Over the Moon to Our Girl - Blog

One Month with Nina

Fri, 27 Jun 2014 17:01:01 +0000

I've had some requests to update the blog, so I figured since we had our one month anniversary of her Gotcha Day yesterday, now would be a good time.

I can't believe it's only been a month! Really, it feels like she's always been with us. I look at pictures of that scared little face one month ago, and it doesn't seem like the same outgoing and bubbly personality of the girl she is now.

I can hardly remember how she used to hate baths. Now I can barely get her out of the tub!

Last week Nina had her first visit with Dr. Springer - the International Adoption specialist who will be her pediatrician. Dr. Springer was amazed at how well Nina is doing! She had a few vaccinations then and will get blood work on Monday to check her titers to see what else she might need. She received vaccinations in China, but sometimes the strength they give is not sufficient enough and she will need re-vaccinated. She also had a TB test this week, which was negative.

Last weekend Nina went to her first baseball tournament and saw her first beach! She loved the sand! She also enjoyed the tournament! She played with the other kids (she loved being the center of attention) and also watched some baseball! She clapped when we clapped and gave all the boys "thumbs up" when they came out onto the field for the championship game!

She also finally tasted ice cream for the first time! We've tried giving it to her before and she wouldn't taste it. This time she did and loved it! Daddy was so happy it was an excuse to get ice cream every night at the beach!

Nina watched Evan hitting a baseball in the driveway and she wanted to try it herself! Evan got the tee and kid bat out for her, showed her how to hold it, and she was hitting the ball herself! He is so proud of her and hopes to be her tee ball coach someday!

As much as Nina loves playing outside, she is also a little girly girl. She loves jewelry and shoes (she's very particular about her shoes!). She doesn't like any crumbs on her face or hands and always helps put things away! She's constantly dancing - even when shes sitting down! She loves imitating and knows how to do different expressions such as "happy", "sad", and "surprised".

(Nina's sad face)

She loves getting kisses, especially from her brothers! But, they can't ask her for one. No! She has to tell them when she wants a kiss and they have to drop everything and come running! She is such a little princess already!

People love to tell me how lucky she is to be party of her family. But that's not true. Sure, she's better off with us than in the orphanage, but she would've been adopted by some family at some point. We are the ones who are lucky to have the sweetest, funniest, prettiest, and smartest little girl. We are blessed beyond words!

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We are home - a Family of 6!

Mon, 09 Jun 2014 00:16:15 +0000

Saturday morning we left Hong Kong at 9:00 for the airport. Once we got to the United line, they announced that the US Customs and Immigration server was down! Those using US passports were ok, but since Nina has a Chinese passport we had to wait. I was getting nervous after we waiting for a half hour, but then I guess it was back up and running. Hong Kong has a beautiful airport with lots of high end shops! I would've liked to window shop, but our gate was the furthest away, it it is a very large airport! Nina then had diarrhea and we had to change her and change her clothes. We didn't have much time before boarding began.

(On the plane)

She was good during boarding and then when the plane was waiting to take off, she started getting upset, which isn't like her. When the plane lifted off the ground the screaming got much worse. Then she vomited and quieted down. We had to change her clothes once again.

For most of the flight she was pleasent. She slept some, she snacked, she played. After we landed we were waiting for the luggage and I realized she had vomited all over herself! We got our bags and went to Immigration, where they needed to file her paperwork to register her as a US Citizen. I changed her clothes and she seemed happy!

(New American!)

We got her back in the stroller to go though another security checkpoint, drop off our checked bags, and head on the train to our connecting flight. I looked down and realized she was covered in vomit again! I had no where to stop and change her though! We went through security again and I had to lift her out of her stroller and then put her back in! Poor thing! Then we had to trek all through the airport to our gate. Finally I could change her again!!! Just in time before we had to board!

The flight to Pittsburgh was a quick one and she slept the whole flight. When we landed in Pittsburgh the boys, my mom and Tom, and my dad and Pat were all waiting for us!

At home she loved playing with her brothers! I don't know if she recognized them from all the face timing, but she acted like she did! She gave them all kisses and hugs!

Nathan read her a good night story

She slept ok....

Yesterday we celebrated her birthday with a cake. She was hesitant to try it at first (probably remembered the gross cake in China!), but once she did she loved it!!

She also enjoyed tea parties and picnics with her brothers and playing the piano!

She is adjusting great. She slept really well last night! She's just such a sweet girl. We are so incredibly blessed to have her in our family.

This will be my last blog post, so I wanted to say just how much we appreciate all of the love, support, and prayers from all of you. Every Facebook comment, text message, and email meant so much to us. Thank you and we can't wait for you to meet Nina in person! We are sure she will melt your hearts too!

Happy Birthday Nina - Hong Kong here we come!

Fri, 06 Jun 2014 14:41:39 +0000

Nina is two today! CCAI sent us a cake and we sang Happy Birthday, but there was no way to light the candles!!

The cake was the strangest I've ever seen or tasted. It had fruit that was held together with some gelatin. There was very little cake and it wasn't icing but some egg-like substance. Even Doug, who loves cake of any kind, thought it tasted disguising. Nina didn't like it either. We will be celebrating again with the boys when we return, so this was more of a rehearsal celebration.

We spent most of the day packing and then headed to get her visa and then to the train station.

We traveled to Hong Kong with two other families from our group. The train was very clean and so much leg room! The cab ride from the station to the hotel was about 40 minutes. We are staying at the Marriott next to the airport. The suite we have is gorgeous! It is the nicest room of our trip and we will have the shortest stay here!!! But, we are so ready to be home!

US Consulate Appointment

Thu, 05 Jun 2014 06:33:02 +0000

We turned in all of Nina's paperwork at the Consulate this morning to apply for her Visa. We took an oath on her behalf, and since this is a Haugue adoption, once she sets foot on American soil, she will be a US citizen.

We weren't allowed to take cameras, phones, or any personal items into the consulate, so we don't have any pictures of this important occasion.

Since we had the first consulate appointment of the morning, when we returned to the hotel around 10:00, we decided to visit Luahua Park. It is an absolutely beautiful park! We thought the park in Zhengzhou was pretty, and this one puts that one to shame!

They even had rides at this park, so Nina rode her first carousel! She loved it, but I think she wanted to ride something more thrilling. She kept pointing to the other rides! We couldn't find where to buy tickets to the other rides and most of them were closed anyway.

We played for a little, but we were literally starting to melt!

On the way back we ate green tea and vanilla swirled ice cream cones from McDonald's. I am not a big ice cream fan, and it could either be the tea flavor or how hot I was, but it tasted so delicious!! Nina would not try any though!

Tonight we had our group picture taken.

And also a picture of each family and then all of the kids...

After our picture and a group meeting, the three of us headed back to Macau Street, the restaurant we had our group dinner at the other night. We wanted one last traditional Cantonse meal. We ordered so much food! The waitress tried to tell us we ordered too much, but we wanted to try everything. We had enough food to feed 10 people but it still only cost about $50 USD. We even had steamed cucumbers with garlic. I didn't know you could cook a cucumber, but it was so yummy!!! Nina ate a ton of noodles with mushrooms. The only thing is I noticed they use pork as a seasoning around here. So if you think you're ordering something vegetarian, it probably had little bits of pork hidden there!

Nina is talking so much more. She said "mama", "dada" and waved and said "bye bye". She is also saying other things we just don't understand. She was so quiet a week ago, but now I can only imagine how loud she is going to be on our flight home on Saturday!

Sleeping Pandas and the Pool

Thu, 05 Jun 2014 05:22:16 +0000

I tried updating this blog last night, but Nina wouldn't let me! We had problems getting her to sleep and by the time she was finally down for the night, so was I!

We started off the day at the Guangzhou City Zoo. We had really wanted to go the Safari Park, but our guides said it was too far and too hot for us to go in the summer. We mainly wanted to see the pandas, and since they had pandas at the zoo, we figured this would be fine. However, this was the best picture I could get of the pandas. I think we will have to go to the National Zoo in DC again soon!

We opted for a picture with the panda statues instead!

She thoroughly loved seeing the animals, which made the trip worthwhile. These were the first animals she's ever seen! But the highlight was definitely feeding the giraffes with Daddy!

After sweating at the zoo in 90 degree temperatures, we figured an afternoon at the pool was an order. We were afraid Nina wouldn't like the water since she's just starting to enjoy bath, but she loved it!!!

It was such an enjoyable afternoon! We felt like we were on vacation!

Medical Exam and Pearl River Cruise

Tue, 03 Jun 2014 07:06:15 +0000

Today was Nina's medical exam at the US Consulate in order to get her visa to come home! We first had to get a picture taken for her visa application. Then there are 3 stations you need to visit in any order - the ENT, nurses station where they do height weight and temp, and the general exam. If she were two, she would've also had to have blood drawn for a TB test. She just squeaked by on that one!

On Thursday we weighed her and she was 7.9 kilograms. Today she was 8.6 kg! She gained over a pound in less than a week!

It was very busy there with our group's 12 families plus so many others from other agencies, but she was fine as long as she had some snacks!

Surprisingly, she was still hungry after the bus ride back to the hotel, so we tried a little western cafe across the street from the hotel! It was so good! If only I had a iced tea rather than a hot tea, I would've thought I was back home!

Besides ice, the other things I'm missing so much are the boys. It's so hard to be away from them so long. We face time twice a day, but I can't wait to be home with them soon to give them hugs and kisses and cuddles!

(Face timing this morning)

Tonight we went on a cruise on the Pearl River. It had thunder stormed all afternoon, but it stopped in time for the cruise. We ordered Papa Johns since our guides said the food on her cruise was terrible. Nina finally likes pizza!

At night, all the buildings and bridges in the city are lit up. It is really beautiful! Nina especially loved going under the bridges.

Tomorrow morning we will be going to the zoo to show Nina animals for the first time!

One Week

Mon, 02 Jun 2014 13:42:05 +0000

Today is one week since we met Nina and became her parents. But it honestly feels like we've known each other forever. It's really hard to imagine her not being part of our family. She fits right in perfectly! She is silly and funny and she teases us! She will act like she wants to hand us something and then when we reach for it she pulls it back and laughs! She reminds us of her big brother Evan when she does that!

Today we spent the morning shopping and then had a group dinner at a Portuguese/ Cantonese restaurant. Nina tried mostly everything, but when she was ready to leave, she was ready to leave! She's getting comfortable and isn't shy about letting us know what she wants!

When Doug got up to get something she said "dada" and pointed to him! I was so surprised and said "what did you say?" And she whispered "Dada"! She really is understanding what we are saying. It's amazing how quickly she is picking up English. We will tell her to throw something in the garbage and she will or ask her to get something and give it to one of us and she does it. She tries to imitate us, too. If Doug winks at her, she will try to wink back! She's really a smart little girl. She is also doing better with bath and bed time too!

Tomorrow is her medical exam appointment. Thankfully she doesn't turn two until Friday and doesn't have to get any blood drawn!

Sightseeing in Guangzhou

Sun, 01 Jun 2014 14:37:23 +0000

We had a very busy and exciting day today! We first visited a Buddhist temple that was built in 537 AD and then reconstructed in 1097. It's hard to imagine a place that old!

Nina was her usual smiling self. She just loves being out and about!

We then visited the house of Chen. This was once the house and private school of the Chen family. It was kept in tact during the cultural revolution because the family printed pictures of chairman Mao there. It was later sold to the government and is now an arts and crafts center.

(This is embroidery, not a painting)

After nap and a paperwork meeting, we went to the executive lounge for some snacks.

Nina slurped down 2 bowls of noodles and 1 or 2 tea sandwiches. Then we went to dinner at a Japanese restaurant with another family. She then ate shrimp, scallops, snow peas, salad, some miso soup, and a few more noodles!

Tomorrow is the dragon boat festival. We were looking forward to experiencing a real Chinese holiday, but our guides have told us it's too crowded to get near the the boat races. We are doing some shopping instead and then we have a big group dinner tomorrow night.

We made it to Guangzhou!

Sat, 31 May 2014 13:15:49 +0000

Nina had her first plane ride today!

She didn't sleep on the plane and was pretty squirmy so I hope this is not a taste of what's to come on our travels back home next week. After we got to the hotel finally, we had to wait over 2 hours for our bags to be delivered. We ended up just going to the executive lounge for a light dinner. Mommy and Nina are exhausted so this is a short post tonight. Tomorrow I think we will be touring and shopping, so there should be more to report tomorrow.

Last Day in Zhengzhou

Fri, 30 May 2014 12:24:49 +0000

Nina still doesn't like Italian food. But she was so patient at dinner last night just hanging out and giving us smiles and kisses.

We had dinner with another family and it was just like hanging out with old friends at home. We have some of the nicest families in our travel group and it's so much fun getting to know everyone.

This morning after breakfast, we did some face timing with her brothers as usual. When Nathan waved and said "bye", Nina waved and said what sounded like "bye"! She also gave him so many kisses on my iPad, that it is still sticky now. After that, we went to the Henan History museum with two other families.

I wanted to go to learn a little about where Nina comes from. Since her city, Luoyang, was the capital of China for many years, there were lots of interesting artifacts from there. I took lots of pictures for her to be able to use for future school projects. Nina is so interested in seeing everything!

After he museum, we made a trip to walmart to get the girl some shoes that fit! I don't know if it was the heat, the smog, or just the time of day, but there seemed to be less scooter traffic than usual!

I've tried to explain to the boys that when I say we are going to Walmart, it doesn't look anything like the walmart on route 8!

(Dried chickens)

(Meat Popsicles? I have no idea...)

(Fresh fish)

After walmart, we began packing up. We have so much stuff! As much as I'm looking forward to new scenery, I don't enjoy the packing and unpacking that goes along with it. Nina was in such a great mood this afternoon. She wanted to help pack and was full of smiles and giggles! She kicked her ball around the room and acted much more like a toddler today! She is definitely coming out of her shell!

Tonight at dinner, Nina had her first meltdown. She was exhausted and only had a 10 minute nap in the van this afternoon. All of a sudden she just started screaming! After a few minutes, she was back to her cheerful self and finished her dinner. But, we went back to the room, got her a bath, and she's been sound asleep since 6:45. Tomorrow morning we will finish packing and head the the airport at 10:00. We will be in Guangzhou tomorrow afternoon! The last leg of this trip is almost here!