Dec

18

There’s No Place like home!!

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We made it!! Something like 8 flights, at least 48 hours in the air, about 20,000 miles and countless meals where I hope I knew what I was eating. I would equate this trip to 1/3rd Survivor, 1/3rd Amazing Race and 1/3rd Fear Factor. This trip had a lot of challenges, travel and lets say food experiences. But enough about that, Morgan is home she slept most of the way home. Wish I could say I did that. If we ever do this again it’s Business Class or First Class all the way. We finally made it home around 8:30pm and Morgan quickly got introduced to the cats. I don’t think either the cats or Morgan knew what to make of each other, but this morning seemed to be better. We gave Morgan a quick tour of her new home before we changed her, played a little then watched The Emperors New Groove till we all went to sleep and that didn’t take long. We woke, or should I say Morgan woke up at 4:30 the next morning so we all got up and grabbed some breakfast. Morgan likes country ham; I guess she is a Southern Girl. We played some as we watched the morning news then she got sleepy so I stuck her back in her crib. Becky is sleeping in the bed in Morgan’s room so I took this time to post this message. We want to thank everyone that showed up at the airport to greet us. That was greatly appreciated. When we missed that flight from Chicago to Columbia after Getting up at 4:30am (China time) flying 1-1/2hr to Hong Kong then 14hr to Chicago subject to multiple security checks, Customs, INS, etc… We had about had it and didn’t expect to see anyone but family. Fred, when we saw you at the gate you were a welcome sight for sore and weary travelers, Thank you. Rob, the photos look awesome we can’t thank you enough for being there to take them. Let’s see Mom, Dad, Walter, Ruth, Paula, Bill, LaWanna, Terri, Kim, EmmaLi, Michele, Kathy, Lizabeth, Cindi and Bill you made this a very special welcome home for us. Oh, our first phone call was at 8:37am the next morning, it was my boss wanting to know how to do something on the computer. Thanks; I guess they can’t live without me. Anyway our parents or should I say the new Grand parents (all 4 of them) came over to visit and spend quality time with us; ya right, they were there for Morgan and we knew it. I did bribe my parents in to bringing food. We couldn’t tell Becky’s parents that we finished all the lasagna in one sitting, although I must admit that that idea crossed my mind. Oh, Becky got Bronchitis in China and finally got the chance to go to the Dr. where she got all kinds of good meds. Morgan of course with all the excitement went down late that night and woke early again. How do you tell a 1-year-old Chinese girl that we are not on China time any more? If you know email me the answer in plane English so I can properly explain it to her. When I try to tell her my way all I get is this cute smile with a dimple and I melt. What was I talking about? Anyway, after Becky and Morgan had a 3-hour nap I woke them up with a great idea. We were going on an outing to get some stuff we need at the house. I forgot kids sleep in the car real easy, so we had to keep waking up Morgan. It’s now 1:30am and my plan failed miserably. Becky is trying to rock Morgan to sleep and I have to be quiet and avoid Morgan’s room since I’m a distraction. Do you remember in a past posting where I was boasting that I thought I was a master of redirection? Apparently so is Morgan. I just realized I’m being played by a 1-year-old. Tomorrow is another day maybe I can win one and change the clock in Morgan. There’s no manual for this kid; I looked. We Love you Morgan.
Pete, Becky and Morgan Creighton

Dec

15

Words of Wisdom

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1. If you decide to adopt a child from China and you don’t already have a child, get ready because your life is about to change. I mean really change. I mean really really change all for the better, of course.

2. Get in shape for the trip because you’ll be busy for the next 2 weeks especially if your Gotcha day was difficult for you and your little girl. Oh and let me warn you now, it doesn’t stop when you get home.

3.Remember that when your in China your there to get the child. Becky and I are very adventurous and had to continually remind ourselves that we were there for Morgan and all the touring and sight seeing is secondary. Morgan had pneumonia and we had to turn down a few tours and didn’t get to see as much of China as we would have liked.

4. Use your guide that’s what they are there for.

5. Driving: The Chinese people are nuts on the road so be prepared for anything. FYI while the roadways are some kind of controlled chaos we only saw one accident while there. You get used to it quickly; it’s scary when you realize that you’ve accepted it and ignore it as an everyday occurrence. No you don’t get to drive but just riding in the busses and taxies can be unnerving.

6. Get ready for people staring, pointing and asking stupid questions in China and in the US. The Chinese people were Great on our trip. We would get a lot of thumbs up and smiles when they found out who we were and why we were there, it was a great feeling. I still think Becky and I are the luck ones even though we kept being told that Morgan was a lucky baby. I guess we are all lucky.

7. The children’s hospital in Nanchang wasn’t what we expected. The doctors and staff were Great and the price for the taxi ride, Dr. visit, blood test, drugs (antibiotic and 2 decongestants) and the taxi ride back was around $7.00 US, can’t beat that. Morgan started feeling better soon after our visit. Moral is: If you daughter needs medical attention don’t wait. It’s not like home but it works.

8. When someone says that the food is different believe them. (I’m ashamed to say that we were not as adventurous as we would have liked to have been or should have been.)

9. Power bars, food of the gods. Friends told us to pack power bars because the food is different. We were glad we listened.

10. Wal Mart, KFC, McDonalds and Pizza Hut are some places where you may feel at home.

11. Buy plenty of bottled water, you’ll need it. Drink plenty of water or you’ll pay for it.

12. What ever you do don’t eat the lettuce on your cheese burger; don’t even let them put it on your burger. I was lucky and just felt like crap for a day others weren’t so lucky. Oh, I ate at Lucy’s in Guangzhou and survived others didn’t, be warned.

13. I know of people craving salads in China I craved ice. (Strange but true) Remember you can’t drink tap water and most ice comes from tap water so you can’t have ice in China either.

14. Have a shopping plan. The Friendship store is expensive and you can get the same stuff in Guangzhou for much less. When I say shopping plan I mean have a good idea what you want to buy. The more you buy the more you can try to negotiate off the total price. (We went way off our plan and bought a dress here and there. If we purchased several at one or two shops I feel we would have done better on the price.)

15. Remember Guangzhou is geared to the adoption crowd.

16. Jet lag is a bitch; take your time getting over it. Only time will fix jetlag.

17. When you get home lock the door unplug the phone and let that little girl get comfortable with her new surroundings first. Never forget it’s all about your daughter no one else. Your family and friends should understand. It’s been 3 months since we have been home and is still adjusting.

18. When we got home we forgot that Morgan was Chinese and treated her as an American child feeding her like an American. About 3 weeks after being home we decided to go out to a Chinese restaurant. Morgan ate rice and noodles like a pig. It hit us that when we were in China KFC, McDonalds and Pizza Hut were comfort foods to remind us of home. The rice and noodles were probably the same to Morgan, comfort foods.

Dec

15

Day 12, Comming Home, the Long Day

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* WPG2 CANNOT LOCATE GALLERY2 ITEM ID 514 *Pete was up for 31hrs

Dec

13

Day 11

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Post #7 from China, Last Day in Guangzhou
Well this is our last day in Guangzhou. We just got sworn in at the US Consulate. Now we wait for Morgans Visa then early tomorrow we get on a plane and fly home. I CAN’T WAIT!!! How I long for a cup of ice. Becky has Morgan and her arms are getting tired so I need to go.
Love Ya, we’ll try to post again today.
Pete, Becky & Morgan Creighton

Dec

11

Day 9, fly to Guangzhou

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* WPG2 CANNOT LOCATE GALLERY2 ITEM ID 444 *Post #6 from China, Hello from Guangzhou
We made it. Screaming on take off and landing. We are now calling Morgan the Sleeping Tiger because she can ROAR!!! She was the loudest one on the plane. Wish us luck on the 15hr flight back to the US. I think we figured it out she was hungry and snack food wasn’t doing it. New parents. Wow, the White Swan is nice and the shops are right next door. I’m going to get Becky a massage because she has taken Morgans fussyness to heart. Right now she has been nothing but a pleasure. We saw the Dr again and we are going to go back on Z-Pack. Everyone is mentioning Morgan’s eyes and how pretty they are. Today we ate a Cheeseburger. I never really appreciated just how good a Cheeseburger can be until now. Gotta go, no photos this time, I had trouble uploading. We have shopping to do.
Love you guys and see you the 15th
Pete, Becky and the “Sleeping Tiger” Morgan

Dec

10

Day 8

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Post #5 from China, Last full day in Nanchang
Today is our last day in Nanchang. We picked up Morgan’s passport and Becky is filling out the Visa application while I’m on Baby watch at the business center. Earlier we went to a Kindergarden then to Wal Mart. I know, I know Wal Mart how exciting, you have to go to a Chinese Wal Mart to understand. The people on the street have been beyond nice to us, sure you get one or two that are not happy but most of the time the rest of the crowd shoe them away. I have to admit when they look at someone my size they are in awe. We are not round eyes we are long noses. Right now Morgan is entertaining the staff in the business center and someone is getting restless so I need to go. FYI the pictures we took with our digital camera are way better than the ones we posted, they are just larger. The photos posted are from our video camera.
Love you guys,
Pete, Becky & Morgan Creighton
We will post next in Guangzouh.

Dec

9

Day 7

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Post #4 from China, Thursday, I think
Ok, this computer says that it’s Thursday everyone in our group has lost time. We had our second tubbie and it went even better than the first. Morgan is getting used to us and now is testing us. She crys when Becky tries to change her diaper and doesn’t when I do it. We learned that I need to leave the room if we want Morgan to go to bed. Apparently I’m just too much fun, who knew? We have been wearing Nan’s sweater and hat and Great Grandma’s hat, everyone has been very complementary. Oh, our little porker should fit size 18 months nicely in a few more days the way she has been eating. I don’t think that there’s a food she doesn’t like. We climbed a tower, it’s very famous, I don’t remember what it’s called but it’s famous. Did you know that Nanchang is where the communist revolution started? You do now. Yesterday most of our group went to the orpanage where Morgan stayed until we got her. We stayed behind because Morgan is still getting over penuomia. We’ll let the doctors in Guangzouh look at her Saturday when we check into the White Swan. I know Becky wanted me to say more but I can’t remember what it was. Oh, we also went to porcelen shop. Sorry I can’t think or spell today. I’ll post some photos today if I can. Morgan was up until 11:00 last night it was rough she was really congested. It appears that she is slowly getting better. She is still congested but she is caughing the stuff up and her nose is running. Morgan loves to have her nose wiped, NOT! I’ve grown immune to all her crying fits. We’ve had her 4 days and the kid is already spoiled, but I love her. Wouldn’t trade her for all the tea here (China), ha ha. Hope this post make sense.
Love you guys,
Pete, Becky & Morgan Creighton

Dec

8

Day 6

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Post #3 from China, Very Happy Family
Morgan is everything we hoped for and more. I have to make this quick because it’s costing 1Yuan a min. and the connection is DIRT S L O W. How I long for a 2400 baud modem. We are making friends and having a blast. The food is different here, LaWanna. I never looked at Donkey as a food group. Morgan is getting over penuomia, but eats more than I do. She is about 20 lbs. She is very expressive and smiles a lot. I changed my first poopie diaper and it was nasty, but I survived. We have turned everything into a game and and it seems to work. Did I mention that she is a HAPPY baby. We had a tubbie and that went well. We have had very few crying episodes and the ones we had were short. Morgan can sit up and wack BaBa (Pete) in the face with a stick, I learned quickly. She can’t walk but can stand with help. Well that’s a start and we’ll try to update in Guanzhou where the Inet is cheaper.
Love you guys,
Pete, Becky and Morgan Creighton

Mom & Dad thank you for watching the cats and staying at the house while we are gone.

Dec

6

Day 4, Money & Wal Mart day

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We woke up and missed breakfast trying to get ready for the day. Morgan got to eat but Becky and I missed out. Note: Eat breakfast not only is it the most important meal of the day it could be your only meal or best meal of the day. The rest of the trip I would eat at least an omelet and anything else that appeared American along with toast and orange sauce. They don’t call it orange juice it’s orange sauce. I wanted to get some juice for Morgan so I found a waiter and ended up paying about $10.00 US for a liter of apple juice that Morgan wouldn’t drink. Oh well I tried. Morgan would only eat baby food and some table scraps. She is a pretty agreeable little girl. Today we have to pay the fee to adopt Morgan so we got back on the bus and went back to the Civil Affairs Office. All the families in our group filed back in to the room where we had gotten our little girls. Then Kelly asked one person from each family to come with her to pay the adoption fee. You know we were told about how critical they were about the bills but I never expected what I saw. We entered a room there 2 young people sitting counting money. It was kind of intimidating they were very serious. I had brand new bills fresh from the mint. I even had to remove the original band around the bills to give them the money. They were hunched over the stack of bills counting and inspecting each one. I was kind of irritated that we went to all this trouble to get brand new bills and they still inspected each one for creases and bent corners. God forbid I have a tare in one of them. Once we got through that with receipt in hand we had our second family picture taken for the adoption certificate and one of Morgan for her Passport and Visa. Then we had to meet with an official and declare that 1.) We would accept this child. 2.) That we would treat her as our own. 3.) We would provide a home, food and education for her. That was easy for us, the answer was a definite “you bet your communist A** we do!!!” or “H*** YES!!!” actually we politely smiled and said “yes we do.” I felt like we were getting married to this child, in a way we were. On the desk of this official there were 2 little flags. One was the Chinese flag and the other was red background with I think a yellow hammer, stars and a sickle. I asked what flag that was and our guide had to ask the woman holding the interview. We were sharply told that it was the communist party flag. I was just curious. Everyone there was so serious it was hard for me not to make jokes. This was supposed to be exciting and happy times for us and the girls. I think it was just the way things were. Once again we made a brake for it out of the building child and receipt in hand. Later that afternoon we all piled back in the bus and had our first outing to Super Wal Mart. Everyone stormed Wal Mart like an attack force of commandos with one mission in mind stroller and FOOD!!! Becky and I spotted a medium sized stroller for about $40.00 US. All of the little umbrella strollers were taken by other groups before us. Not a big deal but by the time we left Nanchang I was about to get rid of the stroller because I kept kicking the dam thing, I was too tall. Oh, when we picked out the stroller we wanted one of the Wal Mart employees assembled it right in front of us, pretty cool. Try to get that done in an American Wal Mart. While we waited for the guy to assemble the stroller we were getting approached by people wanting to try out their English. I was lucky to get to talk to two girls I think they were high school age. They spoke pretty good English and I spoke terrible Chinese back at them. I learned quickly that I need to stick with English. This Wal Mart was on the 2nd and 3rd floor of a 3 story building. We started out on the 3rd floor and worked our way to the 2nd where the food was. FOOD!!! Let’s see Pringles, Ritz and cheese crackers, Coke, American comfort food. Then we walked past a deli that I have never seen anything like. If there was a gross food group then most of the stuff in that deli and meat department would fall under that category. Let’s just say you don’t see that at home and you wouldn’t look at it and say “you know some Texas Pete and that ought to be pretty good.” Anyway it was a fun experience, once again with Rock Star attention. When we got out of Wal Mart we noticed a KFC right next to our bus. FOOD!!! We were running late but we managed to get what ever they had already prepared (wings). Those were some dam good wings at the time. When we got back to the room we pigged out on our loot and played with Morgan. That night when we put Morgan to bed in her crib she was very congested. We let our guide know and they said to give her another night and we’ll see how she does. Morgan had a rough night but she slept all night. Note: While I really haven’t mentioned it Morgan was usually hanging on one of those front backpack things facing my chest. Becky’s back is not a strong as mine so I carried her most of the time and Becky kept up with the diaper bag. It worked out really well for all of us. Morgan would sleep a lot when we carried her like that. I think Morgan was happy to have the attention. Also every evening we would boil water one liter at a time to clean bottles and scald our hands and fingers. You really begin to appreciate potable tap water after 12 days of boiling water.

Dec

5

Day 3, fly to Nanchang, Gotcha Day

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* WPG2 CANNOT LOCATE GALLERY2 ITEM ID 299 *Gotcha Day, oh my god it’s really here. Look out world I’m going to be a Dad. We slowly woke and put our check-in luggage outside our door so the porters can get them. Today we fly to Nanchang. We made a video documenting the last time we will be DINKS (Double Income No Kids). We went to breakfast and then met up with everyone in the lobby to get on the bus to go to the airport. I must say we were still in a state of shock, excitement and anxiety not knowing what to expect. Will Morgan cry? Will I cry? We just didn’t know what to expect. Everything was happening so fast we just kept listening to our guides and their instructions, following them around like baby ducks. We stood in line at the airport waiting to get on the plane excitedly thinking will my carry-on fit above in the compartment? No, we were dreaming of our gotcha day moment. Everyone was talking about today and their hopes and dreams. It seemed that half the plane was full of families going to Nanchung to adopt a little girl. The flight was not memorable; however the meal/snack was better than the US flights. When we landed in Nanchung we got on another bus to our hotel. The trip on the bus was along the country side where we got to see rural life in China. Since it was winter everything was tan in color with blue sky above. Becky being an engineer for the SCDOT was interested in how the Chinese worked on their roads. I actually saw hand carts with chipped up concrete from the highway as they were working on the road. There was very little mechanized equipment. Becky took a few photos but in a moving bus it was tricky to capture just what we were seeing. We finally got to the hotel and it was just as nice as the one in Bejing. We were given about an hour to unpack and get ready before we had to get back on the bus to go to the Civil Affairs Office to get our girls. Once in our room we were frantically getting stuff ready for our new arrival. We were armed with diaper bag, cameras, gifts for the orphanage and snacks to win our daughter through her stomach. It was a short bus ride to the Civil Affairs Office. The complex of buildings looked more like apartment buildings than office buildings. We were all armed for the assault on the building to get our girls as we walked to the far building in the back. We were lead up to a room that looked like it was 2 rooms at one time or a one bedroom apartment. It was sparsely decorated with only chairs and a coffee table. We were told that the babies were running late and would be here soon. That gave us time to get ready. Everyone was excited and nervous. Becky and I were the only ones that didn’t already have kids in our group and we were terrified. When the nannies walked in the room with our daughters we all stormed the doorway taking video and photos. Some of the girls were crying and the others were just trying to take it all in. I couldn’t find Morgan and then Becky pointed her out to me. WOW!!! It was really going to happen. We were going to become parents. The people form the orphanage were getting things ready then Kelly our guide started calling out names. I made a deal with Rick one of the other soon to be new Dads that I would film him if he would film us. We were the second family called. I quickly passed our video camera off to Rick and he did great videoing our Gotcha Day moment. Morgan was very calm taking everything in. I can’t even begin to describe the emotions Becky and I were feeling. The orphanage officials checked our passports and then they handed Becky our daughter. It was that simple. We were parents. Morgan didn’t cry or scream. It was almost like she was looking at us wanting to say where have you been? What took you so long? We gave her a rice cracker that she held on to along with her ID badge. We moved back into the waiting room to give other families some room. While we were getting used to each other the nanny that brought Morgan came over and wanted to hold Morgan. We thought we might get some insight to Morgan’s personality but Morgan was getting unhappy. The nanny walked back into the other room with Morgan, Becky and I following. When the orphanage director saw what was going on he said something sternly to the nannies and Becky quickly got Morgan back. That was the only time Morgan was unhappy. During that time I was filming Rick and Teresa getting their daughter Grace. Once I finished that I quickly went to Becky and Morgan. Becky was glowing and other families noticed as well. We moved to the back of the room to get away from everyone because we didn’t want Morgan to start crying. The room was small and it really didn’t matter where we were. Morgan kept her cool the entire time letting everything soak in. I believe that she must have figured that we were ok. Morgan didn’t cry all day. Some of the girls weren’t that happy about their change in fortune. Note: All the girls have settled in and appear happy now. When it was clear that it was all over we made a break for it. They weren’t getting Morgan back and several of the other families felt the same about their daughter. We got back on the bus to the hotel. We were all beaming at least Becky and I were. Kelly our guide told us that there was a grocery store just around the corner from the hotel and she would show it to us. I and several of the other fathers went and purchased cases of water and some Chinese Coke. Becky ran up to the room and stripped Morgan down to see just what we got. Morgan was perfect in everyway. She was happy and appeared healthy. We fixed her a bottle and Becky fed her. We spent the next few hours just marveling at the child we were just given to raise as our own. Not having a clue what her schedule, eating habits were, etc… Morgan let us know some how. Two days later we got Morgan’s schedule and we were amazed that we were already on it. That kid is amazing. We broke down and called our parents in the US from the hotel, knowing that it would probably cost us a fortune. That was just icing on the cake of an already emotional day. We had some paper work to fill out and Becky being the smart one went and filled out the paperwork in Kelly’s room. When Becky got back Morgan had fallen asleep on my chest. She was so content I had Becky take a picture to show everyone. Shortly after that we went to bed we had all had a big day.

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