One year ago today... Terra Cotta Soldiers

This was our 2nd full day with Helaina last year, and it was a busy one. After finalizing the paperwork at the Civil Affairs office the day before, this was our first full sight-seeing day. It was also the day that Helaina's personality made it's full debut. The quiet-ness, shy-ness and hesitency of the previous day melted away as she laughed out loud, played with vim & vigor, ate like crazy and had a ball with everything we did. She had Jim and I laughing the entire day.

Our early morning trip was to the Flying Goose Pagoda - or was it the Grey Goose Pagoda? Very impressive. The monks were out doing digging in a garden and Jim was invited to help out!

In the teriffic gift shop (where we dropped lots of yuan), the first photo shows Helaina's "chop" being carved. The next photo shows the artist writing Helaina's name on the inside of her painted panda bottle - this was very impressive.

Our next sight seeing adventure was to the amazing Terra Cotta Soldiers exhibit.

Wow is the only word to describe these massive pits full of the clay horses, weapons and soldiers. We had seen television shows on this many times before traveling to China, but to actually walk through the doors to this facility and see the pit filled with the warriors is an amazing experience - one of the more memorable moments from our trip for me - aside from getting our Helaina, of course!

Lunch was at the restaurant at the soldier exhibit and it was very good. Seven courses were served that included a variety of yummy dishes. The funniest thing was when I put a plate of food in front of Helaina and she picked up both chopsticks and started stabbing at the food. She was actually quite good with them. People at the surrounding tables were watching her antics and laughing.

When we left the exhibit we walked back to the parking lot a different way - through an area with vendors set up on both sides of the walkway. They would hold up various items and shout at you "One American dollar!"

When we returned to the hotel in the afternoon we wanted Helaina to nap before dinner. Here whe was probably thinking "I slept in the van on the way back. Do I really have to nap now?" Yes was the answer, because Momma and Daddy needed a nap too!

One year ago today, GOTCHA!!!!

On March 9, 2008 at about 5:30pm in a small Civil Affairs office in Xi'an China, a little girl named Men Ying had her life changed forever. She emerged from a white van being carried by one of her aunties, all sweaty and crying (she had fallen asleep on the ride over) - but it was ok to cry because her Momma and Daddy were soon doing the same thing. She was handed to me crying, kicking and screaming like the little spitfire that she still is today! I remember how strong she was struggling in my arms, then I remember thinking "Man, this little gal is heavier than I thought she'd be!" After a while I reluctantly handed her over to Daddy hoping maybe she'd stop the fussing - no way!

The first picture I snapped of our daughter - love the look on that adorable little face as she snuggled in her aunties arms for the last time.

Daddy holding his daughter for the first time with Helaina clutching the lollipop that she emerged with from the van. She's also holding the panda that we sent her for her 2nd birthday.

Back at the hotel - I wanted to change her diaper, strip some of the layers of clothes off of her and wash her face before dinner. Notice she's still clutching the lollipop and panda! When I took her diaper off I remember saying something to Jim like "Geez, get a look at these thighs!" Helaina came to us a hefty and healthy 27 pounds!

Our first dinner together at the hotel. We didn't want to give her too many different food items at first fearing stomach upset, or worse! She had cheese, crackers, watermelon, some type of mystery meat and a bowl congee. Later that night in the room we gave her applesauce that we brought with us - big hit!

Back in the hotel room after dinner and a bath, which she loved. We walked all over the hotel hallways and the lobby that night. I remember when we walked out of the hotel room she reached up and took my hand to hold. She couldn't have melted my heart any more if she had tried!

Helaina was so good that night. She didn't cry at all after her initial tantrum at the Civil Affairs office. We didn't get any smiles or sounds out of her that first night, however she was sweet, cooperative but cautious and just seemed generally accepting of the situation she was in. She let us hold, hug and kiss her all we wanted. I don't remember what time we finally put her in the crib to sleep, but I do remember she zonked right out and slept 9 hours straight through - poor exhausted little gal.

One year ago today, we flew over the rainbow!

It was one year ago today that we headed off to China to pick up our daughter - the little girl who we only had 3 pictures of, the little girl whose face we had memorized by heart because we stared at it for hours, the little girl who we fell in love with after reading only a little bit of information that the orphanage had provided. You take such a leap of faith with international adoption, and thankfully our giant leap of faith to the other side of the world gave us the daughter of our dreams. On our way to the airport, gulp!

No, I don't look too nervous, do I? I was wondering if there were barf bags in the airport waiting area. When we walking down the ramp to board, before entering the plane I could see the pilot through his side window. He was eating a granola bar and he looked so young - another Doogie Howser moment for me. I relayed that information to my husband, whose job it was to keep me calm for the next 17 hours of flight time, and he said something reassuring like "Well, every pilot has to have his first flight some time." Geez, honey, thanks. I will say that the flight to Chicago was smooth and relatively short so I did gain a bit of "flying" confidence on that first flight, but not much.

While waiting in O'Hare for our flight to Beijing, I had a mini heart attack when I saw our jet pull up to the windows. I saw the size of the nose on the jet and thought "Oh my gosh - it's HUGE". I also have always wondered about the windows (windshield, whatever) that the pilots look out of. Is it just me, or shouldn't the windows that the pilots SEE out of to FLY the jet be BIGGER than those 2 dinky little things?

A view out of our window when flying over the Arctic Ocean. Amazing. I think Jim was looking for polar bears!!!!

In between the movies (all 5 of them), they would flash pertinent information on the movie screen. This first screen was comforting to me (uh huh) - 516 miles per hour at 32,000 feet. Ok, will it be a soft emergency landing in all that snow? Then time to destination, 8 more hours - I already asked Jim "Are we there yet?" about a hundred times. He was as anxious to land as I was!

2 of my most favorite pictures taken from the plane - a mountain range we saw while flying over Siberia. I think it was about 2:00 in the morning at this point in time. The amazing thing is that you fly in complete daylight the entire trip because you're "chasing the sun".

We finally landed in Beijing and made our connection to Xi'an where our guide and driver met us at 9:30pm Saturday night and took us to our hotel. It was the hottest hotel room I had ever been in, and that was with the so-called "air conditioning" cranked to frigid. I remember collapsing onto the bed being as exhausted as I've ever felt in my life thinking "ok, so this is what sleeping on a concrete slab feels like." It didn't matter, though, because Helaina was spending her last night ever in an orphanage and she'd be in our arms in less than 24 hours.

D-D-D-D-D-Dora backpack

Helaina absolutely loves her Dora backpack that she got as a birthday gift. Yesterday after her nap she loaded it up with some of her treasures and wore it around the house until Jim came home from work. This morning Helaina put on her backpack, said "bye bye" to me and headed down the hallway. When I asked her where she was going, she said "work"! Guess it was because Jim was getting ready to leave for work so she thought she'd head out too.

I tried to get her to look over her shoulder before I snapped this picture but she couldn't quite get it. She kept turning her whole body around!

I know, I know - these 2 pics will be embarassing to Helaina when she's older, but they were just too funny not to share.


On a historic note, last year on this very same day Jim and I were attempting to pack a mountain-sized pile of stuff into 3 suitcases and 2 carry-ons because we were leaving for China the next day, March 7th. I can't believe that it's been a year already. Looking back, we had no idea just what an adventure of a lifetime we would be starting in less than 24 hours!

Sidewalk chalk & "baskball"

Yesterday after Helaina's nap we ventured out into the windy, frigid temperatures so she could open her gigantic 52-piece bucket of sidewalk chalk she got for her birthday. I got tired of her carrying it around the house saying "open, open, open pleeeze, Momma, open pleeeeeeze" so I gave in. We bundled up because it was very windy and she kept her "glums" (gloves) on when we were out there so her fingers wouldn't freeze. We drew circles and numbers and a hopscotch board and doodles. Before I could stop her she layed down in the driveway to make a snow angel, so now the back of her jacket is covered with chalk, dirt and driveway crummies. When I told her that the jacket was filthy, she responded with "laundry". Yah, that's what I'm good for. We were outside for about 30 minutes and even though she protested, I dragged her into the house with red cheeks and a drippy nose.

"Baskball Hoop"

We bought Helaina a Little Tikes basketball hoop as a birthday present but were going to give it to her at our family party on Sunday. In all the chaos and partying, we both completely forgot - actually until last night! I was watching a show on TV and saw some kids playing with a similar basketball hoop and screamed to Jim "Oh my gosh, we forgot to give her the basketball set!" We had hidden it in the basement covered with a sheet so she wouldn't find it and we forgot all about it. Jim told her to wait in the kitchen while he went downstairs to get it. When she saw it the smile on her face was priceless. She yelled "baskball hoop"! She took the ball and began to shoot hoops like crazy. She was making just about all of them too either tossing the ball right in or having it bounce in off the backboard. She must have done this about 25 times straight until we told her to take a break because she was getting all sweaty. She just loves it - came downstairs this morning in her jammies and started shooting baskets before anything else. Now when she makes a basket she shouts "2 point"!

One year ago today we received our travel dates!

Yup, one year ago today we found out we were leaving for China in 4 days. I remember hearing the departure flight information from our agency over the phone and sort of going numb! The reality finally sank in that I would be flying half way around the world and it was a mixture of emotions from terror (fear of flying - I'm a very nervous flyer) to excitement to nausea! There would be 3 flights totaling about 17 hours of flying time all within a 24 hour period to get us to China. To say that I was scared to death was an understatement. Good thing Jim was a calm & cool experienced flyer because he offset the bundle of nerves that I was. I will say that with each flight I gained a little more confidence though. On the 3 flights home there was no time for me to be anxious any more because Helaina hated flying. She hated being confined and absolutely hated the seat belt. From Guangzhou to Hong Kong I think she screamed the entire time. For the 13 hour & 52 minute (!) flight from Hong Kong to Chicago she gave us a run for the money. It was a turbulent flight at times and she had to have the seat belt on a lot - that was a nightmare. In this picture we were on the last leg home from Chicago and she was so exhausted that she slept the entire time!

March 19, 2008 about 7:00pm, just before landing. Amen!

Oh, what a day for the birthday girl Helaina

On Sunday we celebrated Helaina's birthday with family, food, cake, balloons, lots of fun and lots of laughs. Helaina provided the entertainment, as usual. She was in purple from head to toe - purple silk Chinese outfit, purple nail polish with toes painted to match, purple bow in her hair and (yes) even purple eye shadow! Snacks had to include her favorite cheese doodles, beefstick and Starbursts. The meal had to be macaroni with "noda" (soda) to drink! She loved her helium balloons that Daddy got her with Nemo, Dora and the Backyardigans on them. She loved opening her gifts which included great clothes and some cool toys. She particularly loved her pink Easter hat, a cute jacket which she put on immediately and didn't want to take off, a gigantic package of sidewalk chalk, a Dora backpack and a pop-up type of tent (which now takes up half of the family room - as if it weren't crowded enough with "Helaina stuff" already). We all sang Happy Birthday as she wore her Backyardigan birthday hat and stared at the candles on her huge pink elephant cake. It was a party that we waited a long time to have - can't believe Helaina's been with us almost a year already. Last year at this time we had just received our travel approval and were waiting for our travel dates. Yikes, how time flies!

"Here, Mom. You get the cards, right? Unless there's money in them."

A little help from Josh with the presents.

The jacket and hat that she loved so much.

The pop-up tent that literally sprang open when removed from the box it came in!

Blowing out he candles.

The cut-out cookies Helaina and I made last week. Yup, 6 baking sheets full of cut-out cookies made with a 3 year old - it took HOURS (what was I thinking). By the time we were done, the kitchen, Helaina and I were covered with powdered sugar and flour! We also made cut-out cookies of her hand but they were gone before I decided to snap a picture of them.

Helium balloons from Daddy and our new flag of China.

Helaina with her pal Baby Nic. Helaina absolutely loves to kiss her, hug her, pat her face and rub her little head! She's very gentle with her too.

Half way through the party I realized that we hadn't snapped a full length picture of Helaina in her outfit. She agreed to stand still long enough for this shot, but her purple eye shadow had already worn off and her hair bow was missing - that's nothing unusual!

I will admit that I got a lump in my throat and teary-eyed when singing Happy Birthday to Helaina. I still find it hard to believe that this amazing toddler is our daughter forever. I think about Helaina's birth mother a lot, and hope that she knows in her heart that the infant daughter she gave up at 3 weeks of age has blossomed into a beautiful child who is is happy, healthy, getting everything necessary for her "special need", is loved beyond belief and will never want for anything.