Schedule - ANYONE?

I am not an extremely organized person, but with our family and obligations- it would be nice to have a schedule. Miss Joylin thinks otherwise. She likes to keep us guessing. You know- go with the flow- be flexible. I would like to know if I can get to the store at a certain time or not. So when you tell someone to come over for a visit and then she spends the entire 2 hours sleeping - what do you do?
Here she is with the boys:













This is my "no!no! NO!" Hockey picture. Don't even hold that mini- stick!

Getting settled

We have been home now for less than a week. It feels so good to be home. Poor Joylin has a cold still and we believe is teething too. There still isn't much of a pattern to her schedule. She is pretty active at around 4 am if anyone would like to visit then. Of course, I want to run her around to everyone and show her off, but I know that is not the best timing for her right now.
We are slowly realizing all the baby proofing and she isn't even walking yet. She sure wants to. She likes the boys to take her around holding her hands. She is communicating so much more too. Not talking per say - fun babble, but you know when she is done eating (which is good for her to realize that you can quit- she didn't have much of an off button when eating), she tells you when she doesn't like her face washed and being put in the crib. Yep, she is good at expressing her opinions now. This is a good sign, meaning she is more comfortable with us. We are working towards a stronger trust with her.
We did get our first hugs- (we think that is what they were) from her. We picked her up and she kind of pats your back in excitement and a huge smile. We just melt with her.
We have a drs. appt on Friday. We are hoping she has gained weight since we were in China. Her last recorded weight was 16 lbs. at 16 months!
I'll post pictures later tonight.

Homecoming- Yeah!

We arrived in the US on Dec 3rd. It was a loooonnnnggggg plane ride. Joylin and I caught a cold before leaving and the airplane made it worse but we made it! Her routine we thought we had agreed on is completely off. Way too many changes for a youngster! We are so glad to be on our own beds, where everyone speaks English, and the comfort our town.

Mom & Joylin in the airport- two tired puppies!

Daddy trying to keep Joylin entertained at the airport.

My sister, niece, Aunt, Uncle, Gman and My Mother met us at the airport.

Our welcome home crew!

Here we come down the exit ramp. Kurt and I couldn't decide who would carry her to everyone so we decided to "walk her"- which we found out is something she really enjoys, too.

Here Gman is meeting his new little sister.

My Beautiful niece & sister with Joylin.

My aunt and uncle with Joylin.

The boys learn she likes to "walk."






And what we do without Gma!

Catch up Part 1- The red couch and last days in GZ

We got a little behind- I just this will be how it is from now on, trying to manage a baby and sneak in some computer work while she is sleeping. We were on our way home and unable to connect to internet at the late hotel we were staying at so here is the catch- up series.

Our last days in GZ:
Playing at the park in GZ.
Ready for her own wheels.
Tah- Dah! Princess's photo op.

The 3 of us- just needing the big bros to complete the picture. Coming soon!
All around the island where we were - people were taking pictures for weddings, promotions, etc. The buildings in the areas are nice backdrops. I have a bunch of these- but this was the funniest. Not sure but were they trying to use English? Her chalkboard answer was "ye!". Maybe that is Chinese, we meant to ask our guide.

On December 1st we woke up to the hotel completely decorated for Christmas. They must have worked all night and below is also the new hostess's outfits.

GZ day and trip to Buddist Temple

Last night were the fire works from the last day of the Asian Games here in GZ. We were told to stay close to the hotel and not venture too far. Apparently there are 16 million people that live here and more are here for the games. Our guide said "it will get crazy tonight." There were plenty of police on the streets, all was well. We heard the fireworks but that was the time that Joylin- miss fussy pants- didn't want to go to sleep, so we didn't want to over excite her.
Today we went to a Buddhist temple. It was lovely and very serene. We were going to a museum but the lines were too long so we were able to head back and get Joylin her afternoon nap.
We are all still doing well.
This is a funny face that she does- we don't know why but it makes us laugh.

We received our "Adoption Barbie" today. I was pleased at how well they matched me in the mother doll. Of course that was when I kept my hair blonde.

One of the temple towers.

Daddy and Joylin taking a break.


Incense prayers and Offerings for the temple.

Joylin and I making a wish by one of the statue.

Lots of flowers around the grounds.


I quickly snapped this. Kind of funny b/c he was on his cell phone.

This guy was amazing. He was painting ink pictures with just his hands.

A View of GZ from our window.

Tianjin To Guang Zhou Day 5, 6, 7

Sorry to not post in 3 days...We have been out an about, which is good. sorry this is long. I need to document better for her memory book.
Day 5 was more paperwork and some shopping. Day 6 was thanksgiving and we went to a nice restaurant had Peking Duck. You are suppose to eat the skin by rolling it (with chopsticks of course!) in sugar. It tasted good- different- greasy sugar. The Duck was good too a bit more greasy than turkey but still very tasty. Marian showed us how to wrap the duck in wraps with Chinese chives, cucumber and soy sauce.
We also went to Cultural street. Really neat stuff. We sent Kurt with Joylin back in a taxi so Marian and I could keeping looking around. Kurt is allergic to shopping. I think Joylin was enjoying herself- she got a lot of attention, yet was missing her afternoon nap.
Later that day , Marian and I took a taxi to the outskirts of town to her founding place. It was pretty emotional for me to see this place. We did run into an older lady that remembered Joylin. She keep saying- "nothing wrong with her but mouth." We figured that out too. She is a smart little girl. She is healthy- like an OX- her Chinese year symbol.

We made the transition to GZ. The 3 hour flight was delayed. Joylin was over tired to begin with and fussed on the plane. There weren't any extra seats and she was in our lap. we arrived at The famous White Swan hotel (famous for adoption families) at 10 pm. Our guide, Jason gave us a ton of information that neither Kurt or I could concentrate on- we are really tired. Luckily he wrote it down too so we were able to look at it in the morning.
The breaksfast buffet is quite spectacular. The goal is to eat enough here then skip lunch. At Breakfast, we noticed that there were lots of adoptive families here. We fit in! In Tianjin, we were stared at everywhere we went. Here you smile at all the adoptive parents.
GZ is much more "westernized" - we had a starbucks coffee (yum). Jason warned us that there are more police and security points right now for the Asian games which are happening here in GZ. He said there are about 16 million people here. Wow. I cannot say it enough how crowded and that there are ALOT of people in China. You can really feel it walking around. I have been to NY city during many summers and it is still not as crowded as here.

We had to do our medical examine today and her photo for an American Visa. She was awesome. she didn't cry once through the exams. we didn't have to do the immunizations b/c she is under 2(she actually has most of her shots except MMR). It wasn't as bad as we thought. They took some of her latest measurements - weight is at 16 lbs and she is 26 inches long. Maybe she ahs gained some weight with us? She sure can eat! We put her on cereal on day 2 and that seems to fill her up. There is another couple here with a 16 month old and she weighs 3x as much as Joylin.

Below are pictures from the last 3 days.
View of Tianjin from our hotel window. Look at that traffic- all day.

At cultural street entrance.

Kurt and Joylin hanging out at Cultural Street.











Look at my new outfit.









Our thanksgiving dinner- Peking Duck!
















Marian showing us how to wrap it.













Look I can eat my feet too!







Kurt loving the chopsticks....not!





Cutie Pie!


Daddy makes me belly laugh.


KFC everywhere - we didn't eat there.













Some pictures around Tianjin.













Love the Budda!