Baking and Riding

Today we had a glimpse of being on a normal time schedule. Jay and I slept until 0630 and the boys slept until about 0730. It was wonderful! We spent the majority of the day preparing for a community garage sale on Saturday. We went room by room looking for things that we have not used in over a year and staged it in the dining room to be loaded up for the yard sale. Every move we do this, and I always think that we are really "trimming the fat" for the next move...yet we wind up on the other side of the move with still a lot of "stuff". About halfway through the afternoon, Campbell pulled out a train cake mold that we got for one of his birthdays. He asked so nicely if I would please make a cake...so I said, why not! I need to enjoy my time away from work, and what better way to enjoy it!? Baking for my boys (note Tucker eagerly waiting for someone to spill something).
After we finished preparing for the yard sale, we sat on the porch watching the boys play in the wagon. This wagon was Jay's when he was a little boy, and his Dad refinished it for Campbell several years ago. It is nice to see them both enjoying it so much!
Update on my dad: He's doing much better today! Moving around a little easier and is no longer taking any pain meds...just good ol' vitamin M (Motrin).
Tomorrow, Cael has his first appointment with the surgeon, so we are anxious to see what our medical schedule will hold in the coming weeks.
More to come!

Good Food, Good Medicine, Good Fun

We have been out of the blog-o-sphere the last couple of days in an effort to reunite with some of our family and reorient ourselves to the timezone of the good ol' USA!
We went to my folks to visit my Dad since his surgery...he has had a bit of a rough go...please continue to pray for him as he experiences the difficulty of "just resting"...it's NOT his thing, but the only real medicine that works, right now. Mom has been a real trooper and has endless energy. I'm not sure how she does it.
While we were there, Mom made a good old fashioned Sunday Dinner of roast, rice and gravy, corn, green beans, salad, yeast rolls, and a Texas sheet cake. It was heaven and Cael Enyi ate EVERY BITE! He LOVES gravy! (and we already knew he loved chocolate cake and ice cream) On the second day, we picked up fried chicken, fried okra, and french fries (not a thing healthy on the menu!) Also loves cream gravy to dip his fried chicken in...remember he IS from SOUTHERN China! The other big news is that for the last day or so, he has begun to call himself Cael Enyi and will actually respond when we say Cael. Progress. When we returned home early yesterday morning, we immediately got him registered in the military medical system and he had his first doctor's appointment with the pediatrician to address the rash/virus on his face. Again...GOD BLESS AMERICA and the wonderful physicians in the US Military. He is now on an antibiotic for the green crud coming from his nose and she gave him a different topical cream for his face as well as a second oral medication for the viral rash. We'll see how he does, but it was so great to have actual hands and eyes looking at him and taking real action.
We also found out that he is in the 5-10th percentile for weight (gained 2 pounds since joining our family!) and is not even on the chart for height.
As a result of all that great eating, today we hit the running trails as a family unit. Jay took the training wheels off of Cael's bike and added the "bike buddy", which is an extended handle that allows you can run upright along side the child (with Cam, he was riding without training wheels in 3 days). Several times throughout the 4-mile run, he was riding on his own...until he realized Jay had let go and he yelled "boo-yao" over and over (meaning I don't like it!). It won't be long!
This evening, we sat out on the porch enjoying the absolutely gorgeous spring weather! While we were out there, the kids made racing numbers for their bikes and scooters (training wheels back on for safety and fun when not running with us). Then Jay took them for a ride on one scooter, while Tucker tried to get me to throw the ball (it's so great having the whole family together!). I was participating in what I hope will be my last War College chat session (gotta love technology of doing school on the front porch while taking pictures of the boys).
So...All is well here...we are trying to get back into a routine, but still feel like we are dragging during the day. The kids actually slept all night last night, so I think they are close to being back on schedule.
Sure hope to see you all, soon!

A Day of "Firsts"

Today was a day of "firsts" for Cael Enyi.  This was the first day that he called himself "Cael Enyi", so we are starting to mix it up, a bit, with his name...we will gradually drop the Enyi (if and when he is OK with it).  Today was also the first day that he "rode a bike".  As it turns out, the bike that we had saved for him is still WAY too big...so off we went to the PX for the military special.....with a new helmet to boot.  Of course, I did not actually have my camera out there to get a shop of him on his new bike...but here he is on the old one.
Today was his first visit to the military commissary....or any grocery store as we know it.  The people in Enyi's village went to the market every one or two days to get just what they needed for immediate needs, as space and refrigeration are sparse and expensive!  His eyes were HUGE as we wheeled through the aisles in the "car-cart"...note that Cam barely fits, but they insisted on riding together.  Both of their eyes were getting very heavy so we rushed through as quickly as possible to get them back outside playing  We were really hoping to keep everyone awake until at least 7:00 pm.  (BTW: We went to bed at 0230 and the kids were in at 0430 asking if it was time to get up...so we are all going on very little sleep, today!)
Meanwhile, back in the neighborhood, everyone was out on their bikes and Cael Enyi was anxious to show off his new wheels and helmet.  It turns out that he (like his older brother) has a way with the ladies.  While he was completely capable of riding himself, the neighbor girls all wanted to push him.  He also performs his little song and dance numbers on command, now, so he is getting very smooth!
His new best friend is Maeve, our neighbor's daughter.  She is little smaller than Enyi, but they getting along great!  Another neighbor girl made a special snack for all the kids.  So he had his first Oreo topped with peanut butter and marshmallow cream...the evidence on his and Maeve's face tells the rest of the story.
Finally, this was the first night since we picked him up that I did not have to ask them to go to bed...and he and Cam were both asleep before we could even get them tucked in!
Tomorrow we are heading to my folks to pick up Tucker (the dog) and introduce him to the newest addition.  We are also anxious for Geese and Pop to meet Enyi!  For those of you continuing to pray for my Dad...he is having a rough go.  His recovery is going much slower due to the complications of the leukemia...and my Dad refuses to listen to his medical professionals! (mostly, my Mom!)...I am SOOO glad that I did not inherit that gene :-)
Again, thanks to all for your comments.  While we could not always read them in China (due to social networking blocks) we have had a good time catching up on the comments (and emails) from friends and family.

Home Sweet Home

Well, we FINALLY made it home…and just by the skin of our teeth. It is now 0130 in Texas and we are WIDE awake! The day (or days) started with our departure in GZ. It was great being able to enjoy the bus ride with many of the families that have been with us over the last week. Most of our group continued on the same flight to Beijing, where we spent the night. Enyi LOVED his first plane ride, and you would have thought he had done it his whole life…really enjoyed the take off and landing. His face was like, "Seriously, we are going to fly around and they are going to feed us, too?" Speaking of eating…the stomach crud finally got me on the plane ride to Beijing. I held it together until we got on the van when I had to ask Jay for a couple of ziplocks…YUCK! I was better by the next morning when we left for Chicago. While it was another LONG trip, everyone did great on very little sleep. When we landed in Chicago, it was a mad dash for customs and immigration. This the place where Enyi became an American Citizen, today!! Luckily, they had a line exclusively for military personnel or we would have NEVER made our connection. In fact, where they sent us out of customs, there was no place to re-check or bags…we even asked one of the agents where we needed to drop them and we were told to take them to our departing terminal (this was bad info)…no fear, we have a full 30 minutes until the plane leaves…sure, they're probably boarding, but we will make it!! So we impatiently wait for the train to take us two terminals over to our departing gate…only to be told that baggage check is yet one more terminal away. "You'll never make it", says the oh-so-helpful United agent. "We'll make it!!!", we yell as we continue to run to the next terminal. Kudos to Cam and Enyi who ran with their backpacks the whole way! So we find another agent at this terminal and show her that we have boarding passes and our bags are already ticketed through to San Antonio…she graciously takes them and we run BACK to the previous terminal to try to get through security with SEVEN minutes to spare! "We'll make it!!", we cried as we tried not to push people over as the Ferland Four went racing through O'Hare! Well, we did make it…BARELY. So we sat sweating on the plane thinking…we made it…but our bags will not. No sooner were the thoughts crossing my mind when the pilot announces: "Folks, I'm told we are waiting on a few bags to arrive from the international terminal, so we'll just stand by for a few minutes". Groans could be heard from behind us as we shrunk down in our seats. However, as we pushed back from the gate, there were two suitcases left sitting on the tarmac that looked remarkably like ours. Sure enough…we are missing 2 bags on this side of China…but we made our flight!!

Our dear friends, The Harneys, greeted us at the airport (and waited an extra 30+ minutes for our late arrival and the meeting with the United Baggage claim folks). When we pulled up to the house, there were signs on the front of the house, signs on the inside of the house, and dinner on the stove!! (Thanks to my BFF Carolyn!!) Not only that, she knows that I REALLY missed my good coffee, so in a basket of goodies was homemade cookies, a pound of Starbucks, and fresh fruit! In the fridge, she made sure I had a gallon of milk, some juice, and the all important Half and Half for my coffee. Our other dear neighbors, The Meyers and the Wongs and their daughters were there to greet us and were actively involved in the house decorating…SO SWEET…how can we ever move away! Enyi is VERY excited with his new room and went nuts when he saw all the Legos, Thomas trains, and cars/trucks that are in their room. He saying, Enyi's??

So we are trying to settle back into Texas time…warm baths and homemade chile should help do the trick. Good night…it's great to be home!

Mad Medicine and Official Oath

Today we started the day off in the hotel clinic where a second physician had a look at Enyi's face and the bumps that are coming and going around his mouth. When we picked him up, it was one of the first things I noticed and the orphanage gave us a topical antibiotic to apply 3 times a day. In a couple of days, it seemed to improve, then Sunday morning, it was much worse (1st visit to the doctor). They ruled out a couple of things, said it was viral and switched his medication to a topical antiviral. Today, again, much worse, and back to the clinic. This doctor contacted a colleague of hers at the Children's Hospital and asked that we take him over there to be seen. Three words sum up my visit there: GOD BLESS AMERICA!!! I only thought the local clinic was dirty. This place was like a mall at Christmas, only much dirtier and smellier. I thought, if we weren't sick when we entered, we might be by the time we leave. Of note, the healthcare workers do not wash their hands between patients. There is one or two doctors sitting at a square desk with patients and family members standing around looking over each other's shoulders. When it was our turn to sit down, there was another lady standing by ready to take my seat as soon as I could get up...NO PRIVACY....bottom line, they said, keep using the antiviral cream. I would like to insert my political opinions at this point but will refrain from doing so...but it was scary!
I just emailed my friend Kim, in Iraq (Army Dermatologist) to see if she can provide some telemedicine services...I'll keep you posted.
While getting a cab to the hospital was quick and easy, getting one for the return trip home was impossible, so we walked...and I carried Enyi the entire way, as he pretty much had an emotional shut-down as soon as we walked in to the hospital. In case you are wondering where Jay was...he was battling his own gastro-intestinal demons back here at the hotel. Meanwhile, back to the street, we were drenched with sweat by the time Anyi Peggy and I got back to the hotel. She was nice enough to go with me and our interpreter to the hospital...again, very eye-opening.
So, when I returned to the room, Jay was holding his own (and his cookies) so we suited up and headed to the ice pool...today it felt good (for about 2 seconds on my feet only). After cooling off, we came back to the room to get ready for our visit to the US Consulate and the oath taking ceremony. Basically, this is an oath that the parents take on behalf of their ALMOST American children. It is the final step in getting Enyi's visa, which we pick up late tomorrow afternoon, before we fly back to Beijing.
BTW, another reason to love our country: We have enjoyed watching the Discovery Channel in the evenings when we are setting down for bed. But today is a national day of mourning in China for the victims of the earthquake last week. So, unless the TV stations are broadcasting the mourning ceremony, they are blocked...While we are sympathetic to the national tragedy, we just were starkly reminded of the differences in state run television and that of the free market. I had to get a picture of the black screen with the words as to why the station is blocked. Another picture is of Enyi and our friends' daughter, Maddie...Enyi loves her. Every time she comes around, he breaks out in a huge smile and says, "Ni Hao, Hello"...every time! It's pretty cute.
So this was our last full day in GZ and while it has been pleasant, we are ready to get home! I'm not sure if I will get a chance to post again from here, but hopefully a quick note from Beijing before we come home. Thanks, again for all your prayers and comments. We can't wait to see you all, soon!

Pictures, Weird Stuff, and Watches

This morning was relaxing with a chance to catch up on paperwork, etc. Our guide returned from the consulate with Enyi's visa to enter the US. Tomorrow we will take our official oath and wrap up everything here in GZ. On Thursday, we are simply waiting on delivery of his final paperwork and fly out for Beijing around 7:00pm and arrive around 10:00pm. We then fly out the following afternoon from Beijing on a direct flight from Beijing to Chicago where Enyi will first step foot on US soil and become a US citizen. (I did pack the American flags to wave for the photo op). Later in the morning, we met on the infamous "red couches" of the White Swan Hotel for pictures of all the adoptees and their families in our travel group. (In summary, I was sweating and exhausted when it was over...much crying and screaming...and some by the kids, as well!) After the pictures, we walked over to the market which is the largest of its kind, in China, according to our guide. Lots of skins of snakes, lizards, and fish stomachs...yum?? Live scorpions, dried beetles and locusts, etc....There were also lots of live animals that I kept saying that they would make great pets...I hope! We, however, decided on ice cream for a snack...
The day ended with me taking the boys to the freezing cold pool where they seemed undaunted by the temperature and had to pry them out after an hour...with blue lips, I might add. Jay, on the other hand, joined some of the other guys in our group for a shopping trip to the watch market. Let's just say he got some GREAT deals on Rolex watches....since we had our jeweler guy from Houston leading the charge, he feels confident that he got a great deal.
See you tomorrow for our last full day in GZ. We are SOOOO anxious to get home!

Six Banyon Trees and Chen Family Temple

Today was another tour day of the requisite temples...last ones on the trip. The construction of the 1000+ year-old Six Banyon Tree temple was pretty amazing (in case you are wondering, there are only 2 actual banyon trees there, but they are more than 250 years old). We are pretty wiped out today, so will keep it short...the pictures speak for themselves. Tomorrow we are due to take a group photo of all the kids in our travel group in their traditional Chinese dress, so it should be a great photo op. Then we are supposed to go over to the market that sells the things that we most likely do not want to know what they are. More to come...

Pearl Market and Play Time

Today was another quiet day for us in GZ. As it turns out, the provincial markets are those that carry items from "the province"...duh! Anyway, there was a man there who was creating palm and hand painting (you know I had to have that). There was a beautiful one of the Great Wall and Cam had his name translated into Chinese (who knows what it really says, but we like it!) We also heard a lot of history about Guangzhou to include what the locals say about GZ: We eat anything out of the sky except for the plane. We eat anything out of the water except for the boat. And we eat anything with four legs except the table and chairs. We also heard that it was best to stay away from the "tiger soup" (and she made the sound "meow") and that Dragon soup" is snake which supposedly really does taste like chicken! Who knew?? By the way, the "Phoenix soup" is chicken...and also tastes like chicken.
So off we went to the pearl market and boy! did I make out! For my birthday in a couple of weeks, Jay bought me a string of black pearls with matching earrings from the South China Sea. It just so happens that we have a guy in our travel group who is a jewelry dealer in Houston...thanks, John, for hooking us up with the "best price"! We also bought a string of fresh water pearls for a killer deal and they are beautiful (note the pic)! When you choose your string, they re-string the pearls and double knot each pearl...and they were FAST! What Peggy and I noticed in this area is that the buildings inside are constructed so beautifully, but there is not a trashcan in site so the marble floors are disgusting with cigarette butts all over the floor and the white bricks are dripping with grime...so sad.
When we got back, we took the boys down to the pool for a dip. Again, if you can get past the smog in the air, the setting is beautiful! However, the pool water is VERY cold! After dinner, all the kids in our group had a blast running through the park near the hotel...
Tomorrow, we are supposed to visit some of the local temples and historic sites.
We miss you all and can't wait to share our newest member with all of you. He continues to come out of his shell more and more everyday. As I type this, he is singing himself to sleep and have found that many of the adopted children in our group do the same thing...something that must have been encouraged by the orphanage. "See" you all tomorrow!

Tea and Silk Market

While last night (for us) ended with a wrestling match (and a little King Fu thrown in), today was mostly a catch-up day, since many of the families in our travel group arrived late last night. As I told you yesterday, they all went to have passport photos made and then to the medical clinic for physicals and immunizations...so we had a free morning! We started it by having breakfast with all of our new friends that we started with in Beijing...it was really neat to finally meet these darling children that we had heard so much about and waited so long to finally meet. The kids all got along great and it was nice to hear of similar sibling rivalries in the other families.
We decided to walk around the whole of Shaiman Island (not that big) and along the way noticed a Chinese medicine clinic that specialized in massages. My darling husband insisted that I go in with Peggy, and after an hour of being tortured (not really, but I am soar), I came out a new woman. So great was the experience, that I booked an appointment for Jay right after me. He graciously took the boys to the park where they ran out some pent-up energy and we met them back an hour later at the Starbucks. When I arrived, the boys were just finishing their ice cream so I ordered up a coffee and we enjoyed the milder temperatures of the day out on the patio. While we were sitting there, all the other families came by as they were returning from the clinic so they joined us and we had a great time sharing stories and advice!
While Jay was getting his massage, I brought the boys back to the hotel for cup-o-noodles and a nap! While I thought it was a great idea, I had a REALLY hard time waking them up an hour later to head out to the tea and silk markets with our guide.
The tea market area was fascinating...I knew that there was a lot of tea in China, but had no idea how many varieties and the proper way in which one should prepare and serve the tea. One of the coolest things we saw was a large jasmine flower that had been picked and dried before it bloomed. When the hostess added the hot water, the thing bloomed in the pot before our very eyes...see the attached picture...way cool...and the smell...amazing! We're bringing some home to show you all!
The boys got bored with the whole affair very quickly. Luckily, the shop owner (who also lived in the apartments in the same building) had a 6 year old boy that had a lot of boy toys for them to play with (swords, cars, etc). We made a quick pass through the silk fabric area so that I could pick up some scarves to bring home. All in all, it was a good day...while I'm sure this makes for a boring read, I must also share the continued transition of our newest addition. As I mentioned yesterday, he is like a whole new kid after seeing his foster family and he talked non-stop, today (except for the waking up after the nap thing).
Tomorrow is a visit to the pearl market and provincial gift shops (not sure what that last thing means, but will let you know tomorrow).
For now, all is quiet here in GZ. Thanks to all of our family and friends for their comments! We come in each day to see who has read the blog and it means a lot to us. We will be able to save them for the time when we print this whole thing out and put it into a book for Enyi (kind of like a baby book).
Love from China!