Perspective

Has anything ever made you realize how much you take things in your life for granted?  Last night at a little after midnight we walked Kora into her new home.  We immediately took her to her bedroom and something caught her eye that I guess shouldn't have shocked me after our recent adventures.  The fan.  She stared and pointed at it as we watched her reaction.  She then wanted down from her Nee-Nee's arms and we followed her as she ran from room to room with the biggest smile on her face.  She was chattering the entire time.  She must have touched and played with every surface or object she could get her hands on.  My mom described it so perfectly....she walked around as if she knew this was where she was meant to be. It made me look at my past life and what is now her life in a totally different perspective.   

I will back up a little. The train to Hong Kong was a little stressful, but it went quickly.  This is the one part of the trip that we knew we would be on our own.  Grace dropped us off and gave us great instructions, but we now had to think and do everything for ourselves.  If you can imagine the luggage for a family of five for two weeks, now imagine Bill and I having to handle most of it and Kora.  Up to now, we have been with other families or Grace who picked up the slack thankfully.  This we had to do on our own until we get home.  Billy was amazing with his carry on back pack and usually would take one of the suitcases.  The only thing he would complain about is how every time he looked at Karsyn she seemed to be empty handed. So that meant that Bill and I had to juggle the other four suitcases and four carry one bags.  Let's just say that by the time I arrived at our house, I literally had cuts in my shoulders from the trip. 

Once we were on the train it was all about keeping Kora happy and content.  Billy and I sat with her and we did our job.  We were able to see the surrounding area of Hong Kong and the city as we were arriving at the station.  Amazing!  It is one of the most colorful and massive cities I have ever been to.  We managed to get the luggage up to the street area where we had to catch a taxi to our hotel and not lose a child in the process.  It was extremely crowded and busy.  Directly across from the train station was a big convention center that was having a popular concert so there were people rushing to get over to it. Thankfully Grace was right and most people spoke English, because we had to keep asking people where to go. As we were approaching the line to get a taxi, we must have stood out because a gentleman came up to Bill and asked us if we needed a taxi to one of the airport hotels.  Luckily he had a van that all the luggage fit in. He kept us laughing the entire way to our hotel and shared many stories about his life and Hong Kong's history.  It was 8 O'clock by the time we arrived so we just grabbed a quick bite to eat in one of the hotel restaurants and went to bed.  

We just walked over to the airport in the morning and after a two hour check in process followed by a quick breakfast at McDonalds, we were finally going home.  I will never be able to describe to you the feeling of pure joy we all felt as that plane took off.  Thanks to all my prayer warriors, Kora did fantastic the entire trip.  There were only a couple of times that I was scared she was going to lose it but it never came. She just played and ate and slept and ate some more.  I know everyone who was on the trip with us who reads this is not believing me right now, but I swear it happened.  I could do nothing but thank God over and over.  Billy and Karsyn did great as well. 

We landed in Chicago and Kora officially became a US citizen.  Very cool moment for the kids and us. 

Unfortunately, in Chicago we had to take our luggage back from baggage claim, go back through the check in line for our flight to Jacksonville, and then take the kids back through security.  They then switched our gate on us twice and the last time it was to an entirely different terminal.  That meant hauling our luggage all over the airport.  We also had a six hour lay-over so we were in desperate survival mode.  After our fourteen hour flight we were all just so exhausted and ready to be home.  Somehow we survived and only had a two hour flight ahead of us. Again, Kora did so good.  She just hung out standing up in the aisle most of the time by whoever had food for her.  Then it happened.  Had to know it was coming.  We were about to make the descent down and the stewardess told me she had to sit.  Well Kora didn't want to sit.  So Kora screamed and kicked for the last ten minutes of the flight. That was it.  Only ten minutes out of sixteen hours of flights.  I can handle that.  And we were home! 

As we walked out of the terminal, we could see our family waiting for us.  Kora just sat on my hip with a death grip on my arm as she stared at everyone.  She managed to give a few high fives to my brothers and her cousins and smiled at everyone, but she wasn't going to leave mine or Bill's arms for anything.  We had been warned about the reaction she might have to her car seat since they don't use them in China, but she loved it.  She just sang to the music as loud if not louder than Karsyn all the way home.  She of course was just babbling but she was in tune.  Again, she acted like she knew this was where she was meant to be.

After she was done exploring her new home she got a bath by her Nee-Nee, and she began hamming it up.  She was giggling like crazy and running back and forth between her Beachdaddy's and everyone else's arms.  She was giving lots of kisses away too.  Then around two in the morning, she crawled up in my arms and closed her eyes and that was it for the night.  I had to wake Kora and the other two kids up today when I realized it was almost one O'clock in the afternoon.  She has had a good day playing with all her toys and visiting with family. 

I started this blog out talking about what an amazing support group our family is surrounded by. I want to end this post by sincerely thanking you all from the bottom of my heart.  When Bill and I started this process two years ago, we never would have known how much our lives were going to change.  We definitely thought about how much it would change our family dynamic and the impact Kora could have on the four of us, but what we didn't know was how much your generosity, prayers, love, and genuine heart-felt words and actions were going to affect us.  We are both overwhelmed to say the least by it all.  Thank you to Bill's and the kid's school who donated items for our garage sale and pouring your hearts into my family in so many ways, to my Interline family who left me speechless with your generosity and support and sent me many emails with encouraging words, to all my mother's friends who so diligently supported us through positive words, prayers, and donations, to our church family who prayed so many times from the decision point to bringing her home, to all of our friends who continuously supported us through all of it and most importantly to our families. I will never be able to thank our families enough for all the encouraging words when we wanted to give up when going through the incredible paper work process, for the hard work on our fundraising efforts, for the many calls reminding us to pack this or that, for listening to us during our calls from China and encouraging us throughout those two weeks, for the food that our pantry is stocked with when we arrived home, and especially for the love that you have shown this little girl from the moment we made our decision even when you didn't know her. 

As a good friend of mine said one day when I was overwhelmed by the support...."It takes a village to raise a child" and Kora is one lucky girl to have this big and strong of one to surround her. 

Lazy Days

So our last couple of days in Guangzhou have been pretty laid back.  We had no scheduled tours so we were able to sleep in and just hang out. We have heard so much about the parks around the hotel to see, but it has rained here non-stop since we arrived.  The hotel even has an outdoor playground for the kids which they have sparingly been able to go visit. 

We did get to take a few pictures of the kids in their traditional Chinese outfits.  I had to bribe Billy to even wear this and had to swear that none of his friends would get to see this.  LOL.  Just don't tell him that I put it on here and that I am saving our best one for the Christmas card this year. 

One night we decided to go to the Japanese steakhouse here in the hotel lobby with the Motley Crew.  The kids kept asking for fire and Japanese egg rolls, which we of course never got.  Obviously that is an American Japanese thing.  The food was actually very good. 

The next morning we had our US Consulate appointment which went very well.  We were in and out and back at the hotel by ten in the morning.  This is the last official step to get Kora home.  They will now process her Visa to get back to the states which we pick up today at 3:30pm.  Then we take a train to Hong Kong for one night and wake up to catch a flight home Saturday morning.  It is hard to believe that we will be on a plane this time tomorrow.  All my prayer warriors need to be really praying for the flight back with Kora.  I think we have enough snacks to pacify her as much as humanly possible, but you just never know.

That same night we had a party in the Motley suite.  It had stopped raining long enough for us to get to the park after the little ones went down for a nap.  The trees around the water were beautiful.

Then the kids got to get a good playground trip in before baths. We then enjoyed room service pizza, stories about our lives, and many laughs. We are going to miss them a ton, but know that this is not going to be the last they will get to see of the Ford clan.  Houston here we come! 

Bye for now.  I will let you know how the plane trip goes in a couple of days and what Kora thinks of her new home in Florida. 

 

Smiles and Kisses

Everyday I have taken many pictures of Kora and have hoped to capture what we get to see live, but she wouldn't smile for the camera.  Well after eating a smorgasbord of food for breakfast (she even ate lots of bacon), shopping for a couple of hours, and then eating four plates of lunch (they serve everything on smaller plates) this girl was happy.  She started off by smiling for the camera and by the end she was laughing and giving us all kisses. 

And my favorite........

My heart is melting for this little girl. 

For the love of apples

The last couple of days we have started each day out with an amazing breakfast buffet that I know the kids are going to miss.  All these Chinese children are going to have some adjusting to do when we get back to the United States and find out that they don't get breakfast like this every day. 

Yesterday we went to the Guangdong Folk Ars Museum.  We were able to see some very different art work. Not the most kid friendly place to be, but it got us out of the hotel for half a day.  One thing that we have discovered with Kora is that she loves apples.  Bill has to eat all the skin off of them first, but then she eats them until there is nothing but seeds.  It is quite a show. Everyday at the breakfast buffet Bill and I are smuggling apples and bananas so that we have them at her beck and call.   

Next we went to the Pearl market where there is tiny store after tiny store of jewelry stores.  It was five stories high.  That is a lot of jewelry in one place.  They all pretty much sold the same things, but Grace took us to one where she knew the owner.  I have never bought pearls in the states, but I am assuming we got a good deal.

For dinner we finally got our Mexican food.  Tequila's in China might be one of the best meals I have ever eaten.  LOL. I think I have said that about McDonalds everytime we have eaten it here too.  We went as a group and enjoyed a nice evening out.  Kora ate and ate.  I joked to Bill that she has passed the Ford test and can now come home with us.  I don't think there was anything that she didn't like.  

Karsyn also had a sleep-over last night in China.  She spent the night with McKayla and the rest of the Motley Crew.  She said that it was the best night sleep she has had since she got here. Kora has slept through the entire night every night except last night so it looks like Karsyn has to stick with us for the rest of the trip.   

We woke up this morning and took a bus to a Buddhist temple.  Grace explained that there are three Buddhas that they pray to.  One for the past, one for the present, and then one for the future.  They were huge and ornate, but we weren't allowed to take pictures so I will leave it to the imagination.  

We came back to the hotel afterwards for lunch and naps and this afternoon we have to take Kora back to the clinic to get the results of her TB test. Not sure what the dinner plans are tonight, but I have heard that there is a great Italian restaurant around here.   

Back On

We are back to civilization.  We landed in Guangzhou late last night and was so glad to see that we finally were able to connect to the internet.  I am not sure why after one day in Hefei, the internet would only allow us to go to certain sites.  Bill was happy that he could get to ESPN, but I couldn't get to any of my sites. 

I figured that I would make up for lost time and go back to where I left off. 

Gotcha Day (day 4)
I guess it has been awhile because it took about an hour to decide what to pack in a diaper bag.  By then it was time to walk out of the hotel.  We said our last prayer as a family of four and off we went.  I am not sure why I thought the civil affairs office would be much nicer than what we drove to.  This building was extremely old and dirty.  We walked up four flights of stairs in the dark and finally were put in a conference room that had to of been 90 degreees.  It was barely two minutes before a little girl walked into the room holding the hand of an orphanage director.  I recognized her right away and got down on my knees to slowly approach her. 

The video is first being filmed by Bill and then one of the other fathers took the camera from him and filmed this one...

I will spare you the next one, but will tell you that the other three families in the room waiting on their children to arrive were probably scared to death after they saw Kora's display.  The two ladies from the orphanage began to leave and although Kora had been living with a foster family, they visited the orphanage often.  When she saw them leaving, she immediately began to scream.  And scream.  And scream.  I walked with her writhing in my arms up and down this dingy hallway.  She kept wanting to go to every Chinese woman who walked by me.  Some just came and took her out of my arms and tried to calm her down.  I am not sure it helped much.  It was about thirty minutes later when she finally fell asleep in my arms.  This was about two minutes before they came in to get us for a required picture.  And of course they needed her awake. So then she screamed for the next thirty minutes until it was time to leave.  Thank God she fell asleep on the bus ride back to the hotel.  She slept for three and a half hours in her crib in the room.  We all just stared at her and waited anxiously to see what was going to happen when she woke up. We figured she would cry some more but were pleasantly surprised when she woke up smiling.  We put her into a bath and got her out of the three layers of clothing they had her dressed in. I think I will go the rest of my life without knowing the answer to two questions....why the Chinese layer their children up no matter what the temperature and why they think squatty potty's are cleaner than regular toilets. 

Of course her first outfit was sporting Garnet and Gold.  Not sure who was more proud to feed her the first bottle.   

The rest of the day was us just playing games with many giggles.  She immediately showed her funny side by playing keep away games with Billy and Karsyn. She also switched back and forth between feeding both kids. We spent the rest of the day together as a family of five getting to know each other. 

Day 5

Today we went back to the Civil Affairs office to finalize the adoption.  We had to go into the same hot conference room and wait till the officials were ready for you. Then you had to be interviewed and approved.  And last came the notary who signed and confirmed all the paperwork. 

No body warned us that the same ladies from Kora's orphanage were going to be there when we arrived.  I knew immediately what that meant and wasn't looking forward to another goodbye. She did go straight to them but didn't show any signs of attachments.  She mostly just played with Billy and Karsyn and kept walking around the room.  At one point Kora came up to me and she had sweat dripping from her hair.  I took her coat off and stood back to watch her play.  What happened next was the first of many times over the last several days where I experienced the Chinese culture in a way that I was never really warned about throughout this process.  One of the orphanage ladies came up to me and grabbed Kora's coat out of my hand and began putting it back on her.  I quickly decided to choose my battles and just walked away.  The second time happened a few minutes later when the notary asked our guide to ask me why Karsyn was running around with so little clothes on.  When I looked over at Karsyn she had also taken her coat off and was down to only one layer of clothing.  I just told the notary that the reason was that Karsyn was hot.  She didn't seem to like that answer. Well the orphanage ladies eventually left and Kora did cry, but only for a short time.  Today someone brought a lolipop with them and handed it to me.  That worked like a charm.  

Later on that day we ventured out of the hotel with the group and our guide and walked to a nearby outdoor shopping area.  We went to Pizza Hut and ate dinner.  This was a much needed Americanized meal. 

Day 6

We finally had a free day. Our guide took one of the other families to visit their child's orphanage today so we had the whole day to ourselves.  Bill and I braved it and decided to hail a taxi to take us to the mall. Well that didn't go over so well.  The entire staff on the first floor of the hotel were laughing at us as we had to come back in to ask them to get us a taxi.  The were really nice about it and walked outside with us to hail us one and send us on our way.  

We ate lunch at McDonalds, had ice cream at Dairy Queen, and walked around for a couple of hours. It felt good to get out of the hotel.  This mall was a four story very high end mall.  We walked every floor and on the fourth floor we discovered an arcade.  Of course the kids were begging to  go in.  It seemed to go on forever and in the very back of it I spotted something that really shocked me. 

Yes that is a roller rink in the middle of a Chinese mall.  There was even a couple doing a couples skate while holding hands. 

So at this point of the trip Kora is slowly getting more comfortable with us and we are getting to know her more too.  She has a very strong minded personality and can communicate very loudly (I mean easily) her wants.  She switches every hour who she is attached to by demanding that the person (whoever it might be at that moment) hold her hand or push her stroller.  She makes us laugh constantly with this.  

Thanksgiving Day (day 7)

Thanksgiving Day we decided to go to the zoo.  They are famous for their Red Panda bears. 

The hotel actually had a very nice Thanksgiving Day buffet. All of the American families made reservations together and we enjoyed an evening celebrating together what we all had so much to be thankful for this year.  They had made a beautiful turkey and carved it right in front of us.  That was the only traditional American Thanksgiving dish served, but there were many other great dishes we were able to try.  

  

Day 8

We fly to Guangzhou and into air conditioning.  This is also the day Karsyn gets to see McKayla again. The plane ride started out well.  Kora just sat and played with all the buttons and toys around.  At one point she spilled water on her dress and began crying for me to take it off.  I debated whether or not to do it, but then for the sanity of everyone around decided that I would.  It was warm on the plane so I felt I was making the best decision.  Here comes another one of those Chinese culture moments that I just don't understand.  A woman walked by and tapped me on the shoulder and said "Don't you think that she is cold?" I looked up and just calmly replied "NO" and turned around.  In America we don't walk up to strangers and try to tell them how to parent.  So here comes the next one for the day.  We were about to land and the flight attendant asked me to put Kora back into her seat and put her seat belt back on for the landing.  She didn't take to that well and began screaming. Nothing was going to passify her except being able to get up.  After about five minutes of her screaming, a gentleman behind us took off his seat belt and came up to me and tapped me on the shoulder.  He said "excuse me...what is wrong with her?"  I looked at him and replied "she is a baby and is tired and doesn't want to be in her seat any longer." He then said to me "Don't you think that you should figure out a way to make her stop crying?" WOW!  Those that know me would have been real proud of me when all I did was say "Sir, if I knew how I would have by now." 

We finally landed and off to the hotel we went. 

Day 9

Today we had to go to the department of health to get Kora get a TB test and a physical.  This is a requirement before they will clear her for a Visa.  It went well.  She only cried for a minute after they stuck her with the needle. The rest of the day was a free day so we were able to just hang out and explore around the hotel.  The rooms are very spacious and nice.  Billy was glad to see a basketball court at the end of the garden that they have outdoors in the middle of the hotel.  There is a nice padded playground outside for the kids as well.  Hopefully the rain that we have had since we arrived will stop soon and the kids will be able to get out and play.  

All in all we are learning that we have a very strong willed child who clearly was given everything she wanted to appease her up to this point in her life.  She screams, hits, and throws herself down when she doesn't get what she wants.  The good news is that when she gets over it, she is extremely playful and full of life.  Nothing a little Aunt Kel can't fix once we get back to Florida.  

This catches us up.  I know I have left off a lot and have a million pictures and stories to tell about all that has happened up till now, but they will have to wait.    

Sleep

We landed in Hefei which is the capital city of Anhui.  The plane we flew over on was quite interesting.  The seat in front of Bill literally had an Air China sticker holding the arm of the seat together.  Karsyn's seat had the entire electrical box laying in her seat wide open.  Luckily it was less than 2 hours and we landed smoothly. 

A new guide named Georgianna met us at the airport because Grace had to stay back and take a test.  She flew in last night with another couple that is adopting.  We will meet them this morning before we go over to the Civil Affairs office to get Kora.  Yes, today is Gotcha Day!  Actually in 5 1/2 hours is Gotcha moment!

The hotel here in Hefei is their first 5 star hotel and is extremely nice. If I wasn't so tired when we arrived yesterday I would have pictures to post.  So I haven't really talked much about our sleep so far, but hopefully today will be the day that it gets a little back to normal.  China in general doesn't seem to believe in air conditioning so to our family that means no sleeping.  We are very used to freezing temperatures when we go to bed.  While in Beijing, the rooms were so hot that we slept in very short spurts and were always up by 1am to go stand outside the hotel to cool down.  Yesterday morning we all went down in short sleeve shirts and stood in the 25 degree weather until we felt ready to go back up to the steam bath.  No doubt the hotel staff thinks Americans are insane.  So today, when we arrived at the hotel in Hefei we were really hoping for better climate inside the room.  We were very disappointed when they too don't have air conditioner in the room and unlike Beijing, the windows don't even open.  However, they must not turn on the heat like Beijing because the room is naturally cooler.  We walked around the city of Hefei for a few hours, grabbed lunch, and came back for a nap.  This nap turned into an 11 hour catch up.  We are all awake again at 3 am, but at least this time we feel very rested.  I even got cold enough that I used covers on the bed for half the night.

Well I will post details later about how different the city of Hefei is from Beijing, but for now I want to eat and take a shower.  I will just tell you that I am not certain I will have many pictures to post because that will require me to take my death grip off of my children long enough to click the camera button.

Pray for Kora today.  She is leaving her mom and family of over a year to come to us.  She is no doubt going to be scared and sad.  I am hoping that having Karsyn and Billy will ease the transition for her some. I have thought of this moment over and over for two years and I pray that Kora will feel instantly all the love and security that our family has for her so that she is just a little less scared today.  

Two Peas in a Pod

It is 6:30 pm and the entire Ford clan is already asleep and snoring.  I guess sightseeing is the trick to wearing these guys out. 

The breakfast buffet in the hotel was much better than the experience the night before so it started the day off right.  And Billy got his bacon! After eating we met up with our guide and six other couples from our agency.  To our surprise one of the couples has a little girl that is Karsyn's age and as if one personality like hers isn't enough, wouldn't you know that Makayla turns out to be just like her.  They immediately were inseparable. 

This was great with us because it also meant that we had several more eyes on our kids.  Actually, all the families did an amazing job with co-parenting today. 

The first stop was The Great Wall.  This was an experience of a lifetime and breathtaking.  Literally!  I had no idea how hard it would be to climb.  It is difficult to describe how proud you feel when you get to the top and I can only imagine how proud the Chinese are of this structure.  We went to the Juyong section of the wall.  The kids made me take a picture of their last step on the way down. 

This is also where we had our first experience with squatty potties. Karsyn was so excited to try one, but she got stage fright and decided to hold it.  I have a feeling Kora is going to have to teach us how these things really work.   

After the Great Wall, Grace took us all to an Americanized Chinese restaurant.  She did all the ordering and I have to say it was the best Chinese food I have ever had. I can only hope that we can continue to find food like this.  Even Karsyn ate it up.   

Luckily we were able to drive through the Olympic village on our way to Tian an men Square and the Forbidden City.  I can remember back in 2008 and seeing the buildings on TV that were built for the events, but never dreamed that I was ever going to get the chance to see them this close.  The "Nest" was pretty cool.  

The rest of the day was spent walking through Tian an men Square and the Forbidden City.  I tried to get as many pictures as I could so that I can one day show Kora and tell her all about them both. 

The picture below is of the Two Peas in a Pod outside of the Forbidden City.  

After the long day, we talked Grace into taking us to Peking Duck for dinner.  This restaurant didn't even have forks for us to eat with and they brought out the Ducks in front of you to cut up.  It smelled good, but we decided to stick with what we knew.  So sweet and sour chicken it was. I am sure we will have plenty more time to try duck in China.  

If we didn't have to be up at 4am tomorrow I would post more pictures and give much better descriptions of the day, but I am wore out.  Tomorrow we leave for Anhui and will spend our last day together as a family of four. We have had so many laughs today and have begun what will be lifelong friendships.  We all get to go our separate ways tomorrow for about five days and when we meet up in Guanzhou it will be so amazing to get to meet all the different new additions and see how much these little lives will change each family so quickly.