Journey to Will

Hilton Head Island

2009-08-10T16:25:00.000-07:00

In July we went to Hilton Head Island. It was Will's first vacation, his first time at the ocean. We all had a great time. The weather was beautiful the whole week. We were so glad that Will loved the ocean and the beach. He had a great time building sand castles, trying to skim board, and jumping waves. In the pool, he was a "little fish". He loves to swim so much. He's holding his breath and swimming under water.

The drive went very well too. We drove through the night (and by "we", I mean me) and Kyle and the kids slept almost the entire time.

The condo was really pretty with plenty of room. It was a two bedroom and more importantly, two bathroom condo. We had two pools, a playground, tennis courts, basketball courts, fitness room, restraunt and night club.

One Year Later

2009-07-14T19:56:00.000-07:00

What a difference a year makes. July 28 will be our one year anniversary of Will's Adoption Day. He has grown (in every way) so much! Last Summer, he was terrified of the water...wouldn't even stand in the baby pool in China by himself. Today, I have a hard time keeping him above the water. He puts his own goggles on and off he goes. I can't take my eyes off of him. He makes me really nervous because he can't swim yet, but loves to be under the water.

A year ago, he wouldn't touch sand, this Summer at the Lake he rolled around in it, dumped it in his hair, dug holes....just covered himself in it!

A year ago, he would just constantly cling to me, now he is going to school once a week, interacting with classmates, staying in the daycare at the YMCA for an hour a few times a week, and going off happily with his brother, sister, dad, other family members and friends.

Physically, he has grown 5 inches and gained 5 pounds. He is finally on the charts for height and weight! Only the 3rd percentile for both....but he's on the charts!!!!!

Since he's been home, he has had dental surgery, tubes in his ears, plastic surgery...closing his palate, two ultrasounds, an MRI, a sleep study, hormone shots, and has had to redo most of his immunizations....2 more to go. His next surgery is coming up in August and I'm waiting to hear from his ENT on tonsils and adnoids, which would be his fourth surgery. Then he will see the facial cranial team again in October. He has been so brave and so strong through it all!

He'll start speech in September through preschool and also at Children's. He is saying lots of words and even speaking in short sentences, he just needs work on putting some of his sounds together.

He's still as sweet as ever and is getting sillier everyday! I can't believe he's been home for a year.....but at the same time, it seems like he's been home since he was born.

5 Months Later

2009-01-15T18:00:00.000-08:00

Will has been home for about five months now. It's amazing to me how much he has learned, grown and adjusted. It seems like he has been with us since the day he was born. I can't imagine my life without him now.

A few weeks after we returned home, Will was tested in all areas of his development. He was 8-10 months behind in all areas. Three months later, he was retested and we learned that he had already caught up in all areas except speech. We're hoping his speech will improve after he gets his tubes (next week) and then his palate surgery (March). However, he's doing better then we expected. He says over 100 words....just not really clear. He also will repeat just about anything you ask him to. And he's saying more two and three word sentences all the time.

Karli and Griffin have been a huge part in Will's development. He watches everything they do and then imitates them. He loves being around them and can't wait until they get home from school! Needless to say, they spoil him rotten!

Will is such a loving child. He is always so concerned when another child is crying or upset. He loves helping everyone too! If someone drops something, he'll run over and pick it up. He's also getting very independent. He's trying to dress and undress himself, he feeds himself, brushes his teeth, washes his hair in the tub, etc.

Sometimes I think about how much Will has been through in just two short years and through it all, he is so happy and so sweet. It really makes you realize the truly important things in life......

Finally Home

2008-08-11T10:54:00.000-07:00

We've been home for 5 days, but things have been a little crazy! Will has finally adjusted to "Cincinnati time", sleeping 11 hours at night and an hour and a half in the afternoon. He is terrified of the cat and still scared of the pool...even with only a few inches of water in it, but is doing really well considering he is in a whole new world!

I only have a few photos after returning home, one from the airport (after our 27 hours of traveling) and two taken at the house.

Thanks for all your support and for reading my blog and following us on our journey! I plan to post updates on how Will is doing, maybe on a monthly basis.

Leaving Tomorrow!!!!

2008-08-05T06:07:00.000-07:00

I am sooooo excited to be going home tomorrow. I'm so excited for Will to meet his brother and sister, his grandma's and grandpa's and all his aunts, uncles, cousins and friends! It's so funny, many adults will stare at us and we're not sure what they're thinking, but when we talk to teenage kids, they all tell us how lucky Will is to be going to the USA. One thing is for sure, we are very lucky to have him. He is so sweet! As every day goes on, I'm getting more smiles, and more kisses. He is playing and laughing more and more everyday as well.

This morning, all the babies from our group got their picture taken on the red couch. Will would only stay on the couch if I held his hand, so I had to duck down behind the couch and hold his hand.

In the afternoon we went to the U.S. Consulate to take our oath and get Will's Visa. When the plane lands in Chicago tomorrow, Will will officially become a U.S. Citizen!

We ate dinner at an Italian Restaurant later in the evening, which was really pretty good. It's now 9:30 PM in China so I have to start packing. We need to be down in the lobby at 5:30 AM tomorrow to begin our 27 hour journey home....this time with a 2yr. old!

Will's Birthday

2008-08-04T01:31:00.000-07:00

Today is Will's 2nd Birthday! We've been singing "Happy Birthday" to him all day. He just looks at us like we're crazy!

This morning Kyle went on the group tour to a Buddhist Temple and a Folk Art Museum. I didn't want to go because we already went to a Buddhist Temple in Xi'an and I wasn't really that interested in the Folk Art. So Will and I hung out at the pool for a little while this morning. He did a little better than yesterday. He didn't cry, but still needed to be either in my lap or holding on to me at all times. Then we went for a walk and found a park. It was really neat. They had a part for kids and then exercise stuff for adults. We met these two girls, ages 10 and 11, who were really interested in Will and so they followed us around to play with Will and practice their "English" on me.

Later, we went on a dinner cruise on the Pearl River, the river outside of our hotel. The cruise was really neat....the food, not so much!

When we went back to our hotel, room service came to our room with a really pretty cake for Will. Someone from our group must have told them it was his Birthday. It was really good too! Coconut Cream cake with chunks of coconut still in it!

Shopping and Swimming

2008-08-03T05:45:00.000-07:00

Today our guide took are group to the Jade store. It's a government-run store so they wouldn't bargain with us at all, but we did get a few things. After that she took us to a mall that had five floors....five floors of nothing, but jewelry. It might seem hard to believe, but we only got a few things there as well. I think we have a lot of souvenirs and momentum's bought for all three kids, but I have to admit it's the most fun to shop for Karli.

After the shopping trip, we ate lunch

and walked around by our hotel and did a little more shopping....oh and Kyle found a girlfriend.

We attempted to take Will swimming again. He still wasn't too thrilled about the pool, but he did much better. He got off my lap for the first time and stood on his own in the pool. The water was up to his chest. But when he started to walk, he fell forward a little bit...and then it was back on my lap.

Right now we're watching a show about the Olympics on a HUGE flat screen TV that is on the side of a boat on the river behind our hotel. China is so crazy about the Olympics ...it's everywhere!

Tomorrow is Will's 2nd Birthday. We found a cheesecake for him at the Bakery next to the hotel. We're going to wait until we get home to give him presents. I've discovered something that he LOVES.....Lego's. They have some in the play room and he does not want to put them down. He loves to build stuff and stack stuff....Lego's, blocks, shampoo bottles, cheerios, anything!

Saying Goodbye to Old Friends and Meeting New Friends

2008-08-02T07:21:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we went back to Star Fish so that Will could say goodbye to Amanda, his nannies and all his friends.

After the visit, we basically spent the rest of the day packing and traveling. We arrived at the White Swan Hotel in Guangzhou at about 9:30 PM last night. The hotel is amazing. The view is beautiful (right), the pool is beautiful, and the people are very friendly. I was starting to feel very home sick, but when we arrived here and saw all the American families with there children, it made me feel much better. Don't get me wrong, I still want to get home, but this hotel is making things much more tolerable. It has a great breakfast buffet and a really nice playroom for the kids....of course Will is just trying to "climb" everything!

This morning we took Will to have his medical exam and his Visa photo taken. He was not happy about his exam! We did some shopping....much better then the shopping in Xi'an. In the the afternoon I went to fill out paperwork for the U.S. Consulate while Will was napping. When he woke up and saw that I wasn't there, her cried and screamed for a half hour......in between the M&M's Kyle was giving him to get him to stop. By the time I was finished with the paper work, Will was covered in chocolate slobber! After that we did more shopping....did I mention how great the shopping was in Guangzhou? One of the store owners (Jordan) printed Will's name for us in Chinese and told us it meant "Excellent". We had dinner with another couple from Cincinnati...Matt and Tracy....turned out I graduated from Seton with Tracy....small world! They adopted a 3 yr.old boy, so now Will has a new friend!

Tomorrow we're going shopping for Jade and Pearls....gotta love that shopping! I have SO many more photos to share and stories to tell, but there is only so much time in one day. But, below are some miscellaneous photo's for your enjoyment....taken on one of Kyle's exploration walks, of course:)

The City Wall

2008-07-30T23:46:00.000-07:00

We didn't make it to The Great Wall of China so today we went to see the Xi'an City Wall....not as "great", but it will have to do. The wall is 10 miles long and goes around the city of Xi'an. It was built 600 years ago to protect Xi'an from enemies before the Chinese Provinces were unified. There's a moat on the outside of the wall and four original gates to get in and out of the city. The gates would open at dawn and close at dusk.

We toured the South Gate of the City Wall.

Will's favorite attraction was the "toilet" sign. We see these signs everywhere instead of Rest Room signs. ....Yes, Griffin, I made him wear the pink plaid shorts:)

We also went to a Buddhist Temple. It was very interesting.

After the tours we went to Pizza Hut to get some American food and then just hung around the hotel room and played with Will. The photo below is Will sitting on the blanket that Mary (Mom's club girl) crocheted for him. It looked like it was a lot of work and took a very long time. Thanks Mary, it's beautiful and Will loves it!

Terracotta Warriors

2008-07-30T05:51:00.000-07:00

The Terracotta Warriors were very amazing. These terracotta statues were burried with the emporers tomb to protect him in his afterlife. They were just recently discovered by a farmer and continue to be unburried and pieces put back together to this day.

Before we went to the Terracotta Museum, we went to the Terracotta Workshop, where replica terracotta statues are hand made. We wanted to buy a large statue for our porch, but the cost, plus shipping was very expensive, so we settled for a few smaller statues for the bookshelf.

Will was frightened of the large statues. I guess they looked a little too real! He finally decided to ride in his stroller for a while today so I didn't have to carry him the whole time....my arms and back have definitely been getting a good workout! As you will see from the photo below (Annie, our guide), most Chinese women carry umbrellas to shield their skin from the sun. They want their skin to stay as light as possible. You will even find lots a "whitening" cream in most stores to try and make their skin look even lighter. It's very interesting to see what "beauty" looks like in different cultures.

After a long day of sight seeing, we decided to eat dinner at the hotel restaurant and go to sleep early. Kyle and Will were asleep by 7:30 and I will be there by 10:30 (hopefully).

Star Fish Foster Home

2008-07-29T10:22:00.000-07:00

This morning we gave Will his first bath and then went to the Super Market and did a little shopping.

In the afternoon we went to visit Amanda and Will's nannies at the Chinese Star Fish Foster Care Home. I think this is the only place in China you can adopt "spoiled" children. Between the volunteers and the nannies, the kids get constant attention. I'm sure it still doesn't compare to having a family and being able to grow up in The States, but it really is a wonderful place. Will was a little hesitant to go back at first. When they opened the door, he stood in the doorway and waved, but wouldn't go in. Then he saw his main caretaker and went to her right away. He then started hugging all the kids and playing. He had so much fun!

I also learned today that Will is not as delayed in his language as I thought. He speaks lots of Chinese words...I just didn't know he was actually saying words. He understands in English because the volunteers speak English and the kids watch American cartoons. He also understands in Chinese because all the nannies are Chinese and Amanda spoke to him in English and Chinese. But because he was mostly around the nannies, he learned to speak from them.

I know this post was short, but I'm exhausted! Will is constantly "on the go". I'll post again tomorrow after we visit the Terracotta Warriors. Thanks for all the great comments!

The Adoption is Official

2008-07-28T21:44:00.000-07:00

This morning Will woke up a little sad, wondering where Amanda was. He would grab me by the hand and walk me over to the door, point to the door and say "mama". When I picked him up, he would just lay his head on my shoulder and cry this little sad cry. After about 30 minutes, we were able to get him to play with his toys and interact with us. A few hours later, he was calling me "mama". When anybody tries to hold him, he puts his arms out to me and says "mama". If I'm holding him and someone puts their arms out to him, he just shakes his head "no".

He is so sweet and still so rough. He is "all boy". He wants to climb everything, crawl under chairs and tables, and knock down the stackable cups. I was throwing Griffin's blow up basketball in the room today and it was so cute, the harder I threw it against the ceiling, the harder he laughed.

Today we went back to the Civil Affairs Office to make the adoption official. We had to go through a brief interview, fill out more paperwork and pay our legal fees. We then received the Official Adoption Registration! It was hard to keep Will from running all over the office while we were there. He is so curious about everything. He's very delayed in his speech, but we can tell he is so smart. He sees us do something one time and then does it himself. He communicates with us by pointing to something or showing us something. Also, he understands very well. We can say "put your shoes on" and he will go and find his shoes, sit down and try to put them on.

We tried to take him swimming today, but he wanted no part of it! It was the first time he has ever seen a pool before so I think he will like it in time.

The photos above are from the Civil Affairs Office. The photo below is Kyle and his new friend from the Super Market.

Sweet Will

2008-07-27T07:51:00.000-07:00

At 6:00PM today we finally met our little Will. He cried very hard and did not want to leave Amanda (Star Fish Foster Care). Amanda and one of the volunteers came back to the hotel with us and he then calmed down and we were able to play with him. Tomorrow morning we go back to the Civil Affairs Office to make the Adoption official. Hopefully Will will not be too sad when he sees that Amanda is not here when he wakes up. He is so cute and so loving! He loves Cheerios, gold fish, books, music...and shoes! We're not sure, but we think he may be left-handed like his Dad.

I gave up on figuring out my fuse.net email. My yahoo email is working just fine. The address is mckp8627@yahoo.com

We're Here

2008-07-26T03:26:00.000-07:00

We finally made it to our Hotel in Xi'an at about 11:30 PM Saturday night (11:30 AM Saturday morning, Cincinnati time). We're still trying to figure out our email. For some reason we are not able to send. I think it has something to do with the fuse.net server??? Later, I'll try to just open a yahoo or Gmail account and see if it works that way.

Our flights were very long, but no major problems. The flight from Chicago to Beijing was very bumpy. I had motion sickness for the first time. The coolest thing about the flight was that we flew North up over Canada and over the North Pole and down over Siberia and Russia. We could see sheet ice for hours from our window! I meant to tell Griffin this on the phone last night. I know he will think that's very cool!!!

Our guide, Annie, met us last night at the airport. It took about an hour to get to our hotel from the airport. The way people drive is SO CRAZY! They just switch lanes right in front of other cars, turn into traffic and go the wrong direction. Basically it's just a "free for all". Cars drive on sidewalks to pass traffic and people cross the street right in front of cars. The weird thing is that nobody gets angry or has road rage. Also, at major intersections, military guys stand on the corner. Annie, our guide, is very nice. She told us a lot of interesting things about the city of Xi'an. It's one of the oldest cities in China, about 5,000 years old. Later this week we'll visit a Temple, the Terracotta Warriors and a few other historic sites.

The hotel we're staying out is very nice (photo below). I think it's funny that we get complimentary slippers instead of a robe that you might get in the U.S.A. They have a complimentary breakfast buffet every morning. This morning we had toast, fried eggs, yogurt, fried noodles, fruit (oranges and bananas) and coffee. Kyle tried some sausage, but said it tasted really weird. All the meat looked a little strange, so I didn't attempt to try any. I did try some cantaloupe and watermelon, though. I was told not to eat fruit that you couldn't peel, but I couldn't help myself. I think I'll survive! They also have fried rice, spicy cheese soup, different types of bread and rolls, these preserved pickled eggs, aged cabbage and a few other things. Obviously, we stayed away from this stuff. The fried noodles are my favorite. I could eat them for every meal!!!!

Kyle woke up early and walked around the streets to check stuff out. He said there are brand new buildings right next to buildings that are 1,000 years old. You can see bikes and three wheeled motorcycles everywhere. They are still having small aftershocks from the earthquake in May. Just Friday they had a 3.0 aftershock. People who live in high-rises will camp out in the streets. They are still afraid to sleep inside. Kyle said "even the dogs look Chinese". Also, people write their phone numbers on the sidewalk outside there homes in paint...just thought that was interesting.

We are meeting our guide at 5:30PM today to go to the Civil Affairs Office to pick up Will. We will sign a paper to get temporary custody for 24 hours. Then, tomorrow, we will go back to the Civil Affairs Office and make the adoption official.

Right now we are going to go explore the city some more. Kyle is watching Chinese cartoons and is getting impatient. There is so much to see, so we don't want to spend too much time in the hotel.

Our Journey Begins Tomorrow

2008-07-24T15:16:00.000-07:00

It's finally time! Our journey to China to bring home Will starts at 5:00AM tomorrow morning when we leave for the Airport. I think we're ready, with the exception of some final packing. Karli and Griffin are so excited to be finally getting their little brother. Will has no idea what a great big brother and sister he will have! I'm sure they will completely spoil him!

Amanda from Star Fish sent me an email yesterday saying that Will started with infections in both eyes. We're hoping it's better by the time we get him (Sunday), but we are bringing antibiotics and an eye ointment just in case.

I think I'm getting less stressed out and more nervous about the trip! The next time I post we should be in China!!!!!!!!

Gotcha Day

2008-07-11T17:34:00.000-07:00

Today we learned that our "Gotcha Day", the day we will receive our son, will be Sunday, July 27. We'll stay in Xi'an for 6 nights and then travel to Guangzhou on Friday, August 1, where we will stay 5 nights. We'll actually be in Guangzhou for Will's 2nd Birthday!

"Don't cry Will, we'll be there in two weeks!"

He's actually crying and reaching for Amanda at Star Fish....which is a great sign of attachment! This picture shows us that he is being taken care of...his needs are being met. (Either that or he's mad about the pink blanket and the girly animals) :)

Travel Is Confirmed

2008-07-09T09:00:00.000-07:00

It's official! We're leaving Friday, July 25 at 7:43AM. We fly from Cincinnati to Chicago, Chicago to Beijing, then from Beijing to Xi'an. It should take about 24 hours to get there because we have a 5 hour layover in Chicago and a 3 hour layover in Beijing. But because Xi'an is 13 hours ahead of us, it will be 8:00PM, Saturday, July 26 in Xi'an when we get there. My plan is to stay awake the entire 24 hours....that's how I'm going to beat the jet lag. :)

Chinese Star Fish

2008-06-29T17:10:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I found out that Will has been living at a Foster Care Home called Chinese Star Fish. It is run by an amazing woman named Amanda from South Africa. She takes high risk special needs children who need immediate care from the Xi'an Childrens Welfare Institute and brings them to her Foster Care Home. About 15 - 20 babies live there at one time and are taken care of by nannies living in China as well as many volunteers from all over the world. The website for Chinese Star Fish is http://www.chinesestarfishthrower.org/. I'm quite sure that Will would not be alive today if it was not for Amanda and Star Fish. If you go to the website and read Amanda's blog, Nathaniel is the name that Will was given when she brought him to Star Fish. The funny thing is the volunteer that named him, Kay, was just married to a man named William, who goes by Will. Also, another volunteer, Rachel, told me that she looked at Nathaniel (Will) one day and told him that he would have made the best little "Will". Will is the little leopard witch sitting on the back of the couch on the photo above.

We feel so lucky that Will has lived in this Foster Home as opposed to the orphanage. He has had basically one on one care. He was also able to get his first two surgeries because of money raised by donors through the surgery fund.....so if anyone is looking for a good tax deductable donation :) Also, if you get the urge to travel to China, volunteers are always welcome!

It's A Boy!

2008-06-28T07:20:00.000-07:00

May 15 was the day we found our little Will. All we knew was that his date of birth was August 4, 2006, he was born with a cleft lip and pallate, and he was just adorable! Since then things have been moving along quickly for us. We received our PreApproval on May 29, our Letter of Approval on June 9 and our Travel Approval on June 27.

As of today, we know that we'll be leaving Cincinnati on July 27 and leaving China on August 6. We're expecting a call this week from Lotus Travel with final dates/times and then a final itinerary from FTIA. We won't be traveling to Beijing because of the Olympics. Hotel rooms are hard to find and security is very tight. We're OK with that because our trip to China is about bringing Will home. Someday we'll go back with Will, Karli and Griffin and see Beijing....and maybe come home with a fourth child :)