Ni Hao!

Ni Hao y'all! Yes, I'm still alive & kicking in Alabama. Please visit my primary blog, Sunny in China. See you there!

February 22, 2010

Sarah Martin is 16 months old today!

Oh, how we love her!

SNOW!

Sweet Home Alabama

Jillian after 12 hours in the air.

U.S. Citizen!
Landing in Chicago

We were welcomed home with banners, bows, food, friends & family.

Big Sister

Baby Sister

"There's no place like home".

I've had a difficult time honoring my blog commitments since our return home (and while in China). Blame it on jet lag or exhaustion or the fact that I have a nineteen pound baby stuck to my hip the majority of the day. Sarah Martin loves her momma and doesn't like to be separated from me. She will play with Jason and Nana in a pinch, but she gets fussy after only a couple of minutes. We are very pleased with her attachment to us and couldn't ask for a happier baby. The first three days with her were brutal. Our sweet baby missed her loved ones desperately in those first days. We were prepared for these emotions and somewhat relieved that she grieved for her nannies. It indicated that she had formed a strong attachment early in her life, so we knew she shouldn't have difficulty attaching to us...with time. I assumed the role of Momma Bear and Jason was my wingman, and I really think that helped her realize that we were her mom & dad and we were there to love and protect her. She is such a delight and our experience has been every bit as magical as our time with Jillian. I'll post more about her personality when I can sneak some more time away. Thank you all for the sweet emails and comments! I haven't had the opportunity to respond, but I've read most of them. We still have our days and nights mixed up and I've been taking a short nap with Sarah Martin during the day instead of emailing or blogging. She is a good napper, but wakes up each night after sleeping for a couple of hours. I haven't gotten up to turn on the lights, so I've listened to her babble and laugh from 10:00 p.m.-1:00 a.m. for the last three nights. She slept all night while in China, so wish me luck as I try to get her acclimated to Alabama time.

****************************************

BTW~It has taken me over two hours to upload this blog post. We seriously need to get back on some sort of routine.

Flight Information

2/6/10  Guangzhou-Beijing  CA1330  Leave 10:00 a.m.  Arrive: 1:00 p.m.
2/6/10  Beijing-Chicago  UA850  Leave: 5:25 p.m.  Arrive: 4:22 p.m.
2/6/10  Chicago-Huntsville  UA5720  Leave: 6:25 p.m.  Arrive: 8:03 p.m.
 
All times are local. 

Shopping & The Red Couch

We've been busy buying twenty homeland gifts to give to Sarah Martin each year on her Gotcha Day. My favorite gifts are the handmade embroidery from Changsha and the jewelry. I found the prettiest jade earrings to give to Sarah Martin when she is sixteen and Jason selected a beautiful strand of pearls for her wedding day. All I need now is a few more mandarin dresses and another suitcase to hide the twenty pairs of shoes I bought for the girls.

Our travel group got together yesterday to pose for photos on the famous red couch at our hotel. Sarah Martin was sleepy, but she tolerated the photo session with minimal tears. The oath-taking ceremony at the American Consulate is this afternoon. Our guide will pick up Sarah Martin's passport & visa tomorrow afternoon and we'll be on our way home on Saturday!

On Tuesday……

...we visited a Safari Park outside of Guangzhou. I highly recommend visiting this amazing zoo if you ever find yourself in Guangzhou, China.

On Monday….

...Sarah Martin cleared her medical exam and we celebrated Jason's birthday.

Having a BLAST in Guangzhou!

Our gals are happy & healthy and we are so very blessed. I'm having a really hard time pulling myself away from all the fun to blog and upload photos, so I will add the majority of our photos to a slideshow once we are home and I am able to access Blogger. Sarah Martin is a happy, healthy, curious, mischievous, funny, clever and alert baby. She and Jillian are big buddies and they play so well together. Jillian knows how to assist and interact with her baby sister with minimal guidance from us. We developed a well-defined triage plan prior to meeting Sarah Martin, so Jillian has taken her big sister responsibilities to heart. Sarah Martin is still stuck to me like glue, but she is becoming more a daddy's girl. She needs me for cuddles and kisses, and she likes to play and rough-house with Jason and Jillian. She is just our dream come true. Her medical exam is scheduled for tomorrow afternoon and we plan to take the girls out to enjoy more of Guangzhou's beautiful weather tomorrow night. Sarah Martin LOVES to be outdoors and we found a really nice playground close to our hotel, and I have a feeling we'll be there each night this week. Thank you again for all of your emails! I can't respond to them all, but I really love hearing from everyone back home.

And All Was Right With The World...

It happened. Our sweet baby girl finally let us in. Sarah Martin has been one big ball of sunshine for the past 24 hours. She is stuck to me like glue and has shown us nothing but pure happiness today. She shows me love by hugging my neck, kissing my cheek, feeding me snacks and holding my hand. Jason and Jillian interact with her mostly through play. She bops them on the head with a toy and laughs loudly at them. Nana has also won her over. Sarah Martin cackles and throws her tiny hand up in the air when Nana walks into the room. This time with her has been magical and I hate this is our last night in Changsha. We fly to Guangzhou tomorrow for the final week of our trip. I'll post more pictures of our girls tomorrow. Thanks again for all the emails! Please keep them coming!

Just The Facts Ma'am

-:-I haven't had the opportunity to check my email in over 48 hours. Sorry y'all!
-:-We have an alert, bright-eyed and curious 15-month old that wants/needs to be held 24 hours a day.
-:-Sarah Martin has been grieving the loss of her friends and nannies. Jason and I have watched her tiny heart break for three days, BUT we saw her smile and heard her laugh for the first time this morning.
-:-Nighttime is the toughest part of our day. She has been waking up in a mad panic and it takes me several minutes to calm her fears. Last night was much better, and I'm hopeful she will continue to feel safe and secure with us tonight.
-:-She is really attaching to me, but just tolerates Jason at this point. She tries to feed me her bottle and I've eaten two dozen slobbery Goldfish today alone. She also loves to squeeze my neck and pat my back.
-:-We learn more about our little angel each minute and we are smitten with her and her sweet personality.
-:-Thank you all for the emails! I will try to respond to them later tonight.
-:-I'll post some photos of our outings here in Hunan Province ASAP.
-:-Again, I apologize for not blogging sooner.

GOTCHA!

Alive & Well in Changsha

Hello all! We made it to our hotel in Changsha yesterday around 12:30 p.m. We checked-in, ate lunch, unpacked our luggage and conked out. I had every intention of uploading photos, emailing friends & family and updating my blog once we unpacked, but all three of us fell asleep around 2:00 p.m and woke up a little after 2:15 a.m. this morning. We finally feel like we are among the living. We are now scheduled to meet Sarah Martin today at 3:30 p.m., so Jason is about to find a market within walking distance to purchase some necessities such as bottled water and DIET PEPSI. Our hotel room is comfortable and the food is tolerable. Jason and Nana are open to new tastes and textures, but I'm just fine with fried rice, orange juice and coffee. Nana's room is next door to ours, so Jillian has loved having her all to herself. Please continue to keep us in your prayers as we become a family of four. Just SEVEN more hours until we meet our new baby! I'm beginning to feel the butterflies.