We made it

After a few delays because of weather we made it home last night. We flew into Green Bay at 7pm and were greeted by our boys and wonderful family. I actually got emotional. Maya hated her carseat but quickly fell asleep for the 1 hour long ride. It is good to be home. I will add some getting home pictures at some point and then the blogdog will hang up his typing fingers. I think I will be busy with 5 kids, a new puppy and a girl who wants my attention and tickly fingers all the time, and oh yeah I forgot the most important new change-Maya.

Thanks to everyone who helped out, it is good to be home.

Matt

We are off

We are just finishing packing, well Patti is. The computer will be packed next. We leave early tomorrow morning and will hopefully have a smooth trip home. We are excited to get home to see the boys and show Maya her new home. It has been an overwhelming but wonderful experience. Thanks to all for helping us out, sending nice comments or laughing at some of my bad jokes. This blogging stuff has been fun for me as well. No last minute pictures, the cord is packed deep. We will post some more pictures once we get home. Thanks again to everyone and hope to see y'all soon.

Love, the red blogger(matt), the mind boggler(Patti), the hot mamma(still Patti), and our sweet addition(Maya).

Coming to the end

We are almost done. We have 1 more official business activity to take care of tomorrow then it is the long journey home in 2 days. Yesterday Maya had her visa picture taken and then had a medical exam. The exam was quick and dirty, just how Patti likes it. Maya did very well. Today we spent time with a cousin of a colleague of mine. She was very sweet and took us on the underway. That is what she called the subway. I thought she said she was looking for underwear, which I thought was a little odd, but I was all for it. I was disappointed once i figured out what she really was saying. Anyway, it was a good experience. Im sure we have some more good pictures, but I am getting lazy. I am having fun playing with my girl and making her giggle when I tickle her belly-and I am having fun with Maya too.

I will try to put more pictures on before we leave, but no promises.

Red blogdog

Orphanage visit

We went to visit Maya's orphanage today. We also got to see where she was found. The orphanage staff was very welcoming. We were lucky that our guide Rui went with us and interpreted. The orphanage made us feel sad because of the other children there and even though it was a nice orphanage we feel even more that we made the right choice and "rescued" Maya. The orphanage staff took us out to lunch in Xinhui, a district in Jiangmen, the city where Maya is from. That was our last big step on this trip. Just a few formalities, and we will be home. We love you boys, and thanks to everyone for the thoughts, prayers, and comments.

Patti

Another day in paradise

Im slowly losing my blogging steam. Our days are pretty routine now. We visit someplace, maybe shop, eat and play with Maya. All is getting somewhat boring except playing with Maya. We have met a wonderful couple and because of them the trip continues to be fun. I recently remembered that I trained with a Chinese native while in Iowa City. He emailed me about a mutual patient a few days ago, and I told him we were in China. He set us up to hang with a family member of his in a few days. It will be nice to have a local show us around to avoid touristy areas. We will be visiting Maya's orphanage in 2 days. Just a few things to look forward to. We continue to enjoy getting to know Maya but also really miss our boys. I will put some more pictures of Maya on the blog as Im sure reading this is quite boring.

Poop happens

All is right in the world. She has pooped for the first time. We are proud parents. She is eating much better, but still hates anything other than formula. She has never been exposed to table foods. We tried a taste of banana this am and got a funny look. Today we went to a buddhist temple. She was part of a blessing ceremony. I took some blessing as well. I was able to make her belly laugh today as well.(I took off my shirt). She is becoming more talkative and her motor skills continue to improve daily. We are having a good time especially with our new friends, the Eisenbergs. The have a very sweet 1 year old as well. Hope everyone is doing well.

We love you boys.

Blog dog

Maya day 4

There are 2 new likes to add to the list. Her thumbs(for sucking) and her mother. Dad has not made the list yet. Patti is able to feed her better, and she also made her belly laugh today. I get the occasional smile.

Our days are pretty similar now. We go on a tour or take care of some official business and then some shopping is in order(yippie). We then head back to the hotel, take a nap then eat dinner, then pass out.

Maya report. More personality. Feeding better. No poop day 4. Stinky gas. Stinky feet.(Oh yeah that is me).

Matt report. The wear one wash one underwear trick is working well(at least for me, I dont have to smell me).

Miss everyone.

Hunger strike softens

Our mini-mao is starting to eat a little better. No poops but we are enjoying that. She is becoming more interactive and comfortable with us. We did a little bit of shopping, and she is fitting into 12 month clothes better-so boys don't get too scared about her size. All is well. We miss everyone. Will continue to blog.

The blog-dog

Hunger strike

We are coming up on 36 hours of female parenthood. She has decided to go on hunger strike. 4 ounces of a hot water/formula/rice cereal mix. 1 wet diaper. She is making us feel like rookie parents. As we speak, mama is feeding her hot water/lots of sugar mix just for hydration.

She has 2 loves so far(unfortunately not mom and dad). And no not fast cars and hot men. She loves sleeping and movement. If she is not doing one of those 2 things, she is fussy. We have gotten about 5-10 minutes of fun play time, but it usually is when one of our new friends adopted baby is around. We think there is some separation depression going on and we really cant blame her. She will come around and learn to love and rely on us.

Im sure we have some new pictures but you will have to wait. Big orange daddy is lazy this morning. I will be heading back for round 2 of chinese massage in order to get my mojo back. Until later.

Our first 12 hours

The little stinker was quite fussy until she passed out at 9pm. She is still sleeping and it is now 630 in the morning. We still have not fed her, but given her size, I think she has some calorie stores built up. Here are a few new pictures.

Mission Accomplished

She is now with us. She is beautiful and started out real fussy. She is finally calming down and actually just smiled at us. All fingers and toes are accounted for. I checked for a hangy down thing between the legs just to make sure, and all is well. We do now officially have a daughter. She is a porker, and we understand that both parents may have been involved in sumo wrestling. Boys, watch out, she might be ready to rumble. She is currently wearing 18month clothes, which we dont have. Patti is quite upset that she will have to go shopping. Enjoy the slideshow above.

The morning of Gotcha day

Hey boys, family and friends. It is the morning of the day we grab and run with Maya. We had an uneventful and restful last 12 hours. I did get a Chinese massage with 15 other people in our group. We sipped hot tea and ate fruit as the international language of love took place. Patti was not interested, I obviously was. We hung out with our new friends and ate along the river at a restaurant at the hotel. The local people are very nice here. We are being treated very well. A lot of people speak a little English, but it is still pretty hard to communicate.

By the time you wake up in the morning we will have Maya in our arms. We are excited. We will get photos on here of the baby ASAP.

Ryan, Jake, Cal, and Trevor. We love and miss you. Thanks for getting along and helping Grannie and Granpie. We will call you tomorrow in the am.

Sightseeing Day

We did many things yesterday. We wanted to show you a few of the activities we participated in. Anyone here in China that makes it to the top of the Great Wall are named "heros". We never realized how far up the Great Wall went, but we wanted the hero status. It took awhile with breaks to breathe and enjoy the beauty.

Theado meets Guangzhou

We just made it to our final destination in Guangzhou. It is in Southern China. Maya lives a couple hours from here and will make the trek to meet the parental units tomorrow. We are staying at the White Swan Hotel which we hear is quite famous. It looks awesome, but we haven't been able to explore yet. The weather is hot and muggy-big daddy is sweating. Happy mother's day to all of you mothers out there, especially our dear loving mothers. We are going to just hang out the rest of the day. I am going to get an oriental massage in a few hours. Patti would rather have me rub her all over, and I will oblige. Just remember that this is our last night just the 2 of us. We are planning a nice romantic dinner as well.

Boys-we love you very much and continue to think of you all of the time. It sounds like you are having a lot of fun. Thanks for being so good for grandma and grandpa.

Finally figured the computer stuff out

Sorry about the late entry. We made it to Beijing yesterday in the late afternoon. We needed to find techy support because the blogspot was only in Chinese(cant read that just yet). Anyway, to make a long story short, we are now bloggin again. We are really enjoying our time so far and have met a bunch of nice people. There are a total of 32 families from Great Wall here but we are in 3 separate groups based on what province we are adopting from. There are 9 families in our group. Today, we visited the Forbidden City, Tiannamen Square, and the Great Wall itself. We made it to the top. It was quite a hike. We will get some pictures on the blog in short order. Hope everyone is doing well. Boys, we love you very much and are thinking about you all a lot. Thanks again to our wonderful support and friends back home. I'm all blogged out for now.

The start of the trip

We left for Green Bay at 430am. We are currently in the Chicago airport, killing time. Patti is talking my ear off so I thought I would give her something to do. The future pictures will improve once we get Maya. Until then you are stuck with my ugly, hairless, wide mouth grin and princess Patti.

Oh yes, we forgot to tell you

Looking at our pictures you will notice a little, black furry friend. I don't know what I was thinking but on Matt's birthday our friends and the boys (including Matt) talked me into getting a puppy. His name is Bucky (as in Bucky Badger) and he is 11 weeks old. We got him three weeks ago. As much as I really didn't want a dog, he is a sweet dog. Matt got him trained through the night after being with us for only 2 days!!!!! Our friends are watching him while we are in China. I promised the boys I would put a picture on here so everyone could see.

It is finally here

I can't believe that we are leaving for the airport in 5 hours. I know I should be sleeping but I can on our long journey over there. I wanted to thank everyone who is helping to make this possible. Kathie, Dick, Bug, Jerry, and Sheri are the main ones that are going to hold down the fort for us. The whole community is willing to pitch in if need be. It feels great knowing we are leaving the kids in great hands. Just last night we had a steady stream of people stopping over to wish us good luck. It was overwhelming. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Patti
p.s. Here is a picture taken hours ago. It is our final family picture of us and the four boys. How sweet it is.

Trying to Pack!!!

This is a lot harder than I was anticipating. The question is do I really need this or not? I'm told that the areas we will be in have everything I could possibly need if I forget something(except for western meds). That leads me to carry a mini pharmacy taking up alot of room. We are restricted to one piece of luggage (no more than 44lbs), and a carry-on that weighs no more than 10 pounds. How can I pack for me and a baby for 16 days in only 44 pounds? Wish me luck because I am working on it today. I know I said it would get done on Sunday, but I had better things to do. Anyways it is not called procrastination, I just like to say that I'm really good under pressure.

Our Itinerary for China

I finally have a moment to let everyone know about our trip. Here is how the schedule will go.

1. May 10th- we leave GB at 8am and fly to Chicago. We catch our next flight at 12:30 and arrive in Beijing at 3pm on May 11th. WOW- what a long flight! So, do I let Matt suffer alone or do I help out? Do I buy the less drowsy Dramamine or not? Sure, he will have a peaceful flight there, but what about the flight back home?



2. May 12th- sightseeing tour to the Great Wall, Forbidden City, and Tian An Men Square



3. May 13th- flying to Guangzhou (the province Maya is in)



4. May 14th-going to the Civil Affairs office to pick up Maya !!!!



5. May 15th-lots of paperwork and shopping



6. May 16th- sightseeing to Chen Family Temple



7. May 17th- sightseeing tour to Six Banyan Trees



8. May 18th- Free Day



9. May 19th- tour to Zhong Shan Memeorial Hall



10. May 20th-visit Yun Tai Garden



11. May 21st- tour to the zoo



12. May 22nd- get Maya's passport, and do more paperwork



13. May 23rd- get Maya's visa picture taken, and a medical exam for her is done



14. May 24th- appt at the American Consulate



15. May 25th- we go to the AC for an interview and pick up Maya's visa



16. May 26th- we will get a million hugs from our boys that we missed sooooo MUCH!!!! We leave Guangzhou at 9:30am, fly through Hong Kong, and arrive in GB, WI at 5:24pm

Maya's Birthday!!!

Yes, Maya turned 1 on May 1st. We celebrated her birthday and the boys sang to her on video. It was cute but it would have been better if she were actually with us. We can't believe it is only 8 more days. We have been thinking about this for 2 years, but it is actually crunch time now. We can't thank everyone enough for helping out with this huge trip. I will get back later and give you a synopsis of the upcoming adventure.