Zia jian Taiwan. Xie xie

The family is asleep, and daddy is at the keyboard. We're to be up, dressed, packed, and downstairs in less than 6 hours...but I find myself unable to sleep at the moment. I cannot help but reflect on our time here, and felt compelled to write a few notes for posterity. While I cannot sleep, I am tired, so forgive me if any or all of this is incoherent...or just plain dumb. Thank you.

Have you ever been working on a jigsaw puzzle and you get down to the last piece or two...and you realize that a piece is missing? Yet, you know the piece is there somewhere...you're just certain of it. To me, our family was that jigsaw puzzle, and Ruby was that puzzle piece that was there somewhere, we just had to find it. This week we found the missing piece to our puzzle...and she fit perfectly.

What an amazing trip. Such a long drawn out process that seemed it would never end...followed by a sort of mad dash to pull together a trip that would take us half way around the world (by the way, thank you mommy for all you did throughout all phases of the process) to meet our Ruby.

I can't help but think about being at work when H called me to give me the news. We were in the middle of a class change when I felt my Blackberry begin to vibrate. I looked and saw it was a call from her, and knew it must have been pretty important and I assumed it was news about our house, yet I also knew I wouldn't be able to hear her in the midst of middle school chaos. So when I answered, I merely said "Let me call you right back, we're changing classes." Her reply was inaudible, but I could tell she was crying. I said, "What? What's wrong?" She gathered herself (but only a little), and said "She's ours! We got her!" You couldn't have smacked the grin off my face with a shovel and a rake.

Meeting Ruby, holding her, hearing her call H "mama", watching her play with Bella, seeing her smile...it all brings back that same grin. Our puzzle is complete, and now it is time to leave this amazing place. A piece of me will certainly remain, and a piece of beautiful country and its generous people will go with us as we travel home.

Time for sleep. My last sleep in Taiwan until we return to visit. My last sleep, my last van ride with Mr. Yeh and Alex, my last round the clock travel...all followed by my first night at home with both our daughters.

Smiles

We spent the day at the Taipei Zoo yesterday and had a great time. It was our first time seeing many of these animals including pandas, koalas and rhinos. It was raining today so we hung out in the room and got our stuff ready to go for our trip home tomorrow morning. We leave the hotel at 6am and hope to be safely home about 27 hours later.

Ruby is really coming out of her shell and her smile and voice are so beautiful. She interacted with Bella some today and Bella loves being the big sister. Bella has been a dream on the trip and Ruby is taking a lot in stride. When in doubt, a quick pick up from her Mommy and all is right in the world again. She still won't eat anything other than yogurt and water. We have some packed for the flight but hope that we can find some in Toyko as it isn't going to stay cold for long. We have tricked her with the last few meals by adding rice cereal to it to thicken it up.

I should get back to packing but wanted to share an update on our girls!

Reflections From Daddy

What an amazing journey. It's been so long, that I cannot say with any degree of certainty just when this journey began.

However, I can say that the pain and anxiety over the long road to get to this moment in time has quickly been replaced by absolute elation. Holding Ruby, seeing her smile, hearing her calling H "Mama", watching the interactions between her and Bella...those memories will last a lifetime.

Add to that the beauty of Taiwan...not just the scenery, but the people themselves. Everyone here is so welcoming. Everyone except the one woman in the Rosewood Lounge here at the hotel who gives us grief about "policy" when we ask if we can have a Coke and a Coke Light (a.k.a. Diet Coke) to take back to the room. Apparently the "policy" is that drinks are free as long as you enjoy them IN the lounge. Well pardon us for not wanting to schlep our two young daughters down to the lounge to watch mommy and daddy enjoy a soda. Perhaps if we did that just once during her shift, then she'd loosen up a little on her "policy" stance. I digress.

Our guides, Mr. Yeh and his son "Alex" just might be two of the three nicest men I've ever met (along with "Dennis"...our guide in China). These two men have bent over backwards to make sure that our experience here is a pleasant one. They've rearranged their schedules to accommodate us, encouraged us to try foods that we honestly would never dream of trying on our own, and even helped us haggle a better price on a few items at the local market. All with a smile on their face(s). I wish everyone could have seen the look of absolute joy on Mr. Yeh's face as we were coming to the end of our day today...not because his day with us was almost over, but rather because as he drove us back to our hotel, he heard Ruby in the backseat calling H "Mama". He turned his face toward us, all smiles, and said "Ahhh...mama!!! Baby say mama!"

Now for a few random ramblings in conclusion:

• I am intrigued by the delicate dance that is the traffic of Taiwan. It's obvious to anyone that the painted lanes on the streets are merely suggestions of where one could drive if so inclined...but are largely ignored. We have routinely been 6 cars wide on 3 lane streets throughout our stay.





• I don't think I could get you within 5 miles of a 7-Eleven store ANYWHERE at home without looking up locations online. However, I can walk you to multiple locations all within 5 minutes of our hotel.





• H and I found it amusing that several local buses have large photos on the side which depict men wielding guns. While it is obviously an ad for a movie or television show, we joked that it was all part of the new mass transit ad campaign..."Ride or die"





• Scooters are EVERYWHERE!





• Sumo wrestling is one of those things that once I start watching it, I just cannot make myself change the channel.

Goodnight all. We'll be home soon.

Keelung Village - a coastal town in northern Taiwan

Bella and Mr. Yeh ringing the bell for good luck

Happy Buddha




Okay - so you can't see us so well..but it was more about the architecture

Again, the pictures are coming through out of order...as this is how we started the morning...

Bella and Alex riding a stuffed dog?

Are we starting to see a theme? Its that or my shirts smell REALLY good :)

Mr Yeh spoiling Bella again as she wanted to check out the view across the water

Yehliu Park - amazing rock formations...some that look like various things...

a sandal

the more famous rock - the Queen's Head

sand dollar

Bella, Ruby & Mommy riding the stuffed dog back at Keelung Village

Squid in a local market...and we all ate some...seriously

Gorgeous Daughter #1

Dragon head

gorilla

three more gorillas....I mean us in front of the gorilla...it was really windy and cold so Ruby stayed in the car with Mr. Yeh

Taiwan is such a beautiful place and the people are wonderful. We are so fortunate to have this experience. We will definitely miss Taiwan. We will be back some day!

First Bath

Ruby ate 1.5 yogurt cups today and ~5 bites of rice cereal. We have been alternating tylenol and ibuprofen to help with her teething and I noticed tonight that she didn't fight the syringe so much so I grabbed some water and we fed her syringe after syringe of water....so now she has water in her....which makes us feel better since she had only one wet diaper all day. She had one tonight after all the water and peed in the tub!

After all that food and water, she was falling asleep on us but we wanted to attempt a bath. She actually sat well for it (probably too tired to notice). She even let me wash her hair. I gave her a body massage after bath and got her dressed and she fell asleep while I was getting her dressed. Poor girl..she should sleep well tonight. We are going to the Taipei zoo in the morning. Bella is super excited.

Keep in mind...she is incredibly scared right now...but even still.......she is unbelievably beautiful and so lovable.

Cutting a Tooth

I think we found part of our problem...sweet thing is cutting a molar. She took some infant tylenol like a champ and is resting again. She ate some this morning and is drinking water.

Catching Up

Everyone is asking for more pictures...and I had a chance tonight to post some but I'm afraid there isn't much here yet....and I couldn't get these arranged in the right order so prepare for randomness...

This is a common look for the Rubes and I right now.

We had lunch today at the Hello Kitty cafe...and Bella brought home this little cake for dessert. They heard she was turning 5 soon and gave her a candle to put in it as well.

Bella at Martyr's Shrine

changing of the guards

The Grand Hotel

Gotcha Day and Daddy's Birthday were the same day!! Bella and I prearranged a cake to be in the room when we got back. We got back from getting Ruby and had this cake....it fit the bill as far as going through the motions of a birthday cake but it was pretty awful tasting...reminded us of a fruitcake. Ruby, as you can see, was horrified by it.

Oddly, 30 minutes later, we got a call from one of the restaurants that they sent the wrong cake....so they brought up this one along with a card signed by a good two dozen employees. This one was much tastier!

Ruby...still not convinced cake is good.

The foster mother, Bella and I...Ruby had just been ripped from her and wasn't up for a photo.

Bella and I on the way to Taichung...a lot of jet lag going on

First few minutes at the foster mother's house...

Baby Girl Eats!

I'm sure someday Ruby will roll her eyes over this post and our excitement over this milestone but after 48 hours of refusing to eat or drink, she finally gave in and ate some baby food. We have no doubt she felt like a new girl afterwards. She even played with her big sister on the floor for a few minutes before returning to me to be my human necklace. When she's not sleeping, her favorite spot is clutched tight around my neck and she is not interested in her feet touching a chair or the floor...so I best be standing or I hear it.

I love hugging and kissing on her, no doubt...but my neck, back and shoulders are talking behind my back (HA!) about me...and they don't get what I am doing lugging this little girl around for hours on end.

Hero of the Day

Daddy wins Hero of the Day.

After almost 24 hours of absolute refusal to eat or drink anything, Daddy gets her to drink about 3 ounces of watered down pear juice. This picture is of us getting ambitious and following it up with formula...didn't work. The girl is too smart to be tricked.

She is having wet diapers, so we feel okay for now.

Then Daddy goes to show off by figuring out how to get her to take a nap this afternoon....put her in her crib on her tummy and rub her thighs. She went right out. She also went right out tonight using the same method.

Finally, Daddy is the hero because of a difficult first night, he slept by her crib on the equivalent of a park bench covered with a hotel robe while I slept with Bella.

All three are in bed now and I am attempting to catch up on the computer. The internet here is weak and there isn't any wireless so I can't use our ipad. Despite the fact that I remembered to pack not one but two kitchen sinks, I didn't check to see if the laptop I was bringing was set with Photoshop. Its not...so all I have is Publisher to work with so we won't have all the great pictures to post while we are here. We are taking them though!

Ruby Joy

She's having a tough time...and this is about how she has spent the last ~18 hours. She refuses to eat or drink but Daddy is trying another bottle now. He thinks she took in a couple drops. She pushes away all food and drink right now. She has a paci but refuses it but makes the sucking noise so we know she is used to having one. She doesn't want anything other than to be in a hugging position which is fabulous but at ~25+ lbs, my back and arms are getting tired already.

She finally fell asleep in her crib around 1:30am and slept okay until almost 5:30am with just a little tossing and turning. Bella made it until 5:30 this morning which was improvement over 3am the night before. I think that we probably have Bella through most of her jet lag. Bella is being a rockstar through everything and we are thankful for it.

For all the folks that told us that going from one to two was big....they were right. We feel woefully outnumbered even though it should still be man to man at this point. Each day will get better...the first few are the hardest.

We've Got Her!

Sorry - no pictures yet. She is having a hard time. She is scared to death and she won't eat or drink. We are hoping she will wear herself out. She is glued to me (via the ergo) right now and she will not go for putting down.

Its a Special Day

Ruby Joy....

We have started the morning a lot earlier than we wanted to. Jeg lag is not our friend. Daddy has been awake since 1, your sister since 3 and I gave up around 4. We have been hanging out in the hotel room waiting for breakfast to start. We have been watching an old American Idol marathon because other than the british CNN, its about the only thing in english that we wanted to watch in the middle of the night. We fear how this short sleep is going to feel 12 hours from now once we add you to the mix. Go easy on us....

We will leave to come and get you in a few hours. We are going to ask a lot from our morning showers and breakfast. We are hoping they are the key to shaking off some of this jet lag. Daddy and I are still feeling the sway of the plane. We fight to stay awake past 6 and we carried your sister through the market yesterday while she slept in our arms.

We will give you our best today and always...I hope I don't scare you with the black circles under my eyes.

We love you, baby girl! Your sister cannot wait to play with you. She is likely to talk your ear off. You have been a long time coming and she has been incredibly patient.

See you very soon....finally....

xxxooo
Mommy, Daddy & Bella Rita

The Night Before Ruby...

...and all through the hotel room not a creature was stirring except for the hotel singer and piano player down in the atrium....who I think just took a break.

After a short night's rest....this jet lag is rough...we spent the afternoon at the flower and jade markets and then went to the handicraft mall. I wear a jade bracelet every day that symbolizes, to me, our journey to Bella among other things. I got it in China and wanted something for Ruby as well. I decided that since coral is popular here, I would go that route. We looked at a lot of jewelry and I found a bracelet that I liked and I had them alter it a little and it is perfect...except that the two clang together. I'll have to get used that. I also got Ruby and I coral rosette earrings. Bella and I have a set of pearl earrings. Bella has already talked about how we can all share the different earrings...my little barterer.

Bella and I were also on a mission to add to our teapot collection and agreed on a gorgeous Japanese teapot. When I asked if there were any Taiwanese teapots, we were told that Japanese were the best....okay...The flower market was gorgeous - orchids for miles and there were Japanese peonies that were being shown and they were giant. Just gorgeous. We also picked up some CNY decorations for the new house.

We are getting the room ready for Ruby to come tomorrow. We have a lot of emotions going on - excitement and nerves. We hope for safe travels to and from her foster home and as smooth of transition as possible to us. I would guess we would be back some time Monday morning stateside.

I have pictures from today but too tired to download them tonight....I'll add some tomorrow when we have Ruby pictures to add.

Goodnight from Taipei!

We are in Taiwan!

We landed about 3 hours ago after ~28 hours of uneventful flying and layovers. We are exhausted of course but are looking forward to a good night's sleep.

More later...

Belgium waffles @JFK

Other than Bella and I each having our drinks splash on us....all is well and we are dry again.

Quick Family Update

There is this big gap in our blog and I have good intentions to do something with the journal I have for Bella but haven't yet. I want to do something fun for Ruby too but alas, life is busy and I haven't gotten that quite figured out.

So we will live with the gap, live with that it was created for one but is going to have two on it, etc etc.

After nearly four years of waiting, we are finally bringing home our beautiful Ruby. A lot has happened in that time period including another master's degrees and a job change for each of us. The biggest and best changes have been with Bella. She is vibrant and smart little girl. She is in pre-K and having a ball. She has been reading for about 6 months and cannot put books down. She reads the mail, reads my work emails over my shoulder, reads the grocery list...everything. Funny and scary at the same time. She is enjoying learning new things every day and has a real love for learning which is a joy to see. She loves her art and we are looking forward to creating an art space in our new house.

New house? Yep....flying halfway around the world and back and getting a baby isn't quite enough, we are closing on a house less than a week after we get back. We are moving the next day. We are in love with the house and the neighborhood. We held out for something that was totally us and we think we have found it. It is a 1918 bungalow in the city and we can walk to so many great things. It is cozy but still has the right amount of projects for us to do. Our house is still on the market and we are hopeful that we will get a buyer this spring when people start buying again.

We will be gone ~9 days and hope to post blog updates. We will convert this to a life book for the girls at some point that will include all the well wishes, comments, questions, etc. from anyone who follows the blog so please feel free to post. We do try to keep some sense of privacy by not posting our first names or our family's last name, any indication of where we live or what we do, etc. Call me paranoid, it wouldn't be the first time.

We are thrilled to be bringing home another child and are truly blessed and honored that we get to be parents not once but twice.

Finally....

Nearly 11 months after our referral, we are legally Ruby's parents and have been invited to Taiwan to pick her up. We will be gone about 9 days and we are so fortunate to also be able to experience a little bit of CNY while we are there.

This an old blog and for the sake of time, we are going to use it to document our journey. Many friends and family have asked about following along again...we will try to do it justice...we are out of blogging practice.