Nap Time

Drew is down for his nap this afternoon. He lays down to take a nap better than he does to go to bed. If I am quiet and keep the TV off he will sleep 1-2 hours. That gives me time to get a few things done. As soon as he gets up he will eat a big lunch.

We owe many people a big thanks for your help getting us here and helping while I am gone. I do not want to mention names because I know I will leave someone out. I do want to thank our adoption agency, Lifeline in B'ham, Alabama. They have been great through the whole process. If anyone is ever thinking about adoption foreign or domestic I would encourage you to check them out. I have heard several different people complaining about the agency they used. Both times I have been well prepared with everything I needed. The staff is great at home and here.

For lunch this afternoon we are trying the Chinese version of Ramon noodles. I am down to one pack and will need some to feed Drew on the way home. I also found four packs of pop tarts in one bag,squished but stillok to eat. Pure gold, Drew loves them and I thought we were out. This will help on the way home. The Chinese pack of noodles comes with 3 spice packs instead of one. We will see how it taste.

See you soon,

Kevin

One more day

Today we go to the US consulate to get Drew's visa and the swearing ceremony, don't worry there is no actual cursing and not much of a ceremony. Last time it was 100 people with unhappy children raising their hand saying they will take of the child and such. You can not take a stroller, any liquids, no backpack or such to the consulate for security reasons. Almost as much fun as it sounds. We leave for the consulate at 2:45. Hope everyone has a good day.
Kevin

Botanical Garden

This a.m. we visited the Botanical Gardens. It was very pretty but the whole time I could not get the idea out of my head that if Mama was here she would be digging this stuff up to take home and replant. In the pics you can see Drew playing the drum and feeding the fish. He really enjoys seeing fish and animals. We were walking on the sidewalk in front of the hotel and he saw a dog, he became very excited but did not want to get too close. It makes me wonder how he will react to Otis.

I will be leaving for home in about 48 hours. The trip home is about 24 or so. I arrive in Huntsville around 10:30 p.m. I do not look forward to the trip back but I can not wait until I get home. Laura, I do not know how you did a month in Vietnam. You have my admiration for that one.

Overall, Drew is doing well, but when he decides to throw a fit, everyone knows it. He has one good meltdown about once a day. Usually it is because I am being unreasonable and will not let him stick his finger in the electric socket or play in the toilet. Plain cruelty.

Hope all is well at home, I appreciate everyone helping out at home and keeping us in your prayers.

Kevin

Drew writing home

As many of you have suspected from the spelling and sentence structure Drew has posted most of the comments and here you can see him hard at work sending mom an e-mail about how he is being mistreated and starved to death. Today we are going to the botanical garden and to eat at a local noodle house, whatever that is.

So far the Lord has really blessed me with good health. Pray this continues until I get home and that long plane rides go smoothly.

Kevin

Forgot the pics

I forgot to explain the pics below. Drew likes to put his whole hand in his mouth. Drew eating his first French Fry and the sign on the place mat just amused me.
Kevin

Less than 72 hours

By my calculations, math is not my greatest strength, neither is spelling or grammar many of you are saying after reading these post, I will begin the trip home in 65 hours. In the previous post I spoke of the red couch pic and the going home barbie. For those of you not up on china adoptions. When people stay at the White Swan Hotel during in the adoption process it is tradition to have your newly adopted child's pic made on one of the red couchs. As for the Barbie, Matel Toy Co. gives each adoptee a Barbie with a little China baby in her hands with a sign on the box that says going home.

We had a near tragedy this a.m. while were making the group pics I left my camera sitting somewhere. Luckily a couple saw it and gave it to my guide. The camera I could replace but it has a card in it with about 500 pics. LeAnn would make me repeat the whole trip to replace the pics. I switched cards when I got it back so I could safe guard that card.

This a.m. after breakfast Drew and I went over to the pond in the hotel, a really big pond, and fed the large koi in the pond some goldfish crackers, get it, fe the koi (which are large goldfish) goldfish crackers. I imagine no one in finding that as funny as I did. Anyways, there is a bridge across the pond and there must have been close to 100 large fish splashing around under us. Drew was so excited he would run from one side to the other and up and down the bridge sreaming and pointing. He got so excited he stood in the middle of the bridge turning in circles because he could not decide where to go next finally he plopped down on his bottom and just started screaming.

After we got back to the room I had to go to the restroom and of course i did not shut the door since it was just us men. Drew came in and was trying to get to the toilet I kept turning trying to use my legs to keep him away and finally he stuck his arm between my legs and threw the hairbrush in the toilet. Gross. Boys are interesting creatures. They seem to delight in loud noises and exploring, and if something gets broken in the process all the better.

Well, i hope you all have a good day. i am going to bed.

Kevin

These pics go with post below

Red couch and zoo

We made our red couch picture this a.m. and did a group of all the kids in the group. Getting 9 kids on the couch at once was interesting. Drew is sitting in fron of the couch. There is also a picture of Drew sitting on a panda to have his pic made. You can tell how happy he was to have his pic made. There was a kagaroo where the kid could stand in the pouch to have his pic made but Drew freaked out and would not get near the thing. It was kind of a scary looking kangaroo.

Hello,

Hope the weather there has improved. I think today is Sunday. The pics above are of Drew outside, Drew in the room and what you contend with when you go shopping in China. Today I found a way of adding to the confusion of trying to tip your waiter in China. We had lunch at Pizza Hut in the mall, as I was getting ready to leave I took my eyes off Drew for a moment and he heaved his plate off the table. I discovered the plates were mad of glass and not plastic. What was a very noisy rest. became deathly quiet as everyone turned to stare at the foreigner who could not control his Chinese child. It stayed quiet a long time. As soon as my waitress brought my change and left I put a tip on the table and shot for the door. Needless to say I did not get three steps from the table before I was stopped by a young Chinese lady waving the tip I had left. They thought I was trying to pay for the plate Drew broke. Speaking as loudly and slowly as I could (because everyone understands English if you speak slow and loud enough) I tried to explain it was a tip. I lost that battle.

As I stated earlier I went to get our laundry because we are out of clean clothing. They said it would be ready by 6 so Drew and I went walking around. I sat down under a tree while Drew played around on the side walk. As I was watching him play something hit my shoulder. Let us just say I no longer have any clean shirts. I hope you do not get Avian Bird Flu from getting pooped on by a bird.

We got our Going Home Barbie today. In the morning we are dressing up in traditional Chinese dress and getting our red couch pics. Everyone have a good day.

See ya,

Kevin

Been busy

Hello everyone,
Sorry no post last night. We went to eat at a Thai rest., cow and bridge, or something like that. i had a chicken and pepper dish that was really good and really spicy. I will have that again before I leave. Speaking of food i found something that Drew will not eat. Chinese airline food. Speaking of stuff that stinks I must go change Drew. After we got back from the rest we laid down and went to sleep, we slept until 9 this a.m. we barely had time to eat breakfast before the shopping trip. I did not buy much, I just wanted to get out of the room for a while. Drew just put on his pants by himslef while I was typing. Tomorrow we go to the zoo and the river cruise. i will probably skip the cruise. It was nice once. Well, I promise to post some pics tonight, right now I need to go get our pick up our laundry from the China Doll. we are out of clean clothing.

Kevin

Made it to Guangzhou

Hello to all,

We made it to Guangzhou last night and got to our room at the White Swan about 11:30. Drew did not fall asleep until we were in the car on the way to the hotel. He slept all night and I had to open the window to let some light in to wake him this a.m. because we had to leave to go for his med exam this a.m. at 9:30. I thought he was going to breeze right through the exams. He was just sitting in my lap watching everthing but as soon as we crossed the doorway to a room where there was doc in a white coat he would freak out. You go to three different rooms and by the time we got to the last one he was coming unhinged. That last exam was taking everyone about ten minutes, we were out in less than 4. That doc wanted him out of there. Of course if someone was doing to me what that doc was doing to him I would have been upset as well. Speaking of that the lady at the airport who was doing security screening gave me about as good a going over as the doc that did my physical before i went to basic training. i am not really sure what was going on but she was really, really sure that I was not sneaking anything on the airplane. I think she took a break and smoked a cigarette after she searched me. Well, back to the physical that Drew got. he was 84 cm tall and he weighs 30 pounds. He is a healthy boy. There was no one in my group in Xi'an but now that we are in Guangzhou there are 9 of us. Tonight we all going out to eat at a Thai rest. I enjoyed being in Xi'an, you could get out and walk around but the room was really small. The room here at the White Swan is probably close to twice the size plus there were no drawers for anything at the Bell Tower, here there is plenty of storage area. The Bell Tower is pretty nice and all that you hear about the carpet being nasty is true, but all in all I thing the good outweighs the bad. You could not beat the location.

Back to the physical for a minute. the couple behind me in one of the lines had a little boy and he had on the same shirt as Drew. Kind of funny. The pics that I posted are from top to bottom, Drew at the White Swan watching the fish and the water fall, the waiting room for physicals and Drew sitting in the waiting room. Thanks to everyone for the prayers and the post. I always enjoy reading what you have to say. I miss the people that i traveled with last time they really added to the experience but I have met a couple of people today and they seem pretty nice. Last time we were together from start to finish so we all got to know one another a little. Hope all is well in R'ville. Take care and I look forward to seeing you all.

Oh, I almost forgot, Drew's full name is , Drew Gang Strickland, Gang is pronounced Gong. He was called Gong-Gong at the orphanage and that is what he responds to best. My sister, Vicki, had asked if we had ever decided on his middle name. I figure if she did not know others probably did not either.

Kevin

How to have fun in a restaurant in China.....

Well, I am all packed up and Drew has gone to sleep and I have some time to kill so I decided to tell you about one of my greatest sources of amusement in China. Being warped and easily amused as I am, I have found great fun in trying to leave a tip. Tipping is OK in the hotel, they are used to it. Outside the hotel in restaurants not frequented by westerners it is not common. They think you have accidentally left your money on the table. Since my Chinese is almost as good as my Spanish it is difficult to convey the idea of a tip. Even if you can get the concept across they do not want to take it. The waitresses will grab your arm and force the money back in your hand. You might say just put the money on the table and leave quickly. Easier said than done with a 2 year old, a stroller and a backpack. Even for a quick footed person it would be difficult. By the time you stand up someone is cleaning the dishes off the table and they spot the money. I have tried ignoring them and walking out but they will sprint to the door and block your way. At one restaurant, was surrounded by 4 waitresses who made it very clear there was no way I was leaving money behind. One of them had a mean look in her eye so I took the money back and then they gave Drew a bunch of toys, you can see him wearing the mask he got in a previous post. I have averaged successfully tipping about 25% of the time. Only one lady did not protest but it was my second time in that restaurant. I think they remembered the strange foreigner with the Chinese kid. I know some of you are thinking, it can't be that hard. Trust me, it is much more difficult than it seems. They are quick, stubborn and overwhelm you with numbers, one girl even went and got what I assume was her supervisor. I tried leaving it under the plate once but I can't get ten feet from the table before they have everything cleared away. we are not talking huge amounts of money either, 3 to 5 dollars. Life is good for those of us that are easily amused.

Kevin

Leaving Xi'an

We are preparing to leave Xi'an. Packing up and seeing what can be left behind. No post for about the next 24 hours as I have to pack up the computer and we will be ready to get to bed when we finally get to Guangzhou. Hope all is well in Rville. Could someone post the vidoe of Greg getting beat up on YouTube?
Kevin

Happy Birthday Drew !!!

Today is Drew's birthday!!! Me and the bottomless pit, or should I say the bottomless pit and I, just got back from breakfast. He consumed 3 pieces of French toast and a pancake. We leave for Guangzhou tonight. Our 5:00 flight was cancelled so we will not leave until after 7:00. Arriving at our hotal after 10:oo p.m. I am sure we will both be in a good mood by that point. The worst of it all is that we have to leave our room by 1:00 and it is raining. That means some long boring hours somewhere. Oh well, it could be much worse.

I hate that I missed the scuffle at the courthouse. If there is a video of an old lady hitting Greg Pinkard with an umbrella someone needs to burn me a copy of that. There are plenty of people that would pay big money to see that. Who was the guy he was trying to arrest?

Don't worry I am not getting soft, mentally unstable perhaps, but not soft. Of course there are those that argue that I have been mentally unstable long before this trip. As I said that was enough deep thought for a couple of years.

How are ya'll seeing this at work? My computer will not let met on this site at work. Well, i was not going to post any pics but Drew is very interested in a piece of paper so I will see if I can find a couple to post. Pray Drew's first plane trip tonight goes well.

See ya,

kevin

Orphanage Trip

This a.m. we went to the orphanage. Drew did well. The pics above and below, starting with below are of Drew's room and Drew's Bed. Above is the place Drew was found, the gate with black walls on the side, us in front of the orphanage, and us with a lady who works at the orphanage.

The greatest blessings are found in the most unexpected places, even as hardhearted and cynical as I am I could not help but be a little moved this a.m. when we left the place Drew was found. Two years ago tomorrow a lady in China gave birth to a little boy with not fingers on his left hand. For whatever reason, and I am sure it was not easy on her, she felt she could not care for this child so she left him about a hundred yards from the entrance to an orphanage at this place where it was obvious he would be found quickly. I wonder what I was doing on March 27, 2007. I am sure I had no idea how God was working in my life and the life of my family to bring us together with our child. At that time we had not even begun the adoption process and to tell you the truth I do not know that either one of us was thinking about when we would adopt again at that time. Addie had only been with us 7 months at that time and we were still adjusting to that change. Just goes to show you God's plans are greater than ours and he is working in our lives in ways we can not imagine to bring us great blessing if we will let him.

OK, that is more than enough deep thought for the next couple of years. While we were at the orphanage many of the workers wanted GangGang, pronounced GongGong, to come to them. He would only go to one lady. Many of the ladies would hold there hands out and call his name and when he would turn his head from them they would laugh and talk about PaPa. Some of them would put their hands on him and act as if they would take him from me and when he would pull away they would all laugh and laugh. When he went to the one lady she was obvious very proud. They have a program at the orphanage similar to foster grandparents and apparently this lady was in the program and spent a lot of time with him. The pic of me and Drew with one of the workers was this lady, he called her neinei, not sure of the spelling of that but it is pronounced knee-knee, meaning grandma.

It was a nice building, clean and well maintained. The orphanage has about 560 kids, including about 150 in foster care. All are special needs at this orphanage. Some have more serious needs than others.

Well, I will post more later,

Kevin

Orphanage visit today

Good morning, last night did not go as well as the others. We go to the orphanage this a.m. This can be hard on the child so keep us in your prayers. Speaking of prayers don't fotgert we have a mission team in Peru, has anyone heard how they are doing?

Kevin

Terra Cotta Warriors

The pics from above and below are from our visit to see the Terra Cotta Warriors. The pics are not very good because the lighting was really bad in there for pic taking. It was a very interesting trip. Every soldier is unique. The detail is amazing. On the soldiers that are knealing you can see the tread on the bottom of their shoes. When they were first made they were each painted but the color has faded over time, in all there are over 8,000 warriors.

Drew is doing well, I have seen some encouraging behavior in him, as far as attachment issues go. He lets me hold his hand and sometimes reaches for mine. Addie would not let me hold her hand until she had been home at least 6 weeks maybe longer. He pitches a fit if the guide tries to hold him and does not want anyone but me to push the stroller. He lets me feed him and hold his cup while he drinks. These all seem like small things but when you are talking about a child who has been in an orhanage for two years these are huge things.

I enjoy everyones comments. Tomorrow we go to the orphanage so everyone pray that will go well for Drew.

Good Morning

Good Morning to all. It is about 4:45 a.m. I just got out of the shower. I try to get up about 4:00 to get a shower and get ready each a.m. and then I lay back down until Drew wakes up. He is sleeping soundly. I have been really blessed as far as his sleeping goes. He went to sleep at 9:00 last night. Today we go to see the Terra Cotta warriors. It takes about an hour to get there. Tomorrow we get to go to the orphanage.
His behavior is pretty good, really just a very typical 2 year old. His motor skills and coordination are delayed but those will catch up quickly with constant attention from family. He is active but can stay with one activity for a long time.
I will post some pics tonight.
Kevin

We went to the City Wall this a.m. Notice the contast in the amount of clothing Drew is wearing compared to what I have on. the guide wanted to know if I was cold. Actually I was sweating after a few minutes walking. Drew's poor little head was wet as could be when we got back. He fell asleep on the way back or had a heat stroke.

kevin

bath time

Good morgning,

Drew had his first bath last night and did well. At first he was a little nervous of the water but I just put a couple of inches of water in the tub and before long he was splashing and having fun. We even brushed his teeth after that.

Right now he is throwing a 2 year old tantrum. The first that I have seen from him, I am sure he could do better. He is mad because I will not let him pull everything off the desk, like the computer, camera, glass, little stuff like that.

Today we are going to the city wall and exploring.

I appreciate everyones comments, they are always interesting.

He slept great last night and is apparently burning off some excess energy with this tantrum. He slept from 9 p.m. to 8 a.m. Thene he had 2 pieces of french toast and 2 pancakes for breakfast. He did not like the muffins, first thing I gave him he would not eat. I tried the muffin and I would not eat it either.

see ya later,

kevin

Counting Down the Days!!!

These are pics of the girls counting down the days until Daddy and Drew get home. Kevin made Addie the paper chain, in the picture, so that she could tear off one link each day and realize the time Daddy would be gone was getting shorter! I made Ellyse a calendar to check off the days.

He is offically ours!!!

As you can see Drew got pretty tired this afternoon. I tried to get him to take a nap after we got back from doing his passport application but he would not. We went for a walk and he did not last long. He is still asleep. The other pics are from breakfast this a.m. and him doing some playing last night. After super tonight we are going to try a bath. I hear some kids have not ever been in a tub and do not like it, we will see how it goes.

We have our adoption certificate!!! The Chinese gov. now recognizes us as Drew's legal parents.

All I have to do now is wait on his passport to come Fri and then it is off to Guangzhou. Tomorrow we are going to see the old city wall.