I Got My Butt Kicked

by jet lag.

Or....more accurately by I Have An Inability To Sleep On A Plane lag....
is that the same thing?
I dunno.

We staggered arrived into Guangzhou yesterday afternoon and after standing in a ridiculously long customs line we rounded a corner teaming with people waiting for their loved ones to see Elvin smiling and waving at us bouncing up and down holding a sign with our name on it.

After traveling for that many hours it was a welcome sight fo sure.
My legs were hairy
My hair was stringy
My teeth were funky
My eyes were bloodshot
The makeup I had so carefully applied on Thursday morning had, by Saturday afternoon, found it's way into the deepest crevices of my face

Yeah.
Be jealous.
I looked awesome.

After checking into our hotel, meeting our guide Helen we managed to shower a child or two and then staggered outdoors to grab some dinner.
Helen invited us to eat at The Chinese Restaurant(this is not a joke....that's really the name.....which frankly still makes me giggle) with the group that is already here on their 2nd week of their trip.
We made our way to a private room in the back.
Each table had 8 chairs.
At which point Helen says, "Oh look, just enough room for your family. You can sit here, I put other families at next table."

So there we sat..
Falling asleep while sitting up.
Looking like a motley stinky crew for sure.
Not hungry one bit but trying desperately to stay awake for a couple more hours.
As the other families chatted happily with one another and fussed over their adorable new kiddos we sat at the table next to them, silently staring blankly at one another, not even having enough energy or brain capacity to make conversation.

At which point 3 out of our 4 kids put their heads on the table and promptly fell asleep.

It
was
awesome.

Fast forward about 13 hours of blissful sleep later and here we are.
At the hotel
eating breakfast
wide awake
hanging out
and loving every minute.

I'm awake,
I have internet access
I have food in my stomach
and I am one happy lady.

From here on out you should see a blog post coming near you often
cuz I like you
and you leave me nice/funny/witty comments
and that makes me smile
and I like to smile.
and I am surrounded by boys who just like to talk sports so this is fun for me.

My friend Angela should awake later
We'll hook up with Sally next week
And most of all we are about 24 hours away from meeting the two cutest boys in all of China.

Off for today's adventure,
catch ya on the flip side.

Hello from Korea!

Good Morning everyone!
It's 6:00am local time and we are waaaayyy closer to a couple of little boys I know.

We have a couple of hours here in Seoul and I am finally getting my first chance at an internet connection since we left.
Holla!

I don't have a clear idea what time of day my body thinks it is or what day of the week for that matter so bear with me and my 1 hour of sleep in the last 24 hours......let's all see just how funny I can be at 6am on the other side of the world.

2 men walked into a bar.
You'd think one of them would have ducked.

Yeah.
I'm gettin punchy I think.

So let me begin with the question that I just know is on your minds....
Sonia's Adventure in Packing.
Survey says:
Overweight. 

I know,
I know.
Try and contain your shock.

$50 later for our overweight charge and we were on our way.

The flight was pretty well uneventful.
It was at the point at which I was holding Jordan's head while he was throwing up and Jack was kicking me in the stomach(unintentionally) trying to get comfortable that I was exceptionally glad that I did not...at that moment...have access to a credit card.

Because I was about 2 seconds away from walking up the flight attendant, handing her my card and marching all 6 of us right on into business class with their off the hook lay down flat seats.
Yeah.
Good thing.

Nobody really slept on the plane...sans Jordan...who was all hopped up on motion sickness meds.
Lucky duck
Lucky puky duck.
As we speak we are awaiting something....anything... to open so we can grab some breakfast.
Jack is pacing like a caged animal in a valiant attempt to stay awake
Justin is giving me some....ahem.....attitude in the form of being ridiculously overtired
Jordan is chillin with his ipod
and Jason is standing here waiting for me to feed him.

Such is life.

For some reason I am having trouble uploading pics but I will try again when we get to GZ.
More soon, the natives are getting restless and the husband is snoring so it's off to hunt and gather for some grub before they all turn on me....
I am seriously outnumbered after all. 

Thank you a million times over for your love, your prayers, your encouraging comments and for just listening to the dribble of this mom pretending each day like she has any idea what she's doing.
Love you all!

Merry China Eve!

Oh.
My.
Goodness.

This is really happening.

Breathe in.
pack.
Breathe out.
double check important documents.
Breathe in.
convince yourself the scale is broken and that your suitcases cannot possibly weigh that much.
Breathe out.
decide that kettle corn is not a necessary item and decide to leave it at home.
Breathe in.
ask yourself how on earth kettle corn is the only thing that you think is worthy of being left behind.
Breathe out.
realize you are a dork.
Breathe in
go clean up poor Justin and the bed after his marathon throw up session last night.
Breathe out
wait.....did that really happen? Was it just a dream? 
Breathe in
nope. Not a dream. Bless his little heart.
Breathe out.
Ingest extra caffeine this morning and realize sleep is overrated. 

Wait...now I feel dizzy.
I think all this breathing has made me hyperventilate.
Oh my.
Breath in
and hold it.

Playground Fail.

Watch Jacob in the background.

Poor guy.
He falls down the playground.
I fall down the stairs.
I think my fall was a sympathy fall from a half a world away.

2 days till travel!
Still overpacked
&
still overwhelmed.

Regardless I am getting on that airplane!
I may have 27 bags with me darnit
but
I
am
getting
on
that
plane.
(and monkey scrubber is coming with me) :)

T-3 Days till Travel

I'm still here!
I'm just
uhhhh.....
busy
busy makin myself crazy.

Amongst all of that I have an important announcement to make.

It's a biggie.
You may want to sit down.
Brace yourselves....
I think I may have....
ummmmm
overpacked.

Sigh.

I wish someone would have told me....
oh wait....
you all did tell me.
Like
A lot.

Yeah.

I need to work on being a better listener.
By the way you can laugh, it won't hurt my feelings. :)

Schools are closed today.
Roads are closed today.
Our departure airport is essentially closed today.

Oh my.
Praise you Lord that this storm is hitting now and not a few days from now cuz  I think I'd be sucking my thumb in the corner if that were the case.

More soon when I get my act together including details about a surprise baby shower that my friends threw for me last night.
Yeah.
They are ridiculously cool like dat.

But for now I'm off to cram more unnecessary items into suitcases!
Holla!

A Big Change in Our Family?.......

So this morning before school I was introducing Jack to my virtual....soon to be real life friend Angela.
She and I are adopting kiddos from the same orphanage who are almost the same age, we are staying in the same hotel, and are both crazy enough to bring a few of our children along for the trip.
She even has a 13 year old boy that is coming....which....needless to say....has made my 13 and almost 13 year old boys very, very happy.

But there's more.

She is adopting Lilly.
And folks,
I gotta tell you
as crazy excited as I am to meet the boys....
...I am just about equally excited to meet Lilly.

So as I was virtually introducing Jack to Angela and Lilly he turns and says to me,

"Mom. Can we adopt a girl next?"

That's right.
The first.
The one and only
to ever broach the topic of having a girl in this testosterone world of ours.

And I must admit......after I picked myself up from off of the floor....
that this video of Lilly would make anyone to have a girl.
I could listen to that giggle all the live long day.
In fact, I have no idea how Angela is able to prepare for this trip and not just sit and replay that laugh over and over and over again.

So Lilly, sweet girl, you just may have turned the tide in our house.....

My To-Do List.....7 Days Out

Well
it's not pretty...


But it's been highly effective as I lie in bed every-night wide awake wondering if I'm missing something
in clearing my head.

It all neccesitates much time in front of this



with lots
and lots
and lots
of this



7 days to travel.
9 days till Gotcha.
I need a refill.

Attachment & Hoarding

Just my gut feeling....
but after seeing all of the pictures
and watching all of the video
I think our two big transition issues will be

Attachment



& Hoarding.


(note the pockets stuffed full of little treasures.)

And a little sibling rivalry on the side.
It's subtle.
You may have to watch it a time or two to catch the glances at one another, though you certainly won't miss Jacob's exasperated sigh on the second video.
Note that the package is on the table, unopened, they have yet to get permission to open it.
Joey can't take his eyes off of it and
Jacob thought it necessary to remove Joey's hand from the package.
They are brothers already.

Exhibit A:

Exhibit B:

Can I call upon my translation posse once again to tell me what specifically Jacob is saying when he is pointing at Joey? Something like "Bala-bala-ba..."

I'll just be here wondering why on earth I didn't send them each their own separate package instead of a joint one.
Hello.
You'd think I haven't parented in sets of two before.
Sheesh.
Rookie mistake.

Packing for China-A Rookie's Perspective.

We're all packed and ready to go!

Or......errrr.....perhaps not.


I've never adopted before.
Never even been to Asia.
I do not.....by any stretch....have a clue what I am doing.
I do however have some mad packing skillz that I will be putting into practice as far as the traveling goes.
I'm on it.
Traveling with 6 then 8 people...
that I can do. 

So here....because you guys are my favorite....is a look at the chaos of what, I would gather, is a pretty typical look at the floor of a family's bedroom a week and a half before adoption travel.

Let's take a tour shall we?
Yes.
Yes I think we shall. 

Candy.
Cuz I'm not above bribery.

Please like me. I give you candy!

Toys.



Clothes.
In itty-bitty sizes. For a couple of itty bitty guys. (itty-bitty to me anyway, the twins are huge!)


Food.
I'm pretty sure the 2 bags of Kettle Corn aren't going to make it in tact but Justin loves this stuff,
and he's 8
and I like him.
Thus if he wants to pack kettle corn,
we're packing kettle corn.
Now my box of coffee creamer....that will definitely make it. 
It knows better than to desert me at a time like this. 

I'm making a snack cupboard in the hotel room.

Contents include:
Fiber Bars.
Bowls, napkins and box of assorted flatware for quick snacks and cheap lunches.
Propel water flavorings
Annie's fruit snacks
Pretzels
Trail mix
Ritz
Peanut Butter
Nutella
Animal crackers
Oatmeal
and a few other assorted family favorites.

Bath toys & supplies.

I know, I know, I know
I went overboard here.
One does not need to travel to China with a monkey shaped scrubby thing and dinosaur bath fizz.
I figure I can always tie the monkey scrubber to my head and use it as a scrunchy if I can't get it to fit.
And I know I can buy all of this over there but frankly it was just too much fun.
And besides who doesn't want to fish in the bathtub? Pffft. Not me!


Febreze
For the hotel rooms in case they are stinky.
.....Or in case all 6 boys make it stinky.
Whichev.


A pop up clothes hamper.
Hello. There are 8 of us.
That's alota funky clothes.


Swim attire for everyone and floaties for the boys.
This is in case anyone staying at the Mariott with their off the hook heated pool wants to invite us to swim one afternoon.
Hint, hint.
Anyone?
Bueller?


2 1/2 bags of medicine filled with things to treat just about every ailment under the sun.
The rest of the 3rd bag will be filled up with antibiotics for everyone just in case.


And lastly,
The Car Sick Kit.

Contents included in one gallon size ziplock bag:
Baby wipes

2 small fans. (everyone likes a nice cool breeze on their face when they're trying not to hurl)

1 baggie of mixed sour/hard candy to suck on when one feels nauseous.
Kleenex.

6 other gallon size ziplock bags folded neatly in the bag.
(This if for the aforementioned hurl to go into.....a hurl catcher if you will.)
A few plastic grocery bags to put the hurl filled ziplock bags in once they are....ahem.....filled. These can then be tied in a knot with the filled ziplock inside to minimize smell for the other horrified passengers.
Purell. (duh.)
I will also be putting in two cheap stuff-mart tee shirts as back up clothing.

And that concludes our tour of Sonia's crazy land.
Please exit the ride to your right.

Wishing I Could Speak Mandarin Right About Now

All I caught in there was Baba Mama....thoughts anyone?
I may need to pay a visit to the friendly folks at our local Chinese restaurant again.

Jacob at the Orphanage

I think it's safe to say that

 Jacob



liked the photos

 the best.

Toys, Smoys......I have more pictures of my family to look at. 

I just can't enough of that sweet face.
11 days till travel.
15 days till Gotcha.

The Orphanage Visit Photos

I don't even know where to begin......so much to look at and process and think about.
As I mentioned yesterday they have been moved out of the group family foster home, pulled out of school and sent back to the orphanage.
Not a surprise, we expected that.
To know that they have each other, as well as the company of two little girls around their age that are also about to meet their families help's tremendously.

By all accounts they are the bubbly, energetic, smiley little boys that we think that they are. 
And if you think the boys smile a lot you simply must meet sweet Lilly whose family will be with us our entire stay in Guangzhou. The boys ain't got nuthin on this precious girl in the smile department!

Here's a synopsis from the family that met them and their observations about the boys taken from their blog.

......."We had a special bag of gifts from Jack(she means John.....whose dumb idea was it to name all these kids with the same initial anyway...) & Sonia M* for their future sons, Lu* & Lu*. They will have 4 older brothers when they get here. The boys were awoken from their naps and brought to the office so we could give them their gifts. They came bounding in, full of joy & energy, repeating "Hello" over and over. They kept begging to have their picture taken. You can tell these two boys are craving for some family bonding. They are going to do so well when they're adopted!

Lu*, who will be Joey in the United States, really clung to Brock, eventually riding Brock piggyback style, laughing & chattering away the entire time. After nearly 10 minutes of this, Brock confessed to me that his back was starting to ache. At about that time, one of the caregivers let us know that Joey had been asking to get down for some time. He ran after us when we went out the front door and even posed with us for our family picture in front of the orphanage. If we could have adopted him on the spot, Jack(John) & Sonia would have been minus one boy when they got to China."


And then she posted the following series of photographs


and I gotta tell you.....

my heart is broken and rejoicing all at the same time.
I was unaware that this was possible....but trust me....it is. 




 Do you see Joey?

I know you see him but do you really see him?

Do you see the dynamics here?

 Do you see him clinging to her husband Brock?

Do you see how desperate our little boy is for a family?
It couldn't be more apparent if the picture was of him holding a sign that said,
"PLEASE SOMEONE LOVE ME."
Our sweet boy has virtually never had a daddy to cling to and in the absence of one he will willingly go to anyone not having any discretion in who he will snuggle up with.
I think we'll have some attachment work to do with our littlest guy.

On the flip side I am so over the moon happy that these two families took the time to love on my kids.
Brock I cannot thank you enough.
To know that at least for that one short period of time someone made them feel special and someone made them feel loved is something I am incredibly grateful for. 
It's photos like this

which is a picture of all the nannies that made it really hit home for me.
As far as Joey and Jacob can really comprehend at the moment we are just another set of caregivers in another revolving door.

A shift change if you will.

Kinda like in a factory when the day time staff leaves and the night crew comes in.
It  makes me wonder how long until their hearts can fully take hold of the fact that
there
is
no
shift
change.

We are the day crew.
We are the night crew.
(Ok in truth, I am the night crew as John sleeps so deeply he may as well be in hibernation....until of course his tiny little barely audible alarm clock goes off.....that he hears...not a crying child....but a tiny...and I mean tiny... beep-beep....beep-beep....but alas, I sense I am getting off track here...ahem....back to the story at hand..)

We are their family.

And this shift,
is in it for the long haul.

On a lighter note I was ecstatic to learn that they sell this over there



That's right folks.
Eat up.
It's chicken feet.
It's chicken feet in a bag.
It also happens to be Joey's favorite food.
I plan on purchasing this by the case load to feed him when we get home.
Cuz I'm cool like dat.
(and cuz I refuse to prepare/touch/de-leg a chicken)
A big shout out and thank you to the Chicken Feet in a Bag people that have done it for me.
Holla!


Jacob's reaction coming up tomorrow.