1st time ever

For the first time in Colin's life, he spent the entire night sleeping in Katie's room with Mike. He has never ever done that before, and part of me was sad but part of me was so proud of him ! (Colin and I have co-slept every since his birth)

He usually nurses on and off all night while in my bed, and since he was with Mike he didn't even wake up !! I spent a very restful night with Katie in bed with me and Molly in her crib at the foot of the bed. It went VERY well.


Colin is MUCH better, he isn't wheezy anymore and only had to do 1 breathing treatment at home. The prednisone was making him WIRED so we stopped taking that and went to straight cough medicine, which helped him at night.

Molly had her craniofacial appt on Monday, they are sending us to an ENT. We should have started there in the first place, since the whole appt was a waste of time and gas. The Dr. is SUPER nice though, and comes so highly recommended that I just felt so comfortable with him. We see the ENT at the Michigan Ear Institute on 12/14. She'll have a hearing test at that point, I am so curious to see what her levels are. I will also call our early education dept at school to get her into some therapies.

Today will be the last nice day of the year here in Michigan. It is looking like a record high of almost 70 today, and we'll be getting out and enjoying the weather before the snow comes on Friday (and alot of it)

I'll be sure to take pics and post them tonight.

Bump in the road

We've hit a bump in the road. Sleep.

Our Thanksgiving was a wash. I didn't even get pie!

Colin had a funny wheezing issue on Thanksgiving while we were visiting Mike's family. He got SUPER congested and lethargic and not the bubbly energetic little guy he is. (he can really work a room, if ya know what I mean...)

We skipped out quickly from dinner (it was delicious Caren, I am sorry I missed dessert!!!) Got everyone home, bathed and in bed and then the rest of the night Colin just wheezed and wheezed. I barely slept.... and at 6am I got up and took him to ER. 3 hours and 2 breathing treatments later, we came home and since then he's been restless, sleepy, wheezy and coughing alot. Sleeping hasn't gone well, when he sleeps I am restless and worried, when I sleep he is restless and coughing... doesn't make either of us feel good. And Mike has had the bulk of Katie and Molly duty, which gets frustrating when Katie gets jealous of Molly (which does in fact happen... I know)

I hope to get into bed by 8pm tonight with all 3 kids, tomorrow will be a big day for Molly, her 1st cranio-facial consult.

Sweet dreams

Pants

The joys of rice krispie treats. Breakfast of champions, and toddlers.

Why can't my kids keep pants on? I don't know.

My firstborn

I realized that I refer to Robby a bit but someone referred to him (in humor) as my ficticious son. So here he is in all his glory.

He is a photography major at OCC working on his portfolio for art school. He is a wonderful guy, and a terrific big brother.

It's a miracle !

You're just not going to believe it.... sit down.

All 3 kids napped together for 2 1/2 hours yesterday, at the same time !!!!!

Do you know what that means? I NAPPED TOO !!!!

Can you believe it? I should have played the lottery yesterday, apparently it was my lucky day !

I am fighting off a bad cold... I feel like death warmed over but I don't care, the kids all napped at the same time !!!

Santa is coming to town

We went to see Santa today. We had a wonderful time running around the mall before any of the stores opened. Going up and down the elevator and the escalator (both called the alligator by Katie and Colin). We got Starbucks and visited with my brother, sister in law and my beautiful neice Delaney (in the purple dress).

click on the photo to view full size

Shoe shoppin !

We took Molly to the mall yesterday. We needed a new umbrella stroller and shoes for her. We bought a couple pair at Stride Rite. The black shoes come in Katie's size too so we will take her back this weekend to buy her some.

Molly can't wear any of Katie's old shoes because Katie had a ww foot and Molly has an aa foot.

We tried out several strollers, but settled on this one:




It is the lightest and has a nice carrying strap. it also fold and un-folds very easily. It also has mesh in the seat for nice air-flow since I have a 3 pack of sweaty heads now.... this stroller will be perfect to take to Disney when we go next year.




I'm still having trouble with my computer acting up so I haven't downloaded any pics lately, I am sorry. Once my mac is more stable i will download, back-up and then put a few up on the blog.

Another great night (and day)

Yesterday was so much fun ! I took K and C to their thanksgiving feast at preschool, and we had a ball. They were so happy to have me there, and I got to connect with several other moms who also volunteered so that was nice to make new friends. After school got out we ran a couple of errands too. Robby babysat Molly while I was gone, and by the time we got home they were both asleep in my bed. It really doesn't get any better than this.

The rest of the day was spent playing, Molly loves to put on pants and take off pants. She even tried her hand at putting on tights yesterday afternoon, and then waddling around with them at her knees. She is getting more adventurous with her exploring, and walking. Last week she would grunt to be picked up constantly, this week she likes to just hold my hand and toddle around. We even played on the stairs a bit getting her comfortable with going up and down on her knees.

I turned in early though, Colin didn't nap yesterday so by 6pm he was asleep for the night. By 8 I was in bed as well, it was nice to have some solid sleep again, Molly once again slept all night without waking. I had to check her a few times to make sure she was sill breathing, but she snores a it occasioanlly so I knew she was ok.

We had a wonderful visitor yesterday for a few minutes, a woman Mike works with P is from Beijing and she came to see Molly. She spoke mandarin (or cantonese?) to Molly and Molly seemed to respond. It's such a beautiful language, I hope I can learn more. P will come for a longer visit this weekend, and bring her 4 year old daughter with her, A. My kids love A, so it will be a treat for everyone !!

Woot !

Molly slept thru the night, not a single peep or squeak from her !!! She is still sleeping in fact, and it's 7:32. Could this be the start of something wonderful?

Last day of freedom

Mike heads back to work tomorrow, a day i am really dreading. I had gotten into a sort of rythym with taking care of Katie & Colin while Mike was gone. We were on a set schedule napwise and meals and so on.... now with Molly in the mix, it's like playing with a loaded gun. She definately is bonding with me a bit, but it is still a long way from comfortable for either one of us.

Robby is going to babysit for me tomorrow - just Molly for an hour or so - I am going to be helping out in the preschool class for their Thanksgiving day feast. Pancakes, OJ and smoky links. WOOHOO! A toddlers heaven !

No new pictures today, although Mike did take a picture of Colin this morning after he took my 20.00 lipstick and completely colored his arms with it. My computer has been acting up lately and I don't think I trust that it won't crap out on me when I try to download.

Oh and whoever is tattling to my mother about what I write in my blog, knock it off and MYOB. If you don't agree with what I have to say, don't go run to my mother, I am 40 years old and last I checked, I can speak my mind.

1 pound !

Molly has gained 1 pound in a week, woo hoo! The pediatrician has put her on a higher fat/calorie diet and a soy formula. We also have to try to fit egg into her diet, and cheese. How much fun will this be? bwhahahahaha.

She only got 1 poke, a tb test. She needs her titers checked for everything, and the Dr. thinks she must have had pox because she is really scarred up and it doesn't look like scabies scars or bug bite marks.

And for the total NUTJOB who thinks toddlers in a tub with no privates showing is exploitation, bwhahahahahaha NUTJOB.

video !

http://www.dropshots.com/erinszoo

I'm lame and can't figure out how to make the video icons appear here.

Chillin' on the plane

Molly's plane ride home

Togetherness

Katie, Colin and Molly.

Photos at home

Molly had her first spongebob push-up pop this morning, disaster is an understatement, thankully we have dogs that LOVE to lick !

This girl can SLEEP!

Wow, Molly slept from about 3:30 yesterday afternoon to 7:30 this morning. Straight thru. The rest of took advantage of this and had wonderful naps yesterday, and went to sleep early last night. I hope all this sleeping will help with her jetlag, and Mikes too.

I was changing her this morning, and realized that the size 3 diapers really are too big. Too much bulk between her little legs, and I have to wrap the tabs too far. I need 2's.

She is sitting in the lazy boy rocker right now wih Colin, sharing her pop tart with me. She'll bite off the edge (the part without the frosting) and spit it out and hand it to me. I'll offer it back to her but she will shake her head no so I will eat it and she will smile. I'm going to make some eggs for her in a little bit.

We have to go grocery shopping this morning. I had hoped to work in the yard a bit again today, but it is very cold and rainy here. We are expecting *SNOW* tonight.

I'll upload new pictures and some video when Mike wakes up (he has the cord someplace).

Chinese Market

We took the kids to the local Chinese market today to get Molly some noodles and sweets. The couple who own the store are rom the same province as Molly, Zhejiang ! They are from Hangzhou, where Mike stayed the 1st week. They have a house on the lake there, the lake Mike toured once day with Molly and their guide Veronica. Needless to say, they had lots to talk about. The woman said the prettiest girls come from Zhejiang. It was so sweet. I have heard this said to adoptive families in just about every province, I think it's cute !

We bought rice noodles and sweets, and saw some interesting delicacies.

The market is in the same shopping center that the regular grocery store is in, and this will be a weekly favorite I am sure !

She had a wonderful nap this afternoon, and we are going to visit a neighbor for a little bit later on tonight.

We didn't get to play outside much, we all napped !

Poptarts

She loves poptarts ! And here I thought I wouldn't know what to feed her.

She hated the spagetti last night, but she did it a challah roll and had her formula/rice cereal mixture.

She slept all night long, what a blessing. Even Katie & Colin don't sleep thru the night. Never have.

She likes me more today, we are playing a little game where she throws something and I give it back, she laughs. When I leave the room she will cry, and when I come back she will stop. Bonding has begun !

We're going to play in the front yard today while Mike puts up the Christmas lights. I know, it's early, we won't be turning them on until Dec 1st, but it will be a warm warm day, almost 70 I think. Can't pass up a good day !


Katie has reverted back in many ways to babyhood. She no longer wants to wear her big girl panties, and she wants to sit in the high chair and have bottles whenever Molly does.

Molly still won't let me hold her, but this is clearly a start !

Forgot to turn the alarm on !!

And that pretty much set the tone for the entire day...

I set my alarm for 4am so I would have plenty of time to get to the airport in DENSE fog and park, get the kids inside and (hopefully) to he gate to greet Molly and Mike.

I forgot to turn the stupid alarm ON... and Robby woke me up at 4:48am. Needless to say, my dream of greeting my new daughter turned from a beautiful fantasy into a rushing double parked homeless people packed fiasco....

And all she does is scream when i come near her.

I did play peek a boo a little bit with her after we got home, but she was only interested if Mike was right beside me.

She likes the kids, she even held Katies hand on the car ride home, it was adorable.

The kids and I only had 5 hours of sleep, and yet they are not interested in napping at all, they didn't even sleep in the car on the way to the airport, which is about a 30-40 minute drive. Mike & Molly have gone to bed since it is 10pm in their body clock right now. hope I can get Katie & Colin down for a nap soon.

She is 6-8 inches shorter than Katie, and RAIL thin.... I didn't think anyone could be that thin, even Nicole Ritchie. Her feet are about half the size of Colins, both in lengh and width.

I just don't know how to feel...

Panic sets in

What if she hates me?

What is she hates Katie & Colin?

What if Katie & Colin hate her?

My stomach is a wreck.... I am in total panic mode.

Tomorrow !

Mike & Molly come home tomorrow morning !!!

I can't believe it's just 1 day away, not even 24 hours !

Mike's at the Guangzhou airport right now waiting for his flight to leave for LAX. He leaves at 9pm (our 8am).

Mike's buying presents !

Mike shopped alot today, I had NO idea he could shop. He bought me several gorgeous traditional Chinese tops, a snazzy outfit for Colin, a few very nice traditional shirts for himself and LOADS of dresses for Katie and Molly (I hope one for each in every size available). He bought jade for everyone, will buy pearls tomorrow for Molly & Katie (I actually have pearls from China already).

He bought me an amazing ivory mahjong set. I LOVE playing mahjong online, and I hope to be able to learn how to play in real life. It is such a beautiful set!! I am thrilled !!

He bought squeaky shoes for Katie and Molly, they didn't come in Colin's size.. he has big feet for a 3 year old. I had no idea they really do squeak. My dogs will tear those suckers apart in a matter of seconds to get the squeaker out... sad but true...

I have 2 terribly fussy toddlers on my hands today. The woke up late - 9am, I thoughtfor sure the wouldn't nap, but no... they both fell asleep at 6:30 and I thought (silly me, thinking...) that they would be out for the night but no..... 9:30 they are awake, hungry and very energetic. Hopefully I can get them to sleep before midnight. And one of the dogs has diarrhea, bad, my whole house smells like a poopy diaper that has been in the sun too long....

3 days, 3 days !

Only 3 days until I meet my daughter. I can hardly contain my excitement.

Mike and Molly both have runny butts. I hope it passes for them quickly. At least for Mike, since Molly is still in diapers and hopefully will be manageable during the trip home.

Tomorrow is consulate day and Mike needs to stay in the room in case his paperwork has trouble. It'll be nice to chat with him online while he waits around.

Mongolian Spots

While changing Molly's diaper tonight, I noticed some bluish marks on the small of her back which look like bruises to be honest. I knew this was probably Mongolian Spots, to which my guide Veronica verified.

Wikipedia: Mongolian Spots

Chen Family Temple

We visited the Chen Family Temple today, which really isn't a religious temple, it a place where Chen families from all over China came to contribute arts to the compound. It had a lot of very intricate carvings which I hope come out in the photos.

After that we went to the Jade Market run by the government. The jade in this store is guaranteed to be real, in the quality specified. The prices are higher, but you get what you pay for hear. Jade is very important to Chinese culture and I bought a number of pieces which shall be revealed later.

I just don't know where I'm going to put this...














...maybe in the living room

After the jade market, we came back to the hotel and Molly had a nap. Ok, I napped too. After we woke, I rushed out and bought a suitcase, 120 yuan ($15). Polo Hong Kong it says on the outside, predicted lifetime, 6 months. As long as it makes it back to Detroit with the contents still inside it, then it's worth it.

I bought a lot of clothes today, all Chinese style, except for one ladybug outfit for Molly. I have more stores to look into, so I'm not done yet. The suitcase is only 30% full.

Lost post

Somehow blogspot ate a post..... so here it is...

We arrived in Guangzhou yesterday afternoon, Molly slept most of the afternoon, then we went out to dinner with Cheryl and Paul, another adopting couple from New Mexico. Today (Sat) we went to the medical clinic to get her checked out, mainly just recording height, weight, ear nose throat stuff, all very general information. She is 34 inches tall and about 20.7 lbs.

I bought Molly some squeaky shoes today, 55 yuan (about $7 US), we'll see if I paid too much. I'm going to go to another shop and get some for Katie and Colin I think.

I met a lot of the other couples also adopting as I am. In our group, everyone knows that I am 'the brave dad' coming alone to get Molly. Veronica told them all about me, so it was easy for people to come and introduce themselves. Even outside our group, people seem to know of me. Some very nice people here. I hope to spend more time with them today.

As we were talking on our way to the clinic, one of the women asked me if I was techno-savvy, what a silly question! She needs help with her digital camera, can't get the pictures off to send in email. So I offered to help.

I think I'll take Molly down to the Swan Room, which is a play room with toys and such. I will the pictures when I get back to the room.

Molly hates the swings in the swan room. It was quite overwhelming with the kids and adults and noise so she bailed out early.

She did have a nice walk with a little boy who is the son of friends also in Guangzhou now. And Mike did some shopping, which outfit do you like best for Colin? He bought beautiful dresses for Katie and Molly.

4 more days !!!!

Random Guangzhou photos

Here are a few photos of the city Mike is in now. And one of Molly on the plane with her yellow towel that will be now known as her lovey.

Daddy's girl !

Now all she needs is hockey on the telly and she'll be a total Davis.

For Kimmi

Here are the outfits that Mike bought. He did have help from his guide Veronica, who is a 20 something newlywed. The little white two piece outfit has bobdog on it, which is a big big hit in China.


He will do much more shopping now that he is in Guangzhou, little silk dresses, squeaky shoes, jade and pearls, the good stuff comes now !!

Buddhist Temple and on to Guangzhou

Mike and Molly toured a Buddhist temple today, and he said i was just breathtaking. From his many pictures, it looks crowded too ! Here are a few photos of the trip.

Mike will be leaving for Guangzhou in an hour or so, and will check into he White Swan (yay!). He hasnt taken Moll to the pool yet, but says he will definately take her once they are in GZ.

Snag part 2

As Erin said, it looks like we should be ok in Guangzhou. I have everything I need, the only thing I require that is out of my hands is an ontime landing in Guangzhou by China Southern.

However, when I get to LAX, my fingerprints will still be expired. I hope I don't have to stay a couple of days in LA while that gets sorted out. We shall see.

Bringing Home Baby

Bringing Home Baby

Snag resolved. I sure hope Mike tips his guide well for the work she has done for him on this one !

Instead of turning his paperwork into the Consulate on Nov 6th (a day after his prints expire), his awesome guide Veronica has finaggled it so he will turn his paperwork in on Nov 3rd. (2 days PRIOR to expiry) YEAH !!!!!!!!!!!

They went clothes shopping today and got the cutest stuff for her, I forgot to ask him what size she is, she looks tall.

He told me today that people in Hangzhou think Molly is a mixed race baby, that she doesn't look Chinese. They called her foreign? Part of me is offended.

Back home, the kids are coming down off a sugar high, and I have to go to the courthouse to get my older sons license re-instated before he gets pulled over/arrested for failing to pay a civil infraction (no registration....). I can't believe they suspended his license for failure to pay ... I mean the car is registered, he just didn't have it ON him... And Robby could have gotten the whole thing waived if he would have taken the registration up to the courthouse after the fact, instead he blew it off and now I am stuck with a 222.00 fine for him..... ARGH!!!!

SNAG!

We hit a potential snag today as Veronica noticed that our certified fingerprints from the US Immigration expires on 11-5-2006. My consulate appointment is 11-6-2006, the day after expiration! Doh! Veronica spoke with the consulate in Guangzhou and they said as soon as we land from our flight to Guangzhou, we go directly to the consulate and drop off our paperwork. That way maybe we can sneak it in under the deadline.

Otherwise, I may have to stay in Guangzhou another week or two while our fingerprints get re-verified, and I get another consulate appointment. Keep your fingers crossed!

Zhiejang Province Museum

Today we went to the local province museum, which pretty much had your museumy type stuff. It was mildly interesting, but in a very beautiful building. The scenery everywhere we go is so remarkable and picturesque. As always, people are very friendly here and VERY curious about me and Molly.

After the museum we went to a department store to buy clothes for Molly. I spent about $68 dollars US and got some good clothes I think. Veronica helped me pick out clothes and reminded me that we can get more clothes in Guangzhou. We arrived back at the hotel and I toled Veronica about a store in the hotel that was selling everything for 70% off because the owner wanted to get into a different business. Pearl necklaces for $30 US, figurines, jade, knickknacky stuff. Veronica said we can get same or better prices for better quality in Guangzhou, so I will wait.

Breakfast with the Swedes

My 7am wakeup call came in the form of fireworks a block away from the hotel. Veronica said it may have been for a wedding as we have had fireworks the past several nights around dusk.

Molly and I went to the breakfast buffet this morning but the only table was a big one, meant for 4 people. An older Swedish couple was looking for a place to sit, so I motioned for them to sit with us since I was taking up a big table. They were spending 15 days touring China, 7 stops in all. I told them I was in China for about 15 days as well, but only two stops. They told me what city they were from, I pretended I had heard of it because they were very nice. "Oh yes, blah blah blah, that's just outside of Flurgenburgen right?" I didn't say that, but you know.

China National Tea Museum

Tuesday morning my guide Veronica took us to the Dragon Well tea fields and museum. Dragon Well tea is considered one of the finest in the world. During our visit I learned about the different kinds of tea, how each is made, the art and science of tea brewing and drinking. I've been interested in green tea for a while now, so this was very interesting to me. However, the highlight of my day was when a group of young Chinese school children all came up to me and shouted Hello, Goodbye, as they tried out their English words. I tried out my Chinese phrases Ni Hao, and Zhi Xian as well and they giggled. Then they all gather around me for a picture as they smiled and laughed. I was having a great time on the tour, but that made it so much better. Maybe I was their first live white person.



Veronica and I had tea at a tea house after our tour. Tea was served with grape tomatoes and peanuts. Ok, you got me why those two, but you know, when in Rome, do as...., so I ate peanuts as well. I bought a couple of big canisters of tea to take home.