1st week home

The first day in her new home with her Panda from Uncle Chris and Aunt Cristina.

First time at the local playground.

First time on the potty chair. Hopefully without clothes some day.

There can never be enough first times. This week at home with Kylee has been stocked full. Even though we have had a very challenging week with sickness, no sleep, a 15 hr time change and catching up with our jobs, it has been a joy watching Kylee experience so many new things. It doesn't matter how tough your day has been, the minute you see your child smile and run towards you, it's pure happiness.

One negative note. It is very unfortunate that our employers do not recognize maternity leave for adoptive parents. We could have both really used some extra time during this life transition.

Back Home

We are very happy to be home. Unfortunately our trip home was a little tough. We left Guangzhou at 10:30 for a short 45 min flight to Hong Kong. Once we finished all of the customs processing we boarded a packed 747 for what was scheduled to be a 12 hr flight to San Francisco. Just as we were about to take the runway for takeoff, someone on the left side of the airplane notice fuel pouring out of the left wing. Needless to say we taxied back to the gate to have engineers look at the issue. Unfortunately instead of let us off the airplane once they found the issue, they kept us on board for 4.5 hrs. Considering the situation Kylee did great, but it was brutal for Monica and I because we are still not healthy. Setting in coach in a packed airplane for 12 hrs is one thing but for 16, was off the charts.
Because of the delays we missed our connecting flight to Denver, so by the time we got re-booked and processed through security we had lost half a day. We landed in Denver late in the evening and did not get home until 11:30 Sat night.
Today has just been spent, unpacking and helping Kylee adjust to her new surroundings. Since we have been here less than 24 hrs it's really hard to say how she is taking it all in, but the initial reactions are very positive. She is truly a resilient little girl and we feel so lucky to finally have her home.

I will post more pictures and updates in the days to come as she adjusts to her new life.

Farewell to China

This is the Red Couch baby group picture that is taken at the end of each CCAI trip.

Family pic from the Red Couch.

Kylee checking out the Tigers

Kylee crashing out during a bottle feeding. Mom can't believe it.

Sorry for the slow down of the blogs, Monica and I have not been very healthy the last 48 hrs. Fortunately though we have not had a lot of meetings or paper work the last couple days, so we have had a chance to hang out and try to get healthier for our trip home. We did get the final approval for Kylee's visa paper work yesterday which is a big relief and means we are now ready to head home. Today we head to the US Consulate for our oath and then we receive Kylee's passport and visa. Tomorrow morning we complete the final travel adventure with a 16 hr flight with 2 sick parents, a 14 month old who is still not feeling that well, Yee Hah! All I can say is thank God for Monica's folks being with us. They have really been amazing.

A couple days ago we did get to travel to the local zoo which was by far the prettiest zoo I've been to, but considering how huge it was, there were not a lot of animals. I think Kylee really enjoyed it, even though she is a little young to really acknowledge the animals. She continues to blow us away every day with her progress.

If I'm not able to get a good Internet connection in the airport tomorrow, this will be our final blog from China. We will miss every minute we have spent in this amazing country. It is filled with such beautiful landscapes and even more beautiful people that are so kind and that truly embrace life. Most importantly, we have been blessed with this beautiful little girl from this country and we will never forget this experience as long as we live. We hope we have learned as much as possible from our time here so we can help teach Kylee about her the country she was born in and then bring her back here when she is older (if she wants), so she can experience first hand the culture of her birth place.

We now look forward to bringing Kylee home to the greatest country, filled with so many people that love her and yet have never met her. We cannot wait for her to meet all of you! We thank you again for all of your love, support and the wonderful comments you have posted to the blog.

We love you all and can't wait to see you!

Signing off from Guangzhou, China.

Quangzhou Buddist Temple

Kylees first experience in the hotel play room.

Inside a 1500 year old Buddist Temple. Each Budha was about 40 ft tall.

This Buddist preist performed a blessing for Kylee. It was a really cool experience.

Sorry for the delay of blog updates. Since we arrived in Quangzhou it's been a bit of a whirlwind. Most of Sunday was spent acclimating to the new environment and doing a lot of visa paper work in preparation for our meetings at the US Consulate. Monday we did get to tour around the city a bit, even though Monica still are not feeling that well. The location of the hotel is on an small island surrounded by the Pearl river which is the 3rd longest river in China. This is a very tropical type climate, which has been much better for our health. Even though this city is very industrial, it's very beautiful. I'm writing this form the greatest Starbucks on the planet. If they were all like this in the states, Kaladi's might get bumped from my top coffee shop. :)

Kylee continues to bond with us and I think we are really starting to see some of her real personality, which is awesome. Every minute we spend with her is magic no matter how challenging. Today we had her medical exam for her visa and everything checked out including her gaining about 1 lb. This afternoon we are heading to a big outdoor market to experience more crazy stuff this province eats. If it flies or swims, they will eat it.

Smiles

As promised, a couple pictures of Kylee's great little smile. She is opening up to us more everyday with more smiles and even kisses. Last night in the hotel room she cut loose with some cool little dance moves. She is feeling much better, but unfortunately her parents are not. Monica and I have both come down with the Nanchang crud. It's not really surprising considering we have not seen the sun in 9 days and it has rained for 7 days, we are not used to that.

Yesterday was spent in the hotel because the weather was so bad the group had to cancel plans to go to the zoo, plus we had more meetings to review the babies legal documents. Today we are flying Guangzhou in the southern part of the country for the final portion of our trip. We will be meeting with officials at the American Consulate to finalize Kylee's visa. We are looking forward to warmer and hopefully dryer weather.

Touring around Nanchang

Today was spent doing some site seeing around the city of Nanchang. These shots are from a Prince's party house originally built in the yr 635 during the Tang dynasty. Pretty cool place to hang out and have your friends over for some beers and BBQ.

Everyone is doing great. Kylee is smiling a little more today, although we have not documented it yet. Hopefully we will get a good shot of her great little smile soon.

Learning to walk

Kylee grubbing some breakfast.

Since we had today off from any paper work or other formalities. We spent it just hanging out with Kylee and her grandma and grandpa Ryan.

Everyone is doing great so far during this bonding/transition period. Kylee definitely has her ups and downs with us, but just in the last 36 hrs it's really been amazing the progress she has made. Today were the first smiles from her and believe it or not she has learned how to walk in the last 24 hrs. Last night she was standing with assistance, today around noon she was walking and this evening she was doing the baby drunk person run down the halls of the hotel. She is also eating really well and hopefully putting on some much needed weight. CCAI brought in a pediatrician today to examine all the babies. She said other than needing to gain some weight and get over this cold, she is in good health.

Adoption Finalized

As of 1pm today, our adoption of Kylee was finalized with the Chinese government. Time to relax and continue the bonding process.

Gotcha Day

"Surreal", is the only way to explain yesterday.

We departed Hong Kong at 11:30 and after a 1.5 hr flight we arrived the the provincial capitol city of Nanchang. We took a bus 30 min into the city to our hotel and shortly settled into our rooms. At 3pm, all of the families met in a conference room where we had a child preparation meeting with our local CCAI representatives. Immediately following the meeting at 5, we were asked to go back to our rooms and they would contact us that Kylee had arrived. At 5:15 pm, we received the phone call that the babies had arrived and to meet back near the conference room. The CCAI reps would call our names in alphabetical order one family at a time and bring the baby to us. Needless to say, we were jumping out of our skin with anticipation. After all other families had received their babies, our names were called. There appeared a man holding the most beautiful little girl, our Kylee.

Our hearts are full!

Other than a cold, Kylee is healthy and adapting to her new environment.

Hong Kong

After a little 16 hr flight over the Pacific pond, we arrived in Hong Kong at 7pm Oct 31st.
Hong Kong is absolutely awesome!! We spent today touring the city and learning about the history and culture from our CCAI guide Patrick. We definitely want to come back here once Kylee is older.

Tommorow is the big day. We depart first thing in the morning for Nanchang and within a couple hours of arrival, we will recieve Kylee. It will be a great day!

The departure.

Thursday Oct 30th. Just before we boarded our flight from San Francisco to Hong Kong.