piper didn't share any of her icecream with cormac!!!!

cormac and grandma gwen
brothers

riding the wolves at the MN Zoo

As some of you know the last

five days have been horrible!!!! Last Weds we went to D's office to finish the last of the adoption paperwork. I took Piper to the bathroom and when I came back Cormac had just projectile vomited all over! about 10 mins later I went to change a smelly diaper and when I opened it up, I was shocked to see bloody mucus, instead of a stool. We got x-rays and blood work done right away as we lucky enough to be at D's clinic. They thought that he had a bacterial infection in his small intestine and the trapped gas was irritating and causing the bloody mucus. He had four more bloody diapers that day. He didn't want to eat and so at one point I was using a tiny medicine dropper to put formula in his mouth when he was sleeping. He had at one point a fever of 104 and was sleeping most of the time. Yesterday was our first really good day. We went to the Zoo and he was awake for most of it and drank a lot of bottle. He had some solids today with Grandma Gwen and has been back to his smiley, giggly self. Last night was also a pretty good sleeping night for everyone. Thank goodness!!!!!!

We are home and very sleepy!!!!! sleep hasn't been our strong suit since we've been home. all three kids got sick and have been waking up for mommy and daddy a couple of times a night. That combined with the 1:00 and 4:30 bottles makes for a killer night. Thank goodness D is off from work for the next two weeks. O.K. less talking and more pictures. Or some pictures as the case might be.

We had our AIT appointment this morning at 10:00am. Our guide Fion picked us up at 9:00 and off we went. The AIT building is about 10mins away from our hotel. It couldn't have gone any smoother. The interview guy didn't even ask us any questions. Fion said that was unusual. After our appointment we went shopping at the Taiwan Craft Market. I got a few things for Cormac and a cool picture for our house. I was basically so tired that I didn't have the energy to shop. Yes, you saw it here!!!! NO energy to shop. Little dude woke up every two hours and didn't take more than half a bottle at a time so then he would wake up two hours later. I think the change away from his foster mother is setting in for him. He eats the best for me, but I had taken a sleeping pill last night so D did the best he could. When he is awake he is still very happy and alert. We are still trying to figure out the feeding and sleeping schedule. He likes to be out at about. He managed to catch a nap during the AIT appointment and during the quick shopping trip. He has been loving rice cereal and carrots and some baby crackers that Fion said would be good. We visited the Longshan temple today. Very beautiful. There is a waterfall in the first courtyard. D and I lit some incense and said prayers for him, us and his birthfamily. We headed back to the hotel after that. It is so hot, that we were a little limp. D went out and got some yummy street food for lunch. He brought back oyster noodles, carrot juice and later went out and got an amazing green onion pancake that sadly he can't remember where he got, because I could eat five more. Fion will go to get Cormac's visa in the morning and then pick us up at 1:00pm to leave for the airport. I can't wait to get home to the kids and start our life with five Lee's, but at the same time there are so many places and things we didn't get to see. We promised his birth grandfather that we would bring Cormac back to see them. What an amazing trip that will be!!

What a horrible travel day. I am never allowed to book flights ever again. I was being soooo smug that I had taken care of all the travel plans. I was a knucklehead!!!!!!!!!!!! I thought that the flight out of LAX was at 1:00pm. Sadly, it left at 1:00am, when we were still snug in our beds in MN. D figured out my mistake at about 11:00am and flew into action. Seriously we must have had at least four different flights booked through out the day. At one point we were leaving LAX for Vancouver to Taipei. Then he booked LAX, Hong Kong, Taipei. After that LAX to Taipei on Malaysian Air, but it got in at 10:30am, so we braved the long long long wait and endless line to see if we could get on the EVA air flight that was leaving at 1:00am. We made with not much to spare. We had a mad dash for the gate after getting our confirmed seats. We have basically been up for 36 hours, with snatches of sleep here and there. We got off the flight and got right into the car to drive to Taichung to pick up Cormac. The heat and humidity in Taichung floored me!!!!!!!!!!!! Fion, our guide was teasing me that it wasn't even summer yet. We drove to Cormac's foster mother's house and she opened the door with him in her arms. I recognized him right away, except he looks huge!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He is the happiest baby I have ever met. He was giving us smiles and smiles. His foster mother said he is very easy going, unless he is hungry or tired. I can't get pictures to post, so I will just say, he is gorgeous!!!!!! We were sitting in the lobby of our hotel and he was laughing and cracking himself up. So funny. He loves to laugh. The Born is working out great, he is so curious that he is very content to hang out and watch what ever I'm doing. He naps three times a day and is waking up in the middle of the night for a bottle. I'm electing D for the night bottles. We met with his birthmother and her family and it was such an amazing experience. They were so loving with him and made a point to be very respectful of our position as Mommy and Daddy. We got lots of pictures and video for Cormac to treasure. They asked us to visit the next time we are in Taiwan. We found out that they are from the Ami tribe. It is the largest of the aboriginal tribes. We have our AIT appt in the morning and then it is my only time to shop. Go Cari Go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have to go get some sleep!!!!

Mom and Dad love you Connor and Piper.

O.K. deep breath!!!!!! We are leaving in a little over 12 hours. I'm starting to get a little nervous, so I'm glad the grandparents and Auntie Karen and the Byron's are coming for dinner tonight. I need a distraction. I can't believe I'm going to have a four, two and 6 month old. Yikes!!!!!!!!!!!!

Miss Tough Thang fell in the parking lot















This doesn't look very comfortable


Hey, Whats Tony Stewart doing in our living room?

We got the travel email!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tien our country program director email me today to say that our AIT appt is May 16th!!!!! We will pick up Cormac on the 15th. We have to be there on the 14th. I just about fainted!!!!!! In less than two weeks, I will be holding my baby. Thank goodness I'm done packing for the baby and can concentrate on me and prodding D to throw some stuff into the suitcase.

Oh Happy Day!!!!!!!!!!!! Piper has decided that she will only wear "unders" and so is potty trained!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! One look at a pair of Hello Kitty underpants and she was hooked. D does most of the laundry and lately I've found a couple of pairs of Hello Kitty on my stack. As I'm sure you know, they don't fit me!!!!

Still no word of our 2nd Ruling or travel plans.