Today was Tianna's 4th Birthday and of course her 1st USA Birthday. We have now been home for just over 1 month and it has been an interesting one. Jet lag really did a number on the 3 of us. But that only took a week to over come. Laura lost her uncle and then we went right into the holidays.
The month has been filled with doctor appointments, 1st time meetings with family and friends, my birthday and my parents 50th wedding anniversary party. Then today Tianna's birthday. Through it all Tianna has fallen into a routine that has made life easy at home. The crying when its nap or bed time is all but gone. She is learning English and now can count to 10. She understands so much more then I ever thought she would this quickly.
We are now preparing for her cleft pallet repair surgery in February. We are all looking forward to the Chinese New Year Celebration that our agency is hosting next month. At that time we will be able to reunite with some of our travel group. And the best news is that we are looking into to heading to Disney World in May.
Laura, Tianna and I are getting into a groove as a family. Life is good right now.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Jet Lag, Blizzard, a Passing and the Holidays
The adjustment to home life as a family for the 1st week was not that smooth. We got home on the 17th and two days later we were hit with 25 inches of snow. The jet lag really did us all in as sleep patterns were all off for a few days. Then less then a week after coming home Laura's uncle Tom passed away. Uncle was like a father figure to her for many years and his passing, although not a total shock, still hit us hard.
Uncle Tom had been sick for a couple of months (although, he'd been ill for quite some time) and we both thought he may not make it until we got home. But as it turned out his last good deed was waiting till we got home so Aunt Carol would not be alone. He never did get a chance to meet his new Great Niece Tianna, but he was very excited for us when he found out we made it home.
The holidays were a lot of fun. Tianna really did not understand why she was getting gifts at every house she went to, but she liked it very much. After about a week, Tianna was settling in to her new house and her mom and dad.
It seems that now every couple of days there is something new to experience with Tianna. The 1st dinner out, meeting her new extended family, visit to the firehouse. Its all new to her and Laura and I are getting a lot of enjoyment out being parents.
Uncle Tom had been sick for a couple of months (although, he'd been ill for quite some time) and we both thought he may not make it until we got home. But as it turned out his last good deed was waiting till we got home so Aunt Carol would not be alone. He never did get a chance to meet his new Great Niece Tianna, but he was very excited for us when he found out we made it home.
The holidays were a lot of fun. Tianna really did not understand why she was getting gifts at every house she went to, but she liked it very much. After about a week, Tianna was settling in to her new house and her mom and dad.
It seems that now every couple of days there is something new to experience with Tianna. The 1st dinner out, meeting her new extended family, visit to the firehouse. Its all new to her and Laura and I are getting a lot of enjoyment out being parents.
Going Home Part 2 December 17th
We were nearing time to board the plane for the loooooong flight home. While waiting for the boarding announcement we met up again with the lady, her mom and her new daughter. She was visibly upset. I asked her where she was sitting and they told her that she was got 3 single seats. They had nothing together. I could not imagine having all three of us sitting in different seats for a 14 hour flight.
When we saw them on the plane they were in the back with us. They were able to get two together but grandma had to sit in the row behind them. Laura and I both felt the stress of doing an adoption and being on the road had taken a toll on her.
Tianna was wonderful on the flight considering how long it was. She had only two crying spells and one was before we took off. I on the other hand was not as good. I have been afraid of flying lately, not really sure why considering just how much flying I had done in my life. Perhaps since I have a wife and child I feel I have more to live for. Well what ever reason it is, turbulence and I don't mix.
As we got closer to Newark I began to reflect on how our lives have changed in the last 4 months. It seemed that an adoption would never happen, and now it was almost over. Everything was almost over. No more paper work, medical exams, home study updates and most of the quest to become parents was over. Laura and I were now mom and dad. Or as Tianna would say, "Mamma" and "Pappa".
The movement through customs, immigration services and luggage claim was pretty smooth. While waiting for the luggage my dad called wondering where we were. I could tell mom reached a point of not being able to wait any longer. And her wait would end shortly. The 1st family member we saw was my brother Jim, then mom and dad.
The ride home was fun as mom, dad and Jim got to hear about our trip and to FINALLY meet Tianna. Tianna dozed off for a short time on the way home. When we got to the house it was decorated by some of our friends from the FCC LI group. Tianna loved her new room and the play room was a big hit.
We were finally home, as one journey ended a new one was about to begin.
When we saw them on the plane they were in the back with us. They were able to get two together but grandma had to sit in the row behind them. Laura and I both felt the stress of doing an adoption and being on the road had taken a toll on her.
Tianna was wonderful on the flight considering how long it was. She had only two crying spells and one was before we took off. I on the other hand was not as good. I have been afraid of flying lately, not really sure why considering just how much flying I had done in my life. Perhaps since I have a wife and child I feel I have more to live for. Well what ever reason it is, turbulence and I don't mix.
As we got closer to Newark I began to reflect on how our lives have changed in the last 4 months. It seemed that an adoption would never happen, and now it was almost over. Everything was almost over. No more paper work, medical exams, home study updates and most of the quest to become parents was over. Laura and I were now mom and dad. Or as Tianna would say, "Mamma" and "Pappa".
The movement through customs, immigration services and luggage claim was pretty smooth. While waiting for the luggage my dad called wondering where we were. I could tell mom reached a point of not being able to wait any longer. And her wait would end shortly. The 1st family member we saw was my brother Jim, then mom and dad.
The ride home was fun as mom, dad and Jim got to hear about our trip and to FINALLY meet Tianna. Tianna dozed off for a short time on the way home. When we got to the house it was decorated by some of our friends from the FCC LI group. Tianna loved her new room and the play room was a big hit.
We were finally home, as one journey ended a new one was about to begin.
Friday, January 8, 2010
Going Home part 1 December 17th
The 2 hour flight from Guangzhou to Shanghai was uneventful, which is what you want when you are 35,000 feet in the air. Tianna handled her 2nd flight like a seasoned veteran. It was the flight home that I had my concerns. 14 hours for a 4 year old worried me. But I was looking at the big picture and that was HOME. We were heading home.
We arrived in Shanghai a little ahead of schedule and getting our bags together was pretty easy. We checked to see where the next flight check in was and found it. We also found that we had to wait another 2 hours to check our bags in. While we did this we met up with a lady who just adopted a little girl. She was traveling with her mom. They were going to be on the same flight with us back to Newark. We will get to her in my next post.
While waiting, we had plenty of time to get lunch at Burger King, the food was good. But once again we got "The Stares". This Chinese couple a few tables down were staring at us. So I just got up and moved our cart of luggage so it would block them. Once again I keep telling myself, "We are going home".
As we began our walk to the check in counter we see a Chinese man walking a dog heading in our direction. He of course is looking right at us. As he passed us his head does a 180 and just keeps looking at us. It was here that I lost it. I turned around and began to walk in his direction and gave him a few choice words. Laura turned and said "Matt lets go, don't get your self in trouble". After 14 days of dealing with the looks I let loose.
It did not stop here as Laura would encounter another RUDE Chinese person. I had to use the bathroom and so Laura and Tianna waited out side for me to finish. While in there a Chinese woman comes out of the bathroom and sees Tianna sleeping with her head down in the stroller. She bends down to wake her up, Laura yells at her and turns Tianna away from her. I figured this wont stop until we are on the plane home. Considering the mood I was in it was a good thing I was in the bathroom and not Laura. They may have locked me up.
Finally it was time to go the gate, USA here we come.
We arrived in Shanghai a little ahead of schedule and getting our bags together was pretty easy. We checked to see where the next flight check in was and found it. We also found that we had to wait another 2 hours to check our bags in. While we did this we met up with a lady who just adopted a little girl. She was traveling with her mom. They were going to be on the same flight with us back to Newark. We will get to her in my next post.
While waiting, we had plenty of time to get lunch at Burger King, the food was good. But once again we got "The Stares". This Chinese couple a few tables down were staring at us. So I just got up and moved our cart of luggage so it would block them. Once again I keep telling myself, "We are going home".
As we began our walk to the check in counter we see a Chinese man walking a dog heading in our direction. He of course is looking right at us. As he passed us his head does a 180 and just keeps looking at us. It was here that I lost it. I turned around and began to walk in his direction and gave him a few choice words. Laura turned and said "Matt lets go, don't get your self in trouble". After 14 days of dealing with the looks I let loose.
It did not stop here as Laura would encounter another RUDE Chinese person. I had to use the bathroom and so Laura and Tianna waited out side for me to finish. While in there a Chinese woman comes out of the bathroom and sees Tianna sleeping with her head down in the stroller. She bends down to wake her up, Laura yells at her and turns Tianna away from her. I figured this wont stop until we are on the plane home. Considering the mood I was in it was a good thing I was in the bathroom and not Laura. They may have locked me up.
Finally it was time to go the gate, USA here we come.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Wednesday, December 16th
Today marked the last day that we were all together. The other four families were all headed to Honk Kong via train. We stayed behind 1 extra day as we were leaving out of Shanghi. We went shopping during the early afternoon hours. We wanted to stay near the hotel so we could say our goodbyes to the group.
When three o'clock rolled around Tianna, Laura and I made our way down to the lobby to bid farewell to everyone. This was kinda of sad as we struck up some friendships and now it was times to say goodbye. The only good thing is that Sandra and Dawn live near us so we knew we would see them again.
As the group departed and all left the lobby. The three of us stood there and for once I felt like we were alone. Even though we were staying in a packed hotel. But now the focus was on packing and getting out in time to head to the airport. We faced about 16 hours of flight time on Thursday and we had know idea how Tianna would take to that.
Anyways the night time included another helping of McDonald's and a walk back to the hotel. Laura and I did most of the packing after Tianna fell asleep. It was kinda funny when Tianna woke up in the morning. She looked around and every thing was packed. She had that look on her face like "What happened".
Well it was now time to "HEAD HOME"
When three o'clock rolled around Tianna, Laura and I made our way down to the lobby to bid farewell to everyone. This was kinda of sad as we struck up some friendships and now it was times to say goodbye. The only good thing is that Sandra and Dawn live near us so we knew we would see them again.
As the group departed and all left the lobby. The three of us stood there and for once I felt like we were alone. Even though we were staying in a packed hotel. But now the focus was on packing and getting out in time to head to the airport. We faced about 16 hours of flight time on Thursday and we had know idea how Tianna would take to that.
Anyways the night time included another helping of McDonald's and a walk back to the hotel. Laura and I did most of the packing after Tianna fell asleep. It was kinda funny when Tianna woke up in the morning. She looked around and every thing was packed. She had that look on her face like "What happened".
Well it was now time to "HEAD HOME"
Tuesday, Decembe 15th
Well this was going to be the last day the group would be together. On Wednesday the other 4 families were all scheduled to head to Hong Kong via train to begin there journey home. There were two main events for today. The finalization of the adoption at the American Consulate and the Pearl River cruise.
For the finalization, we boarded the group bus and took about a 45 min ride to the consulate. We are all excited because this will OFFICIALLY bring to an end the Paper Work Process. After nearly 4 years there will be NO MORE PAPER work to do for this adoption. Tianna will be ours for ever.
It was a rainy afternoon but that did not dampen our spirits. We all had to go through the security check and we were not allowed to bring in any video or camera equipment, including cell phones.
As we sat in the big open seating area there were about 50 families total going through the same process. The waiting reminded me of being at the DMV, we would be called up per family to a window and sign a paper and present ID. Finally after about 40 minutes of families being called up a lady got up and spoke about the consulate and what there duties were. Then we were all asked to stand up and repeat an oath. Afterwards the lady said "Congratulations you can all go home now" At this time chills came over me. The words "Go Home"
We headed to the Pearl River Cruise. Since we were ahead of schedule we had a little time to kill so we stopped off at a hotel that has the biggest lobby in all of China. It was not all that exciting but it did make for some good picture spots. One we used for our Christmas cards that of course we sent out late.
The Pearl Cruise was fun as it was the last time we would all be together as a group. The food was not that good but there was an entertainer that Tianna really loved. It was fun watching Giu Lan dance with Tianna and Katie. Katie (age 10) had just gotten a younger sister (age 8).
For the finalization, we boarded the group bus and took about a 45 min ride to the consulate. We are all excited because this will OFFICIALLY bring to an end the Paper Work Process. After nearly 4 years there will be NO MORE PAPER work to do for this adoption. Tianna will be ours for ever.
It was a rainy afternoon but that did not dampen our spirits. We all had to go through the security check and we were not allowed to bring in any video or camera equipment, including cell phones.
As we sat in the big open seating area there were about 50 families total going through the same process. The waiting reminded me of being at the DMV, we would be called up per family to a window and sign a paper and present ID. Finally after about 40 minutes of families being called up a lady got up and spoke about the consulate and what there duties were. Then we were all asked to stand up and repeat an oath. Afterwards the lady said "Congratulations you can all go home now" At this time chills came over me. The words "Go Home"
We headed to the Pearl River Cruise. Since we were ahead of schedule we had a little time to kill so we stopped off at a hotel that has the biggest lobby in all of China. It was not all that exciting but it did make for some good picture spots. One we used for our Christmas cards that of course we sent out late.
The Pearl Cruise was fun as it was the last time we would all be together as a group. The food was not that good but there was an entertainer that Tianna really loved. It was fun watching Giu Lan dance with Tianna and Katie. Katie (age 10) had just gotten a younger sister (age 8).
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