Long time since I've posted

To all those who were/are following our blog, please forgive me for not posting in a while.

It seems that there is no time anymore to do the things we use to do.  From sun up till sun down, it's all JB & Charity time (smile).  I'm lucky if I can stay awake long enough after getting JB to bed to spend some time with Bethany.  I knew that this was going to be a challenge, but not like this.

Don't get me wrong, its not all bad!  These two crack me up in so many ways.  There is not a day that passes that they don't do something to make me laugh.  I'm sitting here now watching them fight over crayons so they can color while I'm blogging.  ALso, today Charity saw me putting my belt on and ran and got hers from her room.  I tried to explain that the pants she was wearing didn't have belt loops, but she put it on none the less.

I had to go to FLorida for the week, and I was quite surprised how much I missed them.  Now that I am home, they won't let me out of their sight.  Its quite flattering to know that they missed me (smile).

I promise I'll write more, but I need to go take care of these knuckle heads before they do something crazy like write on themselves with pink marker (True story).

JB Gotcha Day

Was playing around with some video editing and came up with this video.
Kind of cute.

Home at last

JB & Charity at the playground

We have been home now a week and it truly feels nice. Don't get me wrong; china was a blast and I hope to go back someday, but "There's no place like home"

The kids are adjusting to 2 dogs, a cat, and now they have rules that must be followed. JB doesn't seem to grasp the concept of "Don't hit/kick the dogs/cat", but a few more timeouts and he might get it. They both still do not like nap time or bed time and fight it the best they know how, but eventually... sleep comes. They like to be outside whether its going on a walk or helping me vacuum out the car. They like going places and JB even likes sitting in the car seat. Meals are still a challenge as they don't like to sit at the table and usually only want to eat dessert. Violet found that by bribing them with dessert, they will eventually finish their dinner. Bath time is still fun until its time to wash their hair, then the tears start rolling & the screaming commences.

That is the new typical day in the Bowers' family.

Home: T-2

JB & Charity playing under the bathroom counter.
they didn't think we'd catch them (laugh).

Today was a rather slow day, but important non the less.  Today we went to the US Consulate office for the kids' Oath and Interview.  Tomorrow we get their travel visas and then we're headed home!  When we got back from that, Violet and the girls went back to the island for more shopping and JB & I stayed here. JB took an hour nap while I nursed a headache and allergies.

JB & Charity are doing better everyday!  I can't believe these are the same kids we picked up not too long ago.  Charity is still a momma's girl and JB is still a daddy's boy.  She occasionally will let me play with her, but her security is with mom.  Thats fine with me and I am not pushing it.  JB still comes to me for pretty much everything, which is making it easier for Charity to get the love she needs from Violet right now.  We'll get this all worked out when we get home and I have to go back to work.

There are times in the day where I wonder if this was a mistake.  I don't speak 2 & 4 anymore and they both need/want a lot of attention.  By the time I write these, I am exhausted.  Then I see them sleeping and  I remember the funny/cute things they did earlier in the day and I can't think of anything more worth it.  I love my babies!!

Home - 3

We leave for home in 3 days!!!

We're loving China, but its hard on the kids (and us) being cooped up in small hotel rooms. The kids need room to run and play and we need to get away from them (laugh). Its hard to keep them entertained in this type of environment.

Today, we had to go back and get the kids TB tests checked and they came out okay. We spent the rest of the day on the island shopping and hanging out. It was a great day. We brought along the little outfits that we had bought for the kids and snuck into the White Swan hotel. We had to hunt around for the red couches and when we found them, there were a bunch of older Chinese gentlemen sleeping on them. We lucked out and 1 of the couches freed up not too long after we found them and I had Bethany go over and lay on it while we put the kids in their outfits. I was very happy that JB didn't fight with us putting his outfit on him and Charity came back all smiles. Of course once we got them on the couch, it took and act of God to get them to smile. If JB was smiling, Charity wasn't... If Charity was smiling, JB wasn't. Guess I'll have to do some Photoshopping (LOL).

Tomorrow we go to the US Consulate to do the swearing in (or whatever it's called) and then the rest of the day is ours. We're thinking of going back to the island to do some more shopping and eat one last time at Lucy's.

Kind of worried about our flight back, because I saw something about a typhoon "Nesat" coming this way around Thursday. We asked about it and our guides said to not worry about it. I guess we'll see what happens.

JB & Charity are doing so good. Charity is trying to say "JB" and he's always looking to see where she is. They still don't like to share all the time, but that's just normal (I think). Charity has been giving me the stink eye ever since bath time. I washed her hair (which she doesn't like) and that was the end of that. I'm hoping she will forgive me in the morning.

I also found my bizarre Walmart pictures. Luckily they were still in the trashcan on Violet's laptop, so I was able to recover them. I'll post them when I get home.

Hope you enjoy the updates and we'll see you in a few days!!

China - who knows anymore

Buddhist monks.... Really?

How do I explain today?

First of all we went to visit a Buddhist temple. I must say that the buddhist temples I'm picturing looked nothing like this. The monks were running around with cell phones and iPods and 2 way radios. I'm thinking of the old Keith Carrodine "Kung Fu" days and Bruce Lee movies. All (or most) of the families in our group had a buddhist monk bless their children. We decided not too, but took pictures of those who did. We also saw some old Chinese people still worshiping like they've done for quite some time. It was cute in a sad sort of way.

We then went to a jade store and had some creepy guy following us around trying to sell us stuff. The stuff he was pointing out was way over our price range and I didn't want it to begin with. After a while it was fun playing cat and mouse with him. While Violet was purchasing some stuff, I just kept dodging in and out of isles seeing if he could keep up. I think I won (laugh).

Next we went to an old residence of some famous Chinese family (Chen/Chan). It use to be a family school from what I think I heard, but back in the 1950's it was taken over by the government and turned into a museum. It was nice & open and quite elegant. Some great displays of some old pottery, carved ivory, carved jade, sild embroidery, etc.

The rest of the day was spent here in the hotel. Violet had a meeting at 1600 to finish up some paperwork. The kids and Bethany and I stayed in the room and played. JB had a better day and Charity is coming more out of her shell every day. Today I heard her try and pronounce "JB". Later in the night while playing with Bethany, she started counting to 3 in English. It was VERY exciting and cute.

I'll try and post some pictures from today's events.

China - Day 15/16

JB giving me one of "The Looks"

Sorry for not posting yesterday. I had all intentions of it, but we didn't get to Guangzhou till after midnight because of a flight delay, then by the time we got to our hotel, got our bags from the luggage handlers, and then got ready for bed... It was after 1:00 am.

Today was a hard day. Rushing the kids in and out of crowded doctor's offices, getting poked & prodded. JB got so mad in one exam, that when the doctor pulled his diaper down to check for possible hernia, JB peed on him (laugh). Then if that wasn't bad enough, because they are over 2, they had to have TB shots. Charity was doing fine until the doctor asked her about her clubbed foot and her hand. At that point she cried so hard. Poor little thing!!

When the visits were over, we all stayed on the island and did some shopping and looking around. Not sure what was going on, but there were models in wedding dresses everywhere getting photos taken. I'm assuming they are models because when they lift the dress to walk, they're wearing leggings or jeans. What I found absolutely hilarious was that the female models were very pretty, but the male models were pretty nerdy looking. I guess if I had been born in China, I may have had more dates in High school (laugh). We stopped by the White Swan Hotel just to see if the red couches are still there. Turns out they are, so some of us are going to go over on Monday and get some photos taken. We got JB & Charity some cute little traditional outfits to wear. If we can't get some good photos here, I'm hoping my friend Keith can hook me up.

We're all ready to come home. We're all on our last nerve and it doesn't take much to get us emotional about something. I love JB & Charity SO much, but I don't know if we're ever going to figure each other out. JB has mostly reverted back to diapers (which was expected and we're okay with that), Charity needs to be picked up and loved like a 2 year old (again, not a problem), but when JB will not go to Violet, and Charity only come to me when she wants to play, it's hard. Hopefully when we get home and can have some room and can start working on more concrete boundaries (no pun intended), we can work out some of these issues.