We did make it home

OK so quick update.  We did make it home.

It has been one full week since Ryan has made it officially to the house.  On Friday March 25th Ryan, Danielle and our sister in law, Kelly, made it into Boise at about 7 pm.  We left the airport and went directly to the ER in Boise.  Ryan was suffering from dehydration, malnutrition and RSV.  So the admitted her and she spent her first two nights in the US at the children's hospital in Boise. 

She was released one week ago Sunday and finally made it home.  Needless to say she regressed somewhat, and I can't blame her.  She was tired, hungry, people were in her business poking, prodding, checking, re-checking for 48 straight hours.

I can say that one week on now and she has really come around.  I will say at 13 pounds and 28 inches long, she is a peanut.  We are slowly introducing hew foods to her and last night she ate mashed potatoes and we are slowing trying to keep new things coming and move from the bottle. 

Today we did have her cardiology appointment and finished the day with a visit to the pediatrician.  The cardiologist is encouraged and is optimistic that she is a candidate for surgery.  She did say that it is typical to wait 8-12 weeks post RSV before surgery, however given the circumstances she is going to push us for the end of April.  Will keep you  posted on the surgery front.

The pediatrician is keeping Ryan on a nebulizer (sp?) that will administer meds to help relieve the RSV symptoms. 

Ryan had a busy day and was great to be able to take the day off and be there for the "big" appointments. 

I am giving myself a goal of one posting per week.  We will see how that goes.

More to come.

By the way, this picture is the first picture with all three girls and it was the night we got out of the hospital and finally home.

I am outta here.....

It is hard to keep the days straight but....
All I know is that tomorrow the taxi picks me up at 2:30 pm to begin my trip home.  I am wishing that I could have stayed the entire trip but just not enough time and it will be great to be home with the Jessica and Kate (sure do miss those two).

This morning we didn't have to be going until 9:30 am so we took a late  breakfast.  It was nice to be a little lazy this morning and enjoy our time together.  From breakfast we went out to a new Museum that is home to exhibits of the many minority groups of the Guangxi province.  It is a very nice exhibit and a great way to be out of the room for some time.  Afterwards it was off to a minority artisan market. At the market, Danielle (and I) proceeded to go on a shopping spree. We haven't really done that before and it was a lot of fun. We made several purchases for Ryan to give to her when she is older; tea set, silver hair pieces, hand woven brocade scarf, silver dragon necklace and ear rings (framed), her chop (stamp), and I think a couple of other items that I can't think of right now.

Afterward it was back to the hotel for lunch.  We asked our guide, Cindy, to join us and we all enjoyed another great dinning experience. 

I will talk a little bit about Ryan Grace now.  She is awesome!  She reminds me more and more of her sister Jessica.  Her expressions, actions....I don't know, just something about her.  She is a tiny little peanut, if the scales worked we figure she is 16 pounds and is barely hits me above the knee.  She walks, but almost prefers to be carried (and we comply).  She laughs, has a great sense of humor and I cannot wait for her to meet her sisters.  As far as eating she is still on a bottle although we are giving her solids and we know that she will eat the heck out of plain white rice, and chocolate. 

I had forgotten how tired Jessica used to get.  Danielle and I have been talking and we remember that Jessica used to sleep about 14 hours per day.  Ryan and Jessica have similar heart defects, and it was not until after her surgery that Jessica began to keep "normal" hours.  It was not until after surgery that Jessica began to put on weight and I know the same will be for Ryan. 

We also have learned that Ryan has not received one immunization yet.  According  to the orphanage director they were concerned about immunizations and how that would affect her heart.  Needless to say when we get home we are going to be keeping everything very low key until we get through surgery.  Danielle already has appointments with the pediatrician and our pediatric cardiologist (I say our cardiologist only because she has treated all of our daughters).  Danielle will be taking her in as soon as we get home. 

Ryan has turned out to be a daddy's girl and I am not arguing as I have not yet had a daddy's girl this early in the process.  I have to say I am loving it and will be sad to leave Ryan, Danielle and Kelly behind. 

All in all it has been a great trip and we have been so happy to have Ryan in our family.  It just feels right.

Taking the silver necklace and earrings out of the frame.
Now we need to get it reframed when we are home. 

Ryan finally starting to show her personality



Silly girl



Such a happy girl

Just Pictures

So I didn't get a post written.  I  am totally slacking on this trip, but between Danielle's blog and mine we are posting once a day.  Since I am not going to post text, I am simply going to add photos.

Beautiful Girl

Walking down the hallway



Finally eating, granted my chopstick skills are not the best, but she won't eat with a fork.


Outside the orphanage

Guiping, China

Countryside

My turn

Last night I fell asleep early and did not get anything posted.  Had to leave that first post to Danielle.

MeiLi is great!  So, so, so tiny.  Nothing but skin and bones.  We know it is due to her heart defect and we can't wait to get her back to Idaho and begin medical treatment.  She is perfect in every way.  Funny little personality and an attitude to match.  I  do believe she will fit in well with her older sisters.

Perhaps I should step back and review yesterday.  In the morning we ventured out to a Walmart.  Where Kelly was taking a few pictures and then got the "business" from a store employee who was not impressed that she was taking photos.  Way to go KA.  However we were able to go about our business and complete the shopping adventure with no other interruptions.  Then it was back to the hotel, the taxi rides were about 20 minutes and cost about US$3 so not too bad.  I have to say that it was nice to be out on the own.  Danielle and I keep saying we are glad this is our third adoption and that we have been through the process before because if we were reliant upon our "guide" we would be in big trouble.  She definitely is uninvolved in the entire deal, she is there only when she needs to be.

After the return to the hotel we got organized, felt like throwing up, continued to get organized and continued to fight nerves.  We went to the Civil Affairs office at 2:45 and we received MeiLi at about 3:15.  Again we were the last family to receive our daughter, but save the best for last right?  Anyhow there are about four other American families who are adopting (not in our group) and about four families from Spain.  We told Aunt kelly to lay low around the Spaniards, she being Basque we don't want any trouble.

Ryan (MeiLi) did so well on the hand off.  Went to Danielle with no problem very quiet and just taking it all in.  We had the opportunity to ask a few questions to the director of the orphanage, but like every other time there was no new news.  Ryan is just awesome. 

She hasn't really cried much, other than when we lay her down for a nap.  She is still on the bottle and does not have an interest in solid food other than crackers.  That is OK by us as our other two daughters never took bottles and we will cherish the time to feed her with the bottle. 

Today we went back to the Civil Affairs office and answered a few questions, went through the formality of paperwork.  As of 10 am Jin MeiLi officially became Ryan Grace MeiLi Hough.  We are now her parents and she is our daughter.  Our guide is applying for her passport this afternoon and we should have it Friday night. 

Before coming back to the hotel we stopped  and picked up Pizza Hut and now Ryan (and Danielle) are napping.  Once they wake up we are headed over to a local shopping center to pick up a few more supplies and just get out of the room.  The weather today has been cold and rainy (by cold I mean 50 degrees).  It is a nice day to just lay low and let everything settle.

No pics

We cannot get pictures to post, we will work on it.

Honk Kong and Beyond

I am posting from nanning this morning.  We made it last night at got to the hotel at 11 pm.  So we meet Ryan today at 3 pm.

I wanted  to go back and post about yesterday in Hong Kong. 

On our last day we  took the Star ferry over to Hong Kong Island (from Kowloon) and we walked to a series of escalators that go up the hill.  We rode almost to the top and had to stop for a beer and lunch.  I have to say the beer tasted good and that Auntie kelly had spied an Irish brew pub.  It was fun and a great moment to stop and enjoy the morning.

From there we walked through a few alleys on our way to the double decker tram system.  We didn't know where we were going other than Danielle was insistant that we go to the local outdoor market and check it out.  We did stumble upon the area.  It was fun but I have to say it was a little on the sensory overload.  Lots of people, smells, sounds, sights. 

We decided to walk back to the pier and catch the ferry over Victoria Harbor to Kowloon.

It was an enjoyable day and a nice way to finish off our time in Hong Kong. 

You will have check back in the morning for our post on Ryan.

OK So It Is 3:45 am

....and we are wide awake.  Those following Danielle's blog, I can confirm that it is true.  She left her Kindle on the airplane and no luck on getting it back (we are still making phone calls).

I will tell you about yesterday.  Up at 6 am and early breakfast.  We were off to take the Star ferry to HK Island and find a different connection to Lantaue Island where there is a Buddhist monastery and the largest sitting bronze Buddha plus the longest running tram in Asia at 3.5 miles.

After the tram ride we grabbed a quick lunch and then caught the subway back to Kowloon area where we are staying.

We made a pact that when we got back to hotel we would go to Starbucks and get coffee so we would not fall asleep.  You can guess how well that worked out for us.  We were all asleep by 5 pm and now it is almost 4 am and we are wide awake.

Enjoy the photos.