Last pictures from China

We leave the hotel at 6:30 a.m. and arrive home at 7:45 or so p.m. on Friday.  I will blog from Chicago if I can.

The girls

Shamain Island statues

Stylin'

Happy girl-She has her ice cream, new shirt and shades and she's been shopping

This one really misses her daddy

I love this town. African ladies carrying their suitcases on their heads

Scene from the bridge on my walk to KFC

Home Stretch

Heading home in about 36 hours.  It's always a little bittersweet because you are so ready to get home, but kind of sad knowing your child won't see her birthland for a long time.  Plus, even though a lot of things are crazy here, I really enjoy being in China.  Aleah has been without fever for over 24 hours and her white count is normal so she got her last IV treatment today and we start oral antibiotics tomorrow.

  Greg left yesterday morning and when Aleah woke up she said "Baba already left" (In Chinese of course) and she wanted to call him. She got mad when I told her that he was on the plane so we couldn't call.  We had no planned activities for the day, but I had to take Aleah to the clinic and then in the evening  we went on the Pearl River Dinner Cruise.  It was a nice way to spend a few hours.  Most of the other families with our agency went on it too and it is wonderful to see how well the kids are doing.  Aleah didn't eat much and still won't drink hardly anything but she enjoyed the juggler/clown act.

 We had an early a.m. appt so it was a good night for her to not have a fever in the middle of the night.  This morning was the important appointment at the American consulate where we had our documents checked and applied for her visa to enter the U.S. and become a US citizen upon our arrival in Chicago.

All 8 families passed and headed to the zoo or Botanical Gardens afterwards.  We chose the zoo. Aleah decided to be difficult and would refuse to walk or run ahead at various times. 

When it was time to head to the exit we found another family from our group to follow and at that time Aleah decided to run away from me laughing. She would get a little bit away from me then stop and laugh and as I came near her, run away again.  Alyssa and Alaina were with that other family and by the time I caught up with her and carried her 42 lbs back, they were all gone and me and my mom were lost.  The map made no sense and for 15 mins we couldn't find anyone who spoke English or could point us to the exit.  Finally I thought to call my guide and she suggested I let her talk to the nearest Chinese person.  She explained our problem and this nice family helped us find our way out.  We ended up being 25 mins late to the bus and all the other families with hungry babies were waiting for us.  I was pretty stressed by this time and let Aleah sit with Nana for a few minutes while I took a few breaths.  When we got back we had just a little time before going to the clinic so we ate noodles in the room and Snicker's bars and Aleah and I headed to the clinic.  It was really a good experience for us as she seemed to be feeling very close to me and held my hand and looked to see if I noticed how brave she was for the IV.  She has been listening to Hillsong global project that I put on my phone.  It is a Mandarin Chinese praise and worship album.  She has gotten to know a few of the songs pretty quick and she was singing along so loud to Forever Reign that the nurses came in to ask her to quiet down.  Is that cool or what?   After we got home we headed to Tekila the Mexican restaurant.  She ordered soft chicken tacos and also enjoyed some Chips and Salsa.  Can't wait to get her some real Tex-Mex but this was pretty good.   

Doing much better

I don't have many pictures because I haven't been getting out much but just wanted to let everyone know that Aleah is doing much better.  Her white count was down to 11.5 which is just a little above the normal range and she is eating, drinking, peeing and pooping.  All of these were problems before.  She also took her Advil without complaining last night so a lot of answered prayers.  Yesterday we even went with the group to a huge wholesale shopping mall.

Aleah being silly at the clinic

Apparently Santa Claus is big here

 She got a little tired out and we had to rest, but did ok.  Afterwards, We got our next dose of IV antibiotics and she got some IV fluids since she hadn't been drinking and that really seemed to perk her up.  We were there about 2 hours and it takes about 20 mins each way to get there so by the time we got back it was time for dinner.  I had been waiting for her to get better so we could go to the Mexican restaurant and tonight was the night.  We all loved it including Aleah.  She ordered fajitas and ate the meat and a tortilla.  She also loved the chips and salsa. This is going to work out real well for me because I love Mexican food.  She also likes spaghetti with meat sauce which is one of my specialties so she won't starve in Tulsa.  She seems to like those kinds of foods better than Chinese food.  She also loves watermelon and chewing gum.

    Today we got to Skype with my dad which was really fun.  He and Aleah played together and laughed a lot.  Greg and his mom left this morning.  I told Aleah in my broken Chinese that Daddy and Grandma go America tomorrow.  Her face lit up until I told her that we can't go for 3 days.  She is really looking forward to America.  This morning when she woke up she said Baba is already gone and then later she got my phone and wanted to call Daddy.  She got kind of mad when I told her he didn't have a phone on the plane.  I'm so glad that she has bonded with us so strongly already.  I just want to give a shout-out to my awesome agency Lifeline.  They have taken such good care of us and Lily has gone beyond her duty for us.  She has taken us to the clinic twice, come to my room at 3:00 in the morning when Aleah was burning with fever and wouldn't take meds and she was screaming stuff in Chinese that I couldn't understand.  My SW and the coordinator back home check on me all the time and the other LL families are awesome. Tomorrow we go the the American consulate to take the oath and apply for her visa.  Hopefully I will get some pics before and after because we can't take any phones or cameras inside. Bye, bye for now.

Sick Baby

International clinic Sunday a.m.

Adoption clinic Saturday a.m.

Wow, this is hard.  Having a very sick child that you have known for only 5 days who doesn't speak the same language as you and being in a foreign country with different standards of medical care.  It started with a fever Friday night after we got to Guangzhou.  She had been fine at the airport, in fact, she ran away from us laughing.  Caused a bit of a scene as we chased her through the Guangzhou airport.   The fever went down with Advil and we went to breakfast in the hotel the next morning where she only ate some watermelon and the temp started going up again.  We had the required medical exam for adopted children to get a visa.  She had 38.6 there, but they only examine them for the form.  No treatment etc.  She was so brave for the exam and required blood draw.  Never cried and did whatever they asked.  We came home and she took a nap.  When she woke up she was burning up and I got some Advil down her before taking her temp.  It was 104 under her arm and she was lethargic.  Greg had gone to a paperwork meeting, so I picked her up and carried her down to the hotel mgr. who went with me to the medical clinic upstairs.  She was burning up and limp and the nurse said the doctor wasn't there.  She was starting to stare off into space and I was so scared.  I called our guide and she headed that way and they told me of an International clinic we could go to.  We got in a taxi and I was praying all the way.  She started being more aware as her temp came down and she started to vomit.  She held it in her mouth, bless her heart, until I got the window down.  At the clinic I told them I suspected a UTI and we got a urine sample and blood drawn.  Her wbc were 15.5 and her UA revealed an infection so with all that the doctor dx'd pyelonephritis (kidney infection)  They started an IV and gave her some abx through it.  She was better and kept down some water so they left in the IV catheter and let us go home.   She slept from 5 p.m. until 1:00 a.m. and woke up ready to play.  Back to sleep from 2:30-5:30 a.m. and had fever again.  Went back to the clinic at 10:00 and got more abx. Her wbc had gone up to 19.5.   BTW, Eric's (our former exchange student) dear mother flew in from Chongqing to see us and ended up helping us so much at the clinic.  Anyway,  She went without fever for 11 hours but then had 103 again a little while ago and required Advil and Tylenol to finally get it down so we aren't done with this yet.  We will likely have to get the IV abx every day.
Prayer requests: 1.  The infection responds to the antibiotic and she stops having fever
                          2.  That she willingly takes the oral meds.  She has been fighting me about taking the Tylenol and Advil
                          3.  That she will eat and drink.  It is hard to get her to drink anything.
                          4.  That we can communicate with her as needed.
                          5.  Calm my fears.
Praises:  We communicate pretty well considering the circumstances.
  2.  This has really shown her how much we love and care for her and I think has strengthened our bond.
3.  My love for her is so strong and that was one of my prayers.
4.  The international clinic is very good.
Thanks for all your concern and prayers.  I know she will be okay in my heart, but when her fever goes up she seems so sick that I get a little panicky.  Oh, another praise.  In the clinic she wanted to listen to music so everyone got to hear all kinds of praise songs from my phone for one hour while she got her IV.  They may not have understood the words but His name was raised up.

Adoption ceremony

Adoption ceremony

This morning we had to meet the guide at 8:00 to head back to Civil Affairs for the adoption ceremony and receipt of our adoption certificate.  We will need that to take to the American consulate to allow her to come to the US.  There were 4 families and they called us up and gave us the certificate and we took a picture.  It wasn't very involved but nice. 

Civil Affairs Building

After that we were taken to Martyr's Park.  I think we all enjoyed it, but wish it had been more than 50 degrees.  There were many groups of ladies dancing kind of a Chinese line dance at many different locations and some small groups doing Tai Chi and men playing cards.  

Koi pond at Martyr's Park

We were feeding the koi when Aleah grabbed my hand and pulled me away to show me an amusement park area.  She was very insistent that we let her play there so we payed the money and the girls had a great time.  Occasionally should we get alone and get very pensive.  I wish I knew what she was thinking and that I could speak fluent Mandarin.  Then we rode the bumper cars and the workers just kept letting us ride it over and over again until we realized the rest of our group left us. 

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    The other 2 families have 3 1/2 yo boys so they rode the carousel while we were on the cars.  We were dropped off at the hotel where we had our (hopefully) last meal at Food Street in the hotel.  There are only a few things we like so it is getting old.  Aleah requested the goose feet again and over Greg's disapproval I ordered it.  Her face lit up when they put that in front of her.  She gnawed on it for a while and gave it to me.  Yummy! 

After some paperwork we decided to try to get to Pizza Hut again.  We were going to walk, but were able to get a taxi.  It was difficult to let them know what we wanted but the pizza was great.  Aleah and Alaina shared a big plate of spaghetti with meat sauce.  I think Aleah likes Italian better than Chinese.  That works for me.  After dinner we had to cross over a big bridge to get to the other side of the street rather than risk our lives crossing the street.  We walked a while and I really enjoyed being a part of the Chinese culture.  So many people walking, eating, street singers, beggars, buses.  I really do enjoy being in China.  We weren't even halfway and were starting to get tired when Greg noticed a taxi sign. Hallelujah! A taxi was letting someone off and the 7 of us piled into the compact car.  It was a great day and Aleah got in bed to watch TV for a while with Daddy after another little swim.  

It's official. She's a Johnsen!

From yesterday.  The girls together for the first time.

outfit number 4 with Baba

Clothing change number 5

Grandmas enjoying dinner

On Tuesday morning we headed to the Civil Affairs Office along with 2 other families to finalize the adoption.  One family was from Italy and both of the other families were adopting 3 yo adorable boys.  At the CAO was a Swedish family and another family and we all spent 2 hours getting the official paperwork filled out, the picture taken for the adoption certificate, and passport information gathered for Aleah.  We had to put our thumbprint on the documents and Aleah's handprint.  We said a final goodbye and thank you to the orphanage workers and gave them some diapers to take back.  We were denied permission to visit the orphanage because it is new and it is not allowed yet.  We promised to bring her back for a visit in a few years and they were very happy to hear that.  I so appreciate their concern for her and they said they treated her like she was their own child.  They so hope we can help her with her arm and hand weakness.  We returned to the hotel and had lunch there.  Aleah requested the pickled goose feet, but we got her her second choice which was shrimp.  After coming to the room Aleah decided to try on every one of her new outfits.  She seemed pretty happy with them.  After playing and resting we went for an early dinner at the restaurant down the street.  We had eaten there the first day and our guide wrote down what we liked so we got that again.  It was $20 for all 7 of us to eat and we had leftovers. After dinner the girls wanted to go swim.  We asked Aleah in Chinese if she wanted to swim.  (Alaina helped with that)  She said what is swimming (in Chinese).  We showed her the suit and she put it on.  She is so thin it fell off her shoulders but we headed down.  When she saw the pool she looked scared and said she didn't want to swim so Greg watched her and the girls and I swam.  After a short time she called me over and asked how she could swim since she has a bad arm.  I demonstrated that I would hold her so she wanted to get in.  She was so incredibly brave and had so much fun.  It was the best thing for bonding because she had to hold on to me and trust me.  You can see from the pictures how much she loved it.  I can tell she will try very hard with physical therapy or any other challenges she will be facing.  Dinner had been a little difficult as she didn't want any of the food and wouldn't stay seated etc.  The girls were getting weary of her, but the swimming really turned things around.  All in all, another very good day.  God continues to answer our prayers.

Doesn't that make your heart sing?

Hao Chi (good food)

I just lost everything I wrote as our new daughter decided to come play with me on the computer and my post disappeared.  Oh, well, here I go again.  The last 24 hours have been amazing.  Our guide had left us after lunch on saturday and said she would be back on Monday at 2:30 to take us to get Aleah.  We were a little nervous as we boarded the little bus in the rain, took the 15 min ride to the Civil Affairs office and got in the elevator to get Aleah for the "harmonious period" as they call the first night before the adoption is finalized the next day.  They were waiting for us and LeLe, as she is called, was standing there looking smaller and cuter than her pictures and definitely a little scared.  I wasn't sure if we were supposed to approach her as they asked for our passports, but she looked so scared and alone that I asked if we could and they said yes.  A tiny little voice said Ni hao Mama Ni hao Baba and I showed her the gifts we got her.

 She loved the Ling Ling doll.  Alyssa and Alaina let her play with the Leapster and she started to warm up.  They had said she was very excited but she wouldn't look at us.  I decided to give her a coloring book and colors and she asked me for help opening them.

 Every now and then she would sneak a look at me and before we knew it she was running around and laughing with the girls.  It was time to leave and she waved goodbye to the orphanage director and away we went.  At dinner she started getting naughty.  Throwing her napkin, running off, and hitting Nana all while laughing about it.  I was expecting things like this as she has been in an orphanage for the last 2 years and it will take a while to learn what is expected in polite society.  We headed back to the hotel where she continued to amaze us with the things she knows.  We showed her her clothes and she proceeded to change into pjs without us asking but it was a while before she was done exploring and arranging her clothes and shoes.  She would point to everything and say Wo de (mine?) and I would say Ni de or Ta de depending on whose it was.  After a while she grabbed my hand and pulled me to the bed and lay down and fell asleep.  We had to wake her up the next day to get ready for our return to the Civil Affairs office.  All in all, I couldn't ask for a better first night.  She is very smart and is already saying a few English words and has corrected me a couple times on my pronunciation of Chinese. Gotta go.  I'll add more pics later

6 hours until Aleah

Her goodie bag is packed and my questions for the caregivers are written out.  Just trying to learn a few Chinese phrases and feeling excited and nervous.  Had a great family prayer time this morning so we are ready to go.
    Changsha is very different from Hong Kong.  People drive as crazy as I remembered from other trips to China.   I'm constantly gasping at near misses and almost got run over myself.  The light said walk but pedestrians apparently do not have the right of way here.  The girls have gone swimming at the indoor pool twice.  There is quite a process to get ready for it.  They have to shower, put on a swim cap, rinse their feet in a pool and I have to take off my shoes and put on provided sandals.  So real careful there, but apparently it is perfectly fine to hack up a lugee (sp) and spit it right there on the edge of the pool. Also saw a mom pull down her childs pants on the sidewalk and let the girl pee in the street, but you better wear your swim cap.  Cultural differences are so interesting.  People have also been very curious about our Chinese kids with American parents.  They have been stopped by concerned citizens asking them if they are lost from their parents and we are standing right there. I have learned to say I am their mother in Chinese.  Had an interesting food experience yesterday.  We tried to order pizza hut as I had been told by previous adopters that they would deliver to our hotel.  After a lengthy discussion, two of the hotel employees made a phone call.  I assumed they were ordering our pizza.  Then they took us upstairs and showed us a pizza in their restaurant and offered to make one for us.  It was pretty good, but after all that, when we brought it to the room, the girls were asleep and we couldn't get them to wake up.  They did wake up....at 3:30 a.m. ready to go for the day.  Well, hopefully the next post will have pictures of our new daughter. Feeling blessed in China.

Don't have any pictures in Changsha yet, so here is another from Hong Kong Disneyland.

                                          Got some pics here in Changsha.  Big girl crashed.

                                    Enjoying the breakfast buffet at our hotel in Changsha.

Restaurant we ate at yesterday.  Couldn't find the one the guide suggested.  We didn't order the pickled diesel rice, the homemade frogs or the cooked black fungus

We made it to China

Everything is going well so far.  We were packed by 10:00 p.m. and I think we did pretty good.  2 checked bags and 2 carry-ons  for 5 people.

Made it to the airport in plenty of time and had an uneventful flight.  Didn't have our boarding passes for the flight to Hong Kong so had to go to the Cathay Pacific desk.  They were wonderful and so was the flight.  I highly recommend them.  The customer service beats any other airline which is what you want when you are on the plane for 15 1/2 hours.  We easily got to our hotel which is connected to the airport and were in bed by 10:00.  Alaina woke up at 1 a.m. and never went back to sleep.  We were pretty tired after that night but got up had a nice breakfast at the buffet and headed to Hong Kong Disney.  I will write about that in the next post.  I just wanted to let everyone know we made it safely and are doing great.

Getting things done

Airplane tickets-check
Hotel reservations-check

Our family Before Aleah

cat sitter found-check
foreign currency obtained-check
crisp $100 obtained-kind of
notified teachers and school-check
checked weather in Hong Kong, Changsha and Guangzhou-done
contacted home study agency-check
Hair color and cut-check
slumber party my house with 3 of the girls' friends-going on now.  What was I thinking?

packing, getting gifts for officials, guides and caregivers, preparing and freezing some meals for return, buying OTC meds, getting a VPN, figuring out skype or facetime, getting tickets for Hong Kong Disney, meeting with A & A's teachers, washing Aleah's new clothes in Dreft, checking paperwork, stop paper and mail, notify credit card companies, clean the house-all yet to be done

I'm getting there.  We found out yesterday, Thursday, that we will be leaving this next Wednesday morning.  Even though I knew it could be any time and we started this a year ago, when you finally get the call to come, it seems like a shock and unreal.  There are so many last minute things to do.  I don't think I can really get too excited until I am sitting on that plane with all my bags safely stowed.  I wonder if Aleah knows that her world is about to change in just one week.