Good morning! Yep, 4 am and I am up again. I guess this is my new normal. I wanted to say thank you so much for all the comments and posts you all have left. We read them all everyday and sometimes more than once. Rita, Ruby, Kristina, Meg, Nicole, Suzie, the Amblewood girls and all the others we thank you. To the many who are following, leave a comment. I am going to have the blog published into a baby book for Lauren and would love to have a comment from you to share that you were along for the journey too. I know some of you have asked questions in the comments and I haven't gotten to them but I will. Some that I remember right off the top of my head...
Did you have gotcha at the hotel? Yes! In a tiny little conference room. In Fujian Prov they don't go to the Civil Affairs Office they bring them to you. We went to the CAO on Monday morning after our first day. I missed all the photo's of the paperwork and the foot prints because we didn't really understand that was what we were doing.
When did we get the foster mom pictures? If you are with Holt you know about the red book update. At our meeting in Beijing we got the update with lots of updated pictures and information on Lauren. They are pictures that are priceless! Since we won't get to meet her Foster Family at least we have a photo of her and the mother to share and she will have a face to put with the memory.
How long was she with the Foster Family? She was in the Orphanage from April 2010 - December 20, 2010 at which time she was sent to foster care. So she has been in a family setting for 3 1/2 months. Being in foster care is so much better for the children. They learn to bond and with babies we know that touch and interaction is vital to learning attachment. I am pretty she not only did she have a loving Foster Mom but her dad must have been wonderful to her. When she sees certain Chinese men, which I have noticed have similar features, like very round face, on the taller side she goes all smiley. I told Mark we are in trouble with boy crazy girl already.
Some side note stuff I need to put down so I don't remember. These are all random. The hotel we are in now, the Lakeside, has a washing machine in the room. We are very lucky to have this. When I asked Tracy about how to operate it since it is all in Chinese she was stunned that we had one and had no idea how to use it. She said they don't really have them. So, I stuck my head out the door and found a nice man to come in and with all the sign language I could muster, he understood my need. He opened the soap dispenser, looked very confused and put some soap in the washer. Then turned the knob pushed a few buttons and the machine came on. He looked at me with this look like I have no idea what I am doing but it is running. He shrugged is shoulders smiled, I gave a thumbs up and off he went. So once the first of many loads were done it started to look like a laundry mat in here. The washer is very small. 2 pair of jeans is all that it will hold and that gave it a work out. But I am so thankful to have it. When I went to get Emma's pants for the day I noticed how stiff they were... well they literally could stand up on there own. I wish I have the camera out for that. They don't have fabric softener.
I don't think I mentioned this but to get a roll away bed for the hotel it would cost an extra $50 per night. So I was thinking, there is a Walmart here... wouldn't they have an air mattress that we could buy and just leave here for a lot less money. Sleeping with Emma in our bed was not going to work. So, Mark, Tracy and Emma went off to Walmart to find one. They did and now Emma has a bed to sleep in. Tracy just that I was the smartest mom ever and can't believe all the years no one thought of it. Ha, I am good like that. So we will leave it here with her for other families down the road. Oh, and I missed out on China Walmart because Lauren was sleeping so I am hoping that GZ has one. That was on my list of must sees.
That's it for now. I am going to go get my day started at 5 am since we have to be out the door by 9 and I have a baby to get fed and ready along with packing a diaper bag and all that goes with getting a family of 4 out the door. I now remember why I did so much the night before. Again, thanks so much for all the love and support. We are blown away by your kindness and having so many following along makes home feel not so far away!
In the future Lauren will look back at all the love and affection that was poured into this very special blog story. She is a very lucky little girl to have the opportunity to have such a bright future with a most fabulous Mommy, Daddy, and big sister. Best wishes for a fabulous life in America.
ReplyDeleteYou remind me of myself. I am looking forward to sightseeing at walmart. I am a fellow Holt mom waiting for DTC. I am so happy for you. I hope sleeping gets better for you. Congrats.
ReplyDeleteI was up at 4 every morning, sometimes earlier. Some nights I shut myself in the bathroom and sat on the floor to read where I wouldn't wake everyone else.
ReplyDeleteIt's wonderful that you have pictures of Lauren's foster mother. We have nothing on our son's foster family and the chances are slim to none that we will ever find anyone who knows anything about them, since he's from Beijing. Lauren will definitely cherish them when she gets older. Did I tell you that our first daughter is named Lauren? She's all grown up now with a husband and children, but I still love that name. I thought Lauren Bacall was just the classiest thing when I was younger.
It's wonderful, despite the tragic pictures, that Lauren cried when she met you. That bodes well for your bonding. Not surprised about the men. I think the children are spoiled by the men and raised by the mothers :-)
Smart woman with the bed!
Ruby
What a great idea to buy the air mattress! Imagine how many families will be grateful to you for years to come! I am absolutely loving following your blog and watching you discover who Lauren is in these first days. Thank you so much for letting me tag along!
ReplyDeleteAllo Kathleen, We leave on April 27! What kind of room you have!! You remerber, we are travelling with my mom? The room is smaller? How many bed you have?
ReplyDeleteLet us know to call the agency ! The pool is ok?
Thanks for the pictures!
Each day I came here to read your blog!
With love,
Suzie
Sounds like Fuzhou is super nice! And your hotel is right by the shore! Wow!!! Plus a washer/dryer?!?! A-W-E-S-O-M-E!!!!
ReplyDeleteOk- I feel bad that the 'No Jet Lag' pills didn't work that well for you....You are up at all sorts of hours!!! Sorry about that!!!
And, yeah, you HAVE to check out China Wal-Mart!!! It's just too wild to miss!!!
Glad things are going so well! Each day gets a little bit better and easier! I'm DEFINITELY finding that out here at home! :-)
Hugs!
Kristina
I just wanted to say thank you for all your detailed posts. We have an LID of 7/6/06 so we are anxiously waiting for our referral which could come in the next few months! In particular, your post about gotcha day was so helpful for us. We will be traveling with our 8 and 9 year old kids to get our daughter and their baby sister. I read your gotcha post aloud to both of them to let them know that things may get chaotic and that we need to be prepared for anything. And your post also gave me the opportunity to show them that they might get overwhelmed by the whole process. I told them that Emma is about their age and it was a bit much for her to handle and then it opened the door for another good conversation about how we need to keep talking about our feelings etc. So thank you so much from this waiting family for your candor. Your beautiful family is a joy to follow!
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