More Pictures...

More pictures from Ontario ...

Kaitlyn getting some lovin' from mommy ...

Kaitlyn ... or Sir Elton ... whichever you prefer ...

A guard at Tiennamen Square ...

China Continued

OK, I just realized I posted the same pictures in back-to-back blogs, which doesn't help those of you who are visual learners. My bad. Here are a few different ones from our last few days in China ...




More to come later ...

China: The Conclusion

It's 3:00 in the morning and I'm wide awake. Actually, I'm enjoying a bag of BBQ Bits and Bites Snack Mix and washing it down with some tasty Diet Pepsi ... hmmm, I wonder why I'm still awake. Stacey is fast asleep and Kaitlyn is still operating on China time so we've spent the last couple of hours playing and she is now napping in the chair next to me. I can't get enough of this little girl.

We have safely arrived back in Canada after a 10 hour flight from Beijing to Vancouver and a 4 hour flight from Vancouver to Toronto. We spent last night at the Carr's who live just outside of Toronto, and then Stacey's parents picked us at the Carr's this morning and we came home. Sadly enough, the Asian Invasion is over.

The flight's home were somewhat uneventful. The most exciting part of the flight was when I almost walked into the bathroom on an old Chinese lady who forgot to lock the door. When the door cracked open (get it ... "cracked" open ... hehe) I caught a wiff of whatever this lady was depositing and discovered a resolve I never knew I had until that moment. Suddenly, I didn't have to go as bad as I did only a few seconds before. I could wait. I would wait. Gladly.

My adventures in airplane bathrooms continue. I've discovered that if I want some excitement in my life, I need to buy an airplane ticket ... doesn't matter where the plane is going ... and make somewhat frequent trips to the bathroom. Pre-flight laxatives might be a good thing. The longer the flight, the greater the chances that something is bound to happen. What a great way to meet people!

The feeling of being home is a little bittersweet. We spent so long preparing for the last two weeks - planning, praying, anticipating, spending ample amounts of time on the toilet contemplating the complexities of parenthood - and now it's over. Except some of the toilet part. We're still paying for some of the Chinese food we ate. Furthermore, I'm a little surprised at the number of references to toilets and toilet-related activities in my recent posts. I suppose we could call that "potty humour." Again, hehe!

It was pretty awesome to arrive at the airport last night to a bunch of family there to welcome us home. We were expecting to see my mom and Len (Carol Anne's husband) at the airport because they were our ride home. We were very pleasantly surprised to see my side of the family from Peterborough along with a very cute little girl named Brooke, another recent addition to our extended family ... the happy parents are my cousin Lisa and her hubby Jeremy. Brooke was fast asleep at the airport so play time was unavailable. Oh well, that'll come soon enough. It was also great to see Jen, Matt and Karen, and Corrine and Alvin and their boys when we got home.

Kaitlyn did incredibly well on the flights home. She is a trooper. She seemed to do much better than Mommy and Daddy who got a combined 90 minutes of sleep of the way home.

Our last couple of days in China were spent visiting the Summer Palace, the Biejing Zoo, Tiennamen Square, and the Forbidden City. All of these places were sufficiently awesome and again, all places crawling with Chinese people as far as the eye could see. My favourite part of the trip - outside of meeting, greeting, and keeping Kaitlyn - was visiting Tiennamen Square. It was absolutely huge and, in some respects, intimidating. When you learn some of the history of the Square and recall some of the more recent events / tragedies that have taken place on that ground, a visit there becomes that much more meaningful. If I remember correctly, the Square can hold more than 1/2-a-million people within its boundaries.

There wasn't much of a guided tour available for us at the Square so we were left to wander the grounds and take pictures as we pleased. Again, even though Tiennamen Square is so big, it was still mass chaos because of all the people. It was like that everywhere we went; by the time we reached the end of our trip, we were ready to come home.

I understand many of you have been faithfully checking the blog for updates on our trip. My apologies for letting a few days pass in between our last couple of entries but as you can imagine, we've been a little busy. Thanks for joining us in our trip to China; we're glad we've been able to share our experience with you like this. Of course, you're welcome to keep checking up on the blog since we'll likely be sharing more of our experience - both in China and with Kaitlyn - over the next little while. It's hard to capture absolutely everything in one or two entries so we'll be talking more about our trip as time goes on.

There are also some people who deserve a big thanks for making some things happen. First, thanks to our parents for all the obvious reasons. And to my ma-in-law (aka, mother-in-law, Bev) for posting all the pictures over the last couple of weeks while we were in China. I had difficulty posting the pictures over there because the Internet connection was painfully slow so I emailed select pictures to her and she was able to post them on the blog.

Of course, posting the pictures would not have been possible had it not been for Braden lending us his unbelievably sweet digital camera. He's also taking care of our furry four-legged friend, Dreyfuss, for a few weeks. Hat-tip to Braden ... thanks, man.

Also, thanks to the Carr's for a lot of different things, but most of all, for your friendship. You guys have gone above and beyond the call of duty for us when you didn't have to, and in the process, have taught us more about love and grace. You've impacted us in more ways than the most obvious one that is still napping in the chair next to me.

There are a lot of other people that need to be thanked and we'll get to doing that over the next little while. In the meantime, thanks for checking in ... and keep coming back. I'm sure we'll have a few more stories to tell that are totally unrelated to toilets.

Springing a Leak!

The Nannie got a 'big Pooh' on the toilet, we only got a pee. But hey - it sure beates diapers!!!!!!

Good times in Tiennamen Square

Our Little Aunt Jemima

China: I've officially lost track of the days

The last couple of days have been pretty exciting along with the story Stacey posted last night. Two days ago, we went to the Great Wall of China. As you can see from the pictures, it was mass confusion right from the start. People were everywhere. It didn’t matter where you stood or which way you turned, you were guaranteed to find a Chinese person (or two … they’re not very big people) in your personal space.

That’s part of the experience, though. The entire Wall is more than 6000 kilometres long and was built many, many years ago primarily for defense purposes. Since the Wall is so long, there is no way we could complete the entire course. We walked for a little more than an hour and managed to hit four of the towers which served as lookouts when the Chinese were trying to protect themselves during battle. Now, judging by the smell when you walk through the towers, they serve more as bathrooms without toilets, if you know what I mean … and I think you do.

The underdevelopment of many parts of China has been striking. We are fortunate to be staying in a very nice hotel (by ‘nice,’ I mean a hotel that would normally be far out of our price range) that is in downtown Beijing. We are right in the middle of the action. But when we drive to a lot of the tourist attractions that are in different parts of the city, most of our travels take us through areas that we would consider ‘the slums’ in North America. For many Chinese people, this is their way of life.

Yesterday, as we walking to the Pearl Market (a very large department store that sells more than just pearls), we walked along a stretch of sidewalk in front of a fish market that was lined with street vendors selling anything and everything. A little girl who couldn’t have been anymore than 4 years old was instructed by her mother to walk with us and beg us for money. Her little face was covered with a rash and she spoke broken Chinese with a little bit of English that we couldn’t understand. However, it wasn’t too hard to figure out what she wanted. Unfortunately, the busier parts of Beijing are also noted for pickpockets. It was more than a little heartbreaking to keep walking and see the little girl throw her arms down in frustration, turn around, and walk back to her mom.

Later on that same day, we were walking back to our hotel and saw another little girl, probably close to the same age, sitting on an overpass that people walk on to cross the street. She was there all by herself, no doubt sent there by her parents to collect money from anyone who would give it. Most of the parts of China that we’ve visited have been like this. Very underdeveloped with not nearly enough resources to go around for everyone. As a result, many of the people who need help have simply fallen through the cracks and are left to fend for themselves. Experiences like this remind me of how fortunate we are in Canada to have all that we do.

Many of the bigger metropolitan cities in China have markets and shops where you can barter the price of the goods you want to purchase. You can do this just about anywhere with the exception of the stores that are owned by the state. Usually, these stores have countless numbers of people working there, sometimes all dressed in the same uniform so you know who they are. It becomes obvious very quickly that they are working on commission because as soon as you even think about looking at something or showing just a minimal interest, they lunge at you like you’re the last customer left on the face of the earth.

Then again, we foreigners stick out to them quite a bit, and it’s like they see dollar signs when they see “rich white people” coming their way. So when they see us, they all say “Hello … Hello” in their very broken English followed by, “Come look at my pants,” or “Come look at my shirts,” or “Hello sir, come look at this …” It’s hard to keep your patience sometimes when about half a dozen of these salespeople are doing this to you at the same time and it doesn’t stop until you leave the store. We try to politely answer: “We don’t want to look at your pants …” I was convinced they were only after our money when one lady came after me saying, “Hello sir, come look at this …” She wanted me to buy a dress.

OK, I gotta go. We’re leaving in a little bit for the Beijing Zoo and the Summer Palace, both of which we hear are pretty cool. Tomorrow, we go to Tiennamen Square and the Forbidden City … can’t wait for that! I’ll write again when I have some more time because there’s more to tell. Funny how that works.

Stacey says hi to everyone and Kaitlyn says, “Ahhhhhhh …,” which roughly translated also means “Hi.”

Over and out.

Only in China!

The funniest thing happened this morning on the bus. The bus driver slammed on the breaks. We all went forward in our seats from the sudden stop. In the blink of an eye the bus driver flew out of his seat and through the bus door.Now you have to understand this is in the middle of a 6 lane freeway. We thought by the way he ran out that the bus hit someone,(because on this six lane freeway there are many many bikes weaving through traffic). So we all peak out the window trying to see what happened.Lo and behold there is our bus driver ruuning like a madman across the highway, under the overpass, jumping obstacles like an olympian.On the far far side of the perpendiculator freeway he chased down a car and forced him to the side of the road where he promptly waved our a police officer.Apparently this car clipped us on the front fender and drove away. We had front row seats to a small chinese man outrunning a small Volkswagon on the freeway. Only in China! Goodnight, Stacey

Last one off the bus & Kaitlyn's new 'DO'

Pics from the Great Wall Trip

More pics from Days 5 - 7

China: Days 5-7 ... I think ... I've lost count

It’s funny how some things can make you stupidly giddy. Our first few days of parenthood have done that to us.

Like when Kaitlyn drank milk – a lot of milk – for the first time yesterday. She’s had some liquids over the last couple of days but it’s all been water or that gross looking stuff in the congee. When she started sucking on the bottle for the first time – after we made a few lame attempts – I laughed for no apparent reason other than the fact that she was enjoying her first bottle. (By the way … never eat congee. It looks like maggots in water. But hey, it’s China. Anything goes!)

Yesterday, I was walking through the buffet line at breakfast in our hotel. There was an assortment of hot dishes along with breads and cereals. Everything is marked with a sign in English that tells you what that food is, which is a good thing because without the dental records for some of this stuff, nobody would ever identify what it is. As I walked past the cereal line, I looked down to notice the sign beneath the All Bran cereal. Apparently, something was lost in the translation because the sign read, “All Brain.” Even though I’ve never actually seen brain cereal before, I was pretty sure this was All Bran. It made me laugh in a stupidly giddy way. I’m sure the other people I was standing in line with thought I was just stupid, as if Bran could make a person laugh. Either way, I passed on the cereal. It’s China. Anything goes.

Our flight from Nanchang went very well yesterday. Our flight was delayed one hour in taking off which meant we had a lot of extra time at the airport. Nine families with nine babies, none of whom slept because there was too much action to take in around us. A big thanks to all of you who prayed for us – and especially for Kaitlyn – on the flight. She is a little girl who doesn’t require a lot to stay occupied so she handled the take off quite well. Within a few minutes of taking off for Beijing, she fell asleep and was out for more than an hour. The rest of the trip was a breeze. She appeared to adjust to the cabin pressure exceptionally well considering the pressure on her ears from teething.

We had a doctor’s appointment scheduled for early this morning that also went well. Kaitlyn has been given a clean bill of health from the doctor here, but will also see our family doctor when we arrive home. She is certainly on track with most babies who are born a little prematurely and are coming out of an orphanage but looks quite a bit smaller in comparison to the rest of our group. The doctor seems to think the other babies in our group are quite a bit bigger than most that come from similar circumstances. We were definitely encouraged to hear his positive report.

Nothing totally bizarre to report. Well, maybe a couple of things.

Stacey and Carol Anne went to use the facilities at the airport after we arrived in Beijing last night. If you plan to use public restrooms in most places in China you need to bring your own toilet paper. Otherwise, you need to pick up some of the t-p on your way in that sits on the counter. Also, there are no actual “dumpers.” There’s a hole in the ground over which you hover and while “preparing for take-off,” you better hope you have good aim! Nice and sanitary. Anyway, while Stacey and Carol Anne were waiting their turn, a Chinese lady hustled into the bathroom, whips down the unmentionables, takes care of business (with precision skill and aim) – doesn’t bother to wipe!!! – hikes up the previously mentioned unmentionables, and hustles back out of the bathroom. Oh … and she didn’t bother to wash her hands!!! Welcome to Puke City … meet the mayor! Hopefully she doesn’t show up as our waitress sometime this week. Again, anything goes in China!

While we were still in Nanchang a few days ago, Stacey took Kaitlyn for a walk just outside our hotel. We dressed Kaitlyn in one of her many outfits provided by friends or grandparents but didn’t put on any socks or shoes. China has developed a culture that finds great importance in making sure their baby’s feet are well covered and protected. Not sure why. I understand that China is also a culture that shows great respect for their elders, thereby creating an environment that allows the older folks to lay down the law and freely speak their mind.

No matter where we go in China – both in Nanchang and in Beijing – Chinese people will stare at us, smiling and sometimes pointing, because they notice a little Chinese girl with two Canadian white folks. Normally, these folks are very friendly. Beijing, in particular, is internationally noted for its hospitality and friendliness. While Stacey was out with Kaitlyn the other day, two older Chinese ladies noticed them but also noticed Kaitlyn’s exposed appendages. Stacey promptly received a stern Chinese lecture from one of the ladies followed by a slap across the arm from both of them. I’m pretty sure Stacey could have taken them out – with Kaitlyn strapped on in the Snuggly, one arm tied behind her back, and blindfolded! – but since the international laws and Chinese prison time would probably mess up our flight plans, Stacey turned the other cheek and walked away. Kind of crazy. But anything goes in China.

That’s it for today. We’re off to see the Great Wall and Tiennamen Square tomorrow. It’ll be a long day but it sounds like it’ll be a lot of fun. Good picture taking opportunities. I’ll check in again in a couple of days, hopefully with a lot more pictures.

Until then …

Day 4 Continued

Hey Everyone,
We just got the biggest smile from Kaitlyn and had to share it with you. Enjoy ... we did!

China: Days 4 & 5

Hallelujah, this baby can sleep!

Three consecutive nights of at least 8 hours of sleep has made everybody’s life a lot happier. Last night, Kaitlyn won the grand prize for 10 ½ hours of uninterrupted sleep. We didn’t get up this morning until 8:00. I could get very used to this. Even as I write this blog at 11:00am, she is fast asleep for her morning nap.

A couple of nights ago Stacey, Carol Anne, Kaitlyn and I went for a walk after dinner. Nanchang – the city where we’re currently staying – is the capital of the Jiang Xi province (pronounced “Zhang Zhi” … I’m sure that helped a lot!). Somehow, the province has managed to squeeze more than 40 million people into 77 square kilometers, an admirable feat indeed. As you can imagine, there are people crawling everywhere. Even as we walked the streets at 8:30 at night, car horns blowing, people talking, and buses driving by, Kaitlyn was fast asleep. Once we got back to our room a while later and settled down, she was in bed for the night and sleeping again by 10:00.

She has eaten a lot better over the last two days, scarfing down some more steamed eggs (which look like hot banana crème pie … yummy!), watermelon, and congee. I’m not entirely sure what congee is, but it looks like a really bland and watery rice soup. Whatever it is, she can’t get enough of it. When we fed her at breakfast this morning, her arms and legs were kicking for more even though the spoon was barely out of her mouth from the last helping. It’s amazing to see such a transformation in her personality, facial expressions, and appetite in the last two days. She seems to be adjusting quite naturally and very quickly. (Plus, she had her first “movement” today. I know that sounds really gross and that nobody in their right mind would normally share a little nugget like that. But we were told that many of the babies coming from the orphanage get really ‘backed up,’ shall we say, and this really becomes an issue as time passes. I never thought I would be this happy to celebrate a movement, but when Kaitlyn had a party in her pants, we had a party in our room!)

Most of our tour plans were put on hold yesterday because of poor weather. We’re catching the butt-end of the tropical storm that has hit another part of the country. It’s only been a light drizzle here for most of the last two days … nothing serious. We had plans today to visit the orphanage in Shanggao (pronounced “Shang gao” … again helpful, I’m sure) which is a two-hour bus ride from our hotel. Last night, there was some question of whether we could make this trip because the weather forecast outside of Nanchang was not looking very good. When coupled with the lunatic driving habits of the people in China, we were advised that it would be in our best interest to seriously reconsider making that trek.

To be honest with you, we are pretty tired of traveling, having spent about 16 hours on a plane and more than enough time on buses, some of which haven’t been air conditioned. Our tour director left the decision in our hands as a group; if we wanted to go, we could go. In addition, they scheduled an opportunity for us to visit the local orphanage in Nanchang, but Stacey and I decided to have a quiet morning at the hotel. We both woke up with slight headaches and we finally received Kaitlyn’s schedule for when she eats and naps, so we thought we’d give it the old college try and see how she responds to a schedule she’s used to. So far, so good.

We were able to go yesterday to the Nanchang Temple, as you’ll see from some of the pictures that are posted on the blog. This temple was built by a Chinese Emperor’s son who was being groomed for political life by his father, but had no personal interest in anything related to politics. He was more interested in the arts and entertaining people, so he decided one day to use his father’s vast wealth to build this six-story temple that is used today as a museum of sorts. Each floor has different Chinese historical artifacts and displays along with little gift shops that all sell the same thing. We toured through the entire temple but left early because the higher we went, the hotter it got. As you’ll see from some of the pictures, however, the view is pretty sweet.

Later on today, we’re taking Kaitlyn swimming in the kiddie pool. We’ll see how the rest of the day goes from there. Tomorrow, we leave Nanchang to fly back to Beijing where we’ll be spending the rest of our time and doing most of our shopping … ahhhh ya! All the babies have a medical scheduled with a doctor in Beijing on Saturday. We’ll be back in the sweet hotel we stayed at our first night in the country. It’s hard to believe our trip here is almost half over.

Please pray for Kaitlyn when we fly on Saturday morning, that the change in the air pressure won’t be too much for her. We’re expecting her not to like it, but with her teething and the pressure that is already on her ears because of that, we hope it isn’t totally unbearable.

OK, I’m outta here. I think Kaitlyn is waking up. Time to go play.

Day 4

Day 3

Pictures: Days 1 - 3