Medical Update -- First week Home

We have had an eventful week with two days of doctor's visits. The first was to the pediatrician -- the long and short is that we have a pretty dang healthy kiddo. She has two issues pressing at this time. 1) She is super small. Julia weighed in at 18 pounds 3 ounces. She is not on American growth carts and is only in the 3rd percentile for weight on the Chinese charts. We are really beefing up her nutrition and hoping to see some significant growth. I still have yet to get back the results of her bloodwork -- which was obtained by almost sqeezing blood from a turnip. But, it appears that she is in pretty good shape. Issue 2) - Her palette is not yet closed. She has a fairly significatn cleft and the research I have done here suggests that most surgeries are done at 12 -18 months of age.

The great news is this: We met today with the head of the cleft team for Kaiser/Immanual childrens hospital here in Portland. He is moving into semi-retirement and will be phasing out. However, he learned about Julia's case from a colleague and wanted to take it. He will be working with the doctor who will be taking his place, but it is pretty dang remarkable that Julia as a new patient has the chance to be cared for by the person with the experience and leadership in the field. In addition, they already have her scheduled for a team consult in October during which time we will determine her speech, auditory, and any other needs that should be addressed. The cleft team includes a social worker, a nutritionist... it is really designed to not just do a surgery and call it good but rather to address all the physical, social and emotional needs of a child and the family.

Now for the even better news -- Dr. Israel was able to find a date that someone had canceled a surgery and Julia will be having her palette repair on August 28th! That surgery will create a "roof" in her mouth that does not have a gap in it. It will be the week that I am supposed to go back to work for inservice stuff -- gosh, I guess I get to miss the MEETINGS. :) She should heal with relative ease and I anticipate that I will be able to start school the next week. And if not, well -- she is my priority right now.

I can not believe the way we have been so blessed to cross all the right paths with all the right people in this process. I do not think I could have arranged things more smoothly if I had tried!

As far as our house -- well, it has been a full week. Julia is doing BEAUTIFULLY. She is so easy and funny and charming. So far everyone who has met her has been just in awe that she has only been with me for a couple of weeks. She is just a confident, smiling little person. We *might* be moving in the direction of sleeping through the night.... the American night.

This weekend we are headed a couple of hours to the north of here to show dogs for two days. Julia still likes the dogs -- from a distance. We will put her in the backpack and let her watch in a place that is comfortable for her.

I will get some newer pics uploaded and take some this weekend too. Julia has developed quite the following with her story. I think it is neat for people to see how the story unfolds with her. She is doing what everything in my house does -- thriving. Now, nevermind that my house is a DISASTER -- we walked in the door and dumped everything and I have been reminded of how much you DONT get done with a 2 year old.... but she is thriving anyway and does not seem to care if mama's landry is done or not.

more on Monday...
Jackie

Double Happiness

The Chinese have a saying -- Double Happiness -- it is like the biggest, best blessing one could ever ask for. I think I have my double happiness ... times TWO.

First Night Home

Several months ago I took a picture of the same crew in my bed and said that I thought there was room for one more -- I guess there was. Pictured here -- Jackie, Joy, Julia, James & Jacob -- and a bowl of popcorn!

Pics from Guangzhou

Here are some scenes from the street in front of our hotel in Guangzhou -- whole new perspective... call it a Chinese Pet Market

Saturday - Sunday 8/5 & 8/6 in Vancouver WA

We spent Saturday trying to get our life on track again -- laundry, settling in. I find that it is harder to get back on time here than it was to go to China. oh well.... that is fine.

On Saturday night we went and enjoyed dinner with my family -- Mom & Dad, Jay & Sandi (brother & SIL), their baby --- Jackson, 7 months and the kids dad Rob. It was wonderful. We continue to marvel at how Julia stepped off a plane and into her life here without batting an eye. She has played and eaten and laughed and played and laughed --- she has been incredible!

I told my friend Hope that I am amazed. All through this process I have said "It is impossible for me to get the wrong kid" but I had no idea how RIGHT this kid would be for our family. Because Julia spent her first two years in foster care -- she developed a self assurance and security that she carries with her. Joy is vivacious but still seeks validation from those she loves. Julia -- well, she just is happy where she is. The girls spent Saturday playing with purses, stickers, bath toys, and laughing and dancing and singing. They are ask if Julia has always been here.

For me, I had the most amazing sensation yesterday as my children were twiddling about the house -- it was one I have not ever had. Balance. Completion. I have said that I will allow myself to be open to going to China again in 5-10 years when the boys are grown ... but for today, my only desire to go to China is to go with my daughters to see the place of their birth. Oh ... and maybe to travel with Jay and Sandi if they adopt from China. :) tee hee hee....

But for now, I am just content to enjoy these four amazing people. Jacob is an incredible young man. His even keel the entire trip to and from China was an anchor for us all. James is one of the most tender souls I have ever known and his selfless love of Julia still brings me to tears. Joy is the warmest smile I have ever known and I am grateful that she was willing to stay home -- even when it was hard -- and give me the time to get to know Julia. Julia embodies the Hope that is in her name. There is not a person who has met her that has not been charmed by her spirit. I am eager to see how her life unfolds with this dramatic change of events at age two. She is much like her admired brother -- a kind soul who takes things in stride.

And me? Well, I am just the humble soul who gets to help steer the boat. I am hoping that I provide a place for these four to come back to in both physical and figurative ways.

I will continue to journal for a time -- Julia has her medical appointment on Tuesday this week and I am anxious to see what our pediatrician says and then move on to the cleft specialist.

I want to say THANK YOU to everyone who has kept up with this journey and sent well wishes, prayers and notes ... your support was felt and appreciate by all of us!

Time to post some pics...

We are HOME!

Okay -- so I did not journal on the plane. Not sure what I was thinking -- I was traveling 13,000 miles with three children on a red eye -- DUH. :)

Friday in Guangzhou we packed, shopped, and got ready to head out. One fun thing -- the boys did their deal where they each took $50 and went school clothes shopping. I am going to have them post about that as well as to publish their official "things carried on a bicycle" list. Friday in Guangzhou was windy and rainy -- still typhoon. We finally got all of our things in our bags and then Bob, our guide picked us up. We headed to the US consulate to swear that all we had said and done in the adoption process was true and honest. On Friday there were four families swearing in at the same time. Bob said that on Wednesday there had been about 40 -- the number varies it sounds like.

The guy doing the ceremony was very informative. I learned that the only difference between a consulate and an embassy is that embassies are in the capital of a country. A consulate if you are abroad will offer the same emergency foreign help that an embassy can offer -- file that away in the memory banks in case you ever get in a bind! He also explained that Julia was still a Chinese citizen when she left that office. She would become a US citizen when her Immigrant visa was stamped in the LAx Airport. At that time she could walk into any US passport office and get a US passport -- which we will be doing this week. :)

From there we went to the airport -- we were pretty early as our flight did not leave unitl 9 PM and we arrived about 5:00 PM. We checked in and then I treated our guide Bob to dinner as he was waiting for another set of families to arrive. We ate our last meal in China and then headed for our plane.

For the record, I flew on four different flights on China Southern on this trip -- and I prayed the whole time. The seats in economy were, well, I think the recycled seats off of old airplanes from 1964. Because Julia is 2, we had to purchase a seat for her so we had four seats for four of us in the middle of the plane. Jacob and I took the isles and spread James and Julia out in the middle.
Julia was GREAT. She twiddled around, ate some dinner, layed down with James and slept, woke up, ate some breakfast and then we landed in LAX not long after. We were glad to have taken off -- the rain was coming in SHEETS when we left. We were glad to land in the US again. Our time in LAX was harried and rushed -- we thought that by the time we got through immigration, customs, ran to another terminal, waiting in line for check in, went through security again, and then made it to our gate that we were going to miss our plane. Fortunately they were a little delayed and we got to the gate with about 10 minutes to spare. They were out of non-exit row seats for us though ... soooooo... they did a little manuvering and Julia and I got First class seats for our 2 hour trip home to Portland. What a treat! Julia snoozed most of that trip and when we touched down in Portland, she was ready to roll.

As we got off the plane, I could only think of one thing -- I NEEDED to see JOY! The boys and I hoofed it again and as we came out of the terminal were greeted by Grammy, Gramma with the Pugs, Rob and my good friend Mary with her two girls -- also adopted from China. BUT -- the face I was searching for was Joy's -- I grabbed her little self -- BIG SELF after carrying Julia for two weeks -- and hugged her and the tears rolled. Nothing in the whole world feels so good as coming home to someone you love!

Julia spent the first couple of minutes trying to figure out the scoop. Then Joy got down.

Five years ago Joy came off the plane into my arms and the bond was INSTANT. She and I knew each other fully in a moment. On Friday night at midnight -- Julia came off the plane and met Joy -- and they knew each other in an instant. Joy was in love, Julia was in love and within moments they were holding hands and walking and laughing and sharing lipgloss. Aine, my MIL and dear friend captured those moments for me just as she had captured Joy's arrival home five years ago -- I will post pictures in a separate post.

We loaded up, came home and spent the next couple of hours looking at things I had gotten in China while Julia played. She stepped in our house and seemed to know -- yes, this is the place. On Friday night I climbed into my bed with four beautiful, perfect children and I have not ever felt so thankful for what I have. I still am brought to tears of humility when I wonder how on earth I ended up so incredibly blessed.

Shopping in Guangzhou - Thursday 8/3

Today we went shopping here there and everywhere in Guangzhou. One of our visits was to Sherry's place on Shamian Island. For thsoe who have never been to CHina for an adoption -- the US consulate used to be located on this little island called Shamian island. Many adoptive families have stayed on the island as the US consulate was right there and it made it possible for families to come to Guangzhou and stay in place the whole time. However, recently the consulate moved to a different building next to a beautiful park. Many families still stay on Shamian Island though -- it is a very adoptive family friendly place. There are tons of little shops -- Sherry's place, Jennifer's Place, Jenny's Place -- do you see a theme? These shops cater to adoptive families who are seeking to get Silks and other things for their children to remember China by.

For me, my purchases included many items for family and friends as well as things for Julia as well as Joy. The boys and I wandered around the island and poked into all kinds of shops. One thing that we learned is that we were glad we did not choose to stay on the island. It is relatively clean, safe, beautiful. However, there are entire parts of China that we would have missed if we had stayed there and not had to walk through the streets of Guangzhou to get where we were going. For many people the prospect of walking down "Pet Alley" or through the chinese medicine market place everytime you needed to go somewhere is not appealing -- but for us, we just thought it was part of the experience. We affectionaly dubbed Shamian Island the Adoptive Family's "China Land" in the Disneyland of the world. :)

The weather on was not spectacular during our shopping adventures -- we are on the edge of the typhoon that is beating the China Sea right now. It is blowing and sprinkling ... until dinnertime. We went to dinner with Laur Baldwin, ZuMei and her step father Steve. There is a this fun little American style pub on the island that serves great food. We there for dinner and in the midst of dinner the heavens opened up. We had to stay for about an hour extra simply because the rain was so heavy that no umbrella was really going to help. I am from the land of rain in the Northwest -- rain in a chinese typhoon does not compare!

After the rain took a short break -- we headed back to our hotel. On the way we met up with Susan -- one of the local guides. She is a wonderful young gal and she walked with us back to our hotel where she and I sat and talked for a couple of hours. During her visit we learned that Julia is one sharp little cookie -- well, we already knew some of that. BUT -- Susan knows Sichuan dialect and was chatting with her in dialect. They were playing with blocks and Susan discovered the Julia knows her colors. She asked her to hand her the pink one -- Julia did. What about the green one -- She knew that too. Susan played with her for a while and determined that Julia knew her colors very well.

While Julia's foster family may not have had much money -- very little even by Chinese standards, they clearly did love her and teach her everything they could. I learned that her family receieved an allowance of about $50 US dollars for Julia's care and for payment for their time in fostering her. For her foster mom, that was her only income. They fed her out of that but did not spend the money to feed her anything more than they were already eating -- thus her nutrition was very poor. But they did teach her things and she is so able to interact well with those around her. As time passes, she becomes more and more comfortable in her own skin.

It was a fun day in GZ today -- we head home tomorrow after our swearing in at the consulate. I still have to figure out how to pack -- I ended up buying an extra suitcase... :) I will journal on the laptop Friday and post when I get home.

Jackie

Medical visit and a great break through

This morning we had our medical visit for Julia's Visa. It is not a medical exam like anything we would ever see here. They looked in her eyes. They weighed her. They asked me if she had a cleft palette. She was weighed, measured, and then the hearing test -- lets take a screaming baby and shake rattles on both side of her head and see if she responds. When all she does is yell -- ask the mother if she hears.

We had James with assistance for Jacob hold Julia through the process - sorry James! Then -- Mom was the one to rescue Julia when it was all done and walk her out of the medical office. As a result, Mom became the liberator -- not the captor. I was able to hold her and walk around most of the day. She was still glad to see the brothers but she also toted around sitting on my hip pack and looking at the sites. She hummed and sang and chattered contentedly with no tears the whole time. When we got back and she napped -- the boys later went to the pool and I stayed with Julia. She woke up from her nap and for the first time since she arrived she woke up, layed there and looked around and then wanted me to come over and snuggle, kiss and play with her on the bed. Julia and I spent the next hour hanging out, eating graham crackers and waiting for the boys. She was DELIGHTED to see then when they arrived, but her contentedness with me was really a breath of fresh air. She even asked me to give her a kiss... Now if that does not warm the heart, I dont know what does.

I feel like by the time we arrive home, we will be well on the way to a good, solid foundation of bonding, love and acceptance. That does not mean that we will not need to revisit the subject many times -- call it spiraling curriculum. :) I will get to spend some time when I get home reminding Joy that I love her always and that her position does not change -- ever -- even with a new sister.. But to reach a place with Julia that I feel that yes, she knows I am the mama and she LIKES me is a wonderful spot. Sigh of relief.

Tomorrow Bob our guide will attend out consulate appointment and then we will do a little more shopping. Friday we will finish up our shopping and then head home Friday night. I am enjoying Guangzhou but I will welcome a night in my bed with my girls there. Tonight we are hanging out -- we ordered out to this great American food delivery place. We are watching Superman Returns on DVD (purchased today) and enjoying some snuggle time. The boys figured out how to hook up Kelly's portable DVD player to the TV so that we could watch together. We might go for a walk after dinner and see whatever we run across.

All in all -- a full and good day here in Guangzhou.

Jackie

Climbing the Tower

View from my window

This is the view from my window -- poverty -- and wealth -- juxtaposed next to each other at once.

Shots from Monday and Tuesday

I did not get a chance to share the pictures of our Beijing duck dinner or our exit at the airport. These are a few shots just for fun

Jade adventures

After we did the two different sites today we went to the wholesale market /mall. We went in search of Jade but I ended up walking away with nothing. It was more like little shops than a jade market. I was disappointed. I could have bought any pearl, stone or jade anything I wanted in bulk, but I did not see what I was after.

We did buy some DVDs for $2 a pop.... welcome to China. :) Joy will be thrilled!

Afterwards we want back to our hotel and Julia was konked out. The boys wanted a little snooze and so the three of them took a rest and I went out in search of the jade market I was thinking of. The mall market was not it...
So I headed out down the street that is a pedestrian only shopping street. WOW -- what a zoo. I headed out, enjoyed a sprinkle of rain and found the market I was looking for. Great Jade is not cheap -- even in China. But B grade jade is .... so I found quite a stash for myself and several who requested Jade. I ended up with all that is pictured for $150 US. The bead bracelets were $15 each ... not too shabby.

Later the boys are each going to take the equivelant of $50 each and see how much they can buy for school clothes with that here. Should be interesting!

Chen Clan House/Shrine

After the Bai Yan Temple we went to a place that is the Chen Family shrine/house. In China there are only 100 family names and each name is part of a Clan. This place is a house to the Chen Clan. It has been her for a long time and was rebuild 110 years ago. It was a beautiful, flowing place with lots of courtyard and rooms filled with antiques and different cultural art forms.

As funny story -- when I was reading something in a China tour thing about what to do in Guangzhou they recommended the Guangzhou Fork Museum ( I think it might have been in my itinerary). I could not figure out why they had a museum of forks here. Well it was really the Guangzhou FOLK museum -- of folk art. :)

This place had a beautiful, simple garden out back and was this incredible balance of simple and ornate. We wandered around for a long time. One thing that was particularly striking. The house was built in such a way that there were long corridors that enhanced the breeze so you got an "fan" effect or "outdoor airconditioning" as you walked the walkways. Pretty neat.

At the Six Bai Yan temple

Today we had quite an eventful day. We actually began our day with our medical examination for the consulate... but I will post about that separately. We went then with one other family to the six Bai Yan temple. Bai Yan are trees and there are six ancient gnarly trees in the courtyard of this temple. This visit was quite different from our other temple visit. It felt like a place to be - but there was not the sense of quite and reverence that I had seen at the other temple. However, there were some fun pictures and the boys had a great time climbing this huge tower. They each paid about $1.25 US to climb up a huge tower in the swealtering heat -- I love youth! My job was to take pictures. I got some fun ones that they will enjoy remembering in years to come.

The artistry in China really is amazing. Today we saw carvings and pantings and masonry that are so intricate and beautiful. Julia seemed to enjoy walking around. She was pretty funny today -- she is talking more each day. She now can say Mama, Jacob, James, Bye Bye, Hi, No, peek, and "Where?" Her palette prevents her from having great consonants so much of what she says we know by syllables and inflection but she imitates us pretty dang good. She seems to be relaxing and enjoys hanging out with us all these places. I am not the least bit worried about her fitting into our daily life -- she is a trooper and enjoyes going places. She naps well each afternoon for a couple of hours and is good to go again.

Wednesday AM in Guangzhou 8/2/06

Good Morning from Guangzhou!

We arrived yesterday and after settling in and taking a dip in the rooftop pool, we met our guide Bob and walked a short walk to meet up with three other families for dinner. We ate at a well know Thai restaurant -- great food!

But the interesting part of the evening was not the dinner -- rather it was the walk to dinner. As we walk out of our hotel, we head down an alley way that is the street. It is "animal alley". For sale for several blocks are dozens of puppies of ever shape and kind, kittens, turtles, fish, bunnies, snakes, rodents, and about anything that walks,, slithers or swims besides livestock. Much like my friend Kelly told me of her dog Mau Mau -- these animals are for whatever purpose you would like -- pets, food, whatever. Now personally, I would think that if someone really wanted a pooch for supper, one of mine might be better than a little puppy -- but hey, who am I??? :)

The streets here remind me more of what I thougth I would see in China and I will post pictures later after our outings today.

This morning we are headed to breakfast, Julias medical exam for her consulate visit, and then the temple and the Jade market. We are going with another family -- Laura who I met through Heritage's list serve. She is from Texas and just adopted her #3 -- the first two are from Vietnam. She is also a single mother and a very nice lady. I am looking forward to getting to know her better today.

For now though -- I do have be short. I will get pictures and I am sure great info posted later after our journies today.

One thing I will note -- our guides here are Bob and Susan -- husband and wife. They are delightful, vibrant people. Bob is HILARIOUS! Susan is charming and last night they came to our room to fill out the needed paperwork for the consulate. Susan actually does all of it FOR ME but I had places to sign and they needed to gather the notaries from Chengdu and such for the process. I can not believe that for the first time in this adoption process - I do not have to do the paperwork -- someone else does it! :) What a nice gift. The other thing that is interesting is that I spoke with Susan for a while. She is in her early 20s and is adopted. She was born shortly after the one child policy was put into place and adopted by a family domestically. She talked about how she still finds it hard to forgive her birth mother for abandoning her. She said that deep down she is still angry and still wants to know what circumstances would allow her to do that. It was very enlightening as I fastforward myself 15 years to when Joy is her age. I may try to see if I can maintain contact with Susan -- perhaps by then in her life she will have some perspective that will help my daughter through that place. I talked with her about the fact that I believe my daughters birth mothers did not have a choice and tried to place their children in safe places to be found and adopted. I KNOW that is the case for Julia and I think the same for Joy. There are times that families will take the child from the birth mother and another relative is the one who actually places the child somewhere -- or some believe pretends to FIND the child and then offers to foster her. It is a tough situation no matter how you slice it. I know that we will have some late night conversations over popcorn to help the girls sort through that piece. Maybe there will be a day that I can tell them that they only way that God could get them to my house was to allow the events to unfold as they have. That will work if the LIKE me at that moment and if not -- well nevermind that!

Off to breakfast!
Jackie

Arrived in Guangzhou

We arrived this afternoon in Guangzhou. This is the capital city of the province in which Joy was born and adopted. Guangzhou is where Rob stayed the entire time he was in China with her. For us, we have to come here to visit the American Consulate to get her visa to come to America. We have the approval for one -- that is an early part of the paperwork process before your paperwork even goes to China. We just have to have a medical exam tomorrow. On Thursday our guide will process our paperwork with the consulate. On Friday we will have a swearing in -- I think that is when she becomes a citizen. Then we depart for home.

Guangzhou is much more tropical (read here: Hotter than Hell) than Chengdu. Chengdu looks more like home plant wise and here is looks more like Florida or Hawaii with palms and tropical plants. Our guide here -- Bob -- was telling us that Guangzhou is a major trading city - which it is. Even when most of China was closed during the early communist era, Guangzhou remained more open than many other places. It is also more expensive to overall than Chengdu for tourism. However, we have hit the JACKPOT on our hotel -- we are staying at a brand new hotel -- open 2 months. It is a 5 star Holiday Inn. The room is HUGE in comparison to our room in Chengdu. It is plush and nice -- the bathroom has a beautiful soaking tub and a large shower. We arrived with a letter greeting us from the manager. Within 30 minutes one of the sales department people called me to see if everything was to my satisfaction. She gave me her personal cell phone number to call her anytime 24/7 that I needed anything that I was not being met. A few minute later a crib was rolled in with a basket of gift toys for Julia to enjoy in the bath as well as three yellow roses to enjoy.

Needless to say -- this is probably nicer than the typical Motel 6 I enjoy on a dog show weekend! :)

We are headed this afternoon to walk around a bit and see the area. it is not like Chengdu -- there are apartments everywhere and it does appear a bit older part of town. I will get the pictures posted of the view out my window. For those who have been to Guangzhou -- I can see the Victory out my window and the White swan is next door to that but behind a building. Tonight for dinner we are joining to meet up with several other families an go to a well known Thai restaurant here in Guangzhou. Cantonese food (which is the local cuisine) is very different from Sichuan in Chengdu. There we had some spicy dishes but we ate primarily beef, pork, chicken and could have had many vegatarian dishes. Bob was telling us on the way from the airport that here pigeon is a specialty. We can also enjoy pigs, pig feet, organ soup, turtle, snake, and about everything. He said that Cantonese will eat ANYTHING. I, on the other hand, may not. :)

My plans while here inlcude a visit to the temple and the jade market tomorrow. I will also be heading over to Shaiman Island and doing some shopping. While I was in Chengdu I got two coffee table type books of the province for Julia and I want to do the same here for Joy. I also want to get a peasant painting for Julia -- Joy has one that Rob got her. He did a great job of shopping for her!

I have to say again that we have had nothing but great experiences thus far. Heritage has done such a great job of making a process that is so incredibly easy and painless. I have felt like I got to enjoy my new daughter, get to know the place she is from and now I get a chance to get to know a little of the region Joy is from as well. That is a great thing... I will come again one day with both girls and visit the towns of their birth, but at least I can carry back to them memories of both of their provinces.

Julia seems to have taken the transition from one hotel to the next in stride. She napped off and on all morning as we were traveling here. She arrived at our new hotel and promptly ran around chattering like she owned the place. I think she will be just fine.

Joy -- If you are reading this with Grammy -- is there anything you want from the place in China you are from? I love you... I miss you ... I will be home Friday night! Take a nap on Friday so that you can come to the airport to meet us!

I will post more later tonight after dinner.

Jackie