One Week Home

Many have asked how our newest little is doing and how we are all adjusting to our "new normal?"  What I can tell you is that my thoughts today went to how fast this one week home has flown by!  We were in China for two weeks and yet they seemed like forever....home one week today and I feel like we just arrived yesterday!
Backing up a bit....our flight home could not have been better.  We took a train to Hong Kong on Wednesday, slept one night in a hotel by the HK airport, and then departed the following morning for the USA.  The girls settled in well, ate well, and slept well.  We made it to Seattle and I immediately sought out some American-ish food....I say American-ish food because our friend, Veronica, asked me this summer just what was American food!  And that got me thinking....
We boarded our last flight to Atlanta after a brief layover and we were homeward bound.  Again, the girls did great and at touchdown we had a brand new American citizen.  Maryn got off of the plane and immediately asked, "So, where is our hotel?"  I was so happy to tell her that our hotel was at HOME.
We arrived on our street just before midnight and our driveway was packed with well-wishers who stayed up entirely too late to welcome us home.  Tears were shed as we made our way out of the car and introduced them all to Miss Chapman!  Our village certainly outdid themselves by giving so much of their time, cooking skills, carpooling coordinating, etc.!  They are all so amazing and we are indebted to them for life!
Around 2:00am, we made our way to begin to think about bedtime.  Ryan and I were exhausted yet it was at this time that I realized our girls, as sweet as they were on the flights, were not tired because they had rested the whole way home!  EEK!  On and off we slept for a few hours and then it was just time to get up for the day.  This pattern continued for a few nights but, I am so happy to report, we are all adjusted to the time now and sleeping peacefully at night.  HUGE praise!
We have agreed to make a conscience effort to keep Miss Chapman close to home for these first few weeks so as to not overwhelm her and to give her a chance to really know where home is.  Of course there have been a few instances that have interfered with this effort but for the most part, we have been successful in making this happen.
Chapman went to the pediatrician's office on Monday and had to suffer through the finger pricking process - she was less than happy about this process.  She got a great report!
Chapman has learned about ten words this week....we taught her "please" today.  Her delicate little voice is the sound of pure sweetness.  She smiles at just about anything and she charms everyone in her path.  All of her sweetness makes it hard to imagine that she has a bit of spunk sprinkled on top for an added flavor of personality.  When she gets mad, she is mad....and LOUD.  Thankfully, this is not her behavior 99% of the time so, for that, we are thankful!
We have been trying to get her to eat a variety of foods.  She is the most finicky little thing and she inspects every bite before it is allowed in her mouth.  We have been able to add a few new veggies and a few new fruits to her diet but she is still refusing most anything to drink.  Milk is a huge no-no! Chocolate milk is out too!  We have tried several things but, for now, she is living on 75% water mixed with 25% apple juice.  It is the drink of choice and we are sticking with it!
She loves to play.  She loves to go and take out anything that has contents - drawers are being rearranged, cabinets now have new items located in them, toys are strewn about our home - she is what I like to call the "wrecking ball!"  She is hilarious and will have your room turned upside down in a matter of seconds and it will all be done with a very satisfied little irresistible grin on her face.
She is timid around water.
She is getting used to our dog, Finley.  She likes him so much from a distance.
Napping is not something she wants to admit she may need occasionally.  She is in a state of denial and so we will be working on this in the weeks to come!  She does sleep all night and wakes up in the best of moods.
The children all adore her.  The bigs have done a great job loving on her but making sure to love on Maryn too!  Maryn loves being the big sister most of the time but will always be our baby in so many ways.
Integrating another little one in our home has proven to be good!  We were already juggling the schedules of five so number six is along for the ride!  She seems to like her carseat and when she gets bored, she pops her thumb into her mouth and goes to sleep.
We are still early in the game, still on Cloud 9, so though it all is falling into place today, it could change at any moment.  We are definitely still learning her and she is taking it all in.  My theory is that it takes a year.....a year to feel totally normal again, a year to really feel like you know your child and the reactions they are going to have to given situations.  She has a lot to endure in the days to come with doctor visits and a likely surgery so we will buckle up for the ride.  For now, I am thankful that we have our girl home safe and sound and our family is all under one roof!  My favorite part of this first week home has been kissing my babies goodnight every night.  There is nothing sweeter!

Our trip to the orphanage was a long, long day but oh so worth every moment we spent there.  Truthfully, seeing Chapman's face and whole demeanor totally change when she saw her foster mother was worth the entire trip.  

 Chapman had no response to the orphanage workers who brought her to the civil affairs office on Gotcha Day nor did she react when she saw the same two people the following day to finish up paperwork.  I needed her to have a response.  I needed to see that she had a connection or a bond with her caregivers.

 Her face lit up the room!  And Chapman kept her cheek right up against her foster mother's cheek while we were with her.  I asked if they were telling her to give her a kiss and they said yes, a cheek to cheek kiss.

 Chapman caused quite a fuss around the orphanage office.  She was quite the star of the show!  

 Chapman was all smiles and when I asked if she was always this sweet, they all responded, "YES!"

 After visiting with Chapman's foster mother, we were asked to tour the upstairs part of the orphanage.  Maryn quickly took her shoes off to play for a bit on their indoor playground.

 The walls were very bright and happy....

 and the bath room looked a bit interesting.

 The children all seemed happy and were thrilled to see us as we walked through.

 The drive to the orphanage took a total of four hours one way.  So we were in the van for eight hours in one day :/

 As a last resort kind of thing, I purchased make-up for Miss Maryn to keep herself occupied with during our trip.  It was a huge hit!  I had to laugh when she walked into the hotel lobby, 10pm, and the staff looked at her as if she had three heads!  Hilarious.

Shamian Island

For MK and Maddox's adoption, we stayed on Shamian Island with other adoptive families.  Now families stay off of the island closer to the US Consulate and the Medical Affairs building.  

 But one can't adopt from China and not go to the island for the day.  The island is a taste of home.  Absolutely beautiful!  It is quaint, the pollution seems so much less, it is green, you can walk freely as the traffic is not the same....

One of our favorite sites to see are the models who are being photographed for bridal magazines I assume....our first trip we thought they were all brides/grooms prepping for their big day!  Ha. Now we know, they are just models and probably don't even know one another.

 Starbucks

 Parks....and the locals hanging out....

 and mini ping pong games....

 and Lucy's.....we didn't eat there this time but I am sure it won't disappoint those who are craving western food.

 The island provides a great opportunity to get a few photos too!

 This smile is one of my seven favorite smiles!

 Maryn was all about purchasing a fan while in China.  She fell asleep as we toured the island but when she awoke, she was all smiles and asking for her fan.  We quickly made our way to a store and she immediately chose this fan and made her buy!

 A girl and her thumb.

 Maryn wasn't too much about being photographed....she was more into being silly and playing with her fan!

 And this sweet girl.

She enjoyed her freedom to walk a bit on this day and we watched her in awe with every step!

Chimelong Safari Park

The Safari Park in Guangzhou is amazing!  We were able to spend an entire day there with another family and a daily friend.  Though it was HOT, we loved every minute of our time seeing the animals in their own created habitats.

 The triplet pandas were born in 2014.  They were quite content eating their  bamboo and seemed to be taking their stardom in stride.

 Their poor mama was done.  She looked like she needed a long winter's nap!

 While visiting the safari park, we attended three shows that included a variety of animals and tricks.  This hippo was loving his part of the show - eating bunch of carrots!

 We watched as this baby tiger battled with an ice cube that contained some sort of meat in the middle.  He was not giving up!

 The giraffes were amazing.

 and the koalas, too cute!  They were awake and some were even walking around a bit!

 The tigers....such majestic creatures.

 A show in which part of the entertainment was watching this chimpanzee feed an elephant....really cute!

 Elephants....we watched as a few elephants even proceeded to play basketball with the trainer.  

 Wolves

 Flamingos

 Tigers....meat was hanging from this contraption and the tigers would lurch into it in hopes of snagging a piece!

 Chapman was all about ice cream!  She was so taken with this that she proceeded to eat most of the cone all by her little self.

 Our little Maryn asked and asked to see the pandas.  In fact, we couldn't find the pandas and I feared Maryn would totally sleep through the opportunity.  However, as luck would have it, all there of us awoke in time to see the pandas!

 Following our day at the safari, our friend Veronica wanted to continue to entertain us by taking us to eat dim sum.  It was SOOO good!  I knew she would know what to order!  Maryn and I struggled to eat with the chopsticks....and it was quite comical to see me feed Chapman noodles without any utensils.  My hands played a big part in her dinner that evening!  I asked our friend Veronica how she feeds her son and she said he is just learning to use chopsticks so she cuts everything up for him.  Great idea, only I didn't have a knife or scissors on hand!

 Our favorite person met us in China for the safari fun and dinner.  Veronica is one of those people that you meet very few of in life.  She is inspiring.  She has a heart of gold.  She works so hard for the children of China.  She wants them all to have a home.  She won't take "no" for an answer.  We adore Veronica and we are so thankful for the time we were able to spend with her in China!  

Reflections

Girls are no longer easy to adopt from China.  And there are far more little boys available for adoption in China than there are little girls.  The adoption of healthy baby girls from China, which used to be a fast process, is non-existent.  All children adopted from China have some sort of identified medical need.  

We are traveling with a single mom, her new 7 year old son, and her mother.  The mother smiled a huge smile one day and said to me, “I am so proud of her.  She has been preparing for this (motherhood) for a long time.”  This is, perhaps, one of the kindest remarks I have ever heard and I pray that I remember to tell my children just how proud I am of them as they accomplish their dreams in life.  It is so easy to get caught up in what we want our children to do in life or to worry about how their decisions will effect their futures that we forget to be in the moment and just be proud of who they are and where their lives/life experiences have taken them.  

Pizza every.single.night of a two week trip does actually get old.  

Coke Zero in China is awful.  

Several Chinese people working in the hotels or in a business that accommodates westerners often will give themselves an English name.  Some are very common - Grace, David - and then there are the ones that are just hilarious - one guy named “Fun” and another named “Crazy”…..

We have met some amazing families during our stay in China.  Families who are adopting for the first time - I love them because I love seeing and being reassured that there are still families seeking to adopt.  We have met families who are back for their fourth and fifth children, children who have pretty significant needs but are so worthy of love and the commitment of a family.  We have met families who are adopting aging out children, children that in less than a year would be forced to go to work at the age of 14.  Families are fabulous yet seeing these brave children is the real blessing.  These children, big and small, are some of the most resilient, strong, and deserving kiddos one will ever meet.  These are children who, more likely than not, have known love, they have been cared for BUT they have never known the true love of a family.  It is sad.  The children we have met this week are a mere fraction of the children who wait.  I was just told during this trip that an agency met with an orphanage recently that didn’t even know international adoption existed.  Imagine.  There are children, healthy children, who wait because of a lack of knowledge from the caretaker.  Blows my mind.  

I absolutely love hearing the Chinese language being spoken.  And it is even more joyful to hear a 7 year old little boy talk in his native tongue, huge smile on his face, and just know that he is loving his new life.

Being sick in China is scary.  Being sick in China, far away from medical care will take you into panic mode.  

The smells in China are quite breathtaking and unforgettable.

My parents have been amazing.  Pretty sure that they now know the good, the better and the not so good about the four older kiddos at home.  I am thankful for their willingness to keep our children at home and for the time that they have had to spend with them. 

The traffic in China puts Atlanta to shame.  The driving in China never disappoints.  Ryan made the comment that he just loves how anything can technically be a lane in China - sidewalks included!

There are moments when I do feel guilty that I can’t do more for these children.  I want them to all know the love of a family.

Is this our last adoption?  We are constantly asked this question by friends, family, and multiple times here in China.  Honestly, we have given up answering this question.  My children will tell you that we said MK was our last adoption.  And then Maddox was the last.  And then Maryn.  And now there is Chapman.  Truth?  We feel so blessed and honored to be given the privilege of parenting six children, bios and adopted.  Are we full?  Yes!  We feel like we are all good with our crew!  But one never knows for sure until God closes those doors or begins to ask other things of you…..we thought He was done but obviously He wasn’t.  And we are thankful for His many blessings!  

Snickers are universal.

Hong Kong is a beautiful city but it is where I feared for my life most in a driving situation.  I am pretty sure all four wheels were not on the ground when we arrived at our hotel for the night.  And we did not have seatbelts on. Then, we were greeted by the nicest little man who reminded me most of the wedding planner on Father of the Bride.  Absolutely the laugh I needed after the cab ride I had just experienced.  

Neighbors and friends are the best.  My village has been along side my parents for the past two weeks delivering meals, chauffeuring my children to and fro, and just entertaining them during the time that we have been away.  So very thankful for each of them!

Her Name

Chapman is named after my maternal grandfather.  I love a good family name and Chapman has always been one of my favorites!  It is very fitting to her for many reasons....first one being that on day one I noticed she responded when we called her name.  The reason?  Chapman sounds very much like her nickname at the orphanage, ChenChen.  Tonight as we were having dinner, I was reminded of the gifts that God gives us in some of the most subtle ways.  Chapman is a little jokester.  Just like my Grandaddy.  She loves a good game.  As I played with her and tickled her and she laughed, it struck me.....one of my favorite games to play with my Grandaddy growing up involved my back.  He would lay me across his lap and take his knuckle and climb my spine....if you do this, you are sure to laugh at some point!  We would see just how long we could take it before cracking up!  And my sweet Chapman, her need is in her back - meningocele.  Yet, she giggles and reminds me with every smile to remember this man who was such a large part of my life growing up.

A Day of Rest

Today was all about rest.
We slept late.  We took our time at breakfast.  We fed the fish.  We spent time at the pool - three hours to be exact and it was delightful.  We visited with new friends who are on this journey with us.  The stories, the families, and the children are all amazing.
We took a walk to the local Chinese equivalent of Target.  It's nice to get out of the hotel room and just be amongst the people of China dodging traffic like we do this everyday!  Our walk was Chapman's time to nap so she cuddled up on my chest and out she went for the next two hours as we browsed about the store.  Maryn was pleased to pull us around the toy department and make sure we saw each and every toy that was ready for purchase.  Thankfully, she just enjoyed her time looking and wasn't really interested in purchasing.
Then we took some time to play on the playground.  Guangzhou weather isn't really as bad as we remember it being in June two years ago BUT it is super humid nonetheless.  Once the girls were looking like they had been for a swim again, we chose to make our way inside to a more accommodating, air conditioned playroom.  The girls loved their time just hanging out!