We seem to have turned a corner! At this very moment, Kenzi is sitting on the floor, 4 feet away from me and she is PLAYING with the toys we brought! Thank you, Jesus!!!!!!!
This adoption stuff is hard. Not only has Kenzi had a hard time adjusting, I managed to get the dreaded Montezuma's Revenge last night. I'll save you the gory details, but let me just tell you how hard it is to be that sick with an 18 month old who only wants you to hold her!!!!!
We are packing up today and heading to Guangzhou. Thankfully our flight is only about an hour. Not sure my stomach could handle much more. Guangzhou is where we do the American side of the paperwork.
I'd better not push my luck too much .... any second, I'm sure little Miss Kenzi-bug is going to realize that I am not sitting on the floor with her.
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Short update
Sorry no blOgging. Kenzi is having a hard time. She only wants me to carry her and walk all day long. I have carriers, but i can't physically walk all day with an extra 20 pounds strapped to me. We leave tomorrow for the next place. Hoping things will be better there.
We are so thankful god has given us this previous little one. We knew it could be hard and we're hanging in there. Keep the prayers coming!
We are so thankful god has given us this previous little one. We knew it could be hard and we're hanging in there. Keep the prayers coming!
Monday, December 5, 2011
Day 4 - 12/6 - Part 1
typing one-handed. been holding kenzi for days. she will not let me put her down. i'm only sitting down at the moment because she fell asleep. i'm getting my exercise with all the walking and carrying an extra 20 pounds! she is grieving hard and it's so sad. will write more about that later.
Day 3 - 12/5/2011 - Fuzhou
Last night, we were so tired, that we all went to bed around 9 pm. Of course, that meant we woke up at 5 this morning. It could definitely have been worse, though. At breakfast, we met the other family that is here adopting a little girl. They are from the USA, but live in Italy. They have a 19 month old son adopted from Ethiopia and their new daughter just turned 1!
After breakfast, we went to the Civil Affairs office to finalize Kenzi's adoption. She's now stuck with us forever!!!!! Then we went to a supermarket to get a few things .... snacks, toothbrushes because I managed to forget them, and drinks.
Then the rest of the day, we just hung out in our hotel room mostly. Kenzi is doing great. She has moments of sadness, which is totally normal. She will not let me put her down. Thank goodness for the baby carriers I brought!!!!!! She wants to sit in my lap the rest of the time. She loves it when I walk when I'm carrying her. So hopefully I'm getting lots of exercise and losing some weight!
Last night, after we got her, she didn't eat much and she didn't drink anything. We weren't worried yet, but today's priority was getting her to at least drink something. Well, this girl can eat AND drink. We just had to give her time and find what she liked. She'll fit in well with Jacinda. Both of these girls can drink an entire gallon of milk every day!!!! For now, we're letting her drink as much milk as she wants. But that will need to change when we get home. We'll start slowly and transitioning her to drinking more water.
Typing one-handed now, so I'll sign off for now.
After breakfast, we went to the Civil Affairs office to finalize Kenzi's adoption. She's now stuck with us forever!!!!! Then we went to a supermarket to get a few things .... snacks, toothbrushes because I managed to forget them, and drinks.
Then the rest of the day, we just hung out in our hotel room mostly. Kenzi is doing great. She has moments of sadness, which is totally normal. She will not let me put her down. Thank goodness for the baby carriers I brought!!!!!! She wants to sit in my lap the rest of the time. She loves it when I walk when I'm carrying her. So hopefully I'm getting lots of exercise and losing some weight!
Last night, after we got her, she didn't eat much and she didn't drink anything. We weren't worried yet, but today's priority was getting her to at least drink something. Well, this girl can eat AND drink. We just had to give her time and find what she liked. She'll fit in well with Jacinda. Both of these girls can drink an entire gallon of milk every day!!!! For now, we're letting her drink as much milk as she wants. But that will need to change when we get home. We'll start slowly and transitioning her to drinking more water.
Typing one-handed now, so I'll sign off for now.
Pictures!
I know you've all been waiting for pictures!!!!!!!!
The view outside our Beijing hotel room.
Corn (we think) on top of a roof outside our Beijing hotel room.
Us and Socks the Monkey at The Forbidden City. Socks is a world-travelling monkey. He goes everywhere with us and the kids love to put him in creative places and see where he goes!
A few shots of the view outside our hotel room in Fuzhou:
Kenzi!!!!!
The man on the left is the orphanage pediatrician and the woman on the right is one of the caregivers.
The view outside our Beijing hotel room.
Corn (we think) on top of a roof outside our Beijing hotel room.
Us and Socks the Monkey at The Forbidden City. Socks is a world-travelling monkey. He goes everywhere with us and the kids love to put him in creative places and see where he goes!
A few shots of the view outside our hotel room in Fuzhou:
Kenzi!!!!!
The man on the left is the orphanage pediatrician and the woman on the right is one of the caregivers.
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Day 2 - 12/4/2011 - Kenzi Day!
This morning, we got up early to head to the airport in Beijing. We flew to Fuzhou, which is the capital of Kenzi's province. We had about 15 minutes in our hotel room and then it was time to head down to get Kenzi. She had come with the orphanage's pediatrician and her nanny.
I was holding Kenzi while Aaron did the first round of paperwork. I'm sure it was hard for him to think straight while Kenzi was screaming her head off! She continued to scream for quite a while. We got her to eat a few noodles for dinner, but she won't drink anything yet. We'll try again tomorrow with some milk or juice at breakfast.
She was clearly well taken care of. She had on brand new clothes - several layers of them, which is typical of China. The orphanage staff also brought us a large bag with lots of new clothes, a coat, new shoes, a photo album they made for us of all her pictures (including some we hadn't seen yet from when she was around 11 months old), the baby clothes she was found in, and some gifts for her that symbolize peace. We are so blessed to receive all of that. They love her and took great care of her!
Pictures will have to wait until tomorrow. Sorry ..... we are exhausted at this point. Kenzi is sleeping, and I hope she stays that way for a while!!!
I was holding Kenzi while Aaron did the first round of paperwork. I'm sure it was hard for him to think straight while Kenzi was screaming her head off! She continued to scream for quite a while. We got her to eat a few noodles for dinner, but she won't drink anything yet. We'll try again tomorrow with some milk or juice at breakfast.
She was clearly well taken care of. She had on brand new clothes - several layers of them, which is typical of China. The orphanage staff also brought us a large bag with lots of new clothes, a coat, new shoes, a photo album they made for us of all her pictures (including some we hadn't seen yet from when she was around 11 months old), the baby clothes she was found in, and some gifts for her that symbolize peace. We are so blessed to receive all of that. They love her and took great care of her!
Pictures will have to wait until tomorrow. Sorry ..... we are exhausted at this point. Kenzi is sleeping, and I hope she stays that way for a while!!!
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Day 1 - Sightseeing in Beijing - 12/3/2011
**** My dates may be a day off from when you are reading this! We are 13 hours ahead of Eastern time.
We made it through our first day in China! We started out with an Orientation with our adoption agency. We got to meet all the families in our group and hear details about the rest of our trip. After that meeting, we had a wonderful lunch with everyone. Then we headed out for some sightseeing.
First, we went to Tiananmen Square and walked around for a little while. The weather was beautiful today ... the temperature was probably around 40 degrees, but it was very sunny, so it felt warmer. Then we went across the street to The Forbidden City. It's in the background of this picture.
When we finished seeing The Forbidden City, we had been walking for well over 2 hours! Then we went to a silk factory where we learned about how silkworms spin silk and then how it is made into fabric. It was really interesting.
Jet lag - We're doing pretty well with it so far. It may hit us more in the next couple of days, though.
Tomorrow - Kenzi Day! We leave for the Beijing airport at 8:30 am and then fly to Fuzhou. We are scheduled to get Kenzi late in the afternoon.
We made it through our first day in China! We started out with an Orientation with our adoption agency. We got to meet all the families in our group and hear details about the rest of our trip. After that meeting, we had a wonderful lunch with everyone. Then we headed out for some sightseeing.
First, we went to Tiananmen Square and walked around for a little while. The weather was beautiful today ... the temperature was probably around 40 degrees, but it was very sunny, so it felt warmer. Then we went across the street to The Forbidden City. It's in the background of this picture.
When we finished seeing The Forbidden City, we had been walking for well over 2 hours! Then we went to a silk factory where we learned about how silkworms spin silk and then how it is made into fabric. It was really interesting.
Jet lag - We're doing pretty well with it so far. It may hit us more in the next couple of days, though.
Tomorrow - Kenzi Day! We leave for the Beijing airport at 8:30 am and then fly to Fuzhou. We are scheduled to get Kenzi late in the afternoon.
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