We couldn't be happier

August 15th AM
Today is our first full day with Sophie and we are having a great time! Sophie, Steve and Katie slept throughout the night but Anne was too excited to really get much sleep. It was all she could do to not wake Sophie up to play early this morning. After we all got up and ready we ate breakfast. We were happy to find out that Sophia is used to feeding herself and she likes potatoes and watermelon. She also likes spoons and is trying to get in on the feeding action.

Next decided to do a little shopping before it got too hot. Evidently, there is no "before it gets too hot" time here in Chongqing and we were sweating just walking to the the stores two blocks away. The area of Chongqing that we are in is more of a mix old and new with six foot wide tailor stalls and snack shops across the street from million dollar high rise offices. We shopped in the state run bookstore and an up-scale department store. We purchased a few Chinese-English books for Sophie, a martial arts book for Steve and a sippy cup for the baby. While we were walking Sophie fell asleep. What a doll.

Since we are in a less cosmopolitan area than Beijing, we are getting a lot of looks and a few questions. Saying hello always seems to break the ice, especially with the kids, since it gives them a chance to try out their English.

Sophia did not stay asleep when we got back and so it was blog and play time. We took turns playing with her on the floor and have begun to see smiles and hear her beautiful voice. Of course, everything new is very interesting. She is already very attached to Anne and wants to know where she is at all times.

We feel very fortunate to have Sophia in our lives. Every family joined through adoption always feel like their child is the best. I can certainly say we know we have the best child. We are starting to be able to figure out when she is tired or hungry. She lets us know when she wants something. She is so much fun to play with and hold. I never want to let her go.

Sophia is a doll

August 14

We got to our hotel at about 2:00 PM and no sooner got off the bus when our babies came in the lobby. They were probably waiting for us to arrive. Steve recognized Sophia right away and I riffled through my carry on to find the video camera.

They handed Sophia to me (Anne) She cried a little bit but settled down quickly. Katie then had a chance to hold her and finally Steve. She cried a little every time she was passed off but settled in quickly. We brought her back to the room and gave her a bottle which she drank very quickly.

Then Anne took a bath with her. She loved the water. Katie joined the bath and all the girls had fun. She played with Katlyn, Heather and Todd's daughter. She is in my lap now as I type. She is reaching for the keys and every now and then types a few letters. Steve is doing paperwork.

She has a bit of a cold so we gave her the antibiotics the doctor gave us. We will write more later once we settle in. We just wanted to let you know that she is beautiful. We are in love and she is quite content.

-A Note From Katie
WOW! Where should I start?She is really cute, and she loves water. We should get along well...
She has already made some friends,taken a bath, had a bottle (two, actually), played with some toys, and almost took a nap.She hasn't cried much, though. All of the babies are adorable, but little Sophie is the cutest! Well, Anne said to stop typing,so I will. If you have comments to me,
Write for Katie please. Thanks!

Our last day in Beijing

August 13

Today was fantastic and the high point of our trip so far. We began the day with a boat ride across a small lake and saw both the “hot” night spots of Beijing and the first section of the Grand Canal that brought the Emperor’s concubines from 1700 kilometers to the south.

Next we climbed up the Drum Tower which the city residents relied on to tell time. It was also a great spot to be able to look across Beijing and see the contrast between the old and the new. It was much easier to climb the Drum Tower than the Great Wall.

After the tower we returned to the lake for a boat ride and a serenade. The musicians were two beautiful young women who played mandolins. Since it was Sunday many families were out and about. One family left the driving to their young daughter. She was much more interested in looking at us than in driving and this resulted in the family’s boat hitting both a bridge embankment and a few other boats.

For lunch the guide arranged for us to go to a local family’s home. This area is known as the Hutong district and it is named after the old courtyard homes found there. The courtyard homes were originally the property of one family and often had four generations living there. Now the government has taken the homes and put four or five smaller families into these houses. Our family’s father is an outstanding worker at a local factory who has been rewarded with the larger part of the Hutong. He and his wife cooked the best meal we’ve had here and told us a little about their lives in Beijing. They showed us around the whole house and we were amazed at the number of pets kept by the families. If we ever feel that out house in Laurel is too small, we just need to look at the pictures from our visit here.

After lunch we joined a rickshaw tour of the area. The poverty we saw impacted each of us. We later discussed that this may be the life that we are taking Sophie away from. Much of the area is being rebuilt, as is much of Beijing, in preparation for the 2008 Olympics. The work never ends with workers and machinery going day and night, seven days a week.

Our next stop was a freshwater pearl factory where Anne did a little early-bird shopping. To continue a tradition from the Acampora family, we bought pearls for both Katie and Sophie to wear on their wedding day. We got a few other gifts but we can’t tell you to much more without spoiling a few surprises when we get home.

The last stop of our tour of Beijing was a visit to the Summer Palace. Unfortunately, it started to rain just as we arrived. It was very difficult to move through the area without losing an eye to a passing umbrella and we moved through the park quite quickly. We’ll have to check it out next time.

We arrived back at the hotel and spent some time repacking and thinking about how, after tomorrow, our live will never be the same. Sophie, here we come!

The Great Wall

August 12

Today was a physically exhausting day. After breakfast we headed to The Great Wall. Once again the vastness is something words can not explain. The never ending stairs, winding up the mountain side is remarkable. We were determined to make it as high as we could. We had two hours to climb. Steve, Katie and I made it to the first tower. Steve and I forged on higher while Katie stayed with others in the travel group who decided the first tower was enough. Steve and I made it to the second tower (you can see the second tower in the picture above) and two other guys in the group made it to the third. This was an experience. Some steps are very steep and others are not. There were many people also trying to make it up which made it very difficult at times. We were all proud of ourselves for making it as far as we did. Katie called her mom from the first tower of The Great Wall. (see photo)

After The Great Wall we headed over to the Jade Factory. This explained the process of how jade is carved and how to identify the real stuff from the fake stuff. We bought a few items there.

We then had a great lunch in the restaurant attached to the Jade Factory. The food was good and plentiful. I snuck in what may be one of my last naps for a while before we headed out to the Chinese acrobat show and then to an absolutely delicious dinner at a very fancy restaurant.
Laura (another mom in our travel group,) Katie and I then ventured out on our own in search of a stroller for Laura’s older daughter. We bought one for Sophia seeing we don’t know how easy it will be to find in Chongqing. Beijing is so safe. We felt totally comfortable on the streets. Our guide wrote down the address for us and after asking about three people we found were we needed to be.
Well, it has been a very long day and I am falling asleep as I type this. Time to get to sleep.

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.