We are doing the last of our packing and about to head to bed before a day and a half full of traveling. For those of you interested in seeing us at the airport, we will be arriving in Jacksonville on Delta Flight 1273 out of Atlanta at 10:08pm. Please do not feel like you have to come by and see us, but if you are in the area and would like to see us when we arrive, those are the details.
Please be praying for our tired little family as we make our way home. Pray that we can get Li Rose's bottle through security without any problem and we are all able to sleep well on the plane. Pray also for Li Rose and Josh as they adjust to American culture and time changes. Pray we are able to find things that Li Rose will eat both on the plane and when we arrive home. Finally, pray that Chrissy and I are able to adjust to the time change and have lots of patients with our little ones.
Thank you for seeing us through this part of the journey. We look forward to keeping you updated on the next stages. See you soon!
12.20.2011
12.19.2011
Consulate Appointment
So we had Li Rose's consulate appointment this morning, where her documents are reviewed by the US government to make sure everything is in order before she is issued her visa and immigration paperwork. We had to swear an oath that all the information we provide is correct and then do a quick paperwork review. Our wonderful guide Aron will pick up her passport and visa tomorrow and we are ready to come home!! When the plane touches down in Atlanta, Li Rose will become an American citizen! We are super excited to have finished up this last step in her adoption process.
We spent this afternoon doing some shopping at a wholesale market in Guangzhou. We were pretty pleased with the things we were able to get, including some dresses for Li Rose to wear both now and later on. We are planning on finishing up our shopping and doing some sightseeing on "The Island" tomorrow. I am hoping to be able to find some Chinese music and books for Li Rose. We are hoping to meet up with some other families we have met while we are here and just enjoy walking around.
Yesterday morning we went to tour Yuntai Garden, which was just beautiful! I am not sure even pictures will do it justice, it was one of the prettiest botanical gardens I have ever seen. As we were leaving the garden, we had an older Chinese woman come up to our guide and tell Aron that she could see how much we love our children - it was the same as she loves her son. We felt blessed to hear that from this woman and glad we were able to convey through our actions how much we love our daughter.
In the afternoon we got to take a great trip to New Day South foster home with our good friends Scott and Haley and meet Doug and Janice, who I have been emailing with for the last few months. This is the foster home where Asa is living (yes he is real and even cuter in real life!). It was such a blessing to get to see the foster home in action - they are doing a great job with these kids! After just a few minutes, you could tell that the children are well loved and well cared for. We spent the afternoon playing with children and talking to the staff. We also got to deliver medical supplies we had collected and I (Chrissy) got to teach them how to use them. What a blessing to be able to help out a such a great ministry and to use my nursing skills too!
Li Rose is doing amazingly well. She is a great sleeper (at least so far!), sleeping through the night and napping well during the day. Today she started "talking" to us more and laughing loudly at things. It is neat to see the changes in her already and to see how much more she trusts us already. She is coming out of her shell more and more each day. It is fun discovering new things about her too. For instance, we have discovered she doesn't like to hold still for long periods of time, she likes to be moving and seeing new things. She also loves to be outside and is quite content to just look around. We think she is a people watcher because she loves to stare out the window and look into cars when we are driving. She likes to press her face against our's when she is tired and in the front carrier. The list goes on, we are very blessed to have such a sweet girl in our lives.
Josh continues to do well, although he has been quite tired the last few days. We think all the travel and perhaps some culture shock is catching up with him. He continues to love his sister and likes to talk to her. He is starting to enjoy trying to play with her, but will grab his toys back too when he wants. He really likes to try to feed her, but we have to watch him because he stuffs the food into her mouth. We are thankful he seems to be adjusting so well. He is very much the big brother we thought he would be.
We have really enjoyed our time in China but with any long trip, we are also looking forward to being home soon too. Here are some new pictures, although we are sorry to say we didn't get pictures at the foster home...we were too busy playing with babies.
We spent this afternoon doing some shopping at a wholesale market in Guangzhou. We were pretty pleased with the things we were able to get, including some dresses for Li Rose to wear both now and later on. We are planning on finishing up our shopping and doing some sightseeing on "The Island" tomorrow. I am hoping to be able to find some Chinese music and books for Li Rose. We are hoping to meet up with some other families we have met while we are here and just enjoy walking around.
Yesterday morning we went to tour Yuntai Garden, which was just beautiful! I am not sure even pictures will do it justice, it was one of the prettiest botanical gardens I have ever seen. As we were leaving the garden, we had an older Chinese woman come up to our guide and tell Aron that she could see how much we love our children - it was the same as she loves her son. We felt blessed to hear that from this woman and glad we were able to convey through our actions how much we love our daughter.
In the afternoon we got to take a great trip to New Day South foster home with our good friends Scott and Haley and meet Doug and Janice, who I have been emailing with for the last few months. This is the foster home where Asa is living (yes he is real and even cuter in real life!). It was such a blessing to get to see the foster home in action - they are doing a great job with these kids! After just a few minutes, you could tell that the children are well loved and well cared for. We spent the afternoon playing with children and talking to the staff. We also got to deliver medical supplies we had collected and I (Chrissy) got to teach them how to use them. What a blessing to be able to help out a such a great ministry and to use my nursing skills too!
Li Rose is doing amazingly well. She is a great sleeper (at least so far!), sleeping through the night and napping well during the day. Today she started "talking" to us more and laughing loudly at things. It is neat to see the changes in her already and to see how much more she trusts us already. She is coming out of her shell more and more each day. It is fun discovering new things about her too. For instance, we have discovered she doesn't like to hold still for long periods of time, she likes to be moving and seeing new things. She also loves to be outside and is quite content to just look around. We think she is a people watcher because she loves to stare out the window and look into cars when we are driving. She likes to press her face against our's when she is tired and in the front carrier. The list goes on, we are very blessed to have such a sweet girl in our lives.
Josh continues to do well, although he has been quite tired the last few days. We think all the travel and perhaps some culture shock is catching up with him. He continues to love his sister and likes to talk to her. He is starting to enjoy trying to play with her, but will grab his toys back too when he wants. He really likes to try to feed her, but we have to watch him because he stuffs the food into her mouth. We are thankful he seems to be adjusting so well. He is very much the big brother we thought he would be.
We have really enjoyed our time in China but with any long trip, we are also looking forward to being home soon too. Here are some new pictures, although we are sorry to say we didn't get pictures at the foster home...we were too busy playing with babies.
(2 of the 5 families with us in Guangzhou - this is Yuntai Garden)
(Family picture in the garden's greenhouse)
(Look Mommy fish!!)
(very excited Li Rose checking out the fish)
(Li Rose trying out the snack holder - she really needed a snack!)
(Sweet girl was laughing and playing on the floor)
(Cheese!!)
(playing together - right before Josh tried to force feed Li Rose)
12.17.2011
One Step Close to Home
We apologize to our faithful followers that we have not posted in two days...what can we say, we have been busy. :-)
We are now officially in Guangzhou, China where we are working through the steps to get Li Rose's American visa so we can all come home. Today we did her medical exam at the international adoption clinic. She passed with flying colors, of course. We did get new height and weight measurements, but I am not totally sure they were accurate, partially because she was clothed. Her weight was 24.7lbs and her height was 31.8 inches. We'll see how this compares to her measurements when we get home.
As we had mentioned before, we have been struggling some with feeding issues, she is very particular about what she will drink, which is a formula made specifically at her orphanage. After several days and lots of attempts to replicate it, we now have a solution that works. Unfortunately that involves cooking rice powder (rice flour) in our room in a little tea pot and then mixing in formula and sugar... but hey she likes it and that is what we care about! Once we got the bottle thing down, she started doing a much better job with her solid foods. We are just trying to plan now for how to get home without having to cook formula at the airport. :-) You can pray that we are able to bring all the formula we need with us through security.
Li Rose seems to be bonding well with us. She is giving out frequent smiles and cuddles now. She will only eat from me (Chrissy) most of the time, but we are working on that slowly. She also only takes food from your right hand... don't ask me why, perhaps it is part of her toddler nature. ;-) Li Rose has started babbling alot with us and seems to understand when we are giving her praise or teasing her with kisses or hand games. She really enjoys riding in the front carrier and likes to press her face to mine while we ride in the car. She has also shown us that no matter how tired she is, she can keep herself awake if she wants to... it is quite an impressive skill to have.
Josh and Li Rose are bonding quite a bit too. He has been very loving towards her, liking to lay his head on her tummy and talk to her. She enjoys cuddling him and when they are in their high chairs, she will lean over to touch him. Josh also enjoys turning in the stroller and talking to her while we wait at places. It is really sweet to watch them together. Josh tries to feed her frequently - bacon to the ear, a bit from his mouth or a bottle on her head - the intention is very sweet.
In case you were wondering, we spent the two days before this doing some sightseeing and shopping in Kunming, going to Green Lake Park, feeding seagulls and hanging out with some other adoptive families. We really enjoyed getting to know some of the other families we met on gotcha day. It is nice to be with families that are going through some of the same things you are. We are really enjoying that part of being in Guangzhou, there are adoptive parents everywhere!
I guess that is all we have for now, thought we would squeeze in an update while the kids were napping. We have all been missing out on some sleep lately - you can pray for us that we are all able to rest well even when our schedule is busy. I will try to be better about updating daily from here on out, after all, I know many of you need your picture fixes. :-)
We are now officially in Guangzhou, China where we are working through the steps to get Li Rose's American visa so we can all come home. Today we did her medical exam at the international adoption clinic. She passed with flying colors, of course. We did get new height and weight measurements, but I am not totally sure they were accurate, partially because she was clothed. Her weight was 24.7lbs and her height was 31.8 inches. We'll see how this compares to her measurements when we get home.
As we had mentioned before, we have been struggling some with feeding issues, she is very particular about what she will drink, which is a formula made specifically at her orphanage. After several days and lots of attempts to replicate it, we now have a solution that works. Unfortunately that involves cooking rice powder (rice flour) in our room in a little tea pot and then mixing in formula and sugar... but hey she likes it and that is what we care about! Once we got the bottle thing down, she started doing a much better job with her solid foods. We are just trying to plan now for how to get home without having to cook formula at the airport. :-) You can pray that we are able to bring all the formula we need with us through security.
Li Rose seems to be bonding well with us. She is giving out frequent smiles and cuddles now. She will only eat from me (Chrissy) most of the time, but we are working on that slowly. She also only takes food from your right hand... don't ask me why, perhaps it is part of her toddler nature. ;-) Li Rose has started babbling alot with us and seems to understand when we are giving her praise or teasing her with kisses or hand games. She really enjoys riding in the front carrier and likes to press her face to mine while we ride in the car. She has also shown us that no matter how tired she is, she can keep herself awake if she wants to... it is quite an impressive skill to have.
Josh and Li Rose are bonding quite a bit too. He has been very loving towards her, liking to lay his head on her tummy and talk to her. She enjoys cuddling him and when they are in their high chairs, she will lean over to touch him. Josh also enjoys turning in the stroller and talking to her while we wait at places. It is really sweet to watch them together. Josh tries to feed her frequently - bacon to the ear, a bit from his mouth or a bottle on her head - the intention is very sweet.
In case you were wondering, we spent the two days before this doing some sightseeing and shopping in Kunming, going to Green Lake Park, feeding seagulls and hanging out with some other adoptive families. We really enjoyed getting to know some of the other families we met on gotcha day. It is nice to be with families that are going through some of the same things you are. We are really enjoying that part of being in Guangzhou, there are adoptive parents everywhere!
I guess that is all we have for now, thought we would squeeze in an update while the kids were napping. We have all been missing out on some sleep lately - you can pray for us that we are all able to rest well even when our schedule is busy. I will try to be better about updating daily from here on out, after all, I know many of you need your picture fixes. :-)
(Sweet girl waiting to go to breakfast)
(Josh and Li Rose eating bread instead of throwing it to the birds)
(Li Rose with bread crumb face :-)
Josh going for some bread
(Daddy reading some "cat cupcake" with Josh and Li Rose)
(Isn't she too cute when she is tired? She will rub her eyes like this and then leave her hands there for a bit)
(Story time before bed time. Li Rose really likes the Elmo book)
(Josh about 2 minutes later - he was so tired he feel asleep on his knees)
(Josh straining to get Roe-Roe's sock on)
(need I say more?)
(the bed the hotel had waiting for Li Rose when we arrive in Guangzhou)
(Li Rose initiated wake up cuddles)
(Waiting to start the medical exam - hi Scott, Haley and Mei)
(an over the shoulder shot of what Josh riding on Daddy's back during the medical exam)
(Haley, Scott and Mei)
12.14.2011
Rough start but getting better
It is now Wednesday night here in Kunming, which is early Wednesday morning back home in the western hemisphere. Our first night and the following day with Li Rose were pretty rough. We had some miscommunications with the orphanage on her diet, and this resulted in very little sleep for Li Rose and her new parents. We were able to get some answers last night after a late evening visit to the orphanage, and so last night went MUCH better, and today was a great day.
Yesterday (Tuesday), we went and visited the orphanage that Li Rose spent the first six months of her life before moving to a foster family. It was a very nice visit and we were impressed with the orphanage. We will have more updates about that when we are back home.
Today (Wednesday) was a day off from touring for our family, and so we spent a leisurely morning in our hotel room, and we even had a “late” breakfast. We went down for breakfast at 8:00am! Normally we have been up before breakfast starts at 6:00am because the short people around here seem to think that the food is best when the kitchen staff have not had time to set it all out yet.
After late morning/early afternoon naps, we all went across the street to Green Lake Park. Green Lake itself is quite large, and there are bridges and platforms crisscrossing it that people have set up stands to sell stuff. People also gather at the lake to sing, play music, and dance together. It was quite interesting seeing a group of what appeared to be about 40 women all over the age of 50 dancing to Ricky Martin music (there were many groups all over dancing to other music as well).
Another interesting thing about Green Lake Park is that seagulls come to this area for the winter. The seagulls fly here (southwestern China) all the way from Siberia (northern Russia). What makes this even more interesting is that Kunming is more than 5,000 feet above sea level, but there are literally thousands of seagulls occupying the lake. Josh and Li Rose had a great time watching daddy throw bread to the seagulls, and Josh even got into the fun by throwing bread as well.
Walking around Green Lake Park also was a different kind of experience for us. We remember reading as part of our adoption education something called “Being a Conspicuous Family.” The real point of this was that when you adopt, especially when you adopt someone who does not look like you, that you have a conspicuous family. You tend to stand out and people notice because you are different. Not everyone who notices that you are different have good feelings about this. Well we definitely are a conspicuous family just being here. Josh alone attracts a lot of attention with his blonde hair, blue eyes, and fun personality. He loves to say hi and bye to people, and everyone thinks that he is just a beautiful kid. Then you add in Li Rose, and people do double and triple takes when we go by. Also Asian culture is different than western culture. Where in the west, people might take a second look, then go about their business with good or bad thoughts, here in the east, people make comments, ask questions, take pictures, ask to have pictures taken with Josh or all the family, pinch cheeks, poke noses, ask to hold them, etc. In fact, if we stood still for more than a few seconds, we would draw a crowd of people! It is hard to explain without actually being there and seeing it. The crowds that would gather though were always smiling and laughing and asking questions (we think about if Li Rose is ours, and if we got her here in China).
We all had fun, and then we stopped at a local restaurant and got some Chinese food (or should I just call it food, since we are in China?) to go, and ate it picnic style in our hotel room. Boy was it yummy! Josh and Li Rose ate until their tummies poked out. They are now both down in their beds.
Speaking of Josh, we have just been very impressed and thankful about how exceptionally well he has done with the whole traveling and getting a new sister. He has his toddler moments, but he has been very good. He likes to bring things over to us when Li Rose is upset, and brings her snacks when she is on the bed. Once he came up to her on the bed and put his head on her shoulder, and she just beamed! They seem to be forming a very nice bond already. Last night when he woke up in the middle of the night, his first question was “where is the baby?”
Li Rose is a very sweet little girl. She is starting to smile much more readily, and when she gets excited she does what we call her “happy dance.” It is hard to describe, but is fun to watch. Her little laugh is also adorable, and she likes to be tickled. She is starting to coo and babble some more too, and she is starting to recognize us more, and greet us with a smile, and look to us when she needs comfort or protection. Please pray that this bonding process continues well. She seems to have some developmental delays, as is expected with any institutionalized child, but we are already seeing her achieve milestones that she was not doing when we got her even two days ago. She seems to be a very graceful girl, and she likes to look at her hands. She does not seem to be a very picky eater with solid foods, and will eat both American and Chinese food with gusto.
Well that is it for now. Now on to what many of you have been waiting eagerly for… more pictures!
Sleepy girl Tuesday morning
Li Rose likes to sleep with her feet poking out of the crib
Siblings bonding this morning
Li Rose cuddling with Josh
Giggles with Tickles
Josh leaning on Li Rose for some good bonding time
Josh and Li Rose watching daddy feed the seagulls
Li Rose's beautiful smile
One of the many crowds we gathered today
Family portrait taken by a very excited young lady after she had her friend take a picture with us and her in that gap in the middle
Li Rose snuggle bug after her bath
12.12.2011
Li Rose Gotcha Day!
This morning we met Li Rose for the first time!! She is beautiful, sweet and just a bit opinionated but we are in love already!! We got off to a bit of a rough start trying to figure out what she likes and what she doesn't. With a lot of trial and error we think we are finally on the right track. We already know some things she loves - bath time, lotion, her fingers (which are super long) and being in the becco (front carrier). We also know some things she doesn't like - formula, anything lukewarm or cold, being and cooped up in the room. We are still trying to figure out what she likes to eat and drink, but we made some good progress this evening. Believe it or not, she was much happier once we figured out what to feed her. :-) We are very thankful to have found a sippy cup she will take and just the right temperature for her milk. She and we took a fabulously long nap this afternoon (4 hours)! You can pray for us that we would continue to be able to figure out Li Rose and all the little things about her. Pray also that we would all be able to get on similar sleep schedules since we are still adjusting to the time change (and were up at 4:30am this morning).
She was definitely well cared for at her foster home. You can tell by the way she was crying for her mama this morning. She would look at me, shake her head and say mama. That passed after some time and she seems to be warming up to me. Li Rose is in love with her baba (daddy) and enjoys cuddling with him. We are hoping as we continue to figure out her needs and how to meet them she will continue to grow in trust for us. We got our first smiles tonight getting her undressed for bath time and she had a great time in the tub!
Josh and Li Rose seem to be doing well with each other. Li Rose isn't as mobile or playful as Josh would perhaps like, but he has been a big help all day today. They even enjoyed some of Josh's favorite stories and prayer time before bed. It was quite cute watching him give her kisses and tell his sissy goodnight. Overall, I think he is doing quite well with the adjustment so far, but we would love to have to continue to pray for their relationship. Also pray that we would be good at balancing between the two and giving them each the attention they need and want.
Since we weren't able to do a blog post before now, we are going to give you a quick summary of our trip so far. Josh was an amazing traveler!! We couldn't be more impressed with his behavior on the planes or anywhere else we have been. He is still adjusting to the time change, but has been a trooper when it comes to sleeping on the go and keeping up with the schedule. Our flights went pretty well and we were very thankful to arrive in Beijing on Friday evening. Oh, I almost forgot to mention, Josh is quite the celebrity here in China with his blonde hair and blue eyes - he may show up on multiple Chinese websites in the future.
Saturday and Sunday we spent time touring the Great Wall, Summer Palace and the Forbidden City. even though it was a bit cold, we had an amazing guide and we were able to learn a lot about the Chinese people and culture. We look forward to being able to share this knowledge with Li Rose in the future.
If you are interested in skyping us, the best time would be morning here, which is the evening in the states. Look for us online with skype and let us know if you want to chat. We are 13 hours ahead of eastern time. Emailing ahead to schedule would be good too. :-)
Now the moment you have all been waiting for....pictures!!!
She was definitely well cared for at her foster home. You can tell by the way she was crying for her mama this morning. She would look at me, shake her head and say mama. That passed after some time and she seems to be warming up to me. Li Rose is in love with her baba (daddy) and enjoys cuddling with him. We are hoping as we continue to figure out her needs and how to meet them she will continue to grow in trust for us. We got our first smiles tonight getting her undressed for bath time and she had a great time in the tub!
Josh and Li Rose seem to be doing well with each other. Li Rose isn't as mobile or playful as Josh would perhaps like, but he has been a big help all day today. They even enjoyed some of Josh's favorite stories and prayer time before bed. It was quite cute watching him give her kisses and tell his sissy goodnight. Overall, I think he is doing quite well with the adjustment so far, but we would love to have to continue to pray for their relationship. Also pray that we would be good at balancing between the two and giving them each the attention they need and want.
Since we weren't able to do a blog post before now, we are going to give you a quick summary of our trip so far. Josh was an amazing traveler!! We couldn't be more impressed with his behavior on the planes or anywhere else we have been. He is still adjusting to the time change, but has been a trooper when it comes to sleeping on the go and keeping up with the schedule. Our flights went pretty well and we were very thankful to arrive in Beijing on Friday evening. Oh, I almost forgot to mention, Josh is quite the celebrity here in China with his blonde hair and blue eyes - he may show up on multiple Chinese websites in the future.
Saturday and Sunday we spent time touring the Great Wall, Summer Palace and the Forbidden City. even though it was a bit cold, we had an amazing guide and we were able to learn a lot about the Chinese people and culture. We look forward to being able to share this knowledge with Li Rose in the future.
If you are interested in skyping us, the best time would be morning here, which is the evening in the states. Look for us online with skype and let us know if you want to chat. We are 13 hours ahead of eastern time. Emailing ahead to schedule would be good too. :-)
Now the moment you have all been waiting for....pictures!!!
(Mommy and Josh enjoying some sleep on the plane.)
(Josh and Daddy getting ready to hike the Great Wall)
(Great Wall of China)
(Josh and Daddy after a long day of touring)
(other families at gotcha day with us)
(Big brother getting a nap in before he meets Li Rose)
(Gotcha!!!)
(Josh checking out his sissy for the first time)
(First family picture as a family of four!)
(Daddy and Li rose meeting for the first time)
(Daddy balancing both babies while Mommy does paperwork)
(Li Rose signing her adoption paperwork with a foot print)
(First bath!)
(Both Cobb babies enjoying some snuggles with mommy before bed)
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