We were trying out the new camera and caught this photo of our girl who was helping us clean up the backyard in preparation for our Christmas Eve party. Its been almost two months since we got our Grace and she is growing so fast!
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Friday, December 21, 2007
Orphanage Days
We have pictures from the orphanage in Fenyi. That's our Grace, in the lower corner, clutching her teddy bear and in her walker. She has her little Pebbles top-knot hair do. We have photos from the orphanage as well, but these amazingly clear ones came from our friends Danielle and Michael, so we are sharing them with you. Next to Grace is her buddy Charlie, who Grace grabbed on the last day in an embrace, or just trying to get to Charlie's mom, who is also named Grace. Then there is Danielle and Michaels beautiful little Surae next to her. I don't recognize the fourth girl, toward the back. From the orphanage photos, we can tell the Grace spent alot of her time in her walker, and all the kids wore split pants, which is what we suspected when he got her. Grace's favorite stuffed animal (this week at least) is a winnie the pooh bear, which looks very similar to the one she is holding.
Grace is walking up a storm and runs as well. The weather has been really cold lately, and Grace just loves it, and wants to go out, she seems to like it especially when the wind is blowing in her face. She is growing a 5th tooth on top, and I think a few more are waiting to pop out. She is doing very well, continues to sleep through the night, and right after Christmas, we get her "legalized" in the state of Nevada, no 6 home visits needed.
We are winding down the blog, but we will continue to post some pictures on flickr. Our faithful Olympus camera, has disappeared, I think somewhere in this very room. I think it heard us talking about us purchasing a new one and disappeared. We do want to harvest its memory cards, and thank it for a job well done, as we purchased it for preparing our dossier 2.5 years ago and it took great photos. But the black spot that appeared in Nanchang never went away, and it was time for another one. Since we are thanking inanimate objects, I'd like to thank Bunny, the stuffed pink bunny by Carters that I bought at Target-- that was made in China, sent to China in Grace's care package, so Grace was holding Bunny when we got her--and then returned back to the US. During our travels in China, there was nothing that Bunny couldn't solve, and Bunny always accompanied Grace to sleep. She slept with Bunny on the way home, so cute in her Korean Air bassinet--people would stop by to coo over her. But Bunny now resides in the corner of Grace's crib, and she now favors Alphabet the Horse, and Winne the Pooh, followed by Woodstock and Peter Rabbit, and a few others. So Bunny will probably end up in the memory box, but it was Bunny who always seems to comfort Grace just at the right time.
Christmas is around the corner! We are expecting 42 for Christmas eve - sort of a repeat of Thanksgiving, except is potluck, featuring Mom & Dad's lasanga and we do a wild and loud gift exchange, with excuiatingly detailed rules dictated by my brother Frank, who in the photo at the very beginning of the blog, (see August) chowing down spaghetti. Photos to follow!
Monday, November 26, 2007
Settling In
It's been over two weeks since we arrived back home in Las Vegas and Gracie is settling in to a routine. One of the activities she enjoys the most is her daily walks in the stroller. We always go out around 10:30 in the morning after it has warmed up some and take at least a 25 minute walk and of course Sunny, our dog goes along as well. Gracie of course has to bring a toy with her and it ranges anywhere from a Lisa Simpson action figure to a a plush Woodstock. We hope during these long walks that Gracie falls asleep for her morning nap but the last couple of days she has enjoyed the scenery too much to do that. During one part of the walk through the green belt there are dogs in the backyard of some of the houses that usually bark but on the days they don't Gracie starts making barking sounds and Marie and I get a big kick out of it. Gracie has also had many visitors and we can't thank those enough who have come by with dinner for us or toys for Gracie, the company is great to have also. Gracie is sleeping well at night but her naps are few and far between lately, but Marie works her magic and seems to get Gracie to sleep anyway. Gracie also loves going out into the backyard and look at the roses or somedays just sit with Dad as he types away on his computer or surfs the net. It's hard to not go onto the Babies R Us website and order everything they have for her but pretty soon I will be putting in a big order for Christmas(can't wait, I feel like I'm five years old again). Gracie also loves playing with all her plush stuffed animals and she always gives them a big kiss saying "MMMMAAAAHHHH!"(too cute). I've got to get to work on planning that trip to Oklahoma, real soon I promise(all you Oklahoma relatives) and I can't wait. Well gotta go. I have to get back to the Babies R Us website. Ciao!
Friday, November 23, 2007
First Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving -40 plus relatives and friends and G'ma and Grandpas house. It was an all carb meal for Gracie - stuffing, yams and potatoes. We were having so much fun we forgot to try pumpkin pie. Some of you may wonder how 40 people can cram into Mom & Dads house -- we use the patio too and even have a TV set up for the football fans.
We started to count the relatives - not counting spouses--and as a baseline number-- Gracie has 8 Uncles and Six Aunts, 21 first cousins, three Grandparents, at least 8 or 9 2nd and 3rd cousins-- (currently living in Las Vegas) --and this gets tricky because I keep forgetting whether a cousin is once removed or 2nd cousin--and several great aunts and uncles, and well, we stopped counting. I think it will be fun to do a formal count a bit later and we'll let you know the total. That's just the relatives!
We started to count the relatives - not counting spouses--and as a baseline number-- Gracie has 8 Uncles and Six Aunts, 21 first cousins, three Grandparents, at least 8 or 9 2nd and 3rd cousins-- (currently living in Las Vegas) --and this gets tricky because I keep forgetting whether a cousin is once removed or 2nd cousin--and several great aunts and uncles, and well, we stopped counting. I think it will be fun to do a formal count a bit later and we'll let you know the total. That's just the relatives!
My bangs are straight!
Rest easy- Grace went to salon to get "Chaddad" and Chadda is a miracle worker. A few snips at the wiggling child- and Tah-Dah! Straight bangs and trimmed tresses. Wonderful! Thank you Chadda!
Monday, November 19, 2007
Patio seating please!
For all you fans of the site, I know it's been a while but we're back. Sorry for the time away but spending time with Gracie is just too much fun. We found out one thing...Gracie likes sitting outside as much as we do. Doesn't that lunch look yummy!! The weather here in Vegas has been great so we have spent a lot of time outside. From walks to lunch and supper it has been outside for us and Gracie absolutely loves it. Sunny loves it too because now Gracie knows that whatever she throws from her tray of her highchair, Sunny gets to eat it and Sunny looks to have gained a few pounds. She won't eat her dog food we give her (that's Sunny I'm speaking of) because she knows that once we feed Gracie she can have something better.
Today Gracie had Matzo Balls which, Tyotya Karen made for us and Gracie loved them(as did Mama and Daddy), they were delicious!
Gracie also seems to notice and hear all that goes on around her. One day she saw me talking on the phone and saying "hello" when I answered it. The next morning she picked up the TV remote, which looks somewhat like a phone and put it to her ear and said "hello" and began carrying on a conversation, she was so serious I had to laugh.
I am now an expert on putting car seats, sorry, Child Restraints in cars now. One, the Britax was very easy to install the other, Eddie Bauer, well let's just say I had a few choice words for it I can't mention on this blog. But they are both in and Gracie will be safe no matter which of our vehicles she rides.
We found out something else, don't always trust your human resources department at work to know how getting someone on your insurance works, but that's another story. Let's just say we have an appointement with a representative for our insurance tomorrow morning.
Gracie also knows how to say and wave "bye bye" and she likes to feed herself and sometimes hold her own bottle. Cheerios has been dethroned as her favorite snack, the new king is Graham Crackers. We now own stock in Nabisco as well as General Mills. Spaghettios is also on Gracie's list of favorites, which is a starter food for all children of Italian parents. She also loves when you hold her and do daily things around the house, whether it's making coffee in the morning or loading the dishwasher she watches intently and seems to ask questions of what you are doing.
Life with Gracie is great!! Can't wait to get her to Oklahoma though. I keep telling her about Oklahoma and she can actually sing most of the State song.
Well that's all for today, we gotta make a grocery store run. Ciao everybody!
Today Gracie had Matzo Balls which, Tyotya Karen made for us and Gracie loved them(as did Mama and Daddy), they were delicious!
Gracie also seems to notice and hear all that goes on around her. One day she saw me talking on the phone and saying "hello" when I answered it. The next morning she picked up the TV remote, which looks somewhat like a phone and put it to her ear and said "hello" and began carrying on a conversation, she was so serious I had to laugh.
I am now an expert on putting car seats, sorry, Child Restraints in cars now. One, the Britax was very easy to install the other, Eddie Bauer, well let's just say I had a few choice words for it I can't mention on this blog. But they are both in and Gracie will be safe no matter which of our vehicles she rides.
We found out something else, don't always trust your human resources department at work to know how getting someone on your insurance works, but that's another story. Let's just say we have an appointement with a representative for our insurance tomorrow morning.
Gracie also knows how to say and wave "bye bye" and she likes to feed herself and sometimes hold her own bottle. Cheerios has been dethroned as her favorite snack, the new king is Graham Crackers. We now own stock in Nabisco as well as General Mills. Spaghettios is also on Gracie's list of favorites, which is a starter food for all children of Italian parents. She also loves when you hold her and do daily things around the house, whether it's making coffee in the morning or loading the dishwasher she watches intently and seems to ask questions of what you are doing.
Life with Gracie is great!! Can't wait to get her to Oklahoma though. I keep telling her about Oklahoma and she can actually sing most of the State song.
Well that's all for today, we gotta make a grocery store run. Ciao everybody!
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Visit to the doctors
Today Grace went to the doctors --- and doc says she looks healthy and seems very "with it" for an newly adopted Chinese child. Didn't have any recommendations for feeding even though --- (rim shot here)-- she only weighs 14.6 lbs. That's right on 14.6 lbs. Now in G-town, during the medical examination, it was in Kilos, which I don't remember, and I glanced at the chart for conversions and said, gosh my child weighs only 14 lbs, and walked away, then I had someone re-check the chart, and they reported 17 lbs. Which sounded more logical because she supposedly weighed over 15 lbs at 9 months. So either they weighed her with their thumb on the scale or with all their clothes on (most likely). I did expect her to weigh more- she's a good eater, but Doc didn't seemed concerned. Gracie was pretty calm throughout the whole thing, then the nurse came in and she got 4 shots, and wailed (as I did during shots until I was 35) but she recovered fairly quickly with the help of a graham cracker, then headed downstairs for the blood draw, which seemed to hurt less but still freaked her out with four people holding her down. So the rest of the day was an "all Grace day." We stayed in and got her in her sleeper right away and played. We tried out the banana cookies. Naps were optional--but she took one anyway (late) and so did Dad, who still has his "Nanchang Cold." Then we tried out something new at dinner - Gerber pasta wheels with Chicken (big hit), and watermelon. Showed off her walking skills (3-4 steps at a time, with a "catcher" at each end) to some visitors. So she went to sleep at around 8:30 and although she is restless--crying and fussing in her sleep a bit - I was expecting a rough night due to reactions to the shots- she hasn't woken up yet.
We've been home almost a week, and I can't say we've been very productive. We eat alot. We are still unpacking. We try out new toys and new books. We go for walks or to the store. We try to take naps. We do laundry. We have not yet installed the second car seat, cleaned the backyard, make appointments to get Grace re-adopted for state of Nevada (which needs the extra income or something). We've been vegging out. Next week, we'll try to get back to reality.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Worlds Second Most Photographed Child
The honor of the most-photographed child goes to our nephew Vinnie, who I believe is still the all time record holder.
The folks at Great Wall recommend that we don't overwhelm our new citizen with family and friends and actually recommends trying to avoid large gatherings so it is up to Mom and Dad to hold, feed, and play with her. This is so she begins to realize that we are her parents, and not just attentive hotel staff. So we are trying to have brief visits by small groups of family and friends over the next few weeks so everyone can say hello. Don't worry, we will be at Thanksgiving! And, by the time she gets to Oklahoma to meet Davids family and her 10.5 Uncles and Aunts, numerous cousins and of course, Grandma Rose we think she'll realize she is stuck with us, her family.
Jet Lag Stories: First on the list, was to catch up on sleep, so the first night, Gracie fell asleep early, woke up at 11:00 and played til 4 am. Pretty much same the second night, and we've been keeping naps short so last night her final bedtime was at 1 am. Today we woke her at 8:30, and she had a short nap (in the carseat), lots of outdoor activity for sunlight. We put her to bed at 6:30 pm (Poor thing was so tired she was about to drop, and didn't even complain about the bath). She was up again an hour later, but we got her sleeping again by 8 pm. Let's keep our fingers crossed.
By request, we posted David's truck crash photo on flickr. We've posted more Grace photos there was well. Expect more.
The folks at Great Wall recommend that we don't overwhelm our new citizen with family and friends and actually recommends trying to avoid large gatherings so it is up to Mom and Dad to hold, feed, and play with her. This is so she begins to realize that we are her parents, and not just attentive hotel staff. So we are trying to have brief visits by small groups of family and friends over the next few weeks so everyone can say hello. Don't worry, we will be at Thanksgiving! And, by the time she gets to Oklahoma to meet Davids family and her 10.5 Uncles and Aunts, numerous cousins and of course, Grandma Rose we think she'll realize she is stuck with us, her family.
Jet Lag Stories: First on the list, was to catch up on sleep, so the first night, Gracie fell asleep early, woke up at 11:00 and played til 4 am. Pretty much same the second night, and we've been keeping naps short so last night her final bedtime was at 1 am. Today we woke her at 8:30, and she had a short nap (in the carseat), lots of outdoor activity for sunlight. We put her to bed at 6:30 pm (Poor thing was so tired she was about to drop, and didn't even complain about the bath). She was up again an hour later, but we got her sleeping again by 8 pm. Let's keep our fingers crossed.
By request, we posted David's truck crash photo on flickr. We've posted more Grace photos there was well. Expect more.
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Looking good in red
Hi, Mom and Dad are asleep now, so I wanted to show you my cool appropriately red sweater outfit from China along with my favorite squeaky shoes, which I really love, but I'm still learning to walk, so it will be a while before I can really show my stuff, like my friend Natalie. I kept Mom and Dad awake til 4 am this morning, so today they played with me, took me for a walk in my stroller, and we had all sorts of visitors, some had TOYS and books for me. So far, this hotel has just been great, and I even have my own high chair. No buffet, but room service is very prompt with a wide selection of menu items. So, its back to playing for me, sleeping for Mom and Dad.
--Ciao.
Gracie
--Ciao.
Gracie
Saturday, November 10, 2007
You need a chew toy, not stuffed bear
Yep, last night Gracie fell asleep but awoke at 8:45 pm and didn't go back to sleep until close to 4 am---then she slept until 2:45 pm. Sunny was delivered to us around 11am, while Gracie was asleep so we had time to get reunited before Gracie woke up. They are getting along fine and Sunny positioned herself on the floor belly up when Grace was being changed. Gracie took to a little Penn State bear but Sunny thinks she should upgrade to a chew toy. However, when I was changing Gracie Sunny walked in with the Penn State bear in mouth.So dog and child getting along great, except that Sunny is eyeing those squeaky shoes as one of those annoying squeaky chew toys she loves to get a hold of and remove those out annoying squeaky devices.
Anyway, we have been eating up a storm, well supplied and attended to by family and friends. We have homemade pumpkin pie, banana bread, quiche, loads of watermelon. So far Gracie's favorite has been chicken stew with rice.
Its almost 2 am now and we are all up and busy. Tomorrow when we are caught up on sleep we'll start trying to adjust to the time change.
Anyway, we have been eating up a storm, well supplied and attended to by family and friends. We have homemade pumpkin pie, banana bread, quiche, loads of watermelon. So far Gracie's favorite has been chicken stew with rice.
Its almost 2 am now and we are all up and busy. Tomorrow when we are caught up on sleep we'll start trying to adjust to the time change.
Friday, November 9, 2007
We're Home and We're Happy
We arrived at 2:30 pm, November 9fth about 24 hours after leaving G-town at 8:30 am on November 9th, arriving Hong Kong; Hong Kong to Seoul; Seoul to Las Vegas. We had a warm reception at home, ate eggs at Grampa and Grandma's, before heading home....now Gracie and David are crashed out (It's 7:30 pm) and I am soon to follow. Gracie did well - was a bit grumpy in Korea, waitiing for the connection but on the long flight, (10 hours) charmed the wonderful stewardess at Korean Air. We had bulkhead seats, with an empty in between but took turns watching over Gracie in her bassinett, because it was so shallow Gracie just would roll out. Still the Korean Airline staff cooed and watched over us. They are getting a letter of appreciation from us. Now my sister Lisa is watching over us tonight. We are a bit punchy with the lack of sleep so no pictures till tomorrow. I hope my fellow Jiangxi travelers had pleasant trips and are all at home safe tonight.
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Ciao China
Our luggage has to be out in the hallway by 4:30 am, and we are headed to G-town airport with 80% of our group, headed to Hong Kong (70 miles away, we could've taken a train) but the cool thing is we can check our luggage all the way through to home at our first stop. We can take 2 (two) 50 lbs pieces of luggage back to us. (Gracie doesn't get an allowance) which is OK, because we are coming back with only 3.
Today we tried to spend the rest of our Yuan, even indulging in Starbucks (about the price of a entree at at good restuarant). We got so busy, we didn't have lunch (Gracie had left over rice noodles and rice and formula). Finally made it to the American Consulate (AC for short, ,I have to pack). It was 40 minutes away, and looked like it was a part of a office building/mall. The "interview" was handing in a piece of paper and getting our picture taken (took all of 10 seconds), then we had a cheerful naturalization officer had us swear that our paperwork was correct, and then we got Gracies Chinese passport to leave the country, and hopefully, her American passport is in the sealed envelope they gave us. They made us repeat that we go to immigration "non-US residents" counter upon arrival (in Las Vegas) and they'll open the packet then. (Hopefully, there isn't a spelling error or comma splice on page 47 otherwise I'd fear we have to start all over again. ) She'll be "citizen" upon arrival. But we did hear today she can have dual Chinese citizenship, but the Immigration officer highly recommended that she travels always on her US passport.
Fun facts about China in case I forget:
Pappa John's does deliver - we stayed in and had pizza tonight.
The soda cans still have flip-tops.
All of our electrical appliances work fine in China, you just need adapters to fit in the the variety of plugs.
There seems to be a fast food chain named after Bruce Lee, or have his likeness on it.
The locals here call you "Madame" in sort of a French-Colonial way.
We had one nurse practitoner and one nurse in our group.
Sometime last week, we all had the feeling that we had moved to China. We've been here that long.
Hopefully, the next entry will be from home, but you may hear from us while in Korea. Wi-fi in the airport.
Thanks.
Just a P.S. to Marie's entry...
While shopping at Susan's, a store we bought many souvenirs from and had our laundry done while here in Guangzhou, I overheard a conversation between Susan, the store owner and two very heavyset angry looking Australian women looking for Chinese clothing. The Australian women were talking about visiting China 5 times and Susan asked if they were adopting and one of the Australian women made the remark that "No I would never do that. I don't understand these people, coming over to adopt and taking these children from their homeland." Susan replied, "Have you never seen what happens to children in these orphanages and how they have to live?" So the Australian woman says,"Well they should just donate money then." I looked directly at the Australian woman and shook my head and told Marie what I had just overheard. So as Marie and I were finishing our shopping and the two Australian women were standing there I said very loudly, "Well my wife and I are going to take our beautiful adopted Chinese child home to the United States of America and raise her in our beautiful home. Donating money to orphanages isn't good enough for us we wanted a child from the orpahanage." Of course the angry Australian woman didn't like this and just looked at me and walked out. Hey angry Australian lady, good luck in finding clothing here, for that matter anywhere, in your size.
Today we tried to spend the rest of our Yuan, even indulging in Starbucks (about the price of a entree at at good restuarant). We got so busy, we didn't have lunch (Gracie had left over rice noodles and rice and formula). Finally made it to the American Consulate (AC for short, ,I have to pack). It was 40 minutes away, and looked like it was a part of a office building/mall. The "interview" was handing in a piece of paper and getting our picture taken (took all of 10 seconds), then we had a cheerful naturalization officer had us swear that our paperwork was correct, and then we got Gracies Chinese passport to leave the country, and hopefully, her American passport is in the sealed envelope they gave us. They made us repeat that we go to immigration "non-US residents" counter upon arrival (in Las Vegas) and they'll open the packet then. (Hopefully, there isn't a spelling error or comma splice on page 47 otherwise I'd fear we have to start all over again. ) She'll be "citizen" upon arrival. But we did hear today she can have dual Chinese citizenship, but the Immigration officer highly recommended that she travels always on her US passport.
Fun facts about China in case I forget:
Pappa John's does deliver - we stayed in and had pizza tonight.
The soda cans still have flip-tops.
All of our electrical appliances work fine in China, you just need adapters to fit in the the variety of plugs.
There seems to be a fast food chain named after Bruce Lee, or have his likeness on it.
The locals here call you "Madame" in sort of a French-Colonial way.
We had one nurse practitoner and one nurse in our group.
Sometime last week, we all had the feeling that we had moved to China. We've been here that long.
Hopefully, the next entry will be from home, but you may hear from us while in Korea. Wi-fi in the airport.
Thanks.
Just a P.S. to Marie's entry...
While shopping at Susan's, a store we bought many souvenirs from and had our laundry done while here in Guangzhou, I overheard a conversation between Susan, the store owner and two very heavyset angry looking Australian women looking for Chinese clothing. The Australian women were talking about visiting China 5 times and Susan asked if they were adopting and one of the Australian women made the remark that "No I would never do that. I don't understand these people, coming over to adopt and taking these children from their homeland." Susan replied, "Have you never seen what happens to children in these orphanages and how they have to live?" So the Australian woman says,"Well they should just donate money then." I looked directly at the Australian woman and shook my head and told Marie what I had just overheard. So as Marie and I were finishing our shopping and the two Australian women were standing there I said very loudly, "Well my wife and I are going to take our beautiful adopted Chinese child home to the United States of America and raise her in our beautiful home. Donating money to orphanages isn't good enough for us we wanted a child from the orpahanage." Of course the angry Australian woman didn't like this and just looked at me and walked out. Hey angry Australian lady, good luck in finding clothing here, for that matter anywhere, in your size.
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
My Public Awaits
We had only one task today: wait in our hotel room until 12:30 Rui turned in our paperwork today to the consulate and she said she would call if there were any questions. There were none. This worked out well because David woke up with a slight fever so we all took naps and hung out until about 2 pm, when I took Gracie for a walk in her 120 Yuan stroller--to drop off and pick up laundry. Our preferred shop is "Susans Place" which is tucked in an out of the way spot either in a Chinese embassy or some sort of military compound, and we have to pass a Red Army guard. Sometimes they say hello, sometimes not.
We then went to purchae water, and finally I located a Thai restuarant that we missed going to - Cow and Bridge. I also paid a visit to one of the entreprenueral ladies - Hebe's shop to purchase an outfit for Gracie. I'm buying a few things, but we really need to step it up tomorrow to spend the rest of our Yuan; because I guess its pretty worthless to exchange back into US dollars. In "I wish I had my camera now" moment - there were police recruits marching in front of Starbucks , and someone like an army captain teaching some Jr. High school students how to stand at attention and march.
By the time we came back, David was feeling much better, but Gracie and I went down to the Swan Room - sponsored by Mattel, the same one who gave us our "Going Home Barbie" (with little chinese baby). Gracie mostly watched the other kids, and tried to boss around one of the older and bigger kids, landed on her head again after tumbling over a little plastic table, and generally had a good time.
We went out to dinner at a new place "Station" with a few other families - it was very good - like Lucy's, it has outside seating ... pizza for me and David tonight. Gracie had congee and dipped her french fries into it. I fed her most of the time, but then she wanted to take over so I gave her a little plastic spoon and she worked on trying to feed herself. We were outside, and she had a bib, so I just let her go for it. We had a wonderful walk back to the hotel - again the nights are just perfect - walking along the Pearl River - where the boats go by - which are all decorated in neon - there are also neon light tubes along the river, and some of the hotels across the way are lit up Vegas style.
So we took no pictures today, and tonight we are too tired to start packing, so we'll do that tomorrow morning, because we may need to purchase another suitcase. The big packing is getting a one year old across the world, with enough Cherrios, diapers, formula, rice cereal, toys, blankets, and clothes - just in case we end up spending the night in Korea or something. I think she'll be fine - as long as we all stay healthy.
We then went to purchae water, and finally I located a Thai restuarant that we missed going to - Cow and Bridge. I also paid a visit to one of the entreprenueral ladies - Hebe's shop to purchase an outfit for Gracie. I'm buying a few things, but we really need to step it up tomorrow to spend the rest of our Yuan; because I guess its pretty worthless to exchange back into US dollars. In "I wish I had my camera now" moment - there were police recruits marching in front of Starbucks , and someone like an army captain teaching some Jr. High school students how to stand at attention and march.
By the time we came back, David was feeling much better, but Gracie and I went down to the Swan Room - sponsored by Mattel, the same one who gave us our "Going Home Barbie" (with little chinese baby). Gracie mostly watched the other kids, and tried to boss around one of the older and bigger kids, landed on her head again after tumbling over a little plastic table, and generally had a good time.
We went out to dinner at a new place "Station" with a few other families - it was very good - like Lucy's, it has outside seating ... pizza for me and David tonight. Gracie had congee and dipped her french fries into it. I fed her most of the time, but then she wanted to take over so I gave her a little plastic spoon and she worked on trying to feed herself. We were outside, and she had a bib, so I just let her go for it. We had a wonderful walk back to the hotel - again the nights are just perfect - walking along the Pearl River - where the boats go by - which are all decorated in neon - there are also neon light tubes along the river, and some of the hotels across the way are lit up Vegas style.
So we took no pictures today, and tonight we are too tired to start packing, so we'll do that tomorrow morning, because we may need to purchase another suitcase. The big packing is getting a one year old across the world, with enough Cherrios, diapers, formula, rice cereal, toys, blankets, and clothes - just in case we end up spending the night in Korea or something. I think she'll be fine - as long as we all stay healthy.
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
New Red Threads
Today we went to Yuntai Park - it is a beautifully landscaped park with colorful beds of flowers, a beautiful lake and wonderful paths to explore. We share the park with lots of local kids on field trips who hold hands or are roped together and then yell "Hello!" to us every time we went by. ( I don't know if I have mentioned that the weather here has just been perfect...around 75 degrees, clear skys, balmy nights - so much so, many folks have purchased T-shirts and hats. ) We went to a Brazilian restuarant for lunch, it was terrific, and I have to hand it to these places who allow 30 or so hungry Americans to descend upon them, all clamoring for high chairs and leaving behind a pile of Cherrios, food on the floor and used Kleenex.
Many of the kids have colds, including ours, and David has the cold that Gracie and I are just getting over. He has it bad - but we are pretty much set in all the OTC meds we brought - this cold features a sore throat, runny rose then night coughing - Gracie and I are now in the coughing a little at night stage.
After our lunch, Rui reminded us that tomorrow she is handing over our paperwork to the American consulate and we just need to hang around near the phone in our room in case they need us for something. Otherwise, we should just show up for our appointments at 2:45 on Thursday and we will be done in a few hours. We are down to our last 72 hours.
We took another walk today - dropped off and picked up laundry today. We haven't gotten off the Island really, nor have we've gone to the famous "Pearl Market" - it is kind of hard to concentrate on shopping with a one year old in tow.
There are dozens of little shops catering to adoptive parents on this Island, all run by exceedingly earnest ladies who dart out of their shops when they see you approaching, all complementing your baby on its beauty, you for your youth, and promising you the best prices and most special bargins on the Island. I call them the "Entrepreneral Ladies of Shamain Island." Believe me, there are no shortage of cute outfits for babies on this island.
We've been eating at Lucy's every night - its so easy - and they have some great meals for kids - and loads of high chairs - meals include scrambled eggs or congee - or my favorite - noodles, chicken and egg, which Gracie loves. The have seating outside, and the weather is so great, and its wonderful to see the boats go by on the river.
We took our famous "red couch" photo at the White Swan lobby today. Our girl was the only one in little pants, mostly because I didn't think I could find a dress that would end up above her ankles, but she looks pretty royal in her custom made outfit-- and maybe she will forgive me someday for making her hair bows out of red shopping bags. Like Gotcha Day, Gracie didn't cry -- the photos are on Flickr, just seemed to be intrigued by some of the crying kids nearby. We all put ourselves together as well, and took some photos of each other and all of us with Rui.
I've also tried to include picture of Gracie showing her teeth - looks like she takes after my front teeth, two big front teeth with with a nice space in between...she has one on the bottom and another one coming in right next to it...but when I took a closer look, I noticed the picture is not of teeth - it Cherrios in her mouth.
Many of the kids have colds, including ours, and David has the cold that Gracie and I are just getting over. He has it bad - but we are pretty much set in all the OTC meds we brought - this cold features a sore throat, runny rose then night coughing - Gracie and I are now in the coughing a little at night stage.
After our lunch, Rui reminded us that tomorrow she is handing over our paperwork to the American consulate and we just need to hang around near the phone in our room in case they need us for something. Otherwise, we should just show up for our appointments at 2:45 on Thursday and we will be done in a few hours. We are down to our last 72 hours.
We took another walk today - dropped off and picked up laundry today. We haven't gotten off the Island really, nor have we've gone to the famous "Pearl Market" - it is kind of hard to concentrate on shopping with a one year old in tow.
There are dozens of little shops catering to adoptive parents on this Island, all run by exceedingly earnest ladies who dart out of their shops when they see you approaching, all complementing your baby on its beauty, you for your youth, and promising you the best prices and most special bargins on the Island. I call them the "Entrepreneral Ladies of Shamain Island." Believe me, there are no shortage of cute outfits for babies on this island.
We've been eating at Lucy's every night - its so easy - and they have some great meals for kids - and loads of high chairs - meals include scrambled eggs or congee - or my favorite - noodles, chicken and egg, which Gracie loves. The have seating outside, and the weather is so great, and its wonderful to see the boats go by on the river.
We took our famous "red couch" photo at the White Swan lobby today. Our girl was the only one in little pants, mostly because I didn't think I could find a dress that would end up above her ankles, but she looks pretty royal in her custom made outfit-- and maybe she will forgive me someday for making her hair bows out of red shopping bags. Like Gotcha Day, Gracie didn't cry -- the photos are on Flickr, just seemed to be intrigued by some of the crying kids nearby. We all put ourselves together as well, and took some photos of each other and all of us with Rui.
I've also tried to include picture of Gracie showing her teeth - looks like she takes after my front teeth, two big front teeth with with a nice space in between...she has one on the bottom and another one coming in right next to it...but when I took a closer look, I noticed the picture is not of teeth - it Cherrios in her mouth.
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Nov. 4: The Bank of China
I just came back from The Bank of China. It's right next to the hotel which so I was surprised not to see English on any of the signs when I stepped in. There were five counters, each with a teller, with another person standing behind each of the tellers. Everyone looked very official in blue suits and ties. There was about 10 people sitting in chairs I sort of stood there for a while then a customer aindicated for me to take a number and pressed a button on a kisok for me, so I could get a number. Then I waited for about 40 minutes. The teller spoke English and I turned over my passport and my Amex travelers checks and dollars. Never did I see such a flurry of stamping, carbon copies and counting and countersigning. It took at least 20 minutes. We turned over $390 and that should do us for the trip unless we start doing some serious shopping. Next time, I'll exchange my money at the hotel.
Gracie had her visa photo taken this morning then a medical exam in the G-town Shamin Island Adoption Medical center. Just basic stuff, like weight and height and a quick look at her nose, ears and heart. The locals go there too and there is a special section for adoptions - and there were about 20 families there. She screamed her lungs off the entire time and then was fine the instant we came out. She weighs just over 17 lbs. We then went shopping and failed miserably as I think I am so bad at bargaining that I just given up, and David has taken over in that department, but I think we are set in Gracie's clothes now.
Anyway, we are headed off to lunch - Gracie is having her Cherrios mixed in with her rice cereal before we head back to Lucy's. Yesterday, she got some pink squeaky shoes and loves jumping up and down on them, holding on to the wall, or the edge of the couch. My job now is Fun Police, as David and Gracie just love to play and imitate each other, making funny snarfing sounds at each other, and I get to step in for no so fun things like diaper changes and sleep time. For Gracie, she enjoys her bottle and rice cereal, but she is determined to eat her food by herself and so we basically cut up pieces for her and she feeds herself, although some times she lets me pop in food. Her favorite continues to be watermelon and eggs, and at the glorious buffet this morning she had some banana bread as well.
Also, for some reason, blogger is now completely accesible - we can even read the comments and we no longer have to go through anonymouse to see the blog. We are spending the rest of the day hanging out in our room, Gracie is learning to walk, and may even send out for Pizza tonight. Upon our arrival to the hotel the other day, Rui passed out flyers and advised us that the folks at Pappa John's delivers AND speak English.
We did start the day with a skype/video session with mom and dad and Frankie and Chrissy. Technology is a wonderful thing.
More on the White Swan: We have our own hall monitor who stands in the foyer and runs to press the elevator button for you as you open your door to the room.
The photo is from the Chen Family temple from yesterday. Apologies for the have the strange black spot that is now showing up on our photos - we thought it was dust or something from Nanchang but it is still there...
This Just In! Locals Go Crazy Over Gracie
The day started off waking up in the beautiful White Swan Hotel. Wow! What a difference from Nancheng. Marie and I looked out the window and saw what a clear day it was and couldn't wait to get out. Of course Gracie was moving at "Gracie speed" and only paid heed to the "Gracie Clock". We did eventually make it down to breakfast and what a breakfast it was! The waffles are delicious and there are so many choices. The view, seating area and wait staff are fantastic. Watermelon and banana for Gracie, waffles for Marie and scrambled eggs, bacon, toast, french toast, cereal...need we go on...for David.
On to Chen Family Temple, Wow! What a beautiful day!!! All the families were in great moods as usual and Rui, our guide, was her usual patient and cheerful self. The Chen Family Temple is full of amazing reliefs, statues and quiet and peaceful sitting areas as well as many shops to purchase great souvenirs.The local people here are also very curious of our little bundles of joy.
The local Chinese ladies stopped Marie several times and commented on how beautiful Gracie is and they loved her hair. Rui told us that some of the women were talking about Gracie and just couldn't believe how cute she is, they were going crazy over her and Gracie took it all in stride. Gracie was good natured as all the women had to touch her hair and cute little face. What a great time we had.
After the Chen Family Temple we went shopping and found Gracie a little glass ball with "inside painting" they call it. The glass ball is hollow and the artist does a painting on it from the inside using a special paint brush. This one had two little dogs on it because 2006 is the year of the dog also the year of Gracie's birth. I had the artist paint Gracie's name on the inside and it will be one of her keepsakes. Then it was back to the hotel and of course lunch at Lucy's. I had to have a double cheeseburger with cheese and boy was it good. There at Lucy's we also saw several other Great Wall Families having another great meal. Lucy's is the place to be.
Marie, Gracie and I, well maybe not so much Gracie, had to walk off our meal so we did some shopping. You know how you tell yourself I'm not spending too much today, and the next thing you know you're down 5 or 6 hundred Yuan. It's neverending. But what great purchases. A new stroller for Gracie, a few more Beijing Olympic Baseball caps, some t -shirts, squeaky shoes.....I could go on and on. So we moved on and it became a little overcast but then the clouds parted and there was Starbuck's...how could we pass that up. Marie saw Green tea frapuccino and had to have one. Here we also ran into another nice family adopting from China, Tom and Linda from Albuquerque(is that spelled right?) New Mexico and we all sat down together with our Starbucks and had a nice chat. Hey this would be a great commercial for Starbuck's...yeah like they need to advertise.
Back to our beautiful hotel room for a nap and then it was out for a Dim Sum dinner. One of the courses on the menu was pigeon and hey I gotta say it was really good...hhhmmmm!! All those pigeons hanging around our house back in Vegas....I wonder? Miss Gracie decided we were interrupting her naptime so she let us know. Marie tried taking her out for a walk but that didn't work. Marie came back in and got a to go box and loaded it up with baked pigeon and other delicious delicacies and we headed back to the room. What a day! Marie is relaxing in her silk robe which was laid out on the bed for her and little Gracie got her wish and is fast asleep in her much safer crib snoring away and here I sit typing away...Oh Man!! Is it already 9 o'clock...past my bedtime folks. Had a great day and Gracie is such a joy! Gotta go! Ciao Y'all!!!
On to Chen Family Temple, Wow! What a beautiful day!!! All the families were in great moods as usual and Rui, our guide, was her usual patient and cheerful self. The Chen Family Temple is full of amazing reliefs, statues and quiet and peaceful sitting areas as well as many shops to purchase great souvenirs.The local people here are also very curious of our little bundles of joy.
The local Chinese ladies stopped Marie several times and commented on how beautiful Gracie is and they loved her hair. Rui told us that some of the women were talking about Gracie and just couldn't believe how cute she is, they were going crazy over her and Gracie took it all in stride. Gracie was good natured as all the women had to touch her hair and cute little face. What a great time we had.
After the Chen Family Temple we went shopping and found Gracie a little glass ball with "inside painting" they call it. The glass ball is hollow and the artist does a painting on it from the inside using a special paint brush. This one had two little dogs on it because 2006 is the year of the dog also the year of Gracie's birth. I had the artist paint Gracie's name on the inside and it will be one of her keepsakes. Then it was back to the hotel and of course lunch at Lucy's. I had to have a double cheeseburger with cheese and boy was it good. There at Lucy's we also saw several other Great Wall Families having another great meal. Lucy's is the place to be.
Marie, Gracie and I, well maybe not so much Gracie, had to walk off our meal so we did some shopping. You know how you tell yourself I'm not spending too much today, and the next thing you know you're down 5 or 6 hundred Yuan. It's neverending. But what great purchases. A new stroller for Gracie, a few more Beijing Olympic Baseball caps, some t -shirts, squeaky shoes.....I could go on and on. So we moved on and it became a little overcast but then the clouds parted and there was Starbuck's...how could we pass that up. Marie saw Green tea frapuccino and had to have one. Here we also ran into another nice family adopting from China, Tom and Linda from Albuquerque(is that spelled right?) New Mexico and we all sat down together with our Starbucks and had a nice chat. Hey this would be a great commercial for Starbuck's...yeah like they need to advertise.
Back to our beautiful hotel room for a nap and then it was out for a Dim Sum dinner. One of the courses on the menu was pigeon and hey I gotta say it was really good...hhhmmmm!! All those pigeons hanging around our house back in Vegas....I wonder? Miss Gracie decided we were interrupting her naptime so she let us know. Marie tried taking her out for a walk but that didn't work. Marie came back in and got a to go box and loaded it up with baked pigeon and other delicious delicacies and we headed back to the room. What a day! Marie is relaxing in her silk robe which was laid out on the bed for her and little Gracie got her wish and is fast asleep in her much safer crib snoring away and here I sit typing away...Oh Man!! Is it already 9 o'clock...past my bedtime folks. Had a great day and Gracie is such a joy! Gotta go! Ciao Y'all!!!
Saturday, November 3, 2007
China Disneyland
We are on Shamain Island at the White Swan and its darned wonderful. Its so unlike Nanchang that my first impression is that it seems like a Disney version of China. But first, how we got here: Grace was wonderful during her first plane ride, (China Southern) perfectly content to play with a waterbottle, an empty cookie container and three of her stacking cups--and of course, we kept her fed with Cherrios. In fact, all the kids were good. We also got to make her a bottle on the plane, using hot water from our thermos - sort of a practice run for our long trip home.
Guangdong Province is the richest area of China - its close to Hong Kong and Shamain Island shows quite of bit of its British influenece, with lovely 19th century buildings, gardens and signs cautioning people not to spit. The US consulate used to be here - the big attraction is now the White Swan Hotel where we are staying, and the adoption business, with lots of baby shops and eating places. It is right on the coast, so the smog is miminal and the temperature is like the LA coast. The frist thing we all did is march down to Lucy's - an American style cafe- and ordered hamburgers--the kids being so good in their high chairs --then we went for a walk, which was supposed to be just a look around, but I ended up buying 3 baby outfits.
Afterward, the group came up to check out our room - which we had upgraded - sort of a gift to ourselves since the plane tix didn't end up costing as much as we had budgeted - it has a separate living room separated by French doors - sort of like the rooms you see in the movies. And while you still can't drink the water, the floor is so clean I almost kissed it. Then I put down Grace and she had a great time crawling around and playing with her toys. We have lovely neutrogena soap, and two ladies came in to turn down our bed and lay out a "good night" mat by our bed - we have a deep marble tub and shower, TV in each room, 2 bathrooms, and of course, a decent crib--photo has been uploaded so you can see.
Grace fell asleep about 7 pm -- after having a great time jumping on us and giggling - and I took a long hot bath, boiled some water for tea, and we are in our robes and our White Swan slippers, thankful for our safe trip so far, and for clean floor in our room and of course, our little Grace, who continues to delight and charm us. She is one cute kid and we are lucky parents.
Guangdong Province is the richest area of China - its close to Hong Kong and Shamain Island shows quite of bit of its British influenece, with lovely 19th century buildings, gardens and signs cautioning people not to spit. The US consulate used to be here - the big attraction is now the White Swan Hotel where we are staying, and the adoption business, with lots of baby shops and eating places. It is right on the coast, so the smog is miminal and the temperature is like the LA coast. The frist thing we all did is march down to Lucy's - an American style cafe- and ordered hamburgers--the kids being so good in their high chairs --then we went for a walk, which was supposed to be just a look around, but I ended up buying 3 baby outfits.
Afterward, the group came up to check out our room - which we had upgraded - sort of a gift to ourselves since the plane tix didn't end up costing as much as we had budgeted - it has a separate living room separated by French doors - sort of like the rooms you see in the movies. And while you still can't drink the water, the floor is so clean I almost kissed it. Then I put down Grace and she had a great time crawling around and playing with her toys. We have lovely neutrogena soap, and two ladies came in to turn down our bed and lay out a "good night" mat by our bed - we have a deep marble tub and shower, TV in each room, 2 bathrooms, and of course, a decent crib--photo has been uploaded so you can see.
Grace fell asleep about 7 pm -- after having a great time jumping on us and giggling - and I took a long hot bath, boiled some water for tea, and we are in our robes and our White Swan slippers, thankful for our safe trip so far, and for clean floor in our room and of course, our little Grace, who continues to delight and charm us. She is one cute kid and we are lucky parents.
Friday, November 2, 2007
Ciao Nanchang!
Our wandering group of adoptive parents are moving on tomorrow to G-Town, Guangzhou, first thing tomorrow morning. It was a beautiful day today in Nanchang, the smog blew away about mid-afternoon and for the first time we had a clear view outside the hotel. The tower in the park square below has a big bell you can ring. We took a walk this afternoon, through the small walkway along the hotel, the one I like to call the National Geographic street. The one we saw the boy in split pants and where they have small shops where men smoke, drink tea and play dice. Today many old people were sitting on the steps outside the temple square and David took alot of video. We paid another visit to the porcelan shop-- and we ran into some parents who just bought some fried cakes from a street vendor -- they shared them with us - quite tasty - and we felt quite adventurous. And hopefully that is all we'll feel. We also bought a few oranges for Gracie. (2 Yuan for 5 oranges)
David had to go to do paperwork and we spent most of the day in the hotel room. Frank and Chrissy called and we did a 40 minute Skype video call, where they got to see Gracie roll around, play with her cups and get fed rice cereal and bananas. You got to love Skype, it is so--Jetsons.
Rui had found an error in Gracies PRC passport and went back to the notary to have it corrected. It turns out they had written Gong Ya Oi, not Gong Ya Qi on the passport. Only Rui noticed and she said the police station clerk complained when they had to re-do it, saying the letters look identical to them. Rui saves the day again.
As I mentioned before, David had to do US paperwork, and some papers you can use white out, others not; on top of that the same of the forms we had gotten from the consulate back in 05 had now expired and other families had to get new forms. By the way, G-town is all about US immigration; what we were doing in Nanchang was getting China's permission to leave the country with her. She now has nice red passport from the PRC - but her US one will be issued in GZ and that will be the one she uses to enter the US.
When we get settled into Guangzhou, we'll post again.
I included a photo of Gracie in her padded crib.
David had to go to do paperwork and we spent most of the day in the hotel room. Frank and Chrissy called and we did a 40 minute Skype video call, where they got to see Gracie roll around, play with her cups and get fed rice cereal and bananas. You got to love Skype, it is so--Jetsons.
Rui had found an error in Gracies PRC passport and went back to the notary to have it corrected. It turns out they had written Gong Ya Oi, not Gong Ya Qi on the passport. Only Rui noticed and she said the police station clerk complained when they had to re-do it, saying the letters look identical to them. Rui saves the day again.
As I mentioned before, David had to do US paperwork, and some papers you can use white out, others not; on top of that the same of the forms we had gotten from the consulate back in 05 had now expired and other families had to get new forms. By the way, G-town is all about US immigration; what we were doing in Nanchang was getting China's permission to leave the country with her. She now has nice red passport from the PRC - but her US one will be issued in GZ and that will be the one she uses to enter the US.
When we get settled into Guangzhou, we'll post again.
I included a photo of Gracie in her padded crib.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Tao of Gracie
This morning Gracie was up at 5 am. Today's outing: The Park with the Taoist Temple Near the Lake. I'll remember the real name later. Nanchang is not only the home of the People's Revolution, it is also the birthplace of Taoism, and today's temple was spectacular. There was a shrine to Sun Tzu, author of the Art of War, and there were several Taoist monks around, playing instruments, one of whom entertained us on the a string instrument, like a dulcimer, and even invited the kids to take a try. We were so sorry that we were not allowed to take photos inside the temples, but there was a wonderful mural of epic scale, complete with good and bad guys and angry gods. We were done by noon and spent a relaxing day having a great Japanese lunch in the hotel with Rob, Michelle and Karen, and just hanging around the room. David bought Grace some plastic blocks this afternoon and she skipped her nap just to play with them all afternoon.
The other adopted kids, most are older than Gracie, are now coming around, smiling and interacting, one is showing their parents how to use chopsticks. We also got the photos developed of Gracie in the orphanage, in her rolling walker and hanging around her Fenyi buddies. It looks like they kept her pretty well bundled and in a Pebbles-like top pony tail. She has that very intent look. I sometimes wonder what they are thinking now-probably something like --this is a great field trip. Every morning, a buffet; every day a bus trip, every night a nother party. If only these people could understand us.
Here at the hotel we always hear firecrackers going off, all the time. This afternoon, they were louder than usual, so I looked outside - we are on the 21st floor and below I saw a line of people dressed in white with black hats. They were following a cart, and there were flutes and drums playing. Firecrackers were going off. I took a photo. Rui confirmed for me that it was a funeral. I snapped a photo - It's pretty far away but it was pretty interesting.
Tonight Gracie fell asleep in David's arms while the group was at dinner, around 6pm , after eating an entire bowl of steamed eggs - which were pretty darned good. So, it should be an early morning for us. Tomorrow, we go back to the Notary office, where we will get our passports and Saturday we head out for G-town -- aka Guangzhou. All the parents today were looking at each other and saying--only one week more, then we get to go home.
PS: Regarding comments on the blog - these don't get posted until I see them, and I check once or twice a day. I have the option to publish or not, so you can just indicate if you don't want me to post your comments. While in China, I cannot read the comments once I post them, so moderating them gives me a chance to read them before they are posted.
David and Gracie: All in the name of Love
It's amazing what you'll do just out of pure love for someone. Yesterday I found myself walking down the street of Nanchang with Marie's purse over my left shoulder and a sippie cup and toy in the other hand and didn't think twice about it. Yeah I got some weird stares but for Gracie and Marie it's all worth it. I find myself also waking at night to listen for little Gracie's breathing and once I hear it and see her little chest go up and down I can sleep better. I also wake up a little early just to see Gracie wake up and look at me with those beautiful eyes through that wild hair and reach up to grab for my hand and make those little baby sounds. Yeah I know "tough cop" but she just melts my heart. Oh no I won't spoil my Gracie, Yeah right.
Just a little bit about the crib they put in the rooms for our little ones. First of all there is no padding to speak of and they look more like cages with the bars just wide enough for an arm, leg or even head to slip through. We have to put padding all around it every night using a towel or blanket for the sides and clipping them with plastic clothes pins to stay on. We roll up a blanket for the bottom for Gracie to sleep on because they have no mattresses in them. We push one side of the crib next to the bed nice and tight and push two chairs up close to the other side. We stick a pillow at the end of the crib for padding and in goes Gracie. So far so good and the last two nights she has slept very well. Well gotta go Y'all. Ciao!!!
Just a little bit about the crib they put in the rooms for our little ones. First of all there is no padding to speak of and they look more like cages with the bars just wide enough for an arm, leg or even head to slip through. We have to put padding all around it every night using a towel or blanket for the sides and clipping them with plastic clothes pins to stay on. We roll up a blanket for the bottom for Gracie to sleep on because they have no mattresses in them. We push one side of the crib next to the bed nice and tight and push two chairs up close to the other side. We stick a pillow at the end of the crib for padding and in goes Gracie. So far so good and the last two nights she has slept very well. Well gotta go Y'all. Ciao!!!
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Ba-Ba Da Bomb
Schedule for today: Breakfast in hotel (buffet - comes with the room); Teng Family Paviliion, Wal-Mart Back to Hotel, then to the Porcelain Shop and Baby shop, which are walking distance from hotel. After wrestling with Grace this morning trying to get her hair combed into place and pinned down somewhat, then we put her in her cute "Boo" Halloween Shirt with matching pumpkin socks (Thanks again Target) I managed to get a curling iron in my hair and put on clean clothes (back from the laundry, in perfect plastic bags) we looked presentatble for about 10 seconds -- we think Grace may have figured out that there is a buffet breakfast every morning because she drank her bottle with less enthusiasm this morning and just took a few bites of rice cereal, and then chowed down on scrambled eggs, watermelon and tofu soup. We all then got on the bus, went to Teng Family Pavilion but we just stayed in the park area because Grace was really grumpy and soon our clean clothes were covered in crumbs as we fed our little Gracie cherrios to keep her happy. It was a pleasant place and when our group re-gathered in the park area to leave, we had several people come up to us and take our photo. One group told us the were government officials that worked with old people and had alot of respect for us for adopting. Once again, our very own Jiangxi celebrities - two blonde boys-- of our group had folks grabbing them for photos.
So it was back to Walmart -- it was much less hectic this time and we knew our way around somewhat, so we grabbed more bottles of water, more clothes, alot of snacks for all of us. Then it was back to the hotel. I had a chance to run over to the local grocery store with Rob and Nancy and we stopped off at the the bakery today and pick up a few things for lunch, and we just sort of hunkered down in the room and ate rolls and fed Gracie a bottle and some rice cereal. Gracie now thinks David is the Bomb, only when we leave the hotel she prefers to have Mom carry her in her baby Bjorn -- with Dad doing technical support; but back in the hotel, its all Ba-Ba. She keeps saying "Ju - Ju" to us when we are cuddling or playing so we asked Rui about what it meant. She said its Orphanage slang for "Kisses" (It really means "cake").
We took another walk along the shops near the hotel-lead by our fearless leader -- and it is a sight to behold--we once again drew a crowd at the Porcelin shop. We all wear our "calling cards" from Wal-Mart when we go out. I had one local fellow come up to me and basically indicate that my child is small now but she will be tall. I have heard this also from other folks who have adopted from our orphanage, Fenyi--so much so that the Yahoo group often calls their girls the Fenyi Basketball Team. I did take some photos and I will try to upload one of a little boy crawling up the stairs in his split pants. Our Lady of Nanchang, the wonderful Rui, then ordered Pizza hut for us tonight and we all spread out on the 11th floor, with all sorts of pizzas, kids in laps, the older kids playing ball in the hallway. While things are good, we are all so tired, and so anixous to get home, so we don't have to use bottled water to brush our teeth, or pour boiling water over all of our utensiles, but its all worth it for our delightful little Gracie.
You might want to check out the blog, OkieAngel (see link on our page) of our fellow travelers, Steph and Jubal from Oklahoma. They are delightful folks with a wonderful blog and their daughter is quite the beauty, definitely the fashion-ista of the group.
Tips for soon to be travelers: Walmart doesn't quite have the same selection of baby clothes, so we are very happy we brought along the clothes we did, along with bottles, dishwashing soap. Alot of stuff is in Chinese, and in kilos, so its sometimes hard to figure out what you are buying.
The hotel floors are less than optimal for crawling kids. We used our travel blanket for the first days, then it went into the Laundry, now we are using a hotel blanket, which will be replaced by a sheet we bought at Wal-mart.
Hair Curling iron (dual voltage, most are) works just fine with adapter, and I suspect it does without one. However, it doesn't make a difference. It is hot in the hotel, and humid outside and its always a bad hair day. I should've brought a hat.
Water: There is always lots of water to purchase very cheaply, but just remember what you purchased vs what was in the honor bar, as I have accidently opened up water from the bar, and not what I bought. Same with beer.
So it was back to Walmart -- it was much less hectic this time and we knew our way around somewhat, so we grabbed more bottles of water, more clothes, alot of snacks for all of us. Then it was back to the hotel. I had a chance to run over to the local grocery store with Rob and Nancy and we stopped off at the the bakery today and pick up a few things for lunch, and we just sort of hunkered down in the room and ate rolls and fed Gracie a bottle and some rice cereal. Gracie now thinks David is the Bomb, only when we leave the hotel she prefers to have Mom carry her in her baby Bjorn -- with Dad doing technical support; but back in the hotel, its all Ba-Ba. She keeps saying "Ju - Ju" to us when we are cuddling or playing so we asked Rui about what it meant. She said its Orphanage slang for "Kisses" (It really means "cake").
We took another walk along the shops near the hotel-lead by our fearless leader -- and it is a sight to behold--we once again drew a crowd at the Porcelin shop. We all wear our "calling cards" from Wal-Mart when we go out. I had one local fellow come up to me and basically indicate that my child is small now but she will be tall. I have heard this also from other folks who have adopted from our orphanage, Fenyi--so much so that the Yahoo group often calls their girls the Fenyi Basketball Team. I did take some photos and I will try to upload one of a little boy crawling up the stairs in his split pants. Our Lady of Nanchang, the wonderful Rui, then ordered Pizza hut for us tonight and we all spread out on the 11th floor, with all sorts of pizzas, kids in laps, the older kids playing ball in the hallway. While things are good, we are all so tired, and so anixous to get home, so we don't have to use bottled water to brush our teeth, or pour boiling water over all of our utensiles, but its all worth it for our delightful little Gracie.
You might want to check out the blog, OkieAngel (see link on our page) of our fellow travelers, Steph and Jubal from Oklahoma. They are delightful folks with a wonderful blog and their daughter is quite the beauty, definitely the fashion-ista of the group.
Tips for soon to be travelers: Walmart doesn't quite have the same selection of baby clothes, so we are very happy we brought along the clothes we did, along with bottles, dishwashing soap. Alot of stuff is in Chinese, and in kilos, so its sometimes hard to figure out what you are buying.
The hotel floors are less than optimal for crawling kids. We used our travel blanket for the first days, then it went into the Laundry, now we are using a hotel blanket, which will be replaced by a sheet we bought at Wal-mart.
Hair Curling iron (dual voltage, most are) works just fine with adapter, and I suspect it does without one. However, it doesn't make a difference. It is hot in the hotel, and humid outside and its always a bad hair day. I should've brought a hat.
Water: There is always lots of water to purchase very cheaply, but just remember what you purchased vs what was in the honor bar, as I have accidently opened up water from the bar, and not what I bought. Same with beer.
Cherrios
One member of our group told us that they thanked General Mills on their blog for Cherrios. I'd like to thank them too. I'd also like to thank Phillips 3-0 litre instant water heater that boils water in a few minutes. We are boiling water for everything, and we are also boiling bottled water. It must be paying off we are staying healthy. Anyway, Ba-Ba was number one Dad today on his toes all day and it paid off. They are good buddies now. We skipped lunch today and ate inside and then rented a stroller and went to a short walk to the temple park behind the hotel. We will return with our video camera. As I said, we are off the beaten path and there is a small walkway with street vendors, chickens in the streets, small children in spilt pants - sort of a snapshot of real China. We all went out tonight to the restaurant next door for dinner. Delicious. Our girl liked mashed pork, steamed dumplings, watermelon, rice, egg custard. Didn't lke the broccoli. Tomorrow its back on the bus for sightseeing and back to Wal-mart, whcih we can probably handle easier now that we've been there. I wanted to let you know that we also have Grace's finding ad, the ad which they post in the paper asking for her parents to show up. They describe her as "skinny" as post her picture. Also, no three stooges in Nanchang, and we have 2 very big TVs but only one channel in English. Arms and legs are aching tonight, so its off to bed. Grace is already asleep.
Monday, October 29, 2007
Grace Loves Stories
I found out Grace loves to be read to. Even though it may be a book of mostly pictures she loves to hear stories and listens inently. You have to improvise when reading most of the books to her and her eyes light up and she watches you so alertly. I read and told stories to her this morning and, of course played with the stacking cups with her for an hour with no boredom in sight. Grace just soaks it all up and just continues to be a beautiful baby. I know, I know, i sound like a proud Bah Bah, because I am. Ciao y'all til next time! BahBah D.
Civil Affairs and Walmart - Nanchang Style
As Rui says, This was the longest day. After our happy child fell asleep she woke up in the middle of the night and figured out she was stuck with us and was not a happy camper. After stuffing more food into her, rice ceral and formula, she finally fell asleep, but we got none, because we had to make sure she was breathing. Which she did fine. By 6 am we were all up, and had to prepare for the longest day, which is civil affairs, police station, notary, and Walmart. I did manage to get a shower in, and we got Grace fed and clothed, but no time for washing up, so both of us had wild hair thing going for our interviews and photos at civil affairs. Rui took a look at both of us and told us that we were going to have pictures. I said this was the best we could do.
The only thing we can say about going to civil affairs --where we pay our money, get interviewed, and more is that it is alot of waiting around, noisy, hot. The photographer made us pin down Gracie's wild hair for her passport photo but didn't say anything about mine. There is also a group of French-Canadians sort of on our same schedule and so we see them as well. So we went to Civil affairs, paid our donation, got interviewed, then the orphanage officals handed Rui each of the /// Families their daughters finding note, which Grace grabbed and tore a bit. We were only allowed to take a picture but the paper was so shiny that we don't think we got the writing. David could see the date written on it and it looked like it was more than that, so we'll have to get some sort of photographic expert to see if he can clarify the picture a bit. We then went to the police station, and we get our photo taken with our baby. Rui told us later that the clerk at the station was anixous to get lunch, so did all the families except one, so they had to go back later. We then had time for lunch--we went down to the buffet and Gracie had rice with sort of a chicken sauce, watermelon, some green beans, fried egg--ate everything. I feed her small stuff like watermelon with chopsticks, and soupy stuff with one of the baby spoons-- then back on the bus, to the Notary office, for about an hour. By this time, most of the babies were asleep and most families brought snuglies to hold the babies.
We then went to Wal-Mart of Nanchang. Wal-mart in US is crazy enough, this was insane. It was on 2 floors, and we had a list of stuff to buy. Rui provided us each with a tag around our necks that explained who we were and why we were carrying around a Chinese baby--and if they had more questions, provided Rui's cell number. The French-canadians and other adoption groups were also there -- and we were stared at and several families were stopped by locals who inquired what was going on --but no one stopped us. I had planned on taking photos but it was so crazy, so loud, we just wanted to get our stuff and get out. We had Grace strapped in her Baby Bjorn and she was fine, until we were ready to leave because she was hungry and we had forgotten snacks, so we borrowed Cherrios and that kept her happy until we got back to the hotel, where she ate 3 bowls of rice ceral, 2 bottle (4 oz), then when room service came, I gave her more rice with some chicken and mushrooms. We put her in her pj's, and she rolled around and did Yoga positions and played with her feet for about 40 minutes and it was lights out for all of us.
This morning -- since we got everything done today -- is basically a free day. We finally got Grace in the bathtub for a quick bath, she hated it, but we finally got her hair tamed in clips and pigtails, put her in her new Wal-mart duds, and wowed everyone at the breakfast buffet. Rui (Saint Rui, really) then had local dressmakers set up in her hotel room and we had 2 outfits made for grace, with one matching a tie for David and a jacket for me - cost around $200. We also then hung around the hallway with other families. I don't think we could've traveled with a better group of people- everyone is so nice and patient and the travelling kids all deserve gold medals for being super. Nanchang is a bit off the beaten path for tourists - but the hotel is great, good food, friendly people. The smog is terrible. We will try to take some video from the bus because the traffic is insane.
Other notes: Grace thought David was the bomb when we first got her, but on the second day, would let him near her --which was the case for many other families where ba-ba is scary to these kids who apparently haven't been around alot of men. So it was up to me to carry and feed her all day, and thank goodness for the baby carrier because my arms were dang near ready to fall off. However, this morning, she loves her Ba-ba and she says his name and thinks he's great. She likes being entertained by Ba-Ba, but holding -she's still a little wary. Also, after breakfast this morning (watermelon, egg, steamed dumpling and more rice --this was after her frist breakfast of rice ceral and formula) she decided she wanted to walk in the lobby. It may have been that one other daughter, Natalie, who is older, showed up in her pair of squeaky shoes from Wal-Mart, so our little one decides that she wanted to walk, and walk on the hard marble floors of the lobby. She was really annoyed when I kept holding on to her. She has take a few steps, and I expect her to be walking pretty well by the time we get home.
This morning -- since we got everything done today -- is basically a free day. We finally got Grace in the bathtub for a quick bath, she hated it, but we finally got her hair tamed in clips and pigtails, put her in her new Wal-mart duds, and wowed everyone at the breakfast buffet. Rui (Saint Rui, really) then had local dressmakers set up in her hotel room and we had 2 outfits made for grace, with one matching a tie for David and a jacket for me - cost around $200. We also then hung around the hallway with other families. I don't think we could've traveled with a better group of people- everyone is so nice and patient and the travelling kids all deserve gold medals for being super. Nanchang is a bit off the beaten path for tourists - but the hotel is great, good food, friendly people. The smog is terrible. We will try to take some video from the bus because the traffic is insane.
Other notes: Grace thought David was the bomb when we first got her, but on the second day, would let him near her --which was the case for many other families where ba-ba is scary to these kids who apparently haven't been around alot of men. So it was up to me to carry and feed her all day, and thank goodness for the baby carrier because my arms were dang near ready to fall off. However, this morning, she loves her Ba-ba and she says his name and thinks he's great. She likes being entertained by Ba-Ba, but holding -she's still a little wary. Also, after breakfast this morning (watermelon, egg, steamed dumpling and more rice --this was after her frist breakfast of rice ceral and formula) she decided she wanted to walk in the lobby. It may have been that one other daughter, Natalie, who is older, showed up in her pair of squeaky shoes from Wal-Mart, so our little one decides that she wanted to walk, and walk on the hard marble floors of the lobby. She was really annoyed when I kept holding on to her. She has take a few steps, and I expect her to be walking pretty well by the time we get home.
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Grace with Nanny
Grace with Nanny
We spotted Grace right away because she had a tag with referral photo on it. And of course, that hair. She is with her Nanny, who I did get to speak with for a nano-second -- and we were able to get the Nanny's attention -- , The whole thing was very rushed because our lovely plane was lane (China Eastern - Not fun) and we had like 5 minutes at the hotel before we got the babies. We were there for about 1/2 an hour. It was loud and quick. Grace did not cry at all and really seemed engrossed by the view from the bus on the way back. It took about 1 hour before we got her first smile. She let me feed her some gerber puffs and sort of looked at us for a while and soon she was playing with the stacking cups and having a good old time. David had to leave us for a bit to do a ton of paperwork and she wolfed down a rice cereal and those Gerber apple puffs, drank a little bottle (shook her head no when I tried to give her more) drank some water from a sippy cup, then she bagan to chatter at bit, and seems to love the book we gave her with our photos and even said Ba-Ba (a few times) when we were looking at the photo book. She is really tiny, seems to be in good shape, had a good pee, and has laughed a few times--loves those stacking cups--was absolutely cheerful until right before she fell asleep....which was also very loud and quick--she is now asleep in the "worlds most dangerous" crib, so we are sort of holding an all night vigil. We ordered room service-- as everyone else I think--and she is sound asleep. The room was totally destroved in ten seconds as we rushed around unpacking bottles, clothes, and I finally got a bottle station set up in the front bathroom. She is about 9 months size, as I expected. The fashionable duds we sent --down to the green socks -- from Target are 12 months size. We also got back BOTH disposable cameras Nanny said she likes rice and likes to eat but doesn't gain weight. She is probably the smallest baby in the bunch, but I think won honorable mention for the most glorious hair do, and hair she has. Tomorrow, we sign paperwork and make our donations--and for those of you who have been following along, the hotel in Beijing got to change our cash -- including our tens -- and yes, they inspect them but we had no problems. Thanks for all the good wishes. We didn't get many photos at gotcha but the video is good.
More photos to follow
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Saturday, October 27, 2007
GRACIE GOTCHA DAY!!!
Well it fianally happened!!! We have the most wonderful little girl in the world. Gracie!!!! She was very quiet at first and took to Marie right away, not even crying. Gracie was also wearing the little outfit we sent to her and also had the little bunny we sent and would not part with it. It took her a little longer to get used to me but once we got her to our room, and by the way the room is great, she began to play laugh and smile. She's tiny but she's strong and crawling everywhere. She likes when I sing to her and it's hard to get her to part from Marie. Right now she is talking and making noises, laughing with Marie. She already wants to play with the computer and she likes playing with the little plastic blocks we got her. We love her so much and we are both very happy!! YEAH! We did it!!! Oh by the way, she has three teeth so she's having steak tonigh...just kidding. We've had her only three hours but she's doing great, more pictures later, gotta go.
Sometimes, you cannot take enough photos
It is taking flickr about 15 minutes to upload photos so you will have to wait till we get home before we can share the rest. We took this photo for our friend Shon. Today we traveled with our group, aka Jianxji Famiies to see China-In-A-Day--we went to the Forbidden City, Tianamen Square and the Great Wall. Some highlights--crowds--huge crowds of mostly Chinese tourists--lined up for a 2 hour wait to see Chairman Mao in his well-peserved glass coffin---(not included in our tour) Gloriou temple after temple--scenes from the Last Emperor--within the forbidden city and the Great Wall, which is very steep but we kept on going and I think David went to the highest point of anyone in our group. left as it was getting dark. We have two young blonde boys in our group--aged 5 and 9--who kept getting surrounded by crowds who wanted to take their pictures or touch their hair. They took in the attention with alot of poise. We have a few families who got in late last night and did the entire tour today--everyone was very good natured and high spirited. At the end of the day, we got our schedule for tomorrow and had to rush to change some of our fees into Yeun---make some more copies, organize things--tomorrow our luggage has to be out in the hall by 6:30 am--we leave at 8:30 for the airport to Nanchang, then we get our children at 3 pm. Our guide, the ever pleasant and forward thinking Rui, then suggested we all order Papa John's pizza, and had this ordered for us as we were driving back to the hotel. Tomorrow is the big day and we get Grace--but I wanted to get this posted. Don't worry there are 95 more to share when we get home--plus video.
Thursday, October 25, 2007
October 26 LAMA TEMPLE
Day 2 Beijing. We were both wide awake at 5am and headed downstairs to breakfast to a delicious breakfast. We met many more of our fellow travelers, most of whom were headed out to a tour today. We went to buy water, then headed down the street to a Mall.. Anyway, we found some good places to eat,looked around a bit, found the local CVS type store, then we headed to the Lama Temple via cab. Lucky for all you, Flickr (which I'm using to access blogger and upload pics) takes forever to upload photos otherwise I would have inflicted upon you all 39 of the photos I took today. It is an amazing complex of Temples and you have to walk down a street lined with nothing but incense shops. You can smell the incense from the temple complex about 1/2 mile away. It was amazing. You were not allowed to take pictures of the Buddhas inside the temple complex, just outside. One was about 3 stories tall. Many tourists from all over China there offering incense. and Each temple indicated what each Buddha was for--longevity, health, etc. One group of tourists were Tibetans, in full local costume. Their clothes were amazing. I tried to take some photos very descreetly, but not sure if they will get uploaded. Tonight we went over to the Thai restuarant to eat. There is a big event going on the hotel, as it is connected to a concert Hall and they've transformed the place downstairs. They even set up some metal detectors, set up a red carpet, TV crews are here--I guess its part of the Beijing music festival sponsored by Audi...but the rest is in Chinese.
Quick Notes: The most important thing is we get our kid on Sunday, so we are motivated to get this international travel thing down somewhat now before the hard part begins.
TV: David is really enjoying the 3 Stooges in Chinese. For TV, we get CNN from the UK, ESPN and 1 HBO channel.
Fashion: We are in the Business district and everyone here is quite fashionable. Great shoes & scarves. We look very grubby and every day has been a bad hair day (for me).
Tipping: As you know, David loves to tip. Today in the taxis and restuarants outside the hotel, everyone looked at us as if we were losing our mind and there was alot of confusion. So we did learn that Tipping is generally just not done unless you are at a Western-style hotel.
Language: Most everyone knows a little bit of English and seem to really appreciate our lame attempts to say a few words.
Best thing we've packed so far: Laptop.
Weather: Cooler today, and hazy. Still haven't broken out my jacket yet.
Tomorrow, we go to the Great Wall on a tour. Sorry about the typos - a little difficult to post. It's still in Chinese. The China time on the blog is wrong I think, It is 4:05 pm here now and it is showing 1:04 am at home. More later
Quick Notes: The most important thing is we get our kid on Sunday, so we are motivated to get this international travel thing down somewhat now before the hard part begins.
TV: David is really enjoying the 3 Stooges in Chinese. For TV, we get CNN from the UK, ESPN and 1 HBO channel.
Fashion: We are in the Business district and everyone here is quite fashionable. Great shoes & scarves. We look very grubby and every day has been a bad hair day (for me).
Tipping: As you know, David loves to tip. Today in the taxis and restuarants outside the hotel, everyone looked at us as if we were losing our mind and there was alot of confusion. So we did learn that Tipping is generally just not done unless you are at a Western-style hotel.
Language: Most everyone knows a little bit of English and seem to really appreciate our lame attempts to say a few words.
Best thing we've packed so far: Laptop.
Weather: Cooler today, and hazy. Still haven't broken out my jacket yet.
Tomorrow, we go to the Great Wall on a tour. Sorry about the typos - a little difficult to post. It's still in Chinese. The China time on the blog is wrong I think, It is 4:05 pm here now and it is showing 1:04 am at home. More later
Won Ton Soup Heals Marie!
Although we were tempted by some of the other offerings- I went for good old Won-Ton -- and it worked! Click on Photo to see pictures from our first day...sort of, we didn't leave the hotel yet....Update Friday: Thank you for all your good wishes for a speedy recovery. Lesson learned: Do not crash out on a comfortable but very, very, firm bed after 16 hours of flying. Then jump right out of bed. Stick to the plan--go for a walk instead! Thanks again.
Won Ton Soup Heals Marie!
So, we arrived at the hotel, and the plan was to sleep for up to 2 hours then get up and about. At 4pm, Four hours later, I woke up, jumped out of bed (I'm excited, you see, to be in China, want to look outside). My right leg collapes under neath and my arm is numb. Few minutes later, I wake up David because now I'm getting nauseous and my hands are now tingling, I'm thinking I'm stroking out. David is wondering if he should call 9-1-1 but we can't even figure out how to call the front desk. We call our lovely guide Rui who is reassuring and tells us she will come asap, she was at the airport picking up another couple... but I'm still scared out of my wits. After pacing up and down and breaking into the 35Yuen bottle of water, I'm feeling a bit better but very weak, especially on my right. Rui arrives and thinks it is the jet lag and suggests a good bowl of hot noodles and to air out our room. And now that I think of it, I crash out on the bed lying on my right and probably didn't move. So we go downstairs, run into the Stephanie and Jubal from Oklahoma, enjoy some green tea, get some good reassurance from them and then headed over to the noodle shop for hot won ton soup with nice salty broth and even more water. So I'm feeling 100% better; it is about 7:30 pm now. I think I scared David out of his wits--and are both happy that I'm not in the hospital....Okay now I'm(David) taking over this section. Yes I was scared, here we are in a totally foreign country, our first few hours here and I can't even figure out what to do for Marie. It's difficult not knowing what to do when someone you love is in pain and you don't know whether it's serious or not. I felt pretty useless at first but after finding Rui's phone number I felt better. I kind of thought it was jet lag and she needed to eat and rest so that's what we did after Rui reassured us. It was great meeting other people from the states and even better, they're from God's Country...OKLAHOMA!! So Marie and I had tea and coffee and then ate and of course I had a beer, Tsing-Tao, it was all delicious. Okay I think I'm going to sign off now, it's a great adventure so far and I can't wait to go out into the city of Beijing tomorrow to explore. We'll try posting some pictures a little later, right now I'm going to watch some Chinese TV.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Greetings from Korea
Blogger is all in Korean, so I hope this gets through. Suffice to say, Korean Air was great--they feed you constantly, we got the award winning bipipimap noodle dish, we got the 3000 channel av system, and the plane was so freakin' big that, well, it didn't feel like you were flying. The air stewards were all beautiful and friendly. Whenn they passed around the hot towels I almost cried. We have a few hours before we catch our flight to Beijing and there are 15 places to eat at the Incheon Airport and they are all named Welly. Everything was going well, we were too excited to sleep much on the plane. More later when we arrive in Beijing. It's7:35 am Thursday, Oct 25 here...now. Bye.
Monday, October 22, 2007
The Big Weigh In - Results!
We packed today. According to our Official TravelSmith Bag Scale Thingy, one bag came in at 40-42 lbs, the other between 38-40. The goal was 40 lbs, since the limit is 44 lbs--for Intra-China flights. For those of you who want to know--they are two mixed bags of all of our stuff...David's, mine and Baby's. Sure we made some adjustments: I traded in my gallon-sized hand sanitizer for something more travel-sized, and we pulled out change on clothes for David to go in the carry on, since finding his size in China would be problematic. So with this extra room, we got to throw in all sorts of food --packets of oatmeal, cup of mac n' cheese, trail mix, and some back pack dinners. Just in case we want a taste of home. What didn't make it : My 1 lb bag chili-lime pistachio nuts, two cup o' noodles, Trader Joes Turkey Jerky and Organic Wasabi Rice crackers, which I'm eating now--right after we polished off the pistachios.
I had purchased some Target photo label baggage tags but after thinking that any self respecting pick pocket would have their eye out for those bags that have sweet-faced Chinese babies on luggage tags, we skipped putting our baby's photo on the tags in favor of something more seasonal, yet eye catching. Thank you Gina for letting us borrow your suitcase.
I had purchased some Target photo label baggage tags but after thinking that any self respecting pick pocket would have their eye out for those bags that have sweet-faced Chinese babies on luggage tags, we skipped putting our baby's photo on the tags in favor of something more seasonal, yet eye catching. Thank you Gina for letting us borrow your suitcase.
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Competition was Tough....
Aided by copious amounts of ....er, grape juice...(right, it is a baby shower right? ) Contestants cooly battled it out for hot prizes at the baby shower. It sure was fun. Thanks everyone!
CLICK ON PHOTO FOR MORE PICTURES!
CLICK ON PHOTO FOR MORE PICTURES!
Sunday, October 14, 2007
You All Can Sleep Now.
The room is done. Thanks to all of you! (More about THAT later--it was a busy weekend!)
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Travel Plans - We are transfering where?
Blogs are a wonderful thing. It was only when DH read blog that he realized that our one stop transfer point is in Seoul.
UPDATE: Check out the photo links! We might use Flickr to upload our photos while we are in China.
Here's a run down of what we can expect -
Depart Las Vegas early, midnight ish via Korean Air; transfer in Seoul, like at 6am.
Arrive Beijing, Thursday
Beijing Tour (See the Great Wall!)
Fly to Nanchang, Jiangxi. (Remember Survivor this season was filmed near here)
Gotcha Day- Probably at hotel. (We won't know the hotel until a few days before we leave)
Nanchang (Taking lots of pictures and sending updates as we get acquainted with our little girl)
Fly to Guangzhou, American Consulate appointment
Family goes to AC to pick up passport with visa and take oath –
Earliest we can depart China-- after 9pm November 8, 2007
Short plane flight to Hong Kong; then Seoul, then back home.
Things we haven't done yet: : Weigh packed luggage, check more electronics for dual voltage, download or cut out pages from Baby Health book, see if we can get one cell phone to work from China, schedule doctors visit, make list of emergency phone numbers, decide if we want to take a power strip, re-check paperwork, experiment with the Ambien.
Answers to questions:
Where I got the new clocks on the page: Copied the idea from Todd & Brandi's page. (Be Flattered!)
Orphanage: We won't get to visit.
Package: Don't know if it got there
Health update: Asked for one, didn't get a reply, but didn't expect one either.
Name here-- Answer from Adoption agency: Doesn't matter. ( I guess even immigration officials can figure out a space doesn't make a difference if the spelling is the same. )
Plan for big noisy reception by dog when we get home: I've got something figured out, but it's a secret because I don't want the dog to hear.
Quiche: Jan made, and it was Karen who took the missing slice home before I got my hands on it.
Monday, October 8, 2007
Travel Plans & A shower
A brief update: We found out today our Gotcha Day is October 28th! And, the great thing about living here --it's just one stop--just one--between here and China. We get on the plane, bring our pillow and meds, go to sleep, wake up in Seoul, then back aboard for a mere 2.5 hours later and we are there! The great adventure adoption begins on October 24th. More to follow....I got no work done on Friday because when I wasn't on the phone trying to make plane reservations, my wonderful co-workers threw me a lovely shower. They all have been very patient these last few years and have probably learned more about the Chinese adoption process than they ever wanted to know. We had a great party and wonderful, thoughful gifts for our daughter, including a very cute hand knitted sweater dress, toys, a lovely wonderful Pottery Barn Kids quilt,great Dr. Suess classics books, a very special Chinese good luck necklace, clothes, a playyard, music, donations to our charity, a stroller....and much more. The conference room was decorated to the hilt, with baby washcloths, and towels covering the walls, and we all wore custom-made necklaces, and I got a very cool corsage to wear. Sure, we got no work done that day, but there was an amazing wonderful cake, pictured above, which was not only pretty, but tasty. Best of all, we had FOOD, homemade stuff, nothing diet here, and lots of it too. We scarfed everything down-- except the quiche in the picture , which I got to bring home and David and I ate the whole thing over the weekend. Credit will go due when I found out who made it. It was yummy.
Sunday, September 30, 2007
The "Before" picture
Sure, you've seen all those other blogs, from creative parents who already have their child's room already painted and thoughtfully decorated with lovely motifs. This is ours. We are in packing and planning mode. It's a war zone really, with strategies being plotted, decisions being made, supply lines considered.
It will look a lot better after the Target delivery guy gets here.
Sunday, September 23, 2007
TRAVEL UPDATE 10/1/07
Estimated day to leave for China is October 25th. Our agency is hoping to book our consulate appointment for the week of November 5th. Earlier it is booked, earlier we get to return home. The way it works is once they notify us of the consulate appointment, we get sent tentative airline bookings from our travel agency. We have 24 hours to select and pay for our travel. We do not know exactly what hotel in Beijing or Nanchang we will be staying until 5 days before we leave. I've also started to pack. I've been relying heavily on those who just returned this week; known as the BTDT (been there done that) group. Suggestions for baby: Bring meds, a few diapers, bottles and packs of formula to get started, and buy everything else there. Leave Lice treatment at home. Adults: pack light. Lots of rave reviews from folks who just returned, saying everything was great. We checked all of our paperwork, and good thing because the one thing I had to get notarized turned out to be an outdated version of the form, so I need to do that over. (Yeah, think of it, stuck in China because my Affidavit to Get My Kid Her Shots was on the outdated version--probably was updated when I STARTED this thing back in 05, right?) There has also been controversy on our daughters Chinese name. Our agency informed us that (as usual) paperwork has to be exactly right on baby names, so I emailed back with the question, is our child named /// It was both ways on our referral paperwork. Stay tuned.
So, we were so busy getting ready for China, we went on vacation
First of all, congrats to Todd & Brandi who made it home. The pictures are great. Thanks for allowing us to share on your adventure.
Summer flew by and we forgot to vacation. Actually the main one (to DC -which included work for me, but fun for David) was cancelled due to that Yukon that blew though that intersection at 60 mph and put David in the hospital in June...but I digress...anyway, David decided last month that now was a very good time to go to our favorite spot in the world, Cambria... which also has my favorite restuarant in the world, Robins. It is a very happy place. Today, we took a long walk along the beach, then we spent several hours in San Luis Obispo. Shopping and seeing the local sights. Tomorrow, we plan on hitting the wineries. Our last vacation as a couple and all we can talk about is how we will bring our little one here on vacation And while we are here we can practice on the blog... here is some photos from Moonstone Beach with David on the cell to his mom in front of perfect beach homes we could never afford --and the link to Robins,
http://www.robinsrestaurant.com
Monday, September 17, 2007
CHINA - When?? Update 9-17-07
We heard from our travel team today. We may go to China as early as October 20th! This is after they said there was NO WAY we'd be traveling in October. I guess that trade fair that fills the hotels will be rolling out of Guangzhou about the time we roll in if we leave around the 20th. We will know in a few weeks exactly when....
We did send out a care package over the weekend. That was fun. (Not). We found it very ironic that alot of stuff gets shipped to the United State FROM China, but shipping to China is confusing and expensive. We will not know 'til we get there if our package makes it. While we really wanted to send a HUGE package of stuff, it just isn't done, due to taxes the orphanage must incur. So like all care packages to Chinese orphanages, it was small and hopeful. We packed a toddler chewable photo album of us (including the dog), plus included her picture on front, 2 outfits,2 pairs of socks, soft cuddly bunny, disposable camera, toddler apple snacks, and two packages of Harry & David "Moose Munch"for the orphanage staff ( which is basically carmel corn, and also served nicely as padding). It was the size of a shoebox. For her name, I scanned her name in Chinese from her adoption paperwork and taped it on the letter in Chinese explaining what the package is and who we are from the agency. The best we can hope for is that someone feeds her some of those toddler snacks and shows her the photo album of us, and maybe take some photos of her life in the Orphanage. Actually, the chances are good if the package gets there, they will take the photos for us, and we will get the camera back when we get her. Sometimes when you pick your child up, she is wearing the clothes you sent, but more often than not, the clothes just go to any child that needs them in the orphanage. Yeah, if I were a good scrapbooking kind of parent, I'd would've taken photos of what we sent, just to document the event. But only thought of that a day later.
Travel Team from adoption now has us paranoid about paperwork again. Warning us that if we mess up now - Everything grinds to a halt, and you get stuck in China without your child.--so we need to check to be sure our names are spelled EXACTLY the same as it is on our passports as on the 171-H. Make sure we have BOTH copies of the homestudy and updates are notarized, (which is really funny because we don't get these directly from our Nevada homestudy agency -- and actually have to get them from the agency in Texas--long story there) Make sure your Visa is correct. Make sure you bring 7 copies of your passport. Ironically, everyone from Guangzhou to USCIS to Texas has these forms already, but I think they figure everyone else will lose them so you better be responsible and bring them yourself.
Back to happier stuff: our phone call last week with doctor was brief and reassuring. So here we are on the phone, she just says, what do you want to know? Me: Anything we need to do special due to her malnutrition problems? No, just feed her as you normally would do with snacks, three meals, etc. Take her for walks. Get her some sun. Me: Should we worry about the 'no teeth' thing? Nope. Seen lots of kids without teeth even at 15 months. Me: Will she always be small? No, probably not. Me: Can we send her big bowls of pasta and meatballs ahead of time to help fatten her up? Nope. Don't bother. Anyway, that was it. It is all good. David just said. OK. Let's go get her.
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