Dr's Visits

Our first week was filled with three Dr. visits--each of which was challenging in its own way.

1. GI Dr. We met with our Pediatric Gastrointerologist and devised a plan of tests so that we can gain a better understanding of Jaxon's esophagus and what limitations he might have.

2. Pediatrician Wt: 27.4 pounds, 35 inches--overall healthy


3. GI Series--Today we took Jax down to the medical center for him to swallow some yummy apple flavored chalky barium stuff. The Radiology Dept. had a great play area, so little man was very happy prior to 'apple flavored chalky barium stuff'. Unfortunatley, the happiness only lasted until we walked into the radiology room. Little man freaked out, refused to drink the yummy concoction by straw, sippy, bottle or syringe. Long story short, we had to insert a tube down his nose and into his esophagus and insert the barium that way. It was horrible in every manner both for him and us. Luckily, they were able to get good pictures.

He slept for three hours post torture.

Next week he goes in for a Ph test. And from what we hear, it will be so horrible that it will make today seem like a piece of cake. Stay tuned.

Our First Week

Let the Chaos Begin! Here is what we have learned about our little man.
* He loves American food
* He can throw monster tantrums
* He does not like to watch me walk out the door--Eric has forbidden me from leaving the house w/o the child.
* When he is hungry--everything must cease to satisfy his needs.
* He likes it when Abigayle shares her her lipstick with him. (Hmmmm)
* He loves trucks.
* He is understanding a lot of what we say. He will say quite clearly: mama, daddy, Abi, truck, car, bus, bye bye, go, cold, pow pow and will sign 'More Please'
* He does NOT like to ride in the car, unless you roll the windows up and down and up and down and up and down.......................... or play a DVD
* He is a thumb sucker and kneads a blanket when he is trying to go to sleep.
* He has adopted one of Abi's babies and enjoys pushing it around in one of the strollers.
* He is probably going to spend a lot of time in Time Out!

Welcome Home

After a 12 hour flight from HK to San Francisco, a two hour layover where we had to run to make our plane and stand in the doorway to change a poopie diaper so they wouldn't close the door on us and another 3 hour plane from SF to Houston, we are officially home. For the most part, the kids did great on the trip. With about 1 1/2 hours to go till we got home, Eric and I had reached our limit. Neither of us had slept in 23 hours and we were cranky. Our bodies ached, we were irritable and could not get comfortable in our seats. However, our attitudes soon changed when we walked into the baggage claim area to a room full of family and friends welcoming home the newest member of the Norris family. Eric and I were sure that Jaxon would be stuck to us back at our house with all the crazy activities/ celebrations, but boy were we surprised. The child came alive--running and screaming through the house with his cousins. He quickly accepted his Aunt Bug and Cousin Kenlie-the mother hen. Malorie and Evie were busy keeping tabs on who got the most kisses. He amazed us. We couldn't have asked for a better welcome home celebration.

Hong Kong DISNEY

Money-Check

Backpacks-Check
Stroller-Check

Jaxon-Check

One super excited girl whose only dream is to meet the Princesses, AKA Abigayle-Check

Hats, b/c it is blazing hot--Check (After hitting the very first kiosk available in the park)

So, today (well actually) about a week ago, we loaded on the Mickey Mouse subway and headed over to HK Disney for the day.

Jaxon, who is very wary of new places and people, decided that this was way overstimulating for him and announced that he WOULD be carried around the park or else we would all suffer the consequences of a screaming child. First up, Winny the Pooh's Honey Pot ride. Luckily it was air conditioned and both kiddos and adults really enjoyed it. We also hit the Merry Go Round, Tea Cup ride, Train, and It's a Small World.

What struck us as funny is that in the majority of theme parks, or at least all the ones I have ever been to, you eat hamburgers or hot dogs or pizza for lunch, well, not here. When you are at the theme parks in China, you eat Rice and Stir Fry.

By early afternoon, we were all pretty much at our limit, so we headed off to eat ice cream and do our shopping.

We came upon the afternoon Parade of floats and characters. Abi and I enjoyed this time together while Eric and Jaxon emptied out our pocket books on souvenirs.

The crowning point of the day was when Abi got to meet Belle and Cinderella. We were 3rd in line and she was absolutely star struck. Jaxon was interested, but would not get off my hip for a picture--I am sure he will learn just how great the princesses are in the very near future. We went around the corner to rest, hydrate, etc when we noticed the princesses were leaving. Eric took Abi to wave goodbye and they both took her hands and led her through the castle. It was priceless. There was a long line of other children and parents tagging along behind, but they held tight to her. Eric later asked me if I had a good time and I started crying. My daughter's dream of meeting the princesses had come true. It was worth all the sweat and carrying of Jaxon for her to have those magical moments.

Passing the Torch.......

It has been a true honor to serve as Kendra's blogger in training as they traversed half the world to bring home my new great-nephew! They are crossing the Pacific as I input my last entry and are due in Houston tomorrow afternoon, barring any delays. We have prayed for safe travels and for a smooth transition for Jaxon from orphanage to his forever family, along with patience for Abi as she transitions from queen bee to big sister! We anticipate many fun times and memorable moments. Thank you for following along!

WELCOME HOME, JAXON!!!!!!!!

Love,
Aunt Ann and Uncle Harvey

We made it to Hong Kong!

Today we sadly said goodbye to Nanny Helen and GZ and hopped a train to Hong Kong. It was the first time for any of the four of us to ever be on a train. It was fun. We are now safely tucked into the nicest hotel I have ever been in and guess what, our hineys (? spelling????) sink down in the mattresses when you lay down. Oh, and I have the AC cranked down to 18 degrees Celsius. Oh, the luxuries. Will post more about our trip later as we need to get to sleep. Hong Kong Disney is Tomorrow. As I kissed Abi goodnight, she told me she was dreaming of meeting Belle tomorrow. I hope we can make her dreams come true.

Some last minute pictures....

Our friends from North Carolina.












One of our last meals was at this restaurant.








All smiles (and dimples)!







Chopsticks don't slow Abi down!














Typical streets in China...cars, pedestrians, mopeds and bicycles all competing for the same road space.

Finished with Paperwork? Could it be true?

Yes, Yes, Yes, we have finally finished all our paperwork and everyone on both the Chinese and American sides of the adoption (that needs to) has approved it. Today we went to the Oath Ceremony at the US Consulates Office. There were probably 50 families or more present. Each family was called up once again to verify their paperwork, and amazingly enough this process went very fast. The Consulate then came out and talked to us about the trends in American adoptions of Chinese children and citizenship for our children. We all swore that our information was true to the best of our knowledge and ability, and hip hip hooray, we are done and our VISA's to take our children home have been approved. Our guide will go back to the Consulates office for us tomorrow to actually pick up Jaxon's passport with the VISA in it and we will then board the train for Hong Kong. Eric commented tonight that Beijing seems like such a long time ago, but it was only less than two weeks ago. For 10 months, we have been working to bring home this beautiful child to be a part our family and that time has finally arrived. We couldn't be happier.

A note to our families: dinners out in the future are going to be a problem--not b/c of Jaxon's eating issues, but b/c when he is done eating or when we take the food away b/c he has had too much, he immediately expects that he will be taken out of his high chair and that everyone leaves the restaurant. If that does not happen to his liking, all he** breaks loose. Yes, this is one little habit that will be broken :)

Bubbles Anyone?

Today was a free day for us so we decided to take
the kids to a park that has just opened since we got here and is just a block from the White Swan and is located right on the Pearl River. Brand new and super nice compared to the previous park we went to. No fear of getting lead poisoning here. Both kids ran and sweated until they just couldn't go anymore.
















Jaxon got his first taste of blowing bubbles.

This evening we had dinner at a local restaurant on the island with three other GWCA families. You got to choose what type of live fish/ critter you wanted them to cook
for you. Hmmm, we are adventurous, but not that adventurous. We stuck to rice, noodles and chicken dishes.

Check out our handsome little man in the bath. Isn't he just the cutest thing!

Mr. Hollywood

He's already a STAR in our eyes!
(from Aunt Ann)

Orphanage Visit

So, did I ever imagine that I would allow my two kids to ride in the backseat of a Jeep type vehicle and ride two hours through crazy traffic with no seatbelts--he** no, but when in Rome, or in this case China, well, you can figure out the rest. Today we had the wonderful opportunity to travel 2 hours to the town of Zhu Hai and the Zhu Hai Social Welfare Institute (SWI) where Jaxon spent the first 2 1/2 years of his life. Unfortunately neither Nanny Helen nor our driver had ever been here, so navigating the streets of Zhu Hai was quite a trip in itself. We had to stop several times and make several phone calls before finally reaching our destination. Mrs. Yung was standing at the gate waiting for us and a welcoming committee quickly assembled. Upon entering the SWI, there is an electronic billboard and they had typed in the Chinese characters that read, Welcome to Zhu Hai the family of Zhu Zheng Hai. Jaxon was clearly excited to see Mrs. Yung and several of the nannies. I have to admit, I was worried, but he transitioned between them, Eric and I very easily the whole time we were there. They first took us up to where Jaxon lived/ slept. There are two rooms connected by a big window. Each room houses 12 babies/ children. All these children are eligible for international adoption. They said there are about 150 children there, but the others have severe needs and we were not allowed to visit them and for some reason they are not eligible for IA.

Erica--they let me take a few pictures of Fen Fen to send to Carter. I will get them off to you in a bit. She was in her crib when I got there, but was let out very shortly and pranced around with the best of them. They were very appreciative of the photo album you sent.

Katie--I was also introduced to Zac. When we got there, all the babies in his room were propped up on blankets drinking their bottles. They let me take pictures. I went back to him a bit later to rub on his back and engage him and he was up climbing the rails- literally. I will send you more details privately. The nannies described him as very active. I took a few more pics of him upright/ climbing and will get them to you. He is a big boy and looks very healthy. I have lots of pictures of the orphanage that I can send you when I get home.

Later, we were shown the indoor playroom. The floor is padded and one wall is lined with bins of toys. They even have a piano in there.

Next we went outside to the play areas. There are two play grounds, one covered and one uncovered and another one in progress. Abi and Jax played and climbed like they had never been on a playground before...... Towards the end, Eric summoned me that Jaxon had had diarrhea. In we all went to change and get cleaned up. The nannies thought we were not keeping him warm enough even though we were sweating our butts off. Hugs and kisses to say good bye and oh no, I smelled it again. Back in we go. This time, they gave him some diarrhea medicine. So we were thinking did he get car sick, was it his nerves, what was going on--we hadn't fed him anything different. Later I found out that when Abi and I were playing with each of the babies, the nannies had given him a warm bottle of milk. We have not given him any milk this week b/c he has a bit of congestion. So take note: running around like a banshee on the playground, sweating and warm milk don't mix! He slept most of the way home and is now fired up and ready to go. All in all, we couldn't have asked for a better experience. Jax left the orphanage and the people he knows with us with a smile on his face :) Life is good.

The city of Zhu Hai was very different from GZ and Beijing. It is a very lush, coastal town with mountains surrounding it. Helen explained that Zhu Hai is a relatively new town. The majority of the buildings looked new or were less than 20 years old. The traffic was nowhere near as horrible as GZ or BJ. Don't get me wrong, there was a mix of cars, bicycles, mopeds and pedestrians on every street--big or small, but it was not the craziness that we experience daily in GZ. Interestingly enough, they do not block lanes of traffic off when they are working in the medians. They just expect you to go around it. There were light poles waiting to be put up and bricks waiting to be paved in to the streets just laying around. Never, would that happen in the US.

We asked Nanny Helen about her trips to other orphanages, and she indicated that this was one of the best. It was clean and there was love everywhere we turned.

Our wild child is now sleeping soundly and we will follow suit shortly. Goodnight!

Buddhas and French Fries

Greetings from our happy and silly family!

Today we took our last official tour. We ventured over to the Six Banyon Temple with another family who adopted a 13 year old girl. Today was her birthday. She is very self-conscious, so we sang Happy Birthday extra loud and made an extra special fuss over her. The Temple dates back over 1000 years, but part of it was destroyed a while back and has been rebuilt. It was truly a magnificent site to see. The main temple stands what appears to be 9 stories tall, but is actually 17 stories tall. Apparently, the Chinese believe in things in groups of 3. When they worship Buddha, they hold incense in group of 3, 6, 9 or 12. The amount you chose to hold is in relation to the ancestors you are honoring and remembering. The Chinese honor three Buddhas--the Past, the Present and the Future. 40 Monks reside at the active Temple, but it is open to visitors. September 22 is the day the Chinese will celebrate Autumn Moon Festival this year, so the city and this Temple is busy decorating with lights in the trees and hanging lanterns. GZ is also hosting the Asian Games in October so this is another reason the city is currently decorating and making things beautiful. We are bringing home some Moon Cakes for everyone to try in honor of the Autumn Moon Festival. People are flocking to our hotel and are buying them in crates. OK, I have diverted. Anyhow, the Temple was beautiful and we are lucky to have had the opportunity to visit.

Is she feeding the fish at the Six Banyon Temple? Or is she just visiting?








This evening we had McDonalds delivered to the hotel. And believe it or not, the nuggets and french fries tasted the same greasy way they do in America--it was great! Jaxon enjoyed his first french fries, albeit in very small pieces and he clearly loved the saltiness.

Tomorrow we head 2 hours away to visit his orphanage. Pray that he has peace with this visit.

We're one day closer to coming home!
Kendra, Eric, Abigayle and Jaxon





PS....It isn't all peaches and cream. Here is what the little man looks like when he is mad at one of us b/c he isn't getting his way. Poor thing!

Tired and Ready to Come Home

Well, we have hit that point. We are tired, and ready to come home. Abigayle is definitely home sick. She cried a bit today and told us she misses her babies, Kreinhop school and gymnastics. Unfortunately, we still have another week before we get home.






Today we went to the Chan Family Temple. And while Eric and I are not artsy people, we really enjoyed it. It took 6 years to build and is over 100 years old. The carvings were so detailed and just kept us in awe every time we turned the corner. Later we ventured to Carefour which is a department store, electronics store, grocery store and everything store all rolled up in one. To get to different levels, you take sloped people movers up and down. We stocked up on a few groceries to get us through the week.

Here is what we have learned about Jaxon today:

*he enjoys wearing Eric's hat

*he is LOUD when he is comfortable in his surroundings

*he loves Eric's IPOD and dancing to Dora

Don't know if you can tell or not, but the kids are dressed in their new Jie' Jie' and Di'Di shirts. Big Sister/ Little Brother

We can access our email at:
kendraold@yahoo.com

From GZ, good night.

He's all Boy!

Wow, today we have gotten a taste of what it is like to have a boy. Double Wow! He is out of his shell, prancing around, swinging those arms, knocking stuff over, tackling BaBa and Abi and just getting into everything. In fact, we think he can take on Evie. Our first time with crayons resulted in the coloring of the bed sheets and comforter. The people in the playroom were amazed that he has only been with us for 5 days. All Eric could say was that we were going to have to instill some major discipline. His personality is amazing. He is clearly head strong and is very mischievous. No, let me make that a super mischievous wild child. And we love him so much.

We went back to the clinic this morning to have Jaxon's TB test read and it was NEGATIVE. Hooray. He is now cleared medically to come home.

On a separate note, we got a dose of reality tonight at dinner. We were all enjoying a leisurely dinner when sweet Jaxon started throwing up. He finally got up a piece of chicken that was in the rice he was eating. I have been religious at packing a good backpack every time we leave the room, but tonight for some reason, I didn't pack wipes or burp rags or tissues or anything. And remember that Chinese don't provide napkins in the restaurants, so we improvised with a diaper. Jaxon handled it all well but we were a bit shaken, And as bad as it sounds, we needed this to happen so that we could witness and be better prepared the next time. Needless to say, we asked that they package our dinner up and we headed back to the hotel.

Good night and farewell until tomorrow :)

Squatty Abi

A few observations about our time in China and with Jaxon:

* Jaxon loves music. He will bob his head and keep with the beat.

* He loves to go swimming, but has changed his mind about the tub.

* Cokes cost a lot in China--the other night, our two cokes were 1/3 of the cost of our food bill at a local Chinese restaurant.

* Jaxon is not a morning person. But once he wakes up, he comes alive!

* Chinese food is much, much cheaper than PaPa John's pizza.

* Jaxon is right handed.

* It is only a matter of time before Eric has to 'fish' a toy out of the toilet!


Yesterday we went to the GZ zoo. It was quite lush and we got to see a lot of animals. Both kids really enjoyed it. Of course, we got stares, being two white people with two dark headed Chinese kids and Helen our guide. She overheard some of the people talking about us and they decided that she was our private nanny, so now we call her Nanny Helen and she gets a big laugh.

After the zoo, Nanny Helen took us to a noodle restaurant. She indicated that she only takes small groups there b/c it is too much to handle if there are multiple families. Abi and I got to watch them make the dumplings by hand which was really cool. In the middle of lunch, in true Abi form, she decided she had to go potty. OK, no problem, or so I thought. Nanny Helen got up to show us where it was, but informed me when we got there that they did not have 'western' potties, only 'squatty' potties. It was quite a scene to see the two of us trying to hold her clothes out of the way and get her to spread her legs and squat. I think we may have scarred her for life. Actually it was quite traumatic for all of us. A few other notes about the restaurant: they did not have any forks or knives, so we all had to figure out the chopsticks if we were going to eat anything at all. Also, most Chinese restaurants do not provide napkins. You have to bring your own--that is something I wish I would have known a few days ago.

While Eric napped, I took the kids out for a walk on the island and for ice-cream. Jaxon was definitely taken back by the coldness and refused it for a few minutes. After watching Mommy and Abi enjoy theirs he decided it was OK and proceeded to enjoy his melon ice cream and Abi's strawberry ice-cream. She shared very nicely,

A night swim topped off a great day. Toodlaloo.

Shots! Enough said............

Wow, we had an extremely difficult morning. All adopted children leaving China must participate in a medical examination prior to leaving the country. Recently, the rules have changed, and now, children must be current on their vaccinations or else, suffer the consequences. The Dr. reviewed the vaccination record that Jaxon came with and determined that he needed 6 shots plus his TB test.

When we walked to the back of the clinic and he spied the nurses in their white hospital outfits, bless his heart, he lost it. We think it was b/c he has been in the hospital so much that he immediately panicked. He weighed in at 24.7 pounds and is 35 inches tall. Eric made the nurses stop twice during the actual shots b/c we thought he was going to pass out from screaming.

After torturing the poor child, we then ventured out to a park in the city and he got to ride his first Merry Go Round. He loved the slide the most. It will be a miracle if we don’t all end up with lead poisoning from the playground equipment. (lol)
(Editors note....check out the topsiders!)

We were planning on swimming after naps, but it started raining, so we hit the Swan Room which i s the indoor playroom for kids. You are always bound to run into other adoptive families chilling in there, so it really is a nice place to go.

Oh...Jaxon also had his first ever lollipop. Butterscotch. He loved it!