Sort of a a list of lists

A couple of weeks ago when I blew out the candles on my birthday cake, I made no wish. I have everything I want, including the two best birthday gifts a girl could ever receive - my babies.  Upon turning 41, my arms ache from being full most of the day; my knees are dry and bruised from spending so much time on the floor; I rarely get a full nights sleep and my house is almost always in some state of messiness. But none of that matters, we have our girls! We have been parents for a crazy, fabulous, frustrating, amazing, tiring, wonderful three months!!! 

So, since it is hard to cover three months since we have been home in one blog post and I am not a very good writer I will just hit some of the highlights in yet another bulleted list.

• We spent the first week or two completely jet lagged, awake at night, sleeping during the day and tried desperately to reset our circadian rhythm. Thankfully, our friends and family were so wonderfully helpful, especially my mom. What would a girl do without her mom?
• My amazing friend Alba and several other equally wonderful friends threw the best baby shower ever one week after we returned from China. We were showered with gifts, verbal blessings and prayer.
• The girls visited the pediatrician, where we learned the were healthy but way down on the chart for size and weight. It is nothing that some good nutrition and vitamins can't improve. They are growing but I imagine they will always be on the small side.
• They are learning so much everyday. They are like little sponges and copy everything we do, which is just a little scary. It really makes us watch our p's and q's. 
•  Let's see, what are they learning?  Well, they know so many animal sounds. I think I will list them here so if you don't care just stop reading now and go to the next bullet point.  Bear, duck, dog, cat, cow, snake, horse, pig, lion, jaguar, chicken and owl (and they know how to say the word owl).
• We have been teaching them baby sign language. They actually know more signs than I can remember teaching them so sometimes I have to guess when they do a sign. Again, I am going to list them so I have a record of what they are learning. So I won't feel bad if you stop reading now.  The words they know the sign for are: more, thank you, dog, cat, table, baby, mommy, daddy, diaper change, eat, apple, banana, yogurt, milk, drink, juice, car, monkey, cereal, under, flute, book, light, stars, bath, tooth brush, rabbit, elephant, all finished, glasses, shoes, socks, alligator, car, boy, girl.    I know this is not all of them. See, I really don't remember. Oh, but wait a minute, you have already skipped to the next bullet point.
• For both of the girls, the two words they spoke most often in the beginning were "amen" and "owl."  Weird, I know. They just picked up "amen" because we pray before every meal and before bed. There is an owl in several of their books so they heard that word often.  Funny thing is, I see owls everywhere. Not live ones but on art, housewares, clothing, etc. I think it may be a trending design thing right now.  I guess my girls are going to be stylish, which does not bode well for our budget.

Well since I hear Abby and Livvy stirring in their cribs after their nap and since you are tired of reading a list of lists I will wrap this up for now.

Ponderings that don't deserve a post of their own...

• Never before have I been so sweaty, sticky, and stained and cared so little.

• On a sign in the ladies room at the US Consulate: Help keep our environment clean: Please keep your feet on the floor and not on the toilet seat. What the ...?

• My new diet and exercise plan - parenting twins.

• Hong Kong - ultra firm mattress, barely uncomfortable. Nanchang - surprisingly plush mattress, just right.  Guangzhou - what mattress? it really should be called a platform or plank.  

• Loving the people, marketing and salesmanship skills of the Chinese shop owners. I wonder if they have attended a John Maxwell seminar. He is popular here, you know.

• One would think that the country that built this thoroughly modern skyscraper, the second largest in the world, could come up with a way of making the tap water potable.

• Why are there so many Chinese people wandering around the hotel in their robes?

• Note to self - do not shake a baby bottle filled with very hot formula.

• Question: How many Americans can you fit into an elevator? Answer: Not nearly as many Chinese people.

• Never really understood the Cheerios / baby connection until this week.

• I think we have mastered the art of living in a hotel room with two babies.

Friday, July 15

Today we transitioned from Nanchang to Guangzhou.  I actually felt some sadness upon leaving, mostly for the girls. This is where they were born, their heritage and their biological parents. We may never visit this place again. I truly felt the burden of their loss today.
Then the plane flight. Oh, the plane flight.  The night before we had finally settled into a bottle feeding routine. Prior to this we had been struggling to get the to suck so we just spoon fed thickened formula and rice cereal mixture. Consequently, the girls were not urinating much. Until the moments before the flight.  The minute I placed Olivia on my lap she tinkled all over my pants. Her diaper was already full so it had no where else to go.  So I quickly changed both girls diapers - while seated in the coach section on a Chinese airline. Keep in mind that Chinese people are smaller than Americans therefore the airlines make smaller seats. Right after changing Abigail's diapers the flight attendance asked Dave to move to another seat so that we would all have an air mask in the case of an emergency. I still had Daddy's girl (Abigail) on my lap at that point. To put it mildly, Abigail does not like to fly. Neither does Olivia but Abigail reeealllly does not like to fly. She cried, shouted and wailed much of the time all while writhing in my arms. I felt completely helpless and by the time we landed we were both in tears and I mean real alligator tears. It broke my heart to see in her in such turmoil.

When we finally arrived at the White Swan Hotel we were all exhausted, except Abigail I suppose she decided that she was never going to fly again so she learned how to walk, with assistance of course. We walked up and down the halls of the hotel. If I tried to turn around and go back to the room she would put up a fuss. She was so completely proud of herself and I was proud of her as well.

The White Swan Hotel is considered the baby hotel. This is where all the adoptive families wind up after gotcha day.  The US consulate is located nearby and all families must be processed here in order to leave the country. My guess is that there are about 75 families staying at the White Swan this week. It is just amazing to see all the new families being formed.  There is an ancient Chinese tale called the Invisible Red Thread or Red String of Fate. Some Chinese believe that an invisible red thread connects people that are meant to be together. You can read about it here.  All I know is that the Lord has brought us together with the perfect babies for us.

Saturday, July 16th

 I really wish I could have been posting to my blog right along but that was just impossible. Tonight since I have just a very small amount of energy left I am going to try to post for previous days. So let's see if I can even remember what we did yesterday.

I will begin with the evening. All the adoptive families, and there are lots of them met at a local Thai restaurant for a meal.  The place was packed with babies, high chairs, strollers, diaper bags, tired parents, and cranky babies - one of our included. I can't imagine what the other customers thought, expect pure regret for having chosen that restaurant.   The food was delish, at least the few bits of red curry with coconut milk I was able to gulp down between feeding the girls rice congee and steamed veggies.  The clouds decided to open up while we were in the restaurant so we had to wait for our guide to run back to the hotel to get umbrellas. Picture Dave and I trying to push a double stroller over cobble stone streets while each holding an umbrella with one hand. Quite a site.

Prior to dinner.... hmmm... oh yeah, the girls took a nap.  But I completely forgot what Dave and I were doing - something that prevented us from taking a nap as well.

Prior to lunch...  Oh, lunch. We got the fixed plate take out from a little "deli" near the hotel.  Dave ordered two - one chicken and one beef. The fixed plate come with soup.  Have you ever heard of squab?  Well, that is just a nice way of saying pigeon. Yes, it was pigeon soup, a whole pigeon to be exact.  Neither of us was feeling adventurous

Now, prior to lunch... the physical exam. It was a mad house. Again lots of adoptive parents, maybe 40 - 50 with their babies all lined up up on metal benches at the local clinic waiting to have their heads examined, uh I mean, their babies examined. We had to go through three stations one was basic vital statistics. One was a skin check to make sure the babies did not have any strange infectious skin disease I suppose. The last one was ear, nose and throat. To test the baby's hearing the doctor played a few notes on a miniature keyboard and the squeezed a ball in the other ear. I guess if the baby turned their head the hearing was fine. I am proud to say both girls did great. The were tolerate of the poking and prodding but not so tolerant of the long wait and HOT condition. There was no air conditioning the the waiting room Apparently even the doctor was hot.  He was wearing shorts and sandals under his white doctor's coat. It was quite the site.

The girls passed the exam with no problem. We did learn that what we thought was a heat rash on the back of their necks is actually a Mongolian spot.  The spot become more pronounced when the girls are hot.  Mongolian spots fade over time, typically by the age of  seven or so.

Now, so this is going pretty well. Let me see if I can remember Friday. Oh, Friday, how could I forget.

Sunday, July 17th

Today we attended a worship service at the Shamian Christ Church.  The service was in both Chinese and English.  It was such a blessing to see believers gathered to worship the Lord.   The gospel was presented, theology was sound and the worship was authentic.  And the place was packed with standing room only, mostly Chinese believers.  It was a wonderful way to introduce the girls to their first church service. Of course they did sleep through most of it.
The afternoon was spent shopping and completing paperwork for the US consulate. Our appointment is tomorrow morning and will be about three hours long but after that we can breathe a sigh of relief and just enjoy oursleves.

After dinnner tonight we went to the play room with the girls. We had a great time meeting other adoptive parents and wathcing the girls explore and interact with other babies. Abigail stood up on her own for the first time. Olivia still in content just to sit in one spot and play. She is not yet crawling or walking.

We ended the day as we always do with a bottle and bonding time on the bed.  It seems that the girls love bedtime, not necceisarily the going to bed part but the part we Mommy and Daddy kiss their hands; rub their backs and and just roll around and have some quiet fun. 

I suppose being a mom is always going to come first...

This is a post I started a few days ago but somehow being a mom got in the way.  I was feeling particulary thankful that day and needed to jot down some of the amazing blessings I have been given.

There are more but here are some of the things I am thankful for

• An amazing husband who is becoming an equally amazing dad.
• A forever faithful and loving heavenly Father who knows just what we need and when we need it.
• Fantastic family and friends who have supported us through this very long journey.
• Two beautiful daughters who are becoming the apples of my eyes.
• Time to wash my hair this morning.
• The oasis of a comfy king size bed in a cushy hotel room in the middle of crowded, hot and  loud Nanchang City
• Chinese laundry
• Travel companions who are adopting only one baby and therefore have time to take pictures.
• Travel companions who are so kind and generous to assist us with whatever we need,
• The best guides from our adoption agency who are taking care of every detail of our trip. I wonder if they plan vacations as well.
• Nap time.

48

I really thought I would have time to blog everyday on this "once in a life time trip" but in reality, yesterday I did not even have time to brush my hair and I have yet to wash it since getting the twins on Sunday. So as I sit here on Tuesday evening I want to remember and record all that has transpired since the girls were first placed in our arms but I am sitting in a dark hotel since Abbi and Livi are asleep in their cribs just 10 feet away.  The near darkness make me want to crawl under the covers and fade into dream land. So, the remedy is going to be a bulleted list which I will try to expand on later. "Try" is the operative word here.

• Gotcha Day was traumatic for the girls but they soon calmed down and just eyed us with suspicion for the evening. Prior to getting the girls there was a two hour meeting to discuss feeding and caring for the babies and the itinerary.
• Monday was paperwork day. The first office was where the adoption became official.  We were interviewed by some official looking pregnant woman. Who asked us to promise to never abandon or abuse the girls. Of course, we complied. While at this office we met two of the orphanage workworkers. Abigail and Olivia clearly were familiar with them and were all smiles at first site. I was a bit jealous but also glad to see that they had bonded with someone.  The second office was the notary. Then on to Walmart for supplies, back to the hotel for a nap.  Finally mid afternoon to the Public Safety office for ID pictures of the girls.  At 5 or 6pm we had another something happen and I just can't remember what it was at the moment.
• Monday night there was a huge thunderstorm followed by a 2am funeral complete with fireworks.  As I type this, aparently there is another funeral just outside our hotel window.
• Tuesday, sweet relief, there was only one appointment. It was with the doctor in the hotel.  The girls are perfectly healthy. The only issue they have is a vitamin A and D and calcium definciency.  The doctor determined this by looking at the very square shape of their head. Within a few hours one of guides knocked on our door and handed us a vitamin supplement.  The remainder of the day we hung out in the hotel and visited with the other families in our travel group - all of them, by the way, are amazing people!  We ended the day with an authentic Chinese dinner and a Happy Re-Birth cake for all the babies.
• Wait, that can't be it. Has it really only been 48 hours since we got the girls???? Impossible.

Maybe I have the energy for one more bulleted list, and this is really the more important one.

• Abigail and Olivia are an absolute joy!
• The are complete different in personality.  Despite the apperance of their original pictures. Olivia is actually much more smiley than Abigail. But both girls have their moments of  happy expressions.
• They are both Daddy's girls.  Abigail especially. She would much rather have Baba (daddy) hold her, play with her, change her, feed her, etc. Olivia is more easy going but when Dave returns to the room after being gone for a few minutes she giggles, waves her hands in the air and shakes her legs.  
• We have been trying to use some Chinese (thanks Mom for the useful pharses!) matched with baby signs.  Abigail is already signing the word for daddy!
• Olivia is a bit more delayed is size and developement. But I know she will be catching up very soon.
• Abigail LOVES to eat.  She ate all kinds of Chinese food tonight, most of which I am sure she has never tasted.  Abigail mainly just made a huge mess of her rice and soup.  As Dave said, our apologies to the waitresses.
• Lost my train of thought, it may be time to go to bed. Hmmm...

Ok, so I want to close this post with a couple of pictures and a Face Book message I received from my friend Nicole. Aaron is her son

"So funny--showed Aaron pics of you and fam. He said now you are not just a woman, but a mommy, too. He said the same about Dave not just being a man but a daddy. Thought that was sweet."

PS: I am not responsible for mispleed words, poor grammar and any of the content in the blog post. I plead jet lag.