Visit to the Orphanage

Today has been a very long day for us. Madelynn is a hard nut to crack. She is still very scared and will not let me out of her sight. She becomes frantic. At night, she literally sleeps on top of me. Poor girl she is so sad and mourning something terrible. We have manage to get a few smiles but that is all. We hope as the days come and go she will begin to feel more comfortable.

Today I visited the orphanage and was able to meet her foster family. Talk about emotional. Dave and I decided it would be best not to take Madelynn back because she is having such a hard time. I could tell from the time we walked in the foster mother was disappointed I did not bring her. However, I knew she understood. It was very emotional. I cried and she cried. Words can not express the feeling you have meeting the woman who has raised your child for the past year and a half. How do you say thank you.It is obvious the love she has for her. She showed me her bed and gave me her bowl and spoon. I also received a very nice picture album of her growing up.

After we visited with her family we went with our friends to meet their daughters foster family. Yet again I cried. It really pulls at your heartstrzings to know these kids are leaving everything they know and love to be adopted. In your heart, you know it is what is best for them, but it is still difficult.

Tomorrow we leave for Gaungzhou. THe challenge of trying to fit everything in the suitcase begins tonight.

Oh yes, Kaylee got a McDonalds happy meal today.

We could use some prayers

Well last night our travel friends daughter was running fever and crying. She looked so miserable. Bless her heart. I just saw them this morning and she seems to be feeling better. She still looks a little flush but better than last night for sure. Her daddy has a sore throat this morning.

Now on the Gehrke side of things Kaylee woke up at 4am with a stomach ache and diareaha. Poor girl she was beside herself in misery. I felt so bad for her. She kept throwing up and it felt like she might have a fever. It seems like food poisoning except for the fever. We gave her a phenegran. She is sleeping now and will hopefully feel better soon.

On a more positive note, the girls had a good night last night. They played with their tea cups and stacking blocks. Kaylee would tickle Madelynn and she would smile. Kaylee kept saying how much she loves her and that she cant wait to bring her home to meet HER boys. I thought that was really cute.

This morning Madelynn and I went to breakfast and left David with Kaylee. I discovered Madelynn has a love of sugar and butter packets. In fact she is holding the butter packet in her hand now with a death grip. She is still clinging to Mama. David is being so patient trying to earn her trust. She is just scared to death. She is still wanting to wear her shoes all of the time in case she has the opportunity to make a run for it. She is very tiny and dainty. She has not said much except what sounds to "that" and "shoes in chinese" She has said Mama but only while pointing to the door and wanting to make a run for in or when Daddy tries to hold her. She is a very serious and cautious child at this point. She cries easily.
Well that is all for now. Hopefully I will be writing that Kaylee is feeling better soon

It is Official!!!! Another Gehrke added to the clan!!!!

Well we signed the papers and it is official. Poor Madelynn had to put her footprint on it as a sign of her signature. We had the guide take us to a shoe store because Madelynn's crocs were way to big. Aunt Carol--We need some smaller crocs!!!!!!!!!!!!!
After all the paperwork was done, we went our for a Chinese meal. The restaraunt did not have an English menu so we pretty much had to eat what they brought us. We had cooked cabbage, a pork noodle dish, congee and some sort of chicken dish which included two chicken feet and a head. The literally must take a meat cleaver and just chop the heck out of the meat. I am not sure what happens to the large pieces of meat----like the breast but we have not seen any thing like that since we got here.

We went back to the hotel and took a nap and then went and paid 20.00 dollars for 2 tiny cups of ice cream. We won't be doing that again :) After our nap we went swimming. Fortunately we did not have the camera on hand. All the girls were required to wear swim caps. Oh yes!!! It was quite the sight. Kaylee could not understand why we had to wear them. Madelynn was completely put out by it and I could not stop laughing. Kaylee enjoyed the swim but I cant say the same for Madelynn.

She likes to keep her shoes on in anticipation of going back to her foster home. Everywhere we go she very seriously scans the crowd for a familiar face. I feel so bad for her. We have decided on Thursday not to take her back for the orphanage tour. I will be going with Kaylee and Mady will stay with David. It will be a rough day. She will go to David but she is still afraid of him. We know it will get better with time. Dave is such a trooper and I am so proud of how he interacts with her. He is such a great Daddy. I will post the pictures after dinner.

Back to the Hotel

Well we signed the 24 hour custody agreement and headed to Wal-Mart to buy some supplies. We spent 120.00 dollars on toys and snacks for our 2 girls. Kaylee has been very helpful, but does not understand why Madelynn doesnt know her name yet. After Wal-Mart, we went to back to the hotel for some bonding time. Initially she did not want me to put her down. Poor girl, she kept whimpering and pointing to her privates. I managed to put her on a little potty we bought at Wal-Mart-and wa-la she went pee pee. I was amazed. Poor baby, she had to go and did not know how to tell us.

She drank some of her milk and we ordered takeout. She did eat some rice but her favorite was an oreo cookie bar that her daddy offered. Nothing like OREO to help bring a girl around to her daddy. As I am typing they are laying on the bed. He is holding her bottle and she is looking around. She is really doing great. I will write more as I can.

We love and miss you all

GOTCHA DAY IS HERE

We went to the civil affairs office this morning to meet our daughter. We were both very nervous and it still did not seem real. We were there early. So we had to wait about 15 minutes for the girls to get there. (I say girls because we are traveling with another family who is adopting a 5 year old girl) The moment finally came and they both arrived. Madelynn clung to one of the nannies and cried(which is what we had expected) She was not interested in any of the toys, candy, noise makers that we brought. The nanny finally handed her over and she was very upset. I walked the halls with her and she cried off and on. She kept pointing so I walked where she pointed. In the van, she was like a little koala bear clinging to me. At this point, she was not interested in letting anyone touch/hold her except for me.

On the other hand our friends new daughter, Hayley, was ready to be adopted. She came in and went right to him. She had the biggest smile on her face. She is hearing impaired and does not speak. However words were not necessary. The expression on her face said it all. "It is finally my turn and I am ready." She was all dressed up and had her new pair of sunglasses on and her bracelets to match. She is a little princess. You can tell she is very bright. She watches everyone and takes cues from them. I would not be surprised if she reads lips.

We are in Hefei

We arrived in Hefei yesterday after a 2 hour flight that did not feel like the air conditioner was on for the first of the half of the flight. When we were getting on the plane we had our pictures taken by several Chinese people. Thinking back, I remember this from the last time we were here.

The hotel is very nice and our room is very spacious. It has a crib for Madelynn and they even gave us a stroller to use. Thank goodness, Madelynn is going to be smaller than Jackson, because he would not fit int the crib.

Kaylee was falling asleep at dinner in the noodle shop that is in the hotel and almost had a melt down over being tired. She worked through it and we were able to go walking around and check out the town after dinner. Everybody stares at you and they are not the least bit discreet about talking about you. It is kind of funny because you almost feel like a celebrity. Heads turn everywhere you go.

It is about 6am here and we are getting ready to go eat breakfast at the revoloving restaraunt at the top of our hotel. After that we are going to come back and get our paperwork ready to go meet our daughter. I will post again later today. We are excited and nervous. I don"t know why but it has really sunk in yet. Which is strange. You would think if you traveled half way around the world to meet your child that in itself would be enough of a reality. Oh well--it will all be real very soon. Like 3.5 hours soon.

We are in China!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well we finally made to China after a very long day of traveling. We arrived at the Guanghzou Airport at 11:00 pm. We were all exhausted. The worst part of the trip was the last 5 hour flight from Toyko. The three of us could not keep our eyes open.

This morning we were all up by 7am. We headed to breakfast at the White Swan. This hotel is great. They have a breakfast buffet in the morning and it is the gathering place for all adoptive families. It is really fun to meet other families and their children. It is unusual for families to come to this hotel before they get the child they are adopting. So everyone keeps thinking Kaylee is new to our family and trying to speak Chinese to her. She just looks at them like they are crazy. She has been very shy towards people since we have been here. Kaylee and I took a picture in front of the waterfall at the hotel. It is very similar to the one we took 4 years ago when we were bringing her home.

After breakfast, we headed out to look around. Many of our favorite shops have moved. One store owner told us that a large company bought their building and they had to relocate because their lease was not renewed. While we were out shopping, we ran into 2 groups of school children age 5-7 who were on a field trip looking for Americans to practice their English with. We were happy to help out and had so much fun with them. Kaylee was shy and would not talk, but some of their students were the same way. Above is a picture of us with the school children.

After shopping, I took Kaylee to the pool and David set off to the electronic store. Okay, he was gone for a little over 2hours. I started to panic. What would I do if something happened to him. We will not be going our separate ways anymore on this trip.

We had lunch at a thai restaurant. It was very good. We walked a little ways from the hotel, so we were the only Americans in the place.

Well I just wanted to drop a quick post before we take a nap. Tomorrow we are off to Hefei and on Monday we get our little princess.

Justin, Bo, and Jackson---We miss you and love you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!