Saturday, September 29, 2007
No access in China
We did not have access to the blog in China, so I will be posting the updates I wrote in China, now.
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Here safely
Hello from Beijing. We are here and we are (mostly) alive. With dad it is a near thing. He is incredibly stiff and sore. I feel bad at how rough the trip has been on him. Catching the family up on what all has happened.
Monday while preparing to leave I realized Baby Bug had all the symptoms of a UTI, so off to the doctor we went. Yup she has one. As well as putting her on antibiotics, I got the lecture about keeping her hydrated on the trip, not an easy thing. I also scraped my finger while putting up Mei Meis crib. It was so small I barely noticed I had done it, and certainly didn’t stop to do anything about it. Tuesday morning when I woke up my finger was sore I glanced at it to find a blister that was shooting off red fingers. Sigh, I lanced it ant put polysporin on it and a band aid. Then Baby Bug woke up with a cold. On travel day, with over 20 hours in the air, she has a cold. So know I am wondering about ear pain. S my brother, had come up to help us get ready (THANK YOU S!!!) and called to see if we could bring 4oz bottles of cold medicine on the plane with us, the answer was not without a doctors note. So off to the doctors again to get the note. I have a wonderful doctor’s office, so they just had it waiting for me to pick up. Then it was home to load the car. S and dad had to fit the luggage like a jigsaw puzzle. We had been told to be to the airport 3 hours early because security was heightened for September 11th. We planned on 2 ½ as we couldn’t picture it being too bad at SLC. We could have planed for 30 min. and been fine. We sat and waited in a nearly empty terminal. Baby Bug was good but busy. The gal at the gate was having fun watching her. She told us her son and daughter in law were waiting for a referral from China. She the proceeded to pre board us ahead of every one else. After we boarded the flight, Baby Bug wanted to know if we were there yet, because she was tiered and wanted to go to bed. She then proceeded to inform us that flying was boring, boring, boring, and she only wanted to fly in helicopters from now on. LOL. For all that she was well enough behaved. In LAX the 3 hour 20 min layover was just enough time to get checked through and use the rest room. We were able to get seats reassigned together. It turns out that the flight was about half empty. All the flight attendants were great and spoiled Baby Bug. One in particular fell in love with her and gave her chocolates and let us use the business class bathroom. You would not believe how good Baby Bug was! She entertained herself most the flight. The only down side was that she only slept about three hours. But she was so good that dad and I had the option of sleeping. I slept less than Baby Bug though. Dad did better, but still didn’t get much rest, and he needs it more than Baby Bug and I. I did fine until the last little while, and then I went in to a doozy of a migraine. I was not fully functioning. We deboarded at HK to find that the stroller clips (to hold two umbrella strollers together) had not all made it through to HK. We had to wait for the check in counter to open, and while watching for the China Air counter to open, didn’t realize it was being checked in at another counter. I finally asked when it would open, and was told to go to the other counter. The line was huge, and VERY slow moving. The lady who checked us in told me what gate then wrote on the ticket the # 70. Dad heard 26, I don’t remember hearing anything. I still am not sure what the seventy was, but if I had looked at the tickets I would have known the gate was 26. Keep in mind I was still fighting a migraine. We went out to gate 70, the furthest gate in the terminal. And then had to RUN the whole way back to 26. And we still just barely made the last boarding call. The China air flight to Beijing was NICE. Larger seats than we had on Cathay with more leg room and they served a nice breakfast. Baby Bug fell asleep on this flight and really didn’t want to wake up. We finally got her awake only then she wanted to be carried. What with the luggage that was difficult to do. She was doing OK until we hit the (long) lines before showing our passport. Then she fell apart and could not get it back together. She screamed and cried. The security guard finally put us through at the front of the line. We got the care packages off to China Care. We were met at the airport by a guide who brought us to the Jiangou Garden Hotel. The Hotel we stayed in last time was the Jiangou Hotel. I had thought they were the same hotel. Mom, the hotel you and dad stopped at to get a cab on the way back from the Forbidden City is the one we are staying in. The room is much larger and there are two double beds rather than two twins. It is worn at the edges, but clean. Mom I am sending you pictures of the room. Baby Bug was trying to fall asleep in the car on the way here but perked up once we got here. We took a cab to pizza hut (Baby Bug’s request) and it took a lot of work to keep her awake then she perked up in pizza hut only to fall asleep on the way back to the hotel. After I broke my back carrying her up to the room, she woke up and is now laying watching Berenstain Bears. Dad is in bed asleep and I will be following soon. We love and miss you.
Monday while preparing to leave I realized Baby Bug had all the symptoms of a UTI, so off to the doctor we went. Yup she has one. As well as putting her on antibiotics, I got the lecture about keeping her hydrated on the trip, not an easy thing. I also scraped my finger while putting up Mei Meis crib. It was so small I barely noticed I had done it, and certainly didn’t stop to do anything about it. Tuesday morning when I woke up my finger was sore I glanced at it to find a blister that was shooting off red fingers. Sigh, I lanced it ant put polysporin on it and a band aid. Then Baby Bug woke up with a cold. On travel day, with over 20 hours in the air, she has a cold. So know I am wondering about ear pain. S my brother, had come up to help us get ready (THANK YOU S!!!) and called to see if we could bring 4oz bottles of cold medicine on the plane with us, the answer was not without a doctors note. So off to the doctors again to get the note. I have a wonderful doctor’s office, so they just had it waiting for me to pick up. Then it was home to load the car. S and dad had to fit the luggage like a jigsaw puzzle. We had been told to be to the airport 3 hours early because security was heightened for September 11th. We planned on 2 ½ as we couldn’t picture it being too bad at SLC. We could have planed for 30 min. and been fine. We sat and waited in a nearly empty terminal. Baby Bug was good but busy. The gal at the gate was having fun watching her. She told us her son and daughter in law were waiting for a referral from China. She the proceeded to pre board us ahead of every one else. After we boarded the flight, Baby Bug wanted to know if we were there yet, because she was tiered and wanted to go to bed. She then proceeded to inform us that flying was boring, boring, boring, and she only wanted to fly in helicopters from now on. LOL. For all that she was well enough behaved. In LAX the 3 hour 20 min layover was just enough time to get checked through and use the rest room. We were able to get seats reassigned together. It turns out that the flight was about half empty. All the flight attendants were great and spoiled Baby Bug. One in particular fell in love with her and gave her chocolates and let us use the business class bathroom. You would not believe how good Baby Bug was! She entertained herself most the flight. The only down side was that she only slept about three hours. But she was so good that dad and I had the option of sleeping. I slept less than Baby Bug though. Dad did better, but still didn’t get much rest, and he needs it more than Baby Bug and I. I did fine until the last little while, and then I went in to a doozy of a migraine. I was not fully functioning. We deboarded at HK to find that the stroller clips (to hold two umbrella strollers together) had not all made it through to HK. We had to wait for the check in counter to open, and while watching for the China Air counter to open, didn’t realize it was being checked in at another counter. I finally asked when it would open, and was told to go to the other counter. The line was huge, and VERY slow moving. The lady who checked us in told me what gate then wrote on the ticket the # 70. Dad heard 26, I don’t remember hearing anything. I still am not sure what the seventy was, but if I had looked at the tickets I would have known the gate was 26. Keep in mind I was still fighting a migraine. We went out to gate 70, the furthest gate in the terminal. And then had to RUN the whole way back to 26. And we still just barely made the last boarding call. The China air flight to Beijing was NICE. Larger seats than we had on Cathay with more leg room and they served a nice breakfast. Baby Bug fell asleep on this flight and really didn’t want to wake up. We finally got her awake only then she wanted to be carried. What with the luggage that was difficult to do. She was doing OK until we hit the (long) lines before showing our passport. Then she fell apart and could not get it back together. She screamed and cried. The security guard finally put us through at the front of the line. We got the care packages off to China Care. We were met at the airport by a guide who brought us to the Jiangou Garden Hotel. The Hotel we stayed in last time was the Jiangou Hotel. I had thought they were the same hotel. Mom, the hotel you and dad stopped at to get a cab on the way back from the Forbidden City is the one we are staying in. The room is much larger and there are two double beds rather than two twins. It is worn at the edges, but clean. Mom I am sending you pictures of the room. Baby Bug was trying to fall asleep in the car on the way here but perked up once we got here. We took a cab to pizza hut (Baby Bug’s request) and it took a lot of work to keep her awake then she perked up in pizza hut only to fall asleep on the way back to the hotel. After I broke my back carrying her up to the room, she woke up and is now laying watching Berenstain Bears. Dad is in bed asleep and I will be following soon. We love and miss you.
Friday, September 7, 2007
Feeling the panic!
We leave on Tuesday. I am working today. Um that leaves 3 days to get completely ready, pack, clean house, ect. And that is nothing compared to what my dad has left to do. He owns his own business, so there is a LOT involved in him leaving town. He is so stressed out! My mind has turned to mush, and I find myself spinning my wheels. :-( that is not helping the whole process. Baby Bug on the other hand can hardly wait. :-) Is it bad that she is far more excited about the great wall, and the hotels swimming pool, than her baby sister? LOL. She knows the airlines serve cup-o-noodle as a snack and is in seventh heaven. :-) She cant wait for the breakfast buffets. Fruit, noodles, and rice are her favorite food groups LOL. Some people worry about what their older children will eat while in China. They are afraid the older kids will loose weight. Me I think Baby bug will gain weight. :-) I cook a lot of Chinese at home, and she LOVES Chinese food. I am more worried about dad going hungry than Baby Bug. :-) 4 more days!
Thursday, September 6, 2007
Not a morning person
Have you ever found yourself doing the exact same things that drove you nuts when your parents did them? I'm not talking about making your kid eat her vegetables, I talking about teasing them, repeating certain sentences, or singing certain songs. I dislike mornings, so it used to drive me nuts when my dad (very much a morning person) would wake me up singing "rise and shine and sing out your glory glory." I have memories of cringing. :-) So what do I do to wake Baby Bug up in the mornings? Sing the same song LOL! The other morning as I sang this while waking my Baby up, she cracked eye to look at me disgustedly, and said "I not a morning person, could you KNOCK THAT OFF?!" LOL yup shes my Baby!
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
Packed?!
Wait you mean I have to pack too?!! :-) I am so not ready to leave in 6 days! I am not an organized person. (OK those who know me can stop laughing now) The only way I can pack with out missing at least one vital thing (usualy more than one) is by starting the packing proccess about two weeks in advance. I havent been doing this, and now feel overwelmed. :-) Hmm marathon packing sesion coming up. LOL With any luck whatever I forget will be some thing I can live with out. As long as I have the adoption paperwork, passports, and tickets we will be fine, right? ;-) Maybe I should add Botti (Baby bugs security item) and clean underwear to that. :-)
Leaving on a jet plane!
We (my father daughter and I) will be leaving September 11th for china! My dad has made the sacrifice to come with us. This is a true sacrifice on his part as a)he is paying his own way, this takes from his finances. b)he will be apart from my mom longer than he ever has in their 40 year marriage. and c) at 6'1" he DREDS the flight in cattle class, and if it doesnt mess up his bad back, the rock soft hotel beds in China will. Thank you dad!
We will arive in Beijing September 13th, and move on to Kunming September 16th. September 17th is gotcha day!!! We will head to Guangzhou September 23rd, and head home September 26th.
Hang on Mei Mei, mamas coming!
We will arive in Beijing September 13th, and move on to Kunming September 16th. September 17th is gotcha day!!! We will head to Guangzhou September 23rd, and head home September 26th.
Hang on Mei Mei, mamas coming!
THANK YOU!!!
THANK YOU!!! to all the wonderful people who have helped so much!!!!! I am incredibly touched by how many people have reached out to me. Your help makes a world of difference.
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