Maryn's First Thanksgiving & Other Autumn Fun

Someone looks mighty proud of her new size 3 (!) Huggies.

She is growing like a weed.

With our beautiful friend Lena on Thanksgiving evening.

Panda!

Rubik's cubes are not generally given enough credit

for being delicious.

Emerging from under the saucer where she had

managed to curl up.

We are so grateful to be sharing the holiday season with our two girls. Maryn seemed to enjoy her first Thanksgiving, partaking in ground ham, mashed potatoes, and some sweet potato casserole. Shortly thereafter, she observed the holiday practice of coming down with a cold - her first since we adopted her, so we can't really complain.

Carlyn has been busy rehearsing not one, not two, but three plays in which she's been cast (at church, school and her acting school). This Thanksgiving weekend, she enthusiastically helped me get the Christmas decorations out of the cubbyhole under the eaves upstairs. This was an early holiday gift, because it meant I didn't have to trudge back and forth 1/3 of the house's length doubled over, shoving boxes. She also stuck with it on the tree decorating for about twice as long as in any previous year and seemed to be interested in the stories about where we got particular ornaments.

Christmas will be doubly festive this year!

A Trip to Montana

It's official: we have not one, but two adventure girls. On October 28th, we left for a 10-day trip to western Montana, where I participated in two book festivals. My mom also came over from the eastern part of the state. What an entourage - ranging in age from 81 years to 7 months! And everyone was a good traveler, including our doll-baby!


There was some suspense. Even before we had departed from Cincinnati, we knew that weather-related delays might cause us to miss our flight from Minneapolis to Missoula. There were no more flights from MSP to Missoula that night and my presentation was the next morning.

When we arrived as MSP, we knew the countdown had begun. Ultimately, we had to abandon our stroller - we waited in the jetway for it as long as we could - then sprinted through the airport toward our next gate. When I heard on the PA system, "Passengers McDonald, this is your final boarding call..." I shrieked, yes shrieked, "We need a cart!" And miraculously, there was a cart. By this point, Carlyn was in tears from the sheer stress of it all. I'm sure we looked like a mess as we came down the aisle of that plane.

The fabulous flight attendant took an immediate shine to Carlyn and let her examine the demo oxygen mask and...get this...invited her to visit the cockpit after the flight. Keep in mind that we're talking about a little girl who is obsessed with aircraft and was planning to be a Cathay Pacific pilot for Halloween.

Upon our arrival in Missoula, she did indeed get to visit the cockpit, to push buttons, try on Captain Spencer's jacket, and - drum roll, please - shut down the plane for the night. She described it as the high point of her trip.

And Miss Maryn did beautifully. She enjoyed meeting Grandma, great aunt and uncle, and a few cousins. And she was a very cute calf for Halloween!

Who would've thought 10 more days in a hotel, just six weeks after our return from China, would go so well. We are truly blessed.

Happy Birthday, Mei Mei!

Maryn is seven months old today! She would like to celebrate with a nice game of Wii, if only Carlyn would give her the remote.

Let's not forget about Jie Jie

Carlyn has been busy this beautiful, crisp autumn with important tasks like preparing her wedding dress (she has decided to marry her stuffed horse Pegasus); raking immense piles of leaves; playing outside with Maryn during that otherwise-fussy period after dinner but before bath-time; and caring for her five fabulous cats in various ways.

It's a lovely time: the sort I imagined all those years when I was waiting to be a mom.

Standing & Snacking

Last week, Maryn woke up from a nap and, by the time I got to her room, she was standing up in her crib. She'll pull up on anything to stand, safe or unsafe, including pantlegs, sofas, and, if no one intervenes, the bathtub! She also learned how to use a sippy cup last week after her doctor suggested that 6-9 months is a good time to start experimenting with cups. In the top photo, the cup looks as big as she does and, now that I think of it, proportionally, it would be like my taking a drink from a five gallon bucket.

Scenes from our life at home

A staring contest in the car. The carseat is better when big sister is present.
First swing ride

Feeding ducks and geese at Lake Reba

In the pool with Jie Jie.

Hanging out with Crystal Grayheart.

We came home to unseasonably warm weather, so there have been adventures on the deck, in the plastic pool, and at the park. We're still somewhat jet-lagged, but Maryn's sleep patterns are becoming manageable - she wakes up for a bottle about 4-5 hours after going to bed , and then sleeps for another 5 or 6.

She's spicing up our lives in all kinds of ways and Andy has described her as "driven." Her primary objective? To stand up. She practices pulling up using our hands and then becomes reckless - trying to let go. She looks astonished when she plops down hard on her bottom but doesn't cry. We might have a climber on our hands, too, which will be new to us. Carlyn was never a big physical risk-taker.

Among other adventures this week were Maryn's introduction to car seats (not popular), meeting ducks and geese at the park (mildly entertaining), and eating sweet potatoes and tidbits of California sourdough bread (fabulous), and visiting our local Starbucks location (she slept through most of it).

Now that was an odyssey

On the way to the airport in Guangzhou.
Let's get on the plane, already!

The final leg of the journey.

Meeting Nana at the airport.

The flight crew that brought our baby to Kentucky.

Our trip home from China, you ask? Three words: ai yi yi! Long story short, thanks to Dragonair, we missed our flight out of Hong Kong. After running through the airport, we watched our United 747 push back from the gate and taxi off for America. It was the only heartbreaking moment of our entire trip.

The consolation prizes, such as they were, included 12 hours in Dragonair's first class lounge and a transPacific flight on Cathay Pacific. Drawbacks included 12 hours in Dragonair's first class lounge and a circuitous route home (rather than Hong Kong, Chicago, Lexington and arriving home on Saturday evening, we went to San Francisco, Chicago, Lexington and arrived around lunchtime on Sunday).

But can we talk about my daughters? I have no idea how we were fortunate enough to adopt another adventure baby, but it appears to be the case. Maryn slept for six hours on the international flight and fussed loudly only for about two minutes on the San Francisco-Chicago flight. Every other time, she could be quickly consoled. But in the final mile of our drive home with Nana, whoa Nellie! did she holler. It would appear that 39 hours, 14 minutes of travel is her upper limit. Not bad for a six-month-old baby.

We all have jet lag and are sleeping at bizarre times, but Maryn is our dream baby and Carlyn is the most amazing big sister we could've hoped for. I am so blessed to have these two daughters.

We Swear!

Lunch on Shamian Island

The aftermath of the requisite red sofa photo at the White Swan Hotel.

As my students would say, "Epic fail."

There was crying; there was spitting up.

Even the forbidden package of wipes was no consolation.

Tranquility before the dreaded red sofa photo shoot.


We love the nose-crinkling laugh.

At the Guangxiao temple this morning. We lit incense to remember the birthfamilies.



It's Wednesday and the countdown has begun. Later today, we'll go the US Consulate and swear. We're not exactly sure what we're going to swear to do or not do - but whatever the case, it'll be one of the last steps we'll take in order to get Maryn's visa to come home to the US.


Our stay in Guangzhou has been good, but exhaustingly hot and muggy. It's basically like Kentucky in late July. We still try to go adventuring - today we rode the subway to see a Buddhist temple - but between the backpack and the 15-pound baby, we're soon a bunch of sweaty Americans traipsing along in search of a cold Coke Zero, surrounded by the svelte, cool Chinese. Maryn likes the carrier and almost always goes to sleep promptly and deeply when she's in it. In fact, she likes it so much that she's beginning to have some minor sleep issues when she's not in it! In fact, she just woke up after only 10 minutes of napping in her crib. It just doesn't measure up to bouncing around in 9o degree temperatures on Mom or Dad's hot tummy.

We've stayed well, with the exception of Carlyn's mild cold that's gone now. For Andy and me, this is the first of four trips to China with no illnesses. Maryn has been exceptionally hearty. Now I'm sure I've jinxed it.

Tomorrow we'll pack up and depart on Saturday morning for Hong Kong. From there, it's United to Chicago and home to beautiful Bluegrass Airport by 6:21 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time on the same day we left!

Hello, Guangzhou!

Our crawling girl being supervised by big sister.

Dancing at Revolutionary Square on our last night in Nanchang.

Baba and his girls on our last evening in Maryn's province.

Revolutionary Square. It is flanked by Walmart, two KFCs, Siemens, and other retailers. A different kind of revolution than was envisioned by Mao!

We've begun our last full week in China and all is well. Carlyn has had a little headcold and various members of our group have had stomach bugs, two even requiring brief hospitalizations. The babies and children, though, have been really strong and resilient and Andy and I have been lucky healthwise, knock on wood.

A quick story then I'll upload photos and head for the pool where Andy has the girls: as we went through security in order to leave Nanchang the other day, Andy had Maryn in the baby carrier. Security in China is only slightly less frazzling than in the U.S. - you don't have to remove your shoes but, in Nanchang, you have to be wanded, which was a new and surprising travel experience for Carlyn. Anyway, part way through the process, Andy was asked for his boarding pass, which he'd been holding just a moment before. He frantically looked around on the floor until he heard the security guard chuckling and looked down at the baby. Maryn had seized the boarding pass and was busily gnawing on it. It was already slick with baby spit by the time Andy pried it from her quick little hands.

We're having a good time but, at the two week mark (yesterday), we began to fantasize about home: Carlyn was thinking of her cats and I look forward to being able to toss a load of laundry in the washer, drink water out of the tap, and eat a big salad. No matter where we travel, though, home always sounds appealing after the two week mark.

Last Full Day in Nanchang

On a family adventure - lunch at a dumpling shop.
Flying with Baba at People's Park.
"Kindly remove my maozi, Mother! Do you see other people wearing ski caps around here?"

All is well, especially now that Maryn seems to have overcome the fever she had on Tuesday and Wednesday. A doctor came to the hotel to check on her last night. Yes, house calls still exist in China and for the reasonable fee of $26 give or take. Nothing serious and she was always a cheerful sweetie, even at 101 degrees. As she listened to our guide and the doctor speaking Chinese, Maryn was captivated and amused. She probably thought, "Finally! Some people who know how to speak properly!"

Today, we had a lovely morning at the People's Park where I got to practice my rudimentary Chinese, Carlyn fed koi and rode an amusement park swing, and Maryn carefully observed everything. Operating on the assumption that the Chinese wouldn't want her to be potentially chilly or exposed to the sun, I put a little hat on her. Eventually, a group of retirees gave me a good talking to. I heard "maozi" and knew they were talking about her hat. The rough translation is, "Silly American, take the hat off that baby. It's 90 degrees out here." So I did and then said, "Thank you, Grandma" in Chinese which got a good laugh from the whole group.

Tomorrow we begin the final leg of our amazing journey by flying to Guangzhou where Maryn will receive her visa to enter America and become an official Meiguoren.

It's Official!

Baba and his girls after we officially adopted Maryn.

Somebody knows how to roll from her back to tummy, to get into sitting position, and is on the verge of crawling!

Maryn is the newest member of the McDonald and Stoner clans.
She and Carlyn were complete angels in our hectic morning at the Civil Affairs Bureau and police station where everything was finalized. Many families were there to adopt their daughters and a few sons, but our guide, Susan, had the good sense to get us there promptly at 8 a.m. so we were the first families to be processed.
Then we had a Walmart outing while Susan went to purchase Pizza Hut pizzas for all of us. With my Chinese language skills at the level of a three-year-old, I led the group. This involved holding up a diaper, pointing to it, and saying, "Zai nar?" Then doing the same thing with a container of formula, which, by the way, is not kept on the same floor as the diapers.
We've had a busy day with not a single tear shed - by Mama or anyone else! Maryn has been eating well and even made the kind of diaper that is treasured by adoptive families - well, treasured may be a strong word. But we are glad to report that she is not constipated, as the babies often become after such a major transition in their lives.
She is a resilient little spirit, like big sister. We are so very fortunate to be her and Carlyn's parents.

Ni Hao, Maryn Zhang!

Sisters - a few minutes after they met


The McDonald family of four with Maryn's orphanage staff


Songs with daddy!

We have our sweet girl!!! She's already up from her 30-minute nap so this will be quick. Maryn is safe, happy and healthy. She's fascinated by every move Carlyn makes and enjoys listening to Baba's Irish songs. Her peach-fuzz hair is just like baby Carlyn's was. We are all simply mad about her!

3:30 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time

That's when we'll meet our baby girl! No time to post pictures this morning - we're off to the airport in 40 minutes for an early morning flight to Nanchang! Four of nine families will be in Nanchang with the rest in Shanghai or other provinces. Then we'll be reunited later this week in Guangzhou.
Feeling breathless!

Whirlwind!

It's been an amazing trip so far and the best is yet to come - in about 34 hours or less, in fact.
Our visit in Japan was amazing and the research went well. We arrived in Beijing on Thursday afternoon and spent yesterday on our own - walking around Tiananmen, saluting Chairman Mao, having lunch at a favorite neighborhood restaurant near the first place we stayed in Beijing in 2001, and going to the Summer Palace.
Today, we'll meet the 8 other families in our group and climb the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall - this is one we haven't visited before, which is very exciting.
And tomorrow morning, it's off to Nanchang where, after 4.5 years of waiting, we will meet our baby girl. We talk and think of her all the time, especially since arriving in China. Now we'll be together!
Near Red Bridge, Kiyosato, Japan.Carlyn is ready to board her ANA flight to China!

Captain Carlyn at the helm of her Summer Palace sloop.