Jesus wants my Cheerios

Sunday we had Lydia baptized at our church. It was a special day for us because it was our 11th wedding anniversary as well. The service was very nice and Lydia did great. There were two baptisms in the service which they performed at the beginning of the service. We expected Lydia to have a melt-down but she was happy looking at everyone and getting attention. We were so happy that Kara's sister Kathy, husband Don and niece Rachel came in town just for the occasion.  They, along with Kara's brother Steve and sister in law Kelley, served as godparents to our little Lydia.

Back in our pews and Lydia got a little fussy so we pulled out the crackers (gone in 60 seconds...) and her Cheerios (in a 'snack trap' that slows down the shoveling of food into the mouth). Lydia settled into a steady rhythm of eating and started to look around, at this point she notices the big banner next to us with Jesus on it. She makes her usual little screech and pulls her Cheerios as far away from the banner as possible and looks at us like "He wants my Cheerios", we told her that she's okay her snacks are safe. She's quite the character....but we have learned that she doesn't want anyone messing with her when she is eating!

After the baptism we went to our favorite Chinese restaurant for a post-baptism/welcome home party. We were so lucky to have many friends and family come by to celebrate with us!  Lydia fell asleep during the short drive from the church to the restaurant and missed half of the party, but was much happier once she woke up for the rest of the party.

Gabby had a great time seeing her cousins and her 'China girls' who were anxious to play with Lydia once she has settled in a bit more.  It was such a special day to officially welcome Lydia into our extended group of family and friends.  

A New Bike For Gabby

Gabby has been asking us for a while to get a new bike....her last one still had a handle on it for us to push her so she was LONG overdue for an upgrade. Since she's not the sole focus of our attention anymore we thought it'd be a good time to get her a new bike.

She has been doing great with all the changes, but there are times when she feels jealous and left out of the lime light that for the last 5 years shone brightly on her alone. She has been a big help and a great big sister, but at times it is tricky to keep both our girls happy.  Lydia is clearly trying to stake out her territory as well so at some point during the day there are tears.   We can't give both Gabby and Lydia 100% of our equal attention, eventually someone gets jealous - Gabby pouts, Lydia screams.....we roll our eyes knowing that this is part of parenthood.  However it is amazing to think that they have both been sisters for under two weeks and already can see the bond forming between the two girls.

It was rainy on Sunday by the time Rob got the bike put together, so we took Gabby and Lydia to a local park on Monday afternoon to test it out. Gabby did really well (with the training wheels for now) and we all had a good time. Lydia started off on her little trike but soon figured out that the stroller was easier.

We also found that a new play area had been installed in the park so we stopped off and gave the girls time to run around.  It was fun to see Lydia try to keep up with Gabby as she climbed like a monkey....she is definitely going to be a "me too" little sister.  She is always checking out what Gabby is eating to see if she has the same snack.  It goes both ways....Gabby has eaten more crackers this week than ever because that is one of Lydia's favorite snacks so of course Gabby has to have the same.

The up side of this "me too" game is that today when Kara took Lydia to get new shoes, she was reluctant to put her foot down to be measured by the salesperson.  Of course Gabby was right there to do it first and then Lydia couldn't get her foot measured fast enough. 

Ready to go to the park.

Peek-a-boo Lydia!

Peek-a-boo Gabby!

Getting  along great on her new bike.

The First Week

We've been home a week, in some ways it seems like a lifetime ago since Lydia's Gotcha day.

We had to redo one of Lydia's blood tests but everything came back clear. So far so good on the health front. She's been eating well and while she's healthy and obviously well taken care of in China we're determined to feed her until she pops and pack some weight onto her. Fruit firmly remains her favorite food.

Rob went back to work on Wednesday and Lydia cried after him. Thursday she cried a little less and Friday there was barely a whimper. Rob has mixed feelings about this but as soon as Rob comes home she turns into Velcro baby and wants to be held.

She has a healthy fear of strangers and turns very shy when people come over. We had a visit from the McCluskie clan on Friday afternoon and it took a while for her to warm up but even them it was a luke warm reaction. "Uncle Pap" and "Aunt Mimi" surprised us with a rocking horse for Lydia. It's the perfect size for her and even Gabby can get on it too.

Saturday morning we had a visit from Jamie, Betsy and Maeve. Lydia at least manged to get off of Rob to play a little. The biggest motivation came when we put snacks in the cup in her table and then it was time to grab hand fulls and shove into her mouth before Maeve could get any... all I can say it that daycare is going to be fun! Little One did offer one puff to Maeve so there is a glimmer of hope that she'll learn to share.

Nana also came on Saturday and Lydia is finally warming up to her too, playing with barrettes in her hair :)

Discovering the Wiggles!

Playing on my new horse.

Sharing with Maeve... almost.

Okay...okay.....I'll share with the baby.

First Pediatrician Visit

We had our first visit to the pediatrician and we survived!

Little one has already been through so much but we wanted to get her in front of our doctor before Rob went back to work. She did great although was pretty unhappy for most of the time. According to the U.S. growth charts shes tiny but that doesn't really mean anything since she's Asian. Lydia is doing fine and if she's anything like Gabby she'll grow like a weed for the first six months or so.

It's recommended that vaccinations are re-started due to quality issues of shots in China (expired shots, or not refrigerated properly, etc) so Rob had to pin Lydia down while she had four shots for today's visit - with another followup in a month. Once the shots were done both Lydia and Gabby got a little cup of Animal Crackers, which both girls took it as a personal challenge to eat as fast as possible.

Just as with Gabby we also had to have blood drawn, deciding to bite the bullet we took Lydia to Quest and had that done too. As Rob sat and held Lydia for the blood work I think she was most annoyed at being physically constrained, as soon as it was over she stuck the rest of her cracker in her mouth and the crying stopped immediately. We still have to visit the Health Department to get a TB test done.

Also we can't forget the poop samples taken over three days. This time around it's Kara's turn as Rob did it for Gabby, it's quite the role reversal this time around.

Since it was had been a rough day we stopped off at Target to get some Infant Tylenol and a toy or two for the girls.

Pool Time

Today was a perfect day to get out the kiddie pool and have some fun in the water. While a little chilly at first Lydia soon got the idea of how things work.

Little One also has a fascination for the dog. Every time she see Brinkley she will stop, point and make a high pitched 'huh' sound. I don't think it's mutual fascination as Brinkley spends most of her time trying to avoid the new addition to the family. When she does manage to corner the dog Lydia will try to get as close as possible and hold out her finger, if the dog licks it she then squeals and backs away quickly.

Yay - we slept through the night!

Ah... what a difference a good night's sleep makes.

We didn't wake up until 5:30 this morning. Even with all the fireworks going off, not a peep until this morning. We're fed and happy, playing with big sister :)

The First Couple of Days

We arrived home to balloons and a 'Welcome Home' sign courtesy of our awesome neighbors Betsy and Jamie. They also picked up our mail (no thanks to USPS for not stopping our mail like we asked) and kept our frogs and bamboo alive while we were gone - thank you!

Lydia has been exploring the house a little, although the basement is off-limits for now. We're also trying to adjust to the time change. Lydia has been waking up at night, the first night was at 3:00 am, the second was fighting sleep from 1:30 until we finally got up again around 3:30 am. While she takes her nap we're napping too but we're all feeling sleep deprived - except for Gabby who is bounding around the house in her usual full-of-energy way. She's also paying Rob more attention than usual - much to the jealously of Lydia (which I think Gabby is secretly enjoying).

Sunday morning we dressed up and went to the grocery store - nice to be able to hop in the car and drive yourself to the grocery store and load up on familiar foods again. We've eased up on the rationing of the yogurt melts now that we can buy more but Lydia is still trying her best to inhale them. Lydia and Gabby wore matching outfits for their debut outing. Nobody stopped and stared and we didn't collect a mob of old ladies following us shaking their fingers in disgust at their lack of clothes!

Lydia and Gabby are getting along great. Lydia showed us how much of a copycat she is in China and now she is copying Gabby too. While perched on the side of the bed watching TV, little sister Lydia had to scoot over until she was right on the edge too - she didn't appreciate being moved back into the 'safety zone'. Seeing Lydia unhappy made Gabby move back too - she'll be a great big sister.

We're hoping Lydia will sleep through the night tonight - or at least beyond 3:00 am in the morning.

"Welcome Home!"

Little Sister, Big Sister.

Getting lots of attention.

Ready to go.

We have Lydia - check!

We have Gabby - check!

Finally figured out the sippy cup.

The Journey Home

It was one very long day but everything turned out great.

We were up and leaving the hotel at 5:30 am, on the bus to the airport, checked in and then on the first flight at 8:00. The plane looked newer and during take off/landing they had a live feed from outside the plane which was cool to see the runway go flying by and then drop away. Lydia slept a little and ate a little. Three hours later we were back in Beijing. The airline in Guangzhou would not give boarding passes for Lydia beyond Beijing, we had ours all the way to St. Louis but we had to check-in Lydia in Beijing. Since it was still early United did not have a gate assignment yet so we had to wait before going through security. There was a "Kenny Roger's Roasters" at the airport that we thought we'd try. Unfortunately it was probably the worst meal we'd ever had, Rob's chicken had a weird taste to it but Lydia enjoyed her potato salad.

Once we knew our gate we got on the train and go through security and wait around for the long flight home. Lydia spent the time sleeping, eating, and cooing at everyone around her. Lydia had a little wiggle room in her seat and eventually could get comfortable enough to sleep. The long flight wasn't that bad but don't ask us to do it again anytime soon.

We arrived in Chicago, happy to see all the signs in English! We get through the first passport check quickly and they put all of Lydia's paperwork in a pink folder. We get our bags for customs and the pink folder flags the customs people to refer us to the immigration officers first to get Lydia's visa processed. We add our folder to the line and see seven or eight others in front of us. By this time an hour has gone by and we soon realize that we probably will not make the St. Louis flight. Kara makes a quick call to Kay (since we were warned that if customs see you using a cell phone they will confiscate it). We chat to some of the others waiting and one guy has already missed his flight. We get Lydia changed into her clean 'meet-and-greet' outfit and try to deal with sitting with nothing to do, nothing to eat, nothing to drink.

Our St. Louis flight leaves at 7:10 pm and around 6:30 our name is called. The officer asks us if we have the extra photos of Lydia as he cannot find the ones that should be included in our paperwork. He says he would check the trash in case they were thrown out when her folder was opened and we should check our papers too. If we cannot find the photos then we will have to wait and get some taken. Trying not to panic (you don't want to be stuck in limbo with USCIS), we start looking through our folder of paperwork and find the two passport photos in a folder given to us by the CHI coordinator. With all the checking, and double checking by the CHI coordinators they had still manged to put the photos in the wrong folder. We hand the photos to the officer, put Lydia's fingerprint on a couple of papers and head through customs to the United desk.

At the United desk we ask about the flight and find that it's delayed, with a huge sense of relief we drop our bags at the baggage desk and head off to the next gate. The St. Louis flight is delayed from 7:10 to 8:35pm giving us time to sit, eat a bite from Starbucks (much more expensive than the one in Guangzhou) and get on the final home.

We arrive in St. Louis and Lydia gets a little overwhelmed with all the attention. She shows this by screaming - not exactly the way we had seen it happening but we're just happy to be home.

Playing in the baby changing room in Beijing

Ready to get on the long flight home.

Snoozing on her bà ba

Flying is easy... when you're asleep.

Finally Home...

We've been up for 32 hours but we're finally home. Lydia is in her crib asleep, we had to leave the light one as she doesn't like the room to be dark but we'll figure that out later. For now we're just hoping to get a few hours of sleep.

Lydia did great on the flights and slept for a lot of the time. When awake she spent her time eating, or trying her best to get the attention of the people around her. The homecoming in the airport was a little traumatic, I think too many people, too much attention all at the same time. We can't believe we've only had her for 11 days.

We couldn't wait to see Gabby again, although she seems to be so big now.

We had some drama in immigration and would have missed our flight if it wasn't delayed - one of the few times you're happy to have your flight delayed.

We'll be posting more in the next day or two but for now we have a mug of tea, Lydia is snoozing and we're spending time with Gabby... all is well with the world :)

Time to say goodbye...

Last day of a 5 star breakfast buffet.
Last trip to Shamian Island for shopping.
Last dinner of noodles and steamed buns.
Last time we make a sleepy phone call to our Gabby, she yawns because she is waking up, we yawn because it is time for bed.

Our bags are packed, our Lydia is bathed and sleeping, we are ready for our long journey home.
Excited to see family and friends, anxious to see Gabby and Lydia together at last, ready to hold both girls in our arms.

Just like that first flight that took Lydia out of Hunan, the joy is mixed with a bit of sadness that she is leaving her home country. Rob laughs at me that I am already talking about bringing the girls back for a homeland tour when they are older, but these last 5 years with Gabby flew by. Before we know it they will be young ladies who are curious about their heritage and we will be booking flights once again. But for now we are focusing on the trip ahead of us.

We were so lucky to have met so many amazing people on our trip to bring home Lydia. We wish everyone in our group safe travels home and look forward to seeing family pictures in the future.

Thanks to all our friends and family who sent messages and gave us that touch of home while we were away.

Thanks to Dawn and Kim for taking care of our smallest and furriest member of our family Brinkley....you have no idea what is in store for you!

Thanks to Steve, Kelley, Shannon, Denise, Kim, Larry and Jodie who helped keep our Gabby busy and entertained while we were away...and importantly gave Nana a much needed rest over the last two weeks.

Thanks to all of Kay's church and luncheon ladies for showing Gabby the high life while visiting Nana.

Thanks to the McCunes for holding down the home fort while Kay headed to her house with our gal.

Finally, many thanks to Mom for taking care of our precious Gabby....we can't wait to see you both!

See you on the other side of the pond....
Love,
Kara, Rob and our little Lydia