PICTURES!

OK, here are a few pictures (OK, maybe more than a few).  I still have to get them uploaded and set up slideshows so you'll have to wait to see all of them (or what you want to see of them).

Terra Cotta Army

Our driver, Mr. Xia, us and Sean, our guide in Xian.

Shaolin Temple

 Practice for balancing area.

 Chinese women getting their picture taken with Westerners.

 People that met on the internet and then decided to meet in person at Shaolin Temple.

Pagoda Forest at Shaolin Temple

GOTCHA DAY!

 First family picture

 Bonding!

 Visit to elementary school.

 Our Holt guide, Echo.

 Tony drinking Chinese Mt. Dew.

 Our own "red couch" picture at the White Swan.

 The little "good luck" thing that the elderly lady gave Dawson.

 A bite of COOOOLD ice cream!

 "Little Dude"

 Content in the chunei (a Korean baby carrier)

 All dressed up and ready for a picture.

 Having an "emporer-sized" fit.

 Our Holt group

 Dawson and Judah (Judah now lives in the Kansas City area)

 The plane that took us to Chicago.

Finally HOME!

Our completed family reunited!

Dawson Lee Smith is HOME!

More later...

However ...

Ladybug Dragon, I can't believe you have a dog named Dawson! We had this name picked out before I found your blog!

Tasha, Isn't it cool we choose the middle name Lee and the coincidence that is with their names?

Heading Home!

I got up at 5:30 this morning, took my shower and got dressed.  Tony wanted to go down to a breakfast in the hotel so he got up.  I fed Le An his bottle and got him dressed.  This breakfast buffet wasn't nearly as extensive as what we've been used to the last 2 weeks.  They didn't even have bananas for Le An.  We got omelets and he had scrambled eggs.  Luckily, with the room service check last night there was a 28% discount available for any restaurant in the hotel good till the end of the month so we saved a little bit with that.

We finished re-packing and were able to work out getting all our luggage pieces down in one trip.  Tony checked us out.  We put our luggage on a cart and walked the LinkBridge to the Departure Terminal.

We found the United area and I went to the ticketing counter to get Le An's ticket.  The agent told Tony to go get into the check-in line and I could join him later.  Good advice!  Le An's ticket only cost $126 as a lap child.  We hoped the seat between us was still available.  We got checked in (and the very nice agent didn't even charge us for our 3rd and 4th bags!), went through Immigration and Security and got on the train to find our gate.  The HKG airport is an actual MALL!  We found our gate and waited.

We got on with family boarding and ... there was someone in our window seat. Hmmmmm....  We sat down and just before we left, he moved to another seat so that we could have all 3 seats.  Thank you, God!

Le An sleeping around noise, light and stimulation is not good.  He probably only slept 3 hours the whole 14-hour flight.  We slept less than that.

We got through Immigration and Customs and Le An became a U.S. Citizen very easily.  Our flight to Omaha was not on the Departures screen yet so we got some sandwiches at Quiznos (pretty good!  I'd never had Quiznos subs before!) and found a gate that had plenty of open seats for us to be able to eat and for Le An to move around a bit.  I called my parents and Dad answered.  Mom and Meighan were taking a nap.  Then Tony called his parents.  We hung out until we knew what gate we would be leaving from.

When we finally got on the very small plane, we got seated and of course Le An decided he didn't want to be confined.  He was apparently kicking (ever so slightly and of course we try to keep our kids from doing this) the seat in front of me.  The guy in the seat asked that he not do that.  So, as we tried to keep him from doing that, he screamed even louder.  I whispered to Tony, "Serves that guy right.  Would he rather have kicking or screaming?" (I would rather have the kicking than this screaming!)  So, even before we left the gate, Le An fell asleep. He slept the entire flight (just like Meighan did!) and woke up when we landed in Omaha.

We knew we would be "composing ourselves" before we went out to greet our family and friends.  We also had to change a diaper, too.

We rounded the corner and again there was a wonderful group of people there to welcome us home!  Meighan came running to hug us and it was so good to see her!!!

After we all walked up to greet everyone else, Tony asked them "Any guesses?" No one wanted to guess so he said, "We want to introduce Dawson Lee Smith." We had to move around the corner to get out of the way. There were posters and cards and even a balloon that got put on my backpack!

We eventually got all 4 of us together and there were 4-5 cameras taking pictures of us!  The topper of the evening was when someone wanted to take a picture and said "1, 2, 3..." and Meighan said "4, 5, 6." She brought the house down.  My mom got a picture of all of our big smiles after that.

We got our luggage and pulled our winter coats out and moved on out to our car.  Dawson didn't seem to mind the car seat (at first).  We drove home and pretty soon my parents arrived with Meighan's things and a few groceries for us.  Later on my brother's family stopped by after Tyler's game so they could meet Dawson.

We eventually got everyone to bed and we even got to sleep some!  Yeah!

Visa Pickup Day and Goodbye Guangzhou

We slept "in" today because we didn't have to be anywhere today.  Le An had a major fit last night and we couldn't calm him down to go to sleep for a very LONG hour!  So sleeping in was a good thing.  We also found out last night that the other families that had been interested in going to the Six Banyan Temple had bailed because they were afraid of the crowds that would be there due to the beginning of the lunar month.  The cost of the van was also apparently very high.  I asked about a taxi and Joyce said we could take a taxi there but getting one away from there would be difficult.  She said that we will be doing a group picture at 10:30 instead.  OK, I was disappointed we couldn't have Le An blessed but I was glad we could do a group picture because nothing had been said about that yet.

So we went down to breakfast and ate with my blogging friend Bridget and her family and saw others of the CCAI group from Zhengzhou.  We've met so many nice friends on this trip!  I hope we can stay somewhat in touch!

I then continued to pack while Tony watched Le An.  Right before 10:30 we put a traditional outfit on him.  Not everyone had them this time so, again, we were unusual!  (Last time Meighan was the only one WITHOUT a traditional outfit!). This was truly a GROUP picture.  All of the families stood on the steps and we all gave our cameras to Phoebe and the guy (we never caught his name).  They took pictures with all cameras then Phoebe took some with her camera.  Le An's head only partially showed in all the pictures we have.  They did not do a picture with just the adopted kids.  That would have been nice.

We went back up to the room and I finished packing about 12:30 or 1:00.  Holt had told us we could check out at noon but stay in the room till 4:00 or so.  Tony went down to check out and was told to check out at 4:00.  OK!  So the waiting began.  We had to entertain Le An without toys (they were packed already).  We also had to figure out something to eat.  We decided to walk back to the restaurant where Catherine and Phoebe had taken the group the other night.

Hmmm...  The waitress did not speak English but the menu had pictures and some English on it.  We ordered rice (had to draw a picture), seasonal steamed vegetables and bread with BBQ pork something with honey.  Also cold bottled water (instead of the hot water in a glass that they'd already given us).  The rice came just right and the bottled water came, too (had to draw a picture of that, too).  The vegetables were actually good.  I liked whatever sauce was on them.  The "bread with BBQ pork something with honey" was really different.  It looked like perfectly browned dinner rolls.  Inside was the "meat" (I think there was more fat than meat).  We ate the bread, veggies and rice.  Le An wanted all of it and got mad when we weren't feeding him.  (Can't wait to work on his food issues.  It's orphanage behavior.)  We gave up after a while and left the restaurant.  Probably everyone in the restaurant was glad we left!

We walked back to the hotel and waited some more.  I called the room of the CCAI family who had adopted the 12-year-old girl because I wanted to get their family picture.  The mom knows a couple of board members of Show Hope so she took our picture and was going to send it to them.  We will also send a picture to Show Hope after we get home.  They don't get to come home until Saturday.

Finally, 3:30 came and we put our luggage out into the hall for the bellman to pick up and take downstairs for us.  We hung out in the room just a little longer and then went down to check out.  At 4:30 Catherine, Joyce and Phoebe came down with our visa packages and brown envelopes.  We said goodbye to Phoebe and Joyce (Catherine earlier) and got on the bus.  Eight families!  The families that weren't leaving today were outside waving goodbye.

We took the ride to the train station and our guide gave us instructions on what to do, where to go, etc.  She collected the tips and checked bags fees from everyone.  She was only able to go so far and then we were on our own. We were all on the same car--took up about 1/2 of the car!  We were sitting near the Amish family so we got to visit with them more.

Two hours and 15 minutes later we arrived in Hong Kong.  We went through Immigration (we seem to go through Immigration when we leave AND when we arrive!) and our bags were all there.  We found out we had to pay another 10 Yuan per bag for the porters to take it all to the truck.

We found our guide and he took roll call and then we all went to the hotel.  A 30-minute bus ride later we arrived at the hotel.  He said only one person per family come with him to check in.  The rest of us stayed on the ground floor waiting for the luggage truck to unload.  Soon Tony came back down from the 2nd level reception area.  He took us up to the room.  We found our room number range and headed down the hall.  We had to make a turn and there was ANOTHER long hallway!  I just started laughing!  I couldn't do anything else!  Our room was in this hallway, though.

There was no crib.  We were hungry.  We ordered room service--a grilled ham and cheese sandwich and potato chips.  Le An was mostly asleep but saw us eating and started crying.  We ate fast.  Tony called for the crib again at 10:30.  They said it was on its way.  He called again at 11:00.

Le An was asleep and Tony laid him on our bed.  I laid down for bed and Tony went in to take his shower and then went to bed.  At 11:45 the phone rang.  Tony answered and I heard him say "It's too late now.  He's asleep on our bed." The bed was HARD.  It would be a long short night!

Consulate Day!

We slept pretty well again last night.  Got to breakfast and then came back up to brush teeth, change a poopy diaper (he's pretty regular with that!) and get ready to go to the Consulate.  No cameras, cell phones, strollers, toys with batteries, etc. are allowed so we just left all that stuff at the hotel.  We took a bottle of water for Le An and cereal and diaper stuff ... and our passports.

The Consulate is in downtown Guangzhou and it took 20-25 minutes to get there.  It was on the same floor as last time but in a different, smaller room than before.  We waited for our names to be called and went up to the window one family at a time.  They took the paperwork they needed and gave us back a couple of things.  We waited for all families to get done and then we got back on the bus.  Tony and Le An fell asleep on the ride back.

While we waited for the other families, we asked our guide about what the grandma at the White Swan might have been saying yesterday.  He thought she was just wishing him good luck throughout his life.

We let Le An sleep for an hour or so.  Then we decided to check out the park across the street.  The best way to get there is to go into the subway station and back out on that side of the street.  The Chinese people LOVE their parks!  They have very nice parks.  We walked UP and then decided to walk back down the way we came.  A few weeks ago the New Year decorations would have been up and it would have looked really cool!  Now, all the decorations and red lanterns are piled up on the side of the paths needing to be picked up and trashed it looks like.  I would have liked to grab a lantern but they were pretty big and there were security guards all over the park.

We discovered today that Le An has another (3rd) molar coming in. Maybe that's why he cries for "no reason".  I didn't bring any baby Tylenol so we'll have to deal with it until we get home.

At 3 pm I went to the exit meeting and Catherine told us details about how we will leave Guangzhou and Hong Kong.  I knew I didn't want to take the train!  It seems like such a hassle!  Plus there are 8 families (one has 11 people in their group!) so we will be having to move together.  One good thing is we can all help each other out.

We hung out for a while in the room and then Tony went down to 7-11 and McDonald's.  He got more chicken nuggets, fries and hot fudge sundaes (I'm gonna miss hot fudge sundaes!).  Le An had had a bottle earlier and ate some fries and a couple tastes of ice cream.  Then to get more nutrients in him and maybe a different taste, I got out a jar of baby food vegetables that we had gotten at Walmart in Zhengzhou.  He tasted it and did not spit it out.  He ate the whole jar in no time!  We'll have to try that again when we get home, especially if he doesn't eat other things yet.  We'll try peas and carrots on the plane 'cause I brought a couple of Gerber Graduates meals that he should be able to eat.

Since we've expressed interest in going to the Six Banyan Buddhist Temple tomorrow to have him blessed like we did Meighan, I started packing tonight.  I have most of the day tomorrow to get it all packed.  Tony gave Le An a bath while I worked at getting things organized to pack.

Well, this will probably be the last post from China unless I get a chance to post from Hong Kong tomorrow night.  I'll write the post and publish it when we get home.  We are very ready to come home!  This has been an awesome trip but we're glad it's almost over.  We're ready to get into our new routine!

We arrive in Omaha Thursday night the 23rd on United from Chicago at 7 pm.  Anyone is welcome to come to the airport!  We can't wait to see familiar faces!  Last time there were like 40 people there to meet us!  We couldn't believe it!

We can't wait to see everyone!

Free Day

I don't think I've ever slept so hard for so long as I did last night!  Wow!  It was nice!  Le An woke up around 6:30 and I gave him his bottle while Tony took a shower.  Then I took mine and we went down to breakfast.

While I was getting my food someone came up to Tony and said "Hi Tony!". He was wracking his brain trying to figure out if he knew her.  She told him she blogs with his wife.  When I got back he told me I needed to go over and talk to them.  They were getting their 2nd son today and he's been in the same orphanage Meighan was in.  We met through the Yahoo Group for that orphanage and then we've been watching each other's blog and emailing.  We figured out we'd be here at the same time so made plans to meet.  It's so cool when people meet online and then meet in person on the other side of the world, just because of a common purpose!

We finished our breakfast (Le An had more banana and watermelon today.  We tried grape pieces but that wasn't too popular) and we realized it was time to Skype.  We tried calling Tony's mom but she wasn't answering.  Then we noticed our friend Bruce trying to call us.  We answered and they were able to see Le An!  Then we tried Tony's mom again and still no answer.  So we tried my family.  The computer answered automatically and I said "Hello!" and they came to the computer.  We were able to see and talk to Meighan again.  While we were talking we had my mom call Tony's mom and have her go up to her computer.  We told her to have her wait for our call and NOT call us but she tried calling us 3 times and we had to have my mom call her back and tell her again to let us call her when we were ready.

While we were talking my mom told us that in church Meighan went up for the children's sermon and wasn't shy at all.  Then when they asked for prayer requests, Mom requested prayers for our safe travel home later this week.  Then Meighan shouted out "and my baby brother!" So cute!

We said goodbye to Meighan and my parents and called Tony's mom.  We actually could see her this time, too!  We showed her Le An walking with help.  We chatted a bit and then had to say goodbye so we could go to the lobby and go on the bus to Shamian.

We got off the bus and went straight to shopping.  We got Le An a couple more Chinese outfits, one for when he's older and it's really pretty!  We also found some other things I wanted to get and we went to a shop at the end that has handmade items and they donate 10% of the profits to orphanages.  We bought a few items there, too.

At one point we went into the White Swan.  The restaurant is still open and we walked around the waterfall area and took some pictures.  We were on a bridge and an elderly lady came up to us and was cooing over Le An.  She did not tell us he wasn't dressed warm enough, though.  She took something out of her pocket and untangled it and gave it to Le An (who promptly put it in his mouth).  She was speaking Chinese but telling us something from her heart and putting her hand on her heart.  She wanted Le An to have this thing.  It is a rooster with some beads and leaves hanging underneath it.  I'll try to post a picture of it when we get home.  We told her "xie xie" and she walked away.

For lunch we ate at Lucy's again.  While we waited for our food, I videoed 2 groups of people playing the "hacky sack" game with the "feather thing".  They were really good.  We bought some last time but have never taken time to try it much.  I had a grilled ham and cheese sandwich and ... a chocolate shake!  Tony had a club sandwich and ... a chocolate shake!  I substituted onion rings for the fries this time.  Nice change!

We went to Michael's last to pick up our laundry.  The price is SO much better there!  We waited for 2 other moms and we all (4 adults and 3 kids) took a taxi to the hotel.

Le An had only a short nap this morning and had not fallen asleep for a longer nap yet.  We all took about an hour nap when we got back to the hotel. We didn't make it to the park across the street yet.  I guess the forecast for the next couple of days is rainy so we may not make it, but we'll see.

Tonight Le An had issues we didn't know how to handle.  He cried most of the evening and nothing we did seemed to make him happy.  We gave him congee and a bottle.  Then he made a STINKY!  Ah, that might be why he wasn't happy!  Tony went to get hot fudge sundaes (we don't eat this badly at home, trust me!) at about 7.  When we were eating them and Le An saw that we were eating something and he wasn't, the tears came again.  Tony gave him a taste and I had the camera ready to get the "ice cream face".  Got it!  He wanted more so I gave him a bite.  Now he knew I had some too!  I made him walk the few steps to me to get another bite.  Then we had to coax him back to Tony (walk) to get another bite.  He wouldn't walk back to me to get another bite so then it was all gone.

His walking is getting so much better already!  Amazing what a little encouragement will do!

We played a little while longer and then it was bedtime.  I don't think he was tired right away so he didn't go to sleep for me.  Tony sat with him and he finally went to sleep at 9:00.

Now we're reading and writing to kill time before we go to bed.

Tomorrow is the oath-taking ceremony at the US Consulate!  We're almost done!

Free Day & Wholesale Market

I got up early this morning because I couldn't sleep anymore.  I'm not used to going to bed before 10!  I typed and posted yesterday's post and then took my shower.  We went down to breakfast after Le An had his bottle.  As we walked in I saw bananas today so I got one for Le An to see if he'd like it.  I also got him scrambled eggs and watermelon.  The kid likes bananas and watermelon!  I cut pieces of both and he fed himself most of the time, although the bananas were a little hard to pick up so I fed him a lot of those with a spoon.

We then went back to the room and bagged our laundry.  We went down and got a taxi to Shamian.  He dropped us off a block from Michael's Place.  We dropped off the laundry and they said we could pick it up about the same time tomorrow.  We picked out a few things and a suitcase to buy and also picked up Le An's chop.  We paid for everything and left it all there while we did more shopping.  Michael even let us borrow the little stroller his 13-month-old son uses in the shop.  We went around the block to Jordon's shop.  He wasn't there but the girl in the shop called him and he came right over.  He did Le An's new name in Chinese characters and also another Holt family had their son's name done.  I took pictures of him working on it and then posed with him and Le An afterwards, just like I did with Meighan.

We then went to another shop where we knew they had shoes.  We got several pairs of sandals that I hope will fit Meighan (and A. P., too!).  They aren't squeaky shoes because they don't make squeaky shoes to fit the older girls.

Next, it was again time for Lucy's.  This time we were able to sit the whole meal.  We'd given Le An a bottle earlier so by now he was tired.  We ordered congee for him but he fell asleep on my lap before Tony could get it down to a better temperature to feed him.  I had to eat my BLT, fries and chocolate shake(!) with one hand but at least I could take my time!  Tony had chicken-broccoli fettucini alfredo.  It was a LOT of food but really good (I tasted a piece of broccoli).

We paid and then took the stroller back to Michael's and got the things we bought.  Michael's wife helped us get a taxi back to the hotel.  It only costs like $3.50 to go one-way between the hotel and Shamian.

Le An slept a total of 2 hours.  He even slept through a diaper change!  We went down to the lobby at 2:30 to go to the Wholesale Market--Pearl Market and Jade Market.  First Joyce gave us 40 minutes in the Jade Market.  I got another ring for my necklace.  Now I have a jade ring from each trip to China and my necklace is complete, just like our family.  I also got 2 jade -- I call them... -- exercise balls.  Not sure what their proper name is but I wanted to make sure I got them this trip.

Then we went across the street to the Pearl Market and had 40 minutes there, too.  We weren't too interested in things there but I did find a couple really cool beads that weren't too expensive and I hope to do something with them when I get home.  We walked back past many shops and saw many colors of beads--more beads and pearls and other stones than you'd know what to do with!

We met back with the group and Joyce led us all to the bus.  We got back to the hotel and I went and got more water and a Mt. Dew from 7-11.  We weren't really hungry but Le An was so he got a bottle and the congee from lunch which Tony heated in hot water in the sink.  We played with Le An until he got tired and fell asleep.  It was much easier tonight!

Le An went down at 8 pm.  We're super tired but we can't go to bed right now or we'll be up at 3 or 4.  So Tony is reading and I'm writing and typing this post.

Tomorrow is a free day for us as we chose not to go to the safari park.

Medical Exam Day

We ALL slept really well last night!  I think it was because the room wasn't so stinkin' hot!  The bellman turned on the AC when we got here.  We actually had to turn it off!  Le An woke up for a few minutes again around midnight (or at least I THINK he woke up) and I thought Tony got up and checked on him but he doesn't remember anything.

We went down to breakfast--another HUGE buffet.  We saw the CCAI families we were with in Zhengzhou and we saw more families, some with Holt.

We had to be ready to go in the lobby by 9:30.  We all got on a big bus (there's like 50 people total in our group including new children and traveling companions.  That's a big group!  I think we got spoiled in Zhengzhou being the only family and not having to wait for a group.  We saw Phoebe who we know from last time.  Then we saw Joyce who also recognized us.  They were excited to see a picture of Meighan.

The bus dropped us off at the place on Shamian Island where we got the visa photos taken.  We were done first (with one shot I might add!) so we waited for a few other families and they followed us to Michael's Place.  Michael was there and he actually remembered us.  He remembered Meighan had a cleft lip!  He told us he and his wife have another son who is 13 months old now!  I got some wipes because we are nearly out already (the poop is becoming more solid than it was the first couple of days!  Yippee!) and we ordered a chop for Le An.  We got chops for us last time.

We went back to the group to wait to leave for the medical exam.  On Saturdays the medical exam is only open till noon.  We finally got going and walked the short distance.  The place was CROWDED with adoptive families!  We filled out a short form (4 questions) and them we were told to get in the shortest lines we could and make sure we got to all 3 rooms.  It was hot in there!  First, we had the medical exam where they remove his diaper and check him over.  The doctor asked about his cough and how long he's had it.  We said 5 days but he's on medicine and it's getting better.  Next was the height, weight and temperature room.  He is 29" tall and weighs 23 lbs!  He has no temperature.  Next was the ENT room.  They checked his eyes, hearing and looked in his ears and in his mouth.  Very quick!  Then we were done.  He didn't cry at all!  Meighan cried in all 3 rooms!  Tony held Le An like he held Meighan and I took pictures.

We got ourselves put back together and we had about 50 minutes and we had to be back to the medical exam place to go to the bus.  We walked to Jordon and actually saw Jordon on the way so he wasn't in the main store but we looked around the other part of the store and found some Chinese Checkers sets that looked pretty nice.  (Back in Zhengzhou we asked Echo where we could get a set and first she suggested Walmart.  No, we want a nicer set.  Mr. Liu said he could get a set at the market so we gave him some money.  He ended up getting a cheap one so we still want a nicer one.). We also stopped in a store and got Le An a Chinese outfit.  Then we went to LUCY'S!

We ordered milk shakes (I was so hungry for a chocolate shake!) and cheeseburgers and fries.  It was taking a while to come so we asked for boxes.  We paid and got our food into boxes and they brought us some ketchup in a little container.  We walked back to the exam place and the Holt group was waiting for instructions.  We finally started walking and ended up just catching the bus on a regular street.  The streets on the island are pretty narrow.  Joyce told me that the medical exam place is supposed to be moving but hasn't gotten their license to move yet.  They will be moving off of Shamian Island maybe by the end of the month.

We got back to the hotel.  Le An had fallen asleep in the chunei before we got on the bus.  I carried him up to the room, laid him on the bed and he didn't wake up until 2 hours later!  At 3 pm I went down to the lobby for a paperwork meeting.  Catherine was there to help us with paperwork.  She recognized me and I showed her a picture of Meighan.  Everyone loves to see this picture.

After we finally got through the form we had to fill out, they told us about activities we could participate in--shopping, safari park, etc.  We will go to Shamian Island tomorrow on our own and take our laundry to Michael's Place like we did last time.  We'll do some shopping and then come back in time to go to the wholesale market pearl and jade market with the group.  We were there last time but I want to get another jade ring to put on my chain.  Maybe we'll find other things, too.

Monday, people will be going to the safari park but Le An is too young (and impatient) for a 1-hour bus ride each way and several hours in the park.  We will go back to Shamian to pick up our laundry, maybe do more shopping and there's also a park right near the hotel we may walk over to.

Our entire group (I think) went to a Chinese restaurant within walking distance of the hotel for supper.  Le An had had a bottle but was still hungry so he had some rice that I also liked.  I wasn't just plain rice.  There were orange wedges for dessert and they were GOOD oranges!  We walked back to the hotel and stopped at McDonald's for hot fudge sundaes.  Yum!  Our diet has gotten considerably worse since coming to Guangzhou!

Tonight after I changed Le An's diaper, we let him roll around and play on the bed.  We got video and pictures of Tony teasing him and tickling him and making him laugh.  He's so funny!  And after we got his pjs on, he was showing some interest in walking so we sat on the floor pretty close together and sent him back and forth between us.  He's already getting better at balance and actually takes 1-2 steps sometimes.  Leg strength is also an issue we're working on.

Tony is working on putting him to sleep while I write this.

Goodbye Zhengzhou.....Hello Guangzhou!

I know I'm a little behind in posting. We've been busy and on the go so haven't had a lot of time to type.  I get things written down as soon as I can, though, so I don't forget anything. Sorry to mess up your morning coffee time reading sessions!  I just posted the 16th and 17th posts so make sure to scroll down!

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I got up before 6 today so I could get an early start on packing.  Tony got up after I was done with my shower and we worked on packing before Le An woke up.  Tony got him up after 7 and I kept packing while he gave him his bottle.

We went down to breakfast.  Hallelujah, the elevator is up and running again!  We got down to the lobby and were told the regular restaurant was full but the same buffet was up in the Mama Mia restaurant--up the stairs.  Oh, my legs!  (Quads more like it!). We ate breakfast, sans cereal (I wanted Rice Krispies again!) and went back to our room to finish getting ready and finish packing.

At 9:30 I called for a bellman to get our luggage.  He came right away.  We got checked out and waited for Echo.  She came and I had her write down her address so we can send her some Nutrigrain Bars.  We gave her a blueberry one yesterday and she really liked it.  We'll send her several.

We got in the van and Mr. Liu drive us to the airport.  We took a picture with him and Echo helped us check in for our flight and get us to security.  We said goodbye and thank you.  I beeped when I went through with Le An in the chunei.  I had to take it off so they could wand me.  They also wanded him!  Wish we could have taken a picture of that!  We got the chunei back on and walked to our gate.

Tony decided that he wanted a Nutrigrain Bar.  He gave Le An a taste.  He like it and wanted more!  Then I had one and gave him some bites.  Then, I opened an apple cinnamon one and he ate THE WHOLE THING!

Eventually they called for boarding our flight.  We got on and were in the middle and aisle with someone sleeping almost the entire flight (or trying to sleep) at the window.  We took off and Le An decided to be hungry.  When he's hungry, he's HUNGRY!  He cries and writhes (sp?) until he gets a bottle.  I finally called for a flight attendant and asked for some water.  She brought it and I mixed the formula and he downed it in no time flat!  He was happy then, for a while.

It was really nap time and he had fallen asleep on the way to the airport so he didn't want to take a nap.  He cried MOST of the fight--at least 3/4 of the time, I think.  We think everyone on that flight hated us and thought we were bad parents for letting our kid cry that much.  Oh, and across the aisle was a "grandma and grandpa"!  The grandma kept looking over at us.  We didn't stare back but I know she watched us most of the time.  And our poor seat mate who was trying to sleep!  Oy!

They brought us food, too, and Le An would have nothing of us eating and him not!  He got small bites of my chicken and rice (easy to eat) and a couple small noodles from Tony (but his was harder for someone with just 8 teeth to eat).

By the time we landed Tony and I were exhausted!  We hope the Hong Kong-Chicago flight isn't like today's flight!

We got off the plane and I noticed that Tony didn't have our coats.  I asked him if he had our coats.  Nope!  He put everything down and Le An and I waited on the jetway while he went back to get the coats.  I had to endure the looks--looks of curiosity (an American holding a Chinese baby?), looks of disgust (why can't you keep your kid quiet?), and whatever else they might be thinking.  Tony came back with our coats and we were off again.

We got our bags and found our guide who took us to a van.  She said it would be about a 30-40 minute drive but it took way longer due to accidents.  She said they had already changed the route and then we got behind another accident!

We finally reached the hotel and Jocelyn helped us get checked in.  We got up to the room. (By the way, anyone coming in the future, if you have a Marriott Rewards card, you can get free wi-fi in your room--but you have to have the card with you!).  We got our schedule for our time in Guangzhou, too.  Tomorrow is the visa picture and medical exam.  That means...SHAMIAN ISLAND!

We hung out in the room a while.  Le An is getting more and more brave about standing up and trying to take a step or two!  So neat to see!  He also gets bored with toys fast.  I got out a "new" toy--the stacking cups we bought when we were here for Meighan.  Oooh!  A new toy!  He played with them while I wrote posts.

We ventured out to a 7-11 for some water since there's only 2 bottles in the bathroom.  Tony also found some Mt. Dew.  Later on we wanted something for supper so he went across the street to McDonald's.  Le An was HUNGRY again so I made him a bottle.  Tony brought back chicken nuggets, fries and 2 hot fudge sundaes!  I never thought I'd say this about McDonald's but it actually tasted good!  Especially the sundae.  Le An, of course, wanted fries and he wants more ice cream!  He scrunched is face with the cold but he doesn't spit it out like Meighan did at first.

Tony got Le An to bed while I wrote posts.

To Shamian tomorrow!

Orphanage Visit and Finding Place

We all slept pretty good last night.  We ate breakfast and quickly brushed our teeth and went back down to Skype with our families.  They all saw Le An for the first time and we got to see our daughter!  She was excited to see us and meet her little brother.  While we were Skyping with Tony's parents, Le An filled his pants.  Tony couldn't stand the smell through another Skype session so he went up to change the diaper while I called my family.  They were so excited to see Le An but I had to tell them they had to wait till he got a new diaper.  We chatted till Tony and Le An came back down.  Skype uses a lot of data via VPN so we've used up our free allotment and have now gotten into the paid/permanent data usage.  We finished Skyping and went back up to the room to grab our bags for the day.

Echo came at 9:30 and we left for Xuchang.  I typed yesterday's post the whole 2 hour drive.  (It's not easy to type with 2 fingers!). Le An took a nap.  We got to the orphanage around 11:30.  Actually, Mr. Liu had to ask directions a couple of times and we missed a turn and had to come back.

We saw the first floor where they make food in the kitchen and have therapy rooms and a "singing room" (as Echo translated it) where they do music things.  Then, we went up to the 2nd floor and they took us into the room where Le An was.

I had told Echo 3 names of boys that I wanted to make sure I took pictures of.  All 3 boys were in that room!  I took several pictures of each of them and then also with the iPad.  Since I don't have a camera connection kit, I wanted to be able to email some pictures to their moms.  I'll email the good camera pictures when we get home.

I took pictures of other children in the room, too.  I will post them on the Yahoo Group for the orphanage when I get home.  The little boy that we've thought was Le An but isn't was also in that room.  I actually got to hold him.  He's quite chunky!  Looks like he has just started walking and still loses his balance some.  All the boys in that room are about the same age.  There was another little boy walking around in there who is older.  I asked about him.  They said that he may be lost (wandered away or something).  Later they said he'd been there for 6 months.  (Between you and me, I don't think he's lost.).  Also there was another little boy there who was obviously a little person.  He was definitely no taller than Le An and maybe shorter.  They said he was 4 years old.  Echo told us that he may never be adopted because maybe no one wants a little person.  We told them that there may be someone in the US who would adopt him.  They just don't understand.

We hung around in Le An's room for a while and then Echo told us the director wanted to take us out for lunch.  On the way out they asked if we had any other questions and we asked about possibly seeing where the 12-year-old girl had lived.  That family was not coming to the orphanage.  It would not be a good idea.  They took us to the room where she stayed with a "volunteer mother" for most of her time there.  Then, when the volunteer mother was not eligible to do that anymore and they knew she was going to be adopted, there really wasn't a very good place for her to go so for the last 2 months, she stayed in the same room as a caregiver.  Her previous room was now part of an elderly facility.

We took pictures of the big sign for the orphanage then we got in the van and followed the director and the gal that gave us the birthmom's keys in the hotel and 2 other girls to the restaurant.  Mr. Liu joined us, too.  We had a traditional Chinese meal served on a lazy susan.  Echo explained what things were as they were brought in.  Le An likes just about anything he tries.  Today he ate potatoes, purple sweet potatoes, and pumpkin.  we tried various types of things.  We gave chopsticks a good try but the director went and got forks for us.

We talked (with Echo's help) about the cultural differences between the US and China.  They talked about the 12-year-old girl and Echo translated for us some of it.  They also told us a little (what they know) about Le An's birthmother!  As we suspected she was unmarried and when she left the hospital, she didn't even pay her bill.  The orphanage paid it.

When we finished with the lunch we took some pictures of everyone.  When we got our thank yous and goodbyes said, we got into the van and I asked Echo who the other 2 girls were.  She said they are the ones who do the children's paperwork for the orphanage.

Next we went to the hospital where Le An was left when he was 4 days old.  (We got a photo album from the orphanage that had a picture of him taken on 9/3/10, the day he was left and found.)  The maternity part was a building behind the main building.  We took some pictures and video and were on our way.

We drove the 2 hours back and paid Mr. Liu.  We went into the hotel to go back to our room and found that the elevator was out of order!  We are on the 3rd floor so we had to walk up that many stairs.  We got up to our floor and there was a hall party again!

We unloaded our things and the 12-year-old girl's parents were anxious to hear what we learned.  I showed them pictures and will email them later.  The dad also spoke with Echo later when she came back from the translator service with all of our documents and Le An's passport.
We ended up going to dinner at a fancier Chinese place with several of the CCAI families.  Two of the moms and one dad actually speak Chinese so they ordered and translated for us.  It was pretty good and they even brought fruit (mostly watermelon) at the end .  First time we've gotten fruit at the end of a Chinese meal since we've been here.  The mom I was sitting next to said it only happens in the fancier restaurants.

We came back to the room and started packing.  I'm worried that we won't get everything in the suitcases!

We go to Guangzhou tomorrow!

Free Day

Let me first apologize for misspellings.  I type this into my iPad's Notes app which corrects things like it wants to and I haven't had time to proofread it before I copy and paste into the post.

Le An woke up around midnight again and we got him back to sleep by 1:00.  I personally didn't sleep well last night due to "someone's" snoring.  I finally got up around 7, made a bottle in case Le An woke up during my shower.  He didn't.  He slept a LONG time last night!

We didn't hurry this morning since we didn't have to go anywhere today.  I washed some underwear and socks since we've kind of run out.

We went down to breakfast and today Le An tried scrambled eggs.  He liked them!  He also ate another steamed bun (besides his bottle earlier).  We really have to get different colors of food in this kid!  We tried apple juice the other day but that was not a hit.

We played a bit and then got ready to go to Walmart.  I had a list this time.  Since Le An sucks his thumb I thought we'd get a pacifier and see if he would take it.  We also found some teething crackers for him to chew on.  We looked for more of the vegetarian biscuits but couldn't find them.  Also more water and some cotton squares.  We walked back to the hotel.  It was rather chilly today.

When we got back to the hotel, we were walking through the lobby and we heard someone call Xu Le An's name.  We turned around and it was the gal from the orphanage.  She wanted to see him so we got the chunei off of Tony and stood him on the floor.  He was smiling and looking at her and she at him. I got out my camera and took a picture of that interaction.  I pulled the camera down and noticed she was crying.  That broke my heart.  I went over and put my arm around her and told her we'd take very good care of him.  She doesn't speak English, though, so don't think she understood my words.  Hopefully she understood my actions, though.

Echo had told us before we met him on Gotcha Day that when he was found there were some keys left with him.  The gal pulled them out of her bag now and told one of the CCAI representatives to tell me what they were.  The orphanage staff had written a note that they were "Xu Le An's birthmother's belongings".  The only connection to his birthmom.

We said goodbye and they went on their way.  (By the way, we asked Echo the possible reason for him being abandoned since he was a boy and he had/has nothing physically wrong with him.  She said possibly she was young and unmarried because in China an unmarried mother cannot get a registration ID for her child.)

We didn't eat much for lunch.  We tried to get Le An down for a nap but he would have none of that.  I thought I'd gotten him down but then he woke up.  Tony dealt with him while I went down to the lobby to post yesterday's post.  I got back and Tony was reading and thought Le An had finally quieted down but then he was up again in his crib.  He just wouldn't go down.

It was time to go down and meet Echo.  She called the room and I said we were getting ready and would be down shortly.

Echo lives not too far from the hotel.  She took us through her neighborhood and showed us where she gets her fresh fruits and vegetables every day.  We stopped at a grocery store and found some vegetarian biscuits.  They had a 4-pack of all 4 flavors.  They only had one so they let us pay for it and held it to be picked up on our way back.

Next we stopped at an elementary school and watched a class of 3 1/2-4 yr olds.  They all said "Ni hao" to us when we walked in and I think they were tickled when we said it back.  The teacher was teaching them how to tell a story and was having them come up with reasons why the baby bird was sad. One said because he had to go to school and he missed his mom.  One said the bad guys had some and he was scared.  Then the teacher read the real story to them and it turned out the baby bird didn't need to be sad because he had friends like the bear to make him happy.  They took a break and they told the kids they could ask us any questions.  I sat down one the piano bench with Le An and several of the kids came over and touched his face and were just enamored with him.  There were also 2 other teachers for the class there and this was their first contact with adoption.  They were asking Echo all kinds of questions.  They also noticed he only had a single layer of clothes on besides his coat.  Echo had to explain that it was a cultural difference.  Echo said I could take any pictures and video I wanted to, so I did.

When it was time to leave, all the kids said goodbye in Chinese.  They were all so cute!  We walked around the playground where older kids were playing and then picked up our biscuits as we passed the grocery store.  Echo walked us through a park on the way back to the hotel.  Yesterday she said the forecast for today was sunny.  We did not see the sun at all today.  It was too cold to hang out in a park.

We got back to our room and there was a "hall party" right in front of our room.  We joined in and visited for a while.  Then a couple of the families decided to go over to the Holiday Inn Express and have Chinese for dinner.  We had decided to have Italian so that's what we did.  Tony had lasagna and I had a cheese ravioli.  We enjoyed those different flavors tonight.  Le An even got to taste both of them.  He must have liked them because he never spit them out and wanted more!

He got his first bath from us tonight.  He LOVES to splash the water!  We both got kind of wet!  When Tony first put him in the water, he was standing up and just started peeing!  So...we drained the tub and put new water in it.  He kept wanting to stand up and Tony got worn out trying to make him sit down.  We got his diaper on and decided to put lotion all over him because his skin is pretty dry.  He got a rash a couple of weeks ago and they have been putting a cream on it and said the rash looked better.  They also had given us some cream so we've been using that, too.  I can't wait to get him to the pediatrician and find out what's with his skin.  The orphanage doesn't know what the rash is but they said it was NOT chicken pox or measles.  Thank goodness!

Anyway, we got him lotioned up, got his pjs on (he's a squirmy wormy!).  It took a while to rock him to sleep but he's finally asleep now.

We take a trip to the orphanage tomorrow!

On another note, when we were at the Civil Affairs Office yesterday finalizing the adoptions, Echo said that the one 12-year-old girl had decided she didn't want to be adopted.  Things were rather tense, I guess, and there was the possibility she could have that choice.  All the CCAI families and we were hoping and praying something or someone would change her mind.  Then today while Tony was walking the hall with Le An, he saw the mom and she said the girl was coming home with them!  Praise God!  They had to go finalize today and notarize, too, so it's all much better now.  I saw her later and went up to her and said, "I heard" and gave her a hug.

Wow!  I can't imagine all the emotions going on with them and their daughter!  Wow!

Pictures

Ok...this post is from Dave.  I told Sue before she left that I'd be willing to do this for her only if she told me the name that they have picked out for their son.  So...since I now have access to their blog....I must know the name.  I do take bribes and am willing to divulge any information which I have for a fee.  Anyway, we plan to Skype with them tonight so Meighan will finally get to see her new brother.  Please keep Sue and Tony's family in your thoughts and prayers and hope for a safe trip home next week.  Enjoy the pictures!
 

 

 

Adoption Finalization and Happy Valentine's Day!

More things we know about Le An:
- He crawls really fast when he's after something.
- He loves to look at himself in the mirror.
- He puts things in his mouth, not something Meighan ever did.
- When he's done eating or drinking from his bottle, he throws the bottle or leftover food.  That will have to stop.
- He goes to both of us equally.
- He has 8 teeth and is getting 2 molars.
- He babbles.

Our first night went quite well.  Le An woke up at midnight and Tony held him for a while.  After I took care of a couple of things I took over.  I had noticed that he only sucked his right thumb and it was kind of hard to do if I held him in my left arm.  So I held him in my right arm.  He promptly started sucking his thumb while I rocked him.  His eyelids got heavier and heavier.  He would suck for a while and then not suck, then suck, then not.  Finally his thumb came out of his mouth and his arm came down and he was out.  I waited a couple more minutes before I laid him down and covered him with a lighter blanket (one we brought--the one they have here is a "feather bed" and is too warm.  That's all we have on our bed and we get too warm!).  We all slept great the rest of the night!

My alarm went off at 6:45 and that woke Le An.  He got stood up in his crib and started fussing so I went over and picked him up.  I changed his diaper that probably didn't need changing, made a bottle of formula and Tony sat down to feed him while I took my shower.  I actually had to make a little more before I even got in the shower because he devoured it so quickly!

We got dressed and went down to breakfast.  I got some congee right off the bat and started cooling it down while I waited for my omelet.  I got a bun (Chinese bun) and some bread and other things for me.  I tore up the bun (the bread was a little dry) so Le An could work on eating something while I ate.  When I finished eating I gave him some congee.  He didn't need as much this morning.

Other families had pretty good first nights, too.  We went back to the room and brushed our teeth.  Tony had told me that my Valentine's present was a trip to China and he didn't get me anything else.  I told him, now, that I DID get HIM something.  First, I pulled out a card that had gotten accordioned in my backpack.  Oh, well.  Then I pulled out of Le An's suitcase a small bottle of Mt. Dew.  He said it was the best Valentine's Day present ever.

We grabbed our bags and gifts and went down to meet Echo.  We had to sign more paperwork.  Then we got into the van and Mr. Liu drove us to the Civil Affairs Office.  All of the CCAI families were there already.  Le An fell asleep one the way and woke up sometime after we got there.  I visited with a few families until they called everyone together for the ceremony.  Echo videoed the little ceremony that basically said that from now on we were the children's new families and they handed out the adoption certificates.

When we were done with that we were able to leave to go to the notary public to have our forms notarized.  They took our picture with the head notary and we signed more papers.  We gave our gift and Echo took a picture of us with the head notary and we were done for the day.  Before we got in the van, Echo walked us a couple of blocks to a pharmacy to get some anti-itch cream for Le An.  He has a couple of places that he scratches relentlessly and gets really upset when we take his hand away from scratching.  Funny thing about the picture on the box for the anti-itch cream: the picture is of a blonde child!

We walked back to the van and Mr. Liu and Echo drove us back to the hotel.  We have tomorrow free because we can't go to the orphanage until Thursday.

We played with Le An in the afternoon after giving him a bottle for lunch.  Eventually he got tired and I was able to get him laid down for a nap.  We also took naps.  We didn't feel like venturing out for supper so we ordered cheeseburgers from room service.  Not bad but I'll be ready for one at Lucy's on Shamian Island!  I'm tired of noodles!  I think tomorrow night we will eat at the Italian place in the hotel.

After we ate (and Le An had had a bottle and congee earlier) we were trying to get him to stand up on his own.  He was looking in the mirror and sitting down and all of a sudden he stood up and took what we believe were his FIRST STEPS all by himself!  Tony got the camcorder out and got him taking a few more steps ALL BY HIMSELF!  We got to see his first steps!

However, in a little while, I think he realized his new freedom!  He was crawling all over the place and standing up more!  He still uses the bed, ottoman, chair or wall a lot but I think something is clicking!  We went out into the hall and I showed the people across the hall the anti-itch cream we got.  They saw Le An and Mom and their new daughter (the 5 yr old from yesterday) and we played with a "Phlat Ball" (can get on Amazon) and I brought out our O-Ball.  Le An even stood up and walked a bit for them!  He was VERY active tonight.  I think he likes his new freedom.

We played until Le An was showing signs of being tired.  We said "night, night" and went back to our rooms.  It took longer to get him to sleep tonight but what worked tonight was to just put him in the crib and let him put himself to sleep--most likely how the orphanage does it.  He quiets down best when it's pretty dark.

I will try to email a couple of pictures to my brother like the Mom across the hall suggested and have my brother put them on the blog.

I am removing the banner picture at the top because we have found out that that is NOT Le An!