We like to call Lydia “Spicy Peanut.” She is a little peanut; even though she is 30 months she wears clothes for an 18-month old. The spicy part comes from her robust personality. She is opinionated and feisty. She knows what she wants and screams if she doesn’t get it. Today our 10-year-old son Samuel wanted to share his thoughts on his new little sister, Spicy Peanut.

My new sister is very special but she is also very spicy. When she was throwing a ball with Dad tonight, she screamed when Anna tried to take the ball from her! My sister loves to do everything by herself, like eating. She gets really messy at meals. Right now she won’t stop hitting me with my Nerf sword. Ow! She’s really silly around Pepper (our dog). The other day we went to Mimi and Pops house to see their puppies. Lydia was really scared and excited at the same time. I can’t wait to get home from school each day to see her.

A world of firsts. First ride in a carseat on Sunday (she had her upper body out of the straps within 5 minutes). First taste of Papa Johns pizza last night- she liked it! First wrapped present to open- very disappointed at the plain box underneath the paper until we showed her the box could open, too!

Today, she saw anole lizards for the first time.  Her expression was full of shock and curiosity and fear. She charged at it and then backed away so fast she almost fell over.

Then my mom brought our dog, Pepper, over.  Lydia has screamed and pointed every time we've seen a dog together so we knew she would be interested.  She was scared at first but then giddy with excitement.  She makes a high pitched attempt at barking (which I know Pepper just LOVES) and chases her around.  She has been petting her gently and tonight pulled her ear while saying 'ear' in Chinese. Needs to work on petting and not pulling the ears but she was very sweet.  She learned to yell 'Anna' while we were in China and has already learned to say Pepper less than 4 hours after meeting her.  Lydia likes her, but I think she is disappointed that she doesn't bark at all at our house. Wait until she meets Mimi's dogs.  That will be a memorable first for the books.

When we checked in for our flight from Chicago to Houston, we found out that three of our four tickets had been upgraded to first class. How could we pass up  first class? Monica's solution: "Chris, you get both girls in first class and I get a quiet flight by myself in economy." So, yes, Chris was that annoying guy with two kids in first class.  Other than Anna knocking part of her Sprite on the guy next to her (oops), the girls did great.

The boys were thrilled to meet Lydia when we came down the escalator at baggage claim in Houston.  She was shy at first, but soon had them chasing her and carrying her away from the water fountain.  Such fun!

Once we tracked down our bags (which had accidentally flown in earlier and been locked up), we drove home.  Lydia took a cat nap in the van but other than that, stayed awake until 7:20.  We slept fairly well until 9:30 AM after 2 short wakings.  Hopefully, this jet lag won't be too terrible.  

She loves the stairs.  Too much. And the doll stroller which she wants to take up and down the stairs with her.  Not good.  We told her the stroller stays downstairs but not sure if she will choose to remember!  Monica's sister suggested pillows at the bottom of the stairs for a while.  Probably will try that today.

Thanks for your continued prayers as we adjust to our new normal. 

It’s 3 am. We are at an airport hotel in Chicago waiting for a 6 am flight to Houston.  The plan was to sleep from 8 pm to 4 am but jet lag had other plans for us.  What a day of travel this has been.

We left our hotel in Guangzhou at 6 am on Friday. 3 hour flight to Beijing. 5 hours of waiting there. 13 hours in a plane to Chicago. Lydia squirmed most of the Guangzhou to Beijing flight but slept for 8 hours en route to Chicago.  She became a US Citizen when we went through Customs/Immigration here.

We hoped to catch an earlier flight to Houston but were not able to.  Now: our 13-hour layover. Last night we had dinner, facetimed our boys, and here we are.

Over the past 3 weeks we have spent nights in Beijing, Shanghai, Guiyang, Guangzhou, and Chicago. We are ready to see our boys. Ready to be home.  Oh yeah, now we have to childproof our house and take down our Christmas decorations. Real life can begin now.

We got Lydia’s visa to enter the US today!  We have learned from our experience with the US Consulate in Guangzhou that big bureaucracies are not nameless, faceless entities.  We appreciate their calling us at our hotel, making exceptions on their days off, and giving us our visa in one hour.  We are thrilled to fly to Chicago tomorrow. We have a 13-hour layover at a hotel there then we fly to Houston on Sunday morning. 

We enjoyed one last meal in Guangzhou tonight and shared our favorite moments from the trip.  As we chatted, Lydia used a combination of fork, spoon, and chopsticks to feed herself with great gusto.  What a different child than we thought we were bringing home! Her files described a timid, reserved, and observant little girl.  The observant part is correct.  She sings when she is happy, screams when she is mad (and I mean squeals at the top of her lungs and also throws things), and demands to be included in everything.  Every ice cream, every dish. 

She must not have had a western style toilet in her foster home.  She is fascinated by it.  Whenever one of us enters the bathroom, we have a shadow who flushes continually for us.  Such a great helper.

Not looking forward to the long journey home, but so thankful we are all taking it together.  Thanks for your prayers!

That means “not cold!”  It’s Monica’s turn to share tonight.  Yesterday the weather in Guangzhou was perfect.  It was about 70 degrees and sunny.  Hot, in the sun, in fact.  Anna wore a short-sleeved shirt, leggings, and a cardigan (which she chose not to wear most of the day).   I wore a dress with sleeves that rolled up.  Today, I wore short-sleeves and shorts.  Why do I go into detail?  Because it’s necessary to set the stage for the age-old conflict we Americans have with traditional Chinese.  If it’s January, you should be wearing at least 3 layers top and bottom.  The weather outside?  Doesn’t matter at all.  Child sweating and unable to move from so much clothing?  Doesn’t matter.  Don't buck the system, ever.  Otherwise, you will be criticized by every Chinese female over the age of 40. 

Yesterday we saw a little girl about 6 years old watching Anna running around in her t-shirt.  She begged her mom to take off her coat.  “Mom, I’m hot!!”  Mother, “DON’T TAKE IT OFF OR YOU WILL SURELY DIE!!!!”  Slight emphasis added but her tone expressed that sentiment.

Last night at dinner, our waitress kept saying that Anna must be cold.  Repeatedly.  Having heard enough, I rolled up my sleeves and yelled, “I’m not afraid of the cold!!!!!”  I’m ready to go home where generally, people mind their own business.  And stay out of the advising strangers on fashion business.

Pray with us that the consulate can process Lydia’s visa tomorrow so that we can fly out together on Saturday. 

And don’t tell me what to wear.  Or what my kids should wear.  Or else you might see a side of me you did nor expect.