What A Difference A Day Makes!

Friday proved to be our most difficult day by far. Hudson woke up looking a little grumpy and although the morning went well, it went downhill from there. Hudson became irritable at lunch time and refused to eat his Rammen noodles. He fell asleep on the way to the airport. Initially at the airport, he just had a frown and refused to make eye contact. However, his mood escalated to full blown temper tantrums including one where he literally banged his face into the airport floor resulting in both a bloody nose and lip. That was the worse fit of rage, but there were many others - not what you want when you are a foreigner in the midst of a crowded airport surrounded by Chinese people who are already curious about your presence. At this point, Hudson would have nothing to do with me - only wanted David. That was hard for me as Lilly and Ellie never did that - if anything they wanted Mama. I suppose it was my turn for rejection, but it hurt nonetheless. Add to that a huge, slow-moving, intense thunderstorm that caused a 4 1/2 hour flight delay - no landings and no take-offs for hours. When I was about at my breaking point, the airport gate staff answered my question of "Where is our plane?" with points to the runway - Praise God our plane had arrived. We boarded around 8:30PM and had to wait a while on "air traffic control" (I thought of Chris Rickenbaker then!) and finally took off around 8:45. After a long and emotionally draining day, we arrived in Guangzhou around 11:45 and all went right to sleep shortly after 1 AM.  Ethan did great during our difficult circumstances and that we are so very proud of him. I am so amazed with his behavior! It's been really good having this special time w/ him. He and Hudson have not interacted much, but overall I think they like each other.

Fast forward to Saturday. . .

We love our hotel and enjoyed a great breakfast buffet. Then we rushed over to Shaiman Island to have Hudson's picture taken for his Visa. Of course he cried when I had to sit him down in a chair - by himself, but the good news is he recovered much quicker than he has been doing. Progress! Then off we went to the medical clinic to have his exam and unfortunately, thanks to the Hague, a TB test and 4 immunizations. It was a rough morning as Hudson like most of the children cried - alot - but it was also good for bonding as he came right to me as soon as the many doctors were finished examining him. Thankfully he only needed 4 shots - some children have to have 7, but if you know me well, you know I am extremely cautious with immunizations. I always limit the number of shots my children get to 1 or 2 at the most per visit, and I elect not to give them some of the newer ones. This was difficult for me to watch, and I did argue with the doctors trying to get out of 1 or more shots but that was all to no avail. No shots, No Visa, No USA! He even had to have the MMR even though the orphanage gave him a measles shot and a rubella shot just not a mumps shot. We covered Hudson in prayer. David literally prayed aloud over Hudson, and I was silently praying as I held him. It was absolute torture holding him down for 4 shots and a TB test after all the trauma he has endured emotionally - all in only 6 days - that's a lot for a 2 year old.

After all of that, we picked up Subway for lunch and came back to our room. Hudson did so well - he has been pitching fits if you do something he doesn't like - for instance putting him down when you walk into the room or offering him juice when he doesn't want it - this afternoon has been so much better as you can see from the photos. He enjoyed his lunch - especially the Lays chips. He smiled and even fed me. I have been trying to get him to feed me like after I feed him a goldfish cracker - he would laugh and like the game of me trying to put the goldfish in his hand in my mouth (if you are wondering why this is so important - bonding) but would not willingly feed me. Well, today at lunch he initiated it all on his own. Progress! Then he and David put the puzzle together, and he just clapped his hands and smiled his huge smile when he finished. As the title says. . .What a difference a day makes! Praising God today in Guangzhou for Progress!

Out and About

We spent the day at the Inner Mongolia Museum and a Buddist Temple. We enjoyed lunch with Aggie at Pizza Hut - very good! Aggie says "It is a lovely place." We agree - very clean and delicious! Hudson has continued to reveal his adorable yet fiesty personality to us. When he gets upset, it is difficult to calm him down. The orphanage said this as well. We are eating leftovers in our room for dinner tonight. In the morning we will be packing up and will be leaving for the airport at 2 PM. We have enjoyed Hohthot but look forward to Guangzhou knowing that we are closer to home! Enjoy the pictures from today.

Dinner at Aggie's House

Our guide Aggie invited us to have dinner with her family.  We were thrilled to be able to get out of the bustling city and see a different side of Hohthot.  Aggie, who is 29, lives at home with her mother and father.  Her younger brother is away at college.  When asked how her parents were allowed to have 2 children, Aggie replied that her parents "knew people" who arranged for them to keep both children.

Aggie and Ethan walked to a nearby store and came back with ice cream, candy, and beer for David.  Here David is eating a corn ice cream pop.  He said it literally tasted like buttered corn on the cob.

Ethan really likes Aggie and has been asking today if we could go back to eat at Aggie's house.  The draw is certainly not the food as he ate very little.  I think Ethan enjoys Aggie and their trips to the candy store : )

 

                                      

                   Aggie's mother and father

 

Eating with Aggie's family was a wonderful experience.  Her mother was so kind and hospitable.  David and I both left with a range of emotions - amazed that their home was the size of one of our bedrooms and ashamed at the materialism that is so consumming in America - amazed at their simplicity of life - no running water, no bathroom in their home and ashamed at our grumbling and complaining over such little inconveniences in our lives.  Please pray for Aggie and her family - Aggie has said they "have no religion".  We have said our blessings before meals and tried to share a little of our faith with her.  She has asked us questions like when do we pray and what do we believe.  I asked her today where we all came from if there is no God, and she said "monkeys".  I continued trying to dispute evolution with her.  Needless to say our hearts are heavy for this dear sweet soul who we now call friend. . .one who will perish for all eternity unless she comes to know Jesus as Lord and Savior.  I could go on and on about this precious, generous, lovely young woman but I must close.  Just please pray for her and her family.

Grasslands:
We visited the Grasslands today, and I must say it was a bit disappointing.  The trip there was long and through curving mountainous terrain.  Add that to the crazy reckless driving in China and let's just say, I was praying and gasping the whole way there.  On the way back, I was holding a bag for Hudson who finally succumbed to motion sickness.  And we were actually only out of the car at the Grasslands for 20 minutes - tops because there is nothing to do, and it was very cold and windy.

When we finally made it safely back to the city, Hudson felt much better. We stopped at Mcdonalds and got our order to go. Hudson had his first french fries and loved them- no surprise!

Hudson enjoyed playing and attempting to put this puzzle together.  He was so excited when we finished it.

After the bout of motion sickness, he opened up more than ever.  He was laughing and playing - even played with Ethan a little.  The boys both love cars and the wide window sill makes a great "road".

Overall another great day!  Hudson's "cold" seems to be better as he has coughed less today - so thankful for this! Heading to dinner with Wei and his family.

More About Hudson

As I said yesterday, Hudson, whom we are still calling Zhe Zhe, was very sad and stoic for most of the day.  However, we did see glimpses of his sweet and cheerful personality shine through.

Playing with Mom before nap time on Monday.

Playing in the hallway with his close friend from the orphanage, Wei.  Wei and his new family are right across the hall from us which has been great for our little guys to see one another.

A really happy boy - for the moment at least.

I noticed a callous on Hudson's thumb and found out why during his nap - he sucks his thumb.  In this photo of him sleeping this morning, you can see his little thumb in his mouth.  The orphanage never mentioned this.  He doesn't do it when he is awake or to go to sleep, but today during his nap, I noticed he was sucking it again.  So sweet!

Not happy about putting his hand in the ink.  And when he cries, he has some tremendous alligator tears.

We just completed all of the paperwork for the China side of the adoption.  Here we are with the Baotou SWI Director.  She was very kind and willing to answer our many questions.  (Sarah - I will email you soon about Bella - Mrs. Xue said she is doing fine, and I gave her your package)

While David and I worked on the paperwork, Ethan, Hudson, and the other 2 little boys from Baotou played very well together.  Imagine - a room full of little boys and there was very little noise or chaos!  Here Hudson was gazing out the window looking at the many cars passing by.  He is now saying several Chinese words that we are learning to understand and one is the word for car.  He says it everytime he sees a car.  On our walk today he kept pointing at cars and saying the word and wimpering.  I thought he may have been hoping for a ride back to the orphanage as that is one of the few times he had probably ridden in a car. He also told me this morning during the paperwork that he had to potty.  Today he has also said in Chinese "dog" and "gugu" for Ethan.  It was so sweet.  The boys have not been very into one another like Shelby and Katie were w/ Lilly.  They play together a little bit but not a great deal, and there's no hugging, holding, or kissing going on between them.  Tonight as Ethan was about to leave the room, Hudson said "gu gu" - brother in Chinese. It was very sweet, and I made sure I pointed it out to Ethan.

Hudson had his first bath tonight - we did not even attempt that last night as it was traumatic enough taking his clothes off.  Tonight he survived what may very well have been his first true bath - as in get all the way in a tub w/ water - he was not happy one bit.  The next time will hopefully be better.  He also hates to have his teeth brushed and gags on the teensy bit of paste on the brush.  Needless to say, this must have been a first as well.

As for Hudson's health, we were told today that Hudson did have IVs several days ago for a "cold".  I specifically asked whether it was for pneumonia, but again the director said "just a cold".  He is eating and drinking much better as well as sleeping great.  Since he has had no fever, I am hopeful that he will soon be over the "cold".  That's all for today.  We had an amazing experience tonight - eating at the home of our guide, Aggie.  I can't wait to share pictures and tell you more, but I have to get in the bed as I was up from 2 AM to after 4 AM last night and the previous night as well.

Meeting Hudson

Hudson in the arms of a nannie right after they arrived at the hotel.

Not too sure of being in my arms for the first time.

Hudson still very unsure but his Baba sure looks happy.

Ethan was great - here he was blowing bubbles to help calm Hudson down.

Hudson and his gu gu (big brother) Ethan.

Hudson did not like the Cheerios we brought, but he loved these biscuits which are like crackers. He came in with his nannie clutching a pack. He started trying to open the package with his teeth. Then he let me open them and feed him. Guess who else loved these - little Lilly!

This will be brief as Hudson has not napped and is on my lap. David and Ethan are swimming. Overall, things have gone pretty well. Out of our 3 adoptions, Hudson has had the most difficult time with the transition. He cried a lot this morning and continues to wimper off and on. He has gone to the door and pulled on the handle saying something in Chinese. He loves the Elmo phone, and I did get a glimpse of a smile when he was playing with that. He loves toys that make noise - I wish I would have brought more of them. He seems younger than 27 months to me. He hasn't said much - not that I would understand anything, but he does shake his head no if he doesn't want something.

I am most concerned because he has IV marks in both hands and in one foot - he cries if I try o take off his shoes so I only looked at 1 foot. His nose was running this morning, and he was coughing when he was upset. I asked if he had been sick and was told he had a cold. Well, for those of you who followed Lilly's journey, I noticed IV marks in her head and feet also. Lilly wouldn't eat, and Hudson has not taken anything but 2 packs of biscuits and 1 milk box (like a juice box but milk). David and I are both concerned. Our guide said she would ask more questions tomorrow about his recent illness. Please pray for Hudson to recover from this "cold". We don't have the Barbees here with us or Kathy so we simply can not do a repeat hospital tour like we did with Lilly.

Thank you for your prayers thus far. We are blessed beyond measure

Day 1 in Hohthot

We had trouble with our email last night meaning we were able to receive emails, but our emails were not reaching their recipients. (We realized that this morning when we woke up and had received no email responses from our kiddos back home.) That's why the previous post was so long in coming - Jen never received it on Saturday. I stayed up to email Jen the blog post (we can not blog in China nor can we see any blogs - they are blocked - so I email it to Jen who then puts it on the blog.) so everyone would know on Saturday morning that we made it safely. But, due to technical difficulties, you all still had to wait until Sunday -sorry!




Today was a nice relaxing day - much needed after the marathon travel the day before. We are heading to bed now and when we wake up, we'll have breakfast and then meet Hudson in the lobby at 10:30. Despite having done this twice before, I am nervous, a little frightened, and have butterflies. Please pray for our initial meeting with Hudson to go smoothly. Enjoy the pictures. . .

Outside of our hotel, the Shangri-La

Eating "hotpot" with Aggie. She and David ate much more than Ethan and I did. Needless to say, Ethan ate the least as he was not real thrilled with our first authentic Chinese meal. The noodles were very tasty but that is about all that I would care to eat again. Neat experience though!

Ethan enjoyed swimming at the indoor pool this afternoon. It is required that all swimmers wear a cap. Ethan looks quite cute in his, but I am not too sure how David or myself will look!

Views from the indoor pool area.  As you can see it is a very busy area with lots of traffic.

Arrival!

Ready to board the first flight of 3 - looking nice and fresh!

Ethan on the LONG flight to Beijing. He did superb, and we could not have asked for anything more from him.

Ethan still hanging tough after the 13 hour flight. Here we are checking our luggage to connect to China Air and fly to Hohthot, Inner Mongolia where we will meet Hudson Monday AM about 10:30.

Hudson was with us the whole way thanks to our friend Sharon. She gave us 2 luggage tags with Hudson's picture. Thanks Sharon!

Absolutely exhausted from being awake 24 1/2 hours. I could not sleep on the plane, but I did finally sleep on and off for an hour on this bench in Beijing as we waited for our connecting flight to Hohthot.

We made it to Hohthot. We are staying at the Shangri -la. Nice but rooms and beds are a little small. Our guide Aggie is great - we can already tell we will love having her with us this week.

Tomorrow is a free day to recover from today, organize our room (how many of you are laughing? Yes, I even have to organize my hotel room.) Then Aggie is taking us to eat Hotpot - a local dish and helping us get acclimated to where we will spend the next 6 days.

Thank you all for your prayers. Please keep sending them up to our gracious Father in heaven. He blessed us in so many ways today, and we are so grateful! Good night!

Testing...1...2...3....

It's Jennifer here, testing my posting ability on the Bryant blog.  Like all of you I am anxiously awaiting the info for their first post from CHINA. Jan nor I had any idea back in May 2007 when we met and adopted Lilly and Lainie that we were just beginning to grow our families through adoption.  It has been a pleasure to share a friendship with them and we are looking forward to seeing them united with sweet Hudson.   I promise to post as soon as I hear from them..... 

It's Time To Go!

This represents what I have been doing this last week before travel.  Cleaning (no picture - enough said!), laundry (for 9!), packing, smocking, and grocery shopping at Aldi to stock the fridge and the pantry!  I will admit to being exhausted!  I am so ready to sit on a plane to simply rest - although I'm sure after a few hours I will be longing to be on land!

We leave early in the AM.  Please pray for us and Hudson as we embark on an amazing adventure!  We'll be posting (thanks Jen) as often as we can!