Almost one week home...

I can't believe that tomorrow we will already have been home one week. I am so fortunate to be Malia's mom. She is doing amazingly well adjusting to home. She has slept through the night every night since we have been together. She also takes a solid 2-3 hour nap (which is my time to clean up, check email, make phone calls, etc). We have been out to the indoor play area at the Eden Prairie mall, the park, and today the zoo. We are just doing short outings right now to show her some places we can go but that we always end up at home. She is eating well and loves playing with her new toys but bath time is still her favorite. She would take 3 a day if I would let her. Here are some pictures of our first week home. Enjoy!!

Pictures from home

Here are some pictures from home. The cousins all hit it off immediately as you can tell. I think between the photo albulm and the web calls from China they kind of knew each other.

Pictures from the airport

Thanks to everyone who could make it out to the airport. It was wonderful to see familiar people after such a long trip. Here are some pictures of the moments when we got here.

We're home!!!

We made it home and Malia is officially a U.S. Citizen. We had a large group waiting for us at the airport. It was such fun and a relief to see familiar faces and places. Malia is wonderful on the flights home. She did well with the early morning and slept about 1/2 of the first 34 hour flight from Hong Kong to Tokyo. She was so patient with waiting for the connecting flight. Finally we were on the last long flight home and she just couldn't fall asleep and stay asleep. She was up playing and eating almost the whole flight home except for crashing the last 1 1/2. We made it through the long slow line at Immigration but had a fast pass through customs. Malia loved the house, her room, and playing with her cousin Garrett. She also said hi to the babies, Jude and Aislynn. I will post more later, including photos, since all of the cords are still packed somewhere.

Disney Day 2

Malia did awesome even with sleeping in another place and in a pack 'n play versus the portable crib. She slept 12 hours straight and is now even down for her nap. She just loves Disney and we think we favorite is the carousel. Every time we would walk past it she points and will tap your arm and point again. Big smiles when we took another spin on it. I have to post the group picture we had someone take of all of us... we laughed when I looked at it because they cut Malia off. The other one is Malia on the Buzz Lightyear ride (she got 600 points). Enjoy the pictures and we will see everyone soon!!! SO SOON!!!

Flight Info: NWA 20 - arriving 12:20 (for those that want to meet at the airport).

We're in Disney!!!

Malia did awesome on the plane ride and with the change of hotels. She played the entire flight and only had one set of tears when we were ready to land because she was tired from getting up too early. We went out to Disney and she just lit up. Everything was so new and fresh in her mind. We went to the playroom at the hotel and Chip and Dale came up to her and she didn't like that at all. I guess we will skip the meet and greet. The only other story is that mom's ticket was already used when we got to the counter. Supposedly someone else had used it so they were not going to let mom check in. We kept showing the receipt where we paid for all of them together. Kathy, our guide, finally got it all worked out but we only had 5 minutes to spare before the loaded the plane. Disney is fun and the hotel is much better (beds are soft and normal queen sized). The food however is still an issue. We can't wait to be home for regular food again!

Also, CONGRATULATIONS to my cousin Don and Amber and their new little baby Samuel. We can't wait to see your little boy when we get back.

Last day in Guangzhou

Today is our last day in Guangzhou. In 2 hours we will head to the U.S. Consulate and the adoption will be official. We leave tomorrow morning (early) for the flight to Hong Kong. It is another really sticky day but no rain at least. We spent the morning packing, realizing we need to buy one more suitcase (OK we love to shop and the prices are so cheap), and actually shopping. I think we got the last of the stuff except the shirts I had made which won't be ready until tonight (they better fit right). It is funny how all of the shop keepers know my parents. The one even ran out of the store to let them know some earrings came in that they were looking for earlier in the week. They kind of know me but since Malia has nap time and an early bed time they don't know us unless we are with my parents. Both of my parents have been fabulous on this trip and have helped more than I can say.

I don't have many photos today and we can't take pictures at the consulate. I do have some pictures from the dinner cruise we did last night on the Pearl River. The boat was nice and Malia loved to look out the window at the water and the lights. Most of these buildings we can see from our hotel room (thanks to mom for thinking to upgrade). It is neat since they do a light show every evening at 8 and 9. This time we were on the boat versus watching from the hotel window. The other photos are Malia with her new sunglasses that Grandma brought for her. Everyone on the street laughed (even the Chinese people). It was funny to see their reactions.

We can't wait to be home and catch everyone up on all of the updates and photos that just can't fit on the blog (or I don't have time to add). Thank you to all for the comments. It has been wonderful for me and my parents to read them each day.

Red Couch Photo's

Here are the Red Couch and group photos.

Orphanage and Finding Place

Today we hired a van with one of the coordinators and went to Malia's orphanage. It was so awkward for me, her, and my parents. The place was wonderful. It was kept up well and the kids were all so happy but I was sad because there were so many kids there and I know we only saw a fraction of them. They all wanted to come up to us and hug and some even wanted to get picked up. They waved bye as we had to leave. We couldn't take any pictures inside but we could take as many as we wanted outside. The staff was wonderful and we even met the orphanage director. Malia did pretty well but she was holding onto my shirt for life. I had the thought to put her in the hip hammock as soon as we got out of the van so she knew I was right there and good thing I did. The one nanny tried to take her from me but figured out that she couldn't because she was strapped in... whew!! We walked through a couple classrooms with older kids that have special needs and then we got to see one baby playroom. I felt so bad because the gifts I brought were mostly for the little babies because I really didn't expect to see many older kids. I have to remember to send more when I get home. As we were leaving we heard a lot of kids saying bye. We looked up and they were at the window reaching out and waving bye. I am glad we went there but so sad that they don't place more of the kids for adoption. For some reason this orphanage has cut back on adoptions in recent years and only did 16 in all of 2006. Maybe if they see how happy Malia is now with her mom they will do more. at least we could see that the kids there were well cared for and all in all very happy.

Next we made a quick stop at her finding location. I just had my dad get out and take photos because I didn't want to upset Malia by getting out in another strange location. From the van it looked like a very nice area. According to the driver there are ~10 million people just in Guangzhou and from the looks of the area I would believe it. It is hard to know that we will never know who Malia's birth parents are but I am glad she will now be well taken care of and loved.

This afternoon is photos (red couch and group pictures). I will try to update with some pictures tonight or tomorrow morning but we have the dinner cruise (which means a later bed time) so it might not be possible. Our time here is winding down and soon onto Hong Kong for a little time at Disney. From what we can tell she will just love the people watching if nothing else. I can't wait until we are all home and I know my parents are feeling the same thing. Anything right now for a home cooked meal (not from a restaurant). I can probably do one more post tomorrow but that will be it until we return on Friday. The flight information again for those meeting us is NWA Flight 20 (Narita, Japan - MSP) arriving around 12:20. Make sure you check the flight status since there might be rain on Friday and some flights actually get in early. We will meet you at the baggage claim area (far left as you are looking at the baggage carousels).

The Zoo

Yesterday afternoon was 2 hours of paperwork. We were all a little concerned with Malia's attention span (or any 2 year old) but she still didn't want to be out of my sight. So we headed down with a ton of toys and snacks and she did so well I am still amazed. We spilt a lot of crumbs in Molly's room (the coordinator) but no melt downs. She even let Grandma change her diaper since we were right in the middle of the paperwork and no problems (YEA!!!).

Today we went to the zoo. Malia's favorite animal was the big black bears. We had a couple screams that the first couple animals because she didn't want to leave. I then actually thought to have her say "bye bye" to the animal so she knew we were leaving and then she did good. Back into the stroller with little or no screams. It worked so well.

We then spent a little time at the pool and she absolutely loved it. I was debating swimming lessons when we get back and now I know for sure that is a great idea. She didn't want to leave even though the water was cold.

She is up to maybe 3 English words that she is speaking a lot of the time - Hi, Bye-bye, and Up. I think she is also understanding shoes and puts her leg up so I can put on shoes and socks. She also knows that when we go into the playroom at the hotel that she needs to take off her shoes. She loves to mimic anything we do and likes to eat or drink anything we have. Yes, this includes pop and beer (both of which she hasn't gotten a hold of yet).