Monday, December 31, 2007
Backtracking to China Photos
I finally am getting around to editing more photos from China. These are from Beijing - Forbidden City and Tienanmen Square.
I loved the architecture that we saw everywhere. The stones/bricks in the courtyard in front of the one building were 15 somethings deep. LOL It was so that no one could tunnel under the Forbidden City and attack the emporer. The little dragon creature is a rain spout! I thought that was neat, the rain would run down the roof and come out the mouth.
Saturday, December 29, 2007
1st doctor's visit
Katie weighs in at a whopping 18 pounds and 5.5 ounces! That's 1% for those who care. She was 30% for height, and the doctor was impressed by how she looked and how she was acting.
He listened and listened and did not hear the murmur either, so it's looking better and better that her PDA has closed on its own. We do have an appointment with the pediatric cardiac specialist next week for an echo.
We decided to check her titers, and will pick up with what we need to complete at her next appointment which is her 18 month check up. Overall, little miss Katie is doing GREAT!
best news? She wanted ME over Dh and came to me out of his arms at the doctor's office. Then this morning, she dove out of Dh's arms into mine at home!
He listened and listened and did not hear the murmur either, so it's looking better and better that her PDA has closed on its own. We do have an appointment with the pediatric cardiac specialist next week for an echo.
We decided to check her titers, and will pick up with what we need to complete at her next appointment which is her 18 month check up. Overall, little miss Katie is doing GREAT!
best news? She wanted ME over Dh and came to me out of his arms at the doctor's office. Then this morning, she dove out of Dh's arms into mine at home!
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Photos - We're HOME!!!
This first is from the airport when we finally got home...late Wednesday evening. I took this one as soon as we got off the plane at home. Our church was so nice and sent an emissary to Houston to meet us. Okay, not really, but we did run into someone we know from church fairly well in Houston as he was there on business. He actually sat right behind us on the plane. The itty bitty tiny plane.
These two photos were taken by members of our welcoming party.
Monday, December 24, 2007
Life at Home
with a toddler is interestngi...takte the words typed hd. Katie is helping, mostly by hitting the delete key, or teh shifskey or the Up or down arrow key, so it makes it quite interesting.
She is now coming to me without crying, even when I pull her from Dh's arms. :) She smiles at me, talks to me, laughs with me, and plays. She is eating really we0ll now. She devours whatever food I put in front of her, and I'm trying to make it gentle type stuff. She LOVES squash casserole though. She loves her brothers and watches them
intently. She does not like hairbows or the like however. I'm working on it though. It's a battle of wills, and at this point I'm not sure who has a stronger will. Me or her.
She likes her clothes so far, and smiled and wanted to wear her dress this morning. Of course her options were limited, so don't read too much into that. With family visiting this past weekend, she was great. She went willingly to her grandfathers, but didn't seem to want to go to any of the women. She did smile at them though. She is relaxing more and more each day, and accepting us more and more. Dh is still her very favorite, and late at night when she wakes up he is who she wants.
Nights are still a little rough for us, she is going to bed around 8pm and waking up around 1am. She gets scared at being alone, and we soothe her back to sleep. She wakes up again around 3am. Again, we soothe her to sleep, but mostly she ends up in bed with us as we're exhausted and have learned that the every 2 hour pattern will hold for the rest of the night. If we have her in bed with us, she stays asleep (or quiet) until we are ready to get up. It works for now.
Katie is extremely curious about her surroundings and has managed to de-deck the lowest foot of our Christmas tree. She's pulled on the ribbon, and tasted it. Slowly, but surely, the lowest 3 feet of our home is being explored...and put up higher out of her reach. It's amazing that you think your house has been baby-proofed only to discover how little you actually did.
Samuel is trying to learn how to "gate-hop" these days, and it's not easy. I'm trying to figure out how I am going to block the top of the stairs without leaving permanent markings on the railing/spindles. The wall I could patch. We need a walk-through something for Samuel, but I'm just not sure what I'm going to do for this area to baby proof. I know it won't be for very long as we will teach her how to navigate stairs, but I'm sure it will be longer than I think.
Pictures will be coming...soon I promise. :) Just have to get them off the camera's card, and honestly I want to include some of Christmas as well.
I hope you all have a WONDERFUL Christmas!
She is now coming to me without crying, even when I pull her from Dh's arms. :) She smiles at me, talks to me, laughs with me, and plays. She is eating really we0ll now. She devours whatever food I put in front of her, and I'm trying to make it gentle type stuff. She LOVES squash casserole though. She loves her brothers and watches them
intently. She does not like hairbows or the like however. I'm working on it though. It's a battle of wills, and at this point I'm not sure who has a stronger will. Me or her.
She likes her clothes so far, and smiled and wanted to wear her dress this morning. Of course her options were limited, so don't read too much into that. With family visiting this past weekend, she was great. She went willingly to her grandfathers, but didn't seem to want to go to any of the women. She did smile at them though. She is relaxing more and more each day, and accepting us more and more. Dh is still her very favorite, and late at night when she wakes up he is who she wants.
Nights are still a little rough for us, she is going to bed around 8pm and waking up around 1am. She gets scared at being alone, and we soothe her back to sleep. She wakes up again around 3am. Again, we soothe her to sleep, but mostly she ends up in bed with us as we're exhausted and have learned that the every 2 hour pattern will hold for the rest of the night. If we have her in bed with us, she stays asleep (or quiet) until we are ready to get up. It works for now.
Katie is extremely curious about her surroundings and has managed to de-deck the lowest foot of our Christmas tree. She's pulled on the ribbon, and tasted it. Slowly, but surely, the lowest 3 feet of our home is being explored...and put up higher out of her reach. It's amazing that you think your house has been baby-proofed only to discover how little you actually did.
Samuel is trying to learn how to "gate-hop" these days, and it's not easy. I'm trying to figure out how I am going to block the top of the stairs without leaving permanent markings on the railing/spindles. The wall I could patch. We need a walk-through something for Samuel, but I'm just not sure what I'm going to do for this area to baby proof. I know it won't be for very long as we will teach her how to navigate stairs, but I'm sure it will be longer than I think.
Pictures will be coming...soon I promise. :) Just have to get them off the camera's card, and honestly I want to include some of Christmas as well.
I hope you all have a WONDERFUL Christmas!
Friday, December 21, 2007
We made it home!
and jet lag is kicking our rears. Exhausted during the day and can't sleep at night. Katie seems to be adjusting better than we are, but then again she was still sleeping a lot in China - 8-10 hours at night and 2 naps during the day. At home right now it's more like 3 long naps a day. The flights were okay, very bumpy on all 4 flights. Only delay was in Houston, and it was less than an hour. We did have to go through security 4 times on the way home, at each airport. Mainly due to various reasons - getting on the airplane in Guangzhou, switching from domestic to international, from international to domestic, changing terminals in Houston. Such JOY filled our hearts in Houston when we realized that we had to go through security AGAIN. LOL
She's feeling much better, Dh and I are getting over a cold/chest congestion as well. We're not sure if we caught a cold or if it was all smog/cigarette smoke/mildew induced congestion. Whatever it is, we're clearing up!
Katie is eating much better now, and does like baby food as well as her Chinese formula. She still wants to be held all the time, which is hard on Dh as she only wants to be held by him. We did find out that she will sit in her high chair and play while are in sight. I'm thinking a walker might be in our future as she seems to enjoy sitting and playing in that kind of thing. She is NOT happy sitting on the floor playing with toys.
One thing we have noticed is that she does not seem to have the ability to really roll over well, nor can she get to a sitting position from laying down. She can walk, but she doesn't seem to know how to get from laying on the ground or sitting to standing. She does seem to know how to crawl though. I'm hopeful that she does know how to do all these things, but the adjustment to us and having been sick has prevented her from showing us these tricks.
She's feeling much better, Dh and I are getting over a cold/chest congestion as well. We're not sure if we caught a cold or if it was all smog/cigarette smoke/mildew induced congestion. Whatever it is, we're clearing up!
Katie is eating much better now, and does like baby food as well as her Chinese formula. She still wants to be held all the time, which is hard on Dh as she only wants to be held by him. We did find out that she will sit in her high chair and play while are in sight. I'm thinking a walker might be in our future as she seems to enjoy sitting and playing in that kind of thing. She is NOT happy sitting on the floor playing with toys.
One thing we have noticed is that she does not seem to have the ability to really roll over well, nor can she get to a sitting position from laying down. She can walk, but she doesn't seem to know how to get from laying on the ground or sitting to standing. She does seem to know how to crawl though. I'm hopeful that she does know how to do all these things, but the adjustment to us and having been sick has prevented her from showing us these tricks.
Monday, December 17, 2007
Almost over
It's sort of bittersweet that our time here in China is almost over. Today we have the swearing oath at the Consulate, we'll get Katie's visa, and then early tomorrow morning we fly to Beijing to catch our 1:40PM flight to San Francisco...to start our journey home. I'm hoping that our journey home is less eventful than our journey to Beijing. We really need it to go smoothly as Katie is still sick (doing better), I'm having breathing issues myself (asthma reaction to air pollution), and Dh has caught some sort of respiratory infection or similar reaction to the air pollution. I don't think Guangzhou is any worse than any other city we've been in, but it's just been so long since we've been in clean air.
The cigarette smoke is really starting to bother us as well, we just are not used to it. Here people can smoke practically anywhere - restaurants, grocery stores, shopping malls, hotels, and I've seen quite a few ignore the no-smoking signs in elevators. The airports can be bad as well, smoking in the seating areas and little air circulation. It's just been rough on Dh and I to deal with that, and it appears that Katie is not used to it either.
The traffic is interesting here, not nearly as crazy as I thought it would be. Sure it's different, but I actually feel fairly safe. Crossing a street can be interesting though, but if you cross with a group of people you are fairly safe. You don't have to watch carefully for cars on the sidewalk, but you do have to be aware that they can be driving there.
The people are friendly, but sometimes they will stare at us. I think they are trying to figure out why two Americans have a Chinese baby. Everyone is friendly though. Communication can be interesting though. For example, when we got to this hotel we had 4 feather pillows. As I'm allergic to feather pillows, we called housekeeping to get a different pillow. After a little bit of trying to make himself understood, the desk told Dh to go to the Business Center to get a pillow. We ended up having our guide help us the next morning. Our mistake was not asking for "Cotton Pillow" I think. When we go to a restaurant, like Pizza Hut or KFC, we have to get the picture menu to order. It's not been hard at all. We've not been very adventurous on our own for trying Chinese restaurants. However, we've laughed with our travel mates over some of the funny room service tries. One tried to order Sweet and Sour chicken. She said "with the orange sauce on the chicken and noodles." Her room service arrived and they had noodles with orange juice. I'm sure the chefs were thinking "What crazy things they eat!"
We found out recently that last Monday our flight out of Beijing was one of the only ones out that day. It was snowing when we left, and they de-iced the plane. It was a little scary for me, but right after that Beijing had lots of snow and the airport cancelled all the rest of the flights for that day. If we had not been able to leave that day, we would not have gotten Katie on a Monday, so our passports for her would not have been ready on Friday, meaning we would not have been able to come to Guangzhou on Saturday...and our entire trip here would have been extended by at least 3-4 days. Just the thought of what could have happened with that makes me thankful we were able to fly out somewhat on time.
Katie seems to be accepting me more, and last night when Dh gave her the amoxicillin (which she hates) she reached an arm out to me so she could get away from the medicine giver. That is the very first time she "reached" for me. She was crying, did not stop crying in my arms, but did not get worse either. She was looking at me this morning as well without turning away. We did not maintain great eye contact, but she did hold it for about a second or two. No spontaneous smiles from her to me, but she will smile if we are playing together while she sits in Dh's lap.
I can not believe how fast this trip has gone, it seems just like yesterday that we were having all those flight troubles to get here. I can laugh about it now though.
Those of you in our hometown, our flight is scheduled to get in fairly late (after 9pm). As of this point I think we're good to go for a welcome, but Katie may not smile for any of you. She tends to turn into Dh when we meet new people. If we're coughing, just know it probably is not something contagious, just by-product of the air quality here. If you want specific flight information, email me or leave a comment. Given our trip to Beijing, I will try to update the blog if flights change on us.
The cigarette smoke is really starting to bother us as well, we just are not used to it. Here people can smoke practically anywhere - restaurants, grocery stores, shopping malls, hotels, and I've seen quite a few ignore the no-smoking signs in elevators. The airports can be bad as well, smoking in the seating areas and little air circulation. It's just been rough on Dh and I to deal with that, and it appears that Katie is not used to it either.
The traffic is interesting here, not nearly as crazy as I thought it would be. Sure it's different, but I actually feel fairly safe. Crossing a street can be interesting though, but if you cross with a group of people you are fairly safe. You don't have to watch carefully for cars on the sidewalk, but you do have to be aware that they can be driving there.
The people are friendly, but sometimes they will stare at us. I think they are trying to figure out why two Americans have a Chinese baby. Everyone is friendly though. Communication can be interesting though. For example, when we got to this hotel we had 4 feather pillows. As I'm allergic to feather pillows, we called housekeeping to get a different pillow. After a little bit of trying to make himself understood, the desk told Dh to go to the Business Center to get a pillow. We ended up having our guide help us the next morning. Our mistake was not asking for "Cotton Pillow" I think. When we go to a restaurant, like Pizza Hut or KFC, we have to get the picture menu to order. It's not been hard at all. We've not been very adventurous on our own for trying Chinese restaurants. However, we've laughed with our travel mates over some of the funny room service tries. One tried to order Sweet and Sour chicken. She said "with the orange sauce on the chicken and noodles." Her room service arrived and they had noodles with orange juice. I'm sure the chefs were thinking "What crazy things they eat!"
We found out recently that last Monday our flight out of Beijing was one of the only ones out that day. It was snowing when we left, and they de-iced the plane. It was a little scary for me, but right after that Beijing had lots of snow and the airport cancelled all the rest of the flights for that day. If we had not been able to leave that day, we would not have gotten Katie on a Monday, so our passports for her would not have been ready on Friday, meaning we would not have been able to come to Guangzhou on Saturday...and our entire trip here would have been extended by at least 3-4 days. Just the thought of what could have happened with that makes me thankful we were able to fly out somewhat on time.
Katie seems to be accepting me more, and last night when Dh gave her the amoxicillin (which she hates) she reached an arm out to me so she could get away from the medicine giver. That is the very first time she "reached" for me. She was crying, did not stop crying in my arms, but did not get worse either. She was looking at me this morning as well without turning away. We did not maintain great eye contact, but she did hold it for about a second or two. No spontaneous smiles from her to me, but she will smile if we are playing together while she sits in Dh's lap.
I can not believe how fast this trip has gone, it seems just like yesterday that we were having all those flight troubles to get here. I can laugh about it now though.
Those of you in our hometown, our flight is scheduled to get in fairly late (after 9pm). As of this point I think we're good to go for a welcome, but Katie may not smile for any of you. She tends to turn into Dh when we meet new people. If we're coughing, just know it probably is not something contagious, just by-product of the air quality here. If you want specific flight information, email me or leave a comment. Given our trip to Beijing, I will try to update the blog if flights change on us.
Red Couch photos
While on Shamian Island shopping we ran to the White Swan hotel for the "traditional" red couch photo for all adoptive families. It was NOT what I expected, and one day I hope to stay there. That hotel lobby is beautiful. Of course we've seen lots of gorgeous hotel lobbies on our trip, which is a by product of staying in 5 star hotels.
Isn't she just beautiful?! We are not sure if this is an outfit for girls or not, but I thought it was gorgeous on her.
Cheesy Smile, but she gave it to us! :)
Katie and Lia - Two Yunnan Beauties I think this photo is really cute...it's like Katie is telling Lia "It's okay, you just smile and they make that thing flash and it's over."
Lia and Katie exchanging that telepathy that says "These people are crazy. Why do they keep taking photos of us? I guess we're superstars now!"
I forgot to mention that I went with Lia's Mommy to the spa yesterday for a Sauna and Full body massage. I am not too sure about the sauna part, especially the moist heat portion. However, I could become addicted to those massages...especially the foot massage. I think that is why I like pedicures so much!
Dh is LOVING these jade ships. The intricacy of the carving is amazing to see in person.
Isn't she just beautiful?! We are not sure if this is an outfit for girls or not, but I thought it was gorgeous on her.
Cheesy Smile, but she gave it to us! :)
Katie and Lia - Two Yunnan Beauties I think this photo is really cute...it's like Katie is telling Lia "It's okay, you just smile and they make that thing flash and it's over."
Lia and Katie exchanging that telepathy that says "These people are crazy. Why do they keep taking photos of us? I guess we're superstars now!"
I forgot to mention that I went with Lia's Mommy to the spa yesterday for a Sauna and Full body massage. I am not too sure about the sauna part, especially the moist heat portion. However, I could become addicted to those massages...especially the foot massage. I think that is why I like pedicures so much!
Dh is LOVING these jade ships. The intricacy of the carving is amazing to see in person.
The Best Translation I've heard here!!!
Okay, there are some funny translations on signs, some cute stories in trying to get ourselves understood, but this translation that our guide did for us is the absolute best!
From Katie's Medical Exam (for the Consulate):
"Orphanage notes heart defect. No murmur found. Recommend further examination upon arrival home."
Okay it was something like, I about started crying when Rosa told us. We thought that is what they were saying, but to actually hear it! Wow. Now, to verify with our pediatrician and pediatric cardiologist.
From Katie's Medical Exam (for the Consulate):
"Orphanage notes heart defect. No murmur found. Recommend further examination upon arrival home."
Okay it was something like, I about started crying when Rosa told us. We thought that is what they were saying, but to actually hear it! Wow. Now, to verify with our pediatrician and pediatric cardiologist.
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Update on Katie
We ended up going to a Western doctor here today, Katie was laboring to breathe and the doctor said she was wheezing pretty badly. Gave her 2 nebulizer treatments, some better decogestant/cough meds, and an inhaler (that should be fun). He also gave us his mobile number so if we need him tonight or tomorrow we can get in touch with him. Right now it's just an acute upper respiratory infection with dilated bronchial tubes. Not Bronchitis or pneumonia (both of which were going through my mind).
She's doing pretty good overall.
Bad part? We were at the doctors during the consulate appointment so if they had questions we were not reachable! ACK!!! Our guide knew we were there and could have told them how to reach us. But we were scared anyway. No questions thankfully and Katie should have her Visa!! Yippee!!!!
This afternoon is a museum and then shopping again. Need to check that list we have and make sure we have everyone covered. Unfortunately I can not find Pink Grapefruit Mentos...fruit ones yes...but not pink grapefruit ones. I have 4 other people looking as well, so hopefully we can find it.
She's doing pretty good overall.
Bad part? We were at the doctors during the consulate appointment so if they had questions we were not reachable! ACK!!! Our guide knew we were there and could have told them how to reach us. But we were scared anyway. No questions thankfully and Katie should have her Visa!! Yippee!!!!
This afternoon is a museum and then shopping again. Need to check that list we have and make sure we have everyone covered. Unfortunately I can not find Pink Grapefruit Mentos...fruit ones yes...but not pink grapefruit ones. I have 4 other people looking as well, so hopefully we can find it.
Random Katie Photos
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Some are from where I found the camera in the hotel room, some are from shopping on Shamian Island...notice there is one of our family (Katie is soothing herself and not looking at the camera...then I leave and take the photo and she does SMILE for me).
Our Breakfast views...
This is a view out the window of the restaurant...on the 45th floor. Katie also needs a completely clear space in front of her when we eat. She grabs at everything.
Photos from Medical Exam
The medical exam was just 3 different stations - height weight, ENT (figure out if she can hear), and then medical exam (physical and listening to the heart).
As you can see, Katie was NOT happy about it.
As you can see, Katie was NOT happy about it.
Saturday, December 15, 2007
Stone Forest Photos
Yeah yeah, I know. These were taken on Wednesday! Honestly though, Katie was sick Thursday, then Friday we flew to Guangzhou, and it's now Saturday. :)
The Stone Forest is China's 4th best "treasure" and the Great Wall is one of the top 3 (I think #1). It was one of the places I most wanted to visit while in Yunnan, and I am thrilled that we had the chance to go. I wish we had the time to do the other 2 places - Minority Village and some Park (Green Lake park?). Our guide did not want to take us to the Minority Village, and our hotel was not near the Green Lake park. Of course with Katie being sick, it was not easy to do much of anything.
I guess it all means that when we come back at some point, we have more to see!
The Stone Forest is China's 4th best "treasure" and the Great Wall is one of the top 3 (I think #1). It was one of the places I most wanted to visit while in Yunnan, and I am thrilled that we had the chance to go. I wish we had the time to do the other 2 places - Minority Village and some Park (Green Lake park?). Our guide did not want to take us to the Minority Village, and our hotel was not near the Green Lake park. Of course with Katie being sick, it was not easy to do much of anything.
I guess it all means that when we come back at some point, we have more to see!
Medical Exam and Paperwork
That was all we did today...well and go shopping at Carrefour (much like Walmart). It's very interesting how they have their store set up. Instead of being spread out on one level, it's multi-levels with escalator ramps for the carts. You start at street level and go down. Our guide here helped us find a few items we specifically wanted, such as a Children's CD with the song "Little Rabbit" that Katie has been trying to sing. The Nannies at the orphanage told us the name of the song. Katie really seemed to enjoy listening to it.
The Medical Exam went well, it was a little chaotic but I'm told it is normally like that. Katie weighed in at 20.4 pounds there with a 17 inch head circumference. The interesting part was when we were having her physical exam done the doctor was listening to her heart. He asked, "Operation?" and when we said No he went back to listening. Listened hard again, then asked "Operation?" and again we said no. He called another doctor over to listen, and she asked "Operation?" and when we said no, she listened REALLY hard. Something was said, and while we were not able to get it translated it sounded like "maybe little" is what she heard for the heart defect. So, it sounds like her PDA might have closed and they were hearing the valve regurgitation. I'm looking forward to having her evaluated at home by our doctor though.
Since she has had a fever we had to disclose that, and the doctors wanted to know all about her recent illnesses. We also had to show them the medicines the orphanage doctors gave us. Luckily her temp there was normal there.
The nurse we are traveling with suggested that Katie might be allergic to the American formula, and we are beginning to think that may be it. It would produce lots of coughing and lots of mucous which is what we have been seeing lately. Good news is that she has kept down more than she did yesterday! Moving in the right direction, but she still does not feel good at all. I am hoping that she will be up to going shopping with the group tomorrow. Otherwise I guess Dh will spend the morning in the hotel room with her.
Pictures to follow....I'm slow I know. Funny story, when I was loading up the camera bag for our flight to Guangzhou I found our point and shoot camera! LOL Guess we did not lose it after all. See, what happened was, when we boarded the plane for Kunming I had trouble getting the camera bag under the seat, so I took things out of the side pockets (where the point and shoot camera was). I stuck them in my coat pocket, and thought I had zipped the pockets closed. We got to our hotel in Kunming and started filling out paperwork (there is LOTS of paperwork for adoptions), and I asked Dh to take a photo with the point and shoot. He asked where it was, I told him in the camera bag. He looked and did not see it, so he asked where else. I told him "OH my coat pocket." It was not there. I never checked the camera bag again. Oh well. We could have had more photos of Katie as it was easier to tote around (like to restaurants and such). It's all good though. We have it now. :)
The Medical Exam went well, it was a little chaotic but I'm told it is normally like that. Katie weighed in at 20.4 pounds there with a 17 inch head circumference. The interesting part was when we were having her physical exam done the doctor was listening to her heart. He asked, "Operation?" and when we said No he went back to listening. Listened hard again, then asked "Operation?" and again we said no. He called another doctor over to listen, and she asked "Operation?" and when we said no, she listened REALLY hard. Something was said, and while we were not able to get it translated it sounded like "maybe little" is what she heard for the heart defect. So, it sounds like her PDA might have closed and they were hearing the valve regurgitation. I'm looking forward to having her evaluated at home by our doctor though.
Since she has had a fever we had to disclose that, and the doctors wanted to know all about her recent illnesses. We also had to show them the medicines the orphanage doctors gave us. Luckily her temp there was normal there.
The nurse we are traveling with suggested that Katie might be allergic to the American formula, and we are beginning to think that may be it. It would produce lots of coughing and lots of mucous which is what we have been seeing lately. Good news is that she has kept down more than she did yesterday! Moving in the right direction, but she still does not feel good at all. I am hoping that she will be up to going shopping with the group tomorrow. Otherwise I guess Dh will spend the morning in the hotel room with her.
Pictures to follow....I'm slow I know. Funny story, when I was loading up the camera bag for our flight to Guangzhou I found our point and shoot camera! LOL Guess we did not lose it after all. See, what happened was, when we boarded the plane for Kunming I had trouble getting the camera bag under the seat, so I took things out of the side pockets (where the point and shoot camera was). I stuck them in my coat pocket, and thought I had zipped the pockets closed. We got to our hotel in Kunming and started filling out paperwork (there is LOTS of paperwork for adoptions), and I asked Dh to take a photo with the point and shoot. He asked where it was, I told him in the camera bag. He looked and did not see it, so he asked where else. I told him "OH my coat pocket." It was not there. I never checked the camera bag again. Oh well. We could have had more photos of Katie as it was easier to tote around (like to restaurants and such). It's all good though. We have it now. :)
Friday, December 14, 2007
We're in Guangzhou
Finally. We crashed last night, it was a busy day and a little stressful. That first plane ride with a baby is hard, particularly when you are all crammed in together and your baby has been sick and you have NO idea how they will react to flying. Did I mention that there was no leg room? I think with this particular 737 plane they added 2 rows of economy seats. Dh's knees were touching the seat in front of him, Katie was about 3 inches from the back of the seat in front of Dh....and it was sitting up and not laid back.
Katie is feeling better. The orphanage doctors were pleased with how she was doing, but did not like the cough or runny nose (neither did we). I had decided to start the anti-biotic the ped had given us as soon as we got to Guangzhou (adverse reactions on the plane were not something I wanted to deal with). The orphanage doctors gave us some amoxicillin and a decogestant. We started that instead.
Our hotel is the Asia International Hotel in Guangzhou, and the "breakfast buffet" (which I need to get to as it's 7:45am here) is on the 45th floor. Yes...45th. We are staying on the 33rd, and it's REALLY high up.
We have our medical exam this morning, then we're going shopping for drinks and such (and boy do I need them...about to pay 35RMB for evian water through the hotel bar....that's about $5 for about 20 ounces of water). If I can hold out the water bottles run about 2.60RMB in the grocery store. Okay, I know the .60 liter cokes are 2.60RMB (that's umm....about $0.30 per .60L Coke). That should tell you how desparate I am if I'm willing to pay 35RMB for a 20 ounce bottle of Evian! LOL
When we have our break this afternoon, I will work on photos. :)
Katie is feeling better. The orphanage doctors were pleased with how she was doing, but did not like the cough or runny nose (neither did we). I had decided to start the anti-biotic the ped had given us as soon as we got to Guangzhou (adverse reactions on the plane were not something I wanted to deal with). The orphanage doctors gave us some amoxicillin and a decogestant. We started that instead.
Our hotel is the Asia International Hotel in Guangzhou, and the "breakfast buffet" (which I need to get to as it's 7:45am here) is on the 45th floor. Yes...45th. We are staying on the 33rd, and it's REALLY high up.
We have our medical exam this morning, then we're going shopping for drinks and such (and boy do I need them...about to pay 35RMB for evian water through the hotel bar....that's about $5 for about 20 ounces of water). If I can hold out the water bottles run about 2.60RMB in the grocery store. Okay, I know the .60 liter cokes are 2.60RMB (that's umm....about $0.30 per .60L Coke). That should tell you how desparate I am if I'm willing to pay 35RMB for a 20 ounce bottle of Evian! LOL
When we have our break this afternoon, I will work on photos. :)
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Hotel Bound
Katie has been a little sick, and we chose to stay in the hotel yesterday (no photos all day can you believe it?). We did go to the orphanage yesterday afternoon to visit the doctors there to get her checked out - cough, runny nose, fever, and some vomiting. We were concerned because she rejected us feeding her for almost 2 days, and the nurse traveling with us agreed that she appeared dehydrated.
They gave her a shot, handed us some meds, and gave her a 4 ounce bottle of what she is used to. We got the bottle (she's super picky about things like that), and the guide had the hotel make the "egg milk" like she is used to as well for us. She also ate quite a bit of congee last night as well. She kept 12 ounces down yesterday, fever broke, she smiled and danced for us. Her cough is much better, still there, but better. She slept well last night. The orphanage docs wanted us to bring her back Friday morning for another check since we are flying to Guangzhou tonight.
We were chastised greatly for not enough layers so I am making sure she has plenty today. ;)
I will try to take more photos today, it's been a little hard with how she's feeling and how she is still rejecting me. Although she did prefer me over the orphanage director and doctors. She smiles at the other females in our travel group, and plays with them. Which means that it's not all females she is rejecting, just me. Which means she knows there is something special about me and it is related to her attachment to her foster mom. If Dh is not around, she will accept me and let me care for her. So there is that.
Today is "relax" day according to the guide, so we check out around 3pm, catch our 5:45 PM flight to Guangzhou (about 1.5-2 hour plane ride). Get into Guangzhou hopefully with enough time to get her some food before we fall asleep.
I will try not to forget photos today. I do have a LOT of photos from Wednesday when we visited the Stone Forest. Gorgeous there, and so much to photograph. :)
They gave her a shot, handed us some meds, and gave her a 4 ounce bottle of what she is used to. We got the bottle (she's super picky about things like that), and the guide had the hotel make the "egg milk" like she is used to as well for us. She also ate quite a bit of congee last night as well. She kept 12 ounces down yesterday, fever broke, she smiled and danced for us. Her cough is much better, still there, but better. She slept well last night. The orphanage docs wanted us to bring her back Friday morning for another check since we are flying to Guangzhou tonight.
We were chastised greatly for not enough layers so I am making sure she has plenty today. ;)
I will try to take more photos today, it's been a little hard with how she's feeling and how she is still rejecting me. Although she did prefer me over the orphanage director and doctors. She smiles at the other females in our travel group, and plays with them. Which means that it's not all females she is rejecting, just me. Which means she knows there is something special about me and it is related to her attachment to her foster mom. If Dh is not around, she will accept me and let me care for her. So there is that.
Today is "relax" day according to the guide, so we check out around 3pm, catch our 5:45 PM flight to Guangzhou (about 1.5-2 hour plane ride). Get into Guangzhou hopefully with enough time to get her some food before we fall asleep.
I will try not to forget photos today. I do have a LOT of photos from Wednesday when we visited the Stone Forest. Gorgeous there, and so much to photograph. :)
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Great Wall photos - FINALLY
It's only been a few days since we went to the Great Wall, but I finally had some time to sit and work with them. The Great Wall was just so amazing that I wanted to try and show that in some of the photos. It was also VERY cold, and what better way to show that than by cross processing. :)
Hope you enjoy these.
Normal kind of shots of Great Wall
Better watch that step guys!!
Between the rather steep stairs was some rather steep inclines. Literally you were walking up the hill at a huge angle to the ground. If you saw it from the side it was hilarious, at least to me...or that could very easily have been sleep deprivation mixing with thiner air making me giddy.
The steep stairs (what the guys were standing at the top of). What made these worse is that one step might be 1-2 feet tall, while the next was 6 inches. Hard to find your rhythm climbing those.
We made it to the top like conquering heroes...winded heroes.
This is us with one of the families we traveled to Yunnan with. We're really having a great time with everyone.
Hope you enjoy these.
Normal kind of shots of Great Wall
Better watch that step guys!!
Between the rather steep stairs was some rather steep inclines. Literally you were walking up the hill at a huge angle to the ground. If you saw it from the side it was hilarious, at least to me...or that could very easily have been sleep deprivation mixing with thiner air making me giddy.
The steep stairs (what the guys were standing at the top of). What made these worse is that one step might be 1-2 feet tall, while the next was 6 inches. Hard to find your rhythm climbing those.
We made it to the top like conquering heroes...winded heroes.
This is us with one of the families we traveled to Yunnan with. We're really having a great time with everyone.
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