Home Sweet Home

Three Malkie men snug in their beds...what a great feeling to be home! We are slowly working back to this time zone. What an amazing journey-the boys were outstanding on all the travel and they are just falling into a groove already at home. So much to post about regarding the trip and lessons learned for those traveling soon. So many feelings to capture and savor on the blog for memory sake. China is truly an awesome country and the children both waiting for families and those home forever are a treasure beyond compare. "Two boys, so lucky"...a statement we heard more than once during our trip...so so true. Truly blessed we are.

USA! USA! USA!

And we're back safely in America. 

Both boys were great travelers and we avoided any major meltdowns.
15 hours on a plane, 4 hours in JFK, and then a quick hop back to DCA ...

Stayed overnight in Alexandria at my parent's house, hanging a bit, and then driving back to Richmond later this morning.

Zak is officially a U.S. Citizen now (Thank you IH-3 Visa!) so that's exciting.

Going to spend the next few days recovering and trying to get back on an East Coast schedule.

Thanks for your support and well wishes - it'll be great to see you all!!

Farewell Guangzhou!

In 2 hours we're getting in a van that will take us into Hong Kong.  It's about a 3-4 hour ride there, we'll be there around 8pm local time – 8 am Thursday morning for you East Coast readers.

One quick night in Hong Kong and we get on the long ride back to the USA!  

Hong Kong to JFK then JFK to Reagan and then a short drive back to Richmond.   Whew.   Hoping to be back in our house either late Friday night or sometime on Saturday, depending on the how the boys do with their sleeping.

Anyway, it's been interesting, not really easier the 2nd time but definitely more … predictable.

I'll do a full update once we get back to the States but for now, here's a video from a few nights ago.

The Final Countdown

6 more meals in restaurants with 2 boys….never thought I'd be one to say "let's NOT eat out tonight honey".  I cannot wait to see the likes of my kitchen again.  The countdown is truly upon us now.  The consulate appointment is complete so now we are just biding time for Zak's passport to arrive on Thursday.  I was once again hit with the emotion of the moment while waiting at the consulate for our swearing in ceremony.  Just the sight of all the families gathered in that one room on this particular day.  Happy new families that are forever grateful to families in China for the children they have put in our care.  May we always do our very best to fulfill their dreams and ours for these beautiful babies.  

No the bath water isn't that pretty here…thanks to Elmo fizzy tub tablets it is!!

The things they carry...

Every day Zak chooses something to carry with him…

Van did the same thing when we were here last time.  Van usually picked food.  Zak's choices are a bit more random.  At first it was plastic chopstick helpers, then luggage locks and now we've moved onto food.  Yesterday, he carried a plum in his pocket for 1/2 a day.  It survived the journey and fortunately we distracted enough so it wasn't eaten.  Every day we learn a little more about him-he has an infectious smile, he wakes up happy, he will imitate EVERYTHING and I mean EVERYTHING that Van does, he loves to sing and dance, he gives lots of kisses and he loves taking a bath.  For a cleft palate kid he is amazing us by drinking through a straw, blowing bubbles and pronouncing letters you would not think possible.  Can't wait for the cleft team to check him out.  

Big brother is struggling a bit more these past few days.  He told me he misses his home in Virginia, his "other pets"  (aka stuffed animals), his big TV and his couch.  He is ready like I am to be home.  Daddy is keeping us going strong with take out pizza and snacks and counting down our days.  Aunt Christina is helping a ton with crafts and projects for Van while we check off the last of the appointments and paperwork.  Today is our consulate appointment where we swear to love Zak forever…done and done.  We survived medical-TB test negative and 5 shots for the brave boy.  He literally laughed while watching the needle on the first four.  The last one caught up with him but he just cried for a few minutes.  He's cried more at skinning his knees then anything else but he's a band-aid lover so all is well with that.  

More pix to come later.  Love to all…we miss you Virginia!!

Picture Drop 2 of 2

Lots of fun!  More to Come!

Picture Drop 1 of 2

Wo Ai Ni Daddy!

I love you Daddy…in Chinese, in English, in all languages I can muster.  Friday travel day..more than ever do I love Daddy.  He hauled all the bags, wrangled all the boys, calmed mommy and got us to our next/last leg of this journey.  Of course having Aunt Christina as our pack mule was a major life saver as well.  

Hotel check out 2pm

Flight time 7:30pm

Raining outside

2 active boys

4 hours in an airport

18 visits to the airport potty (luckily it's a clean western style and not a squat potty)

Snacks

Running

Eating

Finally time to go through security

Big brother major meltdown…major

Crying, screaming, dragging through the security arches

Mom gets the security wand…Big brother melts down more

Little brother has to potty…again…

Last call for boarding

Mom is running with little brother

Big brother is melting at gate

Mom picks up big brother

Little brother melts

Mom attempts to carry both screaming big and little onto the plane

Mom starts to melt too

Dad takes over

Dad saves the day

We board the plane

Stewardess brings us candy bars and water

Everyone stops crying

We devour our chocolate

We smile

We sleep

We survive

We are here…last leg

Beautiful hotel, beautiful summer weather, beautiful boys, beautiful daddy

Oh Boy(s)!

48 hours later...

Mom again without pix…sorry in advance.  We did get some great video today of the dancing bouncing duo which will be up soon.   Donna posted the question of the day regarding how soon it would be before Zak became a Van follower of the anti-clothes variety.  Yup…it's a done deal already.  He is naked boy 2.   Considering he came to us with four layers of shirts, sweater and jacket and long johns and pants sans undies…now he's an undies only kinda man.   He does love clothes tho and the minute you take them out for him, he's dressing himself and ready to go.  He giggles with excitement at the sight of a jacket and loves to go to the closet to see his shoes.  

However, his giggles of joy are beyond joyful when he spots food of any variety.   He literally wrestled me to the ground at the shopping mall today when he caught sight of a lollipop in my backpack.   And watching the two of them eat McDonald's for dinner tonight you might have guessed they were sampling Top Chef cuisine.  This boy can pack away some food. Van is already catching on that he better pick up the pace at the table.  

Our shopping outing today proved that boys do not make the best mall companions and that even in the most high fashion malls of China, the squat potty is still the one and only.  Yes, Zak also thinks it is necessary to see every potty in every establishment we visit.  Scott and I actually had to leave the restaurant during the middle of lunch yesterday with both boys and run back across the street to the hotel to use the potty.  Jessie, our guide taught Scott how to say "where's the potty?" in Mandarin today for future reference.   We all  (Van included) know how to say "no" to Zak in Mandarin…this has certainly come in handy.  He is talking up a storm and he loves to sing to himself.  Jessie understands everything he is saying and he is imitating more words with each day.   We also found out that he attended a preschool every day at the orphanage that is sponsored by Half the Sky Foundation.   They gave us a journal with lots of photos of him and some of his school artwork.  Of course the journal is written in Mandarin so we will be looking for a translator once we get home…what fun it will be to read!   Mt. Pisgah and Miss Liza's class better get ready for their new classmate.  

Tomorrow we visit the Museum of Hohhot and Van is super excited about the dinosaur exhibit.  We are feeling like quite an exhibit ourselves everywhere we go.  This area of China doesn't see very many  non-Chinese people.  We  have had people literally fall down while staring at us instead of watching where they are walking.  Several near collisions on bicycles and mopeds can be directly related to our appearance on the streets.   It is certainly a new experience for all of us.  

We are missing everyone at home and love seeing the comments and feeling connected to our world.  More fun to come and then home again home again…hooray!!

Mom gets her turn to blog

Can't promise anything meaningful from me either…amazing what lack of sleep can do to the brain cells.   We are slowly getting on this continent's time clock and the waking hours have certainly been "active".  These boys seem destine to be brothers.  Zak can't get enough of Van and big brother is embracing his role and really enjoying the spotlight (shocker!)  Here's some things we've learned about them…

Zak LOVES to eat…he has yet to refuse any type of food.  He came with his own bag of snacks-shrimp flavored crackers…quite stinky but apparently quite tasty to him.  I think Scott was forced to try a few too…Zak is good at sharing.

Van LOVES to help Zak…put on his shoes, push his stroller and jump on the beds.

Zak is talking mostly mandarin but has already started to imitate words like daddy, yummy and light. 

Van will finish all the snacks I packed for the  entire trip before week one is out.  Luckily we located a grocery store and Scott stocked us up on some extras.

Zak hasn't really cried yet…he gets upset when you stop giving him food or when you lay him in the crib but it's short lived.

Van was the most amazing traveler.  He barely opened his 80lb backpack full of toys on all the plane rides.  He ate, he slept, he watched movies and TV shows and played video games, thanks to Cathey Airlines individual entertainment systems.   Here's hoping Zak copies that example on the journey back home.

Zak is tiny and stocky…he's wearing size 18 months clothing but he is completely Potty Trained!!  

Van has introduced Zak to the dual potty time…(Austin and Logan better be ready to make room for one more around the potty!)

Both boys have been great sleepers.  Van just falls asleep whenever the mood strikes him mostly at the dinner table and Zak goes down easy.  They've been sleeping about 10 hours which is great but falling asleep before 6pm which means wake up calls are before sunrise.  

Daddy has been awesome on the tag team efforts of two boys and of course the technology that is keeping us in touch.  

Our guide, Jessie is wonderful.  She is taking us shopping tomorrow and then to lunch.  She guided us through all the paperwork here in Hohhot today without a hitch.  

People in Hohhot are very curious about us Americans and the city is much more urban than we expected.  

That's all my brain can come up with now.  Gotta get to sleep…

Giggle Bomb

The Hits Just Keep On Coming!

I swear I'll actually write something meaningful eventually – but for now here are more pics.

(If any surgeons just happen to be reading this, that's the roof of his mouth . . . )

Video Test Post

More PICS from this Morning

After we all collectively fell asleep immediately after dinner (~6pm), we were up this morning at 4.  We'll do a full post later today when we can, but here's another batch of pics.

ZAK!

He's awesome and incredible and just perfect.

More to come but here's the first batch of pics.

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Test Post #4

Yup, it's 12:36pm and Van is jumping on the bed, watching Diego, and I'm making sure I can communicate with y'all….

Test Post #3

Let's see if this way works – it's much easier!

Attaching a picture as well – Van after the 1 hour + 15 hour + 4 hour flight marathon – such a trooper!

-Scott

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This email and its contents may be confidential. If it is and you are not the intended recipient, please do not disclose or use the information within this email or its attachments. If you have received this email in error, please delete it immediately. Thank you.

Test Post from Hohhot #1

This should work, I think.  Going to try another method next.

It's 12:09PM our time (Sunday afternoon) , so it's just after midnight over there.

We're all here and safe, more to come in a bit.

Here we go, go, go, go...on an adventure!

Van's current favorite theme song from "Cat in the Hat"...very appropriate! We head out tomorrow night for DC. Friday fly DC to JFK, JFK to Hong Kong, Hong Kong to Beijing and poof suddenly it's Saturday night in China. Sunday we fly to Hohhot and Monday we meet Mr. Zak!!!
We got an awesome update today from a blogger friend who just recently returned with their adorable daughter, Hope. Here's what she said...

"I did ask about your little man and they said that he is "an extremely happy boy all the time" She said he looks like a tiger. I didn't know exactly what she meant by that, but thought it was funny. She also said his nickname is RanRan."

A whole lotta happy to come!! Big brother Buzz obviously agrees...

What are we forgetting?

In 48 hours, we will be on our way to DC to begin our journey of becoming a family of four. I am sure we are forgetting something...socks, wipes, lotions...but somehow I am thinking that not much of that matters right now. We are expanding our family...Van is getting a brother...we are traveling 1/2 a world away to meet him in less than one week. Do we really care about wipes? We care about loving him, about making him smile, making him feel safe and welcome, wiping his tears as he makes this huge transition to our life, our world, our culture, our family. We care for him and the rest will just take care of itself.

Can you say Zipline?

with a vengeance...

Zipline from Scott M on Vimeo.

Fairy Godmother strikes again...

Boxes of Halloween glee arrived for two boys this week from our one and only fairy godmother! One sits waiting anxiously for the arrival of lil Zak. The other has already provided hours of entertainment and fun with plenty of sugar to share!!