Almost Two Weeks In ...

Well, we've had little Mrs Madi home for almost two weeks now and she is really adjusting well.  Over the past 4 days now, we've had a bunch of folks over to the house to meet her and we've had her at both grandparent's houses.  She takes a few minutes to warm up to the situation and then she is off and running.  She is doing very well with all four of us now and was even passing out hugs and kisses to the grandparents over the weekend!

If this picture doesn't show how comfortable she's getting, I'm not sure what will?!!?  Feet on the table while having breakfast, she's more Polk County than I am!

Last week, JJ's baseball team played for the city championship.  It was a close game, but JJ's team pulled out the win!!!  City Champs.  JJ hit well, played first for the first couple of innings and had 4 outs, then shifted over to his normal position of 2nd and had a great turn to get the lead runner out at second in the final inning!  Great game.  Madi made it through about half of the game before it was time to head home for bed.

Bedtime is still not a very fun time for Madi, but she's getting better and better with it.  We are spending more time in her room during the day and evening before bedtime, so I think that's helped.  We have learned that Madi does not always want her picture taken (even when she's looking super cute in a tu-tu).

But, JJ has finally gotten to hold her, so all is getting better and better.  I think she knows just how much JJ wants it, so she's giving him the hardest time.  He's doing great with her though and taking whatever she will give him.

It's been a great week two where we've seen Madi become more and more comfortable with all of us and the house in general.  Life is sweet and so is Madi!

Home and Settling In

Well, it's been quite the journey for our little Madi (and for all of us).  I think she's probably wondering when we are all gonna pack up and head to the next stop.  Maybe by the time this week has passed, she'll understand this is home.  Her sleeping schedule is still very erratic, but she is sleeping for 3-4 hours at a time.  So, Tina tries to go down whenever Madi does.

Saturday morning, while Tina was vacuuming, Madi let me hold her for the first time without crying.  Ever since, I've been able to pick her up and carry her around ... as long as Tina is still in sight.  JJ's been able to hold her and hug her, too.  So, it seems that she's really starting to warm up to everyone!

She's been exploring the house and finding all the toys everyone got for her before we left.  She loves all the musical and learning toys.  She also likes playing with wet wipes and stacking books, so how do you really know?

But every once in awhile, a girl just needs to relax!

Anyway, that's it for now.  I was planning on shutting the ole blog down now that we are home, but a lot of you have asked me to keep posting every so often, so I'll try to remember to jump on about once a week and give an update.  If I don't, just yell at me and I will!

Madi Mei Is Finally Home

Well, after a straight 24 1/2 hours of airports, airplanes, turbulence and car rides ... we finally got our little Madi Mei home!  We pulled into our neighborhood with a group of family and friends waiting for us to arrive with signs and hoots and hollers.  It was a great welcome home.

Pops was able to pick us up from the airport before he had to head out of town on business.  He even got to feed Madi some welcome home cake before he headed out.

After everyone headed home, the boys got to spend some time with Madi just hanging out and playing.  She was so happy to see her brothers again!

After a very, very long day (or so), it was time for bed.  We still have a long way to go before she is totally settled in, but we are off to a very good start!  The next morning, Madi was up when the boys were getting ready for school.  She said, "see ya suckers" as they headed off for school and she proceeded to finish her breakfast in the kitchen ... with mom standing close by!

It was such a great trip and we are so glad to finally be back home!  Thanks to everyone for all your prayers and love and support.  We truly could not have brought little Madi Mei home without the help and support of so many of you.  I hope the posts on this blog have helped you keep close to us while we've been gone and have shown you just how much we appreciate all you have done for our family.

When I can finally hold my little girl without her crying, I'll send you out one more post!

Last Full Day In China

Well, tomorrow evening we head to Shanghi and then Wednesday morning we are off to Detroit and finally to Orlando.  Can't believe this journey is finally bringing us back home!

Today started out with a trip to the US Consulate to finalize our paperwork.  Here we are in the China Hotel lobby before it's time to head out:

At the consulate, we said a brief oath, signed one last paper and turned in everything needed for Madeline's visa.  We will receive the visa tomorrow on our way to the airport.  Here's Tina and Madi on our way out of the  consulate:

After breakfast and a nap, it was time to hit "the island" for some shopping.  None of us could figure out how it is an island since there was no water to cross, but it was a good trip anyway.  We got a lot of shopping in. Found some dresses for Madi ... some dresses for Mia ... some shoes for Madi ... and a copper tiger for me!  It took a lot of talking to get this tiger down to a reasonable price.  Sherri, the shop owner, just started calling me Tiger and had to get her picture with me!

After shopping, it was time for dinner at Lucy's.  We had dinner with a couple of families here on the trip with us.

The Dewitt's (who were kind enough to buy me some very small, purple underwear that I'll be wearing tomorrow since it is one of only two pair left!):

And the Sharp's (whose son Sam has already been promised to marry Madi ... in about 25 years!):

At dinner, Madi had her first burger and she was still in China:.

When we got back to the hotel, we hit the playground with Madi for a few minutes before heading up to the room for the night.  This will be the last picture and last post until we get home.  For those of you not around Auburndale, I'll do one final post after we return home:

Our Girl Madi!!!

Laughing

Love to hear our little girl laugh:

Laid back day today.  Went to a museum, got some gifts and had a great dinner with new friends!  Best thing is, Madi let me hold her this morning while Tina was getting ready.  She had to see Tina the whole time and she was breathing pretty heavy about the whole thing, but no tears or crying.  Cheerios were a big help!

Got Madi her first pair of Adidas tonight, so one pair of shoes down, 500 to go!  This girl loves her shoes.

One Things For Sure ...

Well we know one thing for sure, our little Madi knows how to eat!  She's had McDonald's happy meals a couple times while we've been here.  She likes her chicken nuggets, her corn (yep, corn in her happy meal) and her milk.  She loves any kind of food we put in front of her!  Here's a little video of her chowing down:

Here are a few pictures of Mrs Thing in her shiny jeans (Madi, not Tina).  So stylish!

Look, I have pockets!!!

Yesterday was quite the day.  We left Madi's province for Guangzhou.  There was rain at our airport and thunder storms in Guangzhou, so we had almost a 4 hour delay!  Madi did great though and slept the entire flight.  We finally made it to the hotel at 1:30am, but Madi had already got her sleeping in and did not want to go to sleep!  Needless to say,  it was a very long day (and night)!

Today, we took Madi for her medical exams and all is well.  Now, we just need the passport here by Monday so we can leave on Tuesday evening for Shanghi and then on home on Wednesday!

Tomorrow is just a day of sightseeing since it is Sunday and we can't do Visa appointments until Monday.

Happy Mother's Day to all you mom's out there!  Tina got about the best Mother's Day present I can think of!

Our Day At The Park

Yesterday was a fun day!  Madi's had a rough time sleeping.  She's got a little cough and a stuffy nose, so she didn't wake up in the best of moods, but we headed out to the park to cheer her up!  It was a nice day to be out.  At the park, Madi let me hold her had while we were walking.  That's a big step for me and her!  While a the park, a group of people came up and began asking questions.  Our guide Lisa helped us talk with them.  Everyone was very kind and happy.  They kept giving us the thumbs up sign meaning "great"!  A little boy even shared some candy with Madi.  I had my eye on him!  She's reelin' them in early!

After that, it was back to the hotel for McDonalds!  Chicken nuggets and corn for Madi.  She let me feed her, so that was another good thing!  We had a lot of good play time in the room, especially after dinner when she really perked up.

Tomorrow it's Madi's first plane ride to the area of China where we complete all the rest of the paperwork!  As always, thanks so much for your love and support.

Two Long Days of Travel

So, the day after we received Madi, Tina, Madi and I had to travel about 4 hours one way to Datong City for passport paperwork.  And, we weren't able to leave for that until we completed a morning meeting that lasted until 11am!  Long day to say the least.  But, Madi was a real trooper and did great in the van both there and back.

Here are a couple of cute pics from the early morning meeting and a video of Tina getting Madi to laugh:

Today (Wednesday the 9th), was the day that Caleb and JJ headed back to good ole' Auburndale with the grandparents.  They flew back to Beijing tonight and then leave for the long journey home tomorrow morning.  Before they left, our guide Lisa took us to a museum to learn a little more Chinese culture.  We had a good morning with Madi before the museum and then ate Pizza Hut in China before they had to head to the airport.  Saying bye to the boys for a week was a lot harder than I thought it would be, but I'm glad they are getting back to school (and baseball and soccer!).

Here are some good pics of the boys with Madi, a pic off JJ being JJ at the museum and a pic of the whole crew before half of us headed home:

I know the next week is going to be great, but I really wish we were headed back with the others today!

Straight On To Madi Mei!

Internet access here has been slow and spotty to be able to update, so I'll say that we did see the Forbidden City since I last wrote.  Here's a pic of our boys with our guide Tom.  He was great while we were in Beijing!

And of course, the Forbidden City was awesome:

But, the main event was yet to come.  On Monday morning we were up by 2am getting ready for an early morning flight to the Shanxi province to go get Madi!.  We arrived at the hotel around 10am, but then had to wait until 2pm for our Guide Lisa to take us to our appointment to complete our initial paperwork and to receive Madi.  Here's a picture of us with Lisa outside the Civil Service office:

After waiting in the office for about 15 minutes and with no warning at all, in came Madeline Mei Wingo!  Words cannot describe the feelings the four of us had at hat moment.  To spend all this time working and waiting, and to finally have the moment come .. it was awesome (and I don't use that word as often as Caleb!).  When they put her in Tina's arms, she began to cry, but only for about 30 seconds.  She calmed down as the boys fed her goldfish and she ate a cookie.  After a few minutes of paperwork, we were able to bring her back to the hotel where she met 3 of her 4 grandparents!  Her Papa has been keeping up with her by Skype and email.

Here are some pics from that first day:

The first day with Madi was a great one!  I am so happy that she is comfortable and feels the love we have for her!

Day 5 Update

So, I'll be able to post more tomorrow, but I wanted to jump on quickly to let everyone know that Madi is with us! We received her yesterday and today is a full day of travel to complete paperwork.

Here's one quick pic from today.

More to come! Thank you all so much for your love and prayers!