“What if Christmas, doesn't come from a store. What if Christmas...perhaps...means a little bit more!” ― Dr. Seuss, How theGrinch Stole Christmas!

Oh December, the only winter month that warms my heart.  For the rest of winter I am more grinchy than I probably should be.
But December, oh sweet ,sweet December, How I do love you.....Usually.

This December was a crazy, frantic month for Team Dailey.  Let me give you the quick tour.
Dec 3-5 Philadelphia for semi- annual visit to CHOP and Philadelphia

Dec 9 Betty June had 13 baby teeth taken out, 2 permanent teeth crowned and 2 permanent teeth filled. We had to be at Children's at 6:30 for her 8 AM surgery under general anesthesia but because of hgb issues and low platelet count due to enlarged spleen they wanted standby blood so she went to surgery at 2pm.  We got home at 7.

Dec 10 Surgical consult about Betty June's enlarged spleen.
Dec 12 Matt and I dental checkup (no cavities)
Dec 14 Put up Christmas tree with the whole family

Dec 15 Transfusions in Pittsburgh. Well for Betty June at least.  Belle's hgb was 10.1 so the hemetologis would not transfuse her.  We are in process of changing hemetologists.

Dec 16 Belle and Betty June audiology appts back at Children's
Dec 17 Betty June echo-cardiogram back at Children's.
Dec 18 My grandmother's birthday so the little girls and I went to see her and have cake with my mom and  aunt.

Dec 19 Serenity's play
Dec 20 McFadden Christmas party in town.  The girls sang three songs at the party.  Jingle Bells, Jesus Loves Me and Mama Hao.  That's a pretty big accomplishment for Betty June,(only speaking English for 3 months) and Belle (just 3 years old) and long suffering big sister Serenity.
AND it was Belle's 3rd birthday and my sister's 43rd birthday so after the family Christmas party there was cake and ice cream at our house.

Dec 22 Belle and Betty June pediatrician appt with 2 immunizations each and Betty June got to visit her   school classroom in anticipation of starting after the first of the year! She was suppose to go back the next day for their Christmas party but....
Dec 23 BACK TO CHILDREN'S for the blood transfusion Belle should have got a week ago.  Her hgb was 9.1 and she had had a miserable week. But when we got to the hospital the girls were each given a HUGE gift bag full of gifts.  There was at least 10 Barbies in the two bags. Betty June's had an Elsa dress (from Frozen for those of you hiding from pop culture) Belle's had a 'Frozen" ukelele and small Elsa doll.  There were slippers and puzzles, they each got a baby doll and too many gifts to list.  It was both overwhelming and humbling at the same time.

Dec 24 Christmas Eve at my house for 16.  I was so happy my son and his wife came late in the evening and spent the night to be here Christmas morning. And we were able to get our annual 'Girls only matching jammies' picture.

Dec 25 Christmas Day at my house for 12.  Same son and his wife made Christmas breakfast for us.  It was awesome!

Dec 26 I DID NOT LEAVE MY BEDROOM!!! I am totally serious.  Matt took care of the little girls and I just hung out and watched tv, played FB games and de stressed.  I slept through breakfast but hubby brought me lunch and dinner.  By the next day I felt like I could face the world again,

As a result of our 'busy with life stuff' December I didn't have time to get overwhelmed by Christmas preparation.  I still had too many cookies and fudge for the holiday, and we had our silly games on Christmas Eve with scratch off lotto prizes(that I sent son, Mattie, to buy on Christmas Eve day and he had to go to 3 gas stations to find one that still had Christmas themed lottery tickets) and it's not like anyone suffered from lack of food over the holiday.  Christmas Eve and Day I was actually present in the moment instead of fretting about the next thing to come.  I wouldn't recommend that particular method to enjoy Christmas but it is what happened this year.  

Getting to know you, getting to know all about you. From The King and I.

My daughters are Chinese. But you knew that, didn't you. 

All three were born in China and came to us at different times in their lives. 

Serenity was 11 months old. Belle was 19 month old. They were just babies and as a result are ethnically Chinese but culturally American. 

Betty-June is 7. For 7 years she lived in China. She is both ethnically AND culturally Chinese even though she is an American citizen. 

What does that mean?  It means things are easier for everyone if I keep that in mind and let that be part if OUR lives. It means learning to make congee (http://m.wisegeek.com/what-is-congee.htm) so she can have something familiar for breakfast or lunch. It means finding Pleasant Goat on YouTube for her.  And it means cutting her a lot of slack when she gets out of sorts because everything is so different. 

As time goes on she will become more culturally in line with us and we will become more inline with her. She isn't the only one changing. All the girls are counting in Chinese and English and Chinese words pepper our conversations. Belle likes Chinese dumplings for breakfast and will laugh along to Pleasant Goat.  

All our lives are enriched. It's an exciting time to be on Team Dailey. 

From me to you.

Dear Chinese Adoptive Parent,

While in China,

I give you permission to:

1. Eat junk food you never would at home. 

Maybe you are vegan/paleo/whole food/lo carb/insert way of eating here. When you are in China it is ok to hide out in your hotel room scarfing down Pringles and twinkies. They call it comfort food for a reason. 

2. Watch tv shows you would never (admit to) watch at home. 

If it is in English and makes you less stressed go for it. Eating cup 'o noodles for lunch while watching Korean soap operas with English subtitles is ok. 

3. Overpay for souvenirs. 

Sometimes you can bargain, sometimes not. I personally am not very good at bargaining. I try, get a little discount and both the merchant and myself feel like we won. Plus how often will we be in China? I need that ( insert tacky item here). 

4. Think China is wonderful/weird. Probably at the same time. 

They call it foreign for a reason. Just remember they are older and bigger than us. 

5. Overpay for convenience. 

Upgrade to a bigger hotel room. Pay for executive lounge privileges. Whatever it takes to get you. 

6. Not wear makeup. 

At home maybe you never leave your house without full on face but on your adoption trip it is full in survival mode. You will never see most of these people again and the rest of the people in your travel group are too jet lagged/busy gazing at their new child to notice. 

7. Use or pass up a squatty potty. 

I promise you we all feel the same way about them. There is no judgement either way. 

8. Take food from the breakfast buffet for later. 

Yes that is a banana in my pocket. 

9. Ask stupid questions. 

We were all wondering the same thing probably. 

10.  Talk to strangers in elevators. 

        If you get on an elevator and see a Caucasian family with an Asian baby it is perfectly acceptible née even expected to make small or not so small talk. You have joined a very special fraternity enjoy it. 

11. Think you got the best kid in China. 

You'd be wrong because I got the best 3 in the whole country but go ahead and think that. 

One day left!

Today is our last day in China!  Tomorrow morning we leave the hotel at 5:30 am(5:30 pm for those of you at home) and take a van to Hong Kong. 

For those of you who know my sister, we tease her about having carcalepsy. That is if she is a passenger in a moving vehicle she falls asleep, almost always. Her namesake(she and Betty-June dare the middle name Dareline ) has the same syndrome. Unless we are on the bus with other kids she fall asleep. Hopefully tomorrow will be no different. 

3ish hours to the Hong Kong airport then we catch a flight just before noon(midnight) for Chicago, go thru customs and immigration and then on to Pittsburgh. Once we land in Chicago. Bett-June will no longer be a citizen of China but an American citizen. And Hallelujah we will be almost home!

And that is all possible because we had our consulate appointment yesterday morning. My girl was dressed in red, white and blue for this monumental occasion. The appt itself is a tad anticlimactic. About 50 parents crowd around an officer behind a window and take an oath. Then we are called up one by one give them our paperwork folder, then go to the first window again and get fingerprinted again. Then you leave. That's it. No flag waving, no Star-Spangled Banner, no John Phillips Sousa, not even any John Denver. But it gets the job done. 

Last night she and I went on the Pearl River Cruise with our group. Ya, that was an experience. The food was authentic. How's that for PC. Some if it was really good. We had ice cream for dessert. It was purple. One if the other moms and I made a game of guessing the flavor. Sweet potato?  Corn? Turns out it was taro. Close enough. 

Chen Ancestral Hall

Below statue is called Suffering From Indolence

Our grocery stash!

Can only get brighter

So we finally left the orphanage. It should have taken between an 45 min and an hour to get back to the hotel. The most important word in that sentence is SHOULD. 

We got lost. Miko and the driver were both using their cell phone navigation to try to find the way back. I got to see old Huadu village. And by old Huadu village I mean narrow,narrow alleyways. We were in a minivan. The alleys were 1 minivan and 6 inches wide. We were list for over an hour. We did more u turns than a dozen scrabble games. And Betty-June slept the whole time!  Good times, good times. 

Let's see that was Thursday. Friday  morning we went to the Guangdong museum in the morning. It was ok but Betty-June tires pretty easy. 

Saturday she and I went to Shamain Island and did some shopping. Chinese taxi cabs are really fun. And by really fun I mean 'OH MY GOSH, ARE YOU FREAKING INSANE?'  It's not just a drive, it's a near death experience. 

The afternoon brought more paperwork. Want to feel stupid?  Answer this question:

What is the correct way to write the date?

A) September 19, 2014

B) 9/19/14

C) 19/9/14

D) 19/SEP/2014

Answer: it depends and no matter which way you write it there is a 75% chance you are wrong. 

And since I am here solo, Betty-June gets to go with me to these paperwork parties. Fortunately she is an angel and more patient than I deserve. 

Today we visited the pearl and jade market and Chen Ancestral Hall. 

Here are a few pictures from the last few days.