I wish we had more pictures to share with you but the truth is we have not really been able to get out of the hotel for the last 1 1/2 days because of little ones being sick. Madeline by far has the worst of it. Early this morning (2:30a) she woke up with a fever of 105.4 and we thought that has to be wrong so we took it again and it was 104.4. We then broke out a different thermometer and yet another temp of 103.4registered. By now you can imangine we were pulling our hair out. Being that we were in China and her temp was litterally all over the place we called our pediatrician whose office was closed becasue it was Saturday in TX. We got Cook Children's Hospital and spoke to a nurse who did not understand we could not bring her in to have a rapid strep test done because we are in China, she did not feel it was much after we described her symptoms. I told the nurse we have antibiotics for her just in case but we were not going to use them unless her fever lasts more than 3 days and only after we speak to our pediatrician and she agreed that was a good plan. Other than the fever Madeline is her normal bouncing off the wall self, with a few meltdowns. Rebekah Wei Wei had a fever also but it was not bad. Rebekah Wei Wei is adjusting GREAT!!! She is full of smiles and laughter, although she will let you know it if she is upset. We thought Madeline was strong willed...wait till you see this girl. Our only major issue with her is she is not taking a bottle for us. We are having a difucult time getting fluids in her. The most we have got in her in a day was 2 bottles of 110ml each, but usually it is 1 bottle. We are now resorting to an eye dropper of water which she DOES NOT LIKE but it is the only way we can get fluids into her. We have a call placed to the orphanage director to give us any suggestions. PLEASE PRAY THAT SHE BEGINS TO TAKE HER BOTTLE WE ARE AT A LOSS

Developmentally, Rebakah Wei Wei is right on target. She can roll over and push herself up on her hands, and even get on her hands and knees. She also can camando crawl for short distances. She had difficulty sitting by herself when we got her but she is getting stronger each day at it. She has a pecular way of comforting herself, she will quietly lay on her back with both hands in the air and rock herself back and forth quite rapidly while she alternates putting her hands on her forehead. She can do this for hours until she falls asleep. If she is mad or does not want something she will put a hand on her face and turn away with a loud cry (sometimes her cry sounds like a laugh). She also has the cutes dimples.

Madeline is very happy to be a big sister but is feeling left out when we cannot pay immediate attention to her like she is use to. We had a Mommy - Maddie shopping spree at the local Toys R Us yesturday which she liked but it was cut short because she began to feel bad.

We are hoping Madeline will feel better so we can attend the Mid Autumn Festival Celebration tonight, we are going on a cruise on the Yangze. All in all we are doing good but please pray for Madeline to feel better and for Rebekah Wei Wei to start taking fluids.

OFFICIALLY OURS!

It is official, Rebekah is ours. We were in civil affairs yesterday, we paid the money, signed the papers, took the pictures, gave the fingerprints, took the oath and now Rebekah is OURS!!!! YEAH.



This adoption experience has been totally different, procedure wise, than Madeline's was. One thing we were able to do was to sit down with Rebekah's orphanage director and ask her questions. We kinda did this with Madeline but it was rushed and we really were not able to ask may questions. We got to ask about her personality, who her nanny was, what she likes and dislikes, how and why she was given her name, and lots more. One thing we have been worried about is she really is not taking her bottle, she is on table food, which most other babies are not just yet, but her feeding schedule says she still is on the bottle. Typically, the babies down the bottle within seconds, not Rebekah. The orphanage directer said that Rebekah is a slow eater, she likes to drink some then look around and take in the scenery. That was the reason she was placed in foster care in March, her weight was dropping because she was not eating like "normal" so they placed her in foster care for more individual attention. Once her weight came back up and they realized she takes her own sweet time eating she went back to the orphanage. The caregivers and director really love the babies and they kept taking them out of our arms at civil affairs to kiss them and wish them goodbye.
We get to go to walmart today to buy baby stuff. Madeline was going to buy some special toys to play with but with here being sick that is now left up to me. Will write later

High Tempertures Here

You probably think I am going to talk about how hot it is here in Chongqing...NOPE Madeline began complaining of a sore throat in the middle of the afternoon yesterday. I thought it was just allergies becasue my throat is a bit scratchy as well. WELLL, I was wrong. She woke up at 2am with a 102.7 fever, Motrin and Tylenal has brought it down 1 degree. All this traveling, messed up sleep, and disrupeted eating has really done a number on Madeline. She is really upbeat and happy but we will be keeping her indoors away from all the other babies and Tia, an 8 year old friend she has made. They are like peas and carrots (peas and carrots is written like Forrest Forrest Gump would say). Please pray that she gets well before Friday the 19th. If she still has a fever they will not let her on a plane here. Other than that we are all doing great! Rebekah is adjusting well, she is napping more than she is typically use to though, she is beautiful sleeping.

GOTCHA

Well we finally have Rebekah in our arms. We got the call to come down to the conference room at 2:55, our guide, Michelle, told us to come down at 3:15 but we left early and proceeded to wait for 45 minutes. There are 16 families in our group so when the babies came in there were oooo's and ahhhhh's coming from every corner. Madeline was going to video tape our gotcha moment but another family volunteered so Madeline could be in on the moment. We were the last family to get our daughter. I had figured that it would be that way because she was the last baby to come in with her nanny...yes I recognized her before she was announced. It wasn't long and she was in our arms. She did not cry, but mommy did. Madeline was excited and kept asking "can I hold her, can I hold her" so she held her. Rebekah really did not cry until we got her back to the room...and boy can she cry! She seems to have bonded with us already. Kelly had to leave to sign some paperwork so Madeline and I broke out the magic food...CHEERIOS and she perked up and began interacting with us instead of crying. When Kelly returned, Rebekah saw him and started to kick her feet and then she smiled for the first time and began to laugh. From then on it has been smiling, laughing, and goo gooing. She likes the "papa ooo mau mau" song and "copacobana" by Barry Manilow, go figure that one. She seems to have attached to mama because when I tried to leave the room for the bathroom she began to cry (makes me feel good). All three of my babies are now asleep and enjoying their sweet dreams. (Kelly fell asleep before everyone.) Madeline was trying to stay awake and when I finally said to go brush her teeth and pray she broke down crying because she wanted to stay up and watch Rebekah sleep. It took Rebekah only 5 seconds to conk out. We know she was fighting it but when she was ready that was all she wrote.
Oh you guys are probably saying, "PICTURES...SHOW ME SOME PICTURES!!!" Here they are.

WAITING..

Well it is one and a half hours before we are to be united with Rebekah. We have been asked to stay in our hotel room and wait for a call to notify us that Rebekah has arrived then, in a few short moments she will be in our arms.