There's no place like home!!!!

Hi Everyone!! So sorry that we haven't posted in 10(!!)days but what a long, strange trip it's been! We are in fact home safe and sound and Hannah is doing well. The day after our last post was a terrible one. Hannah began running a fever on the boat cruise and we started her on some infant Tylenol that night. She had a good night's sleep and a decent breakfast but then suffered a febrile seizure during her nap (while lying in my arms). We had no idea what was happening and thus, were terrified. Luckily, we were still a few hours away from checking out of the White Swan and we were able to rush her to the clinic on the 3rd floor of the hotel. The doctors immediately gave her a shot to bring her fever down and mistakenly thought that she had tonsilitis and her tonsils had swelled, cutting off her airway resulting in the seizure. Since we've been home and seen our pediatrician, we now know that this is not the case. Her temperature spiked suddenly which results in a convulsion which causes no permanent damage..just shaves a few years off the life of the parents who witness it! The next 48 hours were pretty hateful because all we could do was worry - about Hannah, about having to shoot horrible tasting antibiotics down her throat(which she of course fought off like the incredibly strong girl she is on the bus to Hong Kong, the hotel in Hong Kong and the lovely 15 hour plane ride home) and about getting through the "laser temperature scanner" at the Hong Kong border with a feverish child. I wish I were kidding. Rob and I have never experienced this level of stress and hope we never have to again. God love the man who sat across the aisle from us on that flight to Newark because Hannah is impervious to Benadryl and must have thrown every toy we brought on the plane at or near him at various points. Everything was better when we made it through immigration(Yeah for new American citizen Hannah En Ming!!) and feasted our eyes on Riley Jane!! She broke Port Authority protocol and came running up the ramp yelling "Mommy!" and there were big hugs all around. We looked up to see my Mom and Dad, Godmother Debbie and Aunt Anna all in tears. What a welcome! Once back in Cold Spring, Riley surprised us with balloons, signs and cupcakes and we all had some dinner and collapsed. The rest of the week is a bit of a blur. Lots of jet lag moments for Rob, Hannah and I and a bit of regression on Hannah's part but who could blame the poor child? I felt like screaming in rage a lot of the time too and I hadn't just been kidnapped out of my country and made to live with 3 strange looking people who speak a foreign language. I'm totally amazed that she's dealing with all this as well as she is. That said, I have to admit my anxiety of waiting has now been replaced with the fatigue of being a new mom. I am wiped!! Happy, but wiped!! Kudos to all the mothers of two or more kids - I have newfound respect. What a crazy balancing act! It's great to sit at the breakfast table with all 4 chairs occupied at long last, though. We made it...we're home.

Our last night in Guangzhou!

I'm posting mid-day because I think we'll be in kinda late after our big cruise tonight. Hannah was super crabby today, of course, because it was picture day. I really think that a new tooth must be breaking through her gums because she is drooling like crazy and the boogies are flowing! We received all of her final adoption paperwork today including the adoption certificate with our family picture on it and her official finding ad, history and immunization record. Everything is in order to go to the American consulate tomorrow and magically turn her into an American citizen! We are excited that we can start packing to return home. Rob did buy a new leather carryon bag which he plans to keep for future business trips. It's very nice and he clearly loves it - I love that he got it for 30% off an already low price! We will stuff it full of all the souvenirs for the trip home since Hannah is allowed a carryon too! It was wonderful to speak to Riley this morning and hear all about her first day at school! She said it was boring but she was excited to name all of her friends that are now in her class. I can't wait to walk her to school on Monday!! Hard to believe that in less than 48 hours, we will be in the air headed to Newark Airport!! I've never been so happy to be going to New Jersey! We're posting pictures of the travel group(sorry dads, somebody had to take the photos) and also the eagerly anticipated "Red Couch" picture which went surprisingly well thanks to Charmaine's genius idea of handing each baby a piece of cracker just before all the moms walked away. Hannah proceeded to feed everyone and only Claire cried. The girls names are (left to right) Jaiden, Lily, Isabella, Hannah, Kimberly and Claire. Hannah is the eldest at 19 months and there is some debate as to who's really the youngest - Isabella or Claire. Remember - these birthdays are assigned based on doctor guesses. They are all beautiful. Well, I will try to blog one more time before we get on the plane - probably from Hong Kong. Say a prayer we can fit everything into our luggage - we bought a lot more than we planned to. Bye Bye White Swan!

Lost in China

We finally got some relief from the intense humidity today and the timing was perfect because we planned to take the day off from the scheduled trip to the "mall" and walk around Guangzhou which is exactly what we did. I was proud of the fact that we just set out map in hand and found the intended destination - Hualin Temple. It turned out to be the birthplace of Chinese Zen Buddhism and was, in fact, very peaceful and beautiful despite its proximity to one of the busiest marketplaces for jade and spices in the city. We saw "the 500 ahtars" - all gold statues filling an enormous hall and buddhas that many Chinese were burning incense for and praying. Really interesting and the incense smelled wonderful. Hannah loves strolling so even after she woke from a short nap, we were able to explore other small labyrinthine paths in the city. We had a great time and will tell our tour guide none of it. He would probably be upset with us for venturing so far from the hotel without an escort. We did receive a lot of stares being the only white people around pushing a Chinese baby in a stroller but we'd better get used to that as I'm sure the same thing will happen to us in small town America. It was a thrill to explore the city's neighborhoods and I'm glad that we got a feel for "real China" as opposed to the tourist version that exists here on Shamian Island. Hannah continues to be a peach and hates going down for her nap, but she wouldn't be a Bissinger girl if she didn't. Right Riley? We're gearing up for a very big day tomorrow. We have a travel meeting (HOORAY!!), a group picture and the taking of the famed "red couch picture"(a tradition in the adoption community of taking a picture of all the babies in your travel group in traditional Chinese clothing on the red couch in the White Swan Hotel) , and finally, a cruise on the Pearl River with dinner included to celebrate the end of our trip! Very exciting. On our minds the most, though, is Riley's first day of 1st grade!!! We miss you so very much Riley and hope you have a fantastic first day!! We love you and will see you in only 3 more days!!!

Tuesday 's medical exam and some dubious English

She's a healthy, happy girl! No official word on the results of this morning's exam so I'm going to go with no news is good news. She had a pretty rudimentary check up including a squeaky frog to check her hearing. They of course did height, weight, head circumference and checked the ears, throat and lungs. That was about it. Hannah was crabby throughout but then, who really enjoys going to the doctor? She fared much better during the last of our souvenir shopping today (she really likes that stroller!). Rob got everyone's comments on the blog printed out in the business center of the hotel! So great to finally read everyone's reactions as we've been able to post on our blog but haven't been able to see it. Very strange but we hear it looks great! Thanks for all of your wonderful comments and wishes - we can't wait for you to meet this new baby of ours who is already so loved! The rest of the day we spent hanging out and playing in the room and at the pool. We finally ordered takeout from a place called Danny's Bagels and Hannah loved her first bagel as well as the bites she nabbed from my chicken parm sub! Pretty great bagels in China - who'da thought? We're posting a picture of an elementary school class that passed us on our way back from the medical exam. Interesting t-shirt for a school teacher, huh? The picture also gives you some idea of how close the traffic likes to get to the pedestrians (which in this case happen to be tiny children). Oddly enough, you hardly ever see people writhing in agony on the side of the road from hit and runs. Hannah continues to be in constant motion and is getting extremely vocal. I wonder if the babbling is in Chinese that I don't know but I am glad that she's making conversation at least. She let me hold her hand while walking for the first time today! Big deal for me because she finally trusts me enough to depend on me for something. We were at the pool and we spent a LONG time just walking to the water, dipping our feet in, then walking away, and repeat ad nauseum. Fine with me. She really LOVES the water too! Big fit when we had to leave. Well, we're off to dinner at Lucy's. Enjoy the pix!! 4 more days and we're home!!!

We begin our final week!

Happy Labor Day everybody! Today on the tour bus, Christmas carols were playing, so perhaps that was our guides' attempt to spread some American holiday cheer. I'll recap yesterday and today's events. Yesterday was fairly low key. Hannah continued to explore the hotel room and get into as much mischief as she could in our tiny space and Rob, God bless him, went to our guide De's room to do more paperwork. (It never ends!!!) All he can say is packing the White-out was the right call because I don't know if we've mentioned it, but our guides here in Guangzhou barely speak English and the translator is difficult to understand as well. Always fun when you're dealing with official paperwork in a communist country and you want to make sure you're getting it right. We also had to, without advance warning, scoop up Hannah, bring her across the street from the hotel and have her passport photos taken which should come out just great as I had zero time to clean her up and she had a boogie crusted nose and drool all over her onesie. Should be a lovely picture. I guess as long as it gets her to America, we'll go with the flow. Hannah took a much needed 3 hour nap and then we set out to order both our girls their "chops", which are personalized Chinese rubber stamps that come with ink and their Chinese zodiac animal carved on top. (Riley's a snake and Hannah's a rooster) The stamps have their names in both Western and Chinese characters - very cool. A nice man named "Michael" made them in 24 hours for us and did a great job. We ate out at a Thai restaurant last night called "Cow and Bridge" and loved it. Hannah especially enjoyed her chicken congee and iced coconut milk! Rob had the best Pa'tay of his life (and I quote). Today, we went to the Guangdong Folk Art Museum inside the Chen Clan Academy in Guangzhou. Great stuff!! It was built in the late 19th century (I don't think we're going to see anything truly ancient on this trip - next time, I guess) and it houses some really beautiful and extraordinary artwork. Rob and I were so happy to be able to see some art while we're here. After the museum, we went into the city for a bit of shopping and just picked up some baby books in English/Chinese, a CD of Guangdong style music which our guide really wanted us to get and some dipes and wipes. There's another big shopping excursion planned for Wednesday, but I think we're going to pass and rest up for the end of the week which will be jam packed with American consulate activities and celebratory river cruising!(I kid you not - we are heading out onto the Pearl River for a party on Thursday night!!!) We are posting a picture of the lobby of the White Swan Hotel to give you an idea of the swank accomodations. This place would be so relaxing if we weren't taking care of a baby! Practically everyone here is in the same boat as us, though, so it's a pretty strange scene at the breakfast buffet in the morning. Ripe material for a play, Rob thinks. Tomorrow, Hannah has her medical exam at the local hospital - let's hope she is as healthy as she seems. It's been such a blast getting to know her this past week. She is so much fun and very smart - she has already picked up the word "up"(hmm...wonder why...?) and calls me "Mama" and Rob "Rah" or "Bah" but we're working on the "Dada". She LOVES to play silly games and is extremely physical. We are soaking up the snuggly hugs and the way she just throws herself at us with a big smile on her face. I think we both expected to love her like crazy but never thought that she'd be loving us right back so soon. It's indescribable, the joy. We are so lucky to have her in our lives - she's amazing. And let's not forget that we have "double happiness" because of our amazing gal Riley who is due for a riddle. Here goes: When you say hello in Chinese, which part of your body does the first word sound like?

Pictures from Saturday

Here are some pictures from Saturday's sightseeing trip and dinner at the Victory Hotel. It is a lovely Sunday here in China which we're spending mostly doing paperwork and laundry. More later....