We Are Home!

We have been home a little less than 48 hours now. Coming back to the states was soooooo nice. You really never realize how much you miss home until you are away. I think both Paul and I feel we are blessed to live in the USA – for so many reasons. The plane rides home were long. Ella doesn’t like to wear her seat belt and screamed at the top of her lungs to announce this to everybody on the plane both at departure and landing – JOY! She also spoke Chinese in an angry voice and we are sure she was letting the world know that we are awful parents J She threw up 3 hours in to the 14 hour plane trip. Probably from being so upset. We survived and are home and that is all that matters. Paul and I were instantly emotional upon landing in Indy. We couldn’t help ourselves. I will never forget turning the corner and seeing Colin! The tears flowed as we hugged and kissed. Carleigh was void of emotion at first. I handed her back to my Aunt and she cried because she wanted me to hold her – happy mommy moment. Ella was quite at first and then broke into tears of her own. Paul and I rushed to hold her and within a few minutes she was on the ground standing next to her brother and holding his hand – our hearts be still. Colin and Ella bonded instantly. Ella had smiles and opened the gift Colin brought her – Kai Lan play set and silly bands. The silly bands were a hit!! Colin and Ella never stopped standing next to each other the rest of the night. Our family and close friends were at the airport to meet us and a dear friend and took pictures to capture the moment. It was so nice to see everyone and be surrounded by love. We were up to 2am visiting with the kids and telling stories about our journey. We are still catching up on sleep and I have a nasty stomach bug to make things all the more interesting.
Ella is doing remarkably well. She follows her big brother’s lead and for the time being, Colin is agreeable to this arrangement. Colin takes his time to show Ella how to do things and repeats words for her. He is being a stellar big brother and is a great help. Ella seemed to know from the moment she walked in the door that she was home. She walked in like she owned the place and checked everything out. The toy room was the big draw. She is eager to learn the Hammond family ways and tonight put away all of the neighbors shoes when they came to bring us dinner J There are moments of sadness and she seeks us out and we hold her. She is a daddy’s girl. The screaming and fit throwing continue – mostly over sharing. Even that is only once or twice a day so maybe it is just normal 3 year old behavior. Ella repeats may words each day and uses them correctly. I asked her today to please put away her shoes after coming in from outside and she did just that!! It amazes me how much communication really is taking place with such a small use of vocabulary spoken on both ends.
Ella saw the pediatrician today and all seems to be well. She needs to have shots which we are putting off for a week and some blood work done. We head to the cardiologist tomorrow for several tests and to talk with the doctor. This will be a telling visit. We obviously know there are heart issues but I’m hoping to get a better picture tomorrow of the extent and options for treatment.
We are grateful for the opportunity to expand our family. There are and will be bumps as we figure it all out and come up with a new routine. However, Ella is a perfect fit in the Hammond family. God’s hand is all over this and it feels good. From the way the referral happened, to the people we met and shared the adoption process with and then the home coming. It is right, it is good and we are blessed.
We will continue to post updates but less often. Thank you all for your support. Love, Paul, Amy, Colin, Ella and Carleigh

Heading Home!

It's our last night in Guangzhou, China. Tomorrow we fly to Shanghai then to Newark and onto INDY!!! We are sooooo excited. It is going to be a long trip but it is just nice knowing we are headed home. After purchasing a third suitcase, we are all packed and ready for our trip. Ella is a little sad tonight and we think she knows something is going on. We had the guide talk to her yesterday and then today one of the store owners reinforced that she is taking 3 airplane rides tomorrow. I don't know how to make things easier on her except to be patient and to love on her. She is about to experience the change of her life. As is the whole Hammond family :) All we want when we get home is a soft bed, American food, and of course to hug on Colin and Carleigh!! Soon....

Our last days here

Two more nights and one more day and then we get to start the trek home - yippy!! Most of the families left this morning and the remaining few all leave tomorrow morning, including our guide. We will be on our own for a day and then we leave bright and early Saturday morning. I don't know if it is appropriate for prayer - however, another upgrade to first class for the trip home would be nice :) Things are going well. Actually, they are great. She is a joy. Right now Daddy and Ella are laying in bed, laughing, singing and having so much fun. The kisses, hugs and smiles come often. Yesterday when Paul would walk away, Ella would become concerned and look for him. Of course the melt downs still happen daily, as they should for a three year old, but they seem to be shorter in duration today. We tried the swimming pool today and that was NOT a hit. She isn't a big fan of baths and never even took her shoes off at the pool. I bet brother Colin will be a good influence at our neighborhood pool. Ella talks to us in Chinese all the time now. We need to record her and have someone translate. Fun side note, one of the families who adopted a 4 year old girl found out that she was saying to them in a joking manner "I will beat you to death". They of course were repeating it back to her without knowing until a guide clued them in!! All the guides we have had comment that Ella is a very smart little girl. A couple people have even asked if she is older than 3 1/2 and if her DOB could have been estimated incorrectly(no she isn't and no it wasn't). That's our girl!! Paul thinks she may be a genius, I think he may be biased :) It is amazing to think how things were just over a week ago and now I'm watching her wrestle and interact with Paul like she has known him forever. We couldn't have imagined a better transition up to this point. Now we are excited to get home and hold Colin and Carleigh and for them to interact with their new sister. It will be fun to see how the family dynamics work out. Not sure who will talk more - Colin or Ella!!

Official!

Ella and Mommy

Ella and Daddy by the pool

menu item at our Chinese restaurant

Near our hotel in Guangzhou

Today we swore in Ella at the US Consulate here in Guangzhou. She is 99% official. The US government recognizes her as a future citizen. All we do now is receive her US visa in her Chinese passport and then go home. When we pass through US customs in Newark on Saturday she will be an official citizen!!! It was an emotional moment when we raised our right hand and swore her in. It was 4 years work/wait that came down to one moment. I will never forget it.

We are so anxious to come home. We have two more full days left and they are going to be very hard because we have nothing to do and we just want to go home. We will have to find a new way to kill two days. We have shopped and shopped and shopped. We will have to buy a new suitcase for all our bounty. There is no room in our current/future bags nor is there money left for more shopping. Unfortunately,shopping is about all there is to do here. It's almost like they planned it that way.

Our close friends who we spent 4 days with in Wuhan and who are our neighbors here at the White Swan Hotel left this evening. Two days before us. That's a tough pill to swallow. We are very happy for them. They are amazing people. Most leave tomorrow. A few leave on Friday. We are the last to leave on Saturday. Even our guide will leave on Friday. That's the last time I let a travel agency plan our trips (they were HIGHLY recommended by our adoption agency).

Enough complaining. Ella is just amazing. Right now she is a daddy's girl and I am going to enjoy every minute. She is the typical curious 3 year old who likes to test us. She wants to be in control. She wants to decide if her hand is held. She demands to be held or put down. When we take control of the situation she will let us know of her displeasure by pouting, turning her back, or throwing a fit. She loves to rough house. She likes to be thrown up in the air. She loves to be spun around. She has this silly game of hiding items behind her back (we can plainly see them) and the says something in Chinese that means "where did it go?" She will play this game for hours if we let her.

Tonight Amy and I were laughing and playing on the bed with Ella for a good 30 minutes. We were having a great time. We were probably annoying our neighbors with the noise and laughter. Ella then told Amy that she had to use the bathroom. Amy went with her to help her get up on the toilet. When Ella came back she had a complete change of mood. She was very sad. She walked over to me and just stood by me and looked at the floor. Her face showed her pain. I carried her to the bed and we sat next to Amy. Ella had the saddest face. She nearly cried as she sat motionless on the bed. We talked to her, rubbed her and we tried to re-assure her. I think something triggered a memory of her foster parents and her old home. She was a different person from just 5 minutes ago. Amy and I held Ella as I said a prayer and asked for help. A few moments went by and Ella came out of her depression. She started by touching my nose very softly. She would then flip sides and touch Amy's nose. Every minute she became more active and animated until she finally smiled again and even laughed. Ella went from a little girl who was shut down with sadness to a laughing happy girl who gave me multiple kisses (I got my first kiss from her tonight. Not just 1 but 8....not that I'm counting). God answered a prayer within minutes. Thank You God!

Please pray for our next two days. The trip has been great but it is time to come home. Pray for patience and positive distractions. We are looking forward to seeing every one soon.

Pictures!

Typical shop near our hotel

Who brought the toilet paper?

Mushrooms, seahorses, snakes, and dog paws...yummy at the Qing Ping market

Not quite Avon...Qing Ping market

Nice hair

Leaving behind Eric, our guide in Wuhan

Ella at Guangzhou folk art museum

Ella on bus

Pearl river as seen from our hotel room in Guangzhou

Ella gets OK at health check

Updates on Our Family - in China and in the USA

Each day holds something new and exciting. So many things we take for granted are first time experiences for Ella Jijia. There is an outdoor swimming pool at the hotel and she just stared and took it all in. We joked that this is the biggest bath tub ever and even has its own waterfall :)

She is repeating so many new English words and seems to understand more and more of what we say to her daily. Right now Daddy is drawing shapes and Ella is saying "circle". She has started whispering and talking to me in Chinese when she wants to hide from Daddy. I don't have a clue what she is saying but it is cute and I eat every moment up. We have daily three year old melt downs which are frustrating for all of us. She is such a good little girl and I can't imagine seeing and hearing new things almost constantly. I think I would shut down and/or cry constantly - she is a trooper.

Ella loves other children. When we gather in our group she is moving about, touching and talking to all of them. We continue to work on being gentle and that pinching others including the children is not alright.

Papa just asked Ella if she wants to brush her teeth which was a fight up until two nights ago. Now she just ran to the bathroom excitedly saying "brush you teethy" AHH it is the best.

Besides missing home and dearly wanting to see and hold Colin and Carleigh everything is going great. Please keep Colin in your prayers as being way from us for two weeks is taking its toll on him and therefore on us. Please also pray that little miss Carleigh waits to walk until we come home. She is standing up on her own... selfish me doesn't want to miss more than we already have. Sending our love to everyone.

A New City

Things are going very well (as I write this she is crying because she doesn't' want to lay down and take a nap but is beyond tired :). Typical 3 year old. We arrived in Guangzhou two nights ago. This is our last stop before heading to the states. Now all the paperwork is on the US side so we aren't expecting any bumps - except for the fact that Paul has misplaced the one paperwork item that we were told is VERY important and not to lose. Our guide has indicated it won't be a problem. I hope she is right. I expect Ella to test positive tomorrow for TB. We will do an x-ray on the spot. She doesn't show any other signs so I'm not too worried about it.

The hotel here is beautiful even by US standards. There is a coy pond that weaves through the second floor. There are jade sculptures, furniture and other items for sale throughout the building. They even have a play room for the children which is sponsored by Mattel. We are on an island and most of the buildings have a European feel and many streets have large courtyards. There is a lot of construction going on. From what we can tell, there is some organization to the traffic here :) It feels more like a vacation now. Paul is reading the local news paper and one headline reads "Policemen must take care to beat the right people for the public good" makes me feel safer! The culture is amusing. Women wear fancy high heels with any and all outfits and to any location - such as the Great Wall which has thousands of stairs. Personal space doesn't exist. If you think there isn't room for one more person on the elevator they will show you wrong by squeezing their whole family on. It isn't uncommon to see people bathing at public restrooms or taking a nap on the street under a tree (they aren't homeless). Many people work far from where they live and traffic is slow and crazy so they do what they need to.

With that said, young children who are being potty trained (around 18 months and sometimes younger) wear split pants. They are what you think - pants with a large split at the seam. When the child needs to potty they simply squat and do their business right there. Yes, number one and number two. The side walk is a common place to relieve yourself. We had an experience with Ella just yesterday. While in a local store (nice store) without warning she looks at me and states something in Chinese and then pulls her skirt and panties to her knees and begins to assume the position. Paul and I yell "NO" at the same time and quickly dressed her and took her to the nearest restroom.

Life Together

It's been a busy couple of days. Who knew it would be a challenge caring for a three and a half year old who knows no English and has just experienced a major change. I've also experienced a major change. I never knew I could love a person so much after spending such little time with her. I've known Ella (Jijia) for less than 72hrs and I love her as much as my other two children. I would do anything for her. I will always love her. Her willingness to spend time with us and interact with us during her grief amazes me. She is one tough girl. I see how sad she is because the loss of her foster family and it breaks my heart. I play ball and hide and seek with her and see her glow and smile and laugh and it warms my heart. It's a strange thing. My emotions tend to follower hers. Happy when we are busy playing, a little sad when things slow down and there is time to think about her incredible loss. She warms up a little more every day and is slowly accepting her new life. For example, today she reached out to both Amy and I so we would pick her up. She reached for Amy's hand to go for a walk. When asked if she wants a drink she shakes her head no instead of turning her back to us. She has been crying at bed time, but not tonight...not even a whimper. (She still refuses to lay down. She falls asleep sitting up in bed and ends up hunched over her legs...I'm not sure what that is about. I think she is stubborn like her mom.) Over all she was much happier today....Praise God!

As far as our activities, yesterday we went to the Hubei Provincial Museum here in Wuhan.
It was a very nice museum and one of the most famous in China. Our guide focused on one exhibit. The exhibit was about the recently discovered (1980's) grave of a person who was three tiers down from the throne. Our guide said that there were around 10,000 such people during this dynasty (around 400 b.c.). Buried with him were many sacrificed slaves (20-30?), incredible wine vases and cooking ware, weapons, and gold to name just a few. The most important find were the bells. An enormous set of huge bells were placed within the tomb. No other like it exist. I can't even begin to explain how impressive this find is. I've included a picture of the bells. After the exhibit we bought Ella some things in the gift shop that are unique to the Hubei province. They can be found no where else. They are a small link to her homeland.

Today we visited three very special places. We first visited the orphanage that Ella and our friend's daughter (Emily) were raised in prior to their foster home. We were not allowed in the buildings for security reasons. We did get to go in the gates, snap some pictures and we even met with two of their care takers who gave us a little more information about the girls. We then went to the sight where Emily was abandoned. It was in a nice park. After a long drive, we went to the exact doorstep where Ella was found when she was two days old. It was heartbreaking and emotional. Amy nearly cried. I wasn't even close (I'm lying). After a long ride back, we ate at a very nice high end Chinese restaurant. It was very good. We did not eat the Peking Duck in Beijing, so we tried the local Wuhan Duck. I liked it, Amy wasn't so fond of it.

We have been spending a lot of time with our new friends who are with us here in Wuhan. Their daughter, Emily, is having trouble adjusting. She cries when not being held by her new mom. It is exhausting for both mom and dad. Dad wants to help, but Emily will not let him touch her. Please keep that family in your prayers. Ella can use some prayers as well. Please pray for her adjustment and her happiness. Please pray for patience for us.

It was a great day. I am so happy that Ella is warming up to us.

Hot!

Details for Wednesday, August 04

Plentiful sunshine. Very hot. Heat index near 125F. High 102F. Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph.Evening: Mainly clear. Warm. Low 84F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph.

Check out the heat index for today!

Life is good!

It has been a great day!! Praise God. We signed the official paperwork to complete the adoption today :)

Ella Jijia woke up this morning and was rightfully concerned but then warmed up quickly. There was much laughing and communicating taking place today. I awoke from a nap to hear Ella talking in Chinese almost non-stop while she and daddy looked at pictures of animals online and made animal nosies together. I received my first kiss from my beautiful daughter. The guide was talking to her and asked who we were to which she replied - mama and papa (my heart leaps just thinking about that moment). Then the guide must have asked her if she wanted to give me a kiss. While I was holding her in my arms she leaned over and kissed me! Daddy is still waiting for his kiss. She turned her head away from him when asked the same question. If we haven't mentioned yet, she is a spirited little girl who does everything when she wants and how she wants. We don't have to guess how she is feeling.

We went shopping and out to eat this evening with Julie and Brandon (couple adopting from Hubei province also). It was a nice change of scenery for all of us as we were bored of our hotel rooms. Ella now has a new pair of shoes that fit her feet and a pretty new dress. We happened upon a popular Chinese local restaurant and had a good meal at a cheap price - great combination. The seating at the restaurant was sofas - we haven't sat on comfy furniture for a week. Emily, Julie and Brandon's daughter, started coming out of her shell at dinner and it was nice to be a witness to all of their excitement and joy. We were the source of amusement for two young Chinese boys at the table behind us. They walked over and practiced their English which was very good. They giggled as we spoke and then followed us out of the restaurant to ask for our telephone number? We politely declined but enjoyed the interaction.

Most people are curious and look at us - especially now that we have our children. Everyone has been kind. The traffic here in Wuhan is just as crazy as it was in Beijing. I'm starting to get used to the masses of people everywhere and even enjoying the bussel.

We miss home and Colin and Carleigh very much. While we are not able to read our blog from China (it is blocked as are most social network outlets), we feel your prayers and we send our love and thanks.

Ella!

Here she is! It's been a day and I should have gone to bed 2hrs ago so this will be short. We got Ella at 3pm in Wuhan City, China. It was very hard for her. She is not able to understand what is happening to her. There were many tears on the way home but we got just as many smiles back at the hotel. She loves to play ball, color, and play with stickers. She thinks it's fun to put stickers on Amy and myself. We shared lots of laughs and got to bond quite a bit. We go back to sign paperwork tomorrow to make the adoption official. Good night!