America

We arrived in Chicago at 6:40am on December 11th, and when we went through Immigration Ian became a US Citizen. We then went onto Tulsa and arrived a little bit before noon. Our Friday night flight from Guangzhou to Beijing was very eventful to say the least and because it was so hard I will spare you the details. We sat on the airplane for 3 hours before it took off for 3 hours so we arrived around 1am. We had about 2 hours of sleep before we headed back to the airport for our 7:55am flight to Chicago. Thankfully the kids slept a lot of the 12 hour flight and we only had a 2 hour layover in Chicago before flying to Tulsa.

Since being in America since Saturday we have been trying to get over jet lag, trying to get better from sickness and trying to keep the ones of us who are sick from the ones who are not!

We took Elijah to the doctor a few days ago and found out he had a double ear infection along with his cough, congestion and fever. When we were leaving Guangzhou we called our international doctor and he directed us to some antibiotic eye drops for Elijah's eyes since he needed that. A few days into being here Ev started having the problem with her eyes and this morning Todd woke up with his eye matted shut too. All of us have coughs now and I am just hoping we will be over the sickness and jet lag before Christmas!

Each day the kids are sleeping in a little later. The first morning Ev and Elijah woke up at 1:30am! We have spent our early mornings taking the whole family to Walmart, going to McDonald's for breakfast and baths all at 4am, 5am and 6am.

I haven't taken any pictures since Saturday so hopefully I will get to doing that again. Ian has continued to amaze us in every transition and experience. He has now eaten mac and cheese, peanut butter and jelly sandwich, roast, mashed potatoes, green beans, oranges, apples, donuts, cereal among other things. We began feeding him baby food but he has mastered feeding himself so well that we only give him table food now. Ian has watched the kids drink out of sippy cups so we bought him one and he has figured that out too. This morning Todd tried giving him real milk instead of formula and he wanted more. He is not a picky eater at all!

Yesterday Todd and I took him to his first US doctor's appointment. Our doctor was pleased with where he is at and thinks things are going well. She looked over all the medical records we were given and also is not worried about his heart condition. She isn't even suggesting we have it checked out further. Since he is developmentally delayed we will hopefully qualify for a free service that will come to our house and work with him on all the areas he is delayed in. We are excited for this opportunity to have these services while we are here in the States.

GuangZhou Pictures

This is the beautiful tree in the lobby of our hotel

This was as good as I could get of the 3 of them.

Before we got Ian he had never seen his belly. So now he likes to show everyone just like his brother does.

Hobs showing off his belly too. You should have heard the comments I was getting as I was taking these shots.

This shot is from our bedroom looking into the bathroom. There is a curtain that comes down so you don't have to be on view for everyone.

Ian LOVES the bathtub!

We are leaving Guang Zhou tonight and heading to Beijing to spend the night. Tomorrow at 7:55am (Friday night 5:55pm in America) we leave for Chicago. We stop in Chicago for a couple of hours and then will arrive in Tulsa sometime before 11am.

We have spent the past few days just hanging out here around our hotel. After the buffet breakfast we've been feeding the fish outside along the gardens. Yesterday we went to the play room here at the hotel and the kids played for a few hours. Ian really enjoys the stroller so as we go to dinner and are outside the little boys are in the stroller and Ev walks with us. Ev even helps us push the stroller too.

Christmas Season

This was our first Christmas married - 2005


Hobs was a chunky monkey! 2008



Ev Christmas 2008


Our first Christmas in China 2007 - Elijah was in my tummy


Christmas 2008 - Todd and Ev playing the guitar/broom during our Advent Worship time


Christmas 2008 - This Christmas we decided to go back to America to see my Grandma. We left Christmas eve so we had to open all of our presents and pack in a day.

My Advent Calendar that I made in 2008

Christmas 2009 - We took this picture for our Homestudy which was on December 11, 2009. This December 11th we will arrive in America as a family of 5!

We started our tradition of Advent with the kids. It isn't the same this year, we don't have any decorations up other than the kid's nativity set. I love decorating for Christmas so I am a little sad that we don't get to decorate this year. I'm also a little sad we are not using the Advent calendar I made and we have been using the past few years. We decided it was a little too big to be taking everywhere this month. With our Advent calendar each night we read part of the story of Jesus' birth. The kids pull out picture cards and or a nativity character to add to the picture scene story and the kid nativity. Ev got really good at telling the story last year since we spent the 30 days leading up to Christmas telling it slowly and over and over.

So since I can't decorate here are some Christmas time pictures over the past few years. Sorry they are not in order.

Good byes

In the line of work we are in good byes are never easy. And since we do them all the time I think it only gets harder the more and more we say goodbye. As our bedroom is a disaster area with clothes, toys, luggage and everything all over the floor it reminds me of when we packed to come here 3.5 years ago. Packing is stressful for me, maybe because I am a very systematic person but I have to know where everything is and organize it all as I pack.

As I pack I am thinking of this coming week, our last full week here. Our emotions are all over the place. We finally can go and get Ian and we have been waiting for this for a year now. There is much relief to know that we are almost at the end of the road and in a week we will have him in our family. At the same time there is sadness. Ev and Elijah along with us will be saying goodbye to several good friends who have become like family to us since we live here. There is something about the community here we stand in for each other and do things for each other because we are as close as we can get to family. It is hard for the kids to say goodbye. Their friends are here and they don't remember America other than it is a land of milk and honey where their grandparents and family live. I am anxious about living in America again. Life has gone on and we haven't been there for over 3 years. Elijah has never been in America longer than 5 weeks. The kids home is here, their toys are here and they are use to life here.

People assume since we are Americans that we love it here and it is just a smooth transition coming back. I know we will all have our moments. I have been asking some other moms about how their kids respond to America and I've heard of how it is really hard on the kids. I feel a little out of the America loop and will the kids since they don't really understand America. Life here is so much slower pace compared to there I am not sure what or how I will react. When we were in America in July I was hit really bad with culture shock so I know it will hit me again.

So for those of you we will be around please give our family grace. We really do look forward to America in several ways but it is going to be an adjustment for us all especially Ian. One thing that helps in a transition like this is to ask us about what we have been doing for the past 3 plus years. I am sure the kids would love to tell you about their lives here, their favorite noodles, their playground, and about their life and friends here.

Thank you for being along our journey with us. We are excited for this next stage of life even with all the transitions and change.

Can you believe this picture? It was taken July 4, 2007 when we left Tulsa to move here. How our family has changed since then! We'll take a family picture of us leaving the capital to compare.

Travel Approval and Travel Plans

On Friday our Travel Approval came a few days earlier than we were told. Our agency was able to set an appointment at the Consulate for December 8th and we bought our tickets to Shanghai a few nights ago. Todd and I will leave very early on Sunday November 28th we will connect in another city and make it to Shanghai around noon. We will leave Evangelia and Elijah here since we will be coming back Tuesday November 30th and we are still figuring out the details of who will be watching them. Todd and I will arrive in Shanghai and we will go to where Ian was found. Then on Monday we will get him! I am not sure who is bringing him but since we are not with a travel group they may bring him to our hotel room. We will spend Monday getting to know each other and we will take a trip back to his orphanage to see where he has spent his last 15 months and then most of Tuesday we will be filling out more papers. Tuesday night we will leave and get into our city around midnight. I am hoping and asking that Ian will sleep in the Ergo.

We will arrive back here and have a time for our friends here to meet him and also say good bye for the next 6 months. We'll be here only a few days and then our entire family will leave for Guangzhou either December 5th or 6th. Most likely we will be traveling again at night so we hope that all 3 kiddos will do well. We have quite a travel schedule. To get to Guangzhou we have to connect in another city first. We will not only be traveling with 3 kids for the first time but we will also be traveling with everything we will need for the next half of a year! I am packing right now and hoping to get our items in only 5 pieces of luggage. So that means in total we will have 5 possibly 6 large bags, 4 backpacks, 1 large stroller, 2 adults and 3 kids - 4yrs, 2.5yrs, and 1.5 yrs old. To leave the country we will probably be flying to the capital and spending the night and then leave the following day for our long 24 hour trip back to America. It will seem like we are traveling for a week to get back to America since we will leave our home on either the 5th or 6th and arrive back in America on the 11th or so.

Ian will still be on his schedule and we will have to work with him and around our family's schedule. I am pretty hopeful that Ev and Elijah will do well with all the travel. For their young ages they are pretty seasoned international travelers. I hope they both will stay busy with the many things I am packing in their back packs so I can tend to Ian. I am asking that he will go with the flow and that he won't get too stressed out by the several airplane rides and everything else that is new to him.

I still have a lot to do. We are hosting Thanksgiving I am cooking the turkey and a few small items. Todd is still going to class this week so I am just praying that I can get everything done that I need to in the next 6 days!

Chicago Airport Kids Play Area

This play area in the airport was exactly what we needed. The kids loved that they could fly the airplane, put gas into the airplane and that they could put luggage on.

Over 2 hours spent well. By the time we got on our plane it was their nap time and because they had played so hard and since we got up at 3:30am that morning they quickly feel asleep. A nice way to start out a 13 hour flight.

A few pictures of our time in America

Adjusting with Jet Lag

We made it home late our Tuesday night. It was a LONG day which started at 3:30am Tuesday in America and ended at 10pm on Wednesday here.

So far we have been trying to get over jet lag. It seems like every day we digress more. I don't think that is suppose to happen.

This was our day today:

5:30 am - we hear the kids over the noise of the fan in our room. They had been playing for a while and were ready to get up. So we get up.

7:15-8:30,45ish - we have our usually Skype date with my grandpa and mom

9:00am - we head out the door to go to the playground, the kids are needing to burn off some energy outside. Todd and I feel like it is noon already.

10:20am - after playing on the playground and walking around our apartment complex we head for the bus to take a 20 minute ride plus a 10 minute walk to a coffee shop

10:45am - arrive at the coffee shop to have our "second breakfast". thankfully the coffee shop has a kid play area.

11:45am - we walk back to get to the bus and go home

12:05pm- we get home and the kids play for a little while, then we clean up the toys that are out

12:30pm- we put the kids down for naps, while we hang out in our bedroom, Todd watching TV on the computer in bed.

2:00pm - Todd and I take a nap

8:45pm - Todd wakes up and we realize it is almost 9 at NIGHT! We get the kids up and eat. The kids wanted cereal since it was morning in America.

9:00pm - We head outside again but with our flashlights. Todd and I wear our head lamps and we buy the kids one. We walk around for a while and then head back to the playground. The kids use their flashlights as they play and our headlamps light up the playground.

9:45pm - we come back inside and let the kids play a little more, get them in their pjs and try to head to bed.

10:00pm - kids in bed but playing and talking and eventually fall asleep.

4:00AM- Todd and I managed to do things and are STILL asleep. What have we done?

Nap time today = BIG MISTAKE!

Doctor's Visits

In our week and a half being here we have already been to the Pediatrician TWICE. They wanted us to come back for a third time but it was the day of Kara's wedding and Todd told them that we would come ONLY if it was an extreme emergency.

First we went to the doctor because Ev was having a hard time going to the bathroom. We were concerned she may have a UTI so we quickly took action. As we were talking to the doctor we were finding out that constipation could play a role in her problem and since we had been traveling for 24 hours and in a different country we realized that her little system wasn't adjusting as quickly as the rest of us. This was a new level of understanding with transition to America.

We had to go into the doctor's office again and while we did the follow up we also asked our doctor to test the kids for melamine. If you haven't heard the crazy saga of what is going on in our country we were notified that in our province they found milk and other milk products that had 500xs the amount of melamine. Back in 2008 all across the country kids were dying of melamine in milk products so ironically the milk made in our province wasn't on the list to watch out for and was an option to use. But now they are the one to stay away from. I guess we can't win. The whole milk scare has been concerning to our community and we decided to have the kids checked out since they drink and consume milk products every day. It is just a little nerve racking to be worried about milk. We haven't decided yet but we will probably be taking back something when we go home.

Now when I first called the doctor's office I had to tell them that it has been a little while since we have visited. Actually it had been 3 years... that isn't typical and we got lots of questions about it. And when we came asking for them to test the kids for melamine they didn't know what to do with us. I guess you don't have to worry about dairy farmers putting toxic substances into the milk here. :) Our kids ended up getting blood drawn and they tested everything looking for toxic substances. Both kids hadn't had this done since they were babies so it was an experience for us. Ev did awesome she has always been our trooper when it came to shots. I held her in my lap and talked her through what was going to happen. Todd held her arm down and we told her to look away from her arm and to count. She calmly did exactly what we asked and wasn't phased by the pinch of the needle. She even counted in Chinese and impressed the nurse. Elijah on the other hand was a basket case. He cried the entire time even as Ev was calmly counting for him since he couldn't finish.

Hopefully we are done with doctor's visits while we are here. I did take pictures of the kids playing in the waiting room. We don't have anything like that back in our city. I'll have to post my pictures when we get home. I didn't bring the cord to download them to the computer.

Packing for the AIRPLANE

We leave tomorrow to fly to the capital of this country. The next day we fly to America. The kids are just a little excited to fly. They have been telling everyone about it. Ev tells people we are going on an airplane to see Aunt Kara in her wedding dress. Kara you may need to wear white when you come to the airport or Ev will be a little disappointed. :) J/K

Elijah doesn't really know what he means when he tells people he is going to America. Little guy doesn't remember America. He was 7 months old when he was there for the first time.

I have been packing and figuring out what to occupy the kids attention during the long 13 hour flight. I've made a few things and have been saving things out of care packages for a while for times like these.

If you haven't taken 2 toddlers on a 2 hour flight, half of a day layover, 13 hour flight, 4 hour layover, and another 2 hour flight totally our trip time to 24 hours, then here is a little picture into my world right now. Thankfully this is our first flight where EVERYONE has a seat. Thanks to Mr. Hobs turning 2 back in May he officially doesn't have to sit on my lap anymore. That makes me happy. :) There is nothing like a cramped seating arrangement where poor Todd's legs usually take over my leg room and then my lap gets taken by a baby.

Some keys to our successful plane rides are:

1.PLENTY OF SNACKS! Food is key to my family being satisfied, quiet and content. Thanks Grandpa for the fruit snacks, M&M's, animal crackers! We will eat them all.

2. Lots of interesting things to do. I have plenty of Disney princess stickers, crayons, sticker book, dolls, and small coloring books for Ev. I have new trucks and play mat for him along with some sports stickers, baseball figures, play dough, coloring books, Magna doodle, and other things for Elijah.

3. Sleep- we are hoping the kids sleep on the plane. I am asking that we will be around people who don't want to talk and want to sleep too. Last time we took this flight we were surrounded by a group of high schoolers coming back from a trip. They were pumped and can I just say NO ONE SLEPT! Meaning my kids didn't either when the kids don't sleep, mommy doesn't either.

We leave this country Tuesday July 6th at 2:15pm and arrive in Chicago on Tuesday July 6th at 2:15pm. No, you didn't read that wrong we travel back in time to arrive in America which is 13 hours behind us. Crazy, huh? There really is time travel for those of you LOST fans. :)

Then we should be arriving into Tulsa sometime past bedtime. We appreciate your prayers for our flights!

Next time I post, it will be "from YOUR side of the world!" YEAH

Preparing for Aunt Kara's Wedding

Ev loves wedding dresses and loves that her aunt Kara is getting married this July. Ev is going to be able to walk down the aisle so in preparation for that I had her walk down our hallway with a bouquet of flowers from our wedding. She has been carrying the flowers all around the house. I think she will be ready for the real deal come July.
First she walked down the hallway in her Cinderella dress, crown and heels. Then Elijah had to walk down the hallway too, but he was wearing his Handy Manny outfit. Too cute.

Pictures