Two weeks down

We have been home two weeks now and things continue to move forward. Maeve is doing great and everyday seems better. She had a rough week this past week with trips to the pediatrician and dentist. She had to get 7 immunizations, a TB test and blood drawn at the pediatrician's office. Obviously that wasn't a great experience for any of us!! Then on Wednesday she visited the dentist and they gave Susie that bad news that Maeve needed to have her bottom tooth pulled. We guessed this might happen, but were not positive. Well, it was rotten to the core and the dentist wanted it out. As she was pulling it, the tooth crumbled (totally rotten!). She then had a dig and scrape the remaining pieces out of Maeve's gums. It was awful! The good news is that the adult tooth underneath looks good on the x-rays, so hopefully there was no permanent damage done. Maeve looks much better too!

Sleeping continues to be a stumbling block for us. While we were in China Maeve napped twice a day. Morning nap of ~1 hour and in the afternoon for about 2-3 hours. Some of this could have been related to the emotional trauma she was experiencing with the whole adoption. Who knows. Since we have been home we are lucky to get her down for a nap lasting 45 minutes. She appears tired at other times, but she just can't stay asleep. The same issues happen at night. She goes to bed perfectly, but awakens frequently (~5-10 times per night!) screaming. It is a weird scream because she doesn't appear to even be awake. She is still sleeping with us so it only takes a pat on the back or soft whisper and she falls right back to sleep, but it is so strange. Hopefully that will get better as she becomes more and more comfortable in her new home and new life! This whole process is such a guessing game for us!
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She loves watching her brothers play computer games.
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If Aidan could be holding, touching, talking to, playing with or around Maeve all day he would be thrilled. It is great to see him so excited about her. She loves him too!
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Happy girl who loves her Easter basket. (Don't mind Cian in his underwear. Pants are always optional around the house for Cian and Fintan!)

One week home

Well we have made it through the first week at home and all is going well. The boys were out on Spring Break and we managed to do nothing but sit around. It was great!! We felt like life in China was very "on the go" and we want Maeve to know that we are not "on the go" people. We really want her to get used to life around the house and feel comfortable being home. She continues to be very happy, but has her moments. She definitely has a temper on her, but good thing it never lasts long. One thing we keep laughing about is how adding Maeve to our family is soooo different than bringing an infant home. Not that we thought it would be similar, but with an infant you have that grace period of a few months where they really don't do anything and you can kind of get used to life with another child. Adoption is like instant 4th child and you better be ready! There is no easing in to this. It definitely has been an adventure. She is sleeping through the night well and not having any problems. Naps are hit and miss and we are still working on the best schedule for her. I started back to work today and she did great with Susie all day. Susie felt like Maeve kept looking for me all day, but overall she did very well. This weekend we have soccer games for Aidan and then more family time.
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Fintan is very excited about bubbles!!
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Cian and Fintan showing Maeve what bubbles are all about.
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Why do you keep pointing that camera at me?
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All cleaned up and ready for bed.

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Foot appt

Happy St. Patty's Day!! We celebrated by having our first ortho appointment to have Maeve's feet evaluated. She has cleft feet, so basically her feet are split down the middle and she only has a large toe and pinky toe. For lack of a better description it looks like the Star Trek hand sign, but only on her feet. She is able to walk great and manipulate her feet very well. They took x-rays and the MD gave us her opinion about future surgeries. For now they want her to grow and get used to her life here. (This is good news!) There is no rush. What they will do is some future surgeries to narrow her feet and allow them to fit better into shoes and to look better cosmetically. She wears shoes fine now, but eventually this could be a problem. Maeve did well at the MD appt, she didn't like the x-rays so much or the physical exam, but otherwise was fine. We have her appt at the same office (different doctor) for her hands in April. That one really interests us because we are hoping her hand surgeries can start in May. We will have to see.

Home

We are HOME and so happy to be back. It was wonderful to see the boys again and we are enjoying our soft bed again!! Our journey home started with our flight from Guangzhou to Hong Kong. This was a short 45 min flight and Maeve did great. The plane was nearly empty so she got her own seat and had us rethinking our decision to not buy her a seat for our long flight. Once in Hong Kong we had a 2 hr lay over until our flight to Chicago. Even though we were only at the airport, we walked around and took in the sights of Hong Kong. It is very pretty with the mountains and ocean all around. Too bad we didn't get to spend any time there.

Our flight to Chicago was packed full! Our plane was larger than our plane on the flight over, but it was not as nice. We were spoiled going to Beijing because we each had our own TV screen on every seat. This time we only had overhead screens to watch, so we were forced to watch whatever movie was showing. We were excited to have a new set of movies to watch, only to find out we had the SAME movies as the flight over!! If you remember that trip, they were horrible, so this did not offer any relief. Anyway, Maeve did great on the 14 hr flight. She slept about 3 hrs total (off and on) and really never fussed. We had HORRIBLE turbulence throughout the flight, but one hour was particularly bad. The pilots announced "flight attendants please apply restraints immediately." Some little boys in front of us were vomiting and when they tried to get to the restroom, the flight attendants yelled at them to sit down, then announced over head, "No one may get out of their seats, even if vomiting. It is too dangerous." We were sooooo nervous and I was convinced we were going down. Needless to say Maeve learned the Hail Mary pretty quickly!! That "event" passed after about an hour and it was off and on bumpy after that, but tolerable.

We finally arrived in Chicago and were greeted by my cousin Annie and her little man, Timmy. It was so great to see a familiar face!! We felt like we had been gone for so long and seeing family again really made home feel like a reality! Annie had a great present for Maeve and some cookies for us!! Thanks Annie!! Going through immigration was not exciting at all! We were expecting the heavens to open and light to shine upon Maeve's face as they stamped her passport "American Citizen." Instead we got a "Da Bears" type of Chicago immigration officer who said, "here ya go." When I asked, "Is that it...the stamp we have been working for this whole time?" He replied, "yep, congratulations....NEXT." We were excited nonetheless as Maeve was officially American!!

Our last flight home was uneventful (THANK YOU!!) and Maeve slept the whole way. We didn't think she would wake up once we landed, but once it was our turn to exit the plane she perked up and was ready to meet her brothers. Grandma, Grandpa, Mimi, Papa, Aunts, Uncles, cousins and Aidan, Cian and Fintan waited for us with a "Welcome Home Maeve" sign as we exited the plane. It was very exciting to finally see everyone and introduce them to Maeve. Once we got home the boys showed her room by room our whole house and it was very sweet to watch them be so gentle with her. She easily goes to each of them and lets Aidan and Cian hold her. It is just too funny to watch her hold up her arms to Aidan wanting him to hold her.

We had a wild weekend with our local St. Pat's parade on Saturday and a house full of friends and family. A great homecoming party!! Sunday we lounged all day and slept. So far all is going well. Maeve struggles a bit throughout the night, awakening frequently and upset. I think her system is all messed up! Last night was much better, so hopefully improvement is around the corner. The boys are on Spring Break this week, so we are going to enjoy the nice weather (80's...warmer than anything we had in China!) and some family time around the house.
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Enjoying her own seat from Guangzhou to Hong Kong.
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Our massive double decker plane from Hong Kong to Chicago. Notice the mountains in the background. Hong Kong looks very nice.
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Goofing off at the Hong Kong airport.
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Annie and Timmy meeting us at O'Hare airport. It was so great to see them and meet Timmy!
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Maeve and Fintan. I hope this pose doesn't indicate things to come!!
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Home one day and already Irish!!
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Having some lunch at the parade party.
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Playing with the recycling boxes.
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Cian and Maeve.
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All the kids at dinner on Sunday.
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Hooray, we are complete!! Fintan, Maeve, Aidan and Cian together at last!!

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Goodbye from China

We are done!!! Hooray!!! We are sooooo ready to come home and see our boys and introduce them to their new little sister. Today we went to the American Consulate and were given our oath for Maeve to get her visa and become a US citizen. (We were not allowed to take video or pictures :( ) She is not a full citizen until we pass through immigration in Chicago and they stamp her passport. Today was very special and a little emotional. There were 39 US families who took the oath together. That means 39 children were given the opportunity to start a new life in the US with endless possibilities. It sounds silly when we are in the US to say "America is the land of opportunity and dreams," but when you see this part of the world, that saying has true meaning. I can't imagine Maeve's future had she stayed here forever. The US Ambassador to China was in town visiting and he gave us our oath. His brother adopted from China and he and his wife fostered a baby for one year until that baby was adopted. It was very special to have him here and he got a little emotional during the oath. He was originally in China in the early 1990s when adoptions weren't allowed. He helped change that rule and now ~70,000 children have been adopted to the US. This was a pretty powerful day!



I'm not sure how I feel about leaving tomorrow. I guess there is some sadness about Maeve leaving her home country, but there is so much more happiness! This is a beautiful country with lots of pride. I hope we convey that to her as she grows up.



We leave our hotel at 5:50 am tomorrow (another early day!!). Apparently the planners of these trips have never travelled with children! Anyway we would leave now if we could. We then fly to Hong Kong. We have a brief lay over and then fly to Chicago. Once in Chicago we have about 3 hrs until our flight home. We cannot wait!!!



This has been an amazing journey and very life changing for us. Thank you all for following along and we look forward to seeing you soon.
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Our new American Princess!!

Sad stories and Going Home Barbie

We had another day of shopping today. We had to stay in our room from 9-12 this morning while our guide went to the US consulate on our behalf to turn in Maeve's paperwork for her visa. He called us at 12:15 and said all the "paperworks" went fine, so that is good. After that we walked all over the island to get some more deals on some "must have" items. We found a great shop here called "A Gift from China." This is a store that sells all hand made items and 100% of their profits go to sponsor special needs (waiting) children in a foster home that was started by the owner. It is a very special place and we bought lots of great gifts from them. I think you can also order online if anyone is interested at: http://www.agiftfromchina.com/ There is such an amazing need here in China to help these children. I know there is a need everywhere and all orphans deserve help, but we have been called to this place and feel the need to speak for these children. We had an experience today that reinforced our excitement that Maeve is coming to America where she can lead a wonderful, happy life.

We were shopping in one of the stores and the store owner asked us if Maeve was healthy.

We said "yes."

Then she asked how long we waited to adopt her. We said "2 years."

She then asked why some families said they waited 3.5 years while we only waited 2 years.

We then told her that Maeve was a "waiting child" and showed her Maeve's hands. She then winced her face and said, "Why you tell me she is healthy, when her hands look like that. Why you not wait for normal child?"

It was sooooo aggravating and just shows the mindset in this country that any physical abnormality makes the person "unworthy" of life. How annoying!!!

Another interesting story came from a family we met who toured their daughter's orphanage here in Guangdong province. We were not allowed to tour Maeve's orphanage in Yulin, but she was in a foster home most of time. Anyway, this family told us how sad it was to see crib after crib lined up with babies. The director of the orphanage told the family that the children who do not get adopted have two options in life. They may stay at the orphanage as a nanny caring for the other children or they may leave the orphanage for life on the streets and a job at a factory working long hours everyday for pennies. It is unbelievably devastating to see the poor here. This child's nanny was crying and telling the child that she was so happy the child would have a life better than the nanny. Wow, how powerful!!

Tomorrow we take Maeve's oath to treat her well and give her a great life in America. That should be an emotional day. We are so ready to head home and start our lives. Aidan, Cian and Fintan...we are almost there. Only 2 night-nights left!!!!
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The beautiful pool at our hotel. Unfortunately we didn't get any use out of this, but it looks nice!
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The courtyard of the White Swan.

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Maeve can SHOVE her mouth full!

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Lunch at Lucy's again. This is becoming our daily ritual.

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This is where we did our laundry (well, they did it) and stop by the 7-11 daily for snacks!!

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The "corner" in Shamian Island. You can't walk by this place with out the vendors yelling at you from the stores. "Pretty baby, please come in and look around." "You want pretty dress for your pretty baby?"

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Maeve outside the White Swan.

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These statues guard the Forbidden City in Beijing and are replicated all over China. They were in Nanning and are outside of the White Swan here in Guangzhou. This one symbolizes "mother."

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This Barbie was brought to our room today as a present from the hotel. It is a mom and her Chinese adopted daughter. The back of the box reads, "This souvenir is presented by Mattell (HK) Ltd to adopting parents of Chinese orphan children staying at the White Swan Hotel, Guangzhou, China." Every family who stays here goes home with one of these Barbies. A very great gift from a very great hotel. We will definitely miss this place!

Lazy Tuesday

Sorry for the lack of a post yesterday. It was a bit of a slow day and we didn't take many pictures. Then Maeve had a little meltdown last night and by the time we got her calmed down and into bed, I was too tired. Today the internet is not working great and it is taking foooorrrrreeeevvveeer to load a picture, so I have only put a few randoms up that occurred over the past few days.
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Maeve and Susie on the terrace along the Pearl River.
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Happy girl!!
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Maeve and I in front of the White Swan waterfall.
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This was yesterday at lunch. These smiles are difficult to catch on camera, but are priceless if you can capture them!!

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Here comes the Sun!!

Finally, a warm, sunny day in China. What a welcomed change! We had a very relaxing day. No specific appointments and lots of time to shop. We were able to get most of the things on our list marked off today. We didn't end up getting to the Pearl Market, but plan to go tomorrow. We did try to find the market on our own, but instead stumbled upon another market of sorts. This market sold a variety of live and dead animals, rodents and insects for your eating pleasure. It was very interesting. I couldn't convince Susie to try the scorpions, but Maeve almost did (not really!). We also did our red couch photos with our travel group. This is something that has become a tradition in the Chinese adoption community in America. Since all the families end up in Guangzhou and many of them stay at the White Swan, everyone gets their child's photo taken in traditional Chinese garb. Though Maeve was happy, she was 2 hours late for her nap, so she wasn't the most cooperative.

We are tired tonight, so I am off to bed. Have a great Monday!
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A balancing act. It is amazing to see what people can pile on a bicycle here.
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Hungry, anyone?
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I think those cats are ready for lunch and chicken is on the menu.
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Turtles or eels, tough decision...they both look great!
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Lots of raw meat hanging all around. Smells great!
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Susie outside of Lucy's. We ate lunch here today. We enjoyed watching the local people play hacky sack.
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I think taking this picture is an obligation for all adoptive families, so I included it here.
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Okay, now that is cute!
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Happy family!!
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Our travel group and all the newly adopted kids. Half of these kiddos are from Anhui province and half from Guangxi along with Maeve. We all toured together in Beijing and then met up again here in Guangzhou. Not all the kids were happy to be sitting here. It will be great to follow these kids as they all grow up.
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The beautiful White Swan waterfall.
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I had to throw this in. Whenever music plays (as was happening here) Maeve starts waving her arms in the air very slowly and very controlled. It looks very much like Tai Chi (sp?). We think her foster family must have done this alot and she watched. It is very cute!

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Sunday in Guangzhou

Today we started with the best breakfast buffet in China. Nanning had some great food, but the White Swan hotel definately knows how to fill a stomach in the morning. It is just a great atmostphere here and everyone is so friendly. This morning we sat by a mom who is adopting a 4 year old boy. He has bilateral club feet. This is her 6th child and 4th adoption. She was just a great lady and had lots of great advice for us. Everyone we meet has a different story and different path that led them here. It is so very interesting.

This morning we toured the Chen Family Temple. The Chen family is/was the largest/wealthiest, most famous family in Guangdong province. They had this large temple built where they lived, studied and worshiped. It was very cool. Maeve had a great time walking all over the place. It was a chilly day and there was a continuous mist all day. It didn't damper our fun though! After the temple we stopped at a very nice shop and picked up some great things for Maeve.

Tonight we did another group dinner (all the Great Wall families...about 24 families!) a Thai restaurant called the Cow and Bridge. It was excellent. I could eat Pad Thai everyday so I was in heaven. Food is so cheap here and our meal was ~$20 (this was pretty nice restaurant too!). After dinner we spent some time in the play room and then gave Maeve a bath. She still hates the bath, but it is getting better. Tomorrow we have a "free" day, but plan on doing a lot of shopping. Susie is going to hit the pearl market and hit it hard!! Things continue to be going great here with Maeve and everyday she seems to emerge more and more. She is really attaching to us and we are so thankful that she was in a foster home instead of the orphanage. She is right on target for her age developmentally and physically. We keep saying she is going to give her brothers a run for their money!!
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Front of the Chen Family Temple.
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The large front doors. Very ornate!
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This is Maeve's "escape" pose. As she is trying to get out of our arms, she twists her body around and wiggles out of your grasp. Slippery little sucker!
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Okay, I guess we won't complain about our beds here in China as this is apparently what the royalty used to sleep in.
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Chen Family Temple courtyard. Every inch of this place has amazing detail.
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Maeve knows how to nap during every tour!
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Goofing around in our room. She is very smiley, but it has been hard to catch it on camera. This was a good one.
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Dinner at the Cow and Bridge. Yummy!