It's my (Monica's) turn to share my thoughts. Where to start? I got to experience throwing up in a squatty potty today. It's actually a very challenging feat. We got mired in nasty traffic coming back from the monkey park. Even though we bailed out of our minivan to walk the rest of the way back to the hotel, it wasn't enough to calm my stomach because the varied odors of the sidewalk did nothing to help me.
I miss my boys. Only facetiming the boys once a day is not my ideal family life.
I love chuckling at the ladies who wear awesome padded pajamas everywhere, but I hate the stares that we get. Chris even got asked to pose for a picture with a stranger at the park today.
I miss Christmas at home. Our hotel has the same annoying Christmas CD playing. All. The . Time. It's a child's version of 6 tunes and it plays over and over and over. I had dreams (nightmares?) which had "I Saw Three Ships" as the soundtrack as I wrestled with sleep the other night. Almost all the hotels and many restaurants have some sort of Christmas decoration out. Truly bizarre choices in some shop windows. Mannequins wearing scary Santa masks, fairy statues sitting on gingerbread houses surrounded by nasty fake snow. We've found a few refuges- the Starbucks within walking distance plays classic Christmas music and we found a Christian coffee house (Highlands Coffee) that played decent Christmas carols. Otherwise, it just makes me miss the real thing. We will miss attending a church service with our church family to celebrate the real meaning of the season.
Lydia is a daddy's girl, and I think I'm ok with it. I know she will warm to me eventually. I even guessed this would happen since she was so close to her foster mother. She'll let me hold her but she only puts her arms up for Chris at this point. We are thankful that she understands Mandarin (and that we speak it!)
We are thrilled to be here and so thankful to have our little girl in our arms. We love China, but not all China all the time.
Here are some pictures from our trip to Qian Long Park (aka Monkey Park.) A research institute release a few monkeys 40 years ago, and now they rule the mountain.
I miss my boys. Only facetiming the boys once a day is not my ideal family life.
I love chuckling at the ladies who wear awesome padded pajamas everywhere, but I hate the stares that we get. Chris even got asked to pose for a picture with a stranger at the park today.
I miss Christmas at home. Our hotel has the same annoying Christmas CD playing. All. The . Time. It's a child's version of 6 tunes and it plays over and over and over. I had dreams (nightmares?) which had "I Saw Three Ships" as the soundtrack as I wrestled with sleep the other night. Almost all the hotels and many restaurants have some sort of Christmas decoration out. Truly bizarre choices in some shop windows. Mannequins wearing scary Santa masks, fairy statues sitting on gingerbread houses surrounded by nasty fake snow. We've found a few refuges- the Starbucks within walking distance plays classic Christmas music and we found a Christian coffee house (Highlands Coffee) that played decent Christmas carols. Otherwise, it just makes me miss the real thing. We will miss attending a church service with our church family to celebrate the real meaning of the season.
Lydia is a daddy's girl, and I think I'm ok with it. I know she will warm to me eventually. I even guessed this would happen since she was so close to her foster mother. She'll let me hold her but she only puts her arms up for Chris at this point. We are thankful that she understands Mandarin (and that we speak it!)
We are thrilled to be here and so thankful to have our little girl in our arms. We love China, but not all China all the time.
Here are some pictures from our trip to Qian Long Park (aka Monkey Park.) A research institute release a few monkeys 40 years ago, and now they rule the mountain.
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