Homecoming

It's been a loooong couple of days, but we are so thrilled to have Lainey finally HOME!

I can't even get my days straight at this point because of the time change, but we left Hong Kong early Friday morning (12 hours ahead of our time here), and got home at around 7:30pm in Cincinnati. We traveled all in all for about 24 hours. The 15 hour flight from Hong Kong to Cincinnati was tough (tears were shed by both Lainey and momma), but we survived. The hardest part was that BJ and I weren't able to be seated together, and since Lainey doesn't like to be out of my sight when she's tired, I had her almost the entire flight. But our saving grace... the airline arranged it so the only empty seat on the plane was next to me, so I had a place to put our things, put Lainey, and let Lainey lay down when she slept. We didn't opt for this originally because the extra seat would have cost us around $800, but we ended up with the seat anyway, and it was HUGE! And Lainey did really well considering. That's a REALLY long time to be stuck on a plane, especially when you are an active toddler lacking sleep!

We made it to Chicago, then through immigration (after waiting 35 minutes for the ONLY immigration officer to come back from lunch break... grrr), and then onto our flight home to Cincinnati. It was so awesome to have some family and friends waiting to greet Lainey after our long trip, and especially to see our baby boys! We missed them SO SO much in the 2 1/2 weeks we've been gone, and it's so awesome to have our family back together.



We are so proud of Canaan, he has been such a sweetheart to our baby girl, and it's so apparent that he gets it, as much as any four year old could.

"This is such a good day! I love this day!" (said over and over)

"I'm so happy! Before Lainey didn't have a family, but now she DOES have a family!"

While changing Lainey into her pajamas, she cried, and Canaan came close to her face, pet her head and said, "It's okay Lainey, it won't hurt. I love you. Woe Eye Nee. Woe shin yee guhguh." (I love you. I am your brother.) Then, "Lainey I like your jammies. Look, they have pockets!".

"Before we were a FOUR family, but now our family has FIVE people in it!"

"I really like my sister. She's good!"

Being home now, with my family sleeping (I should be too, but you know... jet lag) soundly all together in the same house... it feels like all is right with the world.

We are immeasurably blessed!

US Consulate Appointment

This morning we had Lainey's visa appointment at the United States Consulate here in Guangzhou. We don't have any photos, since we were only allowed to bring our passports, a diaper and a couple of snacks for Lainey. But here's our cutie in her red, white, and blue! :)

She's pretty excited to become a US citizen in just two days! It becomes official once we touch down in Chicago on Friday! :)

Progress & Lainey's Silk Dress!

In the orphanage, Lainey had no say in her schedule, the amount of food she ate, etc. This is how things have been for her her entire life. Part of the process now is to teach her that she can have an opinion. We are already making big strides, and I'm so happy that she'll tell us when she's full or doesn't want to eat something (by shaking her head no).

But she still hasn't let me know when she's awake. We're watching her pretty closely, so we can see as she wakes up... her eyes open, but she just lays there. Both of my boys, when they woke up and saw their momma or daddy, they would jump up and asked to be picked up. But Lainey, she hasn't learned yet that this is an option. So she just lays there, barely moving, and waits to be picked up. It breaks my heart. :(  I can't wait for the day when she knows I'm coming to get her and she jumps up to be picked up out of her crib.

Everything is so new to her. Her whole world thus far has been life in the orphanage. But now, she's seen so much and had so much one-on-one attention that it's changing her spirit. She's been through so much, but she's also so resilient, like so many of the other children we've seen find families after a tough start. 

We're so impressed with her and how smart she is! She's picked up a few things from us in just a few days. Things like waving bye bye (when we say goodbye in Mandarin), blowing kisses, signing 'more', shutting drawers slowly with her palms so she doesn't smash her fingers, and coloring (and she wants to hold the crayon just right... like a pencil).

She is blossoming before our eyes! We're learning that she's so funny and silly! She LOVES to be chased by Daddy! She giggles and it melts our hearts!!

We hear over and over from the Chinese people how beautiful she is, how BIG she is, and what beautiful big eyes she has. Today, our taxi driver told us, "If she was my daughter, I would never abandon her. She so beautiful." Oh my heart. So many sweet people have been so encouraging to us here and of course, we agree! She's so beautiful!

Guangzhou Zoo & Safari Park

Yesterday we were able to go to the Guangzhou Zoo and Safari park, which was about an hour drive from our hotel. The zoo is the largest in all of ASIA! It was huge and SO amazing! They have about half of the world's population of white tigers there, and SO many giraffe, baby tigers, koalas, and pandas. We had an awesome time, and Lainey did so great despite the long and very hot day. She even got to feed the giraffes with Daddy and elephants with Mommy!

Shamian Island

We just got back from visiting Shamian Island here in Guangzhou, where the White Swan hotel is. This is the classic hotel where most families in the past have stayed while adopting. It has been under renovation for three years, so it is not being used now. We were able to take a taxi (20 yuan, or a little over $3) to the island, with no trouble at all. Holt gave us a paper to hand the taxi driver to tell him where to take us, and it also says what hotel to take us to on the way home.

The island was so much fun to tour around, and the highlight was visiting a VERY packed, standing room only church. Got to say, I was in tears as we came down the street and heard familiar worship music flooding out of the church and into the street (Christians can worship here a little more freely now -- at least in this province). It was so beautiful.



We also were able to get our Lainey's must-have photo (an adoption tradition) with the bronze statues. She was a little tired and not quite sure what to think! :)

First Bath

So far, we've been very very gradual with Lainey with regards to her clothes, because it's been (as expected) a sensitive issue for her as she grows to trust us. When we first got her, she was wearing socks, tights, a skirt, a corduroy dress, a shirt, and a coat. This is pretty typical for babies to be very bundled up here, even when it's warm out, like it is now. The clothes she was wearing on that day, were for the last tie of familiarity. So when it was time (after the first day was done and it was time for jammies), we started with one sock off. She cried. Then later, another sock. She cried. And so like that, very very slowly we worked on undressing her from all of the layers.

She has gotten pretty much over all that now that we've had her for 5 days - she sometimes protests, but in general will now let us change her clothes. But until last night, bathtime was also a struggle. So far we have just sponge bathed her very fast (under a minute) because she would cry the whole time.

Last night, we undressed her and she was still happy, so we filled the sink and BJ put some toys in it. We let her sit with her feet in the warm water, and soon she was itching to get all of the way in.

She loved it! Every little breakthrough is so awesome! It's so amazing to see how quickly she's adjusting to us and all of the major changes in her life.

Video!

The internet is a lot better here in Guangzhou, so here's a quick little video of our baby girl! She's a cutie!!