The Last Leg

Hello from Guangzhou. We are now at the White Swan hotel. It is very nice and also very expensive. Yesterday, Monday, was a long day. We really didn’t do much at the Nanning hotel because we just had to wait for all the children’s passports. We left the hotel at 5pm and headed to the airport. We said our good byes to our rep, Jane. It was an emotional time for all of us. She was a great help to Paul and I. She sang us a song from Sound of Music- Edelweiss. We had to wait at the airport for about 2 hours. During that time they changed our boarding gate 3 different times. We had to board a bus that took us to the plane. It was only a few steps away but that is how they do it in China. The flight was uneventful. Mikenna slept thru the whole thing. We can only hope the flight home will go so well. We checked into the hotel at 11 pm. It was a long day. Today, Paul and I woke up not feeling very well. We ate a dinner at the airport last night and I think that may have not set well with us. I have not felt well today and I’m hoping to go to bed early and get a good nights rest. Last night Mikenna did not wake up. I think she was so exhausted from being up so late. I told Paul that I know it will be a good day when Mikenna does not ask for her foster mom. The last 2 days it has only been at night. Today we took the children to their check up. Mikenna did very well. She cried when the Dr. tried to look down her throat. Other than that, she was a champ. We are still making baby steps every day. She engages other children in play and will smile and laugh when she is playing. Today we took her to a park by the examination building and she had a ball going down the slide. She will look at Paul on her terms and even sat by him for dinner. She fed him and he fed her. They played sword fighting with the silverware. That is a big step for her but yet will not let him hold her. My whole body hurts from constantly holding her (the hard box spring mattress’ do not help either). I brought a backpack carrier for her and she loves it IF I am the one carrying her. We tried to have Paul carry her but she screams so loud that I just give in to her. It was a little cooler here than Nanning and that helps when I need to have her strapped to me. We are anxious to come home.

Another day with smiles

This is our last night in Nanning. We are anxious to be leaving and heading to Guangzhou for the final round of paperwork and exams. Nanning is a tropical area and the last couple of days has been hot. Yesterday it was about 85 and very humid. Not ideal weather to have a 25 lb little one strapped to me. We went to a National Museum today. It was about a 20 minute walk from our hotel. Our Holt rep has been so wonderful. She has really tried to schedule activities for the families for us to really experience the Chinese culture. All of us are ready to leave this hotel and go to the White Swan hotel. It is just a hotel for adoptive families. We have been going to a park every day that is near this hotel. Mikenna loves being outside. This afternoon the park was very busy because it is Sunday and families were all out enjoying the day. The unusual thing is that even though it is very warm here much of the year, they dress in a lot of layers, especially the children. Mikenna always wants a jacket on even though she is sweating. The Chinese think if they dress the children warmly, they wont get colds. They also have these unique pants called: slit pants. The babies and toddlers don't always wear diapers and so the slit pants allows them to squat and pee anywhere and anytime. Somehow I don't think this would go over well in the US. At this same park, they have amusement rides. They have this one ride that would never be allowed in the US because all the lawyers in the US would have a field day with the possible injuries from the way the ride could hurt someone. It was pretty funny to watch but very unsafe. The other thing that wouldn't go over is how the children ride on scooters her in Nanning. There are no helmets or even seats for these little ones. They squat on a tiny space at the bottom of the scooter. The cars and scooters here are in great shape. We haven't seen an accident. It is organized chaos the way they drive and get around. They understand the flow of traffic. Pedestrians do not have the right of way. Tomorrow our flight leaves at 8:15pm and lands in Guangzhou an hour later. Then we have another hour drive to the hotel so I will not be able to post a blog. I will update on Tuesday(china time). Mikenna had a fairly good day. We definitely can get her to smile and today she actually engaged other children in play. That encouraged us. She did have a 2 hour crying session of asking for her foster mom. She wanted me to take her 'home'. Talk about breaking our hearts. Our rep said that it should get better once we get home because she wont be around Chinese people and she'll have only Paul and I to depend on. Please continue to pray for our little one. She is grieving and I can't really do anything but hold her and kiss her. Most of the time she responds ok to my kisses and telling her in Chinese that I love her. Good bye from Nanning, China.

Look at this SMILE !!!

Well, we have made some progress today. Mikenna not only smiled, she did it with giggles. We were at a village about an hour away from Nanning and we were sitting in a woman's house and I was playing with one little girl. I was showing her how I put my sunglasses up on my head when I am inside a house. Well, Mariah tried to put her glasses on Mikenna and she smiled. Then we made a game out of it and sure enough the smiles kept coming. After we got back from the village, we were up in the room and I really got her smiling and laughing. We made a BIG step today. Mikenna still wont go to Paul but she did look at him at different times for a long period of time. I am so encouraged by this step. We still need to get her to understand us and vise versa. She ate really well today. Yesterday, she just kind of grazed. So we definitely are happy. I hope you enjoy the pictures and video clip.

Nanning, China

It has been 2 days since I wrote. Last night I was just too worn out, so I went to bed as soon as Mikenna did. We are making tiny baby steps. She is still grieving the lost of her foster mom. Mikenna lived on a dairy farm about 1 hour outside of Nanning. The population in Nanning is about 2 million people. 98% of the people are from the ethnic group called the Gzaung(pronounced John) the other 2% are from the ethnic group called the Han people. Our rep thinks Mikenna is from the Han group. Yesterday we went to Walmart and Pizza Hut and Mikenna decided that that would be a good time to throw her first tantrum for us. I felt like every Chinese person around was judging me as the worst parent. Mikenna tried a little of the crust at Pizza Hut but didn't taste much more. We know she like french fries. Today started off calm for her. She loves to be outside. We went to a place called the Green Mt. It is very warm and muggy here. It is suppose to be in the 80's tomorrow. It wouldn't be so terrible except that Mikenna is stuck like glue to me and will not let Paul hold her. She seems to have bonded completely to me. This is what we were hoping for but now it would be great for her to start to even look at Paul. We also know why all the pictures we had of her she was never smiling. She hates the camera. If she even hears it turn on, she'll look the other way. Please continue to pray for Mikenna's grieving. She is so little and does not understand what has been going on the last couple of days. We saw a small smile yesterday and a couple times today. That is progress! We've had a lot of interesting food but have found one restaurant that tries to serve somewhat American food. We don't think we'll be eating Chinese any time soon back home. Sorry I went on, I just wanted to update you about what we've been doing in Nanning. We miss you all and appreciate your emails and notes on the blog.

It's Official

We are officially the Kruit family of 7. This morning we boarded a bus to go back to the Civil Affairs office to be interviewed and then we received her certificate of adoption. We then had to go to another building and be notarized and interviewed with a few questions. Mikenna has taken to me all day today. She didn't mind Paul holding her for a short period but since this afternoon, it has been all me. We went to a park this afternoon that is absolutely beautiful. She enjoyed being outside but really didn't want to do much. She still has her guard up. She has been asking for her foster mom which breaks my heart. I think today has been a lot more emotional for me than yesterday(and Paul would quickly agree). After we got her certificate of adoption it just really sunk in how much her birth mother has given up and she will never know what happened to her daughter. We found out that Mikenna's foster mother is about 58 years old and lives with her husband on a cow farm. The foster mother has a son and a daughter that live in the city. So Mikenna was being raised by a 'grandmother and grandfather' that gave her a lot of attention. We think she may have ruled the roost there! Continue to pray as Mikenna goes thru the grieving process. I know she is asking for her foster mom because mommy is said mama in Chinese so it is the same as English. She is finally asleep and hopefully for the entire evening. She slept pretty good except that we were up at 4:45am. Our escort told us that it could take 3-4 days before she sorts things out and realizes that we are her family. I'm really tired this evening so I'm going to sign off and try to sleep since we don't know how long Mikenna is down for.

Sending pictures of Mikenna

March 24th, 2009 Gottcha Day!

What a long day filled with a ton of different emotions! We left the hotel in Beijing at 5:30 this morning and headed to the airport. Our first situation that we encountered wastthat our luggage was over the limit of 44lbs. per person. We had to pay extra money and then we couldn't check all of the bags we had. When we got to the x-ray machine the people saw medicine in the suitcase and they decided to take some of it out and left some as well. I kept telling them that it was for the orphanage but that didn't seem to matter. Then when we were about to board the plane, they took that one piece of luggage and ended up putting it in the bottom of the plane because the plane was filled. We got to Nanning about 11:30am and we met our new escort. We got situated in our rooms, well everyone except us because the room was a smoking room and totally filthy. They moved us into another room that smelled better but it was not made up at that point. We decided to let our escort handle it while 3 families all went to get some lunch. In Nanning we do not have as many choices of food- it is Chinese. We got back from lunch and we ended up in a 3rd room that is a little bit bigger. We then headed to another hotel where all the children were waiting for us. We could hear crying from the time we got off the elevator. Guess who it was? Yep, Mikenna. We took a sneak into the hall and there was a caregiver walking the hall with her. Well, that started me crying. There are 5 families here in Nanning adopting. All our children came from foster care. 4 little girls and 1 boy. All the girls came in crying and little Emmett did really good until he realized his caregiver left the room. Mikenna was not happy at all. We needed to hold her so that she wouldn't run off to the nanny. It was a hard moment for all the parents in the room. Finally after 20 minutes, Mikenna fell asleep on Paul's shoulder. After 30 minutes we all boarded a bus again and headed back to our hotel. Mikenna slept the whole time until we got up to our room. She initially would only let Paul hold her for about the first 2 hours and then she warmed up to me. She has been pretty mellow the rest of the afternoon and evening. When I tried to change her, she really didn't like that. She has been trying to put her shoes on over her p.j.'s and she is very frustrated. We are exhausted and so is Mikenna. She hasn't gone to the bathroom this whole time and she only has takes about 3 oz of a bottle. Pray that she will have a good nights rest and tomorrow will be a better day for all. I can hear all the children on this floor and they are having a hard time because we parents don't know their routine.

Beijing- here we come !

March 20, 2009 Our flight left O'Hare at 12:45pm. We headed North thru Canada and then to the North Pole. While we flew over the North Pole it was -59 degrees. We landed in Beijing at 1:40am (Chicago time). It was a beautiful 60 degrees in Beijing.
March 21, 2009 After we retrieved our luggage, we headed to our hotel. It was 3:30pm Beijing time and we really didn't sleep on the very cramped plane. The hotel is very modern and only 15 minutes from the airport. Paul and I headed to bed around 6:30pm. We weren't able to sleep the whole night because of the different in time change.
March 22, 2009 We have had a wonderful day in Beijing. It was a cool but sunny day! First, we headed to the Great Wall of China. It was very cold and windy as we climbed the wall. We made it to 3 towers. It was an incredible sight. From there we headed to a 'flea market' type of place. They showed us how they made pots,vases, and many other items made out of copper. It was very interesting. We ate lunch at this place. We have about 12 people in our group and they served us family style many different types of Chinese foods. From there we headed to Hutong Lane. This is an area that is pres served by the government. We took a rickshaw(I'm not sure if I spelled that correctly). It was fun to be on the carriage. He took us to a widows home and we were allowed to go in and she made us tea and shared her home(which was a small 2 room house)with us. Her niece was there painting inside of bottles. She had amazing talent. Our driver, drove us by the Olympic Bird Nest stadium, the Cube and the Olympic village.
By the time we got back to the hotel it was almost 6pm. My stomach is not feeling very good so we thought we would try 'American' food-McDonalds. I had a quarter pounder and it really doesn't taste anything like the ones we are use to. I was disappointed.
We were able to walk the streets and ran into a girl from MN. She had a Bethel sweatshirt on. Her trip was coming to an end and we had a nice conversation with her.
Until next time- from beautiful China

1 WEEK TO GO !

Here we are Friday, the 13 of March and I can not believe that next week at this time, we'll be at the airport waiting to leave for China. The emotions are SO high here at home. The girls are so excited and so are their friends and teachers. Their enthusiasm has triggered such excitement from everyone. It's kind of interesting how their teachers are even following our adoption. Paul and I were talking last night about how when we were growing up, we didn't know our teachers first names or we really didn't know anything about their personal lives. Things have changed so much since we were kids. I think it's great that the teachers want to share a little about their personal lives with the kids. I think it makes the kids realize that they have a life outside of school. Anyway, back to the millions of things that need to get done this week-end. Mikenna's luggage is all ready to go but Paul and I have yet to pack. We need to pack for cold and warm so we can wip out the summer things and pack those but the warmer things will need to wait until mid week to get packed. We had a phone conference this past Tuesday and all the people that will be traveling with us were able to dial in if they could. It was great to listen to Steve from Holt explain to us what we might encounter while in China. We also could ask questions which all of us had different concerns. I could just tell everyone just wants to get to China as quickly as possible. It will be nice to be traveling with a group. It looks like we will all start out together in Beijing and then we head to the Province where our children are and then we all connect again in Guangzhou. It'll be so much fun to see everyone with their new daughters or sons. I know we can't wait! Please continue to pray for Mikenna and the transition that she is going to be making from her foster family to Paul and me. Her little 2 year old mind can not phathom what is about to happen and I'm sure she will be scared at first. We're really hoping to learn how to communicate with her so that she understand us and we understand her. God is in control and He knows how everything is going to work out so I just need to rest in His hands and try not to worry.

The count down begins !!!!

We have 10 days to go and we'll be on our way to China. The excitement in our house is starting to bubble over. It is so close and everything has fallen into place for the adoption and also for all the plans here in the states. God has orchestrated everything so wonderfully as only He can do. Since we have accepted our referral, we have just wanted to hold Mikenna in our arms and love on her. I understand a little bit more clearly now how God our Father must feel with each of us. He longs to hear our voice or see our face or even have communication with us if we would only stop long enough to listen. Just as we have had to wait for Mikenna, (rather impatiently), God waits for us to 'come home'. It will be a wonderful day when we can introduce Mikenna to her 4 sisters. They are already calling dibs on her. I think I might need to set a timer for them to all get even time. Paul and I couldn't be more proud of our girls and how they love Mikenna. Their love is so unconditional for her. She hasn't done anything to deserve their love yet they already love her so much. This love that we have for her is very similar to the love that God has for us except that He is perfect and we are not and we can never do anything to deserve His love but yet He freely gives it to us with open arms. With much excitement and anticipation, Lori

Travel Itinerary

We have officially booked our flights!!!!! We leave on Friday, March 20th and return on Friday, April 3rd. We are so excited and we have had a whirlwind of a week-end trying to get everything and everybody's schedule arranged. God has been so good in orchestrating all the details. The first week we'll be gone the girls have school and their schedules with soccer are winding down so it won't be too hectic. The second week that we're gone is their Spring Break so it will be nice and relaxing for the girls and my Mom. We have had many people offer to help with the girls which we are so grateful for. I wish we could take them all up on their offers. It touched our hearts that they really wanted to help our family. This is one less thing that we have to worry about when we are gone. We know that they will be very well taken care of. I thought I would lay out for you what our itinerary might be. I say might because it always could change.

Friday, March 20- Leave O'Hare at 12:30p and fly for 13 1/2 hours to Beijing.

Saturday, March 21-Land in Beijing @3:25p

Sunday, March 22- Sightsee(Great Wall of China)

Monday, March 23- Orientation and sightsee(Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square)

Tuesday- March 24- Fly to Nanning, China GOTTCHA DAY!(around 3:30pm)

(gottcha day is a big deal because this is the day that we get Mikenna)

March 24-March 30- We will be in Nanning finalizing papers and her adoption

Monday, March 30- Fly to Guangzhou - this is where the American Consulate is

Tuesday, March 31- Visa medical exam for Mikenna

Wednesday April 1- U.S. consulate visa appointment

Thursday, April 2- Mikenna's visa is issued and we take an oath. We leave Guangzhou around 8pm that night and take a train to Hong Kong.

Friday, April 3- We board a plane in Hong Kong at noon and take the long 14 hour trip home with Mikenna. We will land in Chicago at 2:15pm.

The good thing is that both flights are non-stop. Yeah! I'm not sure how a 2 year old will travel for that long and still not really be able to communicate with us. Pray for a pleasant flight!

We have a lot to do before we leave but I'm confidant that it'll get done and if anything hasn't then it really wasn't that important.