Trip to Target...

Container of formula $13.69

Box of diapers $27.99

Shirt for the Big sister $9.99

Green buckets for toy storage $5.99 each

SISTERS BONDING IN THE TOY BUCKETS.....

PRICELESS

words of wisdom

Carina is a joy, but jet lag and sleep deprivation are not....Sue

Regarding home life...
remember what the duggers say. The lord will help us through this challenging day
remember what John and Kate say. Shut the f*&^ up and get me the bottle and hurry up!
we will get through it...Mark

The Red Couch Photo

It is a tradition that all the babies who stay at the White Swan Hotel dress up in their newly purchased traditional Chinese attire and get their picture taken on this red couch. It is usually mayhem. Babies are usually crying, and parents are stressed to the max as they try to get their little ones to pose for the picture.

As a mother who did not make the trip, I am a little saddened that it was not me who picked out my daughter's dress, and got her ready for this wonderful day. On the other hand it is my wonderful husband has embraced the opportunity to get her ready. I gave him two objectives for picking out her clothes... THINK PINK... And TUTU DRESS.... I don't think I could have done better. Thanks BABE!!!!!

Tiajuana,Hawaii

Imagine all the services of a 5 star world class resort with beautiful palm trees, a tropical 86 degrees with high humidity, the smell of fresh flowers in the air, beautiful marble floors with a two story waterfall in the lobby, personal attendants on every floor that know you and greet you at the elevator to hold the door for you, and drop that somewhere near the U.S. Mexican border in the city of Tiajuana.

The service is so great here, that even last Sunday night when I went accross the cobblestone street at 9 p.m. to get some bottled water, a doorman opened the beautiful front glass doors to the outside, and a beautiful women immediately met me accross the street for a "saggie". Now, having a degree in International Relations I was able to translate her broken english, non the less excellent attempt at communication, to understand she was offering a massage. Now, jetlagged, post mortem stomach flu, and carrying a baby around for days I was definitely pondering how good a massage may feel so I inquired in a naive manner as to where her professional five star salon may be. Well, in the cutest way she was able to clearly say "your hotel room." I wasn't ready for that one.

Our hotel is on an island, that is very well maintained but surrounded by treacherous moats. If you cross those moats, you will definitely be found in alleys that offer unlimited opportunities for adventure/purchase. You may realize by now that after two cities in China, the initial shock value is lost. Or is it. The alley ways of Canton, (the english translation for Guangzhou, Guangdong because it is one of the only areas of China that speak Cantonese) would have blown most of us away, but our guide had warned us on the bus coming into town. Miles and miles of shops about as deep as a storage shed, one after another selling anything from chipmunks (and I am not talking about Alvin, Simon, and Theodore) to fish, dogs, cats, turtles, ferrets, mice, rats, and a number of other leaner meat dishes you would typically find roasting on a Sunday afternoon in a slow cooker with a little bit of onion soup mix, a can of cream of something soup, a touch of garlic powder for a gourmet touch, and of course some tripe or lung for texture.

The world class service is continued where all of the trinket shop owners are very willing to give you "besht price" on anything they may have to sell. If there shop is not fortunate enough to have air conditioning, they will have a nice young child "fan" you off the old fashioned way with a hand held bamboo fan. And believe me, you would not believe how much stuff you really need that you never knew existed. And I have to buy for him, and of course I can't forget her, and oh I almost forgot Larry because he said hi to me at work one day...

Culture shocked not really. Ready for home, definitely. For those whose children are from Guangdong province and only spend their time At the White Swan Hotel in Shaiman Island definitely leave with a different perspective of China than for us who "marinated" for a week in our daughter's province well North from here, and noticeably more poor than here. It has been truly a unique journey through a country that has so much more to offer that I did not see, but for that I look forward to Bob Costas and the rest of the television crews narrating those histories to me on my high definition televison in between the few events I may get to watch live due to the time difference during the upcoming Olympic games.

Mark

Guanghou

Mark, Nana, and Carina made it to Guangzhou. This is where the US Consulate is located. they are the ones who are responsible for providing us with Carina's Visa, so she can enter the United States. As I type the Consulate is reviewing our file for Carina's Visa.

Everyone is much happier here, the weather is warmer, the food is better, and there's a Starbucks. Lot's of shopping for pearls, silk dresses, and of course, squeaky shoes.

Her loveliness, Carina, is doing well. while she is much skinnier than mother would like, there are many positives. She is very happy with Mark and Nana, and beginning the bonds of attachment. she is eating well (no stomach issues) whether it be formula, meat, or fruit. An American Pediatrician might not agree with giving her strawberries, but oh well, When in China things are just a little different to say the least.

The poet laureate Mark is racking his brain for inspiration so he can give you his own account of Guangzhou. I will post his thoughts when they become available.

As Abbey would say " It's Monday, and only three more sleeps until daddy comes home."

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Updated information on "the quilt"
For those of you who are following the quilt saga I am happy to announce that Mark has located the quilt shop.

Marinated Not Pickled

common and simple flavoring method is to marinate. Simply put, soaking some sort of meat or maybe vegetable in some wet and dry seasonings for a period of time. A quick marinade could be 1/2 hr, and a more complex marinade may take up to 2 days. When one visits a city such as Langzhou, Gansu, he becomes marinated in the local seasonings. In this case, the marinade may cook out with time, and the real taste of the meat may return. Nana and I pray we taste like regular roast beef again. Our current marinade is a 6 day soak in heavy deep Gansu rooted flavors, none of which we want to taste like.

Pickling on the other hand is an intensive heat and flavoring process whereby a meat or vegetable is not only soaked in a seasoning mix, but also cooked via a process of intensive use of boiling and salting. Once done, the flavors can be intense and last forever. Since the flavors tend to be intense, a pickled product is typically used to complement another food. Hence we have Cari who has been pickled in the most intense flavors of Gansu. Her flavors will need to well complemented, no, taken over by American flavors of Angus beef, twice baked potatoes, only the finest of dijon mustards and worchestshire sauce blends to cover the smells instilled in her.

Although the city of Langzhou, Gansu has touched our soul and left many memories both good and bad, the smells were merely an intense 6 day marinade that will fade away as we look forward to a more tropical stay here in Canton, (Guangzhou, Guangdong). My daughters province albeit dirty, very poor, and heavily stained by smells that could turn any westerner's stomach upside down, we can appreciate the experience it has provided us, and the beautiful daughter we look to provide opportunities she may never have had.

Thank you Gansu!

Mark

The Quilt

Back in August of 2007 a friend of mine was in China adopting her Hubei Honey. While in Guangzhou she stumbled upon a store called the E-gallery. Hubei Honey's mom purchased the most beautiful baby quilt I've ever seen, and I want them for Cari and Ellie's room.

The store is located neer the White Swan hotel. To get to it, go down the first north/south street out of WS hotel, like your're going to Starbucks. Instead of turning right to go to Starbucks, go left.

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Dear Mark:

I know you are following our blog so make sure you read this.... DON'T FORGET TO BRING THE QUILTS HOME.

Your loving wife (who will not be so loving if you forget the quilts:-)

sue

Garbage Gut

It has not taken long for Cari to take to everything edible as you can
imagine. Now that we have cut her formula down, she has more room for
solids. She ate two small sides from KFC for lunch, and a bottle.
Before dinner we were feeding her 100 calorie bags of Girl Scout Cookies
and she ate quite a few. Then at dinner she ate a fair amount of rice,
then some strawberries, then some other breads and veggies. Then there
was a birthday cake for of the Gansu girls and Cari got her own piece. She ate
quite a bit of whipped cream (chocolate), and some cake. She finally
drank some apple juice when I squeezed the juice box in her mouth. She
does not like juice out of her bottle, only milk. I think we are passing
on a bottle before bed due to the roughly nice carb load at dinner and
some juice.

We now have to pack everything and get to bed soon. Wake up call at
4:30 a.m. Our flight is not non-stop to Guangzhou, it has a
layover...but we have everyone flying together so we will have crying in stereo.

Cari is a sweetheart, and she is loving getting out. I can tell she
gets sads and does not like to come back to the hotel room. She is
really sociable, and talks quite a bit. I was working on some signs with
her, mainly milk and found her doing it a little for food...just like
Abbey. When she is happy she is vocal, and really can chirp up a storm.

The streets of Gansu

The guy in the picture is cooking/ open roasting sunflower seeds which some may say hah, sunflower seeds how harmless those must be just delicious you cant screw that up. Then you add a nice hint of aged marinated skewer meat smoke, diesel exhaust from the buses, possibly one or two lugies hocked by passer bys, if not at least the spray from it, good dust in the air considering we are in a desert, street sweepers with small straw brooms sweeping dirt into the mix, a few people putting their hands in there for some nice "taste testing", of course in which they all asked me for my Purell before they did it, if your lucky a little spray from local kids wearing split jeans so they can squat over a manhole cover and "use the facilities", and of course, lots of love.

Mark

Carina's personality is begining to shine

Hi everyone:
I'm sorry, but I have not had a ton of time to post. Mark is still not feeling so well. Luckily Nana is still standing tall. Although this is the journey of a lifetime I think both world travelers are ready to go home.

Carina's personality is starting to shine. She is getting more and more vocal. She chirps when happy. She waves her hand and feet at the same time when she is content. She has a heck of a grip, left handed, and sucks her finger for consoling. She loves bus rides and riding in the Baby Bjorn...Mark is able to care for her more without Nana each day. A good sign that she is bonding with Mark. Cari talks in her sleep, as I can hear her 2 feet from me in her crib. She likes to kick her legs when she is happy, and says "ba" a lot.

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Back in the USA we are having some sucessess of our own. Abbey told me this morning that she loves her sister Ellie, and that it is Ok if daddy brings Wan Bo home:-) She was telling Ellie a made up story this morning that consisted of parts of Dora Christmas, and parts of a Dr. Seuss story One thing for sure is that Abbey has an amazing imagination. She really is a bright child.

We just got The Aproval letter from the state of Wisconsin yesterday to get Carina's Visa to bring her home. This is an extra step in the adoption process if only one parent travels. Isn't it wonderful that both the State of Wisconsin and big sister Approve of us bringing Carina home. One more week to go until we can start our journey as a family.

Man Down!!

Daddy is temporarily out of commission. I need not describe this Stomach flu. I Need fluids and rest in case Nana goes down. Schmoopers just woke up at 8:10 after going to bed last night at 8 p.m. She was ready for bed, and of course Nana put her
down. Once in the crib not a peep out cold.

I fed her her bottle this am, then of course, Nana holds/plays with
her...

More to come...today is an off day thank goodness You cannot even see out
the window there is so much smog. Gansu is really like Denver, desert
scrub grass, mountainy, and very dry. It is weird feeling like driving
out in Denver, but the buildings were Chinese. Very strange when you
see that landscape.

I walked the streets a while yesterday, and there is no way
anyone of us will eat outside of the hotel or at KFC.

Last night at the grocery store, there were areas that could have choked a donkey. You cannot imagine trying to walk fast enough to get away from an area that was cooking meats. As I write this, my stomach gurgles thinking about it. By the way,
I was not prepared for the smell of Chinese formula and what goes with it. It
just adds to the overall stink of this place.

Will try to get pictures of city for you, but, it is not really
pleasing it is very poor here. Instead of wig shops, they have chicken meat
shops and believe me, not one would pass a health inspection.

I am eally missing all of you, and a deep breathe...we may need to fly into
Rhinelander for some detox of fresh air

Love Mark
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Back here in the USA all is going well. On the way to school today, Abbey saw a KFC and happily screamed " that's where Nana and Carina ate today." She is really starting to miss daddy, and asked me about 12 times today when he will be home. 9 more sleeps until daddy gets home honey!! I am doing my best keeping her busy with play dates and trips to the children's museum.

Ellie turned 5 weeks today. How quickly time flies.She was quite skinny at birth, but her little body is filling out quite nicely. She follows the sound of my voice and says "ah goo" when I talk to her. She is slowly getting on a schedule, and is starting to sleep longer stretches at night. Last night I got 3 solid hours of sleeps, and actually felt refreshed when I woke up.