Destiny, Fate...The Red Thread

“An Invisible Red Thread connects those who are destined to meet,

Regardless of time, place or circumstance.

The thread may stretch or tangle, but never break."

(Ancient Chinese Legend)

On April 28, 2010, a little girl was born in Nanyang, China.  Days after birth, this sweet little girl became another “lost daughter” of China.  For 17 months, this lost daughter waited to find her very own Mommy and Daddy and her red thread began it’s journey to connect her with her forever family.  On September 26, 2011, little Chun Mei was born into our hearts and into our family as we held her in our arms for the first time.  On Thursday, October 13, 2011, her thread stretched and stretched, bringing her forever home—home to America and forever home with her family. 

...Our 15 hour flight home last Thursday was surprisingly pleasant as our sweet cakes slept the majority of the flight and Mr. Liam sat back, relaxed, and watched movie after movie in his private little “cot”, with his own television all to himself.  Ben and I didn’t sleep more than a couple hours as we were both worried about Amelia waking up or rolling right off her very own Cathay Pacific recliner seat J.  Whenever she did wake up, we would cuddle her and soothe her back to sleep – it was so cute seeing her and Ben snuggle together on the plane.

Our homecoming was one we will never forget!  Let me just say it now…we have the most amazing family in the world and we could not be more grateful for all the love and support we have received!  Liam and Amelia’s Mimi (my mom) and Nana (Ben’s Mom), along with my Aunts and Uncle, were all at the airport to greet us, with hands full of balloons and arms ready for hugs and kisses from their very own Liam and Amelia Mei. 

We arrived to our home to see it decorated, symbolizing the red thread legend, with red bows around the trees, red streamers throughout the house and a beautiful sign in the yard welcoming Amelia Mei home.  My Mom put this all together-- it just brought tears to my eyes to pull up to our house with Amelia for the first time.  Amelia has gotten a kick out of seeing the sign in the yard and she went up to it and started hugging it and playing peek-a-boo behind it. 

At our home, our family welcomed us with a beautiful cake and food and with so much excitement and love!  Amelia was just smitten by her Mimi, Nana and Great Aunts.  She was so friendly, smiley and affectionate with everyone and it was obvious she was eating up all the attention!  She would take turns sharing her toys with everyone…she’d walk up to each person, hand them her doll, want them to hug the doll and then on to the next person she went.  She loved seeing her new room and we had fun playing peek-a-boo with her in the crib.  My Aunt read her a book and she was giggling the whole way through.  Within just an hour, it felt as though Amelia Mei had been with our family all along!  Our Aunts are throwing us a welcome home party next weekend…so we are just overwhelmed by all the love and support and we just thank our families from the bottom of our hearts for making Amelia’s homecoming so special!

Amelia is adjusting so well to her new home and new surroundings.  Having Amelia home has just brought a whole new level of JOY to our family and to our home!  She has had so much fun exploring and she especially loves her new playroom that is full of toys, dolls and all kinds of fun things.  Seeing her walk around the house is sometimes surreal, but yet feels so natural with this life, this home, being the place she has always belonged!  We have also enjoyed the company and well wishes of cousins, and many friends and visitors.  It’s been so fun introducing her to the people that will be such a special part of her life in the months and years ahead!!!!

We have also been so touched by all of the support we have received from Liam’s school and teachers.  Throughout our stay in China, Liam’s teacher shared the blog with the class throughout the weeks and all of his classmates have been so excited to hear about Liam and his baby sister.  They’ve all been telling their parents about Liam, so he’s been Mr. Popular without even being in class – too cute!  The teachers at his school were so excited to have Liam back at school, as were his friends, and they were in awe over seeing Amelia for the first time.  Liam loooooves being back at school and although he won’t admit it, he loves the fact that Amelia misses him so much when he’s gone.  After school, Liam will ask, “Did Amelia cry while I was gone?”.  The other day while driving in the car, Liam said out of the blue, “I love you Mama, I love you Amelia, so much.”  Oh my heart!!!  When we pick Liam up from school, Amelia’s face just lights up and she’ll reach for him.  In the car, Liam will make her giggle by doing silly things…I need to really make an effort to keep my eyes on the road as opposed to on my two children who are making me laugh and making my heart melt!

All else is going smoothly with our transition back home, with the exception of sleep, or should I say, *lack* of sleep!  The first several nights, Amelia was up from midnight to 5am crying on and off.   After about three sleepless nights, we had her sleep in the bed with us and although she slept much better, things did not improve in the sleep department for Mommy and Daddy…especially because Liam has wanted to sleep in our room too!  We know she has so much going on with jet lag, new surroundings and so many changes.  Hopefully as she gets more comfortable, we’ll have her sleeping in her crib, but for now, we’ll do whatever it takes. 

With being home for one week, we have just gotten a taste of what life will now be like with Amelia, with two precious children, life as a family of four…and oh how we love this life!  Seeing the faces of our son and daughter each morning has brought such a bright start to each day and putting both kids to bed, having “family cuddle” time, have put such a sweet end to each night.  I often catch myself looking into the eyes of our sweet little girl with the wonder of how we got so lucky, so blessed, to have found the perfect daughter whom fits so perfectly into our family, into our home, into our lives.  When I think of the life’s events and circumstances over the course of the past 5 years, each leading our family to this one special girl, I can’t help but think of the red thread.   Destiny, fate, the red thread…however you look at it, one thing is for sure--a miraculous connection was made--for our sweet daughter, this thread has found her family, it has brought her home, and it will continue to connect her to all those special people she is destined to know and love along her road of life! 

Our Forever Home

On May 26^th, Amelia Mei was born in our hearts forever.  On September 26^th, we became a Forever Family.  Now, in just over 24 hours, our Amelia Mei will be our new little American and will be Forever Home!

Our Consulate Appointment went without a hitch, which was such a relief coming from the nightmare experience we had in Kazakhstan!  We were only 1 of 4 families there, so we were in and out in a matter of an hour.  We’ll receive Amelia’s US Visa today, then we’ll take a 3 hour (yikes) drive to Hong Kong where we will stay overnight near the airport.  Our flight leaves direct for Chicago from Hong Kong at 11:45am on Thursday.  We’re a little worried about this flight home considering our Amelia Mei does not like to sit still one bit.  Just traveling in a taxi for 10 minutes has been like trying to tame a monkey…she just bounces around from one thing to another, so curious about everything around her.  We will sure be glad to be back to car seats once we’re home!  Luckily we are using American advantage miles to fly business class home and believe it or not, it was cheaper to use miles to get Amelia her own seat than it was to pay outright for a lap ticket.  So hopefully come halfway through the flight, our sweeties will be ready for bed and will sleep the second half of the trip in the full reclining seats of Cathay Pacific (we shall hope)! 

Although we are so excited to see all our friends and family and to finally get back home, we are so thankful for the time we have had as a family here in China.  We thank God for watching over us as we’ve traveled five different cities, taken 4 different flights, traveled numerous long car drives (without car seats and seat belts, surrounded by crazy driving vehicles, bikes, mopeds etc), as we’ve managed daily life with different foods and non-English speaking waiters/waitresses, as we’ve gone to the bathroom where the toilet is a hole in the ground, as we’ve been raising two children out of a hotel room for three weeks, and throughout all of the wild and crazy adventures we’ve taken along the way.  But most of all, we thank God for keeping our family safe, happy and healthy, for giving big brother Liam so much adaptability, flexibility and love to go along for this wild ride, for making our family complete with our sweet Amelia Mei, and for helping our daughter to open her heart up to her family more and more each day!

As we reflect on our journey, there are so many countless little moments that have made us laugh and which are the little moments that have gotten us through, even on the hardest of days.  These moments have given us memories to last a lifetime, and here are just a few…

…The first time we laid our eyes on our sweet girl, we laid eyes on her bare behind.  She was being held with her back to us and her lovely yellow outfit had a huge slit cut up around the butt and up the front.  Moments later, she was in our arms and peeing on her Mama’s lap!

…Liam’s great dose of jet lag—telling us continuously, “Guys, I’m still on Minnesota time!”, quoting the movie “Rio” at all times of the day and night.

…Liam’s first taste of a Chinese bathroom.  He had to go sooooo bad, but considering our 4 year old boy still likes to sit to go pee, he stood at the hole in the ground and stared with stage fright.  After 5 minutes of staring at the hole, an American man 2 stalls over yelled “Western Toilet now available” as he exited the stall of the only ‘real’ toilet in the place.

…Our numberous dinners at Pizza Hut.  This has become our restaurant of choice and although it takes about 15 minutes to explain - we want pepporoni and cheese only...once the communication is underway, the pizza comes back tasting better than any pizza we've ever had!  After a day of eating out at authentic Chinese restaurants with Ben’s friends in Shenzhen, Liam basically starved himself and had barely eaten a thing.  The next night, we went to Pizza Hut and Liam ate en entire 9” cheese pizza all by himself.  We’ve never seen our skinny little guy eat so much in one sitting before!

…Liam continuously asking “Why does my baby sister stink so much?”  Yes, it’s true, our sweet, adorable Amelia Mei has one of the stinkiest little bottoms we’ve ever come across.  Daddy thinks it’s 17 months of no wiping…yuck.  Mimi and Nana…are you SURE you want your granddaughter all to yourself?  Ha!

…Trying to maintain Amelia’s potty schedule and doing it ‘China style’, where we have to hold her legs up, with her back to our legs, and hanging her over the potty.  She is lacking a bit in the aiming technique!

…Watching our little 17 month old girl out-eat her big brother at nearly every meal.  She has quite a huge appetite and we have yet to find anything that she DOESN’T like.  Daddy even had her try a small taste of beer last night and she leaned in for more  (don’t worry, we stopped at one sip).

…Seeing Amelia’s new talent of making the ‘Chewbacca’ sound – it is quite impressive!  She makes the cutest babble noises and they typically start out very high-pitched and then it will turn into a deep, manly like babble.  She is now babbling all the time and the one word she'll say over and over is "Mama!"

…Taking walks, which with two strollers, becomes a huge challenge.  With everywhere we walk, there are flights of stairs.  A ramp is a rare find here in China.  So, as we’re walking along and reach a staircase, one of us carries Amelia, each carries a stroller and on we go with our walk, huffing and puffing the whole way.

...Walking along and not knowing if you're stepping in puddles of rain or a child's urine.  Here in China, it is completely fine etiquette to squat your child on the side of the sidewalk to allow them to free their bladder...and other matters.  We witnessed it first-hand on many occassions...thus reason for the outfits that many children wear with holes along the bottom.

…Feeling paparazzi follow us everywhere we go, as everyone wants pictures of our very own blonde-haired celeb-Liam!

…My writing the blog almost each day in the dark, while my two boys and Amelia sleep soundly behind me.

…All of the creative ways we’ve tried to have fun as we’ve spent hours on end in our small, pretty toy-less hotel room.  Such as Liam and Ben playing badminton on the beds; Liam and I playing kung fu, jumping from one bed to the other while giving each other karate chops; taking turns giving Ben “zurburts” on his belly-making Amelia laugh over and over again; in-the-dark flashlight Uno; watching our son give us dance performances to Justin Bieber’s “Baby Baby”, with him doing all sorts of break dancing moves across the beds; trying time and time again to get Liam to do his homework (which his teacher was so gracious in preparing for him for our trip).  Each time we tell him all of his friends are doing THEIR homework, and each time Liam’s come-back is “Well the other kids aren’t traveling around China to get their sister”. 

 

-Tickle time, pillow fights, hide and seek and more.  Although surrounded by so much history and deep culture, our simple play times together and watching Liam and Amelia play and bond have been some of our best family times yet.

Although we have had memories of a lifetime here in China, we are most excited for all the memories that lay ahead for our family and for those we will get to share with family and friends!  We will always look back at these days in China as some of our fondest moments together as we’ve not only traveled miles from city to city, but our hearts have traveled miles into each other’s!  Very soon, our Amelia Mei will be Forever Home.  And today and each day ahead, we will cherish life as a family, and no matter where we go in life, as long as we’re together, our family will always be OUR FOREVER HOME!

Today we dedicate this song to our Amelia Mei:

“Feels Like Home to Me”, by Chantal Kreviazuk

There's something in your eyes
Makes me wanna lose my self,
Makes me wanna lose myself in your heart,
There's something in your voice
That makes my heart beat fast
Hope this feeling lasts
For the rest of my life

If you knew how lonely
My life has been
And how long I've been so alone
And if you knew how I wanted someone to come along
And change my life the way you've done

It feels like home to me
It feels like home to me
It feels like I'm all the way back where I come from
It feels like home to me
It feels like home to me
It feels like I'm all the way back where I belong

A window breaks down on lumdard street
And a siren rings in the night
But I'm all right cuz I have you here with me,
And I can almost see through the dark there is light

Well if you knew how much this moment means to me
And how long I've waited for your touch
And if you knew how happy you are making me
I never thought that I'd love anyone so much

It feels like home to me
It feels like home to me
It feels like I'm all the way back where I come from
It feels like home to me
It feels like home to me
It feels like I'm all the way back where I belong

It feels like I'm all the way back where I belong

Our Journey of a Thousand Miles

"A Journey of a Thousand Miles Begins with a Single Step"  ~Confucius

It was over five years ago that we took our first steps in starting this amazing journey…our journey to our daughter.  It was 15 days ago that we embarked on our trip across the world, traveling thousands of miles from home, all in search of our sweet Amelia Mei.  Those first steps we took in beginning this process and every step thereafter have led us to this one amazing little girl whom we know in our hearts was meant for us all along!  With only a few more days left, we are taking our final steps and we will soon be forever home!

Our stay in Guangzhou has gone so fast and we can’t believe we’ll be traveling home this Thursday!  We arrived in Guangzhou last Friday where we took an 1-1/2 peaceful car ride from Shenzhen where both kids slept, thankfully.  The final steps of Amelia’s adoption take place here, including her medical exam, our US Consulate appointment and receiving Amelia’s US Visa to travel home!  Her medical exam at the SOS clinic took place on Saturday.  Since we were the only family, rather than spending hours at the clinic, we were in and out in a matter of 30 minutes.  Amelia did not cry a peep as she was briefly examined by the doctors.  We learned that she is in good health, she is currently 24lbs and 30inches, her hearing and eye sight seem normal, and she is free of infectious or communicable diseases.  This all being determined with a step onto the scale, a look inside her ears, nose and mouth, a peek at her bare behind, and a hearing test consisting of a squeaky, dirty ball.  Gotta love it! 

As we await our Consulate Appointment (which is tomorrow morning…October 11^th!), we’ve taken the time to explore a few of the main sights here in Guangzhou.  Our favorite spot is Shamian Island, which is a very small island 10 minutes from our hotel and it’s full of great little souvenier shops, restaurants and beautiful grounds and architecture.  Former adoptive parents used to all stay at a hotel on this island, but this hotel is temporarily closed, so are staying off the island at The China Hotel.  Shamian Island really caters to tourists, especially adoptive parents in search for little girl’s Chinese dresses, squeaky shoes, chop sticks, artwork and more!  For any future adoptive parents reading this, know that this island is good for cheap souveniers, but to get good quality things, particularly jewelry, go to the markets outside of the island (Anne from Red Thread can give you a shopping tour for cheap).  The best part of Shamian Island has been spending time in the square and watching our two sweeties run around and explore.  Plus it’s provided yet more opportunities for my most recent favorite pastime…taking pictures of my little sweetcheeks and Liam…

We also took a half day tour with our agency representative to see a few famous sights, including a Buddhist Temple and the famous, historic, Chen House.  The Chen House is ~200 years old and was formerly a house of worship.  Now this house is like a museum, with many different rooms displaying artifacts such as porcelain, ivory, jade and embroidery.  Much of the detailed carvings throughout the house are also made out of porcelain dating back to it's original structure. 

After the Chen House, we visited our first Buddhist temple, this one in particular is one of the oldest Buddhist Temples in China--the Six Banyan Tree Buddhist Temple.  It’s name comes from the Banyan trees that make up much of the landscape. 

Although the gold Buddha statues were an incredible sight in themselves, for us, and many others, the best attraction was seeing our Amelia Mei showcase her very own “Buddha Belly”.  As we were standing outside admiring the temple, Amelia started walking around lifting her dress up and sticking out her belly as far as she could.  Before we knew it, all the nearby tourists were instead looking at our little Buddha Bellied girl.

Here in Guangzhou we are staying at The China Hotel which has been very nice.  Former adoptive families have stayed at the famous White Swan hotel, but it’s closed for renovations.  Although the location of The China Hotel is not as good (as it is not on Shamian Island), the rooms, food, amenities and service have all been wonderful.  The biggest negative is that there aren’t many good restaurants within walking distance (with the exception of McDonalds that is right next door), but a big bonus is the Starbucks right downstairs!  The hotel has a small baby playground, which Liam and Amelia have really enjoyed.  Amelia loves the swing.  The outdoor pool is also nice and although it doesn’t have a baby section, Liam and Amelia have still enjoyed swimming in our arms—with Amelia already being way more brave in the water than her 4-1/2 year old brother!   

As we approach the end of our trip, we have so many mixed emotions.  We feel sad to say goodbye to China, the birth country of our daughter, a place we have truly grown to love in so many ways.  Yet we are just bursting with excitement to bring our daughter to her forever home!  Tomorrow morning is our Consulate Appointment where we will take an oath to grant us permission to bring Amelia home to the USA.  With these upcoming, last and final steps of the adoption process, our journey here in China is about to end.  Yet, in our hearts we know, our journey of a thousand miles is only about to begin…as we soon travel home to begin our life together as a Forever Family of Four!