Major Meltdown

OK, so this is motherhood. Jude and I had a battle of wills this morning over a nap. Boy, there is a lot of pressure to show who is boss! But there is a new sheriff in town and her name is Mama. :) My little man is sure stubborn, so I guess he takes after his mama already. Today we went to a huge book store across the street. They actually had some children's books with English as well as Chinese. Much cheaper than Barnes and Noble but no airconditioning. Gotta go! Little man is getting restless. Trying to dismantle the printer. Man, he is EXACTLY like his cousin Ian. Good thing he is cute!!!! Just teasing, wouldn't trade him for all the tea in China. And there is a TON of tea here! :)

Glad to be back in Shenyang!!

Whew! Just got back to Shenyang, the capital city of the province, Liaoning, and man are we glad to be back. The last two days we were in Jude's home town of Anshan. No bueno. Hotel and the town in general were like the twilight zone and not in a good way. The hotel was an OVEN. Sorry, but we could not post from there. We did however get to go to Jude's orphanage yesterday. That was a very hard thing to see. All those precious angels with out homes. It was clean and the kids were well cared for, but very austere. I never saw the nannies hug the children at all. When we took out a sack of little beanie babies, we were swarmed!! The kids were every where, pushing, taking things from each other, mass hysteria. The nannies didn't react at all. That explained a lot to us about JUde's behavior. He has not concept of social graces. He was never taught how to be out in the world. We took him to a gocery store (huge, by the way) and he had never seen so much food. Today he had ice cream for the first time. LOVED IT! He is like a toddler in that all this is completely new to him. But he is simply amazing. So sweet and so very in love with his mama. My parents took him for a walk about 5am today so I could maybe finally get some rest. He had a melt down, screaming for mama. So now he will rarely let me out of his sight for even 2 minutes. He had to sit in the bathroom while I showered! Just not completely sure this whole thing is for keeps yet. Even though has had absolutely nothing of his own his whole life, he is extremely generous. Brings mama water and food very often. Sleeps with mama. Eventually :) The hotel here is very very nice and the staff is great. There is a jumbo store right across the street and also a street market right outside. One thing we don't do is cross the street. You just cannot imagine how people drive here! Dude, seriously. It is just unreal. There are soooooo many people!!! This country has ONE BILLION MORE people that the USA. Yeah I said MORE. Packed and stacked everywhere. And humid. Much more that even Missouri! ;)
Jude is picking up english already. He loves to sing. We sing Jesus LOves Me, ABCs, and The Muffin Man over and over. He already knows the tunes and some of the words. And he can say his #s up to 6. Just learned that today! I taught him to rub his tummy and say "yummy" when he eats somethin he likes. So Smart. Grandma is running out of tricks to entertain the little prince so I better get on with it. I will be able to post everyday from now on as long as he can give me a few minutes away!! :)

We got my boy!!!

Yesterday was "gotcha" day! My boy is simply awesome. He took a few minutes to warm up to me but the bubbles broke the ice. Already very attached to his Mama. :) Took a trick or 2 to get him to sleep last night, but then he slept most of the night. Has to wake up Mama if a sock comes off so I can put it back on his little tootsie. Today we are off to his home city of Anshan for more paperwork. We'll see how the 1.5 hour van trip goes. He needs to be "busy" all the time!! My Jude is perfect and I am so very blessed! Hopefully I will post more tonight! :)

Today is the day!!

Today is "Gotcha" Day!!! We will be leaving the hotel with our guide, Sarah, at 10 am. The drive to the Civil Affairs Office is about 30 minutes and then we will meet Jude at 10:30 am!!! Back home that will be 9:30pm. We arrived in Shenyang yesterday and it is BIG!!!! About 4.3 million residents, a bit larger than the entire population of Ireland! It is the capital of Liaoning Province, which is right above North Korea. Our hotel is very nice with a capital nice. I will try to post some photos now so later we can post what everyone really wants to see. (My boy!) :)

Leaving Beijing!

Awesome awesome awesome time here in Beijing. Yesterday we climbed the Great Wall!!!! Man, was it hot. But awesome!!!! We also visited the Summer Palace and walked the longest corridor in the world. (My feet can attest to that!) We learned how cloisonne is made and toured a jade factory. The food is excellent. We had Peking Duck last night. Tons of construction everywhere to get ready for the Olmpics next summer. The CHinese people are very friendly and surprised when I smile and speak to them on the street. Hey, folks, I gotta be me!! Never met a stranger, even in China! :) Flying to Jude's province, Liaoning, this morning. We will likely not see many Americans there. All ready I am a novelty it seems, lots of looks and one lady wanted her picture with me!! We are all so happy to be here and cannot wait to get Jude tomorrow! Time to go check out. Missing home a bit already. (Again, please kiss my puppies for me!)

Beijing!!!

Greetings from Beijing! After a loooong flight, or actually several flights, we made it. Didn't get to bed til midnight last night, but up early today to go to the Fobidden City and Tianamen Square. Then we an awesome lunch at a local woman's home and had a rick shaw tour around a residential area. We also visited a silk factory and a Chinese Wellness Clinic. Oh and a Governement Tea house where we tried 5 types of tea, all delicious. We had supper at a local place with our guide, Jenny. Very interesting!!! The best dish was raw julienned potato in garlic. The food is just amazing and of course nothing like the Chinese food back home. So far no one has gotten a sicky tummy, but we a re taking pepto and tums just in case. I had some locally brewed beer today that was lovely. :) We also each had a foot massage this evening!! So nice after running around for 2 days. Having a great time, but anxiuos to get my boy already. That will happen on Monday. Tomorrow we will see the Summer Palace and the Great Wall. (I will try not fall off of it!) Off to bed now. Missing everyone already and especially my puppy dogs. (Please hug Lamby and Cookie for me!) Will try to post pictures tomorrow.Nighty, night! :)

Off to Bejing

We are off to Beijing. Will get in to Tokyo and then right off to China. Arriving at 9:40 pm so will likely go to bed and not find a computer.