aislinn

The text of this is "borrowed" from a friend's blog: After nearly three years of waiting, praying, and hoping -- we finally brought Aislinn home! We are overjoyed but also realize this will be an adjustment for our family. We know that all of you have supported us in some way and are grateful for that. Because we know you care for Aislinn and our family, we want to share with you some information that we hope will best equip everyone around her to assist us in laying the strongest and healthiest foundation - emotionally, physically and spiritually. In many ways, Aislinn will be like the children who entered our family through birth but there will be a few, initial differences in the way we have parented in the past. Attachment between a parent and child ... read more

I have not updated in a while. Forgive me for that. Gotcha day was followed by a free day that was due to a change in the US Visa application process. Just after I scheduled my flights the US Government changed their Visa application process from a three day affair to a two day affair. This meant that I could leave a day earlier. The only problem was that doing this would mean changing my flight, which would cost $500. The cost of the hotel room for an extra day and meals would be less than $200, so it was not worth the change. So we spent a free day waiting for the flight. The free day gave me an opportunity to spend a day at the Guangzhou zoo. I went with two other families that ... read more

Aislinn has earned quite the reputation around here. The other families are calling her the "little angel." She has earned this reputation because she lives up to her name. Kaixin means "open heart" or "happy" in Mandarin. She seems to always be easy going and content. She sleeps any time we walk around or get on a bus. She will nap twice during the day and go right to sleep at night, and sleep through the entire night. When she is actually awake, she is smiley and giggly. I like to point this out to the other families mostly because they do not see her when she is fussy. Much like her father, she gets fussy when she gets hungry. Of course, for her fussy means that she goes "hunnnh, eyyyyy" and then stops. She only ... read more

I am being told that Darla is getting calls and messages asking if I am okay. Blogging is not a natural thing for me. So it is easy for me to forget to sit down and type an update. Not to mention that I have a few other things going on now that I have Aislinn Kaixin with me. So let's talk about those other things. First, I want to mention the food. I have been pretty much eating three things: Dim-sum, Raman Noodles, and Egg Noodles. The breakfast buffet has many, many options, but I am trying to stay away from the American fare. That being said, I consider chocolate croissants to be French and thus fair game. Same with French fried potatoes... just kidding. Lots of vegetable buns, meat buns, and my favorite red ... read more

Went to the registration and notary office this morning. Everything is now official. Well, we still need to wait for the final document from the notary office, but the documents have been signed and she is officially ours. She slept for ten hours last night. Awoke at 6:00am and drank a bottle for Mommy and her brothers to see. I later took her down stairs and gave her two and a half bowls of congee. I started with half a bowl to see how she ate it. She cried when I stopped giving it to her. This was the first time I saw crying with tears. She fussed a few times in the middle of the night. But that was just a fuss and back to sleep. This was a "you took away my happiness" cry. ... read more

Gotcha day was yesterday. It is amazing how it has transformed the trip. It was almost surreal prior to yesterday. Now I am looking at a small wonder sleeping in a crib next to me and having a hard time remembering two days ago. The day started early, as they often do. We all woke up at 4am wide-eyed with anticipation. Years of paperwork, waiting, more paperwork, more waiting, reading newsgroups, more waiting, fretting, more waiting...well you get the picture. All of that final reached the goal. It seems that this would be the culmination of the journey and yet the journey seemed to reset itself at a new beginning. Yet another leg in the Great Multi-Cathlon of life. But this leg started with more awe and joyful tears than any other leg. Our group was ... read more

It has been a whirl wind over the past two days. I have seen Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, Hutong, the Thirteen Tombs, the Great Wall, and even slept through a Kung Fu show. It is wonderful to get to see so much of the ancient culture and in between to get to see so much of the modern culture. Our tour guide, Forest, is absolutely wonderful - except when he is not. His knowledge of China is expansive and impressive. He is kind, generous, and helpful. Lastly, he is paying me all sorts of money to say these nice things. Can't beat that. Aside from running all day and pushing my aging body to it's physical limit, it is a good time. I am getting to know several great families and one not so great ... read more