Home Coming

After 27 hours of traveling we arrived home!!
Mason's first airplane ride went pretty good except for the long flight from China to the States.  His ears were really hurting when we went up.  I couldn't get him to understand that he needed to either drink water or chew gum.  After several minutes of crying his ears finally popped and he settled down.  He watched several videos and then asked to see the time.  It was 9:00 Beijing time so he told us it was time to go to sleep.  He got his pillow,  gave us a fist bump ( his way of a kiss goodnight ) and settled in to going to sleep....until he decided to lift his window shade.  To his surprise it was still daylight.  This was completely confusing to him, so he told us it was not time to go to sleep and started another video.  He finally fell asleep and slept the last 3 hours of the trip.  He slept through the plane landing which was a blessing because he didn't cry over his ears hurting.  We had a hard time waking him and Alan had to carry him off the plane.
 He was SO excited when he saw the kids in the Peoria airport.  He just kept smiling and showing them all the pictures he took in Guangzhou.  I had made a picture book of all his siblings, our dog, and our house so he was very familiar with the kids before we even arrived home.  We also did a lot of video chats where he was able to interact with the kids.
Since being home Mason has enjoyed playing with the kids and absolutely LOVES our dog.  He has done very well with going to bed and sleeping all night.  In fact the first night he was so excited to sleep in his new bed that he jumped into bed without us telling him.  The first night he only slept 3 hours but the second night he slept 12 hours.  This morning he awoke at 6:00 right before Alan left for work.  Alan & I continue to struggle with jet lag and are really looking forward to when our bodies adapt back to the states time.
Thank you to everyone who helped with our kids while we were gone.  We really appreciate our family, friends, and church family for helping with childcare, meals, housework, and laundry.  It was and still is a blessing to us knowing that our children were taken care of.

Packing to head home....

Mason couldn't understand why we were only taking some things home from the hotel room and not everything.

One last stop for an ice-cream treat

Had to throw this picture in....I could not get use to their toilets over in China.....Squatty Potties.  The trash can was for the t.p

Daily Events

Our last several days have been full of outings....shopping, sightseeing, the park, restaurants, and meeting new and wonderful friends.

Mason loves his sunglasses

At Shamian Island

Mason with new friend Kennedy

Mason loves his food

Mason and Kennedy ( she was adopted 9 years ago ) her family was here adopting her 4 year old sister.  We did a lot of outings with their family and enjoyed getting to know them

Our hotel is very ornate and grand so we laughed when we found this in the hallway

A glimpse of just "part" of the hotel lobby.  It is so big I couldn't get it all in the picture

Buddhist temple

Buddhist temple incense table

Hanging at the hotel

Skyping with our kids.  Mason was soooo excited to show them all the pic he took at the Safari Park

Our day at the Park

A ride in the paddle boat

Mason enjoying his marshmallow treat we bought him

Mason helping me with this blog

Pictures from our hotel room....The hotels garden

Hotel swimming pool

Our daily view...

Day at the Park

Today our guide took us and another adopting family to the Safari Park.  Definitely worth going to see if you ever come to Guangzhou.  It was beautiful and fun.  First we took a small train and traveled around the park where the animals roamed freely ( at least most of them ).  Afterwards we walked through a fantastic dinosaur exhibit.  Mason was enjoying every bit of it but couldn't figure out why the dinosaurs wouldn't reach out and touch his hands when he reached out to them.  The dinosaurs were lifelike robots that moved and made a lot of noise.  One even shot water out of its mouth.  I didn't know how to tell Mason that the dinosaurs were not real but the animals were.  We saw several different animals from all over the world and the park did a great job in displaying them in their habitats.  We even walked under monkeys hanging freely from ropes.  We could have reached up and touched on but new that was against the park rules.  We saw a tiger show and part of an elephant show.  The park could easily be a 2 day trip.  Alan, Mason, and myself all enjoyed it.  It was a long day but full of fun.

This lion was pretty friendly to Alan....didn't know if I should be concerned or not :)

Monkeys hung over where we would walk through

A cave going into the dinosaur exhibit...Mason filled our ipad with pictures

The rabbit gave Mason a fist bump when we entered the park

White tiger show

New Friends

We have met a lot of wonderful people that are here from the states adopting.  We hear lots of interesting stories about their journey with their adoption.  It has been very encouraging to talk to others in similar situations as ours.  One American that I met was truly a gift from God.  We met on our last plane ride here, from Beijng to Guanzhou.  She grew up near Peoria and we were the only Americans on that flight.  She has lived in China for the past 2-3 years and in Guangzhou since August.  Somehow it came up that I have food allergies and she mentioned that she has a friend with similar food allergies.  Her friend is from Scotland and he married a girl who is Malasian/Chinese. She had written an allergy note for her husband in Mandarin that he can to take out to restaurants.  That way the restaurants could help him pick choices that he can eat.  They emailed me the same note.  It is funny the reactions you get when you show them the note.  I had one lady take something away from me like it was poison and told me no....not good for you.
The lady I met on the plane wanted to know if Alan & I would be interested in joining her, her family, and her friends for lunch.  We met up with them today and it was so incredible.  Such a diversity among all of them but they are all so close, no matter which country they are from.  I loved the thick Scottish accent from the one from Scotland.  His wife from Malasia spoke excellent Mandarin and helped us out A LOT with trying to communicate to people here.  They took us to an authentic Thai restaurant and ordered all sorts of food.  It all tasted great.   We then went for icecream with them.  They showed us places to eat and visit. It was so uplifting to get out and experience for a moment what life is like for those who live and work here.

Thai restaurant with our new friends

Orphanage Trip

Today we took Mason and went to visit the orphanage that he has been at for the last 6 years.  Alan & I were both very anxious about this trip.  We were told that sometimes kids can have huge fears of being left when going back.  We also didn't know if he would not want to come back with us once we got there.  As soon as we were there we ran into his nanny. She recognized us ( & Mason ) right away.  She took us around the orphanage and explained how they ran it.  In the last year Mason had moved out of the orphanage and was living in a foster home which they create to be like a family unit.  This is to help the child transition from institution living to family living and to give the children a chance to attend school.  In his foster home there were between 6-8 children living with an Auntie & Uncle.  I told Alan I hope Mason doesn't feel like he is just living in another foster home in the states.  Unfortunately we did not get to visit his foster home or see his friends but we did enjoy seeing the orphanage, which is where he has spent most of his time.  Mason did great at the orphanage and really seemed to relax a lot more with us after that.  I think it was visiting the orphanage ( and not being left behind ) that helped him realize that this is for real.....he has a home and family.  Many other adopting parents said they had the same experience with their kids and that visiting the orphanage was a good closure for the child.
After visiting the orphanage we went to the hospital where Mason was abandoned.  The hospital itself was very nice looking but all around it was poverty.

Sleeping area for the kids

Alan, Myself & the Nanny on the orphanage playground

We were able to interact with the children.  This is where the babies stay

Outside the front of the orphanage

Laundry day that afternoon

Next to the hospital

The front of the hospital where Mason was found

The babies sleeping area

Inside play area for the orphanage

First 48 hours

Mason continues to amaze us and is still doing very well.  He is not afraid to ask us when he needs help and and tells us when he doesn't want something or like something. He loves to look at an analog clock.  He loves keeping track of the time.  I tried to show him a digital clock but he didn't know how to read it.  We put an analog clock on the ipad for him.  We were told Mason loves basketball, cars, and Kungfu.  Alan created a basketball hoop out of our garbage can....He LOVED playing.  We attempted going to the pool.  He is not afraid to try new things but if he doesn't like it then he will not try it again.  He didn't seem to mind the pool at first until he saw Alan dive in head first so he dove in head first.  He panicked and couldn't get his head up out of the water. Alan picked him up and that was the end of that.
The second night did not go as well as the first night.  We put Mason to bed and about 5 min. later we heard him crying in the next room.  We both sat next to him and rubbed his back and shoulders to let him know we were there for him.  I found a small stuffed animal in his bag that he brought from the orphanage and gave it to him.  He has slept with it ever since.  The second night he did not cry but I found him sitting in the living room ( where we had dozed off ) waiting for us to wake up.  We put him back to bed and laid in the room with him.  He went to sleep fine and did great the rest of the night.  We now lay in the bedroom with him every night and he has done awesome.
I celebrated my Birthday on the 9th.  We weren't too familiar with many of the restaurants so we kept things familiar that night and went to McD's.  I ordered a simple burger with a side order of corn.  Mason had some chicken meal with rice,  Alan had a wrap filled with rice and maybe some beef.  We all enjoyed a Mcflurry which was vanilla icecream swirled with strawberry gel and gummy candy.  It actually tasted pretty good.  That night I was surprised with a beautiful cake.  The cake was a sponge cake with layers of pineapple cream covered in a beautiful hard chocolate shell.  The entire cake was edible....It made my day!
Grace helped Alan talk to the hotel so I could have a surprise on my Birthday...

Alan's beef wrap

Mason

Mason is always asking for help when he gets stuck on the ipad

My Mcflurry

M'y surprise B'day cake

Gotch Day

Today is the day we went to pick up Mason!!
We met Mason in the mid afternoon.  He was very calm and did everything people told him.  The building we went to was very stuffy with other families there as well picking up their children.  Mason's nanny was very helpful in answering our questions as best as she could.  We showed the nanny the sign for mom & dad.  Mason knew the sign for mom & dad in Chinese sign language so she translated it to ASL.  He picked up on it right away.  We also taught him the sign for bathroom and thankfully he picked up on that right away as well.  He instantly took to the ipad and played it almost nonstop for several days.  We would only leave it in the room for him to play and not take it when we travel to different appointments. We took him out to dinner that night and he ate more than Alan & I.  He catches on to things very quickly and remembers things only after seeing it one time. Bedtime that night went well and he slept all night.

Us at the adoption center

Mason with his nanny

Mason and the ipad