COMPARE THE DIFFERENCE IN THIS CHILD!!!

Here is Jade on July 17, about 15 hours after she was handed to us. She was 13 months old, weighed 13 lbs., and was 25 inches tall. Look how skinny she was!

This photo was taken on November 11, almost 4 months after the photo above. She was 17 months old, weighed 20 lbs., and was 30 inches tall!

God is incredibly good to us! We are more in love with our little girl than ever.

I will try to post more often. I had lots of trouble posting pictures - and sometimes messages - for a while, but it is working better now. Please check back for updates. I'm going to try hard to keep you up to date.

Theresa

I know, I know, it's been way too long since we have blogged. We are doing very well, despite Jade's recent ear infection, and now what appears to be a cold. She is such a happy baby, even when she doesn't feel well. And her strong will...well, suffice it to say that we have recently purchased James Dobsons book, "The New Strong Willed Child." We are just so happy to have this little girl for our daughter. She is wonderful and loving and sweet. I tell ya, I'm in love with her!

Jade began to crawl about 2 weeks ago, and can make it across the room so fast that we can't leave her for a second anymore. She is walking while holding our hands with great steadiness, and last week took about 4 steps by herself to Jeff, then back & forth between us about 10 times. Then, because of our excitement, she got so excited that she wanted to jump to me instead of walk. She was so cute! I think she forgot about it, because she's only done it once since then. I predicted that she'd be walking by herself by the end of August, but I was wrong.

So, Jade had a hard night due to her cold (and as a result, so did I), and she felt bad enough this morning that I stayed home from church with her. Now that she's had a little medicine and is finally able to nap, I thought I'd post some pictures so you can see how far she has come. Remember how she weighed 15 lbs. when we got home from China? Well yesterday she weighed 20 lbs! Woo hoo!!!

Jade has received her first party invitation from Mia, one of the children adopted in our group. Another couple in our group will be there, so we'll have a little reunion with part of our group. I'm so glad. We've shared the most important event in our lives with them, and I want to see them again. I wish everyone in our group lived closer so we could see them, too. I would especially love to see Patrick, Lianne, and Charissa. They are wonderful Christians, and prayed for us during our frightening nights in China. Patrick is the lung cancer doctor who was part of our "divinely appointed medical team," and he & Lianne are the Chinese couple who translated the medicine so Jade could have a shot instead of another IV in her head.

I'd better get the pictures posted before she awakens. Let us hear from you! We love you all & wish that we lived closer so you could share all of our wonderful little moments with Jade.

I can't get the pictures to load, so I'm just going to post this anyway...months after typing it!

Love,
Trisa

To My Little Jadie Girl From Mommy

"I love you so very much I don't even mind that life made me wait so long to find you. The waiting only made the finding sweeter."
- Ronald Reagan

I hope to post more pictures of our trip to China, our arrival home, and others since coming home if I ever get enough time, but right now I thought I'd post a few recent photos while Jade is napping.

We went to Rochester, Vermont for our nephew Casey's high school graduation 2 weeks ago (what a fun time!). Our last day there, our other nephew Aidan, along with Jacob and Marissa were playing cards. Jade wanted to sit on the floor with them, and they gave her some cards to hold. I love the one that looks like she is actually discarding! You can see Anne's dog, Elbie, in the background. She is the first dog Jade has ever seen. Jade loved her!






Jade's first picnic at Hilltop Park at the mouth of Great Bay, Dover, NH. It was a spontaneous picnic last Saturday. One of those fun times when you stop at the grocery store, pick up some stuff & drive to a park. She loved the water!


After church last Sunday, Daddy got Jade out of the car while Mommy went ahead into the house to fix lunch. Daddy & Jade came in with Jade's first flower for Mommy! I couldn't even get the camera before she had torn off all the petals, so here you can see the stem in her hand! She is one pretty little girl, isn't she?

Jade has Giardia

Our pediatrician's office called us on Sunday afternoon to tell us that Jade's stool samples show that she has Giardia, an intestinal parasite one gets from contaminated water. It looks like I may have it, too. This is something they test babies from China for. I just didn't think she'd have it. She doesn't really show too many symptoms. She's been cutting teeth, so I thought her fussiness was just that, but her teeth are through & she's still fussy. At least now we know why and can treat it. Treatment used to last for up to 5 weeks with a nasty-tasting liquid 3 times a day, but there is a new medication out that tastes good & is taken twice a day for 3 days. Yeah! She started it last night, so hopefully it will be over soon & she will be feeling better again. Despite a parasite taking most of her nutrition, she has gained 3 lbs. since coming home and looks wonderfully healthy! She's filling out well. Take a look at these pix. Finally, I can get some to download again!
This photo was taken a couple of weeks ago. My friend, Carol, brought her granddaughter over to play. Jade is 6 months older than Ella, yet is still quite small.










These two photos are from last week.


This one makes me think of my Aunt Jean! Maybe Jade will be a preacher when she grows up!

Finally, Another Update

Well, life has just been busy. Happy, busy hands & hearts. It seems that every time I try to blog, Jade wakes up & needs to be held. And I still love holding her. Clean towels are piled up on the couch waiting to be folded & put away. Dirty dishes are waiting to be loaded into the dishwasher, but the clean ones need to be put away first. Usually these things bug me to death. Now, well now I just don't care. I'd rather hold my baby.
Jade had her first full check up last Monday and has gained 2 lbs., 12 oz! She's grown 1/2 inch in length. She looks so much fuller and healthier. I thought the doctor said (last time we saw her) that Jade was under the 5th percentile of growth, but she said (at this visit) that she has moved from under the 3rd percentile almost up to the 5th. I wonder how she has survived except for the grace of God. And the strong will that He gave to her. She is determined and persistent, and although sometimes I wish she weren't, I'm sure it gave her the fight to live. So, I am thankful for her strong will.
We were referred to early intervention since she still can't crawl. However, I'm sure she's going to be walking on her own by the end of the month. Her back & hips have strengthened and she is far less wobbly when she walks holding our hands. She can pretty much stand by herself.
It seems that Jade has been saying "Mama" for quite a while and we didn't realize it. It has become more clear, and I love it. She is such a happy baby. When she is really happy, she flails her arms & legs and laughs and laughs. I wish I could put a video of it on here.
Well, she's awake & calling for me, so I must go.
I've had trouble getting pictures to download to blogger since August 1, but I'll keep trying.
Trisa

Yes, we are still alive and kicking!

A couple of days ago, our new friend John told me we hadn't blogged since August 1. I was so surprised! Sorry about that. Life is mega-busy right now and I guess the time has flown by. It's hard to believe that we'll have Jade for 1 month on Monday.
We are all doing well. Jade is making progress every day. She is finally holding her bottle - well, about half the time, but still. When we hold her fingers, she can walk and we can see improvement in the strength of her back and hips. She chatters all the time in her sweet little voice. And she is so much fun to play with. She thinks almost everything is funny. She says, Ba Ba, Da Da, and just 3 days ago started Bye Bye! I think she is actually speaking half Chinese, half English with bye bye because she says something like Bye Jian. She tried to repeat almost everything I said yesterday. She clearly said Lao Lao (my mother), okay, hi, and bye bye daddy. I guess that was her first sentence! She still doesn't say mommy but she gives me kisses, and that's okay with me!
She's fussing, so I must go. I'll try to attach some pictures of China before posting this.
Love, Trisa

Happy Days

I know it's been a long time since I have posted to this blog. I caught Jade's virus and have bronchitis and double ear infections, plus my right ear drum has a slight perforation from our plane ride home. And now jet lag is upon us. Poor Jade doesn't know if it's night or day, but she is still her sweet self.
More and more, as Jade's health improves, we see her personality coming out. She has a great sense of humor, loves music and has good rhythm, she has two hollow legs (eats everything we give her!), and is proving the orphanage's report that she can be stubborn & strong willed. She is so tiny that with her developmental delays, she seems like a much younger baby than she is. I know she will catch up quickly, especially once we begin early intervention, but I am enjoying her baby days. Every day we see changes in her. She can walk while holding our fingers. She gets so excited when she's approaching someone who is cheering her on, and she laughs and laughs. Her laugh brightens the room!! She is just adorable!
Jeff returned to work this morning and Jade and I went with him so we could show her off. She drew quite the crowd of admirers. It was so great, because I used to work there, so those were my former co-workers as well as Jeff's. Afterwards, I took Jade to the Kittery Town Hall where I worked until October '05. Again, the folks ooh-ed and aah-ed over her. Then we went to my mom's for a surprise visit. Two friends who live at her complex came down and we had a ball with Jade, especially with her walking back and forth between us.
Jade can now say "Daddy" in Chinese and English. I say to her, "Jade, say Mommy" and she sweetly says, "Da Da." She is just the cutest!
We were able to go to Harbinger on Friday night. I wasn't sure if Jade and I would feel up to it, but we did and it was great. We planned to go Saturday morning, but Anne's ride kind of fell through, so we took her halfway home (which was good, because Greg was able to meet Jade), and went on to Harbinger from there. We came home yesterday morning (Monday).
I am so grateful that Anne was able to spend Wednesday & Thursday nights with us. It helped us a lot to be able to sleep through most of the night.
Well, I can't spend all of Jade's naptime on the computer. The house is a wreck, so I need to go clean. I want to add pictures, but they are on Jeff's laptop and I don't know how to transfer them. I'll try to get him to do it tonight.
We'll try to post more often now that we are home and settling down.
Love,
Theresa

We're home!

Our travel journey has ended after 30 hours from Guangzhou China to Kittery, ME. What a long trip home! Everything went smoothly through all the airports, and customs in China and the U.S. If there was one important thing to stress about the whole trip it is to plan a long layover in Chicago on purpose. We got into Chicago at about 2 p.m., and we had a layover before our next flight left at 6 p.m. However, we did not realize how long customs was going to take nor that there would be a long wait while the Chicago Customs Officer processed our brown envelope of adoption and Chinese papers to make Jade a U.S. Citizen. We walked away from him at about 4:30-4:45 p.m., and then went through at least two more security checkpoints before getting to our gate a little after 5 p.m. So, it was really good that we had a four hour layover. Other adoptive families in the airport had scheduled their flights closer together, and they missed their connecting flight before the U.S. Customs officer even looked at their paperwork. Anyhow, we're home and open to phone calls, and visits. Thank you all for following our very special journey, and I'm sure that Theresa will add more information to the blog today or tomorrow.

Take care,

Jeff, Theresa, and Jade XiaoZheng Gilman.

More pics

Photo shoots today.

This morning we went to take pictures on the big red couch in the hotel. It is a tradition that adopted babies have their pictures taken together on this couch.

Of course, our little girl was ready for a nap, and NOT ready to have pictures taken or to be left alone on a couch with a bunch of other kids. So she cried quite a bit. We also took pictures on a marble landing in front of the waterfall and flowers in the hotel. That went a little better. We are planning to pack today because we leave for the U.S. tomorrow. It looks like we may need to purchase another suitcase! Although we may leave a few things here to make room in our existing luggage. We'll have to see how it goes this afternoon, and tonight with the packing. We leave really early Wednesday morning, and will arrive home late Wednesday night (due to the 12 hour time change). Thursday and Friday Theresa's sister, Anne will be staying with us to help take care of the baby while we sleep longer to try to get over the jetlag. If we can get readjusted then we hope to drive up to the White Mountains of NH where we have a camp retreat going on with a lot of friends and family. We would like to show her off of course, but jetlag, and Theresa's bronchitis may prevent it. We'll play it by ear. Anyhow, that's all for now. I'll try to upload a few pictures from this morning. Take care everyone, and please pray for us to have an uneventful flight!! Thanks. Jeff (& Theresa)

Well, yesterday was our 23rd wedding anniversary. What did we do to celebrate you ask? Nothing except wish each other a happy anniversary. Our celebration this year was all in the adoption of Jade. We need nothing else. Last night went well. We all slept through the night with 2-3 short interruptions to feed or comfort Jade. Theresa did have a bit harder time though because she seemed to pick up a cold from someone. Anyhow, when we woke up this morning Theresa's cold seemed to have turned into something worse. It turns out that she has bronchitis and double ear infections! And, that she got it from Jade. Yeah!!! Something else to deal with :-) Theresa did go up to the medical clinic in the hotel, and get some medicine so hopefully that will start to help her get better quickly. While we were there the doctor took a look at Jade, and prescribed another oral antibiotic to help her get better faster. Both of them took their medicine tonight without any real complaints.

We did some shopping this morning, and picked up some more gifts for family and friends as well as Jade. It is our plan to take home 17 gifts for Jade so we can put them away, and give her one birthday gift from our trip to China each year. We also picked up some more silk dresses for her. For lunch we went to Lucy's again. Lucy's is just down the street from the hotel, and they serve western food. If you have ever had too much of a good thing then you'll understand that I felt that way over Chinese food about five days ago. I like it, but it doesn't like me! (if you know what I mean). Anyhow, Lucy's has been a nice change although their concept of western food is not quite the same as real western food. This afternoon Jade and I played in the hotel, and took a nap while Theresa went shopping. At 6 p.m. we met some other members of the group, and our tour guide to go out for supper at a cantonese restaurant. It was very good, and I tried another half a dozen dishes that I've never seen before. I had been warned before this trip that it was wise to eat what was put in front of you, and to ask what it was after you had eaten (not before). I've been following that advise somewhat, but the truth of it is that most of the dishes are fine.

After supper tonight we picked up our laundry from a local shop, bought a few baubles, and went back to the hotel. Tomorrow, we go to take pictures on the red velvet couch with all the kids in their chinese outfits, and then we go to pick up their visa's and passports from the U.S. Consulate. The latter should go smoothly! :-)

Take care everyone,
Jeff (& Theresa)

Good Times in Guangzhou

Here are some of my favorite pictures & events from the last few days.

At the airport on our way to Guangzhou, Jade felt it important to call a meeting of the Fuzhou babies present while they waited for their boarding passes.




After arriving in Guangzhou, we had to wait for a couple to arrive from Nanning Province with their new baby, so we sat in the market area & waited impatiently. Xiaohan's mom Jenny bought mini bananas for the kids. Jade kind of looks like the cutest little monkey learning how to feed herself!









I saw these statues on the internet and was hoping I could find them to take this picture. Apparently this is how they think Americans look. We didn't do much to persuade them differently.




Katie, the pediatrician with us, told us to get all the fluids into Jade that we could. The only thing she was interested in at lunch yesterday was Diet Coke. So we hesitantly gave her her first taste of Diet Coke. She actually liked it!









Now this is more like it. Fresh banana juice at the Thai Restaurant. It was really good!



The first time Mommy fed Jade with chopsticks was last night at the Thai Restaurant.










An interesting thing is that the king and queen of Sweden were visiting in Guangzhou when we arrived. We didn't get in until around 9 p.m., and there were fireworks in their honor, so the traffic was stopped and jammed everywhere. We got close to the hotel (White Swan), which is on Shamian Island, and came to a barracade. The fireworks were being set off on the other side of the river - very close to the hotel. It was extremely hot & humid and very late for the babies, so our national guide Rose jumped off the bus, spoke to the policeman, got back on the bus, and they moved the barracade so we could to go through! We were quite impressed with her! And very glad to get into the hotel & get our babies to bed. Seems like everything is an adventure!

Compare these pictures!!

Good Morning! It is Sunday for us, Saturday night for you.

I didn't realize how bad Jade looked the first night until I compared pictures. No wonder we couldn't recognize her! Look at the difference in her eyes!

Our sweet little girl is doing better and better. I fed her noodles with chopsticks for the first time last night. She got so excited when they brought the noodles to the table. She smiled and laughed and banged on the highchair tray! Guess they ate a lot of noodles at the orphanage.

Today is our 23rd anniversary, and Jade gave us the best gift we've ever received - Jeff picked her up & she said "Ba Ba!" which means "Daddy!" She said it every time we asked her to say it. We were so delighted that she actually spoke, and she started laughing and snuggling on Jeff's neck.

Our pediatrician left today for Beijing and will go home on Tuesday. We were a little nervous about being here with a sick child without her, but it appears that Jade is over the worst of it, so I'm sure we'll be okay.

Everyone is going to a Buddhist Temple today to have their babies blessed by a Buddhist monk. We are not going, nor is the other Christian couple in our group. We are not feeling our best today, so we are going to stay close to the hotel. We'll do a little shopping after we find something for lunch.

Please pray for these things:
- It appears that I have caught what caused Jade's pneumonia. Hers was not attended to well enough, so she got far worse than I will. There is a 24-hour clinic here at the hotel and one can buy prescription meds over the counter, so I'm going to get some Robitussin cough syrup.
- Jeff is having stomach trouble and has been for several days.
- I guess we are exhausted. Having your first child come to you very ill will do that to you.
- Our trip home. Jade had a very hard time on the plane from Nanchang to Guangzhou and that was only about an hour ride. We have some children's EarPlanes for the ride home, so hopefully that will help.
- Pray that we will be a good witness to the other members of our group. One couple seems a little offended that we have chosen not to have the Buddhist blessing for Jade. We want them to know that our beliefs are true & sincere, and see that as positive, not as if we are passing judgment on them.
- Most importantly, pray for Jade's continued recovery and that there will be no more problems trying to get her home.

Love to you all - we absolutely can't wait to get home!

Trisa

P.S. Regarding Jade's Visa

One more thing...Jade did get okay'd by the doctors that did her visa physical. So, she did pass. We should be getting her visa in a couple more days.

Update on how we're doing.

Sorry we haven't been updating the blog. A lot has been going on in the past 24-48 hours. We are doing fine, and so is Jade. We are in Guangzhou China, and Jade passed her Visa physical even though the doctors gave us a hard time. They indicated that Jade had severe pneumonia, but after we voluntarily had a chest xray done it was determined that it is mild pneumonia. It was probably much worse a few days ago before we started the antibiotics. So, they have probably done the trick. We are continuing one antibiotic for a few more days, and if she takes a turn for the worse we have another one that we can use. She is doing much better though. She has less of a cough, and is much more alert. We expect a full recovery in just a few more days. She has started laughing, smiling, and even doing a little singing in the past 24-48 hours. A 1000% improvement. We think that now we are seeing more of her real personality now that she is feeling better. When we get home we are taking her to our new pediatrician for a checkup. Over the next three days we are doing a little sightseeing, and then Wednesday we start our flight home. We will be flying to HongKong, then Chicago, IL, and then on to Boston, MA. It's a little weird, because of the time difference we leave here on Wednesday, and arrive home late Wednesday. Please pray that Jade will do well on the trip home. She cried quite a bit while we were flying to Guangzhou, but was fine taking off and landing. Also, pray for us because it will be a longer flight to get home. I think it is 17-18 hours from Hong Kong to Chicago, and then another 2.5 or so hours to fly to Boston. We'll try to update the blog each day of the next three days.

Jeff (& Theresa)

Ni Hao!

Ni Hao! (Nee How) Good morning!
Zheng Zheng hen hao bao bao! (Prounounced "Jung Jung hun how bow bow".) This means Zheng Zheng is a very good baby. She really is. Even while feeling so bad, she has been so, so sweet.
Jade had a good night. She's coughed a bit, but the cough sounds much less rattle-y and she hasn't woken up at all. In fact, she's still sleeping. She's so cute. Sometimes her feet are sticking out through the slats of her crib and you can only see blanket & feet.
Besides Jeff having a little stomach trouble, we are both doing very well physically. And, despite the hard parts of Jade's illness (the frightening hospital, the abandoned babies at the hospital, etc.), this is a wonderful trip. China is beautiful & peaceful, then dirty & frightening, then old world & new world. It's really good that we're able to experience as much of Jade's country as we are. It's good for when she asks questions about China later, but it's also good for putting everything else in live into perspective.
Well, Jade's up & we've bathed her & we're about ready to go to breakfast, so we'll post this and hope it makes sense, unlike the last few I've been half asleep through.
LoVE YIOU ALL - THAnks for you caring and prayers (and orating!). Jade is helping me type!
Trisa, JADE, & jEFF

Another Update on Jade

Now that Jade (Zheng Zheng as they called her at the orphanage - pronounced Jung Jung) has gone to bed, I can write a few words before falling asleep.

First, I have to say that I was wrong in my last post. I said we did not need an orater. Then I opened an email from my brother Michael. It was the most beautiful & loving prayer. I was so moved by his words that I couldn't read it to Jeff. After reading the prayer, I said, "Well, I guess we did need an orater after all! Click on comments under "Orater Needed" and read his beautiful prayer.

So, here's where we stand at this time. Katie conferred with the lung cancer doctor & ER nurse in our group and recommended that we give Jade the rest of her IV meds in the form of a shot.

God has shown Himself present in this situation in many ways and I am so grateful that He is with us. Here are some of the incredible "coincidences" that have occured.

When we had our first visit & IV at the Children's Hospital Sunday night, they sent all of the medicine in powder form & IV bottles of saline home with us. Each time we go in for an IV, we hand them the meds & they mix them & do their thing. This morning, Katie thought that we might be able to mix them in small amounts, so Jeff looked up the weird-named medicine. It was hard to find, but they found it. She looked at the medicine bottle & couldn't read the Chinese.

About then, a couple in our group Patrick & Liane came in to see how Jade was doing. Patrick is a lung cancer doctor & did his first 2 year residency in pediatrics years ago. And, get this - Patrick & Liane are Chinese! So they translated the medicine bottle for her. Then Liane told me how they are Chistians!

Not being pharmacists, neither of them knew what amount to give an infant, so they went to consult with Meredith, the best friend of one of the women in our group. The reason for that is that Meredith is an ER nurse! This is what she does all the time and she knew just what to do & how to do it!

So, they mixed up the medicine & all three of them came in to give her her shot. We had our own little medical team present. Jade screamed and got real mad, and when it was over, they handed her to me and she went to sleep within 5 minutes. It was so good that she was able to have a good amount of sleep-time.

Around 1:30, Jade woke up & needed a bottle. I thought she felt hot, but taking her temp showed 97.6, so we went to get a bite for lunch in the restaurant downstairs. She began to droop again during lunch, so we left early. We got back to the room & cleaned up her messy diaper and found her to be very hot. So, we took her temp & it was 102.2. I lost it while watching the numbers get higher & higher. Katie came and helped us make some decisions and we decided to try things her way instead of the Chinese medicine way.

Katie is not alarmed by this situation and feels confident that Jade will be well soon. Before writing to the blog tonight, Leanne called reassuring us of their prayers. She also gave me 3 scriptures to look up. I am just amazed that all of these people really care about us, especially Jade.

The phone just rang a few minutes ago, and Liane was calling saying that she & Patrick had just prayed for us and reminded me that when we call on God, He hears us and promises to help us. The Lord is so good. He knows the kind of help we need, and He knows way ahead of time, so He has everything in place before we even know it. Liane also gave me some scriptures to look up. They were on an old piece of paper in her Bible that had fallen out just after they prayed for us.

I am about to fall out of this chair because I am falling asleep so I'll have to write more tomorrow. Thanks for your prayers & for being orarters for us!

Love,
TB & Jeff