belated update

it is 8:00 in the morning after a good nights sleep... Lizzie slept all the way to 6:30 this morning!  this is unusual.  the typical night has her waking up a number of times starting around 11:00 PM.  it was good for both Anne and I to be able to catch up on some much needed sleep.  other than sleep, or the lack thereof, life with Lizzie continues to go along remarkably well.  she has met all her admirers in the neighborhood and at church.  the first day back at church was something of a red carpet affair... everyone was lined up to meet her.  the same for the first day out in the culdesac.  the girls across the street from us are quite taken with Lizzie and have decided to wrap up many of their toys they had when they were Lizzie's age and bring them over as presents.  we have come home many days to find a wrapped gift waiting for us on the door step.  

the first days back into our normal routine went very well.  with the boys back at school and me back at work, i wondered if Lizzie would pine away for her adoring entourage.  however, she has her favorite person in the world by her side, mommy, so what more is there to look around for.  we are still learning much about her, but are starting to get familiar with her little personality quirks.  she does NOT like to go down to sleep, either for a nap or bedtime, 2-5PM is her whiny time of day, she loves to run laps in the house from about 6-9PM, and when she wakes up in the morning she has this wonderful half an hour or so where she is just calm and contemplative and likes to roll around in bed and snuggle.  she also likes to pinch and pull hair.  gotta work on that one somehow. 

we have also gone to see a surgeon, Stacey Folk, about her palate and whatever other surgeries we will have to think about.  She (the surgeon) said that Lizzie's lip repair that she had in china looked really good and she did not think we would have to do any more with that.  Lizzie's scar is pretty noticeable right now, but the surgeon said that that a scar is always the biggest about 3 months after a surgery, which is where we are now.  we have some scar treatment stuff to put on it and when Lizzie is out for her palate surgery, they will probably inject a bit of steroid into it to make it do down faster.  the surgeon also said that Lizzie's nose looked really good for now as well.  apparently as Lizzie grows, her nose will do some of its own straightening and they only look to do any surgeries when she is around 5, just as she is entering kindergarten and she starts paying attention to how she and others look, and around 13-14 when she is really concerned about her appearance.  apparently, the asian nose is notoriously flexible compared to the stiff nose of your average caucasian, and usually their noses end up looking great.  it was good to know that for both her lip and her nose, Lizzie is in a good place for now.

as to her palate surgery(ies), she will probably have it in the next couple of months, early november most likely.  the recovery from it takes a few weeks so hopefully we will have her back in comfortable, good eating condition for the holidays.  she will have to have splints on her arms for some time after the surgery so she does not put the wrong thing into her mouth, and we all just can't WAIT to see how she likes that!  the surgeon we talked to came very highly recommended and we will definitely have her do any cosmetic surgeries we need in the future, but it turns out our insurance does not cover using this surgeon for now.  however, she recommended a good ENT doc at Childrens and the University who is covered by our insurance and with whom we are in communication.  we will keep you all posted as we find out more.

some of the pictures i have here are from last weekend when we went on a family picnic at a lake (or reservoir as they call them out here) not too far from our house.   it has been beautiful weather since we came back and a welcome relief to the tropical heat and humidity we had down in Guangzhou.  we did a brief hike down a trail with Ben starting out carrying her in the backpack carrier.  Lizzie was happy with that but then, as much as she likes me (Ross) now and even reaches for me often, we tried to switch the back pack carrier to me and she threw a fit until we put it back onto Ben.  i think she must have had a bit of PTSD and a flashback to what we now refer to as the "great wall of china incident".  if you have not heard that one, let me know and i'll tell you sometime.  

i put in the video too because it shows you how much she likes nodding for things.  she also has this double fist pump she does when she wants more of something... not sure when she got a chance to see Arsenio Hall while in china, but it is pretty funny.

all for now.  sorry to have been so delinquent in getting things on the blog site, but home life leaves me with much less time for this than traveling in china.  more as it comes.  

Ross.

Home Sweet Home!

Home sweet home!!  It is wonderful to be back in America and not living in a hotel room!  Lizzie did really well on the long journey back here.  The first flight we were on was 4 plus hours long.  There were 12 newly adopted children on that flight.  Much of the flight there was a chorus of cries going.  Lizzie threw a couple of fits but they didn't last long.  The 12 hour flight from Tokyo to Minneapolis went surprisingly well.  We got to see some family in Minneapolis which was wonderful.  Lizzie met 2 Grandmas, one Grandpa, 2 aunties, one uncle, and 3 cousins.  She is already so well loved and welcomed.  Given how happy she seems, I think she knows it!

Introducing Lizzie to her new home was lots of fun.  Our wonderful neighbors decorated the front of the house in anticipation of our homecoming, complete with a lantern in honor of the upcoming chinese Moon Festival (you knew that, right guys?).  Lizzie explored around the house and once we got to her room, she clapped and smiled.  She seems really comfortable here but is very busy and into everything.  We spent the day baby proofing things. 

She truly is such a blessing to us.  This whole experience has blown us away.  There were many other adopting families with us in Guangzhou and watching all of them love and embrace their new children was so beautiful.  Most of the kids we saw had some type of "special need."  It is hard not to feel sad realizing that often these kids were abandoned because of medical needs with which their birth parents could not cope financially or emotionally, but what a blessing it is  to know that they will get the care they need now and that their future is full of possibilities.  It gave me a picture of how beautiful it is to be adopted into God's family.  I often take this concept for granted but have been given a renewed sense of the privilege that it is.  We are all so truly loved even with all our unique flaws and "special needs."

My neighbor told me that Lizzie looked like she belonged in our family.  I am not one to believe in fate or predestination, but I really do believe that God hand picked this little girl for us and that she truly was meant to be our daughter from the very beginning.  Life is still hard and the world is fallen, but God is good and we are so thankful for all He has done!

So the saga of Lizzie's life continues.  We, again, thank you all for participating in this journey with us.  we cannot tell you how much it has meant to us.  While we know little of the twists and turns ahead, we know this for sure... Lizzie is now, and will always be, a Kedl.

   

Last post from China

internet was down last night so i could not get on to write any significant last words.  we leave this morning to the airport to head to tokyo, then Minneapolis, then back home to Denver.  we went to the consulate to "swear the oath" yesterday, which means that 30 adoptive families all gathered together in one big room with their new kids to raise their right hands and swear that all the information they had given was true.  that was it.  we all said, "yes" and then it was over.  kind of anticlimatic for all the work it has been.  very cool though to be in that room with all those families and kids.  kind of like a picture of redemption.  since coming to Guangzhou, we have gotten to meet many  adoptive families here and have learned we have even more to be thankful for than we realized.  some families got their kids from orphanages that were in pretty tough conditions, so just because ours was in pretty good shape, does not mean the whole system is doing fine just yet... it is better, but not all what it needs to be.   we are so thankful for Lizzie and all that has prepared her for being part of our family (or may i should say the center of our family just now).

There is much more than can be said about our last 2 days here, and we will hopefully have time to do so soon.  We know our journey is just beginning, but we are grateful that this first phase is over and we are coming home.  thank you all again for all your prayers and support.   We are so looking forward to introducing Lizzie to all of you in person.  see you soon.

The Kedls

Too tired to write much tonight.  mostly just pictures and will write more tomorrow.  Did some more paper work, medical exam, etc. today and will send in all our paperwork to the consulate tomorrow to get Lizzie's visa.  just a couple more days before we head home and we are all ready for it.  China's great and all, but we are all kind of done living out of a suitcase and eating out every night.  we are really missing everyone and are looking forward to the simple pleasures of home.

among the pictures i had to include the video on bath time... was just too precious.   oh, and i had to include just one of the many signs we have seen here that fall under the heading of "lost in translation".

Love to all.

Ross.

I (anne) am very happy to be in Guangzhou.  We are staying on an island right by the American consulate.  There are many other adoptive families here.  It is fun to watch everyone as they get to know their new family member.  It is also nice not to be such an anomaly to the locals.  We were constantly being stared at and commented about in Tianjin.  We felt like we were in a fish bowl and although we were told this was the way things would go, we never got comfortable with it.  Although Guangzou is a city of 14 million, the area we are staying in feels like a small town which is much more my speed.  

We had a great time with Kent, Ann, and the girls.  Family is such a comfort, especially when you are half way around the world.  Lizzie warmed up to Jesse but was pretty hesitant with everyone else.  She did seem to enjoy kent talking to her in chinese.  Sometimes I forget that she can't understand us yet and this was a good reminder that our language sounds just as confusing to her as her language sounds to us.

The next three days we have a variety of official paper work type things to do and will hang out at the pool (see the shamu impression by Kent and Justin) and Starbucks in between.  It is extremely hot here and very humid so doing anything outside is a challenge.  We are having a great time.  Everything has far exceeded our expectations, but we are all ready to come home.  We have been gone 12 days and we miss comforts, conveniences, friends, and family that are back home.  

Lizzie continues to do really well.  She laughs a little more each day and we are starting to see that she has quite a sense of humor.  She also has a very strong will.  She can throw quite a temper tantrum already and she is only 15 months old.  Fortunately, the tantrums don't tend to last very long but they are quite loud.  Ross and I find the tantrums pretty funny to watch but the boys get a little stressed by them.  

Thats all for now.  Hope you are all doing well!

back to Daddy

back to Ross again.  we are turning many corners with Lizzie these last 2 days.  she has gone from only being happy when she is in direct contact with anne and no one else, to walking and crawling around the hotel room and playing with the boys as long as anne is in it, to now being carried around by either Anne or Ross and loving to walk all over creation with the boys.  It has been quite a transformation to watch.  to have admired and loved her the last few days and to now be allowed to pick her up and snuggle a bit is almost more than any man can take.  she is so full of personality and she is really starting to let it all show... even a few tantrums which for now are just funny to mom and dad, though a little concerning to her older brothers who have not had the benefit of really knowing what throwing a fit looks like.  you'd think they would know from watching the video of themselves as toddlers!  as you can see from the photos, she comes more and more alive every day.  one of the incredible things we got from her orphanage was a journal that the ladies in the orphanage started for her from the time she came into the orphanage to the time she left for foster care.   her foster mother the continued the journal during the 3 months she was there, having entries every week with her foster mother describing what Lizzie was like, how she was growing, her operation for her cleft lip and how, after the operation, her foster mother held her until 2:30 in the morning when lizzie finally stopped crying and fell asleep, even, though they knew it was the best thing for her, how sad they were that she had to leave them to come to us.  our translator, Helen (see photo), helped me translate it from Mandarin into english and it was quite emotional for both of us as we learned just how well Lizzie was loved and cared for by her foster parents.  Helen said she had never seen such a diary of an orphan's life kept so well.   we are so grateful for all the ways Lizzie was watched over before we got her into our lives.  

we flew down to Guangzhou today which is where we will be getting her visa to fly back to the USA.  this was Lizzie's first plane ride and she did very well... it gives us hope for the longer plane ride we will have to take in a few days from tokyo to minneapolis.   we were fortunate enough to once again have my brother Kent and his family, Ann, Jessa and Emma, come down from Shanghai to meet Lizzie and spend today and tomorrow with us before they have to fly back on sunday night.  it was great to see them again and to have them be the first of the family to meet lizzie.  Lizzie is really starting to show her true colors as an obligate extrovert, and she has been having a good time meeting her larger family.   you can tell just by  how exhausted she is at the end of the day.   we are looking forward to having her meet much of the rest of the family, if only for a few hours, when we go through minnesota on the way back home to colorado.  

thanks again to everyone for participating with us on this journey.  our love to all.  more to come when it happens.

The Kedls.

ben and justin speaking

     This is Justin.  Being a big brother is fun!  I'm not sure if Lizzie regards me as her brother or as her squeeze toy.  She likes taking my nose and pulling it.  And with the size of her fingernails, it HURTS!!!!  But, thankfully, she doesn't do that all the time.  It's really cool being a big brother!

     China is a really cool place.  It's fun, depending on where you are.  I really don't like crossing the street.  It's crazy!  But seeing all the buildings and unique architecture is cool.  I tried to draw some of the buildings, but it didn't turn out so well.  Seeing the Great Wall was really cool!  (-:

hey, this is ben.  yeah, i'm really liking china and all, but i like my little sister better!!!!!!  she is the cutest thing ever and she really likes me and justin.  But, it's also fun to see the sights and the great wall.  but i can't wait to get to minnesota and visit family!!!!!!!!!  to my cousins and aunts and uncles and grandparents, you will absolutely love this little girl!!!  she is the highlight of my "vacation" and i love china!!!  as your reading this i am probably asleep but i wish you well and miss all of you.  bye bye!!!!!(-: