Great kid!

Things continue to go so well with little Melia.  So well, in fact, that I'm forgetting that I'm supposed to be blogging our adoption adventure.  Dare I say, there has been very little that his "disrupted" our lives.  She goes with our flow, eats what we eat, sleeps when the other kids sleep.  What's more, she takes great naps and actually goes down to sleep by herself in her own room without a peep!  Often times we hear her singing through the monitor for 10 or 15 minutes before she falls asleep!

Wow.  One great kid.  Lately, she's been trying so hard to talk.  She wants to tell us so many things, but can't quite do it.  But with the help of baby signs and lots of pointing, we've been figuring it out.

Pool

Took our first trip to the pool!!!

Going so well

As poetic as it would be to leave that last post as my last post, there are still things out there to say.

I didn't want to leave everyone hanging as to how Melia has been now that she's home.  Let me just say that of the 4 children I have, this little girl has been the most delightful and easiest baby during the "first week home".  She doesn't fit any adoption book or story that I've ever heard of.

We've had no issues at night time.  She'll eat anything.  She loves everyone.  She OBEYS mom and I.  (Seriously, what kind of a 1 year old.... that speaks Chinese.... obeys their parents instruction?).  All I have to say is "No-No Melia" and she'll back off of whatever she's doing and move onto something else.

She's not a "grabby" baby, so we haven't really had to baby proof things.  She's not a "oral" baby that sticks everything in her mouth, so again, all the little toys that we've accumulated get to stay on the floor.  (sigh)

An additional bonus is that the other kids seem to like her and have had no problem adjusting either.  Huge blessing!  If anything, they seem to have matured a bit and everybody wants to help out.  A special shout out to Hallie for being such an amazing big sister.

The only one who seems to having to tough go of it is our dog.... of all people.  She has started a "chewing rebellion" that has resulted in many toys being destroyed throughout our house.

Conclusion

I have to admit, that my own blog title has been bothering me for quite sometime.  "Voiceless Orphans".  I almost feel the need to apologize when I give the web address to friends.  "Well," I think to myself, "I made the blog title a long time ago.... before I knew Zac.... before I knew Melia.  Afterall, no child of MINE is an orphan.  A voiceless orphan..... hmpf!

It practically sounds politically incorrect.  Voiceless children, maybe.  That sounds a bit better.  Ryan's children.  That's more like it.  That's what they really are:  MY KIDS.  It's that simple.  They're just ..... my kids.

But sometime recently it hit me:  I realized that MY KIDS were indeed once ... orphans.

It makes me sick.  I don't want to believe it.  I'd rather quickly dismiss it.  It truly brings me conflict.... and confusion.

Friends, there are many orphans out there.  Waiting to be adopted.  The second a person chooses to adopt, these thousands, no.... these MILLIONS of children are immediately touched and transformed into a miracle.  They become someone's KID.

Less than 2 weeks ago, Melia was a distant image in my mind and a photograph on my wall.  Today, she is a miracle and most importantly she is MY DAUGHTER.

I am so thankful for the gift of adoption and want to shout it out to the world that adoption is a beautiful thing.

Thank you for listening to my thoughts.

Home

Got home last night.  We were all so tired that the room was spinning.  Blogging was out of the question.

We were so thankful for the friends and family that met us at the airport.  What a special time.  We had some "event photographers" there.  When we get the photos, I'll post something.

Today, went extremely well.  We took things very easy and tried to just play... and do some unpacking.  Melia is pretty flip flopped with her days and nights so she was a bit tired and moody.  (Hard to imagine)

Nevertheless, we managed a trip to Wal Mart this afternoon.  It went pretty well.  In fact, I've been referring to Melia as, "The chosen one who is to bring balance back to the force".  Meaning that 4 kids actually may be easier than 3 in many respects.  We'll see.

Last Day in Guangzhou

Today was our last day in Guangzhou.  It was strange, but Katie and I both had mixed emotions as our adoption trip is coming to an end.  On the one hand, we are excited to get home, see our kids, see our friends, get back to normal, and start raising Melia Xin Ai to be a Horner.  On the other hand, there is almost a "summer camp" feel here with many other adopting families wandering the hotel hallways and restaurants.  We've made quite a few friends on this trip and we're sad that we won't ever see many of these people.  Also, it's so nice for the kids to all play together and not be judged in the least bit.  Katie and I know that once we get home, she'll get lots of stares.  While we're here, it's Katie and I that are getting the stares, and we're completely OK with that.  But back home....

Knowing that today was our last full day in Guangzhou, we really wanted to make it count.  So we went to the craziest spot that we could think of:  The train station and wholesale market.

Take a look at the videos, b/c words cannot begin to justify the intensity of "the market".

I'm thinking that there were actually some pretty incredible deals, but Katie and I were way too nervous to put Melia down for even one second.  In hindsight, it was a completely "safe" experience, it was just that we weren't really used to shopping with that much pushing and yelling.

It wasn't until I watched these videos that I realized how much I stick out here.  Katie and I really had a laugh.



So I feel as if I should start to "conclude" this experience that has been our China adoption trip.  Tomorrow we'll be in Hong Kong so I may have one last post, but I think after that I think I'll be home before I get another chance to blog.

Certainly, our adoption adventure is only just beginning, but the trip adventure is coming to a close.  I have no doubts that sometime in the future, I will look back to these 2 weeks I just experienced and remember them as some of the most special and significant two weeks of my life.

I have Melia to thank for that.

Thank you Melia.  Thank you for being you.  Thank you for coming into my life.  Thank you for giving me life.  Without you, these past 2 weeks would have easily been "forgotten moments".

More than that, I look forward to many more significant moments that you will provide me by being my daughter.  I love you sweetie.

Great day in Guangzhou

Today was an absolutely awesome day.  ....and jam packed full of activities.  So let's see if I can remember them all.

We started off by meeting in the lobby at 7:40am for our US Consulate Appointment.  This is what we've been sitting around waiting for for the last 4 days, so it was nice to finally do something.

There were approx. 10 other families there and we all took a 45 second oath and then collected some paperwork.  So now it's really REALLY official that Melia is ours.  And she's close to being a US citizen.  One more round of paperwork tomorrow and then we can begin our long journey back home.  (Which includes an overnight stay in Hong Kong.  I'm pretty excited about that.

After our US Consulate appointment (which we weren't allowed to take any pictures) we came back for an early lunch and then an early nap.  Melia wasn't really interested in the nap, so we said, "OK girl.  If you're in the mood for adventure, then we are too.  Let's introduce you to the way that Horner's do things!"

So the adventure began.....

It started with a trip on the Subway.  (Which required two different line changes)

It didn't take long for a local to recognize that we were from out of town.

Although this man was very nice, he successfully bought me two tickets to the wrong Subway stop.  The funny part is that this was our 2nd Subway excursion and I actually kinda knew what I was doing.  Nice enough man, but.....

So here were are on the Subway.  Crowded as expected.  We felt pretty darn cool when we arrived at our destination.  

We wanted to see some more "cool things" here in Guangzhou, but we weren't really sure what to do.  So I went on the Internet and found some thing called:  Canton Tower.

It turns out that the 2010 Asian Games were here in Guangzhou and that the entire area by this "Canton Tower" (which was built in the Mid-1990's) was where the Games were held.  It was absolutely stunning.  I no longer even felt that i was in China.  It was clearly some financial district / downtown part of the city that was just as (if not more so) developed as the United States.  Let's just quit calling China "developing".  I'd say that they are more than on their way.

Take a look:

Here's me feeling like an idiot for walking across the wet paint that they were laying down in preparation for the New Year events.  (In my defense, I couldn't exactly read the sign in Chinese letters)

As luck would have it, it was an oil based paint, so the nice employee took my shoe and wiped off the paint from the bottom of my shoe.  Of course, in the process, he managed to get paint on the top of my shoe!  Hmmm... I guess..... Thanks for helping?

It's worth mentioning that it was here that some tourists stopped us to not just "sneak a picture" of us (which we've gotten used to) but actually pose in a picture with them.  So we all stood there.... like a family.... and took pictures by Canton Tower.  

Note:  There are two tall structures here in Guanzhou.  Both of them are around 110 stories high, but there are two separate structures.  Take a look at the video.  One is a bank (commercial tower), the other is Canton Tower.  Nothing more then a decorative structure..... a really, really expensive decorative structure.

Melia, being the awesome kid that she is, managed to fall asleep in my arms, take a 90 minute nap in the stroller and not even make a peep when we woke up.  In fact, Katie and I walked around for a total of over 4 hours today without a single incident from Melia.  This is one easy going kid.

We returned to the Hotel and let Melia play around at the outdoor play area for about an hour before we succumbed to eating dinner at McDonald's.  Not our favorite place, but it's too close to our hotel to ignore.

After a laid back evening at the Hotel, we ventured out one more time to the Park and then came back to go to sleep.

Up until this point, we've been lying down with Melia during Naptime and Bedtime in order to help her fall asleep and give her comfort.  Tonight, we just put her in her crib and said, "Night Night!"  She immediately rolled over, put her right index finger in her mouth and shut her eyes.

Wow.  Like I said, this is one easy kid.  I can't begin to tell her how awesome she is.  Every moment she reveals another piece of herself that makes us fall in love with her even more so.

Becoming her parents has been such an easy process, that this trip has felt more like a vacation than anything else.