a new little brother

We've had a wonderful Christmas, and I'd love to share more about it, but mostly I'm just so excited to introduce you to my new little brother, Jamie.  My parents have recently felt very strongly that this little boy needs to be a part of our family.  The adoption process has been speeding along and although it'll still be many months before he's here in Spokane with my family, we feel so grateful to know that it's not "if" but "when".   And that is the best Christmas present we all could have asked for.

CHINA: Have you ever been lost?

We took a train from Xi'an to ....another city.... that I can't remember the name of... and probably couldn't spell even if I could... anyway, took a train to our next destination.  After we got off this train ride we were supposed to two of the director's daughters as well as a van driver who would take us to the city where the beloved Eagles Wings Foster Home is located.  There were two exits from the train station and we didn't know which one we were supposed to take.  Once you went out you couldn't go back in.  For some reason we couldn't get ahold of the people we were supposed to and it was just a really scary half hour.  Luckily we were stranded by KFC where I attempted to order us some much needed "nourishment".  Language barriers are real people. 

While the sun is beautiful, it's quite uncomfortable to not see sky for ten days because of haze/smog.  It's not a good thing when you can stare directly at the sun with no consequences... 

boyscouts are useless when you're lost in China... just sayin' 

I'm pretty sure mom isn't actually crying... 

And cute Hannah stayed nice and positive the whole time :)

CHINA: More Pictures!

Here's some random pictures from the rest of our time in Xi'an.  

I think we were all amazed by the intricate detail that can be found everywhere through out China.  

Madeline was a celebrity!  Everybody was touching her, smiling at her, taking pictures of her/with her and some people even picked her right up! Without asking!  Who does that!?!  This picture was taken during breakfast at our hotel during one of our first days there.  Nobody was in the restaurant except Jeremy, Madeline and I so we left Madeline in her stroller to grab our food from the buffet (3ft away, tops).  I turned around after maybe a minute and the waitress had taken Madeline out of her stroller and was carrying her to the back of the restaurant to show all the other workers.  I couldn't believe it.  I quickly set my plate down and followed her.  And as soon as I had the chance I snatched my baby back up and didn't put her down again.  I really learned how much Madeline trusts me.  If I was a little uneasy about someone she could sense it.  This (in the picture above) was a friend of the waitress (the one who just picked her up and walked off) who obviously made me feel VERY uneasy and Madeline sensed it.  She really didn't want to be with her anymore.  But when one of our guides wanted to hold her I was more than ok with it and she happily obliged a little cuddle with just about anyone. 

I love being a mom.

On our last day in Xi'an we visited a Muslim market.  My favorite part about traveling is really being with the people.  Stepping in their shops, bargaining for the best price.  I love the sounds, the smell, the sight.  I just really love it.  And what a beautiful place to spend the afternoon, right?  At night the white things you see in the tree light up.  We were pretty bummed we couldn't see it at night.

How did I get to lucky!? She's so stinkin' cute!

Pig feet anyone?

........

 And there is the cutest baby in a hotel you ever did see!

CHINA: Terra Cotta Warriors

We left for China almost a month ago.  And today, finally, I sat down to look at the pictures I took.  I didn't take very many.  I've taken more pictures during a shoot with a small family.  How sad is that?! But, hey, this trip wasn't for taking pictures.  I'll just have to take another one of those some day.  

Here's the pictures from our first day.  This was our first daylight view of Xi'an China.  So much smog! 

Our first day there was Sunday.  We attended a small branch that meets in Xi'an and then drove to see the famous Terra Cotta Warriors.  You can read more about them here.  Pretty impressive. 

None of the 8,000 warriors are identical! And they were all carved by hand.  And no, to my brother-in-law Dan's dismay, there are no bodies inside the warriors.

We opted for a picture of what we'd look like as a warrior rather than pay   >$3,000 to have a bust of our heads made and placed on a life-size warrior to decorate our lawn... 

 This is a mold that the tourist trap people use to make souvenirs.

All made by hand.  Beautiful.

Butterfly 

 Let's just say the rest of the day went pretty well and Madeline isn't a 100% perfect baby.  Jet-lag affects the best of us.  And it's worse when it's 90 degrees with 85% humidity.....  

I love this picture of Jeremy.  I'm so lucky.

Hopefully it won't be too long before I get more pictures up!

CHINA: glad to be home

Last night we returned from our wonderful adventure in China.  I feel pretty embarrassed about how horribly I kept up with blogging and picture taking on our trip.  Between jet-lag, keeping a seven month old happy (she actually did EXTREMELY well!), having what I'm pretty sure was a miscarriage, food poisoning, oh and not being able to get online for most of the trip it just didn't really happen.  My dad wrote a beautiful tribute to each of our days in China that you can read on his family blog at fullmerfam.com.  I really suggest reading it if you want a real glimpse of what our trip was like.  Oh and my dad takes GREAT pictures.  

Obviously I plan on writing about some of our adventures and sharing my small collection of pictures.  But I need to go through those pictures and kind of gather my thoughts.  So until then I hope you enjoy reading about our trip here.  

Just incase you were wondering, yes, if I were over thirty and an extra $20,000 - $30,000 hanging around, these boys would be home with us.  I fell hard for them.

CHINA: We made it!

I'm sorry it's taken me so long to post more updates!  We figured out how to use our internet in Xi'an as we were walking out the door so I had no time there so today is the first chance I've had to be online since we got here.  But I'm keeping a journal on my computer so I remember everything.

Also, no pictures.  Sorry.  I'll get some as soon as I have a chance and choose posting over a nap (probably never... ha)  Our time here has been amazing and I can't believe it's been almost a week since we left home.  There's a lot of things we miss but I've relaxed and am enjoying this country and especially the people so much.  Don't be surprised if I come home with twenty Chinese children.  

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Well we made it to the hotel, uh… I don’t even know what night, Thursday?  Thursday I think.  We were behind the other car by a fair amount so when we finally got to the hotel we assumed they’d be there already.  It was 1:00am, too, so not much was happening.  We finally got a hold of the other car and they had taken a wrong turn and were lost [google maps: 1  iPhone navigator: 0].  When they eventually got there they went to check in and the hotel had overbooked their room and given it to the other people who rented it.  REALLY!?  So they called another hotel (a 15 minute drive away) and got them a room there.  Just how we wanted the trip to start.

Hannah, Rachel, Madeline, Jeremy and I were in the one room that didn’t get taken.  We pretty much went right to sleep.  Madeline didn’t sleep horribly that night, but it wasn’t her best night either.  We got up with more than enough time to shower and eat breakfast.  When we got to the typical continental breakfast the hotel provided we were the only Caucasians.  Culture shock got a head start on us.  At the other hotel, breakfast was not provided and about $12 a person so we told dad we’d get them some food from ours before it closed because they wouldn’t get to our hotel in time.  I sent Jeremy, Hannah, and Rachel down to get muffins.  They came back with one for everyone.  So I suggested they go back and get a few more.  They also brought back yogurt and then I sent Jeremy down for some sausage.  After three or four trips to the lobby we got a call from Dad saying their hotel let them have breakfast for free….. oops. We just left the fifteen muffins, eight yogurts and ten sausages in our room.  Happy eating housekeeping!

We took shuttles to the airport.  Everybody that saw us loading up the two vans to get there kept telling us we were crazy.  At one point I asked dad, “Are you sick of being called crazy yet?”  We were quite the sight scurrying through the Seattle Airport.  Each of us has our own carry on suitcase because we’re too afraid we’ll loose our baggage checking it.  We also all have a back pack along with two strollers.  One for Elizabeth and one for Madeline.  Oh and two boosters (that we haven’t even used) and a carseat (which sadly hasn’t been used too much either).  We ate our last meal in the US at the RunWay Grill.   We all ordered a cheeseburger thinking what a great way that would be to leave the country.  It was n.a.s.t.y. and way over priced.  But hey it filled our bellies. 

They let us board first.  Something about thing we’d take forever?  Weird.  Right before we boarded one of the stewardess called my name over the intercom.  “Woolis, Saaawah”.  I don’t know how I even knew that was my name.  The lady was Chinese.  Chinese airline so even in Seattle everyone that had anything to do with our flight was Chinese.  She wanted to tell me they didn’t have a basinett for Madeline.  They were supposed to have one but it didn’t get here in time.  We hadn’t asked for one so I was like, “Oh don’t worry about it!  We didn’t think we’d have one.”   She was extremely relieved.  Like she thought I’d bite off her head or something if they didn’t have one.  We boarded and were pleased to find out we were in the first row behind first class so we had TONS of leg room! How often can you say that when flying?  Sorry for the rest of my family they were a lot further back and in much tighter seats.  Sorry! 

Overall the flight was pretty good.  Madeline had a REALLY hard time falling asleep.  She sleeps really well in her crib, but she’s out of the snuggle-and-fall-asleep-in-your-arms stage.  She took a short nap during the first half of the flight and then slept for almost the entire second half.  5 hours! Awesome!  They gave us a meal about an hour into the ten hour flight.  Rice with some chicken that I didn’t attempt.  It also had some steamed vegetables which were pretty good.  I’m kind of a picky eater.  The goal is to lose like ten pounds this trip :)   After our first meal they dimmed the lights and made us feel like it was time for bed even though it was only 4:00.   We got another meal about two hours before we landed.   As we were descending the plane kind of dipped a couple times and made all of our stomachs feel like we were on the tower of terror.  Scary.  Just then Jeremy pointed out the window and we saw a bunch of lightning.  I didn’t think we were going to make it to China alive.  But we did.  Phew You’ll never guess what the first thing we did was when we got off the plane.  We ran to the bathrooms to see if squatty potties were a really existed.  We just wanted to make sure people weren’t making that up.  They’re real.  And they stink.  I think that’s one thing I’ll never miss about China.  It smells like smoke and porta-potties everywhere. 

Our ten hour flight only took us to Beijing and then we had a five hour layover and another flight to Xi’an.  We got to Xi’an after midnight China time. I don’t know what time it was in Spokane, but regardless we were really confused.  We all took naps on the floor of the airport in Beijing.  We met our guide, Sally (that’s the English name she chose) and she led us to the bus that was our transportation for most of our time in Xi’an.  It was SO NICE to have someone to translate.  The language barrier is HUGE!  I had no idea it would be such a challenge.  We got checked into our hotel and just about collapsed.  A bed never looked so beautiful to me.  

CHINA: And They're Off!

Today was the day we finally left for china. 

We are in the car right now. I'm sitting on an iPad trying to soak in all that the next two weeks holds in store for us.  I think I'm still in denial... I mean I am VERY excited, but CHINA??? I'm taking a six month old to China? China. Like panda bears and egg rolls? (obviously those are the least of my concerns).

I started packing yesterday. I get the last minute packing habit from my dad... (thanks dad).  There's something about needing to be under pressure and just do it. I cant explain it.  But packing, or starting to pack rather, a whole twenty-four hours ahead of time was a bigstep for this girl.  Jeremy got back from working out of town late last night (Wednesday) and then had to leave again for a couple hours this morning.  My brother Adam, 14 years old, had a school trip to Silverwood, a very sorry excuse for a theme park, and didn't get home until 5:30 today.  "Perfect" we all thought.  We will leave right then and get to Seattle (the plan is to drive to Seattle  and stay in a hotel tonight, Thursday, because we fly out of Seattle for Beijing at 2:00 tomorrow afternoon, Friday. Confused yet? me too. Just wait til we add in international date line crossing and time changes and jet lag and constant tourism and sightseeing and foster homes and oh yeah a baby! Anyway, we didn't end up leaving until 7:45 which, as grandma teddy noted, "not bad for a group your size!" I suppose. But now we wont get to Seattle until 1:00am at the earliest...  I guess if you think about it we are going to be so turned around in a few days that whatever. No sleep? Awesome.

Every few minutes I find myself exclaiming, "China?????!?!!!!!??? Waaahhh?"

We are driving two cars to Seattle.  Mom is driving the highlander with dad and the three youngest plus Hannah.  Jeremy is driving the Yukon.  I sat in the front seat for the first while but after a rather traumatic feeding of greenbeans (compliments of Peter and Christian who were sitting on either side of Madeline)  I switched Peter places and now I'm sitting behind the passenger seat. 

It smells like ranch doritos because they help keep Jeremy awake.  I pause every time I hear the bag crinkle because I'm afraid Madeline will wake up. So far so good.  I sang, "My Heavenly Father Loves Me" at least five times to get her to fall asleep.  She loves that one. That and "Somewhere Over the Rainbow".  Madeline is confused to say the least. She is almost always bathed and in bed by this hour.  Still, she is a trooper.  I hope she sleeps til we get there, or longer. Longer would be great.

Christian is asleep but I can still hear his music softly floating out of his headphones and through the car.  I can't make out what song it is.  Probably because I've never heard it before.  Adam has had his feet up on our bench from the back row.  Theres not much room back there.  He keeps adjusting and readjusting. It's been a while since he moved last.  He probably fell asleep too.  Rachel just asked how long until we stop again.  'Not til we get to the hotel Rachel.  You're gonna have to hold it,  sorry'.

I'm ready to give in to sleep and dream of SAFE travels and HAPPY memories.  But I find it hard to sleep when there's thoughts racing through my heart and mind and my husband tends to get dozey at the wheel.  Maybe just a few minutes.   Please keeps us in your prayers the next two weeks.  I think we're gonna need it.

Oh and here come the "I need to go to the bathroom NOW" tears.....Enjoy these last ten minutes of sleep Madeline..... Because I doubt you'll stay asleep when we stop.  Peachy.