We spent our week in Zhengzhou getting Leah, obviously, and doing the Chinese adoption process and getting Leah's Chinese passport.
Now we are in Guangzhou, doing the U.S. paperwork. All U.S. adoptive families have to travel to Guangzhou on their way home, to do paperwork at the U.S. Consulate here.
Things we will do here:
Monday: Take Leah's Visa photo and have her medical examination done. Later in the day Leila will help us and the other three AGCI families fill out all of the U.S. Consulate documents.
Tuesday: Free day - visit the Xiangjing Safari Park.
Wednesday: Our U.S. Consulate appointment at 9 a.m. This consists of Leila handing in all of our documents at the Consulate while we wait in our room until noon, so that she can get ahold of us if there is a problem with any of them.
Thursday: Our Oath Ceremony for Leah's U.S. Citizenship at 3 pm.
Friday: Leave for home!
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Shamian Christ Church
This morning we went to the morning service at Shamian Christ Church, about 4 blocks from the hotel.
The service was in Chinese and English. It was full - there were at least 300 people; mostly Chinese, but some Caucasian, black, and East Indian.
It was amazing listening to everyone singing praises to God in Chinese.
The service was in Chinese and English. It was full - there were at least 300 people; mostly Chinese, but some Caucasian, black, and East Indian.
It was amazing listening to everyone singing praises to God in Chinese.
Free time
Today was freetime. We went swimming this morning and then Leila took us shopping this afternoon.
The Victory Annex:
Our room:
Shamian Island streets:
Our favorite laundry place:
Swimming in the Victory Hotel's rooftop pool. Leah loved it:
Playing billiards:
Shopping for clothes for Leah. The boys were thrilled:
A picnic dinner:
Tired girl waiting for ice cream at Lucy's:
The Victory Annex:
Our room:
Shamian Island streets:
Our favorite laundry place:
Swimming in the Victory Hotel's rooftop pool. Leah loved it:
Playing billiards:
Shopping for clothes for Leah. The boys were thrilled:
A picnic dinner:
Tired girl waiting for ice cream at Lucy's:
Friday, June 20, 2008
Email & comments - thanks!
We LOVE all of the emails, comments, and guest book posts we've been getting while we've been in China.
I don't have time to reply to all of them, since I can barely keep up with the blog, but please know that we appreciate them very much. We all look forward to reading new emails and comments each time we turn the computer on.
Thanks for all the kind words and encouragement!
I don't have time to reply to all of them, since I can barely keep up with the blog, but please know that we appreciate them very much. We all look forward to reading new emails and comments each time we turn the computer on.
Thanks for all the kind words and encouragement!
Leah update
So how is Leah adjusting, you ask?
Very, very well, so far.
Other than crying some on Gotcha Day, she's cried very little. She's opened up more and more every day, and she's laughing and playing. She hardly resembles the little girl in the referral photos.
She wants to do everything her big brothers do, which occasionally gets her (and them) into trouble. She wants to hold hands now when we're out, and she usually would rather hold hands with her brothers than us.
Leah shares everything. She loves to give everyone bites of whatever she's eating, and last night she spent quite a bit of time carefully pouring water from a water bottle into the cap, and bringing it to everyone for a drink.
She is very neat and orderly. Today when we were getting settled in our hotel room, Molly had her taking our snacks and putting them in a drawer. On her own she meticulously arranged them in neat, orderly rows. She doesn't like anything out of place, and she is frequently shepherding us around, telling us to come on or sit down. Of course, it's in Chinese, but she has no problem making herself understood.
On Wedesday she started testing us some, and she continues occasionally, but usually once she tests the boundaries she's ok and doesn't repeat her misbehavior. We've been working on safety things first, like "stop" - and "no," of course - and she's doing pretty well.
Today she started calling Molly when she wants her. Leah and I sat behind Molly and the boys on the airplane, and regulary throughout the flight she would call "Momma!" just to say hi to Molly and to make sure all was well in the seats ahead of us. She has sort of an urgent/demanding tone - not in a bad way - when she says it, like she wants an answer right now. It's hilarious.
Yesterday we stopped at a gift-type shop with Wen Ling, and I was carrying Leah around (mainly to keep her from breaking something) and pointing to things and saying what they were. We worked on things like "flower", "fish", and "cat". Today in the airport I pointed to a flower and asked her, "What's this?" and she said, "Flower" - her first English word other than Momma and Poppa. I was very proud.
We know, of course, that she still has a lot of adjusting to do. In fact, our agency warned us that children who are sweet and compliant initially often display their misbehaving a couple months later. We're ready for anything and will take it as it comes.
Very, very well, so far.
Other than crying some on Gotcha Day, she's cried very little. She's opened up more and more every day, and she's laughing and playing. She hardly resembles the little girl in the referral photos.
She wants to do everything her big brothers do, which occasionally gets her (and them) into trouble. She wants to hold hands now when we're out, and she usually would rather hold hands with her brothers than us.
Leah shares everything. She loves to give everyone bites of whatever she's eating, and last night she spent quite a bit of time carefully pouring water from a water bottle into the cap, and bringing it to everyone for a drink.
She is very neat and orderly. Today when we were getting settled in our hotel room, Molly had her taking our snacks and putting them in a drawer. On her own she meticulously arranged them in neat, orderly rows. She doesn't like anything out of place, and she is frequently shepherding us around, telling us to come on or sit down. Of course, it's in Chinese, but she has no problem making herself understood.
On Wedesday she started testing us some, and she continues occasionally, but usually once she tests the boundaries she's ok and doesn't repeat her misbehavior. We've been working on safety things first, like "stop" - and "no," of course - and she's doing pretty well.
Today she started calling Molly when she wants her. Leah and I sat behind Molly and the boys on the airplane, and regulary throughout the flight she would call "Momma!" just to say hi to Molly and to make sure all was well in the seats ahead of us. She has sort of an urgent/demanding tone - not in a bad way - when she says it, like she wants an answer right now. It's hilarious.
Yesterday we stopped at a gift-type shop with Wen Ling, and I was carrying Leah around (mainly to keep her from breaking something) and pointing to things and saying what they were. We worked on things like "flower", "fish", and "cat". Today in the airport I pointed to a flower and asked her, "What's this?" and she said, "Flower" - her first English word other than Momma and Poppa. I was very proud.
We know, of course, that she still has a lot of adjusting to do. In fact, our agency warned us that children who are sweet and compliant initially often display their misbehaving a couple months later. We're ready for anything and will take it as it comes.
On to Guangzhou
We left Zhengzhou at 6:30 this morning and saw Wen Ling off first, then our flight to Guangzhou left at 10:50.
It was very hard for everyone saying goodbye to Wen Ling and Ling Jia.
Leah did great on her first airplane ride. For a couple of hours afterwards she was putting her fingers in her ears, but she didn't complain at all.
Leila, our coordinator for Guangzhou, met us at the airport and took us to our hotel, the Victory Annex, and then she showed us around Shamian Island before she had to leave for the airport again to pick up another family.
We had dinner at Lucy's and then hit the 7-11 for some bottled water, and then had a frappuccino at the Starbucks (!) that's around the corner.
We were supposed to have Leah's medical exam tomorrow, but one of the families isn't arriving until tomorrow due to a delay in getting their son's passport, so we're all going on Monday instead. Tomorrow and Sunday are free days, and I think Leila has a Pearl River Cruise tentatively planned for Sunday evening.
Mr. Lee, our driver, and Candy, our coordinator:
Saying goodbye to Wen Ling and Ling Jia:
Heading to the plane:
Hopscotch at the park in Guangzhou:
No caption necessary:
It was very hard for everyone saying goodbye to Wen Ling and Ling Jia.
Leah did great on her first airplane ride. For a couple of hours afterwards she was putting her fingers in her ears, but she didn't complain at all.
Leila, our coordinator for Guangzhou, met us at the airport and took us to our hotel, the Victory Annex, and then she showed us around Shamian Island before she had to leave for the airport again to pick up another family.
We had dinner at Lucy's and then hit the 7-11 for some bottled water, and then had a frappuccino at the Starbucks (!) that's around the corner.
We were supposed to have Leah's medical exam tomorrow, but one of the families isn't arriving until tomorrow due to a delay in getting their son's passport, so we're all going on Monday instead. Tomorrow and Sunday are free days, and I think Leila has a Pearl River Cruise tentatively planned for Sunday evening.
Mr. Lee, our driver, and Candy, our coordinator:
Saying goodbye to Wen Ling and Ling Jia:
Heading to the plane:
Hopscotch at the park in Guangzhou:
No caption necessary:
Bunny Money
On the way to the orphanage on Wednesday, I was sitting in the front of the van with Leah since she seems to get carsick. Molly was in the back. Leah's backpack had ended up in the back, and I thought the stuffed bunny that we had given her on Gotcha Day would help her go to sleep in the car (wishful thinking, incidentally).
I asked Molly, "Do you have the bunny?" only she thought I said, "Do you have the money?". This got her attention because we had to bring a significant amount to the orphanage.
I couldn't figure out why Molly looked so frantic about a stuffed animal, and Molly couldn't understand why I was so nonchalant about losing our money.
We've always said that communication is the cornerstone of our marriage...
I asked Molly, "Do you have the bunny?" only she thought I said, "Do you have the money?". This got her attention because we had to bring a significant amount to the orphanage.
I couldn't figure out why Molly looked so frantic about a stuffed animal, and Molly couldn't understand why I was so nonchalant about losing our money.
We've always said that communication is the cornerstone of our marriage...
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Free time and a day in the park
Chinese Tooth Fairy?
While I was riding with Leah on a carousel in the park, the boys and Ling Jia were in the bounce house next door.
Just as it was about time for them to be done, Logan suddenly came running over and announced that he lost his other front tooth! He said he was bouncing off the tiger and his tooth flew right out of his mouth. Luke even rescued the tooth.
Just as it was about time for them to be done, Logan suddenly came running over and announced that he lost his other front tooth! He said he was bouncing off the tiger and his tooth flew right out of his mouth. Luke even rescued the tooth.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Squatty Potties
In the interest of keeping this blog family-friendly, I will refrain from describing some of our experiences with the finer aspects of China plumbing.
The boys and I have fared fairly well, mostly due to their...um....timing. Molly and Leah, on the other hand, have had some, well, memorable experiences.....
The boys and I have fared fairly well, mostly due to their...um....timing. Molly and Leah, on the other hand, have had some, well, memorable experiences.....
Orphanage visit
Today was the day for us to go to Luoyang, where Leah was born, about a two-hour drive east from Zhengzhou.
On the way, Leah told our driver, Mr. Lee, that she was happy every day to have new clothes.
The freeway was actually pretty similar to ours. The speed limit for cars was 120 km/hr, trucks 90 km/hr, and the “lowest speed” was posted at 60 km/hr. There were surveillance cameras everywhere, and I spotted one photo radar camera on a tripod in the median bushes.
All of the signs were the standard green like we have in the U.S., with Chinese and English underneath. The English frequently had misspellings and some entertaining directions, such as “climbing line,” “exceed breadth the vehicle,” “forbid the line,” and “enterance.”
One of the most interesting things were the workers about every kilometer or so who were sweeping the shoulder with straw brooms. We’d seen this in the city, but they were on the freeway almost all of the way to Luoyang as well. It appears that they ride their bicycles to wherever they are sweeping.
We saw the cooling towers of several nuclear power plants.
Gas was 5.07 Yuan per liter, which - if I converted right - was about $2.81 per gallon.
Luoyang is the “City of Peonies” and is home to a famous peony festival every spring. We stopped at a shop that Mr. Lee was familiar with that carried peony art and were able to find some keepsakes from Leah’s city to take home with us.
Then we spent a couple of hours touring the Longmen Grottos which date back thousands of years.
After lunch at McDonald’s, Mr. Lee took us to possible “Finding Places” for Leah. The documents from the orphanage state that she was “found abandoned beside the Chunqing Road of Luoyong Bus Station." We found Chunqin Road, which was about a block from a bus station of a different name, and a couple blocks from the Luoyang Bus Station. So, she could have been found at any of the three places, but Wen Ling felt from reading the original Chinese that it was most likely along Chunqin Road. It was emotional seeing the place where Leah was likely left.
Then we went to the orphanage and met the assistant head-mistress, and later the head-master, Mr. Pei. We exchanged gifts, and they gave us a photo album with pictures of Leah and several beautiful scrolls with Chinese writing and peonies.
We were able to have a tour of Leah’s classroom and a classroom next door. She knew where to take us and she was excited to hand out candy to her friends and say goodbye to her teachers. She had been nervous when we arrived, even though we had explained in English and Wen Ling had explained in Chinese what was happening, that we were going back to the orphanage so that she could say goodbye to her friends and teachers, and that she was part of our family now. She did great and waved goodbye when we left.
Then it was off to the notary office to notarize documents. It was about 20 minutes of filling out forms, and at least 45 minutes of watching two officials meticulously sort, stack, glue, and stamp at least twelve packets of documents.
Everyone was worn out and slept on the way home, except Leah (and me, since I was sitting next to her.) This is a child who apparently doesn’t need to nap.
The boys and Leah were VERY good with all the driving and waiting that went on today, and we promised them ice cream, but we couldn’t find any in Luoyang and it was too late by the time we got back to Zhengzhou. We decided to wait until the next day, and we went to bed.
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On the way:
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Our children the celebrities:
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Longmen grottos near Luoyang:
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With Candy, our coordinator:
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McDonald's:
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Chunqing Road, one of Leah's possible Finding Places:
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Another possible Finding Place:
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The Luoyang bus station; third possible Finding Place:
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The Luoyang Children Welfare Institute:
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Miss Li, one of Leah's teachers, was the one we worked with on the paperwork:
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At the notary office. The children had to be "very quiet" because we had "very important papers to sign."
On the way, Leah told our driver, Mr. Lee, that she was happy every day to have new clothes.
The freeway was actually pretty similar to ours. The speed limit for cars was 120 km/hr, trucks 90 km/hr, and the “lowest speed” was posted at 60 km/hr. There were surveillance cameras everywhere, and I spotted one photo radar camera on a tripod in the median bushes.
All of the signs were the standard green like we have in the U.S., with Chinese and English underneath. The English frequently had misspellings and some entertaining directions, such as “climbing line,” “exceed breadth the vehicle,” “forbid the line,” and “enterance.”
One of the most interesting things were the workers about every kilometer or so who were sweeping the shoulder with straw brooms. We’d seen this in the city, but they were on the freeway almost all of the way to Luoyang as well. It appears that they ride their bicycles to wherever they are sweeping.
We saw the cooling towers of several nuclear power plants.
Gas was 5.07 Yuan per liter, which - if I converted right - was about $2.81 per gallon.
Luoyang is the “City of Peonies” and is home to a famous peony festival every spring. We stopped at a shop that Mr. Lee was familiar with that carried peony art and were able to find some keepsakes from Leah’s city to take home with us.
Then we spent a couple of hours touring the Longmen Grottos which date back thousands of years.
After lunch at McDonald’s, Mr. Lee took us to possible “Finding Places” for Leah. The documents from the orphanage state that she was “found abandoned beside the Chunqing Road of Luoyong Bus Station." We found Chunqin Road, which was about a block from a bus station of a different name, and a couple blocks from the Luoyang Bus Station. So, she could have been found at any of the three places, but Wen Ling felt from reading the original Chinese that it was most likely along Chunqin Road. It was emotional seeing the place where Leah was likely left.
Then we went to the orphanage and met the assistant head-mistress, and later the head-master, Mr. Pei. We exchanged gifts, and they gave us a photo album with pictures of Leah and several beautiful scrolls with Chinese writing and peonies.
We were able to have a tour of Leah’s classroom and a classroom next door. She knew where to take us and she was excited to hand out candy to her friends and say goodbye to her teachers. She had been nervous when we arrived, even though we had explained in English and Wen Ling had explained in Chinese what was happening, that we were going back to the orphanage so that she could say goodbye to her friends and teachers, and that she was part of our family now. She did great and waved goodbye when we left.
Then it was off to the notary office to notarize documents. It was about 20 minutes of filling out forms, and at least 45 minutes of watching two officials meticulously sort, stack, glue, and stamp at least twelve packets of documents.
Everyone was worn out and slept on the way home, except Leah (and me, since I was sitting next to her.) This is a child who apparently doesn’t need to nap.
The boys and Leah were VERY good with all the driving and waiting that went on today, and we promised them ice cream, but we couldn’t find any in Luoyang and it was too late by the time we got back to Zhengzhou. We decided to wait until the next day, and we went to bed.
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On the way:
.jpg)
Our children the celebrities:
.jpg)
Longmen grottos near Luoyang:
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
With Candy, our coordinator:
.jpg)
McDonald's:
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Chunqing Road, one of Leah's possible Finding Places:
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Another possible Finding Place:
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The Luoyang bus station; third possible Finding Place:
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The Luoyang Children Welfare Institute:
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.jpg)
.jpg)
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Miss Li, one of Leah's teachers, was the one we worked with on the paperwork:
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At the notary office. The children had to be "very quiet" because we had "very important papers to sign."
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