Willow's First 2 Weeks at Home

Hello Everyone!!

First, we have to thank everyone again for all the calls, visits, cards, gifts and happy thoughts for our new family.  We feel truly blessed to have such wonderful family, friends, and neighbors.  We are all doing very well at the completion of our first two weeks home. It has been a very busy time for us all.  We've had a few doctors appts. (standard check ups) and lots of company including the return of Papa who had been away since the day after we arrived home. 

Meanwhile, Daddy (Rick) has gone back to work but luckily his calendar has been a little lighter than usual so he's been around the house quite a bit.  This weekend will be busy again with more family visits, a Birthday Party for our friend Ben who turns 2, and a special visit with one of Daddy's former school teachers who is visiting in Yonkers from his home in Belgium.   

Willow is growing so fast.  I know everyone says this about their kids as it is always true and in this case Willow has actually gained 1.5lbs and lengthened . 5 inches since we met her- less than 4 weeks ago.  Below are photos from our first two weeks at home. 

XO,

M&R&W! (and Ollie too!)

The  Willow Welcoming Committee - Marcus and Kirstie W, Emma B. and Paige T.

Sharing a Big Belly laugh with Daddy
Getting to know my new best friend Ollie 
Visiting with Neighbors more presents, Oh My!
Hanging out in the afternoon at home

Daddy is smitten and then bitten!
 Last night we received this beautiful bag - I'm pretty sure we'll find something to fill it!  

My Journey Home to Newtown

Hi Everyone, Willow here!  Just wanted to give you all a brief look at my fantastic journey home to the states.  Check out the photos and I'll write again soon to bring you up to speed on my first week as a US Citizen.  I've got a lot of observations and opinions to share so stay tuned. 

XO, WCMAL

First Flight Out of Guangzhou China to Tokyo

 

 

Drinks at the Admirals Club Between Flights

Ready to Take Off for Home!  NYC Here I Come!

Waiting for my hot towel and warm nuts

"UMM....Where's My Mimosa?!" 

"Those Mimosa's really take the edge off"

"I'm awake now! Let's Play"

"Where is MY MIMOOOOSA?!"

Leaving the airport - Next Stop Newtown! 

We're Home

Hi all,

Just a very quick note to let everyone know we made it home on schedule, late last night.  Got in at around 9 pm.  Now if only we could all get our little internal clocks set for eastern time we'll be in really great shape.  

Papa Dick was here to greet us with a house full of balloons which Willow absolutely loved.  She's really coming out of her shell with new people much quicker these days which we hope is a good sign that she is trusting her new Mommy and Daddy. 

We'll write more soon.  Just wanted to let everyone know we're back and we are so grateful for all the well wishes and positive energy we felt from you all when we were away.

Much Love,

M,R, W, & Ollie!! 

A Pretty Rough 48 Hours is Now Behind Us (hopefully)

Hi folks,
Mamma reporting in at 11:00 am Wednesday (China Time - 11:00 pm Tuesday back in Ct).

Well, let me start by saying everyone is ok now. To make a long story short, Monday night at 11:00 pm we loaded ourselves into a taxi and headed quickly to the Eur Am clinic about 20 minutes from our hotel. Willow had been successfully battling a fever since Sunday afternoon and had a normal temp up until about 2 pm Monday but at 10 pm we checked her and found her temp had risen to 103!! How do you say PANIC! in Chinese?! Anyhow, the folks at the clinic were great...technically speaking. The DR. had the personality of a shoe lace but he pricked her finger and within 10 minutes ran the test that confirmed our little peanut was indeed battling an infection. We got some medicine and by 1:00 am we were home (at the hotel) already feeling cooler. She has had a normal temp since.

I think both Rick and I aged about 10 years at that clinic!! You can only imagine the screeming that went on. I am just so grateful that she is feeling better now. I have to say that all through this illness she continued to eat and play and be generally wonderful throughout the day, but she definitely did not appreciate the midnight road trip followed by the torture chamber and she made sure to pay us back. Last night, (Tuesday here), she refused to go down from 9:30 to 11:00 and we finally brought her downstairs to the restaurant and ordered up some congee and warm milk. Ultimately she slept and today she is (so far) back on schedule.

Yesterday was the Consulate appointment and all went well. Today we go back to the consulate and take our oath. Tomorrow (Thurs) we depart our hotel at 5:30 am. Our flight from Guangzhou to Tokyo is at 8:20 and will take about 4 hours. Then we have a 4 hour wait til our next flight direct to JFK. We should arrive in New York at 6:30 pm Thursday night. We have loved it here but are anxious to get home and be with our family and friends. And of course to introduce Ollie (our other baby) to the newest member of the family.

XO,
M,R, & W.

One Step Closer To Newtown

Dateline: Guangzhou, China; Saturday, August 30, 2008

Hoorah! We're in Guangzhou! Hey Everyone! It’s Willow here. Just thought I’d check in. Sorry for the delay, things have been a bit hectic, and we’ve had only spotty internet access but that’s all behind us now. Today, I had what my parents kept calling a “Big Adventure”. I’m not sure what that means exactly because it appears I slept through the whole thing. The plane ride from Nanchang to Guangshou was just about an hour and we got to our hotel just in time for lunch – one of my top 3 times of the day - (Breakfast is #1, Dinner is #2 …). Once we finished lunch, it was time to put the parents down for a nap. The early start to the day had thrown them way off their schedule and they were cranky. I played with them for a while, showing them pretty flash cards, etc. etc. and then pretended to fall asleep first and tricked them into napping for more than 2 hours! After napping we checked out the town -- this is auntie’s type of place -- tons of little shops and everyone wants to bargain. Tomorrow will be a day of sightseeing and shopping and I’ll write again soon. Keep those comments coming, I love to hear them all!! I’ll attach a few pictures of our quote, Big Aventure, unquote and let you be the judge of just how big it was.

XO, WCMAL

P.S. I'm having a little trouble uploading my photos to the blog, so please click on this link to see them in my Picasa Web Album:

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/massantewendover/Guangzhou