Daisypath Anniversary tickers

Friday, July 31, 2009

Just a quick post this morning. Micalee's first plane trip went amazingly well (they served dinner) she only had a very small problem with the descent and her ears. We landed in Guangzhou and made it to the White Swan...got in bed around 10:30 pm. Very nice hotel, great staff. We are still waiting for the Crown Princess of China to awake so we got unpacked. Today the dreaded medical exam and for our lucky little girl the extra added tragedy of a TB skin test. More pictures and posts to come, hopefully tonight!!!!

Thursday, July 30, 2009

Still in Nanchang...

Sorry to miss a day or two of pictures!  It's been kinda crazy here!  Micalee (still calling her Cha Cha) is still having quite a time with things & so are we!  But we are seeing little improvements day by day!  She is one little stubborn girl when she doesn't get what she wants & because she can't always let her needs be known, she gets very frustrated & every last person in this hotel has problem heard the wrath of Micalee!!!  The girls has got some lungs!  It's not all tears, though, as the pictures show.  She has a lot of fun with her toys & loves to play!  She cracks her self up with the noise she makes!  She has got an amazing personality!!!  She is still just struggling & will be for some time!  We're seeing improvement everyday!  She is definately a Daddy's girl & doesn't want David out of her sight!  I'm still struggling with that, but that's a whole different story!  It's not about me, or David, it's about Micalee & she needs us to put any feelings aside & just be there for her if & when (or finally!) she needs us!  For those of you who have been through this know what I'm talking about & we are very open to any suggestions any of you have.  She is letting me feed her and change her and play with her (she loves that!), but when it comes to being held or comforted, it's Daddy only!  (David thinks she's nuts!  HA HA) I thought I was prepared for that, but it's a little tougher than I had expected!  Anyway, enough about poor pitiful me, enjoy the pictures of our beautiful, mysterious little girl!

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

SORRY YALL MESSED UP.....PLEASE CONTINUE READING
 
Hello all, I will leave the high tech picture posts to Linda. I just wanted to post a few thoughts. The traffic here is unbelievable, the Chinese must be better drivers than us, with all of the driving craziness we have seen no one run over yet, they drive with a vengeance, NASCAR wouldn't have a chance here. Also it is like Africa hot here, like Death Valley hot only with humidity out the wazoo, most buildings without A/C. At the government office yesterday I was more drenched than mowing on a 103 degree Louisiana day, and I was just sitting there. Walmart today was a culture shock, although the prices here at the stores are much cheaper than in the U.S., got 4 bottles of water, 2 bottles of Coke for 14 yuan (about 2.00). Most people seem nice, today an older lady was angrily yelling at one of the adoptive families, the Walmart staff quickly moved in to remove the lady, sorta sad. We had KFC today....pretty good normal stuff. Now for the more serious, you would think after 4 years of waiting that you would be prepared for this, nothing in 46 years of my life could have prepared me for all of the emotions I feel, the sadness, the happiness, total up and down, seeing this little girl torn from the only life she has known( however bad by our standards) was the most heartbreaking thing that I think either of us has ever seen. To all of you who are home with your babies, and to anyone reading this that is in the process.....God bless you, for this journey is not for the faint of heart.
 
Love to all of you
Keep us in your prayers
 
David 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Hello all, I will leave the high tech picture posts to Linda. I just wanted to post a few thoughts. The traffic here is unbelievable, the Chinese must be better drivers than us, with all of the driving craziness we have seen no one run over yet, they drive with a vengeance, NASCAR wouldn't have a chance here. Also it is like Africa hot here, like Death Valley hot only with humidity out the wazoo, most buildings without A/C. At the government office yesterday I was more drenched than mowing on a 103 degree Louisiana day, and I was just sitting there. Walmart today was a culture shock, although the prices here at the stores are much cheaper than in the U.S., got 4 bottles of water, 2 bottles of Coke for 14

Monday, July 27, 2009

First Full Day in Nanchang

More ups & downs, but getting better!  Micalee slept through the entire night last night!!!  Almost 11 hours!!! Unfortunately, I didn't sleep a wink (and with all that opportunity!!).  I kept peeking at her to make sure she was okay & with the time change & different bed, etc., I just didn't get alot of rest.  I'm hoping tonight, she'll do just as well & I will, too!  As I expected, she freaked out waking up in a new place, but she did calm down much quicker this morning than she did last night, so about 15 minutes of high-pitched, blood-curdling, glass-shattering screaming as opposed to the 1 1/2 hours last night!  So, it's better!  She seems to be accepting both of us, although today, after trying out the carrier (bad idea!), she didn't want anything to do with me for a while!  She was attached to David for most of our adoption paperwork today.  But by the time we got back to the hotel, I was okay again.  She is still having periods of total emotional breakdown, but who wouldn't after all she's been through!  It just breaks our hearts to see her so deeply upset & scared. We are just waiting (we should be good at that!), and just hoping it will get easier each day for her!   She appears to be very healthy & is fitting well in the size 18 month clothes we brought.  The size 6 shoes are a little too big (plenty of 5's at home!). She LOVES to eat!!  You almost have to make her stop; her stomach gets so distended!  She ate 1 1/2 banana & over a cup of cheerios last night!  And for breakfast today (after a bottle of formula/cereal) she ate watermelon, egg, rice & noodles! She is good at letting you know what she wants & even better at what she doesn't want!!  She had fun with her toys today & I got alot of true belly laughter out of her when playing!  She has even called me mama a few times (I know, melts your heart!). Her personality is really beginning to emerge!  She is going to be a strong-willed little girl!  Enjoy the pictures! Because I can't see the blog from China, I hope they are coming out okay (not too big or too small to see - Jeanie, feedback please!).

Sunday, July 26, 2009

Micalee Day!!!

Don't let these pictures fool you!!!  It looks like it went smoothly (no documentation of the other extreme!), but as expected, Micalee had a pretty hard time with the day!  But, as you can see, she did finally settle in & start letting us in her heart.  We expect more hard times, but the good ones make it much better!  We actually got kisses from her!!!  We're dead beat from the extremely emotionally exhausting day, so just a quick note & a few pictures.  We're scheduled for paperwork tomorrow, and hopefully Micalee will go with the flow!  Keep us in your thoughts & prayers. Micalee is needing them right now (and us, too!).

Saturday, July 25, 2009

Countdown to Micalee!

We just got to our hotel in Nanchang & we have less than 4 HOURS before we see Micalee!  I'm actually a little calmer than I thought I would be (but still pretty nervous!) & David is more nervous than I thought he'd be!!!  When we walked in our room, the first thing David saw was a crib; I think it freaked him out a bit!!!  It is a little strange to think in just a few hours we'll be holding her!  I hope she isn't too sad & has an easy transition!  David is with our guide right now, going to the store to get water.  I told him to try to get some milk or juice for Micalee, too; I think that freaked him out, too!  So, I'm trying to "repost" from last night & give a quick update for now!  I'll try to post pictures as soon as I can!

Pictures from Beijing....

I(I had actually attempted to post this before we went to sleep last night, but my pictures files were too big, so I'm trying again after saving the pics at smaller size; here's the original post.)
 
Well, we started the day with the breakfast buffet at our hotel.  They had "traditional" breakfast foods (bacon, eggs, pancakes, cereal) along with alot of Chinese food. It was interesting, but good.  We then started our very long day of site seeing!  First, it was Tienanmen Square (very hot & crowded!!!!), then the Forbidden City (also hot & crowded, but awesome to see; it was HUGE!!!).  We crammed those two places into about 3 hours!  Alot to see in such a little amount of time!  We then went to a silk factory, and the to a Cloisonne factory (very cool!) were we also ate lunch (yummy traditional Chinese food served family style).  Next was my favorite: The Great Wall!!!  Luckily, it was cloudy by the time we got there, which made for a slightly cooler experience!  We did pretty good (better than some in our group, but not as good as alot!)!!!  You can see the section we climbed in the pictures.  We made it to the 2nd tower of that section!  It was VERY steep!  There was a sweaty bunch of adoptive parents on the bus after that trip!  We also got to see the Olympic park (the water cube & the bird's nest)! We finally got back to the hotel around 7:30 pm, and David & I walked to the McDonald's just up the very busy street (the traffic & driving are horrendous here!). It pretty much tasted like McDonald's!  Now we're all packed & ready to leave early in the morning to fly to Micalee's province.  We should get to the hotel around 11:00 AM & should be getting Micalee around 4:00 PM!  That should give us enough time to wash some of these very stinky clothes!  We'll try to post tomorrow night with pictures of Micalee (if we have time)!!!  (Check out the Squatty Potty! Yes, I did actually use that!)

Friday, July 24, 2009

We made it to China!!!

After 7000+ miles and over 24 hours, we are finally here!!!  Totally exhausted & ready for a hot bath & some sleep!  I don't even think we can manage to eat dinner or check out the neighborhood!  We sightsee tomorrow, so hopefully I can post some pictures then!  Only 48 hours 'til we see Micalee!!!  (I couln't access blogger, so I've posting by email, so I hope it's there!)

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

We're off to China!!!

In just a few hours, we'll be on our first flight in our journey to bring home our little girl!!! We are SO excited & SO very nervous!!! This time tomorrow, we'll be on the "long flight" from Newark to Beijing! We'll try to post when we get to China, so everyone knows we made it there in one piece! See ya later!!!!

Monday, July 20, 2009

Two more days!

In just two days we will be heading for the airport to begin a journey of a lifetime!!!  We are so excited & so very nervous!!!  It's like waiting for Christmas morning when I was a kid (a kid?!, okay, I still get excited for Christmas!)!!!  I can't wait to get this long journey started & to finally be able to hold Micalee!  I still can't believe it's finally happening!  Be sure to follow along with this blog as we will be trying to update as often as possible while in China.  (If this post makes it on the blog, then we should be able to post using email. This post is a "test".  Although we won't be able to view our blog or read the comments, please leave them anyway, so we can read them when we get home!!)

Sunday, July 12, 2009

We're going to China!!!!

And now we have 2 day less to wait to meet this little cutie pie!!! (Check out our little girl able to hold her fork in one hand & her plate of cake in the other! Looks like we have an eater; will fit perfectly in this family!!!) We are still leaving July 22 (10 days from now!!! OMG!!!) & will be landing in Beijing on July 24th! But now instead to July 28, we meet Micalee on Sunday, July 26 (exactly 2 weeks from today!!!)!!!! We are excited & nervous & busy packing, weighing luggage, packing some more, going over lists, paperwork, etc. We got our revised intinerary from GWCA last week. It was so exciting to see we are now getting to meet her 2 days earlier than we had thought! We will get her shortly after getting to her province on that Sunday! Remember, in China, we will be about 12 or 13 hours ahead of ya'll here, so that would be about 4:00am your time! I hope she has smooth transition! Here's our new intinerary:
  • 7/22: Leave Shreveport (we're having to spend the night in Houston the first night of travel)
  • 7/23: Leave USA for long trip to China (by way of Houston to Newark, then to Beijing!)
  • 7/24: Land in Beijing (Staying at Ploy Plaza)
  • 7/25: Sightseeing Tour to the Great Wall, Forbinnen City & Tian An Men Square
  • 7/26: Leave Beijing & fly to Nanchang (Jiangxi Province - where Micalee is), get to new hotel (Nanchang Jinfeng Hotel) around 10:30 am & meet Micalee at 4:00 pm!!!!
  • 7/27: Do paperwork (I believe this is where Micalee is considered legally ours in the eyes of the Chinese government!
  • 7/28: Shopping for Micalee
  • 7/29: Sightseeing to XiangHu Park
  • 7/30: Sightseeing to Teng Wang Ge
  • 7/31: Get Micalee's passport & leave Micalee's province & fly to Guangzhou (staying at White Swan Hotel)
  • 8/1: Micalee's get TB skin test (I'm still not happy about this!!!)
  • 8/2: Sightseeing tour to Chen Family Temple
  • 8/3: Sightseeing tour to Yantai Park
  • 8/4: Micalee's medical exam (poor baby!) & visa photo day (& probably chest xray since TB skin test will most likely be positive since she has had BCG vaccine - nope, still not happy about this!!!)
  • 8/5: All documents go to American Consulate (I guess free day for us - shopping, sightseeing, bonding, etc!)
  • 8/6: American Consulate Interview & pick up Micalee's visa
  • 8/7: Leave Guangzhou & fly to Beijing to get flight back to USA!!! (again, thru Newark to Houston)
  • 8/8: Should be back to Shreveport around noon (spending 8/7 night in Houston before flying home)!!!

Monday, July 6, 2009

We have birthday pictures!!!

We were so excited to receive 18 pictures from Micalee's birthday party in China!!!! We used Ann with redthreadchina.com to send Micalee a birthday care package which included this enormous birthday cake!!! If you look closely, you can see her Chinese name written on the cake (the top line is says Fu Na Cha). It looks like she has no problem shoveling the cake in (just like her Daddy!). We have one picture with her holding the fork in one hand & the plate loaded with cake in the other! She looks so big! She's growing up without us. I can't wait to scoop her up & give her a big kiss on those cute chubby cheeks! Slow down on that growing up, Micalee, until we can get there!

Saturday, July 4, 2009


Today is Micalee's 2nd Birthday, and although we had hoped to be in China to share it with her, we know we will all be together soon! She should've received her birthday care package last night (our time), along with a huge birthday cake! We hope to have pictures of that to share with all of you! David & I had a birthday cake for her last night & released a single red balloon with an attached note to her birthmother in China. We hope to continue that tradition each year & allow Micalee to write a note, as well, when she is old enough to understand. This mysterious woman has given us the most precious gift imaginable. Without her, we would not have our Micalee! We can't wait to finally get the chance to hold this sweet little girl! Happy Birthday, Micalee!!! Mommy & Daddy will soon be on their way to bring you home!!!