waiting for xiao mei mei

2010-05-13T18:16:00.001-07:00

One Last Post...

2010-01-09T13:17:00.001-08:00

Visit us at www.thepotterplace.blogspot.com

2008-08-19T21:07:00.000-07:00

Two blogs is about 2 more than I can keep up with right now - so I'm going to keep everything on thepotterplace blog - we'll see if I can even keep up with that.

Abby - 3 months in Utah

2008-08-19T20:42:00.000-07:00

We've been home officially 3 months now and Abby is doing so much better. She is smiling more and even laughing some. We're seeing little bits of progress every day and everyone just adores her. We went to a family reunion at Cherry Hill last weekend and she really enjoyed the water.

She does the little outstretched arm thing whenever she wants something - thus alleviating some frustration for her and us since she can communicate what she needs rather than just crying. Overall, she is doing so well. She is not growing too much - maybe a pound or so - we'll find out the official numbers at the Dr. this week. We're feeling so blessed and grateful to have her in our family it has been an amazing ride.

A few weeks ago she started doing a little scooting thing to get around and just this last weekend figured out how to crawl on her hands and knees - I'm sure she'll be walking in no time and it will be almost comical watching this little tiny thing walk. We'll have to do a video when it happens.

Since I'm not doing well at keeping up two blogs I think I'll end this one and just attempt to keep up our other family blog. Please visit us there at www.thepotterplace.blogspot.com I plan to do general updates about the kids and the adventures that we're all having. Thanks again for following along and for your kind comments.

2 months...

2008-07-20T22:12:00.001-07:00

Well, I'm not sure if anyone is reading this blog anymore since I pretty much fell off of the edge of the blogging world for awhile. I have been meaning to post but when I go to blogger the log-in page is all in Chinese characters. It did that when we went to China and has never changed back. So that has delayed me a bit trying to figure out how to get into this blog again.

Abby has been home for just over 2 months now. It has been an interesting transition. First, I must say the kids have been amazing. They all adore Abby and have been completely loving and supportive to her as she tries to accept and attach to our family. They look forward to seeing her each morning and Hannah can hardly stand to leave her alone long enough to take a nap. Today Hannah asked why we only have one baby and can we get just 3 more??

My job has been trying to help Abby "attach". My dear friend Cyndie wrote a very insightful post about attachment - if you want to understand it better read this - www.dobsondaily.blogspot.com
read the post titled "Blogging is down, attachment is up" July 17. You can also read her following post for a sweet attachment experience. Really you should read her whole blog about her experience in China - she had some incredible experiences and shares some insights that are so touching. (I need to figure out how to do links right - can anyone help me with that?)

As for us, we're still attaching. Abby actually is probably attached to me - but she is insecure. She's a bit anxious at times and so we're still working - fortunately for me, my friends Cyndie and Melissa have coached me over the phone and we'll be spending some time with them soon to figure out how we can help Abby feel more secure and safe.

I've had visions of cute photos with my girls in matching dresses - but as you can see above - Abby is totally NOT going for it. If I am in the room and not holding her she is TICKED! Actually things have improved in the last 2 weeks so maybe soon I'll get my cute photo. She is liking the kids and Shawn enough to allow them to hold her for short periods of time. I'll post more soon about summer fun with all of the kids.

Home at Last!

2008-05-21T21:04:00.001-07:00

Isn't that adorable?? Our cute neighbor made this banner and it was hanging in our house when we got home. I think I'll keep it there forever. (Thanks so much Laura!)

My apologies to those who've been waiting to see if we made it home safely. Yes, we did and we're just trying to recover from jet lag and continuing lack of sleep. I'm typing with one hand as I hold my sleeping baby in the other. This "spicy" little girl packs a big punch. She screams whenever I try to set her down - even when she is sound asleep. I recognize this is a good thing for attachment purposes - just not for laundry, dishes, and anything else purposes.

The flight was, thankfully, pretty uneventful. We were fortunate enough to get the bulkhead seat with this cool bassinette thing they screwed into the wall in front of our seats. Abby was happy playing in there while we ate and she even slept in there. She was so tired and cried for at least 1/2 hr and then Shawn put her in there and closed the top, as I protested loudly, and she instantly closed her eyes and went to sleep. I couldn't believe it. I had to keep checking if she was breathing. She only slept 3 1/2 hrs but it was better than nothing.

Our kids were over-the-moon excited when they finally saw us coming. They were waiting on the corner jumping up and down - I'll try and post the video. The photo isn't great - (I'm plannning to take more when I come out of this sleep-deprived brain fog.) They were so excited after almost 3 yrs of waiting I think they didn't believe me anymore. They crowded around her all night and they still can't get enough of her. She likes them as long as I'm holding her but she's not too excited about them holding her yet. I keep telling them she'll get there. She is starting to smile more and more and even laughs a bit..

I took her to the Dr. yesterday and she weighed 14 lbs. She is eating well so I imagine she'll pack on some weight quickly. I'll post more photos with the kids in the next few days. Thanks again for following along and for the many many kind words.

Last Day in Guangzhou

2008-05-16T08:22:00.000-07:00

Today we visited a really interesting Buddhist temple and then went to the Sun Yet San memorial hall. Our guide gave us an interesting lesson about Chinese history and I'm too tired to post the photos. This afternoon we wandered the streets of Guangzhou outside of the normal American tourist area. We found a store with bottles and bottles of snake wines. Our guide told us it is good for you - ya right! The most novel bottle was one that made the list of the 10 craziest Chinese foods - snake penis wine. Enough said.

I love watching the ingenuity that these people have when moving materials by bike. This isn't the biggest we've seen but pretty impressive. Don't try this at home.

I play for the BNA. Officially licensed material available at very good price.

How cute is that?? So far we haven't found any shoes small enough but today BINGO!! and for only $1.30.

I felt like I was walking through National Geographic again today. I didn't want to be rude and take too many photos right in peoples faces but there were many teeny little shops on the side of the street with people like these ladies making or selling things. This lady was sitting behind her sewing machine chatting with her friends. Many people were napping - anywhere they happened to stop in their shop or on the sidewalk - whatever.

Well, we're packing up. We leave the hotel tomorrow morning at 10:00 am and will land in Utah at about 4:00 pm, assuming all goes well. Pray that it will since I think if we get delayed I will be sobbing hysterically as I try to convince the airline employees that I need to get home NOW.
I have mixed emotions about taking Abby from the culture of her birth. It is an amazing country with such a long and fascinating history. It will be a whole different world for her with us - hopefully someday we can bring her back here to see it for herself. On the other hand I'm thrilled to bring her home with us. I hate that my happiness is only possible because of someone else's heartbreak but I do believe it is the best for Abby or we'd never do it. So to Abby's birthparents whereever you are - Thank you for this wonderful gift - we promise to love and take care of her forever.

We'll post more when we get home and get our heads back on straight - we're planning to video the first meeting of Abby and the kids so we'll post it on here.
Thanks so much for following our journey - for the comments, e-mails and the love and support.

Rosa's by the River

2008-05-16T08:12:00.000-07:00

Last night we went with Tom and Amy to Rosa's by the river. It was a lovely setting for a pretty decent meal. Their daughter is Sage and initially she wasn't too sure about Abby sitting next to her but before long she was feeding Abby her little Gerber puffs. It was too cute. They are both adorable little girls.

We were there for a long time because in China they bring you each dish when it's ready - meaning if one thing cooks fast and another takes longer you get it when it's ready. So I'm thinking it was at least 1/2 hr. between the time they brought the first dish until they finally brought the last. That doesn't include the 1/2 hr. we waited for them to take our order. Kind of funny.

We were glad we went there because there was a fun music and light show on the river so at least we enjoyed the wait for our food.

Squatty Potty, Pearl Market

2008-05-16T07:44:00.000-07:00

Wednesday we visited the Chen Academy. It was built by many many members of the Chen family to honor their ancestors. At one time it was a residence but now it houses a museum of local arts and crafts. It was beautiful but I had to attach the above photo. It is a "sqatty potty". No instructions necessary. I'd been told about these and we have therefore avoided bathrooms in public places but our friend Tom showed us this one. Tom is compiling a photo tour of China's squatty potties. He has perhaps 50 photos and they really are not all alike. This is a pretty average one.

This is a famous ivory carving that was at the museum. It is a big ball with 43 (I think) smaller balls inside. It is intricately carved and each layer has it's own designs including a small ball in the middle. They had some unbelievable ivory, bone and jade carvings.

This is one of those teeny paintings on a grain of rice. You have to look through the microscope to see it. Who has that kind of patience??

Our guide Michael took us to the Pearl and Jade markets today. This is one of the shops in the pearl market - there were many many stores with many many shelves packed full of many many bags of pearls. The prices were OK but still not like the ones we got with our friend in Beijing. The jade market was WAY overpriced, like little teeny necklaces for $500 - needless to say none of us bought anything there.

This is Shawn and Tom shopping for Rolex watches with our "friend" Linda. This is the "Lucky House" where we bought quite a bit of junk. We decided a good strategy for shopping here is to make some acquaintances with store owners and then buy many items in one store. That way you can usually get to the best price. For example tonight we were buying a little toy for the boys - Linda said she was out but she would sell them to us tomorrow for 5 yuan. We had to leave so we checked another store who told us they were 20 yuan. So we told them she would sell them to us for 5 yuan and started to walk away and presto - they told us they'd sell them for 5. It is kind of exhasting to compare prices and bargain but you can save some money if you're up for it.

Dr. Visit & Pearl River Cruise

2008-05-15T21:46:00.000-07:00

I've gotten a little behind since this area is so accessible and easy to walk around we've spent much less time in the hotel room. We're heading out for our last shopping afternoon but here is a quick entry.

Abby's Dr. visit when we got here on Tuesday - I think I wrote a little about it but it was pretty quick - maybe 10 minutes. She was rather angry at the nurse who looked in her ears.

On Wednesday evening we went on a Pearl River Cruise. It was a river ferry, dinner cruise. The two bottom levels were filled with nicely set tables (ok - nice linens wtih paper plates) and then there was an upper level to wander around and see the surrounding area.

We sat with our new friends - Tom and Amy from Maryland - who used the same agency as us to adopt their little girl. She was from a different province so we just met them here in Guangzhou. It was so much fun to hang out with them for a couple of days - I had been feeling a little ripped off that we weren't traveling with any other families in Changsha and now I know I was right. Although I suppose it might not have been as fun with just any family we had a great time with them and we laughed a lot.

The photo I attached is everyone racing for the buffet. The only thing I liked on the whole table was tofu in something and some cake that tasted Sara Lee-ish. There aren't many social rules about waiting your turn or standing in line here - it's kind of a survival of the fittest in traffic, airplanes, elevators, etc. Actually when we landed here and the airplane stopped there were people who went running to the front to get out first - we just chuckled. This dinner was kind of like that. I'll post more Pearl River photos later.

Adoption is Final!!

2008-05-15T02:44:00.001-07:00

Today was a great day! Our adoption is final, Abby is officially a US citizen and we can go home now, but we couldn't get a flight until Saturday so we have one more day to support the local economy.

We went to the US Consulate and they herded us into a big room (no cameras allowed). There were 60 babies, 150 plus parents, grandparents, aunts, siblings, etc. and probably 1 dozen guides. Pretty incredible to see all of the babies/chldren with all of the families. Apparently they can process 60 adoption visas per day so they have a swearing-in ceremony like ours 4 times a week. He said last year there 5,000 Chinese babies adopted by Americans, the peak was 7,000 3 yrs. ago.

They had us all wait in line and a lady looked at our passport pictures to make sure it was the right parents getting the right baby. Then we all sang Happy Birthday in Chinese to one of the babies, then we all stood and raised our right arm to swear that everything in all of our paperwork was accurate to the best of our knowledge. We were given her passport and visa and a big brown envelope that we have been told NOT to open and we must give it to the immigration officer at our port of entry.

Whew!!!

Strolling in Guangzhou

2008-05-14T06:17:00.000-07:00

Today Abby would not take a nap so we decided to try a ride in the stroller - her first ever I would imagine. The sidewalks here are actually stroller friendly and the stores even have ramps, unlike anywhere else we've been.
The area near the hotel where we are staying is quite charming. Little tree-lined walkways between the buildings which house shops full of touristy-type items and oodles of salespeople trying to entice people to come inside, "lady, come into my shop, you need some baby dresses?" They literally turn off the lights and sit outside and wait until a customer comes and then they run in and turn on the lights when you walk in. Since the adoption traffic has slowed down so much in the past few years business appears to be struggling a bit.
Throughout this area they have these adorable statues like the one above, cute kids doing various things. There is one of a little boy mailing a letter, a few small children following a lady playing a violin, and then there are others like photographers taking photos and what is up with this?? An non-Chinese looking couple, Dad taking photos, chubby Mom pushing the stroller, baby wearing souvenir Chinese necklace??? I won't take offense - but there is one right next to this one with a really chubby lady in a bathing suit and her dog. I might have to take offense if they're saying that is what we look like in bathing suits. ha ha
We stopped for lunch at the cafe outside the White Swan hotel. First 5 star hotel in China according to our guide. Many adoptive families stay at this hotel. Notice the guy in the background. He was a sweet little old man sifting through the garbage collecting every conceivable item - used and unused plastic silverware, napkins, plastic cups and bowls, you name it. He took my untouched soup (looked like muddy water with chicken parts in it) and set it down next to the garbage can. I even saw him take a receipt off of a tray and put it in his pocket. Sometimes it is easy to forget how good we have it until we see someone else who doesn't.

Our nap strategy worked!!!

Are you my mother??

2008-05-13T06:23:00.000-07:00

I decided I was tired of people asking me if she was a boy or a girl so today there should be no question (thanks Aunt Mabel for the dress and Marilee for the headband - and Hannah for handing them down). But sure enough a lady on the elevator (after Abby had pulled off the headband) said "boy or girl" actually she really said "boy and girl" but we knew what she meant. Is it that hard to tell??

We are happily in Guangzhou today. After the abrupt entry late last night we had a good rest and woke up to a place really different from Changsha. We took Abby to get her Visa photos and then to the medical clinic where they examine all adopted babies for immigration purposes, making sure they don't have any contagious diseases, etc. We found out that she weighs, fully clothed, a whopping 15 pounds. That puts her just under the 25% on the Chinese growth chart and not even on the US chart. She doesn't look malnourished though - her skin is good, she has a little fat on her teeny tiny bones and you can even see some muscles in her arms and legs. She is extremely alert and many people have commented about how "smart" she is - she studies faces and knows who is a stranger. Until just today anytime we were holding her if she was facing out she would turn around and look every little bit just to check our faces. The first few days she would look at us and cry - which broke my heart but she doesn't do that anymore. She doesn't like to be held facing in which we are working on - tonight I tricked her by having a toothbrush in my mouth and she was so fascinated she forgot to push away so I'd have to hold her facing out. I'm sure it will come with time.

We spent some time walking around this little place called Shaiman Island. All of the American families who adopt babies from China have to come to this place because they have to go to the American Consulate to get their baby's Visa. Thus, the shops, hotels, and restaurants all cater to adoptive families. There are many many shops within walking distance with good prices - we didn't buy anything today I just needed to have the overview and then divide and conquer. Oh, if only I had a larger luggage allowance and more money I could really spend some cash here.

Three other great things about Guangzhou:

one, the sidewalks are really only for pedestrians. In Changsha I felt like I was always watching my back because there are bikes, mopeds and cars always driving on the sidewalks. They have big walkways which double as access roads to parking spaces for the cars, etc. but it is totally unnerving to be walking on the sidewalk and have a scooter or car come up behind and honk at you to move - or worse to sail past rather quickly and much too close.

two, we've been to 2 restaurants already that have menus in English and have "normal" food. We went to a Thai restaurant tonight and it was quite tasty. I love to try the local cuisine but some of it was too adventurous (read stomach churning) for me.

third, there are tons of adoptive families roaming around this place. We've been here one day and I've seen some people we met on the airplane to Beijing, people we met in Changsha, and lots of others. The most fabulous thing is that they all have these little Chinese babies (although I haven't seen any as little as ours), and children - even up to 10 years old. It is sad to know that they are all going through varying degrees of trauma as they adjust to their new families but it is so thrilling to know that they have families! It makes me teary to see a sweet little child who has spent their life in an orphanage have 1 to 3 or more doting adults - parents, grandparents, aunts, whoever. It is heart warming to think that they are seeing the same faces every morning when they wake up and having the same people to love and care for them. And although leaving the culture of their birth is sad it is infinitely happier to think of having a family.

And in the midst of all of these children how did we get the child that is just right for us??? in all honesty we really do know how and will be forever grateful since we know Who is ultimately in charge of this process. We are humbled and so grateful to the Father of us all who has seen fit to allow another beautiful little spirit into our family along with the 4 that we already completely adore. We're falling in love with her more every day and it is hard to believe it has only been 1 week since she has been with us. The miracle of adoption.

Earthquake and Frogs

2008-05-13T05:09:00.000-07:00

You've probably heard plenty about the earthquake, but here's one follow up. Our guide worried aloud to us that the government should have predicted the earthquakes better. We told her that it is impossible to reliably predict earthquakes and the only thing you could do is prepare. That led into a discussion about 72-hour kits that we have and she thought the kits were an excellent idea (she phoned her mother to be prepared). Anyway, apparently there is some earthquake prediction by watching animals, as stated here: http://observers.france24.com/en/content/20080513-toads-predict-earthquake-dead-china . There were thousands of frogs moving in an area near the earthquake in the days before it happened.

Earthquake!!!

2008-05-12T09:56:00.000-07:00

First of all, we are fine. I don't know how to do arrows but the earthquake was in Sichuan Province and we were in Hunan province, and are now in Guangdong province -clear in the south near Hong Kong.

This afternoon we were sitting in our room and I felt the bed kind of bouncing. I asked Shawn if he could feel it and he couldn't so I made him come and sit on the bed I was sitting on. He still couldn't feel it so I made him sit right where I was sitting and as I got up to move I noticed the picture on the wall was moving. I told him we need to get out of here.

We grabbed Abby's bottle and our backpack (not our passports - duh) and I walked into the bathroom and really started feeling like things were moving. We left our room and our guide was standing outside with a panicked look on her face and asked if we felt that. She was in her pajamas and put a sweater over it and grabbed her purse.

Now, we were staying on the 30th floor in a relatively new hotel, but Shawn had been wondering since we got here what building codes they had and whether they were adhered to. I just figured the last place I wanted to be during an earthquake was on the 30th floor anywhere - actually it was the 2nd to last place.

The elevator door opened and a few panicked looking guys were in there saying "hurry, hurry" so we got on and started heading down. The elevator started down and then stopped and a bunch of people crowded on (I was going to do a post about the difference in personal space that the Chinese have but lets just say they are OK with twice as many people on an elevator than we would in the US). So there were so many people the door wouldn't close and a light went on that said "overload". A few people got off and then we went down to the next floor and repeated the same scenario. This happened on several floors in a row. Now, I was getting a little panicky - I'd like to say I remained calm but the thought of being trapped on an elevator with a bunch of people who didn't speak my language in the middle of an earthquake gave me a feeling of sheer terror for just a minute or two. So when the door would open on the next floor I would say - "no it is full - no more people". It didn't even register to me until Shawn pointed it out later that it said "overload" in English so they didn't even know why the elevator wasn't working. Once we started moving down I was still a bit disconcerted as I watched hundreds of people pouring out into the streets from our hotel and the high buildings nearby.

I started thinking about the fact that there are 7 million people in Changsha - we're talking a city the size of New York or London. We saw a lot of old shabby buildings that I imagine would collapse with a lot less than a 7 point earthquake. I also started thinking that there is probably no emergency plan or resources for such a situation. An earthquake is always a scary thing but in a foreign country is a little much for me.

They were all jabbering on their phones and looking nervous, looking at the buildings. Our guide said all of the circuits were busy so we couldn't find out what was going on. We walked down the street where there were not quite so many tall buildings and she finally found out there had been an earthquake in another province. I found it a bit of a relief since it explained the tremors but she was rather freaked out. She decided we needed to change our flights which were scheduled for tomorrow morning and come early to Guangzhou - the last stop on our trip. So we waited for her to get Abby's passport and some other paperwork and she made arrangements so we could leave and we headed to the airport for a 10:00pm flight. We arrived here safely and Abby is now sleeping -she didn't sleep on the airplane but she slept on the way from the airport to here and then screamed for 1/2 hr. when she woke up.

I'm so sad to hear of the terrible devastation in Sichaun province -it is heart-wrenching to think about it. I'm also very grateful that we are here safely and we did not have to experience a major earthquake today.

So ya wanna be a rock star??

2008-05-11T00:33:00.000-07:00

You might want to start at Window of the World in Changsha. People have been staring at us ever since we got here but this is the first place that they run up and ask if they can take our pictures and if they can be in a picture with us.

Crowding around taking photos of Shawn and Abby

Class of 13 yr. olds whose teacher came up and asked if they could take a photo with us - our guide told them she is our manager and they would have to pay 2 yuan each. They looked a little surprised and then she laughed and told them she was joking.

still more - probably high school age.

This woman came up to us and asked if she could take a picture of us with her son. We said sure and then she had him take one of her with us. She stayed around for a minute and asked a few questions - how old is the baby, where are you from, etc. and then the little boy told the guide he wanted to ask us a question. He wanted to ask us "Who is Jesus?" We told him, through the translator, "He is the son of God" then he wanted to know if we knew about Adam and Eve. I was so surprised that he would even know anything about Christianity. The Mom said that he learned it in school - he's only 7 so I'm not sure if it was a world religions class, or perhaps western civilization, really unusual and surprising for a 7 yr. old in China. He also asked why do we celebrate Christmas? We told him that Christmas is the celebration of Jesus' birthday. Christmas is somewhat fashionable here - not Christmas as we know it but there are Santa Claus pictures in really random places and banners that say Merry Christmas. We saw 2 at the place today - one on a Western Fast Food shack - big Santa head stuck on the sign, and then on another building above a doorway - Merry Christmas with a Santa head. We've seen those in many places since we've been here - even available for sale in little markets. So today I said a heartfelt prayer that someday that little boy will get to know who Jesus really is.

We told them about our family and he bent over and said "FIVE"? He couldn't believe we have 5 kids - we showed them the pictures and then he told his Mom he wants to have 3 brothers. He said - it would give her more chances, one of them would make her happy. We visited with them a bit more - oh, and he wanted to tell us a joke. Our guide translated for us - There was some chicken poop and his friends at school put their hands in it. Ha ha ha - he thought he was pretty funny. I guess little boys are little boys wherever they live and whatever language they speak.

First merry-go-round

2008-05-11T00:15:00.001-07:00

The only ride we went on while at "Window of the World" is this double-decker merry-go-round. It was pretty cool - the bottom level wasn't working so we rode on top. It was a nice, sunny day today - Abby's not liking the hat. Can I just say how grateful I am that we are here in the spring and not in the winter or summer? It has been nice to be able to go out and walk around and enjoy the surroundings without being too hot or too cold.

Notice everyone gawking and taking photos of Abigail. We had to wait in line for about 15 minutes and I counted 4 other kids below the age of 16 the whole time we were waiting. They don't see babies too often.

She didn't seem scared or unhappy on the merry-go-round. But if she was really enjoying it she didn't want to let us know.

Mt. Rushmore, no, Egypt, no

2008-05-10T23:16:00.001-07:00

We decided to hop on a plane today and fly to Mt. Rushmore,

no, really, we are in Egypt looking at the pyramids

just kidding, we're at Easter Island - gum gum dum dum.

Actually, we visited Window of the World in Changsha China.

We couldn't find a church of our faith to attend here in Changsha so we thought today would be a good day to visit a nice park or something. We found some pictures in a book in our room and asked our guide what is this? She seemed a little suprised and asked if we'd like to go there. We said, sure. We were scheduled to go to the zoo today and we didn't want to so this seemed like a better option. We got there and saw this pyramid and lots of people around some large Egyptian, Roman and Greek statues. It was after our guide bought the tickets and we started asking more questions that we realized we were at an amusement park!! Not quite what we were looking for but we decided to take a look around.
They had many replicas of things from around the world - pretty amusing. They didn't have many rides but it was fun to see the people.
They had their version of the Swan castle - see above - not quite like the Disney version but it was up on a hill and made a nice photo op.

Capitalism is alive and well in China

2008-05-10T06:30:00.000-07:00

The entrepreneurial spirit and the profit motive are truly alive and well here in this communist country. I found the salespeople more aggressive in Beijing "lady, lady, try this, it is no problem, lady, lady" if you so much as looked at someones wares they would practically chase you down the street asking your best price. But here in Changsha there are stores, markets, street vendors - you name it, everywhere you go.
Above is the market place where we went shopping today. It looks like an abandoned warehouse but there are shops outside and inside full of every conceivable thing. Apparently it is a wholesale market for retailers to get their goods. We bought some Chinese New Year decorations for a fraction of what we would pay in Utah, and I even found myself a flat iron for $3 - since my other one got fried the first time we plugged it in. We'll see if this one fries my hair.

Anyway, it was really interesting and lots of fun to bargain shop. Oh if only I had more luggage and a bigger luggage allowance on the flight - oh, and more money too.

Abby Shasha

2008-05-10T06:11:00.000-07:00

Our little Abby is still a pretty somber girl. She didn't smile much today but she did show us some of her spicy little temper. They say Hunan Province is known for their spicy food (I can attest to that) and their spicy girls. She certainly fits the bill. When we lay her down in her crib for a nap she stiffens up and clenches her fists and screams and screams. She makes sure we know that is not acceptable.

It has been really interesting to watch people as we walk around this area near our hotel. Everyone stares at her, at us. Some come up and try to talk to her and get her to smile (no such luck) and others just stare at us. A few ask us why we're adopting a baby from China - and if they find out we have 4 more at home - why would we want another??? Today Shawn answered "because we're foreigners and we like to eat them". Our guide told us that before China opened up to foreign visitors they never saw foreigners and she was told that they eat children so they would always keep their distance. I was afraid the storeowner might not see the humor but our guide said - it was OK, she thought it was funny. Our guide was also told as a child (and believed) that foreigners had such hairy arms they had to move the hair away to see their watches.

It's hard to imagine this country 30 yrs. ago. It has been through some incredible changes - it seems as though people are happy with the changes and the increased opportunities that more openness and economic freedom have brought to China. There are signs of progress everywhere, cranes, construction, and entrepreneurs on every corner. I find it all so fascinating.

The Driver

2008-05-10T04:14:00.000-07:00

If you ever go to China don't even think about renting a car (I'm not sure if it is even possible to rent a car). But what you do need to think about, assuming you don't want to rely totally on public transportation, is finding a Driver. This is our driver in Changsha. His name is Mr. Jong. He drives the Toyota van-looking thing you see here. It is decked out with blue fabric teddy bear, lace-trimmed seat covers. He has been a driver for 20 yrs. He wears his suit, drives us where the guide tells him, waits for us - for any length of time - and then drives us somewhere else.

The amazing thing about drivers, this one and the driver who took us around in Beijing, is that they have an uncanny ability to judge precisely how much space they need to get around or through various obstacles. I tend to avoid parallel parking and I have trouble pulling into my garage at times because I'm never quite sure if I'm going to bump something when I get really close. These guys are able to judge how much space they need to change lanes in the middle of tons of traffic, maneuver through motorscooters, bikers, other cars, and pedestrians, and to park in places that surely aren't meant for parking. Just yesterday a pedestrian was walking in the middle of bumper-to-bumper traffic - not even at the corner, mind you - and she just kept crossing - one lane at a time. She approached our lane and Mr Jong kept inching forward and she kept walking in front of the car. She barely missed the bumper and as she passed by his window he reached out and popped her on the head! She snapped some unknown comment back at him in Chinese and we just sat there in amazement.

Each time I see a bike or pedestrian barging out into the street I gasp, thinking for sure this is the time I witness a horrible accident. And each time they make it through without incident. One guy was so close walking next to our car that the umbrella he was holding over his head scraped the car.

This is a whole new experience in traffic. Shawn said if we would eliminate a few simple rules our traffic would be just like theirs.

First - no such thing as jaywalking. Cross anywhere, anytime.

Second - no right of way for pedestrians in crosswalks, or anywhere else except red lights.

Third - turn right or left, anytime, except on a red light.

I think there are others but literally it is amazing that we haven't seen more accidents. Just one little fender bender and I've gasped out loud several times we've been so close. And here we are carrying our little tiny baby because there are no car seats or seat belts. We make sure we pray for safety every morning.

A few of Abby's favorite things - after 3 days

2008-05-09T03:08:00.000-07:00

My sister reminded me that I'm leaving out some important details about Abby. We've had her just over 3 days but I'll try and give you a little more info. This may be too much detail for many of you so feel free to skip if you wish.

First - from what I'm told it is pretty normal to take a few days or even much more to recover from the shock of being placed with a new family. Having said that, I'm pretty sure that she is still in that process so I'll share what we've seen so far.

Her favorite toy is a little photo book that we made with pictures of our kids. I'd like to think that she loves it because she is so so excited to have a new family and wonderful brothers and a sister to love and grow up with - but to be honest, I think she likes the feel of the slick plastic on the outside. She loves boxes with plastic around them, little bags of crackers or fruit snacks, not to eat just to play with and hear the crinkly sounds and chew on them.

She loves bubbles. We bought some bubbles and she really gets a kick out of it. She doesn't like to get her diaper changed.

She seems to cautiously like the bathtub. She is quite squirmy and she about went under the first time in but she seems to enjoy the water and hasn't cried in the tub.

She finally drank 4 ounces of formula today after we bought a new Chinese bottle at Wal-Mart. Hurrah!! She likes bananas, rice and noodles - in microscopic quantities of course. She likes congee, the rice soupy stuff they feed babies here, and yesterday she was quite pleased to eat French toast at breakfast. And tonight at dinner she really liked steamed pumpkin and dates - well, just the pumpkin.

She likes to clap and she shakes her head "no no" and will copy when we do it too. She says da da, ma ma, ba ba, and what sounds like ya. We're not sure exactly what she means but it is cute. She has a sweet little voice and makes some happy sounds when she is being held.

She especially likes to be held and have us walk around. She can sit up but tips over occasionally, she can't crawl and can't stand. She isn't too fond of headbands with little bows on them but she looks oh so cute with them on. She sucks her thumb occasionally and hasn't been too fond of the binky we bought at wal-mart in desperation yesterday.

And finally, that terrible standing baby trick that Shawn does with all of our kids. He claims she likes it but as you can see she didn't this time. She just woke up so she doesn't like anything at all right now.

Embroidery factory...again

2008-05-09T02:51:00.001-07:00

For those who have done any embroidery or sewing I just had to add a little bit more about the Hunan factory we visited. Read the previous post first.
They take one thread of silk and split it into up to 150 teeny tiny threads - can you imagine? I have a hard time taking that DMC floss and splitting it into 3 or 6 pieces.
See how the color lines are very distinct in the petals. Notice how the colors blend and look very life-like. There was a statue of the lady who invented this type of embroidery and some of the work she'd done. Maybe that is old news for those who have done a lot of embroidery but I was rather impressed with my jr. high skill level.
This is an embroidery of Deng Xiaopeng (pardon me if I spelled it wrong). They did it after he died and they were trying to make it look like a photograph - and they did. You can't even tell until you get very very close that those are little teeny threads. So remarkable that there are women (they are all women) who have that kind of patience.

Hunan Embroidery Factory & Museum

2008-05-09T02:25:00.000-07:00

Hunan Province is famous for their embroidery - our guide told us that in the past all girls learned to embroider when they were young and if they were very good they will have a better chance of getting married. Their work is unbelievable. Many of these pieces took several women years to complete. The above is 2 sided. The panda and the tiger are sewn onto the same piece of silk - you can't even tell. It is incredible - it looks like an art museum because they all look like paintings until you get very close.
This is the part of the "factory" that we were allowed to see. It is owned by the government and these women are making gifts for the Olympics.
This is the pattern for the gifts they are making.

I'm sure the finished piece will be enormous because they are only working on one section of it. We visited the gift shop and they had lots of beautiful things but they are very expensive. We bought a small picture for Abby so she will have a souvenir from the province where she is from that she can enjoy when she gets older.

The rest of the day has been rather uneventful. We were going to visit someplace outdoors but it was raining too much and then we thought about going swimming here at the hotel but the water didn't pass my temperature test - I'm a fair weather swimmer - has to be warm water.

"Waiter, there's a chicken foot in my soup"

We ate lunch at the hotel for the first time - we were trying to get steamed eggs for Abby since we've been told that is what kids like. So we went down and scanned the menu for anything edible. I thought I'd seen it all but this menu had "preserved donkey with garlic" and then "stir-fried intestines". We opted for some chicken dish that looked like chicken and peppers with some rice on the side. When it arrived I went to take a scoop with the ladel and there was a complete chicken foot in the ladel. I quickly lost my appetite. Shawn searched the pot for some edible chicken and found a little. He also found a black chicken foot. We were told that the Chinese like their food whole - the whole fish - head and tail and all, I can't remember why but I guess that is why they gave us the whole chicken.

And grand total for 2 small bottles of evian - $7.00 plus 15% gratuity. Cheaper than immodium but thank heavens for clean tap water at home.

"Gotcha Day" Video

2008-05-08T02:55:00.000-07:00

I can't figure out how to get the video on this blog but here's a link to the video on You tube. I hope it works.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RnhXVwSDfjc

Comments, questions, and stray thoughts

2008-05-08T02:34:00.000-07:00

It's hard to see but people have carved Chinese characters - grafitti - into these bamboo trees. I thought it was interesting. I guess some things are universal.

I still can't read anything I post or any comments on this blog. I got an e-mail that said the Chinese govt. has blocked access to blogger for 3 months until the Olympics are over so I guess that explains it.

I can't go back and see what I've posted so if I've left any gaps of information or there are any photos missing let me know. Or if you just have any questions about anything feel free to e-mail me at our regular address. Once again, I can't view the comments so if you want to contact us it has to be through e-mail. Thanks for reading.

Yue lu Academy

2008-05-08T02:17:00.000-07:00

Our sightseeing outing today was to visit the Yue Lu Academy. This was an academy for scholars who wanted to work in the imperial government. It was quite beautiful and interesting to learn more about China during the time of the Emperors. The photo above is of the Confucious Temple within the academy. The Chinese were staunch followers of Confucious and Dao (depending on the Emperor) until the Communist Revolution. Now most Chinese like Confucious again but they don't know much about his teachings because they've been schooled under the communists. Those in government only follow the communist teachings. Most have no religion at all but there are some Muslims and Christians. Our guide told us that her grandfather was in the Communist army and at the end of his life he gave up Communism and became a Christian. "Good for him" I blurted without thinking that perhaps that wasn't appropriate.
When the scholars attended this school they were taught to follow 4 important virtues. The first was loyalty, the second frugality, the third - the character above - was to honor your parents. They were taught to honor and take care of their parents the way their parents took care of them when they were small children. Since there was no social security or really anything for people to rely on for their support in their old age it was crucial for their children to help take care of them. The final virtue was independence - or independent thinking.
I include the above in honor of the upcoming Mother's Day. Everybody honor your parents -especially you Potter children. hee hee

First smiles...finally

2008-05-08T01:57:00.001-07:00

After all of the reading I've done the past few years you'd think I'd have been a little more prepared for this adjustment, meaning Abby's adjustment to being torn out of her world. She has cried a lot and not eaten much and it has taken it's toll on me with the other stresses and lack of sleep. She didn't sleep more than 2 consecutive hours the first night and cried every time she looked at us until today. The first photo shows the closest she got to a smile yesterday and then the other is a real smile that she finally eeked out this afternoon.

Our guide suggested we go and visit the Dr. in the hotel clinic since we started to really wonder if there wasn't something medically wrong with her. She was acting like our kids do when they have an ear infection or some other malady. So about 8:00 pm we visited the hotel infirmary - a small room with a desk and computer. A young girl (looked about 23) in what looked like a stewardess uniform - navy blue suit, short skirt, was there to check Abby. The Dr. stood behind the desk and spoke with our guide - this would have been another good time to know some Chinese - and then she took a small flashlight and looked in Abby's ears. She then got 2 swabs and looked in Abby's throat and stepped back 4 or 5 feet away and spoke with our guide again. They told us to give her some cold medicine and make sure she has more water (can I tell you how many people have told me to give her more water? It has something to do with the yin/yang balance in Chinese medicine - all foods are cold or hot, not temperature though - milk is hot so you need to give them lots of water to balance it out). Then she made me sign the bill - 21 yuan, $3.00. I guess you get what you pay for.

She slept great last night and has been much happier today - not crying and arching her back and looking at us with that sad, empty look. Shawn gave her a blessing and that with sleep and a good breakfast has made for a much better day. She prefers Shawn and as he reminded me, he has always been the one who has had the baby handed to him and I've been the one who has felt bonded and attached to the baby from before birth. So now I know what it is like to have the baby handed to me and have to be patient and take time to create that bond. She is napping peacefully now and I'm happy that she finally smiled and seems to be getting used to us. Our guide keeps saying "she is so smart" she looks at everything and is very alert and attentive. If Shawn hands her to me she looks at my face carefully and vice versa. It will be interesting to see her real personality as she settles in and recovers from the trauma of being handed over to strangers who don't look, smell, or talk like anything she's ever experienced.

Wu-Mart

2008-05-08T01:30:00.000-07:00

I always love going to grocery stores in foreign countries and finding interesting things to taste. But had I not known this was a grocery store I would have been certain we had mistakenly entered the pet store.

First, we were told not to take photos cuz they might think we were business spies - trying to spy on prices, etc. We obeyed on the first trip but when we went there again I just couldn't resist. Our guide told us if we were quick it would be OK. So here you go...

Notice the first photo - fish tank full of fish - carp I think. Some living and the one upside down, not living. Yesterday Shawn saw two fish jump from the top tank into the bottom one. And there were also 2 dead ones on the floor that missed the tank. Those other tanks are full of other fish and crawdads - lots of really big ones.

The next 2 photos are turtles. Yes, turtles. Turtle soup anyone??

Next we have frogs - can you believe the size of those buggers? Our guide told us - you just pick the one you want and they will kill it for you so you can take it home and eat it. We missed the photo of the eels next to that. Tons of them crammed in a tank with water and their little heads sticking out - I thought they were snakes at first. (Oh yes, they eat those too)

Finally, the preserved meat section. It smelled a lot like bacon actually but you could see all sorts of creatures right there hanging preserved for the next hungry customer. Our guide Linda is in the bottom right - more about her later.

I guess people get creative when they are starving but it makes me very grateful that I haven't been there. I thought I was somewhat adventurous in my cuisine but oh no, not at all. We ate at a neighboring restaurant last night and it took quite a while to find anything at all that I could order - boars feet, chicken fingers (literally), ox stomach, etc. Hunan province is known for their spicy cuisine and we did try a beef dish with sweet potato noodles that was way over my spice limit. We ended up eating some green beans with peppers and some dumplings that were pretty tasty. All in all a mind-boggling gastronomic experience.

TWO broken arms??!!!

2008-05-08T01:21:00.000-07:00

I haven't seen the real photos yet but if this was a boy, and he had not one, but two broken arms it might look like our little Benjamin. After a long stressful day with a crying, not eating, not pooping baby we were devastated to hear that Benj. (our 9 yr old) had taken a flying leap off of the neighbor's swing set. Apparently he lost his grip at the worst possible time and made a face plant and broke both of his arms instead of breaking the fall onto his face. Frankly, I'm surprised that with 3 boys this is the first broken arm in the family but the timing stinks. Fortunately he is being loved and well taken care of by Aunt Marydee and cousin Lindsay (THANK YOU!) and he is such a trooper and a very tough little boy with a great attitude. We love you Benj. and hope you get the color of casts that you want, and we especially hope that your arms heal quickly and you aren't in pain. Can't wait to see them. Oh, and we hope you never use those things as a weapon. hee hee

She's officially ours...

2008-05-08T00:59:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, May 7

Today we went back to the Hunan Province adoption office to finalize the adoption with the Chinese government. We had to bring our passports, some other official documents which we had signed and had to put our thumbprint in blood over our signature (just kidding, it was red ink but I wonder if they used to put their fingerprints on official documents in blood - hmmm)

We also had to answer some questions and promise that we would never abuse or abandon her and that we will make sure she gets education. We said yes - we can handle that.

So as far as the Chinese govt. is concerned she is officially our child. Now we wait here for their bureaucracy to process her passport - it is supposed to take 7 days.

This photo is us with the orphanage staff who brought Abby to us. I think the guy on the left is the driver and the other 2 are the nannies. We found out later that she cried the whole way here - we suspected it since she was sucking air when we got her like she was still recovering from a long cry. I think they were in a hurry to get out of there in case we changed our mind.

Nix on the orphanage visit.

The bad news is that we don't get to visit the orphanage. We had requested that we go after we got our referral and they told us we could work it out when we got here. When we started asking about it they kept telling us how it is so far and it would cost a lot of money and I asked if we could take the train and they said no, the adoption center has to make the arrangements and they said we had to take the bus. They also kept saying Abby gets car sick and it would be a 6 - 9 hr. drive each way. Then they said we could go but we coudn't see her room, and we couldn't go inside the orphanage. After we still wanted to go they finally came back and said the request was denied. They said it was because of the virus that is going around and has killed several children in the Anhui province. I'm not sure how that relates but there is no provision for appeal so I guess we're not going. We'll have to get photos from others who have been there so we can show her when she gets older and asks about it.

Abigail Xiaosha

2008-05-06T05:54:00.001-07:00

The official photo in the adoption office.

Eating formula with a spoon???

Oooo Congee, yummy!

I wish I had a better command of the English language, or that we had more punctuation marks, or somehow that I could describe this experience that we've had today. I've been watching blogs and have seen many "gotcha" moments over the last 3 yrs. but how do you prepare for the moment when a complete stranger hands you a tiny little baby that you've only seen a photo of who will now be your child forever??? I don't really know the answer to that but I can tell you that it was (and still is) rather overwhelming.

So that is pretty much what happened today. After our traumatic morning we arrived in Changsha and our guide Linda and Mr. Jong brought us to our hotel. Shawn thinks the view out the window reminds him of Detroit and I think that Detroit must have better air quality. But, nonetheless, our hotel is nice and if we dare cross the street we may find some fun little shops in the neighborhood.

They gave us about 2 hrs and then we went to the Hunan Province adoption office. We walked into an old, run down building and went to the 3rd floor and walked into a little room and there she was with 3 orphanage workers. I didn't see her face immediately so I wasn't sure it was her. Our guide said something so we looked and there she was. One of the nannies was holding her and so she brought her over for me. She immediately grabbed my hair and was fine for me to take her. She seemed interested in grabbing our hair and faces and was pretty content for a while.

She got fussy after the orphanage workers left and we tried to give her a bottle. No go on the bottle but she was intrigued by the Gerber puffs we brought. She cried most of the way back to the hotel and we've spent the afternoon and evening trying to figure out what she wants. We tried to give her a bottle of formula and when she wouldn't eat the guide called the nanny and she told her that she "used to" drink out of a bottle "when she was little" and now she eats with a spoon and drinks out of a cup. So yes, this is a photo of us trying to give her formula with a spoon - I'm thinking we're going to try to train her to take a bottle again soon. She actually ate it better out of a spoon and was pretty happy - I can't believe that is how the orphanage workers fed her milk.

Shawn finally got her to sleep tonight - she seems to like him to hold her with his hand on her tummy - kind of like our other kids when they had upset tummies. I'm sure she's had a long traumatic day and I hope she sleeps all night long. wishful thinking

She is teeny and darling and sweet - we are so blessed to have a new little sister!

Daniel, Benj, Jacob and Hannah - we miss you so much!! We can't wait to come home and bring Abby - she's a teeny little peanut. I think she is about the size you all were at 3 or 4 months! Crazy huh?? We're going to sleep so we'll call you in the morning - which will be the evening for you. Love You All!!! PS She likes the toy we got her at Target.

I'll try to post the videos to you-tube. If it works I'll let you know. love, Mom

Emperor and Empress Potter

2008-05-05T23:57:00.000-07:00

Pretty convincing eh? I'm sure we have royal blood. We look like naturals.

We are now in Changsha - a rough morning but we're getting ready to go get Abigail. We arrived at the Beijing airport at 6:30 am only to find we were at the wrong terminal. Once we rode the shuttle to the right terminal - which is an amazingly huge and beautiful, nicest we've ever seen facility - we got through security and found my wallet with all of our money was missing. So somewhere in the 5 minutes between leaving the security line and discovering it was gone it really was gone. All of our money, Chinese and American, and our traveler's checks were in it. Fortunately no credit cards or passports. We're out about $450 but the police are looking into it. So after that and a delayed flight and listening to Scarborough fair with a whistle and oriental twang over and over I was getting a little grumpy. We sat on the plane next to the only fat man in China who snored like no other. I've seriously never heard anything like it. The usually reserved Chinese people around us were all looking at him and chuckling. It was entertaining.

So we're in Changsha - we're leaving in 10 minutes to go get ABIGAIL!!!

I'll post more later.

Hot Pot Dinner

2008-05-05T23:43:00.001-07:00

We went to dinner at a place that Gayle had marked in the travel book - we couldn't communicate enough with the driver to find out what we were in for so we just went on in. We were the only English-speaking people in the place and I think they were laughing at us.
The waiter kept trying to get us to order some soup and we didn't want any soup but we finally just picked one. They actually bring you the soup and put it on a pot over a flame and then you order other things to cook in the pot - like the meat - thus the insistence that we order soup. I had to take a photo of the menu because some of the choices were bone marrow, ox stomach, lots of mutton parts, and in the bottom left of the photo - sheep genitals! I'm not an adventurous eater when it comes to different animals and their various and sundry parts. Yuck! We opted for some beef and spinach and then you put it in little sauce cup and we chose sesame paste which was good. I'm sure the waiters and waitresses found it humorous to have to come up and show us how it worked.

Finally, for the boys, we've had this conversation about split pants. I had heard that many Chinese children wear split pants. It makes it easier for potty training I suppose - or just general pottying since I think they even do it with little babies. However, this is the only child I've seen with split pants, well and one other after this one. I guess it isn't universal -at least not anymore. For the record, we've actually seen very few children out and about.

Sunday - The Great Wall & Summer Palace

2008-05-05T23:14:00.000-07:00

I think I can post on here now. I just can't view what I've posted or view comments - so feel free to e-mail if you would like. We love to hear from everyone.

Sunday we were able to attend Church at the Beijing branch. The driver dropped us off at this high rise building and we just walked in and wondered how we would ever figure out where to go. We finally spotted a clean cut guy in church clothes carrying scriptures so we followed him up the elevator. We were able to attend Fast and Testimony Meeting so it was really great to hear from different people who are in the branch. What a great thing for us to belong to a worldwide church! We even got to meet Melissa's brother and his wife (I'm glad you told me about them Melissa - if you are reading this). They are there teaching English - how fun.

We left and headed to the Great Wall. Wow! It was a beautiful day - green and fresh from a rainstorm that I was afraid we'd be hiking in but it stopped just in time. We rode the chair lift up the mountain to get to the Wall and then rode the alpine-like slide back down. What a great time! It is such an amazing structure - my Dad's tour guide told them that the builders hiked up the mountain with a brick on their back - one at a time. Unbelievable. I took a picture of Shawn on the way down although it was against the rules and I wasn't sure what the punishment might be so I only got one.

We left there and went back to the Emperor's Summer Palace where our favorite image is this one - Dr. Suess meets the Emperors - we don't really know what this is but it is interesting. Oops the image went to the top of this post.

Tomorrow is the big day!!!!!!!!!

2008-05-05T06:54:00.000-07:00

I'm really frustrated that we can't get blogger to work right now. It worked fine the first night and we haven't been able to access it since. So I'm e-mailing this message home to at least give a brief update.

Sunday morning we were able to go to Church. How great to be clear across the planet and meet together with people of your own faith. I always love going to Church in other places - especially other countries.
We also went to the Great Wall - it was a perfect day - blue skies (which I'm told are rare here), nice temperature and just really beautiful. We rode a chair lift up the mountain to get to the wall and then rode an alpine-like slide back down - what a hoot!
We then visited the summer palace, ate hot pots dinner and then back to the apartment.

Today we did Tianamen Square, the Forbidden City, the park behind it and then lots and lots of shopping. I'll write more later and add some funny photos if we can access blogger.

But the important thing is that tomorrow is the big day. We leave very early in the morning to fly to Changsha and then we should get Abigail shortly after that. I'll figure out some way to post the details and the photos. If anyone knows why it might not be working (we can't access any blogger site - let me know).

We're in Beijing!!

2008-05-03T01:21:00.001-07:00

I'm totally exhausted so I'm going to make this short. We left Thursday evening on a midnight flight to Newark. Arrived 4 hrs. later which was 6:00 eastern time and then had to wait until noon for our flight to Beijing. We got on that flight and then flew about 13 hrs. up over the North Pole (new one for me) and arrived here in Beijing about 2:00 pm. Whew!

We are staying with a friend of Aunt Marydee's. I met her on-line in an LDS adoption group and it turned out that Marydee knew her in NYC. She generously offered for us to stay in her house while we are in town. She lives in a very big nice high rise apartment. We took this photo out of the window. It is straight out of a Dicken's novel - "the best of times and the worst of times" Chinese style.

Our friend has a driver named Shang who is very kind and helpful and speaks almost no English. He picked us up at the airport and then took us to Gayle's favorite restaurant for dinner. We also picked up my Dad from the hotel where he is staying. Yes, my Dad is here in China also. No, he isn't staying with us or even going everywhere with us. He is amazingly independent and just does his thing. He's already scheduled a tour to the Great Wall tomorrow so we may or may not see him. We had a nice dinner though and we should be sightseeing with him on Monday.

First Impressions:

Beijing is all decked out for the Olympics - signs, billboards, etc. everywhere. Also, the traffic here is completely nuts. I can't even watch - people walk and ride bikes right out in the street with reckless abandon. I'm certain their life expectancy must be shorter with all of the close calls I saw tonight - whew~

Well, I am so tired I need to go sleep.... more tomorrow.

Here we go!!

2008-05-01T15:53:00.001-07:00

This is our official Travel Approval from the Chinese government. This, along with a small yangload of other documents are all packed safely in ziploc bags and we are now heading to the airport - hoping our luggage isn't too heavy. We'll post on Saturday afternoon when we arrive and get settled - should be the middle of the night here in the USA.

May 6 - "Gotcha Day"

2008-04-20T21:27:00.000-07:00

Thanks for your kind comments - I haven't been very good at responding this last little while. I so much appreciate the support and kind words.

Not really a fair trade but our agency called yesterday and informed me that we'll be getting Abby on the 6th, not the 7th. So we waited 20 months longer than we had planned and now we'll get her one day sooner than we thought. We'll take what we can get.

The plans are that we leave May 1st, stay in Beijing until the 6th - fly to Changsha in the am and receive Abby in the afternoon. Stay in Changsha until the 13th, hopefully travel to Yongzhou and to the Daoxian orphanage during that week, and then off to Guangzhou and then home on the 17th. Whew! It will be a great adventure! Stay tuned...

May 1 - May 17!!

2008-04-08T09:03:00.000-07:00

Woo hoo!! After many frustrating, annoying hours (I'm not even kidding) we've made our flight reservations. We'll be leaving on May 1, spending a couple of days in Beijing, picking up Shasha in Changsha on the 7th, heading to Guangzhou on the 14th and then home on the 17th. Whew! Time to get packing...

Hunan Province Map

2008-04-04T15:40:00.001-07:00

No news on CA today so I didn't get to spend any time making flight arrangements. Therefore, I was surfing and found this map. Shasha is in Daoxian, Hunan Province. Hunan is in the southern part of China, just north of Guangdong (which is yellow), which is just north of Hong Kong. Daoxian is in the south-central part of Hunan and hopefully we'll get to go there and share some photos.

T.A., waiting for CA

2008-04-03T21:58:00.000-07:00

We got our TA, or travel approval and now we're just waiting for our CA, or Consulate appointment. It should have happened today and it didn't so I'm really hoping we'll hear tomorrow. Once we have a date and time for our CA then we can FINALLY make our TP, travel plans. ha ha Really, we will then be able to finalize exactly when we are leaving and whether we'll be able to go to Shasha's orphanage or not and all of the lovely, mind-boggling details. I can't wait!!!

Update - Shasha

2008-03-27T10:47:00.000-07:00

We got a translation of our referral and I've spoken to some other people who have adopted from the same orphange and have found a bit more info. First, all of the babies in the Dao County SWI are named Yong Xiao something. Yong is the equivalent of a last name and is taken from the name of a nearby town. Xiao means little and then Sha doubled is probably her nickname at the orphanage. I've been told from several people that is how they do it in that orphanage. The other thing I've been told from these people is that they usually have one nanny and 3 or 4 babies in a room so they get attached to 2 or 3 specific caregivers. It is a small orphanage - only 30 babies, all under 2 yrs. old but is nice and has a nice garden, play area. There is also a retirement-type living place as part of the SWI so the old people can hold and play with the children. They are well fed and many have told me it is a "model orphanage".

Unfortunately Dao County SWI was one of the orphanages hit hard by the storms. No wonder I was particularly emotional when I heard about those storms and the orphanages that were in desparate need of supplies. I can't even wrap my brain around the fact that my child was in an orphanage where there was no heat or power for 10 days and they ran out of diapers and food and the workers had a difficult time getting there to care for the babies. Truly mind-boggling when I was moaning about having to shovel snow and it being cold when I go OUTSIDE. Many of the babies are bundled up in those abominable snow-man suits because it is so cold INSIDE. (Don't ask why she has no shoes in one of the photos - don't know about that...) The photos were probably taken in December before the big snow storms.

The description we got is pretty detailed and the pediatrician said everything looks great. She was impressed that we have so much information and that she looks normal in every way. Apparently she is a sound sleeper - we love that - and they even said she has dimples when she smiles. I can't wait to see her smile.

Still no travel appoval but we're hoping to leave April 30 if it all works out and then we'd be able to pick her up the following Monday. Now we have lots to do to get ready.

Yong Xiao Sha!!!

2008-03-03T10:46:00.000-08:00

We got it!!! I can't believe it has finally come - I just got the call!!!

Introducing: Yong Xiao Sha
Birthdate: Aug. 22, 2007
Length: 20 cm.
Weight: 6.75 kg.

Hunan Privince, Dao County Orphanage

I'll post photos when I can figure it out.

Yipee!!

UPDATE (3/04)
We finally got the photos - here she is.

Here's what we know:
She's a deep sleeper (Hurrah!)
She can stand with her hands holding onto support (I'm not sure if I believe that)
Picks up small items with her fingers
Holds blocks
Looks for dropped toy, etc. etc.
Laughs aloud
Knows name (now if we can pronounce it right)
Active
Likes music and toys
Obstinate sometimes (we're used to that)

We'll get more information tomorrow in English so I'll post more then. We should be traveling to pick her up the first 2 weeks of May.

Storms in China

2008-02-05T14:00:00.000-08:00

China is experiencing terrible storms this year that I heard one news anchor refer to as "China's Katrina". Although it isn't a hurricane, the extent of the damage and disruption is similar. There are many orphanages without heat or food. One city has been completely cut off and they showed men trying to shovel the road so they could get coal and other necessary supplies. We don't know which orphanage our baby is in but it is so painful to think of our little baby in an orphanage somewhere without heat or food. Really it is painful to think of any little children in an orphanage under such circumstances...
Half the Sky has updates and a link to donate to their little mouse fund to help with immediate needs. www.halfthesky.org

Referral Update

2008-02-05T13:48:00.000-08:00

The good news is the CCAA completed referrals for LID's through Dec. 27. Very exciting since that means we could be next, or at least next to next. We'll be anxiously watching.

The Process

2007-12-18T20:26:00.000-08:00

This photo depicts international adoption quite accurately. We have had our share of ups and downs in this process beginning over 2 1/2 yrs ago.
In May of 2005 we sent our application to CASI Foundation for Children in Boise, Idaho. We were approved and we began collecting and preparing our "dossier", lots and lots of paperwork complete with fingerprints, a homestudy, and an I-171H (approval from USCIS or the US Govt.). Our dossier was mailed to China on Dec. 15, 2005 and then logged in (LID) at the CCAA (Chinese Center for Adoption Affairs) on January 4, 2006.
So besides redoing some of the paperwork and fingerprints (more $) we've been waiting for the day when we get "the call". When our referral arrives we'll get a call from our agency telling us the basics and then we wait for the Fed-Ex truck to bring photos and more details.
The CCAA has finished matching those with LID's through Dec. 14th so we continue to watch and wait.

Great Poem

2007-12-02T19:16:00.001-08:00

Not flesh of my flesh
Nor bone of my bone,
But still miraculously
My own.
Never forget
For a single minute:
You didn't grow under my heart
But in it.

--Fleur Conkling Heyliger

Why China?

2007-12-02T18:46:00.000-08:00

Why China? you ask. Well, the short answer is, that is where our daughter is. We've been led on this unexpected path and continue to wait for an completely unanticipated length of time for a referral for a little baby from China. We've requested a girl as young as possible and with a LID (log-in-date) of 1-4-06 we are hoping for a referral in March '08, at the latest.