Just Bein'

The Flies Have It

Age appropriate, fine-motor skill enhancing toys: $2,222.22

Three new plastic fly swatters in eye-catching colors: $1.00

Expression on daughters' faces while enjoying the simple things in life:

Priceless

I'm Melting...

Sweet...

Consulate - Day 12*

Pay no attention to the bedraggled parents holding the babies. They are thankful they are standing upright and their clothes match.

Today we went to the US Consulate to apply for the girls' immigrant Visa. We dressed them in their Sunday best and headed out at a very early 7:40 am. The main event took less time than it took us to pack for it. The girls were their usual easy going selves and enjoyed the social hour. From there it was back to home base for some giggle time during which we are total goofballs and laugh at ourselves almost as much as they laugh at us.

We did our rendition of a photo shoot and got some fabulous pictures. obviously they are very comfortable in front of the camera.

Zoe cracks me up

obviously, the camera loves them.

Red Couch - China Day 11*

Zoe and Poppi- Red Couch 1-16-12

It is a tradition among adoptive families to have their children dress in traditional Chinese outfits and have their photos taken while sitting on the red couch. This typically done both those families staying at the White Swan (on Shamian Island) , but since the White Swan is closing for renovations, adoptive families no longer stay there. But undeterred by this minor detail, a group of us got together and made the trip back to the Island and became a part of this long standing tradition. I am glad that we did because the girls looking so sweet in their traditional outfits.

They took it all in stride, as they do most things. The only thing that seems to rock their boat is a daddy that is too slow on the draw when it comes to bottle prep or a mommy that doesn't always get wind of a dirty diaper until it's right next to her ;(

*backdated for documentary purposes.

Times They are a Changin' - China Day 8

today was a welcome reprieve from being jostled around to and fro, hither and yon as there was absolutely nothing scheduled for us today and it was nice to settle into a much needed routine. and whilst I was whiling away the hours conferrin with my flower (Poppi, for those of you who didn't catch that) I had time to reflect on the last eight topsy turvy days.

A little about my girls:

• It occurred to me that I never formally introduced my girls by name to my legions of loyal followers. in the picture in the previous post Poppi is on the left and Zoe is on the right.
• When they were placed in our arms neither of them made a sound and were very quiet the entire time we were at the civil affairs office.
• When we arrived back at the hotel clearly they were in shock but slowly little bits of their personalities began to emerge.
• Zoe has the attention span of a rocket scientist. she will sit for quite a long time and study a toy, a shoe, a partially painted red toenail, whatever catches her eye; she fascinates me. she is so tiny; some call babies peanuts, she's more like a pistachio. it took her all of 1 second to capture our hearts; she is easy going and is happy laughing at her goofy, helicopter parents. She likes to fold herself in half and fall asleep. She also likes to have her face caressed. everyday we see her gaining strength and hitting milestone after milestone. she is beautiful.
  
• Poppi likes to hold our hands when she plays she is very sensitive and mild mannered. She was the first to show us her skills as a crawler and has improved mightily from the first time she wobbled her way to Daddy crying all the while. she loves her Daddy and mommy is an added bonus for now. She is very quiet but loves a good belly laugh. she is most likely to be affected if our schedule is off; she is the Queen and we are her subjects. her eyes are even more beautiful in person.
  
• both girls were given washcloths as security blankets (a debt of gratitude to Shannon for letting me in on this very important factor as i am sure the transition would have been much more traumatic without them). The second they were placed in their tiny little frightened grip their angst was eased and the trust began. sometimes they share their lovies and sometimes they steal them from one another and other times they hold the same one at both ends they are tender with each other.
• Daddy is a cirque du soleil for their senses. He teaches them songs from his repertoire which includes Stayin Alive, Chittibang Bang, and the very popular Rock Me I'm a Danish (sung to the tune of rock me ammadeus) he makes them giggles, gives them warm baths and makes sure the poop patrol is always on duty.
• Mommy is their soother of scared awakenings, caresser and wiper of drool.
  

We both know we have miles to go before we sleep, but that's ok. We are grateful for the chance to be in the presence of such priceless gifts.

Love's Pure Light

There are no words, just pure love.
January 9th, 2012

Hitting our stride - Visa Pictures Day Seven and Eight

Well I'm not sure how our girlies feel but Dan and I think we are getting the hang of this parenting gig

We had two more successful deployments; the first was on Wednesday to what looked like the eqivalent of our DMV, the only difference being the ones crying about the long wait were babies. The second was a bit longer trip to Shamian Island for medical checks.

The girls got the first part of their tickets to ride on Wednesday in the form of passport photos and in true rock star fashion they took it all in stride and would have happily stayed for a longer photo shoot but the crowd was getting unruly and they were wisked away to avoid further mayhem.

Upon arrival to the command center all went in comunicado in favor of much need naptime.

Thursday brought a trip to Shamian Island for another photo shoot and the dreaded walk through the giant petrie Dish that is the Clinic. In true germaphobe fashion I tried to hold my breath while walking through to the back of the building but alas resigned myself to my catching cold over Dan having to catch me if I passed out from lack of oxygen.

Once again the girls were the envy of all. Poppi was nonplussed while the usually docile Zoe had only minor irritation with having to drop trou in front of a man other than her Daddy.

Friday promises much rest and relaxation.

Field Trip and the Civil Affairs Office - Day Six in Chin@

today we were scheduled for a short trip to Chin@'s equivilent to walmart followed by the final Chin@ part of the adoption. The preparation for these outings is nothing short of a reconizance mission, everything must be thought out, strategized and carried out with the precision of a midnight raid on dirty diapers. General Patton pales in comparison to Dan's emergency preparedness.

We packed up our precious cargo in the Boba carriers (that were a gift from God) and set off in our chauffered tank er uh I mean bus and arrived a short time later at what would later be characterized as a full out assault on every one of the five senses; lots of new smells and bright colors. We bought the necessities (including peanut butter and jelly and cokes for me) and were then wisked away to the next stop which was the Civil Affairs Office where we reiterated many facts about ourselves that were given many times before and upon notarization of the oath that we would not abandon the two gifts currently under our care (as if!) we moved on to the final step which were pictures of the newly formed family. Finally after so many years spent preparing, wishing and hoping we were given Chin@'s blessings to proceed to finalize the US part of this spectacular journey.



we went back to the office where we first met our tiny little wonders. it was far le

They are beautiful

I know what you have all been waiting for, but i am having trouble getting photos to blogger. I will continue to work on finding a way to do it.

We received the girls at around 2:30. There were about twenty other families in the room with us. We were called first from our group The girls were too exhausted to cry because they had just been driven 3 and a half hours to the office building where we met them and this was most likely their first trip away from the only home they have ever known. i was immediately struck by how tiny Zoe was. The rest of the day was spent getting know them and fretting over how to prepare their bottles. They went to bed very easily and the rest of the night was spent lurking near their cribs to make sure they were ok.

i will elaborate more on the days events but wanted everyone to know we are doing ok and are amazed how long one can go on such a large sleep deficit.


P.S. I have dated this post on the day it happened so that i could document everything on the day it happened.

Eyes wide shut...

that's what it feels like when you travel the world, arrive at your destination and then try to sleep.
Circadian rhythm has lost its beat. In an effort to lull myself to sleep I review my soundtrack of favorite songs and try to come up with the words to "Chevy Van," but alas I am left with only the chorus on perpetual rewind. And so the beat goes on and hopefully my rhythm will return.

As we wait for the ever elusive shut eye, we have been enjoying the sights and sounds of Guangzhou. It is a bustling city full of contradictions, modern technology abounds yet police officers patrol streets on bicycles with battery powered lights blinking out their red and blue warnings. I am struck by what looks like to me a city full of individual pursuits and my husband's perception of faces full of sadness.

I am trying to strike a balance between wanting to squeeze in every bit of seeing this and doing that and preserving my strength for the goodness that is yet to come. I am very much at peace here in this foreign land where the only language I know how to speak is love and the only ones who will understand the words of my heart are the two little ones who are now just hours closer instead of worlds away.

Soon, very soon...

My heart sleeps and will awaken only to the beauty of you in my arms.

Longingly,

Glinda (aka Mommy)

Sweetness and Light...

Ji Xiang and Ru Yi

8 months old

Be still my heart.

Until You Come Home to Me...

Make a video - it's fun, easy and free!
www.onetruemedia.com

THE CALL...

Hunker down, it's a long one.

Let me set the scene from the beginning. For the entire month of October I did nothing but hover over Rumor Queen's site, like a caged animal I paced between Rumors, General Discussion and Travel Tips. I knew in my heart we were next and in August I even went so far as to ask my agency for all of the documents we would need to fill out for travel and while I waited for them, I got my Visa application ready and sent that in.

Thursday, October 20 was the first time the word "Rumors" appeared in a headline, unfortunately it was preceded by the word "No." However, validation of my intuition came in the comments section where bells were ringing and sirens blaring--cutoff is August 2nd!

So, needless to say my productivity at work that day took a nose dive as I stealthily checked by Blackberry in between the impositions of my boss, imagine my being expected to produce under these circumstances, the gall.

Friday, October 21, with my usual Rainman Routine in full swing, I sat down with my cereal, orange juice, makeup, Macbook Pro, and my heart full of hope. I remember vascillating between "there is no way referrals will be this early in the month and OMG, man the phones, get the video camera, where's my ***** pen." Around 7:30, choking back tears, I called my husband at work and told him we were, more than likely, in (it was quite difficult for me to finally begin to step out from under the aegis of self-preservation and let my heart soar; I was so used to living in suspended animation that I had forgotten what a visceral reaction felt like).

Finally, confirmation came, and at exactly 11:16 a.m. I was able to send the ever elusive "WE ARE IN" text to my husband. I remember it so clearly. "We are in. This is it!"

Unfortunately, I cannot remember much about the weekend, but I am sure I spent the majority of the time entertaining various scenarios of how I would react when we finally received THE CALL. Sunday night was a wash as far as sleep; my sheets are threadbare from my fitful tossing and turning.

Monday, October 24. I have snapshots of moments from the day, but the one that stands out the most is my hand-wringing over the fact that my agency hadn't called; all quiet on the western front. Despite my having never received a referral call, I was certain that this was not normal. I asked my husband around lunchtime (yes, I was having PB&J and a Coke) if he thought I should call to check. He said no, just let them go through their process.

By 2 p.m., my brain is untethered and unsettling thoughts are trying to whipsaw my heart. But I say to myself, I am my mother's daughter and I know the strength of my resolve. I am invulnerable; I have made it through the worst bootcamp one could imagine, and I have trained with the best--all of those magnificent women who were kind enough to lend their support and allow me to wear out my welcome as I lurked and longed from afar.

If I could make it through the desolate years of this wait, I knew I could soldier on and make it through these last few hours at work, after which I would be safely back in my realm of relief--my husband's presence.

Finally, a little levity. My husband walks non-chalantly down the steps and asks if I called them yet. "What, you told me not to, do you think I should?" Before he could answer, I was on the phone. Of course, voicemail taunted me; not to be outdone, I tried another contact number, again mocked by technological advances. I turned to my husband and said something's up. The second I said that my phone rang!

At that very moment we were Ricky and Lucy, (you remember when Lucy was pregnant and they were in the apartment and Ricky stuffed the phone in the suitcase--that was us!) running back and forth, looking at each other as if it were only a day since our LID. Talk about Murphy's Law, it was in full swing. I answered before I could even get close to the video camera. It didn't matter, though, because on the other end of the line was our salvation. Her voice was calming. We dispensed with the niceties, I mean really, we both knew what I wanted to hear.

The minute she said "Are you sitting down," I knew something magical was about to happen. I lied and said yes, at that same time she was saying "We have your referralS" with a clear emphasis on the S at the end. I had not yet been able to gather my faculties and did not have the phone on speaker so my husband was looming outside of my bubble, not able to hear anything. At this moment I knew what we were about to be blessed with but did not let on so that he could hear it firsthand! I asked her to wait while I put her on speaker after which she made the announcement. I spewed some type of unladylike transmission, unrecognizable to this usually buttoned-up, arms-length non-emoter (is that a word). My husband went into shock immediately and donned his Halloween costume early because he was as white as a ghost.

I made a feeble attempt at some chicken scratch as her voice spoke two of the most beautiful names I have ever heard. At that very moment I was complete. Finally, I was transcended beyond rote routine into a place of purpose.