Elyza Eating

Here's some video of her eating apple sauce. We can't feed it to her fast enough! An added bonus: when she watches video of herself she laughs hysterically!

First Day in Guangzhou

We arrived in Guangzhou around 2 a.m. and have had a day here thus far. The White Swan Hotel is absolutely fabulous and caters to adoptive parents. In fact, at the breakfast buffet, all we saw were tons of adoptive families with their Chinese children. Does anyone else stay here other than AP's? Doesn't seem like it.

It was rainy and cold outside, but I was stir crazy from the long bus ride, so I explored some of the shops around the hotel. This is definitely the best place to buy everything you may want such as chops, silk dresses, squeaky shoes, books, peasant paintings -- basically everything is available. I wasn't that great at bargaining, but made a few purchases for our daughter with which I am pleased. Word to the wise, try walking away if the price is more than you want to pay. Then you'll have some bargaining power. I'll try that tomorrow.

We had the medical exam today. Elyza weighs 15.6 lbs and is 72 cm long. I was glad to find out that she has no ear infection. So her ear tugging must be related to teething. She did not cry one bit during the medical checkup. Such a good baby.

We completed what seemed like endless paperwork, had take out for dinner, and plan to hit the bed early. Tomorrow, our guide will go to the U.S. Consulate for us to finish the last bit of appointments. We'll have tomorrow free so I'm hoping to get some more shopping done.

Safe in Guangzhou

We made it safely to Guangzhou in 13 hours by bus! The roads were clear once we got further out of Nanchang. Baby girl slept about 12 hours of it! What a great little traveller she is! Then when we got to the hotel, delirious from sleep deprivation, she was hyper and crazy funny. We couldn't stop laughing at her. Thanks for your prayers. We are glad to be here at the White Swan.

Weather Update

Well, we're stuck in Nanchang for who knows how long! The news said it's the worst weather in 50 years! Think of it like this...Orlando (Nanchang) has ice storm and you can't get to Miami(Guangzhou). The flight originally was only one hour, but the airport is closed. So we were going to take a 12-hour overnight train ride this evening, but as of this morning, the train station is now closed. Apparently, the Chinese government wants to halt all passenger trains so that the tracks can be used for supplies, food, etc. Our guide is trying to get a bus for us, but the bus is only allowed to travel to the border of the province and not into the neighboring province where we need to be. We were just informed that we will be traveling by bus. The bus ride is 20 hours. The roads are snowy in some parts, but the sun has come out. We're all disappointed. Please pray for our safety and sanity!

A Little Tummy Time

Our Stay in Nanchang

On Saturday we had a half day of touring Nanchang in JiangXi Province where we have been staying the past week. As we bustled out of the hotel, we noticed that everything was covered in ice -- the bus windows, the sidewalks, everything! This is the worst winter weather that they've had in 20 years. It's similar to our ice storms back home.

Our first tour was of a Buddhist Temple. The most impressive to me was the wall of carvings depicting reincarnation. We then went to a Pagoda. We had to virtually "ice skate" our way to the entrance. Jay and the other men climbed the 8 levels for a nice view of the city. JiangXi Province is the "capital" province for porcelain, so we went to a porcelain shop that had absolutely beautiful pieces, from chopsticks, to tea pots, to plates and vases. I would have liked one of everything but it's a little difficult to transport across the world. We purchased a tea set painted with white cranes as a gift for Elyza one day. During winter, in Poyang, the area that she was born, white cranes and other varieties of birds fly here to a bird sanctuary. We thought the tea set would be a lovely reminder of her home province.

For lunch we ate at Pizza Hut. My Personal Pan pizza tasted liked the real deal. We had a really nice dinner in the hotel on the top floor. We enjoy chatting with the other families in our group. Most of them are from the South, Texas, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, and one couple from California. Meeting other families is one of the extra benefits of adoption. They become like an extended family.

It's now Monday, and we are waiting to hear if the airport has reopened so that we can fly to Guangzhou for our next series of appointments. The train stations are packed as well as the airport due to the flight cancellations yesterday. We hope to fly out at 6 p.m. Guangzhou is 20 degrees warmer which will be a welcomed change. There is also lots of great shopping there! So that should be fun!

Visit to Poyang

Friday was an incredible day for us as a family. As we travelled the 4 hours to Poyang from Nanchang, we were filled with mixed emotion but also feeling strongly that it was a necessary journey to see where our daughter had lived for the first beginnings of her little life. It was about 30 degrees, cold, icy and rainy. We were fortunate that the weather didn't prevent our from traveling to the Poyang Orphanage. Visiting the orphanage is a rare occurrence for most families, and we were beyond grateful to have this opportunity. We bundled up the babies and left at 8:30 a.m. by bus.

Bruce our guide had told us that we had a good road to Poyang. His definition of "good road" and ours was a bit different. We crossed several lakes by bridge. There were several accidents on the bridges, railing missing, cars smashed. Driving in China is very different than in America. It appears to be more like playing "chicken". Perhaps there are some rules to the road that we don't quite understand.

We drove through very rural areas of the JiangXi Province from Nanchang. We saw chickens, water buffalos and children all running alongside the road. We passed rice patty fields and, in some fields, erected tombstones honoring deceased family members. People were traveling on bicycle and bicycles pulled carts of people covered by tarps to keep the passengers warm. The buildings were mostly brick and cinder block. The earth was red clay. There was a lot of trash in the populated areas, alongside the road in front of houses and businesses. We passed citrus fruit tree groves. Normally the temperature this time of year is that of Florida, but they are having an unusually cold winter.

We arrived to the Poyang Orphanage about 4 hours later. When we arrived, we were greeted by two very nice women who must have had a leadership role at the orphanage. They offered us hot water and citrus fruit. I do not doubt that it was the best that they could offer. In poorer areas, tea is not available so hot water is "tea". The fruit consisted of mandarins an other native fruits that I've not seen. They also stuffed our pockets with the fruit. It is good luck to give fruit, especially gold colored fruit, to children (or at least that's how I understood it). Then the orphanage director, a man about 65 years old, came and welcomed us. The staff answered questions that we had. One of the staff persons, put her two thumbs together, and said something in Chinese to me. She was saying that Elyza and I looked alike.

They then took us for a tour of the lower floor of the orphanage. This is one of the poorer orphanages. The first room had three infants, the youngest was 7 days old. They were bundled up and were lying in what looked like wicker basket baby beds. There were no doors on the rooms and it was freezing, no heat. We could see condensation when we talked, that's how cold it was. In another room there was a small space heater and a line of clothing that hung from wall to wall. Another room housed older babies in cribs. There were several older women who must have been the nannies for the orphanage. It broke our hearts to see these babies lying bundled up in the cold rooms, helpless. It's a sad situation that these children are without homes and families, but I know that the orphanage does their absolute best to take care of these babies. A grace despite a tragedy.

Once the tour was complete we boarded the bus and went to a local restaurant in Poyang. When we arrived, the place was packed with locals. We were led to a room upstairs that was specially prepared for our group. They even turned on the heat for us, which was a real treat! Banners decorated the tables that read "Welcome American Families". They brought dish after dish of local cuisine, fish from the Poyang Lake. The beer was wonderful and tasted like a sparkling white wine. Some tried the rice liqueur that was strong enough to burn a hole through your stomach. It was lively; it was fun; it was a celebration for us families to share with the orphanage staff, who also ate with us.

It's a day that we'll never forget. One that will be an important story of our daughter's history. A day, despite sadness, was filled with hope and celebration for seven special little girls from JiangXi Province.

Our Funny Little Foodie

Elyza gets so excited about eating that we can barely feed her! Here's a little snipet:

Ni Hao

Hey friends,
I just want to say thank you for all of your kind words. We've not had much time to post and when we have, we've been exhausted. I wanted to post quickly before we leave for the day.
Elyza's transition has gone so much better than we ever expected. She has bonded well with both us equally and gives us a lot of eye contact and smiles. It has been remarkable to see what a few days of undivided attention can do for her. Her personality is starting to shine through and we are really getting to know her as our own. After her first bath on Wednesday night, she began to open up immensely. Laughing, smiling and bouncing with excitement. She has been so good, not much fussing. We are so thankful that she is very healthy, except for an ear infection, and she has no respiratory cold.
She absolutely loves to eat! She gets so excited that we can barely feed her! She makes us laugh all the time! She loves to snuggle, rub our arms, and hold our finger. I couldn't ask for a more perfect daughter for us. I'm so thankful.
Today we are driving 8 hours round trip to her orphanage. This is a privilege in itself. We're also told that we have the opportunity to go inside her orphanage which is very rare for adoptive parents. It will be an emotional day for us seeing where she was while waiting for a family. However, we are grateful for the chance to visit and learn more about her though this experience. Her orphanage has taken very good care of her. They obviously care very much for the children there.
Hopefully, we can post soon. Thanks again for taking the journey with us!

Two Days with Elyza

A Surprise in Nanchang

This morning (Tuesday) we flew from Beijing to Nanchang which was about a two hour (turbulent) flight. We arrived in Nanchang around 2 p.m. We boarded the bus to take us to our hotel and the guide introduced himself, and told us that we'd be staying in a 5 -star hotel. But wait, it gets even better. He said, "and in 2 hours you will get your babies!" Wait, what?! Did you say that we are getting our babies today and in 2 hours...not tomorrow morning?!?! Yes, he did. All seven families screamed with excitement. And I believe there wasn't a dry eye. It was such an amazing surprise!

So we got to our hotel and had 30 minutes to grab our things and compose ourselves. We drove 10 minutes during rush hour to the Adoption Center where the babies were. When we arrived, there were about 10 babies and toddlers awaiting their new families! I scanned the room for Elyza and then I knew when I saw her. We both did. Jay began filming and then we were all asked to sit so that we could "formally" begin the receiving ceremony. They called our name and handed us a very calm and curious baby Bo Qian. Our hearts melted.

We got back to the hotel and began to undress her from the bundle of clothing that she wore (it's 30 degrees here). She had on 6 layers! She cried, so we gave her a bottle and put on a fresh diaper. She took the bottle for a bit and then finally, shook her head no, stuck her fingers in her mouth and fell fast asleep. She was exhausted, apparently, because she has been asleep for 4 hours now, since about 5:30 p.m. It was a long day for the little ones, I imagine, as they had to travel 4 hours on a bus to Nanchang from Poyang.

We are so in love with this baby girl. We feel like we've always known her. She is so beautiful! We can't wait to really get to know her personality over the next few days. Well, I best get some sleep because most likely she'll be waking up for that dinner bottle that she missed.

Thanks everyone for your prayers! We are a happy mama and daddy!

Our Time in Beijing

Today was our tour day, and we had loads of fun in Beijing! What a beautiful city (except for the smog)! We started our day with 21 other adoptive parents in our travel group. We watched snowflakes drift down, while we ate our breakfast. Our first tour was of Tian'an Men Square, the largest public square in the world, enough space to accommodate one million people! From there, we walked to the Forbidden City, home of the former emperors of China. Before lunch we toured a Jade factory. We purchased a special jade pendant for our daughter with a carving of her zodiac symbol,a pig, to represent the Year of the Pig, the year in which she was born (2007). The pig is supposedly the luckiest of all the zodiac signs. Anyway, we'll give it to her as a special gift on her 18th birthday. After lunch, we went to the Great Wall of China. I now understand why this is one of the wonders of the world. It's magnificent! It's unbelievable that it was built thousands of years ago and stretches 6000 kilometers. Though it was snowy and steep, we had a lot of fun hiking part of it (tomorrow my legs probably won't think it was so fun)and watching folks slide down it. We were able to get some beautiful pictures from a few of the towers along the way. Later, we went to a Pearl Factory and then to dinner.

Tomorrow morning, we, along with other adoptive families in our group, fly to Nanchung in the Jiang Xi Province in preparation to meet our babies on the following morning! This is the city in which we will have the longest stay.

We're having a wonderful time in China!

We're in Beijing

We just arrived in Beijing safely, very exhausted and a bit on sensory overload. We're looking forward to relaxing and exploring tomorrow. It's suppose to snow this week, but hopefully it won't prevent us from our tours on Monday. Thanks again for your thoughts and prayers. We're thrilled to be here...and thrilled to get some sleep tonight!

Less than 24 hours...

It's been a rather emotional day for me already... and it's only 10 a.m. We leave in the morning (well before the crack of dawn) for China. A sincere thank you for the prayers and well wishes for our family. I'm overwhelmed with gratitude, with goodness, kindness, joy, and love. Bless you all!

A Daughter in One Week

One week from today, we'll officially have our daughter! We'll meet Elyza next Wednesday morning (which is really Tuesday evening US time)!

Just a few more days!

I've been a bit anxious about the trip (jet lag, long flight, getting sick, what-ifs...you know the usual), but finally, today I had an enormous peace about it all, and I'M SO READY TO BE HEADED TO CHINA ON FRIDAY! It's going to be such an amazing experience!

H2O

H2O. Water. Fills our oceans. Pours down from the skies. Plentiful. Our bodies' lifeline. A basic need. It's essential to all living things, yet millions are drinking unsafe water. Millions of people around the world, many who are children, die from harmful water and waterborne diseases. How can this be? In our country, it's unfathomable. We have access to water that is bottled, flavored, with vitamins, infused with electrolytes, distilled, spring, vapor-distilled, even Holy. The options seem endless, but this is not the case in other parts of the world.

This year, I was introduced to A Child's Right, an organization whose goal is to assist children in developing countries by providing access to clean and safe drinking water. They provide purification systems, water filtration units, water storage containers, and extensive hygiene education to orphanages, street shelters, schools and children's hospitals. They are doing phenomenal work by providing the most essential and basic need to children in impoverished areas.

I encourage you in the coming new year to add to your list of resolutions this - "to help bring clean water to children around the globe". Even a small commitment can make a world of difference. Some ways that you can do this:

• Forfeit buying sodas and/or bottled water and, instead, donate to an organization who helps with clean drinking water.
• Match your water bill with a donation. If your water bill is $30 then donate $30.
• Plan to give a one-time donation to an organization whose focus is clean water, like A Child's Right.
• Organize a fundraiser in your community, school, church, etc.

My daughter is currently living in a Chinese orphanage; the thought of her and other babies drinking formula mixed with unclean water, makes me uneasy. We are blessed to have access to this basic human need in our country. Shouldn't we pay it forward?

China Bound

We're looking so forward to our trip to China (minus the total 32 hours of flying there and back)! We're arriving in Beijing a day early to get a little R&R before touring the Great Wall the next day. We'll then fly down to our child's province and spend time in Nanchang, where we'll receive our daughter practically the day that we arrive...Then on to Guangzhou to sign more paperwork at the Consulate...and a train ride to Hong Kong where we'll stay an extra day just wandering the city before flying out. I feel like I'm going to be on the Amazing Race or something. I've not travelled abroad for quite a while, so it'll be good to get the travel bug again (well, not THAT travel bug). We'll post daily (hopefully) so that you can travel along with us (and for our own sake of remembering all the wonderful details).

Once

Once is perhaps the greatest little musical film ever!

Once quietly and modestly inches its way into your heart, and by the time it reaches its wrenching and beautiful closing scene, you know you’ve experienced something special. - Brian Webster

Don't watch the trailer, just watch the film. You can get it from Netflix. Here's a clip...

We Are On Our Way

Flights are booked and we are heading to Beijing at the end of next week! We'll meet our daughter on January 23, two weeks from today!

Our Daughter's Current Home

Poyang Orphanage in JiangXi Province - Our daughter's home for the time being.

photo: flickr

Bai Jia Bei: "100 Good Wishes Quilt"

Several months ago, many of you received an email requesting your participation in our Bai Jia Bei, "100 Good Wishes Quilt". Several have asked if it's too late to send your fabric. To that I say -- OF COURSE IT'S NOT TOO LATE! Send it our way! We have absolutely loved getting the fabrics and well wishes, stories, poems, etc. in our mailbox. Who knew that fabric had such interesting stories to tell! Some fabrics have travelled as far as the streets of Cairo, Egypt and others from Ghana, Africa. Some formerly lived lives as a clown outfit, a baby's crib sheet, or a daughter's favorite shirt. Several have been loved on, as they were the receiving blankets of newborn babies. Still others represent the values, dreams, hopes, and gratitude of its purchasers. I've shed tears reading their wonderful tales. In spring or summer, I hope to begin piecing them together. Please send them by April 1st, if you haven't yet and would like to do so. Everyone's counts as we'd like to have 100 total pieces. We are honored that your spirit will be woven into the fabric of our Elyza's Bai Jia Bei. Blessings!

Care Package to Orphanage

I sent out a care package to our daughter's orphanage last week. I am praying praying praying that it reaches her before we do! If you are adopting and wish to send a care package, these are the items that I sent and a few tips that I learned before sending:

Two disposable cameras - take a picture of your name and address in case the camera is given to the wrong family. Tape the child's name ( in Chinese) to the camera.

Photo album - include pictures of your family, your home, the baby's room, pets, etc. to familiarize her with her new home.

Questions for the Nanny- I literally cut and pasted the questions that I had translated into a small journal. I did this in hopes that the Nanny might be more likely to answer the questions. I taped our daughter's picture inside the journal and thanked the nanny for any info that she could provide.

Gift for the Nanny - I included chocolates and some peppermint lip balm for the nanny.

Blanket - I washed in baby detergent and slept with the blanket for a few weeks so that it would have my scent.

Our State - I provided a copy of a map of the US and drew an arrow to our state.

Letter - I found a sample letter on my orphanage's Yahoo group. I had a friend translate a few more sentences to personalize it. You can also find your orphanage's address through your Yahoo group or through your agency.

Be sure to declare $0 for the items so that the orphanage will not have to pay tax on the package contents. You can also have a package sent to your child's orphanage through Blessed Kids.

I've been amazed at the number of families who actually do receive the camera, toy, and other items from the care package on the day that they receive their child. The pictures of their child in the orphanage, with their nanny and other children, are absolutely priceless. I hope to also receive these little snippets of our daughter's history. I'll update this post if I'm one of the fortunate ones to be returned the items.

Retreat

I have this friend, Anne, whose life sometimes seems more like it's from the pages of a novel, full of adventure with a new twist, mystery and suspense every other chapter. Needless to say, she ALWAYS has good stories to share. So I asked her how she spent her New Year's Eve. She said casually, "In a treehouse." "What! No really," I exclaimed. Yep, the girl went and spent the night in a treehouse -- for real. Actually, it's a bit more upscale than a tree-hugging hippie hoisting her up on a carabiner, a rope, and a prayer. It's quite posh, in fact... as far as treehouses go... Okay, think cabin in a tree.

Actually, I had flipped through a coffee table book on just this topic not too long ago. It had beautiful images of tree retreats. What a peaceful place to be, to reflect and recharge...among nature, up in a tree. It's the perfect retreat for writers, artists, honeymooners, a girls' get-away...just about anyone looking for a place to be inspired. Check out Forest Retreat , the treehouse retreat in Mississippi where she stayed. You can also find a list of others here.

Might be a great way to bring in 2009, eh?

Amazing Baby Shower

Our hearts are full of gratitude!

Thanks to the beautiful friends in our life ...

Thanks to the lovely hostesses...

For a truly memorable and utterly wonderful celebration for our daughter Bo Qian!

"We cannot tell the precise moment when friendship is formed. As in filling a vessel drop by drop, there is at last a drop which makes it run over; so in a series of kindnesses there is at last one which makes the heart run over." -- Samuel Johnson

Staying Healthy While Traveling

Being the hypochondriac, umm, er, let me say... health nut that I am, I thought I'd share with you some tips for staying healthy that I plan to use while traveling to China.

• My latest love is Smart Water made by Glaceau. It's vapor distilled water with added electrolytes. I'm convinced that this is not only God's gift to athletes, but also to weary travelers who are dehydrated due to a 16+ hour flight. Smart water has no sugary goop like other thirst aids. I plan to drink a boat-load of Smart Water a few days before travel to ensure proper hydration before that dreadfully-long flight.


• Speaking of electrolytes... I'm planning to have a good supply of Emergen-C to take daily once in China. It too supplies essential minerals as well as other vitamins to boost the ole immune system.
  


• And speaking of boosting the immune system... I'm going to try Airborne (similar to Emergen-C) a few days prior to departure and while in flight to ward off those nasty germs that get recirculated on board.



• And speaking of those nasty germs recirculated...I heard that if you smear a little Neosporin under your nose (above your lip) it helps to filter germs from the air that you breath while on a plane. It's sure worth a try.



• And what about the "stomach yucks" one can get from eating and drinking in another country? I've been told to take a Pepto tablet in the morning and one at night and, supposedly, it moves any "yucks" right on out of your system before they have a chance to take up room and board in your gut.



• Speaking of my gut...I'm taking Listerine to kill any foreign bacteria that may decide to move to my gut. I've heard that it also helps in preventing the "stomach yucks" while traveling.

Feel free to share any tips that you have too!

Update

It's looking quite possible that we may be traveling to China NEXT WEEK! We should know more tomorrow or Friday....stay tuned....

Happy New Year

Happy New Year everyone! May the year bring new discoveries and adventures! Check out Ann's post...a great motivator for the 2008 year! And start your year off with the simple, yet profound, advice from Jonny Lang...Anything's possible...