Miserably Wonderful

Time to catch up...again: so, another delayed plane finally brought us home from Newark to Louisville around 12 a.m. Saturday morning.  A small welcoming crew braved the late/early hour to greet us with smiles, hugs and tears...and it felt soooooooooo good to be home, especially when sick. Scarlett is battling a virus, Erik, a virus which turned into an infection and me, the same virus turned into an infection on top of another infection, so it's been a rough number of days,  weeks, now that I'm finally adding an update.  Erik actually ended up in the hospital for a few days, diagnosed w/ pneumonia and the same bacteria, which entered his joints, but I think we're finally on the mend........hopefully. Oh, and Saylor had an ear infection at her check up last week.  I think that's it though......except for those dreaded Ohio River Valley allergies.

I also came to grips with one of the more difficult aspects of parenting more than one child... and I'm sure those of you with more than one will agree...when both kiddos need you urgently, but in different ways and you have to make a choice. Heartbreaking!  Saylor had just fallen asleep about the same time Scarlett got hurt.  Scarlett's crying woke up little sister, who then began crying for mama.........think mama began tearing up at that moment, too. 

Well, after everything settled down, I was still teary-eyed thinking about the situation and Scarlett says, "Mommy, it's ok.  I understand that Saylor will need you even more for a while."  Bear in mind that I made the choice to comfort Scarlett first, but still... it still amazes me that we have this little adult trapped in a 4-year-old body and I get the honor of raising her.  WOW! 
Even though we've been feeling miserable physically, we've had so many blessings to see us through the difficulties.  Thanks to my parents, we came home to a well-stocked fridge/pantry including breakfast, lunches and dinners, which nearly sustained us the entire first week home. They've been giving Scarlett the royal treatment (which they usually do anyways, but it's doubly appreciated now) with multiple sleepovers, extra special attention...........just about anything "her highness" wishes. 

Due to said...written well-stocked fridge/pantry, we've discovered some of Saylor's favorite foods: bacon and donuts.  Besides a smile, which stretches from ear to ear when she sees one, she actually squeals in delight.  She may even love her high chair and all that it implies more than her mommy and daddy....at least for now, as she smiles each and every time I place her in it. 

She gives kisses (the wonderful, open-mouthed, slobbery kind) and hugs, waves bye bye, claps, shakes her head yes and no, gives fist bumps and high fives...and recently learned to blow kisses, too.  This little one likes to have mommy read to her and has learned to accept letting mommy read to Scarlett at the same time, too.  Because of watching her big sister, she now loves to splash in the tub and she also (most days) gets the same big smile and gives a squeal (just like she does with her favorite foods) when she sees Scarlett after a while of being apart. 

We no longer have to deal w/ an intense dislike of car seats.  They aren't used in China, so mommy's lap was the mode of transportation and being strapped in took a couple of times to get used to.  Swinging on the swing, playing in the toy kitchen and visiting Mamaw's and Pap's house are some of her favorite activities.  Oh, and she is such a little helper..... likes to help get dressed by putting her little arms up in the air and alternately lifting one tiny leg or foot to put on a sock or shoe.........soooooooo cute! 

Overall, I've been amazed by how both gals have dealt w/ the blow of the multiple illnesses of mommy and daddy (especially daddy's time in the hospital) and how they've adjusted to sisterhood.  They've each had their moments of jealousy and some sadness (on Scarlett's part) of missing life as the threesome we used to be.  It's hard to walk through those moments and my heart aches for her, but I'm so thankful for the relationship they are already and will continue to celebrate as they grow older.....reminds me of the way God asks us to walk though something truly difficult to prepare us for future blessings or the gift of the journey or knowledge that comes with the struggle.  ...guess I should mention our few difficult nights when we first got back home and had nothing but banshee screams from Saylor halfway though each evening.  Of course, we thought the worst..........horrible orphanage ordeals and abandonment... but we finally came to the realization that she was just getting too much sleep and didn't want nor need additional sleep.  That's what happens when you're still on a China schedule and napping 5-6 hours during the day and then wanting to sleep through the night, too.  Thankfully, she suffers fools gladly and is well on her way to training mommy and daddy in the way they should go.  :)

There's a reason God only put 24 hours in a day

...woke up today at 7 or so to depart from Hong Kong.  It's a beautiful airport surrounded by both mountains and water, but that's where the beauty ended. We had to wait about an hour for a storm to roll on by.  Little did I know that it was about to get even stormier. On my honor, I promise to never make fun of those little airplane sick bags ever again... I needed about 10 of them throughout the duration of our 14 hour flight and I've never had motion sickness before.  Trust me, it's awful, especially on top of already being sick.  Erik was such a gem of a fellow and took care of all that the girls needed, while I moaned and groaned my way home. I'm so glad that this occurred on the way, home though...would have been awful to have started out our time in China feeling this miserable. 

Right now, we're in the Newark Airport with a 5 hour layover. All my crew is once again asleep and I'm feeling much better.  So begins my days as a Dramamine gal....

2 out of 3 ain't bad (maybe it was 3 out of 4???)

...feeling crummy and sick today here in Hong Kong, which suits the rainy day perfectly, not to mention the emotional and mental drain of being away from the comforts of home.  Well, at least my belt and my shoes match... Wait, let me double check.... Never mind, I'm a complete wreck today.  I'm soooooo ready to be home and dreading the long flight tomorrow.  I'm missing Scarlett terribly, even though she's been with us the entire trip, but it's a different kind of togetherness when there's another precious child who is desperately in need of the care they've been lacking for a lifetime.  

What I meant to end that really depressing Eyeore of a paragraph with was how thankful I am to have been called on this journey and how blessed I feel to be able to share the endless love of a Heavenly Father with a gift of a gal who we will treasure and adore even when the times are tough.

We left for HK early this morning by train, arrived and drove about half an hour to the airport hotel where we checked in , promptly found and ate lunch and took a nap... Every body else is still sleeping... Not quite sure why I'm always the one awake at odd times.

Prior to our travels here, we had a few fantastic days. On Monday, we got to go to the safari zoo in Guangzhou. Scarlett got to ride a pony and both girls got to feed the giraffes, in addition to viewing 12 giant pandas. The zookeepers tried to keep Erik, but I assured them that he was much more trouble than he's worth. Wonder if he'll ever get around to reading my blog.. Reminds me of my college days when I'd add something Completely off the wall to my multi-page papers to see if my professors were actually paying attention. 

Anyway, part of the zoo was set up like the safari ride at the animal kingdom in Disney, so that was pretty fascinating... And the keepers even timed feedings with the the approach of the tram, so we got to see the animals in action.  Contrary to popular opinion, they actually do move around... I was impressed.

That evening, we met up with the family  from New Albany and the girls played on the outdoor playground for a while.  ...can't recall whether I mentioned them on an earlier post or just Facebook, but they are a family from my sister,s church who, Godincidentally, ended up traveling on the same dates for their adoption. How cool is that?!

The oath-taking ceremony took place on Tuesday and we had a beautiful cruise in the Red Dragon Boat along the ? River that evening. It was a perfect night with a lovely breeze and a 5 star meal catered by Papa Johns (apparently the food offered on the boat is pretty bad, so our guide took extreme measures... I love extreme measures).  Unfortunately, our night ended with Scarlett getting sick... Think she swallowed a bit of tub water since we've been eating similar things.  Poor baby. It's no fun being sick especially when you're away from home, especially, especially when your halfway around the world away from home.

Wednesday led to a happier tummy for Scarlett and our checkout meeting with Holt.  We spent a couple of hours on Shamien Island for the tiniest bit of shopping and strolling, but we had to be back at the hotel to pick up Saylor's visa.  It seems like we had so much time ahead of us on this trip and it's difficult to believe that we fly home tomorrow.  Oh, almost forgot the most important treasure we discovered:  some little gal happens to be quite to ticklish right under her arms... And she has the cutest little giggle, which you can't bargain for anywhere.

Stay tuned for the travel day update.  I'm hoping that it will be a very boring read, something along the lines of: the Schuld family picked up a favorable wind and made it home in record time.  Everybody slept comfortably on the flight, the food was impressive and the bathroom was available whenever one was needed.  It could happen, right? I mean it's not nearly as difficult as parting the red sea or making a donkey talk, right?!

More new pictures

Two more pictures

Catching up

Let's see... I think I missed out updating our last two or three days in Nanning, and if not, it's so nice you'll get to read it twice.  In case you're wondering, the crew is napping and I'm lamenting my choice to partake of the caramel macchiato from Starbuck's..not really, it was so worth it!  :-)  

On Wednesday, we got to take a trip to Green Mountain, a local natural park. There was a georgeous view of the city skyline, beautiful gardens and sculptures of the Chinese zodiac animals.  Scarlett made it her mission to have her picture taken with each and every one, while the rest of us opted for a pic with our particular animal, and it only took me 3 tries to climp up on the horse (pic to be posted at a later date).  For a smooth year, you were supposed to touch the nose on the dragon ball, so we all did that, even Saylor....hmmmm, don,t think she believes in such things, especially when it,s time to take her medication.  Smooth is not the word i'd use to describe that time and eventually, i'm typing this days later, we gave up the practice all together as she was making herself sick and spitting it all back out (we actually heard her shout a few words at this time and we are convinced she was swearing at us in Chinese.)

Lunch was served picnic style on the floor of our hotel room and included regional delicacies from the nearby market: wasabi peas, lemon tea flavored chips (pretty spectacular, I must admit), assorted dried fruits, and onion flavored crackers.  Saylor ate little bits of everything as she no longer has any interest in what was supposed to be the staples of an orphanage diet (congee and formula).  She prefers water and is no longer drinking juice, probably because we tried to get her to take her medicine with that...apparently she has a good memory.  She also decided to feed mommy bits of her cracker, which was nothing but precious and heartbreaking at the same time as I envisioned her doing that for other little ones in the orphanage.  I may have mentioned this already, but she was in an entirely special needs orphanage and we were told more than once that she most likely received very little attention since her needs weren't as severe.  Regardless, she's a little problem solver.  When she couldn't break the cracker with her hands, she decided to bite it into pieces in order to feed me.  

Erik and Scarlett (looked so cute in their bathing caps, which are required wear in this province)  went swimming this afternoon while Saylor napped in my arms by the side of the pool. Afterwards, it was snack time back in the room and then Scarlett was out for the rest of the evening.  Swimming makes her so tired. 

The next morning, we ventured to the countryside, Yiling Village, with Jane, our Holt guide.  She was delightful...could tell she really cared about the children and she was especially fond of Scarlett (who wouldn't be?)  And gave her lots of attention.  I think she said she was 10 or 13 years younger than her brother and she used to teach middle school, so we had that in common.  Scarlett liked her so much so that she decided to name her new jade puppy figurine after her. 

Anyway, the countryside was so peaceful and lovely, with the mountains in the distance. We saw water buffalo and I had to restrain myself from breaking into song, "everybody wants a water buffalo, mine is fast, but yours is slow" (gotta love Veggie Tales).  We also got to visit a local family, a grandmother and her 4 year old granddaughter (seeing any similarities).  She was such a gracious host, answered our questions and offered us fresh cut sugar cane even though they had so very little.  Her face was beautiful with age and a glowing smile and the little girl was  just adorable.  Jane told us that Saylor's village would be similar... in the countryside, but with even poorer living conditions.  Guiping is a farming community and nearly all of the younger generations have moved to the city.  The family of Saylor's best bud got to visit the area not the orphnage, though) and is going to share their videos/pics, so that will be so nice to show our little one through the years.  Oh...almost forgot to mention that Scarlett left her mark on the community as well...got to "water" a tree...nice little photo opportunity. :-)  

That afternoon we ventured to an idyllic nearby park with gorgeous trees and a rather large lake....got some great pics and then headed back to the hotel to pack up for our departure (little did we know what was in store for tomorrow's agenda...probably a good thing, too).  All in all, it was nice to be able to visit Nanning, the capitol of our gal's province...hope to be able to bring her back one day to see where God's plan for her life began.  We met a couple of heritage tour families doing that very thing, so it was great to be able to chat with them... they didn't have much advice to offer...not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing or that I'm going through advice withdrawal being away from mama and pap for so long :-).   

So, that along with the earlier travel day post brings us up to today, Sunday...not much on the schedule, just dinner with the Holt families tonight.  I received a kind email from a new friend, one I haven't even met saying she was praying for me...just what I needed to hear as the last two days have been a bit more rough settling in to our new kind of normal.. and thanks to all y'all for doing the same.  I can't tell you how much it means to us to know that you care.  :-)  Any way,  I was telling her that I'm always with a smile on my face and try to have an optimistic view on everying so its difficult for me to admit when things are tough and to ask for help, even when Erik is more than willing to lend a hand.  This journey has definitely strengthened my prayer life as I continue to ask God for His strength, peace, kindness, love and energy... and He has more than provided... just need to remember to ask when I'm feeling overwhelmed.

Some new pictures

Unfortunately Blogger decides how these will display and will not let me change them, so I guess you will have to place your monitor on its side to view them correctly,