Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Home!

Yes, we're home. It was an adventure getting here, but we made it.

Noah was great on the plane. He slept a huge part of the way and loved the toys we brought. But our flight from Guangzhou took off late and we arrived in LA about 1 1/2 hours later than we expected. By the time we made it through immigration, our final flight home was long gone. So we checked out all our options, and decided to stay the night, or rather a few hours, at a budget motel before trying to go stand-by on the next earliest flight.

Along with another family we traveled with, we caught the 11 pm shuttle to some of Inglewood's finest accomodations. Even before we got to our room, I was second-guessing my decision to leave the lice kit back in Guangzhou, but I kept reminding myself that we weren't staying long. So after the world's most expensive 4-hour nap, we headed back to the airport.

Fortunately, we were able to get on the first flight Saturday morning! I think I was a bit giddy at that point and I showed pictures of R & W to anyone who would humor me. Oh, you need to see my boarding pass? Sure, sure, but first, look at my sweet daughters who are dying to see me!

And I was dying to see them. I've never been so happy to see two little people! Unfortunately, I've spent the last three days in bed and we haven't been able to each other as much as we were hoping. I started feeling pretty icky on our last day in China and, sure enough, I came home with strep throat. Argh. But I'm on drugs and feeling much better. And our church family has been bringing meals! Poor Dave, however, has been taking care of three kiddos and trying to get over jetlag. Going back to work will be a break for him.

And despite not being very hands-on the last few days, Noah is really doing so much better with me. He is really warming up and letting me take care of him. He won't let me snuggle him yet -- that's still Dave's gig -- but I can't believe how he's coming around. I think it made a huge difference when he saw R & W snuggling me and letting me do things for them. I could see his little gears turning ... "Hmm, those two little ones let the big one hug them and feed them. Very interesting. Maybe that one with the red hair is not so bad after all."

Well, I'll post more pics when I have more oomph. For now, here's a picture that Dave took this afternoon.

Thursday, September 4, 2008

First English word

I almost forgot. Pork Bun Boy said his first English word yesterday! He's been yakking alot, and we've debated whether he's imitating our English or mocking my Mandarin, but this was clearly English. In the dialect of Homer Simpson, but still English. I managed to capture it on video...


Headed home

Dave and I, along with Pork Bun Boy (aka Noah, Ning, An Ning), are headed home tonight. I'm either going to have to learn to steam buns or get reeeeaaal friendly with the take away counter at LeeLee's. This boy can put away the pork buns like you wouldn't believe.

Anyway, sorry for not posting much this week. I'd love to tell you that we've been out and about and way too busy, but that's not true. After a couple of days, the humidity crept in and started to rust my gears. So what have we been doing? Well, let's see. Eating, playing, napping, playing, eating, playing, and then going to bed. We've been having a great time! We've actually used the play room here at the hotel which we've never done before because the weather has been so lovely on our previous trips. We did go to the playground down the street twice, but we didn't stay long. Just long enough to get some good photos ;-)
I'll admit I did do a little shopping and found a great teapot. On each trip, we've bought a teapot from an older gentlemen who owns an antique shop near the hotel. He used to be a government employee and now he sells things that he collected during all his travels. At least that's his story and he's stickin' to it. This time, we bought a YiXing pot with silverwork on it. It's lovely. I should have taken a picture of us at his shop like we've done before, but I didn't think to this time. I'll blame it on my rusty gears.

Well, off to finish packing. I'd say that we'll see you all when we get home, but I'll be too busy for a while smooching on my girls. I'm counting the hours and minutes until I see them! And I know you're just here to see pictures of The Boy, so here he is...



At the medical exam


In the swanky playroom


At the playground


Pork Bun Boy

Did I mention he's also fond of congee?