Coming Home

Kate (her new name!) and I have been home for 9 days, and this is the first chance I have had to write a note on her arrival.  The flights home were fine, she slept through the 3 hour leg to Beijing in the Ergo on my chest.  The 3.5 hour layover we spent playing in the airport lounges, then she was just a bit "twisty" on the 11.5 hour flight to San Franciso, finally sleeping the last 6 hours. She became a U.S. Citizen with our landing, and I dutifully stood in the "Foreign Passports" line with the Chinese passengers.  Could we have stood out?  Airport staff came right over, took the briefest look, and said: "Adoption?"  Was it that obvious?  Turns out we should have been in a "New Immigants", of course!  Unfortunately this is also the line for the flight crew who work very long days and do not let even tiny and cute New Immigrants go ahead.  When we got to the front of the line I handed over the mysterious brown envelope.  The man said "Welcome to the United States!"  I told him she would be an excellent addition to our fine country.  He let me look at the paperwork!  It was just the forms we filled out in China at our various appointments.   Then we were done, and free!  I have never been so happy to see my husband as I was that morning at the airport.  Joy, love, relief, it all came together in that moment I saw him standing there, video camera in hand, capturing a moment we had imagined for so very long.  All that was left was to get our family of four together.  Big Sister was waiting at home with Aunt and Uncle.

Play Time!

We played in the Swan Room again today. Kathryn was very interested in the only other child there, a 6 year old named Katie. Looks like Kathryn will enjoy being a little sister, she followed Katie where ever she went and wanted to do everything she was doing! Too bad Katie didn't enjoy it more; she had just become a big sister herself and was a bit tired of playing with baby girls!

What's in a Name?

Kathryn Ying Zi Anhalt. Right now we refer to her as Kathryn but still call her Ying Zi most of the time. Since she isn't hearing any other words from us she recognizes, we want to at least let her know we know who she is, even if she doesn't quite know who we are yet. We think we will eventually call her Kate, but right now that doesn't feel right somehow. We do want her to learn her new name though, so unless you hear otherwise from us, please call her Kathryn and let just us call her by her special nickname for now. We also want to ask another favor of our friends and family: We know you are happy for us and want to get to know her, but until we say it is OK, please understand that initially we will be the only ones holding her and caring for her. Thank you so much for understanding, and for all of your encouragement over the long wait for her arrival. We finally have our family together and we can't wait to share her with all of our other loved ones.

We hope you have enjoyed following along on our journey via our blog.

We will have at least one more post of our return home.

Our long wait is over, and now a new journey begins!

Last Day, Last Ones!

Today was our last in Guangzhou. Kathyrn and I went to the bank and did some final shopping. Naturally, she napped throughout. We met up with Peter, Kelly, Sharon and Miley for lunch at the famous Cow and Bridge Thai Restaurant. Well, it is famous to those who come here to adopt and don't venture far! Actually, there was a TV crew doing a segment on the place while we were having lunch. Kathryn was really wriggly and fussy, not having gotten enough sleep while I toted her around. We came back and she helped me pack, then she went down for a real nap. I think she was snoring! It was sad to say goodbye to our good friends, but I know we will see them again soon back in the Bay Area. We're the only ones remaining from our group! We had dinner at Lucy's and then Kathryn went straight to bed. We take an early cab to the airport tomorrow morning for our 9:30 am flight. Due to the miracle of time changes, we will travel for 17.5 hours, and arrive at 11:00 am the same day in San Francisco.

Let's call Dad!

As we were getting ready for bed, I was talking to Kathryn about her Dad, that we might call him again tomorrow. Then she went over and got the phone! Perhaps she wanted to wake him?

Pizza Hut

Peter and Kelly have had a few meals at the Pizza Hut in town and asked me to join them for lunch. Very different from what we expect at home. There are two ladies that wait by the doors to open them for you and then you are seated by a hostess. There are lamb chops and steaks on the menu and your pizza may be served for you. The pizza (we were very adventurous and ordered cheese) was delicious and probably the same as you would get at home. When Kathryn dribbled a bit of milk down her chin, the waitress rushed over with napkins. Such service!

Rise and Shine!

Kathyrn has been taking naps in the crib, and will also go to sleep there at night, but wakes in the early morning demanding to be picked up, then goes back to sleep next to Mommy for a few more hours. She finally woke up from her 12 hour slumber today and we gave Daddy and Marina a call on Skype(video phone over the internet). Marina was excited to see Kathryn (and Mommy?). A couple of times I had to put her down and Marina would ask "Where did sister go?!" Kathryn happily waved her arms and Marina joined in. We can't wait to see them together!