So, if you didn't get a Christmas card from us this year, don't feel left out...no one did! If I had sent one, it would have looked like this:


Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

I finally got a picture of the kids together! They are with my aunt and uncle's dogs, just so you know I haven't gone completely insane and gotten 2 dogs.
Quickest update EVER--you may be asking how I have time to update the blog, including header and background...the answer is because 3/4 of my kids are at school today! Yes, Jake and Landon are no longer homeschooling. They are now going to our church's wonderful Charlotte Mason-guided school. I miss them but sanity sometimes rules. More later!

I only have time for a short post but I thought I would say that we are doing pretty well over here, all things considered. I can only credit that to praying friends and a gracious God! I just finished reading this book for a second time:
Two-Part Invention by Madeleine L'Engle. It is the story of her life with her husband and focuses on his dying from cancer. I love this quote:
"I will have nothing to do with a God who cares only occasionally. I need a God who is with us always, everywhere, in the deepest depths as well as the highest heights. It is when things go wrong, when the good things do not happen, when our prayers seem to have been lost, that God is most present. We do not need the sheltering wings when things go smoothly. We are closest to God in the darkness, stumbling along blindly."

Here is a link to a slideshow Mark put together for my mom's memorial sevice--warning, it has music, so if you're at work, turn it down :-)
http://home.comcast.net/~mtubesing/page_video.html

My mom went to be with the Lord at 3:30 this morning. I am very sad and I know I will be even sadder in the days, weeks, months and years to come, but I am also relieved that she has left her exhausted body and that I will see her again one day.

Jake made my mom this sign when she came home from the hospital for a few days last week and it means even more now. She is finally home.


From my dad:
Page's memorial service will be at 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday, November 25, at Dunwoody United Methodist Church, 1548 Mt. Vernon Rd., Dunwoody, GA 30338. A reception will follow in the Fellowship Hall.

In lieu of flowers, you can make a donation to Friends of Refugees, Attn: Page Walden Memorial Fund, P.O. Box 548, Clarkston, GA 30021, OR to any charity of your choice.

.........

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls. 1 Peter 1:3-9

My dad posted an update on my mom this morning. http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/pagewalden/journal
She is breathing more slowly now.
It is really hard to just let someone die. It seems so wrong, and I wonder if that is because when God first created people, we weren't meant to die, or to be separated from God...and our whole lives we are wanting to get back to that state of eternal union with God.
"The sense that in this universe we
are treated as strangers, the longing to be
acknowledged, to meet with some
response, to bridge some chasm that yawns
between us and reality, is part of our
inconsolable secret. And surely, from this
point of view, the promise of glory, in the
sense described, becomes highly relevant to
our deep desire. For glory meant good
report with God, acceptance by God,
response, acknowledgment, and welcome
into the heart of things. The door on
which we have been knocking all our lives
will open at last."
from The Weight of Glory, an essay by CS Lewis.
I used to really love this essay but now that I have 4 kids I honestly can't concentrate enough to read the things I used to be able to read. But I recommend it for thoughts on existence and heaven.


Here we are on the Great Wall in China in 2005.

My mom is still resting comfortably at Hospice Atlanta (a wonderful place, as much as it can be...) She is basically in a coma, sleeping soundly all the time because of her liver toxicity and likely the brain mets. It is such a kindness that she is quiet and pain free. I did ask the boys last night if they wanted to visit her and they said no. They already told her "I love you" and "goodbye" when she was still home this past weekend. Landon said he doesn't like to see Mimi that way. I agree! I have never seen my mom so still in her whole life. I visited my dad there this morning and then brought the girls back later today. They like to rub mom's feet and Hope always gives her a kiss. Hope was insistent to see the doctor today, I think to see who is taking care of Mimi. As I think on it, Hope only saw my mom maybe 10 times or less but my mom already made a big impression on her.

I think some people must have been praying for peace for us because we have it (okay, at least a lot of the time). In some ways it feels like a calm before a storm but it is so nice to be able to rest in Him, at least some every day.

And, I have such good friends!!! Thank you for all the emails, comments, Facebook comments and phone calls. It is truly great to know you are there standing alongside us. Food is coming in :-)

I feel like this verse shows something about my mom:

From 1 Timothy 6:
Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.

also not to get preachy but just have to say what "the life" is and why mom will not truly die, it's my blog anyway, right :-) ?,
from John 11
Jesus said..."I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies"

I hardly cried today (for once!!) until I started looking at some old pictures and thinking how much my mom (and dad) has served me and my family over the years.

Here we are at the 2 day breast cancer walk in 2006

My mom was moved to Hospice today and is now completely unresponsive. I visited for a bit tonight with my mom's good friends and my dad and it was actually a very nice time together. I can't believe that in one week I have gone from thinking my mom might make it to her 63rd birthday in March to knowing that her time on Earth can likely be counted in days. But she is a person who can honestly leave this place with no regrets--there is nothing she wishes she had done (because she has done it all!), no person she wishes she had spent time with (because that's what she does with her time) and no sale she wishes she had gone to :-). She is definitely a light in this world. I am so glad that this is happening quickly and painlessly for her. It is still hard. But I know that she knows the Lord and that makes all the difference.


This is from June 2004 when she carried the Olympic torch for part of the Atlanta stretch.

Just a quick update--I went to see my mom yesterday at their house and today Mark and I took all the kids. She is pretty much sleeping all the time. Today she opened her eyes a bit and did recognize me, but the rest of the time we were trying to get her to talk to the kids she was not even really focusing her eyes when she would open them. I am glad the kids got to see her. I do think she can hear us because every now and then we get an appropriate nod or hand squeeze and she told her friend "bye" and said "hi Katy". Today her friend asked if she wanted to listen to Bruce Springsteen and she got a BIG hand squeeze so that was put on pretty loud for her!

Hope was so amazing. I was kind of worried since we still can't talk much about abstact stuff and I didn't know if she would understand. She was the least afraid and the most interested in my mom. She gave her a kiss (so did Lilla) and brought her a special toy and left it on her bed. At one point me, dad, Mark and all the kids were standing around Mom's bed talking and Hope said "Pray Mimi?" and did her praying hands. We asked if she wanted to pray for Mimi and she said yes. So I said okay, good idea. She got a little shy and hid behind me but she prayed in her special way "God, thank you Mimi, Mimi feel better, granddaddy, daddy, mommy, Jake, Landon, Lilla, Hope SongYi Amen." It was so sweet and special and brought tears to our eyes.

Please continue to pray for wisdom regarding my mom's care and her comfort.

You Never Let Go
by Matt Redman

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death
Your perfect love is casting out fear
And even when I'm caught in the middle of the storms of this life
I won't turn back
I know you are near

And I will fear no evil
For my God is with me
And if my God is with me
Whom then shall I fear?
Whom then shall I fear?

Oh no, You never let go
Through the calm and through the storm
Oh no, You never let go
In every high and every low
Oh no, You never let go
Lord, You never let go of me

And I can see a light that is coming for the heart that holds on
A glorious light beyond all compare
And there will be an end to these troubles
But until that day comes
We'll live to know You here on the earth

Yes, I can see a light that is coming for the heart that holds on
And there will be an end to these troubles
But until that day comes
Still I will praise You, still I will praise You


I have been listening to this song about 5 times a day and I find it very reassuring.
So, my mom came home from the hospital yesterday and my brother and I and Jake helped get her settled. As you may have read on the CaringBridge page, she is VERY weak and my dad will definitely be looking at getting extra care for her.

Thank you for all the emails and offers of help. We currently have the added complication of sick kids, but I will email out when we have a definite need for childcare or anything. We have had a few meals delivered and offered and I accepted, so that has been really nice.
It is honestly just very humbling to be in this place, but I am currently trying to embrace the words of Paul from 2 Corinthians 12:
But he (God) said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Just please keep praying for my mom to be free from pain and perhaps have some clarity of thought come back to her.


This picture is from December 2008 when mom and I took Lilla to see the Nutcracker.

This one was taken in September--my kids with my mom and dad.


I will just say it...unfortunately, the test results show that my mom now has tumors in her brain. I can't remember if I have told about her history, but she first had breast cancer in 1990, pretty aggressive. But after completing treatment, she was perfectly healthy! She had 11 years with no signs of cancer. In 2001, she found out that she had metastatic breast cancer in her liver. She survived MANY treatments and even had a kidney removed at one point (not cancer) and she had many months, even years where she felt great and for awhile the doctors saw no cancer in her liver at all. So for over 8 years she has beaten it back and even when she didn't feel great, never let cancer stop her from living. On October 4 of this year she walked 10 miles in a breast cancer walk! All that to say, I am very sad about this news but if anyone defies statistics, it is my mom. I am posting more details on her Caring Bridge page, which is the best place to check for updates. Thanks for praying.


...in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
From Romans 8:

Update on Mom

Hi all-
I just posted an update on my mom at her CaringBridge site. She has been admitted to the hospital after not feeling well at all for a few weeks. Prayers appreciated:
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/pagewalden

Here is a picture of her with the boys in St. Simon's taken in August while we were in China.

More pictures

Hope and Lilla always play outside when it rains!



Jake's baseball season is over.



Hope and Lilla in and on the playset



Halloween-we had a scientist, a cockroach, a princess and a flapper!

Oh gosh, slacking again!

Jake and Landon had a piano recital last night. They did great! I can't believe they have been playing just 3 years (J) and 1 year (L). Believe me, it does not come from me! Hope and Lilla stayed with a friend, first time for that for Hope and it was great, I am guessing because of my skilled friend and her sweet girls. I had taken H to visit their house last week and she loved it, so drop off yesterday was very smooth. But when I came to pick them up, she was out the door like a flash, running to our car, just for insurance, I am guessing. Like, whew you came back that was fun let's get out of here!

Hope is talking so much. Let me try to think of some of her phrases (she still adds Wo--I-- and --Wo bu-- I don't, to a lot of her words)...
-Mommy hand cold!
-noodle yummy
-Wo I do it!
-what is it? (thank goodness--I am so tired of hearing "jiga?" her word for what's this?)
-more please
thank you
-sorry, Lilla (used a lot!)
-wo yao school! (I want school!)
-Hello Kitty shoes, where are you? (they are always lost)
-I don't know
-hmmm, let's see (done with a very cute, hammed-up hand on chin)
-that mine!
-Lilla be quiet!
-wo bu tired!
-daddy working
-mommy rest time?
-no more fishy (he died, and wow, try to explain THAT to someone who doesn't know about death and doesn't speak much English)
-trick or treat!

and she knows LOTS of words--
socks, apple, water, cracker, candy, hungry, car, driving, timer, later, tomorrow, not now (ha ha we are into delayed gratification), bath, soap, toothbrush, Stripes (our guinea pig), paper, cut, bandaid, stinky, jacket, pants, hair, brush teeth, toothpaste, floss (she loves floss), piano, loud, unbuckle, cold, hot, yucky, window, open, sit down, go away, stand up, book, TV, movie, flower, wait, clean up, mommy's room, and many more!

Mark and I take turns putting the girls to bed and a few nights ago I had Hope. She can REALLY drag out bedtime and make one book take about a year to read, so by the time we got to the song, I was TIRED. She wanted me to sing first, so I sang the ABC song. She was really wiggling and trying to get away from me, when usually that is a cuddly time. So finally I just let her go. So she sat beside me and told me to sing it "one more time" and it was easier to comply than argue (wow, that happens a lot these days) so I sang it again and she danced and clapped and joined in like crazy. It was So funny. Then she said "my turn" and she jumped up and stood in front of me and sang "A, B Chee! A, B, Chee! A, B, Chee!!!!!" and then she motioned for ME to dance (so again, easier to comply...) and she pretended she was holding a microphone and I danced and she sang "A, B Chee" over and over. I was laughing so hard!

So, generally things are going well, and Lilla is mostly rising to the very difficult task of being a big sister. She has grown up a lot these past few weeks. Mostly. She is doing really well at school and enjoying her class of 10 (with 2 teachers!) She probably gets more one on one time at school than home these days.

My mom is not feeling well at all. She will have a new PET scan November 10 and she and her doctor will make a decision about a possible new chemo. I know she is so sicka nd tired of being sick and tired (off and on). She is amazing and really makes and effort to keep on having fun and making life enjoyable for others. Please pray for her.

Well, I guess a short update is better than none, right? Let me go see if I can find some pictures.


out to eat with cousin Riley


Mark took Jake and Landon to the GA State Fair




Mark also took Jake and Landon camping with the Cub Scouts

Well, I think my friend Amy calls it "slogging" when you're slackin' on the blogging. That would be me. But please know I have not been sitting around getting manicures and such. No, just hiding in the bathroom crying. Okay, not all the time, but sometimes. This is HARD. Especially when it is raining! I told someone this weekend, I think we are right where we belong and God brought us here and that this promise is for me:
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

However, he didn't say I know the easy, carefree relaxing plans I have for you. (Darn)

I do know though that being brought to the end of myself is pretty much the only way I see my need for Him, so I have hope (and Hope!).

Factual updates: Hope's titers show she got quality vaccines on schedule in China and only needs the 4 boosters and 5 year old would get. Yea!

We saw the ocularist (the doctor who makes eye prosthetics) and she said with a good bit of work and persistence we should be able to have her ready for a prosthesis in a year or two. That sounds long, but she showed me pictures of her patients over the past 20 years and it is amazing what she can do! So right now I am stretching her eyelids on that side (Hope loves it--not!!) and in 2 weeks we will get our first expander thingy that looks like a marble sized clear teardrop. We will put larger and larger pieces in as the weeks go by and eventually put a clear shell in there. When both sides are mostly of equal size, she will make the handpainted prosthesis, which is worn 24 hours a day!

It was cute at the ocularist's office, it dawned on Hope which office we were in and she said "Oh, TWO eyes!" and I said yes, she will make it so you have two eyes! And she was very interested in the photos of former patients. But now that we are eyelids stretching she says she doesn't want two eyes anymore, nevermind. But I told her when she is big she will be happy to have the two eyes. She is just too perceptive.

Hope's specialty now is praying. She lists everyone at the table (although she always asks which is Jake and which is Landon) and she often will pray about what we did that day: "daddy working, Lilla school, mommy driving..." very sweet. She now calls herself Hope SongYi when she prays instead of Bao SongYi.

Lilla is doing well at school and now wears her new glasses every day. She and I went to the mall together this weekend and it was nice to be with her. She seems very grown up now to me.

Landon is happily playing with a friend today and has enjoyed taking drum lessons recently. He now wants a drum set, what have I done??! The teacher says he actually has a pretty good aptitude for it. Well, we can test that one out when our house grows a soundproof basement.

Jake is just getting back from a friend's house. With all the craziness here they have not been able to have friends over and although they get along well, they have missed not being with other boys as much as they used to.

I know this will end up being a formative time in their lives--I keep telling them they are learning a lot about what it means to be a parent! Although the homeschooling is not as interactive right now as I envisioned it (aka, I write down ther work and they do it alone) it has been great to have them home to be a part of this crazy transition. And I think they are absolutely the most patient, understanding, 8 and 10 year old boys I know. I am so proud of them.

Please do pray for my mom. She has not been feeling well, she said nauseous mostly and she has had some fluid come back to her abdomen.

Here are some pictures....


The girls in their glasses



Lilla and Hope pretending to sleep.



Jake doing schoolwork and his little shadow Hope joining in.



Mark and granddaddy took Jake and Landon to the Petit LeMans race at Road Atlanta. they had fun but it was a HOT day.

Okay, be sure to scroll below for more pictures--I can only post about 5 at a time so I had to split them.

Well, sorry to leave everyone hanging!! Can I say that 4 kids is a lot of kids??? Maybe you knew that! I can usually get Lilla and Hope Song Yi to stay in their room/our room (we split them for rest time) for about an hour each day. Unfortunately I spend that hour making appointments! I think that will get better as time goes on. Right now I have about 24 minutes until the timer is up so I will be fast!

Things have been going well, definitely a two steps forward, one step back feeling. We have had 2 more of the irrational-I've-lost-my-mind tantrums (not me, Hope) and I have noticed they definitely come late in the day when she is hungry and/or tired. One was when she said she did NOT want a bath, so I said okay, but if you don't come now, no bath. And I know she understood and she said, okay, no bath. Lots of acting and hand motions. Well, right as Lilla's water is draining, here she comes wanting a bath. I felt I had to stick to what I said so I didn't let her take a bath. The next 30 minutes were very pitiful, and included a toothbrush and PJ standoff. I "won"--I decided if I said brush your teeth, it has to happen. I go into like a...well, I would say zen, but I think it is the holy spirit...type place and I just feel like I can wait and wait and wait until we can get through what we need to do. The trouble comes if I need to be somewhere on time! Finally she opened up and I brushed for about 3 seconds just to say I did it. followed by 20 minutes of wailing. But I just held her again like before and she finally calmed down and the sun came out.

It is definitely a battle of wills. Thankfully though she is pretty willing to choose from what we offer and go where we need to go (orange or apple? walk or ride in the stroller? mommy buckles you or Landon? I never thought Love and Logic would come in so handy!!) but it is when she refuses to move or doesn't want what is there and we have to choose for her that we have troubles. She can be STUBBORN and if looks could kill, well, our house would be pretty empty because we have all been on the receiving end of her glares.

BUT she is so loving and open and trusting that we just WANT to help her get through whatever it is. Jake has been awesome and she loves when he lifts her out of the car or helps her do something. And if Landon pulls her hand and says "Let's Go!" she comes. Today we went to the pet store and Jake and Landon had fun showing her all the animals and Landon shared his chicken nuggets with her today when she didn't like what I ordered her. So sweet.

She is speaking English more and more and the hybrids are funny. Yesterday we were doing these little dress up bears and she kept saying "Wo (I) I like it!" and we also hear lots of "Wo yao (I want) go outside!!" Yesterday she said "wo xihuan shee-pool!" And for those who don't speak Hope, that means "*I* like school!" I think she is tired of watching Lilla go to that fun place every day and she has to stay in the car. Lilla's favorite game in the car is to say "Song Yi, say--" and she gets her to repeat word after word, and her sis is a very willing partcipant. They are playing together pretty well, but definitely are like two monkeys at bedtime, keeping each other awake.

So, the doctor...opthomologist Monday. He wasn't really interested in her eye. Well, he checked her "good" eye pretty thoroughly and prescribed glasses to protect her eye. It is very healthy and her vision is good. Great news! I think next month is when we will find out more. We will see an ocularist, which is a very interesting doctor who specializes in treating people who are missing eyes, whether by birth, disease or accident. They are artists as well because they create and hand paint the prosthetic eye. The opthomologist was very hopeful that Hope Song Yi would one day look very balanced, but it will be quite a bit of work and a long journey because she has been so long without an eye that gradually they will need to use expanders to create space in her socket. Also he said her eye opening is quite small on that side and will likely require surgery. She is SUCH a good patient. We were there 2 hours and had to move from room to room for different equipment, eye drops etc and she did great.

In other eye news, lilla went to the optometrist yesterday and we found out she needs glasses. She is near sighted. So both girls picked out frames yesterday and will have their glasses in about 2 weeks. Lilla picked spiffy red frames and Hope picked pink with flowers on the side. they look quite cute!

The pediatrician visit for Hope was uneventful (by the way we are now calling her Hope Song Yi to her face and Hope amongst ourselves)and tomorrow we will get blood work done to check her titers (to see what vaccines she got that actually gave her immunity) and other stuff, including the juvenile arthritis screening (because of her toes). We are supposed to take a stool sample too :-(. When I explained that to her and acted it all out so she would understand (so help me if someone puts me on Candid Camera or something) she was NOT happy about that. We'll see.

Oh, and thankfully, we had no real water damage from the flooding, just water in the crawl space but it seems Mark was able to catch it in time and is airing it out with fans each day. Time's up!!!

Here's a picture of the kids during the storm--they played outside during the worst of it!!


The newest member of our Rock Band...


This girl can have FUN with a box!!


The best surprise yesterday--Jake and Landon cleaned and vacuumed the playroom when I was gone with the girls getting glasses!

Some photos--do you think she feels at home yet? :-)

Today we went to church for the first time since we have been home. It was so nice to be among friends! I started crying practically as soon as I sat down. I had Song Yi in my lap and I was just thinking of all the YEARS that I prayed that we would be able to adopt again and here she was, proof of God's faithfulness and care. We have so much to be thankful for! I was making a mental list of the good, right after having a not so good lunch where I can't even remember what I ate I was up and down from the table so much trying to use my ESP to see what Little Miss Bu yao wanted. Between me getting up, she kept getting her hands dirty on purpose and insisting I wipe them. And refusing food she ate a few days ago, only to eat a ton of it about 10 minutes later, after she put all hers on my plate. I want to know how to say "Girl, we know you like tater tots" in Chinese.

I emailed my group that is for adopting older kids to see what they think about continuing the babyish behaviors like wanting to be carried, wanting me to wipe her hands, put her shoes on, help her go potty, get her dressed, all things I know she can do but she wants me to do for her. So far I am just doing it, thinking maybe it is her wanting to subconsciously re-live some stuff we didn't do together. I am annoyed by too much psychology but when you're talking about a little soul that has been through a lot, can't hurt to think it through. It is all good until Lilla wants the same treatment and then I just can't take it. How people live with 2 year old twins i will never know.

So thankful that Song Yi is sleeping, looking us in the eye, smiling, giving hugs, trying out her English, laughing, playing, listening to stories, playing Play Dough and sleeping!!! I can't believe we have only known her for 3 weeks.

I have to get Mark to put up video of all the kids running around like maniacs last night right before bed. It was FUNNY. but when it was time for bed, Song Yi wanted to take all her dress up stuff she was wearing and put it in her personal drawer. I call her (in my head) "the confiscator" because if she wants it, she tries to take it for her own. Thankfully she listens to reason and I was able to show her that dress up clothes are community property.

Tomorrow she goes for her check up. I will take an Oglethorpe student with us who is from Shanghai in case we need translating, since there will be much poking and prodding. We met her last week and she was awesome. But as soon as Song Yi saw her and the girl spoke Chinese to her, she froze. Her eyes got teary and she was clinging on to me for dear life. She wouldn't get down, wouldn't talk to the girl. We explained in English and Chinese that this was a friend, Song Yi was staying with mommy, we were just chatting...she didn't want a thing to do with it. She only relaxed her death grip and looked happy when we said goodbye! I wonder what she was thinking. I remember when I was in France studying and living with a French family, I was so relieved to speak English from time to time, so relaxing not to have to concentrate so hard to communicate. Well, not the same for kids in this situation I guess. I had heard of kids having this reaction but really wasn't expecting it.

Mark starts slowly back to work tomorrow...I am terrified! How will I do this?? Thankfully he works from home and can help out as needed as I get the hang of this mom to 4 life.

Here's a photo post. Who knew you could have so much fun with 2 buckets and a hose?

Lilla's first day (can you tell she was a little concerned? all went well.)



Little Miss all decked out to party



Landon--his true self, always.



Thank goodness for this solid citizen! He has been so patient.

Thanks for all the encouraging comments and emails! Tuesday and today were much better, but still quite exhausting. I am starting to remember what it was like when I had a newborn and a toddler! Not a moment to myself and heaven forbid I should turn my back for a minute. But I thought I would update since we got them in bed early...

We did have a successful 1 minute timeout yesterday, also for hitting me. I can understand that it is because she can't communicate the way she wants to with us, and I told Mark today I think once we can talk she will be quite delightful. I mean she is now but she will be delightful and a little more able to be on her own. Sometimes she gets my attention and whispers to me in Chinese, like a secret, which is cute. Today she was telling me the same thing again and again and making some hand motions and for the life of me I couldn't figure it out. So I put on a sad, regretful look and said "I don't speak Chinese" in Chinese (I would put it here but I can't spell it). She cracked up, which is what she usually does when I try out my little bit of Chinese I know.

She has started repeating everything we say, if prompted. She says "Go Outside!" a lot and also "see you later" and "all done" and Mark heard an unprompted "thank you" yesterday. The language part is really fun, when it is not frustrating! It reminds me of when the other kids were about 10-11 months old and started bursting forth with new words every day.

Yesterday Lilla went to school for 3 hours and had a good time. Mark and I also took Jake and Landon to their homeschooling co-op classes (which they loved, thank you God!). They took Little House on the Prairie (fun, lots of crafts, food, music etc from the period), science and writing. In the meantime we took Lilla for her 5 year check up and also got Song Yi's feet checked out.

The doctor wants to do some blood tests because she said it looks like something joint/inflammatory and she actually was quite baffled. She also said she would consider gout except she has never in 25 years seen a child with gout. For now she is on a steroid which has helped tremendously and we will take her next week for bloodwork. Also later this month, Lilla and Song Yi both go to the opthamologist AND Landon needs to see the ENT. Song Yi and I also need to go to the dentist!

Also, we all slept mostly all night last night! And we are skipping naps because we prefer night time sleep. But like I said before, mama needs a rest so today I tried to introduce the concept of alone time to Song Yi, using this big visual timer we have, with a red disc that disappears as the time passes (love it!) she was quite baffled but went along. Hopefully if I keep putting her back in the room and pointing at the timer and miming "mama rest" she will get it. I hate to say Lilla was not much help today in demonstrating the proper way to do alone time...

Okay I think this day falls under a "two steps back" day. I wouldn't post because I am very tired but maybe it will get it out of my system and also help people see just why it appears we have dropped off the earth...
We went to bed around 9pm last night. Maybe 9:30. Song Yi woke up at 12 crying about her feet. She cried at bedtime too and after googling I swear her symptoms are just like gout. Her two big toes are swollen, red-purple on the underside and very much in pain. I will take her to the dr. tomorrow if it is not better. So Mark got up for that and I was awake until about 2am for no reason (Mark until 3am), with Lilla waking up at 1am with a bad dream. Then thankfully we all slept until around 7am but Mark and I were very groggy. Could be our good friend melatonin turned on us and we should take less. Only took 1-2mg though

Then all the kids sat and watched America's Funniest Home Videos--yes! That is the first I have seen Song Yi watch TV. Yes, I need my kids to watch TV, at least a little bit. It is quiet, calm and makes no mess. I took a picture but don't know where the camera is. After breakfast and getting ready (very tiring with a 5 year old who acts 3) Song Yi got in Landon's bed with him and they read books quite peacefully, then she got down. During that time I cleaned the kitchen. Lilla tried next and that made SY very mad. Lilla was only up there about 3 minutes anyway...So I got SY to come and water color. She wants me to hold the brush and she bosses around where my hand should go. I play along until she gets mad when the pictures don't turn out right and she blames me.

Then Lilla came to paint and they had to share paint and as you can imagine SY was NOT happy. Very--well let's say it rhymes with "sissy" and starts with a "p". Grabbing the paint, pushing Lilla away etc. Finally we decided to go for a walk. I think that was after much toe rubbing on my part at some point. Me rubbing SY's toes that is. We let Jake stay home because he hasn't been feeling great, just a cold. So we killed an hour or so walking. I enjoyed being with Landon but I really feel like Mark and I were just trying to survive until rest time.

Got home and had lunch. Lots of wo bu yao's from SY (I don't like it!) and she just wanted to eat ranch flavored Pringles but we got her to at least eat some oranges too. After MUCH toe rubbing I was able to leave her in the room and then went to see Lilla, who is now napping in the office. Read her a story and chatted and then tried to get some peace and quiet but was interrupted for the next hour or so by people with sore feet, people who were thinking of scary things, people who aren't tired (don't they see that THAT is not really the point of rest time! MOMMY is tired) blah blah blah. Unfortunately, Jake and Landon played video games for about 2.5 hours today. I had a nice little cry time with the Lord and then tried to sleep. Along the what-have-we-done-okay-Lord-I-know-you-brought-me-this-far-and-won't-leave-me type of prayers. Thank goodness I also prayed for supernatural patience...

Snack after nap and much crying about toes. So I rubbed her toes for about 20 minutes straight and finally said my hands needed a rest. Then Lilla came and sat with us and watch out! SY does not like to share mommy's lap and tried everything she could to get Lilla to leave. I told her I love her AND I love Lilla (in Chinese) and she said very sweetly (not) WO AI BABA. (I love daddy). And then she got down and was creeping around behind the chair we were in and I think she whacked me on the head. At the time I thought it was Landon roughhousing but he said it wasn't him. Ahhh.

More painting, colored peg things and a rubber band thingy activity for SY. SY was repeating her colors pretty well and grouping the pegs by color so that is good. All the other kids were playing outside with Mark. So I made dinner (lots more wo bu yaos!). At meals, I am trying to have things SY likes and things we like. We like Chinese food but I don't want rice and noodles every meal including breakfast and until we can talk to each other I am not going to try to make her eat lasagna or anything like that, which is pretty disgusting to most Asian palates with all the cheese (no one brought lasagna that is just a hypothetical).

So we sat down to eat and had taquitos (wo bu yao!), veggies, rice and black beans. I usually give SY a little container of soy sauce for her rice. And she kept asking and asking for it and we kept saying yes, yes you can have it just a minute. I was still getting all the food on the table etc. And then when I gave her the soy sauce apparently it was not the right amount and she tried to swat me, not playfully. So I picked her up and took her to the steps nearby and said "No No. Sit down." and pointed down. And she refused. So I mimed SY tried to hit mommy, no no, sit down and she refused. So I sat her down, not mean but I made her sit and she popped back up and crossed her arms and glared. So we went through it again. Sit. Down. And I sat her down and said No hitting.

Oh my gosh. Well, now I remember what her screaming sounded like when we met her. The girl does not like to do what she doesn't want to do. She screamed like a banshee. I sat right by her and put my hands on her gently and said it's okay, I love you etc. But I didn't try to apease her, just be nearby during the meltdown. And we sat and sat and finally I picked her up and took her to the sofa and she tried to fight me, scratching and stuff but I held her hands and she kept wailing and trying to push me away. But I just had this feeling that I should not let her go. I wasn't forcibly holding her but I was persistent. I would say she was out of her right mind at this point wailing. Finally after about 20 minutes or so (all I know is everyone was done eating when we came back) I could tell her feet were hurting so I rubbed her toes and finally she let me.

So suddenly she was quiet and I rubbed her toes and I said it's okay, I love you and finally she said hao ah (okay) and we got up and I gave her a tight squeeze and she squeezed back and she went back to the table happy as a clam, like the sunshine after a storm. Very interesting. My guess is that she got away with a lot in her early life because of her eye and her cuteness. And as far as I can tell the Chinese tend to appease and cajole children, bribing with candy or just trying to keep them happy. Forgive me if you are Chinese and don't do this but I have observed it quite a bit. And I am sure she didn't know exactly what to expect with her first real measure of discipline, and she is probably still stressed out being with people in a strange house who don't really understand her who she just met in China 2 weeks ago.

Lots more tiring stuff happened after that but the good news is that Lilla got in trouble later and I told her to go sit on the step and I saw SY observing very closely what went down. She said Ca MA? which is like "what is going on/what are you doing?" and I said mommy told Lilla No No. And she was like hmmmm....

Long drawn out bedtime (feet hurting, Lilla doing gymnastics) and now here I am and I need to go to bed myself. Oh, one bright spot at bedtime is that Sy will now imitate praying. She has seen people do it before and mimicked it at the Buddhist temple. So Lilla prayed and then me and then SY said "wo" (me) and let loose with Baba, Mama, Song Yi, Lilla...and then went through it again throwing in some blah blah blahs like she was imitating English. Very sweet and she closed her eyes and folded her hands too.

Came across these verses yet again today (from Psalm 33) May it be in my heart.

But the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear him,
on those whose hope is in his unfailing love,
to deliver them from death
and keep them alive in famine.
We wait in hope for the LORD;
he is our help and our shield.
In him our hearts rejoice,
for we trust in his holy name.
May your unfailing love rest upon us, O LORD,
even as we put our hope in you.

Grandparents came to visit last night and that was fun.

Jake and Landon are being their awesome selves and I am very thankful for their patience.

Found the camera. Feeding ducks yesterday, TV today.

Wow, melatonin really works!! We all slept about 8 hours last night, I think, and I don't feel like I will die of it anymore. Thanks for the prayers! But I really am still not checking emails or returning phone calls much, so please don't be offended :-) Still trying to get my head above water over here. Plenty of food and offers for food, so thank you all! Lilla needs prayers. I think she is struggling a lot and it is coming out in the form of attention seeking of any kind. We are trying to respond well and I am trying to pay good proactive attention to her but it is hard with a 5 yeard old who acts like a 3 year old around. She and Song Yi are playing better together so that is good. Today we did lacing cards, watercolor, walked to the park and lake and fed the ducks, ate lunch and read books and now they are resting. Jake and Landon did the playground and lake part and now they are happily playing video games with daddy. I have been cleaning out the suitcases and drinking coffee :-). Song Yi's feet are hurting and she is wanting bandaids all over them and it is driving me crazy, especially since the reason her feet hurt is she has been insisting on using these high heeled dress up shoes as her slippers! We finally hid them this morning so she can't do that anymore. Anyway, we're alive, but didn't make it to church.

I am just wondering if anyone has ever died of jet lag. We were exhausted all day yesterday but only took a 2 hour nap around noon-2pm. Last night, the girls went to bed around 8pm and the rest of us around 9pm. I woke up at 11pm (yes 2 hours later) and I saw Song Yi in the bathroom, already up. I never really fell asleep very long after that and I heard the girls playing off and on after that too. I finally got up at 4am. Ugh!!! We took a 2.5 hour nap today and forced ourselves up at 2:30pm. Tonight we will try melatonin. We aren't really taking visitors right now because of this but maybe we will be at church tomorrow. After all if we wake up at 4am, why not? I can see why sleep deprivation is a torture device...

How about another round of pictures? Sorry we couldn't get more up here while we were in China. Between being busy, bad bandwidth and expensive Internet at the hotel and having to VPN through work (since Facebook, Blogspot and many many others are blocked in China) - it was painful to get stuff posted.


Mama does some shopping for Chinese outfits at Jordon's while the girls enjoy some popsicles...


Posing together at the Chen Family Temple/Museum/Homesite. They tolerated each other for about the 2 seconds you see here... :)




This was the typical scene if we ended up eating in the room - which was a lot. Invariably, Song Yi was the last one putting it away. I don't know where she puts all that food.


Lilla posing with her new outfit...


... and Song Yi, too. (note the Hello Kitty tennis shoes. These are not traditional Chinese garb.)


By the time we got to posing in front of the fountain with our guide, Helen, most of the kids were more than done. It was getting too hot in those outfits, even in the hotel lobby.


Zonked out on the plane. Katy only took this picture because that's Song Yi's foot next to Lilla's face. They slept like this for more than an hour and every time Song Yi moved, she was kicking Lilla. But Lilla was so tired, she never even noticed.


Yay! Welcome home! Thanks to the Pilkentons and McCauleys for the welcome home balloons, banner and Dan for the food!

Well, it is 6:45am on Friday and we are all up over here at the Tubesing house. Our trip yesterday went very well (all considering) so thank you to whoever prayed. So on the flight from Guangzhou to Beijing, Lilla and Song Yi were content drawing (and making Mark and I draw) most of the time, so that was easy, and they also both slept for about an hour. In Beijing, we had a pretty short layover, so we walked around a bit and couldn't find much food, only duty free shops. We had to spend the rest of our RMB, so Mark bought juice for all which unfortunately was confiscated at the gate even though we bought the juice after we went through security...

We stayed healthy, we caught all of our flights, and we even got upgraded to "Economy Plus" on the Beijing-Chicago leg (aka the way economy seats used to be configured before they started wedging people in like sardines). So we had a little extra legroom and space to spread out on the long flight. Thankfully they fixed our seats as they originally had Song Yi sitting by herself about 4 rows up! Song Yi liked the in seat entertainment and tried to take the ear buds provided by the airline from all her neighboring passengers. Besides having to take Song Yi to the potty about 85 times, the flight went smoothly. I am so glad to be home where I don't have to squeeze myself and child into a 2 x 2 disgusting bathroom, all while one of them is screaming (sometimes me) because the potty is dirty, loud or the seat is too big.

Song Yi slept about 7 hours total on the flight and Lilla slept about 4. Mark and I slept about an hour or so each unfortunately. They did really well and enjoyed sticking stickers on paper more than you would think possible. And they each ate about 5 Dum Dums suckers which always helps pass the time. I feel certain that Song Yi has had more sugar in the last 2 weeks than in the rest of her life. I feel kinda bad about that...

If this post seems incoherent it is because I am stopping every 1.5 minutes to talk to the kids, put on a band-aid, tell someone she can't get in the fireplace, protect the guinea pig...you get the idea. Song Yi is intellectually 5 years old, but because of the language barrier and her lack of life experience, it is more like having a 3 year old for now.

So landing in Chicago we felt so good like, ahhh back in the USA, the journey is nearly over, there's no place like home. WELL, not so fast. It was a poorly run nuthouse. First we were told by our agency several different times that we had to get in the VISITOR line to go through customs because of Song Yi's passport (M:She travels on a Chinese passport with US Visa for the time being). So we did. And apparently it is generally known to be the line where all cultures where shoving and breaking in line is okay. Besides some well behaved Australians I noticed, it was a jostle fest. (M: I think this is definitely one of those cultural things where we think of Asians as very ordered and fair. That is apparently a Japanese convention. Chinese...ahh... not so much.) We had to vigilantly keep our place in line and the line was LONG. We were there for about an hour and a half. With 2 tired 5 year olds, one too big to carry, one who doesn't want to move when the line moves (which makes it easy to jump us in line). FINALLY our travel mates, the Hales, flagged down an officer who said we could actually be in the citizen line. I actually called out Praise the Good Lord!! when she told us. So the officer who finally looked at our paperwork was very nice.

Then we had to claim our bags and and go to some "pen" and wait with other people who were trying to get green cards or become citizens. One lady told us she had been there nearly 3 hours. We hadn't had any water in several hours and the kids had HAD IT. The officers were kind of rude and I did feel so bad for the people who had been through who knows what to get to that point in life. One man who didn't speak much English was trying to ask an officer about food for his baby and the officer was like so? We didn't see water or bathrooms. Anyway, apparently and fortunately for us adoptions get bumped to the front of the line so we got out of there pretty quick. We then had to take our bags through customs and a security scan. Then we had to go to some madhouse of a rechecking luggage area where a lady was just kind of yelling out, drop your checked bags and go get your flight! (M: And the poor Chinese travel group didn't appear to have an English guide, so they were VERY confused. Did we mention it was nutty? Crazy airports and disoriented travelers are not what you look forward to after only having 2 hours of sleep in the last 24...)

So we did and then had to catch a train to the proper terminal. At this point I could tell Song Yi was like what the $%#@ is going on here! After the train we had to wait in line again with 2 very tired 5 year olds and go through security AGAIN and at this point we were so thirsty I was about delirious. So even though we had a 3 hour layover, as we got to our gate, the plane was boarding! Mark ran and bought us some water and popcorn and I thought so help me if they confiscate this water I will cry! They didn't thankfully and we got on the plane. I spent most of my time back and forth in the potty which was mercifully clean. Song Yi says something that sounds like wo wo liao for potty and it is usually in a panicked voice. So now whenever Mark and I have to go, we like to say WO WO LIAO!!!

Ahhh, landed in the ATL and immediately saw grammy and grampy waiting for us. Song Yi went right to them and said Hello! Then we saw granddaddy and she went right to him and gave a hug. Lilla was happy to see some familiar faces too. Remember the madhouse bag rechecking area? Apparently one of our bags was misloaded in the melee and it was not in Atlanta when we were. We are hoping to get that early today. Okay have to let Mark finish this one...Lilla is actually going to school today for a little meet the teacher time. (M: consider it finished for now. :) I'm so exhausted and the day hasn't even started.)

Mark: It's Tuesday morning and I think Baba has officially been downgraded from Most Favored Parent status... Oh well, it was fun while it lasted. :) As Katy told another family at breakfast this morning, we are officially out of the Honeymoon Period. (K: It's like okay, now we're together forever, let's deal with it!) She is still very sweet, but definitely acting at least a year younger than her real age. She is testing more and more and becoming defiant at times - like trying to get her dressed before breakfast. Suddenly, all the clothes that she picked out at the store are no longer what she wants to wear... It's typical 5 or 4-year old girl behavior, but since we can't communicate and explain rationally, it sometimes makes the "stand-offs" last a bit longer. We expected this (and actually, potentially much worse) so it's no surprise.

(K: I don't think he's been downgraded, I think she is just checking to see what happens if she gives us the cold shoulder--do we give it back? We don't. In fact just 2 nights ago I was holding her and she said Mama Ai Wo, Baba Ai Wo, which means Mama loves me, Daddy loves me. I think she feels good with us but is just acting normal. I think how bratty would most kids seem sometimes especially when you don't know them, or what they've been through or even what they are saying! But I have had to put her down and not carry her a few times because she has pulled my hair or flicked me in the face. I just put her down and say No Hurts! Ouch! And get her to say Sorry even though she doesn't know the word, she understands what is going on. We have also realized that when she is hungry she gets very squirrely, so we have to watch that.)

We're nearing the end of the trip and we're all feeling restless and ready to be home. Some consistency in schedule and routine would help Song Yi and would definitely be good for Lilla, too. We're getting a bit stir-crazy being in the same hotel for 11 nights with only so many things to distract and keep two girls busy... We hate to complain, but we're ready to leave our suite at this resort. :) Time to be home.

K: PLEASE Pray for us on the trip home. It is a very long trip, even longer than our way over since we have to fly Guangzhou to Beijing with a few hours' layover before we even get to the Beijing-Chicago-Atlanta portion. It is weird to think that Song Yi probably won't even be speaking much Chinese this time next year (we'll try, but historically, most kids don't keep their language). We are taking her from what she knows and I know it is meant to be but I do feel a certain amount of guilt.

M: This afternoon, we will have our US Consulate appointment where we make an oath to care for our adopted child and to love them as our own. We do this with our whole travel group. It's a very official step, but from the same experience with Lilla, it's a lot of formality and a lot of effort (waiting, walking, waiting) for the process. In the meantime, once again, we are faced with the question of "so - what do we do now?" Thankfully, as I'm looking out the window, I see pretty clear skies (as clear as they get in this city, anyway) - so maybe the pool will be a good option today. We may need to shop again to get rid of some of our Yuan since we can't convert back to $US. What a quandry! How will I ever spend all this money?? :)

Hi all--Katy here. It's nap time and we hear two sets of snoring even though there has been a storm going on for the last hour. (Mark: storm - more like monsoon. I looked out the window and all I saw was the white of blowing, howling wind, rain and lightning.) Lilla and Song Yi both sleep pretty soundly. Once they fall asleep that is...last night they were laughing and chatting in here until about 10pm. They seem to be interacting more and entertaining themselves together. Lilla is doing a very good job of standing her ground but being kind. Yesterday (Saturday) we walked around the hotel after breakfast and Song Yi kept trying to drag me somewhere so finally I just followed her and she led us all the way out to the pool. She started taking her clothes off to get in! I had to tell her that she could not swim until after she saw the doctor. I am not sure of the exact rules or how it would even be known that we let her swim, but we are not taking that risk! They said no swimming until after the appointment Saturday, so we obey. I think they have thoughts about shots and pools. It wouldn't surprise me--no putting your towel on the towel table, no shirts in the water, no sitting on the steps, no cameras, no outside food, no floats in the big pool...so many rules that are strictly enforced. ANYWAY, she was very sad about that and we got two different workers to explain to her in Chinese that we could swim later. She finally unhappily went back inside with us and we went to our appointment. On the way, a very kind shop owner said he would pray for Hope and her eyes.

After the appointment (TB test/x-ray good, we said already I think! Yea!) we went swimming of course. Song Yi was sooo happy. Then we ate lunch, napped and went back to the pool but it started raining really hard so we came back up and let her take a really long bath. Since Lilla is a big girl now, she said she prefers the shower. We let them do dry erase marker on the wipe off boards I brought, but after the no-mess of Color Wonder, it was too crazy trying to keep them sitting and writing only on the boards so we had to put that away. Our Beijing travel group is back together again (Mark: quick explanation: families travel to the province of their child's orphanage and then all American families have to exit China via Guangzhou. Since Song Yi's orphanage was here in Guangdong province, we have been here the whole time.) so most of us went to dinner. It rained again so we just went to Lucy's next door. Song Yi was pouty about something and took my menu and proceeded to point to every item and say she did not like it! In the end she was fine and we had a good dinner. Lilla didn't eat much of her food, and Song Yi picked each and every piece of onion and cabbage out of her noodles and then proceeded to eat all of Lilla's leftover fries - careful to dip each one in ketchup. What have we done?! She also asks for Coke now when we see it but we only let them have a sip or two. (Mark: I wanted to take a picture of Song Yi taking a huge swig of Coke from a bottle to send back to the orphanage, but that would probably be cruel... ;) )

Back at the room, we tried to get them settled down to watch a Kai Lan video, but Song Yi was playing and annoying Lilla so Mark took her to the other room to read a book. It was a book called Goodnight Gorilla that we love. She chattered and chattered. Mark said she was comparing how long the giraffe's neck was to the other animals. (Mark: She loves to look at books and she will actually sit and allow someone to read to her. She had a great time looking at each page. It's such a nice break from some other 5-year-old I know who has the book reading attention span of a crack-addicted flea.)

This morning we went to breakfast and Lilla wore her new fancy pink dress and black patent (pleather?) shoes. No dresses for Song Yi! Song Yi ate SO much of the salty veggie in her congee, along with bacon, banana, watermelon, a yogurt and OJ. We sat for an hour waiting for her to be done. Then we met up with our very sweet guide and group for shopping. Very expensive government jade store (some same items I got with Ann for 4-5 times the price) was first. Song Yi told our guide her name is Song Yi and she doesn't like Hope. We have been trying to call her Hope Song Yi but she corrects me and says BAO Song Yi (BAO is the last name of all the kids from her orphanage). Oh well. We will try again later.

Today, in English, she said "You like it?" "Thank you baba" "Lilla potty?" "Wo yao water" and last night she said "Goodnight" (M: over and over as we read Goodnight Gorilla). Oh and how could I forget?! Last night when I put her to bed and said "wo ai ni" which means I love you, she said Wo ai ni back! That was a first. She still wipes off my kisses whenever she can. Mark says she doesn't wipe off his. Oh and she said "wo bu yao, xie xie" today, No Thank You and that is the first time I have heard her say thank you in Chinese.

She is still testing a good bit. This morning going to breakfast she wanted a piggy back ride so I gave her one. Then she whacked me in the head and took out her barrette and threw it. I put her down and said no hitting and showed her where her barrette went to she could pick it up. She gave her pout and crossed her arms and stood there. So I said pick up your barrette and we can finish the piggy back to breakfast and she walked away. I showed her (I am becoming quite the mime!) what I was saying and I knew she understood. So I just looked away and waited and after a few minutes she came over slowly and I could tell she was looking for the barrette so I showed her and she picked it up and handed it to me. So I gushed all over with thank you and picked her up and we went to breakfast. We have a few of those moments every day.

Really she is doing very well, and I can tell she trusts us and feels comfortable so we are trying not to start any bad habits of complete disobedience, hitting, grabbing and are trying to curb the screaming. She screams when she thinks she will fall in the potty (okay, I can understand that one), screams when Lilla touches her stuff, so we tell her to say No or wo bu yao instead. (Mark: hmmmm... I don't know about "screaming". That's what she did on day 1 at the civil affairs office. I haven't heard that noise since, thank goodness. I would call it whining or squealing.)

Today at the store, she picked out all kinds of things for her two ge ge's (big brothers). She made sure there was 2 of everything! I got one pack of gum, a strange flavor we don't have, to show them and she kept telling me something about the gum. I thought she wanted her own pack so for $.30 we were like, fine and we got another pack and she said ge ge, ge ge and held up the 2 packs, one for each. So sweet! One family in our group has 2 adorable boys about Jake and Landon's ages and she is fascinated by these boys. I think she will LOVE having Jake and Landon who are already quite experienced at being big brothers to a little sister.

Lilla really misses Jake and Landon too. She tells us all the time. Oh another funny thing, we were looking at pictures of Jake and Landon and she pointed to where we keep the computer! She wanted to Skype them. It was too late though and I tried to tell her they would be asleep. When we Skyped the other day, Landon was still sleeping but Jake was up, and Song Yi kept poking Jake on the computer screen trying to get his attention so he would look at her stuff. She showed him her photo album, glasses, phone and other things. It was really cute. We haven't been able to talk to Jake and Landon much because the girls are always mysteriously hard to manage right as we turn our attention from them....

Mark: Thursday morning was the medical exam. Fortunately, Song Yi only needed 2 shots and the TB skin test. Helen told me that Song Yi cried for the TB test, but did not cry at all when she got the other 2 shots. (Katy: when Helen told her that all kids who go to America have to have these shots, she said "hau ah" not sure how to spell it, but it is like okay, right. And she didn't cry. But she showed me over and over her TWO shots and stickers and candy she got. All the nurses and doctors said she was very sweet and cooperative. She was not able to do the vision test because she didn't understand how to turn her hand to look like the picture. I think she can see well out of her eye though because she was stringing beads with no problem)

Friday, the keyword for the day was "SWEATY". I can't remember the last time I produced so much sweat in a single day. We started off the day with a visit to the Guangzhou City Zoo. As much as I was dreading the possibility of a really horrible city zoo, we were very pleasantly surprised. It was a beautiful park in the middle of the city and the animal habitats were very well maintained and kept. We got to see gorillas, monkeys, tigers, lions, bears, zebras, giraffes, and more. Song Yi was very excited to see all the animals. There was new drama as Helen had borrowed a stroller since we were very tired of carrying the Princess around everywhere. We had Helen explain to Song Yi in Chinese that mama and baba's arms were getting tired and it was too hot to carry her all day. She agreed to ride in the stroller. But... of course, the other family Princess wanted stroller time, too (although she barely can squeeze herself into one). So, we went back and forth with the Princesses taking turns in the stroller. By the end of our time at the zoo, we all had sweat dripping off of our faces and completely soaking our clothes.

Helen then had the driver take us to a noodle house near the zoo. Wow! Fresh-made noodles and dumplings - delicious! (Katy: I actually saw a place like this on Food Network or somewhere. They make the noodles several yards long for good luck). Like at the zoo, we didn't see any other white folk around, so we were the staring targets for the morning. (K: and being a restaurant not marketed to westerners--took 2 girls twice to the squatty potty--now that is a workout) We fought to keep the girls awake in the van as we drove back to the hotel. We put them down for a nap and Katy took off to go shopping with a guide. (K: Ann at Red Threads--all I can say is wow. I got about 25 jade pendants, 6 pairs jade earrings, 7 jade bead bracelets, 3 sets [necklace, earrings, bracelet] very good quality pearls, 5 lower quality pearl necklaces, 7 sets of pearl earrings, a mah jong set, chess set, wooden box, fortune sticks game and a cab ride for about $300--if you are going to China, put on your tennis shoes, get your list ready and try to keep up with her! I did not see one non-Chinese person where we were) When Katy came back from her shopping expedition (2 hours later), she was once again completely drenched in sweat. She had walked all the way back to the hotel from the shopping center carrying all her purchases. At least she brought us some popsicles from the convenience store (we found a cheap store - NOT the 7-11, where the Chinese people go. We can get 4 popsicles for 4 Yuan, not 4 Yuan each....a 20-oz Coke for 3.5 Yuan, about 50 cents... and maybe a 40-oz TsingTao for 4 Yuan.. :) ) . She decided to take a shower at that point (which was totally premature).

(K: yes it was because after some silly putty time, we went out to drop off our laundry and get another stroller--we learn fast! Then we walked to the playground and 5 minutes later we were about 5 pounds lighter--all sweat! After playing a bit, we went to eat at a Thai restaurant. So funny there were no white people there either. It was the theme for the day--please stare at us. It was delicious but we ordered way too much food. A cute grandma next to us made motions that she was so happy we had Lilla and Song Yi. She pointed to her heart and us and later asked Meiguo? Which is-America? And I said yes. It was very sweet. Speaking of grandmas we get so cracked up at Song Yi. She wears her slippers/flip flops around and will not set foot in the bathroom without them.

I am feeling for Lilla--we are trying to be sure Song Yi doesn't monopolize our time and attention. And I have been encouraging Lilla not to let her take things from her. For example in the bath tonight, Song Yi had 9 water bottles and Lilla had one and I asked Song Yi to share and she did but later she kept trying to take them back and I told Lilla to tell her NO. Okay, tired, girls asleep, going to bed!!)

Jake and Landon--we miss you! Have fun at the beach!!