Blue Ribbon Day!

This morning we had decided to try preschool again with Emma. I took Ethan and Emma to their room - another child was in the room with the teacher working on some pictures on a table. We put our backpacks away and sat down at the table. I helped Emma start a picture and she took it up to show the teacher as soon as she did just a little - then she pushed me toward the door and waved goodbye!!! I checked back in about 10 am and they said that she had a little melt down and cried for just a few minutes but had participated in all the activities of the day. After school, she rode the bus to the babysitters house. When they got there she came running off the bus very excited to show off the bottle of bubbles that they had given her at school! She has been happy and having a good time playing with her brothers and sister all night. We are seeing fewer behaviors - no hitting tonight and just a few pretend kicks. What a difference we have seen in just a few short days!

Holiday Weekend

We didn't make any big plans for this weekend. We went to the park with Marjie, Paul, Jenni, Erika, Isabel & Jacob on Saturday. We had a big time on all the playground equipment and had a great picnic! Emma got to meet Grandma and Aunt Judy. She seemed to like them and really likes her new quilt that they gave her.
Sunday Rod & the kids worked on the flower beds and played outside and in the garage. Today - Monday - we went to Moses Lake - took the kids to McDonalds for lunch and to play in the playland. Emma just seems to take it all instride. If you don't notice that she is speaking Chinese - you would just think that she is an average American kid! We are working on some behaviors - she seems to hit, pinch and whine more than I remember anyone else doing. I'm sure most of it is frustration that we don't understand her. Her receptive language is really doing well. It is really surprising how fast that comes.

Home Again, Home Again, Wiggilty Jig!

Wow! What a relief it is!!! We arrived home last Friday night - about 9 pm. The flights went fairly well - Emma had a little freak out during the last hour of our 13 hour flight from Hong Kong to LA but who wouldn't freak out after sitting in one little area for 13 hours!!! I can now recite the dialogue to the movie "Because I Said So" - I don't know how the airline can offer 20 channels of things to watch and have it all be crap!!!
We had a nice little welcoming party at the airport. Helen & John Preston; Cindy, Hannah & Abby Hays; Ted, Sheila & Lily Warne; and JoAnne, Irv & Levi Bailey. It sure felt good to see everyone and Helen rode 1/2 way home with Marjie to keep her awake.
We tried to get Emma to go to preschool on Monday - but she wasn't having it. She started her wailing cry so I took her out to the babysitters and she cried a little there but decided it wasn't all bad - they have a new puppy! This week has gone fairly well - I finished by fiscal year end stuff at work and we are starting to get caught up on sleep. Seems like anytime I am still for a minute - I fall asleep. Guess jet lag hit me a little harder than usual.
Tomorrow we are going to take Emma to the Tri-Cities to see Marjie again and introduce her to Grandma & Aunt Judy. Jenni & Erika will be there too so it should be lots of fun. We are going to take a picnic to Howard Amon park! Should be great fun!

We're Done!!!

Well, it seems kind of fitting that I can't log onto our blog tonight. I won't try to post pictures - I will be lucky if this note posts.
WE ARE DONE!!! We had our visit to the Consulate this afternoon and Emma is now officially ours according to both the Chinese & the US! We are packing up and getting ready to vacate the White Swan. I wonder if we will ever be back? We have talked about bringing the kids back to China when they are older but we would really have no reason to visit Guangzhou & the White Swan. Who knows - maybe someday I will come to help adopt a grandchild!!! Wow - I would probably be close to 70 by then!!!LOL!!! It will feel good to get started on our way home. Tomorrow is going to be one long day, even though we leave at 9:30 am and get home at 9 pm - we will pass something like 25 hours in between.
We got to visit a Kindergarten this morning. It is a boarding Kindergarten - when both parents work, they often send their 3-6 year old children to boarding Kindergarten here in Guangzhou. The kids stay at the school Monday through Friday and then go home for Saturday & Sunday. Seems like it would be pretty lonely at home for Mom & Dad! The kids sang a lot of songs and did some dances for us. They also gave Bailey & Emma some necklaces and flowers. We found out that Emma likes to sing. On the bus, some of the other kids were singing songs and all of a sudden Emma started to sing. She did some kids songs and then she burst out in a really long involved song - our guide said it was from a Chinese Opera!!! Hmm...might have an opera star in our midst! We bought a CD of Chinese kids songs tonight and she really liked it. We will have to keep it handy because it helped calm her down tonight - the kids were getting a little hyped up because we were packing and trying to get all the last minute shopping done!
Hope to see you soon!!!
Signing off from China!!!!

Hanging Out in Guangzhou!

Well, we made it to Guangzhou! The flight went really well. Emma squeezed my hand really hard as we took off and then again as we touched down. She didn't seem to be very scared - looked around and started to laugh! It is really warm and humid here - I had almost forgotten what real humidity was like! Bailey's hair doesn't even get dry here. It almost feels like coming home to get off the bus at the White Swan. After all, I know where everything in the hotel is and most everything on the island. There have been a few changes - the Noodle Shop is now another clothing store and there is a Starbucks just down the street from Jennifer's. We had breakfast this morning here at the hotel but the didn't get breakfast included with our last couple of days so will hit Starbucks early in the am! Breakfast at the White Swan is an event in and of itself. It is a little overwhelming to see all those families with new babies. Seems like every table in the restaurant has a high chair. We saw some really little babies this morning. They were probably about 10 months old. Yikes - I wouldn't know what to do with something that little!
Emma had her physical this morning and we finished with the Consulate paperwork. The physical is rather laughable. They take a temperature, height, weight - then do a hearing check by shaking a rattle behind the kid and if the kid turns around they mark down that he/she can hear!!! We had Emma's visa picture taken and they put a copy on her physical form. After we were back at the hotel, the Dr. office called and wanted information on Emma's birthmark on her eye! It was such a through exam that no one even noticed that it was a bruise!!! So glad that we had to pay 500 RMB for it!
We did a little shopping today and got the girls matching ladybug shirts and Chinese style cotton pj's. We will have to hit the shops a little harder tomorrow - we are going to have some sort of tour tomorrow afternoon - not sure what yet.
The pictures that I am posting are from the playroom at the White Swan. The last picture shows Bailey standing by a table in the room - she smacked her head on this same table when we were here adopting her 5 years ago - she was just barely taller than the table!!! How things change!

Leaving Hefei

It's Monday morning here in Hefei. We are packing up to leave for Guangzhou. We check out of the hotel at 2 pm and our flight leaves at 4:30. We will get to Guangzhou about 6 pm. It will be nice to know that we are on our last leg of our trip. It will be fun to be in Guangzhou again. We will only be at the White Swan for 4 nights. We will have to make the most of our time there. Bailey is looking forward to the swimming pool and other kids to swim with. We will meet up with the other families from our group and several of them had older girls. It will be fun to see them again and see how their new additions are doing.
We asked our guide to explain the airplane to Emma. Not sure how that will go!! I'm sure she will do fine though. She has been game for almost everything so far. As long as there aren't any animals that might eat her!!!
We'll post again from Guangzhou!

Hefei Wildlife Park Slide Show!

Wildlife Park

Today we went to the Hefei Wildlife Park. It was very nice. The cages were alot bigger and nicer than any of the zoos that we have been to here in China. They animals looked like they were in better condition also. Emma was very scared at first. She kept asking our guide if the animals were going to eat her! Must have been read some scary fairy tales or something. We think she had an older foster brother that played rough with her and probably told her scary things.
Our guide also took us to her favorite tea shop. We had tried to go there the day before but were pretty hopeless in getting across what we wanted. This time was much easier!!! We tried some wonderful tea and got a couple of packages to bring home. We even got some teapots.
Tonight we went to dinner with the Blackburns - a family from our group. We had our guide write down the names of some good dishes that would be things that we would recognize. The food was very good. I cut dinner a little short as Emma was getting a little loud. We think she used to get her way whenever she whined - so we are working on it!!! We can pretty easily distinguish between her sad cry and her 'I want my own way' cry. Both are getting a little fewer and farther between.

It's All Fun & Games Until Someone Bonks Their Eye!

The girls were playing with the office type chair in our room the other night. Emma fell off and bonked her eye on the corner of the desk. We were really glad that all the official stuff was done here in Hefei - They might thought we were smacking her around!!!

Snacks

We bought Emma some more snacks. These are the same kind that she had in her backpack when she came to us. We aren't really sure if the flavor is crawdad or kitty kat!!!!

Lord Bao's Temple Slide Show

Lord Bao's Temple & New Shoes!

Today we went to visit Lord Bao's Temple. He was born in 999 and was known as a great incorruptible official. He was a judge who believed that everyone was the same under the law. There was a great wax museum - the figures were very lifelike - that shows some of the most famous stories of Lord Bao. He punished members of the royal family just as he punished the common man. One of our pictures shows three different implements for beheading people. Royalty were beheaded with the one that had the dragon head on it, government officials were beheaded with the one that had a lion head on it and the commoners were beheaded with the one that had the dogs head. I don't think I would have cared which as the result would be the same!!!

In the afternoon, we took a cab ride down to the shopping area. Both girls got new sandals that light up - they are very proud of their new shoes. Bailey said that they make her run faster!!!
It sounds like Ben & Ethan are going to have a fun weekend. Rod said they are going fishing!
Bailey is typing and she says hi!

Hui Gardens Slide Show

Hui Gardens

We visited the Hui Gardens today. It was very beautiful. Each county of Anhui had its own place in the garden - either a building or a statue. We had a good time walking around and looking at all the interesting buildings. We even met a group of school kids from Tibet who were in Hefei on a field trip. Their English was very good and they loved practicing it on us! Everything was going really well until Emma saw a vendor that had lollipops for sale. We had just had popscicles so I said no when she asked for a lollipop. Guess that wasn't the answer she wanted!!! She can throw a first class tantrum!!! I think we have entered the "let's see how far we can push" phase! Things were much better after we got back to the hotel and had a nap.
This afternoon we took a walk down the street to the square with the fountain again. On the way, we noticed that there is a cosmetic & plastic surgery clinic just a couple doors down from the hotel. Maybe we will get some work done while we are here!!!

New Dolls & Girls Having Fun!

New Dolls

Today we went shopping and Bailey & Emma got new dolls. We found some new shorts and skirts for the girls. It was fun - we just hopped into a cab and took off by ourselves. We only had one scary thing happen. There was a crazy man by the shopping area. He went out to the middle of the street and urinated into a garbage can in front of everyone - then he kicked the garbage can until it broke - yelling and screaming all the time. We hung pretty close to the shops until someone came and took him away! Oh well, it gave us some excitement!

It's Official!

We did the final paperwork this morning! We are officially the parents of Emma Sinian Dennis!!! She didn't seem real pleased about the whole process. She had quite a conversation with the orphanage director. It involved a lot of crying and a lot of her turning her back on us. After we came back to the hotel, things were better. She tried out the swimming pool - liked it for about 5 minutes and then decided that she had enough. Bailey had a good time swimming. We took a walk to Victory Square - there are beautiful flowers and a really cool fountain. Everyone is napping now - I am thinking I should wake them up soon or no one will sleep tonight!
We all want to say hello to everyone. We appreciate all the notes/comments. It helps us feel connected to home. Bailey says she misses everyone - even Ben & Ethan!! Tell Jordanne that Emma is the one under the wild flower quilt!

Who Is This Girl!

Yesterday was pretty exhausting. Emma finally took a nap - she actually fell over in mid scream and then slept for 2 hours. When she woke up she continued to cry and scream. Marjie & Bailey went out to look for some supper for us and I decided to give Emma a bath. I figured she couldn't get any more angry at me! It was like a light switch had been thrown! She played in the tub and then put on her new pjs just fine. After Marjie & Bailey got back, she played and laughed. Must be something in the water or maybe it was the orange pop & the chocolate bar we fed her!!!

We Have Emma!

Quite a morning! We had breakfast at 7:30 this morning and at 9:00 were ready for the Civil Affairs Office. When we got there, Emma was waiting for us. Her foster mother was with her and everything went pretty well until she left! Emma tried to run after her and it was pretty much all I could do to hold her. I now have a fat lip and scratches on my neck. She definitely liked the idea of a new mom better than the reality! She has been one sad little girl. Bailey is being very helpful and has even brought her tissues and helped dry her eyes. Each day should get a little easier. I think we will stick pretty close to the room. I don't think she will try to run away as she held my hand really well when we came back to the hotel from the Civil Affairs Office.

Hefei

We have been having a little trouble with the internet. This is the 3rd room we have been moved to because the internet wasn't working! We just started getting unpacked and couldn't get the laptop logged in and their IT people couldn't seem to figure it out so they just moved us to another room! The hotel is beautiful. I just posted a picture of our view and pictures of the bathroom! There is a huge shower with a rain shower head and a huge tub that has its own handheld shower head. Bailey has already taken a bath! The hotel has only been open a couple of months. There is a great window seat that kind of hangs out over the edge of the hotel - Bailey loves it. She has been putting on magic shows for us - using it as her stage!
We had a good flight here from Beijing. We met another family on the flight - they are here to adopt a little girl and they are from Lincoln, NE. They are staying at the Holiday Inn but we will probably see them tomorrow at the Civil Affairs Office.
It sounds like Ben & Ethan are having a good time with Dad. We have been able to talk to Rod via Skype. We got a $10 credit and only used about $1.00 so far. We probably would have used a $20 phone card by now - if we had used the regular phone!
Tomorrow we get Emma. Sure hope we get through the first couple of days!

Tienamen Square, Forbidden City and Acrobat Show

Today we toured Tienanmen Square, the Forbidden City and went to see the Acrobat Show. The square is pretty amazing - it is the largest city square in the world. We only got lost from our group once! The Forbidden City was undergoing alot of renovation so some of the main buildings were covered with scaffolding. They are sprucing it up for the Olympics. It is pretty awesome to walk on the same bricks that millions of people have walked on before. It wasn't quite as crowded as the Summer Palace had been. Many people here in China are just winding down from a week of holiday. They celebrate a national labor day on May 1 and most people have the entire week off from work. Too bad we couldn't pick up that custom from them!!
The Acrobat Show was terrific! Bailey was about ready for a nap but she perked right up when all the action started. We tried to take some pictures but of course they are pretty blurry - it will give you kind of an idea of what they were doing though.
For dinner, Marjie, Bailey & I hopped a cab and went to the Hard Rock Cafe. It was pretty cool and we had milkshakes and hamburgers! We didn't trust the veggies so had plain burgers but there was real ketchup! We had to get our bags out in the hall by 9:30 pm as we are leaving early in the morning for the airport to go to Hefei. Only 2 more days until we get Emma!

Great Wall, Summer Palace & Olympic Stadiums

The Great Wall & The Summer Palace

Today we climbed the Great Wall and toured the Summer Palace. It was a very nice day - not too warm and a nice breeze was blowing. We went up the really steep part of the wall. I'm sure our legs will be making us pay for this for the next several days. We really missed Rod today. Not only because we love him but if he had been here we could have sent him up the wall with Bailey and we could have stayed at the bottom and taken pictures!!!! Of course, Bailey was ready to go straight up to the top and then she wanted to climb out on all the little outcroppings that had a thousand foot fall under them!
After we made it up and down - going down was almost as bad as going up - we did some bargaining with some of the vendors at the foot of the wall. Bailey got an umbrella, a plaque that says she climbed the wall, a t-shirt & I got two hats and two sets of postcards. I think we paid about $10 for everything. The vendors kept saying "We make no profit - price too low" but then they would offer lower when we started to walk away.
The Summer Palace was beautiful but was packed with people. I think it would have been really nice if it hadn't been so crowded. I was afraid we would lose Bailey, so held her hand really tight! We took a dragon boat ride across the lake - it was really nice. Bailey wanted to go fishing! We had to visit several public toilets today as Bailey & Marjie just don't have the steel belted bladder that I seem to have been blessed with! I was going to post a picture of one but didn't think the true essence would carry through since we don't have smellavision on our blog!
On our way back to the hotel we went by the site of the Summer Olympics - the buildings look very cool. There is lots of construction going on all around Beijing in preparation for the Olympics.
Tomorrow we are off to Tienanmen Square and the Forbidden City and then an acrobat show in the afternoon.

Saturday in Beijing

Ok big disappointment - we just got back from breakfast. The weirdest thing on the buffet was the yogurt. In China they have drinkable yogurt and they have little pictures on the top of the carton to show you what the flavor is. We had the choice of plain, strawberry, peach, corn and peas! Wow, why didn't we think of this - get our calcium and vegetables all at the same time!!!
We made it through the first night in good shape. Only woke up at 3 am ready for the day but were able to nap until 6. This morning we are off to see the Great Wall and the Summer Palace. We will take a bunch of pictures and will post when we get back. Now we are off to breakfast - guess we can introduce Marjie to Congee!!! I hope they have at least one really bizarre thing on the buffet table or we will be disappointed!

We're Here!

This is the view from our hotel window. We are on the 9th floor. The first picture shows a building that has a many storied shopping center - really cool because we didn't even have to brave crossing the street to go get water. We also found a Starbucks on the first floor! Talk about all the comforts of home - we even have a western toilet in our room!!!!
Well, yesterday was one long day! We got on the airplane in Spokane at 4:30 pm Wednesday and we just got off here in Beijing at 5:30 am Friday - guess its only 2:30 pm Thursday at home but Friday sounds better!!! The flights were pretty uneventful. Nobody got too whiny - not even Marjie!!! We have just spent the last 2 hours trying to make arrangements to visit Shepherd's field. We finally found a driver that will take us this afternoon - so that should be fun! We will try and get lots of pictures. We drove right by the Hard Rock Cafe here in Beijing - it is in the bottom of the Amway building - how funny is that! Maybe we will go and get Rod a new t-shirt.
Well, better go and find some breakfast. They fed us twice on our long flight - the first time was fried rice and the second time was some strips of pork and rice and some chicken salad. A very odd combination. Bailey wasn't impressed. At least we didn't get any dried fish in a little bag that looks like peanuts. We can probably look forward to that on one of our in country flights!