ski trip

How is it possible that this little 3 year old has been with us only 3 1/2 weeks and she seems like she has been here always?

We knew our annual family ski trip would depend on how Annie was adjusting. Either we don't know the signs of adjusting or Annie is doing incredibly well.

On our first flight en route to Colorado she seemed somber, unsure of what was going on, although it was very early in the morning.

By the time we met up with all the Pittsburgh Stack cousins she had either woken up or realized this means six more people who will love me and lavish me with attention and be great fun! They did not disappoint. Uncle Eddie allowed her to use his blackberry regardless of what buttons she pressed or who she called as long as she was sitting on his lap, Michael chased her around until she screamed in laughter and Maggie announced that she feels she would never be able to say no to her.

When we arrived at our rented condo she appeared to be very comfortable. She ran from room to room checking it all out as if to say: "this place is really cool!" 

We took her to ski school to just inquire about possible ski lessons. Nothing was available until the next day. She was excited about everything she saw. The play room full of kids at day care, the snow, the shops, taking it all in she dragged me from one thing to the next.

 Once Annie spotted the chair lift that was it. She insisted on riding on it.

 I explained that you had to have on your ski boots and skis to go on the high speed, six person chair lift. She said yes, grabbing at her skis that were in the stroller basket and pointing to the chair lift! So we put her skis on and she tried moving about...a little scared but determined. She had called my bluff.

Finally, we realized we could ride the gondola up and down with no need of equipment...She loved it pointing and calling my attention to all the people skiing below. We rode so many times that we stopped getting off at the top and bottom, we just stayed on.

During our marathon gondola adventure we meet several interesting people. Some rode with us in silence seemingly not noticing this smidgen in her fleece jester hat and rhinestone sunglasses. Yet others were eager to engage in conversation.

Five year old, Emma who spilled all the family secrets including how thrilled she was to have her ski boots back after her daddy mixed her boots up with her cousin's. I asked her if she was in kindergarten. With her missing two bottom teeth and blonde curls sticking out from under her pink helmet and goggles she replied, "no" in a clearly disappointed tone. 

George age 8 who answered my intrusive questions with one word answers until his mom asked where Annie was from. He turned from where he had his face pressed up to the glass and said: "Ni hao" (nee-Ha-OW)  Chinese for hello.

The couple who after a brief conversation regarding Annie and Chinese adoptions looked at each other and said, " We have to do this." Then looked at me and said: " We have been talking about this. There are no accidents in life, we were meant to meet you at this moment."

Annie also learned a few new words; "One more time?"

The best gifts...ever!

Christmas started at midnight for all of us with Mass. Annie ate all her grapes before mass even started..then on to the cheerios which she traveled back and forth sharing them with the whole family until...she spilled that bag. She was entertained while the music was playing ..but I would say she was a bit... of a fidget!

At one point she was under the pew removing the contents of my purse. There is a small outside pocket which she found interesting and then...astonishing... In the pocket she found a long forgotten half eaten bag of M & M's. Although we really don't like her to have candy or chocolate it saved the day or night I should say.

 When a 3 year old stays up until 2:30 AM they don't wake at the crack of dawn even for Santa.

 10;00 we started to open presents. It didn't take Annie long to figure out how much fun this is! Then Meaghan rolled in the mini (exact replica) of a shopping cart, complete with grocery item...including tomato paste.  Annie was delirious with pleasure and gratitude. Everything goes in the shopping cart as she wheels it all around the house....the cabinet and wood work are taking a beating but we could care less.

As if that wasn't enough, Timmy produced the cutest hand painted wooden rocking chair. Annie ran to get her baby so she could rock her in it and pretend she was sleeping. The chair is pink to match her room, intentionally distressed with six butterflies on the seat. Annie is painted on the front and her Chinese name on the back. The chair belonged to Timmy, given to him on his first Christmas in 1981. I had saved it up in the attic even though it was well "loved" and needed repair. Timmy put it back together, hand painted himself and proudly gave it to his new sister for her first Christmas as a cherished member of our family. Molly said it's history makes the chair 20 times cuter than it already is. 

Jingle Ma, Jingle Ma!

We have thought that Annie really has no concept of Christmas, Santa or the whole holiday season. As a result, we were not going to take her to see Santa. The idea that she would  gain anything from  being forced to sit on an elderly man's lap who has a long white beard and is dressed in red with fur trim didn't seem to be in her best interest. But when Katie called to invite us to go along with Ela to see Santa on Christmas Eve we thought, let's just have her see him....maybe from a distance .

When we got to the mall Ela and Company were next in line. As we joined them Santa's helper said: "Next" Without prompting Annie walked over, looked at Santa, stepped up on the step stools to get a better look, satisfied, she sat down. 

I said take the picture quick!

 No need. 

She sat there looking Santa up and down while the shutter on my camera was snapping photos as if I was the paparazzi. Annie then posed for photos with Ela on Santa's lap. Go figure!

Our family tradition is to attend midnight Mass no matter what your age. Annie dressed in her red coat was wide awake as we headed out at 11:15PM for Mass. As we  traveled down the deserted Vestal Parkway we thought maybe if we sang songs it would keep her awake. We resurrected the Myers family rendition of John Lennon's Imagine! Obviously, not impressed Annie had her own song. From her care seat in the back we hear this little voice singing: "Jingle Ma, Jingle Ma, Jingle Ma! " Shocked, we all join in with several verses of Jingle Bells as Annie's head bounced to the beat and smiled from ear to ear! 

When we finished Timmy say: "The poor kid thinks she has just become part of the Von Trapp family!" 

Eject! Eject!

There is a reason why we have saved  several of our children's most beloved toys. The 20+ year old Little Tikes red rocking airplane is one of Annie's favorites.

Its body and wings sit low to the ground, has "control levers," cock pit style steering wheel and rocks in all direction. With Annie at the helm Tim narrates and controls the flight : "Ok we are on our final approach coming into JFK. Oh no, it's getting rough, turbulence ahead, we're heading into a spin. Losing control, eject! Eject! Eject!" After two flights as soon as Annie hears "eject" she dives to the floor and rolls in laughter. After two weeks I swear she understands every word we say to her. 

The Homecoming, games, laughter and then... the miracle

Home now for two weeks Annie seems very comfortable with us. Our latest concern was that she will be overwhelmed when her four siblings arrived home at various times over the next.

Daniel came back from college for her first weekend home then returned to school for finals. When he came home last week Annie was not running to him but didn't seem afraid either. 

Meaghan arrived Wed. afternoon. To our surprise Annie seemed to take to her easier than we have seen her engage with anyone. She almost went on an outing to Target but balked at the last moment when she realized Mama wasn't going. She did allow Meaghan to dress her, feed her and do her hair. This was real progress.

Thursday morning we stopped at the High School. Ms Zang, the mandarin teacher, who has been so helpful was very excited to meet Annie. It did not appear to be mutual. Annie would not speak and clung to me. I had expected her to be excited to hear her language spoken again and to be able to communicate verbally. No reaction. Her demeanor was similar to her reaction when returning to the orphanage.

Conversely,when we stopped into the Main Office, Catherine Hepler, building principal, gave Annie a large pink polka a dot bag containing a lovely Asian doll. Annie said thank you...and tore it open, changing the doll's clothing and kissing the new toy. She insisted on lugging the bag, which with the handles in the crook of her arm still hit the floor, all by herself. Refusing any assistance the bag was dragged over the curb, though the parking lot to the car.

After a nap Ms Kelly Zang came to our home to pick up a new recordable book and to kindly bring Annie a gift along with a new music CD. Annie loves the almost worn out book "Good Night Moon" recorded by Kelly. Again, Annie would not engage, speak nor react to her.

An hour later Timmy and Teddy arrived together.  We had been talking of everyone's arrival in hopes of giving Annie some preparation. Knowing they were minutes away we took Annie to the window to wait. As the car came down the street she began yelling: "Hi, Hi, Hi!" 

We all ran to the door instructing Annie to: say Hi to Timmy, can you say Teddy, give them high five, look Teddy has a doll for you, etc. Finally coming to our senses I picked her up saying this is exactly what we should not be doing to her.

We all went to the kitchen where dinner was close to being done. Within 15 minutes Annie was slowly engaging. Timmy said I am going upstairs want to come with me...and she went. Prior to this she would not go upstairs with anyone except Mama.

Daniel sat down on Annie's red Little Tykes rocking airplane ( story about that later) We fully expected her to come running to protect her territory. To our surprise she thought having a copilot was the best idea ever. She jumped on Daniel back and off they flew into the wide blue yonder happily. Another first.

As we moved to the living room Daniel handed her his car key fob. Annie pointed it to the light and pressed the button. Magically (through the power of Daniel) the lights went on and off with each time she pointed and pressed. She laughed out loud!  Tim told her to point it towards Teddy. She did and Teddy responded as if he was hit by a taser gun. She squealed and laughed so hard we thought she was going to fall over. The epileptic acting Teddy repeated his role with each prompt. Seven people were entertained and were the entertainment surrounding one 3 year old little girl. It was instant love by all. As Teddy fell towards Annie she would run into Daniel's lap which she had never done before. Even with Mama and Baba in the room she was playing, teasing and jumping from brother to brother with an occasional Molly and Meaghan thrown in. Never had we seen her so comfortable and playful with anyone but us. We just couldn't believe our eyes. The smiles, laughter and fun was ringing though out the whole house.

 All eight of us sat down to dinner. As we held hands to say Grace, Annie was in between Teddy and Mama. With a huge smile, she looked from person to person sitting around the table. I swear her eyes were saying: " Yes, we are now complete, we are now all home, this is where I belong, where I was meant to be!"

What a Christmas this will be!

Progress for Tim

Annie has still not been able to allow me out of her sight.  Saturday, Tim asked her if she wanted to go outside. Yep, as long as Mama was going too. 

Trying to put on her coat while still holding my hand proved a challenge. Tim was coaxing her to the garage as she was pulling me along. Once in the garage, Tim tried everything. Finally, he said: I cleaned and dried your swing want to go up to the swing set and play?"

Annie looked at me. Looked at Tim with swing in hand. Look looked back to me, let go of my hand and said: "Bye!"

Up to the swing set they went.

Monday I had a meeting late morning, so early I started telling Annie, Mama is going bye bye. You will stay here and play with Baba. 

She simply shook her head, "no!' Each time I brought it up she would have no part of it. So, as I was getting ready to leave Tim said: Annie want to go up to the swing set?" She ran to the closet grabbed her coat put her boots on the wrong feet while continuously yelling back over her shoulder to me, "Bye Bye!"

After swing for a while the two  went to visit grandma & grandpa Myers and have lunch...which was ice cream!

Nap time just wasn't going to happen without Mama. Waiting in the window when I arrived a few minutes later it took her all of 3 min

To fall asleep.

Tiffany's

We have been home a little more than a week. To say Annie is adjusting depends on the definition of adjustment. She clearly knows what she likes, doesn't like and she will express those opinions readily.

Annie loves shopping bags with handles on them. The kind you might get at Victoria Secrets, not the Target or Wegman's plastic kind. She loves loading them with anything she can find, her cell phone,( or ours) blocks, keys,(again ours) her tea set, etc. She then carries them from room to room loading and unloading them. A week ago our dear friends Marilyn, Kara and Candice gave Annie a beautiful tiny heart necklace from Tiffany and Co. It came in the signature aqua blue box with a white ribbon and inside a Tiffany shopping bag.We put the necklace on immediately and made sure to save the box and bag.Three days later Annie found the shopping bag, looped it over her arm and pranced around the kitchen. She then abruptly stopped, opened the bag, took out the box, opened that only to find it was empty. She was indignant! She started ranting in Chinese.  I clearly knew the point she was trying to make: 
"Where the heck is my Tiffany necklace?"I quickly said: "I know where it is, come with me." She trotted along beside me to her bedroom where I showed her that I had safely put the coveted piece of jewelry on the shelf in her room along with the plastic panda bracelet we gave her that matched her sweater. Annie insisted on wearing the necklace. Uninterested in the  panda bracelet  she tossed it aside as she placed her tiny hand over the equally delicate heart around her neck, she then placed the handles of the Tiffany shopping bag over her wrist. Satisfied, off she went to find treasures to fill her bag.

The girl has standards!

Tomato Paste?

Yesterday Annie and I made a trip to Sam's Club. One of her favorite activities is to be handed the selected items so she  can them toss them over her shoulder into the cart. The size, weight nor quantity of the products at Sam's will detour her from her mission. Among our purchases was a 12 pack of tomato paste.

When we came home she had a difficult time separating from the tomato paste. She attempted to gather 6 of the cans in her arms as she walked around the kitchen.

A short time later, I left for a brief meeting and Annie was not happy. Tim tried consoling her. Apparently, the only thing that calmed her was allowing her to hold onto a can of the tomato paste. 

When I returned the can was coated with yogurt, juice and every other food item Tim tried to pacify her with.

Today we thought my leaving briefly might go better. It didn't. Tim took Annie out for a walk, wheeled her in the stroller, tried to play games, have tea parties and do puzzles. Finally as she was standing in front of the kitchen cabinet pointing and crying. Tim open the doors and lifted her up to see what could possibly distract her until her mother returned!

The tomato paste!

So tonight, Tim desperate to have Annie take comfort in his care, the two traveled to the mall to see the lights and decorations. Nervous that she was unhappy away from me, I sent Tim a text message asking how she was doing.

His reply: "Good. Just hanging out dreaming of tomato paste!" 

While at the mall, Annie ran to Tim and wrapped her arms around his leg for the first time. Although she has not yet figured out he is the key to her "cash flow" she realizes he knows where the tomato paste is kept. A Christmas wish come true!

Dr Appt. today

Today we had an appointment with Dr. Nirgudkar, our pediatrician for the past 30 years.  As usual, Annie did not flinch. She was examined and pronounced adorable, adjusting well and totally healthy. Yeah!!!

Tonight she again went to bed easily. After two rounds of Good Night Moon ( in Chinese) Annie pulled the covers up and kissed me good night... all good...until I heard a small thud.

I tried to discreetly peek into her room to check on what I thought was a sleeping baby. The picket fence bed was empty. As I walked in,  two little pink striped legs were sticking out from under the bed skirt!

Apparently, Good Night Moon fell between the bed and the wall and this little one had no trouble feeling her way under a dark bed to retrieve it. As I pulled her out she understood my words as I told her: "I'll get it for you." She squealed in amazement as if I was a genius when I was able to produce the book without crawling underneath the bed. "How did she do that?"

Good Night Moon, Good Night Annie!

Day 3 We've been had!

Home Day 3.

It is has been a few days of feeling our way around. Annie seemed to be adjusting ... ok. A few visitors, trying to take it easy, going with Annie's lead. Saturday we made a trip to the Discovery Center that seemed to be a little overwhelming so we only stayed for 1/2 hour.

She has been quiet around people and crying a little now and then.

 We went to church this morning and Alleluia sounded beautiful in Chinese. She thought the music was great but not thrilled to be excluded when communion was passed out especially since she marched down the isle like everyone else.

After dinner I was in the laundry room as Annie followed me in. I heard her start to whimper and whine. As I looked down at her she burst out laughing. She was faking being upset! She placed her hands over her mouth and started laughing pointing at me as if to say: " boy have I had you guys going for two weeks!" She repeated her "faking" and laughing for Tim.

At bed time tonight we went through our routine and for the first time she did not cry nor need me to lay down with her. I kissed her and said:" I love you." She repeated: "I love you," blew me a kiss and I walked out of the room.

It feels like we have been had! She may be feeling sorry for us and ready to let us off the hook or maybe tired of us hanging around her every moment of the day. 

Day 1 ... home

We are thrilled to report Annie must like her new room...she slept for 15 hours the first night.

When she woke she devoured a bowl of cheerios and bananas. Delighted by snow she loved touching it, throwing it and stomping on it.  We lunched at Uno's with the Gellers and made a quick visit into the district office and then it was nap time.

Annie is fascinated with cell phones. Every time she see a phone or one rings she insists on speaking.

 She holds the phone to her ear, walks around the kitchen telling the same lengthy story, pausing then continuing. 

We fear she is saying:

 "Are you sure these crazy people have been completely checked out? Have you seen this place? First of all, the amount of breakable items at the 30" level is screaming touch me, drop me, throw me! They have this tree in the middle of the room with lights and all kind of little "no touch" glittery things hanging off of it. I think the legal term is "attractive nuisance" or they have changed my name again from XinTian to Annie Kate to No Touch! What are they thinking? Secondly, they have stairs every where. For some reason they don't think it is a good idea for me to drag the little pink plastic stroller up and down the stairs by myself. I can do it and they have no idea how much fun it is to let it fly down the stairs once I get it to the top!

Aunt Nancy stopped by again today and brought me some great cookies. After dinner was enjoying one of MY cookies when  Buck decided to take a bite of MY cookie. Trust me he won't make that mistake again. I have a lot of work to do with these people!"

We are learning!

We're HOME!

We are home! Nothing has ever felt so good!

Today redefines the term "long day." It started over 36 hours ago!

As we arrived at the hotel in Hong Kong wed. night, Buck being the proactive, problem solver that he is knew we would be stopping every 15 minutes on a 3 hour car ride for Annie to use the bathroom. So he secured a child's potable potty for use in the van. Annie did use it about 4-5 times on the way.

As Tim took the potty out of the van to dispose of it, he tripped walking towards the hotel entrance. The potty and contents went flying in all directions. Molly, Annie and I watched this event unfold from inside the lobby never letting on we had any idea who that crazy man spraying yellow liquid over himself and others could possibly be.

After a wonderful dinner with Tino and Lauraine we headed to bed at 12:00 needing to be up at 6:30 to catch that big wonderful plane to the USA.

 Our flight took off on time (9:30 AM HK)  for a 15 hour flight. Annie took her nap at 12:00... for an hour. Finally as we were approaching the 12th hour in air of her crawling, jumping,spilling, singing and climbing we knew she needed a nap. She cried for about 15 - 20 minutes during which time a fellow passenger apparently complained.

 I was rocking Annie when I saw the airline hostess speaking to Tim. Normally Tim is often confused with Gandhi when it comes to being nice, peaceful and non confrontational. So I had to do a double take when I heard him saying: "if that guy has a problem with a 3 year old who doesn't understand the language, was in an orphanage 10 days ago and has cried for all of 15 minutes of a 14 hour flight tell him he can come talk to me." Annie slept a total of 1.75 hours of the entire flight, used the bathroom at least 9 times, ate her meals and ours, and discovered ice cream for the first time. Her face was captured on film as she would experience a brain freeze with each bit close her eyes tightly and shiver with each bit. It was very funny.

We landed 75 minutes early. (11:15 AM) Our emotional were running on high as we were in line for immigration. We handed the officer the sealed packet of adoption papers, medical forms, reports and visa. It is as if Annie knew this was an important moment in her life. She smiled and watched intently to every detail the official made. My mind was racing. I was looking at the yellow line on the floor. One side of a simple line means this child will have every opportunity life has to offer. She can do anything. She can become anything she can dream. It means freedom, choices and a whole new world. The other side represents limits, bias and repression. This was a defining moment in her life and she seemed to know it. She was smiling at the officer and even said: "Hi."

 He replied without looking up a faint: "hi".

And then just like that, clink, clunk. A stamp was placed and few numbers written on the paper and her passport was handed back to the teary eyed parents as the officer, still not looking up said:"Ok."

OK? 

OK what?

 That's it?

 You become a US citizen with the clank of a stamp? 

Now granted my expectations may have been slightly on the side of over the top, such as, the Marine Corp. band marching in formation while playing the Star Spangle Banner and presenting a flag to Annie, but nothing? 

No, Welcome to the USA?

 No, congratulations? 

No, Good luck?

 No, announcement at least saying: You are now an official citizen of the USA?

No wonder they prohibit photos... there is nothing to commemorate!

Very disappointing, anticlimactic and certainly not worthy of the anticipated emotional tears. It's a shame the officials missed the opportunity to be part of something really important. How often do people have a job where they witness life changing moments. 

It seems we should be able to do better than that in this country! 

We arrived in Vestal to cheers, well wishers and clapping hands fitting a rock star. Like a rock star, Annie was waving to everyone and no one in particular as she walked from the plane. Thank you to those who made huge efforts to greet us. We were thrilled so see each of you.

 At home we found angels and elfs had been working very hard while we were gone. Our home is completely decorated for Christmas as if a fairy waved her magic wand and made it so. The fairy's name is Claudia.

Other angels and elfs worked to make Annie and Molly's rooms ready for their arrival.

 As we pulled into the driveway Annie was jumping to get out of the car and into the house. She was excited and seem immediately comfortable as if saying:" Yes, I am finally home. This is where I belong!" 

She walked from room to room talking, singing and playing.

 Tonight after having dinner delivered from Cortese restaurant, a warm bath and new pj's she is tucked into her white picket fence bed on pink sheets, flanked by her ever present panda bear and new snuggly teddy. She has fallen asleep in record time without a whimper and without me next to her.

This journey to bring Annie home has been a gift to each of us. Thank you all for coming along! We needed you.

Stay tuned for the adjustment updates!

Many of you have kindly and unnecessarily asked what does Annie need or want? 

In China, Annie was in a program run by an American founded organization called; www.halfthesky.org  It hires, trains and pays nannies to be consistent care givers for children in state run orphanages. I believe this program has made a world of difference in her life. Now a US citizen,  home and part of a family that loves her, Annie has all that she needs.  As I look at her so safe, warm and happy I cannot help but think of those children who did not come home to the love of a family. Instead of showering Annie with gifts, if so inclined, consider donating to help meet the needs of those children yet to be adopted either though:

www.halfthesky.org 

or

 www.davethomasfoundation.org  
 

We will enjoy the weekend catching up on sleep and adjusting!

Kim

Do You Believe in Miracles……YES!

Ladies And Gentlemen...The Myers Family is Proud To Present Annie!

Now In The U.S.A!

Countdown Clock: "Zero Days to JFK"

On the runway taking off from Hong Kong !! Here we come JFK !!

Entering Black Out!

We are in Hong Kong after an uneventful van ride from Guangzhou. (save the potty incident...report on that later) We already feel closer to home.

Remember in the movie Apollo 13? Right before the space ship reenters the earth's atmosphere there is a black out period where there is no communication. We are about to enter our black out period in anticipation of our reentry into the USA with our incredible, precious new daughter ( and the equally incredible, precious daughter who joined us on this launch)

In our mind the journey feels as if it could have been to the moon and back. Our heart felt thank you to all of you at Mission Control who supported, encouraged, counseled and prayed for us to help make this splash down possible!

I can't help but think of our first "moon landing" in Jan. 1998 to bring home Molly. It is likely 14 years ago to the day. I can remember standing in the parking lot of African Road Elementary School with my dear friend Angie Traverse. I was worried and scared to make the half way around the world trip. I was so anxious about leaving four children for two weeks, about being so away from all I knew, of not knowing what our new child would need medically or emotionally. Angie listened and simply said: "God would not have brought you this far to let you down now." She then gave me a little gold angel on a chain to, "protect and guide us on our journey."

My Angie Angel has been around my neck every moment on this trip and has again protected and guided us. We are almost home!

Annie has been wearing many of the adorable outfits saved from Molly's childhood. Tomorrow as she arrives and becomes a US citizen she will be dressed in Molly's stars and stripes motif jumper and sweater. The same one Molly wore when she became a citizen at age 2 1/2. Annie will also have on her collar a small pink and white porcelain butterfly pin. This was a gift from the very special Barber family to Molly as a symbol of her metamorphosis from her life in China to her life as a member of the Myers family.

Lift off, 9:35 AM ( EST 8:35 PM Wed 12/7)

Splash down, 12:30PM Thursday 12/8, JFK

Airlift to Broome Co. ETA: TBD

ANNIE KATE HITS 3,000!

ANNIE KATE HITS 3,000!
Guangzhou, China
December 5th, 2011

A few months ago while his Mother was off at church paying way to much attention to her Grandson’s Baptism, Derek Jeter crushed his 3,000th hit deep into the left field bleachers at Yankee Stadium. Today In Guangzhou China a young girl named Annie Kate reached the 3,000 hit mark at the age of three! Annie got to 3,000 hits today on her blog some 34 years before Jeter who is now 37 got 3,000 hits in major league baseball. When asked to comment on the amazing feet Annie said, “Honestly I have no idea how it took that Jeter guy so long. All I do is wake up, put on sun glasses, act real cute, pose for pictures and boom I get three thousand hits!”

Shortly after our interview Annie began to color on the sheets of the hotel bed, played naked in the bathtub, and slurped noodles while giggling. Three things she probably also does better than Jeter.

Annie just signed a blockbuster deal that will land her in the US sometime this week where she will play for the famous Myers team. Assistant Manager Tim “Buck” Myers said of the Acquisition of Annie, “Sweet music, Hey, I’m Tim Myers, and She is so beautiful. Team Owner, General Manager, Manager, CEO, CFO, and Vestal School Board President, Kim A. Myers who gets paid nothing for all of the above jobs she holds said, “We are truly blessed to add another all-star caliber player to our team.”

Hundreds of fans wait outside Southwood drive to welcome home Annie Kate and this reporter can almost guarantee her presence will be nothing less than a homerun!

The Hero of our Trip !!

China Time: 2:50 PM Wed. USA Time: 1:50 AM Wed.

Today we just hung out at the hotel while we wait for our guide to bring Annie's passport and visa from the consulate, then we are in a van and going to Hong Kong for the night!! At this time tomorrow we will be in the air heading home !!

Today's blog we wanted to be about our true hero of this trip.......Miss Molly Myers.........Molly has been a real trooper for the past two weeks and Kim and I don't know what we would have done without her ! She has been a GREAT Big sister to Annie, GREAT photographer, GREAT Sherpa, GREAT Interpreter, GREAT Daughter and GREAT Late night coffee partner. We understand it was a stressful trip for her also, we all had a mini-breakdown at some point what with the lack of sleep and a ton of emotions. Molly's personality and patience are unbelievable and she is such a pleasure to be around, every moment of every day. We are so lucky that she came into our lives fourteen years ago and we are so proud that she is our daughter.......we love you so very much.........Mom and Dad

Countdown Clock: "One Day to JFK"

We Took the Oath Today !!

Well we took the oath today for Annie Kate ! Basically, what happened today is that we took an oath that stated that the materials and information we have provided on Annie Kate are true and accurate. Then...... on Thursday afternoon as Annie passes through US Immigration at JFK Airport she will officially become a US Citizen !!! .........We are trying to figure out if we can actually get pictures of that moment !!!

So when we got to the building this morning, the US Consulate was on the fifth floor....... It was at this point we had our bags checked and had to pass through security. This is where they confiscated our cameras and IPads! We then joined a group of about 20 people and 8 other kids and waited to take the oath and be interviewed......the oath was actually administered by a woman who stood behind a glass enclosed counter with a scratchy microphone. Picture a drive-thru at the bank and you've got the picture.......unbelievable.....Dorothy got a better reception in OZ and the great wizard finally came out and greeted her in person......in Hefei City the Chinese officials actually let us sit next to them at a desk when they did our interview.......our folks stayed behind glass during our entire visit.........nice to meet'cha....

The picture above of Annie in front of the US Consulate sign was illegally taken by Kim. She got off two pictures and then I tried to take a third shot of Annie and Kim before the guards shut me down.........I really need a Jack Bauer camera pen.

Love to All,

Countdown Clock : "Two Days to JFK"

3 year old delight

The truth is: we are all bored to death over here by now and can't wait to get home.
After passing the TB test, shopping, lunch then naps we were looking at the same surroundings and schedule as each previous day. As you may know, Tim, Captain of the Safety Patrol, is not very adventurous while in a foreign country. Since our agency did not know there were two Westin Hotels we are in a very isolated area. So we eat at the same restaurant each night.
The good news is we have our very own 3 year old entertainment system called the  "Annie 2011" It comes with no warning labels, no controllers, no volume buttons and no on/off switch.
In today's version, Annie discovered the hand held sprayer on the tub. As the water soaked her and shot across the room she laughed as if she had just discovered "gold in them there hills!"
So we stripped her wet clothes off, laid two towels on the floor, gave her three plastic cups of water and she played for an hour.
Our shopping trip yielded packages of barrettes for like .10 a pack. Annie needed to not only open them all but to also put them all in her hair at the same time...herself.
Who knew that a game of who, can grab the nail file off the bed first, with big sister Molly would be hysterical for a 3 year old and delightful entertainment for her parents. ( told you we're bored)
Dinner was and has been getting more and more interesting. Annie is... in- de- pend- ent, as Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer says!
She has discovered spreads and dips as in jelly, butter, egg yolk, ketchup. All must be done by herself with the plastic knife the wait staff brings her at each meal. Other wise she would be wheeling an adult size real utensil.
The problem is she wants the whole tab of butter, the whole mini jar of jelly and the entire bottle of ketchup. Tonight when we took the butter dish away she threw the piece of bread, then the knife and elbowed the plate to the floor . We pushed her high chair away from the table for survival and financial reasons.
She pouted then skooched her way back to the table as if she were sliding on ice. Who put what seems like ball bearings on a high chair? I swear she could have self propelled herself to Hong Kong in that thing!
We are working on manners! When we tell her: "say please" she will repeat: "say peas"
For years I have gotten a bad rap for teaching kids to blow the paper off straws but Tim wins in the teaching bad table manners category.
Annie's favorite food is noodles. Picture the Italian restaurant scene from Disney's Lady and the Tramp. Tim and Annie's mouths connected by a single long noodle...over and over again.
Is it Thursday yet?

Test Results are Good !!

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> China Time : 4:05 PM Monday. USA Time: 3:05 AM Monday
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> Today it was out of the hotel at 9:00 am for a 45 min. car ride and a 1 minute check by a nurse to tell us Annie was good to go !!!
> We then stayed on Shamian Island for the morning and shopped a little. Kim is scoring a lot of kid's "Burberry" clothing......at fantastic prices. My guess is that they are fake.... if not then they fell off the back of a truck and Burberry needs to make some serious changes in their loss prevention department. "Coach" may need to look at their pipeline also, Molly got a great purse and the price was ridiculous. The sunglasses Annie has on in the picture costs $2.50 US. We went all out and bought her two pair since she loves glasses so much.
> After shopping, we went to lunch at a favorite lunch spot for American's who are adopting called Lucy's. They offer American meals like grilled cheese sandwiches and cheeseburgers. It was good and Annie enjoyed it. After lunch it was back to the hotel for naps.......
> Oh by the way.....before shopping today our guide told us to be sure to barter. Kim proudly told me on the way back that the one shop keeper had an item she was willing to sell Kim for 120RMB. Kim offered her 100RMB and the woman would not budge. Kim said she would buy it somewhere else and finally the woman gave in. I told Kim I was so proud of her, she beat that little old lady out of ......$ 3 US........... :)
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> Tomorrow is the official oath taking ceremony at the US Consulate !!
> We just found out that cameras are NOT allowed during this ceremony, so all pictures will be out front, both before and after. This rule does make sense to me....... I am sure there are a lot of top secret documents sitting around and our government would surely not want to take the chance that someone would show up posing as American parents adopting a Chinese child and have all those documents photographed........ I am sure there is a hidden bunker somewhere in the building and Tim Myers may just stumble upon it and take a s**t load of pictures with his Sony 25mm Cyber-shot camera........I am sure that it is way too complicated to have a small room with an American Flag that cameras would be allowed in just for a single frigging picture, that would be a logistical nightmare.......yep, the rule makes a ton of sense to me.
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> Countdown Clock : "Three Days to JFK"
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Timmy just called with the news that Emmet Otters Jug Band Christmas is available on I-Tunes !!!

1 week anniversary

Today Annie has been in our arms for 1 week. It feels so natural to have her with us that it seems like she has always been here.
On Saturday when we went for the visa photo, which was strangely inside a retail shop, Annie wanted this little toy. Of course she got it
along with her Burberry red trench coat. (see photos from medical visit) The coat actually has a Burberry London label as well as the famous plaid lining and trim.
Since it cost $20.00 I am thinking fake but it served the purpose of keeping her warm since her parents misjudged the temperature for the day.
The toy is called a  Bo Lanz Gu. Better known to most of us as the hand held little drum that Mr. Miyagi used in the original Karate Kid movies.
Annie held it in her one hand and flipped it back and forth to hear the little beads bang the drum.
Tim reached down to her saying: "let me show you how to work this." He put the toy between the palms of his two hands spinning it fast just as Mr Miyagi did in the movie's climatic final scene.
My heart sank. I immediately felt I needed to protect Annie by saying, Tim she can't do that she only has one hand. I had the rare good sense not to say a word.
Not five minutes later, toy in hand, Annie figured out how to exactly mimic the movement and sound Tim showed her. Annie demonstrated, in the words of Grandpa Dick,"there is no such word as can't."
What she can do is: open child proof bottles of medicine, tiny cosmetic jars of Clinque face cream, tooth paste, cut her own food using a real knife (until taken away by her parents) completely dress and undress herself including shoes and socks, rip up paper into tiny pieces, fold her napkin repeatedly when eating so no messy side is showing, skillfully pour water from her cup into a small jar...over and over using a towel to clean up any small spills, unzipping and zipping, washing her own hands as if she were about to perform surgery. Today, while sitting on my lap to the Safari Park, she took the hair tie out of her hair and made a pony tail on top of my head... unaided.
One week ago Special Needs is the label that brought her to us but she has repeatedly shown that she was clearly misdiagnosed.
Happy One week Anniversary Annie Kate!

Safari Park Today during our Day Off !

China Time 8:00 PM Sunday. USA Time 7:00 AM Sunday

First of all, I jinxed us when I had said everyone was healthy. Last night ( Sat. Night ) Kim became ill. Not super bad sick, we didn't need "House" for a consult, but bad enough that she could not get out of bed to go to dinner. Felt awful for her. The dilemma we faced was that Annie really doesn't go far from Kim's sight and we needed dinner, then bath, then bed. Molly and I ventured off to the restaurant armed with all the tools of the trade, bib, sippy cup, baby utensils, toys and a ton of patience. Dinner was awesome as we had so much fun and Annie and I really started to make some connections.....Molly was such a big help as usual..... We got back to the room and got Annie a bath and Kim felt a little better and was able to get her to sleep.

Today, as the pictures above show you, we were off to the Safari Park as it was our one day off in Guangzhou. It was a game time decision on Kim making the starting line-up, but as our franchise player, she was at the line of scrimmage at game time.....still not feeling great, but ready for the park........ After going to this park, Annie is going to be REAL disappointed with the Ross Park Zoo. We seriously did not know what to expect and it was amazing. Every major species of animal was represented in a big way. Of course they had the largest collection of pandas in the world. Annie was really excited throughout the day as she was experiencing animal sights and sounds in person for the first time. It was 70 degrees and sunny and it was great to get out of the hotel for a day of fun. Eating at the park was interesting.....we all stuck with fried rice and washed it down with coke zero. Kim stole some bread and jelly at breakfast and brought that along for herself. Everything else in the food pavilion was shouting "warning Will Robinson", " warning Will Robinson". (bet my kids won't understand that joke).
We had an early dinner tonight and everyone is in bed. Tomorrow morning we go back to the hospital and get the TB results. I'm sure that it is fine, but a positive result could cause some logistical problems with our schedule. Here's hoping for the best......

Can't wait for everyone to meet Annie. She's pretty cool.....pretty tough......a survivor.

Countdown Clock: "Four Days to JFK"

Medical Tests Today!

China Time 4:25 PM Saturday. USA Time : 3:25 AM Saturday

As Kim's sleep deprived blog stated last night, the trip to Guangzhou took a lot out of all of us. We all got to sleep about Midnight, but had to have a wake-up call for 6:45 am to get breakfast and meet our driver at 8:00 am. We were running on fumes. We had a 45 minute drive to the medical hospital, about 2 1/2 hours there and then 45 minutes back. After a much needed lunch, the girls went down for a nap and are still asleep.

Below are pictures of the testing we had done today !

The picture above starts out with Kim and Annie when we got to the Medical Hospital! The diet coke has kicked in for this picture! Scroll down for more.... Love from Guangzhou !

Countdown Clock : "Five days to JFK"

We start out with a simple check of the ears ! Good to go ! Let's move on !

Height and weight look great! On to the next test !

Next up is the full body scan, Chinese style. Annie passes with flying colors !

TB test with a needle? We are expecting a three prong thingy surface test and they whip this thing out! Buck freaks out..Annie never flinches !

We are done with all the tests! So we just need to apply a little lip balm and then it is back to the hotel for a well-deserved nap....for everyone!

Goodbye Hefei City

We are done with the Chinese side of the adoption as Tim mentioned and onto the US paper work.

Our flight from Hefei City wasn't until 7:15pm (our time,13 hours ahead of EST)

Hefei City has very few foreigners ( although 7 ml people live here) so we were a bit skeptical every where we went. Apparently no parents every taught the Hefei residents that it is impolite to stare. It has really given us ( well not Molly and Annie) a perspective on what it must be like to be have people look at you as "different" just due to your skin color ( and hair)

The airport leaves much to be desired. Ok it is filthy and in China smoking is permitted almost everywhere! Many places in China still have "troth" toilets where you must straddle the opening vs sitting. This is a challenge with a 3 year old, although she knows how to use them. But it requires her mother to hold her by the arms while she squats

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So we finally make it to the Westin Hotel in Guangzhou, I am beyond tired and feeling a little queezie after sitting next to Annie on a plane for two hours.

She did great...well except for kicking the seat in front of her for two solid hours, and 4 trips to the bathroom, Tim chose the aisle seat and it comes with responsibility, like making those 4 trips. They fed those of us who dared to eat on the flight.

Most of Annie's meal was on her and those around her. She is working on mastering the ipad but still tries to beat it into submission...the same technological practice I often use, that frustrates the daylights out of Tim.

So by the time we checked in at the Westin I was beyond exhausted and nearing melt down mode.( Annie was fine) As I am ripping open every suitcase I'm yelling "who has seen the blue polka dot pj's"

Molly quickly says to Tim who is frantically looking for them, "you know we are looking for mom's pj's not Annie's! "

Need sleep...badly!

Today we got Annie's Passport !! On to Guangzhou !!

China Time : Friday 2:10 PM USA Time: 1:10 AM Friday

Today was a relaxing day at the hotel. We had to wait around For our guide to pick up all of our Chinese paperwork and Annie's Chinese passport so we can move on to Guangzhou. Our flight is at 7:25 PM China Time. It is a two hour flight south to Guangzhou. We will be moving to warmer temperatures. It is about 55 degrees in Hefei today and should be in the mid 70's when we get to Guangzhou. We will miss our guide TingTing as she was a Godsend. Very organized and very kind. Tomorrow we will start our paperwork for the US side of things. Crazy as it sounds, fourteen years ago with Molly, this was a little more difficult than the Chinese side. Hopefully we will get a little warmer reception at the US Consulate than we did back then. Over the next few days we will get Annie's Visa and medical tests so we can bring her home. We will also have the oath taking ceremony done in Guangzhou. We are all reaching a point where we want to be on that big jet back to JFK.
Kim is doing an amazing job with Annie. She is still doing well, but testing us on many levels. This will be her first plane ride ever, so it should be interesting.
Knock on wood, everyone's health is holding up. There is another couple at our hotel who adopted a four year old. The mother got violently ill and had to go to the hospital. Have not heard how she is doing yet.
I attached some additional photos from the orphanage and tomorrow should have some shots from Guangzhou. Love to all !

Visit to Annie's Orphanage Today !!

China Time: 1:15 PM Thursday

We had an agonizing decision this morning. Should Annie accompany us back to the orphanage for this visit, or should just one of us make the pilgrimage. Ultimately we decided to all go as a family. Posted below are our individual observations of the visit.

Orphanage Visit! What a morning!

When we received our itinerary for this journey  it listed "optional visit to child's orphanage or SWI, Social Welfare Institute. My initial reaction was we would not be taking Annie back there. That after having her with us for three days it would be too confusing for her.
Enter a few well know and maybe not so well know psychologist and social workers who convinced me that, yes she should go back for closure and to get the message that her care givers were on board with this plan.
When we told our guide in China of our plans to bring Annie to the SWI she said she was shocked and did not advise it.
What to do? Who to listen to? More e-mails and consulting was needed to over ride my last minute doubting. Thank you Marilyn, Barbara in N.J. and others who spoke to me via e-mail all night long.
I went with my gut, we needed to take her back. We could not deprive her of this one time chance for a goodbye.
The morning was filled with tension and I am sure Annie could sense it. She mopped the floor with her body a few times, jerk and ran away in the lobby and had several "limp/dead weight" moments.
As we pulled up to the SWI I braced for impact. The building looked like any other building in China to me. Upon entering it was also the same...no heat and everyone moving around dressed for outdoor weather. We were told it housed 140 children all with "disabilities."
As I carried Annie in her demeanor was flat, very serious, detached. She did not wiggle to get down, in fact she did not move much at all.
Some staff greeted us down stairs calling her by name. You would have thought Annie had never seen them before. One reached out to her and she would not go to her.
We were taken up two flights of stairs to where she has lived for 3.5 years. The various rooms formed an open square center court yard. As we passed by a few rooms the nannies and child opened the windows to yell greetings and reach out to Annie.
She did not react and stayed in my arms.
At the end of the hall three nannies came to meet us. They genuinely seemed thrilled to see her, the feeling did not seem mutual. The one nanny ( name to be inserted later) was her main care giver since birth. She was very emotional. She took Annie from my arms as I bristled trying to access very quickly if this was a good idea. As I observed this women hugging and kissing our child I just as quickly thought how can this be bad. Annie seemed a bit indifferent. Her nanny asked to make sure we would take good care of her. We assured her we would. Our translator asked the nanny to tell Annie that she was going home with us and she was happy for Annie.
Annie looked at her like she was speaking Chinese... of course she was.
In our paper work we were told she was living in a foster family setting in within the SWI. That was not the case.
We saw the tiny bed lined room where she had slept. Annie, her nanny and went I  went to what was her bed...still no reaction from her. The nanny explained how her bed had so sides on it because she is such a smart girl she never fell out.
We were then instructed to give our gifts to the nannies. Annie saw this, took the gifts and handed them to each. She then blew us all away by then waving and saying Goodbye! She was ready to leave.
 Annie was asked if she wanted to go see her classmates in her preschool ( one flight down) Now Annie was excited! As a nanny tried to take her hand she refused turned to me and said: "Mama".
We walked hand in hand until we had almost reach her preschool door. She then bolted to her classroom.
Inside the dozen or so children mobbed her yelling her name. She was unfazed by the children pushing and jockeying for position near her. Annie had a bag of candy which she immediately handed the first two pieces to, who we were told, were her best friends. They received their candy first. She then went to each eager child, remembering as they skirted around, who she had given a piece to and who she had not until all were given out.
One child was heard saying: "Did XinTian find her foreign mother? Is that her?"  They really had been educated as to what adoption was about. We also learned her two best friends had families coming for them soon.
The teachers patiently answer my list of questions about her life and experiences as best they could.  "XinTian is so smart but she can have a mind of her own. Sometimes when she does not do the right thing we have to tell her she is wrong but sometimes she does not think what she did is wrong so she needs to sit and think about it."
When it was time to leave preschool Annie was crying hard but that was because she had just hit the corner of her eye on the sink and was bleeding a bit. Her teacher had her in her arms but when I reached for her she came to me and calmed down fascinated by the tiny drops of blood on the tissue she held to her eye.
When we were back in the lobby she came alive again. "Mowee" had her laughing, running and hiding.
The assistant director presented Annie with a gift, a jade Buddha necklace from the orphanage. She asked that we would help her to be proud of her country and maybe one day return to visit her homeland. We promised.
We were then presented with the most valuable gift. Annie's memory book from Half the Sky Foundation. It contains her life from the day she was found (1 day old) until we were able to come for her. It is complete with milestone photos and description of her life, experiences and developmental progress. She will not have blank pages in her baby book. What a gift!