Pictures and Info- three weeks home

Well, its hard to believe its been three weeks since we are home!  We've had good days and bad this week.  When I think back to our time in China, and the blog post where I said I can't believe how much of a baby he still is, I realize just how far Kai has come!  To think that at first he was afraid to sit in the little rocker, now I'm lucky if he's just sitting in it!  The babyish toys he was first afraid of and then enamored with have now been discarded for bigger better things, like my IPad:)

Kai has gotten pretty good at telling us what he wants, he still doesn't say  many English words but he is definitely understanding a lot more!  We discovered that he loves pictures, I've been trying to work on his life book when he naps but I feel like my attempts are juvenile at best and very hurried.  As you can see from the picture below he enjoys looking at it anyway!

We had a very small family party to welcome Kai last weekend, he had a blast, he just ran and ran and ran.  The hit of the night was the balloons, he took them home and played with them for days!

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I also think back to how Kai used to be in the tub.  Sitting in one spot afraid to move a muscle or get water in his eyes.  NOW, Reuben is in charge of bathes at night and it gets pretty wild in there.  Loud odd noises come from the bathroom and water is splashed everywhere,  he is a fish now days and dumps cup after cup of water over his face!

 Kai is slowly starting to let a few people hold him now for a few minutes, I'm glad he is still standoffish around others, to me it's a good sign that he is bonding to us the way he should!

Kai's relationship with Reuben has improved so much it's unbelievable,  I did get to go away by myself the one night and he did really well, he only cried for a little while and then he was completely fine!  Reuben also took him somewhere in the truck with out me the other night, no complaints from Kai!  It used to be he would have been screaming before they even got to the truck!

The other day Kai wanted to go outside, I put his coat on and off he went all the way to the back fence with me at the door.  He was just gabbering away at the dogs as fast as he could! ha  When we first where home he wouldn't even let his feet touch the ground outside!  Big progress, Big...

Here is Kai in his spot doing his favorite thing ever, playing with momma's IPad, notice Adam sleeping so sweetly right next to him!  Adam and Andrew are doing quite well with Kai, Kai can really tell them off!!  It makes me smile when he gabbers at them and they just look at him like "huh?"  Well we have a busy week next week with Christmas and going back up to Akron Children's.  I can't believe next week is my last week before I go back to work!  I've not given it hardly any thought and I need to start asap, we will be starting to bring Reuben's mom back as she will be babysitting.  Well Kai has had enough of me being on the computer soooooo.........

Two Weeks home

Hard to believe we've been home for two weeks, the first week was the longest of my life.  But the second has gone fast.  We are doing ok, we've had a visit from our social worker, and been to the adoption clinic at Akron Children's.  We didn't find too much out at the doctor, at least about his leg.  She pretty much didn't say anything other than you need to see a pediatric orthopedic surgeon.  She did say that on a regular child growth scale Kai is in the 3rd percentile. yikes. However on a Chinese scale he is about in the 50th.  He is however fairly proportioned as far as his height and weight.  She did want him to gain some weight though.  We have to go back next week for a ton of labs and vaccinations because he wasn't on our insurance yet.  That will not be fun:(  The social worker was pleased with Kai's progress and it was so good to talk to her.  We just have a long way to go.
   As far as progress with Kai, I'm happy to say he has not had any crying in his sleep for two or three nights now!  HOWEVER, he is getting way too smart.  He has picked up on that I sneak out at times while he is sleeping, like at nap time, after I put him to bed, before he is awake or during the night to go to the bathroom etc.  He is NOT happy about it and has become a very light sleeper.  The other night it took me forever just to go to the bathroom in the night and then I just woke Reuben up to hold him while he screamed. ugh.  This morning instead of his usual scared cry when he woke up I walked in to him hitting our bed and throwing a tantrum because I wasn't in bed! HA!  He is getting somewhat braver as far as walking instead of being carried but he still wants carried a LOT.  I try to carry him if its not excessive or almost obsessive but I do make him walk quite a bit.  The other day he walked into Nature's with me just holding his hand!  It felt AWESOME!  He is getting a lot better with Reuben,  at the social workers recommendation I am going to have a night to myself tonight!  Well a couple hours at least.  Reuben will plan on doing nothing but holding him while I'm gone as he will probably scream the whole time, it's scary for me because I don't want to traumatize him but it has to be done, we expect him to regress but he will be ok.
  He really is a good boy he has just had so many changes.  He can play so nice, and seems very smart, he likes things just so.  He is the silliest little boy, he loves music and stickers, he still loves his dishes, and is starting to be a little more interested in books.  He is quite the little imitator,  the other day he was pretending to put makeup on:) He also was pretending to lick envelopes, he doesn't miss anything!  I'm truly hoping that each week is significantly easier than the one before, for us and for him.  The time for me to go back to work is drawing nearer and nearer, it scares me because he is far from ready in my opinion.  keep us in your prayers!    

one week home

It's hard to believe it's only been a week since we've been home!  I have to say, I would not want to live this week over again but we survived!  Kai seems to really like our house and isn't really scared of any room or thing in it.  He loves all his toys but to BaBa's dismay his favorite toy would have to be his play dishes/tea set! ha  I love it.  He loves containers of any sort.  Also anything with buttons that he can push that make noise.  He is so busy playing sometimes in the evening when we are both home it just makes me smile, he's really working hard:)  He loves things in a row.  He is continuing to surprise us with things he does that he did not do in China, he will bring us our shoes if we say bye-bye, and always the right ones.  He will put on his own shoes for the most part.  He just is getting better at getting his point across.  You can tell we've spent a lot of time in airports because he takes his play golf bag and takes the clubs out and pulls it behind him like a suitcase and says Bye-bye and leaves the room for a little.  cracks me up.  He is just pure silliness.  He however is very strong willed and has thrown quite a few tantrums and will even hit us sometimes.  Night time is not the greatest as he cries in his sleep a lot.  He has separation anxiety so bad when it comes to me I can't even shut the bathroom door part way even if Reuben is home or he has a total breakdown and sits on my lap for an hour afterword.  I worry about going back to work in a little over 3 weeks.  I just can't imagine but I have no choice.  I will be praying about that subject many hours I'm sure.  Tonight when Reuben came home from work Kai ran( and I mean ran) to the door yelling BaBa and flew into his arms.  That is a far cry from earlier this week when he wouldn't even acknowledge him and cried when he tried to hold him.  We started making a point that when Reuben comes home he takes over as much of caring for Kai as he will allow, getting his food and helping him eat, giving him his bath etc.  It has really helped but like I said we have a long way to go!  I'm sorry to say that if I wouldn't have seen someone else wish my husband a happy birthday on Facebook I totally would have forgotten, I felt SO BAD!  How could I!  My world is just so upside down right now.  As far as our dogs go and getting used to Kai, our yorkie Adam, who is 12, has actually done very well!  Surprised the heck out of us!  He had some anxiety too in the beginning and barked all night for the first night and then had to get into bed with us because he just wouldn't quit. I'm happy to say we now have a toddler bed, a huge dog cage, a queen size bed and two night stands in a bedroom roughly the size of a postage stamp.  Talk about closterphobia!  But I'm just glad he is in his own bed.  I'm sorry to say however that we have not brought our Schnauzer home from my Mom's.  We are hoping that Reuben's brother and his wife will take him.  This makes me sad beyond words as he is my baby boy and has always been so special to me, he is the definition of sweetness with one exception, he does not like kids and has a history of biting them.  My hands are more than full with a senior citizen, halfways psycho yorkie and a brand new two year old to handle a dog who is very jealous and could be dangerous.  Well I could bore you all with every detail but I won't:)  PLEASE continue praying for our family and bonding/ attachment process.  Just like any other relationship it takes work!

Home and recovering

Well we are home and I apologize for taking so long to post,  for some reason with the time change we have been sleeping until 10 or 10:30 every morning which is very unlike me.  It makes for very short days.  Actually I seem to have very little sense of day, time or reality.  I am happy to say that other than sleeping in too long I have had little trouble with the time change coming back.  Kai is doing pretty well too, Reuben has not been so lucky.
    I am still struggling to come up with a routine that will work for us now as well as when I go back to work, there is just tons and tons of adjusting to be done on all of our parts.  Kai continues to be very adamant about following me everywhere I go, I mean literally.  Being in the same room with me is not good enough, he is actually right behind me and even up against me at times.  Unfortunately he gets bumped into a lot and even got his eye poked accidentally the other day.  Its very trying for me and even more so for Reuben,  he wants one on one time with Kai too and its hard to get right now.  As far as sleeping arrangements it's Kai and I in our bed and Reuben on the couch,  if I get up Kai mostly knows and will scream and cry instantly.  Today I am moving his toddler bed into our room beside the bed and we will try it, Reuben needs to sleep in his own bed, I think that will help his sleeping problems.  And then there is Adam, our old yorkie dog.  He does pretty good accept in the early morning hours, he barks and barks and won't stop until I let him out and into the bed with us, he did good today and actually stayed in bed with Kai for a few minutes after I got up!  Our friends and family really went over and above to make our lives easier coming back and to make us feel special.  We had food to last us through the first several days as well as snacks too, they decorated our house for Christmas, and of course my lovely parents kept our dogs and still have Drew.  I just don't trust him with kids and need a little while before we add him to the mix yet too.  WE have gotten so many gifts, they are all so great.  Kai hasn't met a toy he doesn't like, other than the ones he was initially scared of but now loves!  He is getting braver in some ways, the other day he ran all the way from the kitchen to his room and got his shoes and brought them back, he also was playing like crazy last night and crawled all the way behind the couch twice, very adventurous for him!  At first he was even afraid to sit in his little rocking chair, not anymore!  The language barrier continues to be an issue.  The other day I took a Zyrtec and he cried and plopped on the floor on his bottom because I wouldn't give him one too.  I couldn't explain to him it was medicine.  The same thing happened with a cough drop.  WE are realizing that food is a bigger deal to him than we initially thought and I'm trying to just feed, feed,feed him.  He loves broccoli noodle soup, noodle casserole, cooked carrots, and of course rice.  He does not like peas, applesauce, grands biscuits, sour cream, or sliced cheese.  He is probably gooing through rice withdrawl by now.  I'm hoping maybe a better diet will help his skin clear up and his hair get a little thicker.  Well I better attempt to get something done today!  More later:)

how it's going...ahhhh!

We've had an interesting couple of days.   Yesterday we went sightseeing a little bit with our guide which was really nice because we are going stir crazy big time in our hotel room.  We went to an arts museum in this huge old building that was originally a family school or something like that and a lot of artist display and sell their stuff there.  It was very neat.  It continued to rain all day yesterday and today again so I'm not having the bast hair days ever.  I'm pretty sure it's rained almost non-stop everyday we were in China except for maybe 2-3 day.  It really puts a damper on going out and doing stuff.  We also did some other shopping and got back to the hotel maybe 1 o'clock.  Reuben and I where both wishing our guide would have kept us longer as we did not feel like sitting in the room all afternoon and evening but she didn't.  Last night we ventured out to a Mexican restaurant and it was probably the best dining experience we've had yet.  The waitresses spoke pretty good English and actually didn't stand by our table and watch us eat.  The food was pretty good but not very authentic, my burrito tasted just like pizza, ha.  Kai really liked his burrito and french fries.  This morning we had to get up very early for our consulate appointment and that went very well.  12 families were there with us.  After the appointment the driver took us to Shamian island for just like an hour or so and we did a little shopping.  He couldn't wait any longer than that and we didn't trust trying to get a cab so we came back.  Next time we would definitely stay on the island verses here at the Garden, much more quiet with little shops and restaurants. Way less intimidating.  I'm pretty sure one of the shop keepers there called me a fat in a round about way since she said I must like to eat. ugh!  She did call Reuben fat outright.  Nice.
              So that has been our last two days other than being lazy in the hotel room.  Kai has definitely changed since our first few days together, wow.  We are not used to nor were we prepared for the crazy man he is.  I daily/hourly  pray for patience but still sometimes feel like I don't have any.  He is testing us big time, we aren't real sure how to handle him at times to tell you the truth, this is all as new to us as it is to him.  we talked to a lady at the consulate who is adopting a little girl like a month younger than Kai and she looked as weary as we are and said she is having the same problems with naughtiness as we are.  that made us feel a lot better that we re not alone.  It probably is his age for the most part.  I'm very surprised how much more of a "baby" he is then I expected and I don't mean that in a bad way, I mean literally like a baby. He needs to be rocked to sleep for the most part and just seems a lot younger than almost three.  He is starting to understand some English words, come, go get Daddy, stop, pee pee, night night, bye bye, puppy, baby etc.  Unfortunately he doesn't seem to understand "no" lol. No, he knows what it means he just doesn't believe in it I guess.
                       Tomorrow afternoon at four we are hoppng on a van bound for Hong Kong, a three and a half hour drive.  We are then staying at a hotel that is attached to the airport there and flying out at like eleven in the morning on a 13 hour flight bound for Chicago!  I'm gonna kiss the ground there and maybe the first American I see!  We then have a four hour layover and we will have to battle customs and immigration.  We then fly from Chicago to Columbus and have 2 hour drive home!  We are gonna be so beat and then we will have jet lag all over again and have a 2 year old with his sleep all messed up.  yikes.  Well, Maybe one more post before we leave but that depends on if Kai thinks it's a good idea for me to be on the computer or not:) 

One week

Today one week ago we met our little Kai!  It's hard to believe it's only been a week.  Saturday was a pretty rough day for all of us,  it seems like Kai was just terribly sad and maybe even mad at us and he really let it all out.  Yesterday, Sunday was a great day, he was happy all day, slept great the last two nights and at nap time.  No nightmares, no crying in his sleep, no uncontrollable thrashing and heal kicks to our eyeballs.  I know we probably have more of those bad days ahead but I think we are making progress.  He is a typical two year old in every sense of the word, even though he will be three in two months.  Breakfast time is getting increasingly like naughty time:)  He is all hands and grabs at anything in his reach and is so distracted.  We are dealing.  We borrowed a stroller from the hotel and it is the best thing ever invented, seriously I'm in love with strollers.  At first Kai did not like it at all, he was terrified not to be held and especially since he is out in front of us.  I'm happy to say after our visit to the zoo he now loves the stroller, he never fusses when we put him in and thinks it's great fun!  The zoo was nice, we saw lions, tigers, monkeys, pandas,elephants,giraffes, and lots of other misc animals.  It was pretty small and a lot crappier looking than our zoo's but still nice. Last night we got McDonalds for dinner and stayed in.  Kai is a lover of french fries and not burgers, he isn't really good at biting things off like sandwiches.  I sometimes wonder if he can chew properly or not but I don't know what is normal for his age, sometimes he just chews and chews and eventually spits the food out or kinda gags.   Not really that much to say about yesterday and today other that.  We are pretty much free today other than getting Kai's TB test read.  We are sorta bored because it has been so rainy and we have to walk everywhere we go, also Kai's 24 month swimming trunks don't even come close to staying up so swimming is kinda out.  Well someone is getting sleepy so I better go:)

Guanzhou and Grieving

              I hope you all had a nice Thanksgiving!  Ours was ok.  Yesterday, Friday, we left our Hotel about 1:30pm and went sightseeing for a while.  We then went to pick up our laundry and the laundry people where laughing and pretty much making fun of us.  Our guide said they probably never had one person bring in so much laundry.  Really?  It was one garbage bag full so pretty much a good sized laundry basket for about a week for three people including a very messy two year old who gets car sick.  It kinda ticked me off actually, don't Chinese people wash thier clothes?  Duh.
   Soaway we go to the Hangzhou Airport about 4:30 5:00 pm and got through security and decided to eat atthe only restaurant close o our terminal, we ordered chicken mushroom rice for Kai and two ham sandwiches for us,  our bill was nearly $40!  They brought us this weird box this with different compartments, one had bock choy in broth, one had white rice, one had chicken, and one had cubed up veggies.  They then brought one of the sandwiches that was very fancy like a tea sandwiches.  I started feed Kai and realized the chicken was literally nothing but broth bones and grissle.  I got maybe 4 bites out of it for him.I fed him the veggies and rice. Ruben ate the first ham sandwich, we soon realized there was no second sandwich coming and I was the one who was so starved so I ate some of the white rice with a little broth and about a tablespoon of peanuts they put on there.  I was not happy!  Our flight was one of those deals where we had to ride in a shuttle out onto the tarmack and walk up the steps outside to board the plane, it was cold and windy and rainy and getting late for us.  We were so tired and ready to get to the hotel!  Kai fell asleep just as we were landing.  I had been carrying him almost all day and my arms, abs and back were on fire again, by the time we were checking in there was a couple of times almost thought I would drop him simply because my muscles were giving out.  I hurt so bad in the night I could hardly even roll over!  The good news is our hotel is GORGEOUS!  It is absolutely like nothing I've ever seen before,  our suite is huge, very ultra modern with glass and mirrors everywhere.  Not very 2 year old proof but oh well we are loving having a seperate living room and bedroom.  more homey.  This morning we had to go get Kai's medical exam done and oh my what a mad house!  I n ever thought I would see so many white couples with Chinese babies in one spot!  80 of us to be exact,  it was very warm in there and children where crying.  Kai of course wanted held again but my body says no way, I just couldn't physically stand and hold him today so I tried to always sit and have Reuben wait in line,  We got through that and Kai was so Brave!  He didn't cry once not even during the TB test!  Well he did cry once but that was because he wanted me and not related to the med exam.  We ran to the supermarket again after that to get some more diapers water and milk.  then back to the hotel for a little paperwork and then a nap.  This is where the fun started.
      The last couple days Kai has started to be a real Momma baby,  He had a few melt downs when I wen to the bathroom and left him with Reuben and follows me everywhere.  I rocked him to sleep when we got back and lay down beside him.  He absolutely thrashes and violently kicks in his sleep and kinda whines and it eventually leads to flat our wailing.  We are not sure what to do for him when he does this,  It seems the more you rub his back or try to touch him the worse it gets.  I started just picking him up for just a few minutes and laying him back down.  Today was the worst episode yet.  I think the trip and the new room and the medical exam was all to much for him and he was very very sad today.  Just cried and cried and wanted to be held.  We felt so sorry for him probably thinking about all his little friends and caregivers.  Maybe even his bed.  I know one thing there is no WAY the three of us are going to fit in a queen size bed when we get home.  The little guy is gonna have to be in his own bed asap.  So we felt rally bad because we think Kai got too hungry this afternoon.  We are used to just eating when we are hungry and we need to make a better effort at three square meals for Kai instead of two and snacks.  After he got his belly full or oranges, granola bar and room service rice he is back to his usual chipper self.  In fact he is WOUND UP~!  He has a new love for walnut creek cheese fugde and m&m's.  We also think his knee on his bad leg was hurting him.  He kept pulling up his pant leg and rubbing his knee and tearing up so I gave him some tylenol and that might've made a difference too.  BTW I never did mention that Kai is TINY.  I brought 24 mos, 2T, and 3T clothes and everything is pretty much too big.  I'd say he could wear 18 mos in some things which really surprises me!  18 mos and almost 3???  wow.   Well that's it for today, tomorrow I think we are going to the zoo unless the weather is bad:)  ps:  sorry for the bad spelling/typing  i'm too tired to fight this thing tonight

Sightseeing

So today We went sightseeing.

    I started out the morning feel worse than yesterday morning.  Ugh  Very green around the gills.  We felt bad telling our guide no and just told him to take it easy on us.  This is all green tea you see in the background.  I have lots to say on that subject but it'll have to wait.

 This is a Stream We saw while walking into the temple.  It was very beautiful there and blissfully peaceful, no honking horns or constant jackhammering.  We ended up really enjoying ourselves today.  I have more pictures I will post later of course.  We started out by heading to a laundry service.  Apparently it is very expensive and takes a long time to have laundry done here.  That is not what we understood so we packed light to save room for other things in the suitcase.  We had a whole garbage bag full of items and it took both the guide and our driver to convince this place that they could have it done by tomorrow because we fly out to Guanzghou.  So they proceed to go through every item and count it right in front of the guys underwear and all!  How embarrassing!  We then headed to west lake and went on a boat tour.  The lake is so calm its unbelievable, I was very glad due to my upset stomach.  We then went to the temple where we saw amazing architecture and pagodas as well as that Buddha thing and other statues.  It was hard not to feel a little weird there with people burning incense and bowing to the statues but we tried to just think of it as a cultural experience and leave it at that.  We then went to Tea Village.  All the land surrounding this whole area is nothing but tea bushes, it is a very interesting subject for sure. We also ate another traditional Chinese meal and get this, I even ate a little bit!  It tasted amazing but I only ate a tiny bit because last night I had one chicken wing and about 1/3 cup of mashed potatoes from KFC and was sick as ever.  So far so good though, no ill effects:)  It was fairly cold and very damp, drizzly, rainy.  Kai decided to fall asleep right as we got to the temple and I was having to carry him due to Reuben's ankle.  Normally I'm pretty sure a mom's strength grows as their child grows but I am not used to carrying a nearly three year old especially being a little weak from not eating much.  My arms were absolutely on fire!  Finally our guide  offered to carry him for a while.  AAH

        So enough about our day and a little about Kai.  Yesterday was very good for him to just be at the hotel, he really enjoyed it.  The last few days every time he goes to sleep and wakes up we have to really try to pull him out of his shell again and he gets those really sad eyes.  As of this morning he took about 5 min to be just fine after waking up and even then it was more just sleepiness than sadness, he gives pecks on the lips if asked, you only have to look at him and wave or smile and he will run over and put his arms up to be picked up.  He is full of energy, When we are at the hotel he smiles almost constantly, laughs, babbles, he has called me MaMa a couple of times but we are not sure if he is using BaBa in context yet or just babbling.  If we leave the room, he goes into complete dead fish mode, no facial expression, very limp, lays his head down, won't say a word.  We think he feels very insecure and maybe thinks we might take him back?  The minute that room door opens, it's like flipping a switch!  We notice some institutional behaviors,  if we lay him in bed for a nap or at night, no matter how not tired he is he WILL NOT try to get up.  He will lay there and babble, play little games with his hands and pretty much self soothe until he falls asleep.  I'm sure he has spent many hours doing that.  We also noticed that he seems to want to mess his pants rather than going in the toilet.  We try really hard to time it right and get him to use the potty but he won't.  We think he likes the closeness of me caring for him and not getting angry and loving on him, I'm sure he got reprimanded for doing that in the orphanage.  I guess I will just keep changing him for now.  Once laundry is not an issue we can get a little braver with no diaper and see if that makes a difference.
  We really have been very blessed with his transition so far and hopefully it will continue to go well.  Well it's time to put my feet up for a while and hope whatever I eat for supper sits ok!  Poor Reuben's foot looks horrible,  all purple and black.  Prob no post tomorrow since we are flying to the next city.  Pray all goes well and our second week in China is 100% better than the first!  Thanks:)

Bad to worse

 Wow, sorry for the depressing post title but oh my, yesterday was probably one of the worst days ever.  We got up and went to breakfast and off to the civil affairs office.  The good part is as far as China is concerned Kai is officially ours!  It took probably an hour and a half there and Kai wasn't really himself.  After that we set off on a two hour drive to Ningbo City to the orphanage and then to the police station where we would apply for Kai's passport.  All the way to the orphanage Kai slept on my lap and it was a fairly pleasant relaxing drive except for the incredibly rough roads.  We got to the orphanage and they took us to this Restaurant which really was more like a weird room of sorts and they served a  traditional chinese meal complete with no silverware.  I was still feeling bad yesterday so I busied myself feeding Kai and hoped they didn't notice I wasn't eating.  I fed him some fried rice, some kind of greens, fried shrimp, fried chicken, and fried pieces of pumpkin.  Notice a theme here?  Fried fried fried.  WE got the feeling from the orphanage workers that they did't think we are taking very good care of Kai.  I guess because we didn't have 27 layers on him.  Anyway Kai did,nt really eat that much and end we headed back to the orphanage where they took us up some stone steps to a conference room where they gave us the little picture album we gave Kai and a few other gifts.  I'm going to make this short because my Internet is acting up but it ended up that Reuben fell down the steps holding Kai(Kai is fine) and sprained his ankle really bad.  On the way to the police station Kai barfed all over Reuben and he peed on my lap while we were eating.  The ride home was so long and wicked we all were almost kissing the ground when we finally got back to the hotel.  I was so sick and tired I lay on the couch and slept while Reuben once again tried to care for Kai but now with a sprained ankle.  In the middle of the night I was up frequenting the toilet and Reuben got up to go too.  I sat on the couch and all at once I heard a crash and got up to find him passed out face down on the bathroom floor.  I made him scoot out on his belly because I was so sick I needed that bathroom again.  So you can see it wasnt the greatest day.  The good news is we canceled our sightseeing and decided to stay at the hotel today and I am feeling pretty good after eating a whole piece of toast for breakfast! yay.  Right now Kai is being a little on the naughty/ornery side and getting into everything.  We call him a little dumpster diver as he loves to dig in the trash cans.  He has made leaps and bounds in only three days,  he now reaches for us to hold him, laughs and smiles all the time and even gave me a kiss earlier.  He is a bit of a Momma's boy and follows me everywhere.  Well we gotta go do something because he is getting so wired and outta control! ha

                                                                      Reuben's ankle:(

                                                Finalizing adoption!

                   Kai's favorite spot looking out of our 7th floor window.

Gotcha Day!

  Wow where do I even start?  Gotcha day started out with me waking up feeling incredibly dizzy and nauseous.  I forced myself to eat a little breakfast and took everything in my arsenal for stomach issues.  I managed to hold it together for a good part of the day.  We met our guide in the lobby of the hotel about 8:45am.  WE went with a driver to a somewhat run down strange building.  We where the first of three  families to arrive.  Kai was the last child to arrive as he was coming from the farthest away.  While we where waiting on Kai to get there we started talking to one of the other families that was there.  The where adopting a boy probably about 7 or 8 and had another little boy about 11 with them.  Reuben asked if this is there second child and they said no, this is number 12! wow.  So we started asking were each other is from and they said they are From Lancaster PA so we knew they would probably know about Holmes County.  Turns out the wife is a sister to Loren Wengerds wife Ruth from Wilmot!  Loren and Ruth have been close friends of our family since I was a little girl.  Seriously, half way across the world in a crappy little building in China we run into to someone like that!  What are the odds? 
                              So Kai came walking in with his arms full of snacks and I went over a picked him up.  He didn't cry he just sat on my lap with absolutely no expression on his face.  One of the people with him opened his snacks and he started chowing down on what looked like a granola bar type thing made of honey smacks and a whole tube of strawberry cream oreos.  Ya those weren't messy at all.  He also had a small carton of some room temperature rank smelling milk which I only gave him enough of to be polite.  We filled out a bunch of paperwork and took turns holding Kai.  From there we got back into the van and headed out to have our family picture taken.  It was getting pretty warm in the van and Kai was sweating so I started to take off a few layers.  He had on a fleece sweatshirt that said "winter girl" on the front and a red THICK sweater vest on under that.  Then he was wearing another pink brown and white sweater under that and a pink mock turtle neck under that as well as pink long johns and swishy pants with his socks pulled up over the Long johns and the infamous tom and jerry shoes.  Our guise took us down stone steps to this strange under ground photoish place with not door, just like a tunnel opening where there was a large collie dog sleeping on a dilapidated couch.  We quickly got our picture taken and headed off the the super market.  After battling terrible traffic we went down into an underground parking garage and went back a filthy hallway to a freight type elevator that reeked of rotten garbage.  That took us to the two story wal-martish store where we got some diapers, wipes, bananas and milk.  This is where Kai spoke his first word!  He said something and I looked and he was pointing at some apples.  I said "apple" and he repeated me!  I would've got him a couple but we had no knife or anything at the hotel;.  So after that we finally got back to the hotel where we stripped Kai down and gave him a bath and some cheerios and instant oatmeal which he proceeded to gag on.  He doesn't like mushy foods, crunchy is better.  He started wailing when Reuben picked him up and I was able to comfort him.  About this time I started feeling to terrible that poor Reuben ended up taking care of him the rest of the night while I lay on the couch sick as a dog.  Reuben is so good with him, they played and played and we started to see a little a Kai's personality come out, he laughed and laughed and ate Mcdonalds french fries and a granola bar for supper.  Right now it is 4 in the morning here and boy is Kai a rough sleeper.  He kicks and turns all directions in the bed.  No covers for him.  He also laughed out loud and was jabbering in Chinese like crazy in his sleep.  I'm feeling a lot better today so far but still a little dizzy and weak which is probably because other than a little breakfast I only ate crackers and sprite all day.  Today we go to the orphanage, please pray that I feel ok an that Kai can take the emotions that he will be feeling today.  It is a two hour drive one way to is will be a long day.  I really miss everyone and my normal food but I'm trying to just enjoy this time and know that it is all just memories will will always have!  We are also hoping to maybe meet up with the couple from Lancaster maybe at breakfast or at supper.  See ya soon!

We made it!

Hello everyone I can finally blog!  It makes you really enjoy the freedom we have when you are helpless to access anything online:(  We still don't know how to get pictures on here yet though.  Reuben is trying to work on it. Sorry!
            Well we had a VERY long trip but not that bad really.  We left the house at 3:30 am on Friday and got to our hotel at about 6:00 am Saturday morning Ohio time which was about 7:00 pm Saturday night here in China.  We were so beat it was unbelievable as neither one of us did more than dose off on the plane.  It was just so uncomfortable.  So we went to sleep at about 8pm here and we both were awake again by midnight!  What a long night.  At 3am we finally gave up and got up.  Tonight wasn't much better as it is 3:30 am right now and I am up blogging!  We did have a little nap yesterday afternoon.  It was so hard not to sleep the day away!
                        Well enough about our jet lag and sleeping issues:)   We feel pretty good for the most part other than being tired.  We had a free day yesterday and so we got up and went to the free breakfast buffet.  Oh me goodness it was huge!  I'm talking like Hometown buffet huge.  Everything from Lo Mein noodles and fried rice, steamed biscuits, soups, congee, and braised beef to pancakes, french toast, made to order omelets, bacon, sausage, even mashed potatoes and much much more.  We skipped lunch but went out walking around after breakfast.  The cool air really helped to clear our heads and we started to feel pretty good.  The traffic is unbelievable here with cars, bikes,mopeds, and pedestrians all trying there best to get around.  There are very little traffic laws obviously as the line between what is sidewalk and what is road is very blurred.  Things we've noticed; Chinese people do not wear sunglasses, Chinese people do not use strollers(due to the cobblestone/paver like sidewalks).  We are staying close to West Lake, there is kind of like a park surrounding the huge lake, it reminds us a little of the area around Marina Jack in Florida and there are many people displaying their talents like Tai Chi and ballroom like dancing or sword dancing.  We were told by others that have been here that we would get lots of stares and probably be asked to have our picture taken.  We assumed the folks here would probably be interested in me due to my blonde hair but actually, they couldn't care less about me and are enamored by Reuben!  It is very funny, they all stare at him and for the most part look right through me.  The only thing we can figure out is it's his size and his very short haircut, beard, and cool shades:)  So funny!  We ended up going to eat at Pizza Hut last night because we just didn't know where to go for Chinese food and with the language barrier it was pretty scary.  Not that there was no language barrier at Pizza Hut.  I ordered a bottled water and the waitress brought me a glass of hot/warm water.  Of course I did not drink it so I had no beverage with my rice and chicken.  Yes rice and chicken at Pizza Hut! ha.  The food is way blander than the Chinese food at home which is fine with me.
                        Well today is the big day!  Our guide is going to meet us in the lobby at 9am and we will go to the civil affairs office to meet Kai!  I am pretty nervous especially since we are barely able to take care of ourselves over here let alone another little human:/  We will make it I know.  Please keep praying for us, this jet lag is not fun and little Kai is gonna be so sad I'm sure.  I will keep you all informed when I can and hopefully post some pictures.  If not I will when we get back:) 

Generosity

   We are feeling very humbled, very grateful, and very in awe of God's provision.   As most of you know, an adoption is not free, not even close.  For personal reasons we chose not to have fundraisers, not to apply for any grants, and do our best not to complain about money, or make a big deal about the very large figure we were working towards saving.  We felt that God would provide, and just did our best, and cashed in everything possible.  In these last days we realized we would be short, and a very very generous family member loaned us what we needed.  But to our surprise some wonderful friends and family stepped up and got out their check books and donated to our cause!  You all know who you are and we don't know how to ever thank you!  We truly don't, other than to give you this little shout out, and say THANK YOU!  Lord willing we will be able to pay back that generous family member a lot sooner than we hoped and start saving towards a new roof even sooner than we thought! ( no more buckets! lol)  So  money is a subject that I'm not that comfortable talking about but REALLY  these people deserve some props:)
        We also know that there are many people out there praying for us and for our upcoming journey and also those that are helping out with things while we are gone. Including my wonderful parents who are baby sitting two cute, cuddly and horribly naughty dogs for over two weeks as well as taking and picking us up from the airport and keeping an eye on our house while we are gone.  So we are just grateful, grateful, grateful!
      I have two more days of work left and the cleaning spree and packing everything but the kitchen sink begins!  We are leaving the house about 3 o'clock Friday morning and flying out of Columbus.  Our flight leaves at 7 am and we will then have a two hour layover in Chicago followed by a 14+ plane ride to Shanghai followed by riding the subway to the train station followed by an
hour long bullet train ride to our hotel!  Finally!  Please keep those prayers coming folks!  I'll update my blog if and when I can but I don't think I will be able to link it to Facebook so if your interested in following our journey you will have to just keep checking.  Thanks again everyone:)
                           

What I'm doing...

          I thought I'd let everyone in on what I'm doing with myself during these last couple weeks before we leave for China.  Well lets see, I've been the biggest scatter brained, forgetful, borderline Alzheimer like symptom air head. Bah!  No kidding I worry about myself:)  I guess the problem is I always have my mind on one cute little fella and not on whats going on around me.  So I started writing myself notes and setting the alarm on my phone to remind myself of things.  It is helping(I hope)
      We've had some really helpful travel tips given to us and read some on blogs so I'm feeling fairly ready to tackle a foreign country.  I'm pretty sure I've boughten just about everything I need to buy.  I got the gifts for the orphanage workers that bring Kai to us and also gifts for the Chinese provincial officers.  They will each be receiving a lovely bag of Walnut Creek Cheese yogurt pretzels and a little cup of WCC fudge.  Doesn't sound like much but I think they will like it.  
           I've decided to take all my fall decor down before we leave and I asked my awesome cousin Brooke to come and put all our Christmas Decorations(except the tree) up while we are gone so we'll come home to a nicely festive house!  I was quite proud of that idea:)
          Other wise I've just been trying to get everything wrapped up at work.  I'm having a few concerns about the lady I hired to fill in for me while I'm gone.  I just pray she at least sticks it out until my six weeks is over.  My job is very stressful and demanding and most people(including myself when I started) underestimate what it means to take it on. 
        So let the countdown begin!  6 more workdays (for me)  12 more sleeps  1 more weekend until we leave.  I was going to fill everyone in on our itinerary but I think I will wait and tell you as we go in China!   

Travel Dates

              I thought I would fill everyone one in on our travel dates!  We haven't booked our flights yet because it is already Saturday in China and our liaison( Ms. Cai)  needs to look at the flights before we for sure buy them.  We will do this probably Monday.  BUT, we are to be in China by Sunday November 18th so we will most likely fly out on Friday, November 16th and arrive in Shanghai on the 17th.  Depending on the time of day we arrive, we will take a train(gulp) along with our guide to our hotel in Hangzhou either Saturday afternoon or Sunday morning, it will be about a two hour ride I believe.  This is the capital city of the province were Kai is from and this is where we get Kai and we will complete the Chinese end of the adoption.  I will have more information on our actual stay in China and our itinerary when Ms. Cai sends it to us next week.
             As far as our trip home, we will be taking a van, along with our guide to Hong Kong on Thursday afternoon, November 29th.  I think it's about a three hour drive from Guangzhou, the city we will be at by then because this is where the US Consulate is located and the American end of the adoption will be completed.  We will probably be spending the night at the Hong Kong airport( Reuben says there is a Holiday Inn at the airport so hopefully at an actual hotel and not IN the airport!) We will then fly out Friday morning and arrive home the same day due to the time difference.
 More details to come but this is what we know so far!  Just so Glad to have actual dates that are FOR SURE.  Our consulate appointment is the 28th.  Happy Thanksgiving in China!

Another update and pics:)

We got an update today!  Lord willing our last update before we actually get to meet this little guy.

We asked our agency to see if they could get a little bit more information about Kai and also pictures.  When we got Kai's referral there was a little bit of info about his personality and his interests but we figure that was 6 months ago and kids grow up quickly at this age.   

 
                              So we didn't get a ton of feedback from the orphanage, they did say that Kai is talkative, alert, social and smiles a lot.  However, he is not showing that willing smile in any of these pictures:(

          They told us that this little fella enjoys imitating (oh boy), toys, outdoor activities, and music. 

              The funny thing about this update is that in the first 4 months Kai's height and weight has stayed some what the same,  in the last 2 months he has grown almost 3 inches!  Wow if he keeps that up we might have a basketball player on our hands!  No I looked up a normal growth rate for boys his age and it said 2-2.5 inches a YEAR! Obviously they had to make a mistake somehow:)  Well I'll keep everyone in the loop if anything else goes on!  4-5 more weeks (hopefully)  and we are China bound!!!!

Coping....

 
              Well I'm back with an update...kinda.  We got an email from our agency this morning saying that the consulate is closed today, again, for Columbus Day.  Yes apparently they celebrate Chinese and American Holidays over there.  So we are looking at the END of the week instead of the beginning for our article five.  The Agency says we can expect our TA around the 26th of October (we will see)and they will contact the liaison in China to set up our consulate appointment.  Our entire trip will be built backwards from that appointment date.  It will be one of our last days in China so it all depends on Thanksgiving and if or when or how stinking long they are closed for that.  Lets just say that, that email did not really bring us comfort.   My oh so patient husband is now a raging bull. ha
         I had to take Drew to his groomer appointment today so I had some time to kill.  I went to the mall since I need to get new tennis shoes before we go to China and thought I'd look for a long sleeve shirt or two for Kai and I also wanted to get a binky and a bottle with fast flow nipple just in case.  Usually shopping for Kai is a great way for me to lift my mood and even feel closer to him or our trip or whatever but today I just felt like I was suffocating or about to hyperventilate or something so I ditched that idea and headed to walmart to grab some groceries. 
     I did that and did get him the Binky etc and some snack/food items to take along.  I grabbed Drew and headed home to wash and sanitize every sippy, snack container, bottle, binky in the house and go through Kai's closet and drawers four times at least.  Sadly I'm feeling a little better now!  lol  I guess we all cope differently.
    Well I will give a heads up when we get our Article 5, hopefully sooner than we think!!!

A kinda, sorta, pretty much bad day!

       
                Well I'm really glad it's friday.  Warning- this blog post will probably be more information than most people really care to know but I'm in the mood to vent and it's getting to be time to ditch the niceties and get real.  LOL Here we go!
               Today I had to leave work early to go to my Hematologist appointment at Aultman Hospital.  For  those of you that don't know I have a history of DVT(Deep Vein Thrombosis) or blood clots.   I will be giving myself an injection of blood thinner on the day we fly to China and on the day we fly home.  I've also had to see a vascular surgeon to get a recommendation about compression stockings which I will have to wear on the plane and pretty much all the time according to him:)  This all was very trying and took a lot of time I don't have, but I'm happy to say it's done!  I have my script for my blood thinner and my compression hose so we are good to go!!  yay  One big thing to cross off my to do list. (Did I mention I had to have 17, yes 17 vials of blood drawn before I left the hematologist office!)
               This week we have also been not so patiently waiting on our article 5.  We did not receive that.  Reuben contacted our adoption agency this morning and they said that this week was a holiday in China and everything was closed all week!  Everything is a week behind so basically we will not be able to fly out on the 2nd of November like we had hoped:(  We are just so bummed and feeling like everything takes so much longer than it should. Who knows how long we will have to wait on our TA??  Not us.  
          Reuben also got a phone call on his way home from work from the dude with the Courier service we hired in NY to hand carry our Visa ap to the Chinese Consulate.  Apparently they kicked out our Visa ap because Reuben booked our Hotel in China in his name only, which was the only option it gave him and just said two people coming.  We had to hurry and book another room in my 
name only and are still waiting on a confirmation e-mail form this Chinese Hotel so we can send it to the courier guy who can take it to the consulate and hopefully get our Visa ap approved tomorrow morning since they are closed Monday for Columbus day or whatever! AHHH

     Other than that we've had several hurdles we have been trying to work out over the last several months.  Well I have anyway.  The first is trying to find someone to work for me while we are in China and then work two days a week once I come back  since I am hoping to work only three days a week. That is a very specific order to fill.  I have a prospect but nothing is set in stone and it's kinda hard since I don't know exactly when we are leaving. The second is my health issues.  I seem to have developed Gall Bladder problems in the last couple of months.  My best guess as to why that is is STRESS!  That too is somewhat under control but I'm still dealing with pain pretty much daily.  I've really tried to get a 
handle on my stress level but that is easier said than done with all this going on.  So that is pretty much the run down on what is going on with us/ me.  I know I sound very negative and that is probably because at this very moment that is how I'm feeling.  We know in our brains that God's got this and his timing is perfect but it is still hard to feel that way when your little boy is half way across the world.  Tomorrow will be a better day:)

Patience Please!

               Well I'm afraid I dont have too much new information to hand out, but there is a few things and I just wanted to let everyone know whats going on in our heads! LOL  I have now become pretty much officially lost as to whats going on, what we are waiting on etc.  I also have officially almost run out of patience!  Even my Husband we has remained cool as a cucumber for the most part is getting a little ouchy. ha  It just seems like we cant catch a break.  Every little step is like pulling teeth and every thing is taking longer than we where told.    Every one told us the last few months are the worst and boy were they right!!!  Ok I got that out of my system:)

             WE have had SUCH a busy summer!  I finally feel like I am getting a handle on my job and have started to really enjoy it.  I also am close to hiring someone to work with me and for me while I am off for 6 weeks.  That will be a huge burden lifted.  I have been having some health problems which  are now also close to being taken care of we hope.  Stress  can do awful things to your body thats for sure.  I have  boughten quite a lot of things for Kai:)  This weekend we are planning on going to buy car seats and a booster seat for at the table.  I'm also getting things I need to take along on our trip like OTC meds since the are hard to get in China.  It seems like a lot of people end up with bad colds over there.  This week I made a big batches of chicken noodle soup, vegatable soup, and beef and noodles to freeze.  We also tore out a lot of flowers and cut off perenials and such just so we dont have to worry about it closer to travel time.
                                            We Did learn the Kai's Chinese name is not Hu Peng, it's Peng Hu.  I guess they write it backwards from us.  It caused a near disaster with imigration paper work and an almost setback but luckily someone caught it for us!  Whew  Well We are still hoping to travel either the end of October or the first of November.  It's funny I was looking back at old blog posts and I saw where back in November 2011 I put that I was bummed because it could be another year until we travel, I didnt really think it would be but I was right!  I just can't believe how long this process takes but am thankful that we are able to do it and still trust in Gods timing.  We ask that you continue to pray for us in this journey, we are still trying to come up with the last few thousand dollars for our trip and such, and also my health would continue to improve.

New Pics!!

                                         So here are the promised pictures of little Kai!

                              I love this picture!  He looks like he is so up to something naughty:)

                   We hear that Kai is talking a lot more and improving with his motor skills

                        I think his little friends are so cute!  I 'm sure he is going to miss them.

             So this is weird but Kai is shorter, lighter, and has smaller feet than before! lol

                  Dont think he is digging having that bowl on his head!  A couple more months and we get to meet this little guy:)  Lots to do before then!

No News

I Don't know about you guys but I could not be more happy that the oppressive heat has finally left us! I don't know if I could have taken one more day! Well I'm enjoying my Monday off before the start of my work week tomorrow. I wish I could say I'm looking forward to it but unfortunetly I'm not. Dealing with the elderly and overworked nurses and aides doesn't get easier but I do my best! I'm sorry to say we still havn't heard anything from China about the adoption. We where origially told 2-3 month's from refferral to our formal letter of acceptance from China. We were later told up to 4 months. Today marks 12 weeks since we got the referral for Kai and 11 weeks since we got the preliminary letter of acceptance. I guess the purpose of this post is really a prayer request. Could you all join us in praying that we recieve our letter of approval(LOA) from China and that the rest of this proccess will move quickly? We have just waited so very long! My husband is doing much better at the waiting part than I am! In the end I know that God's timing is perfect and I accept that. Thank you all:)

New Pictures of Kai!!!!!!

So here are nine new pictures of our little Kai!  Please excuse the pink girls pajamas, it seems in China gender specific clothing for children just isn't that important:)  He is now 32 inches tall and weighs 28 lbs!  He looks very small to us though.  We are still waiting on our letter of approval from China.  Ok mommies out there, what is a reasonable going rate for an Amish babysitter in Holmes county?  I have no clue!  Please continue to pray for us during this process and for Kai that his little heart would somehow be prepared for all the changes that are coming his way<3

A little bit more about Kai...

I know you all have probably been wondering about how things are going and wanting to know more in general!  We don't really know any more then we knew a month ago but I can elaborate a little.  Probably the most frequently asked question I've gotten is when are we going to China?  When do we bring Kai home?  Well we don't know for sure but our agency told us worst case scenario is 5-6 months after referral.  That would put us at the end of September or the end of October.  It seems really long but we are very content knowing that everything is in God's timing and there is no use fretting and carrying on if we cant change it.  Also we have a LOT to do before the China trip!  I have recently changed jobs and I have such a big transition to make with that.  Lots to learn and a major career change.  Also Reuben has been working diligently on Kai's room.  It is far from done but is looking better every day!  I've been having fun buying things we will need for our little guy and our house has been taken over by miscellaneous boys stuff!  ha  So I guess I said a little bit more about Kai.  Well as I said in an earlier post he was born on January 26th 2010.  He is roughly 27 lbs and 31 inches tall.  I have had a time trying to figure out what size he is going to be wearing so if any of you have little ones about that size any insight would be much appreciated!  Also in earlier posts I mentioned that we are adopting a special needs child.  We feel the need to say a little bit about Kai's medical needs just so every one will know what to expect.  Kai is a completely healthy normal little boy except for one minor detail.  His left leg is roughly two inches shorter than his right.  He will require two to three surgeries in the future to hopefully lengthen his leg.  That being said, Kai can run, jump, and go up and down steps.  He is said to be a good sleeper and not a picky eater.  He is cooperative with getting dressed,and knows what no means.  The information we got is just so very positive about him and what a lovely, happy child he is.  Going through this process we so had our hearts and minds set on a little girl much younger than Kai.  It's funny though when we saw that little face, a read about how lovely Kai is, all that flew straight, directly out the window!  A wise man once said that adoption is fairly near the very center of God's heart and I couldn't agree more!  After all isn't that the story of salvation?  All of us who follow Christ are adopted into the family of God!  It is such a peaceful feeling knowing that God is in control of us, and this situation and that no matter the ups and downs and jet lag and exhaustion that face us we are in the perfect will of God!  Whom or what shall we fear??  Got questions??  Ask away!  I will be updating as I have anything to say.

Big news...like, the biggest!

 I thought you'd all like to meet someone... someone very special...

 This is our little boy!  He was born January 26th 2010 in Ningbo City, China. 

we accepted his refferal this afternoon and are so excited!  And the info I know my family has been waitin on he most is his name;)  So here goes.. his name is Kai Jaxon Miller!  We know a little bit about Kai, his Chinese name is Hu Peng, he likes to watch tv, play with toys and is very active.  He is also potty trained for the most part and is described as adorable, smart, not a picky eater, sleeps well and has a ready smile.  They told us he likes to imitate and shake hands lol.  So there will be more info to come but we all wanted you to hear our good news!  Thanks for all your prayers and keep em coming!!