Bringing Tia Home

Finally An Update!

2012-07-17T20:51:00.001-04:00

Sorry it has taken me so long to update the blog. I have been really enjoying watching Tia explore her new world.

She is doing so many new things! She sits up, crawls, pulls herself up and shakes her head "No". The two top front teeth are coming in. That was not fun! I think she may even be getting a molar now and that really is not fun. She gets a little cranky and we can't blame her for that. She loves her pool and can spend hours in it. She puts her toys in and out of it. It is so cute!

Here are some videos and pictures to keep everyone smiling!

Coco loves having Tia around. So many soft blankets to sleep on!

Father's Day

2012-06-19T11:56:00.000-04:00

Steve had his first official Father's Day! It was a great day! Tia gave him a picture of the two of them for his desk and a gift certificate for golf! Daddy's favorite thing! Then we had a nice dinner with Nanny and Poppy and

she got to meet two more cousin's!

They brought her a wonderful toy that she has played non-stop with since Sunday!

She is teething like crazy! She is chewing on everything! She gets a little fussy ,but overall is really good. I just wish those teeth would come in and not hurt her so much.

Excercising Her Legs

2012-06-10T21:21:00.001-04:00

Here are two videos of Tia exercising her legs. One is from when we were in China and the other home. Check-out how much she has grown already!!! I think she is determined to walk not crawl!

This one is from in China

This one is once we are home.

I cannot believe the growth in her already. She has become so much stronger in such a short period of time. It is absolutely amazing!

Changes and Adjustments

2012-06-05T21:31:00.000-04:00

First I want to say thank you to everyone for calling, texting or emailing us their good wishes. I am sorry that I have not gotten back to everyone but we are experiencing a lot of changes and adjustments. Our clocks are still off and Tia, doing well all things considered, is still not completely in this time zone. So when Tia naps, we all nap since we are up during the night.

We know everyone wants to see her, but we are all still adjusting. Her more than us. You have to remember that she is nine months old and knows she is not where she was. Everything is so new to her. You watch her and you can see her processing everyone she meets and everything she sees. There are a lot of changes happening for her. Sights, smells, sounds and even her food. Overall she is adapting well.

So, here are some pictures of her trying her first taste of bananas. As you can see,she loved them!

Friday

2012-06-01T18:37:00.001-04:00

We are finally home! It was a long trip but a good trip. We are exhausted and in desperate need of sleep. So when we wake up and can actually think, I will post more on how Tia did on the plane and how she is doing at home.

Thanks!

Wednesday

2012-05-30T08:43:00.001-04:00

Today we had our appointment at the Consulate and I have to say I was pretty surprised at how well it went. For some reason I thought we would be there for awhile and the people would be sort of uptight. Not at all. We were all in and out in about an hour and everyone could not have been nicer. We all took our oath for our children, they reviewed our paperwork and said our visas would be ready tomorrow afternoon. Once we receive them we will be leaving for Hong Kong and meeting an old friend of ours at our hotel there. It will be nice to see Tim as we have not seen him in a few years. He used to work with me but now works and lives in Hong Kong.

The rest of the day we walked through some shops near the hotel and hung out in our room playing with Tia. She loves to play on the floor or bed with us. It is amazing how much she has grown in only a week and a half.

We had dinner with John, Stacy, Grace and Conrad. We went to Sabah which we have gotten take-out from several times. It serves Malaysian cuisine which was very good. We decided to eat there instead of take it back to the hotel. It was quite nice.

This may be the last post until we get home. Thanks for following our journey and I will post when we get home!

Tuesday

2012-05-29T09:15:00.001-04:00

Today we went to the Guangzhou Zoo. We had a very nice day there. The three families that are here together from our agency figured out the subway and we headed to the zoo! I have to say I was pretty nervous to begin with but the only thing we did wrong was on the way back we came up the "B" side which put us across the highway from the hotel. We went back down and then came up the "A" side which put us right in front of our hotel. It was very nice to spend the day with our group and go at our own pace. Tia slept through the beginning but woke up just in time to see the pandas. She enjoyed watching everyone and everything. She is so curious about everything.

We came back to the hotel hoping Tia would take a nap but that lasted about five minutes. She of course fell asleep about a half hour before we were supposed to go to dinner. Surprisingly she woke up happy when I picked her up to put her in the stroller. I couldn't have her sleep too late or she would not go to sleep tonight. We have our consulate appointment first thing in the morning so we have to be up, showered, fed, dressed and ready to go by 7:45 AM. She had to go to bed on time for that to happen!

Monday

2012-05-28T08:01:00.000-04:00

Today Tia was feeling much better. I think she was just a little overtired and needed a day of rest with just her Mom and Dad.

We went to the Temple of Six Banyan Trees. It was wonderful. The pictures do not begin to capture the beauty and peacefulness there. It is in the heart of the city of Guangzhou, but once inside the gates there is a peacefulness that settles in. I would have loved to stay longer but it was so hot and humid. Plus Tia had a leaky diaper on the bus over and I had pee pee on my pants. Not fun on a hot and humid day. We got off the bus and I was putting Tia in the stroller and I look up at the bus driver and he is looking at us and chuckling. I think he is looking at Tia until I look at him again and he points to my pants. Then I realized two things. One, I have pee pee on my pants, and two, he is laughing at me. At that point I just started laughing too.

Once back at the hotel Tia took a nice nap for about two hours. After she got up we were playing on the couch with her Dad when Tia got a little quite (yes, she found her voice!). All of a sudden we smell something and I look down and guess what is leaking out of her diaper? Yup, but that is not all it did. She had an explosion! We stripped her down and put her in the tub. All I could do was laugh again. I got laughing so hard I was crying. We have definitely made it to parenthood! No pictures of that though!

Sunday

2012-05-27T20:37:00.001-04:00

Today Tia was not feeling so well so we did not go to Yuntai Garden. We stayed back at the hotel and she took a three hour nap that she very much needed. When she woke up she was in much better spirits. We had fun playing on the floor and then later went to the playroom with Stacy and John after dinner. There was a really good thunderstorm this afternoon too. It was pretty neat watching it from the 16th floor window.

We are hoping Tia feels better to go to the Temple of Six Banyan Trees on Monday.

Saturday

2012-05-26T09:36:00.001-04:00

Today we had the medical exam for Tia. She of course did fine. She didn't mind them looking in her ears, down her throat or checking her hearing. She didn't like being put on the scale. Typical girl!

Tia also had her first ride in a stroller today! At first she wasn't too happy until she realized she could see a lot more of what is going on than when in our arms. After that Miss Nosy Pants was fine. She even fell asleep in it.

Tomorrow we are going to Yuntai Garden.

Friday

2012-05-26T00:22:00.001-04:00

Thank you all so much for the birthday wishes! It has been a great birthday year. Our guide Helen even had the hotel send up a birthday cake to room to celebrate.

Today we went to Luihuahu Lake Park. It was very pretty there. We saw a lot of Bonsai, gardens and people exercising. It was a nice walk around by the lake with Tia checking everything out. She is very curious and has to know what is going on. She is also a magnet. Everybody has to say hi to her. It is really funny. We can't walk through the lobby without people coming over to us.

After the park we just came back to the hotel to relax. We went to the pool for the first time, but that was not such a big hit. She loves the bath but not the pool.

Tomorrow we have her medical exam.

Thursday Outing

2012-05-24T18:24:00.000-04:00

Today we went to The Ancestral Temple of the Chen Family and then to Shamian Island. The weather here is very hot and humid so if we look a little wet or drained, we are. The weather here is worse than the weather in August at home.

The Temple was beautiful as you can see from some of the pictures. The details on the outside of the Temple are incredible and all hand carved and painted. They are now using the temple as an arts and crafts museum. It was really interesting as they had some demonstrations while we were there. There was a gentleman showing us how to do hand painting. Watching him take a blank piece of paper and turning it into a picture with only his hand was pretty cool. The picture was a of a waterfall scene with bamboo. The picture of me feeding Tia is at the Temple. Whenever she gets her bottle she puts her feet in the air while she eats. The picture with the two pits are olive pits that they use to do carvings.

Then we went to the famous Shamian Island. This is where all adopted families used to come and stay until the last year. The U. S. Consulate moved off the Island to another location in the city. Families found hotels that were newer than the White Swan with larger rooms closer to the Consulate to stay at. After visiting the Island yesterday, I can see why people stayed there though. It is a nice little community with parks and little shops to walk around to. It is not as crowed as the city it self either. I really liked it.

We did not do the dinner cruise as it got over too late for Tia and we were all drained from the heat. Instead we went for a walk in the garden at the hotel with the other family that is here with us. They're John and Stacy Moore with their daughter Grace and son Conrad.

Sorry for no labels on the pictures and them being out of order. I am using a different app and have not quite figured it all out. It seems to put the pictures in whatever order it wants.

Wednesday

2012-05-23T08:56:00.001-04:00

Well the last few days have been very busy with official appointments for the adoption. We went to the notary yesterday to sign all the paperwork saying that we will take care of her and today we went to the passport office to get her passport. Now we have a couple of days to go sightseeing. I think we are going to a temple tomorrow and then on a dinner cruise on The Pearl River. This of course will totally depend on how Tia is doing. She is teething and had a tough day today with it. She has discovered that chewing on Mommy and Daddy's fingers make it feel better though. We tried to get her to chew on one of the teething toys we brought, but she really wanted nothing to do with it. She wanted to be held all day, snuggle with us and chew on our thumbs. That was fine with us! Of course that was until she chomped down on our finger with the two teeth she does have. Ouch!

These pictures of the view from our hotel. We are on the sixteenth floor. Of course the pictures of Tia are from the view in our sitting area in our room. Hopefully tomorrow we will have some more interesting pictures for you to see.

Gotcha Day!!

2012-05-21T14:31:00.000-04:00

Today was the most amazing day of our lives. That really doesn't even come close to describing it. The range of emotions that we felt today from being scared to nervous to terrified to incomprehensible joy and love are overwhelming to say the least. After all these years when we thought God may have had another plan, he showed us differently. He sent us the most amazing gift today. He sent us this little girl that is incredible. She smiles easy, loves to watch her Dad do anything and is just happy. Thank you God for showing us that you do listen, we just have to be patient and listen too. Here is our incredible gift:

Great Wall and Summer Palace

2012-05-20T08:47:00.000-04:00

Today we went to the Great Wall, The Summer Palace and the jade factory. It was a very busy day but wonderful. We started the day at the jade factory. It was very interesting. They showed us how they made some items with the jade and how to tell if it was real jade or fake. They had many beautiful pieces. I could have spent hours there just looking at all if it. Next we went to The Great Wall. I can say incredible, but I don't think that quite describes it. The portion of the wall we went to was very steep but had unbelievable views. I only made it about three quarters of the way to the top before my fear of heights got the best of me. It was still wonderful! After The Great Wall we had lunch at a Chinese restaurant. Delicious! We all enjoyed it very much. Then off to The Summer Palace. Pictures don't really do it justice. It was quite beautiful. When we first arrived a young Chinese man came up to me to ask if he could have his picture taken with me. It was really weird! We walked around the palace and then took a boat ride across the lake. It was very enjoyable. The picture of McDonald's was our diinner and just like home! We took it for Susie in Phoenix! Here are some pictures from today's events:

Forbidden City

2012-05-19T08:52:00.001-04:00

We went to the Forbidden City today. Had a very interesting walk through some street vendors. They are very persistent once they get a hold of you. If you are not interested in what they are selling DO NOT TOUCH IT and keep right on walking. Very different experience from home.

Here are some pictures.

We are here!

2012-05-18T19:19:00.001-04:00

We have finally arrived in Beijing! After a long layover in Chicago they finally fixed the plane and cleared us for take off. It was a long flight, but a good one. We met our guide Sylvia at the airport and she is great. Today we will see the Forbidden City. Gotta run for breakfast now!

An Important Post

2012-05-17T09:44:00.000-04:00

As we are getting ready to leave for China there are some things that I think everyone should think about in regards to Tia. We know that everyone is excited to finally have her coming home, but there is going to be an adjustment period for her not just for us. I have read a wonderful post on http://www.chinaadopttalk.com/ titled "The not-so-rosy part" that I am going to post a portion of here. If you would like to read the whole thing please click on the link above and look for the title to the post. It is a great post and the comments that follow it are just a valuable. So here it is:

"This is not a newborn, but a child who already has a personality - one you get to figure out. She's been ripped from all she knows: the people who've cared for her and kept her alive, the language she's been around since birth, the food she's accustomed to, the other kids, her schedule, her crib, her cribmate.

It's all gone, and she's with these people she's never seen before, and she can't understand what's being said, and the food is different. Scared and grieving doesn't begin to describe her emotional state.

Some babies completely shut down and appear to be autistic, but after three or four days they start coming around and you begin to see the real child. It can take weeks (or months) for the grieving to stop, but after several days you should begin to see little pieces of their personalty. Other children have different survival mechanisms and you'll immediately see a little bubbly charming temperament, but doesn't mean there's no grief - it could be their survival instincts are telling them to be cute and lovable.

We all know this transition to a family is for the best in the long run, but the child only knows how they feel right now, and they're scared and mad and grieving. Some move through it faster than others. Many seem to work through it in China and then backtrack once you get them home.

When you're in China they still hear Chinese in the restaurants and out on the street, they still get some Chinese food, they still have the unique smells of China around them. However, once you're home, everything familiar is gone. By then you've probably switched them to American formula, they likely aren't getting congee every morning now that it's not on a buffet, you probably can't make steamed eggs exactly like they were in China, the smells are different, and no one is speaking Chinese around them anymore.

They might be able to keep their minds off all of this during the day, when they're active and have much to keep them occupied, but when their mind starts quieting down to go to sleep it all comes back, and the grief can be all-encompassing. Some babies can't quiet down without grieving, and sleep becomes next to impossible. Combine this with jet lag and it's a waking nightmare for everyone in the house.

There will also be control and manipulation issues. Even a 9 or 10 month old will try to gain control of something, anything, so they don't feel so helpless. Maybe you can let them have it in some instances, but in others you'll need to make sure you remain in control. Follow your instincts on this one - they need boundaries in order to feel safe, but letting them have little pieces of control may also help them. How do you know when it's best to give in and when it's best to be firm? You fly by the seat of your pants and hope you get it right.

You've been waiting for this child for a really long time, but she knows nothing about you. She's scared and will act in ways you cannot currently imagine a little 15 or 20 pound baby could possibly manage."

"I see people talking about how happy their child will be to finally get a family, but that just isn't the way it works. I worry families are setting themselves up for problems by having expectations that aren't likely to happen.

Please take this time to read about attachment. Not just attachment issues, but attachment in general - how attachment happens, red flags that attachment may not be happening and ideas for how to foster attachment.

Also, read about sensory issues and other things that may pop up in post-institutionalized babies and children.

If you have "What to expect the first year" book, understand your 10 month old baby may not be doing what the authors say a four month old baby should be capable of. This is completely normal, and most children catch up at an amazing speed. The rule of thumb I've always heard is babies develop one month for every three they're institutionalized - so a nine month old child will have the developmental skills of a three month old, and 18 month old may only have the developmental skills of a 6 month old.

Your child may have been strapped into a potty chair for hours a day, and laid in the crib for most of the rest of the day. Of course they won't have the developmental skills appropriate for their age.

Your baby may have been gravity fed, and never learned to suck. She may not be cable of drinking from a normal bottle. You may spend months getting her to the point that she can pull liquid from a normal nipple, and those sucking muscles are important before she can learn to talk, it's all related.

I'm not saying the first couple of months are going to be all bad - there will be wonderful moments, too. I'm hoping to get the point across that you need to be prepared for some difficult times. No matter how frustrated you are, at least you know what's going on. It's your job to comfort this child when she's scared and grieving and screaming her little had off from 11:00 at night until 4:00 in the morning almost nonstop. It's your job to make her feel safe and loved, and that's not always and easy thing to do."

I think this is one of the best posts. It brings some realty to it and makes you think. We are all excited to be bringing Tia home, but we have to remember she may not be just yet. She will have her adjustment period just like the other children. Maybe she will go through it in China, and maybe not. We will have to wait and see and be there to comfort her along the way.

The next post will be that we have arrived in China!!

Travel Approval

2012-04-28T22:00:00.001-04:00

We received our Travel Approval (TA) and our Consulate Appointment (CA)!! We will be purchasing our plane tickets next week!! We can't wait! We just have to wait for all of our other plans to be confirmed and then we can purchase out tickets!

I am sorry that I have not posted anything sooner. It has been pretty crazy around here trying to get ready for Tia to come home.

I have been doing some research on her social welfare institute (SWI) and have been lucky enough to find a video from another family that traveled there.

I don't think we will be able to visit the SWI, but at least we have an idea of what it is like there from the video.

Here She Is.......

2012-04-04T20:07:00.000-04:00

Isn't she just precious!

Our Letter of Acceptance is on the way to China as I write this post. Then we have to wait to receive our Travel Approval before we can make any plans. This usually takes about a month. Then the race to go get her begins!

This is our stork Flavio delivering her package to us. He has taken more Fed Ex packages on our journey to Tia than I want to know. And there is still a few more come! Job security for him!

Stay tuned for more updates! I need to research Yangxi Counnty where she is currently residing.

WE GOT THE CALL!

2012-04-02T18:30:00.000-04:00

We received the call we have been waiting what feels like a lifetime for. We have a beautiful baby girl that is seven months old waiting for us in Yangxi County, China! Words cannot describe the way we feel right now!

Will share more info and pictures when we can!

Today Could Be The Day!

2012-03-27T07:06:00.001-04:00

The referrals for March have been mailed and the cut-off is August 31st! We are in this group! Thank you God for hearing our prayers!

Now to patiently wait for our agency to receive the package and call us!

February Referrals

2012-02-28T21:24:00.000-05:00

February referrals are out! They made it all the way to August 21st. Not exactly as far as everyone thought, but still moving right along. Nine days left to get to us. Nine days!! I can hardly believe it!

We need to think positively that we will get our referral in March!! If we get our referral next month we will most like travel in about six weeks. If we are missed next month and get our referral in April, the whole game changes and we will have to wait several months to travel. We all need to think March!!

The reason for the change in time frame is due to the Hague Treaty and the changes that it brought about for immigration. When we started the process we filed under Form I600 and have been renewing that each year. Immigration has stated that when our current I600 expires we cannot renew and must file the new form. With the Hague Treaty you have to file under from I800 now. That process takes a lot longer than the I600 did.

WE MUST ALL THINK MARCH FOR REFERRAL!!

Pre-Referral Phone Call

2012-02-15T21:12:00.000-05:00

We had our pre-referral phone call today! I know it is only the “Pre-Referral Call”, but it is one step closer! We found out how we will first learn about Tia, what we can expect to learn about her, how soon we can expect to travel once we receive our referral and what we need to know about traveling to China. The only bummer to the call was once our agency receives our referral they will call us right away with her name, date of birth and what province she comes from. Then we have to wait like a week to actually see her picture!! MAJOR BUMMER! The file needs to be translated from Chinese to English and it takes about five days. I hope I don’t go completely bonkers while waiting to her face.

Referrals should be out next week so we will see how much closer we are! Maybe we will be in; you never know!

Chinese New Year

2012-01-22T11:46:00.000-05:00

Chinese New Year, January 23, 2012

Chinese New Year is the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays. In China, it is known as the “Spring Festival”. The festival begins on the first day of the first month in the traditional Chinese calendar and ends with the Lantern Festival which is on the 15^th day. Chinese New Year is the longest and most important festivity in the Chinese calendar.

As with all cultures, Chinese New Year traditions incorporate elements that are symbolic of deeper meaning. People will buy presents, decorations, material, food and clothing. It is also the tradition that every family thoroughly cleans the house to sweep away any ill-fortune in hopes to make way for good incoming luck. Windows and doors will be decorated with red color paper cut-outs and couplets with popular themes of “good fortune” or “happiness”, “wealth” and “longevity”. Red is the predominant color used in New Year celebrations. Red is the emblem of joy, and this color also symbolizes virtue, truth and sincerity.

Red Chinese New Year Lanterns

The biggest event of any Chinese New Year’s Eve is the dinner feast with families. The dinner traditionally includes chicken and fish. Several foods are consumed to usher in wealth, happiness, and good fortune. This meal is comparable to Christmas dinner that we have. In northern China, it is customary to make dumplings after dinner to eat around midnight. Dumplings symbolize wealth because their shape resembles that of Chinese tael. By contrast, in the South, it is customary to make a glutinous New Year cake and send pieces of it as gifts to relatives and friends in the coming days of the New Year. Red packets with money for the immediate family are sometimes distributed during the dinner. After dinner, some families go to local temples hours before the New Year begins to pray for a prosperous New Year by lighting the first incense of the year; however in modern practice, many households hold parties and even hold a countdown to the New Year. Early the next morning, children will greet their parents by wishing them a healthy and happy new year, and receive money in red paper envelopes. The Chinese New Year is to reconcile, forget all grudges and sincerely wish peace and happiness for everyone.

Lucky Chinese Money Bags

This will be the Year of the Dragon.

Chinese New Year Dragon Decoration