First Full Day in China

August 11

China is amazing. We had such a great day. We started with a tour of Tian’an Men Square and the Forbidden City. Tian’an Men Square holds Chairman Mao’s mausoleum and is surrounded by the Great Hall of the People and China National Museum. Across the street is the entrance to the Forbidden City. The Forbidden City is comprised of 9,999 ½ buildings. The reason behind this odd number is the believe that God has 10,000 building in heaven so any earthly king should have ½ less. The vastness of the Forbidden City is breathtaking. The detail in the carvings and ornate paintings were remarkable. The corner of the roof of each building had numerous animal carvings, the more important the building, the more mythical animals.

It was extremely hot today. The humidity seemed much worse than at home, something I did not think was possible. We were the recipients of many stares. One family pulled Katie aside and took a picture of her with their children. Katie was a trooper. She cooperated without even a dirty look. Katie has really been amazing. It is hot, we are constantly busy and facing a totally new culture and she has been so mature and easy going. She is a huge help with the two families with younger children, she is able to keep the children amused.

The street peddlers were something else. They came right into your space and tried to sell us things; many following us even though we said no. This happened yesterday at the airport with our luggage. One woman grabbed my luggage right from me and wheeled it to the bus. I gave her $1 and she wanted more. She followed me despite the fact that I was shaking my head and saying no more.

After the tour of the Forbidden City we went to a Dai Restaurant. Dai are a minority people in Southern China and look to be related to the Thai/ Vietnamese/ Laotian. The food was served on lazy Susan and each dish was fabulous. Women were also dancing through the lunch.

We then headed to the Temple of Heaven. This is the place were the emperors would pray and perform ceremonies to ensure a good harvest. Once again the buildings were quite big and ornately designed. There was a very pleasant breeze. We walked through a park and saw locals playing cards, singing, and doing a Qi-Gung type energy exercise.

We also visited a silk market and watched how they make silk blankets and coverings. We had a chance to stretch the silk ourselves. We were very close to buying a silk comforter. It is so soft and comfortable. The hotel has one so we are getting spoiled.

The night was finished off with an amazing performance, Chun Yi- The Legend of Kung Fu. This told the story of a young boy as he joined the Shaolin Temple and became a warrior monk. The show was used Wu Shu (martial arts) to illustrate this story. They were top-notched athletes. While we were typing this we were watching TV and this same show was playing!

Our guide, Tony (his American name) is fabulous. He takes time to explain the sites we are seeing and tells us very interesting facts. He is very funny and down to earth. He taught us a little Mandarin today and sang an American song (You are my Sunshine) for us. The told us this is a song he enjoys singing to his 16 month old son.

The storms that are hitting China are south of where we are now and north of where we will be so they won’t cause us any problems.

We are exhausted after a wonderfully long day of touring.

We are here!!!

August 10th

We are in China!!! It really is surreal. We had a long flight over. Our flight from Chicago to Beijing was 12 ½ hours. At about eight hours in we didn’t think we could endure any more. Amazingly enough we did!!! There were four families from our agency on our flight. We got up and walked a bit on the plane. We visited the other families and chatted a bit to pass the time.

One family has a four year old daughter with them. Katie helped keep Sarah entertained. She was a huge help. Katie really does have an innate ability when it comes to taking care of children. I am not sure she realizes just how good she is. Katie was a trooper on the plane. She did not complain at all.

We were very concerned about Steve’s back after his surgery six weeks ago. Thank goodness it was not too painful on the flight over.

We are now in our hotel, the Beijing International Hotel. It is a five star hotel. It is really nice. Our room is a good size and once we figured out how to turn on the lights we settled in. It is now Thursday, 5:30 PM in Beijing. We have been up for 24 hours with a few short (very short) naps on the plane. It is 5:30 AM according to our body clocks. We need to stay up and adjust to this time zone.

It is very rainy here. We are going to relax a little and then grab some dinner. We haven’t decided if we will venture out of the hotel. It think it depends on the weather. We will also explore the hotel a bit. It has a pool which will be great at this point.

After a short nap we headed out in search of something to eat. It had stopped raining. There were plenty of McDonalds and KFC but we decided against them. We walked down the street and found an incredibly nice mall, International Plaza. This was a very upscale mall. We ate at a Thai restaurant. It was very good. We are now getting ready for bed. Tomorrow we have a full day of touring.

China here we come!!!

We will be leaving tomorrow morning bright and early. We are packed, everything is in order, and we have our pet sitter/house sitter all prepped and ready to take charge.

We got our itinerary yesterday and it is very exciting. Please pray that we have a safe journey.

8/9 leave from BWI, fly into Chicago and then to Beijing

8/10 arrive in China and rest

8/11 Visit the Forbidden City, Tian An Men Square and the Temple of Heaven

8/12 Visit the Great Wall, see an acrobat show, have a welcome dinner

8/13 Take a rickshaw tour of the Hutong district, visit the Dram Tower, a school, the Summer Palace, take a dragon boat on the Kunming lake, listen to traditional Chinese music played by a musician on a scull boat in Shi Sha Hai. Have lunch in a family home and learn how to make dumplings with the family.

8/14 Leave at 8:00 to fly to Chongqing. Be united with Sophia at 4:00!!!!!!!!

8/15 Do some paperwork and bond with the baby

8/16 More bonding time with the baby

8/17 Fly to Chengdu

8/18 Visit the Wolong Panda Preservation

8/19 Return to Chengdu, visit and Dujiangyan, an ancient irrigation system

8/20 Fly to Guangzhou

8/21 Sophia will have medical exam, tour Guangzhou

8/22 Sophia’s paperwork will be delivered to the US Consulate. We will shop and tour in
Guangzhou

8/23 Go to the US Consulate for visa ceremony and to get Sophia’s visas.

8/24 Fly to Hong Kong at 8:20 AM, take an 11:30 flight to San Franscico, then fly to BWI after a five hour layover in SF. Total travel time will be approximately twenty-six hours but we will arrive at BWI at 10:33 PM on 8/24.

Packing

It is hard to believe that we leave in less than three days. Today we are going to spend the day packing and getting the paperwork in order. As you can see we have quite a bit of packing to do.

Sophia's quilt

I finished the quilt for Sophia's crib today, perfect timing!! I am really pleased with the way it turned out.

Nick's 19th Birthday

Today we went to New Jersey to take Nick out to lunch for his 19th birthday. We had a nice afternoon. Hard to believe Steve has a 19 year old son, 10 year old daughter and will have a 9 month old daughter next week.

We are leaving August 9th

Things are really moving fast. We got our travel approval onTuesday and Thursday found out that we have our consulate appointment on August 22, which means we leave on August 9th. We will meet Sophia on August 14th.

We will be coming on on August 24, if we can get a flight back that day. It seems that everyone is leaving China on August 24th. We are looking into flight options and should have everything set for our trip to and from China today. Once we are in China our agency takes care of everything. They will send us our itinerary on Monday.

We leave in FIVE days.

We got our TRAVEL APPROVAL!!!!

Our agency emailed us shortly after 1 PM today, August 1. They just got our travel approval. They have emailed the US Consulate for an appointment. We should know our travel dates tomorrow or Thursday. I am thrilled beyond words. Soon this wait will be over and we will have our daughter in our arms!!!!

Sophia's storybook

On Sunday Diana, Ariel and I had a scrapbooking day. We started at 9 AM and finished up about twelve hours later. I made a story book for Sophia. I used some lifebook ideas I have found and created a very simple story to read to her. I will make a lifebook with more details as she gets a little older. For now this is her story. I will add pictures that we take in China to complete the book. I am very pleased with the way it came out.

Our Last WAITING Parents Meeting!!!

Last week we went to our last waiting parents meeting. I have been going to these almost every month. It has been a wonderful support and resource. It is held at the adoption agency. The coordinator of the China program brings different people in to talk. Mostly the guest have been parents who have recently adopted. They bring their daughters and talk about the entire experience. It is always good to see how well the children are doing and to hear about the whole adoption process.

We brought Sophia's picture to show everyone. We also brought the book that Steve and I made for the care package. Actually I should not take much credit on this book. I copied the pictures for it and then Steve did all the work. He found the Chinese characters for mom, dad, big sister, big brother, dogs and cats and labeled each picture. It came out great.

It was nice to be there at the waiting parents meeting knowing this was our last meeting. I hope to some day go back to those meetings as the invited guests with Sophia. These meetings were a great help for me. I hope that I may have the opportunity to help others.

The high has not worn off

Many people have told us that the waiting after the referral is actually worse than the wait before you see your child's face. Both Steve and I were talking last night and agreed that wasn't the case yet. Perhaps the high of seeing Sophia's sweet, round face has not worn off yet. Maybe it is because we are busying making a book to send her in a care package we hope to mail to China this week. Maybe it is because we are getting things ready for the trip such as picking out the clothes we will bring for the baby, buying hairbows, and buying all the necessary "stuff" (advil, saline spray, sunscreen, etc) to bring on our trip. Whatever the reason, we are not complaining!!!!

We hope that our travel approval comes quickly. Once it does the agency will get our consulate appointment and we will know when we will be in China. I am hoping that we will have our travel approval in two weeks and travel by August 14th. Keep your fingers crossed for us.

Anne

Introducing Sophia LiHua

We are very pleased to announce our daughter Sophia you. She was born on November 1, 2005. Her given name is Qian Li Hua. Qian is where she is from. Li means pretty and Hua means flower. We are thrilled to find out she has been in foster care. She obviously is well fed! She weighed 18 pounds and was 27 inches long on April 27. She is described as quiet girl and a deep sleeper. She holds her head up while lying on her stomach, rolls, grasps for a toy near her hand, and sits alone. She has a ready smile and laughs aloud. She is fond of music, TV and her favorite toy is a bell.

We are still waiting on the full referral summary to be translated. Check back for that update. We are planning on updating this blog with pictures and stories even while we are in China. We hope to travel mid to late August to bring Sophia home.

The photos are also posted on www.flickr.com/photos/annesteve

TODAY IS THE DAY!!!

In just a few hours we will get our referral. The arrived in the US yesterday afternoon and were translated last night. We are able to go to the office today after 1 Pm to pick up the referrals. If I understand it right all the important information will be translated today and then we will get the entire translated referral next week. Today is the day we first see her face!!! The flood of emotions is already overwhelming.

Finally some news!!!

On Wednesday, June 28 I got a call from Sandy. I was still interpreting so I could not answer my phone but I did peak at it mid-sentence and saw the agencies number. I could hardly concentrate. Not two minutes later Steve called me 4 times in a row. I knew this was some good news but could not get to the phone for 10 minutes. I don't know how I was able to finish the job but I did manage. Once I called Steve back he told me that Sandy contacted him to let us know that referrals were in the mail and should arrive in the US on Thursday and we may get them on Saturday. I was thrilled.

Fast forward to Thursday when we get an email from Sandy stating the referrals had not arrived yet. She called to check in and told us it would really be happening very soon.

On Friday at 1:4o I was interpreting again. Sandy calls. I missed the call. I couldn't get out a thought. Thank goodness I was able to finish up in about two minutes and call Sandy back. She told me that referrals were not yet in but Xiumin called from China with some information. We are going to Sichuan to meet our daughter. She was born in November and is residing at the Chongqing Social Work Institute. This all feels surreal. Our referral paperwork has not arrived yet so we don't know any more details but we will hear very soon. Sandy is hoping that they arrive today and can be translated tonight. If so we will pick up the referrals (and a picture of Sophia!!!!!!) on Saturday afternoon. If not we will have to wait until Monday. I can't believe this is all happening. We are all overjoyed. Sichuan is in Southwest China. It is beautiful. It is also the home of the Giant Panda Reserve. We all can't wait to travel to see this beautiful country and to bring Sophia home.

Anne

Too Good to be True?

First thing this morning I checked the CCAA website and found that they have matched families with paperwork sent to their office before June 28, 2005. While our agency never seems to get the referrals as quick as all the other larger agencies get them this COULD mean our referrals are on their way soon. I do hope we will see Sophia's face before the end of this month.

June 20th and still no word!!

The projected referral dates of June 5th or June 12th given at our travel meeting have come and gone without a referral. Our agency has backed up those dates to either late in the week of June 12th or during the week of June 19th but I don't feel that will pan out. It seems there is no rhyme or reason behind this referral pattern and everyone is just making best guesses.

Katie and I went to a waiting parent's meeting last night. There were two girls there, one adopted a year ago and another adopted 2 months ago. Katie was a natural. She got on the floor and played with both kids. She brought a ball which was a big hit. She helped the youngest hold on to a baby doll stroller and walk across the room. She was told by the 21 months old mother that she is going to be a great big sister and it is clear that she will be.

An adoption video

An adoption video
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/16379

Good Luck

I’m SO excited! I’ve recently been told that I might go to China with Dad & Anne!!!!
Sure, the plane ride (20 hours, approximately) will be long, but meeting my sister is all I care about. I hope the heat won’t affect us too much, though. Hopefully, we’ll get to climb the great wall, see some temples, and statues. Also, yesterday I saw a bunch of ladybugs. A couple of them crawled on me! We even have picture proof. With the adoption from China, ladybugs are signs of good luck! YAY!!!
-Katie

The Rollercoaster Ride

I sent a email to my agency asking if they thought we would get our referrals in the beginning of June. They told me that they know group 28 (our group of two families) and group 29 are together. I am not sure what that means. Our log in date was June 13 which means we would get our referrals with this bunch. Group 29 has a June 17 log in date which means they get their referrals in the next batch.... next month (beginning of July.)

Sandy thinks we are not in this batch but in the next one. However, she still expects us to get our referrals around the second week in June. It was my understanding that the CCAA only matched once a month, towards the end of each month. What a downer. If we do not get our referral until the beginning of July we will not travel until mid to late August. I sure hope she is right about the referral coming mid June. I am going out of my mind!!!!!

Could it be?????????

The website has changed!!!!!!!! Does this mean we have been matched??
Our documents were registered (logged in) on June 13, 2005. I am trying not to get too excited seeing referrals don't always seem to match what the CCAA website states. The families that got their referrals the beginning of May should have received their the beginning of April according to the website ........ but then other groups in the past got them right on time. I am besides myself. I am so excited but trying to be realistic. The CCAA should be starting to mail out referrals at the end of the week. This may mean we will learn about Sophia at the beginning of June.

I can't even think straight right now. Please pray that we will get our referral soon.