Capturing our hearts with one picture....

The first picture we saw of Caleb that captured our hearts......It really was love at first sight

 

 

I mean really could you see that smile and not want to wake up to it EVERY single day!!

Settling in.....

Well we are home and trying to settle in.  Caleb is doing great and loves having a brother and sister who adore him.  Ana and him are learning boundaries with each other.  Ana has never had to share her toys or compete with some one for her cozy coupe and swing!  Over all though I don't think we could ask for more.  He is loving and bonding well.

 I know without a doubt that his transition has been made SO much easier because of the foster homes he was in.  They have taught him love, boundaries and skills that have allowed him to bond and enjoy life in a family. 

Yesterday was beautiful out and we were able to get the kids out for some fresh air.  Caleb loved it and we got him to walk a lot.....he is a bit lazy and stubborn.  When that boy is done walking he becomes a sack of potatoes on the ground and won't put any weight on his legs! 

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He is also doing great with eating.  Again when we he doesn't want to do or when he isn't quite hungry enough to put in the effort then it is a no go :-)

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I can't say it enough how amazing it is to finally see him asleep in our house.  I have been dreaming of it for what seems like forever.

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We came home to a clean house, posters from neighbors and our AWANA family, a basket with the best muffins and bread from our wonderful neighbor Karen (the kids loved it), brownies from my Aunt Nancy in which only 3 brownies made it to see morning (they were SO yummy) and little hearts hiding all over the house from MiMi, Papa and the kids (loved it mom, it felt like you were here!).  We then woke up to a great breakfast of pancakes and bacon from Auntie Dow and Uncle Brian!!  Yep we are blessed and so lucky to have so many amazing and wonderful people in our lives!

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Finally after 3 yrs, of what I thought would be the top ranked gift in our house, someone loves the train set

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We had an awesome group awaiting us at airport and Sarah B took video and sent it to me.  Thanks!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=SPlTSEG5em8 

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While in Ch*na we were not able to download videos so here are some

Great Wall-----

Gotcha Day-------



sorry I can't seem to get it right when I video.  It is always sideways....lol

Outside Garden Hotel....I really wish I knew all my videos were sideways.  I'm sorry.....just turn your head and hopefully you still get the idea of how pretty it is.

Ok this was all over the place but I wanted to catch up!!!!  Thanks again to everyone.  We loved reading all the comments and are beyond grateful to every single person who has prayed for us and helped us get this amazing boy home!!!

We are home!

Just a quick update to let everyone know we made it home safe.  Caleb was amazing.  It was 30 hours from the time we left the hotel for the airport, to the time we arrived home to our house.  I can not tell you what an awesome traveler he was.  He was not a fan of take offs and landings but then again who is ;).  He slept for a good 8 hrs on the trip from Beijing to Chicago.  Then slept again on the 40 min flight from Chicago to Appleton.  We got home around 10:45pm and by 12:30 we were all ready for bed.  I was a bit worried that we would have trouble getting him to sleep or that he would be awake at 2am since he slept so much during our travels and in Ch*na it was 2 in the afternoon.  Once again he surprised us by sleeping through the night until 8:30am.  Did I mention this boy loves his sleep...lol.  He took a good nap today and was in bed asleep by 8pm. 

I will post some pictures soon of what fun we came home to.  Not only did amazing family and friends welcome us home at the airport but posters and little heart notes are popping up all over the house.  Love it!!!

Last day here!

Well today was a slow day and also our last full day here!! After heading down to lunch we took some pictures of the beautiful garden outside the hotel.

I love these flowers in the lobby!

There is a beautiful waterfall that is so relaxing

 

The men were cleaning out the pond

 

The boys then headed back to the room, while I headed with a couple other women to the pearl market. It is located close to the Holiday Inn by Shamian Island. There is a main shopping strip which has TONS of stores and a jewelry wholesale mall. I can not even start to guess how many stores are in the wholesale mall.....100s all selling the same kinds of jewelry.

 

Guess what I found on the main street?!?! Yep more of those statues. I just adore these things. They are so neat and most have a sign with them that names them. Just love it!

This one was called naughty kids....lol

When we did enter the pearl shop, which is a totally shot in the dark as to which store will give you the best deal, there are bags upon bags lining the wall with pearls in them.

I wanted to get some earrings so she began to show me ones that were already put together. They were beautiful but many were oval shape. If you want the better quality, circular ones you need to ask. Once we did she brought out containers of individual pearls. We then proceeded to pick our own set of earrings. Our guide was helping us find ones that were the same color, size and nice and round. WOW I never thought it would be so hard but we did it! Then they take them and drill a hole in them so they can put the post on. It was neat to watch and the next picture is her drilling the hole in one of my pearls. They really are super cheap. If you din't care that they are oval and not round you can get a pair for around $5-10. The nicer medium size ones are around $35.

I then headed back and around 4:00pm our guide delivered Caleb's passport which now contains the much needed US visa!!! We are good to go tomorrow morning. I still can not believe that when we check out tomorrow we will be done here. I'm beyond excited to get back but it does make me so sad that Caleb is leaving all he has ever known. He will once again be introduced to new sights, sounds and smells. I am just beyond amazed at how these children handle adoption. They are so strong and my heart just hurts for what they are going through. They have no choice but to once again hope that this person holding them will truly love and care for them. Caleb has from the beginning been nothing but pure love and joy. He is truly my little hero. It is clear on his back that the 2 weeks before we got here were not fun. He was away from his safe foster home and not yet in our arms. I do not know if the bruises came in anger from a caregiver or from another child but what I do know is our little guy is strong. He has a heart of gold and no child should ever go through one day of fear from those who should be there to protect them. For those coming and soon meeting your child please remember that for all these months leading up to "gotcha" day you have been falling more and more in love with them, while most likely they have no idea of you. If they do, they probably can not truly comprehend what it means. The fear they have will most likely come out in tears, tantrums and/or silence. Please, please don't push it aside and think they are just being naughty. Let them cling to just one parent if they want. I know it is hard to be the rejected one but you HAVE to let your child lead the way to start.

For those who want to meet us at the airport and all are welcomed we will be flying into Appleton and arriving at 9:34pm tomorrow....thurs march 8th.

AHHHHHHH finally I can say kiddos 1 more sleep and we are home. Nathan, Katie, Ana we love you tons and tons and can not wait to see you!

Oh and I almost forgot. I finally took a picture of some milk type drink we got for Caleb. Our first guide said is was sweetened or something and all the kids love it. In province it was a lifesaver for one family whose little one was grieving very hard. It calmed him down a bit. That family then shared it with others and it soon was every little one's favorite treat. I suggest you pick some up before getting your kid. We got it at the local wal-mart and I believe it was near the formula. It comes in packs of 4-5 and was around 5 yuan I believe which is less then $1

 

Tips for china!

I will try to keep adding to this when I think of different things.

- in Beijing if you stay at the Crowne Plaza a descent restaurant is across the street and to your left....maybe 3 stores. It has red lanterns hanging outside. If a guy comes and speaks English to you saying he has a gifts, don't follow him. He is just trying to get you to buy something!

- you don't tip at restaurants.....we found this out 1/2 through the trip :-)

- bring $20 in singles. You tip the bellboys when you arrive and leave hotels. We were told $1 per bag

- bring travel Kleenex for toilet paper and napkins. In most restaurants you have to pay for napkins

- our travel clinic told us to take 2 Pepto tablets 4x day so that you don't get sick and we only have 24hrs left and so far so good

- if you want to buy from street vendors 1) know it is most likely fake and 2) have the exact amount because many give you change back with fake cash

- make sure if you buy jade or silk your guide is with you or you buy it at the jade factory or silk factory. Most on the streets in GZ if fake. The real stuff that I have seen is much more costly in GZ then the jade factory in Beijing. Hint with jade. If you hold it up to the light you should see mineral deposits....although even if you do it is not always real. The clear see through when held up to the light is glass not real jade

- ask for a stroller to be brought to your room at check-in. Then just keep it for your stay

- to give you an idea. Chopsticks in GZ were about 20 yuan for 5 set and 70 yuan for a nice 6 set with little bars to rest the chopsticks on...hope that makes sense

- we got a carryon suitcase for 200 yuan at michael's in GZ on Shamian Island

- I think Jordon's has the best selection of relaxation/stress balls

- we brought less clothes and just washed them in the sink. I brought 3 single use tide travel packs and used all of them.

- Kung Pao chicken is a very good choice if you are not an adventurous eater like me.

The Thai restaurant on Shamian Island is very good.

- we did not buy bottled water. We just refilled the bottles with water we boiled

- even if you don't need space bring ziplock bags. We used them for other things like dirty diapers and you may need to compress things to fit all the fun souvenirs heading home

- we separated the money into....eating, visa/medical, souvenir, etc and then put them in their each little snack size ziplock. Then also put in there a sticky saying what it is for. It was very easy to keep track of how much we were spending and on what

- when you leave the hotel take a piece of paper with e name on it so if you get lost you can get back by showing someone it.

- on the plane going to china you will be given a piece of paper to fill out for customs. On it, it will ask the location with address and I believe ph. Number of the first hotel you will be staying at. Have it on you and ready.

- remember no liquids on in China flights. They need to go in your check in. Also put anything valuable in carry on

- before leaving see if your fav. Perfume has samples you can take. I love coach and they actually give out little spray samples. I took 2 of them and it was a perfect amt.

- we brought single use starbucks coffee. It was a lifesaver since GZ was the first hotel that had one by it and the hotel coffee did not taste good to us.

- we brought wrinkle free spray which wasn't really needed. I rolled my clothes and Ben folded his and both were fine. It was nice though to just give them a fresher smell

- we loved having crystal light packs. Plain water gets old after awhile

Ok all for now! We will keep thinking

 

Visa applied for!

Today we headed out at 9:15am for our 10am Consulate appointment. Our entire trip was scheduled around this appointment. When you get your travel approval you then put in a request date for this appointment. The date you get then determines when you travel and receive your child. We once again got in trouble but before it happened we did get two pictures of the outside of the consulate.

We then headed upstairs and all waited until everyone was present. We all stood, raised our right hand and repeated the oath. We swore that everything we were submitting on behalf of our child was true and accurate info. We then headed up to the window when they called our family and signed more papers. Easy and quick. Tomorrow our guide, Sarah, will head back and pick up Caleb's Ch*nese passport that will now contain his US visa!! We did get one more quick picture before leaving......

You are never going guess what happened on the way home.......

Yep he fell asleep just sitting there....lol. I tell you, this boy can fall asleep anywhere and in any position. It is so funny!

We were going back to Shamian Island with our group in the afternoon so everyone headed back to there hotel room so the kids could nap. Well for us that was a no go. Caleb is just like his siblings. If he naps at all, for any length of time, there is no chance I can get him to nap. So instead we headed to McD for lunch.

Waiting for the elevator....I tell you that boy is heavy

He loves to laugh

Outside our hotel

 

He loved the McFlurry-oreo

When we got back Ben laid down and after I came out of the bathroom I discovered a little boy who is loving exploring! He thought he was soooo funny and I have to agree!

We set out around 3:30 for the Island. I really do love it there. It is so relaxing and they have these beautiful statues all over.

 

 

 

After we all emptied our pockets buying little souvenirs, we headed for a great Thai dinner.

By the end of dinner it was dark and time to get all the little ones to bed. It was a wonderful day filled with many memories that we will hold close to us for forever.

 

Hope you all made the best of your day! Nathan, Katie, Ana only 2 more sleeps and we will be home!!!

 

TB check and Shamian island

Before heading out this morning we met in the lobby for our group picture. Just as I'm typing this I remembered that we never took one of just the kids but we did get one of the entire group!

We then headed back the the medical building to get the kid's TB shot checked. I was a bit worried because Caleb's is red around the area and raised a bit. The nuse quickly looked at everyone's and then when it was our turn I saw her reach for a ruler to measure it.....ugghhhhh! Well I'm not sure what the measurements need to be to be considered positive but his wasn't a large enough area and she said he was fine!! Yay! I did not want to have to deal with a x-ray plus meds. So quick and easy. We all loaded back in the van and headed to a memorial, I believe it was called. It was beautiful but honestly I can't give you any history lesson on it. I wasn't really listening, instead I was people watching :-). I could sit for hours and do that.

 

He fell asleep right after getting checked. I tell you this boy can sleep anywhere!

Finally we headed to the island to do some shopping. Many of us wanted to pick up some items to give the kids when they get older. Our first stop was Jordon's and we ended up staying there until it was time to leave. We want to see more of the island so we are all heading back tomorrow and having dinner there. I will try to get more pictures of it tomorrow because it is just beautiful.

love these statues and let me say Ben gets lots of looks carrying Caleb on his back!

She was selling pineapple.....yummy

Jordon gave us a lesson on the island. He explained that at one time it was split down the middle by an electric fence. France controlling one side and England the other.

 

Here are some random pictures......

He loves books and we are still working on him learning how to suck and get something out of the sippy :-) we've been having to take the stopper out so the liquid just flows out.....sometimes I think he is just stubborn and doesn't want to work at it.....lol

Tomorrow we will be applying for his visa and taking the oath. We are not sure what oath we are taking but we'll let you know tomorrow!