It's been two months.

Xu Hui has been in the states for two months now and she is amazing. They talk about how fast kids adjust and she really has. She is picking up more and more English every day. She continues to love school and has Parker wrapped around her little finger. She could get him to do anything for her. He is so cute. Almost every day he will ask me if he can give something to her.

The main event that has happened since I last posted was of course Christmas. Mom and Dad flew out early to beat the storm and so they came in on Christmas Eve. It took Lily no time at all to warm up to them. She had such a great time. Of course, Grandpa was on cloud 9 because he had someone to sit on his lap. He was beaming at Christmas Eve Service with Xu Hui on his lap and Marissa in the chair right next to him. Xu Hui wants to call them every day now. That is about the first thing she asks to do in the morning.

Xu Hui has been participating in an after school art class and has been having fun. I sat in on the first two sessions until Xu Hui got comfortable being there by herself. The teacher makes it so easy and is great with the kids. I think I could even draw something that looked like something when I was done. I was actually getting in to the class and was sad when Xu Hui didn't need me there anymore.

I'm off to Maryland at the end of the week. This will be my first trip away since Xu Hui has been here. It will be interesting to see how everyone does.

I hope the new year is treating everyone well so far. Until next time, may you all be blessed.

Getting Into a Routine

My how time flies. I heard on the radio today that Christmas is 18 days away? Yikes!

Lily is well into her first full week of school and is loving it. She started last Tuesday going to ELL for about 45 minutes in the morning and then started school full-time on Thursday. One day later she was saying bye and leaving me in the dust. It didn't take her long to hearn how to get rid of me. It has been good though that she has settled in so easily. The teachers are very happy with how she is doing.

She had her assessment in Mandarin today. She got several things right so that was good. I was concerned she wouldn't speak to the interpreter but she did a great job. At one point the interpreter looked at us and said this is hard. The only real problem she had was with understanding what an opposite was. I still don't think we were able to get her to understand opposites, so that will be something we will have to work on.

Marissa is doing well. A piece of poetry she wrote for a PTA contest made it to the district level so she was very proud of herself. She is adjusting more and more every day. Mom and Dad are coming for Christmas, so I know she will really enjoy having them here. I'm not sure how Lily will do with them at the house, so I may have to put them up in a hotel if she shuts down. I talked to a counselor from Great Wall today and she said that is normal. It is a lot for Lily to process and she doesn't understand why they are here. She said we invaded her turf so to speak in China and took her away so all she knows is they are here to do the same thing. I'm hoping to start preparing her for their arrival and trying to get someone to explain to her when they are coming and especially when they are leaving so she knows it isn't permanent.

I'm trying to get back into the routine of working. It has been a struggle to regain my concentration with everything that is going on. Hopefully, once Lily gets settled in school, it will be easier to get back into a routine.

Until next time....

It's been a week.

We have been home for a week now and things are going well. Xu Hui is doing great. She continues to eat like she is a line backer. She ate two hotdogs for supper plus chips, carrots, and some apple. We found out on Thanksgiving that I have another crab and salmon lover in the house. We have been giving her chances to socialize with some of Scott's Chinese friends and she won't say anything; just smiles. We are going to school on Monday to get her registered. We decided to try the public school system first because they have an ELL program. If it doesn't work out, we are going to look into private school. We are also looking in to a Chinese school for her on Saturdays. I have really struggled with the school issue for her so I'm hoping we are making the right decision.

A friend of mine from the office sent some English Chinese flash cards so I was working with Xu Hui this morning. She was teaching me the English names and I was working with her on the English names. I got several "Good Job Mommy" as well as some sighs. I'm trying.

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We had a great day with just the four of us.

Day 2 at home.

Well, we have made it through 2 days at home without much incident. She isn't much into going to bed at night so I'm writing while sitting in bed with her. It is a delicate balance to know how hard to push things. With a baby, I would put her in bed and let her cry but this one is a little different. Hopefully, she will cry herself to sleep soon.

She has been a good sport about trying whatever I cook. Last night I made tacos and they got a definite no. Luckily I bought a couple of cups of noodles at the store and she ate both of them after eating half a taco. For breakfast this morning she downed two hard boiled eggs and I got a thumbs up for the chicken and pasta I fixed for lunch. She doesn't seem to be real picky which is good. She isn't much for dairy products but has been good about drinking at least a little bit of milk with each meal.

We went to church this morning and she went to Kidz Zone with Marissa without any problem. However, the neighbors came tonight and she wouldn't even come out of her room to meet them. It will be interesting to see how things go at school. I'm planning on taking her a few times this week when I go so hopefully she will at least get used to it a little bit. I may be spending some hours at school next week until she feels comfortable. She seems to learn fast so I think she'll really like school.

Miss is all ready to go back to school tomorrow. She will have an easy week since they get out early due to parent teacher conferences and it being a short week due to Thansgiving. Hopefully, she won't have much trouble getting back in to a routine.

I had a chance to read everyone's comments tonight. Thanks so much for following our journey. It has been an exciting one so far. We are looking forward to what is yet to come for Little Lily.

We are home!

It is so good to be home.  There were problems with the plane in Beijing so we missed our connection in San Francisco, but we finally made it home.  The trip home was about 29 hours but the girls did great.  Miss wasn’t feeling well in San Francisco but after some sleep in the airport she was feeling better.  As soon as we walked in the door, the girls started pulling all sorts of things out.  Miss was so excited to be home.  Xu Hui has taken a liking to all of Marissa’s American Girl dolls.  As I’m writing, she is tucking Kit in for a nap.

 

I need to get the girls ready for the day so we can run errands.  I’ll write more later.

Day 13

Well, we are all packed except for the final few things for the last time.  I ended up having to go buy another suitcase in order to stay under 44 lbs per suitcase.  It will be so nice to not have to live out of a suitcase and pack and repack every few days, to not have to eat at the same couple of restaurants for every meal and to not have to use a bottle of water to brush our teeth.  This trip has been a good reminder of how blessed we are to be able to live in America. 

Marissa got all of her homework finished today.  That has been the last thing she has wanted to do while in China but she finally got it done.  While she finished her homework, Xu Hui and I went out shopping for everything we wanted to buy.  We had such a good time.  She would hold my hand and skip along.  It made me feel good because when we are all together, I am the last hand she wants to hold.  She actually chose to go with me even when Scott and Marissa would head off to the hotel.  She told the clerks at one of the stores that I was nice to her and she loved me.  I don't know exactly what they said to her, but it made me happy anyway.  She won the hearts of all the store clerks and was always coming out with some sort of treat.

I think she is going to be Mom's girly girl.  She really likes pink and likes to have her hair done.  I'm going to have to learn to do something besides a pony tail or pig tails.   I have warned Scott for a while now that it was going to get expensive taking them both for manicures and pedicures. 

Marissa has been doing good with all the changes.  There have been some moments and I probably add fuel to the fire most of the time because I expect a lot out of her.  I have to remind myself that she is only 8.  What am I saying?  I am sweet and tender and everybody loves me.  :)

I'll talk to everyone when we get back to the states.  It will be so nice to be home. 

Day 12 Continued

It wasn't quite as chilly today so we walked across the bridge to an herbal market and saw all sorts of stuff including tubs of live scorpions and turtles.  Most of the stuff I had no idea what it was.  Some of it didn't smell the best.  Then we took a stroll through a large shopping district.  There is definitely not a lack of shopping in Guangzhou.  We played more cards this afternoon and then went out to eat at a Cantonese restaurant this evening with the families in our group.  There are only four families in our group so it is pretty small.  One couple has been here since the 29th of October.  When they went to pick up the child they came over for, they said it was clear she had more problems than just a heart defect.  To make a long story short, they ended up with the cutest little baby that doesn't have anything wrong with her. 

There isn't anything on the agenda for tomorrow.  We received Xu Hui's VISA today so there isn't anything holding us up from leaving on Friday morning.  We are hoping that Beijing doesn't have any snow that will hold us from getting in and out of Beijing.  It has been a fun trip but we are definitely ready to go home.  Scott and I have been sharing a bed that is a little larger than a twin and is pretty hard, so I am ready to get home to my own bed.

I have attached a couple of pictures of the Buddhist temple and then a few pictures of the girls.