To China and Back Again: 2012

Sunday, December 16, 2012

Christopher's Baptism

After taking the pictures we headed to noon mass. After mass at 1:30 Christopher was baptized. There were two other boys baptized as well a new born and a 6 maybe 7 year old boy. Chris didn't want to cooperate at the beginning. Sitting through mass and then waiting for the baptism to start was getting to be a little much. We walked all over the church while waiting. He did well. He was fussy at the beginning but settled down once I let him sit on the floor for awhile. He was scared of being held over the font but only whined a little. In the pictures you can see him holding onto my sweater for dear life. He was as good as gold after the water was poured on his head. He was a little concerned over the oils being put on his head but was fine. My brother Stephen is his godfather and my good friend Mary Kenney is his godmother. It was the first time she was able to meet him. Her daughter RoseMary and Xuelian go to school together and they are very excited to be family now. RoseMary told Father Tom that she is Christopher's GodSister. We all went out for lunch at Atria's afterwards and had a great time talking and just watching Christopher. He is just one of those kids you can't take your eyes off. He is mister serious in photos but that is not who he really is. He is a little boy with the greatest belly laugh. He does have an emperor complex. I don't think anyone ever told him no in China. He is a really sweet little boy. He loves to give high fives and fist bumps. He is also part energizer bunny. I am exhausted from holding him today and keeping him corralled at church. He still only wants to be with me. I am so glad to have him Baptized it was a really nice ceremony. Xuelian was asked to help Father Tom and held his book for him to read. She is one of the altar servers at church and I think he wanted to let her have a special part in the ceremony.

Walking the Energizer Bunny.

Grandpa, Xuelian and RoseMary

He's on the run.

The start of the ceremony

Father asking us his name and our intention.

Mr. Fussypants.

Placing oil on his chest.

Fussing a little.

Holding on tight.

Christmas Pictures of the kids

I decided to try to take pictures of the kids today to send with our Christmas cards which will go out tomorrow.

I think this first one is the winner.\

Christmas tree decorating

We finally decorated the tree this week. I only managed to get pictures after we put the lights on. We were too busy decorating to get pictures. Christopher had fun helping decorate the tree. We have a bunch of non breakable ornaments that we let him put on the bottom of the tree. Then he helped by handing me ornaments to hang higher on the tree.

Xuelian is becoming quite the Daddy's girl.

Me and my kids.

Xuelian and Chris get along really well. They are just too cute together.

Sunday, December 9, 2012

First Week Home and Christopher's 2nd Birthday

Our first week home has been great. We are still waking too early but are closer to normal. Christopher loves his big sister. Xuelian is great with him. She builds towers for him to knock down, they chase each other all over the house and she loves to hold him. He is starting to settle in with dad. He prefers me but will go to dad if I am around. I can't go anywhere without him he is my little shadow. I just realized that we didn't take photos this week we were just enjoying being together. We did take pictures yesterday for Christopher's Birthday.

Our First Family Photo

Chris isn't sure about the Birthday cake.

Taking chunks out with his fork.

We couldn't get him to even try the cake.

He decided to feed it to sissy.

The cheese pizza was a hit.

We didn't take pictures of opening presents. We got him the little people farm and my parents got him a vtech musical/learning ladybug. He had fun playing with his toys with everyone.

We are hoping to get our Christmas tree today. Xuelian is finishing up homework and then we'll go to the Christmas tree farm. I post pictures soon.

Home

We made it home in one piece but the trip was awful. First I'll tell you about our last day and then get to the trip. Our last day in Guangzhou was nice. We packed in the morning and then went to a museum next door with our friends Jennifer, Andrew and Sammy. When they were building the hotel they found the tomb of an emperor. A museum was built and the hotel was moved over. The burial site is preserved and you can walk down into it. All of the artifacts are on display in the museum. I would have loved to have stayed for the day but we only had two hours.

Entrance to the tomb.

Part of the excavation of the site.

At 2:45 we met other families in the lobby and headed out to get the kids' passports. Then it was time to go to the train station. This is where the trip home started to go bad. We had to take all of our luggage on the train with us. BAD IDEA. It was just too much to handle. Then it was a two hour ride on an old and dirty train. We then had to go through customs in Hong Kong. Filling out paperwork while holding a baby in a carrier is not easy. Christopher wouldn't go with my dad. My dad couldn't fill out the cards because the print was too tiny for him to read. All four families made it through customs and then our van driver decided that we had too much luggage and called for a van to help. We sat waiting for at least hour. The ride to the hotel should have been 40 minutes but our driver got lost and it took and additional 20 minutes to get to the hotel. I think it was around 10pm before we got to our room. My dad headed out and found us food since we were all really hungry. The flight home was awful. As you know Christopher was being treated for bronchitis. Well what we didn't know at the time was that he also had an ear infection. He went into screaming fits a bunch of times on the 14 hour flight home. I have to say Chicago has the worst airport in the world. I thought for sure we were going to miss our flight to Pittsburgh. Getting through customs was easy but having to go through security again was a nightmare. There were huge lines and the security guard was harassing my dad. He had a hip replacement and we didn't have time to wait in the line to go through the scanner. The man was rude to my father and looking for a fight. He wanted him to drop his pants down as well as show him his money belt in the open. Of course my dad was getting angry and I thought we weren't just going to miss the flight but end up detained. I wish I had gotten that man's name he was enjoying getting us upset including me. At this point I was in tears. Jet lag had set in and I was also sick. We got to our gate and they started boarding 10 minutes later. I was so happy when we got off that plane. I don't want to go anywhere by plane for a long time. As bad as the trip was I am so glad to have my boy home. I also had a great time with my dad. We are both almost done with antibiotics and are feeling so much better. We are almost back on schedule. We are sleeping until 5am instead of waking at 3. I hope in another week we will be on a normal schedule again.