We really didn't care where we were, as you can see it has finally stopped raining!!!!! 

Day 3 With Miles

Finally we were done with all the official appointments and time for a little sight seeing. We visited some temples on the capital city in which we are staying. It was sprinkling lightly when we stared out needless to say it poured the whole time we were there. I really should have taken pictures of some of the temples, they were quite amazing and full of architectural detail, but I was a little distracted...

I did get a few pictures of the temples

Adoption Day!

Our adoption of Miles is finally official!!! We went to the civil affairs office this morning and did more paperwork and then to the notary office. After a few signatures and some red ink thumb prints they handed us our adoption certificate! We posed for a picture in the pouring rain... Our sweet guide used my camera for a picture and didn't get the sign for the civil affairs office we were standing by, oh well. Now we are just waiting while they process all this info and generate Miles a passport so we can fly to GZ on Friday. 

Gotcha Day!!!!

Friday through Sunday afternoon seemed to absolutely crawl. Our appointment was for 3:30 Sunday afternoon in our hotel. We got up Sunday moring at breakfast, walked around the lake in the rain and went back to our hotel to wait. Time seemed to stand still. Finally we headed to the 3rd floor our guide met us and told us he was already here. We literally walked in the door and there he was. After 2 years waiting on this child there he was. Except, he wouldn't even come near me. He clung to his nannies. All the while we were trying to fill out paperwork and I was trying to bribe him with treats. Somehow some way, Zach was able to scoop him up and he started laughing!! That's when we got the smiley pictures. The whole process lasted about 20 minutes and literally before we knew what was happening we were back in our room trying to comfort a scared little kiddo. In my panic while we were waiting in our room to go meet him I had found SpongeBob Square pants in Chinese. The only Chinese speaking  cartoon I could find on YouTube. I just laugh when I think if this because I hate Sponge Bob!!!!   We quickly grabbed the iPad and started Sponge Bob. He settled downenough and finally fell asleep in my arms. I think my ipad is gone, Miles officially thinks he owns it now!!! I keep telling myself that we have a lifetime to bond, set my expectations low and be happy in the  little things, and I guess I can tolerate Sponge Bob if that is what works!!!!! 

Random Stuff

Tree in our hotel. It's quite interesting that is says Merry Christmas everywhere here!

Housing around the lake on the other side of our hotel. 

More housing

Paddle boats at the amusement park near our hotel. It is closed either because of the rain or the fact that it's winter here. 

Bridge that is part of the walkway around the lake at our hotel

Simple Things

Didn't know how good a simple comfort food would taste!!! Thankful for cheese pizza tonight.

Out and About

Today went well. We were able to meet our guide and get some things we needed from the store. She was also helpful to get us some things that she knew Miles would like. She has a son almost the same age so we got expert advice from one mama to another. It is amazing to see the city and how different it is from the US. We have taken a few pictures, but it is really difficult to capture the cultural differences in just still shot photos. There are people everywhere. The city is very busy, with people rushing about. Some walk, some drive, and some travel on motorbikes. I have been to foreign countries where people drive without regards to street signs and the lines on the road are merely suggestions, but add that combination with mass amounts of people and motor bikes everywhere and it is quite an adventure. I had several times I was sure we were about to hit a pedestrian today and somehow no one was injured.  That may be a miracle in itself. We found the Chinese Wal-mart today. It is the only thing in the whole city that is the least bit western and it is still very much unlike any Wal-mart I have ever been to. The floor with the foods, still had a very open air feeling about it. There were very few packaged and processed foods and almost no foods that needed freezing or refrigerating. We did manage to grab a picture of the Walmart. Trying to get up my nerve to take pictures. We are already so out of place, we are the only non-Chinese in this whole city, and then really looking crazy when I am taking pictures of all their everyday stuff.  

We Are Here!!!

World travel is amazing to me. It is hard to believe that I can hop in an aircraft and be literally around the world in 15 hours.  Not to minimize our travel, we just spent over 30 hours traveling in 4 different airports and 4 security check points, and 3 different airplanes.  Not an easy process, but it is still amazing, when you think of it. The count down begins!!! Soon it will be time to go get our little man.