Happy Thanksgiving!

I'm so THANKFUL we are home with Kayla and having our first Thanksgiving together.

P.S.-- Great ideas on the carseat. Yesterday, I was a Cheerio dispensing machine while Bobby drove us to Babies-r-Us to blow some cash. Kayla also seems partial to the music of Randy Travis and Clint Black. LOL.

Sleepless and Happy in Jax

You've probably guessed by now, we're home safe and sound. The 30 hours of travel (flights and layovers) was fairly brutal, especially considering me and Bobby were up the entire night before leaving with Kayla who up to that point was doing pretty good at sleeping through the night. Thankfully, my parents helped entertain her during the flights so we could catch some sleep. None of us are quite ourselves yet, but the jetlag should wear off soon. Kayla has her little clock all out of whack and we're just working with it the best we can. When she gets enough sleep she's a delight...all giggles and smiles. When she's tired, she's very...um...let's say expressive.


The monitors are charged up and we're trying to get her used to being in the nursery. Sleeping on Mommy may be good for Kayla for a moment, but having an exhausted grouchy Mommy is not good for her in the long run.


Couple of things to note about carseats:

-Kayla's first carseat experience from the airport home was a screaming nightmare.

-Kayla's second carseat experience to Target and back...was another screaming nightmare (even with the carseat toy she and Bobby picked out while we were in Target.)

-Today I chickened out of driving up to Walgreens up the street because now I"m scared of the carseat.

-Tomorrow Kayla has her first doctor's appointment...I hope the doc has a magic carseat pill.

-Sorry we have to miss Turkey Day in the panhandle. Hopefully that magic pill will kick in by the next weekend. Kayla's anxious to meet her Great Grandma Lorena.


I haven't checked my e-mail in a few days, so don't think I'm ignoring you. Everything really does take twice as long with a baby---I'm still waiting for that super-mom-efficiency to kick in.


Here are a few pics for now. I'll work on getting everything on PhotoBucket as time allows.

Kayla Steps on US soil for the first time at Washington Dulles airport.

Finally arrived to Jax. airport. Home sweet home!

Kayla meets cousin Logan for a playdate.

Guangzhou...

We arrived here yesterday early afternoon. The plane ride was short, but not the easiest trip for Kayla. As we expected would happen, she's cutting her first tooth. Not the happiest baby on the block, but she's trying to put on a brave face. Right now she's very much a mama's girl. This is not so easy on Bobby since it's just come about all of the sudden. Of course, I'm sure this is a phase and with patience and persistence he'll be a favorite in her book in no time. Today we decided he will only do the "fun" stuff until she accepts him better. Maybe it's a good thing I'm putting this in writing so he doesn't think he'll get out of diaper duty for good.

Our room is beautiful here in the China Hotel. The rooms have just been refurbished (and Kayla initiated the new furniture already, so sorry to anyone staying in this room later!). The bathroom has an automatic shade that you can raise in case you want to take a hot bath and watch TV at the same time. And, each room is provided with two gas masks in case of emergencey (yep, you read that right.) There's a Starbucks downstairs (fivebucks is good in any language). We've eaten MC D's more than I have all year because it's conveniently located around the corner and you can order by pointing. The room service is also good and not very expensive. I'm getting very spoiled, so it's good that it is almost time to come home.


And, here's the stylin' Kayla...

All about Kayla

I could tell you about Nanning. How green and lush it is here this time of year with temperatures close to that in Florida. But instead, I'll just show you an adorable smile that makes my heart sing....



We're learning more about Kayla everyday.

She does not like a diaper change and will gator roll at the first chance.

She LOVES mashed potatoes (yes, we've already eaten at KFC).

Sha could stare at herself for hours in the mirror.

She's not so big on prunes (who is really?)

She loves playing with Grandma and Grandpa.



Kayla is officially part of the family. We gave our red thumb prints and she gave her little red footprint to seal the deal on Tuesday. Now we're just hanging out and sight seeing until we have her chinese passport back on Friday.

Hmmm...Not here to see the Great Wall, are you?

It's been a crazy couple of days. Sunday we went to an international Christian church service that only foreigners are allowed to attend (although our guide said she attends another Christian service for Chinese). We climbed the Great Wall and I have pictures and sore legs to prove it. And, we say an awesome acrobatic show. Of course I was exhausted and since we flew to Nanning at 5:30am on Monday...I'm just now getting to the good stuff....Go ahead and scroll down now to see THE BABY!!!!

The flight to Nanning was about 3 hours and cramped, but who cares? I was a bundle of nerves Sunday night, so I'm glad we were exhausted. By Monday morning, I felt a sense of calm... I'm sure the prayers of my small group had something to do with that. After the flight, the plan was go to the hotel, do a small amount of paperwork, and GO GET OUR BABY!!! Right before they started calling out babies names I was overwhelmed with emotion. Bobby helped me pull it together so I didn't scare her with a sobbing red face. When they called out Long Mei Qiao, it felt like stepping into a warm bath in slow motion. It was perfect. She did not cry. She just observed everything going on around her. Out of the 13 families only 1 baby had a really rough time from the start. And, they are all so very beautiful. Kayla came to us in a pink sweatsuit with little bunnies on it, white crocheted socks, and new shoes. The SWI workers brought us the cameras we sent in a care package. I hope the pictures turn out.

Today, we finalized our adoption after a night called the Harmonious period. There was a small interview with an official of the Civil Affairs where we promised to take good care of and never abandon our child. Kayla really hammed it up. Most babies are a little withdrawn and grieving for a couple of days. Not her... she giggled for the officials. Whew! One little red foot print on the paperwork and ta-dah...she's our little girl! We'll have her chinese passport on Friday and then it's on to the US Consulate to get her citizenship.

Hope this isn't too incoherent. If the photobucket slideshow isn't working, try double clicking on it. Somebody e-mail me if you still can't see it and I'll try to post it a different way.

First day of touring in Beijing

Yesterday was a whirlwind of touring and shopping. We saw Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City, the Pearl factory, and the Silk Factory. I think they kept us moving to try and help get us on the time zone. I still zonked out at 8pm anyway.

Here are some snapshots from the square. The square is the largest downtown square in the world and a center of political activity in China. In a building on one end is where Chairman Mao's body is showcased in a crystal coffin. The chinese people from the generation of the cultural revolution will come and stand in line for hours to pay their respects.


We're on the 24 hour countdown until we meet Kayla~ don't forget to send me an e-mail at shannon.elaine2@yahoo.com (and give me your e-mail address because I forgot to bring my contact info.) for Bobby's website www.chasingkayla.com if you'd like to see the video. I'll still post pics here too.

We're in China Baby!!!!

We're In China!

We made it safely here last night about 2:30 am (Florida time)after starting out on our trek 7am on Thursday. We were beat to say the least. Overall the flights were smooth. My Jiffy-On-The-Go peanut butter became a casualty of a security checkpoint first thing (guess I should have read the what not to carry on lists a little more carefully). Otherwise, our luggage made it intact. We felt pretty fortunate that our seats from Chicago to Beijing were pre-assigned to Economy Plus. They must have overbooked the plane and we lucked out with the 5 extra inches of leg room for free. Sweet. The first 9 hours went by relatively fast for me. The last 3 were exhausting. Mom, Dad, and Bobby all ate their side salads on the plane---and well...so glad I didn't.

The rooms here at the Radisson are nice. By the way, for those travelling soon, we are definitely glad that we brought converters. There's a CarreFour (like a Walmart on steroids)in walking distance where we bought water last night for the room. That was an experience. There really are no such things as lines in China. We stood in "line" and pushed our way to the front like the locals. The cashier freaked at th size bill we gave ($100 Yuan bill which is equivalent to $13 US) and made faces that she had to go get change. LOL. We could have used our credit cards there.

Okay. We're off to do some touring and I'll post the pictures for that later.

Take care! And thanks for dropping by our blog!