Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Bright Lights Big City

Today was our consulate appointment. Grace picked us up at 7:30 to head to the consulate appt. we had today. About 12 families all gathered in one room waiting to take an oath.

We all stood together, raising our rights hands, opening our hearts and making a promise together.
Then an announcement was made...we have one family pre-Hague convention, you will need to make a payment prior to us reviewing our paperwork. Couldn't they just have called us up to the window? All eyes on the Hageman's.  Hi. Ni hao.

While we waited to be called to finish the last of the paperwork we  talked with a few families and Myla made a few friends. One, was eight years old.  A little girl all dressed in purple, here with her family to get her little brother was just turned two. She played with Myla and Miss Myla enjoyed the attention.

Later in the evening we went on a river cruise to view the skyline and the uniquely lit up buildings on the river front. There we met another family who brought their daughter whom they adopted 8 years ago to again add to their family...lucky number 13. Pretty amazing. The wife once lived in. Brooklyn Park, MN and now the family resides in Montana. They have adopted from Africa, China, and Haiti. They have traveled all over the world as well bringing a couple children at a time with each trip. They were very kind and fun to talk with. Amazing family.

I feel I have too many thoughts to grasp one string and have the words come together.
I will maybe try a few...

How did we get here to this moment in time? After years of feeling uncertain about the future?
And now it is coming together right before my eyes moment by moment. And I could have not imagined this life but my Father did. What is next? I do not know. Trust has never come easy to me. I have wept over what I wish could be in my life not just regarding our adoption journey but through loss and struggles of many kinds that include my own and those that I love.
I have hoped for what I wish could be as well.
Life is crazy, beautiful and bittersweet. And before me is tomorrow. Maybe that is a lesson itself.
One day different from the next. Good and the tough. May I experience and learn from both kinds.
I hope not sound full of myself. I am working it out word from word.

China has brought us 6000 miles...6000 miles to you  Myla. So glad we found you and that you found us.






Monday, February 25, 2013

Guangzhou

Guangzhou has been a delight. As is our guide Ms. Grace. She is probably only 90 lbs soaking wet but is a tour de force. She has set our mind at ease with some of the final steps regarding the sacred paperwork we ...okay, I have been fretting over for weeks. I should not jinx it for we have our consulate appointment tomorrow. I have already laid out my clothes and Myla's.
We will have one more day in Guangzhou then off to Hong Kong. But before I fast forward let's recap the past couple of days.

My cold is winning so today I slept when Myla did.  Myla is winning against her cold. While we had her standard medical check up the other day Grace hunted down a physician whom prescribed Myla amoxicillin.

We have gone on two field trips with our guide Grace thus far. Did I mention how much we like her? She is spunky, kind and extremely knowledgable.

Our hotel is located on Shamian island. There is definitely a European influence (British I believe) with the architecture and cobblestone streets. The past few days there was a market with local artisans, students I believe, and it was fun too look at their goods. Many talented artists had there wares for sale and we purchased a few things including interpretive drawings of the Spring Festival festivities.  In other shops I procured a few traditional dresses for Myla.

Today were the excursions with Grace. First we went to the Yuntai Garden.  This is Guangzhou's third tulip festival as well. It was interesting for there was a very Holland theme to it. Nonetheless beautiful. We thought of you Steph and Gretchen and of course took lots of pictures. In addition to the beautiful tulips, I loved the orchids. The orchids I have had in the past never looked like these!
After the gardens we went to the Guangdong Folk Art Museum also known as the Chen Ancestrial Hall. The architectural decorations here include wood carvings, brick carvings, stone carvings, ceramic sculptures, lime sculptures, iron castings and paintings. All beautiful in thier own right with delicate, impressive and skilled detail.

Then we headed towards the 1400 meter shopping row but Myla had had enough and we went back to the hotel for a bit.  We ended the evening at a restaurant near the water. It was quite good and the atmosphere lovely with trees strung with colored lights.

Tomorrow again is our consulate appointment ( 7:40 ) I hope it goes smoothly.

Again, thank you for your prayers and well wishes.

Carrie






Saturday, February 23, 2013

Still Alive

My apologies for going off the grid.  I came down with a cold and slept whenever Myla slept.
I knew this was coming right after she coughed in my mouth the other day.  Welcome to parenthood right?

In spite of my cold and red rudolph nose we still managed to get out and see a few sites.
It was cooler than anticipated, upper 30's and with Myla and I both with a cold we decided to take each day as it came.

We were able to drive a bit out into the country side and visited a beautiful park and an ancient village.  The village has become very touristy but we still enjoyed and were glad to see it.


To be random....before we forget, Happy Belated Birthday Andy!

Refocusing...
Just prior to our departure I signed up for a yahoo group in relation to those who have adopted from Myla's province.  Upon arrival, I sent out a message and within hours many people had responded.

We had one family reach out to us who happen to live there.  The moved from Belgium to Guizhou and foster children with special needs.  They felt called and so they went.  They have cared for many children who have been adopted all over the world including MN and WI too!  The father and son took us out to dinner and shared their stories.  We enjoyed their company and were grateful for thief hospitality. Hetty, Ian and Geoffrey if you are reading this, thank you and God Bless, you are truly special people.

On our last day, our guide took us to have a traditional local meal.  Hot and sour fish soup.  It was dee-licious!  I think the spice helped my cold a bit too!  Unbeknownst to me, Jared and Ben stepped away to make our fish selection prior to eating.  Jared actually got to pick out the fish we were going to eat.  Then the chef smacked the fish over the head before placing it in our pot.  I am glad I did not know this or see this till after I ate it.  Thank you Mr. Fish for your tasty sacrifice.

Unfortunately, our plane to Guangzhou was delayed and we did not get to our hotel till after 10 pm and poor Myla was pretty cranky (so was I, my sold was really kicking me in the pants) and it took awhile to settle her to sleep. She did pretty well on the plane with a little crying but 1.5 hours is nothing compared to the 17 hours.  But we will deal with that when it comes.

Before this gets ridiculously long, I will leave with some Myla minutes:

Things we are learning about Myla:

1.  She enjoys eating (A girl after my own heart) which is good since she is quite tiny and we want her to grow strong and healthy.

2. When she eats she makes these really cute noises. We call them petite and soft Chewbacha sounds.  We call her petite Chewy (Yes, a Star Wars reference, would you expect anything less)

3.  I mentioned she was small and yes, we wish we could feed her protein shakes but man is she strong.  Changing her diaper sometimes is like wrestling with the Hulk.

4. I love seeing her face in the morning...sleepy and smily morning Myla.

5. She digs baths. She will be ready for swimming this summer I think!

Hope all is well with everyone.  Much Love and God Bless, Carrie










Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Ready for my closeup

 Ready for my Close Up

Miss Myla's most recent activity includes looking at her reflection on the door of the mini fridge.
It sure makes her smile. She is also fascinated with her feet.  As I mentioned before, in China they bundle children and babies until the look a bit like the state puff marsh-mellow man from the movie Ghostbusters. I will talk about this more a bit later.

This morning we went back to the Adoption Center to sigh more paperwork.  Her primary caregiver returned as did the Orphanage Director.  We began paperwork and they played with her a bit, you could tell they were excited to see her again.

I was holding her when Jared was working on a few transactions and that was the moment she decided to meltdown.  I could not console her.  Several women including the caregiver from the orphanage and a worker at the center began to speak rapidly in Chinese and tug at her clothes.
Our guide told me that they did not think I dressed her with enough clothes.  Granted I thought I had. She was wearing a onesie and then a one piece outfit over it then a jacket/hoodie over that.
I was approached again by a staff person who spoke English who asked, do you have more clothes for her. Sigh. I felt terrible.

She ended up crying so hard she feel asleep in my arms from exhaustion. Her primary caregiver said she also is struggling with a cold (she coughs a bit at night) and wanted to take us to a pharmacy.  She grabbed two things and went to pay for them.  Jared tired to stop her but she said to our guide something like, please I want to, I love her so much.  Tears welled up in my eyes.  I bit the inside of my cheeks.

She had a few more crying spells. One of the bigger ones was when Jared ran to the store.  I could tell she was confused, scared and frustrated. When I would comfort her sometimes she would shove me away.  I get it.  She just met me.
Jared however, somehow manages to win her over.  I think she prefers him. But I get it, I would too.  He is a pretty great guy. Trust grows in our heart sometimes one person at a time.  Thank you for all your comments and prayers. We are grateful!



Monday, February 18, 2013

Gotcha Day

Today was the day. We drove to the adoption affairs office at 3 pm today to meet...drumroll please, Miss Myla Quinn Funa Hageman.
I could hear my heart beating in my ears. Then there she was. Three caregivers plus the orphanage director made the trip with her. She was quiet...just looking at us and all that surrounded her. I asked if I could hold her and they gave her too me. I tried not to cry.


We began filling out paperwork almost immediately, which let me tell you is hard to do in that kind of moment. We also circled questions from a list our adoption workers gave us and Jared began to ask them to our translator and in turn he asked the staff, things like... Favorite food, bedtime etc. During all this we played with her and we gave her her first toy. Who knew a yellow ball with a smiley face could be so entertaining.
Her primary caregiver began to cry a couple of times. I said to our guide please tell her, thank you for loving her. I choked up as well. And I asked it be said to the other caregivers as well.

We had taken a picture of her room and showed it to the the caregivers. I wanted them to know what her room looks like. Somehow, I thought they would appreciate it

She has only started to fuss or cry for a moment now and again but mostly curious. We gave her a sponge bath, she looked a bit startled so we made it quick. Thanks Amy for the Norwex baby cloth.
We fed her some formula with a Mead Bottle designed for children with cleft/ lip and palate along with a muffin and some Gerber puffs. Tomorrow Jared says we have to get some veggies in her. She is a little sweet pea which we expected but both Jared and I wish we had some Avocados to feed her.

We are a bit nervous she has not cried or screamed yet for we are told this is how many children grieve the loss of the life they are forced to let go of. But perhaps that is waiting for us tomorrow.

Jared is the master do getting smiles from her. I am not the least surprised. He makes me smile too.




Sunday, February 17, 2013

Travel day

I will keep this post brief....
There was actually a change in the schedule and tomorrow is actually the day we will meet her. We did not find this out until our delayed flight landed.
Today was a bit more of a challenge. We had a delay over 3 hours in a space that was pretty much standing room only, all the while thinking we were going to be late.
Our guide dropped us off at our hotel at 4pm and we went exploring for dinner on our own.  Beijing, I'd say we did a decent job with navigating. Guiyang, quite a bit more challenging.

Saturday, February 16, 2013

Another full day

Greetings.  As I prepare to write this blog I reviewed the last few posts and noticed...well, a few mistakes with my writing. I will try and do better this time.

We were able to visit the the Great Wall today.  This amazing
structure (If it is okay to call it that) was built to protect China from invaders over 2700 years ago.
It was beautiful.  Let me tell you, it was the ultimate stair master.  And it was a privilege to set foot upon it. You will never hear me make that claim about exercising again but this was exercise with history.
Jared and I were also asked to pose in other people's pictures.  Jared liked the fact that a woman requested a photo opportunity with him. Har har. Mine was a request from a sweet little boy. I guess you need to travel around the world for a chance at celebrity.

Also, our taxi rides have been a great part of the trip for we have seen a lot of Beijing on the way to many of our destinations.  We visited a Jade factory today and had the chance to see how it is made into jewelry and other impressive carvings.

Tonight we are in search of a Hot Pot (soup) restaurant recommended by our guide.  We have decided we will miss her very much.  She was great but it is time for our new guide once we land in Guiyang.  We can hardly believe it, tomorrow is the day.  Are we scared, excited, anxious, nervous. Yep, all of the above.
Prayers appreciated for her for Jared and I and the entire process.


The not so summer , Summer Palace :)




A tea ceremony

Friday, February 15, 2013

Day 2

This morning began with another tasty breakfast in our hotel.  We enjoyed pot stickers, coffee, waffles and even congee, a traditional rice like porridge.
Then we met up with our guide and head to the Summer Palace.  We walked through the 728 meter elaborately painted Long Corridor and the Empress Cixi's marble boat.
Streets are brimming with red lanterns and the sound firecrackers fill the evening.  It is the 6th day of the Chinese New Year celebration here.
The food is delicious and thanks to our guide, today we ate at a tasty restaurant and had Kung Pao Chicken and Peking Duck.
We also had time to visit the Foreign BookStore.  There a total of four floors to explore and we could have stayed there for hours but our feet were a bit sore.

Tomorrow's Agenda includes the Great Wall. Only a day and half till we meet our daughter. Wow.