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June 27, 2008
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY BABY ...
"AIN'T IT GRAND"...
Nine years ago today Mel and I were married in
Mackinac Island, Michigan and it was up until
now one of the most special days/times of my
life. After our ceremony we had dinner and
danced at the Grand Hotel...and retired for
the night. The room we were in had no air
conditioning and other than now...that was one
of the hottest and muggiest times we had ever
witnessed. We slept with all the doors and
windows open and in the am I dried my hair by
the fan...it was too hot for a blow dryer.
What a very special time that was.
I woke up this morning in the "Gloria Grand
Hotel" half way around the world with my soul
mate Mel and our new baby daughter....what
could be GRANDER? We have been so blessed in
our lives together...the highs and the lows
all lead us here. Later today we will board a
plane to Guangzhou and check into the infamous
White Swan Hotel. We only have 5 more precious
days in China and then we will be on our way
home. We will treasure these last 5 days
nestled in hotel rooms, learning the ropes of
parenting and sharing our precious daughters
culture and country. Thank you China...what a
great anniversary we are celebrating this
year...heres to many more.
LAST DAY IN NANCHANG ... AND TRAVEL
The day started very early 3:50 am, my hope
was that if we all got up early we might fit
all her naps in prior to our departure, plans
are great the reality is...when you travel
anything can happen. With some help from Ellie
Lu (smile) I finished packing all the luggage
and donating what we had not used and did not
plan to use. Mel went down to breakfast and
then came back up and watched the Princess
while I ate. At 9:30 am I had to go over to
"Tiffanies" to pick up our custom clothing
that I ordered last night. Crossing the street
was an absolute risk...I waited for a local
and literally stepped in their footsteps.
Everything was ready so I just had to pay and
then take our goods back to the room. When I
arrived at the room, Mel had rocked Ellie Lu
to sleep, she was still in his arms and it was
absolutely precious. I transferred her to the
crib and then we both began to prepare our
luggage for leaving.
At 1 pm we put our luggage outside and then
went downstairs to checkout and for our group
photo. We had the best guides here Lisa was
the Holt rep and Sissi was our tour guide…she
was so sweet and I think when Ellie Lu grows
us she might look like Sissi. I mentioned this
to Sissi and she said her baby pictures looked
just like Ellie Lu. She even wanted a picture
of just Ellie Lu. After the group pictures we
boarded the bus for the airport…another hot
sweltering day in Nanchang. In say the 2
minutes it took to get on the air conditioned
bus…I was drenched in sweat.
On the way out of town we went over a bridge
and on each end there are statues of a cat. A
white one and a black one, but right now I
can’t recall what they symbolize. They reminded
us of our little critters waiting at home for
us. The traffic was not bad and we were at the
airport in no time. We had “group” check in
and then we waited for our paperwork to come
back. We found out our flight was delayed, but
we had to clear security anyway.
Picture this…Momma with baby in Ergo and
various other sundries. Daddy with diaper bag
and roller board. I am first…the agent wants
me to unstrap the happy and content baby, ok
will do. That was like escaping a Chinese
torture camp because then she wanted me to
take my lace up shoes off. Okay now shoes are
off and baby is out of pouch and all the
various sundries are in the bucket. Then we
walk thru and they ask me to step up on a
pedestal…YES a pedestal and then they search
me baby and all. Arm out, hold baby with
other, pat down even the baby. If I had seen
this in a movie I would have laughed peeing my
pants, but at the moment it was a bit
ridiculous. Anyway meanwhile the same “very
aggressive” agent is arguing with Mel about
his “huge” roller board and liquids and
medicine and saying “check bag, check bag,
check bag, check bag, over and over and over”.
Mel just said no liquids and said no check bag
and finally she let him proceed. Once we had
cleared security it looked like we had been
blown thru a storm, belt off, computer out,
medicines here and there, baby out of
pouch…parents sweating and exhausted, but hey
we were thru the security one step closer to
Guangzhou. |
Helping Momma pack while Daddy naps.
June 27, 1999
Airports and Babies...
Early Morning Cutey Pie
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We walked around a bit her in the carrier and
then I decided it was time for a bottle since
we were delayed. Getting hot water was
interesting…..I noticed a sign “snack bar”,
seems a likely place for obtaining hot water.
Little did I know at the time that they had
public spouts with hot and code water…oh well
my way was more fun. I was met at snack bar
entrance by lady number 1, “may I help you?” I
need hot water please…shuway and motion hands
like fire. Then 2nd lady appears, repeat and
she just looks, then 3rd lady appears, same
result, then 4th….ditto and then magic lady
number 5 and she just said “hot water” and
calls some guy over and he pours us the
hottest water in a cup, OMG 50 BAZILLION
DEGREES and it is actually in 2 cups but it
burns my fingers. The 5th lady says no charge
but I do buy some bottled water to neutralize
the hot water for the bottle. I proudly take
my steaming hot water and bottled water and
Mel prepares bottle, almost like a mad
scientist in a lab. All the while Miss Ellie
Lu is doing the happy dance knowing very
shortly the science experiment will become her
lunch.
So now baby is eating, Momma is pacing because
if I haven’t mentioned baby does not like it
when Momma sits for the most part. So we are
doing the “baby jiggle” walk and baby is
eating, Daddy is guarding our said belongings
and oh have I mentioned this airport is so
LOUD we should all be wearing ear plugs. Holy
cow…this is where I begin to want to zap
anyone who allows noise to escape their
mouth…baby is tired Momma well Momma is on a
mission to get baby to sleep and there are way
too many people making noise…laughing and just
unnecessary noise, so eventually I find my own
little spot and like magic our princess is
asleep. That is until the “noise” found us. Oh
well such is life. Thank goodness Ellie Lu is
such a trooper and didn’t have a meltdown or I
would have kicked bootie and asked questions
later of all these “noise makers”.
The next worry when traveling with a baby is
when and where will I have to change the “BIG
ONE”. Well as we cleared security one of our
travel mates experienced the “BIG ONE” when
their baby had an accident. I about passed out
right then and their realizing I did not have
my “Mommy standard extra set of clothes”. What
if we had the big one and it got all over me,
would I have to wear poo the rest of the day?
Need chocolate now to calm the nerves! We did
have to change a wet one in the ladies room,
where they had a dilapidated crib that was
like 2 inches off the floor and I had to
contort myself into a midget to reach my child
and change her. I should have taken a
picture…forgot to mention previous child had
peed in said “Shetland changing station” so I
had to deplete all the tissue in the bathroom
and then found a piece of plastic and then
covered all this with my changing pad. Thanks
to one of the teenagers traveling with us I
had extra hands or I could have never done
this alone. She was the first person other
than me or Mel to hold Ellie Lu for 4 seconds
while I washed my hands. So we made it thru a
diaper change in public and no one was hurt.
Now we continue to wait with no real time for
our delayed plane to depart. Then all at once
people were lining up and so did we and next
thing you know we were packed like sardines in
a plane headed for Guangzhou. Some guy had the
window, Mel was center and I was aisle with
baby strapped in. Our carry on would not fit
in overhead so Mel had to take out our “very
important documents” and slide carryon under
the seat. So now Mel is sitting with his knees
in chest, poor guy by the window better not
need to pee cause I ain’t moving with this
baby. Then you have me sweating like an
Olympic marathon runner and happy baby. I am
literally doing anything and everything to
make sure Ellie Lu is happy…oh did I mention
since I had her strapped to me the seatbelt
would not fit, that was fun asking for an
extension. Then we finally were ready to take
off and she was an absolute champ we played
and laughed and played and laughed. She had a
few almost moments but did great even without
a bottle. Then we landed and some “Johnny on
the spot” nimwhit just had to get his luggage
right this instant and boom, an empty baby
bottle from our diaper bag fell on us. It did
not hit us but scared Ellie Lu into an
absolute crying frenzy. She had not cried like
this at all. I was eventually able to calm her
and then we had our happy baby back. I left
the plane with her and left Mel to gather our
“stuff”. He was the last one off the plane and
man oh man it was good to see him. We headed
for baggage claim and I went on a hunt for hot
water…bottle time. I had to “con” the Nazi
looking guy with a gun to let me leave baggage
claim to get hot water and then come back in.
I found hot water and was able to mix a bottle
on the fly…yeah Mommy…all the while Daddy is
getting the luggage. Now comes time to come
back into baggage claim…my agent is now gone,
so I am explaining hot water bottle baby,
husband baggage…finally after like 4 or 5
agents one just kind of turned the other way
and we were back in baggage claim. We found
our group and now everyone was ready to leave.
Forgot to mention upon entering the Guangzhou
airport which is new…we felt true air
conditioning for the first time in over a
week. Just a little bit of the comforts of
home in a land “afar”. We were met by our
guide Joyce and she took us to the bus for a
45 minute ride to the White Swan. It appeared
all the roads were elevated but we didn’t get
an explanation…it was similar to roads in
Holland. Once on the bus, she handed out our
schedule for the next few days and a menu for
Papa Johns. It was now nearly 9 pm…yes 9 pm.
Our babies normally go to bed at 8 pm latest.
We had not eaten since breakfast other then
the protein bar I had in the Nanchang airport.
We had hoped they would call the orders for
pizza in from the bus and have them waiting
when we arrived, but that was wishful
thinking.
We arrived at the White Swan thru the back
entrance where several buses were parked. They
had one...”uno” representative to check in 6
families and it took forever. This gal was not
a multi tasker…this was the first time I had
not managed to plan ahead and be first. So
some like 30 minutes later we had our key and
now had to go to room 427 and place our pizza
order. Once in our room first duty to get
Ellie Lu settled and she was a total champ
down in like 15 minutes…”sawing logs”. Then I
took a bath and fell asleep briefly and then
finally the pizza arrived and we both ate our
entire small pizza, it was delish! Soon we
both were in a complete slumber…the
temperature was just right, the baby was
asleep and we all were fed…what a day it was
but we were oh so glad to be in Guangzhou.
Tomorrow will be another big day, with baby
Visa photos and medical exam…and there is sure
to be some shopping.
Firsts:
• First airplane ride...Em and Mel with Ellie
Lu
• First drink from a water bottle...so funny
on flight to Guangzhou
• First Cherios on bus from airport in
Guangzhou to White Swan
• First diaper change in public restroom…it
was interesting…
Love,
Em, Mel and Ellie Lu |
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Pictures with our guides Sissi Lisa
Images of Nanchang
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