We are here!!!
Well, we made it! Wow- I could write a novel, but I will try to keep it short. We did great to Chicago. Brylie slept and Brayden listened to his IPOD. Chicago Airport was quite a treat! After a good ole American breakfast, we decided we better do diaper duty. Brylie decided she was going to give me a treat- a diaper full of diareah. FANTASTIC! Thank god it only got a little on her pants, so after a quick rinse and dry- she was good to go! I proceeded to take Brayden in for a quick change. Poor kid- you would have thought I was beating him. You can’t change him on the counter, and I wasn’t about to put him on the floor, so I held him up with one arm and changed him with the other and my knees. Oh if you could have seen the looks I got when we walked out of that stall! I can’t imagine what they thought I was doing to him! So we are now into the flight to Shanghai. Brylie is sleeping, Brayden and Jason are munching down on what looked like roast. I reach down to wipe off Brayden’s shirt and about died! He has the diareah too! I mean it has leaked out of his diaper, down his leg, up his back, up to his chest! I’m thinking- what in the hell are we gonna do now. After about 10 minutes of waiting on a bathroom to open up, we just decided to change him right there. Those poor, poor souls sitting around us! Thank god I had packed extra shirts, so we just threw his shirt away and washed out his pants as best we could. Brayden was w/o pants for the remaining 10 hours!! Thankfully, the rest of that flight went great! The kids were AMAZING!!! Trying to figure out what to do when we got off the plane was quite a treat! I knew the bus that we needed to take to the other airport, but had quite a time explaining it. These Chinese people go a mile a minute! Remember 8 bags, 2 kids, stroller, wheelchair! We find the bus route, and get in line. Well, lines don’t really exist in China. You push your way through. So basically we got trompled. We get all of our bags on the bus, and are ready to board, only to find out that this bus line is not handicapped accessible. In order to accomodate us, they put Brayden’s chair in the stairway on the bus. Off we go-crammed in like sardines! Now remember, we are all smelling like diarreah and 16 hours of staleness! I’m sure the Chinese are convinced that American’s really smell! Well, I have it in my notes that this bus ride should take 15-25 minutes. An hour into this trip I am panic city!!! Apparently the 15-25 minutes was the interval bt the buses! Okay no sweat- WRONG!!! We get to the other airport, and the driver opens the door. Out goes Brayden’s chair into about 100 people! We try to find our check-in gate now to catch Chinese flight to Qingdao. Obivioulsy noticing our family could not say/read much Chinese, a lady (we will call her Ms. Golden Teeth) offered to help us. She carried our bags, pushed the kids, was really helpful. I’m thinking, “Man, these Chinese people are great!” So we find our check-in counter, wait in line, and start to put our backs on the checked luggage belt. The airline lady says “Wait! Go by ticket for baby, then come back!” She did not care that I had been told by her airline that Brylie didn’t need a ticket- she demanded differently. So I leave Jason and the kids with Ms. Golden Teeth so I can get a ticket for Brylie. After trying to explain what we needed, I was having NO LUCK. They were not going to let me buy one for her. Thankfully Ms. Golden Teeth came over and explained it all to the ticket guy. While I am waiting for them to run my credit card, Ms. Golden Teeth says “I leave you now.” So I thanked her and waved goodbye. She stood there and finally pointed to Jason’s billfold. I smiled and waved again. With a stern look, she pointed to it again. All I had were American $100 bills, so guess what- Ms. Golden Teeth got $100 from Lorie. I finally meet up with Jason and the kids- only to find out that he had already given Ms. Golden Teeth $20. What suckers!!! We get our bags checked, and they tell us that Brayden’s wheelchair and Brylie’s stroller has to be checked there. So they bring us another chair for Brayden to use. Off we go through security. The nice Chinese man pushed Brayden on through. Jason and I are still trying to get through, and I hear Brayden laughing. He had slid himself out of the chair and fell between the footrests and under the chair, and the nice Chinese man was trying to get him out from under it. Oh my gosh- what a sight! Brayden thought that was damn funny! We finally made it to Qingdao at about 9:30 p.m. The staff was very nice that picked us up. They all loved on both of the kids. Funny little thing though. We were SOOO looking forward to showers, but in China, no hot water from 10:00 pm to 8:00 am! So we hurried up and showered the kids, but Jason and I are still stinking it up!!! There is also no operating heat during this time of year, so we all froze last night. I tell you, we American’s sure do take things for granted!!
We met the doctors and staff this morning. Brayden got poked for the first time, but he did great! We found out that he will be getting his first spinal treatment tomorrow. As you all know, we are VERY nervous about that part. Please continue to keep us in your prayers. We love you all and miss you so much! I will post after Brayden’s injection tomorrow.
15 comments April 15th, 2008
