Adjusting to home

We've been home over a week and everyone is adjusting well. After a few sleepless nights Cadence is back to sleeping all night and taking a 2 hour nap. She was pretty freaked out by the animals (should furry little things be walking around like that?!) but has warmed up to Shiloh and Rummy. Not enough to pet them, but enough to not cry when they walk in the room. She was imitating me saying "cat" the other day! In no way, shape, or form does Cadence like the carseat. We made it for about 15 minutes today with no crying, but usually she whines and fusses until she falls asleep. I'm sure the tolerance will come with time.

Sierra has gotten back into the swing of school. Her face lights up everytime she sees Cadence... she sure loves that little girl! Laurel is infatuated with Cadence. Unfortunately it's unrequited at this point. Laurel desperately wants to be the big sister who holds her, plays with her, takes care of her. Cadence will tolerate it at times but is quick to whine when she's overwhelmed. We are trying to help Laurel find a balance and we hope that Cadence warms up soon! We did keep Laurel out of school for a couple of days to have some uninterrupted play time with her little sister and they both had fun.

We took Cadence to the pediatrician and he said that her ears look terrible. (She had developed a 102 degree temp on Sunday.) It looks like she has chronic ear infections which we had expected. I was able to book an appt. with a great ENT for next week. We take Cadence to the plastic surgeon tomorrow and I am anxious to figure out the game plan for her. Brad is getting ready to start work next week (yay for 2 paychecks!!) and we are scrambling to figure out childcare. It would be easier if we knew his schedule!

Here are a few pictures of our time at home. I'm posting lots more on Facebook so feel free to check those out!

First day home

We actually got some sleep last night! After being up for about 27 hours we all went to bed around 6:30pm. Sierra had a hard time sleeping, but Cadence slept until 5am. Not too bad considering she's hardwired to a 12 hour time difference. Laurel had a baton performance at her school this morning so I took her and Brad made a brief appearance with Cadence. It was so great to see everyone... it feels like we've been gone for months!

After her second nap of the day it seems that the jetlag has hit Cadence. Actually I think it's hit all of us. Two kids were in bed and asleep by 7pm and I'll be following soon. It was a big day for all of us after being away for so long. I think we'll lay low the next few days. Thank you, everyone, for all of your comments and kind words. I could never see the blog from China, so I had fun reading it all today!

Day 16/17/18

Sorry for the slackness! By the time I post this most of the people that are reading it to see what is going on with us will already have talked to me! We are home!!! So, so happy to be here!

The last day on Shamian island was spend shopping. Lots of cute shoes that will probably fit Cadence til she is 5 years old as well as many things for friends and family. Just when I thought I was done I figured out something else I needed to buy. I took the girls to a local park and walked the island one last time. It is really so beautiful there that I'd love to go back and visit. We had a final meeting with our guide, Jason, and received The Visa Packet. This is Cadence's ticket to becoming a US citizen. We will hand it over to someone at the security/immigration checkpoint in Chicago and they will hopefully pass it on to all of the right people! Once they stamp it and her passport she'll be an American! I packed and repacked our bags to make sure they were 20 kg or less and found out that at least one would be overweight.

We woke up early Thurday morning to fly from Guangzhou to Beijing. Cadence slept for a bit, but generally she doesn't like to be restrained, so she's not a happy girl when she can't walk around. In Beijing we were back on our own without a guide so we attempted to get a taxi from the airport to our hotel. Three taxis refused to take us to our hotel (too much luggage?) and when we finally found one he wanted 400 Yuan ($60) - for a 5 mile drive!! Brad refused and we were able to get a regular taxi for 1/4 the price. The hotel was beautiful with a soft bed (finally!!) but Brad became VERY sick. So sick that I was afraid they wouldn't let him on the plane the next morning to come home. The girls and I stayed out of the room as much as possible. Cadence loved the swimming pool and we had a long dinner.

The alarm went off at 3:30am on Friday morning. Thankfully Brad was feeling better! We got to the airport early enough to be blessed with bulkhead seating - yippee! We left Beijing at 6:55am on Friday and arrived in Chicago at 6:25am on Friday. Crazy! Cadence actually did beautifully on the flight. A few naps and a few other entertaining babies in the same row and the time went quickly. The layover in Chicago was 5 hours long but there was a great play area for the kids. The last leg had terrible, nauseating, "oh my gosh we might crash" turbulence, but we finally arrived in Richmond! Since all of our immigration stuff was taken care of in Chicago we were able to head right out. As soon as I saw my parents and Laurel I started crying. I felt like I couldn't get to Laurel fast enough. It felt so good to finally hold her in my arms! I think she has grown a few inches since we left! And Laurel couldn't take her eyes (or hands) off Cadence. They had an adorable welcome home poster. It feels so good to finally be home in our own bed, own house, with our whole family.

Day 14

We are getting so close to going home!  I cannot wait to hold Laurel, see my friends and family, eat my own food, and sleep in my own bed!   The weather is much better and we walked to Starbucks this morning.  Shamian Island is beautiful and very picturesque.  Early in the morning people are out dancing to music, playing badmiton, doing tai chi and playing cards.  It all feels so relaxed and easy here!  I braved and iced frappucino, so we'll see how that works out!  Sierra, Cadence, and I headed out for some shopping.  All of the stores are named after the owners... Jordon's place, Jenny's place, Amy's place!  Jordon was a very sweet man who told me all about his cousin's cleft lip and how it's fixed now and he can say "hello, Jordon"!  He wrote Cadence's name in Chinese and the meaning of the characters.  Sierra and I got lots of presents for friends and family back home.  We had fun posing for pictures with all of the people statues!   We had our consulate appointment today.  It was anti-climatic (knew it would be) but so exciting that we are a step closer to home!  We took the oath for Cadence that all of our paperwork was correct and that she can become an American citizen.  We get her visa tomorrow then leave for Beijing the next day.  We got a taste of a very impatient toddler who did not want to stay in our laps for the bus ride to the hotel... it will be a long flight home!    Pics include posing with the statues, hacky sack, they keep preschoolers together the same way we do in the states!

day 12

Another rainy, rainy day so Brad and the girls decided to skip the tours while I got some downtime to take pictures and relax.  We started out at the beautiful Six Banyan's Tree Temple.  It is over 1400 years old. It's amazing to think of all of the history here. The babies that came today were blessed by a monk. Despite my lens fogging due to the rain and humidity I managed to get a few good pictures.  Then we went to the Provincial Folk Art Museum that featured almost every art form popular in China.  Then on to a local arts and crafts store.  I was able to buy a lot of nice things for friends and family back home.  When I asked Sierra if she wanted to go to the "arts and crafts store" with me she said "Mom, we can go to Michaels at home"!   Brad and the girls survived without me and we headed to the White Swan for the famous red couch photos.  Both of the girls got dressed in their pretty silk dresses.  Neither were too thrilled with them!  Cadence did great... even during the baby group photo when they all end up crying!  Lastly we head to a great Thai restaurant, the Cow and Bridge.  The food was great and service was amazing considering we filled the entire place in about 10 minutes.   Pics include "beware of falling" or "beware of falling people"?! on the bamboo scaffolding, my favorite sign at the temple

red couch

the papparazzi!

red couch

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